Arc of Fire

Chapter 61

That night, Vasily and Filippov were cleaning the bathroom by candlelight.

Vasily: "I think the Brigadier General really sees potential in me!"

Filippov, shocked, looked up at his much taller classmate: "Why? Just because he made you clean the bathroom?"

Vasily: "It's a feeling. Think about it, why didn't he let the tallest guy like me carry the flag?"

"Because you got on his nerves," Filippov answered instantly.

"No! It's because carrying the flag is dangerous!" Vasily said confidently, "He wants me to stay alive. Later, he even assigned the most capable 'veteran sergeant' to train me!"

Veteran sergeant is a colloquial term, referring to an experienced and respected old sergeant.

Filippov: "He just doesn't want you causing trouble! If you ask me, Natasha was right-you're always daydreaming!"

At the mention of Natasha, Vasily's face darkened. She used to be his girlfriend, but she broke up with him because "you're always daydreaming."

Filippov seemed to notice his friend's gloom and quickly added: "She also said you're full of ideals and romanticism, so cheer up."

Vasily stubbornly said: "I don't think I'm daydreaming this time. The Brigadier General really thinks I'm his type."

"Come on, you're the person our principal hated the most! What general would think you're his type?"

"Don't you know? I heard that when the Brigadier General was in military academy, he was also the person his principal hated the most! So he sees himself in me!"

"You..." Filippov was at a loss for words.

At that moment, Sergeant Major Grigori pushed the door open and came in: "Why are you taking so long?"

Before he could finish, his brows furrowed into a knot, and he snatched the tool from Vasily's hand: "This isn't how you use it! Haven't you ever cleaned out a manure pit in the village?"

"No," the two answered in unison.

Vasily: "We're both city folks."

Filippov: "His dad is a music professor!"

"Don't mention that!" Vasily frowned, his expression worse than when he heard Natasha's name earlier.

Grigori paused and looked at Vasily: "A music professor, huh? No wonder you sang pretty well this morning. Unfortunately, enemy bullets on the battlefield won't spare you just because you sing well. Let me teach you how to clean out manure first."

Vasily: "Sergeant Major, have you done this before?"

"Of course. In the village, except for the noble kids, everyone's done it. Don't look down on this stuff-it's the guarantee of next year's harvest. Without it, the cost of fertilizer would be unbearable!" Grigori said while skillfully operating the tool.

----

At the same time, Wang Zhong, who was "the most hated by his principal during school," was holding a meeting with his command team at the brigade headquarters.

They covered the electric light with a pillowcase and drew all the curtains, sitting around the map table like this.

Currently, Prossenian planes don't bomb at night, so there's no order for light control, but they still took voluntary measures to control the lighting.

On the table, atop the map, lay a supply list. Yegorov tapped the list with his index finger and said: "It looks like we've replenished a lot of equipment, but we only have anti-tank rifles for anti-tank weapons. That's not enough!"

Bishop Popov asked: "What, are anti-tank rifles not effective?"

"Hitting the side depends on luck, and hitting the front can only target the observation window. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can jam the turret ring," Yegorov shook his head, "Most of our regiment's anti-tank rifles were left behind in Ronezh. The anti-tank riflemen are either dead or captured."

Popov frowned: "You destroyed so many tanks in Upper Peniye without anti-tank rifles..."

"That was with incendiary bottles. You need to first use firepower to cut off the enemy infantry, leaving the tanks without infantry support, then get close to throw the bottles," Yegorov explained concisely.

But the problem is, most of the weapons we've been replenished with are Tokarev semi-automatics, suitable for engaging enemies on the vast plain at a distance of 100 to 200 meters.

"Incendiary bottles, on the other hand, are for close combat, no more than 50 meters. At that range, submachine guns are much more useful than semi-automatics."

After a brief pause, Yegorov raised his voice: "We need anti-tank cannons, even if it's just the 45mm small ones, though 76mm heavy anti-tank cannons would be best!"

