Hakes and the others stood there, observing the front lines. The offensive was progressing extremely well. Despite the high casualties, they firmly believed they would definitely break through the defensive line on the opposite bank tonight. Once their troops pushed across, it would be incredibly difficult for the Eastern Spirit forces to stop them.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
“Rat-a-tat-tat!”
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The battle on the defensive positions continued to rage. The Eastern Spirit soldiers were still fighting tenaciously.
“Ammo! Bring up the ammo!” a Platoon Leader roared while reloading his weapon. Soldiers immediately rushed into the air-raid shelters to retrieve more ammunition. By this point, the trenches were littered with the bodies of fallen Eastern Spirit soldiers.
But the surviving soldiers couldn’t afford to pay them any mind. They knew that in a few moments, they might end up exactly like them, lying lifeless in the dirt.
“Fire! Brothers, just hold on! Hao-ge will definitely avenge us!” Wu Kexiao shouted loudly, crouching in the trench to swap out the magazine of his rifle.
“Regimental Commander, can we hold off the Allied forces?!” a soldier yelled.
“We can! I’m telling you, tonight, the Allied forces are the ones who are going to die! The ones who will be completely annihilated are the Allied forces! Brothers, hold the line!” After shouting, Wu Kexiao raised his rifle, pressed himself against the trench wall, and resumed firing.
“Good! Kill them all!” The soldiers roared in response.
Meanwhile, Hu Hao stood at the observation port, watching the Allied forces constructing their pontoon bridges. Some of the bridges were already halfway across the river. However, the resistance from Hu Hao’s side had indeed weakened; their casualties were simply too high.
Hu Hao estimated that the Allied pontoon bridges would be complete in half an hour at most. He immediately turned and walked deeper into the command center.
“Get Li Jingsong on the line!” Hu Hao ordered.
“Yes, sir!” Upon hearing Hu Hao’s command, a staff officer immediately began dialing Li Jingsong’s number.
“Hao-ge, the call is connected!” A moment later, the staff officer brought the phone to Hu Hao. At that moment, every staff officer in the command center stood still, their eyes fixed entirely on Hu Hao.
“This is Hu Hao. I order you to mobilize your troops to Santong County immediately! I want you to cut off the Allied forces’ retreat route behind Santong County! Tonight, I am going to swallow these three Allied corps whole! If you let a single Allied unit escape, I’ll shoot you myself!” Hu Hao roared into the phone.
“Yes, sir! Mobilize troops immediately! Destination: behind Santong County! Cut off the Allied retreat route! Not a single one will escape!” Li Jingsong immediately repeated Hu Hao’s orders.
“Once you reach the area, begin your assault toward Santong County! Eliminate the Allied artillery first. Find their artillery positions! Our artillery staff officers will transmit their coordinates to you shortly. You must destroy the Allied artillery positions at the very first opportunity, then begin your assault! I will launch my assault from this side at the same time!” Hu Hao instructed, his tone resolute.
“Yes, sir! Eliminate the Allied artillery positions first, then begin the assault!” Li Jingsong confirmed.
“That’s it!” Hu Hao hung up and immediately handed the phone back to the staff officer. “Get Artillery Regiment Commander Weng Tao on the line!”
“Yes, sir!” The staff officer quickly dialed Weng Tao’s number. As soon as it connected, he handed the phone to Hu Hao.
“This is Hu Hao. I order you to prepare all necessary ammunition immediately! Be ready to commence bombardment the moment I give the order! Your bombardment targets will begin from the river surface and extend all the way to Santong County!
“Without my orders, the artillery is not allowed to stop! Whether we succeed or fail depends entirely on your artillery’s performance! Ignore any Allied counter-battery fire! Even if their shells are flying straight toward your air-raid shelters, I want you to keep firing! Do you understand?!” Hu Hao commanded.
“Understood! We will commence firing the moment we receive the order! The bombardment will begin from the river surface and extend to Santong County!” Weng Tao shouted back.
“Good. Await my orders!” Hu Hao said, then hung up the phone.
“Transmit the coordinates of the Allied artillery positions to Li Jingsong!” Hu Hao ordered.
“Yes, sir!” the artillery staff officer replied immediately.
…
“Mount up! Everyone mount up, hurry!”
“Mount up! Mount up! Destination: behind Santong County!”
“Brothers, mount up!”
Meanwhile, deep within a forest, Li Jingsong’s 1st Regiment and Bo Gang’s tank unit were springing into action. Officers shouted commands as soldiers rapidly scrambled into their vehicles and manned their stations.
“Report: Tank Company 1 is ready!”
“Report: Tank Company 2 is ready!”
“Report: Armored Infantry Battalion 1 is ready!”
“Report: Armored Infantry Battalion 2 is ready!”
“Move out!”
“Move out!”
“Move out!”
The orders relayed from Li Jingsong to Ye Zifeng and Bo Gang, who immediately issued the command to advance. The tanks surged forward from their hiding spots, smashing through the trees in front of them as they drove straight ahead.
The infantry fighting vehicles followed closely behind the tanks, pouring out of the forest. This was the advantage of the Eastern Spirit Empire’s terrain—most of it was plains. As long as their direction was correct, they couldn’t get lost. The ambush force led by Li Jingsong marched formidably toward Santong County.
