Jiang Kai highly recognized Hu Hao’s capabilities. He liked men with real talent. However, the issue was that Hu Hao had just graduated from the military academy. In merely a few days, he had already been promoted to Captain. Moreover, Jiang Kai had promised him that if Sector 9 was secured tonight, he would instantly be promoted to Major. This speed of promotion was already incredibly fast.
“Commander, what do you think about reorganizing these remnant troops?” a senior staff officer suggested, stepping forward. “If we form them into a new unit, give them the best equipment and weapons, and use them as our spearhead, wouldn’t that be better? We could deploy them at critical moments.
Right now, several of our corps have suffered devastating casualties. To be frank, sir, not many of our Generals actually know how to fight. Even if we give them elite troops and top-tier gear, they won’t win.
My point is, we should form a new unit—perhaps a combat division directly subordinated to Zone Command—so we can maximize their potential. And this unit must have Hu Hao in it!”
“Don’t even think about it. It’s useless,” Jiang Kai shook his head. “If we try to poach those remnants, the Corps Commanders will never agree. They need those veterans to win their own battles. I’ve already considered this.
Take the 27th Army, for example. They only have a few thousand men left. If we take them all, how are they supposed to rebuild their corps later? It won’t work. They won’t agree. None of the Corps Commanders will. Doing that would be cutting into their core interests. We can order them to fight for us right now, but absorbing them directly under Zone Command? Impossible.”
“True. They would never agree to that,” the senior staff officer nodded after a moment of thought. The political stakes were too high. If Jiang Kai made a move like that, the Corps Commanders would drag their feet the next time he needed to deploy their units.
About an hour later, Li Jingsong and his detail arrived at Zone Command with the prisoners.
Jiang Kai went down to receive them personally. When he saw the captive Generals being marched in with blindfolds over their eyes, he couldn’t help but smile and nod in approval.
“Good evening, Commander. I brought you the men, along with these bags of intelligence we raided from their command post. We don’t know their exact ranks or names yet, but they have to be the Division Commanders from the two units occupying Sector 9!” Li Jingsong said cheerfully as he approached Jiang Kai.
“Someone remove their blindfolds! Go ask them who they are. If they refuse to speak, it doesn’t matter—check their military IDs. They definitely have them. We’ll cross-reference them with our database!” Jiang Kai ordered the staff behind him.
“Yes, sir!” Several staff officers and guards immediately moved to secure and process the prisoners.
“Commander, here is the roster for this operation. There were thirty-six men involved. Sir, the bounty money needs to be transferred to the accounts on this list. We know the rates: a Major General is two million, a Brigadier General is one million, and the dead Brigadier is 500,000. That’s a total of 7.5 million credits. Commander, just divide it evenly among these names!” Li Jingsong handed Jiang Kai a list he had written up in the vehicle. Since Hu Hao wasn’t there to object, Li Jingsong had included every man who participated in the raid.
“Oh? Divided evenly? You aren’t taking a larger cut?” Jiang Kai looked at Li Jingsong in surprise.
“Commander, are you joking? The brothers earned that money with their lives! How could I take a bigger cut? If I tried to take more, Hu Hao would kill me. Seriously, he’d actually do it!” Li Jingsong laughed.
“Right, speaking of Hu Hao—why didn’t he come?” Jiang Kai asked, nodding.
“He needs to hold the line at the front. The boys rely on him to lead the charge. Things like running errands and dropping off prisoners, we can handle,” Li Jingsong replied instantly.
“How goes the battle?” Jiang Kai asked, testing him.
“Commander, if the enemy doesn’t send reinforcements, we will definitely secure the sector before dawn. If they do send reinforcements… well, you can’t blame us. We barely have 10,000 men. We’re on the offensive, fighting a night battle. Wiping out two infantry divisions and an armored regiment is already a miracle!” Li Jingsong stated defensively.
“Mmh. Not bad. Not bad at all! Excellent work! Don’t worry—before dawn, our relief units will arrive to take over. If you clear the enemy from the sector by then, your men can pull back and rest. If not, you keep fighting until it’s done, then you leave!” Jiang Kai told him.
“Ah? If the enemy sends reinforcements, we still have to fight? We’ve been fighting all night! If Hao-ge hears this, he’ll get so pissed he might just march the men away!” Li Jingsong stared at Jiang Kai in shock.
“You’re the Division Commander! Can’t you just give him an order?” Jiang Kai challenged him.
“What good is being a Division Commander if no one listens to me? Forget me—go ask the Division Commanders from the 28th Army. If Hao-ge says ‘retreat,’ do you think they could stop their men from falling back?” Li Jingsong retorted. He had no illusions about his actual authority on the ground.
