Arc of Fire

After the jeep climbed to the top of the hill, Wang Zhong said to Yegorov, “Stand in a conspicuous place. Sufang, unfurl the banner, and make sure others can see clearly that it’s our army flag.”

Sufang looked bewildered, as if she didn’t understand why Wang Zhong was emphasizing the army flag so much, but she still unfurled the flag.

Wang Zhong jumped out of the car and, holding a pair of binoculars, came up beside Yegorov. He raised the binoculars to look into the distance.

Atop the hill, he could barely make out the enemy’s supply station, but even at the highest magnification on his binoculars, the view wasn’t clear. That wasn’t a problem for him though; a simple switch, and everything became crystal clear.

However, Wang Zhong’s attention wasn’t on the supply station, but rather on a moving patch of terrain not far from the hill they were on.

It was the reconnaissance soldiers retreating after surveying the supply station. Wang Zhong’s orders to unfurl the flag and have Yegorov stand in a clear place were all to avoid being mistaken by the recon squad for a senior Prosen officer coming to inspect.

Dying at the hands of one’s own army was the most valueless death in this war.

The reconnaissance squad should have been able to see the army flag by now. Wang Zhong switched back to normal vision and patted Yegorov on the shoulder, “The scouts are back, go greet them.”

Yegorov, also holding binoculars, looked puzzled when he heard Wang Zhong’s words. He glanced at the distance and then at the binoculars, “You saw the scout team?”

All Wang Zhong could do was fob him off, “Their camouflaging skills need to improve.”

Yegorov’s brows twisted as if he were trying to unravel a knot, and at that moment, a large figure emerged from the forest in front, holding a Prosen-standard submachine gun, “Freeze, hands up!”

Yegorov: “Grigori, put the gun down.”

The towering man raised his eyebrows in scrutiny, recognizing Yegorov’s face before lowering the gun, “What’s going on? How did you come to be here?”

Yegorov: “Forward reconnaissance. Also, just now the count noticed you from hundreds of meters away and criticized your disguise!”

Wang Zhong was embarrassed; he had only made up a casual excuse, not expecting Yegorov to take it seriously.

The man called Grigori muttered, “Count? Which count?”

He examined Wang Zhong closely, “Don’t recognize him, aren’t we under the command of the Duke?”

Wang Zhong: “The Duke perished under the enemy’s naval bombardment. Now I’m in command of you. Report on the reconnaissance.”

Grigori: “The Prosen bastards were completely off guard; we got close to a couple of edge sentries, and they didn’t detect a thing.”

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Wang Zhong switched to an overhead view, but found the supply station enshrouded in the fog of war. It seemed he had to lift the binoculars to his eyes to dispel the mist of distance.

He switched back to normal vision, preparing to lift the binoculars, but saw several Ante Army soldiers crawl out from the underbrush and stand behind Grigori.

With an expectant look, Grigori waited, and so Wang Zhong asked, “Did you bring in the two sentries?”

"No, we wanted to interrogate them, but they tried to shout, so we slit their throats.” Grigori gestured across his neck, indicating that this gesture seems to be universally understood across multiple universes.

Wang Zhong nodded, then lifted the binoculars and switched views again. This time, the enemy supply station “lit up.” Indeed, it was still in that “peaceful years” state, and no one seemed to have noticed the Ante Army Flag on the hill.

Wang Zhong put down the binoculars and turned back to Sufang, “Roll up the army flag, no need to keep it displayed.”

He turned to Yegorov, “We’re planning a surprise attack on this supply station. Should we have our troops stop on the reverse slope behind the hill, gather a hundred experienced veterans, and concentrate as many submachine guns and hand grenades as possible into their hands?”

Yegorov nodded vigorously and immediately turned to give orders, while Wang Zhong looked at Grigori, “Are you the reconnaissance team leader?”

"Yes, Colonel—My Lord Count.”

Wang Zhong: “After the assault team assembles, you will lead them in attacking the supply station. Do you feel confident?”

Grigori smiled, “A hundred men is too many. It’s easy for the enemy to detect us. Ten men armed with submachine guns and grenades would suffice. I have five men here, with two submachine guns. If you can find me another five men, eight submachine guns will be enough.”

Wang Zhong: “What if I say you can’t damage the vehicles and fuel? We need the enemy’s vehicles for our retreat.”

Grigori: “Retreat? I thought we were going to keep attacking, to wreak havoc on the enemy.”

Wang Zhong: “No, we can go to our deaths, but we must die with more value. In this situation, if our small force continues to attack, it’s like soap bubbles under the sun, vanishing instantly without any impact on the overall situation.”

Grigori: “But to launch an attack just for the sake of retreating… I bet your staff officer screamed at that.”

Wang Zhong: “All my staff have died.”

Just then, as Yegorov came back having finished giving orders, he chimed in, “Staff officer Pavlov did indeed let out a scream.”

He paused, his face turning stern, “I request to lead this assault team.”

Wang Zhong: “No.”

