Seeing the soldiers part to create a path, Hu Hao walked forward immediately. Li Tianyuan, Li Jingsong, and the other officers trailed behind him. Reaching the table, Hu Hao hopped up onto it and accepted a megaphone handed to him by a nearby soldier.
“Brothers! Unfortunately, we really are going back into the fire. The main forces of the Eastern Spirit Empire are retreating!” Hu Hao’s voice echoed through the megaphone.
“What? Retreating? Then what the hell are we fighting for?” The soldiers stared at Hu Hao in confusion.
“Shut up! Let Hao-ge speak!” a veteran nearby hissed.
“Right, right!” the soldier nodded quickly, falling silent.
“Someone just asked: if we’re retreating, what are we fighting for? Dammit, it’s terribly unfortunate, but this is Langcheng, the capital of Tianyu Province. We, the 27th Corps, are the provincial garrison. As the host army, it falls on us to cover the rear.
I know none of you are happy about this. I’m not happy about it either. But there’s nothing we can do. We drew the short straw.
Furthermore, the Corps Commander just informed us that if anyone deserts, High Command will send agents to confiscate your family’s property. They’ll seize everything you own. So, you tell me—do we run, or do we fight?” Hu Hao looked down at the soldiers. When they heard the threat of their families being stripped of their livelihoods, the men froze in stunned silence.
“By the way,” Hu Hao continued, his voice softening slightly, “for those of you from Tianyu, Tianxiang, Tianfu, Tianhe, Nanshan, Nandun, and Nanlin Provinces… you can run. Because those provinces are about to fall to the Allied forces. Even if High Command wants to confiscate your homes, they won’t be able to reach them anymore.
But I think you all know what life will be like under Allied occupation. The Eastern Spirit Empire is the richest nation in the world; we have massive grain reserves, so our people don’t starve.
But these invaders are from impoverished nations. When they arrive, they will not show mercy. In war, mercy does not exist.
Your families are waiting for you to save them. If you want to run, you can. The Corps Commander and Division Commander are standing right here, and I promise you they will not report you as deserters. You will simply be listed as missing in action. Brothers, this is the absolute most I can do for you.” Hu Hao stood on the table, looking earnestly at the men below.
“What? Lost? My home is just… lost? It’s only been a few days, and my home is already occupied territory?” a soldier from Tianhe Province muttered, his eyes vacant with shock.
“It hasn’t fallen yet, but we’ve lost contact with the outside. A total communications blackout has been ordered,” Hu Hao explained gently to the soldier. “Those of you who want to leave, you can go. It’s okay. The brothers understand! Those of us from other provinces probably can’t run, because if we do, our families will suffer for it.”
“Hao-ge, High Command isn’t leaving us a way out! What right do they have to do this? They’re forcing us to die!” a soldier cried out, his voice cracking with anguish.
“Exactly! What right do they have? We fought hard! Every single one of us has killed the enemy! We completed every mission Zone Command gave us! Why treat us like this?” another soldier sobbed.
Many of the veterans were in tears. Desertion was impossible for most, but marching back out meant almost certain death.
Hu Hao watched them, his own heart aching. The injustice of it all burned him.
“Brothers! We are the Tianyu provincial army; we have to hold the rear here! And the 28th Army is staying with us! They have it even worse than we do!” Li Jingsong yelled from below. The soldiers acted as if they hadn’t heard him. They didn’t care if the 28th Army was being wronged; they only knew they were being wronged.
“Brothers!” Hu Hao raised the megaphone again. “You call me ‘Hao-ge’ because you trust me. Today, I’m making a promise. Listen closely. I, Hu Hao, cannot promise to get every single one of you out alive. But I swear I can get the vast majority of you out.
As long as you follow my orders and execute my plan, we will escape. I don’t want to die here either. To be honest, if I really wanted to leave, no one here could stop me. I wanted to run on the very first day.
But looking at you… seeing you get thrown into the grinder without a single competent order… seeing fresh recruits throw their lives away because of command blunders… I couldn’t stomach it.
I figured, since I was stuck in uniform, I’d help you out. Back then, I was just a Lieutenant. My rank was low, so I couldn’t save everyone, but I could at least keep the brothers immediately around me alive.
So here is my promise: If you trust me, follow me back into the fire, and I will lead you out. If you don’t trust me, or if you need to save your families, you can run. I will not stop you.
The Generals are right here, and I guarantee they won’t stop you either. However, whatever happens to you out there after you leave, I can’t guarantee your safety. Brothers… make your choice!” Hu Hao stood firm, his voice ringing with absolute conviction. The soldiers stared up at him.
