Cannon Fire Arc

After his meeting with the progressive Balasian officers like Mayer had ended, Wang Zhong tossed aside Tank No. 422 and took a Willys Jeep back to the Expeditionary Army Headquarters, which hadn't yet moved from outside the city.

The United Kingdom's convoy had already arrived, and the Bren Carrier machine-gun vehicles and Daimler Armored Cars were parked in the yard.

Wang Zhong hopped out of the Willys Jeep and circled the two models of vehicles.

The Bren Carrier, a light vehicle, was a favorite of Wang Zhong's before he crossed over; he often used it in the game Company of Heroes 2. Affordable, durable, with satisfactory firepower, and most importantly, fast—it harassed opponents all over the map.

As for the Daimler Armored Car, that thing was a gem; even on Earth, the British were full of praise for it, and all the Allied Forces who used it had good things to say.

Wang Zhong's knowledge of this vehicle was entirely from games. His impression of it was simple: fast! And its cannon could penetrate the side armor of most of the enemies it encountered.

Generally speaking, in the hands of a skilled gamer, vehicles that were fast and had passable firepower were considered good.

Wang Zhong kept circling the two vehicles.

There was no helping it. Back when he commanded the First Mobile Group Army, his troops were equipped with a whole bunch of Willys Jeeps and Studebaker trucks, and then there were the M3 Half-tracks, so he never felt the shortage of infantry transport vehicles—because there wasn't one.

Now in command of the Expeditionary Force, trucks were needed for transporting supplies, infantry either walked or rode on tanks, resulting in a host of problems.

The Expeditionary Force had even fewer Willys Jeeps than the First Mobile Group Army, where they were considered no more than mounts and expendables, and there wasn't a single motorcycle; they had to capture enemy bikes.

So, seeing the United Kingdom's Bren Carriers and Daimler Armored Cars, Wang Zhong somewhat lost his bearings and wanted to immediately put out a begging bowl in front of the British officers, starting to ask for little favors.

As he walked around the two vehicles, he muttered, "So nice, so nice."

Finally, Amelia's voice came through, "What are you doing? You look like a country bumpkin who's never seen an armored vehicle."

Wang Zhong: "What can I do? My Expeditionary Force really doesn't have Bren Carriers or vehicles with the same functions as Daimler Armored Cars! We don't even have M3 Half-tracks!

"Our military production is all focused on making tanks, tank destroyers, self-propelled artillery, and trucks; there's no production capacity left to produce these kinds of frontline infantry transports."

Amelia asked, puzzled, "Can't you just adjust the production? Aren't you the chairman of the Equipment Committee? And the Tsar's sworn brother too. Just give the order."

Wang Zhong shook his head: "It's not that simple. The frontline losses of tanks are so high that we can only fill the gap with new tanks. I'd like to strengthen the frontline repair capabilities to reduce the monthly replenishment needed, but we don't have enough industrial workers.

"I've been working hard to start various courses to train qualified maintenance technicians, but I estimate it won't be until the second half of 916 that we'll have trained enough technicians to effectively reduce the frontline tank loss rate.

"Only then can we free up production capacity to make stuff like infantry fighting vehicles."

Amelia stared at Wang Zhong for a few seconds and then suddenly said, "You're not complaining to me just because you want the United Kingdom to help you with vehicles, are you?"

Wang Zhong: "You're going to give me all these vehicles? That's wonderful, Yakov, call some people to drive these away! And remember to ask them what kind of fuel they use, don't fill them with the wrong stuff!"

Amelia: "Are you going to take these too?"

Wang Zhong scratched his head: "I was thinking these were gifts from you, right?"

Yakov couldn't help himself: "General, we really are lacking in armored vehicles for infantry, but we're not that desperate, are we? And... the battle at Balas has ended."

Wang Zhong stared at Yakov and blinked: "Yakov, although you are specialized in staff work, I will actively ask for your professional opinion when needed. Could you speak less at other times?"

Yakov covered his mouth: "Uh, I got it."

Grigori laughed loudly and patted Yakov on the shoulder: "Be content, at least you're not being sent to shovel manure."

Wang Zhong: "And Yakov, I've been thinking that the toilets at headquarters were a bit dirty since yesterday."

"Alright, alright, I got it," Yakov shrugged his shoulders, "I've found that shoveling manure isn't so difficult after all, and as long as you do it right, you won't even get dirty."

Wang Zhong looked at his deputy officer who had accepted the unreasonable command from his superior for a few seconds, and he wanted to rescind the order, but then he thought that changing commands from day to night wasn't appropriate, so he turned his head to Amelia and said: "Did you come out to lead me to meet with the officers from the United Kingdom's Expeditionary Army?"

"That's right, this way please," Amelia gestured.

A few minutes later, Wang Zhong met with the United Kingdom officers who were talking to Pavlov.

Wang Zhong couldn't recognize the rank of the man leading them—he wasn't too familiar with the ranks of the less-than-stellar British Army in World War II—but he could cheat.

A second later he reached out his hand: "Major General Richard, pleased to meet you."

