Over the radio net, Hu Hao continuously reminded the units of his division to strictly adhere to urban combat protocols and maintain their formations.
Having issued his final instructions, Hu Hao sat back in the APC and waited. High above them, squadrons of Imperial Air Cavalry gunships circled like hawks, escorting the armored columns as they sped toward the city.
A forward element of the Air Cavalry had already reached the outskirts of Nanlin City. However, they hadn’t initiated an attack; they were hovering at a safe distance, maintaining surveillance and streaming live intelligence back to Zone Command.
“Jiang Kai! How dare you?! Who gave you the authority to launch a proactive offensive?!”
Having received intelligence through alternate channels that Jiang Kai was currently executing a massive counter-attack, the Grand Marshal had immediately called the command bunker, his voice vibrating with absolute fury.
“If this offensive fails, our entire defensive line will collapse! When that happens, and the Allied forces march unopposed straight into the Imperial Capital, can you shoulder that responsibility?!”
“Shoulder the responsibility?! What responsibility is there left for me to shoulder?!” Jiang Kai roared back, his pent-up frustration finally exploding. “The ones who should be shouldering the responsibility are you! It’s High Command!
Grand Marshal! In just 10 days, our armies have been forced to retreat time and time again! What else were we supposed to do?! The Southwest Combat Zone started with 330,000 men, and right now, I have less than 20,000 veterans left on the front line!
You demand that I don’t attack. If we don’t attack, if we just sit here and ‘defend,’ do you have any concept of the price we are paying?! We are bleeding hundreds of thousands of casualties every single day!
Grand Marshal, if we don’t seize the initiative and strike back, if we let the Allied coalition dictate this war of attrition, let me ask you: how many more days can the Imperial Army actually survive?!
As of right now, I don’t know the exact casualty figures across the other Combat Zones, but in my Zone alone, we have suffered over 700,000 casualties!
Seven hundred thousand! Grand Marshal, those are human lives, not statistics on a piece of paper! I begged you: strip those incompetent ‘Straw Bag’ Generals of their command and open the promotion channels for the common officers! But you refused!
Do you know who is actually commanding the frontline right now?! It’s the Colonels! The Division Commanders are so terrified they are literally pissing their pants in the mud! It is a humiliating disgrace! These are the so-called ‘Generals’ of the Empire! You ask me if I can shoulder the responsibility?! Does High Command bear no responsibility for this slaughter?! None at all?!” Jiang Kai screamed into the phone.
“Jiang Kai! Do you have any idea how catastrophic the political and military fallout will be for the Empire if your counter-offensive fails?!” the Grand Marshal yelled back, thoroughly enraged by Jiang Kai’s insubordination.
“How catastrophic?! Hmm?! You don’t know?! Then let me tell you! I am currently committing 300,000 troops to this assault! If I don’t attack, I can hold this defensive line for exactly 2 days! If you rush reinforcements to me, maybe 3 days, maybe 4!
But if I win this battle, I can buy the Empire at least half a month of breathing room! Grand Marshal, have you not done the math?! What good is buying 3 days?!
Even if my offensive fails and my entire army is wiped out, the relief forces arriving from the rear can establish a new defensive line further back and hold the enemy! Losing my army now won’t fundamentally alter the broader strategic situation!
But Grand Marshal, if our counter-attack succeeds, the strategic impact for the Empire will be massive! Every decision I make is for the good of the Empire, for the good of the people, and for His Majesty the Emperor! I must launch this counter-offensive!” Jiang Kai declared fiercely.
“Foolish!” the Grand Marshal bellowed.
“I know you have your grand strategic considerations! But your considerations are formulated hundreds of kilometers away from the reality of the front line! You are completely disconnected from what is actually happening here!
Our only consideration is winning battles! Our only goal is driving the Allied coalition out of the Eastern Spirit Empire!
Grand Marshal, I do not believe I am making a mistake. I am a frontline combat commander, not a politician sitting safely in the rear pondering the fate of the nation! My absolute duty is to lead my soldiers to victory and crush the invaders!” Jiang Kai stood tall in the bunker, his voice ringing with conviction.
“Fine! You’ve got guts, Jiang Kai! You’re a loyal servant of the state, aren’t you?!” the Grand Marshal sneered venomously.
“Of course I have guts, and of course I am loyal! But Grand Marshal, let me warn you: if you continue to refuse to open the promotion channels, the Regimental Commanders are going to mutiny!” Jiang Kai threatened.
“Mutiny?! Stop trying to scare me with alarmist nonsense! Who would dare mutiny?!” the Grand Marshal scoffed.
“Who would dare?! Let me enlighten you! Based on our analysis of the Generals who died recently, a significant portion of them were killed by friendly fire! They were assassinated by their own men! Let me ask you this, Grand Marshal: how many Generals from your own aristocratic family are currently serving? Do you think there are enough of them to survive the bullets their own soldiers will put in their backs?!” Jiang Kai asked coldly.
“What did you just say?!” the Grand Marshal’s voice instantly faltered, genuine shock breaking through his anger.
“I am telling you that many of our Generals were executed by their own troops! Do you know why?! Because they do not know how to command! Because they are incompetent straw bags! Those straw bags led their brothers to meaningless deaths in the mud! If the soldiers don’t kill them, who will?!
You ask who would dare?! Go to the front line and ask any surviving veteran! Every single one of them dares! Every single one of them will pull the trigger!” Jiang Kai roared.
“You… you… I cannot simply take your word for this! Why haven’t the other Combat Zones reported anything like this?!” the Grand Marshal asked, a note of panic creeping into his voice.
“They haven’t reported it?! Do you honestly think they would dare tell you?! They are desperately trying to cover it up so they can maneuver their own aristocratic sons and nephews into those newly vacant General positions! If they admitted their Generals were being assassinated for incompetence, how could they justify promoting their own bloodlines?!
