Chapter 84: We Call the Shots Here

When Hu Hao casually declared that he would handle the logistics of feeding a secret army of a hundred thousand men, Xiao Quan and Li Jingsong simply stared at him.

“Hao-ge… you aren’t planning to raid the Allied-occupied territories for grain, are you? If you do that, it’ll start a massive firefight!” Xiao Quan warned nervously.

“If we don’t raid them, are we not going to fight? If we don’t raid them, is the Allied coalition just going to magically let us live in peace?” Hu Hao countered flatly.

“Well, no. But… if we’re going to launch a major cross-river operation, shouldn’t we at least inform Zone Command first?” Xiao Quan asked.

“What is wrong with you two? Why do we need to report this to the Commander?! What good would telling him do? Do you honestly think he would authorize an unsanctioned raid?! Let me make this perfectly clear: out here, we call the shots. We fight exactly how we want to fight!

If we have to ask for permission for every single tactical decision, what’s the point of us even being here?! Relax. As long as we don’t provoke an absolute disaster that we can’t handle, the Commander is going to turn a blind eye to our methods!” Hu Hao explained, looking at them like they were idiots.

“Hao-ge… you have some serious balls. How did I never notice this before?” Li Jingsong muttered, staring at him in awe.

“Didn’t you two say you wanted to learn how to fight from me? Then memorize this rule right now: the world is descending into absolute chaos. In a chaotic world, whoever has the most guns and the most food is the boss. If you don’t have troops, you are absolutely nothing!

Mark my words: the chaos engulfing the Empire has only just begun. Yes, we wiped out an Allied vanguard of 500,000 men. But what is 500,000 men to a coalition of over a dozen nations?! The real war is still coming. Do you understand?!

We must build enough localized military strength to guarantee our own survival! We aren’t just protecting the civilians anymore; we have to protect ourselves!” Hu Hao lowered his voice, leaning in close to emphasize the gravity of the situation.

“Hao-ge… are you saying that even with our newly fortified defensive lines, we’re going to be forced to retreat again?” Li Jingsong asked, a chill running down his spine.

“I won’t speculate on whether our specific sector will hold. But let me ask you this: do either of you have any idea what the situation is like in the Western, Southern, or Southeastern Combat Zones right now?” Hu Hao asked pointedly.

“How could we possibly know that? We aren’t in those Zones,” Xiao Quan replied, shaking his head.

“Exactly. We don’t know. Logically, High Command should be issuing regular strategic bulletins to all frontline commanders to maintain situational awareness. But there has been absolute silence. I guarantee you, those Combat Zones are in massive trouble. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve already lost over a dozen provinces!” Hu Hao hypothesized grimly.

“No way. It can’t be that bad, right?” Xiao Quan and Li Jingsong exchanged a horrified look.

“It can’t? It’s probably worse. Think about the math! Let’s assume the Allied coalition’s initial invasion force was three million men. We just wiped out half a million. Where are the other two and a half million troops?!

Our Southwest Combat Zone fought like demons, and we still couldn’t hold the line against their initial push. Do you honestly think the other Combat Zones are performing any better than we did? Even if they are slightly stronger, they are definitely taking catastrophic casualties! And the Allied forces aren’t just going to stop their advance!

Think about the timing! Do you remember the day High Command issued the General Mobilization Order? Logically, a nation shouldn’t issue a total mobilization decree unless its primary defensive lines have already suffered critical, catastrophic breaches. But they issued it almost immediately! Why that specific day? It was because massive, disastrous defeats were already occurring in the other Combat Zones; we just didn’t know about it yet!” Hu Hao laid out his chilling deduction.

Li Jingsong and Xiao Quan fell completely silent. The logic was inescapable. The only reason High Command would trigger a total national mobilization so early in the conflict was if the overall strategic situation had already deteriorated beyond repair.

“Think about it. When the full weight of this war hits, it’s going to be an apocalyptic slaughter,” Hu Hao crushed his cigarette butt under his boot. The two officers remained silent, the weight of the realization pressing down on them.

“So, we conscript troops immediately. To avoid political blowback, don’t draft anyone from the official Bopa City registries; exclusively recruit from the refugee camps. Trust me on this. As for the grain, I will find a way. I promise you I will find a way,” Hu Hao ordered firmly.

“Understood. I’ll follow your lead, Hao-ge,” Xiao Quan nodded resolutely.

“I’m with you too,” Li Jingsong agreed.

“You have to think about the geography, especially you, Li Jingsong,” Hu Hao continued. “Our designated defensive sector along this riverbank stretches for over 200 kilometers. Do you honestly believe a single division of 12,000 men can secure a 200-kilometer front?! If the Allied forces launch a concentrated assault, we’ll be overrun and slaughtered long before any reinforcements from Zone Command could possibly reach us!”

“Hao-ge is right. Our absolute first priority must be our own survival. And the only way to survive is to drastically increase our troop numbers!” Xiao Quan agreed, the tactical necessity finally outweighing his fear of military law.

“Alright, we’ll start recruiting from the refugee camps tomorrow morning. But Hao-ge… how are we going to train them all? We don’t have nearly enough veteran NCOs to act as drill instructors for an army that size!” Li Jingsong pointed out a massive logistical hurdle.

