Cannon Fire Arc

It took Wang Zhong over an hour to rush to Kubinka.

Just as the convoy entered the main gate of the exercise field, Wang Zhong saw a dense crowd of people sitting on the square, where the cooking team's girls were distributing food to them.

Pavlov, accompanied by a group of officers, emerged from the building that served as the City Defense Command on the exercise field and headed straight for Wang Zhong's convoy.

From a distance, Wang Zhong asked, "Why are you letting them sit in the snow? It's so cold outside."

Pavlov, with a bitter face, replied, "They refused to enter the building, insisting on waiting for you out here in the snow. So I had no choice but to have the cooking team give them hot bread and water."

Wang Zhong looked towards these people.

By now, many had noticed Wang Zhong, so those sitting began to stand up one after another.

Just as Wang Zhong was about to walk towards them, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't yet asked who these people were, and quickly turned to ask, "Who exactly are these people? They don't seem to have a standard military uniform."

Pavlov: "This is the first batch of Melania's volunteer army, just sent over from their settlement. According to the priest who accompanied them, they refused to join other units, requesting to be under your command."

Wang Zhong: "Just because I took a photo with 'Miss Minerva'?"

Pavlov frowned: "Miss Minerva?"

Wang Zhong waved his hand: "That's the nickname I gave that Melanian 'dethroned princess'."

By this time, all the Melanians had stood up, and so Wang Zhong walked towards them.

These people clearly had military training. By the time Wang Zhong approached them, they had already formed ranks, standing uniformly in front of him.

Wang Zhong: "Hello there, volunteers of Melania."

After he finished speaking, he expected to receive a uniform response—something like "Greetings, Commander"—but the Melanians just looked at him, silent.

A man who appeared to be in his forties stepped forward in front of Wang Zhong and saluted.

Wang Zhong: "Even though you're not in uniform, it seems like you have had military training, right?"

The man: "I was once a Melanian major general. Now, I've been elected by everyone as the commander."

From the term "commander," it was evident that the man was a follower of the Secular faction. The Secular faction believed in equality for all, hence they used the title commander, placing no distinction between it and a fighter, jointly referred to as combatant.

Wang Zhong extended his hand: "Greetings, General Sir. I've heard from the priests that you all insisted on joining my forces."

The general took Wang Zhong's hand: "Salute to you, General Rocossov. We indeed requested to be under your command, because you rekindled our will to fight against Prosen. Many of us were ready to keep fleeing eastward; we thought Ante was going to fall too, like Carolingian."

Wang Zhong: "Carolingian hasn't stopped resisting, General Dago's Free Caroling is still fighting. You should keep fighting as well."

The general, with a hint of shame, let go of Wang Zhong's hand: "We... we have been so demoralized by the Prussian onslaught that after the fall of our homeland, Prosen kept advancing triumphantly. The United Kingdom has been spared from falling due to the Royal Navy, but they seem incapable of a counterattack.

"When Prosen recently violated the non-aggression treaty to attack Ante, we were elated, thinking Ante's army of five million could easily annihilate Prosen, but what did we witness? Even if we do not believe Prosen's propaganda of annihilating four million, the front line doesn't lie."

Most Melanians could hear the general's words, and many lowered their heads.

The general: "Even with just a sliver of hope, we would keep fighting, but we fear there is none left. To us, you are the first ray of light piercing through the darkness. Many of us reignited our will to fight after seeing the photos of you parading the Prussian generals.

"So we hope to fight under your command, to restore our homeland!"

The Melanians echoed in unison: "Restore our homeland!"

Their cry of "Restore our homeland" was shouted in the Melanian language, and although it was vaguely audible to Wang Zhong, he could roughly understand since both languages were part of the Slavic language family.

Wang Zhong: "My homeland has also fallen, and I look forward to the day I can return."

Then someone asked, "General, is it true that you carry soil from your homeland with you?"

Wang Zhong: "Yes, it's true."

He picked up the lunch box he always carried and raised it high: "The day I dug up this box of soil, my father and my good brother both sacrificed their lives in the Argesukov encirclement. I will fight my way back home, to scatter this soil where they fell."

Wang Zhong noticed many had tears in their eyes; it seemed they too had lost loved ones under Prosen's iron heel.

Speaking for everyone, the general said: "Please let us join your ranks; we want to fight. The first batch of conscripts all have military experience. We may not have been able to protect our homeland, but we can restore it."

Wang Zhong: "I've heard that there are many high school students among you?"

The general: "Yes, because most here are followers of the Eastern Holy Church Secular faction, so the majority are from cities and there are a lot of high school graduates. Also because of this, most people understand the Ante language. You can assign us to any division."

Wang Zhong: "I hope those with mechanical maintenance experience can step forward. Translate that into Melanian language for me."

The brigadier general acted immediately.

