The day after the engagement ceremony, Wang Zhong, accompanied by Cardinal Ravkid, visited the prisoner of war camp on the outskirts.
Pointing out the window in the reception room, Ravkid introduced, “This main road in the middle is the dividing line. To the left of the road is the officers’ area, and to the right is for common soldiers and junior NCOs. Which side would you like to visit?”
Wang Zhong replied, “Separate those among the common soldiers who have finished high school.”
Ravkid asked in confusion, “Why?”
Wang Zhong chuckled, “Because smart people are more likely to become part of the Secular faction.”
After pondering for a moment, Ravkid said, “You’re right. When Saint Andrew established the Secular faction, it first spread among the educated in the cities.”
“Exactly! That’s why we need to identify the high school graduates among the soldiers, and they must come from the lower class; those born into wealth probably won’t be easy to mobilize.”
Ravkid said, “I’ll select some who have shown good behavior and have them gather in the auditorium.”
Wang Zhong added, “Also, spread the news that I’ll be coming; let’s see if I have any fans—I mean, admirers. There shouldn’t be too many, gather them all.”
“Okay. I’ll make the arrangements. You continue to enjoy your tea,” Ravkid said, then left the prisoner of war camp’s reception room.
A moment later, he returned, frowning, “General, upon hearing that you’re coming, nearly all the prisoners want to see the extraordinary person who captured them.”
Wang Zhong said, “That’s even better. Select those among them who come from poor backgrounds and have a high school education. They’ll be our key members in the future. Let me know once you’re ready, and I’ll head over.”
Ravkid adjusted his glasses, “They’re ready now; you can go to the auditorium right away.”
Wang Zhong exclaimed in surprise, “How did you know I would make such a request?”
“Guessing this wasn’t hard, at least easier than guessing where the enemy will launch their main offensive this year,” Ravkid said with a stern face.
Standing up, Wang Zhong said, “Fine, let’s go and see these potential allies.”
————
The prisoner of war camp’s auditorium could accommodate about four thousand people, but Wang Zhong felt as though at least eight thousand were crammed inside. As soon as he entered, everyone’s eyes were fixed on him.
A large group of people suddenly stood up, making the soldiers, alert with submachine guns, very nervous.
Wang Zhong waved his hand, “Don’t be nervous. Everyone is just a bit excited to see me.”
He personally pushed down the submachine guns of the alert soldiers.
Seeing this, some prisoners boldly reached out their hands, speaking in Prosen.
Vasily interpreted, “He wants to shake your hand.”
Wang Zhong firmly shook the prisoner’s hand, “Hello, I hope you can get used to our food.”
After Vasily translated, the man excitedly said a bunch of things.
Vasily relayed, “He says the coffee and tea here are quite good, and the canned goods recently provided are even better.”
It seemed that Spam had conquered the Prosen soldiers! This reminded Wang Zhong of the story from Earth about a British officer who was astonished upon tasting Spam.
Wang Zhong remarked, “Good.”
He continued to walk forward, and more people reached out their hands to him.
Wang Zhong was somewhat surprised, “It seems that I’m quite well-liked among them. Why is that?”
Vasily, not sure whether to feign ignorance or genuinely curious himself, translated Wang Zhong’s words. The NCO shaking hands with Wang Zhong eagerly said a lot in response.
Vasily interpreted, “He says that you, on your own, held off the invincible Prosen army; you must be a military genius, a reincarnation of Suvorov. Prussians respect such genius.”
Wang Zhong was taken aback, gazing at the speaking NCO, “But I am Ante, the inferior race you speak of.”
Vasily translated this with a hint of mockery.
The man’s reply seemed somewhat proud.
Vasily conveyed, “He says that one of the marks of a superior nation is the ability to accept the strengths of other nations.”
They’ve rationalized it!
It appeared that the Plathen Emperor’s policies had received considerable support among the public.
Wang Zhong shook his head and stepped up to the podium, surveying the entire auditorium, and said loudly, “Gentlemen! Today I’ve called you here because I want to talk with you.
“I’m very curious, since the Prosen Empire started its wars of aggression, what changes have occurred within the empire itself?”
After Vasily translated, the crowd began to look at each other in confusion.
Wang Zhong continued, “The changes here refer to the conditions of your homes. Let me be frank with you all, after careful background checks, there are no nobles, no major merchants or factory owners among you—I mean, you are all nothing more than ordinary people.
“The empire has been expanding for three years now. Has your quality of life improved?”
Having asked, Wang Zhong began to hesitate, because he suddenly remembered that, on Earth, Germany had just recovered from the Great Depression before embarking on invasions—compared to the Great Depression, of course life would have improved.
Could it be the same in this timeline?
If that was the case, the methods Mr. Lin Zhe used to win over the Japanese couldn’t be applied here.
He nervously awaited the response while the prisoners also exchanged glances. The resulting silence left the auditorium suddenly quiet.
Suddenly, a captive shouted something loudly.
Wang Zhong quickly glanced at Vasily.
Vasily translated, “He said that the streets seem busier since the war started, the soldiers make the businesses along the street thrive, his own family owns a restaurant, and his mother wrote in a letter that when the soldiers dine and see the enlistment sign hanging at the restaurant’s entrance, they tend to leave a bigger tip.”
Wang Zhong thought to himself that it was over, it seemed that the plan to undermine the loyalty of the Prosen soldiers through their family circumstances had failed and he could only appeal to human conscience now.
