In Huaizhong Province, a young woman stared at the television screen in shock as the General Mobilization Order was broadcast. She had heard various rumors circulating online about a war breaking out in the South, but the state media hadn't broadcasted anything official until now.
She had just seen the news trending online and immediately turned on the TV, only to see the Emperor himself declaring a state of total national mobilization.
"Xiao Jing, come eat!" a middle-aged woman called out, walking out of the kitchen.
"Hurry up! And wake your brother! He's been playing like a maniac all summer; all that studying has gone completely out the window!" the woman continued to complain.
"Mom, look at the TV! It's a General Mobilization Order!" the girl, Xiao Jing, replied. She was Hu Hao's younger sister, Hu Jing, currently home for the summer holidays. Hu Hao also had a younger brother, Hu Hui, who was in his fifth year of middle school.
"What?" The middle-aged woman froze, then hurried into the living room. She was Hu Hao's mother, Wang Xueying.
Standing in front of the television, Wang Xueying watched the scrolling news ticker repeating the urgent decree. She immediately pulled out her phone and frantically scrolled through her contacts.
"Do you have your brother's number? Do you have it?!" Wang Xueying asked, her voice tight with sudden panic. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold the phone.
"It's useless. I've tried calling him dozens of times. His phone is turned off!" Hu Jing replied anxiously.
"Useless? How is that possible?! If his phone is broken, he should just buy a new one!" Wang Xueying muttered, completely flustered. She quickly dialed another number.
"Where are you?! Why aren't you home yet?! It's all over the TV—they've issued a General Mobilization Order! Where is Hao-er right now?! Has he graduated from the Academy yet?!" she practically screamed into the phone as soon as it connected.
"He graduated. I'm on my way home now; I just saw the news too!" the voice on the other end replied. It was Hu Hao's father, Hu Xingjun, who had seen the broadcast while at a hotel and was rushing back.
"Do you know where he was assigned to serve?! Do you know?!" Wang Xueying demanded.
"How the hell should I know?!" Hu Xingjun snapped, immediately hanging up.
Wang Xueying stood in the living room, completely at a loss for what to do.
"Go tell that brat to get his ass out of bed! Look what time it is! It's almost noon and he's still sleeping!" Wang Xueying suddenly snapped at Hu Jing, ordering her to wake Hu Hui.
"Oh!" Hu Jing nodded quickly and ran upstairs.
Left alone, Wang Xueying clutched her phone, paralyzed by uncertainty. She didn't even have Hu Hao's current phone number.
She and Hu Hao weren't close. Years ago, when she and her husband moved to the city to start their business, they had left Hu Hao behind in their rural hometown. Later, as their business flourished and they became consumed by work, they simply neglected him. However, they had brought Hu Jing and Hu Hui to live and study with them in the city.
A short while later, Hu Xingjun burst through the front door. He was already on his phone, talking to Hu Hao's grandfather.
"Dad, do you have Haozi 's number? Why can't we get through to him? I've been calling for days, and it never connects!" Hu Xingjun asked loudly as he walked in.
"..."
"He said we wouldn't be able to reach him, and that he would contact us? Well, has he contacted you yet?!" Hu Xingjun pressed.
"..."
"Nothing? How long has it been?"
"..."
"Alright, alright, I understand. No, no, everything's fine. It's just that we saw the General Mobilization Order on the news. Haozi just graduated from the military academy, so he's an active-duty officer now. And we have absolutely no idea where he is! It's frustrating!" Hu Xingjun tried to pacify the old man on the other end.
"..."
"It's fine. I'm hanging up now. Don't worry yourself over this. If Haozi calls you, let me know. He always calls you, but he never bothers to call his own father!" Hu Xingjun complained bitterly.
"..."
"Alright, alright! It's been years; why do you keep bringing that up?! We tried to bring him to the city later, but he refused to come! Fine, enough, I'm not talking about this anymore!" Hu Xingjun snapped impatiently, clearly annoyed that his father was reprimanding him for his past neglect of Hu Hao.
"My dad says Haozi called home about ten days ago. He said his unit confiscated their phones, and that he could only contact us; we couldn't contact him!" Hu Xingjun tossed his briefcase onto the sofa, slumped down, and leaned back with a heavy sigh.
Just then, Hu Hui and Hu Jing came downstairs.
"Just waking up?! If you keep acting like this, I'm throwing you out of the house! You're completely useless! All that money on schooling, and for what?! If you were even half as capable as your brother, I wouldn't have a damn thing to complain about!" Hu Xingjun roared the moment he saw Hu Hui.
Hu Hui didn't really care about the scolding; he was used to it. However, he was surprised. Usually, his mother would immediately jump to his defense. But today, he saw her sitting on the sofa, silently crying.
"What's wrong? Mom? What happened?" Hu Hui asked, suddenly panicking.
"Your brother! We have no idea where your brother is! You stupid brat, can't you give me a moment of peace?! Can't you just make something of yourself for once?!" Wang Xueying sobbed, lashing out at him.
"My brother? What happened to him? Wait... oh, right, he graduated! My brother graduated from the Academy! Where is he? Did he not go back to our hometown?" Hu Hui asked, finally remembering his older brother's graduation.
"He didn't go back! And we can't reach him! We've called him dozens of times, but we can't get through!" Hu Jing interjected nervously.
"How is that possible?" Hu Hui pulled out his own phone, found Hu Hao's number, and dialed. It immediately went to voicemail; the phone was turned off.
