Chapter 213: Continuous Combat

The Commander of the Limaguo 11th Corps was deeply reluctant to head to Muqiao City. In his mind, since his country couldn’t get its hands on the equipment in Late City anyway, what was the point of going?!

Soon, however, Allied Headquarters sent another telegram explicitly ordering him to Muqiao City. It detailed that the Mara Empire corps had been ambushed and suffered catastrophic casualties. It further revealed that two Eastern Spirit tank divisions and an Air Cavalry unit—estimated to be a full division—were operating in the area. Headquarters ordered the 11th Corps to eliminate the Eastern Spirit forces at Muqiao City first, then secure Late City!

“Corps Commander, Headquarters ordered us to secure Late City!” a staff officer said, visibly excited.

“Hmph, secure Late City? Do you think it’ll be that easy? A Mara Empire corps just suffered catastrophic casualties there! Do you honestly think our equipment is better than Mara Empire’s?! There are two Eastern Spirit tank divisions over there! Sending us there is just asking us to die! The moment they run into trouble, they throw us to the wolves!” the Corps Commander snorted coldly.

“Corps Commander, are you saying we shouldn’t go?” The staff officer looked at his commander in astonishment.

Everyone knew Late City was a massive treasure trove. It housed a vast array of arsenal production equipment, as well as fighter jet and bomber manufacturing plants. If they could secure Late City, the benefits for Limaguo would be astronomical.

“Go? How can we not go? But since the Eastern Spirit forces are currently occupied at Muqiao City, we won’t go to Muqiao City! We will march directly on Late City! I estimate Late City’s defenses are practically non-existent right now!

“We will secure Late City first and establish a defensive perimeter. If the opportunity arises, we’ll order our troops to extract the equipment!” the Corps Commander declared.

“That works too!” The staff officer nodded in agreement.

“Order the troops: divert our advance toward Late City immediately! March with maximum speed!” the Corps Commander ordered his staff officers.

“Yes, sir! Order the troops to advance on Late City!” the staff officers echoed the command.

They immediately began sending telegrams to the subordinate units, ordering them to abandon their pursuit of the 27th Corps and pivot toward Late City.

…

Meanwhile, back with Bai Ye, the battle was still raging.

However, the Allied forces were now struggling just to return fire. Their casualties were simply too severe. Furthermore, a massive number of their officers had been killed, and they had completely lost contact with their Corps Commander.

Although many Allied soldiers had managed to scramble out of their burning armored vehicles, they found themselves facing relentless strafing from Eastern Spirit armored vehicles and tank-mounted heavy machine guns. Caught on an open plain, even after escaping their vehicles, the soldiers had nowhere to hide.

With the Eastern Spirit ground forces maneuvering rapidly and the Air Cavalry watching from above, the Allied forces were being slaughtered mercilessly. Many Allied soldiers attempted to surrender but the Eastern Spirit forces refused to take prisoners.

They simply kept charging, using their tanks and armored vehicles to crush the enemy. The Allied soldiers could only run, but how could flesh and blood outrun steel tracks and wheels?!

“Order the troops to increase speed! Motherfucker, those Air Cavalry boys are going too far! They’re going to steal more than half the merit in this battle!” Bai Ye grumbled as he watched the distant assault.

“There’s nothing we can do about it. They’re up in the sky! From up there, they can see much further; they know exactly where every Allied soldier is hiding!” a staff officer replied helplessly.

“Whatever! As long as we can wipe out this corps, one of the major threats to our sector will be resolved! Now we just have to deal with the Limaguo 11th Corps! We had two Allied corps breathing down our necks; once we wipe them out, we’ll finally have some breathing room. After that, the Allied forces will undoubtedly send more troops our way,” Bai Ye reasoned.

The battle raged for over two hours. By the end, the entire Mara Empire corps had been effectively crippled. Allied corpses littered both sides of the highway, and the burning wrecks of vehicles had slowly extinguished.

Furthermore, the tank and armored regiments that had attacked Li Jingsong were swiftly annihilated by the returning Air Cavalry. Li Jingsong’s forces only had to move in for the final mop-up. When his troops arrived, they found practically zero resistance. The Allied vehicles had been blown to pieces, and the ground was carpeted with enemy corpses.

“Report! We’ve spotted the Limaguo 11th Corps! They are moving toward the Mara Empire corps’ position! They likely won’t pass through the defensive line we established at Jukou Town, but will instead attack from the northeast!” a staff officer reported to Hu Hao.

“Good that they’re coming! Has the Air Cavalry deployed yet?” Hu Hao asked.

“Report! The Air Cavalry has already deployed! They are almost at Late City!” the staff officer replied.

