Cannon Fire Arc

Wang Zhong: "Alright, when they arrive, bring them to see me immediately."

The waiting time turned out to be longer than expected; after all, the airport hadn't moved forward along with the Headquarters.

Wang Zhong paced back and forth in the room until he suddenly heard a familiar voice say, "Why do you look so restless?"

He turned around and saw Nelly looking at him with a puzzled expression.

Wang Zhong: "Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to stay in the rear with Liu Da?"

Nelly: "She told me to follow, saying that it's safer to have additional guards since Vasily isn't around."

Wang Zhong glanced at Grigori, who had been quietly standing in the corner: "Sergeant Grigori is here!"

Sergeant: "The Marshal keeps wanting me to attend some command training courses and lead a battalion, but I said I'd rather follow you through the whole campaign. Don't let it end up like Yegorov."

"If I had been by Yegorov's side, he definitely wouldn't have been injured."

Nelly: "Hmm, now we've got double insurance."

Wang Zhong: "Who's protecting Ludmila then?"

Nelly: "Madame has already rotated back to the homeland," Nelly replied, "Currently, airport defense is being managed by Miss Katyusha."

Wang Zhong was genuinely confused: "How come I didn't know this?"

Nelly: "Because Madame didn't allow me to tell you. She was afraid of distracting you from your work."

Pavlov suddenly burst into laughter: "Distract the Marshal's work—this is the funniest thing I've ever heard. Distract him from flying to the frontlines for walks?"

Wang Zhong: "I read files for at least two hours every day! And flying to the frontlines often helps minimize casualties for our ground forces."

The Ante troops had long grown accustomed to their Marshal unexpectedly chiming in over the radio to issue finely-tuned commands.

Sometimes, it was ordering fire at roadside shrubbery or makeshift huts, other times calling for accompanying artillery to shell nearby farms.

In every case, enemy forces were discovered afterward—whether a mere machine gun and a few infantry or, in larger incidents, an entire company hidden within.

By now, Wang Zhong didn't bother pretending; when asked, he'd simply attribute his successes to the Living Saint's divine interventions.

Pavlov: "Alright, saying you have no work isn't accurate. Though, honestly, most of what you're doing doesn't look like what a Commander-in-Chief should be doing. I apologize for my momentary lapse, my Marshal. If you wish to punish me by assigning me to latrine duty, I wouldn't complain. But then you'd need to personally handle my current tasks."

Wang Zhong: "Please continue doing what a proper Chief of Staff should do."

Just then, the on-duty Captain of the Guard Corps led a group into the room, snapped to attention, and reported sharply, "The Federation Delegation has arrived!"

After speaking, the Captain stepped aside to reveal the visitors behind him.

Two Federation members stood shoulder to shoulder, saluting Wang Zhong.

Their uniforms quickly revealed one was from Mountain City, the other from the expansive plains.

Unfortunately, Wang Zhong couldn't place either of them, unlike the bald one from a prior encounter who had left quite the impression.

Wang Zhong nearly greeted them in Chinese with "May I know your names?" Thankfully, he held back and instead welcomed them in Antenese: "Comrades, your arduous journey must have been tiring."

The man clearly from Mountain City, with his impeccably pressed uniform, replied in fluent Antenese: "Marshal, you jest. We have come for the restoration of our homeland. Though the road here was long..."

Wang Zhong: "Do you truly aspire to liberate the occupied territories? Then how do you explain the 2,400-kilometer debacle? Honestly, I suspect you're merely lying low, planning for civil unrest!"

The representative's face turned visibly green.

It was then that the other delegate, clad equally neatly in a gray uniform, spoke: "While the defeat was rather embarrassing, Mountain City's resistance persisted, playing a significant role in distracting a large portion of the enemy's forces."

Wang Zhong stepped forward, shook this delegate's hand, and remarked, "Ah, your Antenese is quite good!"

"I once studied at the Suvorov Military Academy. See these shoes? I got them from a roommate there, my fellow comrade!"

Wang Zhong: "My academy had Federation students? How come I didn't know?"

The representative explained, "I came to study abroad during the heated Abawahan conflict." Then he continued, "Marshal, our main purpose for this visit is to discuss..."

Wang Zhong interrupted: "We Anteans prefer being straightforward. Comrade, let me ask you just one question—if I equip you with sixty divisions' worth of supplies, can you reclaim your capital and drive the Fusang occupational forces into the sea?"

The "shoe" delegate froze: "I thought Ante was planning to declare war against Fusang?"

"Of course we are, but our troops won't be crossing into the territory for combat. Our aim is to strike at the peninsula's tip. We have an agreement with the Federation: the moment we seize the peninsula's strategic port of Guoshan, the Federation will launch an amphibious invasion of Fusang's mainland."

