Chapter 66: Internal Division of the Zheng Faction

While Qian Jiushan was leading the remnants of the Fifth Army toward Luzhou City, they once again crossed paths with another detachment from the Khorchin Kingdom, resulting in an unexpected skirmish. Due to their lack of preparation, the Zheng faction's forces were routed once more, scattering in all directions as they fled toward Luzhou City.

Because of this encounter, Ma Yuan and his companions became separated from the 339th Division headquarters, inadvertently heading in the exact opposite direction—a fact of which Ma Yuan remained completely oblivious.

While the retreating remnants fled toward Luzhou City, a momentous upheaval was unfolding within the city itself: the Fifth Corps, led by Sun Dehai, and the Ninth Corps, commanded by Han Gun, officially severed ties with the faction belonging to Zheng Zelin.

This rupture stemmed partly from Zheng Zelin's earlier orders forcing them to exhaust themselves in Qianlin County to eradicate Hong Xianhe's rebellious forces, and partly from a growing distrust, as Zheng Zelin had secretly deployed Zheng Zehai's troops to keep them under constant surveillance.

Having secretly conferred, Sun Dehai and Han Gun decided to burn their bridges. They directly led their respective corps to break away from the Zheng faction, swiftly mobilizing their troops to seize Lizhou City, another major stronghold within the Zheng territory.

When Qian Jiushan and his depleted forces finally reached Luzhou City, they were stunned to learn that the Twelfth Corps under their command had somehow turned the tables on the Zheng faction. Even more explosive was the revelation that Sun Dehai and his associates had broken away to form an independent power base.

This outcome left them utterly flabbergasted. While they had been shedding blood on the front lines under the banner of the Zheng faction, their rear headquarters had undergone such a monumental transformation.

Yet, Zheng Zelin did not hold them responsible. Instead, he convened a commendation ceremony, bestowing lavish praise upon Qian Jiushan, Xue Yi, Li Liang, and others.

Since Hong Xianhe and Liang Yi had both defected, Zheng Zelin temporarily reorganized the remaining troops to establish the Twenty-Second Corps. Qian Jiushan was appointed as the corps commander, while Xu Kemuh, former chief of staff of the Fifth Army, was promoted to Fifth Army commander. Additionally, the forces commanded by Xue Yi and Li Liang were incorporated into the Twenty-Second Corps.

Consequently, counting the original Third and Eighteenth Corps, Luzhou City now boasted three corps of troops. Combined with the four armies controlled by Song Pu in Huangzhou City, Zheng Zelin was not overly concerned, even with the defection of the four armies belonging to Sun Dehai and Han Gun.

Meanwhile, after capturing Bozhou City, the allied forces of Ma and Sha did not push forward, choosing instead to remain stationed within Bozhou City to rest and recuperate.

***

Having lost touch with the 339th Division, Ma Yuan led a group of several dozen people toward what they believed to be the direction of Luzhou City.

In reality, they were heading toward Pingling City. About a day later, Ma Yuan and his group spotted a large army marching ahead of them in the distance.

This force was none other than the Third Corps of the National Defense Army under Wei Ju, leisurely moving out of Pingling City to reinforce Bozhou City.

Initially, upon receiving the commander-in-chief's orders, Wei Ju had prepared to set out immediately. However, he subsequently received news that Zheng Zeliang had been blown to pieces, leading Wei Ju to conclude that reinforcing Bozhou City at that point would be entirely futile.

Bound by the orders of Commander-in-Chief Sun Huaiyin, Wei Ju dragged his feet, setting off only after several days had passed. Even on the road, they stopped frequently; at this pace, it would likely take them a month to reach Bozhou City.

Before even nearing Bozhou City, however, they crossed paths with Ma Yuan's party.

"What unit do you belong to?" After being discovered, Ma Yuan and the others were brought to the Third Corps headquarters, where they were interrogated by Tang Zheng, the corps chief of staff.

Recognizing their uniforms, Ma Yuan knew these men belonged to the Central Government's National Defense Army. He stood up directly and replied, "Reporting to the officer, we are soldiers from the Zheng faction's 339th Division. Because Bozhou City fell, we were separated from our original unit amid the chaos of war."

"Bozhou City has fallen? Is this news true or false?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Ju, who was sipping tea, looked immensely surprised and asked in a loud voice.

Ma Yuan nodded. "Bozhou City fell late the night before yesterday. The main body of the surviving garrison has already retreated toward Luzhou City."

"Tang Zheng, if Bozhou City has already fallen, what is the point of us going there?" Wei Ju asked Tang Zheng involuntarily.

Tang Zheng also nodded. "Indeed. Our mission this time was to execute the commander-in-chief's orders to reinforce Bozhou City. Since Bozhou City has already been lost, we might as well make camp here temporarily and send someone back to Pingling City to ask the commander-in-chief for instructions."

"It seems we have no other choice." Wei Ju took another sip of tea.

Only then did Tang Zheng turn his gaze to Ma Yuan and the others, asking, "Since you cannot find your original unit for the time being, why not be incorporated into the Third Corps of our National Defense Army? With the war situation pressing, since you are soldiers, you can serve the country wherever you are."

Ma Yuan glanced around at the remaining men, seeing that everyone looked like withered eggplants.

"Thank you for your trust, Officer. We are willing to stay and continue serving the country." Feeling that Tang Zheng's words made a lot of sense, Ma Yuan accepted on behalf of everyone.

Tang Zheng smiled. "What is your name? What was your previous post?"

"Officer, I am Ma Yuan, deputy intelligence staff officer in the staff department of the 339th Division, Fifth Army of the Zheng faction."

"Oh? An intelligence staff officer? Not bad at all. Well then, whatever your original duties were in the Zheng faction's forces, you will continue to perform the same duties here. But let me make one thing clear beforehand: we are the Central Army, different from your former Zheng faction."

"Everything is governed by military law. If you violate military regulations and discipline and end up facing a firing squad, don't say I didn't warn you."

Hearing that Ma Yuan was an intelligence staff officer, Tang Zheng instantly formed the intention of keeping him in the Third Corps headquarters staff department.

"Ma Yuan, is it? You will stay in the headquarters staff department. As for your post, start off as a logistics staff officer."

"Officer, I have two friends who also started out as intelligence staff officers. Can they..."

"Very well, let them all stay in the staff department. Just like you, they can serve as logistics staff officers." Tang Zheng did not mind; after all, it was only two more people.

Hearing this, Ma Yuan was overjoyed. The people he referred to were Cheng Qian and Hou Lili, who, like him, had escaped from the jaws of death. His only regret was that he did not know whether Liu Shishi had safely reached Luzhou City alongside the 339th Division.

Before long, all the remaining men were assigned to various departments. Ma Yuan was quite satisfied with this outcome—at least everyone he brought out was still alive.

In these turbulent times, simply staying alive was no small feat.