Hu Hao had scarcely hung up with Jiang Kai when the secure line buzzed again. It was the Crown Prince.
"Greetings, Headmaster!" Hu Hao answered with a cheerful smile.
"Hu Hao! There's a matter I need to verify with you," the Crown Prince began, his tone pleasant but probing.
"Please, ask away, Headmaster!" Hu Hao knew exactly what was coming. Jiang Kai's warning had been spot-on.
"Hu Hao, in your initial reports following the retreat to Late City, you stated that the specialized armory equipment had been destroyed. However, we've recently received intelligence indicating that several manufacturing plants in Late City, including the tank and aircraft facilities, have resumed production.
"While we haven't seen you deploy any newly manufactured tanks or aircraft yet, your original report claimed the manufacturing capabilities had been entirely denied to the enemy. How do you explain this discrepancy?" the Crown Prince asked smoothly.
"Report, Headmaster! It is true that the equipment was not destroyed. It wasn't that I didn't want to destroy it.
"The situation at the time was chaotic. I had already ordered demolition charges placed throughout the armories. However, the Allied vanguard arrived before we could detonate them. I immediately ordered my troops to engage, and we successfully annihilated the enemy vanguard.
"After securing the city, I realized that since the Allied forces hadn't breached our lines, blowing up our own pristine manufacturing facilities would be an incredible waste.
"However, I had already dispatched the flash telegram to Commander Jiang Kai stating the armories were 'destroyed,' because at the time I sent the message, the demolition teams were actively wiring the charges!" Hu Hao offered a highly plausible, semi-truthful explanation.
"Oh? Is that so? Then why didn't you submit a follow-up report correcting the record once the city was secure?" the Crown Prince pressed.
"Report, Headmaster! There were two reasons. First, I have been utterly overwhelmed managing the defense and reorganization of my forces. To be completely honest, I only realized the armories were intact a few days ago! I only found out because some of my junior officers, desperate for ammunition, had taken the initiative to organize the local workers and restart the small-arms assembly lines!
"Second, I fully anticipate that I will eventually have to blow them up anyway. We cannot hold Late City indefinitely against the full might of the Allied coalition. My thought process was: while the facilities are still intact, we might as well manufacture as much ammunition as possible to sustain our defense. The moment our lines break, I will detonate the charges. I absolutely guarantee those armories will not fall into Allied hands!" Hu Hao swore vehemently.
"Mm. I see. Yes, ensuring those facilities are destroyed before any retreat is absolutely paramount.
"On another note, we still haven't been able to dispatch your Chief of Staff and political officers. His Majesty is currently selecting the best candidates. We will deploy them the moment the rainy season ends.
"Right now, the weather windows are simply too narrow. Even if we catch a break in the capital, it might be pouring in Late City. Furthermore, the moment our transport planes take off, Allied radar will track them and dispatch interceptors. It's too dangerous right now," the Crown Prince explained the delay.
"Understood! However, the sooner they arrive, the better! The administrative workload here is staggering. I simply cannot manage the entire Group Army alone, and I am severely lacking in qualified staff officers. The arrival of the Imperial personnel would be a godsend!" Hu Hao replied enthusiastically.
He knew he couldn't show any reluctance; doing so would only deepen the Emperor's suspicions.
"Mm. Good. That is all for now. I will relay your explanation regarding the armories to His Majesty," the Crown Prince concluded.
"Yes, Headmaster! Please assure His Majesty that the armories will be reduced to ash before any Allied soldier sets foot inside!" Hu Hao reiterated, deliberately addressing their core fear.
He knew the Emperor and the Crown Prince were terrified he was using the armories to build an independent power base and declare himself a warlord.
However, Hu Hao also knew that now was absolutely not the time for warlord ambitions. The entire civilian populace was united by the existential threat of extermination. If he attempted to declare independence now, he would be universally condemned as a traitor who fractured the Empire's defense.
While his own troops and the refugees within his enclave might support him out of sheer loyalty and desperation, the rest of the Empire would turn against him. Hu Hao had no intention of committing political suicide.
His current objective was simple: build a powerful, combat-effective army capable of defending itself. Only with overwhelming military strength could he guarantee his survival against both the Allied coalition and the paranoid machinations of the Imperial Court!
As he hung up the phone, Hu Hao's thoughts returned to Tang Long. He still couldn't fathom what Tang Long was playing at. By exposing the intact armories, Tang Long was simultaneously exposing his own massive, illegal weapons hoard! What leverage did Tang Long possess that made him feel safe initiating such a mutually destructive political attack?
Unable to puzzle it out, Hu Hao shelved the issue. If Tang Long made another move, his true motives would eventually become clear.
"Hao-ge, are they investigating the armories?" a staff officer asked nervously.
"Mm. It's handled. Return to your duties," Hu Hao waved him off and sat back down to finalize the Order of Battle.
That evening, Hu Hao convened a major staff meeting with all his newly appointed Division and Corps Commanders. He had currently identified 22 qualified Division Commanders and 7 Corps Commanders, leaving several Division slots still vacant.
