Chapter 106
Wang Zhong and Lyudmila spent a delightful afternoon picnic at their own estate.
When they returned to the estate's stable, Wang Zhong keenly noticed that the maids' attitudes toward him seemed to have changed.
When they first arrived at the estate, all the maids had been guarded and hostile, but now the older maids looked at Wang Zhong with some confusion, while the younger ones made no effort to hide their curiosity.
What's going on?
The maids were setting up the venue for tonight's ball in the garden, so maids were everywhere. Wherever Wang Zhong walked, he felt people talking about him behind his back, and when he turned around, he'd see the maids busily arranging the venue in an orderly fashion, not even speaking.
It felt like a classic scene from "The Little Mermaid."
Wang Zhong found it strange and turned to ask Lyudmila, "What's going on?"
Lyudmila shrugged. "Maybe something happened while you were napping on my lap?"
Wang Zhong: "That's no different from saying nothing! Clearly, something happened!"
Just as he was about to stop a maid and get to the bottom of it, the Crown Prince appeared: "Why did you come out of the Duke's place and leave me behind?"
Wang Zhong: "Ah, that's because you drank and fell asleep on the sofa. You looked like you were sleeping soundly, so I didn't..."
"That's because you were in there for two hours! Got chewed out real bad this time, huh?"
"Uh..." Wang Zhong felt a bit awkward. How was he supposed to tell the Crown Prince that his underachieving bro had suddenly become a top student?
The Crown Prince yawned and turned to look at the venue: "The dance floor is so small, it can only fit one orchestra. Looks like another meet-and-greet cocktail party for big shots. And you even have a bigger maze in your garden!"
Wang Zhong turned to look at the maze in the garden.
He vaguely remembered that at Western noble balls, these maze games were basically opportunities to mess around. The girls would enter the maze first, then the boys would go in to find them, playing out the whole "you chase me, I chase you, and once caught, you know what happens" routine.
When they emerged from the maze, everyone's clothes would be in disarray.
The Crown Prince was still talking: "Alyosha, you're the best at this! You always manage to find the prettiest ones!"
Wang Zhong suddenly said, "Nonsense, I've never once found Lyusha."
Lyudmila: "I've never participated, so how could you ever find me? Not only that, every time, you'd bring me a small lock of some girl's hair*I was about to die from annoyance."
Wang Zhong was stunned. What kind of high-level play was this?
"So did you keep those locks of hair?"
"Of course not!" Lyudmila raised her voice a bit.
The Crown Prince chimed in, "What a shame about tonight, or you'd be getting several more locks."
Wang Zhong: "Not anymore."
Lyudmila: "He won't."
The Crown Prince looked suspiciously at Wang Zhong: "Alyosha, what's going on with you? Ever since you came back, you've been acting weird."
Wang Zhong replied firmly, "It's your imagination!"
Just then, he suddenly saw a few strong men in the distance placing a clay pot over a lit campfire.
Driven by curiosity, he walked over and asked, "What's in that clay pot?"
Actually, Wang Zhong could already smell the spicy aroma coming from inside. It was probably a dish, but the pot's unusual decoration sparked various thoughts.
One of the workers lifting the pot said, "It's a stew. It needs to simmer for several hours and must maintain natural heat dissipation. It's the most troublesome dish for tonight's dinner."
Wang Zhong reached out, lifted the lid, and looked inside, discovering it was packed full of vegetables*eggplants, potatoes, green peppers, carrots, and more.
The moment he opened the lid, the spices' aroma hit his nose even harder, making him suspect that the chef had tossed in a whole handful of "masala."
Upon seeing the dish, the Crown Prince exclaimed in shock, "This... is Grand Patriarch Belinsky coming tonight?"
The worker bowed respectfully. "You're right, the Grand Patriarch is coming."
At that moment, a blue-capped Inquisitor appeared, quickly inserting himself between Wang Zhong and the clay pot: "The stew cannot be opened during cooking. After it's done, the chef must taste it first!"
Wang Zhong: "Alright, I was just curious, not trying anything."
The Crown Prince added, "I can vouch for him*he wasn't trying anything."
The Inquisitor glanced at Wang Zhong and nodded. After covering the pot again, he stood guard beside it without moving an inch.
After leaving the pot, the Crown Prince muttered, "Why is the Patriarch coming to see you? Did you do something you need to confess? Or maybe you bragged too much about your war achievements and got hit with divine punishment?"
