artillery arc

Chapter 709: Homecoming (6K)

Wang Zhong stayed in Haut-Peigne for another day, took a lot of photos, and finished filming all the videotapes that Robert Capa had brought.

When he returned to the headquarters, Pavlov and Popov looked at him seriously.

Wang Zhong looked puzzled: "What happened? Did the Prosons take out their secret weapons? Or did they use poison gas?"

At the beginning of the war, the Prosen people used poison gas on a large scale, and Wang Zhong had encountered it before.

Later, the United Kingdom and the United States showed their reserves of poison gas, and the Plossans promised not to use it. At that time, the United States had not yet entered the war, and everyone believed that Plossans promised not to use poison gas in order to appease the United States and keep it "honorably isolated."

Who knew Fuso launched a sneak attack.

But it is true that since then, the Prosen people have never used highly lethal poison gas again.

No one can guarantee that they won't use it again if they are forced into a corner.

Pavlov: "Nothing of the kind happened, but... you can see for yourself."

The chief of staff handed the document to Wang Zhong.

Wang Zhong understood after looking at the cover of the document. This was an investigation report on Yegorov's family, and perhaps also a report on Dr. Katya's family. So he did not open the document, but looked up and asked, "Are you sure?"

"It's confirmed. We also found a relic." Pavlov placed the ring in Wang Zhong's palm. "We all agreed that you should tell them both."

Wang Zhong: "You guys...are ordering me, the commander of the front, around in all kinds of ways!"

Pavlov: "Yes, yes. I will arrange a car for you now and take you to Yegorov's headquarters. Doctor Katya is also in their group army hospital."

Wang Zhong did not answer immediately. Instead, he held up the ring and looked at it under the fluorescent light of the headquarters.

"It has my initials engraved on it," he said.

Pavlov: "Yes, it is the initials of Yegorov and his wife's name, it has been confirmed. Yegorov also has a similar ring, you can go over and compare them."

Wang Zhong stared at the ring for a while, then solemnly put it in his pocket and looked at Pavlov: "I'll be back soon. When will the headquarters start moving?"

The front headquarters has been moving forward every few days these days, which also reflects how smoothly the front's progress is now.

Pavlov: "Anyway, we won't move tomorrow. In fact, the advance has slowed down now. All the troops are tired. Moreover, as we get closer and closer to the Melania border, the entire battle line is shortening, and the density of the Prosen troops has greatly increased."

Wang Zhong looked at the large map in the headquarters. The density of enemy numbers had indeed increased significantly, which showed the status of the battlefield very intuitively.

"The inquisitors discovered that some new numbers have appeared. According to the intelligence previously shared with us by the Allies, these numbers belong to the Plosson Western Front Command." Popov said, "It seems that Emperor Plosson is still continuing to transfer troops from the Western Front."

Wang Zhong: "Got it. Can Roniezh be recaptured as planned?"

Pavlov: "Roniezh is now an empty city. The Prosens have withdrawn the troops originally stationed here, which means that the enemy has about 200,000 more fresh troops on the defense line in front of us.

"These troops are what Proson called the fortress defense troops, also known as the fortress defense infantry division. Their characteristics are that they are equipped with fewer motor vehicles than normal Proson infantry, almost no armored personnel carriers such as half-tracks, and no field artillery.

"But their infantry is well-trained and equipped with a large number of submachine guns, which are suitable for close combat in narrow tunnels. A large proportion of them are veterans.

"Placing such a division in the enemy's fortified zone will greatly increase the difficulty of our next phase of the offensive."

Wang Zhong: "We'll consider the next stage in the next stage. I'm leaving first."

"Ok."

"Bon Voyage."

After Wang Zhong left the headquarters, Pavlov and Popov looked at each other.

Popov: "Why not call Yegorov to the headquarters? It's not legal for a front commander, a marshal, to give him a ring?"

Pavlov: "The Marshal's first reaction was to hand over the ring himself, which shows that he has no awareness of his noble status. Hasn't he always been like this? Before, he sat at the same table with the guards in the cafeteria and cut sausages for the new recruits, which scared the new recruits."

Popov: "I see. I was wondering why a new joke started to spread in the guards: 'I don't know the young man, but I know he must be very noble because I saw Marshal Rokossov cutting sausage for him.'"

Pavlov laughed.

----

Plosson Army, Temporary Depot No. 200.

Sergeant Andreas looked at Sergeant Koslake and said, "Now we are a team again."

The sergeant took a sip of the hot soup in his lunch box and cursed: "Why is this soup like mud? It's so unpalatable!"

"It's good to have hot dishes." Sergeant Andreas took a sip of his soup and was surprised to find that he actually thought the soup was good.

