Arc of Fire

The train gradually came to a halt amid the sounds of military music, and just before it completely stopped, it gave a violent shake.

Having already ridden in a stuffy boxcar from Bogdanovka to Loktov, Wang Zhong had once hit his head from such a shake, but now, experienced, he had braced himself against the door in advance.

Ironically, his head was now covered in bandages—he’d got those driving a tank—so one less bump made no difference.

As soon as the train had come to a full stop, Wang Zhong was about to disembark when he suddenly noticed a large group of fellows in flashy military uniforms on the platform.

They were indeed military uniforms, but the style was clearly different from the simple khaki uniform that Wang Zhong wore—it was much more dashing and decorative.

But then again, these uniforms all had unmistakably military elements that let anyone know at a glance, “Oh, the person wearing this uniform is an officer of the Ante Army.”

If pushed for a comparison, they resembled the custom uniforms of the Sturmtiger aristocracy on Earth.

The aristocratic officers of the Sturmtiger would often have their uniforms tailor-made—like motorcycle leather jackets, typically only issued to Sturmtiger’s motorcycle reconnaissance troops, but many aristocratic officers thought the jackets looked cool, so they would also have one made for themselves.

Now the group that appeared on the platform, in all their finery, were likely all aristocratic officers.

“Alyosha, why does your head look like a Bolo? Were you beaten after being captured by the Prussians?”

“Alyosha, why is your uniform so plain? Where’s your tailor?”

The bunch hectically shouted out.

Wang Zhong, feeling under siege, hadn’t even tensed up this much when facing Prosen tanks.

Who are all of you?

He switched to a bird’s-eye view and then realized that these clowns probably weren’t officers at all; there were no insignias of rank, nor names visible!

No wonder their epaulettes bore no proper military ranks, just flashy decorations.

Damn it, running into a bunch of civilian cronies was unexpected.

Just then, Ludmila leaned in and whispered in Wang Zhong’s ear, “These were your friends before we went to Yekaterinburg for studies. You can say you don’t recognize them any longer.”

Wang Zhong looked at Ludmila with confusion, unsure why she suddenly came to his aid.

Could it be that she actually saw through it?

Does that mean her likeness for me has nothing to do with the original owner of this body?

At this moment, someone in the group also recognized Ludmila—and it would be more surprising if they didn’t, considering Ludmila’s silver hair and features were memorable to any man.

“Liu Da!” someone called out, “Come to the dance tonight, many are waiting to dance with you!”

Wang Zhong frowned.

These people, the front is in such a state, yet they still dance?

Wang Zhong felt a sense of division, with the secular faction of the Eastern Holy Church inspiring the people to bravely resist the invaders, while the aristocracy, representatives of secular power, indulged in peace and luxury.

How could you defeat the Prussians with such vermin!

Yegorov seemed to be accustomed to the presence of the nobility, and promptly jumped off the train to organize the soldiers to disembark.

Wang Zhong noticed that the disembarking soldiers were eyeing the dandies with unmistakable hostility.

But the dandies, oblivious to the soldiers’ glares, kept jeering at Ludmila, “Ever since you went to Yekaterinburg, you’ve become even prettier!”

“Has Alyosha not made a move on you yet, or maybe you would prefer…”

Just then, as quick as a flash, Bucephalus let out a long whinny and charged from the other end of the platform, frightening the band into abandoning their performance and scattering in all directions.

It reached the stunned dandies, spun around with a kick, and sent three men flying.

Neighing, Bucephalus spun in place, trying to kick more dandies into the air.

Wang Zhong hurriedly got off the train and grabbed Bucephalus by its side.

The horse stopped immediately and began nibbling on his hair.

The dandies, scared out of their wits, lay on the ground for a while before climbing up: “What’s with this horse!”

Wang Zhong: “Um… it’s a wild horse!”

Bucephalus stepped on Wang Zhong’s right boot, causing him such pain he almost bent over.

Nonetheless, Bucephalus had indeed pulled its punches, otherwise, with its weight, Wang Zhong’s toes would have been crushed.

Wang Zhong decided not to mention the wild horse again and continued, “It’s not accustomed to riding the train and went mad. Sorry about that.”

By then, most of the dandies had stood up, while the ones kicked away were still lying on the ground moaning, “I’ve broken a bone…”

“My back…”

One unlucky fellow had a brown stain on his trousers and an unmistakable scent was wafting from there.

Vasily stepped off the train, pretending to admire the scenery, “Oh, why is there a familiar smell in the air? Filippov, do you smell it?”

Filippov: “Vasily, that’s not very kind, they’re all nobility!”

“What? What are you talking about? Don’t you smell something in the air? Where’s it coming from?” Vasily stubbornly persisted in feigning ignorance.

Indeed, expecting this hothead to revere so-called nobility was unrealistic.

He didn’t even respect the White General!

Yegorov scolded, “Stop fooling around! Fall in line! Let’s give the citizens of the capital a good impression!”

Argesukov is the capital of the Kazarlia Kingdom—while Bogdanovka was the capital of the Vasztrom Duchy.

Those who have played the “Crusader Kings” series will recognize this setup: counties are topped by duchies, duchies by kingdoms, and amassing three kingdom titles allows one to create an empire title to become the emperor—

As Wang Zhong’s soldiers were falling in line, the traumatized band regrouped and resumed performing “Slavonic Women’s Farewell.”

