Jiang Kai stood there, deep in thought. His defensive line was perfectly fine, but the defenses on both the Eastern and Western fronts were crumbling. The Eastern Spirit forces there were being beaten into a continuous retreat. If they fell back any further, it would severely threaten the Southeast Combat Zone’s defensive line.
“No, we cannot remain passive like this! We need to make preparations in advance. If the Eastern and Western lines collapse, our troops will be surrounded! That is absolutely unacceptable! Absolutely unacceptable!” Jiang Kai declared, his voice laced with profound concern.
“Commander, we have two corps stationed on the Eastern line; they should be able to hold out for a few days. My primary concern is the Western line. I’m terrified that when the time comes, the Allied forces will launch a pincer attack on Hu Hao’s troops from two directions.
“Although Hu Hao knows how to fight, facing a two-pronged pincer attack… I’m worried he won’t be able to hold them off. After all, his veteran troops suffered heavy casualties previously, and his new troops are still in the middle of conscription and training!” Sun Qinxue advised.
“Indeed. It seems we must eliminate the enemy facing the 27th Corps. Only by doing so can the 27th Corps free up its hands to support Hu Hao’s forces! But dealing with the 27th Corps’ opponent ultimately falls back on Hu Hao. And right now, Hu Hao’s troops cannot move. What should we do?!” Jiang Kai groaned in frustration. Sun Qinxue remained silent.
He didn’t know what to do either. Right now, it wasn’t their defensive line that had a problem, but the other defensive lines!
“Motherfucker! With so many troops, fighting in our own country, they still can’t hold a defensive line?! What kind of war are they fighting?!” Jiang Kai cursed.
The two defensive lines combined, including the main force and reserves, had nearly 1,500,000 troops deployed! Meanwhile, Jiang Kai’s sector, including the four corps Hu Hao annihilated, had only attracted roughly 800,000 Allied troops. The combined Allied forces attacking the two crumbling defensive lines were also only around 800,000! Yet, a massive force of 1,500,000 Eastern Spirit troops actually couldn’t hold them off!
Meanwhile, on Hu Hao’s end, Hu Hao spent his mornings training the 500 hand-picked veterans. He taught them close-quarters combat, sniper tactics, intelligence reconnaissance, and camouflage techniques.
In the afternoons, he headed to the training battalion to instruct the newly promoted Company and Battalion Commanders. In the evenings, he returned to the 500 veterans to study the primary languages used by the Allied forces. There were three main languages. Hu Hao had hired language professors from a local university, and he studied alongside the soldiers. After their language lessons concluded around 9:00 PM, they underwent rigorous physical training until past 11:00 PM, only then allowing the soldiers to rest.
After ten days of this grueling routine, Hu Hao finally let the soldiers begin training on their own. He had taught them everything they needed to know; the rest was simply a process of gaining proficiency. As for more advanced training courses, Hu Hao simply didn’t have the time to teach them right now.
This was because the forces on the Western line had retreated to an area less than 200 kilometers from Late City—perilously close to Hu Hao’s position.
The High Command ordered Hu Hao to prepare his defenses. Simultaneously, massive waves of refugees fleeing from the west were flooding into Late City, Daman City, and the surrounding areas!
“Hao-ge, should our troops mobilize and deploy to Late City?” Li Jingsong approached Hu Hao, who was standing there staring intently at the map. Hu Hao didn’t seem to hear him; his eyes remained fixed on the map.
“Hao-ge!” Receiving no response, Li Jingsong called out again.
“Sigh!” Hu Hao let out a heavy sigh.
“What is it, Hao-ge? Is it difficult to handle?” Li Jingsong asked.
“Difficult to handle?! Motherfucker, the Allied forces are attacking the Western line with 6 corps! Just 6 corps! Yet they’ve managed to beat our 500,000 to 600,000 troops into a full-blown rout with nowhere to run! What kind of war is this?! What I’m worried about right now is that when those retreating troops crash into our defensive line, we’ll be in massive trouble!” Hu Hao explained.
“So we’re abandoning Late City? Once the Allied forces occupy it, our route of retreat will be completely cut off!” Li Jingsong argued.
“I know it’ll be cut off! But even if I know, what can we do about it?! I’m not worried about the Allied forces; I’m worried about our own troops! With so many retreating troops flooding our lines, how are we supposed to hold our defense?! Sigh, holding is impossible now. Go get Bo Gang, Bai Ye, and Air Cavalry Division Commander Zheng Longjiang!” Hu Hao ordered.
Right now, Hu Hao commanded two tank divisions: the 1st Division commanded by Bai Ye, and the 2nd Division commanded by Bo Gang. Zheng Longjiang commanded the Air Cavalry Division. All three divisions had subordinate infantry units, though the Air Cavalry’s infantry was specialized for airborne operations and numbered fewer.
“Yes, sir!” a staff officer standing nearby replied. The staff officers surrounding Hu Hao had basically all been replaced. Many of the original staff had been promoted to Regimental and Battalion Commanders in the newly formed infantry divisions. These new staff officers were hand-picked by Hu Hao from the ranks below.
