Hu Hao received a call from Liu Shuyi. Over the phone, Liu Shuyi reported that the Allied forces had fully mobilized; the entirety of the Kabuguo 32nd Corps was on the move.
This news delighted Hu Hao. He had initially worried about fighting such a massive force, but upon seeing the Kabuguo tank division earlier, he knew that Kabuguo’s weapons and equipment were simply not on the same level as the Eastern Spirit Empire’s.
“Hao-ge, the vast majority of the marching column consists of transport trucks. Each division seems to have only about 100 armored vehicles, and not many tanks. From what I saw, each division has roughly 40 tanks, which is roughly equivalent to one of our tank battalions!” Liu Shuyi continued his report.
“Good, I understand. Keep your eyes on them. Send me any new information immediately,” Hu Hao instructed.
“Yes, sir!” Liu Shuyi replied, then hung up. Hu Hao looked ahead with a joyful expression.
“They actually dare to reinforce with such backwards equipment?! I thought they were all heavy armored divisions!” Hu Hao chuckled as he set the phone down.
“Hao-ge, if we wipe out these reinforcements, should we push into Nage City?” a staff officer behind him asked with a smile.
“Let’s assess the situation first. Right now, our priority is to swallow the enemy right in front of us,” Hu Hao handed the phone back to the staff officer, who nodded.
Hu Hao then returned his focus to the highway, watching the passing vehicles. Seeing the Allied soldiers dozing off in the trucks put his mind at ease. When fighting a force like this, as long as the firepower was fierce enough, they could beat them senseless in the opening strike, giving them no chance to react.
Hu Hao and his men lay prone, watching the highway. It took over thirty minutes for the entire tank division to pass through their sector. The entire division had only around 600 vehicles combined, and nearly half of them were transport trucks. Eager to reinforce the troops in Santong County, their marching speed was incredibly fast, and their formation was very dense.
Watching the last of the vehicles depart, Hu Hao and his men finally breathed a sigh of relief. Hu Hao had been worried that the tank unit might spot his troops hiding in the forest. If that had happened, all their preparations would have been ruined. Not only would they have failed to ambush the 32nd Corps’ main force, but they might have ended up surrounded themselves, considering the enemy was a full-strength corps.
“Hao-ge, the Allied main force hasn’t arrived yet!” a staff officer approached and reported.
“I know. Notify Lu Guangsheng—the moment he spots Allied forces entering our ambush zone again, he is to call me immediately! I need to know what type of unit is leading their vanguard, and how dense their marching formation is!” Hu Hao nodded and instructed the staff officer.
“Yes, sir!” The staff officer immediately went to call Lu Guangsheng.
Lu Guangsheng’s forces were positioned closest to Nage City; the Allied forces would have to pass through his ambush zone first. Next was Wu Kexiao’s ambush zone, and finally, Ye Zifeng’s troops were positioned at the very end.
Hu Hao placed Ye Zifeng’s troops at the end because that area would be the focal point of any Allied breakout attempt. Since Ye Zifeng’s regiment hadn’t suffered any significant casualties, Hu Hao entrusted them with holding the most critical position.
Following that, Hu Hao ordered a staff officer to transmit the news of the tank division’s passing to Li Jingsong and Bo Gang. They needed to set up their ambush in advance and prepare to intercept the tank division.
Having made all the necessary arrangements, Hu Hao sat down. Now, they had to wait. The Allied main force wouldn’t arrive that quickly.
“Report! Hao-ge, a telegram from Headquarters! It’s a warning informing us that the Allied forces have reached Nage City!” A staff officer walked over with a smile and handed the telegram to Hu Hao.
“Ha!” Hu Hao glanced at the telegram, then handed it back.
“Little do they know, we’re already prepared to ambush these reinforcements! If we had to rely on Headquarters’ intelligence, our base would be wiped out before we even knew what hit us,” another staff officer sneered. None of them held any favorable opinions of the High Command’s generals.
“Forget them. They command their battles, and we fight ours,” Hu Hao said dismissively. They sat in the trenches for less than half an hour before Lu Guangsheng called.
“Hao-ge, the Allied forces have arrived! The vanguard consists of about 40 tanks, and the rest are all transport trucks towing artillery pieces. This is the equipment level our country had 20 years ago, yet they’re still using it today!” Lu Guangsheng reported in a very low voice.
“They’re here! How many troops? Is the formation dense?” Hu Hao asked immediately.
“The formation is very dense! I don’t know the exact number of troops, but the column stretches as far as the eye can see. It’s just an endless line of vehicles! Many of them are even civilian trucks from our country that they’ve commandeered to transport their troops!” Lu Guangsheng replied.
