Chapter 34: True Capability

Hu Hao and his squad had breached the enemy’s command post, capturing two Major Generals and three Brigadier Generals, alongside the corpse of a fourth Brigadier who had been killed in the crossfire. The soldiers were buzzing with adrenaline—to them, these men weren’t just prisoners; they were walking piles of cash.

Hu Hao was just as thrilled. Bagging enemy Generals—especially ones with such massive bounties—was a massive strike. But despite his excitement, he didn’t let the success cloud his judgment. He quickly rallied the men and moved toward the tunnel exit.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As Hu Hao reached the entrance, he spotted over a dozen Allied soldiers charging toward them. They had clearly realized something was wrong and were rushing to secure the bunker. Hu Hao didn’t hesitate; he raised his rifle and opened fire.

“Brothers, hold the line! Dammit, we have to get out of here. This place is a death trap. Once the Allied rear echelons figure out what happened, they’ll send an army to swarm us. We’ll be finished!” Hu Hao shouted over the crack of his rifle.

“Hao-ge, there aren’t many of them right now. Should we make a run for it?” Huan Xingtao yelled, crouching nearby.

“Yeah, we run! Kill them, and we move!” Hu Hao nodded. He pulled a grenade, yanked the pin, and hurled it toward the advancing Allied troops.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The explosions ripped through the ruins, and the enemy fire abruptly thinned out.

“Go! Tell the Division Commander and Zhao Haibin to get up here! We’re pulling out! We can’t stay!” Hu Hao yelled, seeing the path temporarily cleared.

They couldn’t afford to get surrounded down here. If they were trapped, they’d never make it out alive, and all that merit and money would die with them.

A moment later, Li Jingsong and his detail hurried up, pushing the captive Generals forward. Another soldier dragged the corpse of the dead Brigadier General by his webbing.

“Hao-ge, we’re leaving right now? There are still Allied troops out there!” Zhao Haibin asked as he reached Hu Hao’s side.

“It’s only a few hundred meters. We have to risk it, or they’ll encircle us. We punch through! Brothers, keep your eyes peeled. Watch your own backs, and make sure these Generals don’t catch a stray bullet! Are they gagged?” Hu Hao shouted to the men in the rear.

“Gagged and bound tight!” Li Jingsong confirmed.

“Let’s move! I’ll take the point. Follow me and wait for my orders!” Hu Hao slung his rifle, gripped a bag of grenades, and charged out into the night.

By now, nearby Allied units had heard the intense gunfire and explosions coming from the command post. Some were moving in to investigate, while Regimental Commanders were desperately trying to radio the bunker—only to be met with dead air.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Hu Hao’s squad hadn’t even covered a hundred meters before they slammed into an Allied patrol moving to check the bunker.

Hu Hao struck decisively. He fired a rapid burst to force them into cover, then immediately followed up with a hail of grenades. The soldiers who weren’t dragging prisoners rushed up to the front to add their suppressing fire.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Once the smoke bloomed, Hu Hao charged into the haze, his rifle barking as he executed any Allied soldiers still twitching on the ground.

“MOVE!” Hu Hao roared.

The squad surged forward, dragging their high-value captives. The Allied Generals struggled wildly. They knew exactly what awaited them if they were dragged back to the Imperial lines. It wasn’t just personal humiliation; it was a devastating stain on their families and a crushing blow to their nation’s military prestige. They thrashed against their captors, but the soldiers had bound them tight. Whenever a General struggled too much, a soldier would deliver a swift, brutal punch to the gut, quickly settling them down.

“Move faster!” Hu Hao shouted, sensing movement on their flanks.

He knew the Allied forces had realized their frontline command was compromised. They were converging to rescue their Division Commanders—or, failing that, to silence them before they could be interrogated.

“Hurry!” Hu Hao slid behind a concrete pillar. An entire Allied company was sweeping toward them from the side. He ordered the squad to keep moving while he stayed behind to hold the flank.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Moments later, massive explosions tore through the area where the pursuing Allied company was advancing.

“GO!” Hu Hao screamed, continuously hurling grenades into the dark. He didn’t wait to check if anyone survived the blasts; his only goal was to lay down a wall of fire and shrapnel to cover the retreat.

“Hao-ge! Hao-ge, over here!” In the distance, Imperial soldiers saw the rhythmic grenade airbursts and instantly knew it was Hu Hao. They began shouting to him.

“Cover us!” Hu Hao yelled back.

“Brothers, Hao-ge is taking fire! Cover him!” The Imperial soldiers, previously pinned down in the rubble, sprang into action.

“FIRE!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Rat-tat-tat!

A fierce volley of Imperial gunfire slammed into the remaining Allied pursuers.

“Faster!” Hu Hao urged his squad. Behind them, even more Allied troops were swarming the sector, clearly having received word of the captured Generals.

“Hao-ge, this way! Over here!” a friendly soldier yelled as Hu Hao’s group finally broke through the cordon.

