artillery arc

Chapter 777 Death and Rebirth
December 12, Plossom Prisoner of War Center.

Kosrek entered the room nervously and sat opposite the two blue-hatted judges.

Inquisitor: "Name!"

Kosrek gave Andreas's full name, which he had hurriedly written down on the way here.

Inquisitor: "Where is home?"

"Duchy of East Styria, Tilia."

This was what Kosrek said himself when he first met Andreas.

Kosrek remembered it very clearly because there were always letters from East Styria.

Other than that, Kosrek had only heard bits and pieces of information in casual conversations, such as that Andreas had an older sister and a younger brother, and that he went to middle school in the city below the mountain...

The Inquisitor glanced at the document in front of him and asked bluntly, "Where did you first fight?"

"Yeisk, we captured the city, and then we were attacked..."

"I'm asking you about the first time you participated in a battle, not the first time you retreated." The Inquisitor interrupted Kosrek with dissatisfaction.

Kosrek: "I can't remember clearly, but I clearly remember that we were attacked in the fog and had to evacuate Yeisk!"

The judge was shocked, then he held up his ID and looked at Koslake for a few seconds: "Why is the photo on your ID so different from you?"

Koslake: "The war changed me. I mean, I became skinny."

The judge thought for a moment, muttered something in Ant language, and then continued to ask: "Have you committed any crime? Tell the truth!"

Koslake: "No, my direct superior, Sergeant Koslake, kept telling me not to do anything excessive because we seemed to be losing the war."

Judge: "This sergeant major has a very high level of awareness, what about others?"

Koslake hesitated for a moment, but then answered firmly: "Dead."

Inquisitor: "Do you know what crime he committed?"

"He told me when we were talking." Kosrek told me all his crimes in detail, and finally said, "He kept saying that the Ant people he killed came to find him, and he would be escorted to the hell of hell to pay for his sins forever."

The Inquisitor raised his head and stared at Koslake, which made him feel uneasy.

Finally, the judge lowered his head, picked up the seal, stamped the document, and said, "Andreas, five months of labor reform."

After saying that, he slapped the bell on the table.

The door opened and a priest in a black uniform entered the room. It was Stas.

The black priest said, "Andreas, there is a letter for you."

Koslake was stunned: "Huh?"

Priest: "Your hometown has been liberated, and your sister and brother are alive. They sent a letter a month ago, hoping we can find you."

After saying that, the black-robed priest stepped forward, stuffed a letter into Koslake's hand, and then opened his handcuffs.

Koslake tore open the envelope with trembling hands, and a photo and the letter fell out together.

The photo shows a girl of about 27 or 28 years old, snuggling with a boy of about 5 or 6 years old, with burnt ruins behind them.

But the smiles on their faces fully demonstrated that the suffering was over.

Black Priest: "Rising from the ruins, isn't it?"

Koslake stared at the photo in silence.

Black Priest: "I thought you would cry for joy."

"What?" Koslake looked up. "Oh, I... I can't believe it. I thought it was... By the way, do you know--"

His own hometown, Kosrek's hometown, was at his fingertips.

The black-robed priest waited patiently with a kind expression.

In the end, Koslake still didn't say it.

"Nothing," he said, forcing a smile. "It's nice to rise from the ashes. Where will I serve my sentence?"

The judge on Ant's side said, "Your crime is relatively minor. You will be sent to a labor camp in Prosent. Your main task should be to clean up the ruins and crush the broken buildings into sand and soil for reconstruction."

Koslake nodded: "Okay."

Inquisitor: "You may leave, Corporal."

Koslake put the letter away, held it in his hand and left the room, followed by Stas's black-robed priest.

After leaving the inquiry room, Koslake raised his head and looked at the winter sun.

Black priest: "When spring comes, you can go home. Our motherland will be liberated."

"Yeah," Koslake murmured, "Yeah."

----

170 km south of Prothenia, Cody Castle POW camp.

The warden, Colonel Ferdinand, opened the door of the last dormitory for prisoners of war, looked at the confused faces of the prisoners and said, "Well, gentlemen, you are free now."

