Chapter 103
Wang Zhong's unit was currently advancing toward the Rokosov estate, following the route indicated by Lyudmila.
Originally, Wang Zhong wanted to ride in Vehicle 422, but Bucephalus yanked his hair too hard, so he had no choice but to gear up Bucephalus and ride the horse, while the tank followed behind.
The Crown Prince also rode a chestnut horse, strutting proudly beside Wang Zhong.
Strangely, passersby on the road didn't even tip their hats to the Crown Prince, as if he wasn't the heir apparent to the Tsar at all.
The streets of Agsukov were much more peaceful and harmonious than Wang Zhong had imagined.
Previously, whenever Wang Zhong entered a city with his troops, there was always a sense of desolation and a lack of daily life, but Agsukov was full of life, with many pedestrians in everyday clothes on the streets.
This surprised Wang Zhong greatly*given how the spoiled nobles acted at the train station, it already felt like the end of a dynasty, yet strangely enough, there wasn't any atmosphere of "frozen corpses in the streets"?
Before coming, Wang Zhong had thought he'd see streets full of beggars, impoverished people selling their children, and bread costing 500,000 rubles a loaf in bakeries.
But these clean and tidy streets, with rosy-faced and decently dressed civilians*wasn't something off?
Wang Zhong pondered while riding, then saw a long queue forming up ahead in the distance.
The unit was heading toward the source of the queue, and Wang Zhong craned his neck, eager to see what was happening at the end of it.
Soon, he saw the end*or rather, the beginning*of the queue: a shop bearing the holy insignia of the Eastern Holy Church.
Civilians carrying large and small packages were constantly coming out of the shop.
Wang Zhong carefully observed what a smiling older woman was holding: sausages as thick as an adult male's thigh and forty centimeters long, four cans of canned fish, and also canned oatmeal, sour cream, mushrooms, mayonnaise, and of course, jars of pickles.
Although it was all canned food and processed sausages without any fresh items, the variety looked quite rich!
Just then, someone dressed like a priest brought out a bulletin board and placed it at the shop entrance, immediately sparking chatter among the queued crowd.
The bulletin board read: From now on, only fish will be supplied on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We ask for your understanding.
Someone in the queue shouted: "Why only fish?!"
The priest replied: "Many farms and meatpacking plants have been occupied, so supplies have drastically dropped. Be content*at least there's still fish from Riga and the North Sea!"
The priest's words were immediately met with opposition: "Yesterday in the tavern, I heard on the radio that we're about to defeat Prossen!"
The priest said: "Exactly, so it's only temporary. Just take it as a chance to eat more fish! By the way, we've got plenty of caviar in stock*you can take some home and eat to your heart's content!"
"I've eaten so much caviar I could puke. I don't know why nobles love it so much!"
Wang Zhong raised an eyebrow.
It seemed that the church's shop had helped ease tensions between classes?
Thinking back, in Loktov, the church had shown impressive mobilization ability.
Could it be that the church ensured civilians had abundant food?
Wang Zhong scratched his head, feeling like there were still many things he hadn't fully understood*he needed to observe more.
In any case, the church having mobilization capability was a good thing. Judging by how decadent those nobles looked, relying on them to defeat Prossen was probably hopeless.
After passing the church shop, Wang Zhong saw another store by the street selling fried meat patties*or rather, fried fish patties.
An older woman buying food complained: "Why haven't there been any meat for two days?"
"Fish is tasty too," the girl frying the patties said with a smile. "We'll have meat patties tomorrow!"
"Alright, alright, I'll take some fish patties too. What kind of fish is it today?"
"Cod from the North Sea!"
Wang Zhong walked past the fried fish patty shop.
As he continued forward, he saw several more similar shops.
Wang Zhong fell into deep thought.
At that moment, the unit suddenly stopped advancing.
Wang Zhong was confused, so he gave the horse's belly a kick, urging Bucephalus to quickly pass the halted infantry and reach the front.
He saw that the road had come to an end*an iron gate blocked the asphalt road completely in two.
On the gate was a family crest and an Ant slogan: "Private Property, No Trespassing."
At the very front, Yegorov said: "According to Miss Melekhovna's directions, this should be your estate. But... are we supposed to climb over and open it ourselves?"
Wang Zhong had no idea either. The gate didn't seem to have an intercom*how were they supposed to open it?
Just then, on the other side of the gate, a team of maids in double-file formation came down the road.
Alexei Konstantinovich Rokosov*the iron-blooded warrior, war god of Upper Peniye, guardian of Loktov, bearer of the red flag, and rememberer of soldiers' names*actually showed a blissful smile upon seeing the maid squad, despite the stern face shaped by war.
However, he quickly suppressed the inappropriate expression, and no one noticed.
