Hu Hao was in the middle of a firefight when Zhao Yang received the Crown Prince’s call and immediately shouted to him!
“Whose call is it?!” Hu Hao ducked into cover. The sound of gunfire and explosions here was deafening; they had to shout just to hear each other.
“His Highness the Crown Prince!” Zhao Yang yelled directly into Hu Hao’s ear!
“Do they have nothing better to do?! I just came out to fight a war, and this one’s calling, that one’s calling. Are they sick in the head?!” Hu Hao roared at the top of his lungs.
The Crown Prince and the Emperor heard him perfectly clearly. When the Crown Prince contacted Hu Hao, he had put the call on speakerphone. The deafening roar of explosions, heavy machine guns, and rifles echoed from the other end. The Emperor and the Crown Prince exchanged a glance; they truly hadn’t expected Hu Hao to actually be on the front lines.
“Hello? What is it?!” Hu Hao yelled into the receiver.
“Hu Hao, why are you on the front lines right now?!” The Crown Prince immediately demanded upon hearing Hu Hao’s voice.
“Speak louder! I can’t hear you clearly! I’m currently assaulting the Tonglong City railway station!” Hu Hao shouted back, genuinely struggling to hear over the din!
“I asked you, why are you not in the command center, but on the front lines?!” the Crown Prince bellowed.
“My big brother is here! What the hell would I be doing in the command center?! Staying in that command center all day is annoying as hell, and I can’t even fight! Now that I’ve finally gotten out, stop calling me! If you have any issues, ask my brother!” Hu Hao roared back.
“What exactly is your brother’s background?! You are the Commander of the First Army Group! How could you just hand over the command center?! What kind of Commander are you?!” the Crown Prince screamed.
“Commander my ass! Who the fuck wants to be Commander?! It’s annoying as hell! With my brother here, my brother can be the Commander! Everything I know about fighting wars, I learned from him! If you have any issues, ask him!” Hu Hao shouted back.
“What?!” The Crown Prince and the Emperor exchanged a shocked glance.
“Anyway, don’t call me unless it’s an emergency! I’m fighting a war on the front lines! If anything comes up, ask my brother! My brother will solve it for you! Alright, that’s it! I have troops to lead in an assault!” With that, Hu Hao hung up the phone.
“Wait, did he say he learned how to fight from that… what was his name? Zhang Debiao?” the Emperor asked the Crown Prince.
“That’s what Hu Hao said.” The Crown Prince nodded.
“Call that Zhang Debiao! Tell him to video call us! I want to know what kind of person he is. Call him right now!” the Emperor ordered.
Hearing this, the Crown Prince immediately dialed Hu Hao’s number. Hu Hao’s phone was still in the command center! Soon, a staff officer brought the phone over to Zhang Debiao.
“It’s the Crown Prince again!” the staff officer said, covering the receiver.
“What is their problem?! Don’t they know the frontline combat situation is incredibly tense right now?! Whatever they want to know, can’t it wait until we finish fighting, or until tomorrow’s combat report?! They’re going to be the death of me!” Zhang Debiao complained irritably before taking the phone.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, what exactly is the matter?! We are currently assaulting Tonglong City! In the coming days, the Allied troops retreating from the central front will arrive at our doorstep! The situation on our end is extremely tense right now!
The strategic opportunity Er Lengzi previously created for the central front troops was completely wasted! The central front troops fought poorly, and the Allied forces retreated completely unscathed! Isn’t that ironic?! To think they actually didn’t have enough ammunition!
If we had managed to wipe out those 600,000 troops, the Allied forces’ subsequent plans would have been ruined! To bungle such a prime combat opportunity… are the officers at High Command eating shit for brains?! Right now, we’ve dragged ourselves into a quagmire just to create that opportunity for you, and what more do you want from us?!” Zhang Debiao roared at the Crown Prince over the phone.
“No, you… we wish to have a video call with you! We want to see exactly who you are!” The Crown Prince felt incredibly depressed. He hadn’t even managed to get a word in before being utterly blasted by this mysterious Zhang Debiao.
“Is this the time for a video call?! We’ve committed roughly three corps to Tonglong City, all of them fresh recruit units! I am currently the Commander! Whatever happens on the front lines, I have to make adjustments immediately!
If you want a video call, do it later! Wait until we resolve the crisis here! Also, don’t bother asking who I am. I’m just an ordinary person!” Zhang Debiao finished his piece and hung up, feeling highly irritated. Demanding a video call at a time like this? Were they joking?!
They were in the middle of a war, and Zhang Debiao had to constantly make tactical adjustments. The two frontline corps commanders, Wu Kexiao and Weng Tao, still lacked a strong grasp of the overall battlefield situation, so Zhang Debiao had to help keep an eye on things.
Most importantly, Hu Hao was currently fighting on the front lines, charging at the very vanguard! Zhang Debiao did not want anything to happen to Hu Hao. He had to ensure no Allied forces slipped in behind him, which required his undivided attention.
“He hung up again?!” the Emperor asked, looking at the Crown Prince.
“They… those two brothers… what exactly are they playing at?! Ah?!” the Crown Prince said, staring at his father.
