A pure fight to the death between two cavalry forces. The initial charge was as unstoppable as a mountain flood rushing out of a river channel or a canyon. Relying on the steel forged breastplates worn inside their uniforms, the cavalrymen of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army ignored most of the attacks from the Beiyang Army. The warriors waved their sharp military sabers—mass-produced by comrade workers in the arsenals using forging presses and treated with oxidation—and chopped the Beiyang cavalrymen within their range off their horses like cutting straw. The large formation of the Beiyang Army troops was instantly cut into several sections.

The saber manufacturing technology that instantly settled the fate of hundreds of Beiyang cavalrymen in this battle would not be considered high-tech in the 21st century. The production process was exactly the same as those kitchen knives sold online for a hundred yuan: two pieces of iron sandwiching a steel sheet in the middle, pressed to the appropriate thickness by a machine, roughly ground by an electric grinding wheel, and then surface treated. After the final grinding process, they left the factory in batches.

It is said that Japanese swords use a similar process. The body of the sword is iron with good strength and toughness, while the edge is steel with excellent toughness that can be ground to be extremely sharp. To put it bluntly, this technology is not worth mentioning, but whether one can provide high-quality materials in large quantities reflects the level of industrial capability. The sabers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were lighter and sharper than those of the Beiyang Army.

The steel armor worn by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army inside their uniforms could not be a fully cast and forged half-body armor either; the breastplate was made of leather and steel plates. Agricultural breeding capacity also determined military equipment capabilities.

Since they could not win in the group charge, the Beiyang Army's cavalry formation collapsed like sand. The large cavalry formation of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army continued to charge forward for a distance, then began to curl back along a curved route. Like drawing an elegant arc on the surface of a lake, the main force of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army cavalry began to scatter the Beiyang Army further and surround them. Small squads separated from the main force and attacked the panicked Beiyang cavalry. If the initial group charge relied more on momentum, the ensuing battle relied more on individual valor and skill.

Sun Yongsheng only now had the chance to observe the cavalry of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Comparing physiques, they were "leaner," but their arms were obviously much thicker than those of the Beiyang soldiers, and these warriors were clearly younger. Sun Yongsheng noticed a young man with rather fair skin wielding a saber with a fluid posture that could only be described as light and agile. With every slash, a Beiyang cavalryman was chopped down. Two Beiyang cavalrymen had been forced into a desperate situation; they simply spurred their horses and rushed straight at this young man with sharp saber skills. Two sabers, one in front and one behind, slashed towards the throat of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army young cavalryman from the left and right.

To Sun Yongsheng's great surprise, that young man showed no fear at all. He raised his left arm, forcibly blocking the attack coming from the left, while the saber in his right hand swept out. The saber of the Beiyang soldier on the right came whistling in, only to be immediately chopped into two pieces by the Revolutionary Army's saber.

This situation went far beyond the expectations of the two Beiyang cavalrymen. The young cavalryman of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army did not pause in the slightest. He used the steel bracer on his left arm to push away the Beiyang soldier's weapon, while his right saber chopped left and right as fast as thunder. After he passed between the two Beiyang cavalrymen, blood sprayed from their necks, and they fell from their horses.

Horse hooves thundered. After the small squads of Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army cavalry chopped down the nearby Beiyang soldiers, they turned their horses and returned to the main force. The main force continued to wind forward without stopping, and unknowingly, they had already surrounded the Beiyang cavalry main force.

It didn't take too long for the galloping of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army main cavalry force to gradually stop. The small groups of Beiyang soldiers who had been cut off and surrounded were either chopped off their horses or obediently raised their hands to surrender. The remaining large group of Beiyang cavalry centered on Sun Yongsheng had completely become turtles in a jar. The surrounded Beiyang soldiers saw the warriors of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army sheathe their sabers and take the carbines from their backs. Black muzzles pointed at the Beiyang cavalrymen.

"Beiyang brothers, you have done your best. Surrender now. We, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, treat captives well!" someone shouted.

The Beiyang soldiers holding sabers looked at each other in blank dismay. The number of men still on horseback had dropped from nearly two thousand at the start to less than five hundred now. As long as the cavalry of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army fired a volley, the lives of the Beiyang cavalrymen would end right here. The vast majority of Beiyang soldiers had already lowered the sabers in their hands; even the diehards dared not initiate an attack.

