In the command center, Vostok listened to the staff officer’s report that combat had broken out in Liangcheng, near Dingze City, and that Dingze City had already dispatched reinforcements.
“Liangcheng… there’s a division stationed there, correct?” Chief of Staff Vitali asked Vostok.
“One division. The surrounding county towns each have one division stationed there as well! Damn it, Hu Hao dares to proactively attack Dingze City?!
We might have suffered losses in Tonglong City, but we still have several corps marching there as reinforcements! Is Hu Hao truly so arrogant that he dares to fight on two fronts, facing assaults from multiple directions simultaneously?!” Vostok sat there, voicing his displeasure.
“Supreme Commander, I think this is a good thing. Hu Hao definitely doesn’t have many troops left in and around Tonglong City. With his forces fighting on all four fronts, I refuse to believe he has enough troops to mobilize everywhere. Fortunately, we have sufficient forces in the west and northwest to put pressure on him. As long as we apply enough pressure, it will be impossible for his troops to maneuver freely!” Vitali analyzed.
“Have you notified Tang Long?” Vostok asked.
“I have. Don’t worry!” Vitali nodded.
Vostok nodded in acknowledgment, then looked at the staff officer who had just reported. “Send a telegram to the forces in Dingze City! Tell them not to advance rashly. They are to wait until our forces in the south are ready, and then apply pressure on Hu Hao simultaneously! Otherwise, Hu Hao might defeat them piece by piece!”
“Yes, sir!” the staff officer replied.
“Hu Hao previously committed three corps to Tonglong City. Now he wants to attack Dingze City, which will require another two to three corps. It seems you were right; Hu Hao truly has a massive number of troops. To dare recruit troops privately… he is quite formidable, and quite bold!” Vostok said, looking at Vitali.
“I also passed this information along to Tang Long. I imagine he will make good use of it,” Vitali smiled.
“Let’s wipe out a portion of his forces first. Hu Hao’s army is expanding toward us far too quickly; we must contain him,” Vostok stated.
…
Meanwhile, Hu Hao was leading the Special Operations Regiment in clearing out the Allied forces within their encirclement. The Allied troops inside the military camp were also pinned down by Hu Hao’s forces. They didn’t dare step outside the camp, instead relying on the pre-built fortifications around the perimeter to exchange fire with Hu Hao’s men.
However, the forces pinning them down were entirely composed of snipers. They fired from a considerable distance and constantly relocated after taking a few shots. The Allied soldiers inside the camp were terrified and didn’t dare show their faces, as the enemy’s marksmanship was far too deadly. The slightest lapse in attention meant a bullet to the head!
“Hao-ge, the soldiers have finished clearing out the western section of the city. However, there are still quite a few Allied troops in the center of the city. The Allied forces built a secondary defensive line there earlier. Right now, they’re hiding in their bunkers and refusing to come out. Charging them will be very difficult!” a Squadron Leader reported to Hu Hao.
“Ignore them for now. If you can fight them, fight; if not, leave them be. They are waiting for reinforcements. The Allied troops in the camp aren’t coming out either; they definitely have something to rely on. This place is too close to Dingze City, so their reinforcements will arrive soon.
Order the soldiers to resupply their ammunition immediately! There’s going to be a fierce battle shortly. Also, stash some ammo crates in designated locations so the soldiers can resupply at any time!” Hu Hao instructed through his headset.
“Understood!” several Squadron Leaders responded.
“Hao-ge, are we just going to fight the Allied forces here?” Dong Qipeng asked.
Hu Hao had also switched to a sniper rifle and was keeping his sights trained on the Allied forces’ pre-built defensive positions. Although the Allied troops didn’t dare launch a counterattack, they still popped out to shoot occasionally, fearing that Hu Hao’s troops might charge directly into their trenches.
“Mhm. Their reinforcements won’t arrive all at once; they can’t possibly mobilize an entire corps. Furthermore, they don’t know how many troops we have here, so the reinforcements won’t exceed a single division. It’s 11:00 PM now. We will continue fighting for five hours. If we still can’t cripple the reinforcements by then, we retreat! Tomorrow night, we relocate and hit another spot!” Hu Hao nodded and explained to Dong Qipeng.
“Relocate? We’re retreating?” Dong Qipeng looked at Hu Hao in disbelief.
“What’s wrong?” Hu Hao asked, not understanding why Dong Qipeng was so surprised.
“Hao-ge, you’ve never mentioned relocating before, much less retreating!” Dong Qipeng pointed out.
“Tsk, what’s wrong with relocating? It’s not like we’re taking a loss. We’ll wipe out some Allied troops here tonight, relocate tomorrow, and wipe out some more. Over a few days, it adds up to a substantial number!
The Allied forces in Dingze City are definitely waiting for an opportunity. Why do you think their troops haven’t continued advancing toward Guyi City after arriving? They’re waiting! Waiting for more troops to arrive! So, if we can lure some of their troops out to kill, that works too!” Hu Hao explained.
