Chapter 205: A Bunch of Prodigals

After receiving Huan Xingtao’s call, Hu Hao could no longer sit still. He had never considered that the arsenals would still hold weapons and ammunition. His only thought had been to secure the facilities so he could produce ammunition himself. But Huan Xingtao had made 2 calls: one reporting thousands of tanks, and the other reporting warehouses full of bullets.

“Motherfucker, we’re fighting on the front lines, yet they didn’t issue these weapons and ammo to us! They just left them sitting in the warehouses! If the Allied forces captured them… damn it, I don’t even want to think about it!” Hu Hao sat there, calming down for a moment, before sighing with emotion.

“Hao-ge, it’s Huan Xingtao calling!” a staff officer said with a smile, holding out the phone. Hu Hao looked at him.

“Huan Xingtao?” Hu Hao asked.

“Yes!” the staff officer nodded.

“Ask him if it’s good news. If it is, tell him to wait a second! I need to calm down first!” Hu Hao instructed.

“Alright!” The staff officer took the phone and asked if it was good news.

“Hao-ge, he says yes!” the staff officer smiled.

“Tell him to hold on! Motherfucker, what day is it today?!” Hu Hao stood up and began pacing in circles around the office.

After 2 laps, Hu Hao walked over to the staff officer, took the phone, and said, “Huan Xingtao, I have to criticize you! If you have good news, can you say it all at once? Do you know you’re going to scare someone to death like this?”

“Hehe, Hao-ge, my troops are dispersed and securing the arsenals right now. A unit just went to the light weapons factory. Over there… Hao-ge, you don’t have a heart condition, right?” Huan Xingtao asked with a laugh.

“No, I don’t. But if you keep scaring me like this, I might just develop one! Alright, cut the crap. Tell me, how many rifles and machine guns are over there?” Hu Hao demanded.

“Hao-ge, you wouldn’t believe it if I told you. The rifles and machine guns over there are also measured by the warehouse! Nobody knows the exact number, but the warehouses are packed to the brim with weapons!” Huan Xingtao laughed over the phone.

“Fuck me. Alright, I’m heading over right now!” Hu Hao hung up the phone.

He truly hadn’t expected the arsenals to hold so much. He could no longer sit still in the command center. He had to secure these weapons and bring them back. Leaving them in Late City was too dangerous; it was a prime target for the Allied forces, who could attack at any moment. If they felt capturing it was hopeless, they might just bomb the place. Hu Hao had to relocate those weapons and ammunition.

After hanging up, Hu Hao drove toward the outskirts of Late City. Most of the military factories were located there.

Hu Hao had barely reached Bopa City when Huan Xingtao called again, reporting the discovery of thousands of armored vehicles. Just as he arrived at the outskirts of Late City, Huan Xingtao called yet again: they had found over 1,000 fighter jets, as well as bombers. Hu Hao’s mind went completely blank. He knew this was an industrial hub, but he had no idea it stored so many weapons and munitions.

“They all deserve to die! Those bastards in the High Command deserve to die!” Hu Hao cursed loudly from inside his armored vehicle.

With so many weapons and ammunition, how many troops could they have armed?! If the military had started expanding and training soldiers earlier, they wouldn’t be retreating time and time again. Up until now, only the Southwest Combat Zone had begun expanding its forces; the other units had no plans to do so at all.

Hu Hao drove to the aircraft manufacturing plant first. Inside the massive hangars, he saw a huge number of fighter jets. Using a ladder, Hu Hao climbed on top of one and looked out. Row upon row of fighter jets were parked there.

“Motherfucker, we don’t have any pilots!” Hu Hao stood there, looking at the massive fleet with deep frustration. Finding tank drivers was easy, and helicopter pilots weren’t too hard to manage, but he truly had no one capable of flying fighter jets.

“Hao-ge, what do we do? With so many planes, if the Allied forces capture them, we’ll be screwed,” Huan Xingtao called out from below.

“Prepare explosives! If—and I mean if—we can’t hold Late City, blow this place up! They cannot fall into Allied hands! Absolutely not!” Hu Hao shouted back.

“What? Blow them up?” Huan Xingtao looked at Hu Hao in shock.

“What else can we do? Our men don’t know how to fly them! Damn it, the main force has already retreated too. Forget it, let’s see if we can hand them over to our domestic Air Force once the situation here stabilizes. Regardless, you must plant explosives! If the Allied forces attack, blow them up before the enemy can capture this place! They cannot fall into Allied hands! Huan Xingtao, station 2 companies here! And what about the bombers? How many bombers are there?” Hu Hao asked from above.

