Hu Hao and his team finally managed to run to the exit, where two squads were waiting to receive them!
“They’re here!” a soldier shouted.
“Fire!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom!
“Damn it, they have a reception force!” Meeting Hu Hao’s intense covering fire, the vanguard of the pursuing Allied guard units was instantly hit hard. Many of the soldiers giving chase were struck down.
Bang, bang, bang! Lying prone, Hu Hao fired into the distance. His vision was sharper than the average soldier’s, allowing him to discern exactly where the Allied soldiers would take cover!
“Hao-ge, you go up first! Leave this to us!” a Team Leader yelled over the gunfire.
“It’s fine, I’ll fight for a bit!” Emptying a magazine, Hu Hao swiftly reloaded, rolled a few times to a new position, and resumed firing!
“Retreat! Retreat! Hurry, stop chasing them! Their firepower is too intense! Stop the pursuit!” an Allied Major shouted loudly.
“Bullshit! We must pursue! Our Corps Commanders have been captured! We have to get them back!” an Allied Colonel yelled from a distance.
Hearing the shout, Hu Hao fired a single shot, striking the Colonel squarely in the chest. The Colonel dropped to his knees and was immediately hit several more times in rapid succession. Many soldiers had their rifles trained on the area where the voices were coming from.
If someone was speaking, it meant an officer was there. Take out the officers first. As for the soldiers, without an officer’s command, their attack would lose its cohesion.
“Hao-ge, Hao-ge! Our infantry units will be here any second!” Zhao Yang crawled over and shouted to Hu Hao.
“Good! Keep them pinned down! They’ve entered our territory now; if they still dare to chase us, they’re looking for death!” Hu Hao yelled back!
Meanwhile, Zhang Debiao had positioned a drone feed right over Hu Hao’s exit point!
“They’re out! Our men are out! There are quite a few wounded! No, wait… those don’t look like wounded. It’s hard to tell, but it looks like they’re tied up!” Dong Qipeng exclaimed, watching the large screen.
“It’s the Allied commanders! Someone, issue orders to the troops: no resting tonight! Launch a fierce assault! A full-scale assault on the Allied positions! Tell Wu Kexiao, Weng Tao, and the division commanders below them that we’ve wiped out the Allied command center! Tell them to fight with everything they’ve got! Hit them hard!” Zhang Debiao ordered the staff officers beside him.
“Yes, sir!” the staff officers acknowledged and immediately got to work!
“How do you know they’re commanders?” Mo Qin asked, standing nearby.
“Nonsense! That brat Er Lengzi wouldn’t bother making a move for ordinary targets!” Zhang Debiao stated.
“Oh!” Mo Qin and the others nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
“Still can’t reach Zhao Yang?! Contact him immediately! I want to speak with Er Lengzi! Put it on speaker!” Zhang Debiao ordered Dong Qipeng.
“I’ll contact him right now!” Dong Qipeng replied, grabbing the satellite phone and dialing Zhao Yang’s number!
“Hello! This is Dong Qipeng! Yangzi, what’s the situation on your end?!” Hearing the call connect amidst the deafening roar of explosions, Dong Qipeng shouted into the receiver.
“Still fighting! Da Peng, what’s the matter?!” Zhao Yang yelled back.
“Put Hao-ge on the phone!” Dong Qipeng demanded.
“Alright!” Zhao Yang acknowledged immediately.
Dong Qipeng switched the phone to speaker. In the command center, everyone could clearly hear the intense gunfire and grenade explosions echoing from the other side.
“Still engaged in combat? Did the Allied guard units catch up to them?” Zhang Debiao frowned upon hearing the noise.
“Da Peng, what’s the matter?!” Hu Hao had taken the phone and shouted into it!
“I… Er Lengzi, you’re asking for a beating, aren’t you?! Ah?! The moment I arrives, you go and stir up trouble?!” Zhang Debiao demanded.
“Hehe, brother! I captured the Allied commanders! Four Lieutenant Generals and quite a few Major Generals! Brother, order the troops to continue their fierce assault immediately! We can cripple them tonight!” Hearing Zhang Debiao’s voice, Hu Hao laughed and reported.
“I’ve already issued the order. You, come back immediately! Return to the command center!” Zhang Debiao ordered.
“Come back for what? Is someone disobeying your commands?” Hu Hao asked.
“Aside from you, who the fuck else dares to disobey my commands?! Come back! You are not allowed on the front lines! You are a Commander, for crying out loud! Charging to the very front, what the hell are you trying to do?! Ah?!” Zhang Debiao scolded.
“Hello? Hello? I can’t hear you clearly! What did you say?!” Hu Hao shouted loudly.
“Stop pretending you can’t hear me! Get your ass back here! Hurry up, or when I catch you, I’ll skin you alive!” Zhang Debiao roared, furious.
“Hello? Hello? The signal is bad! Hello? Let’s leave it at that for now! I’m fighting a battle here! We’ll talk after I wipe out these Allied forces! Contact me if anything comes up!” With that, Hu Hao hung up the phone!
“You bastard!” Zhang Debiao was so angry he actually laughed! Seeing this, the other staff officers couldn’t help but chuckle as well.
