Hearing Jiang Kai shouting at him, Hu Hao didn’t hesitate to shout right back. When was the last time someone had dared to scream at him like that?
“Hu Hao, I need a solution! A solution! Because right now, I have absolutely nothing!” Jiang Kai roared through the phone. “There are no reinforcements coming. We have enemy blocking forces entrenched across the river in front of us, and an armored pursuit force closing in from behind. If we do not break out tonight, this army will be completely annihilated! Do you understand me? Total annihilation!”
Jiang Kai was genuinely out of options; otherwise, he never would have tolerated a Major speaking to him with such disrespect without exploding in rage. But right now, his survival—and the survival of his army—depended on them. Neither he nor his entire staff of senior officers could formulate a viable breakout plan.
“I don’t even know the tactical situation over there! How am I supposed to give you a plan?” Hu Hao demanded. “What kind of plan could I possibly have? I’m just a Major! I haven’t seen the ground, so what do you expect me to say? By the way, exactly how large is the blocking force holding you back?”
“Three airborne divisions. They don’t have heavy armor, just some 100mm artillery pieces. But the river is wide—over a hundred meters across. We’ve scrounged up whatever boats we could find and launched three separate assaults, but it was useless. The enemy has established a massive network of heavy machine gun nests on the opposite bank. Our soldiers simply cannot cross the water,” Jiang Kai explained rapidly.
“What about the reinforcements from the rear?” Hu Hao asked.
“The relief column was carpet-bombed by the Allied air force. They took catastrophic casualties and can no longer deploy to assist us. There are no friendly units close enough to help. The absolute earliest any reinforcements could arrive is tomorrow morning, and by tomorrow morning, every single one of us will be a corpse,” Jiang Kai said grimly.
“Map! Bring me the map!” Hu Hao shouted to Zhao Haibin, who was sitting near the front of the bus.
“Got it!” Zhao Haibin quickly unfolded a tactical map with the help of several other soldiers, holding it taut so Hu Hao could read it clearly.
“We are currently here. It will take us seven hours of driving to reach your position. If we try to flank them and maneuver behind the enemy lines, it will take at least ten hours. It’s 1:30 PM right now. We won’t make it in time!” Hu Hao calculated rapidly as he studied the map.
“The Allied armored pursuit will reach us by 1:00 AM at the latest. Ten hours should be enough time!” Jiang Kai suggested anxiously.
“Enough time my ass! Do you not have to build pontoon bridges? Do you not have to organize the actual retreat?! Your forces have been bombed relentlessly all day; God only knows how many wounded you have! If you manage to get that entire army across the river in under two hours, I’ll call it a miracle!” Hu Hao yelled into the receiver.
“Right… right, you’re absolutely right. I didn’t factor in the time required to actually cross,” Jiang Kai conceded quickly, not daring to argue. He truly hadn’t considered the logistical nightmare of the crossing itself.
“Just wait for us to get there. We’ll have to launch a frontal assault and see if we can punch a hole through their line. Flanking them is impossible given the timeframe!” Hu Hao decided.
“Understood! I will wait for your arrival!” Jiang Kai said instantly. Hu Hao didn’t waste another breath; he simply hung up the phone and slumped back in his seat with a heavy sigh.
“Hao-ge, are we really going?” Zhao Haibin asked, watching him closely.
Before Hu Hao could answer, Huan Xingtao yelled from the front of the bus, “The Regimental Commander just called! We have to divert at the next intersection and head toward the main army! It’s a direct order from Zone Command. If we don’t go, we will be executed by firing squad! Even if the Commander’s entire army gets wiped out, he’ll have the Grand Marshal issue the execution order. We’re dead if we don’t go!”
“Fuck his ancestors!” “Motherfucker!” “They’re not giving us a single way out! We were the rearguard, and now they want to use us as the vanguard?! Is this a sick joke?!”
The soldiers on the bus erupted in fury. Almost everyone in this particular vehicle was a junior officer—mostly Second Lieutenants who had just earned their battlefield commissions the night they captured the Allied Generals.
“Hao-ge, are we really going back into the fire?” He Jizhong asked, looking to Hu Hao for guidance.
“What else can we do? The Commander ordered us there. Whether we actually fight or not, I don’t know, but we have to go. Do any of us dare to openly defy that order?” Hu Hao asked, looking around the bus.
“Dammit!” the officers cursed in unison.
They all knew Hu Hao was out of options. They had heard the Commander threaten Hu Hao’s family, and they had all felt the terrifying, murderous aura Hu Hao had unleashed in response. If Hu Hao truly decided to kill someone, there were very few people in the world who could stop him.
The bus fell silent. At the designated intersection, the convoy veered off its original path, racing toward the trapped main army.
Hu Hao sat quietly, his mind racing as he meticulously planned their next move. If they didn’t break out, his men would die alongside the main force. If they wanted to break out, it was highly likely his squad would have to spearhead the assault themselves.
“Hao-ge, what are you thinking about?” Sima Xuankong asked from the driver’s seat.
“Nothing specific. Everyone, stay sharp tonight. It’s highly probable we’re going to be the ones leading the charge, so mentally prepare yourselves,” Hu Hao said, shaking his head.
