Cannon Fire Arc

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The remainder of the 19th was quiet, a stark contrast to the noise that had prevailed on the battlefield for the previous days.

At ten in the evening, Wang Zhong stepped out of the warehouse and looked towards the setting sun in the west.

For no particular reason, an old Earth song came to his mind, "The sun is setting in the west, the enemy's end is coming fast~"

Unfortunately, Prosen did not use the sun as a symbol, and the concept of sunset could not be associated with Prosen, otherwise Wang Zhong might have "composed" another song.

From the warehouse where the headquarters was located, it was impossible to see a complete sunset, as the sun would first be obscured by the surrounding buildings.

Feeling a sudden urge to wander, Wang Zhong turned to Vasily and said, "Go inform Pavlov that I'll be riding around the city on horseback. If he encounters any urgent matters, he should deal with them first and needn't report to me."

After speaking, he headed straight for the main gate, calling out to Grigori, who was smoking in the courtyard, "Come on, accompany me for a stroll."

"We'd better ride, the city is a bit too large to walk across," Grigori replied as he tossed his cigarette butt on the ground, extinguished it with the tip of his leather shoe, and ground it in a bit.

Wang Zhong thought about it and felt it made sense: "You go saddle the horses and bring them here, I'll wait. There's still some time before the sun sets."

Grigori turned and headed to the stables.

Vasily returned at that moment and, seeing Grigori's retreating figure, said, "Going horse riding? It is about time. If we don't let Bucephalus out for a stretch, it just might summon Prosen's bombs or something else to blow up the stables."

Wang Zhong furrowed his brow, "Has it really gotten that preposterous?"

"Yes," Vasily replied.

Wang Zhong shook his head, "No, you have to believe in science. Bucephalus is just lucky, that's all."

While he spoke, Wang Zhong thought to himself, damn it, I'm in a world where Divine Power guides missiles, and here I am talking about this, if there really were gods, they'd strike me with lightning right now.

But on the other hand, the Sanctified faction has been dealt with in such a way, and no major disasters have occurred, which might suggest that these Divine Powers are indeed a natural phenomenon of this world.

Or perhaps some ancient super-technology.

But these matters had little to do with generals like Wang Zhong who were "cheating" in commanding wars; they were headaches for scientists.

Just then, Wang Zhong suddenly heard engine noises coming from the east and muttered, "That must be another brigade from the 40th Army arriving. I wonder how many tanks they have left."

"I feel it's about the same as the two brigades that arrived in the morning and at noon. We'll find out when we go have a look," Vasily commented.

By then, Grigori returned with two horses, and a groom followed behind with another.

"I've brought three horses," Grigori announced, "Perfect for you, General, plus me, and the flag-bearer."

Wang Zhong shook his head, "No, no need for a flag-bearer. The last horse is for Vasily; we're just going for a simple ride around the city."

Grigori nodded, checked the saddles of the two horses once more, and then handed the reins to Wang Zhong.

Wang Zhong mounted his horse with a swift leap, flicked the reins lightly, and Bucephalus trotted eagerly towards the gate.

Riding atop the horse, Wang Zhong could even sense a rhythm in its step, as if it could march in time with a military band playing a march tune alongside.

Upon exiting the gate, Wang Zhong's first sight was a row of tanks parked on the street, with several children climbing on them as if they were play structures.

The soldiers of the 40th Army watched the children with smiles, not even noticing Wang Zhong riding out on horseback.

Wang Zhong asked, "What's the matter with these children? Why haven't they been evacuated?"

The moment he spoke, the soldiers looked over and all stood up at attention, saluting him.

Imitating the soldiers, the children also saluted Wang Zhong earnestly.

Wang Zhong returned the salute casually and repeated his question.

The soldiers looked at each other in confusion, apparently unaware of why the children were still in Yeisk.
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That's when the older child standing atop a tank gun spoke up, "Our parents were killed by Prosen's bombardment. We are all orphans now."

Wang Zhong's gaze softened upon hearing this.

The leading child called out, "Don't pity us, General. I am their leader now, and I can take good care of them!"

The other children nodded vigorously, "Yes!"

Wang Zhong asked, "But we won't be fighting here forever. We're expected to retreat in August. What will you do then?"

