Rabowell may be the alternate dimension counterpart of Abbeville, after all, the name differs by only one syllable.
After laughing, Wang Zhong got straight to the point, “We will hold back the enemy.”
Major John: “What’s your basis for that statement?”
Wang Zhong: “The basis is Ante’s vast territory, as well as the impending ‘General Mud’ and General Winter. No, no country can conquer the expansive lands of Ante—well, maybe the Mongols could.”
Major John burst out laughing, “You have a great sense of humor, indeed, the Mongols could. Aside from such timing and geographical advantages?”
Wang Zhong countered, “With the timing and geographical advantages on our side, what more could you possibly demand?”
“Combat willpower,” said Major John.
Wang Zhong: “Argesukov is still fighting, doesn’t that say anything? They’re already essentially surrounded, hundreds of thousands of troops must have run out of supplies, but they’re still in combat.”
Major John shrugged: “The sacrifice of the Crown Prince has inspired the fight in the Argesukov group, and the continued resistance has indeed boosted the morale of the parliamentarians supporting the lend-lease bill at home. However, the performance of His Majesty the Tsar has inspired the opposition.
“Look at Carolingian, the soldiers of Carolingian still have the will to fight, but the higher-ups chose to surrender. Despite the fact that most of the country has not fallen, despite having a million troops, the vast African colonies, and both armored forces and the Air Force, the high command chose to surrender.”
Wang Zhong: “As far as I know, General Dago is still fighting.”
“Ah, yes, General Dago and his Free Caroling are still fighting, but Carolingian has surrendered. If Ante were to surrender, you could continue the fight in the Federation.”
Wang Zhong: “I wouldn’t. My best friend, and my beloved father have both died on this land, their sacrifice is what allows me to stand here.”
“To preserve my strength, I have already—no, three times abandoned the people who trusted me. I can’t stop fighting, otherwise, even if I die and go to hell, they would not forgive me.”
Just as Major John was about to speak, Wang Zhong continued, “Moreover, I’m a smart man, this is a battle we are destined to win. As long as we hold on, victory will be ours in the end, and I will become a military strategist as renowned as Suvorov and Kutuzov. As a smart man, I would choose to keep fighting.”
Major John squinted his eyes, staring at Wang Zhong for a few seconds before revealing a look of admiration: “No wonder they call you the star of victory. I can feel your obsession with victory, and I’ll convey this confidence intact to the President.”
Wang Zhong: “It’s not an obsession, that sounds like a pathological paranoia, and I’m merely stating the facts to you.”
Major John just smiled, saluted Wang Zhong—a salute that was obviously filled with more respect than the one at the start.
The Federation major turned around and left with a brisk stride.
Wang Zhong took a deep breath, at that moment he heard the surrounding chatter suddenly grow louder.
Everyone turned to look at the Royal Family’s viewing stand.
Wang Zhong also looked over, only to see a haggard His Majesty the Tsar appearing with the assistance of the Grand Duchess Olga, slowly making his way to the most luxurious chair to sit down.
Suddenly, Wang Zhong noticed, across the street on the church viewing stand, His Eminence Belinsky also appeared holding his scepter.
Both sides stood like this, viewing each other across the street, across the parade of people lined up.
“The Holy War” began to play.
His Majesty the Tsar appeared startled by “The Holy War,” looking around blankly like a timid animal.
Wang Zhong sighed; in this condition, His Majesty the Tsar might have been better off not appearing.
With the “grand generals” from both sides present, the ceremony’s proceedings began to move forward.
Wang Zhong didn’t think of anything else but kept observing the state of His Majesty the Tsar.
He always felt that the Tsar now looked like some character from the movie “The Downfall.” That tired yet maniacal look, the feeling of being on the brink of collapse was almost identical.
It was time for Wang Zhong to give his speech.
The ceremonial MC signaled Wang Zhong to prepare.
Just then, His Majesty the Tsar stood up.
Everyone watched him.
There was already a microphone at the Royal Family’s viewing stand, and the Tsar directly motioned for the microphone to be brought to him.
“My son, Ivan Nikolayevich Antonov, has died a heroic death!”
The Tsar started, his voice tinged with madness: “We lost a hero! But does this mean defeat? No! This is only the beginning!
“Our military strength now appears far inferior to that of the Prosen people. Despite expanding our army continuously, our forces are as fragile as castles built on sand! The enemy made a crazy advance of one hundred and seventy kilometers in the first two weeks of the war!”
“And yet, my generals have the shamelessness to boast! They said we could counterattack into Prosen territory within a month! And what happened?”
“They even want to push the responsibility for Argesukov’s failure onto me! No… huh?”
Olga whispered a few words into His Majesty the Tsar’s ear.
The Tsar laughed heartily, “Exactly! That General Skorobo is a despicable traitor! A traitor to his country! He has deceived me and the Ante people!”
“All that came before was a deception they concocted! An illusion!”
“My son, my dear son Ivan, died precisely to awaken all of you from such naïve illusions! Now, the war has just begun!”
“Our military strength is gradually being restored; the Prosen Empire is no longer something to fear.”
“Your fathers and brothers, too, have perished in the Prosen massacre. We must never forget this sadness and anger! This is the revelation my Ivan gave to us with his death!”
“We should now assemble this fury, annihilate the Prosen army, and win our first true victory! This victory will be the greatest consolation to those who have died in battle!”
“Citizens, rise up! Turn your grief into strength, rise up, citizens! Ante needs your strength!”
Wang Zhong was shocked; this speech sounded a bit familiar.
At that moment, the master of ceremonies said to Wang Zhong, “The ceremony command has changed the ceremony process, you don’t need to give a speech.”
Wang Zhong frowned, looked towards the stands where the generals were, and then noticed Tukhachev had just put down the phone.
In the row behind him, General Tugenev shook his head gently, signaling to Wang Zhong with his eyes.
Well, this group of people cut off my speech in the battle against the church!
Wang Zhong looked at his own speech draft.
Most of the content in this draft was indeed repeated in His Majesty the Tsar’s speech; it truly was no longer necessary to go up and talk about it again.
But as things were going, it felt like the presence of the people was being diminished—even though the Tsar had mentioned “your fathers and brothers,” it seemed as if they were just accessories to the Crown Prince.
If this continued, The Holy War would become yet another nobility war between royal families.
If that were the case, we might not necessarily win.
After all, Prosen is outrageously strong.
And it seemed to me that this was not in line with Ivan’s wishes.
Wang Zhong suddenly remembered the scene when Argesukov was departing for the war; Ivan had said to him, “Take good care of Olga.”
He glanced at the Crown Princess.
Then he turned his attention to the church’s viewing platform.
I always felt like Belinsky was nodding.
Wang Zhong pushed past the master of ceremonies, rushed onto the platform, and walked up to the microphone.
The person holding the sign in front of the microphone didn’t know what was happening, but still raised the sign with the contents of the speech script.
Wang Zhong glanced at the sign and thought that following the original script was useless now.
He had to turn the whole tone around.
So he loudly said, “Everyone!”
The sound echoed over the entire state funeral venue.
After capturing everyone’s attention, Wang Zhong raised the speech draft in his hand high and, with a swoosh, tore the draft to pieces and tossed it into the wind.
Now everyone’s curiosity was piqued.
Wang Zhong began his improvised speech.