Cannon Fire Arc - Chapter 51 Listening to the old man talk about the past
Afterwards, Wang Zhong and his party returned to the command headquarters located in the warehouse, only to discover a large hole in the external wall before even entering the warehouse compound.
Wang Zhong hurriedly asked the guard at the gate, “Were we shelled? Is the damage extensive?”
The guard chuckled, “Don’t worry, General. Three shells fell, but only one hit the warehouse building, and nobody died. Two landed in the courtyard, exploding with great force, but our yard was empty, with nothing but bran in it.”
In order to make the disguise more convincing, Wang Zhong had instructed before setting out on reconnaissance that the anti-aircraft battery was placed next to the city council building, which had collapsed by a third, and even the guards at the warehouse were operating undercover. There were only two groups of four guards on the surface, each watching over one of the two main entrances.
Now it seemed that this decision had fortuitously reduced the casualties from the shelling.
The motorcade entered the warehouse compound and stopped in front of the granary. An elderly herdsman who had come with the vehicles hummed disdainfully, “The general is actually commanding battles from a grain barn, that’s even worse than us herdsmen!”
Wang Zhong: “Grain barns are pretty good, you know, strong and durable, even the drainage is good when it rains! Please, come on in!”
“Hmph, my ears are quite sharp. I can identify His Majesty’s voice in an instant, don’t think you can fool me!” said the herdsman as he took a chair from the staff officer, spreading his legs wide as he sat down.
The old man’s posture, bold and authoritative, revealed that in his youth he must have been a rough-and-tumble plainsman—or perhaps more accurately, a bandit.
Popov stood up, “What’s the matter here? Shall I call the Judge?”
“Hmph!” the old herdsman snorted, curling his lip, “If the Judge comes, I won’t say a word, and you can deal with the plains yourself!”
Wang Zhong picked up the phone, “Connect me to the Summer Palace.”
The operator responded with a “Alright” and said no more. Soon after, the voice of the Summer Palace Court Chamberlain came through: “Summer Palace, who is this?”
Before Wang Zhong could reply, he heard Olga’s voice from the other end, “Is it Rocossov? Is it? Give it to me, give it to me!”
Then there was a burst of static, probably from tussling over the receiver, followed by Olga’s voice slamming into Wang Zhong’s eardrum, “Rocossov? Is that Rocossov?”
Wang Zhong: “If it isn’t, you might cause a misunderstanding!”
“I didn’t even call you Alyosha! Oh right, I forgot the rank of major general, cough cough.” The girl cleared her throat, adopting a more official tone, “Major General Rocossov, how is the situation at the front?”
Wang Zhong: “I need a favor from you. There’s an old herdsman here who insists on hearing His Majesty the Tsar’s voice before he’ll offer help.”
“Then hand him the phone!”
Wang Zhong glanced at the old man and handed over the receiver, “His Majesty the Tsar is on the line.”
The old herdsman quickly tapped his half-filled pipe onto the tabletop, knocking out the tobacco. After putting the pipe away neatly, he straightened the hat on his head and took the receiver with both hands, reverently saying, “Hello?”
Wang Zhong couldn’t hear what Olga was saying, he could only observe the changes in the old man’s face.
At first, he was doubtful, then became fearful and anxious—apparently recognizing Olga’s voice as he had claimed. The old man, in his anxious state, repeatedly uttered, “My sins, my sins, for having doubted His Royal Highness.”
Hmm?
Since the call was with Olga now, Wang Zhong didn’t see fit to correct him and could only signal with his eyes to those around him, “I’m not it.”
The next moment, the old man’s expression turned to astonishment, “Not him? Then I misunderstood! My sins, my sins!”
Wang Zhong’s curiosity about what Olga was saying grew.
With the Court Chamberlain and General Tugenev watching over, surely she wouldn’t say anything too outrageous, would she?
Finally, the old man again nodded like a pecking chicken, “Alright, alright, I will cooperate fully, rest assured Your Majesty! That… what’s that word again? No need to say it? Alright, alright!”
The old herdsman kept repeating “alright, alright” and handed the receiver back to Wang Zhong with utmost respect, “His Majesty said to speak with you.”
Wang Zhong took the receiver, “What did you tell him?”
“Ah, just that my brother, upon his deathbed, entrusted me to your care, and now you are essentially my brother, so he should cooperate with you fully.”
Wang Zhong raised his eyebrows, “Why do I feel like you said more than that?”
“That’s all I said, you can ask him if you don’t believe me!”
Wang Zhong glanced at the old man and shook his head, “I believe it, I believe it. We’ll call you back after we finish talking here!”
“Make sure you do!” Olga insisted.
“Don’t worry.” Wang Zhong set down the receiver and looked at the old man.
The old man continued to pray, his prayer seemed to be for God to bless His Majesty the Tsar.
At that moment, Wang Zhong finally realized why the church still preserved the Tsar.
It had been so long since the Secular faction within the church had won the civil war, and most young people had become secularists, yet they could still encounter such devoted followers of the Tsar.
If they hadn’t preserved the Tsar, the civil war might have dragged on for over five more years.
In a world where supernatural forces and miracles existed, pursuing a secular reform was indeed fraught with difficulties.
After the old man finished praying, Wang Zhong asked, “Elder,…”
“No! His Majesty said you are like her older brother now, His Royal Highness. Please command me as you will!”
Wang Zhong didn’t want to “command” people, since before his own crossing he had been a working man himself; he felt a natural aversion to terms that carried connotations of servitude.
But now he had no choice but to overlook it, so he gestured, “Come, over to the map.”
The old man quickly approached, a stark contrast to his previous unruly demeanor.