“Alright. Report any new developments immediately!” Hu Hao instructed.
“Understood!” Lu Guangsheng affirmed.
“Notify the other units: the ambush targets have appeared. Await the order to attack! No one is to move recklessly! Everyone must wait for my command before taking action!” Hu Hao ordered the nearby staff officers.
“Understood!” The staff officers immediately began contacting the Regimental Commanders.
Having seen the Allied equipment for himself, Hu Hao felt even more confident. He knew that as long as his command was sound and their firepower was distributed effectively, completely annihilating these reinforcements was entirely possible. However, they needed to maintain absolute silence for now and avoid detection.
…
Meanwhile, in Nage City, Fritsch, the Commander of the 32nd Corps, had just boarded his armored command vehicle.
“Corps Commander, Santong County is rushing us far too urgently. I feel this is unsafe! We haven’t even properly scouted the situation over there yet. Marching in such a dense formation is extremely dangerous!” a senior staff officer advised Fritsch.
“It’s fine. The Eastern Spirit forces are all currently at Santong County, or bogged down by other Allied units. They only have around 20,000 troops at Santong County. They claim that’s the entirety of the defensive line’s forces; Bopa City only had that many troops to begin with!
“Furthermore, our Allied Commander is pressing us hard. Originally, Late City wasn’t Kabuguo’s objective. But unexpectedly, the Limaguo and Mara Empire forces failed to capture it! Since there are no other Allied troops nearby, our Kabuguo forces have to step in.
“If we successfully capture Late City, it will be incredibly beneficial for Kabuguo. Those industrial facilities can provide us with a continuous stream of weapons and equipment. Moreover, there’s an equipment manufacturing plant there!
“Relying on those resources, the Eastern Spirit Empire became the wealthiest nation in the world in just one hundred years! Their industrial system is highly comprehensive—something our nations simply cannot compare to. If we can secure their equipment, Kabuguo will finally be able to develop its own industry. Sigh!” Fritsch sighed as he sat in the vehicle.
“But with our march being so densely packed, what if we encounter an ambush?” the staff officer pressed, still feeling uneasy.
“Hmph, an ambush? Given the Eastern Spirit Empire’s terrain, where could they possibly ambush us? It’s all plains! Right now, they can only rely on the rivers to hinder our advance. If it weren’t for those rivers, our Allied forces would have likely pushed all the way to Eastern Spirit City by now, and their Empire would have fallen,” Fritsch scoffed dismissively.
“True. At most, they might try to ambush us in the cities, and we aren’t afraid of that!” the staff officer nodded in agreement.
“Right now, the priority is Late City. As for the direction our troops will take after capturing it, that’s a matter for later. I believe that once we push eastward from Late City, the Eastern Spirit defensive line will completely collapse!
“However, this Jiang Kai does possess some ability. Across our entire Allied offensive front, his defensive line is the only one that remains completely unshaken. He truly has some skill. But… they can only defend!” Fritsch remarked. At this point, the vehicles began moving. His command unit was positioned at the rear; the main marching force had already departed.
“Mm. However, their counter-offensive at Nanlin City earlier was executed beautifully. None of us expected them to dare launch a counter-attack, which forced our nations to mobilize another 1,000,000 troops proportionally! Otherwise, our initial 3,000,000 troops would have been more than enough!” the senior staff officer noted.
“Our nation has already prepared another 2,000,000 troops. Once we secure the westward route, our forces will invade Dongjun! Attacking Dongjun from the north won’t work; the terrain is too mountainous. But attacking from the west allows us to bypass the mountains and strike directly into Dongjun! After that, we’ll target the other nations in the Central Region,” Fritsch declared.
By now, the Allied nations were no longer satisfied with just conquering the Eastern Spirit Empire; their ultimate goal was the entire Central Region. This was because the Central Region consisted mostly of plains and produced abundant grain, whereas the Northern Region nations suffered immense starvation every year due to a lack of sufficient food.
This was exactly why the Northern Region nations, along with some Eastern Region nations, had formed an alliance to seize the Central Region’s land. Their goal was to allow their citizens to migrate to the Central Region and escape starvation.
“Mm. But fighting a war of this scale means many of our nation’s young men will sacrifice their lives!” the staff officer pointed out.
“Their sacrifice is worth it. If we don’t fight for it now, eventually no one will have food to eat, and everyone will starve. If sacrificing their lives now can secure land for our civilians, I believe our people will remember their sacrifice,” Fritsch replied calmly, gazing out the window.
(End of Chapter)