Popov sighed: "In theory, 45mm cannons shouldn't be in short supply. The reason they haven't been allocated to us is probably because the logistics system hasn't been reorganized yet."

"And also because of enemy air bombings."

Yegorov: "What about the 76mm?"

"Those are always in high demand and hard to get," Popov replied, "And by the way, I'm here as a bishop, not as a logistics captain for supplies, okay? Shouldn't logistics be handled by the staff officers?"

Suddenly thrown into the spotlight, Pavlov immediately responded: "That's true, but look at me-do I have anyone under me? If you don't believe me, just look at this map on the table!"

Pavlov pushed aside the supply list, revealing the map.

"I personally copied this map every day by going to the local supply depot headquarters and tracing theirs."

Normally, staff officers are responsible for updating the map with enemy and friendly situations based on incoming battle reports, but Pavlov had no staff under him, so he had to do it himself.

Pavlov continued to complain: "Since I have no logistics staff, naturally no one arranges supplies. Even the laundry and cooking teams at the camp now were personally requested by me."

Before, it was just 200 people eating, so food consumption wasn't a big deal. Now, suddenly, it's over 1,000 people. Tomorrow, I'll have to go to the supply depot headquarters to ask for more stuff.

"Besides logistics and maps, we also need a communications officer. We don't even have a communications company, and we completely lack horseback messengers. When you add it all up, we're missing quite a lot!"

Popov: "As for radios, shouldn't the local supply depot provide them to you?"

"They did, but we have no telegraph operators or decoders. Are we supposed to learn how to use the radio ourselves and flip through codebooks to decode messages?" Pavlov sighed, "I know it's only been less than two weeks since the war started, and we've just recovered from the retreat, but the situation still surprises me."

At this point, Wang Zhong spoke up: "Tomorrow, I'll go to the hospital to take a look. Maybe there'll be some lightly wounded telegraph operators or decoders. After all, they don't need to be on the front line."

The others shook their heads.

Pavlov said: "The ones sent here are all severely wounded soldiers. Where would you find lightly wounded ones?"

Wang Zhong: "It's always good to check. What if I get lucky and find someone?"

Pavlov shrugged: "Alright then."

Yegorov: "They say we're reorganizing retreating soldiers, but it's been three days, and only we've come here. Where are the retreating soldiers?"

Everyone fell silent.

Actually, it's not that there are no retreating soldiers, but there are none from Ronezh.

Wang Zhong slammed the table: "Now that we have people, tomorrow we'll set up checkpoints at a few intersections outside the village to intercept them. Retreating soldiers heading east will definitely pass through here. I refuse to believe there's no one!"

Popov reminded: "The order was only to reorganize the troops retreating from Ronezh."

Wang Zhong slammed the table again: "Who cares! Also, among the refugees passing through here, if there are any who know how to handle paperwork, logistics, or send telegraphs, we'll persuade them too. Tell them they won't have to go to the front line, and convince them to join."

Popov: "Why not just conscript them?"

Yegorov: "Even if they're not on the front line, they could still die. Our headquarters is just a brigade command, not too far from the front line. It'll definitely get bombed every day."

Wang Zhong: "That's why we need to tell them the truth and then persuade them."

Bishop Popov stared at Wang Zhong for a few seconds and said: "Is this really you speaking, Alexei Konstantinovich?"

It seems the original owner wouldn't have been so considerate of the common people.

Wang Zhong said confidently: "It really is me. Along the way here, I received a lot of help from the people, and it changed my attitude toward them!"

Popov had a "you're full of nonsense" expression on his face.

Wang Zhong ignored Popov: "It's decided then. We can't just assume Bogdanovka can hold for half a month. We need to take action. If the higher-ups won't supply us, we'll find things ourselves, just as we planned before coming here!"

Yegorov slammed the table hard: "That's the way! These past few days, I've been so idle I'm almost sick!"

