Arc of Gunfire

The reunited mother and son hugged each other for a long time.

When Alexeyevna calmed down, her son let go of her and distanced herself.

Then the young man - no, he is actually older than Wang Zhong, so it is wrong for Wang Zhong to call him young here.

He wears the rank of second lieutenant, and his face is very similar to that of Alexeyevna.

Like most Ant soldiers, he wears the medals he has received so far on his chest. Although there is no gold star among them, the number of medals shows that his performance on the battlefield is not inferior to any gold star winner. He may just lack a little opportunity. .

"General..."

Wang Zhong: "Won't you introduce yourself?"

In fact, Wang Zhong had already asked Pavlov to find the other sons of the aunt, but it was really chaotic at that time. All the documents were lost. The relevant people in charge sacrificed and were captured, and the troops were also captured by Pu Luo. Sen was beaten to a pulp, and many people could not return to their troops even if they were alive.

Of course, Wang Zhong can look at the name directly from an overhead perspective, but the process still needs to be done.

The second lieutenant stood at attention and saluted: "Reporting to the general, deputy commander of the first battalion and first company of the 54th regiment of the 8th Guards Mechanized Infantry Division of the First Mobile Group Army, Second Lieutenant Petro Alexeevich!"

Wang Zhong returned the gift and praised: "You have a heroic mother and a heroic brother."

"Thank you," the lieutenant said.

The local church priest said: "Your mother also participated in the uprising to liberate the city yesterday. Everyone saw her personally rushing to the municipal building where the enemy was guarding. That is the enemy's city defense headquarters!"

Lieutenant Pietro: "Mom! Why are you risking your life like this!"

Aunt Alexeyevna: "I thought you were all dead, so I went to give the Plosin people a taste of their power and stabbed to death the son of a Plosin mother. Even if you come back, I won't If you regret it, you should stab someone to death!”

Priest: "We are going to apply for the Gold Star for Madam Alexeyevna. Not only did she fight bravely yesterday, she has been covering the guerrillas and underground parishes in the past two years, and she also collected supplies for us. She deserves the Gold Star, otherwise The whole parish refused!"

Wang Zhong looked at the medal on Pietro's chest, and suddenly had the idea of ​​teasing him, and said: "And your brother, now we give priority to awarding gold stars to living people, but after the war is over, your brother will be awarded posthumously. Venus."

The corner of Pietro's mouth twitched obviously. With so many medals on his chest, he must be very unhappy without a gold star.

Pietro: "I will try my best to get the gold star..."

"No," Wang Zhong shook his head evilly, "I think you are an experienced junior officer and should go to the rear school to teach those who are about to become junior officers."

"But...I..."

Wang Zhong: "I have decided."

This was Wang Zhong's joke on Pietro, and it was also Wang Zhong's gift to Alexeyevna.

The aunt hugged Wang Zhong: "General, my good general, you are the best good man in the world! However, I cannot allow you to give my son special treatment. I am just one of countless mothers, like me There must be many mothers whose sons are on the front line. Can you bring all their children back?”

Wang Zhong: "It's true that I can't, but my god-sister can. She can issue a decree requiring a military census. The last remaining male in each family cannot go to the front line, but can be transferred to the recruit camp to transfer his experience." Teach the new recruits.”

The aunt was still a little surprised: "Who is your god sister?"

Pietro, the aunt's son, whispered: "It's His Majesty the Tsar."

Auntie: "Oh! That's it."

Lieutenant Pietro asked: "So General, you know my mother because of your brother? What happened to him?"

Wang Zhong: "He was my gunner. In Haupenier, I commanded a T28 tank numbered 422. Only the driver and I survived. Everyone else died heroically."

Lieutenant Pietro's eyes widened: "The gunner of that T28 is my brother? No one told me this, and it didn't even write about it in the newspaper!"

Wang Zhong: "Because I was just an ordinary lieutenant colonel at that time."

After a brief pause, he said in a self-deprecating tone: "The day before the Battle of Upper Penier, I peed my pants on the battlefield."

Grigory and Vasily both laughed.

The others were all embarrassed. They looked at each other before starting to laugh awkwardly: "Ha, ha, ha."

Suddenly, Lieutenant Pietro slapped his thigh: "I see, that's how the strange tradition of Guards' one-step movement came about!"

Wang Zhong: "Why, they are still peeing on the enemies they killed?"

"Yes, all the recruits in the First Machine Infantry were crazy trying to remember the first enemy they killed, and there was even an incident where two people grabbed an enemy's urine." Second Lieutenant Pietro shook his head, "I originally applied to go to the First Infantry I was mobile, but without permission, the 8th Guards Division sent me there, but the people in the division who welcomed me still said, 'Now you don't have to go to the battlefield to look for enemies to pee on'."

Wang Zhong: "Since the bishop accompanying the army has not stopped this tradition, it shows that it is good for the morale of the army. Then it is good to keep it like this."

Then he changed the subject: "Second Lieutenant Pietro, are you back for vacation?"

