Wang Zhong marched briskly toward the captured Prussian soldiers.
Suddenly, Grigori came up and blocked Wang Zhong’s way, “The enemy might be hiding weapons, wait until we’ve searched them.”
Wang Zhong gently pushed him aside, “It’s fine, the bullets of cowards can’t hit me.”
In fact, Wang Zhong had used a cheat to confirm these people were unarmed—the presence of weapons would have been highlighted and easily identifiable.
Wang Zhong strode forward to the Prussian prisoners.
Grigori hurried to follow, his weapon ready to fire at any moment, evidently determined to shoot if any of the captives made a sudden move.
The Prussians also watched Wang Zhong, the officer who had led the surrender initially full of arrogance, until Vasily took down the red flag from the cannon and followed behind Wang Zhong with it.
The officer’s brow furrowed, and then his expression turned to fear.
Wang Zhong joked, “What, are you going to recite a prayer too? Something like ‘He comes from the darkness, bringing death but also lighting up the future’?”
Vasily, carrying the red flag, translated.
The officer shook his head vigorously, his cheeks flapping, “No, no!”
Vasily, “He says no.”
Wang Zhong thought to himself that he understood this phrase—at least he’d watched ‘The Fuhrer’s Rage’ so many times.
“Ask them why they look so terrified of me, what are they afraid of.”
Vasily did so immediately.
Then the prisoners opened up and said a lot quickly.
Vasily, “He says the prisoners you catch will be tortured, shot in the shoulder, and left permanently disabled.”
Wang Zhong sneered, “Don’t equate us with you! You are beasts; we are humans. We shot in the shoulder in the past because we didn’t have time to take prisoners, and we couldn’t let them go to kill our soldiers, so we had no choice. Now, we have the conditions to take prisoners, and I assure you that you will receive treatment in accordance with the Geneva Convention!”
At least until they were handed over to the Tribunal—Wang Zhong secretly added in his mind.
Then he waved his hand grandly, “Take them away, prepare for evacuation!”
No sooner had Wang Zhong’s words fallen than he suddenly saw two destroyed M3 tanks and raised his hand, “Wait a second!”
Grigori immediately shouted, “Wait a moment!”
The prisoners startled, someone even stumbled and almost fell.
Wang Zhong left the prisoners behind and walked toward the tanks.
Both tanks had been penetrated at the front, the holes left by the armor-piercing shells were clearly visible. It looked like they burst into flames immediately after being hit and continued to burn until destroyed.
It was only when Wang Zhong thought of the word “destroyed” that he realized the scent of burning was in the air, an odor his brain had already grown accustomed to and automatically ignored before.
Wang Zhong turned back to Vasily, “Tell them to dig graves for our soldiers before leaving.”
At that moment, a major spoke up, “We’ve checked; the fires inside the tanks were too intense, we can’t retrieve the bodies of the soldiers without dismantling the tanks.”
Wang Zhong, “Then dig a bigger pit and bury the tanks with them.”
“Yes, sir!” The major saluted and turned to make arrangements.
Wang Zhong stopped him, “Wait a second, where is the enemy command post?”
The major shook his head, “I don’t know, we’ve been pushing hard all morning without stopping to check the occupied houses.”
Wang Zhong nodded, then turned to Vasily, “Ask them where the command post is.”
Vasily immediately went to talk with the prisoners and then came back to report, “It’s the building they were defending. When Division Commander Ante led his troops to retreat, they chose to stay behind to cover the withdrawal and deal with the remaining documents.”
Wang Zhong nodded, “Let’s go in and take a look; maybe there are things that haven’t been burned. Get them digging! Bury my soldiers properly.”
As he spoke, Wang Zhong turned and walked toward the half-collapsed building with his hands behind his back.
Soldiers who had already entered the building had searched it. As soon as Wang Zhong came in, he ran into the familiar face of Filippov and smiled, “Filippov, still alive!”
He grabbed Filippov’s shoulders with both hands, “Good, very good, all limbs intact, ready to give the Prussians a good beating!”
Filippov also smiled, then got straight to the point, “General, we’ve checked. All the documents and maps inside have been burned. We didn’t find any codebooks, and the Enigma machine was smashed.”
Wang Zhong, “Smashed?”
“Yes, we’ve collected the pieces as best we could, but I don’t know if they can be restored; we’re not skilled in that.”
Wang Zhong, “Still a commendable job. Let the technical department worry about the rest.”
Having said that, he patted Filippov on the shoulder and continued deeper into the building, but Filippov said, “General, there are cracks in the main structure of the building. The 203 heavy artillery is too powerful. You shouldn’t go in, what if it collapses?”
As if to underscore Filippov’s words, fine dust fell from the ceiling, landing right on Wang Zhong and the others.
The 203 artillery had fired three rounds, turning the entire building into a dangerous ruin?
Wang Zhong had originally planned to use the remaining two-thirds of the building as his command post.
Vasily, observing Wang Zhong’s expression, said, “It looks like we’ll need to find another command post.”
Wang Zhong nodded, “Right, you’re in charge of selecting the location.”
After finishing, he turned to Filippov and said, “Since this building is already dangerous, quickly evacuate the soldiers. Nothing else is that important, no need to search further.”
“Yes.”
