Chapter 131: Xiao Quan’s Suggestion

Hu Hao stood by the observation port, looking toward the opposite bank. He noted that the Allied forces were definitely on the move. Hearing this, Xiao Quan nodded in agreement. That much was certain.

“Call Wang Yao and the others over!” Hu Hao ordered.

“Why? Are you going to teach them?” Xiao Quan asked, looking at Hu Hao with a smile.

“They are my classmates and my brothers, after all. I can’t just teach them nothing. I don’t want them to die on the battlefield. I can’t guarantee they’ll achieve great merits, but keeping them alive is the first priority,” Hu Hao said, looking at Xiao Quan.

“You’re still young. You should know better than to bring them here in the first place. You’re a Colonel serving as a Division Commander, and they are First Lieutenants. Tell me, how are you supposed to interact?

Yes, I know you want to keep them alive under your protection. But you have to remember, you spent five years together in the academy. Your brotherhood was forged back then.

Now they are your subordinates. If something happens to them, it will cloud your judgment. Also, do you think they actually respect your authority right now? They know what you were like back in school. Why should they accept that you became a Division Commander after just a month here? Do you really think they’re convinced?

I feel that it won’t work without giving it some time. Look at the cadets who graduated from other academies. They treat you completely differently. They respect you, follow your orders, and never challenge your decisions. But your classmates are a different story!” Xiao Quan stood there, reminding Hu Hao.

Hu Hao chuckled upon hearing this. He wasn’t young—at least, not in his mind. It was just that he couldn’t bear the thought of his friends dying on the battlefield, which was why he brought them to his side.

“It’s not that I don’t understand, it’s just that I have no choice. I don’t want them to die, or rather, I don’t want them to die meaningless deaths. You know how the commanders in other units operate. If they ended up under those young master generals, do you think they’d survive? What are their chances of making it out alive?”

“You might look careless on the outside, cursing at whatever displeases you, but you actually have a good heart. Otherwise, the brothers below wouldn’t respect you as much as they do. Take the air conditioning, for example. It seems like a minor detail, but you went out of your way to get it done for the men.

To get free electricity, you even dared to offend a Commander. The brothers might not say anything, but who wouldn’t respect you? Who wouldn’t feel like they’re following a good superior?” Xiao Quan said, looking at Hu Hao.

“Stop talking nonsense, those are just minor things!” Hu Hao waved his hand with a smile.

“It’s the minor things that show whether a commanding officer truly cares about his soldiers. When we were retreating, you refused to leave a single wounded man behind. Tell me, wouldn’t the brothers risk their lives for you? Following you into battle means, at the very least, they won’t be abandoned.

Look at Li Jingsong before. He abandoned the troops and ran away by himself. Even though he’s doing a decent job now, the veterans still haven’t forgiven him in our hearts. We just don’t want to cause trouble with him right now, so we let it be.” Xiao Quan told Hu Hao.

Hu Hao nodded. “Let’s not dwell on Li Jingsong’s past. It’s over and done with. Besides, he’s performing well now.”

“He might be doing well, but the brothers are still evaluating him. We’re judging him in our hearts to see if Li Jingsong is truly worth entrusting our lives to!” Xiao Quan stated. Hu Hao could only nod in response.

“And about your classmates—let me ask you, and you probably already know the answer. If you were on the battlefield, who do you think would take a bullet for you? Your classmates, or our veteran brothers?” Xiao Quan pressed.

“Old Xiao, you…?” Hu Hao turned his head to look at Xiao Quan.

“Hao-ge, the human heart is hard to read. I know they are good people, but will they listen to you? Do they truly respect you? You need to understand this: keeping officers by your side who don’t respect your authority is just planting a landmine for yourself.

It’s not like you’re short on personnel. You have so many brothers willing to risk their lives for you, why choose them?” Xiao Quan continued.

Feeling frustrated, Hu Hao pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He handed one to Xiao Quan and lit another for himself.

“You know I’m right. They have to pass our brothers’ tests before they can be entrusted with important roles. Right now, I don’t think they should be used in the command center. I’m afraid they’ll mess things up!” Xiao Quan said.

“It’s not that serious, is it? It’s only been a few days!” Hu Hao replied.

“What do you mean, just a few days? Are they stupid? Everyone else calls you Hao-ge or Division Commander. But them? They still call you ‘Rat’. Is ‘Rat’ something they should be calling you? Didn’t you notice that whenever our veteran brothers hear that, they want to go over and smack them? If it weren’t out of respect for you, they would have been beaten up by now!” Xiao Quan argued.

“No, that shouldn’t be a big deal, right?” Hu Hao was a bit puzzled.

