After concluding the call with his father, Hu Hao returned to the operations center to continue wargaming with Lu Qing and Wang Yunlong. There was no immediate tactical pressure; the Allied forces were completely boxed in and showed no inclination to attack.
"Report! Corps Commander Wu is on the line!" a communications officer interrupted roughly ten minutes into their session.
"This is Hu Hao."
"Hao-ge! Excellent news from Tianjing City! We just finished wiping out both Allied divisions! Total annihilation!" Wu Kexiao's voice crackled through the receiver, buoyant with victory.
"Excellent. Since they're neutralized, immediately dispatch your garrison forces to secure Tianjing City and maintain order. As for the offensive operations, hold your position until nightfall. The Allied forces won't dare sally forth, and your men need rest. We'll resume the attack tonight!" Hu Hao replied with a smile.
"Hao-ge, your Special Operations Regiment is utterly terrifying! You have to leave some of them with me! With them providing overwatch, I'd dare attack anyone!
"My Division and Regimental Commanders just reported that the moment your operatives engaged, the enemy's heavy weapons were completely silenced! They were practically nailed to the floor! That level of precise suppression is an unbelievable advantage in urban combat!" Wu Kexiao practically begged.
"Haha! I told you guys! Once this unit was properly trained, the battles would practically fight themselves! Do you finally believe me?" Hu Hao laughed.
"I believe it! I truly believe it! Hao-ge, you must leave a detachment with me!" Wu Kexiao pleaded.
"I will leave some with you, but they still need to continue their training. So, even while they're stationed in your sector, their primary focus remains operational development.
"However, Old Wu, listen to this: I intend to select 1,000 men from your conventional forces for specialized training. I'll take 500 for the Special Operations Regiment, and I'll return the other 500 to you as a localized elite cadre!" Hu Hao proposed.
"Hao-ge, I'll give you 5,000 men! Just leave me 3,000 of the trained operatives! Deal?!" Wu Kexiao immediately countered, sensing a massive opportunity.
"Screw off! Do you think just anyone can join this regiment?! I won't accept anyone who hasn't survived actual combat and drawn Allied blood! I won't accept anyone with poor education, and I absolutely refuse anyone who lacks tactical flexibility! Finding 1,000 men who meet those criteria across your entire Corps will be a challenge in itself!" Hu Hao cursed him jokingly.
"Hao-ge, please, train a few more! My officers are practically drooling over them! They're saying the more of these operatives we have, the better! If you're setting up a training program for 1,000 men, scaling it up to 2,000 is barely any extra work!
"How about this: you train 2,000! You keep 800, and I take 1,200! Seriously, Hao-ge, these troops are absolute ace-in-the-hole assets!" Wu Kexiao bargained frantically.
"I'll think about it. You're right in one regard: even if the trainees don't meet the absolute standards for the Special Operations Regiment, the rigorous training will still dramatically elevate their combat effectiveness compared to standard infantry," Hu Hao conceded after a moment of thought.
"Yes! Hao-ge, start the selection process right now!" Wu Kexiao urged eagerly.
"There's no rush. Over the next two weeks, your primary objectives are securing Nanli City, Jiliang City, Jifeng City, and Tianxi City! Furthermore, you must continue your eastward expansion! You must capture Xinqiao City and Tonglong City! Tonglong City is the critical nexus; capturing it will directly sever the primary Allied logistical artery in this theater!" Hu Hao outlined the aggressive operational timeline.
"Ah?! Hao-ge, I only have one Corps! How am I supposed to secure and garrison that many major cities?!" Wu Kexiao protested, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the territorial objectives.
"I'll order Weng Tao's Corps to redeploy and support your sector shortly. Sigh... the political constraints are crippling us. Logically, to execute this grand strategy and hold the territory, we need at least a million men!" Hu Hao muttered, frustration creeping into his voice.
"Then just expand the recruitment, Hao-ge! What are we afraid of?!" Wu Kexiao argued.
"Are you joking? There are many things we can only do quietly in the shadows. We cannot speak of them openly, and we certainly cannot declare them officially! If we brazenly defy the Emperor and the Empire ultimately falls, history will brand us as the traitors who caused it! Can we bear that responsibility?!" Hu Hao rebuked him.
"Then what do we do, Hao-ge?" Wu Kexiao asked, sobering up.
"We utilize the reservist loophole. I want every single active-duty division to secretly establish and train a parallel 'reservist' division! A full-strength division is roughly 16,000 men. If every division does this, we effectively double our combat strength to nearly a million men!
"Furthermore, I've already initiated a massive training program in Daman City that will eventually yield a strategic reserve of 100,000 troops. That should be enough to hold the line. Issue the order to your commanders immediately: every division must begin recruiting and training a shadow reservist division!" Hu Hao instructed.
"Understood!" Wu Kexiao agreed without hesitation.
After exchanging a few more tactical details, Hu Hao ended the call.
He remained at the map table, lost in thought. To hold the massive territory he intended to conquer, he desperately needed manpower.
His initial strategic phase—expanding the perimeter by 300 kilometers—was already stretching his forces dangerously thin. A 300-kilometer radius equated to an area roughly the size of four provinces. In peacetime, a garrison of 200,000 might suffice. But they were fighting a brutal war of annihilation. Once the dry season arrived and the Allied coalition unleashed its full fury, holding that territory with fewer than a million men was impossible.
