Just a few minutes after Hu Hao sat back down, the skies outside opened up. A torrential downpour, accompanied by blinding flashes of lightning and howling winds, lashed the command center. Hearing the roar of the storm, Hu Hao stood up and walked out of the bunker. The rain was hitting the ground so hard it kicked up a thick mist of water.
"It's going to cool down finally!" Several staff officers and commanders had also stepped outside. The last time it had rained was over a month ago, and it had only been a light drizzle. This massive storm signaled the true beginning of the Central Region's rainy season.
"It will indeed," Hu Hao nodded, standing under the overhang. The fierce wind whipped his uniform around him.
He stood there for a while, letting the cool, damp air wash over his face, before turning back inside to study the main tactical displays.
Meanwhile, in Yonghe City, the fighting had ceased entirely. The Commander of the Mara 14th Corps, Lieutenant General Felke, had arrived within the city limits and was currently locked in an emergency strategy meeting with Kelly.
As Felke's armored convoy had entered the city, he had been appalled by the sheer volume of corpses littering the streets—all fresh casualties from the morning's combat—and the endless stream of wounded being carried to the rear. He knew the combat reputation of the 1st Corps, and he knew Kelly was a highly capable commander. To see them reduced to this state was deeply unsettling.
Therefore, his first question upon meeting Kelly was about their immediate operational plans: were they going to launch a massive counter-offensive to break out?
"General Felke, launching a general offensive now is impossible. If we try to push through the entire city, we won't last two months. Furthermore, completely annihilating the defending forces is a pipe dream. Their combat effectiveness is astonishing; they are easily on par with our own veterans.
"And when you factor in their massive advantage in heavy weaponry and artillery, they are actually stronger than us!
"The Supreme Commander's explicit orders are to secure this foothold and hold the line. By maintaining our presence here, we compress Hu Hao's operational space and prevent him from expanding unchecked!" Kelly explained grimly.
"Hu Hao? That newly minted General? The Commander of this '1st Group Army'? Is he truly that formidable?" Felke frowned, his skepticism evident.
"Mm. He is incredibly formidable. To this moment, we don't even know if he is physically present in the city! Sometimes his tactical adjustments make us certain he's commanding from the front lines.
"Other times, the localized nature of the fighting suggests he's managing the grand strategy from afar. We simply don't know where he is! And if he isn't even here... then he is a truly terrifying opponent!" Kelly warned him.
"So we just sit here? We just sit in the rubble and let the Eastern Spirit forces operate right under our noses? Are you saying we have absolutely no chance of victory?" Felke demanded, unwilling to accept such a passive strategy.
"We likely have no chance of a decisive victory. Hu Hao wants to annihilate us just as badly as we want to annihilate him. It would add a massive laurel to his reputation. Look at my 1st Corps! He crippled my entire command in less than a week, and I still don't fully understand how he did it!
"Therefore, our only viable strategy is to hold this perimeter for the next two months. Once the rainy season ends, our heavy armor will regain its mobility, and our logistics will stabilize. Until then, major offensive operations are suicidal," Kelly stated firmly.
"Fine. But are we really just going to hold this tiny sliver of the city? This perimeter is far too shallow! It's incredibly vulnerable. Even now, the Eastern Spirit artillery is dropping shells right on top of us!" Felke pointed out.
"We must expand the perimeter. If we don't push deeper, our staging areas remain totally exposed," Kelly agreed.
"Should we attack this afternoon or tonight? I strongly recommend tonight. My corps has been force-marching all day; the men are exhausted. They need rest," Felke proposed.
"Mm. Tonight. A night assault is better anyway," Kelly nodded after a moment's thought.
"Do we have any estimate on the enemy troop strength inside the city?" Felke asked.
"No. I genuinely have no idea. But it is definitely more than a single corps. Furthermore, I must stress this again— to date, Hu Hao has not committed his tank division or his air cavalry. They are holding all their heavy assets in reserve.
"Therefore, I have no idea what tricks they have up their sleeves. I am extremely pessimistic about our prospects here. My recommendation is to push three to five kilometers deeper into the city, establish a solid defensive line, and halt. Expanding the perimeter that far will already cost us dearly in blood.
"Once we secure that buffer zone, we stop attacking. We dig in and let them come to us! We fight a purely defensive battle for two months! When the dry season returns, then we launch our counter-offensive!" Kelly laid out his conservative strategy.
"I will defer to your judgment. You understand this battlefield far better than I do," Felke nodded reluctantly.
"Mm. Order your men to rest immediately. I anticipate torrential rain by this afternoon. The rain will actually benefit us in the short term; it will halt combat operations and allow the men to sleep. However, once the rain stops, the misery will truly begin," Kelly sighed.