“How is it not a big deal? You are the Division Commander! You are the brothers’ Hao-ge! Why are they calling you ‘Rat’? To show off how close they are to you? If they are really close, they should know better than to call you that. You are a Division Commander, not some ordinary officer. You have tens of thousands of troops under your command. Calling you that destroys your authority as a division commander!” Xiao Quan pointed at Hu Hao, speaking with utmost seriousness.

“Well, maybe they just didn’t realize it! It’s fine, it’s a minor issue!” Hu Hao defended them.

“Do you know why our veterans haven’t said anything to them? They’re waiting to see when they’ll finally learn some sense. If they still don’t get it, they have no place in our unit. The brothers will definitely sideline them!” Xiao Quan said.

“Sigh, you guys…” Hu Hao muttered helplessly.

“Hao-ge, the brothers only answer to you. When they call you ‘Rat’, aren’t they insulting you? Yes, everyone knows they’re close to you, but there have to be boundaries. They can call you that in private when it’s just the few of you, but doing it out in the open? Do they have no sense of discipline?” Xiao Quan pressed on.

“Alright, alright, enough about this. We’ll talk about it later!” Hu Hao interrupted.

“Just wait. When Li Jingsong gets back and hears them calling you that, he’ll chew them out!” Xiao Quan warned.

“Okay, okay, we’ll deal with it later!” Hu Hao waved his hand, genuinely not wanting to continue the conversation.

“Sigh!” Hu Hao looked into the distance and let out a heavy sigh, lost in his own thoughts.

He knew that Wang Yao and the others weren’t doing it on purpose, nor were they as clueless as Xiao Quan claimed. They just hadn’t fully grasped that this was a battlefield. A war had broken out. This was no longer the academy where everyone could act casually.

Because they didn’t understand, when Mo Qin called him over tonight, he hadn’t known how to explain it to them. It was something that couldn’t simply be explained. Without having experienced it firsthand, they wouldn’t be able to make sense of it.

Hu Hao stood there watching for a while. Soon, their own artillery barrage began, bombarding the Allied forces’ fifth artillery position. Seeing this, Hu Hao smiled.

“That Allied commander is truly unlucky. Just like that, you tricked him out of at least five artillery regiments. Damn!” Xiao Quan gloated as he watched their cannons fire.

“Haha!” Hu Hao laughed along. The Allied forces assumed his unit was just a standard division. They didn’t realize that while he technically commanded a division…

…his actual troop count far exceeded one. That was their fatal oversight.

“Boom, boom, boom!” At that moment, the Allied forces’ fifth artillery position erupted in explosions. Inside Abusai’s command center, none of the staff officers dared to speak. They knew Abusai was in an incredibly foul mood.

Abusai sat there in a daze. He never imagined that his attempt tonight to simply send a warning to the Eastern Spirit Empire’s forces would backfire so disastrously. Not only did the warning fail, but he had also lost so many artillerymen, essentially crippling his artillery units.

Now, he only had one artillery regiment left, and he was hesitant to deploy it. If this last regiment was destroyed, he would have no artillery cover for the infantry assault. That would be disastrous, guaranteeing massive infantry casualties.

“Send a telegram to General Ren Kefu. I need his artillery to come and support us. Our artillery has suffered heavy losses!” Instead of ordering a counterattack against the Eastern Spirit artillery, Abusai opted to request reinforcements.

“Asking them for reinforcements right now… is that a good idea?” the Chief of Staff asked, looking at Abusai.

“Without enough artillery, how are we supposed to attack tomorrow? Our infantry will be slaughtered in the river!” Abusai snapped at the Chief of Staff.

“Understood!” The Chief of Staff nodded. The other staff officers waited for Abusai to issue orders on whether to strike back at the Eastern Spirit artillery, but Abusai seemed oblivious to the option, simply sitting there in a daze.

“Corps Commander, should we mount a counterattack?” the Chief of Staff asked, voicing the room’s collective thought.

“Counterattack with what?! The Eastern Spirit artillery is scattered everywhere, how are we supposed to hit them? If our last artillery regiment gets wiped out, how are we supposed to fight tomorrow?!” Abusai yelled at him.

“Yes, I understand!” The Chief of Staff quickly nodded and turned to leave. Abusai stood up, pacing restlessly.

He truly hadn’t expected to suffer such a massive loss. Even though he had taken out most of the Eastern Spirit artillery, his own casualties were severe. Worse, this compromised tomorrow’s offensive—that was the real crisis.

Meanwhile, over on Hu Hao’s side, he smiled when he saw that the Allied forces weren’t mounting a counterattack, and he strolled back into the command center.

(End of Chapter)