Arc of Gunfire

0400 hours on November 10, Yekaterinburg, Summer Palace.

Tsar Nicholas V asked: "If there is a military parade, will Belinsky come? Couldn't he have run away? This guy must be thinking that we will defend here and die in battle like Ivan, and then he will Come pick peaches!”

Chief of Staff Tukhachev glanced at Marshal Boris, who succeeded Marshal Semyon as Minister of Defense after he became commander of the Western Front.

Marshal Boris pushed up his glasses: "As far as we know, His Majesty the Patriarch has not left Yebao, and he will also participate in the military parade."

"That must be a stand-in!" Nicholas V waved his hand, "A stand-in! If you ask him some questions about secularism and ask him to explain the Bible, he will talk about it!"

"I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have about secularism." A deep bass voice came from the direction of the door.

Everyone turned to look at the door.

Patriarch Belinsky walked into the room with steady steps, followed by two cardinals and guards.

"Your Majesty." The Patriarch gave a court salute to Tsar Nicholas V. This salute was used by ministers to pay tribute to the emperor.

Nicholas V's expression softened: "You misunderstood, Belinsky, I just...just heard some rumors. I have already punished the person who said so. Oh, and no courtesy."

Belinsky then stood up straight: "Your Majesty, the enemy is actually at the end of its battle now, but the smooth advance has given them confidence. The enemy's attack on leaflets around Yebao has also been significantly intensified. Yesterday alone, the planes More than ten tons of leaflets were dropped.

"The enemy obviously wants us to lose our will to resist, just like the Carolingians. The Carolingian capital can still fight. The city defense headquarters has mobilized millions of militiamen. This heroic city has resisted foreign enemies countless times. Its The people are preparing to do the same!

“However, the top Carolingians were all afraid of death, so they chose to surrender. Proson’s army did not even see the capital, and they surrendered.

"The Plosans are expecting us to do the same thing."

Nicholas V stared at Belinsky: "But look at the battle line, how many troops we invested have been scattered by the enemy. The latest troops invested can't resist for even a day! You can guarantee that they can't attack Ye Fort?"

Belinsky: "Rokossov guarantees to me that the enemy will not be able to enter the Yeburg."

"He also said it during the public sacrifice! What he said was that mud and heavy snow would stop the enemy. The mud has come and gone, and the heavy snow will come at least ten days later, but the enemy is already less than fifty kilometers away from Yebao!"

At this time, Olga who was next to him suddenly said: "Rokossov's troops are guarding 20 kilometers away from the outer ring of Yebao. They are the last barrier! He also promised me that no enemy will cross him." defense.”

Nicholas V turned his head sharply, looked at his daughter, looked at her up and down carefully, and finally his eyes fell on her waist: "I know you stayed with him for a day! What did he promise you with? Huh? What did he use? ?”

Olga: "Use reason and logic. Father, Father, the people need you to set an example. And, didn't you swear to avenge your brother?"

Nicholas V suddenly stopped and looked at his daughter's face, which was somewhat similar to his son's, and then his expression became firm again: "Ah, yes. Ivan, you are right."

The moment Olga was recognized as her brother by her father, the corners of Olga's mouth twitched, but she quickly controlled her expression and maintained her dignity by relying on years of palace etiquette training.

Nicholas V turned to Belinsky, as if he was a different person: "You are right, we want to have a military parade! We must tell those Plosen people that we will never give up resistance! One day, we will rush into their Capital, burn their capital to the ground!”

After speaking, Nicholas V walked out of the room angrily.

Only then did Olga sigh, her shoulders slumping.

Belinsky walked up to her and said softly: "Don't be sad. One day, he will recognize you clearly."

After speaking, Belinsky also followed Nicholas V in stride.

When he didn't follow him, everyone in the room, including the chief of general staff and the minister of defense, didn't dare to follow him. Now they followed him decisively.

————

Within the Prosen Empire, the Eagle's Nest.

Prosen Emperor Reinhard put down the secret report just sent by the Asgard intelligence agency: "Our radio station in Yebao just risked his life to send a report, saying that the Ant people will hold a National Day military parade today."

He looked at Duke Redwidge, the leader of Rabelais.

Duke Redwedge: "We also submitted a report and believed that there might be a military parade. We also believed that the military parade was to stabilize the morale of the military. Afterwards, they would still retreat to the Charon line. After all, they had sent the Empire's Iron Wall Rokossov. To the Charon Line."

Reinhardt: "Rokossov is on the front of the 2nd Armored Group!"

"This level of error is also expected. It's possible that he was going to Charon, but the appointment was cancelled. It's also possible that the appointment hasn't had time to be implemented. You know, our newly established Krat Bureau is very powerful, and it directly communicates with At that time, the Chongsheng sect’s exile organization established contact.”

Duke Redwitz said very proudly.

Reinhard was speechless, and turned back to ask the director of his Confidential Secretariat: "Is this what Rabeville said?"