“Biao-ge, this is very strange. Hao-ge wasn’t like this before! He used to be very steady. Why is he…?” Mo Qin looked at Zhang Debiao, thoroughly confused.
“Steady? Hmm, yes, he is steady. But when he stirs up trouble, that’s when you see just how capable he truly is!” Zhang Debiao nodded in agreement.
“Why is he acting like this now?” Mo Qin pressed.
“Why is he acting like this? Because I am here! He doesn’t have to manage things anymore, so he can do whatever the hell he wants! That bastard!” Zhang Debiao cursed again.
…
“Keep firing! Ammo! I need ammo!” Rifle in hand, Hu Hao continued to shoot. His magazine was nearly empty again.
Hu Hao had no idea how many bullets he had gone through tonight. Not only had he emptied all his magazines, but he had also exhausted all his loose reserve ammunition.
“Hao-ge, catch!” A soldier tossed a box of bullets over. Hu Hao caught it, immediately rolled behind a stone pillar in the subway tunnel, and took cover, rapidly reloading his magazines.
After filling four magazines, Hu Hao popped back out and resumed firing at the distant Allied forces.
After about ten more minutes of fighting, the infantry units finally arrived. They brought heavy machine guns, set them up on the ground, and began suppressing the enemy. At the soldiers’ urging, Hu Hao finally fell back. He and Zhao Yang met up with the rest of the assault team at the rendezvous point.
“Where are the wounded? Have our wounded been evacuated?” Hu Hao asked the Team Leader the moment he arrived.
“They’ve already been evacuated. Eleven wounded in total, two of them critical!” the Team Leader reported.
“Mhm!” Hu Hao nodded!
“Hao-ge, the prisoners are right here. Do you want to see them?” the Team Leader asked.
“I do. Good work, brothers! Have you resupplied your ammo?” Hu Hao smiled, calling out to the heavily panting soldiers resting nearby.
“Hehe. Hao-ge, fighting under your lead is a thrill!” a soldier laughed.
“Exactly! I bet if I told anyone, they wouldn’t believe it! To think we actually took out the enemy’s command center!” another soldier chuckled.
“Alright, rest for half an hour! The battle outside is still raging; we have to go up and help out soon! Get something to eat, replenish your energy quickly!” Hu Hao smiled at the soldiers.
“Understood! Fighting wars like this is awesome!” a Platoon Leader nodded with a grin.
“Let’s go. Take me to the prisoners!” Hu Hao said with a smile.
Soon, they arrived at a ground-level underground air raid shelter. Inside, Special Operations soldiers had their rifles trained on the dozen or so generals.
“Hao-ge!” Seeing Hu Hao approach, the soldiers standing guard were delighted.
“Mhm, hehe!” Hu Hao nodded. Upon seeing the prisoners, a wide grin spread across his face.
“Take those gags out of the Lieutenant Generals’ mouths! I wants to have a little chat with them about life!” Hu Hao smiled at the Special Operations soldiers.
Several soldiers stepped forward and removed the gags from the Lieutenant Generals’ mouths.
“Ptui! Kill us if you have the guts!” Schliemann spat out some saliva. He had no idea what they had been gagged with, but it tasted awful.
“Kill you?” Hu Hao could understand them somewhat. Although not fluent, he could grasp basic conversation, and he knew a bit of the Southern language, making communication manageable.
“Hmph! You are despicable, launching a sneak attack on our command center!” another Lieutenant General cursed.
“Despicable? You invade our country, and now that we’ve captured you, you call us despicable? Are you asking for a beating?! What kind of logic is that?! The only reason I didn’t kill you in the command center is because you still have some use. If you were useless, do you think you’d still be alive to talk to me?!” Hu Hao retorted, staring at the Lieutenant Generals!
“Kill us if you have the guts!” Schliemann glared viciously at Hu Hao and shouted.
“Whether I have the guts or not isn’t for you to decide. Besides, I’ve already killed plenty of Lieutenant Generals like you; a few more won’t make a difference!” Hu Hao chuckled.
“What do you want? Trying to extract intelligence from us?” Schliemann continued to interrogate Hu Hao.
“Intelligence… hmm, right! You guys are Lieutenant Generals; you must know a lot. I’d almost forgotten if you hadn’t brought it up! Perfect time for an interrogation!” Hu Hao nodded in agreement.
“Hmph! Keep dreaming!” Schliemann scoffed, turning his head away.
“Believe me, if I really wanted to interrogate you, I’d have you spilling secrets right down to what age you were still wetting the bed! Dreaming?
Relax. In my eyes, your intelligence isn’t worth that much. It’s your identities that are valuable. Tell me, if I use you to demand ransom from Vostok, how much do you think I could get?” Hu Hao squatted down with a smile, looking at Schliemann .
“Hahaha! Then you might as well just kill us! Are you stupid?! Using us for ransom?! Hahaha!” Schliemann burst into laughter upon hearing this.
“The generals of the Eastern Spirit Empire truly are people who prioritize money over their own lives!” Kesma sneered from the side.
(End of Chapter)