"He'll be fine, right? My brother is a grown man; it's not like he can just disappear," Hu Hui said, lowering his phone.
At that moment, the television in the background began re-broadcasting the General Mobilization Order.
"A General Mobilization Order...?" Hu Hui muttered, the gravity of the situation finally dawning on him.
"My brother... my brother didn't get sent to the front lines, did he?" Hu Hui asked, his eyes going wide as he looked at his mother.
"Can you shut your damn mouth?! Are you asking to get beaten?! Do not test me today! I don't have the time to deal with you right now, so don't push me!" Hu Xingjun snapped, glaring at him from the sofa.
"I... I..." Hu Hui stammered, feeling utterly wronged but not daring to argue further, knowing a beating was genuinely imminent.
"Xingjun, have you heard any other news? Have you asked around?" Wang Xueying asked tearfully.
"What is there to ask? It's all bad news! Starting yesterday, several military families in our area received KIA notifications from the recruitment station! I heard the casualties in the Southwest Combat Zone are absolutely horrific! Thousands of soldiers are dead!
Right now, we just don't know if Haozi is in the Southwest Combat Zone. Logically, he shouldn't be. He graduated from the Supreme Military Academy; why would they throw a top graduate straight onto the front lines? Don't worry too much. He might just be on some classified assignment. You know how it is in the military; they don't have much freedom.
I'll go to the recruitment station this afternoon and ask around. I'll take some of the officers out to dinner and see if I can use my connections to find out exactly where our Haozi was assigned," Hu Xingjun reasoned, trying to sound confident.
"Yes! Yes, take them out! You have to find out where he is! Do you hear me?! Wait... I'll go get cash for you!" Wang Xueying stood up quickly, desperate to do something.
"I have enough cash!" Hu Xingjun replied, waving her off.
Wang Xueying sat back down, wringing her hands, completely lost.
"AHHH! KAI-ER! MY KAI-ER!"
Suddenly, a horrific, gut-wrenching wail erupted from the house next door.
Hu Xingjun and his family froze, then bolted out the front door. Stepping into their yard, they saw an olive-green military vehicle parked directly in front of their neighbor's house.
"That's... that's...!" Wang Xueying gasped, her heart plummeting.
The neighbor's second son was currently serving in the Southwest Combat Zone. Seeing the military vehicle and hearing the agonized screams, they instantly knew what had happened. It was a KIA notification.
"Kai-ge...? No way..." Hu Hui muttered, panic gripping him. The families in this neighborhood were very close and frequently visited each other; he had grown up knowing the soldier.
Other neighbors began stepping out of their homes. Seeing the military vehicle, everyone understood the tragedy that had occurred. With heavy hearts, the neighbors, including Hu Xingjun's family, walked over to offer their condolences and support.
They had absolutely no idea that at that exact moment, Hu Hao was waist-deep in the mud, furiously digging a trench on the front lines.
…
He had no choice. They had to dig hasty fighting positions as quickly as possible; there was no time to construct proper, reinforced fortifications.
This riverbank wasn't even a strategic chokepoint; it was simply a place where the two armies happened to collide. But since the Allied forces had decided to force a breakthrough here, the Imperial troops had to hold the line. If they let the enemy push any deeper, the Imperial Capital itself would be directly threatened.
The reservists who had just arrived were mostly veterans who had previously served their mandatory conscription terms and been discharged, only to be recalled to active duty. Therefore, they weren't strangers to their weapons, nor were they strangers to digging trenches.
After digging for a while, Hu Hao handed his entrenching tool to another soldier. He sat down on the edge of the shallow trench and checked his watch. He estimated they had about ten minutes before the Allied forces launched their next assault.
Hu Hao meticulously checked his rifle.
Along the trench line, unit cohesion had completely disintegrated. Troops from different corps, different divisions, the original defenders, and the newly arrived reinforcements were all haphazardly mixed together.
Command authority currently defaulted strictly to rank; whoever had the highest insignia gave the orders. Hu Hao was the sole exception. Every General and officer in his immediate vicinity kept their eyes glued to him. They all knew Hu Hao was a lethal combatant, and they knew the ragged veterans following him were the fiercest fighters on the line.
"Hao-ge! Hao-ge! Here!" He Jizhong jogged over, clutching several steamed buns.
"Where did you get those?" Hu Hao asked, eagerly taking the food.
"Logistics brought some steamed buns up the line over there! I saw them and grabbed a few! You eat first, Hao-ge, I'm going back to dig!" He Jizhong said. He immediately jumped back into the trench, took a shovel from a resting soldier, and began digging furiously.
Hu Hao sat there, watching the men on the line. They were a mix of common soldiers and high-ranking officers. In the face of brutal, industrialized warfare, rank meant nothing. A bullet didn't care if you were a Private or a General; anyone could die in the next second. To survive, everyone was willing to do whatever it took. It was true for Hu Hao and his men, and it was true for the Allied forces across the river.
"Hurry! Get in the trenches! Everyone in the trenches! Keep your heads down! Incoming artillery!" a General suddenly screamed down the line.
Hu Hao didn't know how the General got the warning—likely relayed from a reconnaissance aircraft—but he didn't hesitate. Hearing the shout, Hu Hao and the surrounding soldiers instantly dove into their half-dug foxholes.
The trenches weren't deep yet, but lying flat at the bottom was infinitely safer than standing in the open. They pressed themselves into the dirt and waited for the earth to shatter.