Cannon Fire Arc

September 8, 1730 hours, outside Balas City, at the Expeditionary Army Headquarters of Ante.

Wang Zhong had spotted King Tutka of Balas and the plenipotentiary ambassador of the Empire of Prosen, Schmidt, being escorted through an overlook perspective early on.

He walked naturally to the front of the map, posing as if deeply concerned about the battle situation within the city.

Lately, Wang Zhong had come to understand the approach of a certain five-star admiral on Earth more and more; image and propaganda were extremely important—they determined how many resources you could get and how much credit you would receive.

That admiral from Earth had risen through the ranks based on propaganda, while the more capable George Patton remained a four-star general until his death.

Too bad Wang Zhong didn't smoke; otherwise, he could have completely imitated that "five-star critic" with a tobacco pipe.

The door suddenly burst open, and the assault team sent to chase the fleeing king brought in two prisoners, one fat and one thin.

The thin prisoner was dressed in a Prosen military uniform, the dark and slick color scheme seemed out of place with Balas' geographical environment.

Wang Zhong looked over with surprise, and upon seeing the two exclaimed, "Did you really catch these two on that road?"

"Yes," the captain of the Naval Infantry saluted and said loudly, "General, your divine foresight is incredible, we arrived just as they were making their escape!"

Wang Zhong laughed heartily, "I don't have any divine foresight; I simply made a logical reasoning. It was Chief of Staff Pavlov who determined that the enemies would wait for a plane on this road."

Pavlov replied, "I'm just familiar with the geographical data of the battlefield, and I just happened to remember that the Prosens built that road; it was mainly the General who predicted the enemy's movements."

Wang Zhong unapologetically accepted the flattery, then sauntered over to Schmidt—well, theoretically, Wang Zhong didn't yet know that this German was called Schmidt, but he sauntered over to him anyway.

"How come I don't recall Prosen having regular troops in Balas?"

Schmidt grinned and answered in quite standard Antenese, "We are members of the embassy staff in Balas, ordered to rescue the King of Balas to establish a government in exile in Prosen."

"Oh, is that so. You're a colonel, this operation must be of a high level then."

"Of course," Schmidt replied, "We place great importance on His Majesty King Tutka of Balas."

Wang Zhong inquired, "Which route did you take to leave the city?"

"An ancient tunnel, left behind by Prosen engineers responsible for constructing the royal palace of Balas in the past, the relevant design plans are only preserved in our nation's royal archives, so the gentlemen of the United Kingdom are unaware of them." As he spoke, Schmidt glanced towards the officers of the United Kingdom.

Colonel Benjamin and several officers from the United Kingdom looked at each other in confusion.

Wang Zhong said, "Very well, you almost succeeded. So, if I may ask, Colonel, how should I address you?"

"You may call me Franz."

Wang Zhong raised an eyebrow.

Schmidt immediately corrected himself, "Of course, for this mission, I normally operate under the name Schmidt."

It was then that Wang Zhong realized his microexpression had given him away, revealing that he knew this man was called Schmidt.

But he decided to continue the charade, "Oh, is that so. Then, what is your real name? If you perform well when our forces enter Prosen, and you're in a POW camp, we can try to spare your family from harm."

Schmidt looked incredulous, "What did you say?"

"As we enter Prosen, we'll treat the families of the Prosens who behaved well in the POW camps kindly," Wang Zhong repeated his point.

Schmidt was shocked, "Have you not updated yourself with the domestic war reports for a long time? We are now advancing triumphantly..."

"Correct, as per our plans advancing triumphantly," Wang Zhong interjected. "Ceres has a very famous, classic tactic called 'luring the enemy in deep'—are you familiar with it?"

Schmidt looked incredulous, "Are you saying that our triumphant advance is your strategy? Next, are you going to claim that your tragic failure on the battlefield last year was also planned?"

"That, no, what I'm saying is—neither summer nor autumn. But the winter one was," Wang Zhong spread his hands, "At that time, my plan was to retreat in front of the capital, stretch your supply lines, and in combination with the muddy season, completely sever your supplies. Then counter-attack. I think it was executed quite well."

Schmidt's expression grew serious, "Are you suggesting this time is also your strategy?"

"Yes," Wang Zhong nodded, "The same strategy as last time. Of course, you won't believe it, but let me ask you, since this May, you have been attacking so successfully, besides encircling the Front Army, how many of our military units have you surrounded?"

Schmidt's mouth opened and closed, like a goldfish.

Wang Zhong said, "There's none. You haven't surrounded and annihilated another one of our units because all these units have orderly withdrawn. Of course, you still defeated some units, but these could be reorganized upon reaching the rear."

"Even if we go by those watered-down battle reports from your High Command, the number of Ante Troops you've annihilated this year is much less than the same period last year."

Schmidt was at a loss for words.