The "shoe" delegate frowned: "So what you mean is, the Occupied Area within the borders needs to be liberated by us alone?"

"Precisely. We can provide you with resources for sixty divisions. However, considering your infrastructure limitations, we won't give you excessive numbers of tanks. The equipment provided will adhere to the current standard configuration of our infantry divisions. Do you have the confidence to capture Jinling?"

The "shoe" delegate shook his head: "We can certainly make use of firearms, but heavy artillery and the like—our personnel aren't capable of handling them. While we have a few highly-trained technical sergeants, the bulk of our soldiers are illiterate. When capturing artillery, they simply use the barrel as a sight to target."

The "shoe" delegate glanced at the Mountain City representative who was too intimidated to speak: "I think the artillery equipment would be better suited for the frontline troops."

Wang Zhong: "No, no. If we handed them over, they'd soon turn those weapons back on you! I can set up a crash course—a rapid 48-day training program. Send over your trustworthy core members to learn immediately how to operate artillery and perform indirect firing."

The "shoe" delegate shook his head repeatedly: "No, Marshal. If you truly wish to support us with equipment, perhaps provide us with more explosive charges. We could use them to reclaim many counties."

"No, you must liberate the capital—that's crucial! You must ensure the capital is freed before the Fusang Empire's unconditional surrender. Look, your guerrilla zones have already encircled the capital; with proper weapons, it's entirely possible."

The "shoe" delegate responded: "I'll report your conditions and demands back to Headquarters and give you an answer tomorrow."

"Alright. For today, let's focus on dinner then..."

"One more thing," the "shoe" delegate interjected, "We wish to dispatch troops to participate in the amphibious assault on Fusang."

Wang Zhong waved his hand broadly: "No problem! However many men you wish to send, we'll provide equivalent transport capacity. I'll personally coordinate with that Federation Navy Vice Admiral, Tom."

Upon hearing this, both the yellow-uniformed and gray-uniformed representatives were overjoyed.

It seemed this was the delegation's primary objective.

The "shoe" delegate hesitated: "Shouldn't retaking Jinling be a prerequisite?"

"Definitely not. Remember this, comrade: my insistence that you liberate Jinling independently is for your own future."

"If you fail to rid Fusang's occupying forces from Ceres by your own strength, then one day Fusang's descendants will tell your children: Fusang was only defeated by Ante and the Federation. How could you refute them then?

"Your descendants will carry a sense of shame."

"Look at Ante. Anteans liberated their Occupied Territories and are now marching toward Plowsonia. That's why Ante's descendants will not harbor any shame—they'll recall this history and stand tall with pride."

As Wang Zhong spoke, he strongly clapped the "shoe" delegate on the shoulder.

The "shoe" delegate: "I think I understand. I will convey your message fully to Headquarters."

Wang Zhong: "I trust you will. Now let's enjoy a meal—I've got a Ceres chef who's quite famous; the entire army knows about him. I even learned some Ceresese from him myself!"

Wang Zhong then uttered a few phrases in Ceresese.

The "shoe" delegate laughed: "It's certainly a Southern accent. I assume your chef was recruited from the Federation, where most people hail from the South."

Wang Zhong: "You're correct. Let's hope his cooking suits your tastes!"

Finishing his statement, Wang Zhong gestured with the flair of a butler, inviting them to dine.

————

By noon the following day, after Wang Zhong had finished his lunch, his new deputy officer reported, "One of the Federation delegates is already waiting in the Headquarters reception room outside."

Wang Zhong: "Why doesn't he just come in directly?"

Deputy Officer: "Possibly concerned about disrupting the normal operations of Headquarters, so he asked me to notify you first."

Wang Zhong: "Alright, let him in."

A moment later, the "shoe" delegate entered the room, saluted, and loudly reported: "We received a response. Headquarters believes that completely reclaiming the Occupied Area, given our current offensive capabilities, is unlikely to achieve. Even with the equipment of sixty divisions, it cannot immediately alter our army's limited capability in assault operations.

"However, if provided enough explosives and light weapons, we might consider using infiltration tactics to liberate Jinling and proximate regions."

Wang Zhong reacted with delight: "Excellent, Headquarters' assessment is rational. Let them draft a plan. Meanwhile, we'll start implementing the weapons transport strategy. Does your Headquarters have an airport? Would airlifting supplies directly be feasible?"

The "shoe" delegate shook his head: "We'd need to cross multiple blockade lines to reach guerrilla zones near Jinling. But we'll give it a try."

Wang Zhong: "I leave this to you; you're masters of behind-enemy-lines operations. When we Anteans encounter such situations, we celebrate with a drink to bless future collaborations. Nelly, bring out the wine!"