Cannon Fire Arc

Chapter 781: Chapter 32: The Other Side of War (6K)_4

“Not at all, not at all!” the house servant continuously waved his hand, “I’m just trying to earn a living! When the guerrillas came to steal wine to make incendiary bottles, I pretended not to see anything! I don’t communicate with the guerrillas, so I cannot be caught, I have been waiting for the liberation all these years!”

Wang Zhong corrected him: “Liberation.”

“Right, liberation!”

Wang Zhong: “Has Master Boye returned?”

“No.”

Vasily muttered on the side: “Maybe he was taken out when the surrender faction was dealt with.”

Wang Zhong turned to look at Robert Capa who was following him to take photos, then looked at his partner, Journalist Mike: “I want to go see the office, that was my headquarters during the battle of Upper Penie.

“At that time, I was feverish, mostly bedridden and unconscious, Yegorov’s group headquarters was set up in the large estate of Master Boye, while I was unconscious, it was he and Chief of Staff Pavlov who jointly repelled the enemy.”

Journalist Mike raised his hand and asked: “Pavlov, is it the present Pavlov?”

Since the repeated name situation was severe, Journalist Mike asked in this way.

Wang Zhong: “Yes, him. He has been with me since then, but at that time he was inexperienced, didn’t have many staff or Level 6 clerks, and couldn’t command such a large army.”

Journalist Mike: “So it’s not wrong to say this was the start of your collaboration?”

Wang Zhong shook his head: “There’s a big problem, actually the command of the infantry was all done by Yegorov and Pavlov, I only proposed my ideas, and forced them to accept them.”

Ludmila whispered a reminder: “Also, tank battles, you raced tanks too.”

Wang Zhong: “Oh right, I also raced tanks.”

Ludmila: “At the most dangerous moment, the tank you commanded, Tank No. 422, turned the tide, blocked the enemy’s attack, and also rescued me who was nearly captured.”

Wang Zhong scratched his cheek, embarrassed: “Let’s just visit the office then.”

————

The office walls were covered with Prosen recruitment posters, clearly this place had become part of a Prosenian barracks.

The originally spacious office area was now filled with many bunk beds.

Wang Zhong squinted his eyes, admiring the posters on the walls.

Vasily: “I’ll wash these off.”

Wang Zhong: “No, these are history, they will be available for people to visit in the future.”

“Visit… is that really appropriate?” Vasily asked worriedly, “These are all records of us being bullied.”

Wang Zhong: “Relax, Vasily. War comes and goes, but these records will remain forever.”

Saying this, Wang Zhong paced around the office, then noticing that Alekseyevna looked a bit tired, he quickly said: “Come on, let’s go see the first generation of Tank No. 422!”

————

That T28 tank was still parked outside the village, maintaining the posture of facing the Prosen tank gun right before it was destroyed.

Wang Zhong pointed to the bullet holes on the front of the tank: “Alekseyevna, the shell that took your son’s life entered the tank from here.”

The old woman looked at the bullet hole, her expression sorrowful: “Just such a small hole? My dear son was lost just like that.”

Wang Zhong: “Would you like to see his battle position?”

The old lady hesitated for a while, then shook her head: “No, what’s the use of going up there? Let’s lay flowers instead.”

As the old lady turned back, Ludmila handed her a wreath.

“To be able to find so many flowers in autumn,” the old lady marveled, “Young girl you are very capable, as capable as a Marshal.”

Ludmila smiled brightly.

The old lady placed the flowers in front of the tank, clasped her hands together, and closed her eyes to pray.

After a moment, the old lady opened her eyes, looking towards Wang Zhong: “General, I prayed for your blessings, you will surely turn misfortune into a blessing in the future.”

Wang Zhong: “Thank you.”

Old lady: “Is there anything else you need to do?”

Wang Zhong: “I have another tank to lay flowers on.”

————

The KV tank numbered 67 was still quietly parked at the village entrance.

The large crater caused by the Stuka bombings had been filled in, and next to it a structure similar to a lookout tower had been built, resembling the Prosen ‘gun tower’.

The already rust-streaked KV lay there.

Wang Zhong walked around the tank, asking the hastily arriving local Bishop: “Where are the burials of the tank operators of this vehicle?”

The Bishop pointed to the gun tower beside: “Right under the foundation of the gun tower, during that period the town was always ‘haunted’, so the Prosens planned to ‘suppress’ the souls of the fallen this way, and dug up the bodies originally buried in the nearby woods to bury them underneath.”

Wang Zhong nodded, then took a wreath from Ludmila’s hands and placed it at the base of the tank’s turret.

The bright white flowers on the rust-streaked tank were dazzling.

Wang Zhong stepped back, looking at the flowers on the tank.

At that moment, a horse whinnied in the distance.

Wang Zhong thought to himself “Can’t be”, turned his head to look, and saw Bucephalus galloping over.

“No!” Wang Zhong held onto his hat, thinking the crazy horse was going to chew on his hair again.

However, the white horse stopped in front of the tank, then spat something onto the tank.

Wang Zhong: “What are you doing, this tank is—”

He suddenly stopped, realizing that what Bucephalus had spat out was a big pile of grass mixed with tiny Starflowers.

The white horse moved away, facing the tank, raised its front hooves high, standing up, and gave a long whinny.

A few seconds later, Bucephalus lowered its front hooves, casting a sideways glance at Wang Zhong.

Wang Zhong gently stroked its neck: “Good, very good, indeed you are one in a million, you could sit at the same table as Red Hare, if one day I become a spiritual hero, you’ll have a share too.”