artillery arc

Chapter 710 Origin (6K)

A few more days passed.

On September 916, 9, Wang Zhong saw the city of Roniezh through a telescope.

Pavlov also came along. After putting down his binoculars, he sighed, "More than two years ago, I thought I would die in Roniezh. After all, we were in a state of total collapse at the time. Our allies either broke up into small pieces and ran back like crazy, or surrendered in an organized manner.

"I thought your order to attack westward was to allow us to die with dignity."

Wang Zhong: "I just used a counter-logic. The main reason for the success is that the Prosen people are too rigid."

In fact, the success was mainly due to the plug-in, which allowed us to discover the "gap" left by the enemy's rapid advance and get out of it.

Pavlov: "Now that I think about it, it was a narrow escape. Riding through the enemy hordes in a captured truck with the headlights on was a legendary act in itself. If only one Prosen had looked at us a little longer, they might have noticed that we were not wearing gray uniforms."

The color of Ante's uniform was very different from that of Proson's uniform, and they could be distinguished even at night. That day, no Proson person thought that the convoy coming from the "motherland" with headlights on was actually the enemy.

Vasily was shocked: "What a pity! I was not present for such an exciting event!"

Wang Zhong patted his shoulder and said, "Be content. If you were there, the grass on your grave might be one meter high."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the jeep parked at the bottom of the hill: "We will follow the route we took back then, first go around to the enemy's military station in the west, and then turn around and enter the city."

"It was quite a ceremonial occasion," Popov said. "Reporter Mike and his photographer partner must have been very happy."

Reporter Mike spread his hands and said, “In fact, the headlines I write recently have become less attractive because the content is always the same: you go to the place where you fought in the past, reminisce about the past, and then declare victory.

"Readers are tired of it. I think to rekindle the readers' interest, we need to have some hot-blooded revenge plots that we Americans like.

"It would be best if we could catch Officer Plossom who let you go, or your defeated general, and have a passionate conversation with him, which would draw the readers' attention back again."

Wang Zhong: "Why don't you let us take the rapiers and fight like knights."

Reporter Mike was overjoyed: "This is great!"

What a bullshit! Wang Zhong has no experience in cold weapon combat, but Plossen's old Junker must have some. Unless he suddenly uses a cavalry hacking trick on Wang Zhong, there is no way he can fight.

Reporter Mike smiled happily: "In fact, I would recommend using the United States-made Smith & Wesson revolver for the duel. The readers will definitely like it very much."

Wang Zhong: "Are the main readers of your newspaper distributed in states like Texas?"

"Not exactly. It sells well in the Rust Belt as well," replied reporter Mike.

I understand. Your newspaper will support garbage truck driver Jianguo Chuan in the future.

While joking, Wang Zhong came to the jeep.

Gregory, who was in the driving seat, saw him coming, put out his cigarette and started the car.

Wang Zhong got on the car and urged, "Move forward," without waiting for others to get on.

The sergeant stepped on the accelerator, and Pavlov's voice caught up with him: "Don't be so hasty, this was an enemy-occupied area the day before yesterday, there might be mines or stragglers!"

Wang Zhong just waved his hand.

The jeep drove along the road. After a while, Wang Zhong finally realized what was happening and asked Gregory, "Is this the road we took to escape overnight?"

"Yes, General, you still remember it!" Gregory exclaimed, "I remember you were drowsy because of your injury, right?"

Wang Zhong: "As a general, you have to remember the road no matter how bad your condition is. But I almost didn't recognize it. After all, the condition was too bad at that time, and it was still night. Although we drove forward with the headlights on, but——"

He suddenly stopped talking because he saw a big tree with lush branches and leaves, and the branches were full of corpses.

"Stop!" he yelled.

The car quickly slowed down and stopped next to a big tree.

Wang Zhong stood up and asked the villagers under the tree: "What are the bodies hanging from this tree?"

