When Hu Hao and his men woke up, they confirmed that the Allied forces truly hadn’t launched a single attack during the night. Li Tianyuan also informed Hu Hao that there were still fifty to sixty thousand troops waiting to withdraw, and it would likely take until noon to finish the evacuation.
“How the hell is a retreat this slow? Even including the wounded, it’s barely over two hundred thousand men. They couldn’t move them out in a single night?” Hu Hao complained, clearly frustrated.
“There’s a massive amount of supplies to move as well!” Li Tianyuan quickly explained.
“Who gives a shit about supplies right now? Have the rearguard blow up the remaining weapons and ammo when they leave! Your lives are hanging by a thread, and you’re worried about dragging boxes of supplies with you? Absolute geniuses!” Hu Hao sneered.
He sat down on a large rock and pulled out a cigarette. Li Jingsong hurried over and lit it for him.
“Hao-ge, do you think the Allies will attack during the day?” Li Jingsong sat down beside him and asked.
“I don’t know. They probably will, but it won’t be a massive assault. They didn’t push last night, so launching a major offensive in broad daylight is a bit late in the game.
The only way they launch a hasty daytime assault is if they didn’t know we were retreating last night. If they already knew we were pulling out, they won’t fight hard today,” Hu Hao said, exhaling smoke.
The nearby veterans were all watching him intently. The city was dead quiet—no artillery shells, no gunfire. The eerie silence allowed everyone to hear Hu Hao’s analysis clearly.
“That’s good. That’s good. Please don’t come. Really, don’t come. If they come, we’re in deep trouble,” Li Jingsong muttered, staring up at the sky as if in prayer.
“Hu Hao, if we make it out of here alive, how about you come work as a staff officer at my Corps Headquarters? I guarantee I’ll have you promoted to Lieutenant Colonel within two years, and Colonel within five!” Li Tianyuan walked over, offering Hu Hao a warm smile.
“Not interested. I have no intention of climbing the ranks. I just want to make a bit of money, and the moment my contract allows it, I’m retiring!” Hu Hao shook his head firmly.
“Dad, drop it. I’ve tried telling him I don’t know how many times. If talking worked, do you think you’d need to try?” Li Jingsong shot his father a look of disdain.
“Haha. Right. Well… let’s just hope we make it out today,” Li Tianyuan chuckled, then sighed heavily.
Meanwhile, in the Allied encampment, the troops were also awake, and the base was bustling with activity.
“Commander, are we still holding our attack?”
Inside a large command tent in the center of the camp, several Lieutenant Generals stood before a full General, waiting for orders.
The full General was the supreme commander of the Allied forces assaulting Langcheng: General Wenkeduo of the Maraguo. Standing before him were his Chief of Staff (a Lieutenant General from the Kabuguo), and three Lieutenant General Corps Commanders (one from Maraguo, one from Kabuguo, and one from the Leling).
They commanded three full infantry corps in this sector, supported by two independent armored divisions belonging to Mara and Kabu.
“No attack. The enemy is currently retreating. We only have three corps here, and the enemy currently occupies highly defensible terrain within the city. You all know what happened the night before last—we lost two Division Commanders to capture.
While the vast majority of the Eastern Spirit Empire’s Generals are incompetent, there are clearly a few who know how to fight. If we launch an urban assault now, we will inevitably suffer heavy casualties. Let them retreat!” Commander Wenkeduo said, shaking his head.
“But if they slip away, we lose a massive opportunity! We had them cornered! If we press the siege, we can annihilate them all. Once they’re gone, the surrounding seven provinces won’t have enough troops to defend themselves. Those territories will be ours for the taking!” a Corps Commander argued.
“That’s true. But if they retreat, those seven provinces are ours anyway. They are pulling back and handing that territory to us. You all know that our coalition nations are currently facing severe food shortages. We need to rapidly occupy those undefended provinces and seize their grain reserves to ensure our campaign can continue. Our coalition simply does not have the logistical capacity to supply enough food from home.
Therefore, we need to pause our assault, consolidate our gains, and expand our footprint, rather than bleeding ourselves in a war of attrition with the Eastern Spirit forces in a ruined city!” Wenkeduo explained.
“Commander, if we sustain the attack on Langcheng, I am confident the Eastern Spirit forces won’t last a week,” another Lieutenant General stated.
“And how many of our men are you prepared to sacrifice to achieve that?” Wenkeduo challenged him.
“The sacrifice would be worth it!” the Lieutenant General fired back.
“No, it wouldn’t!” Wenkeduo glared at him.
“How is it not worth it? Is letting them escape worth it? They are a broken, remnant army! Are we afraid of them?” the Lieutenant General refused to back down.
