Chapter 197: The Crown Prince’s Temptation

The Crown Prince arrived at the main command center. After chatting briefly with the staff officers, he entered a meeting room, took a seat, and invited Jiang Kai and Sun Qinxue to sit as well.

“Thank you, Your Highness, for coming to visit us! You must be exhausted from your journey, yet you still took the time to come here. We are truly humbled!” Jiang Kai said politely after sitting down.

“Commander Jiang, you are mistaken. You are fighting for the Empire; as the Crown Prince, coming to express my regards is my duty.

“By the way, you mentioned to me this morning that our frontline troops might be able to completely annihilate three Allied corps, and that the operation was commanded by Hu Hao?” the Crown Prince asked.

“Oh, yes. Because the battle was still ongoing, I hadn’t sent an official report yet. The Allied reinforcement corps has been completely annihilated by Hu Hao, and their Corps Commander was killed in action.

“Right now, Hu Hao’s troops have begun their final assault on the three corps they encircled previously. Because they had to fight the reinforcements during the day, they are only just now attacking the encircled forces. However, the battle is incredibly fierce. Hu Hao didn’t have many troops to begin with. Remember how he was almost arrested and brought to the High Command for privately conscripting troops?

“Fortunately, he did conscript those troops; otherwise, he never would have held that position. Right now, Hu Hao doesn’t have many men left, so assaulting the remnants of three corps in Santong County will likely be very difficult and require some time,” Jiang Kai explained.

“Oh? He completely annihilated another corps?! This student of mine is truly quite capable! I am genuinely interested in meeting him now. Back at the military academy, his performance was rather average. Who would have thought that the outbreak of war would unlock such astonishing potential?!” the Crown Prince said, inwardly shocked that Hu Hao had wiped out yet another corps.

Although he maintained a calm exterior, his interest in Hu Hao had genuinely been piqued. If he could secure a general like this for himself, imagine the massive resources he could acquire!

“Mm, indeed. The moment he stepped onto the battlefield, he displayed extraordinary command abilities. Therefore, I am completely at ease leaving that sector in his hands!” Jiang Kai nodded. However, he deliberately avoided responding to the Crown Prince’s request to meet Hu Hao.

“Since Hu Hao doesn’t have many troops left, can’t you dispatch reinforcements to help him quickly swallow those three corps?” The Crown Prince, momentarily missing Jiang Kai’s evasion, asked.

“I have already dispatched a division to reinforce him. However, the remnants of three corps still constitute a significant force. Furthermore, those remnants know we don’t take prisoners, so they are fighting with suicidal ferocity. Completely annihilating them will still be challenging!” Jiang Kai replied.

“Mm, that makes sense. Well then, Commander Jiang, could you arrange for him to come see me? I wish to meet this student of mine. After all, he can now be considered one of the Empire’s outstanding commanders.

“Although he isn’t a General yet, I believe he will be sooner or later. The Empire’s promotion channels will undoubtedly be opened, and I truly hope an outstanding commander like him can become a General of the Empire!” Sitting there, the Crown Prince recalled Liu Yuzi’s advice and deliberately leaked his support for opening the promotion channels.

“Thank you, Your Highness. However, I cannot make that decision for Hu Hao. He is undoubtedly incredibly busy right now. Firstly, the Allied forces will definitely seek revenge against him; he has swallowed four entire Allied corps, after all!

“Secondly, the battle has only just concluded, and he has a massive number of wounded to manage. Furthermore, per His Majesty’s recent orders, we are expanding our forces. I have authorized his unit to expand to 60,000 men. I hope that once he has sufficient troops, he can continue winning battles and help me secure the defensive line!” Jiang Kai didn’t refuse outright, but explicitly stated Hu Hao was too busy and likely wouldn’t have the time.

Hearing this, the Crown Prince was profoundly shocked. Hu Hao’s unit was expanding to 60,000 men?! Wasn’t that the size of an entire corps?! He recalled Liu Yuzi’s prediction that Jiang Kai might first make Hu Hao a Corps Commander, and then, when Jiang Kai left for the High Command, Hu Hao would take over as the Commander of the Southwest Combat Zone! The Crown Prince finally understood Hu Hao’s true position in Jiang Kai’s heart: he was essentially Jiang Kai’s right-hand man!

With Hu Hao’s support, even if he didn’t have Jiang Kai’s direct backing later on, it wouldn’t matter. Hu Hao could potentially control an entire Combat Zone with 600,000 troops! And Hu Hao actually knew how to fight! The Crown Prince was now genuinely tempted to win Hu Hao over.

Previously, he had worried that Hu Hao had offended too many people. But compared to Hu Hao’s immense future potential, those people he had offended were insignificant.

“Mm, I understand. However, I will likely be stationed here supervising the battles for quite some time, so there will be other opportunities to meet him. Commander Jiang, I must trouble you with this matter.

