Hu Hao didn’t know that the news of his potential investigation had caused a massive uproar after it leaked. The immediate reaction of the officers from Tianyu Province was a resounding “No.” They could not let Hu Hao leave.
Their hometowns were all in Tianyu Province. Given the Empire’s current situation, they had no idea when they would ever be able to fight their way back home. What terrified them even more was the prospect of serving under those young master generals, which would surely get them killed for nothing.
They weren’t afraid of war, nor were they afraid of dying on the battlefield. They were only afraid of dying a meaningless death, unable to even avenge their families. Therefore, the moment the news broke, the junior officers were thrown into turmoil.
“Hao-ge, Hao-ge!” Hu Hao was reviewing intelligence in the command center when the commanders of the 2nd Regiment, 3rd Regiment, Armored Regiment, and Artillery Regiment all marched in.
“Why are you all here?” Seeing the regimental commanders arrive, Hu Hao immediately stood up. Xiao Quan was also surprised and looked over.
“Hao-ge, Ye Zifeng doesn’t have time right now, but he said we represent him too!” Wu Kexiao, Commander of the 2nd Regiment, said as he walked up to Hu Hao.
“Represent him for what? What are you all doing?” Hu Hao asked, looking at them in confusion.
“Hao-ge, we heard the High Command wants to punish you for privately conscripting troops. Is that true?” Lu Guangsheng, Commander of the 3rd Regiment, asked as he stood there.
“How did you find out about this? Who leaked the news?” Hu Hao stood there, glaring at the staff officers in the command center.
Seeing Hu Hao’s glare, the staff officers immediately turned their backs.
“Damn it, things that happen in my command center leak out just like that?” Hu Hao asked, still staring at the staff officers.
“Hao-ge, don’t blame them. None of our veteran brothers want you to leave. Hao-ge, you have to think this through carefully!” Weng Tao, Commander of the Artillery Regiment, said.
“Think what through?” Hu Hao asked, puzzled.
“We can’t let the High Command take you away. Whoever dares to come, I’ll kill them!” Wu Kexiao was the first to answer.
“Listen to yourselves, you are regimental commanders! If you do something like that, you’ll be shot!” Hu Hao looked at them, taken aback.
“Who cares?! The five of us regimental commanders are all alone in the world now. For the sake of the Empire, we lost our homes. Now they want to take you away? We will never allow it. If they have the guts, they can shoot us. If they don’t shoot us, we’ll kill them!” Wu Kexiao declared.
“Are you all crazy? I made a mistake, and you expect me to let you take the fall for it?” Hu Hao stood there, deeply moved in his heart, but he couldn’t let them bear the consequences.
“Nothing to be afraid of, Hao-ge. As long as you lead us to fight the Allied forces, that’s enough. The brothers all know you won’t screw us over, and you’re incredible at commanding battles. We’re following you. Following those Empire generals is just asking for death, and we wouldn’t even have a grave to be buried in. Hao-ge, we’ve thought it over. We don’t give a damn about them. We’re going to fight right here. If the High Command wants to arrest someone, they’ll have to get past us first!” Lu Guangsheng, Commander of the 3rd Regiment, said with firm resolve.
“You guys… what am I supposed to say to you? Ah? If I don’t act as Division Commander anymore, are you all going to quit being regimental commanders too?” Hu Hao asked.
“We’ll quit! What’s the point of being commanders? We’d just die meaningless deaths on the battlefield anyway. I still want to kill the enemy and avenge my family!” Wu Kexiao stated.
“Your families?” Hu Hao asked, looking at them.
“We don’t even know if they’re dead or alive. It’s the same for all of us. Old Xiao, say something! You can’t find your family either. You’re the Deputy Division Commander, are you really just going to watch the High Command take Hao-ge away?” Wu Kexiao said, directing his words at Xiao Quan.
“When did I ever just watch Hao-ge get taken away?” Xiao Quan asked, looking at them in shock.
“I heard you were advising Hao-ge, saying he shouldn’t have conscripted troops. Without conscripting troops, the brothers would have died long ago! Do you think you’d still be standing here talking? Do you have any brains?!” Artillery Regiment Commander Weng Tao cursed at Xiao Quan. They were originally regimental commanders of the 87th Division, and Xiao Quan had been nominated as Deputy Division Commander by Hu Hao.
“I was just talking! I was just anxious, wasn’t I?” Xiao Quan quickly defended himself.
“Then tell us, what should we do?” Wu Kexiao asked.
“What else can we do? Motherfucker, I never expected to become a General anyway. As long as we can fight our way back, that’s enough. Following those Empire generals… I reckon it would be hard even in five or ten years!” Xiao Quan said, looking at them.
