Hu Hao was both shocked and infuriated upon receiving Jiang Kai’s call ordering his troops to prepare to retreat. Another 400-kilometer retreat!
To Hu Hao, this was an absolute disgrace. His forces had annihilated four Allied corps here, and the Southwest Combat Zone forces had fought exceptionally well. Although they hadn’t completely wiped out the Allied forces facing them, they had inflicted catastrophic casualties upon the attackers.
Therefore, if the flanks hadn’t crumbled, the Southwest Combat Zone wouldn’t have any problems holding their ground; retreating wouldn’t be necessary. But having utterly useless teammates left them with no choice. If Jiang Kai’s Southwest Combat Zone didn’t retreat, their entire force would be encircled by the Allied army.
“Commander, do we truly have to retreat?! And after we retreat, will we even be able to hold the next defensive line?! If we keep retreating like this, we’ll just keep retreating forever!” Hu Hao yelled into the phone.
“I know! Right now, Dongjun and Dongxian have already dispatched their troops to our country to join the fight! They are currently moving into the northwest and northeast, and will soon begin their southward advance!” Jiang Kai explained.
“We’re relying on other countries’ troops for this kind of thing?! We can’t even rely on our own country’s troops, yet you think we can rely on theirs?! Every country in the Central Region is the same: the sons of generals become generals! You honestly think they can help us win battles?! When the fighting starts, I bet they’ll run faster than anyone else!” Hu Hao scoffed in disbelief.
He absolutely didn’t believe those foreign troops would fight to the death here in the Eastern Spirit Empire. The moment the battle turned against them, they would likely be the first to flee.
“Don’t say that for now. Just remember: the moment I issue the retreat order, your troops must immediately fall back! Remember!” Jiang Kai commanded.
“Alright, I understand. Once the order is given, my troops will immediately retreat!” Hu Hao nodded.
Jiang Kai quickly hung up. Hu Hao stood there in silence while all the staff officers in the room stared at him.
“We have to retreat again?” Li Jingsong asked.
“Motherfucker!” Hu Hao cursed.
“I’d rather die in battle than retreat again! I will not retreat!” Xiao Quan declared.
“I won’t retreat either! I’d rather die in battle! With this retreat, who knows when we’ll ever be able to fight our way back home! I will not retreat! I’d rather die in battle!”
“I won’t retreat either! Even if you beat me to death, I won’t retreat!”
Many of the staff officers in the room began voicing their fierce opposition.
Wang Yao and Mo Shui stood there silently, their eyes fixed on Hu Hao. Their hometowns weren’t in this region. However, Hu Hao hadn’t yet told them that their hometowns had actually fallen as well, and he had no idea if their families had managed to escape!
“Hao-ge, just say the word! If you say we don’t retreat, the brothers will follow you and fight to the death! We’ll fight however you say!” Xiao Quan urged Hu Hao.
“Why the hell would I retreat?! If it weren’t for you guys, I would have deserted long ago! I’m sick of fighting this damn war!” Hu Hao glared at Xiao Quan and cursed.
“Hehe, I knew it! Hao-ge, we’re not retreating! Anyone who wants to leave can leave; we won’t stop them. Those who refuse to retreat will stay here and hold the line! Even if we die in battle, we’ll be that much closer to home!” Xiao Quan smiled at Hu Hao.
However, tears streamed down his face as he spoke. No one wanted to die, but they desperately wanted to go home. They wanted to fight their way back! If they followed the arrangements of His Majesty and the High Command, they feared they would die before ever seeing their homes again!
“We’re not retreating! Retreat my ass! We have 200,000 troops right now, and we have you here, Hao-ge! Why should we retreat?! We’ll just fight the Allied forces! Once we secure Late City, we’ll continue conscripting! I refuse to accept this! I’m going to tell my old man not to retreat either!” Li Jingsong declared.
“That won’t do. Your old man has to retreat. If he doesn’t, the Li family might be completely wiped out! We are staying here to fight to the death; you need to leave some seeds for your family! You are different from us. We’ve lost our homes, and we don’t even know if our families are still alive. You are different!” Xiao Quan told Li Jingsong.
“He’s right. Let the 27th Corps’ troops leave. It’s enough that we stay here!” Hu Hao nodded in agreement.
“Hao-ge, you called for us!” Just then, Bai Ye, Bo Gang, and Air Cavalry Division Commander Zheng Longjiang arrived at the door.
“Mm, I called you,” Hu Hao nodded.
“What’s wrong with everyone? Why are your eyes all red? What happened?” Bai Ye immediately asked upon noticing the staff officers’ bloodshot eyes.
“Sigh. The Commander just called Hao-ge, ordering our troops to prepare to retreat at any moment!” Xiao Quan sighed as he explained.