“Damn it!” the Emperor cursed through gritted teeth. He hadn’t heard even a shred of reverence in either Hu Hao’s or Zhang Debiao’s tone. They clearly didn’t take the Crown Prince seriously at all.
“Imperial Father, what should we do?” the Crown Prince asked.
“Hmm. Could it be that Hu Hao truly dares to rebel? Have we misunderstood Tang Long?” the Emperor wondered aloud, standing with his hands clasped behind his back.
“That can’t be, can it? Previously, Luo Xin, Liang Kuan, and Jiang Kai all vouched for him, guaranteeing that Hu Hao would definitely not rebel!” the Crown Prince argued.
“Not now, but that doesn’t mean he won’t in the future. Oh, right, Zhang Debiao just said something about the Allied forces on the central front retreating unscathed? Is this true? Isn’t Jiang Kai’s side currently attacking? Has the ammunition still not arrived?” the Emperor asked the Crown Prince.
“In the afternoon, I asked the General of the Left. He said it was still on the way and estimated it would reach Jiang Kai by tomorrow. And from Jiang Kai’s logistical warehouses to the front lines… I estimate that will take another half a day. After all, the ammunition needs to be distributed!” the Crown Prince explained.
“The Allied forces managed to retreat in just two days? Surely not that fast?” the Emperor murmured.
“Report! Urgent call from Southwest Combat Zone Commander Jiang Kai!” a guard shouted loudly from outside the doors.
“Come in!” the Emperor immediately ordered. The guard brought the phone over, and the Emperor quickly took it.
“Jiang Kai, what is the situation on your end?” the Emperor asked.
“Your Majesty, may I ask when the ammunition will arrive?! It’s been a whole day! The nearest arsenal is less than 400 kilometers away from us! When exactly will it arrive?!
The Allied forces are currently retreating! They’ve concentrated their firepower! My frontline combat units have already wiped out nearly two corps of their troops, but now we’re out of ammunition! When will it be delivered?!
This morning, Tang Long said it would arrive in the afternoon. In the afternoon, he said it would arrive by night! When exactly is it arriving?! If the ammunition doesn’t get here soon, the Allied forces will all have escaped!” Jiang Kai roared over the phone.
“What?! They are retreating that fast?” The Emperor was quite shocked.
“Your Majesty, in war, time is life! It’s been over a day! My troops began their counterattack yesterday afternoon! Did they really think the enemy wouldn’t figure out we were preparing a massive counter-offensive?!
With insufficient ammunition on their end, they definitely wouldn’t fight us head-on; they were bound to retreat! All they needed to do was leave a rearguard behind, while the rest of their forces rapidly marched south toward Tonglong City! With them retreating ahead of us and us chasing from behind, if they blow up a few bridges, how are we supposed to catch them?!” Jiang Kai shouted anxiously.
“Damn it! Is Hu Hao’s situation currently dangerous?” the Emperor asked.
“How could it not be dangerous?! Hundreds of thousands of troops marching south can easily surround Hu Hao’s forces! Yet our ammunition still hasn’t been delivered! My reserve ammunition is almost entirely depleted! The troops have been engaged in continuous, brutal combat for a day and a night, consuming a massive amount of ammo. The combat results they achieved were extremely bountiful!
But… but… damn it! What exactly is Tang Long trying to do?!” In his anger, Jiang Kai directly questioned Tang Long’s motives.
“Alright, alright! I will immediately send someone to urge them and have it delivered as fast as possible!” the Emperor placated Jiang Kai.
After hanging up, the Emperor immediately ordered a guard to notify Tang Long. Tang Long was to immediately command the logistics units to deliver the ammunition to Jiang Kai’s side, and quickly! At the same time, the Emperor ordered Tang Long to report to his office.
“So, Hu Hao’s situation truly is extremely dangerous! He’s even personally taken to the battlefield now!” the Crown Prince remarked, looking at the Emperor.
“We still don’t know the full situation; let’s wait a bit longer. As for Hu Hao… sigh. I don’t even know how to judge him anymore. To think he would leave the command center without authorization, hand over command authority without authorization, and even hand it over to his big brother! This is impermissible! For now, we should remain cautious regarding Hu Hao!” the Emperor stated.
“Yes. However, Hu Hao truly did create this strategic opportunity! Just as Zhang Debiao said, in order to create this opportunity for the central front, they might fall into dire straits themselves. If this is true, then the problem lies on our end!” the Crown Prince said fairly.
“Let’s just wait. We’ll observe the situation for a few days before making a judgment. Do not call Hu Hao’s side for the next few days! Once he finishes fighting, I imagine he’ll contact us, won’t he?” the Emperor instructed the Crown Prince. Truth be told, he was no longer certain if Hu Hao would ever call him again.
“Yes, Imperial Father!” the Crown Prince nodded.
Meanwhile, Hu Hao had already reached the vicinity of Zhanqian Park.
“Damn it, the Allied command center actually ran away! And fast too!” Seeing that there weren’t many guard units left around the park and that the resistance was weak, Hu Hao immediately realized that his previous assessment of a division-level command center being here was likely correct, but that they had already retreated.
(End of Chapter)