At this time, several trucks drove into the military station. The Prosom soldiers on the trucks had ruddy faces and were talking and laughing loudly.

Andreas and Kosrek looked at them with serious expressions.

Kosrek: "Judging from their uniforms, they are the key defense troops. Why did they withdraw from Roniezh? They should be forced to fight the Antmers in Roniezh! See if they can still laugh."

Andreas: "The troops guarding the important place?"

"Yes, they are specially stationed in various fortresses. They are of the same nature as the Coastal Defense Division you met at the Western Wall."

Andreas: "Have the troops guarding the key points also withdrawn? Who is guarding Roniezh?"

"I don't know, maybe it's the navy, maybe there's no one guarding it. It's not our turn to worry about such things. We just need to try our best to stay alive."

Andreas: "Just living?"

"Yes, do you still have such thoughts for the glory of the Empire? We have already served the Empire loyally, and now we continue to fire with machine guns because the chances of survival are higher, right?"

As he spoke, Koslake took a sip of the soup. Apparently, he still couldn't accept the taste of the soup, and his brows were furrowed.

Andreas was just about to comment on what the sergeant had just said when he saw the trio of military police approaching.

He shut his mouth.

The military police were wearing black leather jackets, wearing silver badges, holding MP40s, and had ruddy faces. They didn't look like the unfortunate guys like Andreas who had come all the way here.

Andreas couldn't help but think that the gendarmes must have cigarettes, chewing gum and other goodies in their bags, after all, they had been staying in the rear where supplies were plentiful.

And Andreas hasn't smoked for a long time.

The military police came up to Andreas, and the lieutenant in charge took a look at their machine guns and said, "Well maintained, worthy of praise!"

Andreas merely nodded, while the Sergeant-Major continued to eat his disgusting broth.

Military police lieutenant: "Come on, we are about to reach the new defense line. This time we will not retreat again, and we can have a good fight with the Ants! This time we have reinforced concrete fortifications, and we will definitely let the Ants have a taste of our strength!"

Kosrek finally spoke: "Yes, I can't wait any longer. I'm tired of running away all the time! We fought well in the Tiber River and blocked the attack of the Ants for a whole day. In the end, the Moravians upstream failed to keep up and let the Ant army pass!"

The military police lieutenant cursed: "These damn second-class citizens! If you want to become first-class citizens of the empire, you have to show results! They keep failing all the time. I think the empire is being ruined by these second-class citizens!"

When the Prosun soldiers who were sharing soup on the roadside heard the gendarmes' words, they all expressed their agreement.

"That's it!"

"These Moravians have better equipment than us! I saw with my own eyes that they have half-track vehicles equipped with 20mm machine guns, which our division doesn't even have!"

"And the artillery too. If we had the equipment of the Moravians, Rokossov would not have been able to break through the Tiber River so easily!"

"Yes, yes, old Hansen, we all know that as long as you have the Moravian equipment, you can capture Rokossov alive!"

The last sentence is obviously a joke.

The lieutenant of the military police said: "Rokosov likes to go to the front line to scout the enemy. Maybe we can really capture him alive. Then the outcome of the war will be reversed. Maybe we can even get a duke title!"

When the military police lieutenant finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

Although most of the soldiers here are enlisted soldiers, education is widely available in Proson, and a considerable number of them are high school graduates, and many of them have even learned some military cartography on their own.

Most of them knew that even if Rokosov was captured alive, it would be difficult for Proson to win the war.

The military police lieutenant was also embarrassed and scratched his head, trying to break the silence.

Just then the quartermaster came over with a large stack of letters. "These are the letters rescued from the Roniezh Postal Center. Forget about the letters that have been sent to the front. They will never be found. I will come to pick up the letters when I read your name.

"Hanson Redwick!"

The "old Hansen" who had just been teased raised his hand: "Here I am, still alive!"

The quartermaster threw the letter at old Hansen like a Frisbee and read the next one: "Hylock Purmas."

No one answered.

"Sirok!" The quartermaster raised his voice.

At this time, someone raised his hand: "He is dead. I saw with my own eyes that he wanted to use a magnetic grenade to destroy the enemy's Rokossov-1 tank, but he was hit and killed by a tank. From my angle, it seemed that he was hit and killed by the sharp corners in front of the tank body."

The quartermaster glanced at the military police and scolded, "Watch your words. The sharp corners of the Rokossov I cannot possibly kill anyone!"

As he said this, he stuffed the letters that no one had received into his bag and continued reading out the names.

Suddenly, Andreas heard the quartermaster shout, "Andreas!"

