Wang Zhong glanced at the royal viewing platform, mainly to see Olga, but it seemed like she was just assisting her father and happened to catch a glimpse of the Tsar.
Wang Zhong continued, “Some of you may already know that Ivan and I were like brothers in arms. At the military academy, we used to play pranks on the professors together, and we were the worst students; I was the last but one, and he was second to last.
“The ridiculous things we did together would take days and nights to tell. I know my brother extremely well. His Majesty the Tsar, on the other hand, probably doesn’t understand him as much.”
As soon as he said this, the whole crowd was in an uproar.
Wang Zhong, ignoring the reactions of others, went on: “My brother indeed was very brave, he died a hero for his country. When I was setting out from Argesukov to stop the enemy at Orachi, my brother came to see me off and asked me to take care of our sister, Princess Olga.
“Thinking back, he already had the intention to die. But if you say his generous embrace of death was because he was the Crown Prince, because he was a noble among nobles, then I, as Ivan’s best friend, his most intimate brother, would be the first to disagree!
“To say that is an insult to him—to my brother!
“Why? Are nobles necessarily brave? In Upper Peniye, the local nobles had run away without a trace, and what’s more, they even left a loyal dog behind to prevent us from entering his distillery to take spirits for Molotov cocktails!
“In Loktov, the nobles likewise fled without a trace. If you have people around you who have returned from the battlefield for a leave, ask them, and you’ll hear loads of stories about nobles running away in the most disgraceful manner!
“Are nobles necessarily brave? Bullshit!
“The truly brave are the countless ordinary people. In Upper Peniye, the gunner in my tank crew gave me a letter when he was dying, to be delivered to his mother.
“I delivered it, and the old lady calmly asked me which son had died. All three of her sons had gone to war, and each could have been killed; even the old lady herself now stays behind in Argesukov.
“I believe she will fight the invaders in her own way until her last moment!
“In Loktov, when I was trapped in a tight encirclement, all weapons were destroyed by vicious Prussians, and I could only crouch under a tank with a pistol, ready for a do-or-die battle!
“At that moment, it was the countless ordinary people who rushed out, annihilated the Prussians, and dragged me out from under the tank!
“Could all of them be princes?”
Echoes of his words drifted to and fro across the entire square.
“No! They are textile factory workers, mechanics from the tractor factory, milkers from the ranch, tractor drivers, farmers, and fishermen!
“If there’s one common denominator to define their identity, it is that they are all part of the Ante people!
“These ordinary folks realized one thing: if they don’t fight, their nation will perish. They recognized that if they don’t fight, the enemy will not only kill them but also trample over their bones and say: Look, these are slaves!
“And so, they erupted with incredible courage!
“The brave Ante people have supported me, allowing me to fight until now! And my dear brother, as well as my father, were brave simply because they were part of the Ante people!”
As soon as Wang Zhong finished speaking, he realized it was a bit far-fetched.
Indeed, I’m not good at giving speeches.
At such times, you just have to bluff your way through with momentum!
Wang Zhong: “They are children of the Ante mother, grown on the food from the black soil, they cannot ignore the atrocities of the Prosen invaders!
“So, they died heroically for their country, along with the countless ordinary Ante people!
“The names of those who died with them may not be passed down, as all the documents of the Southwestern Front Army have been destroyed!
“But they still chose to march forward without hesitation! Fight! To not be slaves! Not be slaves!”
Because of his excessive emotion, Wang Zhong’s voice even cracked. He paused to give his throat a brief rest.
A few seconds later, he began to speak again: “As the close friend of Ivan Nikolayevich Antonov, no, as a brother, I am very sad. Similarly, as the son of Konstantin Alexandrovich Rokossovsky, I am also deeply saddened.
“These days, in the game room of the Summer Palace that Ivan used to frequent, and in the study of the Rokossovsky Estate, I can’t help but remember every little detail of the past and recall the faces and smiles of the departed.