Some dandies began to order their servants to carry off their fallen companions to the hospital.

The remaining dandies gathered together, keeping their distance from the white horse.

One of the dandies asked, “Alyosha, how did you tame this beast?”

Upon hearing someone calling him a beast, Bucephalus immediately shook his head and snorted through his nostrils, his front hooves fidgeting non-stop.

Wang Zhong knew that this meant he was pleased; he didn’t like being called a wild horse, but enjoyed being considered a beast.

Bucephalus had a complicated heart of a young girl.

Wang Zhong looked doubtfully at his beloved horse and began to suspect: Could this world hold mystical forces capable of turning ordinary rockets into missiles, enable ordinary people to acquire keen hearing?

Could there also be mystical forces that turned horses into heroic spirits?

If I really were a chosen one of the Eastern Holy Church, wouldn’t it be normal to ride a horse with divine attributes?

As he was thinking this, Bucephalus began to nibble on his hair.

—I must be overthinking it; it’s just a bit mentally unstable.

Wang Zhong pushed his enthusiastic horse away and said to the dandies, “Sorry, my horse has gone mad.”

A few of the dandies exchanged glances, and the one who just called Bucephalus a beast said, “It’s okay, you used to like feisty ones, both horses and women.”

…Is that my character setting?

Another dandy nodded, “Right, you even said that Liu Da was too tame, which is why you didn’t fancy her and left her alone.”

Huh? Delving deeper seems to lead into a complex NTR cycle? Never mind that, Liu Xia now has feelings for me.

Wang Zhong shook off the unnecessary thoughts, determined to politely dismiss the group of dandies.

Just then, as the military band transitioned from “Slavic Women’s Farewell” to “Tsar’s Hymn,” Wang Zhong was puzzled.

He noticed that all the soldiers were saluting towards the station’s main building.

Wang Zhong looked over and then saw a person whose name he could recognize!

Ivan Nikolayevich Antonov, with the rank of captain, and a subtitle in parentheses: Crown Prince of the Ante Empire.

Wang Zhong examined the Crown Prince carefully.

Hmm, just an ordinary good-looking Russian guy.

The name, patronymic, and surname all followed the male format.

When the Crown Prince saw Wang Zhong, he immediately opened his arms to greet him, “Alyosha! My dear friend!”

Wang Zhong also approached warmly, “Ivania! My dear friend!”

As they hugged, Wang Zhong felt Ivan wasn’t a female.

It’s a bit of a pity.

No, not at all a pity! I already have a lovely fiancée!

After embracing Wang Zhong, Ivan turned to Ludmila and merely performed a standard gentleman’s greeting.

Ludmila: “I’m in uniform, so no hand-kissing.”

It was then that Ivan snapped to attention, saluting Wang Zhong and Ludmila!

“I salute you, General Sir!”

The local dandies, left on the side, looked at each other in confusion.

Wang Zhong: “I salute you, Your Highness! Without the technical equipment you provided, we couldn’t have survived!”

No sooner had he spoken, Wang Zhong’s troops shouted in unison, “We salute you!”

Ivan looked at the troops in surprise, “It’s astonishing; they seem just as loyal to you as your own unit!”

Vasily: “Reporting to Your Highness, we are indeed loyal to the General!”

Ivan was even more surprised, “Is that so? You… actually managed to earn the respect of the troops?”

Wang Zhong: “You didn’t know?”

“No, I thought your battle achievements were all boastful, because look, I’ve been listening in on the High Command meetings, and we’ve been winning all the time, haven’t we?”

Wang Zhong: “Your Highness, the reports from the Front Armies might lie, but the frontline doesn’t. We have been retreating all along, and even this Argesukov is now in danger.”

“How could that be!” the Crown Prince laughed, “Isn’t this a peaceful place? Here we’ve gathered 700,000 troops, 700,000 of them!”

Upon hearing that number, Wang Zhong’s heart cooled by half.

That’s it, the number of troops in the Kiev encirclement matches up.

Now all that’s left is for the second tank group to the north to make its turn.

But… if things really do develop this way, doesn’t it mean that Yekaterinburg could be saved?

No, this isn’t the time to worry about that; I need to get my own troops out of the encirclement first.

Wang Zhong grabbed the Crown Prince’s hand, “Ivania, it’s really dangerous now! The Prosen troops love encirclements, and they will…”

The Crown Prince said with a smile, “Here we have seven hundred thousand troops, as well as the natural defense of the Dnieper River, and Duke Meishikin’s troops in Shepetovka can cover Argesukov too. Rest assured, we will inflict a heavy blow on them here! You should relax and let your troops rest and resupply first.”

Wang Zhong: “I need to replenish my troops, and also tanks! T34 tanks! And I hope they’re all equipped with radios!”

“Rest easy! It will be provided, all of it!” the Crown Prince patted Wang Zhong on the shoulder.

Wang Zhong held his forehead.

The Crown Prince added, “Oh, by the way, I have a message for you: Your father, Duke Rocossov, is preparing a banquet at the manor to celebrate your victorious return. He’s also arranged quarters for your troops!”

Wang Zhong exhaled a sigh of relief, thinking at least there was some good news, and there was no need to worry about quarters for the troops.

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