"No, I still have a mission, so I took a leave of absence from the Army Priest. I have to rush back now—"

Wang Zhong: "As the commander of the front, I order you to take a three-day leave at home. The written order will be issued through the front headquarters and will reach your regiment today. Stay at home and spend time with your mother."

Mrs. Alekseyevna may want to object, but she changed her mind halfway: "Just one day, Pietro, just one day."

Wang Zhong: "Then it won't hinder your reunion! I also want to go and see my family's manor."

As soon as the words fell, the parish priest looked embarrassed: "Your manor was used as a defensive support point because it was relatively solid. It was greatly damaged in the battle. No one has lived there for the past two years. It has become a paradise for creepers and various small animals."

Wang Zhong: "Then I want to go back and see it too."

He saluted everyone and turned to go out.

A large group of people gathered on the street outside. When they saw Wang Zhong coming out, everyone started cheering.

There was also a young girl who rushed forward and hugged Wang Zhong's neck and kissed him passionately.

Wang Zhong: "Okay, thank you, thank you!"

Someone in the crowd shouted: "General! Say something!"

Wang Zhong: "I'm still rushing to see my manor! I will speak to you at the city's liberation ceremony tomorrow!"

But the crowd didn't buy it:

"Say something!"

"Yes, just say something now!"

Wang Zhong could only climb onto the jeep helplessly, stand on the seat, and glance around.

"I originally thought that it would take five years to defeat the Prosen people. I thought that when I returned to this city, the children would have grown up, the octogenarians would have left, and I would also change from a young man to a middle-aged uncle.

"But now you see! I'm still that young man! The Prosen people are not as powerful as they boast! Although we have made a lot of sacrifices, we are the final winners!

"After liberating this city, we will continue to move westward! Liberate the rest of the country!"

Wang Zhong raised his right hand and pointed to the west.

"The enemy is already on the decline, and we will eventually enter Prosinia."

The crowd looked to the west and shouted: "Ura!"

————

It was not until eight o'clock in the evening that Wang Zhong's jeep entered the Rokossov Manor.

At this time, the sun was really setting, and the light of the setting sun gave the ruins a layer of blood color.

Wang Zhong walked in the courtyard. He had only lived in this manor for a month two years ago, but everything in his eyes was so familiar at this time, as if he had spent his entire childhood in this place.

He came to the front door of the manor mansion and looked at the pillars full of bullet holes.

"It looks like there should be a machine gun bunker nearby." He said, "So the enemy used machine guns to shoot here, trying to suppress the machine gunner."

He raised his head and looked at the blown-open gate.

"The enemy tank opened fire, with a short-barreled No. 4 75mm grenade."

The moment he spoke, he seemed to have returned to two years ago, watching the Ante soldiers holding the support point firing under the porch, and the old Maxim machine gun spewing flames.

Then the grenade hit the gate behind, and the impact of the explosion swept the shrapnel across the machine gun bunker.

The machine gunner was shot in the back, and he gritted his teeth and continued to fire, but he couldn't aim. The machine gun kept firing at the void until the ammunition chain was exhausted.

The Plossen infantry rushed up, kicked the machine gunner who had already died, and made a few more bayonet shots.

Wang Zhong sighed, and then he heard the child's voice: "Alyosha! Come here!"

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw the young child standing between the beech trees that had been removed in the courtyard, waving to himself: "Alyosha, come on!"

Then another child ran from the porch and called out: "Your Highness! Wait for me!"

"Don't call me Your Highness!"

Then, two girls, one big and one small, appeared: "Ivan, Alyosha, you locked up Olga again! I'm going to complain to His Excellency the Duke!"

Wang Zhong rubbed his eyes, and the children disappeared. A pot-bellied old man was directing the gardener to trim the trees in the courtyard under the tree.

The old man suddenly felt something, stopped and looked at Wang Zhong, then smiled.

At this moment, a baby cried loudly in the master bedroom on the second floor of the manor.

Wang Zhong looked at the second floor, but only saw half of the collapsed wall, and the remaining half was covered with ivy, with palm-shaped leaves swaying in the sunset.

After walking out of the illusion formed by his thoughts, Wang Zhong heard Vasily say: "General, do you want me to play something?"

Wang Zhong: "Then play Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 49, 1812 Overture in E flat major."

Vasily: "I only have a harmonica!"

Wang Zhong: "It doesn't matter, when the climax is played, I will let the artillery commander of the front fire to cheer you."

The climax of the 1812 Overture depicts the scene of the French Army-Carolingian Army collapsing and the Ant Army pursuing the victory. In the most famous performance on earth, cannons were fired outside the theater to cheer.

Vasily: "I only have one harmonica! Forget about the climax, I can't even get through the opening!"

Wang Zhong: "Think of a way, musician."

At this time, Nellie asked: "So you plan to stay in this dilapidated house tonight?"

Wang Zhong thought for a while: "No, when the war is over, I can find the best architect to rebuild this place while preserving the traces of the war. But now, let the creepers and small animals continue to occupy this paradise."

After a brief pause, he added: "After all, we can't go back to yesterday."