Chapter 53: Breaking Out

The moment Hu Hao arrived on the right flank and threw his first grenade, the soldiers of the 28th Army instantly knew who it was. The troops from the other corps didn’t know who “Hao-ge” was yet, but they had all seen the same devastating tactic earlier: someone throwing grenades from across the river with pinpoint accuracy, single-handedly tearing open the far bank’s defenses so they could cross.

“KILL! Hao-ge is here! Brothers, KILL THEM!”

Seeing the rhythmic, mid-air explosions walking through the enemy lines, the soldiers’ fear evaporated. With Hu Hao leading the charge, they believed with absolute certainty that they could break through.

“Heavy machine guns! Suppress their machine gun nests! Sweep them!” Hu Hao roared.

“Dammit! How are their grenades reaching us from that far away?! Fall back! Fall back!” an Allied officer screamed. He had just watched a massive chunk of his infantry shredded by airbursts. There was nowhere to hide from explosions raining down from above; their only option was to retreat.

“Push forward!” Hu Hao yelled, seeing the enemy line begin to buckle and slowly pull back.

Hearing Hu Hao’s command, the Imperial soldiers charged forward with their rifles raised. Hu Hao, gripping his sack of explosives, sprinted right alongside them.

“Hao-ge! Hao-ge, we brought you more grenades!” Several soldiers ran up, each lugging a heavy sack of grenades procured on orders from their Division Commander.

“Good! Follow me! Move!” Hu Hao yelled, sprinting ahead. Reaching a piece of solid cover, he crouched down and resumed his relentless grenade barrage, laying down a wall of shrapnel to cover the advancing infantry.

“Look at him. He arrived, and immediately the breakout resumed. I knew he could do it. A man with talent like this… we must utilize him properly!” Jiang Kai exclaimed, watching the massive monitor in the command bunker. The moment Hu Hao shifted to the right flank, the stalled assault roared back to life, and the breach began to rapidly expand.

“Commander, I am in absolute awe. I’ve been a soldier for decades, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen anyone fight like this. He’s just a Major, right?” a Corps Commander asked in disbelief.

“Mmh. He’ll be a Lieutenant Colonel very soon. Li Tianyuan!” Jiang Kai called out.

“Here, Commander. What are your orders?” Li Tianyuan immediately stepped forward and snapped a salute.

“Promote him to Lieutenant Colonel immediately. Once we retreat to the rear and begin restructuring the army, give him command of a regiment. An over-strength, elite regiment. The moment a viable opportunity presents itself, promote him to full Colonel. You are incredibly lucky to have an officer of his caliber in your Corps! Make sure you use him well!” Jiang Kai ordered Li Tianyuan.

“Yes, sir! Don’t worry, Commander. To be completely honest, if it weren’t for him, the 27th Corps probably wouldn’t have a single man left standing outside of the field hospitals. Even my own son would likely have died on the battlefield. Our Li family owes him an unpayable debt!” Li Tianyuan stated firmly.

“The Lü family owes him just as much!” Lü Liqian chimed in.

“We all do. I genuinely thought we were finished tonight. I never imagined… I truly never imagined he could actually tear open a breach and give this army a way out!” another Corps Commander nodded heavily. The other Generals murmured their agreement.

“It’s a damn shame,” Jiang Kai sighed, staring at the screen. “It’s a tragedy that High Command refuses to open the promotion channels for common officers to reach the rank of General. If that channel were open, I would promote him directly to Brigadier General right now!”

“Report! The engineers have completed the first pontoon bridge! The others are nearing completion!” a staff officer announced, relaying a message from the combat engineers.

“Order the combat-ready units to cross immediately to reinforce the beachhead! Once the remaining bridges are secured, begin evacuating the wounded!” Jiang Kai commanded.

“Yes, sir!” the staff officer nodded.

“General Li,” Jiang Kai suddenly asked Li Tianyuan, “do you think Hu Hao will hold a grudge against me for what I said?”

“Commander, you mean…?” Li Tianyuan asked, momentarily caught off guard.

“I mean when I threatened to go after his family to force him to come,” Jiang Kai clarified.

“He… he might. I don’t know for certain, but… Commander, that tactic was indeed a bit… extreme,” Li Tianyuan answered carefully.

“I know. But I was completely out of options. This afternoon, when I learned our relief force had been carpet-bombed, my mind went blank. We had absolutely no way to break out on our own.

That’s when I thought of Hu Hao. I desperately needed to know if he had a plan. Sigh… if he holds a grudge, then he holds a grudge. I will personally explain it to him later. I hope he can understand that I would never actually do something like that; they were just words spoken in desperation,” Jiang Kai sighed heavily.

“Report! Our forces have widened the breach to approximately three kilometers, and the perimeter is still expanding! Our armored units are currently crossing the river. Once the tanks reach the far bank, they can inflict devastating casualties on the remaining enemy airborne troops!” another staff officer reported.

“Excellent. Push the armor across as fast as possible. Once they are engaged, order the remnants of the 28th and 27th Armies to rotate off the front line and let the tanks take over. The 27th and 28th have endured too much. From fighting as the rearguard to spearheading the vanguard breakout… they have earned extraordinary merit tonight,” Jiang Kai ordered immediately.

“Thank you, Commander!” Li Tianyuan and Lü Liqian immediately snapped crisp salutes.

