artillery arc

Chapter 748: Becoming a Drop of Freedom
After the tanks crossed the bridge, Wang Zhong ordered: "Stop."

With a duang sound, the tank stopped on the road leading to the approach bridge.

Wang Zhong shouted to the Melania guerrilla fighters who were passing by the tank, "How do I get to the radio station?"

Melania stopped and looked at Wang Zhong blankly.

Wang Zhong remembered that although Melanian language was very similar to Ant language, not every Melanian could understand Ant language.

So he called out to the Sergeant of the People's Army Melania who was saluting him and said, "Do you understand Ante?"

"I understand, Marshal."

Wang Zhong: "Then you translate for me and tell him I'm asking for directions to the radio station."

The sergeant immediately had a conversation with the guerrillas, and then told Wang Zhong: "He said that it is just along the road at the bridgehead, less than two kilometers."

Wang Zhong: "Okay, let's use our remaining courage to pursue the enemy. The enemy is now in a state of collapse. We cannot give them a chance to catch their breath. Send a message to the entire army, keep moving forward!"

At this time, a guerrilla with two identification bands tied on his arms ran over and said to Wang Zhong in Ant language: "I will be your guide and lead you to the radio station! The Prosen people blew up the tunnel between us and the radio station, and the temporary telephone line was discovered somehow. We are very worried about the radio station."

Wang Zhong patted the large speakers on both sides of the turret: "At least they are still broadcasting."

"Yes," the guerrilla said, "we were using the radio to boost morale before, and then the Prosen people used artillery to blow up the entire house where the radio was located."

The guerrilla pointed to the ruins not far away and said, "That house. The owner of the house was also killed in the explosion, along with several guerrilla fighters."

Wang Zhong glanced at the room and said to the guerrillas with two identification marks: "The enemy will pay with blood. Are you the guerrilla leader?"

"The captain has died. We are the living ones now. Anyone who wants to command can tie an extra identification belt. Enemy snipers will focus on this, so not many people will fight for it. You have to be careful. Enemy snipers may open fire when daybreak comes.

"Now they are afraid of gunfire exposing their positions and dare not shoot."

Wang Zhong: "I remember. Come up and take us to the radio station."

The mounted infantrymen behind the tank turret reached out and pulled Melania onto the tank.

"Go straight!" he said.

Wang Zhong: "Go straight! Turn on the headlights and be careful not to fall into the crater."

The tank engine roared and the steel beast slowly started.

Wang Zhong looked at the ruins around him with the help of the tank's headlights.

He saw a towering tree that was burning like a torch, illuminating the surrounding ruins.

The Melanias, with their bayonets pointed, kept walking in front of the tree, paying no attention to the falling sparks.

As the tank passed in front of the tree, Wang Zhong suddenly discovered that in the broken wall next to the tree, under the burnt beam, there was a toy pony lying.

Wang Zhong stared at Xiao Ma for several seconds until he was blocked by a broken wall.

——Are you still late?
But the speakers were still blaring Hellman's speech: "Continue to be the thorn in their throats, a storm that never turns back, until the world knows we stand for justice."

In fact, Wang Zhong still couldn't fully understand what he was saying, but he could feel the belief contained in his words.

This reminded him of a passage from Thomas Macaulay's "Roman Epic", which he had always liked. That passage tells the story of how Horatius, the city gate keeper, and two warriors blocked an army of thousands of people when ancient Rome faced the invasion of Sextus.

This passage from "Horaius on the Bridge" has been quoted in many works.

For example, the movie "Darkest Hour" which describes Fatty Qiu, and the ending of the comic "Gun Girl" that Wang Zhong likes very much.

"Horatius, the gatekeeper, said:

“Everything in this world will eventually die.

"To protect the tombs of ancestors, to protect nursing mothers, to protect the pure girls who are about to light the sacred fire, to die against the shameless villain Sextus, how glorious it is.

"Your Excellency the Archon, please give the order to demolish the bridge. We can only resist the one thousand enemy troops on the bridge with the strength of three people! Which warrior will guard the bridge with me?"

Wang Zhong heard the same spiritual core in Hermann's speech.

As it happened, the rebels also had a bridge to defend.

Wang Zhong recalled the story in the ancient Roman epic poem. He remembered that in the end, Horatius actually jumped into the river and swam back to Rome after successfully demolishing the bridge.

