Arc of Fire

Pyotr: “So… you’re saying, you really destroyed six hundred Prussian tanks?”

Wang Zhong was caught off guard, almost lost his composure, and cleared his throat: “Well, not that many. But there is indeed a hundred, and among them, twenty were personally taken out under my command.”

“I also personally directed my Tank 422 to kill Major General Rundorf of the enemy’s 15th Armored Division—now he might have been promoted to General.”

The dandies behind Pyotr looked at each other in disbelief, clearly none of them could accept the fact that “that” Alyosha had become a true iron-blooded soldier.

Pyotr looked somewhat bewildered, covering his mouth: “This… My father and I thought the battle reports were all flattery or achievements made by some capable officer under you, and you took credit for them. We thought assigning you to manage the pickle warehouse was the best solution.”

Well, it turned out Dad and big brother didn’t want to keep the original owner alive just for the sake of it, but rather to prevent him from causing too much damage.

It seemed that, as Ludmila said, apart from Alyosha, the rest of the Rocossov family was quite good.

Pyotr: “I need to discuss with my father, but I think he won’t believe you’ve become a qualified soldier, and in the end, you might still be assigned to manage the warehouse…”

At that moment, Vasily finally couldn’t hold it in anymore: “Major General! Uh, Major General Rocossov… Uh…”

After a brief hesitation, he said: “The chubbier Major General! Just let us be stationed on the estate, let the Duke listen to our discussions, and he’ll definitely know how much we trust the Major General… I mean, the slimmer one!”

Pyotr took out his handkerchief, vigorously wiped his sweat, and said: “I will go back and talk to my father right now. Good lord, Father will never believe it. I’m going to be scolded!”

“But Father originally wanted your troops to be stationed on the estate, he thought that a unit that could perform so well under such a commander as you must be well-treated.”

After finishing, Pyotr Konstantinovich Rocossov hurriedly left.

At that point, Crown Prince Ivan, who had been eavesdropping on the brothers’ family conversation, spoke up: “I was wondering why there was so much resistance when I requested your promotion. Turns out the Duke was interfering. But… did you really kill a Prussian major general?”

Wang Zhong: “Yes, I saw him get killed by a high-explosive shell.”

“Oh… that’s kind of impressive, you… you’ve really become a war hero? How could that be, you scored even lower than I did!”

Wang Zhong looked at the Crown Prince with confusion: “You don’t believe that I’ve turned into a war hero? Then why did you arrange for heavy artillery and T34s for me?”

Ivan: “Ah, that was Olga’s idea, she said giving you some parade specialists would make things more interesting, and it was also her using my name and taking my seal to make it happen.”

Wang Zhong frowned, quickly realizing that Ivan had used a feminine pronoun in his statement.

In Ante language, Olga is also a unisex name, used by both men and women.

So the question arises, who is this “Olga”?

It can’t possibly be the leader of the Iron Blood Orphans from Gundam, that’s a male character.

Ludmila leaned closer to Wang Zhong’s ear and whispered: “Olga Nikolayevna Antonovna, the sister of the Crown Prince, the second in line to the throne. Because the current His Majesty Nicholas V doesn’t have a second son.”

Crown Prince: “You guys even forgot about Olga, she’s always complaining about you! Calling you cow dung! But then when the frontline battle reports came in, I gave them to her just for fun, and she actually read them very seriously!”

“Then she proposed to send you some fancy but useless equipment, to make you look like a fool!”

Well, I was wondering why the Crown Prince didn’t seem like the kind of person who would send me so much reinforcements, it turns out it was the princess’s doing. And this fool was still out of the loop.

The Crown Prince continued: “How about it, did those parade equipments come in handy? Were the Prussians stunned when they appeared on the battlefield? I originally wanted to send those stylish T35s as well, after all, you used to adore the T35, saying it was majestic and powerful!”

“But then Olga scolded me and sent T34s instead.”