Just then, the unique roar of galloping horses came from the east. Joy appeared on the faces of the Beiyang soldiers; it seemed the other route of Beiyang troops attacking from the flank had arrived nearby. However, this look of great joy immediately vanished cleanly. If the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army prepared to meet the enemy, how would they deal with themselves? They would definitely kill them all first to prevent future trouble as much as possible. Those who had just lowered their sabers nervously, or even desperately, gripped their hilts again and raised their weapons.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army made no move; they just waited quietly right there. Amidst the sound of increasingly approaching horse hooves, the sound of dense light machine gun fire suddenly rang out. That feeling of ten thousand horses galloping instantly changed its tune. As if waiting for this turn of events, the few hundred Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army cavalrymen who had remained on the hilltop spurred their mounts and galloped towards the east.

Although the sound of gunshots was very different from heavy machine guns, Sun Yongsheng still understood what had happened from the continuous firing. Years ago, he had escaped with his life from a machine gun position. Those dense bullets, like a rainstorm, like flying locusts, were a nightmare Sun Yongsheng would never forget. He never expected that the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army could set up this kind of death trap in such a short time. He expected even less that the Beiyang Army would so foolishly rush into the death trap. Indescribable regret and the immense pain brought by regret completely swallowed Sun Yongsheng.

Time passed second by second. The anxious Beiyang soldiers did not know how long had passed. It seemed like years, yet also like an instant. When the crisp, continuous sounds in the distance, dense as popping beans, finally subsided, not long after, a team of cavalry came galloping over. They shouted: "We have completely crushed the enemy in the east! We are victorious!"

The encirclement formation of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army only stirred slightly; every warrior's muzzle was still pointed at the surrounded Beiyang troops. The person who had shouted earlier continued to shout: "Brothers of the Beiyang Army, you have no reinforcements left. Surrender now! We treat captives well!"

The Beiyang soldiers knew this wasn't a lie. They lowered their arms one after another, and the weapons in their hands pointed at the ground again.

In a surge of immense despair, a self-destructive impulse boiled in Sun Yongsheng's chest. He shouted with all his might: "Brothers, let's fight it out with the People's Party!"

Completely contrary to usual times when one call would get a hundred responses, this time no one in the Beiyang Army responded to Sun Yongsheng's shout. The battlefield was already covered with corpses. The groans of soldiers who were heavily wounded but not dead, and the neighing of horses, had been constantly entering the ears of the Beiyang cavalrymen since they were surrounded. Since they couldn't beat the People's Party across from them on their own, and the reinforcements were also completely wiped out, defeat was already set in stone. No one was willing to lose their lives for this meaningless bloody nature.

Seeing no one respond to him, Sun Yongsheng's arrogance quickly disappeared. As a survivor of a narrow escape, as a person saved from the line of death by the doctors of the People's Party, Sun Yongsheng understood that as long as he laid down his weapons, there was a way to live.

The standoff continued; the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was not idle either. Machine gun and mortar positions began to be set up. The cavalry began to retreat team by team. Now there was no need to engage in melee combat anymore. Automatic weapons alone could eventually finish off all the Beiyang soldiers.

"Commander Sun, let's surrender, shall we? The lives of so many brothers are all in your single thought!" a nearby officer couldn't help but advise in a low voice, his voice containing not just fear, but even a sobbing tone. Even seeing the light machine guns of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army for the first time, they knew these weapons were much fiercer than rifles.

Sun Yongsheng actually wanted to agree to this request from his subordinate, but he just couldn't open his mouth to speak of surrender. Being captured last time, Sun Yongsheng could say it was poor command by Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui. In the current situation, the highest commander of the Beiyang Army was Sun Yongsheng himself.

The machine gun and artillery positions had been set up by this time. Pang Zi drew his military saber and ordered someone to shout again. "Beiyang brothers, we admire your backbone. But at this point, why should everyone throw away their lives in vain? We say it one more time: the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army treats captives well. You don't need to worry about being mistreated. Look at your Brigade Commander Sun Yongsheng; he was once a captive of our People's Party. Isn't he perfectly fine now?"

After the last speech was shouted, Pang Zi looked at his watch. He whispered to the comrade beside him, "Wait another ten minutes. After ten minutes, no need to speak anymore, just wipe them out!"

The distance between the positions was extremely limited. In the blink of an eye, the message was conveyed to every machine gun position and artillery position. The cavalry of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army continued to withdraw. After the machine gun strafing and shelling ended, the cavalry would wipe out the Beiyang Army with a final charge.

