artillery arc

Chapter 750 Melania Military Control Committee

Vasily accepted the task and rode Bucephalus around the city.

He stopped an old man on the side of the road and asked in the Melania language he had just learned: "Uncle, I'm looking for the address of the headquarters for Marshal Rokossov. Do you know where there is an intact house? I've been looking for a long time and can't find it."

Uncle: "The Marshal's headquarters? Young man, you can only go and see if there are any intact houses left in the headquarters and barracks of the Prosen people. Look at that church over there. It is the best preserved house in our neighborhood."

Vasily looked up at the half-collapsed church and scratched his head.

The old man was afraid that he would not believe him, so he added: "Look, there are no houses around here!"

Vasily didn't even need to look around, he had just looked and found that there were indeed no intact large houses for several blocks.

"Okay, please tell me where the enemy headquarters is." Vasily took out a map and spread it out in front of the old man.

The old man said: "I can't read a map, but I know how to get there. Come with me, young man."

As he spoke, the old man staggered forward.

Bucephalus immediately matched his pace and followed.

Grandpa: "Our street used to be very beautiful. There was a pianist who played the piano every day. I heard that the pianist also had two respectable jobs at the National Radio Station and the Philharmonic Orchestra. His wife was a soprano singer, and she would practice her voice in the attic in the morning."

Vasily: "Where are they now?"

Uncle: “At first, the singer thought it was not bad to be a Prosen, and the pianist agreed with his wife’s opinion. After all, Melania has lost her freedom for more than a hundred years. Instead of being ruled by the Ante barbarians, it is better to let the Prosen come.

"Many intellectuals at the time had this idea, and they actively tried to become authentic Prosen people."

Vasily: "What? Aren't these surrenderists? In Ant, people like them have been killed by the Inquisition. Even their relatives and friends have been arrested and sent to the Far East to dig potatoes."

Uncle: "At that time, the guerrillas also had a special team for this purpose, and they would hang these Mei traitors from time to time. But the Prosen people helped the guerrillas a lot."

Vasily: "What do you mean?"

"You don't know, young man, the Plossons really treat us Melanias like pigs. The pianist's wife was asked to kneel down and lick the shoes of a Plosson lieutenant because she stepped on them dirty on the road.

"After the singer finished licking, the lieutenant deliberately made things difficult for him and spat on him, asking him to continue licking. At this time, the singer refused to do it and said, "I know your Major von Hoffman and I want to complain."

"The lieutenant drew his pistol and shot her dead.

"Afterwards, Major von Hoffman gave the pianist a gift box with a greeting card inside, saying 'Congratulations on finding a new wife.' Nothing happened to the lieutenant, and he was even promoted not long after."

Vasily: "And then?"

"Then the pianist invited the major to dinner, got him drunk, killed him, set his house on fire, took the major's head as a token of his allegiance, and joined the guerrillas."

Vasily: "They actually let him join the guerrillas? Don't you suspect he's a spy sent by the enemy?"

Uncle: "It is said that the pianist has a request to the guerrillas, that they kill the second lieutenant who shot his wife, and hang him in the street for public display, with a sign on his body stating his crime. He wants to personally participate in this action.

"The guerrillas later sent him two volunteers, and the three of them actually set up an ambush on the lieutenant's checkpoint road and achieved their goal."

Vasily: “Oh, that’s it.”

“Plosen has occupied this city for six years, and things like this happen every day, and those who originally supported their occupation have gradually joined the guerrillas.

"Hellman is right, resistance is the only way out, resistance is not just a bullet, but a life with dignity and honor."

Vasily: "Of course, to be a free man."

The old man looked back at Vasily. "Young men no longer remember when Ant ruled us. But I remember. You are the adjutant of the marshal, right? Do you still intend to treat us as a principality of Ant as before?"

Vasily: "The Marshal said that Melania will exist as an independent country and will become an ally of Ant. As long as we believe in secularism, we are Davarish, and nationality is not important."

The old man nodded and said, “Yes, when we revolted against the Tsar, the secularists stood with us and were suppressed for it.

"I want to talk to you for a while longer, but we've arrived. The Plosson occupation army headquarters is in front of us."

Vasily looked up and saw a group of buildings that were not damaged at all.

