[b]The Lady of War, Philippines' Ally, Part Three[/b]

Another gap in the moonsoon rains, another advance for her troops, this time towards Quảng Bình. The province was falling to her troops after a prefunctory fight put up by the enemy, which was fast dissolving into scattered bands of men. But Đồng Hới, the capital, was held by a would-be warlord who had re-established order at the last minute, meaning that there would have to be a siege. It was also where the planes that had destroyed Vinh had launched from; that air wing had been reduced to a few surviving vessels, but Lady Trung still felt a burning anger towards the current holders of the city even as she led several platoons of her troops towards the air base's airstrip.

[i]It would not do to sack [b]any city[/b], even so,[/i] she thought before she and her troops burst out of the overgrown shrubbery, firing their Mosin-Nagants and Federov Avtomats - another Russian model of semi-automatic rifle - while being covered by Molotov Cocktail throwers. A few guards who had been unlucky were blasted instantly, their ruined bodies hitting the ground even as Lady Trung used the very planes that had destroyed her hometown as cover for her charge. Her objectives: The control tower and the air base's facilities themselves. Gritting her teeth even as resistance stiffened, Lady Trung plowed on, Mosin-Nagant in hand.

A crude rocket hit the control tower's windows and ignited the room beyond; Lady Trung suspected that there were snipers stationed in the small spire that could have given her troops a harder time, maybe even killed her. She kept on running forwards, stopping only to fire at what guards were left, before getting close enough to the air base to throw an fragmentation grenade inside. As it exploded, she could hear screaming, and the sounds of surrendering people. Part of her thought: [i]They dare to surrender now? What cowards! Perhaps it would be best to -[/i] She stopped herself from that train of thought and instead shouted: "Come out with your hands up and surrender to the Vietnamese Restoration League!"

These orders were obeyed, but Lady Trung was mildly disappointed that not one of the soldiers, officers, and personnel who trooped out in humiliation pulled a gun out of a hidden pocket and tried to kill her; that just went to show how cowardly the enemy was, right?

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As the day drew on, Lady Trung was advised to stay inside the airbase as the monsoon rains picked up again, and her men and women had to shield their guns with canvas covers. Said covers were another gift from Priscilla and now, Archibald, whom she had been content to hear was Priscilla's chosen successor. These covers, when combined with raincoats of thick rubberized cotton, allowed her troops to keep fighting in rough weather.

Not that she was allowed to do so by her own troops; as her successes grew, so did her value as a talismanic presence. And a talisman was better shown to the troops than sent out in battle. If not for the military logic of this development, the 34-year old would have objected to being held back.

However, she would just content herself with reading Lady Le's reports; her deputy had managed to establish communes, municipal councils, and most importantly, the mobile courts that Priscilline Conciliarism depended on for the distribution of impartial justice. This ensured that even [i]if[/i] she died, the northern parts of Vietnam would be prosperous and well-defended for a long time.

Even so, as the rains intensified, Lady Trung felt as though something ominous was coming...