Everyone was a soldier and naturally wouldn't misunderstand such murderous actions. Pang Zi only waited eight minutes before seeing a Beiyang soldier ride forward, shouting as he ran: "Commander, don't shoot! I surrender."

With someone taking the lead, a large group of Beiyang soldiers who didn't want to die immediately followed behind. These people were surrendering sincerely; none of them dared to speed up their horses. Although Pang Zi wasn't too sure in his heart, the speed of these horses was far from reaching the level where Pang Zi would order strafing.

Cavalrymen went up to make the Beiyang soldiers dismount and disarm. Not long after, only Sun Yongsheng and a very few others remained in the very center of the encirclement. Sun Yongsheng was Chen Ke's relative after all; if he had been killed in battle, that would be one thing. Under the current circumstances, it was really hard for Pang Zi to give the order to send Sun Yongsheng to be buried with Beiyang. Finally, a squad of warriors went up. The comrades pointed their guns at Sun Yongsheng and the others, whose faces were ashen, and disarmed them.

Having resolved the Beiyang Army cavalry, Pang Zi ordered the main force to transport the wounded and escort the captives and gathered horses back to camp. He himself took a reconnaissance company and continued north. The battlefield was less than twenty *li* from the southern city wall of Beijing. It took only half an hour or so for the group to arrive outside the city.

Arriving at the foot of Beijing city as a military commander was the third time for Pang Zi. A few years ago, he led "bandits" to bloodbath the Manchu Qing forces in Beijing; at that time, the Beiyang "friendly forces" were the current masters of Beijing. Even earlier, fifteen years ago, Pang Zi, as a member of the Boxers, fought a bloody battle with foreigners in Beijing. This great city gave Pang Zi the most memories of blood and fire warfare. And this time, Pang Zi was going to bring more bloodshed and sacrifice to Beijing.

In his binoculars, Pang Zi clearly saw that his group had brought quite a shock to the defenders on top of the Beijing city wall. Many people were running, and panic was constantly spreading on the city wall.

"Run around the city wall for a while, and fly the captured Beiyang Army military flags too!" Pang Zi ordered.

The cavalry began to gallop outside the city. The red military flags of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army and the blue military flags of the Beiyang Army presented a considerable visual contrast. After running for a while, the city gate opened, and a team of Beiyang troops chased out. Pang Zi ordered the Beiyang Army military flags to be planted in the ground, and led the comrades to begin retreating.

The news that a Beiyang cavalry brigade had been completely wiped out outside Beijing soon reached the Ministry of the Army. This news was immediately subjected to a strict blockade. It wasn't just the news that was blockaded; Beijing was under comprehensive military control. All troops went to the front line, and even more Beiyang soldiers went up onto the city walls, which were already guarded extremely strictly.

Beijing was a big city. Just deploying defenses on the city walls required a force of over fifty thousand men. Adding the defenses at other vital locations, using all ten thousand men of the First Army was still slightly insufficient. Someone suggested transferring the Second Army back to defend as well, but Wang Shizhen immediately refused. The principle of mutual support (horns arrangement) was a basic tenet of city defense. If everyone was blocked inside the city, Beijing would become a dead place.

The Beiyang Army was deploying defenses, and the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was not idle at all. Troops sortied towards vital areas around Beijing. Since they had resolved the Second Army's cavalry, the cavalry of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army turned out in full force. Cutting telephone lines. Cutting railways.

The 38th Army and 50th Army had arrived by this time. While pinning down the Second Army outside the city, various units began to capture vital areas outside Beijing.

On August 2nd, Xiangshan, the Canal, and other places were quickly occupied by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. On August 3rd, a simple airfield was quickly paved, and the Air Force transferred to outside Beijing. The first to suffer was the Second Army in Tongzhou. The Air Force's incendiary bombs ignited the Second Army's barracks. Because they had never seen it before, and even less expected that arson could be committed from the sky downwards, the Beiyang Army's Second Army barracks quickly fell into flames. The fire even detonated a munitions depot of the Second Army; the violent explosion formed a mushroom cloud dozens of meters high. From the top of the Beijing city wall, one could clearly feel the violent shaking and even more clearly see that terrible thick cloud.

While the Beiyang Army was panic-stricken, Pu Guanshui, who also felt surprised, immediately organized troops to launch an attack. Starting from noon on August 3rd, by August 4th, the main force of the Beiyang Second Army, including the army headquarters, was completely wiped out. Under panic-stricken conditions, the remnants used flesh and blood to wade open the minefields and fled back into Beijing city.