“Good! Brothers, hold the line! We bagged their Division Commanders! We’ve got their top brass! Hit them hard—they don’t have anyone giving orders anymore!” Hu Hao shouted as he slid into cover alongside the friendly troops.

“What? Hao-ge, you actually grabbed their Division Commanders?” the soldiers asked, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Take a look! Right here! Major Generals! Division Commanders!” one of Hu Hao’s men bragged, proudly displaying the battered, bound captives.

“Li Jingsong! Take these men and the guards, fall back, and hand them over to Command! I’m staying here to finish the fight. Remember: don’t let them die on the way! Once Command has them, if they die, it’s not our problem. Understand?” Hu Hao barked.

“Understood! Don’t worry!” Li Jingsong yelled back.

“And make sure you register the names of every brother who was in on the raid! Don’t you dare shortchange the men on their bounty!” Hu Hao added sharply.

“What kind of person do you think I am?” Li Jingsong glared at him indignantly. “You don’t need to worry. We split the money evenly!”

“Good. Now get out of here. It’s not safe. I’m taking the boys and pushing forward. We’re almost at the edge!” Hu Hao nodded, ignoring the glare. He grabbed a fresh bag of grenades, stood up, and hurled one toward the Allied lines.

“Brothers, follow me! Charge! Finish them off!” Hu Hao roared.

“KILL THEM ALL!” the surrounding soldiers roared back, their morale skyrocketing.

With Hu Hao’s grenades flying everywhere, the leaderless Allied soldiers had no choice but to fall back. They didn’t dare advance, and since they weren’t advancing, Hu Hao’s forces pushed forward. Their mission was to secure Sector 9, and the relief troops would arrive at dawn to take over.

“KILL!” Hu Hao continued to spearhead the charge.

Meanwhile, Li Jingsong and his detail hauled the captive Generals to the rear, tossing them into the back of an armored command vehicle. As soon as the doors locked, Li Jingsong grabbed the radio to call Zone Command.

“Connect me to the Commander! This is Major General Li Jingsong, Commander of the 87th Division, 27th Corps. I have a critical situation report!” Li Jingsong ordered his driver to head straight for Headquarters.

After a tense wait, Jiang Kai’s exhausted voice came through the receiver.

“What is it?”

“Commander! We just captured several high-ranking prisoners! Two Allied Major Generals, three Brigadier Generals, and the body of another Brigadier! We are currently en route to Headquarters. Please have a security detail ready to receive them!” Li Jingsong reported, his voice trembling with excitement.

“You said WHAT?! You captured enemy Major Generals?! Where?” Jiang Kai’s voice cracked like a whip. The sheer volume caused every staff officer in the command center to stop what they were doing and turn toward him.

They had been fighting a brutal, losing battle for days. Forget capturing an enemy General—they hadn’t even managed to kill one yet, while the Empire had lost dozens of its own.

“We are currently on the road to Headquarters!” Li Jingsong confirmed.

“Good! Bring them straight here! How did this happen? How did you catch them?” Jiang Kai asked, unable to contain his thrill.

“During the assault, Hu Hao and I noticed a suspicious building. We suspected it was an enemy frontline command post. We led a strike team and breached it. Sure enough, we found the Major Generals inside.

We don’t read the Malaguo’s language, so we don’t know their names. Oh, and we packed up all the maps, documents, and intelligence files we could find in the room. We’re bringing it all back!” Li Jingsong explained.

While Hu Hao had been suppressing the exits, Li Jingsong and his guards had swept the room, stuffing every piece of paper they could find into their packs.

“Excellent! Absolutely excellent! You’ve done a brilliant job. I will be waiting for you at Command!” Jiang Kai praised him enthusiastically. After days of grim news and mounting casualties, this was the first truly joyous report he had received.

Hanging up the phone, Jiang Kai began pacing the command center, a wide, satisfied grin on his face.

“Commander, this is incredible news. With high-level prisoners like these, the High Command won’t be able to come down on us too hard,” a senior staff officer noted.

“Yes. Hu Hao… he’s truly exceptional. That young man has brought me nothing but surprises. It’s a damn shame he just graduated from the Academy; otherwise, I’d use every connection I have to jump him straight to Brigadier General right now!” Jiang Kai laughed.

“What?!” The staff officers stared at him in shock. They hadn’t realized the Commander held Hu Hao in such astronomically high regard.

“You heard the frontline reports. You’ve seen the drone footage,” Jiang Kai said, turning to his senior staff. “Look at the time. It’s barely past 2:00 AM. Hu Hao has been in the combat zone for less than four hours. Using a fragmented force of exhausted stragglers, he has nearly pushed the enemy out of the city entirely, and he managed to capture two enemy Division Commanders in the process.

Who else could pull that off without true capability? The men from the 28th Army explicitly stated: if Hu Hao attacks, they attack. If he doesn’t, they won’t fight. And the 27th Army is exactly the same.

What does that tell you? It tells you that Hu Hao’s status among the grassroots soldiers is absolute. And he didn’t get that status through politics—he carved it out with blood on the battlefield. That, gentlemen, is true capability!”