“What?! Retreat again?! Motherfucker, we’re not retreating!” Bai Ye immediately cursed.
“Alright, alright! We’re not retreating! None of us are retreating! What are you getting so worked up for?! Come over here, you three!” Hu Hao quickly stopped them before they could erupt in fury.
“Good! Not retreating is good! As long as you’re here, Hao-ge, we won’t retreat! We’d rather die in battle!” Bai Ye said, walking over to Hu Hao.
“Come here and look at the map. Our sector is primarily threatened by the Allied forces on the Western line. Look here: this is the Empire’s 43rd Corps, a unit from the Western Combat Zone. They will likely retreat in our direction.
“However, considering that our sector has now been ordered to retreat as well, they might just continue heading north. Therefore, the retreating troops probably won’t come to Late City!” Hu Hao explained, using a pointer on the map as the others gathered around.
“Mm, they probably won’t come now. If our troops weren’t retreating, the 43rd Corps definitely would have retreated toward us!” Xiao Quan noted.
“Look over here. The major cities west of Late City are Baitao City, Zhangshan City, Muqiao City, and Wulin City. These four cities each have a population of roughly two million. Furthermore, there are no major rivers between us and them.
“In other words, we have absolutely no natural river barriers to utilize until we push further west and reach Luotang City and Xiwan City, which are located upstream of our current river.
“Therefore, if we want to firmly control Late City, we need to push our forces roughly 400 kilometers westward!
“And that’s just one defensive line. On the Eastern line, once our main forces retreat, we’ll need to push our eastern flank roughly 300 kilometers forward, all the way to where the current headquarters is located.
“Phew… we’ll be facing attacks from 6 Allied corps on the west and 10 Allied corps on the east. And that’s just their first wave of frontline troops; there are definitely more forces behind them! Sixteen corps! Even if they aren’t at full strength, they definitely outnumber us!
“Our troops haven’t fully completed their training and reorganization yet. It will likely take quite some time for them to become truly combat-effective. However, the silver lining is that only one Allied corps is currently pursuing the 43rd Corps. As long as we wipe out this single corps, our forces can continue pushing westward and quickly secure Luotang City and Xiwan City.
“But once we get there, our current troop numbers definitely won’t be enough; we’ll need to continue expanding. Manpower isn’t a problem; the civilians in the enemy-occupied territories are incredibly eager to enlist. But what about commanders? That’s another massive issue!
“Additionally, there’s the south. We absolutely must swallow the Allied forces currently facing the 27th Corps! They’re far too close to us. If we don’t eliminate them, the moment the 27th Corps retreats, they’ll turn right around and attack Late City! We’d be forced into a defensive battle! The retreat order could be issued at any moment! Motherfucker, the time left to us is incredibly short!” Hu Hao laid out the grim strategic reality.
“Hao-ge, just tell us how to fight!” Bo Gang immediately said.
“You’re already a Division Commander, yet you still need me to tell you how to fight everything?! When our forces expand further, and every single one of you commands massive armies, are you still going to rely on me to tell you how to fight?! Do you think I have the time for that?!
“Right now, we are analyzing! We’re analyzing how we can wrest control of this entire strategic situation! If we want to survive and develop while surrounded by Allied forces, we need time! We need the Allied forces to give us time!
“If they give us over half a year, we could build a force of hundreds of thousands, and then we wouldn’t have to fear them! But right now, we are still very weak. We might look like we have hundreds of thousands of troops, but what use are numbers if the commanders don’t know how to lead them? They’d just be marching to their deaths!” Hu Hao reprimanded Bo Gang.
“Hehe, I was just saying… just saying. Keep going, Hao-ge!” Bo Gang rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
Hu Hao glared at him, then turned his attention back to the map.
“The moment the 27th Corps retreats, our forces must eliminate the Limaguo 11th Corps with maximum speed! They don’t have many troops left either; I estimate roughly 30,000. They’ve been attacking the 27th Corps’ defensive line for quite some time, so they’ve suffered their own casualties!” Hu Hao explained, the others listening intently.
“Therefore, our next step is to eliminate the Allied forces on the Western line first. Have Wu Kexiao’s troops move toward the Limaguo 11th Corps. Simultaneously, the three divisions directly under my command will march toward the east of Late City and establish blocking positions along the main roads there.
“The key right now is that single corps on the Western line. We must eliminate them quickly! With absolute maximum speed! Only after they are dealt with can we free up our hands to deal with the Limaguo 11th Corps!” Hu Hao concluded.
Right now, Hu Hao seemed to command a massive army, but the reality was that very few of those troops were actually combat-ready. The only units with true combat capability were the tank, artillery, and Air Cavalry divisions. The rest of the infantry forces were still undergoing basic training.
(End of Chapter)