Soon, a large group of people emerged from the ranks, looking to be over a thousand strong.

Wang Zhong was overjoyed, "So many of you!"

Someone from the group addressed him, "Many of us are from the same factory. We were mobilized when the Prussians attacked. We had just reached our station and hadn't begun integrated training when Visvawalsy fell, so we had no choice but to run."

Wang Zhong turned to the speaker, "Your factory specializes in car repairs?"

"Car manufacturing," the man replied.

Wang Zhong, "Good, very good. We are in dire need of battlefield repair personnel. You'll form our first battlefield repair battalion!"

"We want to fight the Prussians!"

Wang Zhong, "I understand your eagerness to open fire directly on the Prussians. But war isn't just about shooting enemies. Repairs are important too. My forces will be equipped with tanks and tank destroyers that are extremely precious and take a long time to produce. It would take too long to produce new ones.

"So you must brave the storm of bullets and recover the damaged tanks, and fix them up! That is your battlefield, your battle. It's a critically important fight, even more so than firing upon the enemy.

"One of the Prussians' advantages is their logistical capabilities. We have to learn from them!"

The thousand-plus people looked at each other perplexedly.

Another person spoke up, "But we want to shed blood for Melania, to be repairmen... we can't even boast over drinks when we get back."

Wang Zhong, "Why can't you? Didn't I just say that you'll be hauling tanks under enemy fire? Don't you know that in the Ante Army, the casualty rate of medics is only second to that of priests? You are the medics for the tanks!

"It's decided then, you will be the First Battlefront Emergency Repair Battalion, the first formal support unit of the mobilizing mechanized army. Alright Pavlov, get them assigned to barracks and take care of the paperwork for setting up the unit!"

Pavlov, "Alright, gentlemen, follow that staff officer. No use protesting; the general has wanted to establish a professional emergency repair unit for a long time."

As Wang Zhong watched these people leave, he turned to the remaining Melania people.

"The rest of you will be formed into the First Melania Mechanized Infantry Division. I will equip you with the same gear as my other troops. Since most of you are high schoolers, you'll mainly serve in technical roles. Later on, we might bolster your ranks with a battalion of Ante infantry."

The brigadier general, "Are we forming our own army?"

Wang Zhong, "Yes, you can think of a name for yourselves; perhaps the Melania People's Army, or the Melania Liberation Army. As for your flag, let's go with red as the background. My units use red flags because the local people of Loktov gave me a flag that was stained red with blood.

"I think you can adopt this symbolism; Melania has paid a price in blood, and a red flag signifies never forgetting those sacrifices.

"As for the emblem on the red flag, I think you can use the white eagle of Melania, although at first, I mistook it for a big white goose."

Laughter spread through the ranks.

The brigadier general admonished, "Don't laugh!"

Wang Zhong quickly gestured with his hand, "No, don't stop. It was a joke; if you don't laugh, it's more embarrassing for me."

This truly made many laugh aloud.

Wang Zhong, "Then it's settled. Pavlov, organize them into a division based on the model division's structure."

Pavlov sighed, "The model division isn't even fully organized yet, and here you are giving me more work."

Wang Zhong patted his shoulder, "The capable must work hard. First, arrange accommodation for them."

There were barracks at Kubinka originally meant for troops participating in exercises, which could accommodate an entire army. When the Prussians closed in, the City Defense Command planned to turn all barracks into fortresses, so many windows were blocked up. Now, to stay in these barracks, the windows needed to be "reopened."

The "window-reopening" activity was a good collective labor task for the new units.

After Pavlov sent the Melania personnel away with the staff officer, Wang Zhong inquired, "How is the organization of the model division going?"

Pavlov, "We're still lacking technical soldiers. The Navy sent over two thousand Naval Infantry, and I've converted them all into technical soldiers. But... with this anti-aircraft battalion and the battlefield emergency repair battalion, do we need so many technical soldiers?"

Wang Zhong, "We do. The enemy Air Force presents a significant threat to our fixed positions and soft targets, and we can't always depend on Divine Arrows. Look at the City Defense Command; see how few Divine Arrows and Prayer Hands they have. Mobilizing Prayer Hands won't increase their numbers; they need time to grow, and they are a non-renewable resource during war."

Wang Zhong paused, then added, "Also, my Liu Da might soon leave for childbirth, and she will be leaving the front line."

Pavlov, "Alright. But we don't have enough anti-aircraft guns, and the only mobile anti-aircraft guns that can follow tank units are vehicle-mounted quad machine guns."

Wang Zhong, "No vehicle-mounted 72K anti-aircraft guns?"

"None. And to be honest, given the state of Ante's ground conditions, if we want to keep up with the tank units, we need tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft guns," Pavlov said.

Wang Zhong scratched his head, "I'll think of a solution. Fortunately, the intensity of the war will significantly decrease in the coming months, giving us time."

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