The child leader was taken aback, "You're going to retreat? Everyone says you are the invincible Rocossov's troops. Would Rocossov's troops also retreat?"

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Wang Zhong: "Of course, in fact, last year we had been retreating the whole time, all the way to the gates of Ekaterinburg Fortress. We need to trade space for time, to stretch the enemy's supply line..."

At this point, Wang Zhong hesitated, wondering if such young children could understand what he was saying. Perhaps an orphanage should be established in the rear to take in these war orphans, so their childhoods wouldn't be marked by nothing but misfortune because of the war.

He had barely formed this idea when it was interrupted by the self-proclaimed leader among the children: "I don't believe it! The brothers who drive tanks said Rocossov is really powerful, that he can tear open enemy tanks with his bare hands. He would never run away like you said, not him!"

"The brothers who drive tanks?" Wang Zhong looked up in surprise and suddenly realized that the tank gunners who had just saluted him were all very young, appearing to be around 20 years old.

Wang Zhong even suspected a few of them might have lied about their ages to join the army.

He was quite young himself, but he could already be considered an older brother to them.

Ah, that's right, the armored troops suffered such heavy losses last year, with more than twenty thousand tanks lost. So these armored troops were all new recruits—

Wang Zhong pointed at a sergeant with the highest rank among them and asked, "When did you enlist, and where were you when the war broke out? How many hours have you driven?"

The sergeant saluted: "I enlisted in April last year. I was in the rear receiving training when the war broke out. I've driven for 270 hours!"

Wang Zhong turned his gaze to a private standing beside the sergeant: "And you?"

Private: "I enlisted in February this year. I was at my tenth-grade graduation ceremony in Linnitsa when the war broke out. I haven't driven a tank; I'm a loader."

Wang Zhong: "I'm asking how long you've been training for combat on a tank."

The private scratched his head: "I don't know; most of the time we trained in simulated cabins made of wood. Getting on a real tank only happened last month. I've driven a few dozen hours in total, I guess?"

—Only sixty hours on a tank if every member of the 40th Tank Army was at this level, it's no wonder they ran out of steam and lost forty percent of their force here.

With such poor quality in tanks and combat members, how could they possibly confront the elite Prosen armored troops head-on?

Looking at these young faces, Wang Zhong resolved never to engage directly with the Prosen armored forces again.

After all, the battlefield is vast. Isn't it enough to just bully their infantry?

At that moment, the first child who'd spoken up earlier asked, "Who are you, exactly?"

Wang Zhong: "I'm Rocossov."

The children all widened their eyes.

Wang Zhong spread his hands and added, "As you can see, I'm just an ordinary person, and I can't tear tanks apart with my hands."

The children looked at each other, bewildered.

Wang Zhong continued, "I'm not six meters tall, nor can I use a saber to slice through bullets."

A girl asked, "Do you have angels?"

"Of course..." Wang Zhong started to say that he did not, but then he thought, Ludmila looked even more beautiful than an angel, and so did Nelly; he couldn't entirely deny it.

Perhaps an angel meant a giant several meters tall who could swing a mortal around like a hammer; those were indeed the Emperor's angels.

The girl blinked her big eyes, "So do you have them or not?"

Wang Zhong: "I do not."

In the end, he chose not to add mythological elements to his legend.

The young girl looked visibly disappointed.

Wang Zhong: "In a moment, I will have the Priest of the troops find you, and you will stay with the Priest to help with cooking and laundry for logistics, alright?"

Feeling that the children might refuse to leave if he just persuaded them directly, Wang Zhong used a more cunning approach, letting the children become little helpers for the troops and naturally follow when the troops moved on.

As soon as the self-proclaimed leader heard they'd be allowed to help, he was delighted: "Great! The Priest wanted to send us away before, but I said we wouldn't leave because we still haven't found our families, and maybe they will come looking for us. But helping Rocossov defeat the Prosen devils, that's something we can do!"

"Right!" The children chimed in unanimously.

Wang Zhong: "Good, so when the Priest comes, follow him, and remember to work hard. Otherwise, the soldiers might not have clothes to wear or food to eat!"

"Yes!" The young leader stood to attention and saluted first, the other children promptly followed, looking quite proper.

Mounted on Bucephalus, Wang Zhong wasn't able to stand at attention, but he straightened his upper body and saluted to all of them.

Then the commander's evening patrol continued.