"An traitor!" The fellow said with a grin, "The judge took people to arrest them from house to house, and hanged them all, regardless of whether they were men or women."

Wang Zhong looked up at Yishu's corpse and thought it was a Christmas tree from a distance.

The fellow villager said again: "General, please don't sympathize with them. Before you came, this tree was used to execute guerrillas. Those good guys were betrayed by these traitors. They deserved it!

"For example, this guy burst into tears when the judge arrested him, and kept repeating 'I know I was wrong'. The judge said: 'You don't know you were wrong, you know you are going to die.'

"I think death is too easy for them. They should be tortured with the same tortures that the Prosun people used to treat us boys, and then let them die."

As he said this, the fellow spat at the corpse on the tree.

Wang Zhong: "That's great, let's just leave them hanging. But won't it cause infectious diseases?"

"It won't be hanging for too long." The fellow grinned, "A new batch will be delivered soon, and then these will be cremated and the ashes will be scattered on the ground nearby. The parish priest said that the marshal who led them liked to plant flowers in places like this, and the ashes of these people will make the flowers look particularly beautiful."

Wang Zhong smiled.

Vasily said nearby: "'At this moment, Marshal Rokossov silently made up his mind to add some more recognizable elements to the monotonous marshal's epaulettes.'"

Wang Zhong: "Don't spread rumors! Okay, Gregory, keep going."

As he sat down, the jeep started and drove away, leaving his fellow villager in a mess in the smoke and exhaust.

----

The Proson Imperial Army's military station west of Roniezh was completely different from what Wang Zhong remembered.

The "temporary distribution center" that was converted from existing buildings has been transformed into a reinforced concrete fortress.

“They actually built a concrete garage.” Wang Zhong stood in front of the building entrance with his hands on his hips. “I’m afraid Urban won’t be able to destroy this thing with one shot. He’ll have to fire three shots.”

If Urban can't solve the problem, then we can only use the Pe-8 to drop a five-ton bomb from high altitude.

The commander of the military station trotted forward and said, "Comrade Marshal, why didn't you notify us when you came?"

Wang Zhong: "Because I don't want you to bother with any kind of reception, I just came to see the place where the battle took place. Did the Prosen people completely demolish the original buildings?"

The commander of the military station looked embarrassed: "I have never fought here, so I don't know what the original building looked like. But according to the design materials we seized, this military station should be brand new, so - I guess the old building you are looking for has been demolished."

Wang Zhong nodded and turned to explain to reporter Mike: "Back then, I saw the Proson people slaughter a family of civilians and throw them into a cesspool, so I was determined to resist to the end."

Reporter Mike raised his eyebrows slightly: "Weren't you going to resist to the end before?"

Indeed, before this, as a time traveler, Wang Zhong just wanted to escape with the beautiful woman he met, and then run as far as possible.

But Wang Zhong obviously couldn’t say that here, so he smiled slightly: “Before, I just felt that resistance was my responsibility, but here, I found that resistance is my destiny.

"Here, I have made up my mind to become the most formidable enemy of the Proson Empire."

Reporter Mike: "I see. To be honest, I personally like this interview very much. I understand the changes in your mentality step by step, and understand how you have grown into what you are now. But our readers are ordinary people, they want to see something more exciting."

Wang Zhong shrugged and climbed into the jeep again.

The depot commander was a little disappointed: "Are you leaving now? Aren't you going to give us some instructions? We have cleared out space to store 100 wagons of supplies and are ready to receive supplies at any time."

Wang Zhong: "With 100 carriages of space, how much supplies are there now?"

"Not even a single carload of food is left. I heard that the troops at the front are already relying on the villagers for spontaneous assistance."

Wang Zhong looked at Pavlov who was sitting in the car behind.

"The railway will be open tomorrow, and there will be supplies," said Pavlov.

Wang Zhong said to the depot commander, "You heard it. There will be supplies tomorrow. Gregory, let's go!"