“But I know, I’m not the only one who is grieving. Tens of thousands have already perished, and in the future, hundreds of thousands or even millions more will. Grief will spread across all the mountains and rivers, forests and lakes of Ante!”
“But we must still fight! Not for those medals or those honors, but for the day when this land no longer mourns.”
Wang Zhong saw Olga desperately wiping her tears, while on the other side of the grandstand, Liu Xia was also sobbing uncontrollably.
He calmed his emotions and continued, “Just now, Colonel John Wick, the military attaché from the Federation, asked me how the war was going, and I said we would surely win.”
“I say this not because I’m an optimist.
“I have three reasons.
“First, we have the right timing and the geographical advantage. This is our homeland; no one knows its temperament better than us. We know when it will turn into a damn quagmire, we know when the snow will bury us up to our waists!
“We are familiar with every swamp and every path. The enemy doesn’t understand any of this! As soon as they entered our country, their vehicles got stuck because they were not familiar with the road conditions! I could strike them hard at Peniye precisely because their heavy artillery got stuck behind and couldn’t make it to the front!
“When I look at the Prussian tanks, I know they are not suitable for the mud because their tracks are too narrow. Look at our tanks’ wide tracks, like a girl’s large feet, they are made for running on this sloppy ground!
“Second, we have the people. The Prussians are slaughtering everywhere, but they will soon find that they can’t kill all the civilians in the occupied areas because Ante is too vast. Solely relying on Prussia’s population is not enough to fill Ante’s wilderness, and if they kill all the people, they won’t have workers left.
“Eventually, their supplies will not get through, roads will have no one to repair them, railways no one to maintain and operate! No, they can’t possibly kill all the Ante People on Ante soil.
“But as long as they don’t finish the job, the guerrilla fighters will appear in all the places they occupy! In the gazebos of Kazarlia, in the forests of Livonia, on the ice fields of Novgorod!
“They will soon be in a state of paranoia, unable to sleep in peace as long as they are on Ante’s land!
“And in front of them, our armies will continue to emerge endlessly! Even if they defeat three or four million of our forces, what then? Six or seven million will rise!
“And as time goes on, we too will learn the art of war, we will be as skilled in warfare as they are! Then, their once-prideful exchange ratio will become mediocre! We will gradually annihilate them and reclaim our lost lands!
“Third! The Prussians are too arrogant, they have made too many enemies! The resistance in those countries they have conquered will never stop.
“General Dago’s Free Caroling is fighting! The United Kingdom is fighting! Ante and the United Kingdom combined are several times stronger than Prosen! Not to mention that across the sea, there lies a Federation watching and waiting! One day, they will join the fight too!
“All the just forces of the world will stand with the brave citizens of Ante!
“Of course, of the three reasons, the first two alone are enough to defeat the Prussians! One day, we will march into their proud capital Ploseni and place the blade of judgment on the neck of that haughty Plathen Emperor!
“Prosen will be destroyed! The brave Ante people will prevail!
“Hurrah!”
Wang Zhong raised his right fist high into the air.
Everyone in the venue roared in unison, “Hurrah!”
It seemed as if the entire city was shouting, “Hurrah!”
Wave after wave of “Hurrahs” soared into the sky.
The terrifying roar of countless voices shook the concrete itself, as if thousands upon thousands of troops were sweeping across the land.
“Hurrah!”
Grand Patriarch Belinsky stood up and joined in the chanting.
The generals on the grandstand looked at each other.
General Tugenev was the first to stand up, followed by the other generals and marshals, one by one.
His Majesty the Tsar, helped to his feet by his daughter, looked at everything in front of him, the paranoia and madness fading from his face, replaced by bewilderment and panic.
Olga, however, watched all this with a surprise, as if she had discovered a new continent.
————
Colonel John Wick, the military attaché from the Federation, was flabbergasted: “The star of victory… it seems it’s time to return to the Federation. I wonder if the Vladivoktos to San Francis is still sailing.”