I wonder if Melania's Horatius has such luck.

----

Melania occupation headquarters.

General Hawke: "I cannot retreat! I refuse!"

Chief of Staff: "But now panic is spreading. It is impossible to stop the collapse of the troops before dawn, just like we can't stop an avalanche. The best response is to retreat now, gather the troops and prepare for a counterattack when dawn comes!"

General Hawke: "Aren't they all elite troops? Why are they panicking?"

"I don't know. We have lost contact with the headquarters of most of the troops. The city is in chaos now. We don't even know how many troops and tanks have entered the city!"

General Hawke: "You incompetent guys! What about the troops across the river? Can't you cut off the enemy's supply line into the city?"

"They have already collapsed. Rumor has it that half a million ANT troops have entered the city, and all the troops are retreating. According to the intelligence we have received, many people have abandoned their weapons and equipment and crossed the river at night. If you go to the river bank now, you can see a lot of soldiers who are soaking wet and have no weapons!"

General Hawke cursed, thought for a few seconds, and then sighed, "Retreat, set up a supervision line five kilometers outside the city, and gather the troops."

"Yes."

After the adjutant and the chief of staff turned around to implement the order, the general came to the window and looked at the burning city: "How did things turn out like this?"

But he soon smiled again: "Fortunately, we acted at night and burned many houses for lighting, so that the Ante people would have a scorched earth."

At this time, the adjutant came back and asked in a low voice: "How do we explain this to His Majesty the Emperor now?"

Admiral Hawke's smile froze.

Just then, the red phone on his desk rang.

The general acted decisively and unplugged the phone.

The phone went silent.

----

Emperor Proson pulled the receiver away, checked it in confusion, and put it back to his ear, but still could not hear any sound.

He hung up the phone and looked at the generals who still had tiredness on their faces.

"You guys! Can't you have some coffee before you come over?"

Marshal Celtic: "I am already very old, Your Majesty, and coffee can no longer keep me awake. In the future, for such late-night emergency meetings, you can ask my adjutant General Gustav to come." Generally speaking, an adjutant will not have the rank of general, but will only receive a golden adjutant ribbon. But Marshal Celtic's situation is different. He has to command the entire headquarters, which is very stressful, so his adjutant also has a lot of authority to help him manage the headquarters. At this time, the rank of colonel is not very appropriate.

So the Celtic Marshal's adjutant was a general and did not wear an adjutant's sash.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at the Marshal and said, "If coffee doesn't work, you can try the stimulant we just developed for the commandos. I've been using it. It allows me to concentrate for a long time and keep myself energetic."

The Celtic Marshal looked embarrassed, he knew the main ingredients of those stimulants, and to be honest, he didn't want to use these things on himself at all, after all, he still wanted to live longer.

Emperor: "I called General Hawke of the Melania occupation army, but the line was suddenly disconnected. Imperial intelligence has only received a few reports about what is happening in Melania's capital. We don't know what is happening.

"Admiral Steiner did report their situation. The left wing of their army group was breached by Rokossov. As for how, no one knows. According to the calculations of the High Command, Rokossov should have run out of supplies! How did he break through our defense line without supplies? With the bayonet?"

General Moltke: "Suvorov once said that those who shoot are cowards, and those who use bayonets are heroes. Perhaps the bayonet really decides the outcome."

"Asshole!" the Emperor cursed. "How is this possible? But if we don't think this way, we can only think that Rokossov's troops flew over, which is even more terrible."

The emperor stopped and said, "Bayonet! Humph, bayonet!"

Marshal Celtic: "It could also be a new weapon. Ant has been studying mysterious powers. According to our investigation, the fog they relied on to capture Yeisk two years ago was initiated by the Ant people."

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Duke Redweci of Labberville immediately said: "The Kratt Bureau also mentioned that Ante has developed a brainwashing broadcast tower. The broadcast tower can be used to complete the brainwashing and turn our soldiers into theirs!"

"This is fucking bullshit!" the emperor slammed the table.

Duke Redway: "But the characteristic of the intelligence of the Kratt Agency is that we may find it to be valuable real intelligence someday."

In fact, those were just lucky chances, pure luck. It was just that the blind cat of the Kratt Agency had set up ten thousand mousetraps, and it would always catch one or two real mice.

The emperor was silent for a long time before he said, "Send three of the newly formed divisions to the Eastern Front."