----

As the jeep drove into the city, Wang Zhong discovered that many of the dilapidated buildings at the time had been repaired.

Roniezh fell in the first week of the Plosenkran attack, and the Plosenkrans spent a lot of time trying to keep things quiet in the city.

The Ant Army had entered the city a long time ago, so the villagers in the city had long been accustomed to the military vehicles running on the road, and basically no one noticed Wang Zhong's marshal star.

When the jeep turned the corner, Wang Zhong saw a woman standing on the side of the road holding a baby who was probably less than one year old, with an empty fist in front of her.

The women's heads were shaved, and the remaining stubble formed the pattern of the Plosson flag.

Apparently, she and Officer Plossom were in love and had borne Plossom’s child.

Vasily muttered, "Actually, they are quite pitiful."

Wang Zhong: "If they don't receive any punishment, wouldn't it be worthless for those girls to fight like men? When the Prosen people came, they chose the easy path, and now they have to pay the price for their choice.

"We were relatively merciful and only shaved her head. In other places, she and her child would have been stoned to death."

For example, Bahara.

Vasily pursed his lips.

The jeep passed another intersection and passed by the entrance of a movie theater. A group of drunk soldiers were coming out of the theater, laughing.

Wang Zhong raised his hand, and the jeep stopped before he could say anything.

He stood up and shouted to the soldiers: "Which unit are you from?"

The soldiers all looked at Wang Zhong. The sergeant in the lead took a sip of vodka and said with a smile, "Don't be so serious, Davarish. The Prosens have already run away! They ran away with their tails between their legs! We don't have to attack anymore. As long as we release Rokossov's name, the enemy will run away with their tails between their legs!

"Come, Davarish, take a sip! Long live Rokossov! Hurrah!"

Wang Zhong felt that this scene was very familiar, as if he had seen a similar scene in "Battle of Shanghai" or some other movie.

At this time, Popov's car came up from the back of the queue and stopped next to Wang Zhong's car. The front bishop jumped out of the car, pulled his uniform, and walked up to the group of people with a stern face: "What are you talking about! Which unit are you from?"

When the grinning soldiers saw Popov's priest uniform, they stood straighter all of a sudden. The leading sergeant saluted crookedly: "Reporting to Bishop Davarich, we are the 457st Company of the nd Battalion of the nd Regiment of the th Division! We are resting in the city, waiting, waiting for reinforcements!"

Popov: "Is this how you replenish while waiting for replenishment? Who gave you a holiday?" "The company commander said we can move freely."

"And the chaplain? Is that right?"

"The priest died, and the company commander went to ask the regiment commander for it." The sergeant was almost sober at this time, "We didn't violate the mass discipline. We bought the wine. The villagers wanted to give it to us for free, but we insisted on paying for it."

Popov: "You paid the money, which is great, but what will your fellow villagers think of you being drunk in the street in broad daylight? The war is not over yet, aren't you celebrating too early?"

Sergeant: "But the Prosens are already so vulnerable! We captured Roniezh without firing a single shot! I think the enemy has already - what is that saying, the priest often said before his death."

Vasily: "The last gasp?"

"Oh, yes, what Major Davarich said is right! It's the last gasp of a spent force! What rabbit's tail can't grow long? The priest also said that Marshal Rokossov said that the war must be ended before Christmas next year!"

Ant believes in the Eastern Holy Church, and Christmas is on January 7th. Isn't this the classic scenario of "ending the war before Christmas"?

Wang Zhong quickly said, "I didn't say that. What I said was that we still have a long and arduous journey ahead of us to defeat the Prosen people."

Sergeant: "Hey, you're not Rokossov! You don't have the final say--"

His eyes widened, and the wine bottle that he had been holding in his left hand slipped away and shattered to the ground.

Wang Zhong: "Does what I said count?"