…
“Hurry! Bring out the artillery shells! Attach the fuzes! Get the explosives ready too, hurry up!”
“Bring out the ammo! Adjust parameters! Target: the river surface!”
The artillery positions also burst into frenzied activity.
The soldiers began carrying the artillery shells hidden inside the air-raid shelters out into the open.
Hu Hao returned to the observation port, his gaze cold and stern as he observed the situation on the river. His forces had suffered massive casualties, but so had the Allied forces. Both sides were fighting with everything they had. However, despite their desperate efforts, Hu Hao’s remaining troop strength was dwindling rapidly. In this head-to-head clash, Hu Hao was at a disadvantage.
“Hao-ge, call from Wu Kexiao!” Xiao Quan walked over and handed him the phone.
“Hao-ge, our regiment doesn’t have many men left! When do we counterattack?!” Wu Kexiao yelled over the phone.
“We counterattack the moment they finish building the pontoon bridges!” Hu Hao replied calmly.
“Yes… Hao-ge! Can we… can we win?” Wu Kexiao’s confidence was wavering. The immense casualties forced him to ask.
“We must win!” Hu Hao stated firmly.
“Yes! We must win!” Wu Kexiao replied. Hu Hao immediately hung up the phone and handed it back to Xiao Quan. Xiao Quan stood beside him, hesitating, as if wanting to say something but holding back.
“Speak your mind,” Hu Hao said, knowing he had something to say.
“Will this really work? We don’t have many infantrymen left!” Xiao Quan asked from behind him.
“It must work!” Hu Hao shot Xiao Quan a glance before turning his attention back to the opposite bank.
“Sigh, yes, sir!” Xiao Quan felt no confidence whatsoever. The casualties were simply too staggering—so massive that they almost didn’t dare accept the reality of it. Hu Hao felt the same.
Hu Hao knew perfectly well how severe the casualties were, but what choice did he have? If the Allied forces hadn’t finished building the pontoon bridges, Hu Hao couldn’t counterattack. If he counterattacked too early, Li Jingsong’s troops might end up surrounded.
Furthermore, if he didn’t counterattack and completely annihilate these Allied forces now, his own troops would inevitably be wiped out sooner or later. The meager forces he had on hand were already facing the combined assault of three enemy corps. Three corps meant 180,000 men!
Meanwhile, all of Hu Hao’s forces combined amounted to roughly 40,000. How could they possibly win without paying a catastrophic price in casualties?
…
Simultaneously, at Headquarters, Jiang Kai stood in the main command hall. The large display screen showed the live combat situation of Hu Hao’s defensive battle.
“It’s over. They can’t hold it,” Sun Qinxue said anxiously, standing nearby.
Jiang Kai stood with his hands behind his back, his heart filled with deep regret. He regretted not allowing Hu Hao to conscript more troops. If he had known Hu Hao’s forces could fight this well against so many Allied troops… The fact that the river was choked with Allied corpses proved one thing—
Tonight, Hu Hao’s troops hadn’t been outmatched in the defensive battle; they simply didn’t have enough men.
“Motherfucker!” Jiang Kai cursed in regret.
“Commander?” Sun Qinxue was startled by Jiang Kai’s sudden outburst.
“Tell me, if Hu Hao still had 20,000 troops right now, could the Allied forces break his positions?” Jiang Kai asked, his hands still clasped behind his back as he looked at Sun Qinxue.
“Impossible. Before the battle began, Hu Hao had around 20,000 troops. According to the footage from our reconnaissance drones, the battle has been raging for over three hours. If Hu Hao still had 20,000 men, the Allied forces would be retreating by now.
“For them to break Hu Hao’s positions tonight without suffering 50,000 to 60,000 casualties is impossible. In fact, even if they were willing to suffer that many casualties, it would still be impossible!” Sun Qinxue stated firmly.
“Sigh! I really should have agreed to let Hu Hao expand his forces today. Bopa City behind him has plenty of refugees, many of whom are discharged veterans. As long as we gave them weapons, with those veterans, Hu Hao could have unleashed immense combat effectiveness. What a pity. What a damn pity! Sigh!” Jiang Kai was consumed by regret, lamenting his decision to restrict Hu Hao with standard regulations.
“What’s the point of saying this now? Look, the Allied forces will finish their pontoon bridges in less than ten minutes. When that happens, Hu Hao’s positions will be in massive trouble. I never expected—I truly never expected the Allied forces to focus their breakthrough attempt on his sector!” Sun Qinxue shook his head.
“Where are the reinforcements Li Tianyuan dispatched? It’s been over an hour! Why haven’t they arrived yet?!” Jiang Kai checked his watch and demanded.
“I’ll ask right now!” Sun Qinxue immediately picked up the desk phone and dialed Li Tianyuan’s number.
“It’s too late. It’s too late!” Jiang Kai shook his head as he watched the situation on the river. Over an hour ago, realizing the dire situation on Hu Hao’s defensive line, Jiang Kai had immediately ordered Li Tianyuan to send reinforcements.
(End of Chapter)