Amelia's eyes widened: "I don't think I've introduced the general's name to you, have I?"

Wang Zhong: "But I've known the names and ranks of the generals from the British Army moving north from the south all along. I also know their functions. After seeing this rank, I guessed it must be the Division Commander of the leading 5th Armored Division.

"As an officer meeting with us, his rank is just right. If the Brigadier of the 1st Brigade of the 5th Armored Division had come instead, it would have seemed like a slight against me, wouldn't it?"

In Ante, Brigadiers were not often considered Generals, so sending someone who wasn't a General over as the vanguard for the "rendezvous" was against protocol.

Amelia, "You... actually remember the names on those documents? I never see you look at official papers..."

Pavlov, "Our General really doesn't like to deal with paperwork, but he has an extraordinary memory. When he was still a Division Commander, he even remembered every fallen soldier's name and rank."

Wang Zhong, "I still remember them too."

After saying that, he realized, damn, remembering the names and ranks of the whole Front Army's fallen was too horrifying and not quite appropriate, so he hurriedly added, "I mean, I still remember the names of the soldiers who fell last year at Loktov and other places.

"Now that I'm a Commander at the Front Army level, it's unlikely I'll remember all the fallen's names."

Amelia looked at Wang Zhong, her expression clearly showing disbelief.

However, Amelia now considered Wang Zhong a kindred spirit, probably attributing this to some mysterious power of his, so she didn't say anything.

Major General Richard looked stern and put on airs, his demeanor fitting Wang Zhong's image of the stiff and rigid commanders of the United Kingdom Army.

But this Major General Richard seemed to have quite a few injuries; one of his eyes was covered with a black eye patch, his left sleeve was empty, and from the right pant leg protruded a section of a prosthetic leg.

Wang Zhong, "My goodness, do you actually have three serious injuries?"

"Four," said Major General Richard. "I was also hit by a fragment of a shell that took off one of my... ahem, testicles."

Wang Zhong's mouth formed an 'O' shape as he gasped, "My God, is the banana still there?"

"Intact," Major General Richard responded with pride.

Wang Zhong began to understand why the United Kingdom had sent this man to lead the way; faced with such a "fierce warrior," anyone would be intimidated.

And Wang Zhong vaguely remembered that there was such a General on Earth as well, who had even been made into a video by little John Khan.

He recalled that General's military talent was far below his ability to spout fancy talk, generally more of a hindrance in battle.

That's why the United Kingdom's Fifth Armored Division was advancing so slowly!

Major General Richard seemed to misunderstand Wang Zhong's expression, thinking his own valor had subdued Wang Zhong, so he held his head high and announced, "The Commander of the United Kingdom Expeditionary Force is on his way. He wishes for you to hand over His Majesty, King of Balas, and the full Plowsonian ambassador to us first."

"No, His Majesty the King of Balas will be judged by the Balasians themselves, and the full Plowsonian ambassador has already been sent to our prisoner of war camps. Of course, we will share the intelligence he has provided with the United Kingdom as per our alliance treaty."

"What?" exclaimed Richard. "This is not in accordance with our agreement."

Wang Zhong, "Our agreement also included storming the city together, but I didn't see you sticking to that either."

"That's because you didn't wait for us!"

"We had to storm the city immediately. King Tutka of Balas almost escaped. If I hadn't made a decisive decision then, the Balas government in exile would have been established in Plowsonia by now." Wang Zhong spread his hands, "At that point, that brother of the Tsar would have been crowned improperly, and it seems the United Kingdom would be the one with the headache, right? For now, Ante doesn't have much at stake in Balas."
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Major General Richard, after struggling for a while, squeezed out, "I will report this to Admiral Okinlek, Commander of the United Kingdom Expeditionary Force."

Wang Zhong, "Feel free."

Major General Richard picked up the military cap that was on the table and left in a huff.

Wang Zhong turned to ask Amelia, "Aren't you following him?"

Amelia, "My mission is to stay by your side, and besides, you'll need my escort soon."

Wang Zhong, "What do you mean? Am I returning home? Surely the Prosen fighter jets can't fly over for this part of the journey, can they?"

Amelia, "You don't know?"

Just then, Pavlov came over and handed a telegram to Wang Zhong, "His Highness Belinsky has ordered that after the battle of Balas is concluded, the troops will be under my command."

Wang Zhong stared at the Chief of Staff in disbelief, "Then what am I going to do?"

The Chief of Staff pointed at the telegram.

Only then did Wang Zhong begin to read the telegram, "Alexei Konstantinovich, I have an extremely important mission for you, which is why I am sending you this confidential cable in a personal capacity."

Wang Zhong quickly checked the signature first; it was indeed Belinsky, and he had not included the title of the Grand Patriarch.

He continued to read, "Within the territory of the Federation, you have gained tremendous prestige. All citizens of the Federation wish to meet you, the hero who turned the tide and saved Ante. This is extremely important for increasing the Federation's support for us."

Wang Zhong was taken aback; he didn't read the rest aloud but rather skimmed through it quickly.

He put down the telegram and looked at the others, "Alright, I'll make a trip to the Federation."