Chapter 59 "Courtesy calls for reciprocity
First Mobile Group Army, decoy artillery positions.
As the bombs fell, a Stuka dive-bomber of the Prussians, trailing thick smoke, smashed into the ground.
The second Divine Arrow also took to the sky, making a turn in the air and chasing after the low-flying enemy aircraft.
The Stuka, with the Divine Arrow on its tail, had its gunner desperately firing at the approaching missile. Sadly, the machine gun’s fire density was no match for close defense weapons, and manual aiming couldn’t compete with radar and photoelectric targeting of future generations.
Thus, the Divine Arrow caught up with the Stuka, turning it into an orange glow.
The Stuka burst into flames, its wings ablaze as it plunged toward the ground.
The third Divine Arrow launched, pursuing the enemy that had already disappeared over the horizon.
On the launch site, the Guardian Army soldiers were already moving the launchers and other equipment, but the prayer warrior continued to kneel on the cushion, maintaining the posture of prayer.
“Katyusha, we need to move now.”
Katyusha was Ekaterina’s nickname. Having fought together for so long, the Guardian Army had become quite familiar with the prayer warriors, hence the use of the nickname.
Moreover, since Katyusha was very petite, everyone looked after her like a little sister.
The girl didn’t respond, continuing to pray, clearly hoping that the Divine Arrow just launched would hit its target.
Yeca Neiko, a deputy knight, glanced at his watch and patted Katyusha on the shoulder, “Alright, the rocket is now beyond its thrust phase, it won’t catch up to an enemy aircraft flying so close to the ground even if it hasn’t hit.”
Only then did Katyusha take a deep breath and open her eyes, “How many did we shoot down?”
Unlike other prayer warriors, she didn’t need to keep watching the target once the rocket was launched, so she would close her eyes while praying, which made her look more devout.
“Two,” Yeca Neiko held up two fingers. “As for the last one, we can ask the infantry if they have found any remnants of the Divine Arrow that crashed. If the wreckage isn’t near an enemy plane, it probably didn’t hit. Okay, let’s move out.”
Saying this, Yeca Neiko reached out and pulled Katyusha up, heading towards the truck that was standing by.
Katyusha followed him, saying as they walked, “That makes sixteen enemy aircraft I’ve shot down, I should get the Venus award, right?”
“You should have one. You’re our most successful prayer warrior now, by rights you should get the Venus. I’ll write a report for the higher-ups,” Yeca Neiko answered.
Katyusha: “With the Venus, it should be the Army Group Commander who presents the medal to me, right?”
“It should be. Why, do you have a little crush on Rocossov?”
“No,” Katyusha immediately responded, then added after a few seconds, “But everyone expects the person bestowing their Venus to be somewhat impressive, right? When the war is over and I become a granny, I can tell my grandchildren, ‘The person who awarded Grandma her medal was that Rocossov.'”
Yeca Neiko burst into laughter, “Back when he led us to break out from Ronied, we thought, ‘This is it, we’ve got a lousy commander.’ I even argued with him because he wouldn’t let us set the Divine Arrow on the top of the bell tower.”
Katyusha exclaimed, “Really?”
“Really. Turns out the enemy’s first strike took down the bell tower; if the general hadn’t ordered us to change positions, his wife and I would have died there.”
“I see.”
Yeca Neiko climbed onto the truck first, then reached out a hand to Katyusha.
Katyusha didn’t hesitate, grabbing his hand to pull herself up onto the truck—she would have had to clamber up the wheels on her own.
Sitting down in the back of the truck, Katyusha asked with concern, “So the general saved your life?”
“Kind of. But later, the fighting was intense. I was prepared to lay down my life for my country. The enemy tanks and infantry got within twenty meters of us, and we had no angle to launch the Divine Arrows.
“The general himself commanded a tank to sneak up behind the enemy and rescued us.”
For some reason, Katyusha looked dreamily at him, “I see!”
Just then, a Guardian Army private sitting opposite Katyusha said, “Thanks to the general, using Divine Arrows for air defense has drastically reduced the death rate of prayer warriors. Otherwise, we would still be on the front lines now, facing enemy tank assaults at any moment.”
Yeca Neiko: “Luckily that’s not the case. Otherwise, the prayer warriors and Divine Arrows would soon have become historical terms, who knows how long it would be before we could gather enough prayer warriors to form a Divine Arrow battalion again.”
“There isn’t even a Divine Arrow battalion now,” added the Guardian Army soldier. “Look at us, only five prayer warriors left in the whole Army Group.”
Katyusha looked up at the blue sky and sighed, “Saint Andrew once said, the more advanced the productive forces, the greater the scale of war, the less use there is for us. Now it’s come true.”
Yeca Neiko said solemnly, “Glory to Saint Andrew, Amen.”
The others murmured in unison, “Amen.”
————
“The enemy has bombed our decoy artillery positions,” Pavlov put down the report in his hand and looked at Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong: “General! Let’s see you run now!”
“You’re too focused on the offense,” Popov said with a smile, moving his castle and effortlessly neutralizing Wang Zhong’s aggressive move. Then he warned, “You’re about to be in checkmate.”
