Kabusk Village, near the predestined deployment line of the attacking forces.
Ivan Nikolayevich Andronov heard the distant cries of “Hurrah” from the front.
Curious, he asked, “What’s happening?”
However, no one answered him. The sound of the tanks was too loud, so Ivan reached into the hatch and tapped the tank commander’s shoulder, “What’s happening?”
The commander turned around, “What?”
It seemed that without an internal line, it was basically impossible to hear anything inside a tank.
The Crown Prince waved his hand and sat up straight again, looking ahead.
Finally, he saw clearly at whom the soldiers were yelling “Hurrah”: a jeep was parked on the road, and an old man in an old military uniform was saying something.
The tank pulled up next to the jeep and stopped. Ivan recognized that the old man was Duke Rocossov.
“Your Grace!” Despite being the Crown Prince, Ivan used a respectful title, “What brings you here?”
The old man smiled, “I’ve come to serve as an infantry company commander. I did the job for a good long time when I first joined the army; I’m quite familiar with it.”
Ivan asked curiously, “So, what was that Hurrah they yelled at you all about?”
“Ah, it’s the young men on active duty showing respect to an old superior. Actually, most privates have never seen me; they don’t know why they should yell Hurrah, but they yelled anyway.”
The old Duke stopped and looked up at Ivan, “Hmm, apart from being a bit slender, you look like a soldier.”
For some reason, Ivan wanted to appear more soldier-like and jumped down from the tank, only to almost fall to his knees as he lost his footing.
The old Duke grabbed him and pulled him up, “Be careful, Your Highness! If your knee hits the ground, I’ll have to go to the palace’s ceremonial hall for a protocol examination.”
Those around them who heard this laughed, then the old sergeant major chased the chucklers away, “Stop laughing! The battle is unfolding! Do you want to stand still and take the enemy’s shelling?”
Only then did the soldiers move forward, heading towards the deployment line.
Old Rocossov pinched Ivan’s shoulder and asked, “How are you holding up, Your Highness?”
“To tell you the truth, my legs started shaking the moment that sergeant major yelled. That normal, Your Grace?” Ivan revealed a wry smile.
“Is this your first offensive?” The Duke asked in return.
“If you don’t count the mock offensive drills in military school, yes.”
“Then it’s very normal. The night before my first battle, I couldn’t sleep a wink, tossing and turning, and whenever I shut my eyes, all sorts of nonsense would run through my mind. My heart thumped uncontrollably, and even the blood vessels in my neck and temples trembled.”
Ivan looked shocked, “Really? That’s exactly what happened to me last night!”
“True. Everyone feels the same, but the difference comes the second time. Brave people are still nervous the second time but can at least sleep a bit. Those bastards born for the battlefield sleep soundly the next time and even snore!”
Ivan laughed, “Really? Then I’m looking forward to my second time. I wonder how Alyosha is doing.”
“He’s probably like me; sleeps more soundly than a pig the second time around,” said Duke Rocossov.
Just then, a whistling sound came overhead, and Ivan instinctively wanted to hit the dirt but was caught by the Duke and couldn’t move.
“It’s our own preparatory fire, no need to worry. It’s for blasting the enemy.”
As soon as he finished speaking, explosions lit up the northern plains.
Ivan looked into the distance, “Are the enemies that close?”
“Not close, almost three kilometers away. It’s quite a walk. Of course, Your Highness, you’ll get there faster in a tank, whereas this old man here will advance with the infantry.”
“I’ll also advance with the infantry…” Ivan suddenly looked down, noticing his legs were shaking so much, it was visibly clear from the outside of his trousers, “Never mind, I’ll ride in the tank after all. I feel like my legs would give out halfway. Alyosha has already gone back and forth across the battlefield several times, while I’m just embarrassing.”
Duke Rocossov glanced at Ivan’s legs, hesitated for a moment, but then said, “At least you didn’t wet yourself, which is quite brave.”
Ivan also laughed, “I think that’s just a hateful rumor someone made up about Alyosha.”
“Who knows?” Duke Rocossov gazed at the distant enemy positions being bombarded.
Silence briefly enveloped the two, with only the thunderous explosions in the distance and the continuous whistling of shells in the sky.
Suddenly, Duke Rocossov said, “Originally, I wanted to change Alyosha’s name, because have you heard that song called Alyosha?”
Ivan thought for a moment and said, “The song with the lyrics ‘He can no longer bring flowers to the girl, it’s the girl who brings flowers to him’?”
“Yes, it’s terribly inauspicious, isn’t it? But then I thought, the name Aleksei is that of a saint, chosen according to the time he was born. It would probably anger some formidable force if I changed it randomly.”
“That idea is very un-Secular faction, isn’t it?”
The Ante People’s custom was to choose names from a list of saints according to the time of birth, which is why there were so many common names.
Ivan laughed, “Indeed.”
“Now, all we can do is hope that Saint Aleksei blesses him to live until the end of the war.” The general made a triangle with his fingers and laughed.
After the brief exchange, the two watched silently as the artillery pounded the enemy positions in the distance.
Time passed unmeasured until a messenger ran up, dismounted in front of the Crown Prince, and saluted, “The division commander has instructed me to inform Your Highness that the assault formation is fully deployed.”
Ivan returned the salute, “Tell the commander that I’m just a captain, no need to report to me, proceed with the attack at his pace. I’ll be at the very forefront of the troops.”