Marshal Celtic: "Then the Western Front can only get assistance from one division, right?"

"The Allies are so weak, one more division will be enough." The emperor waved his fist. "We must strike back! We must strike back while Rokossov is still unstable! He must be exhausted now, and this is the best time for us to capture him alive!"

----

At 9 on September 8, Wang Zhong's tank drove to the square in front of the radio station.

Wherever the headlights illuminated, there were only ruins - it might not be accurate to say ruins, as some of the wooden houses had only a few pillars left, and the rest had been burned down.

The pillar is still burned out.

To sum it up in one word, the area around the radio station has turned into a "scorched earth" and even the headlights cannot dispel the black color of the scorched earth.

The guide, a grown man, stood on the tank and started wiping his tears when he saw this scene. He muttered as he wiped his tears: "My home is here. I grew up here. When I was a child, I helped the postman deliver letters to earn some pocket money..."

No wonder he is so familiar with the road. It turns out that when he was a child, he ran through every street as a "little postman".

Wang Zhong patted him on the shoulder and picked up the microphone: "Rokosov called the resistance forces on the radio station! We are approaching from the east, don't open fire!"

After a brief silence, the response came from the headset: "Is it really Rokossov?"

It seems that Melania is not used to Wang Zhong, the commander-in-chief of the entire army, personally leading the charge.

Wang Zhong: "Yes, I am Marshal Alexey Konstantinovich Rokosov. I am watching you from the tank."

At this time, Rokossov had already seen the guerrillas guarding the radio station from a bird's-eye view.

Hermann was still alive, but probably not in good condition, because Wang Zhong saw him lying on a stretcher and motionless most of the time.

At this time, the tanks had already driven to the bottom of the radio station. The marble pillars in front of the radio station were almost hollowed out by bullets, and the stairs were also full of potholes caused by bombs.

The Ante soldiers who were advancing along with the tanks rushed up the steps and hugged the guerrillas who were coming out of the gate.

Wang Zhong didn't quite understand what they were shouting, probably something like "You're finally here" or "Comrade, sorry for the long wait."

Soon, the joyous crowd moved aside and two soldiers came out carrying Hermann's stretcher.

Wang Zhong climbed out of the turret, tidied his clothes on the tank, then jumped to the ground to greet this Melania hero.

At this time, the loudspeaker on the tank was still playing Hermann's speech.

Wang Zhong came up to Hermann, and his years of combat experience told him that the old man would not live long.

The old man opened his eyes and said, "I thought you would arrive during the day."

Wang Zhong: "I heard your broadcast and came here immediately. As an Ante, I understand how you feel. I also lost my country."

But almost the entire territory of Ksalia was occupied by Proson, so it can be said that the country was lost.

As for Wang Zhong before he traveled through time, his motherland was already very powerful, but the painful lessons of the past 150 years were still engraved in his heart. Even in the year before entering the new millennium, the sovereignty of the motherland was wantonly trampled upon.

Hellman stared at Wang Zhong for a few seconds and said, "I see the same belief in your eyes. I know you are my companion."

As he spoke, he raised his hand.

Wang Zhong hurriedly shook his hand.

Hermann's hands were cold and weak.

Hellman: "I have a bullet in my pocket."

Wang Zhong hurriedly touched his pocket and actually took out a bullet.

Hellman: "Take the bullet from the Ante pistol and shoot it into the culprit's heart for me."

Wang Zhong: "As the righteous party, we should follow procedural justice. But - I promise you, if the enemy resists arrest, I will shoot him in the head with this bullet."

Hermann smiled slightly, raised his right hand and held Wang Zhong's hand holding the bullet: "It's an appointment! Your Excellency Marshal!"

At this time, the sun just jumped out of the horizon.

The sunlight first illuminated the incomplete roof of the radio station, and then moved all the way down, illuminating everything.

Herman turned his head, looked at the rising sun, and sighed, "It's really warm."

His hands drooped down beside the stretcher.

Wang Zhong put away the bullet, stepped forward, closed Hermann's eyes, then took off his military cap, held it in his hand, and saluted him.

The people around, whether they were Melanias or Ants, whether they were guerrillas or regular soldiers, took off their hats and saluted the warriors.

Wang Zhong: "He became a drop of water in the wave of freedom. He became part of the vast ocean."

A falcon flew across the sky, soaring in Melania's sunshine.

(End of this chapter)