Wang Yao now served as Hu Hao’s Operations Officer, Mo Shui as the Intelligence Officer, and Dong Qipeng as the Logistics Officer. As for Xu Hui, he had been selected for the special operations regiment’s training. Hu Hao had originally intended for Dong Qipeng to lead that unit, but ultimately assigned Zhao Yang to command it instead.
“How are you planning to fight?” Li Jingsong asked, standing beside Hu Hao. Wang Yao stood nearby, ready to record Hu Hao’s specific combat orders.
“An ambush. We can only rely on ambushes. Right now, we need to send reconnaissance units out; we absolutely must ascertain the situation over there! Call Liu Shuyi! Order his reconnaissance battalion to dispatch units to the Western line immediately!” Hu Hao instructed Li Jingsong. Liu Shuyi was now the Commander of the reconnaissance battalion directly under Hu Hao’s command.
“Understood!” Li Jingsong immediately motioned for a staff officer to send the telegram to Liu Shuyi, ordering him to deploy his troops at once.
“Motherfucker, if they had just come a month later, I would have swallowed all six of their corps!” Hu Hao cursed.
“Mm, true. Right now, we have a massive force! Lu Guangsheng has roughly 40,000 men, Ye Zifeng has 50,000, Wu Kexiao has 70,000, and our direct command has 60,000! That’s over 200,000 men combined! With your abilities, swallowing their six corps wouldn’t be a major issue!” Li Jingsong nodded in complete agreement. He didn’t doubt Hu Hao’s claim for a second.
“Order Wu Kexiao, Lu Guangsheng, and Ye Zifeng! Their troops are to expand outward in all directions! I want them to push their forces 100 kilometers forward!” Hu Hao commanded.
“Ah? Right now?!” Li Jingsong asked in shock.
“Yes, right now! We need a sufficiently large operational space; we cannot just sit and defend rigidly. They have massive forces at their disposal now. Even if they encounter an entire enemy corps, they can retreat intact. Just have them expand outward! If they encounter an Allied division, they are to find a way to swallow it! If they aren’t confident, have them report it to me, and I will personally go there!” Hu Hao declared.
“But… the Western line might collapse at any moment! Why are we expanding our forces outward now?! If the Allied forces encircle us, what do we do?! Will dispersing our troops like this really work?!” Li Jingsong asked, still shocked.
“Why wouldn’t it work?! If we don’t disperse, they’ll come anyway! By dispersing, our troops at least gain a massive strategic operational space; we can draw them out and fight them! Furthermore, if we retreat in our own territory, abandoning a city brings catastrophic consequences to the civilians. But in the enemy-occupied territories, we don’t have many civilians left, and those cities have already been bombed to ruins! We can fight in the cities without worrying about them destroying our infrastructure! That is the key!” Hu Hao explained.
“Mm, true. But what if the Western line is breached? What about Late City?” Li Jingsong asked.
“It’s mine!” Hu Hao smiled.
“You’re going to let the Allied forces pass through? If so, the civilians of Late City will suffer terribly!” Li Jingsong warned.
“Impossible! I will absolutely not allow the Allied forces to enter Late City! If they enter Late City, what’s the point of us taking control of a destroyed city later?!” Hu Hao chuckled.
“Then how do you plan to fight? Right now, the Allied forces are less than 200 kilometers from Late City! If they advance quickly, they could reach us in two days!” Li Jingsong pressed.
“I won’t let them get here! Tonight, our tank units are making their move! I refuse to believe that someone actually dares to snatch something I have my eyes on! Late City belongs to me!” Hu Hao declared with a confident smile.
Standing nearby, Wang Yao watched Hu Hao in silence. He didn’t understand where Hu Hao’s immense confidence came from. Right now, he felt like he barely recognized the man standing before him.
“Report! Call from the Commander!” a communications officer called out.
“Give it here!” Hu Hao immediately grabbed the phone.
“Hello, Commander!” Hu Hao greeted.
“Have your troops prepare to retreat at any moment! The forces on the Eastern and Western lines cannot hold! We just received orders from His Majesty to retreat!” Jiang Kai informed Hu Hao.
“What?! Retreat?! His Majesty actually authorized a retreat?! Didn’t he order us to hold the line for two months?!” Hu Hao asked in shock.
“His Majesty isn’t going to just sit back and let our highly capable force be surrounded and annihilated by the enemy! I just received a call from His Majesty and orders from the High Command! They ordered us to retreat 400 kilometers to the rear and establish a new defensive line there!” Jiang Kai explained.
“Holy shit! Retreat another 400 kilometers?! How many 400-kilometer stretches does our Empire even have left to retreat across?! What the hell is going on with the Empire right now?! If the generals don’t know how to fight, then promote generals who do know how to fight! What exactly is His Majesty thinking?!” Hu Hao roared in dissatisfaction.
“Soon. The Grand Marshal has finally agreed to open the promotion channels! It’s just that the situation hasn’t stabilized yet. Once it does, a group of generals who actually know how to fight will be promoted immediately!” Jiang Kai revealed.
(End of Chapter)