“Please tell Hu Hao that I wish to see him. Whenever he has the time, ask him to come to the headquarters. I’ll treat him to a meal or some tea. As his Principal, I wish to personally acknowledge his outstanding performance recently!” the Crown Prince nodded.

“Understood. I will pass the message along!” Jiang Kai nodded. The Crown Prince then began inquiring about the situation in other defensive sectors, to which Jiang Kai and Sun Qinxue replied one by one.

Meanwhile, Hu Hao was still directing his troops to assault the remnants inside Santong County.

Bo Gang’s forces had just arrived, and Hu Hao immediately ordered them to push inside rapidly. Before long, the Allied soldiers hiding in the city ruins had basically been cleared out. Many Eastern Spirit units had now reached the air-raid shelters and were fiercely assaulting the defenders stationed outside. However, the defenders couldn’t hold out much longer.

Especially after the tanks rolled up and began blasting the shelter entrances. Sometimes, the shells flew straight inside.

The intense combat raging just outside terrified the wounded soldiers huddled within the shelters. They never imagined their forces would be beaten this miserably by the Eastern Spirit army, to the point of being entirely encircled and annihilated within a tiny county town.

“Gentlemen, we don’t have many troops left outside. I believe we cannot allow ourselves to be taken prisoner. Previously, several of our Division Commanders were captured. As a result, the Eastern Spirit Empire heavily publicized it, bringing immense shame and humiliation to their families. Their wives and parents couldn’t bear the disgrace and chose to end their own lives.

“Since the three of us have already suffered a catastrophic defeat and can no longer bring honor to our families, we shouldn’t bring them disaster either, should we?” Ren Kefu said, looking at the other two.

Hakes and Abusai nodded. They all knew that being captured would be an absolute humiliation for their nations and their families. Furthermore, even if they were captured, after the Eastern Spirit Empire finished parading them around for propaganda, they still wouldn’t let them live. Given the circumstances, it was better to end it themselves quickly and cleanly. They didn’t want to go outside and fight the Eastern Spirit troops either, fearing their bodies might be blown to unrecognizable pieces.

“I’m going to check on my troops one last time,” Hakes said as he stood up.

“I should check on mine as well. They fought incredibly bravely. It was my incompetence as their commander that doomed them. Sigh,” Abusai stood up too.

Hearing this, Ren Kefu also stood up. Naturally, ‘checking on their troops’ was merely an excuse; they all wanted to find a quiet place to end their own lives without being discovered by the enemy.

Soon, the three of them left the small compartment they had been sitting in. Stepping into the main corridor, they saw wounded soldiers lying shoulder-to-shoulder on the ground, stretching as far as the eye could see.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” Explosions echoed from nearby. They knew it was the Eastern Spirit tanks firing; the enemy was launching a heavy assault on their position.

“Rat-a-tat-tat!” The gunfire drew closer and closer. Abusai and the others knew the entrance couldn’t hold for more than a few minutes. Soon, the Eastern Spirit soldiers would charge in.

“Brothers! There are tons of Allied soldiers down there! Charge! Wipe them out!” a Battalion Commander roared. His soldiers launched a ferocious assault.

Outside Santong County, Hu Hao was watching the live drone feed. Seeing his troops assaulting the air-raid shelters, he knew the battle was decided. There was nothing left to worry about; completely annihilating the three corps was only a matter of time. Hu Hao finally stepped out of the command vehicle.

“Hao-ge, we don’t need to command them anymore?” Li Jingsong followed him out and asked.

“It’s already come to this; what’s left to command? The soldiers know what to do. The two of us probably need to head back to the defensive line soon. Old Xiao is currently sweeping the battlefield and has likely collected a massive cache of weapons. We need to distribute those weapons to the troops!” Hu Hao explained.

“Alright. As long as you have a plan, it’ll be easy to handle!” Li Jingsong nodded in agreement.

“Oh, right! Someone! Notify Ye Zifeng and Wu Kexiao! Tell them they don’t need to come here anymore! They are to proceed directly to their designated destinations! We don’t need their reinforcements here!” Hu Hao ordered a senior staff officer nearby.

“Yes, sir!” the senior staff officer immediately replied.

“You’ve already made the arrangements?!” Li Jingsong looked at Hu Hao in shock.

“If I didn’t make the arrangements now, when would I? Our time is incredibly tight right now. Firstly, I’m worried the Allied forces might launch an attack. Secondly, the rainy season is approaching rapidly. Our troops need to secure locations to hide and train, so we must seize every second!” Hu Hao explained.

“That’s good. That’s good. Then we’ll head back now! Leaving things here to them is fine!” Li Jingsong nodded.

“It’s fine, we can leave it to them. Let’s head back!” Hu Hao agreed.

Soon, Hu Hao and Li Jingsong boarded a vehicle and headed back to their defensive line. The moment they stepped into their air-conditioned underground command bunker, they felt incredibly comfortable. They had been roasting in the blistering heat all day.

(End of Chapter)