There were a lot of bullet holes on the walls of the building complex, but it seemed that the guerrillas could not break into them with their firepower; even the wooden sentry box at the entrance remained intact.

A guerrilla fighter was already standing in front of the sentry box, but he was chatting with the girl.

Vasily rode over and asked, "Why are you chatting with a girl while you are on guard?"

"The Plossoms were defeated and ran away with their tails between their legs. We are victorious!" the young man replied, "Of course we should enjoy the flowers and the praises of the girls!"

Vasily said seriously: "Asshole! With the speed at which the Prosens can recover, they will be able to reorganize their troops and launch a tentative counterattack tomorrow. If you underestimate the enemy, you will suffer greatly!"

The partisan frowned. "Who are you? Marshal Rokossov has driven the enemy away, and his troops are chasing them. No Prosen will ever return to this city again!"

Vasily: "Who told you that?"

"Everyone says so! Who are you? I think you are a spy!"

"I am Marshal Rokossov's adjutant. I have been ordered to set up a headquarters, count the captured weapons, and prepare to organize a defense!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the walkie-talkie in the saddle bag rang. Vasily took out the walkie-talkie immediately and heard someone shouting: "Vassily, I found a few officers according to your instructions. Have you found the address of the headquarters?"

"You come to the Plossom occupation headquarters, where there are large houses that are well preserved."

"Okay, I'll come!"

Vasily put down the radio and looked at the sentry: "The officer corps that will set up the headquarters will be here soon. By the way, since there is a sentry like you, there is now a guerrilla department inside, right?"

"Yes, our captain is leading a team to search for evidence of the enemy's crimes."

"Evidence?" Vasily frowned. "Instead of counting the weapons and ammunition first, distributing them to the troops in need and preparing to organize defense, you are looking for evidence instead?"

"As for weapons and ammunition, we just opened the armory and distributed them to the people."

"What?" Vasily was shocked. "How can you guarantee that these weapons will not be used for bad things?"

Sentinel: "How could that be? After victory, everyone is a good person—"

"Asshole! Stop distributing weapons! Every time we liberate a new city, one of our top priorities is to confiscate weapons hidden by the people. Otherwise, bandits, hooligans and gang members will take the weapons and commit crimes!

"There are even fake police forces set up by the Prosons who are carrying weapons and causing chaos! All the weapons must be confiscated!"

Seeing Vasily getting anxious, the sentry also became at a loss: "This... the weapons have been distributed..." Vasily held his forehead and said: "It's bad... Who is in charge of the municipal authorities now?"

If the weapons recall is initiated by the municipal authorities, the situation should still be under control.

"I am your leader!" A man in a suit and tie came out. "I was the mayor of the Capital Bridge District before the war, and I have been leading the underground struggle over the years."

"Come on! It must be me!" Another man wearing an old Melania Army uniform came out of the alley and walked up to Vasily in three steps. "I am a former major in the Melania Defense Forces. I have also been leading the resistance war. Look at the wounds on my body. They were caused in the past few days! But this mayor of the Daqiao District said he was leading the underground struggle, and he was the first one to run away when the enemy was looking for him!"

The man who claimed to be the district chief shouted, "I am trying to preserve the spark of resistance! How can we resist if even I have been arrested?"

"You just ran away! Your Excellency, the officer of Ante, how can you let a deserter be the municipal leader?"

The man who claimed to be the district chief: "But I know administrative work, do you? Can you organize administrative work?"

The two of them started arguing.

At this time, a Proshen half-track vehicle drove over. The Iron Cross logo on the half-track was painted over with red paint and a golden five-pointed star was painted on it.

On the half-track were a group of officers from the Melania People's Army.

Vasily: "You are finally here. I think the most urgent task now is to immediately impose de facto military control over the city by the Melania People's Army and transfer some troops from the Melania People's Army to serve as local police."

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The officer in the car was unhappy: "Why should we rush to Prothenia?"

Vasily: "Look at the situation yourself."

Melania naturally understood what the two people were arguing about and soon frowned.

Vasily: "Without military control, chaos will break out. They just distributed all the weapons in the arsenal to civilians."

"Ah?" Everyone on the half-track looked surprised.

"How does this work?"

"It's bad. There will be frequent thefts, robberies and murders for at least a week."

When the Ant troops enter the city normally, there will be a large number of secular clergy. Even in Melania, after entering the city, the clergy will quickly establish local organizations and rebuild the local social order with the church as the center.