“Send a telegram to Wang Yao! Order him to organize our current tank units and immediately deploy them to the forest northeast of Late City! Also, order the Air Cavalry to refuel and rearm with maximum speed!” Hu Hao commanded.

“Yes, sir!” The staff officer immediately ran out!

“Report! Bai Ye’s forces have disengaged and are currently retreating! They are expected to arrive in Late City in four hours!” another staff officer reported to Hu Hao.

“Mm. Tell them to hurry. Late City is a fat piece of meat that will constantly attract the Allied forces; they won’t give it up easily!” Hu Hao instructed.

“Yes, sir!” The staff officer nodded.

“Mo Shui!” Hu Hao called out.

“Here!” Mo Shui immediately stood up.

“Have the Allied forces in any other directions made a move?” Hu Hao asked.

“No. The other Allied forces are continuing their northward pursuit. Right now, only the Limaguo 11th Corps is heading our way!” Mo Shui reported.

“Good. Keep a close watch on all other directions, especially Lu Guangsheng’s sector! I’m worried the Allied forces might deploy reserve units there. They couldn’t have pushed all their troops to the front lines; they definitely have reserves in the rear!

“Once they realize our main forces have retreated, those reserve units will definitely push forward!” Hu Hao warned.

“Understood!” Mo Shui nodded. Meanwhile, in the southwestern suburbs of Late City, Wang Yao received his orders from the command center and immediately began leading the newly organized tank units toward the southeastern suburbs!

“Staff Officer Wang, you’re not the one commanding this time, right? Hao-ge is letting you command?!” a staff officer behind him asked curiously.

“Me?! Impossible! I assume Hao-ge will command personally and issue orders to us when the time comes. At most, I’m just a messenger!” Wang Yao immediately shook his head.

“Mm, that makes sense. You haven’t been here long; there’s no way he’d just hand you command of over 200 tanks in a real battle!” the staff officer nodded in agreement.

Wang Yao smiled wryly. He wanted to command, but he didn’t even have a clue where to start! For now, he simply did whatever Hu Hao ordered him to do.

“Air Cavalry, hurry up and refuel! Load the ammo!”

Back in Late City, the Air Cavalry pilots who had just been flown in were familiarizing themselves with the newly discovered helicopters. They had all flown these exact models before retiring, but they still needed to sit in the cockpits to regain their feel for the controls.

Meanwhile, the heavy machine gunners were meticulously inspecting their weapons.

Huan Xingtao stood nearby, directing his troops as they transported ammunition to the flight line!

“Regimental Commander Huan, are we fighting tonight?!” an Air Cavalry pilot asked, leaning out his cockpit window.

“What do you think? An entire Allied corps is heading our way! If we don’t wipe them out, they’re going to wipe us out! Can you guys actually fly these things or not?!” Huan Xingtao challenged.

“Of course we can fly them! We flew them for over ten years! If we couldn’t fly them now, wouldn’t that be a massive embarrassment?!” the pilot laughed.

“Good! When the time comes, you’ll integrate with our existing Air Cavalry and launch a joint assault on the Allied forces! We must hold Late City!” Huan Xingtao declared.

“No problem! With the Air Cavalry here, ground troops are nothing but target practice!” the pilot boasted proudly.

“Holy shit!” Huan Xingtao stared at him, stunned by the sheer arrogance.

However, he didn’t argue. Everyone knew the Air Cavalry was the bane of ground forces. Once the slaughter began, ground troops simply couldn’t withstand the onslaught.

As time passed, dawn slowly began to break. Hu Hao dozed briefly in his chair; he had been working through the entire night. Over in Muqiao City, the troops had begun their march toward Luotang City and Xiwan City, while Bai Ye’s forces were pushing rapidly toward Late City.

“Hao-ge… Hao-ge?” A staff officer approached Hu Hao and called out softly.

“Mm, what is it?” Hu Hao lifted his head and asked.

“Hao-ge, the Limaguo 11th Corps has reached a small town less than 40 kilometers from Late City! They are currently resting and regrouping. We estimate they will reach Late City in an hour!” the staff officer reported.

“They’re here?” Hu Hao stood up and walked over to the map, his eyes locking onto the 40-kilometer mark.

“Right here, Hao-ge! Ru Town! The 11th Corps is right here!” The staff officer pointed to a location northeast of Late City.

“Has Wang Yao deployed his troops according to regulations?” Hu Hao asked.

“He has! However, we don’t have any infantry left on our end, so we detached a battalion from Huan Xingtao’s Guard Regiment to coordinate with the armored units there,” the staff officer replied.

“Mm. As long as they’re in position, that’s fine. Is the Air Cavalry ready?” Hu Hao nodded and continued his inquiries.

