When Jiang Kai called Hu Hao to the command post, it wasn’t so much to ask for a brilliant tactical plan, but rather to find someone who would just listen.
He was incredibly frustrated, deeply depressed, and utterly helpless. Although he was a Zone Commander holding the lives of hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands, as a defeated General, he had no one he could truly confide in.
His staff officers were either too busy, or when they heard him lament, they simply didn’t know how to respond without overstepping their bounds. That was why he had thought of Hu Hao.
“So, it really is exactly what I suspected,” Hu Hao nodded, leaning back. “The Allied forces want to rapidly annihilate the Empire’s standing army so they can sweep across and conquer the entire country in the shortest possible time?”
“Yes. The shortest possible time! The truth is, the Allied coalition can’t afford a protracted war of attrition either. If this drags on, the economic and political pressure back in their home countries will skyrocket. The Eastern Spirit Empire has the resources to fight a war of attrition, but we need time to mobilize. If our main forces are wiped out immediately, we’ll lose before we can ever bring our true strength to bear!” Jiang Kai nodded grimly.
“Has the General Mobilization Order been issued?” Hu Hao asked.
“It was issued just before noon. His Majesty and High Command finally realize how dire the situation is. But… motherfucker! They still refuse to open the promotion channels for commoners! Even at the edge of the abyss, those aristocratic Generals are still clinging to their inherited privileges.
Hu Hao, I have wronged you. I have wronged all the capable field-grade officers. Truly, I am sorry. By all rights, given the immense merit you have earned, you should be a General by now. But the channel remains slammed shut. I fought for it; I even sent a direct telegram to His Majesty, but it was useless.
The response I got from High Command was that we ‘must wait for the right time.’ Ha! The right time! The nation is on the verge of annihilation, and they’re talking about ‘the right time’! I genuinely cannot understand what goes through their heads!” Jiang Kai laughed bitterly, shaking his head.
“I don’t really care about the rank, Commander,” Hu Hao smiled wryly. “The ones who are truly being wronged are the veteran Regimental Commanders. Some of those men have been Colonels for almost twenty years. Their tactical command abilities are leagues beyond most of the Generals currently sitting on the front lines. Ha… sigh.”
“Mmh. You’re right. But you are still young; you have plenty of opportunities ahead of you. You truly are exceptional—far better than most. Let’s just hope we can hold this line. If we survive this, I will promote you to full Colonel the moment an opportunity arises, and I will personally recommend you to High Command!” Jiang Kai promised, nodding emphatically.
“Forget it. Save your recommendations for those veteran Colonels. They’ve earned it in blood. I’ve only been in the army for a few days and I’m already a Lieutenant Colonel. That’s fast enough for me!” Hu Hao waved a hand dismissively.
“Report! According to our latest intelligence, the Allied coalition has diverted two additional corps from Tianhe Province! They are marching on our position and are expected to arrive by noon tomorrow!” a senior staff officer announced, handing a file to Jiang Kai.
“Let them come. What can I possibly do about it?” Jiang Kai sighed.
He didn’t have any troops left to maneuver. Whether the current defensive line would hold through the night was already a massive question mark; how many more enemy troops arrived tomorrow was entirely beside the point.
“Commander, I’ve been wondering something,” Hu Hao suddenly said, leaning forward. “The enemy is pursuing us at breakneck speed. Why haven’t we blown the bridges behind us? Furthermore, with such a massive Allied force moving this quickly, how exactly are they supplying themselves? Why haven’t we severed their logistical arteries?
Our Empire is primarily composed of flat plains. We don’t have mountains; our only natural chokepoints are the rivers. These rivers are critical! If we didn’t have this river here today, do you think our forces could have held them off? Absolutely not.
Commander, if it is at all possible, order the air force to launch immediate strikes against every major bridge along their supply routes! And what about the airports in the provinces we abandoned? Why weren’t those runways cratered during the retreat? Are we just going to let the enemy use our own infrastructure to launch bombers against us?!” Hu Hao demanded, staring at Jiang Kai.
“Hmm?” Jiang Kai’s head snapped up.
“Commander, put everything else aside and just look at the logistics,” Hu Hao continued, his eyes sharp. “The Allied forces currently on the front line number in the hundreds of thousands. For food alone, they need hundreds of thousands of pounds of grain every single day. Sure, they can scavenge and loot from our civilian cities to feed themselves. But what about ammunition?
Do you know how many tons of ammunition they burn through in a single day of combat like this? Look at our own lines—our ammo supply trucks haven’t stopped moving since the fighting began! And the Allied forces? I refuse to believe they’re teleporting their artillery shells to the front! Commander, this is our leverage. If we sever their supply lines, we can completely stall their offensive momentum!” Hu Hao stated with absolute conviction.
“Come here! Come here right now!” Jiang Kai jumped up from his rock, his eyes blazing. He grabbed Hu Hao by the arm and dragged him toward the command center.
“Quick! Bring up the tactical map of this entire region! Put it on the main screen and zoom in!” Jiang Kai barked at his staff officers. Hu Hao followed, confused by the sudden urgency.
“You do it. Look at the map. You tell me exactly which bridges need to be destroyed. Whatever you point at, we blow to hell!” Jiang Kai said, pushing Hu Hao in front of the massive glowing screen.
“Ah?” Hu Hao stared at Jiang Kai, slightly taken aback.
“Just say it! Point out every strategic bridge! If we can’t get heavy bombers through their air defenses, I will order the Air Force to form suicide squadrons! I’ll have them load fighters with maximum fuel and high explosives and blow those bridges directly!
