artillery arc

Chapter 783 Victory
St. Catherine's Castle, Summer Palace, January 918, 1.

In the large office used by successive tsars, Olga looked at the calendar: "There are still six days until Christmas. My brother actually ended the war before Christmas." (Christmas of the Eastern Church is on January 1th of the Gregorian calendar)
Marshal Gorky reminded: "The war is not over yet. We still have to go to war with the Fuso Empire. The battle plan was formulated by Pavlov himself and is divided into two phases -"

Olga: "I approve the plan. Mikhail!"

Mikhail, the chief steward of the palace, immediately opened the side door and came in: "Your Majesty."

Olga: "Let all the cabinet ministers and generals come here. I have something important to announce."

Twenty minutes later, cabinet ministers and generals entered the office.

Judging from the expressions of many people, they had already guessed what was going to happen.

Olga stood in front of her desk, looked up at the oil paintings of successive tsars hanging in the office, and finally her eyes fell on the national emblem of the Ant Empire.

She took a deep breath and said, "I will soon leave for the Worry-Free Palace to attend the upcoming international conference. After the surrender ceremony and the signing of the announcement, I will resign as the head of the Ante Empire in front of the main leaders of the allied countries."

Marshal Gorky: "Is that Rokossov who will replace you as the new Tsar?"

"No, I don't think my brother would. He has always wanted to establish a truly secular country, the Republic of Ante."

Cabinet ministers looked at each other in bewilderment, and finally the prime minister asked: "So, will he run for election? Or will he just serve as 'first citizen'?"

"I don't know." Olga smiled like a little girl. "Of course, this matter will be decided by the new government. I will be directly protected by my brother in the Sanssouci Palace. He has built a manor for me. It is next to the White Sea and the scenery is beautiful."

Everyone was silent, and finally Marshal Gorky broke the silence: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, you can finally do what you want to do."

Olga turned around and found the portrait of Empress Catherine on the wall. It was she who had the capital of Ant renamed "Saint Catherine Castle", becoming the unique empress in Ant's history.

Olga: “When I was little, I always hoped to be like Catherine III, to expand the territory and leave my name in the history of the empire.

"But now I realize that times have changed. My brother has been teaching me this, and later Marshal Turgenev kept telling me that an era without the Tsar is coming. Belinsky didn't try to persuade me, probably because my brother was too powerful and had such a high reputation, which made me difficult to deal with."

"Of course not, Your Majesty." Belinsky's voice came from the door. The Patriarch walked through the crowd that automatically separated and came to Olga. "I see the light of wisdom in you. I know you will make the right choice."

Olga smiled and said, “Really?”

"Yes." Belinsky paused and asked, "I wonder what kind of work Your Majesty wants to do after abdication?"

Olga thought for a moment and answered, "I want to be a photographer."

Belinsky: "Photographer? Why?"

Olga came to the window and looked out at the snow-covered garden of the Summer Palace: “Because I want to record everything beautiful about Ant.

"In the war that just ended, all the most historically valuable photos were taken by a United States photographer. I think this is not in line with Ant's status as a great power."

Belinsky: "I see, it really suits you very well."

Olga asked in return: "Is it possible for my brother to become the Patriarch?"

"Of course it's possible. He is a living saint."

"Is that so? Then I feel relieved." Olga nodded.

----

Southwest of Prothenia, Sanssouci Palace.

Wang Zhong looked at the famous "Seris Pavilion" in the courtyard of Wuyou Palace and muttered, "This Seris style is really weird."

Pavlov: "If you really want to see real Seris architecture, wait until the Naroda Peak Climb begins. However, you can no longer follow the vanguard. I heard that the people of the Fuso Empire like to carry out suicide attacks. They can lie dormant underground like cockroaches, and when important vehicles come, they will shout something like "It's a disaster" and come out to detonate explosives."

Wang Zhong: "Got it. I will wait until the troops have completely wiped out the enemy before moving forward. With the help of the people from the Seris Resistance Organization, it shouldn't be difficult."

Pavlov changed the subject: "The United Kingdom delegation is due to arrive at noon today. They've brought the Free Carolingian with them. It looks like they're planning to add a pair of bowls and chopsticks when they divide the bill."

Wang Zhong: "Let them add it. President Luo has the same idea as us, which is to dismember the old colonial system of the United Kingdom."

