Sitting there, Wang Yao felt the true terror of war for the first time. Even though they hadn’t witnessed any massive battle scenes yet, those few shots just now were genuinely aimed right at his head. The mere thought of it made Wang Yao shiver uncontrollably.
“I don’t know how heavy the casualties are, but I do know that people will definitely die in war. Since we’re here, all we can rely on is luck!” one of their classmates, Xu Hui, spoke up.
“Yeah, since we’re here and the Allied forces have arrived, there’s no way we can hide from it. We just have to face it now!” another classmate, Jia Tuodian, chimed in.
“Just go to sleep. It’s fine. Wang Yao, don’t go outside anymore, it’s dangerous. If you want to smoke, just smoke in here. This place smells like everything anyway, a little smoke won’t make a difference!” Mo Qin told Wang Yao.
“Alright, I got it. You guys go to sleep, we still have things to do tomorrow!” Wang Yao nodded and replied to his classmates. Hearing this, the classmates dispersed and went back to their floor beds to rest.
Even though they couldn’t fall asleep right now, they had to at least close their eyes and rest. Otherwise, if fighting broke out tomorrow, as staff officers in the command center, they would have tasks assigned to them. If they messed up then, it would be a huge problem.
The Allied forces continued digging trenches, while Hu Hao’s artillery fired all night without a moment’s pause. The cannons were manned by rotating crews; the main purpose was to give the new recruits a chance to fire a few rounds and gain proficiency.
Back in Bopa City, the civilians could hear it too. With the frontline artillery booming all night, many civilians were packing their valuables, preparing to flee.
However, some civilians refused to run. They hoped the frontline troops could hold the line, especially the refugees who had already fled here. Some of them had run over a thousand kilometers; if they kept running, they didn’t know when it would ever end.
Many civilians in Bopa City had a sleepless night, just like the Allied forces on the opposite bank. As for Hu Hao, he slept incredibly soundly. He knew that the Allied forces couldn’t possibly attack his position tonight; any offensive would have to wait until tomorrow.
When Hu Hao woke up early the next morning, it was already close to six o’clock, and the bombardment was still ongoing. After getting up, Hu Hao headed straight to the command center.
“Hao-ge!” the artillery staff officers all called out when they saw him approach.
“Still firing?” Hu Hao asked.
“Hehe, we’ve been bombarding them all night. The Allied forces eventually started digging trenches. Hao-ge, come take a look!” the artillery staff officer said with a smile. Hu Hao walked over to the observation port.
Looking through the periscope, Hu Hao saw that on the opposite bank, the Allied forces were using communication trenches to transport troops to their side. Once those troops reached the front lines, they immediately began digging more trenches!
“Oh, their earthworks are pretty good!” Hu Hao remarked upon seeing this.
“Right now, we’re just bombarding their positions. Look, we’ve blown up quite a few of them. Without exaggerating, we definitely killed a few thousand Allied soldiers last night, excluding their artillery units—just their infantry!” the artillery staff officer said gleefully.
“Good, what time is it?” Hu Hao asked, still looking through the periscope.
“It’s already 6:25!” The artillery staff officer checked his watch and told Hu Hao.
“Order our artillery to cease fire, and let them get some good rest. There won’t be any fighting today; the Allied forces can’t attack! You guys go get some rest too!” Hu Hao instructed the artillery staff officer.
“Yes, sir!” The artillery staff officer nodded, then returned to the command center to contact the rear artillery units, ordering them to cease fire and rest.
Hu Hao observed for a while longer before returning to the command center, where he sat down, deep in thought.
An unknown amount of time passed. Xiao Quan and the others woke up, and the logistics unit from the rear delivered breakfast. Hu Hao ate his breakfast while staring blankly at a single spot. Xiao Quan knew he was definitely pondering something.
After a few minutes, Hu Hao spoke up. “You said the Allied forces over there consist of two corps. That means they definitely have more artillery units. The main artillery force of the Limaguo 7th Corps, which I dealt with earlier, is definitely still around. That means they probably have three artillery regiments left.
Last night, we wiped out the 11th Corps’ five artillery positions. That means they still have one artillery regiment left. So, in total, that’s four artillery regiments? Am I right?”
“Yeah, that’s likely the minimum number!” Xiao Quan nodded in agreement.
“Mm, there won’t be any fighting today. Motherfucker, they’re digging trenches. They dug all night and paid the price of a few thousand casualties to do it. So, they won’t attack today. The earliest they’ll move is tomorrow morning.
Chief of Staff, remember to remind our soldiers that fighting might start very early tomorrow morning, possibly even in the middle of the night. Have the rear logistics units prepare food early. Have our dry rations been distributed yet?” Hu Hao asked.