“Hao-ge, we’re with you!” a soldier suddenly roared.
“Right! Hao-ge, we trust you! If you say fight, we fight! If we die, we won’t blame you; we’ll just blame our own bad luck!”
“Hao-ge, whatever you say! Tell us who to shoot, and we’ll shoot them! We’ll risk it all!”
The moment the first few men voiced their support, the rest of the crowd erupted, roaring their agreement.
“Brothers! Since the brass won’t give us a way out, we’ll carve one out ourselves! I refuse to believe a little city like Langcheng can trap me! Those willing to follow me, stand behind me! Those who want to leave, stand in front of me!” Hu Hao commanded.
“I’m following Hao-ge! I won’t give those bastard officers an excuse to seize my family’s home!”
“Follow Hao-ge! We carve a path out!”
The soldiers began moving, surging toward the space behind Hu Hao. The separation happened quickly. In the end, only about a hundred soldiers remained standing in front of the table.
“Hao-ge, I’m sorry,” a soldier said, looking up at Hu Hao. “My home is here in Tianyu Province. I need to go back. I have to take my family and flee north. If I manage to get them out safely, I swear I’ll find my way back to your unit, Hao-ge!”
“Hao-ge, I’m from Tianhe Province. I want to go home and get my family out too!”
“Hao-ge, forgive me. I just need to know if they made it out!”
“Brothers, say no more,” Hu Hao said gently. “I understand perfectly. As sons and fathers, it’s impossible not to worry about your families right now. You can go. But let me give you some advice.
First, do not take your rifles. Take handguns, and pack as much spare ammunition as you can carry.
Second, take off those uniforms. Find civilian clothes. Secure a vehicle, but do not take military armor. If the Allied forces spot military vehicles, they will kill you on sight. Keep your weapons hidden.
If you run into an Allied checkpoint, stay calm. Don’t panic. Just focus on getting home first. Also, once you leave here, if you see an operational bank, withdraw all your money immediately. Keep it in cash on your person.
It is crucial you withdraw the funds today. If you try to pull money out later, High Command might track the transaction, realize you’re alive and didn’t return to the unit, and come after you. Do you understand?
Finally, take food from our supplies. Focus on dry goods—biscuits, water, and anything that keeps well. Do not take military-issued MREs; take civilian-packaged food and load it into your vehicles. Food will save your lives out there. Remember this!” Hu Hao advised the departing men.
“We will, Hao-ge. Thank you, Hao-ge! If I survive and get my family out of the occupied zone, I will find my way back to you!” a soldier promised.
“Thank you, Hao-ge!” The departing soldiers stood straight and delivered a crisp salute.
“Alright. Go. Leave now,” Hu Hao returned the salute.
“Hao-ge… brothers… we’re going to grab our things now,” a departing soldier said to Hu Hao and the men standing behind him.
“Take what you need,” Hu Hao nodded.
“Here, the biscuits and bread are over here!”
“Water is here. Hey, I have a few hundred credits in cash—take it. Money is useless to us right now anyway!”
The veterans who were staying actively helped the departing men pack. There was no resentment or disdain. They knew that if their own families were in the immediate line of fire, they would have done the exact same thing. They were all human; they all understood.
It took about half an hour for the departing men to gather their supplies. During this time, Hu Hao remained seated on the table, quietly smoking. He couldn’t reveal his tactical plan yet. He had to wait until the deserters were gone. If one of them was captured and interrogated by the Allied forces, the entire remnant army would be doomed.
“Hao-ge, we’re leaving! Brothers, take care!” The departing soldiers, backpacks shouldered, waved goodbye. Hu Hao smiled and nodded. They were still in uniform, but Hu Hao knew they would strip them off as soon as they left the bunker. There were plenty of abandoned homes in the city; finding civilian clothes would be easy.
Once the deserters had vanished into the city, Hu Hao stood up again. Seeing this, the remaining veterans immediately fell silent and looked at him.
“Brothers, I have two tasks for you. Execute them immediately,” Hu Hao ordered. “First: every man must find a set of civilian clothes and pack it into your rucksack.
Second: every armored vehicle crew will detail a few men to go out and scavenge civilian vehicles. Find cars or trucks that can hold your entire squad. One or two vehicles per squad is fine. Make sure they have a full tank of gas. If you can’t find fueled cars, siphon gas into jerrycans and load them up. These vehicles are our ticket out of here.
Once you find the vehicles, load them with your food, water, and a portion of your ammunition. Bring the vehicles close to our perimeter and hide them well!”
“Understood! We’re on it!” The soldiers roared, immediately turning to rush out and begin preparations.