Wang Zhong: “Can you read maps?”
“Of course. I was once with His Majesty the Tsar’s Fifth Guards Cavalry Regiment. Cavalrymen have to carry messages; how could they function without reading maps!” The old man claimed.
Wang Zhong: “When I conducted personal reconnaissance before, I discovered there’s a large meadow around this position. Where does this meadow extend to?”
The old man picked up a pencil and began to draw lines, his hand trembling slightly as he did so.
After finishing, the old man said, “Sorry, I’m old, and the line is not straight. Bear with it. This meadow is hard to traverse for horses and has been neglected for a long time! There were Cossacks who tried to cultivate it as farmland, but they failed.”
Wang Zhong: “Such a vast area.”
“On the steppe, despite the grasslands seeming endless at first glance, there is actually a bit of everything! This part here,” the old man continued to draw on the map, “is actually a swamp. The snowmelt in winter has nowhere to go and accumulates right here.”
Wang Zhong: “Are there any other terrains on the steppe that are impassable? I mean for wheeled vehicles.”
“Plenty. For instance, here—even a tractor—I mean a tank, would find it impossible to advance a single step!”
“What’s there?” Wang Zhong asked.
“Moles.” The old man answered seriously, “Moles have dug plenty of holes here. A horse might sprain its foot walking over it, and a tank would definitely collapse into them.”
Wang Zhong clicked his tongue: “Are mole infestations that severe? We also have our telephone lines cut frequently by their digging.”
“On the steppe, telephone lines need to be strung up. That’s what the Secular faction forces did during the civil war.”
Wang Zhong looked at the map, marked up in a variety of colors, stroking his chin: “I originally thought the steppe was a plain similar to the desert and had considered using a ‘tide’ tactic.”
It was actually an idea taken from Earth’s Desert Fox, roughly about the desert being seen as a sea, with supply lines able to reach anywhere, thus desert warfare needn’t be too constrained by roads or settlements.
It was entirely possible to use armored forces like fleets, allowing tanks to patrol the sandy seas, break through at the enemy’s weakest point, and then all troops would flood through the single breakthrough point like a rising tide.
Now it seemed that the steppe was quite different from the desert and the Gobi.
A ‘tide’ tactic simply wouldn’t be feasible on the steppe, still tied down to supply lines.
Wang Zhong muttered to himself: “Does the enemy know this?”
Pavlov: “If we don’t know, then the enemy definitely doesn’t. Their scouts haven’t had the time to comb through the entire steppe.”
Wang Zhong: “So we can be certain, the enemy’s armored forces will definitely become disjointed from their motorized troops like trucks, and their supplies will also get stuck due to the complex terrain hidden beneath the steppe.”
“If we could launch raids on the enemy’s supplies, we could gain a substantial advantage—even though we lack the manpower to carry out annihilation battles, we could still break the enemy forces!”
Popov asked, “Which troops should we use to launch the raids then? Even tanks can’t pass through mole hills and swamps.”
Wang Zhong fell into deep thought as well.
At this time, the herdsman old man said, “Why not try horse cavalry? What about Xia Boyang’s Cavalry Troops?”
Wang Zhong turned to Pavlov: “Right, cavalry! How could the steppe be devoid of cavalry?”
Pavlov: “I must remind you, we don’t have any cavalry troops at all.”
Wang Zhong: “And I must remind you, I can get whatever troops I want.”
He picked up the phone: “Connect to Ye Fort, Summer Palace.”
Pavlov frowned from the side: “Is this really a good idea? His Majesty the Tsar has interfered with military movements again and again, something not even the previous emperor did.”
Wang Zhong: “Hasn’t it happened before? Have you forgotten Argesukov?”
At that moment, the phone connected, and it was Olga’s voice: “Hello? Is this General Rocossov?”
Wang Zhong: “It’s me.”
“Go ahead, what troops do you want?”
Wang Zhong: “I want cavalry, send Kiriyenko’s Cavalry Army to me!”
Pavlov: “General Kiriyenko’s Army Group is on another front. Isn’t it improper to snatch troops from his command just like that?”
On the other end of the phone, clearly, Olga moved the handset away and consulted with someone nearby—likely General Tugenev.
After a few seconds, she said, “General Kiriyenko’s Cavalry Army can’t be deployed to you. But the reserve Front Army has a newly organized Cavalry Army, will that work for you?”
Wang Zhong: “That will do, send the Cavalry Army to me.”
“What are you planning to do with them?” Olga asked, curiosity in her voice.
Wang Zhong: “Let them charge across the vast steppe, carry out Raid Operations.”
“Hmm?” Olga asked, puzzled, “Isn’t ‘Raid Operations’ naval terminology?”
Wang Zhong: “So what? I’m also using naval artillery. What’s the problem with using a naval term?”
“Alright then… you’re confident you can break the enemy, right?”
Wang Zhong: “No, not yet certain. I need to take another look at what should be done. Just send me the cavalry for now.”
Olga: “Alright, I’ll guarantee the cavalry—what? You want to talk too? Okay then… General Tugenev wants a word.”
Then General Tugenev’s voice came through: “Using cavalry for Raid Operations, we tried that last year and it didn’t go well.”
Wang Zhong: “That’s because you didn’t try it on the steppe of Nan’ant. Trust me, it’s much more complicated here than the chernozem lands of Kazarlia. There’s a reason this land remains uncultivated to this day!”
“I see. In that case, try again. I will dispatch two Cavalry Army Groups to you. I estimate they won’t arrive until the 17th.”
“That will work. I’ll be waiting!” Wang Zhong replied.