Hu Hao systematically outlined the new command structure. According to the authorized establishment granted by the Emperor, Hu Hao's Group Army was designated starting from the 100th Corps, with its subordinate divisions starting from the 400th Division.
Each Corps was authorized five combat divisions, plus various supporting regiments that roughly equated to a sixth division in manpower.
Since the supporting regiments did not hold "Division" designations, Hu Hao's combat forces officially spanned from the 400th to the 435th Division.
However, the authorized establishment granted him 43 Major General slots. This was because the Guard Regiment Commanders attached to each Corps Headquarters held the rank of Major General, as did the Commander of Hu Hao's personal Group Army Guard Division (though that position could theoretically hold a Lieutenant General rank, Hu Hao kept it at Major General for now).
Therefore, he had 43 Major Generals, but only 36 Division Commanders, including the Commander of his Guard Division.
Hu Hao finalized the command assignments:
100th Corps: Commanded by Li Jinsong (Divisions 400-404)
101st Corps: Commanded by Xiao Quan (Divisions 405-409)
102nd Corps: Commanded by Lu Guangsheng
103rd Corps: Commanded by Ye Zifeng
104th Corps: Commanded by Bai Ye
105th Corps: Commanded by Weng Tao
106th Corps: Commanded by Wu Kexiao
Group Army Guard Division: Commanded by Huan Xingtao. (The Special Operations Regiment was officially listed under the Guard Division's establishment for bureaucratic purposes, but operated entirely independently under Hu Hao's direct command).
After formalizing the Corps and Division commands, the meeting shifted to defining defensive sectors and planning future offensive axes.
The marathon strategy session lasted from 7:00 PM until past midnight.
Hu Hao concluded the meeting by announcing he would personally relocate to Gunan City to oversee Wu Kexiao's operations. Wu Kexiao's forces had seen the least amount of actual combat, and Wu Kexiao himself lacked experience commanding large-scale, multi-division engagements. Hu Hao intended to personally guide their push south and east.
Furthermore, Hu Hao mandated a massive overhaul of the Officer Training Academy. The next cycle of officer candidates would not simply sit in classrooms at headquarters. They were required to bring a platoon of raw recruits with them to Daman City. They would learn theoretical tactics in the classroom and immediately apply them by training their recruits in the field.
With the academy capable of training 3,000 officers per cycle, this method would simultaneously train a strategic reserve of 120,000 soldiers! Hu Hao explicitly ordered that these must be newly conscripted recruits, not veterans.
He planned to extend the next training cycle to two months or longer, ensuring both the officers and their recruit platoons were highly proficient before returning to their respective Corps.
With the grand strategy set, Hu Hao finally retired for the night.
The next day, the grueling final examinations for the current officer class began. Hu Hao personally oversaw four simultaneous tactical wargames, acting as the Allied opposing force commander for four different city assault scenarios.
The process was agonizingly slow. He could only evaluate roughly 200 officers per morning session, forcing the exams to continue through the afternoons and evenings.
Upon completion, Hu Hao graded each officer into four tiers: Tier One received Colonel ranks and Regimental Commands; Tier Two received Lieutenant Colonel ranks; Tier Three received Major ranks; and Tier Four remained Captains (unless their previous rank was higher, in which case they retained it without demotion).
It took five exhausting days to evaluate all 3,000 officers. The following day, a massive graduation ceremony and photo session was held.
That afternoon, the newly minted officers proudly clutched their assignment orders and dispersed to their respective units. From this massive pool, Hu Hao had identified 22 exceptional talents for Regimental Command and over 240 for Battalion Command. The rest were assigned as Company Commanders.
Having dispatched his new officer corps, Hu Hao drove through the night to Late City. He had received word that the initial field testing of the 12.7mm anti-materiel sniper rifle prototypes was successful.
Hu Hao needed to finalize the heavy sniper production and immediately initiate the design of a standard 7.62mm designated marksman rifle. If the armory could successfully manufacture the complex 12.7mm platform, the 7.62mm version would be trivial.
However, Hu Hao prioritized the 12.7mm for a specific reason: it wasn't designed for anti-personnel use. It was designed to punch through Allied APCs, swat air cavalry helicopters out of the sky, and penetrate the heavy concrete cover favored by Allied infantry during urban combat.
In his previous life, Hu Hao had been the ultimate authority on military procurement and R&D. Every new weapon system required his signature, and he personally field-tested every single light weapon before authorizing mass production. Therefore, drafting the blueprints for a standard 7.62mm sniper rifle from memory would be effortless.
Upon arriving in Late City that evening, Hu Hao immediately sat down and drafted the blueprints for a highly reliable 7.62mm sniper platform he remembered from his past life. He handed the schematics to the senior experts and told them to begin fabricating the molds.
With the 7.62mm design in their hands, Hu Hao focused entirely on the 12.7mm prototypes. He requisitioned specialized armor-piercing incendiary (API) ammunition and an obsolete APC from the motor pool. He intended to personally verify the devastating power of the "King of Snipers."
(End of Chapter)