The maids arrived at the gate, lined up on both sides of the road, and the lead maid unlocked and opened the gate, secured it with a wedge on the ground, then stood at the head of the formation and bowed deeply.
Wang Zhong thought to himself*was it just his imagination, or did these maids not seem to like him?
Of course, with the Crown Prince present, the maids' manners were impeccable, but it still felt like they disliked him.
Strange... wasn't he now a war hero radiating masculine charm? The two girls in his unit clearly had a crush on him*why didn't the maids?
Could it be... they still thought he was that useless playboy from before?
For a brief moment, Wang Zhong genuinely hoped the Prossenian army would attack soon, so he could show off his worth*but then he recalled the peaceful scenes he'd just witnessed, and that wish was replaced by a simple hope that the war would come more slowly.
With a complicated expression, he rode into the estate.
About two hundred maids had come to greet them, guiding Wang Zhong's unit to three three-story buildings at five-meter intervals, located in the northwest corner of the garden.
The buildings were constructed with red bricks, and their appearance reminded one of the red brick buildings of the British Royal Naval College or the Red Building of Peking University on Earth.
The drill ground enclosed by the three buildings could probably accommodate three to five thousand people training at once.
North of the three buildings were an armory and a parking lot.
Yegorov exclaimed: "This is practically a military base! I fought near Agsukov during the Civil War and was stationed in the city, yet I never heard of a base here!"
No one responded to Yegorov.
Wang Zhong directly asked a maid standing by the road: "When was this base built?"
"It's from the Civil War era," the maid replied. "We cleaned it up yesterday. Please arrange for everyone to move in. Dinner will be served in the annex in two hours."
The Crown Prince said: "Perfect, let the troops settle in and prepare to eat. Let's go to the main building to see your father. Weren't you going to continue leading the troops? If you don't go talk to the Duke now, you'll be stuck with pickle jars forever!"
Wang Zhong kept a straight face*he really didn't want to end up in the warehouse, so he said to Yegorov, "I'll leave things to you. I'm going to meet my 'father'."
As he said this, Wang Zhong found the words awkward. He was still reluctant to call another man 'dad', but he couldn't say godfather either, so he just braced himself and went.
Yegorov waved: "Don't forget to request for reinforcements and technical equipment!"
Pavlov said: "And staff officers too!"
Wang Zhong waved back: "I'll do my best."
At that moment, Lyudmila, who had been traveling with the unit, got down from Divine Arrow company's vehicle and shouted to the maids: "Vera Vladiminovna! Get my horse ready! Alyosha, I'm coming with you!"
Vladiminovna bowed to Lyudmila: "Miss Melekhovna, hello. I'll prepare your horse right away."
The Crown Prince said flippantly: "Why bother? Just ride on Alyosha's saddle!"
Lyudmila smiled faintly and said nothing.
****
Twenty minutes later, the three of them rode up to the front of the estate's main building.
Out of nowhere, two hunting dogs appeared and started barking at Wang Zhong.
Seriously? Even dogs hate you?
Wang Zhong was just about to complain when Bucephalus suddenly kicked out, sending one of the dogs rolling away. It stood up, clearly uninjured, but its bravado was gone, and it whimpered sharply.
The other dog saw this and stopped barking, turning around and running away.
Several military vehicles were parked in the lot in front of the gate, one of which had an Army Group Headquarters plate*probably the one Petro had returned in.
As Wang Zhong passed a gardener trimming the flowerbed, he heard him muttering: "Crap, the little demon is back!"
Little demon? What, am I Xiao Yuer from The Proud Twins?
Lyudmila also heard the gardener and laughed: "Everyone still thinks you're that guy who's hated by both people and dogs."
Wang Zhong replied: "And yet you don't hate the guy who's hated by both people and dogs*must be a secret crush."
"I told you, it's because you're the naughty little brother."
As the three approached the front entrance, the mule handlers were already waiting, ready to take the horses to the nearby small stable, remove saddles, groom them, and make sure the horses stayed in top condition.
Watching Bucephalus being led away by the mule handlers, Wang Zhong casually asked: "How many people work in this estate?"
"Probably three to five hundred servants. Ever since the Civil War ended, the servants have been paid wages," Lyudmila said. "In the Empire's records, we've also changed from lords to farm owners and employers."
As soon as she finished, the Crown Prince clicked his tongue and said: "What a shame! Back when they were serfs, you could whip them at will! If someone didn't work hard, just lash them! Now it's no fun at all."
Wang Zhong glanced at the Crown Prince, thinking, wow, you went from loyal bro to spoiled brat real quick*or rather, maybe you two were both spoiled brats from the start, which is why you got along so well.
As the three approached the heavy main door, it opened from the inside before they could even touch the handle. A dignified butler bowed slightly and said: "Your Highness Antonov, Young Master, Miss Melekhovna, welcome back. The Master and the Young Lord are waiting in the study."