Wang Zhong quickly turned to his king and after a long silence, he let out an elongated “Oh,” and then complained, “This piece always manages to move diagonally, and a pawn can transform when it reaches the back rank—it’s too complicated. I mean, I can understand promoting to a rook, knight, or bishop, but becoming a queen? What’s the point? Is it cross-dressing?”
Popov burst into laughter.
Wang Zhong: “What’s so funny? Am I wrong? If a pawn turns into a queen, can it give birth to a prince? That’s illogical!”
Vasily with his arms crossed: “General, your chess skills are really bad.”
Nonsense, I’ve never played chess in my life!
How about we switch to Chinese chess, and we can try it across the Chu River and Han boundary?
Just then, Pavlov raised his voice, “The enemy has bombed our fake artillery positions!”
Wang Zhong: “I know, find another place and set up another fake position. Also, camouflage the real artillery positions quickly. Come on, let’s start over. I feel like I’ve already got the hang of chess.”
Pavlov: “Can’t you stop playing chess?”
Wang Zhong: “Isn’t this a show of confidence in your abilities? How about this, I’ll go to the front line and drive a little tank, how’s that?”
“Have you ever thought about doing what a commanding officer should be doing?”
Wang Zhong: “I’ve finished reviewing the documents! And there was a huge stack of them!”
“What’s with you, a high-ranking commanding officer, shirking your duties and still having the nerve to justify it?”
Wang Zhong sighed: “The enemy is idle, neither making a frontal assault nor launching a pincer movement.
“I guess their supply lines must also be bogged down by the steppe. After all, it’s nearly two hundred kilometers from their logistics center here, and many supply vehicles have gotten stuck in the grasslands. Throw in a bombing from our PE-2 planes, and they’re done for.”
While resetting the chess pieces, Popov said, “The Prussians probably mistook the vast grasslands of Nan’ant for the black earth of Kazarlia. They didn’t consider why Kazarlia has villages scattered everywhere, while this place is so sparsely populated.”
Wang Zhong: “When I first came here, I had no idea about the situation here either. And what happened? The phone lines were constantly being chewed by field mice, there were hazardous terrains impassable to tanks, and grass so tall it could entangle a truck’s wheels—quite a situation.
“No wonder Xia Boyang took so long to suppress bandits on the steppe back then and still ended up getting his headquarters attacked. If you’re not familiar with the terrain here, you’re prone to ambushes.”
Vasily: “And we are about to ambush the enemy!”
Wang Zhong: “Not quite accurate, we’re aiming to ambush the enemy’s supply lines. A saber can’t chop through a tank.”
“But we are equipped with anti-tank incendiary bombs,” a voice called out from the entrance of the headquarters.
Wang Zhong turned his head and saw two officers wearing cavalry breeches entering—they were part of the new cavalry uniform, where, to save resources, the upper half was just like the regular soldiers’ uniforms, and only the breeches remained, so they could only be recognized as cavalry by their trousers.
As a faithful Chief of Staff, Pavlov took the initiative to step forward and inquire, “Who might you be?”
“I’m Gorokhov, the regimental commander of the 1st Cavalry Regiment, 33rd Cavalry Division of the 20th Cavalry Army, leading the vanguard cavalry unit here!” said the two officers, saluting Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong stood up, straightened his clothes, and returned the salute, “Good to see you. Perfect timing, we’ve just summarized the situation gathered from the herdsmen on the map.”
Pavlov gave Wang Zhong a sidelong glance.
His expression was reasonable—after all, Wang Zhong made it sound as though the gathering of this information had something to do with him as the commander, when in fact, it had nothing to do with him and was all thanks to the efforts of the mapping staff.
Ignoring Pavlov’s look, Wang Zhong enthusiastically introduced to the cavalry officers, “Look at the map. If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask the old herdsman right away. He is a former Tsarist Guard officer with very high military literacy.”
Gorokhov said, “We also have herdsman-born soldiers in our unit. They went off to find their kin en route here, and they should bring back many who are familiar with the terrain.”
Wang Zhong asked with concern, “Can you get them to join us? That old herdsman is quite a hardliner.”
“I sent my military chaplain with them, so that should help. According to our soldiers, many of the herdsmen are already from the Secular faction.”
Wang Zhong nodded, “Good. We also had the old herdsman write a letter to their elders. Once the main forces of your cavalry arrive, there should be enough guides. But be careful to protect the civilians. Don’t let the guides get hurt. Sacrifice yourself if necessary to ensure their safety.”
Gorokhov stared at Wang Zhong for a few seconds, then said, “You really are as the rumors say.”
Wang Zhong: “What do the rumors say?”
“They say you would evacuate civilians even during a breakout, and that you prioritize moving women and children to safety when defending a place.”
Wang Zhong: “I’m just repaying the kindness of the people who saved me many times. It’s nothing to mention and shouldn’t be brought up again in the future.”
“Yes,” Gorokhov saluted.
Wang Zhong: “By the way, are you familiar with Kiriyenko?”
“He’s good friends with our division commander,” Gorokhov replied.
“I see,” Wang Zhong nodded. “Get familiar with the terrain quickly. Your task tomorrow is crucial. Whether we can break the enemy’s pincer movement depends on how well you ride on the steppe!”