“They’ve been distributed, though you know the soldiers don’t like eating that stuff!” Xiao Quan nodded.
“Never mind whether they like it or not. When the time comes and they’re hungry, and the rear units can’t deliver food, they’ll have to eat it anyway!” Hu Hao nodded. He stood up, holding a steamed bun, and walked back to the observation port.
The Chief of Staff followed him, along with a few senior staff officers.
“Our opponent is smart. They knew that if we still had artillery, they would suffer heavy losses without communication trenches. Plus, since they couldn’t sleep last night anyway, they decided to just dig trenches. They’ve definitely postponed the date of their attack!” Hu Hao said to the staff officers, looking into the distance.
“They aren’t attacking this morning?” one senior staff officer immediately asked.
“How could they attack? They’ve been exhausted all night, and our artillery kept them awake the whole time. They aren’t made of iron; how could they possibly mount an offensive? Motherfucker, this is tricky now. We have no way to deal with them during the day. We can’t just let them work right under our noses, can we?
“They’ll just lie in those trenches and rest—damn eyesore.” Hu Hao glared at the trenches ahead.
He imagined that when it got hot later, the Allied forces would stop working and just lie in the trenches.
It was frustrating to clearly see the enemy troops on the opposite bank but find it so difficult to actually kill them.
“Hao-ge, can’t we just use mortars? And our rocket launchers. We can just blast them!” a staff officer suggested, looking at Hu Hao.
“It would work, but the efficiency is too low. Besides, once we start fighting like that, they’ll counterattack, and we’ll take casualties too!” Hu Hao nodded and explained.
“Hao-ge, how can there be a war without casualties? If we hit them first right now, our morale will soar too!” Xiao Quan interjected.
“Mm, we’ll see. If there’s really no other way, we’ll do it like that. We have plenty of ammo anyway; we’ll blast them. But we still need to think of other methods. We can’t just let them be this arrogant!” Hu Hao said, staring at the opposite bank.
“Arrogant? Hao-ge, if the enemy commander heard you say that, he’d probably die of anger. We fired cannons all night last night. We’re the arrogant ones, alright?” Xiao Quan laughed.
“Haha, alright, let’s put that aside for now. You guys try to think of a way too. See what weapons we can use to efficiently take out their infantry. Once they’ve rested up, they might launch an attack in the middle of the night tonight. Right, Chief of Staff, remind our troops below!” Hu Hao told Xiao Quan.
“Hao-ge, what about heavy machine guns? The enemy positions are well within our heavy machine guns’ range!” a staff officer suggested.
“Are you joking? They’re hiding in trenches. What the hell are you going to hit?” Hu Hao immediately shook his head.
Meanwhile, Hu Hao’s mind was racing, trying to figure out how to wipe out those Allied infantry units. They were right in front of him; not devouring them felt like a disservice to himself.
“Alright, Hao-ge, stop overthinking it. If we can’t deal with them now, so be it. They’ll definitely attack eventually. Won’t it be the same if we just kill them when they charge?” Xiao Quan advised Hu Hao.
Hu Hao nodded. He turned around and walked back into the command center. As soon as he entered, he saw that Wang Yao and the others were also up, looking like they hadn’t slept well.
“What’s wrong with all of you? Didn’t sleep well?” Hu Hao asked with a smile.
“How could we sleep? The artillery fired all night; it was too loud to sleep!” one classmate complained.
“Oh, then go back to sleep for a bit. There’s nothing going on right now!” Hu Hao nodded and told them.
“We won’t go. Everyone else is up. It wouldn’t look good if just the few of us went back to sleep!” Mo Qin smiled.
“Mm, then busy yourselves with your own tasks. There won’t be anything going on today!” Hu Hao nodded.
He then sat down and stared at the map opposite him.
He was brainstorming. Xiao Quan knew he wasn’t willing to just let the Allied forces hang around right under his nose. He was trying to figure out a way to wipe them out, so Xiao Quan didn’t disturb him.
Instead, Xiao Quan went to make phone calls, contacting the various regiments to ensure they rested well during the day.
“Hao-ge, a batch of air conditioners is being delivered later!” Huan Xingtao shouted as he walked in from outside.
“Oh, good. Distribute them to the brothers and let them install them themselves. I reckon most of them know how by now!” Hu Hao told Huan Xingtao.
“Aye, alright. By the way, Hao-ge, did we score any advantages last night?” Huan Xingtao asked.
“Of course we did. Could I ever suffer a loss in battle?” Hu Hao smiled.
“Got it! I knew it. I’m going back to tell the brothers!” Hearing Hu Hao say this, Huan Xingtao responded happily and turned to leave.
“Hey, hey, hey, come back here!” Hu Hao immediately called out, stopping him.
(End of Chapter)