After the Judge led the prisoners away, no sooner had he left than Pavlov’s “Sixth-Level Clerk” came in with a stack of documents.
As soon as Pavlov saw the old man, he showed a face full of trouble, “Didn’t I entrust you with the seal and everything? That’s according to the rules! You guys should handle these matters; I have a lot to do, and I need to focus on military affairs.”
As a military enthusiast, Wang Zhong was particularly sensitive to certain terms, for example, hearing “full of vitality and everything thriving”, he would recall a specific scene, and automatically add a map background board behind the person speaking.
“I need to focus on military affairs” wasn’t as famous as the previous line, but it made Wang Zhong unaccountably think of a certain balding man and start worrying about Pavlov’s hairline.
The old man frowned, “I am here to report the casualty situation, isn’t this a military matter?”
Wang Zhong looked at the time; it wasn’t even the next day yet, so he said, “The casualties have been tallied so quickly? Let me have a look.”
He reached out and took the documents that were originally for Pavlov.
The list detailed today’s casualty numbers, meticulously sorted by their respective units.
Wang Zhong flipped through and was shocked, “How come the logistics suffered even more casualties than the frontline troops?”
The old man immediately answered, “Many in logistics hadn’t undergone artillery evasion training; when the shelling occurred, they just lay down on the ground, resulting in many being concussed or killed by the blasts.
“Today, the division’s field hospital received many casualties with organ ruptures and vomiting blood, and reports indicated that the hospital lacks the means to treat them; they could only provide emergency treatment before preparing for evacuation.”
Wang Zhong, “Isn’t it night already? Evacuate them by train.”
The old man, “No trains have arrived at the station up to now; it’s assumed that the railway has been severed somewhere along the line.”
After the old man finished, Pavlov pointed to the phone, “The telephone lines to the Army Group have been cut, the railway probably has been sabotaged by the enemy’s infiltrating forces.”
After inquiring about the logistics casualties, Wang Zhong continued to review the casualties of various units and, after finishing, handed them over to Popov, “The combat troops generally have few casualties; the biggest losses actually came from the Brandenburg unit that sneak-attacked the third battalion’s position at Bieshensk.”
While looking through the casualty roll, Popov answered, “The Brandenburg troops are, after all, specialized units, with better training than the ordinary Prussian Army, and it was a sudden attack; the third battalion performed well. Given the situation tonight, we can apply for medals for them.”
Wang Zhong, “Medals are useless; notify logistics to give the third battalion an extra meal tomorrow morning.”
Having said this, he told Popov, “This is what really works, morale will definitely be high.”
Vasily, “It would be even better if you personally visited their position, General, and said a few words to them. If you don’t want to write a speech, just come out with a tongue twister, ‘Dust whirls up with the sound of horse hooves in the field’ or something.”
The feeling of reading “Dust whirls up with the sound of horse hooves in the field” in Ante language is probably similar to reciting “Fertilizer turns black as it volatilizes” in Mandarin.
Wang Zhong looked at Vasily, “So if I really go there tomorrow and deliver a tongue twister and their morale doesn’t change, what then?”
Vasily, “I was only making a comparison. If you insist on taking it seriously, then I’ll go pick dung.”
Wang Zhong, “Good, you’re already a staff officer who can take responsibility for his own words.”
Pavlov, “Speeches are not good right now; we shouldn’t use them when the situation becomes tense later. For now, let’s stick to extra meals. When the situation gets more severe, we’ll distribute vodka. Only then comes the General’s speech.”
By then, Popov had also finished going through the casualty list and handed it over to Pavlov.
Pavlov had just opened it when he clicked his tongue in surprise, “So few casualties on the front today? Even the troops holding the bridgehead haven’t suffered much! Seems like our technical work has yielded some results.
“We have many permanent fortifications alongside our border and by Argesukov; why haven’t they played their part? Especially the ones in the middle segment of the front line, and with the Bug River as a barrier too.”
Wang Zhong, “Don’t mention such things; when we push back to the border line, we’ll naturally have time to investigate how the enemy broke through the fortified region.”
“That makes sense.” After speaking, Pavlov yawned at length, “I can’t do this anymore, I need to sleep for a while. I suggest, General, that you should sleep too and let Popov, who’s had the most sleep among us, take over the duty.”
Popov nodded, “I drank quite a lot of tea this afternoon and feel quite energetic; I won’t be able to sleep even if I tried. You guys go and rest.”
Wang Zhong took one last look at the pitch-black battlefield, making sure no enemy was highlighted, then he told Nelly, “I’m going to sleep. The enemy might shell us at night, so I won’t sleep in the dorm; get the camp bed ready in the next room.”
Nelly, “Do you need a body wipe?”
Wang Zhong shook his head, “No need, I didn’t sweat today.”
Even though there hasn’t been autumn rain yet, the temperature on the battlefield has already dropped, and it’s necessary to cover up with a blanket at night.
Wang Zhong wasn’t really accustomed to this temperature, as for someone from south of the Yangtze River, this would be proper winter weather.
Yet for the Ante people, this was not even late autumn, a chilling thought indeed.
Nelly asked again, “Do you need me to call the lady back?”
This ‘lady’ referred to Ludmila.
Wang Zhong, “She has her post to hold.”
Just then, Wang Zhong suddenly heard a low hum of engines in the sky.