Wang Zhong bent down, got close to him, and gestured with one hand in front of him: "When we reach the muddy season this year, your situation will be better than last year, but this time the supply lines are longer and pass through Nan'ant, where the Antean infrastructure is the worst.

"And by that time, we will counter-attack along the whole frontline with the forces that escaped during the summer and autumn campaigns. You'll have to divide your forces everywhere, and the troops attacking Abawahan won't receive enough reinforcements or supplies. After prolonged combat, they will be exhausted and their equipment losses enormous..."

Wang Zhong suddenly clenched his spread fingers into a fist.

"We will encircle it, and then annihilate it!"

Schmidt shook his head: "No, no, your plan won't go that smoothly and besides, His Majesty is very determined. Even if you launch a full offensive, His Majesty will mobilize more troops from within the country."

"He won't! Because the counter-offensive of the Allied Forces is about to begin as well, the whole Mediterranean will be ablaze! The Balkans will erupt like a volcano waiting to explode! The Royal Air Force will bomb your West Wall defenses, and the cannons of the Royal Navy will strike like express trains on schedule every day—you will be attacked from both front and rear!"

Wang Zhong revealed a smug smile: "Then, you will suffer a humiliating defeat in Nan'ant and the Allies will suddenly discover that you are nothing but a paper tiger. Yakov, throw me that booklet I wrote!"

Yakov immediately pulled out one from the stack of booklets on the desk and threw it over—this was one of many booklets Wang Zhong had written when he was the head of the Suvorov Military Academy, mainly discussing why the enemy is bound to fail.

Wang Zhong threw the booklet on the ground in front of the Prosens, and said to the Naval Infantry: "Untie him, let him read."

The Naval Infantry promptly untied Schmidt and pushed him forward, causing him to fall face-first onto Wang Zhong's booklet.

Wang Zhong then turned to the King of Balas: "Your Majesty, how do you do? Will you be as stubborn as His Excellency, the full plenipotentiary ambassador of the Prosens?"

"No, no, no, I'll tell you my full name right away."

Then the corpulent king blurted out a string of names so long that Wang Zhong, the would-be Antean, couldn't be bothered to remember them.

Wang Zhong snapped his fingers: "Call Meyer."

Soon, Meyer Abdullah came with Mustafa, and the moment he saw the back of His Majesty the king, flames burst from Meyer's eyes: "That bastard!"

He rushed forward, kicked the king to the ground, then grasped the necklace around his neck and pulled out a pendant: "Look at this! This is a child's finger bone! I watched him starve to death under a tree at the entrance of the village, and I was very angry, so I stormed into the village wanting to confront the scoundrels who watched a child starve to death! Then I found the whole village was nearly starved to death, they truly had no food to save this child!

"The whole village was starving! Every child was skin and bones! So, I buried that poor child, took off his finger, and swore to bring the finger to the one who caused this tragedy! That's you!"

Wang Zhong immediately empathized with Meyer and thus said: "Handover this king to you, Meyer. No, he is not a king anymore."

Meyer hesitated a moment, then put away the bone and stood up: "No, this is not my personal vengeance. He must face a public trial, and then be hanged!"

Saying so, Meyer looked to Wang Zhong: "Do we have to accept another king?"

Before Wang Zhong could speak, Amelia interjected: "Ante has a king too, I mean, an emperor, and he's also the brother-in-law of your former teacher. There's nothing bad about having a king, Meyer Abdullah; a king can also be a wise ruler."

Wang Zhong gently pushed Amelia, who was blocking his view, away and said to Meyer: "You can try all the paths and choose the best one. Before that, learn the capabilities, train the troops, so that one day you can keep the choice in your hands."

Meyer glared at Amelia and nodded: "You're right."

At this time, the King of Tutka wailed: "Don't put me on trial! Don't put me on trial, ah ah ah! I can abdicate, I can step down! Fellow members of the United Kingdom, I will do anything, I just don't want to resist you anymore!"

Saying so, he crawled on the ground towards Amelia's feet, seemingly intent on kissing Amelia's shoe.

Amelia backed away with a look of disgust, keeping a significant distance.

Wang Zhong: "He has disgusted my friend. Take him away and let the Balasian people decide his fate!"

Immediately, Naval Infantry came and dragged away the spherical Tutka king.

The king's wails could be heard long after they'd left the Headquarters.

When finally the noise of the king had subsided, Schmidt stood up.

The Naval Infantry moved to restrain him, but Wang Zhong waved his hand: "No, let him be."

He then walked over to Schmidt: "Do you have any insights? You should be able to understand it with your Antenese, right?"

Schmidt bit his lip: "I need to think, I need to think about it! No, by the end of this year, I want to see if you accomplish your goal!"
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Wang Zhong: "Alright, take him away and let him think properly. And give him a copy of the Secular faction Scripture to read and think about."

Wang Zhong waved his hand.