Meanwhile, on Hu Hao’s end, it was equally sweltering. Fortunately, the soldiers had already finished digging the trenches and camouflaged them with branches and leaves. Currently, all the soldiers were sleeping in the trenches. They had fought all through the previous night, then spent the latter half of the night and early morning digging trenches here; they were utterly exhausted.
Hu Hao was also lying in a trench, trying to catch some sleep. There was nothing to do right now but wait for the Allied reinforcements to arrive. He had already dispatched reconnaissance units.
All they could do was wait for news. Once the Allied forces reached Nage City, Hu Hao would know. However, based on Hu Hao’s estimates, they wouldn’t arrive that quickly; it would probably be around 1:00 PM.
1:00 PM was also the hottest part of the day. Hu Hao wondered if the Allied reinforcements would choose to rest in Nage City.
According to intelligence sent back by the reconnaissance units earlier, there were still civilians alive in Nage City, although many had been slaughtered. The surviving civilians wanted to flee, but the Allied forces had blocked the roads, preventing them from escaping. Thus, life for the civilians trapped in the city was a living nightmare.
Time always passes quickly when one is sleeping. Before they knew it, it was past 1:00 PM!
“Hao-ge! Hao-ge! Call from Liu Shuyi!” A staff officer shook Hu Hao awake. Hearing this, Hu Hao immediately sat up and took the phone.
“This is Hu Hao. Liu Shuyi, what’s the situation on your end?” Hu Hao asked.
“Hao-ge, the Allied vanguard has arrived. It’s an armored division. They have around 120 tanks of various types and 200 armored vehicles. The rest are all transport trucks; they don’t have enough armored vehicles for everyone!” Liu Shuyi reported in a low voice.
“Good. Are they resting in the city, or continuing their march?” Hu Hao asked.
“They are resting in the city and currently eating. Judging from their posture, they’ll likely move out as soon as they finish eating. As for the main force behind them… I’m observing the road in the distance from a high-rise building, but I haven’t spotted any signs of them yet! I don’t know when they’ll arrive!” Liu Shuyi whispered.
“Mm. Keep your eyes on them!” Hu Hao instructed.
“Understood!” Liu Shuyi replied, then hung up.
“Motherfucker, quite smart. They know to send a tank division to reinforce first. It seems the situation in Santong County is truly dire, and they’re rushing them!” Hu Hao muttered to himself after putting the phone down.
“Hao-ge, do you want something to eat? The food was prepared a while ago, but since the brothers were sleeping, we didn’t wake everyone up to eat!” a communications officer approached Hu Hao and asked.
“Bring it here!” Hu Hao nodded. He then pulled out his map, and a nearby soldier immediately helped him unfold it. Hu Hao stared at the map, rapidly calculating in his mind.
“Get Li Jingsong on the line!” After a moment’s thought, Hu Hao ordered the communications officer.
“Right away!” The communications officer immediately dialed Li Jingsong’s number.
“Hao-ge, what’s the situation on your end?” Li Jingsong asked as soon as he answered.
“The Allied vanguard is a tank division. We haven’t spotted the main force behind them yet. How are things on your end?” Hu Hao asked with a smile.
“Things are fine here; the Allied forces don’t dare come out. Hao-ge, I’ve realized that our greatest enemy right now isn’t the Allied forces, it’s this damn weather! I never noticed the heat before, but standing out in the open like this, it feels like there’s nowhere to hide!” Li Jingsong replied with a bitter laugh over the phone.
“Mm, as long as things are fine. Our artillery is still bombarding, right? Do you know how effective the bombardment is?” Hu Hao asked.
“I don’t. There’s no way to know. But from the looks of it, it should be pretty good; the Allied soldiers don’t dare poke their heads out. We also launched high-altitude reconnaissance drones and found very few Allied soldiers visible within the city. I don’t know if they truly have that few troops left, or if they’re just hiding well. It’s easy to hide in the city right now; there’s rubble everywhere!” Li Jingsong reported.
“Mm, that’s true. However, I need to give you a heads-up: I might let that tank division pass through. My target is the Allied main force. You need to have Bo Gang prepare to engage the tank division. You could even have Bo Gang dispatch a portion of his forces forward to ambush them first.
“Of course, if our ambush here goes smoothly, we’ll immediately send the Air Cavalry over to wipe out those tank units for you. But for now, we must prepare for both scenarios!” Hu Hao informed Li Jingsong.
“Having Bo Gang face off against an entire tank division… will that work?” Li Jingsong asked, somewhat worried.
“Don’t worry. As long as we successfully ambush the main force behind them, that tank division is dead meat. The tank division only has a little over 100 tanks and 200 armored vehicles; the rest are transport trucks.
“Kabuguo isn’t some wealthy nation; they don’t have the funds to fully equip an entire tank division with armored vehicles,” Hu Hao explained.
“Alright. Whatever you say, Hao-ge! Anyway, Li Jinghe has tanks too; if worst comes to worst, I’ll just mobilize his tanks as well!” Li Jingsong said.
