When Jiang Kai announced that he had been made a Viscount and Chief of Staff Sun Qinxue had been made a Baron, the room erupted in genuine applause and heartfelt congratulations from the surviving Generals.
“Thank you. Thank you for your applause and your congratulations. But honestly… the Chief of Staff and I cannot find it in ourselves to be happy. We both feel entirely unworthy of these honors, and I think you all know why,” Jiang Kai said, raising his hands to quiet the room.
“Commander, you can’t say that!” Corps Commander Li Tianyuan immediately objected. “You led us in a massive counter-offensive and completely annihilated eight full Allied corps! Eight corps! That is a staggering achievement!”
“Exactly, Commander!” another Corps Commander chimed in. “Annihilating an enemy force of nearly 500,000 men? A victory of this magnitude hasn’t been achieved by the Empire in over a century! In the 800-year history of the Eastern Spirit Empire, you can count the number of Generals who have accomplished such a feat on one hand!”
Jiang Kai gave them a sad smile and pressed his hands downward again in a calming gesture. Seeing his expression, Li Tianyuan and the others fell silent.
“What you say is true. But we still feel unworthy,” Jiang Kai’s voice grew heavy. “Today, in that city, a million restless souls are crying out for justice. A million innocent people were massacred under our watch.
And that’s just Nanlin City. We are the Southwest Combat Zone. Before this war, we governed six entire provinces. Now, look at how much territory we’ve lost. How many other cities and provinces have fallen? And what about the neighboring Combat Zones? Are the civilians in those occupied territories facing the exact same horrific fate right now? We simply don’t know.”
Hearing this, Hu Hao and the assembled Generals lowered their heads, the grim reality settling heavily over the room.
“Furthermore,” Jiang Kai continued, “His Majesty only saw fit to reward the Chief of Staff and myself. What about the rest of you? Do you not deserve rewards?
I explicitly asked His Majesty this question. His Majesty replied that your merits and demerits cancel each other out. Because the combat units under your direct command suffered such catastrophic casualties during the retreat, he considers your massive victory today as merely balancing the scales of your previous failures.
But you are my soldiers! If your merits and demerits cancel out, how can I justify accepting a reward for your sacrifice?! I am sorry, gentlemen. I fought for you, I truly did. But His Majesty refused my recommendations. I originally intended to recommend Li Jingsong and Lu Chengliang for promotion to Lieutenant General, but His Majesty ordered me to hold off.”
“It’s fine, Commander. Honestly, if you actually promoted me to Corps Commander, I’d be terrified!” Li Jingsong blurted out immediately. “I don’t have the skills for it, and I’m not afraid to admit my own shortcomings. If you made me a Lieutenant General and put me in charge of a Corps right now, I doubt I’d live past the end of the week! The men would absolutely put a bullet in my back!
We all know how many Generals on this line were fragged by their own troops for incompetence. I don’t want to join them. If His Majesty says my merits and demerits cancel out, then I accept it. We don’t care about the promotions anyway!”
“Exactly, Commander. We don’t dare accept a promotion to Lieutenant General,” Major General Lu Chengliang agreed, nodding vigorously. “We know perfectly well we lack the tactical capability to command an entire Corps in combat. We have that much self-awareness, at least!”
“Mmh. I know you all have your own considerations, and I appreciate your humility. But I truly apologize,” Jiang Kai sighed. “His Majesty has no objections to the current Major Generals retaining their ranks, but he absolutely refuses to authorize any new promotions to Lieutenant General, regardless of what High Command recommends.
I did submit the names of the Brigadier Generals for promotion to Major General, but it is highly likely His Majesty will reject those as well. I’m sorry. You all fought like demons for me, you survived the absolute worst of this meat grinder, and I couldn’t even secure you a single promotion. I have failed you as your Commander.”
The Major Generals immediately waved their hands, insisting it was fine. The truth was, they genuinely didn’t want the promotions. War was no longer a political game. They knew they couldn’t escape this conflict; they had to fight. And while dying at the hands of the enemy was honorable, dying because your own men shot you in the back for being an incompetent fool was a pathetic, suffocating way to go. Unless they truly possessed the necessary tactical skills, none of them wanted the immense responsibility of commanding a Corps. This was a brutal war, not peacetime politics.
“There is one other person here to whom I owe both a profound thanks and a deep apology,” Jiang Kai said, standing up.
Seeing him rise, Li Tianyuan and the others instinctively started to stand as well, but Jiang Kai motioned for them to remain seated.
“Hu Hao,” Jiang Kai turned to face him. “First, I must apologize to you. As I’m sure most of you know, three nights ago, when we were completely surrounded and facing certain death, I threatened Hu Hao to force him to return and save us. I threatened the safety of his family.
It was an incredibly despicable, underhanded thing to do. I know that. But I had no other choice; I knew in my gut that he was the only one who could figure a way out. And as everyone here knows, if it wasn’t for Hu Hao, we would all be rotting corpses in Langcheng right now.
Therefore, I owe Hu Hao a formal apology. Hu Hao, I am deeply sorry!” Jiang Kai stood at attention and delivered a crisp, formal salute.
Hu Hao immediately stood up and returned the salute.
“What’s past is past, Commander. But I don’t want there to be a next time,” Hu Hao said evenly. “I may just be one man, but I have my own ways of handling things. However, for this… I forgive you.”
Hearing Hu Hao’s blunt response, neither Jiang Kai nor the other Generals felt he was being arrogant. They all implicitly understood that Hu Hao was a man of truly terrifying capabilities.
“The second thing I must apologize for is my failure to secure you a promotion to General rank,” Jiang Kai continued, lowering his hand. “His Majesty refused that request as well. I don’t fully understand his reasoning, but he did assure me that the promotion channels will eventually be opened; the timing simply isn’t right yet.