His Ansa language had a thick Plossen accent, but the Allied prisoners in the dormitory understood it immediately.

"What's going on?" Colonel Jack, one of the leaders of the prisoners, asked in confusion, "Are the Allies attacking?"

"Ant's troops are less than 20 kilometers away from here," said Colonel Ferdinand.

Colonel Jack: "We heard on the radio a few days ago that the defense line was impregnable."

Colonel Ferdinand just smiled, turned around, picked up the big key plate, and staggered towards the castle tower where his office was located, as if he was taking a walk in his own garden.

The prisoners looked at each other and finally rushed out of the dormitory, only to find that the doors of other dormitories were also open. The prisoners from the Allied countries stared at each other in surprise.

Most of the castle's guards had disappeared, leaving only one man collecting clothes.

Colonel Jack asked loudly in Plossen, "Where are all the guards?"

The guard who was collecting the clothes looked up: "Ah? Going home."

Colonel Jack: "What?"

"Home! Enough mahogany!"

The guard also said something in Ansa.

At this time, the leader of the Ante prisoners said in broken Ansa language: "It is said that our troops are coming, but I don't know why the progress is so fast."

Just then, a gunshot was heard from the castle tower.

All the prisoners fell to the ground at once.

But there was no waiting for the alarm, the warning shots from the machine guns, or the barking of the hounds.

Colonel Jack got up, looked around, and found that the Plosson soldier who had just collected the clothes was gone. Everyone looked at each other, and then ran towards the tower together.

In the past, there were several locks on the entrance to the tower, and ordinary prisoners could not get in at all, but now the prisoners have an easy way all the way to the warden's office.

Then everyone saw the warden lying backwards with a pistol in his hand.

The bullet entered through the mouth and exited from the back of the head, and brain matter and blood covered the window behind the seat.

Wind rushed in through the hole made by the bullet.

The prisoners looked at each other, and Colonel Jack stepped forward and began to look through the documents on the warden's desk.

One prisoner said: "He is actually a good man and should wait for the Ant Army with us."

No one answered. The office, which smelled of blood and was extremely cold, fell into complete silence.

Finally, Colonel Jack finished flipping through the documents and said, "It seems that an entire army of the Prosen people laid down their weapons and voluntarily gave up their positions. As a result, the Ant people advanced straight in. If nothing unexpected happens, the Ant vanguard will arrive tomorrow."

Someone asked: "Is it Rokossov's troops?"

"No, it seems that Marshal Rokossov's troops are advancing towards Prothenya." Colonel Jack glanced around the room. "Anyway, let's eat first."

Castle Cody allowed the prisoners to make their own fires and cook, and even allowed them to brew wine, so there were several acclaimed chefs among the prisoners.

Colonel Jack's idea was immediately approved by the chefs, and soon a sumptuous dinner was prepared. The prisoners set up several long tables in the courtyard of the camp, and the tables were piled with sumptuous meals.

They also took out the brewed wine and sang and danced in the prisoner-of-war camp.

There should have been Proshen's anti-aircraft artillery units and other troops around, but in the end no one came to manage these prisoners of war.

----

In the early morning of December 12, Colonel Jack and the leader of the prisoners, Ante, brought a group of people to the sentry box at the entrance of the prisoner-of-war camp.

They stayed like this in the cold wind all night.

When Colonel Jack got up, he felt like he was freezing.

Just as he was stretching his body, a roar was heard in the distance.

At first it was just a low sound like thunder. After a moment, the snow on the ground began to tremble. Then the snow on the trees began to fall little by little, and soon turned into heavy snow.

Soon, the snow on the trees began to fall in large chunks. If someone stood under the tree, they would be buried in the snow in an instant.

Amid the roar came the noise of the tank's running mechanism.

All the prisoners woke up, and as they stood up, the prisoners in the camp also rushed out and huddled together at the gate.

Accompanied by a harsh sound of tracks rubbing against the ground, a round-headed tank appeared on the road leading to the prisoner-of-war camp, and the tank was full of Ante soldiers.

