Hu Hao was stunned by the audacity of the men in front of him. He never expected his subordinates to harbor such thoughts.
“Hao-ge, we’re actually very simple. Our goal is extremely simple—we just want to fight our way back home as quickly as possible. Even if we can’t make it all the way back, considering how many countries are attacking us, the least we can do is launch a counter-offensive. We’ve already lost so much territory. And now, the High Command wants to destroy you? Aren’t they just forcing the brothers to say ‘fuck ’em’? Anyway, Hao-ge, you can’t leave. If you leave, you have to take us with you!” Wu Kexiao said, looking at Hu Hao.
“Hao-ge, let me ask you something. Do you want to be a General?” Xiao Quan stood there, looking at Hu Hao seriously. Hearing this, Hu Hao looked back at him, feeling a bit puzzled.
“Why do you ask?” Hu Hao countered.
“Hao-ge, never mind why I’m asking. I just want to know: do you want to be a General? Tell me!” Xiao Quan pressed.
“If I wanted to be a General, I wouldn’t have done any of this. All I’d have to do is stay by Jiang Kai’s side and help him strategize. Why would I come to the front lines and risk my life? A General? Hmph, I truly don’t care. It’s nothing special anyway!” Hu Hao chuckled, his tone dripping with disdain.
Truthfully, Hu Hao placed no value on the title of General. In fact, he found war itself to be utterly meaningless. But he had to fight. He couldn’t just sit back and let the Allied forces continuously slaughter the civilians of the Eastern Spirit Empire, could he? After all, his current body lived in the Eastern Spirit Empire.
“Then Hao-ge, let’s take control of those factories in Late City! Motherfucker, if you don’t care anymore, let’s do it. When you mentioned taking control of that place before, I said no because I was considering your potential promotion to General. But since you don’t care, what is there to fear? We’ll just seize it directly.
“Also, regarding the private conscription… I firmly believe that none of our brothers here would snitch. No one here would report this. I reckon it has to do with Mu Zhifu from the Central Combat Zone!” Xiao Quan said with utmost seriousness.
“Wait, the snitch… was Central Combat Zone Commander Mu Zhifu?” Weng Tao stood there, looking at Xiao Quan in shock.
“Nonsense, we’re fighting a war right now. For the High Command to find out so quickly, do you think someone without immense power could have escalated it to them that fast? Who else could it be but Mu Zhifu? The territory we’re on belongs to him. Hao-ge beat up his youngest son just to get us free electricity. Do you think Mu Zhifu wouldn’t investigate?” Xiao Quan explained.
“Motherfucker, let’s kill him! Hao-ge, I’ll send a few men to the Central Combat Zone. Once they find an opening, we’ll take him out!” Wu Kexiao immediately said, blazing with anger.
“Right, send more! Pick our veteran brothers and infiltrate the Central Combat Zone. The moment there’s an opportunity, we kill him. Motherfucker, actually daring to snitch on us!” Bai Ye chimed in, equally furious.
“Alright, alright, hold on. Let me calm down for a second. You guys… you really took me by surprise!” Hearing them curse, Hu Hao immediately cut in.
He hadn’t even figured out his next steps yet, but they had already planned everything out for him. How could Hu Hao not be shocked? Right now, he needed to calm down and think things through carefully.
“Hao-ge, what’s there to think about? If the High Command sends people, we kill them. Whoever dares to come, we kill them. Even if Jiang Kai brings men here personally, we’ll kill him too. Hao-ge, you don’t need to lift a finger for this; we’ll handle it!” Wu Kexiao declared.
“Right, Hao-ge, we’ll handle it. You don’t need to know anything about this!” Xiao Quan nodded in agreement.
“Alright, wait a second. Let me think!” Hu Hao said, sitting down to consider his options.
“Hao-ge, what are you worried about? Li Jingsong? Or the officers who aren’t from Tianyu Province? It doesn’t matter. Let Li Jingsong take those people away. We’ll take the brothers from Tianyu Province and the refugee troops. I’m certain they’ll follow us.
“Or better yet, let Li Jingsong take those men and leave, and we’ll just stay here and hold the line. It’s not like the troops from our Combat Zone would dare attack us while we’re actively fighting the Allied forces, right?” Xiao Quan reasoned.
“Sigh!” Hearing this, Hu Hao let out a heavy sigh. He felt the weight of his responsibilities grow even heavier. Initially, he just wanted to command the troops in battle and keep these veteran brothers alive.
He never expected that before he even considered striking out on his own, they would suggest it first. If they truly went down this path, Hu Hao would have to seriously consider the lives and futures of these veteran brothers.
