Cannon Fire Arc

Chapter 750: Chapter 7 The Balas Conference Begins

“`

On the evening of August 11, Wang Zhong finished his work and returned to the manor, only to be taken aback as he walked through the door.

“What’s with this outfit?” Wang Zhong couldn’t help but ask.

In Wang Zhong’s memory, Ludmila was either clad in military uniform, wearing a church robe, or dressed in a courtly gown.

Even the riding skirts she wore for outings were imbued with the air of a European court.

But now, Ludmila was wearing a dress that seemed to have come straight out of a Marilyn Monroe movie!

Wang Zhong couldn’t help but rub his eyes and take a closer look.

Ludmila looked down at the dress—it wasn’t enough for her just to look down due to her figure; she had to bend over slightly and lean forward to see the hem of the short dress.

“Do you like it?” she asked.@@novelbin@@

Wang Zhong nodded like a pecking chicken, “Like it, like it! I really, really like it.”

Ludmila: “Then should I wear this tomorrow to Balas?”

Wang Zhong: “Ah? No, no, no, let’s keep it serious for diplomatic occasions. You have a rank, you’re a soldier, you’ve been in charge of the air defense for my headquarters. Wearing a uniform to attend the meeting is perfectly appropriate.”

Ludmila: “Eh, the headquarters’ air defense is my responsibility? I thought Miss Amelia was in charge now.”

Wang Zhong: “She’s just a pilot, she can provide a bit of cover when she’s in the air, but the cover you provide is durable and effective!”

Ludmila laughed: “I’m just joking; you don’t have to be so tense. Or are you nervous for a reason?”

“Absolutely not!” Wang Zhong straightened his back, “I’m not nervous at all!”

Ludmila: “Alright, you’ve also had a long day, have some dinner, take a bath, and rest well.”

Wang Zhong: “Did you spend all day at home today preparing for the trip to Balas?”

Ludmila: “Yeah, all the clothes, little gifts for the attendees, everything is ready. I even spent two hours with our son.”

Wang Zhong embraced his wife: “Marrying you was the best thing ever.”

Ludmila didn’t answer, just smiled and gave Wang Zhong a gentle kiss on the cheek, then forcefully pushed him away: “Alright, go wash up and get ready for dinner.”

“At your command~”

The last day before setting off for Balas came to a close.

————

At three in the afternoon on August 12, in the Capital airport of Balas, the Ante delegation’s private jet landed smoothly on the runway, as the escorting fighter jets pulled colorful smoke across the sky above the airport.

Inside the cabin, Olga turned to look at Wang Zhong seated behind her: “Should I be holding your arm when we disembark, big bro?”

Wang Zhong: “You’re His Majesty the Tsar, you can only hold the arm of a Prince!”

Olga: “But you’re also a King, and my sworn brother, holding your arm is normal, right?”

Wang Zhong: “It’s not normal, it’ll lead to a lot of speculation. Go down by yourself, and be proper about it.”

Olga pouted: “Alright. But I’m just a young girl, and the heads of the Federation and the United Kingdom are all sixty or seventy-year-old grandpas; I always feel weird sitting on equal terms with them.

“You’re different though, you’re the General who has wiped out the most Prosen troops, no one will say anything if you sit with them on equal grounds.”

Wang Zhong glanced out the window; the plane was nearly at the terminal and they could already hear the military band playing—there was no time for Olga’s hesitation anymore.

So, Wang Zhong said, “The Ante you lead has also wiped out the most Prosen troops, perform well and don’t dishonor the soldiers who have sacrificed.”

Olga could only turn around and say, “Alright. I’ll perform well.”

At that moment, the plane gradually came to a stop.

Without a word, the flight attendant simply “bang” opened the plane’s door.

The warm August breeze of Balas immediately filled the cabin.

Olga stood up, straightened her dress, and then, lifting the hem of her gown, walked forward with her head held high and chest out.

At that moment, Ludmila whispered to Wang Zhong, “She was just feeling very uneasy. She just needed some reassurance; she knows she has to face the leaders of the United Kingdom and the Federation on her own.”

Wang Zhong: “Then what should I do?”

“Just cheer her on, tell her to ‘go for it’,” Ludmila sighed. “You still don’t know how to be tender to girls, always just flirting.”

“`

Wang Zhong: “Did I flirt?”

“Didn’t I?”, after saying that, Ludmila patted Wang Zhong on the shoulder, “Hurry up, get up. Olga is almost at the bottom of the gangway. If we don’t go out soon, the welcoming party might just forcibly wait for us to appear on the gangway before proceeding to the next step.”

So Wang Zhong stood up and strode forward.

Ludmila was also in a military uniform, so holding hands was not appropriate.

Wang Zhong was the first to emerge from the hatch, the sunlight of Balas as dazzling as it was at this time last year.

He looked up slightly at the sun and then remembered Yakov, who had accompanied him on the expedition to Balas last year.

Despite the scorching sun, a shadow flickered across Wang Zhong’s heart.

It was still summer, so Yakov’s keepsakes couldn’t be brought out; wearing a scarf in summer would be too strange.

