The F Nation's great army, an hour later, arrived at the Huaxia border.
"Hm? Why don't I see Huaxia's defending troops?" The F Nation commander was baffled.
As they marched into Huaxia territory, they immediately noticed the clear traces of fierce battle left all around.
"They just fought the Three Nations, and the fact that they still haven't been beaten down is already a miracle. Looks like they no longer have the strength to continue fighting us." The commander judged.
"Speaking of which, how did they even manage it? Defending against H Nation and the Island Nation's attack at the same time, then repelling the M Army afterward—that's simply unbelievable!"
Another general said, "Chatham, Huaxia's military has never once suffered defeat. Just as we discussed before the war with M Army's commander, Pete—if Huaxia truly has the blessing of their National Soul, then that is indeed something terrifying."
"I have to admit, they are an extraordinary people."
Chatham sneered, "An extraordinary people? Leno, you really think highly of them. In my eyes, the reason Huaxia has dragged things out until now is because the other nations are all scheming, each unwilling to consume too much of their own strength.
"Regional flags are secondary. Snatching the national flag is the true key. Pete and the others merely wanted to let Huaxia consume more of its strength, so they could swoop in and seize the Huaxia national flag for themselves in the end.
"Unfortunately, I won't give them that chance. Since we haven't met any resistance, this time we'll take advantage of Huaxia's weakness and seize their national flag directly!"
"Full army advance!"
After the army had moved forward two to three li, scouts quickly returned with a report.
"We've spotted the Huaxia regional flags—they're fleeing in both east and west directions!"
Chatham immediately ordered, and he and Leno split, each leading 1.8 million troops to pursue one flag.
When Chatham's army had advanced about five li more, they again saw the two regional flags fleeing in two different directions.
Chatham frowned tightly. "What's going on here? Are they deliberately trying to split up our forces?"
Scouts reported that the enemy numbers were small, only a few dozen people, and they seemed to all be wounded.
Just then, several more scouts reported the discovery of small Huaxia units fleeing in the forests, most of them filled with wounded.
Hearing this, Chatham finally let out a breath.
So Huaxia's situation was already dire—there weren't even many left to guard their regional flags, and the rest were broken remnants, just hiding and running.
Since Chatham didn't know the national flag's exact location, it was better to first capture some Huaxia soldiers and force them to reveal it.
Thinking this, Chatham immediately ordered teams to hunt down the small Huaxia squads, while the main force continued to pursue the regional flag bearers.
At this time, Zhang Xuan and the others were hiding in the dark, observing Chatham's army.
"The enemy took the bait!" a soldier beside him said.
Zhang Xuan nodded. "Good. Quickly wipe out the small enemy squads, and keep luring them into splitting their forces!"
Chatham didn't know that the moment he stepped into Huaxia territory, it was as if one foot had already sunk into a swamp.
The dozen-plus detached hundred-man units he sent out vanished without a trace, like oxen sinking into the sea!
Meanwhile, Huaxia's small squads fully used the strategy of "retreat when the enemy advances, advance when the enemy retreats," never engaging Chatham's main army, but the scattered units he dispatched all disappeared mysteriously.
Even F Nation's scout teams kept getting wiped out, one after another.
Scouts were the army's eyes. When several teams vanished and lost contact, it was like blinding the F Army completely!
"Damn it, what are these guys doing!" Chatham roared. His head was full of strategies, but against this kind of situation, it was like punching into cotton—completely powerless.
The scout teams must have been wiped out by Huaxia, yet Chatham had no choice but to send out more to feel out the terrain, locate the regional flag bearers, and search for the Huaxia national flag.
But almost none of these detachments ever returned!
"Despicable curs!" Chatham's chest burned with fury, with nowhere to vent it.
Even if he gave up the regional flags, he couldn't just lead more than a million troops blindly groping around for the national flag's location.
At this rate, even a day of searching might not find it.
The more he thought, the more furious he became, yet he still couldn't think of a way to break the stalemate.
"Damn it, you're trying to play tricks on me? I, Chatham, will seize your national flag no matter what! I swear I'll do it!"
"Begin a full sweep of Huaxia territory!"
Then a scout brought back exciting news—inside a northeastern fortification, thousands of defenders and the Huaxia national flag had been found.
But when Chatham led his army over mountains and ridges to get there, he discovered the defenders had retreated, and the red flag was fake.