They couldn’t fight the Allied forces on the front while being attacked by the Empire’s army from the rear. Facing enemies on both sides with such a small force, they definitely wouldn’t be able to hold out. Plus, without air support, they would be at an even greater disadvantage!
Even though Late City had an aircraft manufacturing plant, what use was it without pilots? Hu Hao sat there, deep in thought. The regimental commanders stood around him, their eyes fixed on him, hoping he would give them the answer they desired.
“Alright, I promise you. If the High Command truly pursues this matter, I will lead you all to fight. And we will absolutely fight our way back to Tianyu Province! I don’t know how long it will take, but I will definitely lead you back!” Hu Hao declared from his seat.
“Excellent! Then it’s settled!” Xiao Quan replied joyfully.
“Right, that’s exactly how it should be! Motherfucker, what do we have to fear from them? Our Eastern Spirit Empire is such a powerful nation, yet we’re being bullied by all these other countries. They say we have allied nations, but God knows where their troops are! They just sit back and watch our civilians get slaughtered without lifting a finger. Motherfucker, who gives a damn about them?!” Wu Kexiao and the others laughed in agreement.
“Alright, enough about that. Right now, we’re facing an Allied offensive. The Allied forces have sent another corps—the Kabuguo 21st Corps. It’s a full-strength unit, likely fresh off the boats.
“According to our intelligence, the 21st Corps probably won’t arrive until the latter half of the night. That means there won’t be any fighting tonight; everyone can rest easy.
“However, tomorrow night, the Allied forces will absolutely launch an attack. The Mara Empire’s 11th Corps and the Limaguo 7th Corps will definitely assist in the assault. They still have artillery, and they still have quite a bit of infantry.
“Therefore, tomorrow night is the critical moment. I expect the Allied forces will commit an entire corps in one go, hoping to shatter our positions in a single strike. The Allied forces are under pressure right now too. In this scorching heat, they definitely have non-combat casualties. If this drags on, they won’t be able to stand it either.
“Tomorrow night will determine our victory or defeat. Either our positions are breached, or we fight our way back!” Hu Hao said, looking at the regimental commanders.
“Hao-ge, we know you held back a trump card. Hehe, the artillery hasn’t even moved yet!” Bai Ye laughed.
“Of course! Hao-ge, when the time comes to counterattack, just give the word, and we’ll bombard them. We’ll wipe out their attacking forces,” Weng Tao added with a grin.
“Mm, I’m counting entirely on your artillery for this strike, which is why I haven’t deployed you yet!” Hu Hao smiled and pointed at Weng Tao. The others burst into laughter.
“However, there is one thing. When you regimental commanders return, I want you to instruct your battalion commanders: when I prepare to launch the counter-offensive, I will notify you. When the Allied forces start building their pontoon bridges, tell your battalion commanders not to blow them up. Let them cross. Once they’ve built enough pontoon bridges across the river, that is when we will begin our counter-offensive. Remember that!” Hu Hao instructed.
“Hao-ge, you want to use the Allied pontoon bridges for our counter-offensive?” Xiao Quan asked.
“What do you think? How else are we supposed to cross without bridges? Do you know how long it would take us to build our own? By the time we finished, the Allied forces would have run away long ago!” Hu Hao laughed.
“Right, right! Once they finish the bridges, we counterattack!” The other commanders nodded and chuckled.
“There’s nothing else to go over. The soldiers on the positions now can all be considered veterans. They know how to fight. As long as our ammunition is plentiful and we promptly plug any gaps that appear, there won’t be any problems!” Hu Hao told them.
“Alright, Hao-ge, we’ll head back for now. Xiao Quan, remember: if the High Command people arrive, notify us in advance!” Wu Kexiao said to Xiao Quan.
“Got it!” Xiao Quan nodded. Soon, Wu Kexiao and the others left. Hu Hao walked over to the observation port with a sigh, and Xiao Quan followed.
“Hao-ge!” Xiao Quan called out. Just a month ago, he had been Hu Hao’s regimental commander. Now, he was completely won over by Hu Hao. Calling him ‘Hao-ge’ didn’t feel the least bit awkward.
“I truly didn’t expect the brothers to support me this much!” Hu Hao said.
“Hao-ge, the brothers supporting you is also supporting themselves. We don’t want to suffer a muddled defeat like this. Leaving aside everything else, if you replaced yourself with any other General for this battle and gave them a full corps, there’s no way they could achieve these results.
We’re facing an attack from three Allied corps! Yet the High Command doesn’t consider the actual reality on the ground at all and just talks about taking you away. How is that acceptable?
If they just investigated you here and let your merits offset your faults, none of the brothers would say a word; we’d consider the High Command somewhat reasonable. But you know better than anyone what the actual situation is!” Xiao Quan said from behind him. Hu Hao nodded in agreement.
(End of Chapter)