The sergeant stood at attention and saluted, but his movement was too big, and the broken bottle spilled liquid and glass shards everywhere, so he slipped and fell to the ground.

Popov stepped forward, stretched out his hand, and pulled him up.

"Salute!" The sergeant finally stood at attention and saluted.

The others then reacted and saluted Wang Zhong, and the smell of alcohol on their faces disappeared at once.

Wang Zhong responded: "I never said that the war would end before Christmas. Even though your priests have sacrificed their lives, you still have to investigate the source of such remarks."

The Sergeant looked confused, "That's what everyone says. They say we'll be entering Prothenia on Christmas Day and capturing Emperor Prothen alive."

Popov said in a serious tone: "It seems that the victory came too quickly, causing the troops to underestimate the enemy."

Wang Zhong: "I leave it to you, Bishop Davarish."

Popov: "Don't even think about running away. I'm afraid you'll have to write a pamphlet to explain this issue!"

Wang Zhong: "Vassily, I leave it to you."

"Ah?" Vasily's eyes widened. "I'm going to make it up? Aren't you afraid that I'll make up an earlier time?"

Wang Zhong grinned at Vasily, sat down and said to Gregory, "Let's go and see the Duke's headquarters back then."

----

The church, which was reduced to ruins by a shot from Plossen's battleship, has now been completely demolished and turned into a "Glory Park", and it also looks nothing like it did in the past.

The Proson people built a monument in the middle of the park. The ten-meter-tall Proson Emperor stepped on Ant's double-headed eagle flag and held high the Proson eagle emblem.

Wang Zhong looked up at Emperor Prosen and asked Vasily, "Does Emperor Prosen look like this?"

"You ask me? I haven't seen him either."

"Marshal Davarishi!" a voice came from a distance.

Wang Zhong looked in the direction of the voice and saw the commander of the army stationed in the city and the local bishop running towards them one after another, followed by a large group of people.

"Hello, don't run so fast! I'm taking my friends from the Allied Forces back on the same path!"

The army commander came to Wang Zhong's jeep and saluted without even catching his breath: "Comrade Marshal, we are - we are discussing how to deal with this statue!"

The local bishop also echoed: "We have just occupied the city and there are many things to deal with. For example, there are hundreds of thousands of people in the city and we need to solve the problem of feeding them.

"The Prosens deliberately withheld food from the city before they left. Many people have been starving for a week."

Wang Zhong: "I see the store still has wine for sale."

The bishop was embarrassed: "This... We do have an order prohibiting the brewing of distilled liquor, but... it is difficult to prohibit alcohol in Ant. People would rather catch mice for meat than use grain for brewing.

"However, the supply problem will be solved when the railway is opened tomorrow. Today, there are sheep sent by fellow villagers nearby, so everyone can eat meat.

"So we are discussing how to deal with the 'legacy' left by the Prosen people. In addition to this 'Glorious Park', they also built many buildings in the city to boast of their military exploits. We are planning to tear them all down."

Wang Zhong: "Push down? No, no, no, pushing down is too gentle. It won't leave a deep impression on the crowd. You need to make some big noise!"

Wang Zhong's eyes fell on the army commander and asked, "Does your army have Urban?"

"No, our army doesn't even have the title of Guards, so we can't get such good things." The army commander smiled bitterly, "Originally, everyone was holding back their energy and planned to become the Guards Army after taking Roniezh. Many people swore to take Venus here. In the end, the Prosen people ran away, and both the Venus and the Guards cloak were gone."

At the end, the army commander's tone became a bit pitiful and he sounded so aggrieved.

Wang Zhong scratched his head: "Do you have B4 heavy artillery?"

"No. We are a group army formed later. We have 122 and 152 tubes. We don't have 203 tubes."

Wang Zhong: "Then I'll dispatch a B4, which has a good shooting accuracy. We can use it to launch concrete-busting bombs and blow up the statue! We need to make it more ceremonial!"