But in this charge, all the clergy were killed, and the clergy brigade from the logistics department had not yet arrived.

Now things get tricky.

A captain of the Melania People's Army suggested: "We should incorporate the guerrillas and assign three or four non-commissioned officers to each company."

Vasily asked the sentry: "Do you have a company?"

The sentry shook his head: "No. In the past, they were divided into teams according to the regions. There were teams one and two in each region. Now - the team leaders have been dead for several generations. I don't know who is carrying the two flags now."

Vasily: "Well, they don't have a company organization. Anyway, gather your own troops first, find a way to control the situation, confiscate the weapons, and withstand Prosen's counterattack tomorrow."

Captain Melania: "But we can't find our troops. We have advanced 30 kilometers. I don't even know if any of my men are still alive."

Vasily held his forehead.

But he immediately had an idea: "Now that things have come to this, let's bury the mines first. No one will want the mines in the armory, so let's take them out and start burying them right away. To make it easier to bury the mines, we can requisition trucks on the spot and take the troops to bury the mines."

Captain Melania: "That's a good idea. I'll ask a fellow villager to take us to the route the enemy must take to enter the city and plant mines."

Vasily: “Also, we need to make use of the enemy’s anti-tank guns. I feel that not many civilians would want something as heavy as a shell. We need to control the guns and push them into a defensive position.

"We also need to control the surrounding air defense positions so that we can have basic defense capabilities. Also, we need to add radio stations and ask for reinforcements from the rear!"

After a brief pause, Vasily continued, "There is also the railway. Restore the operation of the train station and send the armored trains up quickly. At least we will have some heavy artillery firepower to face the enemy's attack."

After that, he looked at Melania's officers and said, "Go ahead! Take your own mission."

"I'm going to plant mines."

"I am familiar with anti-aircraft artillery. Go take over the anti-aircraft artillery position."

"I'm going to the train station."

"I'll set up the radio."

Vasily watched the officers scatter, then turned to look at two of Melania's "senior officials" who were already wrestling with each other.

He asked the sentry, "Is your leader always like this?"

"Those who are still alive are almost the same," the sentry replied, and then asked, "Will the enemy really counterattack tomorrow?"

"I think so. Tomorrow is a tentative attack because they haven't regrouped yet. The day after tomorrow is a large-scale counterattack, and their reinforcements should have arrived by then."

The two men who were fighting stopped, turned their heads and asked Vasily in unison: "Will the enemy come back?"

Vasily nodded: "Yes, there will be a large-scale counterattack the day after tomorrow."

The "district chief" and the "guerrilla leader" looked at each other, let go of each other, and said while tidying up their clothes:

"The district mayor has extensive administrative experience. It would be best if you were the head of this municipal authority."

"No, no, I don't have combat experience. The Prosons will be back soon. You who have combat experience should be the head of the municipal government!"

Vasily: "None of you can be the leader. We will organize a military committee to temporarily take over the city. The guerrillas who participated in the battle can vote for the people they trust to become members of the military committee. The composition of the military committee is four representatives from the guerrillas and six representatives from the Ante Army. That's it!

"Once the Prosens are driven away, our secular priests and logistics clerks will arrive in this city. They will then help you set up your own municipal government and select a leader that all Melanias can accept."

At this time, the old man who brought Vasily said, "Why not give Melania's crown directly to Marshal Rokossov? I heard that he is the Tsar's brother, which means he has Antonov bloodline, so he can inherit it."

Vasily was embarrassed: "This... It is true that the Marshal is the Tsar's brother, but his brother is a foster brother."

"Oh." The old man nodded. "Then let His Majesty the Tsar inherit the crown and send a governor to rule, just like before."

Vasily: "No, the Marshal will not agree to that."

"I really won't agree to it." A captured Plossen barrel truck drove over and Marshal Rokossov got off the car. "Vassily, you are right. The plan of forming a military control committee with reliable officers in the Melania People's Army and secular priests is feasible. After that, the church will select priests who are familiar with local conditions and too old to join the People's Army from the Melania refugees in Ant to come and form a government."

Marshal Rokossov paused and solemnly announced: "The people of Melania have won their freedom through fighting, and I will guarantee their freedom."

(End of this chapter)