I guarantee you, within the next few weeks, the Southern, Southeastern, and Western Combat Zones will submit massive lists requesting the promotion of dozens of Brigadiers and Major Generals! Just look at the numbers they request, and you’ll know exactly how many were killed by their own men!
Grand Marshal, the Empire is in a state of absolute existential crisis! If we cannot resolve this rot within the military command structure, there will be a catastrophic uprising! The last time we spoke, you told me that opening the promotion channels to commoners might destroy the nation. I am telling you right now: if you don’t open them, the nation will absolutely be destroyed!” Jiang Kai yelled desperately.
“Enough! I am not debating this with you! I am ordering you to immediately recall your troops to the trenches and halt this offensive!” the Grand Marshal commanded.
“Impossible! The vanguard has already crossed the river! The assault has begun!” Jiang Kai refused flatly.
The Grand Marshal fell silent, utterly stunned by the sheer defiance.
“Jiang Kai… Jiang Kai! When this counter-offensive fails, just wait for His Majesty to order the execution of your entire family and the confiscation of your estate!” the Grand Marshal threatened viciously.
“Confiscate my estate? My family estate is in Tianhe Province! The Allied forces have already occupied it! His Majesty couldn’t confiscate it even if he wanted to! And if this battle is lost, you won’t have the pleasure of executing me, because I will already be dead on the battlefield!” Jiang Kai replied with icy calm.
“You…!” the Grand Marshal sputtered, unable to believe his ears.
“If you want me to halt this offensive, have His Majesty call me directly! I will ask him myself if he still wants to keep his Empire! And if he does, he must open the promotion channels!” Jiang Kai declared, slamming the phone down and cutting the connection.
He stood in the center of the bunker, chest heaving.
“Commander… you have deeply offended some incredibly powerful people today,” Chief of Staff Sun Qinxue said quietly.
“What am I afraid of?! If we win, he can’t touch me! If we lose, I’ll be dead anyway!” Jiang Kai huffed, sitting down heavily in his chair.
“I know I was impulsive,” Jiang Kai continued, his voice dropping to a weary whisper. “But Old Sun… half a million men! Half a million men, and we have less than twenty thousand left on the line! It is a crime! What we are doing to them is an absolute crime!
I don’t claim to be a saint, but anyone with a shred of human conscience knows we have to do something. We have to fight back for these soldiers!
Hu Hao called me a straw bag! He called me a coward! Could I refute him?! I couldn’t! I know perfectly well that if we lose this battle, the Jiang family is finished. The Grand Marshal will absolutely eradicate my family.
Those so-called aristocratic military families… those parasites… they won’t let us survive. But you know what? I’m not afraid anymore. I’m truly not afraid. Compared to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who died in the mud, what do I have to fear?!
I’m not afraid! We fight! We fight for the soldiers who died, and we fight for the refugees fleeing behind us! I don’t care who tries to destroy me later; I am going to fight this battle first! Even if His Majesty orders my arrest, I am going to fight!” Jiang Kai declared, his eyes burning with resolve.
Ring! Ring!
The moment he finished speaking, the secure red phone on the console rang. A staff officer answered it, his face instantly draining of color.
“His Majesty!” the officer whispered, handing the receiver to Jiang Kai with trembling hands.
Jiang Kai and Sun Qinxue exchanged a heavy look. Both men saw the profound disappointment in the other’s eyes. The Emperor was calling to stop the attack.
“Greetings, Your Majesty. This is Southwest Combat Zone Commander, Jiang Kai,” Jiang Kai said, standing at rigid attention.
“The Grand Marshal just called me. He stated that you stubbornly insist on attacking. He also stated that you demanded I call you personally if I wished to halt the offensive. Is this true?” a calm, authoritative, and deeply resonant voice asked from the other end.
“It is true, Your Majesty. I stated that we must launch this counter-offensive!” Jiang Kai replied, bracing himself for the order.
“Mmh. Then attack. Possessing the courage to fight is a virtue. Right now, the Generals of the Empire are paralyzed by fear. Regardless of victory or defeat, the fact that you possess the courage to strike back proves you are a qualified Zone Commander,” the Emperor said slowly.
“Iam not calling to order you to halt. I calling because the Grand Marshal told me that if you lose, you expect to die on the battlefield.
If you lose this battle, Jiang Kai, you are to return to the Capital. We will give you another 330,000 troops, and you will fight again. Do you understand? If you lose again, We will give you more troops. What I require is commanders who have the courage to fight!” the Emperor declared.
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Tears instantly streamed down Jiang Kai’s weathered face, but his voice remained steadfast.
“Furthermore, regarding your demand to open the promotion channels. We will speak plainly with you: the channels will absolutely be opened. However, the political timing is not yet right.
If you have exceptional talents in your ranks, you must protect them yourself for now. You have the authority to temporarily elevate and heavily utilize them. There is no ironclad law stating that only a Major General can command a Division; exceptions can always be made in wartime.
Be patient. And do not speak of this matter so openly again!” the Emperor advised.
“Yes, Your Majesty! I understand my error! I know what to do now!” Jiang Kai replied, overwhelmed with gratitude.
“Mmh. And I forbid you from speaking of death. You are a Full General of the Empire, a commander capable of leading hundreds of thousands of men. You cannot be allowed to simply die in the mud. The Empire cannot afford to lose you, and We cannot afford to lose you!
Is the assault beginning?” the Emperor asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty! The vanguard is advancing now!” Jiang Kai nodded.
“Mmh. Then I will not interrupt your command any longer. Fight well. I will ensure you are resupplied with fresh troops. Put your mind at ease,” the Emperor concluded.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Jiang Kai roared, his spirit completely revitalized.