All the soldiers were wearing cloaks, and even Colonel Jack knew that they were Ant's elite guards.

At first, the commander on the tank turret looked nervous and picked up the machine gun to shoot, but then he saw clearly that the people at the door were not Prosen's troops.

At this time, Ant's captives became agitated, jumping up and shouting: "We are prisoners! Don't shoot!"

The tank gradually approached and finally stopped in front of Colonel Jack.

The commander asked loudly: "Are you all prisoners of war?"

Colonel Jack taught himself Ante - because there was not much to do in the POW camp except learning the language and playing rugby.

The colonel replied, "We are prisoners of war. We were dismissed and went home yesterday after the guarding began. There should still be Plosson's troops nearby. Why didn't we hear any gunfire?"

The commander: "They also ran away. Now only the Asgard Knights will resist us. You continue to wait here. We don't have time to accommodate you. When the church comes up, they will entertain you."

At this time, the prisoners had surrounded the tank and stuffed various supplies into the hands of the Ante fighters.

The leader of the Ante prisoners spoke up: "Chariot Master Davarich, give us weapons, we need to continue fighting the Prosents. I know you must be outflanking Prosentia, let us also participate in this glorious battle!"

The commander said: "We do have extra weapons, and we are indeed short of junior officers. Can you accept being a platoon leader? I see you are not much of a colonel."

"We promise to complete the mission. As long as we can enter Prothenia, anything is fine!"

The prisoners of war from other countries looked at each other in bewilderment. Some raised their hands and said, "We want to go to Prothenia, too!"

"We can't miss the scene that ends the war!"

The commander spread his hands helplessly and said, "Actually, I can't decide on this matter, but our brigade commander will be here soon. You can ask him for approval. We are going to move on. Please get out of the way."

As the tank started again, the freed prisoners had to make way.

The tank commander saluted everyone and then the tank loaded with infantry drove past the entrance of the prisoner-of-war camp and headed northwest.

More tanks passed through the prisoner-of-war camp. The Ante soldiers sitting on the tank bodies all had medals on their chests. They didn't seem to be afraid of being targeted by enemy snipers at all.

When the tenth tank passed, the Ants began to sing.

It was a cheerful song, and seemed to tell the love story of a wandering young man and a young girl.

In the chorus, the young Ante warriors sang in unison:
"Tanya! Tanyusha! My Tatyana!
"Do you still remember that hot summer?

"I can't forget that time
“That time to love!”

----

On December 12, the Ante Army's front headquarters was 9 kilometers away from the center of Plosenia.

Because the front-line headquarters had not advanced for many days, Wang Zhong had been feeling very depressed these past two days.

Early that morning, he paced back and forth in the headquarters, and when he stopped, he stared at the fire in the fireplace in a daze.

Pavlov: "Are you so impatient? Once the troops occupy Prothenia, you'll have plenty of time to stroll around the city."

Wang Zhong: "If I were walking around and ran into the captured Emperor Prosen, could I have shot him?"

Pavlov: "That's definitely not possible. They've all been captured."

Popov also chimed in: "His Majesty the Patriarch has issued instructions that lynching should not be used, and all war criminals should be hanged after trial, and procedural justice should be upheld."

Wang Zhong shook his head.

Just then the phone rang. Pavlov picked up the receiver: "General Command. Got it."

He held the receiver in his hand, covered the bottom with his palm, and said to Wang Zhong: "The 14st Guards Heavy Breakthrough Artillery Division has occupied a position kilometers from the city center."

Wang Zhong: "So our cannons can reach the city center?"

"Yes, it can bomb Emperor Prosen's palace."

Wang Zhong was overjoyed: "Great! Start shelling immediately. There will be plenty of shells!"

Popov: "Will it destroy too many artifacts? After all, they will be handed over to Davarish in Prosen. It is better to use less heavy firepower, right?"

Wang Zhong: "No, the cultural relics were damaged. Blame those bastards who led the country of Proson astray! We are just trying to reduce our casualties. It's not intentional. Let the First Guards Heavy Breakthrough Artillery Division open fire!"

(End of this chapter)