“Hmph. Escape? Where exactly are they going to run to? Have you not noticed the massive surge in our air force activity today? Why do you think that is? We are letting them run, but do you honestly believe they can escape?
Do not forget the geography of the Eastern Spirit Empire. The entire central region is a massive flat plain; the only defensible terrain is the mountains far to the north. In a terrain like that, where can they hide?
They are a retreating force; we are a pursuing force. They are dragging a massive logistical train and tens of thousands of civilian refugees with them. How fast do you think they can move? All we have to do is drop a blocking force in front of them and chase them from behind. As long as we prevent them from digging into another major city, can they really run?
When the time comes, we won’t even need our bombers. Our ground artillery alone will be enough to slaughter them all in the open!” Wenkeduo sneered confidently.
“Commander, you mean… we’re sending a force to cut them off?” the stubborn Lieutenant General asked, his eyes lighting up.
“Exactly. Our air force is currently engaging the Eastern Spirit air force in a decisive battle. We’ve sortied a massive number of fighters for one specific purpose: tonight, we are going to airdrop two full airborne divisions directly into the path of their retreating columns. As long as those paratroopers delay them for a single day, our main armored forces will catch up from the rear and crush them.
Tell me, out in the open plains, are those fleeing troops any match for us? Slaughtering them in the fields is infinitely better than fighting them house-to-house. It will be a true annihilation. So, gentlemen, tell your men to rest today!” Wenkeduo said, looking at his commanders with a smug smile.
“Ah! So that’s the plan!” The Corps Commanders immediately beamed with realization.
“Mmh. Let them run. We aren’t pressuring them today because we want them to pack up their supplies and take them. If we push them, they’ll blow the stockpiles. As long as they carry the supplies, they move slower, and when we crush them, we capture all of it intact.
We want their resources. Whether it’s grain, weapons, or ammunition, we take it all. You know how exorbitantly expensive it is to ship supplies from our home nations. We came here specifically for their grain and oil. We need to use Eastern Spirit resources to fuel our war machine and minimize our own logistical strain!” Wenkeduo declared.
“Haha! The Eastern Spirit Empire is just a massive warehouse for us! We’re going to use their own supplies to destroy them! Don’t you think that’s incredibly ironic for their military?” the Chief of Staff laughed, looking at the Corps Commanders, who all joined in the triumphant laughter.
“Alright. Prepare your men. Once the airborne drop succeeds tonight, we launch our pursuit!” Wenkeduo ordered with a smile.
“Yes, sir!” The Corps Commanders snapped crisp salutes.
By noon, Hu Hao was certain of his judgment. The enemy was not going to attack during the day. They knew the Imperial forces were retreating, and they were perfectly content to wait until the withdrawal was complete.
“Hao-ge. Hao-ge, what are you thinking about? Here, eat something. I just got word: it’s going to take at least another hour. They still have a massive amount of supplies they’re trying to load onto the trains,” Li Jingsong said, handing Hu Hao a mess tin.
“Dammit… they are literally asking to die. Just begging for it!” Hu Hao shook his head in disgust.
“Hao-ge? Who is asking to die? The Zone Commander and the retreating troops?” Li Jingsong asked immediately.
“Yes. The enemy hasn’t attacked all day. That means they have a secondary operational plan. They aren’t the least bit worried about our main force escaping!” Hu Hao took the food and nodded grimly.
“That’s not necessarily true. The Allied forces probably just want to rush out and occupy our other provinces. They don’t want to fight us here. They’re from poor nations; they just want to loot our resources!” Li Jingsong offered his own theory.
“Look up at the sky,” Hu Hao said, chewing a mouthful of rice and pointing his spoon upward.
“The sky? It’s just air combat. They’ve been fighting up there for days!” Li Jingsong said, squinting against the glare.
“The Allied coalition has sortied more planes today than at any point in the war. Our fighters are getting battered. Why are the Allies launching such a furious, all-out assault to secure air superiority today of all days?
Because tonight, their air force is going to execute a major operation. They were going to have to grind down our fighters eventually; doing it now serves a dual purpose. They clear the skies, and it allows them to obliterate our retreating columns. I guarantee you, tonight, the enemy is going to deploy airborne troops to cut off the retreat!” Hu Hao stated with absolute certainty, his tactical mind piecing the puzzle together.
“No way. Hao-ge, please don’t just guess things like that. And definitely don’t say that out loud! If you predict that and it doesn’t happen, people will think you’re crazy!” Li Jingsong whispered, leaning in close.
“Sigh.” Hu Hao just shook his head.
He didn’t want to see tens of thousands of young men, who just wanted to go home, slaughtered on the open road. And it would be a completely meaningless slaughter, born entirely of command incompetence. The retreat wouldn’t cause the enemy any tactical problems; instead, the Empire was essentially gift-wrapping a massive victory for the Allied forces.