“We know. Why else would they call us over if not to use us? Hao-ge… we’ve followed you through so many life-and-death situations. We’ve fought so many brutal battles. And yet, they still won’t let us go. Dammit, it feels like they won’t be satisfied until they’ve collected our lives,” Sima Xuankong muttered bitterly.
Hu Hao didn’t reply. He just stared silently out the window.
The convoy drove at breakneck speed. By the time they finally reached the rear of the massive, stalled army, it was past 7:00 PM.
While still in the vehicles, Hu Hao and his men quickly changed out of their civilian clothes and back into their military uniforms. They were rejoining the main force; wearing civilian clothes now would be a disastrous mistake.
The convoy pushed forward for another hour until they reached the frontline city bordering the river. The Allied bombing had tapered off with the setting sun; without daylight, the bombers couldn’t easily identify high-value targets.
As they drove through the staging area, Hu Hao saw endless rows of wounded soldiers and corpses. The agonizing screams of the injured echoed through the night as medics frantically carried them into makeshift field hospitals.
“Hao-ge!” “Hao-ge!”
The 28th Army Division Commanders and Li Jingsong hurried over to meet him. Hu Hao stood outside the bus, staring at the distant fires illuminating the horrific number of bodies laid out in rows—almost all of them young men.
He stood there in silence, a sharp pain twisting in his chest.
“Officers! The Zone Commander has requested your presence immediately! And… the Commander specifically requested that a ‘Hu Hao’ attend as well. The command bunker isn’t far from here!” a Colonel staff officer jogged over and announced.
Hu Hao and the Generals immediately got into a jeep and drove to the headquarters. Zone Command had been hastily established inside a small underground air-raid shelter; the equipment looked as if it had just been unpacked. The moment they walked in, Jiang Kai strode toward them.
“Hu Hao!” Jiang Kai called out. Hearing his name, Hu Hao stepped forward from behind the group of Generals.
“I apologize again for my earlier conduct. But right now, we must break out. Do you have a viable plan?” Jiang Kai asked, looking Hu Hao in the eye, choosing to completely ignore the fact that Hu Hao had blatantly bypassed military protocol earlier.
“A frontal assault,” Hu Hao said flatly. “Gather as many boats as you can find. Have your engineers ready to deploy pontoon bridges the absolute second I blow a hole in their line. Also, can the air force provide close air support?”
“Yes. The air force has scrambled three hundred fighters. The moment we begin the breakout, they will establish an air umbrella over this sector. However, they can only hold the airspace for a maximum of six hours. Our local fighter squadrons are severely depleted; they are vectoring in planes from other Combat Zones, but that takes time,” Jiang Kai explained.
“Mmh. Then begin preparations immediately. Brothers of the 28th Army, and troops of the 27th: the moment I crack their line and you see my signal flare, you launch your boats and swarm the breach! Once you secure a beachhead on the opposite bank, our two corps will split left and right to roll up their flanks and widen the gap as much as possible,” Hu Hao ordered calmly, looking at the Division Commanders.
“How exactly do you plan to crack their line?” Jiang Kai asked, bewildered. “We just launched six consecutive assaults and couldn’t even dent them. The enemy commanders clearly issued death orders to hold that riverbank at all costs. We massed our remaining artillery and bombarded their positions, but it didn’t do any good! They are entrenched and fighting tenaciously!”
“That is none of your concern,” Hu Hao replied bluntly. “Just watch for my signal flare. When you see it, send the men across. The moment they secure the far bank, deploy the pontoon bridges. You can order the air force to launch now.”
“Ah… alright. We’ll do it your way,” Jiang Kai nodded, not daring to question him further.
Dozens of high-ranking Generals were packed into the command bunker, watching the exchange in stunned silence. Some recognized Hu Hao, but many had absolutely no idea who this young Major was or why the Zone Commander was deferring to him.
“I’m going to prepare. Division Commander, tell the brothers to get ready. Zone Commander, get those boats in position!” Hu Hao ordered, turning on his heel and walking out.
“Understood!” “I’ll see to it!” Jiang Kai and Li Jingsong nodded simultaneously.
As soon as Hu Hao left the bunker, Jiang Kai turned to Li Jingsong. “Do you know how he plans to break their line?”
“No idea. He didn’t tell me,” Li Jingsong shook his head.
“Go. Go get your men ready!” Jiang Kai waved them off. Li Jingsong and the other Division Commanders quickly hurried out to prep their units.
“Commander, regarding your earlier threat against Hu Hao’s family… I must speak my mind. I believe that was an incredibly dangerous misstep. If you push Hu Hao too far, he is fully capable of creating massive problems for you,” Li Tianyuan, speaking as a Corps Commander, remained behind to warn Jiang Kai.
“I know. But I had no other options,” Jiang Kai sighed, nodding heavily. “I was treating a dead horse as if it were still alive. If your forces hadn’t come, my entire army would have been annihilated tonight without a prayer. Now that I see Hu Hao actually has a plan, I will let him take the lead. If he truly manages to pull us out of this death trap, I will formally apologize to him again.”
“Commander… who the hell is that kid?” a Lieutenant General Corps Commander finally asked, unable to contain his disbelief. “Who does he think he is, acting so arrogant?!”