Chatham grabbed the false red flag in his hand, then slammed it on the ground in rage, roaring, "Huaxia people, just you wait!"
On Huaxia's side, by luring the enemy deep and using small squads as bait, they had already annihilated several thousand F Nation troops!
Most importantly, the guerrilla warfare slowed the enemy's pace drastically, leaving them dizzy, at a loss whether to advance or retreat.
"The war zone is too small. If they keep searching, they'll find the national flag sooner or later." Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
"But the longer we drag things out, the better for us! If their homeland is attacked, they may even retreat outright!" Zhang Xuan immediately ordered to increase squad activity, strengthen interference against the F Army, and closely watch their scouts, delaying them from discovering the Huaxia national flag.
At the same time, Zhang Xuan and Wang Xusheng prepared for the worst.
If F Nation never retreated, they would eventually find the national flag. Then Huaxia's army would have no choice but to fight to the death with their backs to the wall.
Another benefit of guerrilla war was that it bought most troops more rest time.
With the accelerated recovery within Huaxia's territory, their strength was gradually being restored.
While waging guerrilla war, Huaxia also made full preparations for a decisive battle against the F Army.
After holding out for a day, Chatham and Leno's armies finally reunited.
But Leno's side hadn't fared better—repeatedly harassed by guerrillas, they too had lost thousands of men in vain!
As night fell, the F Army didn't dare move again, instead camping where they were, waiting to march in daylight.
What they didn't know was that they were now only five kilometers from the Huaxia national flag!
...…
Jiang Kai had taken a shortcut, not directly through Zone 18. Sprinting nonstop, he finally reached the outskirts of Zone 8.
"Not even patrol soldiers here?" Jiang Kai looked at the long stone wall—no one on patrol.
Through this long forced march, Jiang Kai had ignored all beasts, even skipping fights with Night Patrols, focused only on returning to Huaxia City.
But the cost was huge—his stamina was drained.
As he was about to rest, he suddenly noticed a barracks not far away, with several white-striped tiger mounts tied there.
He rushed over, untied one, and tried to ride it.
The white-striped tiger resisted fiercely, refusing to move, even turning its head to bite him.
Jiang Kai immediately drew a Chasing Life dart and hurled it at the city wall.
Boom! That section of wall exploded into a huge hole.
Retrieving the dart, Jiang Kai looked at the tiger. "See that? Last time a wall refused to let me ride, it ended up like that. If you don't behave, you'll meet the same fate."
The tiger looked at the ruins of the wall, silent for a long time.
"Relax, I promise I'll bring you back. If I break my word, I'll make you dinner!"
The tiger thought for a while, finally yielding, and carried Jiang Kai racing toward Huaxia City.
"At this speed, we'll reach Huaxia City by tomorrow morning!"
At dawn the next day, the F Army packed up camp and continued searching for the Huaxia national flag.
Two days of guerrilla harassment had slowed them badly. When they were still about two kilometers from the flag, someone suddenly pointed at a towering banner ahead and shouted,
"The Huaxia national flag!"
But others just glanced and didn't care much.
On this march, they had already seen dozens of such banners—surely another fake.
Yet when they saw waves of Huaxia soldiers pouring out from in front of that red flag, Chatham instantly ordered the army to halt.
Facing them were more than three million Huaxia warriors. Many were maimed, almost all wore shattered armor, bodies bound with bandages.
This was an army that had endured three bloody life-or-death battles. They had survived, but their flesh had paid dearly.
One day was far from enough to fully recover.
Yet every gaze here burned with the same unshakable resolve.
Seeing this, Chatham and Leno exchanged a smile.
"So, they're all wounded. Seems you Huaxia really risked your lives to guard the national flag." Chatham sneered. "But too bad—this is the battlefield. On the battlefield, we do not pity the weak!
"I hear your Huaxia army doesn't even have a National Soul? Do you know what a National Soul is? It's what we F Nation forged together through the will of our people—it's belief, the support of a country! Too bad, Huaxia, you don't have it!
"A nation without a National Soul, no matter how hard you struggle, is nothing but a pile of scattered sand!
"Alright then, the game ends here.
"Soldiers of F Nation, these fools' guerrilla tricks made us suffer plenty. Now it's time to settle accounts with them!
"Armies, hear the order! Today, we wipe out Huaxia and seize their national flag!"
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