Chapter 173: Plan to Hide Troops

Hu Hao brought Xiao Quan into the meeting room and explained that he not only had to plan for their own future but also for Jiang Kai’s. After all, Jiang Kai had truly helped him a lot and valued Hu Hao as a commander!

“Hao-ge, you said you want to plan for Jiang Kai, but how exactly do you plan to do that?” Xiao Quan asked immediately, unable to figure out what Hu Hao could possibly do for the Commander.

“Right now, Jiang Kai has authorized me to expand our forces to 60,000 men. Think about it: we are essentially a corps-level force! Once Jiang Kai is promoted, I will undoubtedly become a Corps Commander; I believe he’ll help me secure that position. And I can be considered Jiang Kai’s direct loyalist. Whether we admit it or not, that’s what everyone will think.

“Furthermore, as commanders promoted by Jiang Kai, our only choice is to support him. Otherwise, we would be considered disloyal. Am I wrong?” Hu Hao stood there and asked Xiao Quan.

“You’re not wrong. We are all children of commoners. Once we’re recommended and promoted to General, whether we admit it or not, we will be permanently branded with Jiang Kai’s label!” Xiao Quan nodded; this was simply a fact.

“Exactly. So, regarding the new Commander of the Southwest Combat Zone—whoever he is—if he doesn’t mess with Jiang Kai, I can follow his orders. But if he messes with Jiang Kai, I will have to deal with him!

“But if we deal with the new Commander, His Majesty definitely won’t be happy. He’ll definitely try to take us down, and that’s when Jiang Kai can cover for us! In the Southwest Combat Zone, Jiang Kai doesn’t just need his own family’s troops; he also needs the troops commanded by the generals he might promote in the future—generals like us.

“And His Majesty certainly won’t let our troops off the hook either. Our relationship with Jiang Kai is like grasshoppers tied to the same rope: we share in the glory, and we share in the fall! Therefore, we need to hide our true strength!

“As long as our troops continue achieving merits on the front lines, His Majesty won’t dare eliminate us completely. If he doesn’t dare eliminate us, then Jiang Kai is safe. After all, His Majesty also fears a mutiny from the subordinate troops, right?” Hu Hao continued explaining.

“That’s right. If you want to go to the High Command, you must control enough troops. If you don’t control enough troops, His Majesty and the other generals will scheme against you at any moment,” Xiao Quan nodded in agreement.

“What we need to do now is hide our troops! Tell me, can we hide troops here? This is the Central Combat Zone’s territory; it’s been operated by the Mu family for over a century! Do you think they wouldn’t know the moment the wind blows or the grass rustles?

“Therefore, we need to cross over to the opposite bank, and the sooner the better! Furthermore, I am preparing for the worst-case scenario. I’m worried the other Combat Zones might not hold. If their lines break, our Southwest Combat Zone forces might end up completely isolated!

“And Jiang Kai can’t just expand his forces on a whim; he definitely wouldn’t dare. That’s exactly why we need to hide our troops! We’ll move our forces into enemy-occupied territory. Once we’re there, besides us, God Himself won’t know how many troops we have!

“As long as we hold our ground there and wait for the right opportunity, I believe we can continue to develop. Right now, whoever has the guns is the boss! We need enough troops!

“Not for anyone else, but for ourselves! We cannot die for nothing. We cannot blindly follow the High Command’s chaotic orders and sacrifice ourselves meaninglessly on the battlefield! Additionally, as soldiers—as soldiers of the Eastern Spirit Empire—we must reclaim our lost territories and rescue the civilians who haven’t been slaughtered yet. Only by doing this can we be worthy of the uniform we wear! Therefore, we must strike out on our own.” Hu Hao stated firmly, his eyes fixed on Xiao Quan.

“Sigh, I know everything you’re saying. But is right now really the best time to strike out?” Xiao Quan asked.

“Why wouldn’t it be? Do the math: how many troops do we actually have left right now? I mean troops capable of picking up a rifle and fighting on the front lines!” Hu Hao asked.

“Right now… including the troops Li Jingsong took and Ye Zifeng’s regiment, we probably have around 20,000 men. If you add the artillery, it’s definitely over 20,000,” Xiao Quan estimated after a moment’s thought.

“If we can beat back the incoming 32nd Corps at a minimal cost… think about it: our operational area will span a radius of over 300 kilometers! Tell me, how many soldiers do you think we could conscript?

“At least 200,000! Add the 60,000 Jiang Kai just authorized us to expand to, and that’s 260,000 troops! We hide 260,000 troops in that region. The Allied forces will think I only have a single corps.

“How could they possibly know that my ‘corps’ actually has 260,000 men?! However many troops they send, I’ll swallow them all! Not only will we accumulate merit for ourselves, but we’ll also accumulate merit for Jiang Kai!