“500 or 600!” Huan Xingtao replied.

“Station 2 companies there as well and prep the explosives! Tell them to await my orders. The moment I give the word, they are to blow those planes to pieces!” Hu Hao ordered.

“Hao-ge, what about the helicopters?” Huan Xingtao asked.

“There are helicopters too?!” Hu Hao stared at Huan Xingtao in surprise.

“Hao-ge, you have no idea! The factories here are full! The warehouses are packed with stuff, all brand new!” Huan Xingtao said.

“How many helicopters?” Hu Hao immediately jumped down from the jet.

“Whoa, Hao-ge, be careful! Holy shit, you can jump from that high?!” Huan Xingtao was startled. Before he could say anything else, Hu Hao straightened up and walked over, leaving Huan Xingtao dumbfounded.

“How many? Do you know? Exactly how many?” Hu Hao pressed.

“Ah, oh, how many… let me think. It seems like several warehouses full. Their warehouses are huge; one can hold 500 or 600 helicopters,” Huan Xingtao said, rubbing his head.

“Holy shit! A bunch of prodigals! They’re all a bunch of prodigal bastards!” Hu Hao cursed.

The supplies here could entirely arm a super-sized Combat Zone! Thousands of tanks, fighter jets, bombers, helicopters, armored vehicles, rifles, machine guns, and all types of ammunition—they had everything!

Hu Hao couldn’t fathom what the High Command was thinking. With so much equipment here, they neither ordered it transported to the rear nor destroyed during the retreat; they simply ordered the troops to pull back. If his own forces hadn’t refused the retreat order, he never would have known this massive stockpile existed.

“Hao-ge, something feels off. Logically, it’s impossible for the High Command not to know about this much equipment, right? These are massive storage facilities! The High Command keeps track of the weapons at every military base. Generally, they take them along during a retreat, unless the retreat is so sudden there’s no time! But we’ve been holding the line here for over 20 days! If the High Command knew about these weapons, wouldn’t they have transported them away?” Huan Xingtao reasoned.

“Right! The tanks we just received for resupply were all transported from other provinces. If they had them here, they could have easily supplied us locally! Why would the High Command seek far and wide when what they need is close at hand?” Hu Hao realized. When the Southwest Combat Zone expanded, all their equipment had been requisitioned from rear provinces. If the High Command knew about these weapons, they definitely would have drawn from here.

“What the fuck is actually going on?” Hu Hao was completely baffled.

“Hao-ge, what do we do now?” Huan Xingtao asked.

“About what?” Hu Hao looked at him in confusion.

“These weapons and ammo!”

“What else?! Transport whatever we can immediately! Send it to Daman City! Start with the tanks, armored vehicles, ammo, rifles, heavy machine guns, and helicopters! I’ll contact the other units to send men over right away! Also, have the soldiers in your Guard Regiment who know how to drive armored vehicles load them up with weapons and ammo and drive them to Daman City! Hurry!” Hu Hao ordered.

Meanwhile, Jiang Kai had arrived at a city in Zhongzhou, the destination of their retreat. Just as he disembarked, he received a call from the Grand Marshal.

“Greetings, Grand Marshal!” Jiang Kai answered immediately.

“Mm. Have your troops retreated yet?” the Grand Marshal asked.

“They are already retreating, but the pace is incredibly slow. The roads are clogged with civilians, so we can only move at their pace. However, our tank and armored units set out first, as they don’t strictly need to use the highways. But our transport vehicles must use the roads, which is slowing down the retreat!” Jiang Kai reported.

“Mm. Then, has the garrison at Late City—the 27th Corps—retreated?” the Grand Marshal continued.

“They have retreated. Is there a problem?” Jiang Kai was puzzled as to why the Grand Marshal was specifically asking about the 27th Corps.

“Mm. Could you order them to send a detachment back to Late City? Have them blow up our arsenals there, or at the very least, blow up the arsenal warehouses!” the Grand Marshal instructed.

“Didn’t the arsenal personnel blow them up before evacuating?” Jiang Kai immediately asked.

“No, they didn’t. When they heard our troops were retreating, they just fled. I estimate the place is completely deserted by now. Those arsenals cannot fall into Allied hands! Absolutely not!” the Grand Marshal insisted.

“But with our current marching speed, the armored units are almost at Zhongzhou, and the troops in the transport vehicles are stuck in traffic! I can’t exactly order them to walk back there, can I? The highways are completely jammed!” Jiang Kai replied, put in a difficult position.

(End of Chapter)