"Here!" He raised his hand high, and his movement was so big that the broth spilled, and the bone residue in the broth fell to the ground.

The quartermaster still treated the letter as a frisbee and swung it straight towards Andreas' face.

The sergeant took the letter, opened it happily, and found that there were photos in addition to the letter paper.

Koslake came over: "Girlfriend?"

"No, my sister. The one next to him is her child, my nephew, who is six years old."

Koslake: "Where's her husband?"

"I don't know, maybe farming." Andreas opened the letter and began to read.

“Dear Andreas, I know it’s not time to write monthly yet, but I can’t help it.

"They took your brother-in-law away, saying that the Empire needs every man. Your brother-in-law is over 40 years old, and his legs hurt so much when it rains that he can't move. What can he do on the battlefield?

"But they took him away anyway. Your brother-in-law comforted me, saying that he was a corporal when he was young, and that he didn't have to do daily duties in the army.

"That's fine. Bread is being rationed now, and the supply of vegetables has also shrunk. The radio says we're winning..."

There are large sections of text that have been blacked out and are completely unrecognizable.

Andreas glanced at Kosrek. The sergeant said, "This has happened more and more recently. You'll get used to it."

Andreas continued to read the parts that were not blacked out, but the text was obviously not connected to the previous part.

"You remember my cousin in the city, the one who runs a watch shop? His wife suddenly ran away to the countryside with her children. We asked her what happened, but she just cried and couldn't say anything.

"Later we found out that the city was bombed and the fire burned for three days and three nights. Many people's bodies have not been found until now. The Imperial Air Force—"

Andreas stopped because he found that the handwriting of the text behind was obviously different. There was a clear cursive on the letter A, which was a font that only well-educated people would use.

"The Imperial Air Force put up a determined resistance, shot down a large number of bombers, and the enemy's reserve of pilots will soon be exhausted."

After reading this passage, the font turned back into the ugly look that Andreas was familiar with: “Although there are so many bad things, I am actually fine. Whenever I receive your letter from the front, I will feel much better.

"I can tell myself that my brother is alive and well, and my husband will surely be fine too. They always say the war will be over soon, and I sincerely look forward to the day when you come home.

"Love your sister, Freya."

Andreas folded the letter in half, stuffed it into his bag, and then looked at the photo carefully.

He discovered many details that he had not noticed before reading the letter, such as his sister's deep crow's feet and his little nephew's fanatical expression and the Youth League logo on his sleeve.

Andreas put the photo in the pocket closest to his heart and said to Koslake: "Sergeant, I must go home, no matter what happens, I must go home!"

"Yeah, me too," the sergeant-major replied. "Me too."

The second lieutenant of the military police was right next to the two of them and heard everything Andreas said. He said nothing, but turned around and left with his men.

----

When Wang Zhong got off the car, he found that the guards at the army headquarters had a look of astonishment on their faces.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" he asked.

The guard immediately said, "No! Salute to you, Marshal Davarich!"

Wang Zhong waved his hand: "Is Yegorov here?"

"Yes, Marshal Davarishi!"

Wang Zhong: "Okay, go to the military hospital again and find Doctor Katya! Tell her that Marshal Rokossov has something important to tell her."

"Doctor Katya?"

At this time, the commander of the guard battalion ran out in a hurry, putting on his hat as he ran: "Comrade Marshal! How come you came here without notifying me?"

Wang Zhong: "In my front army, do I need to report where I am going?"

"No, Comrade Marshal."

"Go and notify Doctor Katya to come over." Wang Zhong said as he strode into the headquarters.

The expressions of the people he met along the way were all the same as that of the guard at the beginning, first shocked and then standing at attention and saluting.

Wang Zhong went all the way to the map room. As soon as he entered the room, he heard Yegorov say, "Since the enemy's resistance is already insignificant, why can't we advance faster?"

"Egorov Davarich," the army chief of staff said with a wry smile, "the troops are very tired and most of the vehicles are broken down. We need to stop and rest."

Yegorov: "The muddy period is coming. We will have plenty of time to rest then. Now we should move forward as quickly as possible while the road is still passable!"

Wang Zhong: "Egorov! When fighting, we must take objective laws into consideration. Our current advancement speed is already much faster than expected. If it goes any faster, there will be problems."

Yegorov turned his head sharply: "Sukabu--Commander? Why are you here? You didn't even call to inform me! Did Filippov not treat you well? I'll punish him right away!"

Wang Zhong: "No, I came here for something else. Let's wait for Doctor Katya. Please report to me the situation of your army group. The chief of staff just said that many cars are broken down?"