“Deal! Hao-ge, the brothers have spoken. We’re following you. If you leave, take us with you. We’ll do whatever you say. But you can’t just abandon the brothers and run off on your own. As for the people from High Command, don’t worry—we’ll send men to kill them!” Wu Kexiao told Hu Hao.
“Could you guys keep your voices down? Is this really something you should be shouting about in here?” Hu Hao looked at them helplessly.
“Who cares?! The staff officers here are all brothers from Tianyu Province. Hao-ge, we follow you because you’re loyal. You don’t screw over your brothers, and you lead us to victory against the Allied forces. We don’t know when we’ll be able to fight our way back home, but as long as we keep killing the Allied forces, that day will eventually come. Those useless fools in the High Command—what do they know besides fighting for power and profit?” Armored Regiment Commander Bai Ye said to Hu Hao.
“Exactly, all we need to do is win battles. Becoming a General? Never thought about it, wouldn’t dare to, and it’s meaningless anyway. Why would I want to be a General when I don’t even know where my wife and kids are?!” Weng Tao nodded and added.
“Hao-ge, just lead us. You can’t run away. The brothers don’t care about status or rank; we only care about following you to win battles!” At this moment, a senior staff officer also chimed in.
“That’s right, Hao-ge! To hell with the High Command and Headquarters! This is our turf. They want to arrest you? Fine, let them send a massive army. If they dare send them, I dare to kill them!” Wu Kexiao declared.
“Right, if they dare send them, we dare to kill them. I only care about one thing: whoever tries to stop us from following you to kill the Allied forces, we’ll kill them!” Lu Guangsheng agreed.
“We’re facing a massive enemy threat, why are you talking about this now? Let the High Command people come. When they get here, I’ll just kill them myself. Then I’ll run away, and once things settle down, I’ll just come back and enlist as a soldier under your command. Why make it so complicated?” Hu Hao told the officers.
“That’s not how it works, Hao-ge. You can’t be the one to do it; leave it to us. If you do it, they’ll have an excuse and leverage against you. If we do it… as soon as they arrive, we’ll arrange for some soldiers to snipe them from the shadows. Other units have done this kind of thing before, but we haven’t tried it yet!” Weng Tao suggested.
“Right, you can’t do this. If you do, you’ll offend them beyond repair, leaving no room to maneuver. Let us handle it!” Xiao Quan nodded in agreement.
Hu Hao looked at Xiao Quan in utter surprise; he was the one who had opposed the conscription just a while ago.
“Hao-ge, I’m from Tianyu Province too, and I want to go back. For them to move against you when the Empire’s defensive lines haven’t even stabilized yet… honestly, it chills the brothers’ hearts. Plus, I reckon the Allied forces will probably push even further into our country soon. Also, we don’t even know what the situation is like in the other sectors!” Xiao Quan explained.
“Ha, the other sectors? Let me tell you. The Headquarters Chief of Staff personally told me this a few days ago. The west, east, southeast, and our southwest—total defeat across the board. Our nation has lost around thirty provinces. We’ve already lost half our territory!” Hu Hao chuckled bitterly, pulling out cigarettes and tossing them to the men.
“What?!” The officers were stunned, staring wide-eyed at Hu Hao.
“It’s true. The news is currently locked down, but Headquarters definitely knows. The Chief of Staff told me himself! When I first heard it, I reacted pretty much the same way you did!” Hu Hao confirmed.
“Motherfucker, it’s gotten this bad, and the High Command still has the nerve to come arrest you?! Hao-ge, are they sick in the head?! We finally get someone who actually knows how to fight, and they won’t even spare him! Will they only be satisfied when the Empire is completely destroyed?!” Wu Kexiao cursed.
“I don’t know either. You all know about the conscription. Without those troops we gathered, without the weapons and ammo we brought back from the enemy base across the river, we probably would have been wiped out in the battle from last night into this morning. But who among them considers that? All they care about is that I violated Imperial law, so I must be severely punished!” Hu Hao said with a bitter smile.
“Hao-ge, you aren’t a rigid rule-follower. Do you have any ideas?” Wu Kexiao asked, prompting everyone else to immediately lock their eyes on Hu Hao.
“Ideas about what?” Hu Hao played dumb.
“Lead us to fight our way back! To hell with the High Command! Let them issue their orders, and we’ll fight our battles. We won’t give a damn about them!” Wu Kexiao urged.
“Exactly, Hao-ge! Why give a damn about them? If we listen to them, we’ll just die faster!” Weng Tao agreed.
“Wait… you guys! You all…!” Hu Hao was genuinely surprised. Coming from Earth, he had no real sense of belonging to this Empire, which was why he dared to think such thoughts and take such actions. But it seemed the men in front of him possessed just as much nerve as he did, if not more, considering they were bold enough to say it out loud.
(End of Chapter)