The Crown Prince waved: "I'll pass. Any afternoon tea? I want some walnut spread on bread, and a bit of wine. Got anything good here?"
The old butler replied: "How about a bottle of red wine from Qinandali?"
"Perfect, as long as it's from a named vineyard*I can't tell the difference anyway." With that, the Crown Prince casually walked into the room to the left, as if he already knew the layout inside and out.
He had probably come here many times before.
After the Crown Prince and the old butler left, Lyudmila turned to Wang Zhong and asked: "Do you... still remember the way to the study? That 381 heavy artillery really wiped your memory clean."
Wang Zhong wasn't sure if Lyudmila had figured it out or was just pretending*either way, it didn't matter.
He said: "Then please lead the way!"
Lyudmila happily hugged Wang Zhong's arm and pulled him forward.
****
Just as Lyudmila pushed open the study door, a loud roar came from within: "Impossible! Don't I know exactly what kind of person Alyosha is? No way, absolutely not!"
As the girl pushed through the door, Wang Zhong saw Petro wiping off sweat while saying: "But I saw how much his men trusted him!"
"What do you know?" The Duke, standing by the window in full military uniform with graying hair, scolded. "You're just a bookworm! Always working as a staff officer at HQ*you've never led a single soldier! You must be mistaken! And look at those battle reports! Destroyed six hundred Prossen tanks? Charged alone and killed a Prossen Major General? Do you believe that?"
Petro could only wipe his sweat.
The old Duke said: "And Alyosha is an infantryman! How could an infantryman possibly command tanks and achieve such great results?"
Wang Zhong thought to himself, it's because I've played War Thunder and used hacks.
Of course, he really didn't know how to operate a tank, which led him into danger. If possible in the future, he should learn the skills for every crew position.
At that moment, Lyudmila spoke up: "Uncle Konstantin! I can prove it, Alyosha is different now!"
Count Konstantin Alexandrovich Rokosov turned around and looked at Lyudmila suspiciously: "Lyuda, my dear Lyuda, my sunshine and spring blossom, I really want to believe you, but you lied for him once when you were six!"
Wang Zhong thought, do we really have to go back that far? Lyudmila is a grown lady now!
Lyudmila went over and grabbed the old Duke's hand: "But this time it's real! Uncle Konstantin, go to the barracks and you'll understand everything!"
The old Duke frowned, looked at Wang Zhong, then at Lyudmila, and took a deep breath: "Alright, it's not like there haven't been cases of transformation after experiencing war. Although I still think Alyosha would never change, since you've said so, I'll go to the camp and take a look."
Wang Zhong said: "Um......"
The old Duke glared at him: "Speak if you have something to say!"
Wang Zhong said: "I didn't destroy 600 tanks."
"Isn't that obvious! That must've been some bootlicker's doing!"
Wang Zhong said: "But I really did kill the enemy's Major General**who is now a General."
The old Duke glared fiercely at Wang Zhong: "You dare lie in front of me!"
Wang Zhong said: "I'm not lying. It was the enemy's radio that said it. They said the White Horse General killed Major General Randolph. In fact, the guard battalion of the enemy's division command released smoke at the time. I only saw the second high-explosive round hit the already wounded Major General Randolph."
The old Duke stared at Wang Zhong for a few seconds and asked: "How many meters were you from the target then?"
"850 meters," Wang Zhong answered instantly.
"What tank were you commanding?"
"A parade-type T34."
"Why a parade-type?"
"Because the parade-type has a command tower, and the tank commander doesn't have to double as gunner, which improves situational awareness. Those crews where the commander and gunner are the same person fight like headless flies once the battle starts."
The old Duke stared at Wang Zhong with suspicion, then suddenly shook off Lyudmila's hand, went to the desk, and took out a roll of paper.
When Wang Zhong saw it, it turned out to be an aerial photo of Loktov, stitched and enlarged into a bird's-eye view of the city.
The old Duke said: "Describe the battle to me. I'll name the time checkpoints. Hmm, what was the situation at 1100 on July 7?"
Wang Zhong said: "I don't remember the exact time very well. How about I start from the beginning and tell you my decisions along the way?"
The old Duke nodded: "Alright!"
Wang Zhong said: "On July 6, after receiving the order to hold our ground, I decided to conduct forward reconnaissance first. So I personally led a small squad to scout Kalinnovka......"
****
Two hours later.
The old Duke stood with arms crossed, looking at the bird's-eye view already filled with various military symbols drawn in pencil.
Wang Zhong said: "I'm finished."
"I know," the old Duke replied, still staring at the bird's-eye view.
After a long while, the old man asked: "How the hell did you score dead last?"
Wang Zhong said firmly: "I'm better at actual combat than paper strategy. Me ranking last just shows there's a problem with our military education!"
Morning bonus update ends, see you tonight.
(End of Chapter)