Unexpectedly, the sergeant whose family operated a restaurant spoke up again.
Vasily translated, “He says, but there’s been a decrease in civilian patrons at the restaurant, only civilians working for military industries can afford to eat there. He also mentioned that the variety of dishes at the restaurant has reduced because most of the vegetables are being bought up by the army.
The furniture in the restaurant hasn’t been updated for a long time, as the factories that make furniture are now producing stocks for Mauser rifles.”
Wang Zhong suddenly felt there might be hope, so he nodded and said, “Very good, thank him for sharing that, Ravkid, please give him a pack of cigarettes.”
Ravkid nodded to the Priest beside him and a pack of Federation-made cigarettes was handed to the officer.
Seeing that cigarettes were being distributed, the captives all became excited.
It looked like Wang Zhong was right, cigarettes were rare items in the prisoner of war camp. He had come to this conclusion based on movies depicting POW camps, like “The Bridge on the River Kwai.”
Another sergeant took the stage and began to share his story.
Vasily continued translating, “This one says, his father was a worker in a factory, which had almost shut down and could hardly pay wages before Emperor Reinhard’s reforms. After the war started, the factory was acquired by Hensher and began producing screws, making it possible to pay wages normally.
“But his family can afford even less each month than before because the big merchants have spread the cost of their war bonds purchases into the prices of goods!”
Wang Zhong thought to himself that hiring high school graduates for this meeting was really right, as it also revealed that the prices had gone up because the cost of war bonds was being averaged into the product prices.
Suddenly, Wang Zhong had an inspiration and asked, “Do you know any other stories about the lords profiteering from the war?”
After Vasily finished translating, the worker’s son thought for a moment and said, “I know that when they occupied Carolingian, the division commander emptied out the local nobility’s wine cellars and looted all the gold and silver jewelleries.”
Wang Zhong, “Did you guys get a share?”
After Vasily finished, the captives all laughed.
A sergeant below shouted something.
Vasily said, “He says, how could they, that was for the division and brigade commanders, even battalion commanders couldn’t get a share!”
Wang Zhong, “Very good, any other stories about war profiteering?”
Someone below said a bunch of things rapidly, Wang Zhong didn’t wait for Vasily to translate but pointed to that person and said, “Come up to the stage and tell us!”
That person, too, didn’t wait for Vasily to translate and went straight to the stage, pushing aside the worker’s son who had just spoken and began to speak passionately.
Vasily translated sentence by sentence, “‘In Kazarlia, the officers allowed us to go down and loot food during rest times, forcing the civilians to collect grains at gunpoint. Then, all of the wheat was transported back to the rear.
In November, my sister wrote me, saying that wheat and flour from Kazarlia began to be sold in the city, but they were very expensive, apparently because of added transportation costs and a levy for supporting the army!'”
Wang Zhong, “Good! The lords took away the food from the civilians of Kazarlia, but the people of Prosen can’t even eat it! These grains have all gone into their own pockets! The so-called army support levy never reached your hands!”
As he spoke, he thought that this trend was very good, if it continued like this, it would turn into a full-fledged grievance airing session!
Subsequently, more and more soldiers took the stage and recounted all they knew about officers and nobles reaping war profits.
These shocking facts would make people involuntarily question their veracity.
But Wang Zhong, having read related materials before crossing over, knew that the Sturmtiger was quite corrupt, possibly only slightly better than President Chang’s Nation-Squeezing Party.
So, Wang Zhong felt that these seemingly outrageous happenings were possibly not entirely fictitious.
More and more Prosen soldiers went on stage, perhaps because there was neither officers nor nobles present, they became increasingly unrestrained.
Seeing that the situation was ripe, Wang Zhong raised a hand to stop more prisoners from coming on stage and walked to the center of the podium himself.
Wang Zhong, “The war has been going on for so long, you have occupied vast lands, the lords are living in luxury, yet the citizens suffer terribly! You have not even started total war mobilization yet, and the situation will get worse once you do!
“Prosen will inevitably mobilize because they have started wars with most of the world for their own greed! The people of Prosen will suffer increasingly, while those lords touting the superiority of their nation will continue to prosper!
“I am here today to tell you, cooperating with us is not surrendering, it’s choosing the right path for the future of your country!
“I don’t expect you to change your minds right away, I only ask you to think about who has benefited from the continuous expansion, think about your fathers and mothers, think about your sisters!”
After Wang Zhong finished speaking, he nodded at Ravkid.
Changing minds was not something that could be done overnight, he had just started the process, and the meticulous work would continue from there.
After the meeting, Ravkid found Wang Zhong, “Starting from the family is a very good approach.”
Wang Zhong, “You need to quickly translate the books of the Secular faction into Prosen’s language for them to read.”
“There is actually a Prosen language version already. In fact, the Secular faction had a fairly good spread within Prosen even before, it’s just that we’re under the name of the Eastern Holy Church, and the Prosen People generally don’t believe in the Eastern Holy Church.
“Reinhard expelled all of the Eastern Holy Church from within Prosen, and a large number of Secular faction members fled to Melania and then to us.”
Wang Zhong, “Then let them come, first we need to spread the teachings of the Eastern Holy Church, and then recruit volunteers from the prisoners of war.”
Ravkid nodded, “Understood, I’ll see to it.”
Wang Zhong was very satisfied, but he suddenly realized that he was acting like a leader giving orders to a Cardinal. Who the hell was he?
He decided to pretend he hadn’t noticed.