“Report! The Allied armored pursuit force is estimated to reach our rear position in less than four hours! We must accelerate the crossing!” a staff officer warned, standing up quickly.

“Order the engineers to double their speed! All remaining units, converge on the pontoon bridges and cross immediately!” Jiang Kai ordered.

“Yes, sir!” the staff officer sat down and rapidly began relaying the orders.

Meanwhile, at the front, Hu Hao and his men fought for another brutal hour before the Imperial armor and mechanized units finally crossed the river and relieved them. Utterly exhausted, Hu Hao slumped down on the embankment, accepting a piece of dry field ration from a passing soldier and slowly chewing it.

“Hao-ge, you’re here!” a Division Commander from the 28th Army called out, jogging over.

“Mmh. Just resting for a minute. Are your casualties heavy?” Hu Hao asked.

“The enemy was completely stunned by your grenade barrage. They didn’t even know how to fight back anymore,” the Division Commander chuckled, sitting opposite Hu Hao and offering him a lit cigarette.

“You can’t rest here for long. You need to get moving immediately. This area isn’t secure yet; you have to put distance between yourselves and the river,” Hu Hao said, accepting the cigarette.

“I know. Ten minutes of rest, then we march,” the Division Commander nodded.

“Hey, does anyone know where Hao-ge is?” “Excuse me, have you seen Hao-ge?”

Nearby, Huan Xingtao and his squad were urgently asking around for Hu Hao.

“Over here!” Hu Hao called out, hearing them.

“Ah! Hao-ge is over there! Over there!” Huan Xingtao spotted him and the squad sprinted over.

“What is it?” Hu Hao asked as they arrived.

“We have to move out right now! When you didn’t come back, we came looking for you. He Jizhong and the others already crossed the river to get our civilian vehicles. The entire 27th Corps is securing their cars, and the 28th is doing the same!” Huan Xingtao reported.

“Oh, good. Let’s go then. General Lü, I’m heading out,” Hu Hao said, standing up.

“Right. We need to get moving too,” the Division Commander said, standing up to see them off.

“Hao-ge, we don’t have to fight anymore, right?” Huan Xingtao asked as they walked. One soldier was carrying Hu Hao’s heavy backpack, while another carried his rifle.

“No more fighting tonight. Once we reach Dingkang Province, we’ll be safe. They’ll probably merge our units and reorganize the army. You guys will all probably end up as Platoon Leaders,” Hu Hao smiled.

“Platoon Leader or not, it doesn’t matter, as long as we’re alive! But Hao-ge, no matter what happens, we’re sticking with you! You have to make sure they don’t transfer us to other units!” Huan Xingtao insisted.

“Fine, no problem. I’m a Major now, so I should at least get a Battalion. I can take you with me, right?” Hu Hao laughed.

After walking for about ten minutes, they finally reached the staging area where their civilian convoy was parked.

“Hao-ge!”

“Hao-ge is back!”

“Hao-ge, can we finally get out of here?”

The soldiers cheered the moment they saw him.

“Mount up! We leave now! Who cares what the rest of the army is doing? We go first!” Hu Hao ordered immediately. The soldiers laughed and quickly scrambled into their vehicles. Hu Hao climbed back into his usual seat near the front of the bus.

“Hao-ge! Hao-ge, wait! Don’t leave yet! Hao-ge!” Li Jingsong sprinted out of the darkness, waving his arms frantically.

“What is it now?” Hu Hao asked, leaning his head out the window.

“The Zone Commander wants to see you personally!” Li Jingsong panted.

“I’m not seeing him! Is he sick in the head? The enemy’s armored pursuit is literally hours away, and he wants to waste time chatting? If he has something to say, he can say it later! Drive! Let’s go!” Hu Hao snapped, instantly ordering He Jizhong, who was now in the driver’s seat, to move out.

“Hey! Wait, wait, wait! The Commander specifically asked for you by name! Can’t you just give him a little face?” Li Jingsong yelled as the bus engine roared to life.

“Face my ass! I haven’t even settled the score with him for threatening my family yet! Tell him he can wait!” Hu Hao cursed loudly. He slapped the side of the bus and told He Jizhong to step on the gas.

He Jizhong didn’t hesitate. He floored the accelerator, and the bus lurched forward, leaving Li Jingsong in the dust. Seeing Hu Hao’s bus move, the rest of the civilian convoy immediately followed suit, speeding away into the night.

“Sigh,” Li Jingsong sighed helplessly, watching the taillights disappear. He turned to his guard. “Call Zone Command. Tell the Commander that Hu Hao left before I could stop him.”

When Jiang Kai received the report from Li Jingsong claiming he “couldn’t find Hu Hao in time,” he wasn’t the least bit offended. In fact, he already knew. Jiang Kai had been watching the drone feed in the command bunker the entire time. He had watched Hu Hao get on the bus, and he had heard exactly what Hu Hao shouted out the window.

He knew perfectly well that Hu Hao was aware the drone was still tracking him; those final curses had been shouted specifically for Jiang Kai to hear.

“Commander, it’s time for us to evacuate as well. The engineers have secured over twenty pontoon bridges, and the armored columns are crossing rapidly. The rest of the army can follow quickly!” Chief of Staff Sun Qinxue said, stepping up to Jiang Kai.