However, His Majesty also explicitly told me that there is no ironclad law dictating a Division can only be commanded by a Major General. Exceptional circumstances allow for exceptions. He told me that if I identify an exceptional talent, I have the authority to temporarily elevate and heavily utilize them to ensure they are protected and positioned effectively.
Therefore, Hu Hao, and gentlemen… I propose we immediately appoint Hu Hao as the acting Commander of a Division, and simultaneously field-promote him to the rank of full Colonel! Does anyone have any objections?” Jiang Kai asked, looking around the room.
“None! It’s absolutely deserved!” Major General Lu Liqian stated immediately.
“Exactly! It’s entirely deserved! Without Hu Hao, not a single soldier of the 27th Corps would be alive today!” Li Tianyuan echoed his support.
“No objections here! We all know exactly what Hu Hao is capable of!”
The rest of the Generals voiced their unanimous agreement without hesitation.
“Report! I have an objection!”
Suddenly, Li Jingsong stood up.
“What is your objection? Speak,” Jiang Kai asked, looking at him in surprise. He knew Li Jingsong and Hu Hao were incredibly close; why would Li Jingsong object?
“My objection isn’t that Hu Hao shouldn’t be a Division Commander. Frankly, I think he’s qualified to be a Corps Commander!” Li Jingsong clarified quickly. “However, Commander, I have a request—or rather, a proposal. I want to act as Hu Hao’s Division Chief of Staff, or his Deputy Division Commander. What do you think?” Li Jingsong grinned.
“Nonsense! You are a Major General, and you are already a Division Commander! You will absolutely be assigned your own Division to command in combat!” Jiang Kai scolded him, annoyed by the absurd request.
“Commander, and to all the elders and brothers present… let’s be honest. We all know exactly what kind of ‘Division Commander’ I am, and we know exactly what the rest of the aristocratic Division Commanders are like. I don’t need to spell it out,” Li Jingsong said, his tone turning dead serious.
“I asked myself a hard question, and the truth is: I simply do not possess the tactical ability to command a Division. I do not have the skill to lead ten thousand brothers into battle without getting them slaughtered. And Commander, I’m not going to lie: I am terrified of my own men shooting me in the back!
Just this morning, before we came to this meeting, I told Hu Hao that I wanted to learn how to fight from him. I told him that if he became a Regimental Commander, I would voluntarily demote myself to serve as his Deputy Commander or his Chief of Staff. My point stands: I refuse to act as a primary Division Commander! Until I have actually developed the tactical skills to lead, I refuse to accept the position!
You can execute me. You can demote me. You can strip me of my rank entirely. I don’t care; I will not command a Division! I’ve made my decision. I may be an incompetent fool, but I refuse to keep screwing over my own soldiers!
But I also want to stay on the front line. So, my solution is to stay with Hu Hao. Whatever command he takes, I will serve as his deputy. Once I actually learn how to fight and possess the capability to lead, then I will accept a post as a Division Commander!” Li Jingsong declared passionately.
“No,” Jiang Kai frowned. While he was genuinely impressed by Li Jingsong’s newfound sense of responsibility and self-awareness, he still couldn’t authorize such a massive disruption to the chain of command.
“Commander, don’t be so rigid! Have I been a coward?! I’ve charged the front lines right alongside the men! I just want to learn how to be a real commander! Why won’t you agree?!” Li Jingsong pleaded.
“We are already critically short on General officers in this Combat Zone! If you step down to become a Deputy Division Commander, what am I supposed to do with the other units? Who is going to lead them?!” Jiang Kai demanded.
“Let the Brigadier Generals step up! Let the other ambitious young aristocrats take the positions! If they want to play at being Generals so badly, let them! But I’m not doing it!” Li Jingsong shot back.
Li Tianyuan sat quietly next to him. Li Jingsong hadn’t discussed this plan with his father beforehand, but hearing it now, Li Tianyuan felt a deep sense of pride and completely supported his son’s decision.
“Commander, I think you should agree to his request,” Li Tianyuan finally spoke up. “This is the very first time my foolish son has ever genuinely wanted to learn something useful. Could you please just grant him this opportunity?”
“Commander, there is another massive benefit to me acting as his Chief of Staff or Deputy!” Li Jingsong added eagerly. “Think about it! Hu Hao will only be a Colonel. When our forces eventually link up with friendly units from the other Combat Zones, those arrogant aristocratic Generals won’t even look him in the eye! They’ll dismiss him completely!
But if I’m there? It’s entirely different! I am a Major General! If any of those snobs try to look down on him or pull rank, I’ll beat the living daylights out of them! Right, Commander?!” Li Jingsong grinned.
“Let me think about it,” Jiang Kai sighed, rubbing his temples.
“Don’t think about it! It’s decided! I’m following Hu Hao! Hao-ge, I told you I was going to follow you!” Li Jingsong turned to Hu Hao, beaming triumphantly.
“Sigh,” Hu Hao rolled his eyes. He couldn’t explicitly agree, nor could he disagree. The final decision rested entirely with Jiang Kai.
“Actually, Commander, I believe we should approve the request,” Chief of Staff Sun Qinxue interjected smoothly. “Li Jingsong makes an excellent point regarding our future interactions with friendly forces. We in the Southwest Combat Zone know Hu Hao’s true worth, so no one here would dare underestimate him. But the commanders in the other Zones won’t respect a mere Colonel.
Furthermore, Li Jingsong’s desire to actively learn tactics and his newfound sense of responsibility toward his soldiers are highly commendable. If every General in the Empire shared his mindset, do you think the Allied coalition would have ever dared to invade us?”
“Exactly! The Chief of Staff said it perfectly! Commander, please just agree to it!” Li Jingsong seized the momentum, immediately pleading with Jiang Kai again.