It was not until noon that the armored train was fully prepared.
Wang Zhong looked at his watch and said to Pavlov, “From five in the morning until now, it took a full eight hours for you to get ready!”
Pavlov: “Combining so many carriages and piling sandbags on top, installing machine guns, and allocating ammunition… finishing all that in eight hours is quite good.”
Wang Zhong stood up: “Alright, I’ll go check out my little train.”
Just as he was about to leave the room, Pavlov stopped him, “Wait a minute, this operation needs a name, otherwise I can’t even log it in the diary.”
Wang Zhong was taken aback.
Defense operations did not require creative plan names—just a series of contingency codes was enough. Offensive plans actually needed names.
Wang Zhong thought of many clever operation names in an instant, such as “Charlie Don’t Surf,” a name first used by the American military in Vietnam, before they got a wallop.
Latter, in Somalia, the Americans tried it again, not taking the hint—losing the Açu, damn it, what else could stand in my way!
And they got a wallop again.
The name was later appropriated by the video game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare,” in which the American assault troops ended up being hit by a tactical nuclear missile, becoming one of the memorable scenes in video game history.
So, no matter what the operation was called, it most definitely shouldn’t be “Charlie Don’t Surf.”
“Christmas Offensive” was another name to avoid.
After thinking for a moment, Wang Zhong said, “Let’s call it ‘Crossing the Merafengmon River.'”
Pavlov looked puzzled: “Where is the Merafengmon River?”
Wang Zhong: “It’s a fictional planet where I buried my naivety, arrogance, and countless comrades-in-arms.”
Pavlov was full of question marks, but Wang Zhong just patted his shoulder: “It’s just something from a dream, don’t worry about it.”
Pavlov hesitated: “Are you sure you want to call it that? Should I write it in the operation plan?”
Wang Zhong was astonished this time: “We have an operation plan?”
“Yes, I had the staff write it while I was dispatching forces. I read it, and it’s not bad, looks like a plan that’s been carefully considered for a long time.”
Vasily, preparing to follow Wang Zhong to the station with the radio on his back, heard the words “carefully considered” and burst out laughing: “It’s clearly just a spur-of-the-moment plan hatched by the general!”
Wang Zhong sternly scolded: “Turning such an improvisational plan into reality, making sure it’s thoroughly implemented, shows that Pavlov is an excellent chief of staff—ah!”
Pavlov shook his head: “You don’t need to butter me up with flattery; I didn’t oppose your plan because I saw its feasibility. The enemy most likely wouldn’t have expected us to strike in this way and will be caught off guard.”
He paused, then said: “Let’s not call it ‘Crossing the Merafengmon River.’ Wouldn’t it be just fine to call it ‘Crossing the Duva River’?”
Wang Zhong thought about it: “That works too.”
After all, naming it after a sci-fi game was a bit too much.
But in the future, if there comes a time to attack on a bright, sunny day, I’ll definitely name it ‘Climbing Naroda Peak,’ whether or not this world has such a mountain.
Pavlov: “Now that the naming issue is resolved, you can depart. Good luck, General.”
After that, he stood at attention and saluted.
All the people remaining in the command center saluted Wang Zhong, Grigori, and Vasily as well.
Wang Zhong saluted back: “Wait for news of my victory.”
————
September 24th noon, 1230 hours, Shostka train station.
As Wang Zhong walked onto the platform, he saw that the lead car of the armored train, a KV, had been painted with the number 422, and a red flag hung from its radio antenna.
All the tank operators were standing outside in a row, as if they were waiting for an inspection.
When they saw Wang Zhong arriving, the captain gave the command: “All crew, attention! Salute!”
The Ante People’s salute emphasized puffing out the chest and raising the chin, exuding an aura of fearlessness.
Wang Zhong said to the captain, “I’m sorry for taking your place.”
“I will be in the anti-aircraft gun carriage behind to oversee the direction of the anti-aircraft guns,” the captain said, “but what about the original crew of train 422? Won’t you need them?”
Wang Zhong: “They’re more familiar with the T34. You’ve been fighting alongside tanks for so long, I wouldn’t separate you from them.”
“Only those faithful war machines will provide us with a steel tomb,” said the captain.
Wang Zhong: “No, the Prosen tank operators are excellent, but don’t emulate their military songs. We aim to annihilate the enemy and then return alive, to see our mothers.”
Wang Zhong raised his voice, addressing everyone: “I know many of you might think this is a suicide mission. That is completely wrong! We are going to deal a heavy blow to the enemy forces and then return alive!
“You can look at my record—my troops often fought brutally, but each time, we killed even more enemies! This time will be no different!”
After his speech, the entire train started to chant “Ura.”
Wang Zhong suddenly thought, if the enemy chose this moment to shell the station, they could likely break up our offensive in one fell swoop.
Too bad the enemy’s regular shelling had stopped earlier today.
Prosen people stand out for being clock-punching and businesslike.
Wang Zhong: “Board the train, prepare to depart!”
His command was passed back by each car commander, spreading to the distance.
Vasily, with the radio on his back, jogged toward the rear of the train.
Wang Zhong was the last to climb aboard the tank, squeezing into the turret.
In front of the tank, the machine gunner behind the sandbags was ready.
The flat car Wang Zhong was on now had sandbags arranged in an arrowhead formation at the front, with no machine guns at the back because the directional machine gun on the tank chassis could sweep the area in front.
Behind the arrowhead sandbags, there were two machine gun nests, each with one machine gun aimed at the sides.