To this moment, the Crown Prince still believed Wang Zhong was a "packaged" war hero.
Wang Zhong couldn't be bothered to get entangled with his playboy friends. After all, the equipment was sent by the Second Princess*pleasing her was the real priority now!
****
At 20:30 on July 9, nearly all the nobles of Agsukov gathered at the banquet hosted by Duke Rokosov.
Just as the Crown Prince had predicted, it was a "light dinner party" aimed at chatting about the situation. High-ranking nobles with military titles gathered to discuss current affairs, while their offspring, brought along to get familiar with social settings, aimlessly chatted away.
That was exactly the case now.
The idle nobles gathered around Wang Zhong, just like in the past.
As Wang Zhong struggled to deal with their crude jokes, someone suddenly banged the floor with something heavy and shouted, "His Eminence the Grand Patriarch has arrived!"
The chatting nobles all looked up and respectfully watched the Grand Patriarch make his way to his seat.
But the Grand Patriarch passed that seat and walked directly up to Wang Zhong: "Alexei Konstantinovich! I've heard much about you!"
Wang Zhong grasped the Grand Patriarch's extended hand, but didn't know what to say.
After all, before crossing over, he'd had almost zero interaction with religious figures. The most he'd ever done was being dragged by his dad to a temple to pray to the God of Literature before university entrance exams.
While Wang Zhong was awkwardly silent, the Grand Patriarch spoke: "You fought brilliantly at Loktov*it was a definitive victory! Congratulations, Alexei Konstantinovich."
The hall fell silent.
After a brief pause, General Skorobov, commander of the Agsukov Front, spoke up: "Your Eminence, the claim that a Major General was killed is just a rumor spread by heretics. In fact, based on intelligence from the Front, the enemy's 15th Armored Division didn't even halt its operations afterward."
Grand Patriarch Belinsky: "If the death of one commander could paralyze an entire unit, then Prossen wouldn't have pushed us into such a sorry state."
"The word "sorry state" instantly caused an uproar."
"Did he just say 'sorry state'?"
"Isn't the front line supposed to be a huge advantage?"
"But a lot of noble families are already in mourning..."
"But look, Alexei came back! If he could escape, then the enemy can't be that terrifying!"
Wang Zhong furrowed his brow.
At this moment, General Skorobov stepped forward and proclaimed loudly, "Everyone! There were indeed some minor setbacks at the front*we lost the Duchy of Wostrom and 200,000 troops. But our great motherland Ant still has vast lands and abundant troops!
"Right now, in Agsukov, we've gathered 69 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry divisions, and 21 armored divisions!
"This is the largest force in Ant's history! Moreover, we have the forces assembled in Shepetovka by Duke Meshkin. Our two massive troop clusters support each other, able to attack or defend!
"If the enemy strikes one of our units, the other will launch a powerful flanking maneuver!
"Given the current situation, we've already rebounded from our initial disadvantage! We can now think about defeating the enemy!"
Wang Zhong suddenly had a premonition*was this General about to believe they had the upper hand?
No way, right?
Just look at the enemy's tech, their training*and then look at yourself. Aside from morale, you've got nothing. No, wait... with this kind of situation, how many units can even maintain morale?
At this moment, General Skorobov climbed onto a chair and shouted, "We still have strong fortifications! We still have the advantage of interior lines! Your Eminence, spreading demoralizing news at a time like this isn't helpful, is it?"
The Patriarch replied, "Is that so? Then let's hear what the recently victorious hero, Alexei Konstantinovich Rokosov, has to say."
He turned to Wang Zhong: "Go on, tell us your thoughts, Brigadier General."
Wang Zhong heard unrestrained laughter from among the nobles.
Someone even muttered, "Using a Brigadier General's opinion to refute a General."
"I heard Duke Rokosov's second son got zero on his graduation exams!"
Damn it, Wang Zhong thought, how could anyone graduate with a zero? I may have ranked last, but at least I passed, okay!
But the current Wang Zhong really wasn't any better than a zero-scorer*he was just a modern guy who played war games.
He stepped forward, cleared his throat: "The Prossenian forces are an elite, modernized army..."
General Skorobov: "So are we! Didn't you rely on armored superiority to wreak havoc? We've got four brigades of T34s*they'll make Prossen pay!"
