On the outskirts of Jinhe City, the vanguard of the Holy Ancient Empire's 7th Corps—consisting of a tank regiment, two mechanized infantry regiments, and an engineering regiment—finally arrived.
However, instead of immediately launching an assault or pushing into the city limits, they halted roughly two kilometers from the outermost defensive line. To the utter bewilderment of the defending Eastern Spirit soldiers, the Holy Ancient engineers immediately began excavating trench lines and establishing fortified encampments in the open fields.
"They aren't attacking?" The soldiers manning the first defensive line stared across the no-man's land in shock. They had been braced for a furious mechanized assault, yet the enemy was simply digging in.
"Hao-ge, the Holy Ancient vanguard has reached Jinhe City. However, they haven't initiated contact. They're currently digging trenches outside the city!" a staff officer reported to Hu Hao.
"Digging trenches? Right now?" Hu Hao frowned, equally surprised.
"Yes, sir," the staff officer nodded.
"Does the Holy Ancient commander not understand the climate here? Digging trenches in an open field right as the rainy season hits... if their drainage systems aren't absolutely perfect, those trenches will turn into swimming pools within hours.
"And even if they manage to keep the water out, sitting in a damp trench under torrential rain for weeks on end... can their soldiers survive that?" Hu Hao shook his head, utterly perplexed by the enemy commander's decision.
Why dig in on the open plains instead of launching a probing attack to secure a foothold within the city's shelter?
"I don't know, Hao-ge. Perhaps they truly don't understand the Central Region's rainy season. They might think it's like a heavy thunderstorm back home—it pours for a bit, then clears up!" the staff officer chuckled.
The Central Region's rainy season was unlike anything in the other domains. Here, it could rain several times a day in torrential bursts. Sometimes, the downpour would last uninterrupted for days. When the sun finally did break through the clouds, the intense heat instantly vaporized the standing water, creating a suffocating, sauna-like humidity that could cause heatstroke within minutes.
Sometimes, the weather pattern was simply two massive storms a week—one lasting three days, the next lasting four!
"Ignorance is no excuse for a commander. Fine, let them dig. Choosing to dig trenches instead of attacking right now... incredible!" Hu Hao laughed bitterly.
"Should we order our frontline units to launch a probing attack and disrupt their engineering efforts?" the staff officer asked.
"No. Let them dig. If they suffer enough, they might just pack up and retreat on their own! Digging trenches in the rainy season... unbelievable!" Hu Hao shook his head.
"But Hao-ge, if they retreat, how are our troops supposed to get their combat training?" the staff officer pointed out.
"They won't retreat that easily. Their High Command would never authorize a withdrawal without them even firing a shot. Eventually, the misery will force them to attack just to secure shelter. When they do, we'll let them into the meat grinder. If we scare them off now, I'm too lazy to chase them through the mud!" Hu Hao dismissed the concern.
"Yes, sir!" the staff officer nodded.
Hu Hao stood up. He knew there wouldn't be any major combat operations in Yonghe City today, and the Holy Ancient forces at Jinhe City were currently busy fighting the mud.
He returned to his private office and resumed writing his tactical manuals. He had finished the initial drafts for the officer training materials, though he knew he would need to revise them extensively later as more combat data became available.
His current focus was drafting an entirely new foundational training syllabus for the enlisted men. The Empire's existing training doctrines were hopelessly antiquated, focused entirely on open-field engagements and completely ignoring the realities of modern urban combat.
Over a century ago, the dominant infantry weapon on Yuanling Planet was the single-shot bolt-action rifle. Their performance was abysmal, and bayonet charges remained a primary tactic. Artillery was cumbersome, slow to fire, and wildly inaccurate, serving more as a psychological terror weapon than a precise instrument of destruction.
Therefore, a century ago, the Eastern Spirit Empire's military doctrine still heavily emphasized close-quarters melee combat.
Consequently, much of the current training syllabus merely focused on familiarizing soldiers with their modern firearms. There was virtually no instruction on combined-arms tactics, suppressing fire, or maximizing the operational effectiveness of squad-level support weapons.
Take tanks, for example. No nation on Yuanling Planet had ever utilized massed armored formations as an independent strike force. Tanks were still viewed merely as mobile pillboxes—infantry support vehicles designed solely to provide covering fire for advancing riflemen.
Fighter jets were armed exclusively with autocannons; air-to-air missiles didn't exist. Satellites were used solely for communications and weather tracking; dedicated military reconnaissance satellites hadn't been developed because no one had conceptualized using orbital platforms for real-time battlefield intelligence or weapon guidance!
On Yuanling Planet, advanced civilian technology simply hadn't bled over into the military sphere. The planet enjoyed a remarkably high standard of living and advanced civilian tech, but weapons development had stagnated for decades.
Without the crucible of war to drive innovation, military research lacked direction and funding.
The navies were still stuck in the battleship era. Aircraft carriers existed, but torpedoes were primitive, and anti-ship missiles were science fiction.
Naval warfare still relied entirely on massive gun barrages and unguided gravity bombs dropped from aircraft. The concept of over-the-horizon engagements was considered impossible fantasy.