"Yes, but this report was abandoned by you at that time. Because you wanted to end the war after capturing Ye Fort and refused to see any intelligence that the war might continue after Ye Fort was captured."

Reinhard was silent for a second and decided to ignore the matter. He turned to Air Force Marshal Grand Duke Meyer and asked: "Can the Air Force destroy this military parade?"

Grand Duke Meyer shook his head: "No, because the forward airport for our plane has not been built yet. From the current airport, we can reach the sky above Yebao, but it won't last long."

Reinhardt: "We have advanced to less than fifty kilometers from Yebao!"

Grand Duke Meyer: "Our forward airport is still 300 kilometers away. The mud used to prevent engineers from leveling the runway of the new field airport, and there was always water. Now we are working hard to build a new airport.

"The Anters have concentrated all their fighter jets to protect the capital. Starting from our current airport, our escort fighter jets are at a huge disadvantage."

Reinhardt: "What's the disadvantage?"

Grand Duke Meyer spread his hands: "I am an ace pilot, so I can explain it to you. First of all, it takes more than an hour for our fighter jet to fly three hundred kilometers..."

Reinhardt: "I remember, can't our plane fly at 500 kilometers per hour?"

"Most of the time it's not possible, and it still has to climb, so the pilots are usually very tired when they fly over Yebao. If they have to cooperate with heavy bombers that fly at a slower speed, it will take longer.

"Because heavy bombers cannot take off from the frontline airport, they must first merge with the heavy bombers in the air, and it will take dozens of minutes to climb to the height of the heavy bombers before they merge. In short, you know that our pilots will be very tired when they are over Yebao Enough.

"Another problem was yaw. Our air raids on the United Kingdom used radio convergence guidance to guide the bomber formation to the capital of the United Kingdom. But in Ant... we did not have such facilities.

"Without radio guidance, you can only rely on a compass for instrument flying, because the land of Ant doesn't have many obvious landmarks."

Reinhard interrupted Grand Duke Meyer again: "What's the problem with instrument flying?"

"There is wind in the sky, Your Majesty," the Grand Duke continued after seeing that His Majesty did not pay attention. "There are often amazing strong winds in the sky, and the aircraft will be blown away by the wind. Our heavy bombardment is equipped with a gyroscope, and it can also be sure degree against the wind - but it will still yaw under the current conditions unless we innovate our navigation technology."

Reinhard sighed: "Let them build the frontline airport as soon as possible!"

At this time, the chief of staff of the General Staff of Proson broke out in sweat: "Your Majesty, it is very difficult to supply the front line. Although the muddy conditions have disappeared now, the impact of distance and the poor infrastructure of the Ant people are still there. ...It’s not appropriate to let the frontline build the airport again.”

Reinhard: "It's okay to fix one, right? Just one! Fix it!"

The chief of staff looked at the others and replied: "Yes!"

————

Olga followed her father and the Patriarch onto the parade platform.

The nobles who were already waiting at the viewing seats on both sides were shocked. They did not expect that the Patriarch would attend the viewing platform "over here".

The church's auditorium is across the avenue from the military parade.

Olga came to the viewing platform and suddenly heard the singing of the troops waiting for review below.

She quickly looked down and saw someone in the troop queue holding their helmet to their chest, clapping and singing.

It's Rokosov's song!

Olga originally thought it was two or three people singing loudly, but it turned out that was not the case. It was all the military parade troops singing. Everyone's voice was not high, but they gathered together to be heard by the viewing platform hundreds of meters away. to the volume.

“Surrounded I am surrounded, there is no way of escape.

"Come closer, you guys, come closer, you beasts, let me entertain you!"

At this time, the Patriarch suddenly said: "You know, a long time ago, the author of the Rhine War Hymn met the Emperor of Prosen. The Emperor said: Your song is more powerful than several legions.

"He said this because the Carolingian army sang the Rhine War Hymn and rushed towards the Plosser defenses in fear of death. As long as the songs continued to echo, the Carolingians would not be defeated.

"It seems that the Carolingians have forgotten how to sing that war song."

Just as Olga was about to answer, the military band started playing "The Farewell of the Ant Women."

The troops seemed to be stimulated and sang louder, as if they were overpowering the military band.

The officers started running and yelling desperately before they could suppress their voices.

The master of ceremonies announced the beginning of the military parade, and the parade commander first reviewed the troops.

The Patriarch, standing next to Olga, commented on the commander: "There is no imposing manner at all, both for man and horse."

Olga did not express his position, but he tried to change the person reviewing the troops to Rokosov riding Busifaras.

She smiled and said: "Indeed, it lacks a lot of momentum."

When the tsar was speaking, Olga didn't even listen carefully to what her father said. She only felt that his screams were dry and noisy.

As if echoing Olga's thoughts, the troops' hurrahs after the speech were a little weak.

Then came the breakdown, with the troops starting to sing "I Got One Last Grenade" almost immediately after they left the venue.

They sang this song and marched toward the battlefield with their heads held high.