After finishing, Wang Zhong walked out of the building and saw Ante soldiers in one corner of the square distributing shovels to the Prussians. To prevent them from using the shovels as weapons and causing an uprising, a jeep was parked not far away, with an M2 heavy machine gun mounted on it, trained on them.
Suddenly, Wang Zhong thought, what if the captives think they’re being made to dig their own graves?
Upon reflection, he mischievously decided not to have Vasily explain that the pit was just to bury the destroyed tanks.
It wouldn’t hurt just to scare them a little.
At that moment, three jeeps and one M3 half-track squeezed past the artillery blocking the road and drove up to Wang Zhong.
Yegorov and the chief of staff of the Guards Motor Rifle, Alexandria, got out of the jeeps one after the other, both eyeing the Prussian prisoners digging.
Yegorov slapped his thigh and exclaimed appreciatively, “Nice! Just shoot them all and save the trouble!”
Hey!
Wang Zhong hurriedly explained, “No, we’re having them dig to bury our soldiers. Two M3s entirely burned down and the people inside couldn’t escape; their flesh has fused with the steel, so I thought we might as well bury the vehicles too.”
“Oh, so it’s not a mass execution,” Yegorov said, clearly disappointed.
The Chaplain coughed, “Be mindful of the impact! These things trickle down from the top!”
“I know, I know, look, our soldiers didn’t kill them, did they?” Yegorov changed the subject, “Why did you come out, can’t you use that nice building? Would’ve been perfect for the Corps Command headquarters.”
Wang Zhong shook his head, “It’s been hit by heavy shelling three times; it’s unstable now. I was thinking of disguising it, making a fake command post to trick the enemy’s bombing runs, which wouldn’t be bad.”
Staff Chief Alexandria looked up at the building, “What a pity, such a nice building.”
“When the war is over, we’ll build an even more luxurious one,” Wang Zhong said to Vasily, “Write this down, say that’s what I’m planning to build.”
Vasily said, “I bet the new building will have your bronze statue in front, maybe even you personally commanding artillery fire.”
While speaking, several trucks drove into the square through the “gap” the division staff vehicles had come through earlier. No sooner had they stopped than the men aboard lifted the tarp covering the large pot on the back, filling everyone’s nostrils with the scent of meat soup.
With enthusiasm, Vasily’s stomach grumbled aloud.
Wang Zhong shook his head, “You, always hungry before any real work’s done.”
“I’m speaking on behalf of all the soldiers, it’s time to eat,” said Vasily.
Wang Zhong looked at Alexandria, “After setting up a security perimeter, let the troops eat on the spot.”
————-
By three in the afternoon, the Corps Command had arrived in Yeisk, entering the food bureau warehouse Vasily had chosen—there was no grain left in the warehouse; even if you scraped the entire floor, you wouldn’t fill a cart.
However, the warehouse itself was a concrete structure, ideal for a command post, except that the lighting was a bit of an issue, there were hardly any lights in the granary.
Vasily started a fire directly in the middle of the granary, then stuck torches all around the warehouse.
Pavlov frowned, “You might as well bring a few trucks in and use their headlights for lighting.”
Vasily slapped his thigh, “You’re right, I’ll get on that immediately!”
Wang Zhong stopped Vasily, “That’s enough, no need to go! Leave the setting up of the command post to the Level 6 Clerk!”
“Couldn’t you just use my name?” Colonel Karataev of the civil service appeared behind Wang Zhong like a ghost, triggering a reaction in Wang Zhong’s DNA—back in his school days, the head teacher and class leader would suddenly appear and take the pocketbook from Wang Zhong’s hands!
The civil service colonel frowned, looking at Wang Zhong, “General, isn’t your reaction a bit too much? A general should be calm in the face of changes.”
“You’re right,” Wang Zhong agreed solemnly.
The colonel glanced at the warehouse and shook his head, “How can you start a big fire where there’s so much paper in the command post? Just run some electricity for lighting, that would be enough! Forget it, I’ll take care of it.”
The old man walked ahead grumbling, issuing orders as he moved.
Pavlov looked at Wang Zhong, “You stopped Vasily because you’re preparing for recon, aren’t you?”
Wang Zhong, “You’re right! Although we’ve taken Yeisk, the fight has just begun. On this ground of hundreds or thousands of square kilometers, we have to face the enemy’s 10th Army Group; I must see for myself what the terrain is like.”
Pavlov nodded, “I think it’s a bit much for the Army Group Commander to do recon himself, but I have no reason to argue with you. When you become the Front Army commander, will you still do recon personally?”
Otherwise?
Wang Zhong, “Of course not, by then I might be tens or hundreds of kilometers from the front line, I should only be able to do actual recon for key breakthrough areas.”
Pavlov gave a knowing look, and Popov, standing nearby, said, “I think it’s better to send scouting teams; the area your Army Group is responsible for is so vast, can you really cover it all?”
Wang Zhong, “Of course the scouts have to go, but I’ll do the recon myself. Don’t worry, I won’t encounter danger.”
Because from two kilometers away, the enemy could be highlighted.
Pavlov said to Popov, “No use, he’s decided to go, let’s just trust in Sergeant Grigori’s capabilities.”
Popov shrugged, “That’s all we can do, then.”