Before he finished speaking, Vasily drove a jeep into the courtyard and drove along the avenue. "Marshal! The newspaper from the United States has arrived. The headline on the front page is not about the war, but about President Luo merging the Federal Reserve Board into the National Bank of the United States."

Wang Zhong: “He finally did it.”

Pavlov: “Does it make any difference?”

Wang Zhong: "Of course, the United States will be more functional as a country in the future. But this has nothing to do with us for now."

Pavlov asked Vasily: "What's the situation in the Fuso Empire? Has the United States Navy approached the mainland of the Fuso Empire?"

"On the second page, it says that the United States fleet has bombarded the Fuso Empire's homeland and dispatched a large number of bombers to carry out night bombings, using incendiary bombs to burn down large areas of the Fuso Empire's cities. It seems that they like to build houses with wood."

Wang Zhong: "Is the commander of the United States Air Force named Li Mei?"

"Yes, that's the name."

Wang Zhong: "I met him once. He was with the commander of the Eighth Air Force at the time. He was a ruthless man. It turns out that he has been transferred to fight the Fuso Empire now."

Vasily: "You seem very much looking forward to attacking the Fuso Empire?"

"Of course, but there are still some finishing touches here that must be completed." Wang Zhong looked towards the east, "Otherwise I would have flown to the far east long ago."

----

January 1, Wuyou Palace.

The unconditional surrender ceremony of the Proson Empire.

The moment the Celtic Marshal of the Proson Empire saw Wang Zhong, he stopped and looked him up and down.

Celtic Marshal: "It is obvious that he is a fierce general. He deserves to be able to destroy so many of our troops."

Wang Zhong: "How many troops I destroyed seems to have nothing to do with my appearance, right?"

"You are right." The old marshal, who was over 70 years old, saluted the young man Wang Zhong. "Times have indeed changed. We old antiques can no longer adapt to modern warfare."

Wang Zhong returned the greeting, then looked at the ceremonial officer: "Are there any other procedures? Let's go quickly."

In the next twenty minutes, Wang Zhong was almost overwhelmed by a series of diplomatic rhetoric.

Finally, the moment of signing came. The Celtic Marshal was sitting next to Wang Zhong. When he saw the unconditional surrender agreement, he sighed and signed his name.

Wang Zhong also wrote his name on the agreement, accepting Proson's unconditional surrender on behalf of the Ante Empire.

Five-star General Ike signed on behalf of the United States, followed by Field Marshal Margot of the United Kingdom, and then the two Melania representatives.

The reason why Melania has two representatives is that now Melania has two governments, one is the government-in-exile in the United Kingdom, and the other is the representative of the secular state established by secular believers.

Both representatives ignored each other and signed the surrender document.

The process came to an end quickly, and after all the representatives signed, the artillery unit began to fire a salute. Amid the salute, the waiter brought the wine.

Admiral Little John came up to Wang Zhong with a wine glass in his hand and said, "Can you tell me how you defeated the Plosson army? It was so difficult for us to defeat their second-line troops."

Wang Zhong took a sip of wine and said, "The answer is courage, sacrifice and a little bit of modern war art."

The Admiral raised his glass: "Cheers to the art of war."

Wang Zhong: "Cheers to courage and sacrifice!"

After they finished their drinks, Wang Zhong asked, "Why didn't Admiral Tom come?"

Admiral Ike answered Wang Zhong: "He is busy commanding the Special Mixed Task Force. He is probably patrolling near the coastline of the Fuso Empire, bombarding enemy military facilities, and rescuing downed bomber pilots.

"By the way, Your Excellency Marshal, when will you start the attack?"

Wang Zhong: "On February 2, we will be able to complete all preparations. By then, the elite guards will give the Fuso Empire a taste of its power. We expect to defeat the Fuso Empire's troops outside the Seris Pass and occupy Guoshan in 26 days.

"Then we will use airborne troops to capture Tsushima Island and clear the way for landing on the mainland of the Fuso Empire. Next, we will rely on you to transport our troops and Seris's troops to the island."

Admiral Littlejohn: "The Navy will get it done. Now let's toast to victory!"

Ike also raised his glass: "For victory!"

Wang Zhong: “For victory!”

----

January 1, Wuyou Palace.

At the gate, Wang Zhong shook President Lao Luo's hand and said, "Mr. President, I heard that you are in poor health. I am sorry that you have to drag your sick body to attend the meeting."