“Mmh. Fine. We’ll play it by ear. If things get that bad, have Hu Hao call me,” Jiang Kai said, nodding after a moment of thought.
“He won’t call you. I know him. The moment the sun comes up and the relief arrives, he’s taking the boys and pulling back. Commander, the brothers have been fighting all night. Who isn’t exhausted? It’s a night battle—the danger is constant. Everyone’s nerves are strung tight; you never know where the enemy might pop up next. So, Commander, let us leave at dawn!” Li Jingsong pleaded.
“We’ll see when the time comes. But the prisoners you brought in are a massive catch. Truly excellent. You’ve won major face for the Empire’s military today,” Jiang Kai said, gesturing to the captives.
“Heh. Let’s not talk about ‘face’ right now. The brothers don’t care about face; they care about the money. Oh, and according to regulations, these men are entitled to a promotion in rank. We can trade this in for fifty-five promotion slots. Don’t forget that, Commander!” Li Jingsong reminded him with a smile.
“I won’t forget. You have my word,” Jiang Kai nodded. It was standard protocol; he wouldn’t nickel-and-dime the soldiers over this.
“Report, Commander!” A senior staff officer fluent in the Mara Kingdom’s language hurried over. “They are the Commanders of the Mala 71st and 73rd Divisions. The four others are Brigadier Generals. The dead man is the Deputy Commander of the 71st. The other three are a Deputy Commander and two Chiefs of Staff.”
“Oh? You’ve verified their identities?” Jiang Kai asked.
“Verified, sir. It’s definitely them. This is Tie Xingtuo, Commander of the 71st, and this is Mugeliqi, Commander of the 73rd,” the staff officer said, pointing at the two Major Generals.
“Ohhh!” Over by the vehicles, Huan Xingtao and the guards heard the confirmation and burst into laughter.
“Congratulations to all of you,” Jiang Kai said, smiling at the soldiers.
“Heh! We’re rich, brothers!” The soldiers cheered, hugging each other in celebration.
“Commander, since that’s settled, we’ll be going. We have to get back to the front! My troops are still out there!” Li Jingsong said.
“Mmh. Go. Stay safe,” Jiang Kai nodded.
“Let’s move, boys! Back to Hao-ge!” Li Jingsong called out, and the soldiers eagerly piled back into the vehicles.
Meanwhile, at the front, Hu Hao and his forces had finally pushed to the very edge of the city. The Allied troops in the sector had been virtually annihilated.
The soldiers were currently resting inside a residential complex. At the first sign of enemy artillery, they were ready to dive into the underground shelters.
Hu Hao, accompanied by a few soldiers, had climbed to the top of a high-rise on the city’s perimeter. He stood at the edge, peering through his binoculars into the darkness. It was past 3:00 AM. It was pitch black, but he could clearly see the glow of the Allied encampment about five kilometers away. They had set up a basic defensive perimeter there, illuminated by floodlights.
“Hao-ge, what are you looking at? Here, have one.” A soldier handed him a steamed bun.
“Mmh. Just observing. Nothing else to do right now, is there?” Hu Hao took the bun, kept his eyes on the distant camp, and pulled out a pen and paper. He began to sketch as he watched.
“What are you drawing, Hao-ge?” a soldier asked, leaning in.
“A map of the enemy’s defense lines. Dammit, there are at least three full corps massed just ahead. Look at all those tanks parked over there. Sigh… if we had heavy artillery right now, we could wipe them out in one strike. But I heard our artillery units took catastrophic losses, and air superiority is still being contested. Fuck!” Hu Hao cursed as he analyzed the layout, then went back to sketching.
“Hao-ge, you’ve got too much free time. Aren’t you tired? Why do you care about that? We’re just grunts; we shoot who they tell us to shoot!” another soldier said, shaking his head.
“You think Hao-ge is like you? Hao-ge graduated from the Royal Command Academy!” a nearby soldier quickly corrected him.
“What? Hao-ge, you graduated from there? You’re that elite?” the first soldier asked in shock.
“Elite? What good is it? I still ended up on the front lines, didn’t I? If a bullet hits me, I’ll die just the same,” Hu Hao chuckled.
“Still, Hao-ge… you’ve got real capability. We brothers respect you!” the soldier said, giving him a thumbs-up.
“Ha!” Hu Hao laughed softly, then returned to his binoculars.
Dammit, why isn’t the enemy attacking? Why haven’t they reacted to two of their divisions being wiped out? What are they planning?
Hu Hao stared through the lenses, feeling deeply unsettled. He had just annihilated two full divisions.
Logistically, the Allied forces should have a massive reserve sitting right there in that camp. Why hadn’t they sent reinforcements?