Chapter 147: Is it Worth it?

Hu Hao wanted the Allied forces on the opposite bank to continue attacking tonight, but if their reinforcements arrived, they definitely wouldn’t attack. This gave Hu Hao a headache. Xiao Quan also thought it was impossible; the Allied forces wouldn’t attack again.

“Let me see if there’s any way!” Hu Hao said, frowning as he looked at the map.

“Hao-ge, stop overthinking it. Forget it, let’s just hold our ground here! Actually, you don’t need to push yourself so hard. The fact that we can block the Allied attack is already incredibly impressive. Every single officer and soldier down there is thrilled and excited. We won a battle! Following you means winning battles!” Xiao Quan advised Hu Hao.

“I know. I’m just worried that once the Allied reinforcements arrive and they throw everything into the attack, our brothers will suffer heavy casualties. Furthermore, if the surviving Allied veterans lead the fresh reinforcements into battle, we’ll suffer a massive disadvantage. So, let me look! Sigh, I’m actually really torn. The brothers are exhausted. If we force the Allied forces to keep attacking, the brothers will only get more exhausted!” Hu Hao sighed as he stood there.

He wanted to find a way to lure the Allied forces into continuing their attack, but he also worried whether his own troops could handle continuous combat.

“Then just drop it, Hao-ge. Don’t think about it anymore. Let the Allied reinforcements come. We still have over 5,000 reserve troops we haven’t deployed, Li Jingsong’s troops haven’t moved, and we have our artillery. These are all our trump cards. I think with these hidden hands, you holding off the Allied attack won’t be a problem!” Xiao Quan continued to advise.

Hu Hao nodded. At this moment, the artillery bombardment outside ceased. Hearing that the Allied forces had stopped firing, Hu Hao immediately walked to the observation port and saw that the Allied troops had retreated far into the distance.

“They left. Motherfucker, we let them off easy!” Hu Hao said, watching the distant Allied forces.

“Mm, there will be other opportunities.” Xiao Quan nodded.

“Order our troops to evacuate the wounded immediately! Right now! Have the logistics units bring up food. Once the brothers finish eating, they are to rest immediately. Also, tell logistics to bring up ammunition. Bring it up right now. I’m worried there won’t be enough time later; we must resupply now!” Hu Hao instructed Xiao Quan.

“Understood, I’ll go arrange it right away.” Xiao Quan nodded and immediately went inside.

Hu Hao stood there, looking into the distance. Meanwhile, in Bopa City, the civilians who hadn’t fled yet heard the explosions stop and grew curious. They didn’t know if the front lines had held, but they didn’t dare ask either.

At the hospital and the two schools acting as temporary medical centers, many civilians were helping transport post-surgery patients into the schools’ underground air-raid shelters. The wounded placed in the classrooms were all awaiting surgery. Many young people, especially refugees who had fled here, were pitching in to help.

The local civilians, however, were nowhere to be seen; they were still observing from the sidelines.

“It stopped. Looks like we won again!” A Second Lieutenant lay there with shrapnel in his calf and thigh, waiting for surgery. Fortunately, volunteers were by their side keeping them company.

“We won again? How do you know?” an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old young man beside him asked.

“Of course I know, we are Hao-ge’s troops! We’ve already annihilated several Allied divisions here. You guys came from Daman City, right? We just wiped out a ton of Allied troops over there. If we hadn’t taken them out, how could you have possibly made it across?” the Second Lieutenant said with a hint of pride.

“Mm, I know. Back then, if you hadn’t defeated the Allied forces in Daman City, and if the Allied troops in Xike City hadn’t moved toward Daman City, there’s no way we could have escaped from Xike City!” another girl of a similar age nodded and chimed in.

“Exactly. That was commanded by our Hao-ge. I didn’t go, though; other units from our division went. With Hao-ge here, we’re guaranteed to win. This time, two Allied corps attacked us, and we only have one division. Before I was pulled off the line, I’d estimate there were at least over ten thousand Allied casualties on the positions!” the Second Lieutenant said with a smile.

“Mm, definitely!” a soldier nearby who wasn’t wearing a military uniform agreed.

“Why aren’t you wearing a uniform?” the boy asked.

“I was just like you guys. We only enlisted a few days ago. They don’t have enough uniforms for us right now, so we just go up and fight in our own clothes!” the soldier laughed.

“Oh, they took you? I went too, but they rejected me. They said I was a student, so they couldn’t take me! My school was occupied by the Allied forces, why wouldn’t they want us?” the student asked, looking at the wounded soldier.

“You haven’t been trained. These guys were discharged veterans; they had training. If we took you, you wouldn’t even know how to fire a gun. Sending you up there would be sending you to your deaths, wouldn’t it?” the Second Lieutenant explained to the young man.