President Luo: "You don't have to apologize. This meeting is very important. I have a feeling it may affect the future world situation."

At this time, Leonard and General Dagaud of the Free Carolingians also entered the hall.

After hearing what Lao Luo said, Leonard said: "For example, at this meeting, a decision will be made whether to land on the mainland of the Fuso Empire. I heard that in the battle for the island, the enemy showed a headache of tenacity, resulting in huge casualties among the soldiers of the United States.

"I think we should not land, but use the new weapons of the United States to force the enemy to surrender!"

Wang Zhong: “No, if they take the title of the first country in human history to be hit by thermonuclear weapons, they will soon try to use this to cover up the fact that they started the war and their atrocities.

"No, we cannot drop thermonuclear weapons on the Fuso Empire. We cannot give these shameless guys a chance to change their confession. We must nail them to the pillar of shame."

Leonard turned his head and looked at General Dago.

Apparently, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom considered himself as Dago's benefactor, and without his insistence, Dago would not have the right to be here - at least he thought so.

General Dagao glanced at Wang Zhong and said, "I also think that we should not give the enemy an excuse to change their confession. Free Carolingian is willing to send a landing force to participate in the battle to completely eliminate the Fuso Empire."

Leonard widened his eyes and stared at General Dagao.

At this time, a confidential secretary hurried into the hall and whispered something in Leonard's ear.

Leonard was stunned. "What? How could they take my Prime Minister away when I came to negotiate on behalf of the Empire? Is this legal?"

Confidential Secretary: "It should be legal. Even if it is not, just let the Supreme Court give an explanation."

Leonard: "Who will fight for the interests of the empire?"

Confidential Secretary: "The new negotiator will arrive by plane tomorrow."

Leonard was stunned. When the waiter passed by, he took a glass of champagne from the tray and drank it in one gulp.

Then he looked at Wang Zhong, opened his mouth to say something, but finally gave up and turned to walk towards the gate he had just passed.

Wang Zhong's orderly immediately took off Leonard's hat and coat and handed them to the "former" Prime Minister Leonard.

The former prime minister looked back at Wang Zhong for the last time, then put on his coat, put on his hat, pushed the door open and walked into the falling snow.

The flash lights came on at this time, and then two old acquaintances of Wang Zhong, reporter Mike and photographer Robert, entered the hall.

Mike: "What did you say to the Prime Minister?"

Wang Zhong: "Nothing, just let him know that he just became the former prime minister."

"Really?" Reporter Mike's eyes widened. "Forget it, there's no need to answer. I know everything from Leonard's expression. I'll just leave it to my old partner."

Robert Capa nodded: "Leave it to me."

At this time, President Luo urged in his wheelchair: "Okay, it's almost time to end the pleasantries. Let's go to the conference room to continue discussing the terms of the joint communiqué!"

Wang Zhong: "I still have the same opinion. We need to set a bunch of conditions that the emperor of the Fusang Empire absolutely cannot agree to. Only in this way can we land. Otherwise, if it suddenly surrenders, we will have no place to avenge the Seres!"

----

While the Wuyou Palace was busy drafting a joint announcement against the Fuso Empire, the Territory of East Styria.

"Andreas" got off the train and looked up at the unfamiliar station.

He didn't recognize it at all, after all, he had never been to this station before.

He took out the photos of his "sister" and "brother" that came in the letter sent to him.

Although "Andreas" wanted to return to his "homeland" quietly, the kind-hearted Stas still helped him notify his sister and brother.

He had to remember what the two of them looked like.

Just then, someone saw the photo and exclaimed, “Are you Andre?”

"Andreas" was startled and looked up. Sure enough, he saw the two people in the photo holding hands and looking at him.

"Uh, I..."

"Andreas" looked worriedly at the police from the new Plossen Republic who were on guard on the platform, as well as the two black-clad priests who were standing further away and chatting.

At this time, the strange woman stepped forward and gave "Andreas" a warm hug: "You are finally back, welcome."

"But, I'm not..." "Andreas" said softly.

"It's okay, at least tell us where he is buried. You can stay with us until you get news about your family." said the "sister". "Thank you for taking care of him, Kosrek."

"Andreas" burst into tears.

In the distance, the military band began to play music, and the young people who survived the disaster sang loudly: "Rising from the ruins, the great motherland..."

(End of this chapter)