“Furthermore, why did I say ‘right now’? Because right now, even Jiang Kai doesn’t know how many troops I have left! As long as we go ambush the Allied forces, even if our casualties aren’t high, I can just claim they were massive! We can hide a massive number of our soldiers!

“Old Xiao, the men we have right now are all veterans! Those soldiers can immediately step up as Squad Leaders, or even Platoon Leaders! And our current Platoon Leaders—having experienced both offense and defense in this battle—are perfectly capable of serving as Company Commanders!

“Think about it: how many recruits can 10,000 veterans lead?! I wouldn’t dare say 100,000, but 80,000 shouldn’t be a problem, right?

“What we need to do right now is hide our veterans, understand? If we have too many veterans here, just watch—Jiang Kai will definitely start eyeing them. Everyone is expanding their forces right now; who wouldn’t want veterans?” Hu Hao explained.

“Mm, that makes sense. We hide the veterans first. But are you confident you can pull this off?” Xiao Quan asked.

“Whether I’m confident or not, we’ll only know once we fight! Besides, if you agree, I need to start making arrangements immediately. We’ll leave the offensive here to the Li brothers, while the rest of our forces prepare for the ambush! I’ll issue transfer orders to the frontline troops. The only ones who know where the Allied reinforcements are us!” Hu Hao declared.

“Mm, it is indeed feasible. But are you truly confident?” Xiao Quan remained skeptical. Pulling off an ambush was no easy feat.

“Hehe, confident? Of course I am! Leaving everything else aside, if we split our forces to ‘besiege the city and strike the reinforcements,’ we definitely won’t be able to swallow the Allied forces inside Santong County tonight.

“Because of that, the 32nd Corps will definitely be rushed to come reinforce them here! That gives us plenty of opportunities for an ambush! It all depends on how we choose to fight. How many of their troops we can annihilate will depend on the opportunities that arise. But if the chance presents itself, we can cripple those reinforcements!” Hu Hao stated.

“Mm, alright. Then let’s fight! You’re the Division Commander; you have the final say. Besides, the brothers all submit to you. After fighting so many battles, you truly haven’t miscalculated once!” Xiao Quan pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement.

“Mm. However, what I’m considering right now is whether we should tell Li Jingsong. After all, he is our Chief of Staff. Although he’s a descendant of an aristocratic family, I feel he’s changed significantly!” Hu Hao said, looking at Xiao Quan.

“Mm, we can tell him part of it. What do you think? We can tell him about ambushing the reinforcements and the expansion. But regarding hiding our troops… we need to be more careful with that. I’m worried he might tell his father, and then we won’t be able to hide anything,” Xiao Quan suggested.

“But have you considered this? He is the Chief of Staff of our unit! It’s impossible to keep the hidden troops a secret from him; we have to communicate with the subordinate units, after all!” Hu Hao said, his brow furrowed in worry.

He was also concerned that Li Jingsong might be unreliable, but as the Chief of Staff, these matters couldn’t be kept from him. Keeping him in the dark might actually backfire.

“Then tell him. How about you order him to fly back here on a helicopter right now?” Xiao Quan asked tentatively after a moment’s thought.

“That works. Let him come back, and we’ll tell him. If he opposes it, we’ll just sideline him. We have no other choice right now. It’s not that we don’t trust him; it’s just that he is, after all, from an aristocratic family. Moreover, what we’re doing will put his father in a difficult position. So, we’ll see how he reacts first,” Hu Hao nodded.

“Alright!” Xiao Quan agreed.

Soon, Hu Hao and Xiao Quan exited the meeting room. Hu Hao picked up the phone and called Li Jingsong, ordering him to return to the command center immediately via a helicopter.

Upon receiving the order, Li Jingsong immediately boarded a helicopter and flew back. When he walked into the command center, Hu Hao saw that his face was covered in bug bites.

“What happened to you?! How did you get like this? Did you run into something poisonous?” Hu Hao asked in shock upon seeing his face.

“Oh my god, you have no idea how venomous the mosquitoes in the forest are! Sigh, let me tell you, even if you beat me to death in the future, I am never hiding in a forest waiting for an opportunity ever again!

“It was lethal! Not only were the mosquitoes massive, but there were so damn many of them!” After hugging Hu Hao and Xiao Quan, Li Jingsong immediately began complaining.

“Haha, you really had a tough time!” Hu Hao laughed.

“Tell me about it! However, Hao-ge, fighting this battle felt amazing! Three corps! Hao-ge, three corps beaten into this state by us! I don’t think you could find a single other unit in the Empire with a merit like this!” Li Jingsong said to Hu Hao, thoroughly delighted.

“Hehe, want to wipe out a fourth corps?” Hu Hao asked with a smile.

“Wipe out a fourth corps?!” Hearing this, Li Jingsong immediately looked at Hu Hao. Hu Hao nodded, then looked at Xiao Quan, who also nodded in confirmation.

(End of Chapter)