"Good!" The army commander saluted, then asked cautiously, "Will you leave that B4 for us after you finish shooting it?"

Wang Zhong: "We can strengthen it for you."

Vasily: "How about you, Marshal, fire the cannon yourself when they hold the ceremony?"

Wang Zhong thought for a moment and asked, "Should I fire the cannon myself?"

"Two and a half years ago, you escaped from the main gun of the Prosen battleship here. Today you came back and blew up the statue of Emperor Prosen with one shot. Don't you feel a sense of fate?" Vasily said with a smile.

Wang Zhong thought about it and nodded: "Okay, I will fire the cannon myself. Now move the cannon over immediately. Pavlov, how long will it take to move a B4 over?"

Pavlov: “We were originally planning to use the B4 to attack the enemy. Although we don’t need it now, the artillery division is still nearby. After all, all the tactical and strategic goals have been achieved at this stage.

"I estimate it will take three hours."

Wang Zhong looked at his watch and said, "Okay, then in three hours, I will personally fire a cannon to send the statue away."

Vasily: "And now?"

Wang Zhong: "Now there is one more place to visit."

That’s really where it all started.

----

Everything else has changed along the way, but the building remains the same as Wang Zhong remembered, except that all the holes have been repaired.

The fellow who lived in the building opened the door and was stunned. He glanced at Popov who was following behind Wang Zhong and said, "We have explained everything clearly! We are not traitors. I even gave the guerrillas the green light! My son even sent letters to the guerrillas!"

Wang Zhong: "You misunderstood. We are not judges and we are not here to settle accounts."

Fellow villager: "I admit that the Ante army failed too quickly and I made some misjudgments, but when General Rokossov wiped out the Prosen people for the first time, we woke up! After that, we have always supported the guerrillas!"

Wang Zhong held his fellow villager’s shoulder and said, “Calm down, we are not here to—”

"Is it a house? This house was indeed restored by the Prosen people, and then they gave it to us without permission! We can give up the house now!"

Wang Zhong: "I came to see the place where I fought. You don't have to panic."

Vasily joked, "If someone is so flustered, there must be something he hasn't explained yet."

As a result, the fellow villager knelt down with a plop: "Officer, we really just misjudged the situation--"

Wang Zhong: "Alright, alright, come here, take them to the judge and give them a proper account."

The guards from the headquarters guard regiment immediately rushed over and took the "fellow villager" and his family away.

Wang Zhong paced the room, looking for clues from the past on the newly painted walls.

He found the stairs leading to the basement and pulled back the flap.

The basement had not been used for a long time. When the cover was opened, the sudden flow of air brought up a lot of dust.

Wang Zhong walked into the basement and looked at the familiar skylight.

It was from there that he looked out onto the street more than two years ago.

He saw countless pairs of military boots, and lamented that this script-killing game was really willing to spend a lot of money. When he saw the tracks, his first reaction was that the script-killing store had rented an agricultural tractor.

At that time, he even wanted Lyudmila's WeChat.

WeChat, such a strange yet familiar word!
With this word, the dusty memories are opened again.

Has Black Myth been released? Has it sold five million copies?

Has The Wandering Earth 3 been released yet? Did it take first place during the Spring Festival?

Have your friends who took the civil service exam passed?
Have unaffordable housing prices fallen?
Is dad’s old waist feeling better?
Does mom's tooth still hurt?

Wang Zhong stroked the wall that he had touched more than two years ago. He raised his head, and for a moment, the other side of the skylight seemed to have become that prosperous, safe and advanced hometown.

He saw neon lights, food delivery drones, and old men and women waving fans in the square.

He smelled the aroma of noodles and heard the hawkers selling pancakes.

But the next moment, everything disappeared, and outside the skylight were Ant's military boots and the tires of the jeep.

The face of Marshal Alexei Konstantinovich Rokossov was faintly reflected in the glass.

(End of this chapter)