He looked outside again—or rather, switched perspectives—then saw a flight of six biplanes coming from the enemy’s side.
Brother Peter hadn’t reported, presumably having recognized the engine sound of this type of biplane and knowing they were friendlies.
These biplanes weren’t carrying bombs, clearly indicating they had completed their bombing mission.
Wang Zhong asked Pavlov, “Where is our night bomber squadron based? Their range shouldn’t be too far from the front line, right? If it’s close by, they can carry less fuel and the planes will be lighter.”
Pavlov frowned, “Don’t planes always take off with a full fuel tank?”
Wang Zhong uttered an “Oh,” as he just remembered that reality wasn’t like a game; in reality, to deal with complex aerial situations, planes generally took off with a full tank.
Unlike in games, where the plane’s internal fuel would only last for ten minutes before dropping an extra fuel tank of over a thousand liters. Once it took off and reached the battlefield, it would discard the external tank, then I’d become the most agile dog in the mountains. Before the ten minutes of fuel burned out, either the enemy would be wiped out, or I’d be dead.
On closer thought, even tanks in games only carried 20 shells, whereas in reality, tank operators wished they could cram as many shells as possible because there were never enough during intense battles.
After the engine noise subsided, Wang Zhong said, “Then I’ll withdraw first.”
Pavlov: “Okay, I’ll withdraw too.”
“Before that, you need to sign the casualty report,” the level-six clerk suddenly said. “And by the way, the tea at the division headquarters is quite good. Who brewed it?”
Nelly raised her small hand: “Me.”
“Oh. The general’s little maid, huh? Could you also brew a pot for us clerks over at the bunker nearby?”
The enemy began their attack, and, naturally, important division headquarters moved their operations underground. Otherwise, a single shot could disrupt the troops and plunge them into chaos.
Nelly: “If it’s just brewing tea, no problem.”
Wang Zhong suddenly joked, “Nelly was very happy watching the battle from the division bunker today, but starting tomorrow, she will switch to the boring duty of managing warm tea.”
Nelly: “I wasn’t happy. I was just curious about what the enemy looked like.
“During the breakout, it was nighttime, and I was sitting at the back of the tank, shrinking my neck all day, so I didn’t really see what the living enemy looked like. That’s why I was curious.”
During the breakout, Nelly had sat on the engine hood of Wang Zhong’s tank number 422, shrinking her neck behind the tank gun turret the whole time.
At that time, Nelly must have looked quite cute, but unfortunately, Wang Zhong was too busy aiming the machine gun atop the tank turret at the enemy to notice how Nelly looked.
Just then, Pavlov finished signing, handed the document back to the old man, and said, “You take a break too.”
The old man chuckled, “You don’t know this, but an old guy like me gets by on three or four hours of sleep a day. When you get old, you’ll miss being able to sleep for long periods.”
As he spoke, the old man picked up Nelly’s teapot and walked away with it.
Nelly: “My teapot has been swiped. It was brought from the Rokossovsky Estate in Ye Fort.”
Wang Zhong: “No problem, we’ll get it back tomorrow.”
After saying that, he yawned deeply.
————
The next day, early in the morning of September 21st, Wang Zhong was woken up by the sound of artillery.
He immediately rolled onto the floor, flattened himself into a defensive position, and cursed, “This early?”
Given the rigid nature of the Prussians, he estimated that they would probably bombard them every morning at this time from now on.
It took Wang Zhong a moment to remember that he had slept in the division bunker’s rest area the day before, which meant he didn’t need to be overly afraid of the bombardment.
Or rather, if the bombardment even reached the bunker’s rest area, his own position probably wouldn’t be much help in surviving, so he might as well pray to the concrete gods.
Wang Zhong stood up and got dressed.
He had slept in his trousers the night before, so he could get up quickly in case of emergency, and now he dressed in no time.
At this moment, Nelly entered the room.
By the look of things, the bombing had caught her off guard as well, and she had flattened herself onto the floor immediately.
Wang Zhong: “Prepare some refreshing tea, I’m going straight to the division headquarters.”
After saying that, he pushed past Nelly and rushed down the corridor toward the division bunker.
In the bunker, the night-shift staff officers and Popov were peering out of the observation post.
Wang Zhong made his way to the observation post in three steps, picked up the binoculars, and asked simultaneously, “What’s the situation?”
“Just artillery fire, no sign of troop assembly. Should we return fire?”
Wang Zhong raised his eyebrows, “Do you think the enemy will still form up for attack waves in the same place as before? They suffered for it yesterday.”
Popov: “A little return fire wouldn’t hurt. The supply train arrived at two last night, replenishing us with a whole lot of heavy artillery ammunition. The person organizing the train is an old hand, knowing what gets used up the most on the first day of a defensive battle.”
Wang Zhong involuntarily thought of General Chekhov’s face, flat as a frying pan. In the era before Wang Zhong crossed over, frying pans were usually non-stick.
This general was truly capable, never clinging to a pot, always reliable in his duties.
One day, he’d have to get General Chekhov to write his memoirs and then produce a movie based on them, titled “The Cannon, the Seal, and the Non-stick Pan.”
Since the non-stick pan general had delivered the ammunition, it was only natural to give the Prussians an “entertaining” start to their day.
Wang Zhong: “Tell the artillery units, to use the same firing elements as yesterday’s counter-battery fire, fire when ready.”