“That’s true!” The young man nodded.

About twenty minutes later, many vehicles drove up again. They were delivering more wounded, though not as many as before.

“Hurry, get down and help carry the wounded inside! Doctors, doctors, come triage! See which soldiers need immediate surgery!” Wang Yao had led another convoy over. As soon as he hopped out, he shouted loudly. Many doctors, nurses, and a large number of volunteers rushed over. At the school gates, quite a few local civilians just stood there watching, merely peering inside.

“Why are there so many wounded again? They probably lost another battle!” a middle-aged woman remarked.

“Bullshit! If we lost, do you think you’d still be standing here? The Allied forces would have killed you long ago! What good does it do you if we lose?!” a soldier guarding the gate heard her and cursed back loudly.

“Hey, you little soldier, why are you cursing? Haven’t you lost enough battles already? Honestly! You still have the nerve to curse at me?” The middle-aged woman immediately ran over, pointing her finger almost right in the soldier’s face!

“What do you think you’re doing?” A Second Lieutenant walked over and shouted at the woman.

“Your soldier is cursing at people! You lost the battle and you still have the nerve to curse?!” the middle-aged woman yelled.

“Who said we lost? Are you hoping we lose?! If we lose, you’ll be slaughtered by those Allied animals! Do you think you’ll have a good end?!” the Second Lieutenant shouted at the woman.

“Hmph, then you guys are just useless!” the woman scoffed.

“You’re just lucky! If it weren’t for those frontline soldiers fighting to the death to hold the line, you wouldn’t even be able to stand here!” At that moment, an elderly woman carrying a few bottles of water walked over and yelled at the clamoring middle-aged woman.

“What business is it of yours?! You refugees wouldn’t just stay in your own homes; you ran over here and made all the vegetables in our area go up in price! We can’t even buy any now! It’s all your fault!” the middle-aged woman pointed at the elderly woman and yelled.

“You… you…!” The elderly woman was trembling with anger. If they had a choice, who would want to flee their hometown?

“Do you want to die?” Hearing the argument from afar, Wang Yao walked over, pointed at the middle-aged woman, and said.

“I want to die? Would you actually dare to kill me?” The middle-aged woman stuck her neck out and yelled at Wang Yao.

“Click-clack!” Wang Yao drew his pistol, racked the slide, and aimed the barrel right at the woman’s head.

“You… you… what are you doing?! You wouldn’t dare!” Seeing the gun pointed at her, the woman grew fearful. She stared at Wang Yao nervously and yelled, though she stubbornly refused to beg for mercy!

“Get the hell out of here, or I’ll blow your brains out!” Wang Yao aimed the gun at her, his eyes wide with fury.

“You!” The middle-aged woman was genuinely scared now. The onlookers nearby immediately pulled her away, urging her to leave. As she walked further away, she kept pointing back at Wang Yao, muttering curses.

“Sir, tell me, is our sacrifice on the front lines worth it?” the Second Lieutenant beside him asked Wang Yao. Hearing this, Wang Yao turned to look at him.

“It should be worth it! I don’t know either!” Wang Yao didn’t know how to answer the question. After speaking, he turned and walked inside. Deep down, he was asking himself the exact same question: was it truly worth it or not?

…

Meanwhile, Hu Hao sat in the command center. Soldiers had already gone down to the river to retrieve the bodies. The corpses had to be cleared quickly; otherwise, once they started rotting, the stench would make the area uninhabitable.

Hu Hao sat in the command center, eating while studying the map in front of him.

“Hao-ge, what are you thinking about?” Xiao Quan walked over and asked.

“Is everything arranged?” Hu Hao asked.

“Mm, it’s all arranged, nothing left to do. Do you want to rest for a bit?” Xiao Quan asked, looking at Hu Hao.

“It’s still early. Hey, Xiao Quan, tell me… if we defeat the Allied forces this time, could we push our troops all the way to Gunan City, Hama City, and Anba City?” Hu Hao asked.

“Push toward Gunan City?” Hearing this, Xiao Quan immediately walked up to the map and carefully examined the locations Hu Hao had mentioned.

“That’s pushing forward over 500 li. We would recover quite a few cities, but do we have enough troops for that?” Xiao Quan asked, looking at Hu Hao.

“Mm, troop strength is an issue. To hold those places, we’d need at least 100,000 men!” Hu Hao nodded.

“Logically speaking, 100,000 men isn’t that much; our Empire has a massive population. But, I reckon there’s no way they would let you lead 100,000 men to those areas. You shouldn’t even think about it!” Xiao Quan pondered for a moment before advising Hu Hao.

(End of Chapter)