Chapter 141: Growth

The battle raged fiercely. The Allied forces had committed three infantry divisions in a single push to assault Hu Hao’s defensive line. However, Hu Hao was unconcerned; he had roughly three divisions manning the line as well, and they held the defender’s advantage!

“Take out those tanks! Take them out!” The Allied tanks drove onto the riverbank, firing their cannons at the defensive positions and inflicting significant casualties on Hu Hao’s troops.

“Bring up the infantry guns! Hurry! Use armor-piercing shells and take out those tanks!” many officers roared.

“Medic! We have wounded over here, hurry!” Amidst the cacophony of the battlefield, soldiers continuously fired at the Allied forces while medics sprinted through the trenches, dragging the wounded into the air-raid shelters to bandage them up.

Wang Yao and his classmates were also in the trenches. Previously, they had felt that war was no big deal—it was just fighting. As soldiers, fighting was what they were supposed to do. But when they saw the soldiers beside them get shot—either writhing on the ground screaming for a medic, or instantly falling still, their lives snuffed out just like that—the reality finally hit them.

“Kill them!” The company commanders moved through the positions, occasionally going prone to check the situation ahead and fire at the approaching enemy. While reloading, they maneuvered through the trenches, instructing their soldiers on what to do.

“Wang Yao, fire! What the hell are you staring at?!” His Company Commander ran over. Seeing Wang Yao sitting in the trench, clutching his rifle and trembling, the Company Commander roared at him.

“I… I…” Wang Yao was on the verge of a breakdown. It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to shoot, nor was he unaware that this was a war, but his limbs had gone completely weak.

“Get up! Lie prone right here!” The Company Commander knew exactly what was happening the moment he saw him. He also knew that as long as Wang Yao fired his first shot, the rest would take care of itself.

“Lie prone and fire! Did you hear me?! Fire!” The Company Commander hauled Wang Yao up to the firing line and ordered him to shoot, but Wang Yao simply couldn’t pull the trigger.

“You son of a bitch!” the Company Commander cursed anxiously. He grabbed Wang Yao’s hand and forced him to pull the trigger.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” A few shots rang out, and Wang Yao froze.

“Ahhhh!” Wang Yao screamed loudly. Suddenly finding his strength, he pulled the trigger frantically, only stopping when the firing pin clicked on empty. His Company Commander pulled him back down into the trench!

“Ah… ah… ah!” Wang Yao sat there, gasping heavily for air.

“Reload and keep firing!” the Company Commander yelled at him. Moving with surprising speed, Wang Yao swapped out the magazine, spun around, and threw himself back onto the firing line!

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Wang Yao began firing in short bursts, finally knowing to aim at the Allied soldiers.

At this moment, he no longer harbored any thoughts about whether it was right to kill the Allied forces. In his mind, the enemy across from him had to die. If they didn’t die, he would.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Rocket launchers! Bombard the Allied engineering vehicles, hurry!” a squad leader shouted.

“Rat-a-tat-tat!” In the distance, heavy machine guns continued to fire, though they paused sporadically. Everyone knew that they had to take out the enemy’s heavy machine gunners to avoid being suppressed. Consequently, the casualty rate for heavy machine gunners was extremely high.

However, experienced machine gunners knew exactly when to stop firing and when to take cover. Because of this, the veterans managed to stay alive.

Meanwhile, in the command center, Hu Hao had been closely monitoring the situation on his defensive line. He still held a reserve force of over 5,000 men. If a crisis emerged on the front line, those reserves would be thrown into the fray. Hu Hao didn’t want to commit his reserves on the very first day, so he kept a close eye on the Allied forces, observing their troop deployments.

“We’re fine. At this rate, we can hold the line!” Xiao Quan said, standing there and watching the opposite bank.

“We can definitely hold out tonight. However, I bet the Allied forces won’t give up easily. In their eyes, our Eastern Spirit troops are garbage, and they think they can break through our defenses at any moment. Tonight, they might very well commit more troops!” Hu Hao said, looking ahead.

“Commit more troops? Do they really think they can break through our defenses in one go? That’s impossible, right? The Allied forces must know we have a substantial number of troops here too. Even if we don’t outnumber them, we still have tens of thousands of men holding this line. Do they really think they can break through so easily?” Xiao Quan looked at Hu Hao in disbelief.

“Why wouldn’t it be possible? Especially if our defensive line shows any signs of wavering, they’ll think they have an opening. Motherfucker, I’m thinking… should we launch a counterattack tonight? If we counterattack tonight, completely annihilating them will be difficult.

“They still have a lot of troops, and quite a few vehicles too. If they decide to flee, I doubt we’ll have enough forces to block them all!” Hu Hao said, staring straight ahead.