They both knew about the Central Region's rainy season. For soldiers unaccustomed to it, the climate was pure torture. The oppressive humidity and suffocating heat were vastly different from the climate in the Mara Empire's Southern Region. Even at the height of summer in the south, temperatures rarely exceeded 30 degrees Celsius, and the air was dry and cool.
Here, the daytime temperatures would remain above 36 degrees, and even at night, they wouldn't drop below 28 degrees. It would push the southern soldiers to their physical and psychological limits.
The worst part wasn't the rain itself; it was the fact that their uniforms would never be dry. They would constantly be soaked in a sticky, uncomfortable mixture of rainwater and their own sweat.
Kelly and Felke huddled over a map of the city spread across a makeshift table, debating the specifics of their planned night assault.
Meanwhile, in the Eastern Spirit bunkers, Li Nan and the other regimental commanders were holding their own post-action review.
"Thank the heavens we pulled back when we did! If we had stayed engaged and their vanguard tank division had slammed into us... it would have been a disaster. Our assault formations would have been shattered, and the 1st Corps would have immediately counter-attacked to exploit the chaos and isolate our units!" one commander said, shivering at the thought.
"It's a good thing we listened to Hao-ge! But how did he know they would arrive so quickly? The intelligence said this evening, but they showed up half a day early!" another commander asked.
"Didn't you look at the sky this morning? It was heavily overcast! We need to pay closer attention to these details. We can't let ourselves get so blood-drunk that we walk right into an armored encirclement! Thank god Hao-ge was watching our backs.
"If he hadn't ordered the withdrawal, we would be in serious trouble right now. We might have killed a lot of them, but our own casualties would have been horrific. It wouldn't have been worth the trade!" Li Nan analyzed the situation.
"Mm. And yet, when Hao-ge first issued the order, some of you were grumbling and reluctant to retreat!" Liu Yichuan pointed out, looking pointedly at a few commanders.
"Who could have predicted they'd march that fast? We didn't have the intelligence!" one of the previously disgruntled commanders defended himself.
"I don't care about the intelligence; I just follow Hao-ge's orders. Whenever he speaks, I execute. I've learned from experience: Hao-ge is never wrong!
"Think about it. We could have launched a massive assault last night, but Hao-ge ordered us to hold back. He said he wanted to lure the 14th Corps into the city. And look what happened? They marched right into the trap!
"If we had annihilated the 1st Corps last night, the 14th Corps would have heard about it and definitely halted their advance!" Wu Xunqi explained Hao-ge's strategic brilliance.
"He's right. If the 1st Corps was wiped out, the 14th Corps would never risk camping in the open plains during the rainy season. Even we couldn't survive that, let alone them!" another commander agreed.
"Alright, brothers, let's focus. How do you think the Allied forces will play this next? Hao-ge wants us to analyze the situation independently. We can't just run to him for every little tactical decision, or he'll skin us alive!" Li Nan steered the conversation back to the immediate threat.
"I predict they will launch a major offensive. Think about it: they only control a tiny sliver of the city. Drone reconnaissance shows that at least two divisions of the 14th Corps are still stuck in the trench lines outside the city limits because there isn't enough room for them inside the perimeter!
"The torrential rains will hit soon. If they leave those men in the muddy trenches... I'm not underestimating them, but they'll all be sick within three days. We have concrete buildings and subterranean bunkers to shelter in. If our uniforms get soaked, we can light fires to dry them. They don't even have dry fuel out there!" Liu Yichuan laid out the logistical reality.
"They will definitely attack. The question is: this afternoon, or tonight? General Bai Ye just rotated two completely fresh divisions onto the primary defensive line to relieve us. Do you think those green recruits can hold the line if they face a massive assault by two heavy corps this afternoon?" Li Nan asked the group.
"You think they'll attack this afternoon?" Wu Xunqi asked.
"It's a possibility. But a night assault is more likely," Li Nan nodded.
"I agree. A night assault is far more probable. However, we cannot entirely rule out an afternoon attack. Hao-ge warned us never to rely on assumptions; we must prepare for every contingency! An afternoon attack is unlikely, but a night attack is almost guaranteed!" Wu Xunqi elaborated.
"Mm. They have to attack. Otherwise, packing that many troops into such a confined space... our artillery alone will slaughter them. Even right now, our harassing fire is causing continuous casualties and keeping them terrified!" another commander laughed grimly. The others chuckled in agreement.
"Then we need to prepare. We have no choice. If they launch a major night assault, we'll likely be called upon to reinforce the line in the early hours of the morning. The two green divisions holding the line right now won't be able to withstand the full brunt of a two-corps offensive for long. The veteran regiments that fought last night will have to go back in!" Li Nan warned them. The others nodded seriously, understanding the grim necessity.
Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away, the vanguard elements of the Holy Ancient Empire's 7th Corps had finally reached the outskirts of Jinhe City.
(End of Chapter)