Wang Zhong: "The T34 is an excellent tank, no doubt, but its flawed design brings major drawbacks. The tank commander and gunner are the same person, meaning in battle, the commander has to keep his eyes glued to the sight and has no time to observe the surroundings.
"By contrast, all Prossenian tanks have a dedicated commander and are generally equipped with commander observation cupolas. They can spot T34s more easily in tank battles and seize the initiative.
"Furthermore, their tanks have radios. The battalion can directly command each tank, and during battle, they can use radios to cover each other's blind spots and provide mutual support!"
General Skorobov sneered, "Even so, as long as the enemy can't penetrate us, we still win!"
"Tank superiority is relative, General!" Wang Zhong stepped forward, grabbed a bottle of alcohol, and hurled it into the campfire under the clay pot. The bottle shattered, and the spirits instantly ignited into a blaze.
Several maids quickly pushed in a water truck to put out the fire*it seemed the water truck had been prepared long ago to prevent such accidents.
The water sprayed heavily onto the clay pot, seeping through its vents into the interior.
The Grand Patriarch looked heartbroken.
Wang Zhong pointed at the still-burning flames, "Just a single Molotov like this, thrown onto an engine cover, would disable a tank! Just one Molotov!"
"And the enemy will target our tanks' weak spots! They'll jam the turret with shells, break the tracks!
"Once the tracks are broken, our blind tanks can't respond to approaching infantry! They'll be taken out like sausages being sliced!"
General Skorobov countered, "Then we can do the same to them."
"But what if the enemy doesn't engage head-on? What if their central cluster advances south from the north and cuts off our rear supply lines in a massive encirclement?
"Your million-strong army is a glutton for resources! When that happens, you'll surrender without a fight!"
General Skorobov: "We would never do that!"
Wang Zhong wanted to say more, but General Skorobov continued: "If the enemy's central cluster moves south, perfect*we'll use mobile warfare near Agsukov's vast plains, eliminate both the central and southern enemy clusters there, then counterattack and reclaim our homeland!"
The nobles present clapped wildly, their cheers clearly meant to shut Wang Zhong up.
Wang Zhong still wanted to argue, but the Grand Patriarch placed a hand on his shoulder: "Let's leave it at that. Do what we can and leave the rest to fate. Besides, what he said sounded reasonable."
"Paper logic, all of it*armchair strategy! It's going to fail, Your Eminence. The forces here will be wiped out, and the people..."
"Stay calm, we're already arranging to send the factories to the rear. We'll start with heavy industry, and once that's mostly relocated, we'll move the meat-processing plants and other civilian factories as well," the Grand Patriarch said, patting Wang Zhong on the shoulder. "All you need to do now is rest and wait for your unit to be fully resupplied."
Wang Zhong looked at the Patriarch. Suddenly remembering something, he asked, "Can you fully replenish my Divine Arrow company?"
"They'll arrive tomorrow," the Patriarch replied.
Wang Zhong: "Can you also fully replenish my hymn choir?"
"They'll arrive tomorrow."
"Can I get a few more Sharp-Ears too?"
"They'll arrive tomorrow," the Grand Patriarch said, giving Wang Zhong a firm pat on the shoulder.
Tomorrow?
Wang Zhong looked toward the officers who were now toasting and flattering each other. His eyes happened to meet those of the estate's master*his own father, the retired General Count Konstantin Alexandrovich Rokosov. The old man gave him an encouraging smile, as if to say, "You did well."
Wang Zhong felt a hint of comfort.
He was utterly exhausted.
At that moment, General Skorobov proposed, "I say, let's raise a toast to the victory that's on its way!"
Everyone present raised their glasses.
Wang Zhong didn't want to, but seeing Count Rokosov raise his glass as well, he had no choice but to join in.
After everyone downed their drinks, General Skorobov said, "Oh, right, there's more good news*we'll soon receive reinforcements from four more army groups! That will give us a numerical... advantage over the enemy we're facing!"
Wang Zhong thought, that's impossible. The Front must have overestimated the losses they inflicted on the Prossenians or lacked sufficient intelligence about the enemy.
At that moment, General Skorobov proudly declared, "The advantage is ours!"
Wang Zhong raised his glass and said with "genuine sincerity," "Brilliant insight, Commander!"
(End of Chapter)