Yet, the foundational technological knowledge required to build these modern weapons already existed in the civilian sector; no one had simply put the pieces together!
Sometimes, Hu Hao sat in his office and wondered if introducing these advanced, horrific concepts from his past lives to this world was truly the right thing to do.
The people of Yuanling Planet were largely strangers to the horrors of war. Conflict was incredibly rare. If it weren't for the current global food and energy crisis, this war likely would never have happened.
The citizens here had lived fulfilling, peaceful lives. The planet was vast, and as long as their basic needs for food and technology were met, they had no desire for conquest.
But the severe food shortages had triggered an existential crisis, making war inevitable.
Modern, mechanized warfare was fundamentally different from the cold-weapon conflicts of the past. Swords and spears could only kill so many people. On a planet with a population measured in the tens of billions, the casualties from a cold-weapon war were statistically insignificant.
But modern weapons... modern weapons could slaughter millions with terrifying efficiency and reduce entire cities to ash and rubble.
Sometimes, Hu Hao thought it would be better to keep these devastating technologies hidden. If this war could be resolved, perhaps the people would return to their peaceful lives. Perhaps there wouldn't be another major conflict for centuries.
If he unleashed the Pandora's Box of guided missiles, smart bombs, and massed armored warfare, who knew what horrors the future might hold? Hu Hao understood the true brutality of war better than anyone, and he knew how deeply it scarred human society. The common people despised war.
And ironically, as a commander who had orchestrated the deaths of hundreds of thousands, Hu Hao despised war more than anyone.
"Sigh..." Hu Hao let out a long, weary sigh as he set his pen down.
He lit a cigarette and walked out the back door of his office, stepping out of the subterranean bunker through a secondary exit. He stood under the concrete overhang, smoking quietly as he watched the torrential rain hammer the earth.
"Hao-ge," Mo Qin approached him quietly from the shadows. He had been standing nearby for several minutes, observing Hu Hao. Hearing the heavy sigh, Mo Qin worried that the call from Hu Hao's family had brought bad news.
"Mm? What are you doing out here?" Hu Hao smiled slightly, pulling out his pack and offering Mo Qin a cigarette.
"Hao-ge... did something happen at home?" Mo Qin asked softly, taking the cigarette.
"No, nothing serious. Just my idiot younger brother causing trouble," Hu Hao shook his head, a wry smile on his face.
"You seemed really down just now. Don't lie to me. If it's something serious, we can contact the class rep. We can ask her to visit your family. You're a full General now; she'd definitely do you the favor!" Mo Qin insisted, referring to their old class representative who had connections in High Command.
"It's really nothing. Don't worry about it," Hu Hao assured him.
"Then... why the sigh?" Mo Qin pressed.
"I was thinking about the future. Tell me, when this war finally ends, do you think the people will be able to return to their peaceful lives? Will we have another few centuries of peace?" Hu Hao asked, staring out into the rain.
"Maybe. Nobody actually wants to fight. I doubt the common people of the Mara Empire wanted this war either. They were just driven to it by starvation.
"We all saw the news reports before the invasion. The citizens of the Mara Empire and the other nations were rioting because there wasn't enough food. Their Kings deployed the military to suppress the riots, but it failed because the soldiers themselves were starving! Their families were starving! That desperation is what sparked this invasion.
"Sigh. There are simply too many people and not enough arable land!
"Over the past century, humanity has multiplied far too quickly. Most families have four or five children; some have seven or eight! At that rate of exponential growth over a century, the population has ballooned massively. How could agricultural production possibly keep pace?" Mo Qin analyzed the root cause of the conflict.
"So you're saying... until the global food crisis is resolved, the wars will never truly end?" Hu Hao asked softly.
"The only solutions are increasing the food supply or decreasing the population! Sigh. I pray we find a way to increase the food supply. Because the alternative... decreasing the population through war, slaughter, and mass starvation? It's too cruel," Mo Qin shook his head grimly.
"I was thinking exactly about that today. If I remember correctly, our current average rice yield is roughly 300 catties per mu [1]. Wheat yields are similar, correct?" Hu Hao asked.
"Roughly. In the Central Region, we can harvest three crops a year, except between late July and late September when the dry season hits and water is scarce," Mo Qin confirmed.
"Sigh. The food crisis..." Hu Hao stared into the distance, his eyes troubled.
He actually possessed the knowledge to solve the crisis. He knew the principles of high-yield hybrid crops from his past lives. But... the war had already begun. Even if he miraculously developed a high-yield hybrid seed today, the war wouldn't stop!
The gears of conflict were already turning too fast. Even if the common people suddenly had enough food and demanded an end to the fighting, the ambitious Kings and Emperors who had tasted conquest would never agree to peace!
"You want to end the war?" Mo Qin asked, looking at Hu Hao with surprise.
"Don't you? War inflicts the deepest, most unforgivable wounds on the common people. Look at this place. Look at Daman City. It was a thriving metropolis of millions! Now, if our army hadn't secured it, it would be a dead city, a massive graveyard!" Hu Hao gestured toward the distant, ruined skyline. Their current headquarters was situated on the relatively intact campus of a suburban university.
(End of Chapter)