(End of Chapter)

The Commander of the Limaguo 11th Corps was deeply reluctant to head to Muqiao City. In his mind, since his country couldn’t get its hands on the equipment in Late City anyway, what was the point of going?!

Soon, however, Allied Headquarters sent another telegram explicitly ordering him to Muqiao City. It detailed that the Mara Empire corps had been ambushed and suffered catastrophic casualties. It further revealed that two Eastern Spirit tank divisions and an Air Cavalry unit—estimated to be a full division—were operating in the area. Headquarters ordered the 11th Corps to eliminate the Eastern Spirit forces at Muqiao City first, then secure Late City!

“Corps Commander, Headquarters ordered us to secure Late City!” a staff officer said, visibly excited.

“Hmph, secure Late City? Do you think it’ll be that easy? A Mara Empire corps just suffered catastrophic casualties there! Do you honestly think our equipment is better than Mara Empire’s?! There are two Eastern Spirit tank divisions over there! Sending us there is just asking us to die! The moment they run into trouble, they throw us to the wolves!” the Corps Commander snorted coldly.

“Corps Commander, are you saying we shouldn’t go?” The staff officer looked at his commander in astonishment.

Everyone knew Late City was a massive treasure trove. It housed a vast array of arsenal production equipment, as well as fighter jet and bomber manufacturing plants. If they could secure Late City, the benefits for Limaguo would be astronomical.

“Go? How can we not go? But since the Eastern Spirit forces are currently occupied at Muqiao City, we won’t go to Muqiao City! We will march directly on Late City! I estimate Late City’s defenses are practically non-existent right now!

“We will secure Late City first and establish a defensive perimeter. If the opportunity arises, we’ll order our troops to extract the equipment!” the Corps Commander declared.

“That works too!” The staff officer nodded in agreement.

“Order the troops: divert our advance toward Late City immediately! March with maximum speed!” the Corps Commander ordered his staff officers.

“Yes, sir! Order the troops to advance on Late City!” the staff officers echoed the command.

They immediately began sending telegrams to the subordinate units, ordering them to abandon their pursuit of the 27th Corps and pivot toward Late City.

…

Meanwhile, back with Bai Ye, the battle was still raging.

However, the Allied forces were now struggling just to return fire. Their casualties were simply too severe. Furthermore, a massive number of their officers had been killed, and they had completely lost contact with their Corps Commander.

Although many Allied soldiers had managed to scramble out of their burning armored vehicles, they found themselves facing relentless strafing from Eastern Spirit armored vehicles and tank-mounted heavy machine guns. Caught on an open plain, even after escaping their vehicles, the soldiers had nowhere to hide.

With the Eastern Spirit ground forces maneuvering rapidly and the Air Cavalry watching from above, the Allied forces were being slaughtered mercilessly. Many Allied soldiers attempted to surrender but the Eastern Spirit forces refused to take prisoners.

They simply kept charging, using their tanks and armored vehicles to crush the enemy. The Allied soldiers could only run, but how could flesh and blood outrun steel tracks and wheels?!

“Order the troops to increase speed! Motherfucker, those Air Cavalry boys are going too far! They’re going to steal more than half the merit in this battle!” Bai Ye grumbled as he watched the distant assault.

“There’s nothing we can do about it. They’re up in the sky! From up there, they can see much further; they know exactly where every Allied soldier is hiding!” a staff officer replied helplessly.

“Whatever! As long as we can wipe out this corps, one of the major threats to our sector will be resolved! Now we just have to deal with the Limaguo 11th Corps! We had two Allied corps breathing down our necks; once we wipe them out, we’ll finally have some breathing room. After that, the Allied forces will undoubtedly send more troops our way,” Bai Ye reasoned.

The battle raged for over two hours. By the end, the entire Mara Empire corps had been effectively crippled. Allied corpses littered both sides of the highway, and the burning wrecks of vehicles had slowly extinguished.

Furthermore, the tank and armored regiments that had attacked Li Jingsong were swiftly annihilated by the returning Air Cavalry. Li Jingsong’s forces only had to move in for the final mop-up. When his troops arrived, they found practically zero resistance. The Allied vehicles had been blown to pieces, and the ground was carpeted with enemy corpses.

“Report! We’ve spotted the Limaguo 11th Corps! They are moving toward the Mara Empire corps’ position! They likely won’t pass through the defensive line we established at Jukou Town, but will instead attack from the northeast!” a staff officer reported to Hu Hao.

“Good that they’re coming! Has the Air Cavalry deployed yet?” Hu Hao asked.

“Report! The Air Cavalry has already deployed! They are almost at Late City!” the staff officer replied.