“Don’t use their tanks for now. They still have to deal with the Allied forces inside the city. If we pull too many troops away, you might face an attack from the Allied forces breaking out of Santong County. So hold off on that for now!” Hu Hao advised.
“Alright. Should I go notify Bo Gang then?” Li Jingsong asked.
“Go ahead. That kid Bo Gang fights pretty well; he’s more than qualified to be directly promoted to Regimental Commander!” Hu Hao said.
“Understood! Thank you, Hao-ge!” Li Jingsong replied immediately.
He knew perfectly well that Hu Hao could have called Bo Gang himself and simply informed Li Jingsong afterward. By telling Li Jingsong to go personally, Hu Hao was giving him an opportunity to communicate and build rapport with the subordinate officers.
Li Jingsong understood clearly that the brothers hadn’t fully forgiven him for abandoning them and fleeing earlier. Therefore, Li Jingsong needed to make amends and actively work to regain the trust of the subordinate officers.
After hanging up the phone, Li Jingsong immediately ordered a communications officer to contact Bo Gang and summon him.
Meanwhile, Hu Hao decided to try and catch a little more sleep.
“Hao-ge, an officer named Wang Yao is looking for you. He’s an Acting Battalion Commander from the 2nd Regiment!” a guard approached Hu Hao and reported.
“Oh? Wang Yao is here? Send him in!” Hu Hao was a little surprised but quite happy to hear this.
“Yes, sir!” The guard quickly left. A moment later, Wang Yao walked in, looking incredibly exhausted.
Seeing his state, Hu Hao immediately frowned. “You didn’t sleep?”
“I did. I slept for three hours. I had nightmares and woke myself up,” Wang Yao replied, his head bowed.
“Sit down and let’s talk. Just sit on the ground; we don’t have a formal command center here, just trenches!” Hu Hao told Wang Yao, tossing him a cigarette. Wang Yao caught it and immediately lit it. Hu Hao also lit a cigarette and looked at Wang Yao.
“Is there something you want to say to me?” Hu Hao asked.
“Yes, and no… I don’t really know. I just… I just wanted to find someone to talk to. My chest feels so tight. I… sigh, motherfucker. I went from a First Lieutenant to an Acting Battalion Commander just like that.
“Our Company Commander, our Battalion Commander… they’re all lying in the hospital right now. Tell me, I… I might be next. If I’m lucky, I’ll end up lying in the hospital. If I’m unlucky, I’ll just be lying in the dirt!” Wang Yao nodded, sitting there with his head down as he spoke.
“Why bring that up? In war, nobody can predict what will happen!” Hu Hao quickly reprimanded him.
“You know what? I only just realized what war truly is. Hao-ge, I’m sorry. Back then, I really didn’t understand!” Wang Yao looked up at Hu Hao.
“Why are you bringing that up? We’ve been brothers for years; there’s no need for that! The reason I didn’t want to let you guys go down to the frontline units earlier was because I hoped you could learn these things safely in the command center. But every single one of you… fresh out of the academy, you thought everything had to be done exactly ‘by the book,’ or according to our ‘morals’.
“War has its own morality, and that morality has an incredibly low bar. The sole objective is to survive. Do you understand now?” Hu Hao said, looking at Wang Yao.
“I understand. I truly understand now. Watching the soldiers around me fall one by one, I finally realized just how naive I was.
“Also… back then, when we saw you promoted to Major, we even joked about it, wondering how you got promoted so fast. Now I know…getting promoted fast just means casualties are massive. Although I’m still officially a First Lieutenant, after this battle is over, I reckon I’ll be a Major too.
“Motherfucker… I… I’d rather not get this promotion. I just want my brothers to live!” Tears welled up in Wang Yao’s eyes as he looked up at the distant trees.
“I know. Nobody wants this. But there’s no other way; this is war. By the way, how are Mo Shui, Da Peng, and the others? Have you contacted them? I’ve been incredibly busy lately and haven’t had the time to check on you guys!” Hu Hao asked.
“They’re fine. They’re just like me—all Acting Battalion Commanders now. Our regiment and the 3rd Regiment suffered catastrophic casualties. However, our merit is equally massive, Hao-ge!”
“What are you calling me Hao-ge for? Are you sick in the head?” The moment Wang Yao called him Hao-ge, Hu Hao scolded him.
“I can’t not call you that! When we’re fighting a war, you are our Hao-ge! It’s fine for everyone to joke around normally, but you are our Hao-ge. You are the Hao-ge in the hearts of every single soldier! Everyone trusts you the most. No one ever expected that under the circumstances last night, we could actually launch a counter-offensive and completely annihilate the vast majority of the Allied forces! If anyone else had been in command, they definitely couldn’t have pulled it off!” Wang Yao smiled as he looked at Hu Hao.
“Sigh. But our casualties were still massive!” Hu Hao took a drag of his cigarette and sighed heavily.
(End of Chapter)