In the forty-seventh year of the Wanli reign, the Liaodong army is about to set out on campaign. Shen Yan, a modern logistics dispatcher, wakes up as a poor scholar who copies ledgers for others at a grain depot.
He remembers Sarhu. He remembers that several Ming armies will be wiped out one after another. But he can't remember the date of the defeat, doesn't recognize the land around him, and has no authority to change a single military order.
A bag of damp grain drags him into a dispute before the army's departure. The soldiers are waiting for food, the carters for their pay, and the officers to get the job done. He hopes to use the history he knows to find a way to survive, but in the course of one task after another, he forms ties he can't shake with an old soldier, a woman who owns a caravan, craftsmen, and a guide.
When news of defeat travels through the valleys and grain carts block the road of retreat, the people who were arguing over money just the day before now entrust their lives to one another. The warning Shen Yan sends fails to save the main force, and the plan he thought would cover every angle also means a young man never comes back.
And after Sarhu, the fires of war in Liaodong keep drawing closer. Those who escape with their lives must still face hunger, punishment, and separation. When the army lines collapse again, whom should he save first, and how many people can he lead to safety?
*He knows where history is headed, but he doesn't know whether he can survive the journey.*