“Mm, then let’s wait. Let’s wait until they attack tomorrow. If we hold the line tonight, they won’t have an easy time either. Their casualties are clearly higher than ours right now. Plus, we haven’t even deployed our artillery or Li Jingsong’s troops yet. When the time comes, I refuse to believe we can’t wipe them out!” Xiao Quan said, looking at Hu Hao.

“That’s true. Let’s wait and see. Let’s see how they react. If the Allied forces commit all their troops, I’ll devour them tonight!” Hu Hao gritted his teeth, glaring at the battlefield.

“Mm!” Xiao Quan nodded.

The Allied offensive continued relentlessly, and both sides suffered massive casualties. However, the Allied losses were far greater, as they were the attacking force.

Furthermore, the Allied forces had to provide cover for their pontoon bridge units. Hu Hao’s troops knew exactly what to do—they couldn’t let those bridges be built. Once the bridges were up, the battle would become far more difficult.

Therefore, the rocket launchers and infantry guns focused entirely on the pontoon bridge units and the nearby tank escorts. The fighting raged from around midnight until past 4 AM. It was almost 5 AM, and the soldiers on both sides were completely exhausted.

This was especially true for the Allied forces. Despite fighting for so long, they still hadn’t managed to erect a single pontoon bridge. This infuriated Abusai. Having committed so many troops and heavy equipment, they still hadn’t successfully crossed the river to the opposite bank—not even once. He was seething with anger!

“Damn it! How exactly are our frontline commanders directing this battle?! We’ve committed so many troops, and provided artillery cover, yet they still haven’t built a single pontoon bridge!” Abusai roared.

“Corps Commander, the casualties on the front lines are incredibly high. Many division commanders have called in, requesting to retreat. The soldiers are exhausted!” the Chief of Staff beside him said.

“General Abusai, I suggest we halt the attack. Even if we want to continue, we need to let the soldiers rest. After all, we’ve been attacking continuously for four hours. It’s not like we’ve achieved nothing; at the very least, the Eastern Spirit casualties aren’t small either!” Ren Kefu also chimed in to advise him.

“Have the artillery open fire to cover our infantry’s retreat. Damn it!” Abusai knew all too well that if they hadn’t crossed the river after fighting for this long, continuing the attack today would only lead to more casualties.

“Yes, sir!” The staff officers immediately began contacting the artillery units and the frontline infantry commanders, ordering them to prepare for a retreat.

“General Ren Kefu, I want to resume the attack in an hour. We can only attack at night; daytime is out of the question for us. We’ll launch one more wave and see if we can take it!” Abusai told Ren Kefu.

“Alright, I agree. Command ordered us to break through here within three days. Once we do, part of our forces will push toward Late City, while the rest push eastward to directly assault the 27th Corps’ defensive line!” Ren Kefu nodded.

“Good. But next time, your troops will lead the charge. On my end, I can deploy one division and two regiments to assist you!” Abusai said, looking at Ren Kefu.

“Acceptable. Thank you, General Abusai!” Ren Kefu nodded. He knew that Abusai proposing he take the lead was already a massive favor. If he successfully broke through, the merit would belong entirely to the 7th Corps. Ren Kefu also knew that breaking the defensive line would be difficult and required a bit of luck. However, his chances were certainly better than what Abusai’s forces had just faced.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” In the distance, the Allied artillery launched another massive barrage.

“Into the air-raid shelters! Hurry! Allied bombardment!” Hearing the shriek of incoming shells, many officers shouted at the top of their lungs.

The soldiers who were firing immediately pulled back their weapons and sprinted toward the rear air-raid shelters. If they passed a wounded comrade, they grabbed them with one hand and kept running. Time was of the essence. Once a massive artillery barrage began, anywhere outside the air-raid shelters was a death zone.

“Hurry into the air-raid shelters!” The officers stood by the entrances, shouting as the soldiers rushed inside with their weapons.

“The Allied forces are retreating! Order our logistics units: the moment the Allied artillery stops, bring the food up immediately! They’re pausing now, but they will definitely attack again!” Hu Hao told Xiao Quan.

“Understood!” Xiao Quan immediately ran into the command center to contact the rear units.

“Order all regimental commanders to report their rough casualty estimates. I need to know how many troops we have left!” Hu Hao told another staff officer beside him.

“Yes, sir!” That staff officer also ran inside.

“Order our medical rescue units to transport the wounded to the rear hospitals immediately! Right now! If we don’t have enough doctors, send them to Bopa City. If that’s still not enough, send them to Late City! Have their doctors treat our wounded as quickly as possible. If anyone dares refuse to treat them, I’ll have them shot!” Hu Hao shouted to a few other staff officers nearby.

“Understood!” One of the staff officers immediately went to relay the orders to the units below.

(End of Chapter)