His ultimate strategic vision—expanding the perimeter by 1,000 kilometers and controlling an area the size of ten provinces—would require an astronomically larger army. But if they failed to survive the imminent dry season offensive, discussing grand strategic visions was pointless.
The fundamental issue remained: he couldn't just magically summon a million combat-effective troops overnight. They required rigorous training, and more critically, a massive, competent officer corps to lead them!
The thought of the Emperor's paranoid restrictions filled Hu Hao with deep irritation. The Emperor would absolutely never authorize an official expansion of that magnitude. He feared Hu Hao's growing power and the independent armories far too much.
Therefore, Hu Hao had no choice but to rely on the "reservist" subterfuge. If the Imperial Court ever audited his forces, he would simply claim that the official military depots had failed to provide replacements, forcing him to establish local civilian militias for perimeter defense.
Training troops took time. He had to start now, regardless of the political risk. If the Emperor ultimately refused to believe him or attempted to purge him... Hu Hao would cross that bridge when he came to it. Survival came first. The things that must be done would be done, whether authorized or not.
He knew the Emperor wouldn't dare order his assassination right now; he was too vital to the war effort. As for his family held hostage in the capital, as long as Hu Hao didn't explicitly declare open rebellion, the Emperor wouldn't dare execute them and force his hand. He would just have to manage the political fallout as it came.
Pushing the political anxieties aside, Hu Hao returned to the sand table with Lu Qing and Wang Yunlong.
The hours slipped by. As evening approached, the two Division Commanders began mobilizing their forces for the assault on Nanli City.
Simultaneously, the operatives of the Special Operations Regiment began their silent infiltration of the city. Their objective was to secure critical high ground, establish overwatch positions, and provide covering fire for the impending conventional assault.
At 8:30 PM, the first sound of suppressed gunfire echoed from within Nanli City. Hu Hao remained perfectly calm. Once his operatives were inside the perimeter, the Allied garrison was effectively doomed.
"Report! Hao-ge, the infiltration is complete!" Xu Hui announced, approaching the command table alongside the other two Squadron Commanders.
"All units are in position?" Hu Hao confirmed.
"Yes, sir! All primary high ground and overwatch positions are secured!" Xu Hui reported.
"Excellent. Lu Qing, Wang Yunlong: commence the assault! Remind your frontline commanders to maintain fire discipline! Emphasize again that the Special Operations operatives are wearing black uniforms! Do not fire on them!" Hu Hao ordered the two Division Commanders.
"Yes, sir! The men have been briefed repeatedly, and many have seen the operatives in action by now. But I will reiterate the order to ensure there are no friendly fire incidents!" Wang Yunlong nodded vigorously.
The two Division Commanders immediately ordered the general assault. The Eastern Spirit armored columns roared to life, leading the mechanized infantry toward the Nanli City perimeter.
The Allied defenders rushed to man their trench lines and barricades to repel the assault. However, the moment they stepped into their defensive positions, the Special Operations snipers, already established in the high-rises behind them, opened fire. The Allied soldiers were slaughtered from behind before they could even fire a single shot at the advancing Eastern Spirit armor.
"Report! Supreme Commander! Chief of Staff! Flash traffic from Nanli City! Hu Hao's forces have initiated a full-scale assault! The garrison commander reports that specialized enemy infiltration units bypassed their perimeter before the assault began! They are currently taking devastating fire from the rear! They are requesting immediate reinforcements and tactical directives!" a frantic staff officer reported to Vostok.
"Damn it! Not again!" Vostok cursed, slamming his fist on the table.
"Last night we lost Tianyu City! Today we lost Tianjing City! And now Nanli City is falling! We've lost three major strategic hubs in less than twenty-four hours! Damn him!" Vitali swore viciously.
"This is the reality of Hu Hao seizing the initiative! His forces are fighting on their home soil; their mobility and local support are unparalleled," Vostok muttered bitterly.
"Supreme Commander... what are your orders for Nanli City?" Vitali asked.
"What orders can I give?! We instructed them to evacuate this morning! They claimed the Eastern Spirit blocking forces were too strong and they couldn't break out! We've already ordered the garrisons in all neighboring cities to withdraw; there are absolutely no reinforcements available to send them!
"Their only option is to fight to the death! Surrender is impossible; the Eastern Spirit National Defense Force does not take Allied prisoners!" Vostok stated, the bleak reality of the situation settling over him. He was completely powerless to save them.
"But... if they fight to the death without support, total annihilation is a certainty!" Vitali said, his voice heavy with sorrow for the doomed men.
"We have no other options! We can only wait for the rainy season to end!
"Furthermore... immediately draft orders for three fresh divisions to redeploy to Tonglong City! We must fortify that nexus! If we lose Tonglong City, our entire frontline logistical network collapses! We cannot afford any supply disruptions!" Vostok commanded, his focus instantly shifting to the critical supply hub.
He knew that if Hu Hao managed to sever the primary logistical artery running through Tonglong City, the upcoming dry season offensive would be strangled in its crib.
(End of Chapter)