“But if we kill them like this, how long will it take to wipe out the forces in Dingze City? Also, Hao-ge, you said the Allied forces are waiting for reinforcements? Are the troops in Dingze City not enough?” Dong Qipeng pressed.
“No, the troops in Dingze City are sufficient. But attacking with only the forces from Dingze City isn’t enough for them. I suspect they want to launch counterattacks against Tonglong City and Mengshui City simultaneously.
Wu Kexiao wiped out a massive number of troops in Tonglong City. Although there is still some Allied resistance there, it’s negligible now. As for Mengshui City, it’s currently under our control.
However, a large Allied force has appeared in Xiuyang City. Therefore, the Allied forces will likely launch an offensive from Xiuyang City to attack Mengshui City and Tonglong City. But regarding Mengshui City and Tonglong City… we’ll fight for a bit, then give the cities to them. We’ve already arranged for the citizens inside to evacuate anyway!”
As he spoke, Hu Hao fired a few shots into the distance, relocated, and aimed his rifle back at the distant trenches. Dong Qipeng followed suit with his assault rifle.
“Hao-ge, does that mean we’ll be attacked from two sides? Can we still push east then?” Dong Qipeng asked.
“Why couldn’t we?” Hu Hao replied with a rhetorical question, continuing to fire.
“They’ll have us surrounded from two locations! How are we supposed to fight?!” Dong Qipeng asked.
“Aren’t we already surrounded right now? Don’t we still have to fight our way out?” Hu Hao retorted.
“Oh!” Dong Qipeng realized Hu Hao was right. They had been surrounded from the very beginning. Yet, under Hu Hao’s command, they had fought their way out and recaptured an area larger than four provinces.
“Hao-ge! Headlights to the east! A lot of them!” A Squadron Leader’s voice came through the radio. Hearing this, Hu Hao looked east and confirmed it was true.
“Brothers, snipers, take the high ground! Riflemen, eliminate the remaining enemies! Don’t rush. If they’re here, they’re here. They probably didn’t bring many troops anyway!” Hu Hao ordered, then resumed firing.
Roughly ten minutes later, the Allied reinforcements entered the city and began organizing a counterattack. They wanted to seize control of the city center to compress the survival space of Hu Hao’s troops!
Initially, the Allied forces managed to advance steadily, and Hu Hao even ordered his troops to fall back slightly. However, as the battle dragged on, the Allied commander realized his troops were dwindling. The casualty rate was horrifyingly fast.
Consequently, the Allied forces ceased their fierce assault and shifted to a defensive stance. But Hu Hao didn’t care about that; he immediately ordered his troops to counterattack!
The battle raged from around 9:00 PM until past 4:00 AM the next day. After seven continuous hours of combat, Hu Hao saw that completely annihilating the Allied forces was impossible.
He ordered the troops to retreat. Leaving roughly two squads hidden within the city, the rest of the force withdrew to a small town about 30 kilometers away.
Upon arriving at the town, Hu Hao and his men replenished their food supplies and prepared to rest. The Allied forces didn’t dare launch a proactive pursuit; they had to wait until the troops from the south arrived before launching a coordinated counterattack.
…
After daybreak, Vostok woke up. A staff officer brought him the casualty report from Liangcheng from the previous night.
“What?! In a single night, we suffered over 17,000 casualties?! And over 15,000 of them were killed in action?! Furthermore, this casualty report doesn’t even list our combat results! Exactly how many Eastern Spirit troops did we kill?!” Vostok demanded, glaring at the staff officer upon reading the report.
“I called Liangcheng. The division commander of the reinforcements we sent… was killed in action! The remaining forces of the two divisions have consolidated; they have roughly 4,000 men left.
Last night, if the Eastern Spirit troops had continued their fierce assault, our forces might have been completely wiped out! Furthermore, our troops did not find a single Eastern Spirit corpse in the urban area, so it’s impossible to tally their casualties!” the staff officer explained.
At that moment, Vitali walked in, and Vostok handed him the report.
“Such massive casualties? Didn’t they say it was a small unit? Are Hu Hao’s troops truly this formidable?!” Vitali asked, looking up at Vostok in shock.
“It’s the same unit that attacked our forces in Tonglong City. The reason our troops couldn’t win in Tonglong City was precisely because of this unit! To this day, we still know nothing about them! Also, is there still no news regarding our captured generals? Has Hu Hao released any statements?” Vostok asked.
“Not yet. There is no news about our captured generals. They might have already been killed by Hu Hao,” Vitali speculated.
“Impossible. They are definitely still alive. If Hu Hao wanted to kill them, why bother abducting them? What exactly is Hu Hao planning?!” Vostok shook his head, completely unable to fathom Hu Hao’s intentions for capturing those generals.