“Mmh. Just recruit them first. If we have a critical shortage of instructors, we’ll temporarily detach a core group of veterans from our active frontline units to run the training camps. Focus entirely on physical conditioning and basic marksmanship. If the majority of the refugees are already reservists, they should know the basics of physical training; our veterans will just need to supervise and maintain discipline.

What else can we do? If you ask me to magically conjure up thousands of veteran drill instructors, I can’t do it! Every single unit in the Empire is critically short on veterans right now!” Hu Hao explained.

The two officers nodded in understanding. Hu Hao turned his attention back to the tactical map spread out on the table.

“Hao-ge, is there anything else? If not, the Chief of Staff and I need to start drafting the recruitment protocols,” Xiao Quan said, preparing to leave.

“Mmh. Look at this,” Hu Hao pointed to a specific spot on the map.

“What is it?” Li Jingsong leaned in. It was Santong County, a small municipal area located halfway between Bopa City and the Allied-occupied Daman City across the river.

“Pre-war intelligence indicates there was a major Imperial military grain depot located here. Furthermore, there was a permanent Imperial garrison stationed in this county, which strongly suggests the presence of a localized armory or munitions depot. We don’t know the exact coordinates, but we need to find it. If we find it, our supply problems are solved!” Hu Hao explained, tapping Santong County on the map.

“Mmh. That’s a solid lead. But wouldn’t the retreating Imperial forces have emptied the armory before the Allied coalition arrived? And even if they didn’t, we have no idea where it is.

Tianhe Province was originally garrisoned by the 26th Corps. The 26th Corps was completely shattered during the retreat, and their surviving officers were scattered across the remaining units. Finding someone who actually knows the layout of that specific base is going to be almost impossible,” Li Jingsong analyzed.

“Then we have to go look for it ourselves. My primary concern is that the Allied coalition also knows it was a military installation, which means they likely stationed a garrison there to secure it. If it’s a small garrison, we can handle it.

But if they stationed a massive force there… that’s a massive threat to our flank. We absolutely must establish clear intelligence regarding the enemy dispositions across the river. We cannot sit here blind!” Hu Hao said, his brow furrowed in frustration.

He was incredibly anxious about their lack of situational awareness. He had never operated in this region before, and they had absolutely zero intelligence regarding the Allied troop strength or deployments on the opposite bank.

“Hao-ge, are you saying we need to deploy combat recon patrols?” Xiao Quan asked.

“Mmh. Yes. I’m planning to personally lead a vanguard force tomorrow—one Tank Battalion and one Armored Infantry Regiment. We cross the river and probe their lines. Since we don’t have enough guns or food for the recruits, we have to go find some. We can’t solve our problems by staring at a map; we have to cross the river and take what we need,” Hu Hao declared.

“What?! You’re personally leading a raid across the river?!” Li Jingsong stared at him in shock.

“It’s an absolute necessity. We must know the tactical reality on the far bank. We need to know how many troops they have! Furthermore, I want to personally inspect Santong County. If we can secure that military base and its armory, it will be a massive boon for our conscription efforts!” Hu Hao insisted.

“Hao-ge, that is incredibly dangerous! Deploying a major combat element across the river with zero prior intelligence is practically suicide!” Xiao Quan warned urgently.

“Is there any place on a battlefield that isn’t dangerous? Do you think hiding in these trenches makes us safe? Relax. I’m going to deploy forward scout elements before moving the main armor. I won’t be reckless,” Hu Hao reassured them.

Li Jingsong and Xiao Quan exchanged a worried look.

“Both of you, memorize this: in war, you cannot simply stare at the problem directly in front of you. When the immediate front is quiet, you must actively prepare for the crisis that hasn’t arrived yet! As a commander—especially at the Division level and above—this proactive mindset is an absolute requirement!

We don’t need to personally charge enemy trenches anymore. As long as our strategic deployments are sound and our tactical planning leads the men to victory, they will respect us implicitly, even if we never fire a single shot ourselves. But conversely, if our deployments are flawed and we lead them into an ambush, they will despise us, even if we charge at the absolute front!

Therefore, as Division-level commanders, our primary weapon is no longer our rifle; it is our brain. To win a hundred battles, you must know yourself and know your enemy!” Hu Hao lectured them sternly.

“Mmh. You’re right. ‘Know yourself and know your enemy.’ That makes perfect sense,” Xiao Quan nodded thoughtfully.

“You’ve never heard that phrase before?” Hu Hao asked, looking at them in surprise.

“No. When we studied strategy and tactics at the academy, the instructors emphasized the importance of analyzing the opponent’s capabilities and understanding our own logistical limits, but they never summarized it as ‘know yourself and know your enemy,'” Xiao Quan explained, genuinely puzzled by Hu Hao’s surprise.

“Oh… right. Of course,” Hu Hao nodded slowly.

He suddenly realized a profound truth about this world. The Eastern Spirit Empire had enjoyed centuries of uninterrupted peace. Furthermore, the broader history of the Central Region lacked the massive, epoch-defining wars that characterized Earth’s history.

Because war was a relatively foreign concept to the citizens of the Empire, they possessed virtually no cohesive, codified military philosophy. There was no Art of War. Their understanding of strategy and operational art was incredibly rudimentary!

“Mmh. Let’s wrap this up for tonight. The two of you finalize the conscription protocols. I’m going to take a walk outside,” Hu Hao said, standing up.

He needed to clear his head. It was the height of summer; while the days were suffocatingly hot, the night air was pleasantly cool.