Wang Zhong caressed his empty collar and, upon seeing a large group of soldiers from the Federation and the United Kingdom looking up at him, he naturally raised his hand to the level of his eyebrows to salute everyone.

The officers below returned the salute all at once, while the diplomats and secretaries began to clap.

Wang Zhong walked slowly down the gangway and, turning back, he assisted his wife down before walking towards the waiting President of the Federation and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

President Luo of the Federation extended his hand: “Last year when I saw you, you had just wiped out hundreds of thousands of Pulosen troops, and now, you’re a War General who has slain millions of the enemy.”

Wang Zhong replied with a touch of modesty, “You should know that there’s a big difference between the number of enemy casualties we announce, the figure we report to our superiors, and the actual number of enemies we eliminate.”

In reality, inflating war achievements was quite common among countries in World War II; it only became a laughing stock when certain countries did it excessively.

Moreover, sometimes it wasn’t that countries in World War II wanted to inflate their numbers; with the intelligence and communication capabilities of that time, confirming battle achievements often relied on estimates and could hardly be completely accurate.

This banter made President Luo laugh heartily.

He had just let go of Wang Zhong’s hand when Prime Minister Leonard of the United Kingdom’s wartime cabinet came forward and took Wang Zhong’s hand: “Marshal Rocosov, I and my generals are here to learn from you.”

Wang Zhong: “Learn from me? But I don’t have much experience in landing operations. The landing in Balas was too small in scale and the enemy too weak to count. I was actually hoping that the generals from the United Kingdom could teach me how to make a landing because, as you all know, I am planning to force a crossing of the Dibo River.”

The generals from both the Federation and the United Kingdom didn’t look pleased, as the Allied Forces had recently suffered a defeat and been pushed into the sea by Marshal Erwin Rommel of Pulosen.

Wang Zhong wasn’t intentionally mocking them, but their being pushed into the sea had greatly shocked him.

He had originally thought that Prosen would collapse faster than Earth’s history.

However, the reversal against the Allied Forces had changed matters.

Had the forces not been tied down by the Kingdom of Sardinia’s battlefield, Wang Zhong might be facing far more troops from the Pulosen Army than the Eastern Front on Earth.

On Earth, although there were many Sturmtigers on the Eastern Front, the average quality of the troops was not as high as those on the Western Front, which had more Tiger Kings and Panthers. Hence, there was the saying among military enthusiasts that veterans of the Eastern Front would man the Panzer IV till death, while rookies on the Western Front operated Tiger Tanks.

With Prosen’s situation, the Allied Forces being pushed into the sea and Wang Zhong’s quick counterattack could mean that Prosen’s focus might shift entirely to the Eastern Front in the future.

Honestly, Wang Zhong was uncertain about facing the all-out efforts of the Empire of Prosen.

Therefore, throughout the entire Balas conference, Wang Zhong planned to maintain the posture of being able to fight the entire Pulosen forces to intimidate the Federation and the United Kingdom into opening a second front quickly, in order to divert the Empire of Prosen’s forces and ease pressure on his own front.

Mocking the high-ranking officers of the Allied Forces was also a way to provoke their sense of honor as soldiers, pushing them to find courage in disgrace.

None of the officers dared to respond; after all, they had rushed to land mainly because they feared Wang Zhong’s fast progress and the possibility that Ante would occupy all of Europa, turning it into territory controlled by the Secular faction.

These matters were an open secret, and after suffering defeat, they naturally could not refute Wang Zhong’s teasing.

President Luo intervened to smooth things over, “Our previous landings were small in scale and didn’t encounter large Prosen forces, so they went relatively smoothly. This was the first time we encountered a Prosen force exceeding four hundred thousand, and we indeed underestimated the enemy’s combat power.”

After the President finished speaking, one of the generals interjected, “Additionally, Prosen’s new tanks are too powerful; it’s unbelievable that we received no reports about these new tanks from Ante, who had already encountered them!”

Olga suddenly interjected sharply, “The summer offensive has just ended less than two weeks ago, and we are still summarizing the situation. In fact, I’ve brought all the information we currently have on Prosen’s new tanks.

“Moreover, we will also give each of the main Allied Nations a repaired Prosen new tank, as well as several unrepaired but relatively intact wrecks.”

All the officers and both leaders looked at the young woman in surprise.

Olga: “Did you all think I was just a puppet? I am the Tsar of Ante, aspiring to be the contemporary Ekaterina! And giving gifts to the Allied Nations should rightfully be my place to announce, don’t you think?”

Prime Minister Leonard of the United Kingdom said, “Indeed, we were wrong to neglect Her Majesty the Tsar. Let’s continue with the ceremony. Generals can exchange ideas with Marshal Rocossov at tonight’s banquet.”

Wang Zhong nodded, “That would be excellent.”

Prime Minister Leonard made a welcoming gesture to Olga, “President Roosevelt has difficulty walking, so I will accompany you to review the guard of honor.”

President Luo sat down in his wheelchair, “Right, you will stand in my stead.”

Olga stood tall and proud on the red carpet, “Let’s begin.”