“Send a telegram to Wang Yao! Order him to organize our current tank units and immediately deploy them to the forest northeast of Late City! Also, order the Air Cavalry to refuel and rearm with maximum speed!” Hu Hao commanded.

“Yes, sir!” The staff officer immediately ran out!

“Report! Bai Ye’s forces have disengaged and are currently retreating! They are expected to arrive in Late City in four hours!” another staff officer reported to Hu Hao.

“Mm. Tell them to hurry. Late City is a fat piece of meat that will constantly attract the Allied forces; they won’t give it up easily!” Hu Hao instructed.

“Yes, sir!” The staff officer nodded.

“Mo Shui!” Hu Hao called out.

“Here!” Mo Shui immediately stood up.

“Have the Allied forces in any other directions made a move?” Hu Hao asked.

“No. The other Allied forces are continuing their northward pursuit. Right now, only the Limaguo 11th Corps is heading our way!” Mo Shui reported.

“Good. Keep a close watch on all other directions, especially Lu Guangsheng’s sector! I’m worried the Allied forces might deploy reserve units there. They couldn’t have pushed all their troops to the front lines; they definitely have reserves in the rear!

“Once they realize our main forces have retreated, those reserve units will definitely push forward!” Hu Hao warned.

“Understood!” Mo Shui nodded. Meanwhile, in the southwestern suburbs of Late City, Wang Yao received his orders from the command center and immediately began leading the newly organized tank units toward the southeastern suburbs!

“Staff Officer Wang, you’re not the one commanding this time, right? Hao-ge is letting you command?!” a staff officer behind him asked curiously.

“Me?! Impossible! I assume Hao-ge will command personally and issue orders to us when the time comes. At most, I’m just a messenger!” Wang Yao immediately shook his head.

“Mm, that makes sense. You haven’t been here long; there’s no way he’d just hand you command of over 200 tanks in a real battle!” the staff officer nodded in agreement.

Wang Yao smiled wryly. He wanted to command, but he didn’t even have a clue where to start! For now, he simply did whatever Hu Hao ordered him to do.

“Air Cavalry, hurry up and refuel! Load the ammo!”

Back in Late City, the Air Cavalry pilots who had just been flown in were familiarizing themselves with the newly discovered helicopters. They had all flown these exact models before retiring, but they still needed to sit in the cockpits to regain their feel for the controls.

Meanwhile, the heavy machine gunners were meticulously inspecting their weapons.

Huan Xingtao stood nearby, directing his troops as they transported ammunition to the flight line!

“Regimental Commander Huan, are we fighting tonight?!” an Air Cavalry pilot asked, leaning out his cockpit window.

“What do you think? An entire Allied corps is heading our way! If we don’t wipe them out, they’re going to wipe us out! Can you guys actually fly these things or not?!” Huan Xingtao challenged.

“Of course we can fly them! We flew them for over ten years! If we couldn’t fly them now, wouldn’t that be a massive embarrassment?!” the pilot laughed.

“Good! When the time comes, you’ll integrate with our existing Air Cavalry and launch a joint assault on the Allied forces! We must hold Late City!” Huan Xingtao declared.

“No problem! With the Air Cavalry here, ground troops are nothing but target practice!” the pilot boasted proudly.

“Holy shit!” Huan Xingtao stared at him, stunned by the sheer arrogance.

However, he didn’t argue. Everyone knew the Air Cavalry was the bane of ground forces. Once the slaughter began, ground troops simply couldn’t withstand the onslaught.

As time passed, dawn slowly began to break. Hu Hao dozed briefly in his chair; he had been working through the entire night. Over in Muqiao City, the troops had begun their march toward Luotang City and Xiwan City, while Bai Ye’s forces were pushing rapidly toward Late City.

“Hao-ge… Hao-ge?” A staff officer approached Hu Hao and called out softly.

“Mm, what is it?” Hu Hao lifted his head and asked.

“Hao-ge, the Limaguo 11th Corps has reached a small town less than 40 kilometers from Late City! They are currently resting and regrouping. We estimate they will reach Late City in an hour!” the staff officer reported.

“They’re here?” Hu Hao stood up and walked over to the map, his eyes locking onto the 40-kilometer mark.

“Right here, Hao-ge! Ru Town! The 11th Corps is right here!” The staff officer pointed to a location northeast of Late City.

“Has Wang Yao deployed his troops according to regulations?” Hu Hao asked.

“He has! However, we don’t have any infantry left on our end, so we detached a battalion from Huan Xingtao’s Guard Regiment to coordinate with the armored units there,” the staff officer replied.

“Mm. As long as they’re in position, that’s fine. Is the Air Cavalry ready?” Hu Hao nodded and continued his inquiries.

(End of Chapter)