----

Early the next morning, the streamlined team of the Rokosov Battle Group sprang into action.

Popov took some people to the train station to receive the supply train for the battle group.

Yegorov led a team to set up checkpoints on the road west of the village to intercept people.

Pavlov went to the supply depot headquarters to plead poverty.

Brother Yatsemenko and Su Fang went to the local church to plead poverty.

Wang Zhong went to the hospital to see if he could get lucky.

Everyone got moving.

Wang Zhong took Grigori and Vasily, who was assigned to him, in a jeep, with Grigori driving.

Just as they were about to leave, Lyudmila suddenly rushed out of the dormitory and grabbed the back door: "Wait, take me with you too, Alyosha!"

"What are you going for?" Wang Zhong asked, puzzled, "Can you... treat the wounded?"

After all, as a Prayer Hand, since she can guide rockets to hit targets like missiles, she might be able to use something like holy light-right?

Lyudmila: "What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Isn't the holy power of healing just something from legends, like the Prossenian Valhalla?"

Wang Zhong: "Then what's the point of you going? We're heading to the hospital. It's dirty and..."

Suddenly, Wang Zhong saw Pavlov in the distance, wobbling toward them on a bicycle!

With Pavlov's size, he'd need at least a 26-inch bike to ride comfortably, and a 28-inch would feel "just right."

But he was riding a 24-inch bike, looking like a bear curled up on a fire hydrant.

Just watching his riding posture made Wang Zhong feel uncomfortable.

Pavlov sped all the way to Wang Zhong and stumbled a bit when getting off the bike. Luckily, Vasily quickly jumped out of the jeep and helped him up.

Wang Zhong asked, confused: "What's wrong? Did the enemy break through the defensive line? Where's your jeep?"

Pavlov: "I left... I left the driver to guard that place!"

"Guard where?"

Grigori directly flipped the safety off his submachine gun and clicked the chamber to check it.

Pavlov waved his hands frantically: "No! It's not that! I... damn it, let me catch my breath."

After saying that, he tossed the bike aside, leaned on Wang Zhong, and panted heavily.

After about half a minute, Pavlov recovered and said to Wang Zhong: "This morning, I went to the supply depot headquarters..."

"I know that part. Keep it short," Wang Zhong interrupted.

Pavlov: "Oh. Do you know there's a repair shop in the village?"

Wang Zhong nodded: "Yeah, for fixing cars. What about it?"

Pavlov: "They don't just have cars there. They also have stuff towed from vehicles that were hit by machine gun fire. The undamaged ones were taken by the supply depot headquarters, and the broken ones were just left there."

"Then the workers saw so many broken cannons piled up, so they disassembled parts and assembled three cannons. Two 45mm ones and one 76mm!"

Wang Zhong's mouth dropped open into an O shape.

"Doesn't anyone want those cannons?" he asked.

Pavlov: "They were just assembled yesterday and reported today. As soon as I saw the report, I rushed to the repair shop and had the driver guard them with a loaded pistol. No one's allowed to take them. If we go grab them now, they're ours!"

"I don't know how to drive, so I borrowed a bicycle from one of the workers..."

Wang Zhong: "Then why didn't you stay there to guard them and have the driver come back in the jeep to report?"

Pavlov was stunned: "Huh? Oh, right. No, wait, the cannons! Hurry and grab the cannons! The 45mm ones might not be wanted, but the 76mm cannon is a treasure!"

Wang Zhong slapped his thigh: "Good! Vasily, run and order the first company to stop training and assemble to march over here!"

Vasily didn't move.

Wang Zhong: "What's wrong with you?"

Vasily: "We should send the third company. They're from the Artillery School, after all."

Wang Zhong and Pavlov exchanged a glance, then cursed: "You troublemaker, can't you just follow orders properly for once?"

"So, should I call the first company?"

"No, call the third company." Wang Zhong glared at Vasily with a murderous look, "Run! Move quickly! Don't make me kick your ass!"

(End of Chapter)