On the morning of July 14th, Wang Zhong was brushing his teeth when he faintly heard the rumbling of artillery from outside.
The artillery position was to the west of Trinka, closer to the enemy, so the sound of the artillery came from the opposite direction of the sunrise.
Wang Zhong stopped and felt something was amiss.
Nelly looked puzzled at Wang Zhong, who had stopped, and blankly followed his gaze, only to see an unremarkable corner of the wall.
Finally, Wang Zhong realized the reason for his discomfort, “Before, the artillery was always behind me. Now, the artillery is closer to the front line than I am.”
Nelly asked, “What are you talking about, for someone who faced the enemy’s tank gun barrels on the front line yesterday?”
Wang Zhong was surprised, “You knew I faced the tank gun barrels?”
“Everyone is talking about it. As long as you do something brave on the battlefield, the whole army will know right away. Yesterday, when I was fetching water, there was a corporal from the reconnaissance battalion next to me who seemed to be driving their battalion commander to a meeting. That corporal was sitting on the hood of the jeep, vividly describing your actions.
“He also said that it was your bravery that gave him the courage to race his jeep in front of the enemy’s tank gun barrels.”
Wang Zhong keenly noticed a detail, “That’s not right. The reconnaissance battalion shouldn’t have been able to see me facing the gun barrels to persuade surrender today. That corporal is making it up!”
Nelly said, “Maybe he didn’t see it with his own eyes, but you really did face the gun barrels, didn’t you? Think about the child in your young lady’s belly. They can’t be without a father!”
“Rather than worrying about whether or not they have a father,” Wang Zhong said seriously, taking the toothbrush out of his mouth, “what’s more important is whether they’re slaves or not! I’m fighting so that my children won’t be slaves.”
Nelly held back her words and thrust the cup into Wang Zhong’s hand, “Rinse your mouth thoroughly! Make sure to wash away all the tooth powder!”
There was no surplus production of toothpaste now, especially the soft tubes for it, so there was simply no time to produce them. Hence, the tooth powder issued at the front line was brushed on with a toothbrush, which felt like smearing lime onto the teeth.
Wang Zhong rinsed his mouth carefully and just as he put the cup down, Nelly handed him a towel. The towel had even been washed in warm water and carried a faint scent.
As Wang Zhong sniffed the towel, Nelly said, “Our landlady, Auntie Xie Na, gave us the fragrance. She said that when her husband returned from the civil war, he would always smell bad, so she has always kept fragrance ready for many years.”
Wang Zhong raised an eyebrow, “What about her husband? I don’t recall seeing a partner in the landlady’s home?”
Nelly said, “I don’t know, and I didn’t dare to ask.”
Wang Zhong shook his head, “What’s there to be afraid of asking? We haven’t gotten to the point of mobilizing old men from remote villages to join active service yet. I played a part in that, you know.”
Indeed, he did. Wang Zhong’s efforts had at least spared Ante the loss of two million people. If one included convincing the Ante generals not to attack rashly but to play defensive counterattacks, that number might be even greater.
Having finished cleaning up, the sound of artillery outside continued, pretending to be a show of fire preparation.
Wang Zhong glanced at Nelly, “Go catch up on some sleep. Were you fanning me all night again?”
“And swatting mosquitoes all night,” Nelly replied.
Wang Zhong asked, “There are mosquitoes this far north?”
Last summer was spent in intense, continuous battles. Wang Zhong was still a junior officer, and when it came to sleeping, he would fall asleep as soon as he lay down, never noticing the mosquitoes.
So he was quite surprised.
Having said that, he realized he had made a slip of the tongue. How could the Ante People not know about the presence of mosquitoes?
So he quickly tried to cover up, “What I mean is, what are mosquitoes?”
At this point, he could only pretend to be a carefree young master who was oblivious to the hardships of the world—mosquitoes, I do not know them!
Nelly gave him a look full of tender care for a foolish son, “It’s a kind of flying insect that feeds on human blood.”
Wang Zhong had a vague hunch that the people around him might have guessed he was a transmigrator. They acted so normally, perhaps someone else had come before.
Like that Andrew, he looked very much like someone from his own hometown, just perhaps not a fellow Ceres. That’s why he hadn’t “climbed Naroda Peak”—or maybe he was a compatriot from the Yuan dynasty, scared off by a divine wind.
If Saint Andrew was a fellow countryman, then many things could be explained, such as why the church held him in such high regard, such trust.
Like how Saint Andrew, a man from over a hundred years ago, could have foreseen that quantum mechanics might explain various “Miracles.”
While Wang Zhong was lost in thought, Popov’s bald head intruded into his field of vision, the angle perfectly reflecting the sunlight and dazzling his eyes.
Popov said loudly, “Thank goodness I went to the 204th Heavy Howitzer Regiment last night. That regiment was full of new recruits and the commanders lacked experience, even planning to set off only this morning! I gave them a scolding and forced them to hurry over through the night, just in time for this morning’s shelling!”
“You’ve worked hard. Actually, having the 197th Heavy Howitzer Regiment would have been enough; with 152mm guns, we can easily fool the Prussians.”
“But the effect won’t be as good as the 204th Regiment. That regiment has B4 heavy howitzers, our old friends! 203mm! It’s sure to give the enemy a hard time!”
Wang Zhong raised an eyebrow, “That good? When I was organizing the mobile army, I did not include them because the B4 howitzers were too heavy and not convenient for mobility.”
Popov replied, “Indeed they are too heavy. On the way here, five guns had their tracks break. Fortunately, a part of the Army Group’s support brigade has arrived, and they sent out tractors. Give it three hours, and these guns can join in the shelling, too.”
