Arc of Fire

Chapter 10

Lieutenant Colonel Yegorov smashed the radio with his rifle butt, then said to the surrounding soldiers: "Stop gawking, gather all documents and send them to the rear."

"Wait!" Staff Officer Pavlov stopped the soldiers who were about to toss various documents into baskets, pulling out one particular file, "This document has unit designations. This is the 54th Infantry Division of the Prossen 25th Army Group, which participated in the Carolingian Campaign. The division's emblem has fleur-de-lis, marking their participation in the Carolingian Campaign."

Yegorov: "Yet we still crushed them! That Duke Alexei's idea turned out to be quite reliable-we actually reached the enemy division headquarters unimpeded!"

Pavlov corrected: "It's Count, and you shouldn't prefix the title with a given name. At least use the patronymic-call him Count Konstantinovich."

Yegorov waved his hand: "I'm just a rough soldier, I don't understand your fancy protocols! The Count's order was to attack forward, so let's keep going."

Pavlov was shocked: "You still want to keep advancing? We've left the smoke-reaching a division headquarters was pure luck since the enemy didn't expect it! Now they're alert! And you just..."

Yegorov: "I was just bluffing them! Look here!"

Yegorov pointed at the enemy map: "The enemy headquarters is here, on the hilltop overlooking all of Ronezh, controlling the highway into the city and the railway running through it. The enemy definitely thinks we're attacking here!"

"But our orders are to break out-meaning we're heading east. We need to take this side road out of the city. I know this path-it goes through a large shrub area. By the time we break through, it'll be night. We'll retreat under cover of darkness!"

Pavlov: "Are you sure this is the Count's intention? He might want to fight to the death."

Yegorov: "Impossible! Then he wouldn't have brought the field hospital. Trust me, the Count absolutely wants to break through and survive-he just happened to find an opening at the front."

"But..."

Yegorov grabbed Pavlov by the shoulders: "Listen! I don't know the Count's intentions, but I know mine! I don't plan to die here! The Prossenians are despicable, and I'd love to thrash them!"

"But how can I thrash them if I'm dead?"

Pavlov: "You're just afraid of dying-you have no sense of honor!"

"What?"

Pavlov: "I'll have you know, if the chaplain were still alive, he'd have sent you to the tribunal by now! The charge would be cowardice and intent to surrender!"

"But I'll remind you-according to regulations, if a commanding officer shows signs of cowardice or intent to surrender, I as staff officer can relieve you of command!"

Enraged, Yegorov grabbed the staff officer by the collar: "What did you say? Where were you when I was smashing Prossenian skulls with grenades? And you dare call me a coward?"

Pavlov: "You chose an escape route!"

As the two stood at the brink of violence, the sound of a car engine came from outside.

**

Rewinding time slightly.

Wang Zhong set out with the remnants of the headquarters and the field hospital's makeshift unit.

Before departing, he had Captain Sergei send out messengers to other units under the Duke's command, informing them of the plan to break through the front-due east.

Whether the messages would get through was beyond Wang Zhong's control.

In any case, Wang Zhong led the group forward, taking point himself.

Soon the unit entered the smoke screen laid by the rear artillery. By now the smoke had spread considerably, its obscuring effect diminished, with visibility inside improved.

But the smoke's coverage had also expanded. Wang Zhong walked along the main street for quite a while, still within the haze.

The white expanse looked eerily similar to the game "Silent Hill," whose horror atmosphere owed much to the thick fog enveloping its setting.

Fortunately, he had the overhead view-though he couldn't use it while walking, as the sensory mismatch would immediately make him vomit violently.

He could only walk a few steps before stopping to switch perspectives.

This behavior greatly puzzled Captain Sergei, who seemed on the verge of suspicion.

But without the overhead view, he couldn't spot enemies. Currently, his naked eye could only see a few meters ahead-if they stumbled into enemies unprepared and took a submachine gun burst, his journey would end here.

Wang Zhong could only reduce his stops and endure the dizziness from using the overhead view while moving.

Just as he struggled, the group finally emerged from the smoke, where an abandoned Prossen jeep by the roadside caught Wang Zhong's eye-the same model Lyudmila had blown up with a grenade.

Wang Zhong immediately decided: "Let's take that jeep. Get two guards-we're driving ahead!"

Sergei: "Just drive off? Who'll command the unit? We don't have walkie-talkies!"

Wang Zhong: "We're just following the highway-it'll be fine. If anything happens, we can send someone back with orders."

After brief consideration, Captain Sergei nodded.

Wang Zhong asked: "You can drive, right?"

Wang Zhong himself couldn't drive-he'd never seen the need to learn, figuring he could take the subway when unhurried and hail a Didi when pressed for time.

Captain Sergei: "I often drove for the Duchess. Leave it to me."

Wang Zhong recalled what the executed sergeant had said-this Captain Sergei was supposedly the Duchess's lover?

-Whatever, why should I care!

Wang Zhong got in the jeep: "Drive!"

The two guards nimbly vaulted into the back seats without even opening the doors.

Sergei took the wheel and started the engine. After a few meters, he marveled: "This drives so smoothly-way better than our Ladas!"

Lada cars-damn, wasn't that a classic Soviet brand? Their terrible performance had become Soviet joke material.

As Captain Sergei drove through the devastated city, he said wistfully: "Such a fine city. I liked that café-often went there with the Duchess."

Following Sergei's gaze, Wang Zhong saw the café's only intact feature was its street-facing metal sign. It had clearly taken a direct hit from a 152mm or heavier howitzer.

Passing the café, the jeep revealed its interior-tables and chairs obliterated, coffee pots shattered.

Sergei gritted his teeth: "Damn Prossenians!"

Wang Zhong pursed his lips. Truthfully, he still bore no particular hatred for the Prossenians-after all, it wasn't his country or homeland being invaded.

His goal remained simple survival in this war.

Then khaki-uniformed soldiers began appearing along the roadside, clearly fresh from heavy combat.

The street and adjacent buildings bore many black-uniformed corpses.

Apparently, Wang Zhong had caught up to the 3rd Rear Amur Regiment, which had advanced ahead to attack.

Just then, angry shouts came from a building ahead:

"What did you say? Where were you when I was smashing Prossenian skulls with grenades? And you dare call me a coward?"

"But you chose an escape route!"

Wang Zhong patted Sergei's shoulder: "Stop at that building-the one with the argument!"

(End of Chapter)