It wasn’t that Wang Zhong was sparing of his talents; rather, Yegorov could “open the field of vision” at his side. If Yegorov bit the dust, command would go by default to Pavlov in the rear, and Wang Zhong would be limited to what he could see, significantly reducing his awareness of the battlefield situation.

Yegorov’s brow furrowed in preparation to protest, but Grigori spoke up, “The battalion commander just wants to kill the enemy with his own hands. Actually, I, being more familiar with the terrain, would do the job better than him. My Lord Count, I advise against the change.”

Wang Zhong: “Yegorov, stay here.”

Yegorov was indignant. Suddenly recalling the question Wang Zhong had just posed, he demanded, “You haven’t answered the Count’s question from earlier! Is it possible not to destroy the vehicles and fuel?”

"Yes, but it will take a bit longer, considering we can no longer use explosives. We’ll need to stealthily take out a few sentries and get our people into positions where they can wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop. It’s not a big problem,” Grigori confidently explained.

Wang Zhong: “Alright, I’ll give you ten men, all selected from veterans with experience in the Winter War or the Civil War.”

By this time, Yegorov’s orders had been carried out to the letter. A group of soldiers, brandishing submachine guns, ascended to the mountaintop. The captain leading them saluted and reported, “Sir, we don’t have that many submachine guns, mainly because our casualties have been too severe, and many of the non-commissioned officers who carried them are dead.”

Yegorov: “There’s been a change of plans. Sergeant Major Grigori only needs ten submachine guns now, and also five people with stuffed homes. Whoever is willing to take on this mission, step forward.”

The group of men who had climbed the mountain were volunteers to begin with. Upon hearing his words, they unanimously took a step forward.

Wang Zhong said to Sergeant Major Grigori, “You pick the men yourself. Same for the guns. You have ten minutes, then set off.”

"Five minutes will do!” said Grigori before walking over to the volunteers.

A sergeant took the initiative to speak up, “I’ll go, Corporal Grigori.”

Grigori: “Hmph, I thought you were dead, kid.”

Wang Zhong looked at Grigori’s military rank, puzzled, “Corporal?”

"When this guy was in basic training, I was a corporal,” said Sergeant Major Grigori.

Just then, a young lance corporal called out, “Sergeant Major, I’ll go!”

"Not you,” Grigori shook his head, “you’re not married yet. You need to keep your life.”

It seemed as if to preempt further volunteers, Grigori swiftly picked the remaining men, “That’s enough, the rest of you disperse! Go back to your homes!”

Wang Zhong: “No, the rest will be the second echelon. If Grigori, you can’t take it down, they go in. If you succeed in capturing the depot, fire a signal flare. Give him a signal pistol.”

Taking the signal pistol, Grigori gestured grandly to the assault team he had selected: “Grab your weapons, fast!”

At that moment, an original member of Grigori’s scouting team asked, “What about us, Sergeant Major?”

"Petrov, you stay back. We need someone familiar with the situation to lead the second echelon. The rest of you, follow me. Also, leave all the grenades. The Count is worried about setting off the fuel and ammunition inside, so we can’t use them. Just unload them to lighten our load and move fast.

"Don’t carry too much ammo either, just two magazines each. If we can’t take them down with two magazines, more probably won’t help.”

As he spoke, Grigori tossed his grenade pouch on the ground and pulled two magazines from his ammo carrier to hand to a soldier nearby.

Following that, Grigori swiftly led his light-equipped force into the bushes.

Wang Zhong stood on the mountaintop and once again struck the pose of lifting his binoculars.

Cut to the bird’s-eye view. He could clearly see the movements of Grigori’s separate unit, which, aside from not being under his control, was just like a real-time strategy game.

He watched Grigori’s squad move towards the depot and soon felt a soreness in his arm.

Well, holding up an arm for too long does cause it to ache!

He had no choice but to put down the binoculars, and as a result, the “lit” area of his bird’s-eye view shrank abruptly.

Nonetheless, he could see the field of view for Grigori’s squad moving towards the enemy.

Wang Zhong waited patiently.

**

To those around Wang Zhong, he appeared to be gazing off into the distance in a daze.

Sitting in the back of the jeep, Sofya looked at Wang Zhong, puzzled. She couldn’t help but nudge Sergey, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, “Captain, does the Count often stare off into the distance like this?”

Sergey: “I don’t know. Before today, I had only seen him at balls. He…”

Sergey trailed off.

Sofya: “What about him?”

"Err…” Sergey deliberated for a moment and spoke in a hushed voice, “He’s uneducated. The Duchess really dislikes him, saying he’s like a monkey in heat, only capable of speaking monkey talk.”

After a second’s hesitation, Sergey added, “Today he wet himself on the battlefield and then forcibly took my trousers to wear.”

Sofya was shocked, “What? But when the Monk regiment and I were looking for you guys, all I heard was praise, saying the Count commanded effectively and caught the enemy by surprise.

"Ludmila from the Divine Arrow squad even said he was very brave, leading just the two of them through enemy territory and saved her life!”

Sergey spread his hands, “Maybe… That’s the complexity of people?”