As long as the pilots eject before impact, losing the planes means nothing! The Empire has massive reserves of aircraft; as long as the pilots survive, we can keep flying!” Jiang Kai yelled, practically vibrating with excitement.
“Mmh. Understood,” Hu Hao nodded, his eyes scanning the map.
“Get over here! Record every location he points out!” Jiang Kai shouted to the staff officers. Several officers immediately rushed over with notepads.
“Here. This is the Liu River. These three bridges must be destroyed. And here… blow this one too. Furthermore, this is the Long River, the widest river in the Empire, correct? The two Allied corps marching from Tianhe Province will absolutely have to cross these specific bridges. Blow every single one of them. The Long River is over two kilometers wide; let’s see how long it takes their engineers to build a pontoon bridge across that!” Hu Hao commanded, pointing decisively at the screen.
By the time he was finished, Hu Hao had targeted over forty critical bridges. He also circled several captured airports, though he admitted those would be much harder to strike, as the Allied forces would undoubtedly have heavily fortified their perimeters with anti-air defenses.
“Issue the orders to Air Force Command immediately! If they can use bombers, use bombers. If they can’t break through, order fighter squadrons to load bombs, penetrate the airspace at low altitude, and crash their planes directly into the targets if necessary! Those bridges must be destroyed!” Jiang Kai roared the moment Hu Hao stepped back.
“Yes, sir!” The staff officers immediately rushed to the comms stations to relay the priority telegrams to Air Force Command.
“Hu Hao, if we successfully destroy these bridges, how many days do you think we can hold this line?” Jiang Kai asked, turning back to him.
“Mmh. The enemy will definitely attempt to construct pontoon bridges. The reinforcements from Tianhe Province won’t be an immediate threat; they can’t bridge a two-kilometer river in a single day. As long as we launch daily air raids to harass their engineers, they won’t be able to cross.
As for the forces directly in front of us, if we destroy the bridges behind them, their troop numbers won’t increase. More importantly, they will rapidly begin to experience severe ammunition shortages.
Sigh… honestly, Commander, if we had sufficient combat-capable troops right now to launch a counter-offensive, we could hold them here for a few days, let the Air Force take the brunt of the casualties striking their rear, and completely devour the Allied forces currently trapped on the opposite bank. Once their ammo runs dry, they’ll be sitting ducks.
Furthermore, if our reconnaissance planes can locate the Allied forward supply depots… it would be perfect. We bomb their ammo dumps, and their offensive crumbles completely!” Hu Hao analyzed.
“Order Military Intelligence and all Air Force reconnaissance squadrons to prioritize locating the Allied forward supply depots immediately! Once identified, vector all available strike aircraft to obliterate them!” Jiang Kai barked at a senior staff officer.
“Come, come! Hu Hao, sit down! Are you all blind?! Get the Lieutenant Colonel a chair!” Jiang Kai suddenly realized Hu Hao was still standing and yelled at his aides.
“No need, I’ll just sit on the ground. I’m covered in mud and sand anyway,” Hu Hao said quickly.
“By the way, have you eaten?” Jiang Kai asked.
“Not yet. The fighting only just stopped. When would I have had the time?” Hu Hao shook his head.
“Get him some food! Hot food! Quickly!” Jiang Kai ordered the aides.
“Heh heh. I knew it. I knew calling you here was the right move! It was a flash of inspiration; I just knew you’d have an angle! Hahaha! If we can actually destroy those bridges, the crushing pressure on our front line will drop significantly!” Jiang Kai laughed, patting Hu Hao on the shoulder.
“Ha,” Hu Hao chuckled softly. He pulled out another cigarette. A nearby staff officer immediately produced a lighter and lit it for him.
The staff officers in the bunker weren’t blind; they knew Hu Hao was currently the Zone Commander’s golden boy. Being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel at such a young age meant his future career trajectory was virtually limitless.
“Hu Hao, do you have any other tactical suggestions? Tell me everything,” Jiang Kai urged.
“Yes, Commander. Can logistics push more entrenching tools to the front line? Look at our trenches. When the enemy artillery opens up, our men are basically lying flat in open dirt. Surviving a barrage right now is purely a matter of luck. Absolute luck,” Hu Hao said seriously.
“Order the rear echelon logistics units to deliver every available entrenching tool to the front immediately,” Jiang Kai ordered a staff officer.
“Yes, sir!” the officer replied.
“Commander, I strongly suggest you use tonight to rapidly reorganize the frontline units,” Hu Hao continued. “Right now, the command structure in the trenches is complete chaos. I know everyone is exhausted, but you need to explicitly designate which units are responsible for which specific sectors of the riverbank.
Furthermore, regarding the newly arrived reservists… you should empower the surviving frontline veterans to form their own temporary units. For example, any surviving veteran from a combat unit should automatically be made a Squad Leader for the conscripts. Our surviving Second Lieutenants should instantly become Platoon Leaders.
As long as you reorganize the chain of command up to the Regimental level, the line will stabilize. Pushing the reorganization up to the Division level wouldn’t be too difficult either. Of course, given how much the enlisted men currently distrust the aristocratic Division Commanders, capping the temporary restructuring at the Regimental level might be safer.
If you divide the defensive sectors by Regiment, the chain of command will flow smoothly. Right now, it’s a massive free-for-all. The soldiers have no idea who to take orders from or how to coordinate their defense. The resulting casualties are completely unnecessary and incredibly tragic!” Hu Hao explained earnestly.