“That thing is no good, it looks weak. The T35 is much more formidable!”

Wang Zhong “Oh”ed, then seriously asked: “Is Her Highness Olga Nikolayevna Antonovna also in Argesukov now?”

“Of course she’s not; Her Majesty has forbidden her to come near the front lines. Now she spends every day at Saint Yekaterinburg giving speeches to the soldiers and personally handing out hot water and the like. My sister, she’s always enjoyed putting on airs, as you know!”

Wang Zhong clicked his tongue in amazement.

“Her Highness, with her brother’s seal in tow, forged orders to get the technical equipment sent over… Now that the Crown Prince is in Argesukov, that means we can’t count on any equipment coming from the capital.”

“It looks like I’ll have to have a serious talk with Duke Rocossov tonight. Since he managed to get his frivolous son reassigned to the warehouse district to distribute pickles, he should be able to assign troops to his son who has turned into a hardened soldier.”

He was already eager to meet this “father.”

Wang Zhong turned his head to Yegorov and said, “Prepare to depart, and make haste to the manor.”

Yegorov replied, “Uh, we don’t know where your manor is.”

Wang Zhong thought ironically that it was a coincidence, since he didn’t know either.

He silently pushed aside Bucephalus, who was nibbling on his hair again, and looked towards Ludmila.

Ludmila said, “I’ll lead the way. You are all officers; you should be able to understand with just a point on the map.”

————

At this very moment, on the third floor of the train station, inside the clock tower’s machinery room, the Secular faction’s Grand Patriarch Belinsky overlooked the platform, his eyes fixed on Rocossov.

Popov stood beside him respectfully, silent.

Finally, Belinsky spoke, “He is indeed a soldier dedicated to saving our country from peril, but is he really willing to be with the common people, as you say? There is no shortage of nobility amongst the officers who are willing to share blessings and hardships with the common soldiers, considering it a basic quality of a good officer.

“How can you prove that this Rocossov is any different from them?”

Popov answered, “Through observation, I believe that he is not cut from the same cloth as those nobles. Because of this, even the commoners are willing to follow him, to resist the invaders under his command, and to boldly go to their deaths.”

Belinsky remarked, “Hmm, we still need to observe him more. And he also needs to present more achievements. Killing a major general and destroying a few hundred Prosen tanks is not proof enough.

“This war is a brawl between two steel giants, and we are far weaker. Therefore, we need even stronger commanders.

“At the very least, we need to thwart the Prosen offensive this year and turn the situation from a rout into a strategic standoff, so the Federation and the United Kingdom will provide us with assistance.”

Popov responded, “Your Grace, talking about these matters with a mere bishop like me serves little purpose.”

“I know, I know. I just wanted to mention it, to make you understand the importance of the mission.”

At that moment, Rocossov’s combat group in the station began to move.

Belinsky said, “Go quickly, the Church will do its utmost to replenish the combat group—I mean, if you don’t mind the recruits being passionate youths with nothing but bravery and zeal.”

Popov suggested, “Then perhaps fill Yeca Neiko’s Divine Arrow Company’s ranks with prayer soldiers and launcher operators.”

Belinsky replied, “Hmm, we can meet that request, go back and wait for the news.”

With that, the Grand Patriarch waved his hand.

After saluting, Popov turned and left.

At that moment, the bishops in the shadows of the gears who had been eavesdropping stepped out. One of them said, “One of our core beliefs in the Secular faction is that there has never been a Messiah, or rather, each of us, every single person, is the Messiah.”

The Grand Patriarch laughed, “Exactly, which is why we need to identify capable individuals among the people. This is not contradictory, Bishop Chernishevsky. It does not matter if he is a noble or a steelworker, what matters is military talent. To stop the onslaught of the Prosen devils, it is a necessity!”

The Grand Patriarch looked back at the platform once more, gazing at the young faces that had become resolute through the crucible of blood and fire, and softly repeated, “It is a necessity.”

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