Wang Zhong said, “By then the shelling will be over.”
Popov was a bit surprised, “You’re ending the barrage that soon? What if the enemy doesn’t fall for our attack and realizes we are undermanned?”
Wang Zhong shook his head, “The Prussians won’t react like that. They would first send reconnaissance planes to check the situation before making a move; sometimes they fight quite rigidly.
“Even if the enemy does attack, we are prepared for a counter-attack. They don’t understand the capabilities of our Vortex, and they will act more carefully when they are being counter-attacked.”
As soon as Wang Zhong finished speaking, Vasily pushed the door open and immediately added, “And the enemy fears the name Rocossov, they will be extra cautious!”
“Don’t talk nonsense. As commanders, we must not exaggerate the enemy’s fear of us. That’s wrong,” Wang Zhong glared at Vasily, and then pointed at Popov, “Since the bishop is here, let him educate you properly!”
Popov cleared his throat: “Expect the enemy to be cautious; perhaps the Prussians do have some dread of Rocossov, but our commanders must never consider this dread; we must assume that the Prussians are unaware of who our commander is when making decisions.”
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“Right, right,” Wang Zhong nodded repeatedly, then suddenly realized, “Wait a minute, that’s not right! Why do you also think that the enemy would dread me? What is there to dread about me?”
————
“Did you hear that? Those are 203 heavy artillery! According to High Command reports, that’s Rocossov’s favorite heavy firepower!” Colonel Busse lay on the ground in a standard anti-bombardment position, stating assertively.
As he spoke, a 203mm heavy artillery shell landed nearby, and a pile of dust fell from the ceiling.
To avoid inhaling the dust, Colonel Busse closed his mouth, swallowing the rest of his words.
More heavy artillery shells continued to fall, and the ceiling kept dropping powder, so everyone in the room kept their mouths shut, silently enduring as the ground shook.
After what seemed like an eternity, the artillery preparation ended.
Colonel Busse got up: “Quick! Move to the defensive positions we set up yesterday! The enemy is about to attack; their infantry might already be within 50 meters of the position!”
Captain Christopher also rose: “I’ll go and join my tank company.”
He had come to headquarters this morning to get a map of the city defenses; that way, he would know how his tanks could support the front lines.
Colonel Busse: “Go! It all depends on your tanks now. If it’s true what the routed soldiers from yesterday’s vanguard said, only your new tanks can face those assault guns!”
Captain Christopher saluted and sprinted out of headquarters.
Colonel Busse glanced at his aide-de-camp, “If I fall for my country, you must break out alive and deliver my letter to my wife.”
The aide-de-camp’s eyes moistened: “Yes, I will do it, Colonel.”
Suddenly, there was a burst of gunfire from the west of the city.
The aide-de-camp cursed, “Damn that Rocossov, he’s so cunning, attacking from the west of the city! Too bad our defensive positions last night were omnidirectional!”
Colonel Busse, however, furrowed his brows: “The west of the city…”
Suddenly, he grabbed the Chief of Staff’s shoulder: “Isn’t it today that the follow-up troops of Ceres Division are supposed to come up?”
“Yes.” The combat group Chief of Staff glanced at the time, “Oh no, it’s already this late! The bombardment distracted us from the passage of time.”
As he said this, he dashed to the phone, picked up the receiver: “Hello! Connect to the western defensive units! The line is down? Then hurry up and patch it!”
He dropped the phone and ran to the radio, placing his hand on the radio operator’s shoulder: “Call the troops in the west, have them confirm whether it’s really the enemy! Confirm whether it’s really the enemy! It’d be terrible if we mistakenly fired on our own forces!”
Radio operator: “Do I use open signals?”
“Yes, open signals! What’s the time for secrecy now? The key is to stop the friendly fire immediately!”
————
An hour later, Major General Wirt of Ceres Division, covered in dust, entered Busse’s combat group headquarters in Yeisk, and said to Colonel Busse, “Well done, my division headquarters was almost annihilated by you, Colonel!”
Colonel Busse: “The troops were just bombarded by heavy artillery. They were on edge.”
Major General Wirt: “I heard you were under heavy artillery fire, so I hurried forward at breakneck speed. My division’s presence at least could stabilize morale! Instead, you almost killed me!”
“My command vehicle was taken out by one of your shells, and the division chief of staff went to heaven with the vehicle! Luckily, I was sitting in the division’s tank. Otherwise, I would have joined the chief of staff on his journey.”
“Couldn’t you recognize the Iron Cross on the command vehicle?”
Colonel Busse dared not speak.
But Captain of the heavy tank company John said, “It’s normal to miss seeing with such big dust clouds from the division’s convoy.”
Major General Wirt turned to John, “Hmph, commander of the new tank company, the Emperor has placed great hope in you and your tanks, only to be badly beaten by the Antes?”
John: “It was the enemy Air Force that blasted the tracks off one of our tank platoons. It’s normal to lose when immobile tanks can’t move and face the assault guns.
“We still have two platoons, eight tanks intact; we can settle the score with the enemy’s assault guns. I’m confident.
“There is no invincible armored vehicle in this world. It is so with our Number Six tanks, and no doubt it is with the enemy’s new assault guns.”
Major General Wirt scrutinized John’s face closely: “Very well, very well. If I hadn’t just had a close call at the gate of hell set up by our own men, I would have praised you, Captain.”
After finishing, Major General Wirt turned to the map in the room: “Report! How many times have we repelled the enemy’s attack?”
“Zero.” Colonel Busse said.
Major General Wirt: “What?”
“Zero. The enemy conducted such fierce artillery preparation, yet they did not attack,” Colonel Busse said, looking very puzzled.
And the confusion also spread to Major General Wirt.