Chief of Staff: “Yes, only 50% of our transport vehicles are still functioning normally. The situation of tanks and armored units is even worse. Some tank brigades only have a few tanks that can be driven. A few!

"The most seriously ill 31st Guards Brigade, only the brigade commander's tanks are still operational. They just stopped the enemy outside Volsk. The 382nd Regiment that cooperated with them only has people left who can fight."

Wang Zhong: "I can understand that a tank brigade has so few tanks left, but how can a regiment have so few people left? I haven't received any reports of you suffering heavy casualties."

Chief of Staff: "There are no major casualties. People just ran away. We moved too fast and many people fell behind. It will take at least half a month for us to return these people to the organization."

Wang Zhong: "It seems that when we formulate combat plans in the future, we need to limit the speed of advancement."

In fact, Wang Zhong also understood that it would be impossible to advance so quickly in the future, because the East Yoroba Plain ahead was not so vast, and there were many settlements and a high level of development, with reinforced concrete buildings everywhere.

Moreover, as we get closer to the enemy's homeland, the enemy's supply problem will be completely solved, while our supply problem will become more and more obvious.

But this did not stop him from saying this now, and the effect of this sentence was very obvious. All the staff officers present smiled and looked quite proud.

Yegorov: "I can't do anything if you want to restrict me. Commander, I will advance as much as you want me to in a day. I will never push more than that!"

Wang Zhong: "That's what you said! When I came in just now, you were still yelling about moving faster!"

"That was just now."

"Report!" the guard at the door shouted, "Doctor Katya is here."

Yegorov looked towards the door.

Wang Zhong also turned his head and saw Dr. Katya entering the headquarters in a white coat.

"Who's sick?" she asked.

Wang Zhong: "No one is sick, Doctor Katya, I called you here. Yegorov, please use your conference room."

Yegorov: "Can't we talk about it here?"

Wang Zhong: “No.”

At this time, the army bishop suggested: "You can go to the chapel next door. There should be no soldiers confessing now."

Wang Zhong: "Very good. Let's go."

----

The chapel was decorated very simply, with only a large table, a few chairs, and a wooden icon. In front of the icon were 12 candles, and the candlelight was swaying gently.

After Wang Zhong came in, he suddenly remembered that he was a saint and should show his respect, so he performed a simple ceremony in front of the icon according to what Lyudmila taught him.

"Amen!" he shouted, and turned to the two men, "Come, sit down."

Yegorov and Dr. Katya looked at each other, and then they sat down next to each other tacitly.

Wang Zhong took the stack of documents from Vasily and placed them on the table.

Yegorov's eyebrows twitched.

Dr. Katya covered her mouth.

Wang Zhong: "In fact, we have been looking for your family and have used some personal connections."

Yegorov: "No need, in fact, we——"

Wang Zhong put the ring on the table.

Yegorov immediately shut up and stared at the ring.

Wang Zhong: "Give you ten minutes to process your emotions."

Just as he was about to turn around, Yegorov called out to him, "Wait a minute! Commander! I might feel better if you're here."

Wang Zhong: “Really?”

"Yeah, it makes me feel better when I think about you also losing your father and good friend."

Wang Zhong: "Has anyone ever told you that you are not very good at talking?"

"People often say this. I'm just a rough guy, and everyone knows it." Yegorov stood up and reached out to take the ring, but hesitated halfway. He took his hand back and rubbed it vigorously before reaching out again.

Then he found he couldn't reach it.

Wang Zhong pressed the ring with his index finger and gently pushed it towards Yegorov.

The ring slid to the other side of the table, within Yegorov's reach.

Yegorov picked up the ring and first checked the engraving on the inside.

The ring on his finger reflected the candlelight in the chapel.

After a long time, Yegorov asked: "Where did you find it?"

"There's a village called Kulinka. You can go there to pay tribute to them later." Wang Zhong said softly.

Yegorov asked again: "Are they all there?"

"Yes, it's all there."

Yegorov held the ring in both hands and placed it in front of his nose, as if praying.

Dr. Katya stood up and put her arm around his shoulders, like a mother comforting a sad boy.

Wang Zhong: "Doctor Katya, your husband and family's information is also on the file."

"And we should go somewhere to pay tribute to them, right?" Dr. Katya asked calmly.

Wang Zhong nodded slightly.

"Thank you, Comrade Marshal," the doctor said softly.

Wang Zhong: "I came here... to say——"

I mean it's time to move on to a new life.

But Wang Zhong couldn't say this.

After all, he was not an experienced clergyman yet, and he was still very young, so he was not sure whether he should say this at this time.

He could only look at the two people hugging each other.

(End of this chapter)