During the fierce battle, the Beiyang troops inside the city actually tried to leave the city to rescue them. As a result, they suffered heavy casualties in front of the bounding mines heavily deployed in the minefields and had to turtle back into the city. By August 5th, except for the Jundu Path in Changping which was still under Beiyang Army control, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had completely blockaded Beijing city relying on minefields and trenches.

According to the latest intelligence brought by the Air Force, by the night of August 4th, the Beiyang Army in Shandong and southern Hebei had still failed to make any decision, and the main forces were still in a dilemma. This was naturally good news. As long as the Beiyang troops did not frantically return to rescue regardless of everything, the 44th Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army [had already defeated?] Beiyang and took over the defense of Tianjin from the 38th Army. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had at least five days to freely attack Beijing.

Pu Guanshui naturally knew that Chen Ke was no wizard, nor did he know magic. But when facing Beijing, Pu Guanshui really hoped that Chen Ke really had some magic. Ever since *The Life of Yuan Shikai* was dropped into Beijing, Pu Guanshui had been looking forward to Yuan Shikai returning to heaven (dying) sooner. As long as this core figure of Beijing died now, Beijing city would be much easier to fight. Thoughts were thoughts; Pu Guanshui still continued to prepare for the siege battle without hesitation.

Inside Beijing city, there were no signs of panic now. After strict military control was implemented, anyone without a travel pass was forbidden to go out. Heads of unlucky bastards who violated military control were hung on street corners everywhere. The lively and crowded roads were now much more convenient for passage. However, Zheng Wenjie did not think this brief "good order" could prove Beiyang's strength. Seeing those heads at the street intersections, Zheng Wenjie felt a heavy pressure.

Zheng Wenjie had thought that the atmosphere before annihilation should be one of righteous indignation, or at least tragic heroism. But everything before his eyes only made Zheng Wenjie feel a death-like depression. As an official of the Ministry of the Army's Intelligence Department, almost all news had to pass through him. Less than a month ago, when Beiyang made the decision to fight to the death, the war situation was definitely not optimistic. Even so, the extent of the losses back then was still within Zheng Wenjie's tolerance. Even if tens of thousands of casualties occurred in battle, compared to the million-strong Beiyang multitude, it counted as nothing at all. On paper, it was just one percent.

When the million-strong Beiyang Army went south, the feeling in Zheng Wenjie's heart was not panic or fear. On the contrary, he even felt a kind of pride in being part of the Beiyang Army. Even though he had become a traitor, Zheng Wenjie did not have the ability to participate in formulating military plans to harm the Beiyang Army. All combat deployments and military arrangements—the Beiyang Army's goal was without exception to pursue victory. Unleashing a troop advantage several times that of the People's Party to fiercely attack military targets in Hebei and Shandong was by no means a reckless plan.

Just as the Beiyang Army was striving to pursue victory, the news flooding in was without exception that the Beiyang Army had suffered serious defeats. From one defeat to another even greater defeat. From defeats hundreds of *li* away to the current defeat at the foot of Beijing city. Now intelligence was completely interrupted. The latest rumor inside the Ministry of the Army was that the People's Party had powerful forces and had completely annihilated the Beiyang Army in Hebei and Shandong. Because he was a traitor, Zheng Wenjie actually had more news. Based on what he understood and deduced, the Beiyang Army in Shandong and Hebei should not have been annihilated.

At this moment, even if he said so, his colleagues would only think Zheng Wenjie was desperately clutching at straws. This actually made Zheng Wenjie feel much more relaxed. He spread "news favorable to Beiyang" everywhere, which served as an excellent cover for Zheng Wenjie's identity. After all, at this point, no one would believe that a person like Zheng Wenjie who worked so hard to boost morale would be a traitor.

What made the Beiyang ranks most panicked right now was not the news of the Beiyang Army in Hebei and Shandong; the news of Yuan Shikai falling ill made the Beiyang ranks feel indescribable fear at this critical juncture. They could not imagine what would happen to Beiyang if Yuan Shikai died at this time.

So the Beiyang ranks, who originally tried to collect *The Life of Yuan Shikai* dropped from the air by People's Party planes with the bored mindset of onlookers, now mostly burned the documents they had obtained like driving away the god of plague. It wasn't how much they loved and respected Yuan Shikai; it was just that at this point, doing so could make them feel a bit better.