There were also two more machine gun nests behind the tank.
One car with one KV1 tank, plus four machine guns, symbolized a ruthless lack of familial affection.
The flat car behind had fewer machine guns, but behind the sandbag barricades, lay two squads of naval infantry, ready to disembark for combat.
Section three of the flatbed car sported four additional machine guns.
Section four was a sealed boxcar stuffed with two platoons of Naval Infantry.
Section five was an anti-aircraft artillery car, equipped with a 72K anti-aircraft gun and the Divine Arrow team, plus a squad of Naval Infantry to protect those praying.
The sixth and seventh sections were both sealed boxcars, filled entirely with Naval Infantry in black uniforms.
Next came the locomotive and the coal tender.
A squad of Naval Infantry had also clambered atop the locomotive, and there was another squad on the mountain of coal in the tender.
Anyway, Wang Zhong’s armored train was notably crammed with enough Naval Infantry; by the end of the day, Black Death’s fame would be thoroughly established.
Wang Zhong put on his headphones and picked up the handset, “Vasily, can you hear me? Vasily?”
“I can hear you, you’re asking for tomatoes, aren’t you?”
This was the agreed-upon code indicating that Vasily had reached the rear locomotive, allowing Wang Zhong to command the train through Vasily’s Prosen-made radio.
Wang Zhong, “That’s right, tomatoes.”
Just then, the sound of artillery fire could be heard—the artillery position was well-camouflaged in the nearby woods.
At the same time as the artillery barrage, eight Yak-1 fighter planes flew over the train.
Wang Zhong had not requested air support, but it seemed the Air Force pilots had taken their initiative.
Without even changing his viewpoint, Wang Zhong could see the 100kg bombs carried under the wings of those Yak-1s with his own eyes.
Wang Zhong thought to himself, I’ve somehow instilled some battle habits into the Ant Air Force that they should not have.
Then, Harlamov’s voice came through Wang Zhong’s headphones, “Old farmer, old farmer, what are we eating today?”
Wang Zhong had not arranged code words with the Air Force, guessing the pilots had come up with something on the spot after hearing his previous conversation with Vasily about tomatoes.
“Today, we have tomato egg soup!” Wang Zhong replied.
“Really looking forward to that!” By then, Wang Zhong could no longer see the planes, and the radio communication began to crackle with static; Ante’s radios were just like that.
The radios salvaged from enemy tanks were tank models, and the Naval technicians were still figuring out how to adapt them.
Looking at his watch, Wang Zhong saw the artillery assault had fifteen minutes left before it ended; it was time to move out.
So, he said to Vasily, “Vasily, add two more eggplants.”
“Understood, adding one more eggplant.”
Hardly a few seconds had passed in response when the train suddenly jolted and then began to move forward slowly.
Crossing the Duva River required first traversing the entirety of Shostka.
As the train moved, the railway sides were lined with Shostka residents who had not yet fled.
Those who had not evacuated were basically working on logistics, and when Wang Zhong’s troops needed to retreat, they would be evacuated first.
Wang Zhong heard a woman crying, “What a great general, going off to a generous death.”
No, why does everyone assume I am heading to my death?
It seemed that the enemy’s prior victories had indeed severely dented the confidence of the Ante people.
Today, I will let the civilians know that we can mount an offensive that isn’t a death sentence!
With that in mind, the train rolled onto the great bridge over the Duva River.
Wang Zhong looked down at the glittering Duva River below and suddenly remembered his childhood, the first time he crossed the Yangtze River Bridge in Nanjing by train.
Sometimes, Wang Zhong really couldn’t distinguish between Ante and the homeland from his memories—perhaps because both were vast and beautiful.
Who knows when I’ll cross the Duva River again.
As the train passed the bridgehead, soldiers guarding the fortress cheered, “Ura!”
Damn it, the enemy is less than two kilometers away, and though they’re currently under artillery fire, shouting like that might alert them!
Carrying these worries, Wang Zhong glanced at the enemy position and realized there was no issue; the enemy was in disarray from the shelling and couldn’t concern themselves with this.
At this moment, the artillery began to extend their fire, and the barrage pushed forward.
The train coincidentally advanced along with the barrage.
The enemy trenches, just a mere glance away, quickly approached!
Wang Zhong yelled, “Open fire!”
All the machine guns began to fire.
The enemy was clearly bewildered, having never seen such an operation.
Wang Zhong, “Vasily, reduce an eggplant.”
“Got it!”
Then Wang Zhong distinctly felt the train slow down.
At this speed, the Naval Infantry could disembark to fight; Wang Zhong had it all arranged. The infantry needed to clear the enemies on both sides of the railway and establish defense positions to ensure the train’s safe retreat.
After all, the locomotive would be leading the way during retreat, and should its cylinders be punctured, that would be problematic.
Wang Zhong switched his viewpoint and saw two platoons of infantry disembarking from the train.
But instead of establishing defensive positions, they charged toward the enemy, who were still stunned.
The rattle of submachine guns and the thunderous Ura cries merged into one on the enemy lines.
Even though the train had slowed, it continued its trotting gallop along the tracks.
The machine guns on the flatbed cars fired in all directions.
After breaking through the enemy’s first line of defense, the guns began to target the mules and other transport vehicles on either side of the railway.
Wang Zhong himself grabbed an anti-aircraft machine gun from the tank, firing down below while shouting, “Fire, fire! Don’t spare them just because they are logistics personnel!”