Chapter 68: Tall Trees Catch the Wind

Inside the command post of the Seventh Reinforced Division at Wangkou, tension and anticipation thickened the air, as if every breath was steeped in the smoke and chaos of battle.

“Commander!” A voice shattered the oppressive silence; an exuberant officer dashed into the room, his face aglow with the unmistakable radiance of victory. “The Sixty-Sixth and Sixty-Seventh Brigades have achieved an unprecedented triumph!”

He pressed on, his words quick but clear. “In their haste to break through our lines, the enemy abandoned all their heavy equipment.”

“Under the joint encirclement of the Sixty-Sixth and Sixty-Seventh Brigades, the enemy, after hours of fierce resistance, was annihilated—an entire brigade wiped out in formation!”

“Moreover, upon learning that Wangkou had fallen and their compatriots had been utterly destroyed, Amaya Takatoshi’s forces refrained from attacking the Sixty-Third Brigade and chose instead to retreat.”

Though many commanders had foreseen the possibility of victory when dispatching the Sixty-Seventh Brigade, the sight of the enemy’s battle flag and the captured sword of their commander left every officer’s face alight with shock and exhilaration.

The sense of triumph at that moment was overwhelming, as though the entire theater of war were thundering in applause.

No one had imagined that they might utterly destroy a full enemy formation.

This sudden and monumental victory ignited a feverish euphoria within the command post.

“This will be recorded as a page in history! Commander, our victory will surely be immortalized!” cried one impassioned officer, his eyes sparkling with boundless hope for the future.

Another laughed aloud, “So the enemy is not invincible after all!”

The room was swept up in celebration; some had already begun to plot how they would commemorate this glorious moment.

Meanwhile, Jiang Bai stood in a corner, a faint smile playing on his lips, his gaze deep and contemplative, as though he could perceive the twists and perils that lay ahead.

Since assuming command, nearly every victory and defeat had unfolded just as he had foreseen.

In his eyes, now that the enemy’s tactics were laid bare, and with their clear superiority in men and materiel, victory was merely a matter of time.

In the general’s residence, the unrest and excitement that had prevailed now gradually gave way to sober discussions about future plans.

Chief of Staff Wang Xiao adjusted his cap, looked steadily at Jiang Bai with a hint of respect and expectation in his eyes, and inquired, “Commander, how should we handle the bodies of these enemy soldiers?”

Jiang Bai stood before a table strewn with maps, drew a deep breath, and gave a resolute order. “Have the engineers burn every last corpse. Cleanse the battlefield.”

“At the same time,” he continued, his tone grave, “our official stance must be unified. No matter who asks, we must insist that we defeated the Turbanist forces.”

“As for the enemy,” a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes, “we have never seen a single one of their soldiers.”

Jiang Bai had two reasons for keeping the truth of the battle secret.

First, if the facts were revealed, the Seventh Reinforced Division under his command would instantly become the focus of public scrutiny, drawing attention from all sides.

As the old saying goes, “A tall tree catches the wind.”

Jiang Bai wished to avoid standing in the spotlight before he had gathered adequate strength.

Second, given the current balance between the Chenyun faction and the enemy, they were not yet fully prepared for all-out confrontation.

If news of this spread widely, the enemy would have ample pretext to use it as a casus belli, launching a full-scale military campaign against Chenyun Province ahead of schedule!

At that time, the forces in Jiang Bai’s hand alone would be insufficient to withstand an onslaught from multiple first-class enemy divisions.

“Understood, Commander. I’ll see to it at once!” the Chief of Staff responded, immediately setting about the task of burning the bodies and concealing their identities.

Meanwhile, fighting within the city raged on.

To counter the enemy, Jiang Bai had not hesitated to divert two infantry brigades from the main front to reinforce the defense, a move that indirectly galvanized the morale of the garrison.

Though the defenders were unaware that these units had originally been sent to encircle the enemy, they still believed that victory was within reach, and began to mount desperate resistance in the narrow alleys of the city.

Despite the high morale and superior equipment of the Sixty-Second Brigade, they faced nearly twice their number, and the cramped urban terrain rendered their firepower advantage moot.

Left with no other choice, they could only organize small infantry squads and engage in a series of bloody close-quarter battles throughout the city.

With the incessant roar of 37mm quick-firing guns, a defensive position held by Turbanist troops was obliterated, limbs scattering like fireworks.

Under the overwhelming barrage, the garrison troops, who had been holding out in nearby homes, were routed.

Like cornered animals, they offered only feeble resistance before abandoning their posts and scattering in flight, with no intention of further fighting.

Ever since the eastern wall had been breached by the Seventh Reinforced Division’s explosives, the defenders within the city had nearly lost all will to fight.

If not for the officers of the field supervision squads standing sternly behind them with pistols drawn, these soldiers would likely have surrendered to the Seventh Division long ago.

Initially, the city’s defenders still clung to the hope of relief from enemy reinforcements and a chance to counterattack.

But what they received instead were three infantry brigades from the Chenyun faction, rushing in from Wangkou.

With the arrival of these three brigades, vast swathes of the city quickly fell.

The defenders’ last shred of hope was extinguished; under the supervision of their officers, they emerged waving white flags, faces ashen.

Jiang Bai’s decision was rooted in two considerations.

First, should the truth of the battle be made public, his Seventh Reinforced Division would at once become the target of fierce attention and scrutiny.

As the saying goes, “A tall tree catches the wind.”

He was unwilling to step into the limelight before his power was fully consolidated.

Second, since relations between the Chenyun faction and the enemy had not yet completely broken down, any public revelation of the conflict would give the enemy a perfect excuse to launch a premature offensive against the entire province.

At that point, with only the Seventh Reinforced Division at his disposal, Jiang Bai would find it impossible to repel the advance of several elite enemy divisions.

“Yes, Commander!” responded the Chief of Staff, moving immediately to carry out the order to burn the bodies and conceal the truth.

At the same time, fierce combat continued to rage within the city.