Arc of Fire

Although the Crown Prince turned to leave, Wang Zhong and Ludmila still followed him to the front door of the main building’s east wing.

On the one hand, it was basic etiquette to see royalty out. On the other hand, Wang Zhong had to leave as well, and there was no second exit in the east wing—jumping out a window was out of the question.

At the door, the Crown Prince turned around and looked at Wang Zhong, “I have a question. After this war ends, can we drink as freely as before?”

Wang Zhong, “Of course, after we win this war, we’ll drink day and night.”

The Crown Prince nodded, and at that moment, the jeep that came to pick him up had arrived. So he walked down the steps and got into the vehicle, then turned back to smile at Wang Zhong.

The car started up and slowly drove away.

Then Grigori drove up in a jeep, stopping in front of the door.

Wang Zhong bid farewell to Ludmila, opened the door, and got into the vehicle.

Ludmila hesitated for a moment before she said, “Deputy Knight Yeca Neiko said I could have a day off today, may I join?”

Wang Zhong thought it over, it didn’t seem to be a big problem, and he was going to see the families of deceased soldiers later, so having a girl by his side would help comfort the female family members.

So he nodded, and Ludmila immediately beamed with joy, hurrying over to get into the car.

Wang Zhong cautioned, “Don’t cling to my arm later, I’m in uniform! I need to maintain the dignity of a general!”

Ludmila saluted, “Yes, General!”

Only then did Wang Zhong nod and said to Grigori, “Let’s go, to the Argesukov logistics command building first.”

—-

The logistics command building was actually larger than the fertilizer plant building they used as a frontline command center in Loktov, looking like it could hold out for a long time.

In the courtyard of the building, there were anti-aircraft gun positions, but Wang Zhong highly doubted the significance of setting up anti-aircraft guns here. If enemy planes were to bomb the logistics headquarters, they would have dropped bombs already, and these guns wouldn’t be effective at all.

Grigori bypassed the anti-aircraft gun positions and stopped in front of the command building.

The guard immediately stepped forward and saluted Wang Zhong, “Please show your identification!”

Wang Zhong replied while taking out his identification, “It was checked when I entered, why is it being checked again here?”

The guard responded emotionlessly, “It’s the request of Major General Chekhov, the station commander.”

Wang Zhong didn’t say much; in times like these with mixed crowds, one couldn’t be sure if there were saboteurs or spies, it was no big mistake to be cautious.

After showing his identification, Wang Zhong got out of the car and walked towards the headquarters, finding a huge blackboard in the lobby of the first floor with the main functions of each floor listed.

Wang Zhong looked but didn’t find Major General Chekhov’s office, so he asked the guard who had checked the ID, “Where is Major General Chekhov?”

“The Major General is usually in the allocation department. His office and the accounting staff are located together.”

Wang Zhong looked at the blackboard for the allocation department’s location, and strode towards the staircase.

The allocation department was reached quickly. Wang Zhong knocked on the door and soon a man with glasses and a clerical shoulder strap opened it, “General, whom are you looking for?”

Wang Zhong, “I am looking for Major General Chekhov. The guard told me his office was together with the allocation department.”

Before the clerk could answer, a shout came from inside the room, “Send him down to the first floor to get a form! After it’s filled out and stamped, submit it at the application desk on the first floor. Really, each of them keeps running to my office, I’ve moved out of it and yet they keep coming!”

Wang Zhong, “Will there be a problem if I use the personal seal of the Crown Prince for the application form and stamp?”

The voice inside came to an abrupt halt.

Five seconds later, a tall man with a stern face pushed aside the clerk, opened the door wide, “The banquet supplies are not applied for here, go to the granary!”

Looking at the ranks, this was Major General Chekhov.

Wang Zhong, “I need weapons and ammunition, and uniforms. I just received a few thousand new soldiers today, all without weapons or military clothes! Do you want the new recruits to fight in their own clothes?”

Major General Chekhov looked incredulous, “The Crown Prince is going to fight personally? What unit are you? Royal Guards? I haven’t heard of you taking any losses?”

Wang Zhong, “I am Major General Aleksei Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, commander of the 151st Temporary Infantry Division. My Guards 31st Regiment and the Fifth Byeshensky Regiment have suffered heavy losses, and we’ve just received several thousand reinforcements. Do I make myself clear?”

Major General Chekhov frowned, reassessing Wang Zhong, “You’re that reformed Rokossovsky? Hmm, you do look battle-worn, not a fake. But you still need to fill out the application form, how else would we know what you need? Ivan! Bring the application forms! Form number 34!”

Wang Zhong, “Can’t we make an exception for special circumstances? I do have the stamp of the Crown Prince.”

Chekhov, “This is already an exception. Once you’ve filled out the form, the allocation staff here will check where the supplies are and then issue release and transport orders. Normally, you should get your supplies the day after tomorrow.

“That is, if we have them here.”

Wang Zhong, “Not until the day after tomorrow?”

“What, are you heading out to face the enemy tomorrow?” Major General Chekhov retorted.

Wang Zhong, “Ah no, I was just lamenting the slow process. Is there no clerk available to help me write this out?”

“Look around, see any clerks free?”

Wang Zhong looked into the room and saw the entire space filled with a pre-update night of a mobile game company’s buzz of activity.

Ludmila said, “Let me write, you can just dictate.”

At this moment, the clerk who had opened the door came over with a stack of application forms.

Chekhov cursed, “And the inventory ledger! Do you expect the major general to pull a list out of thin air?”

Two minutes later, a thick stack of forms was in Ludmila’s hands, and Wang Zhong was given an inventory summary as thick as an encyclopedia.

Luckily, there were a bunch of tags next to the inventory, allowing them to quickly flip to the corresponding pages according to the initials of the needed materials.

Chekhov pointed to the desk next to his own, “That desk is for ‘special handling tasks’; you fill it out!”

Good lord, it seems there are no small number of people handling special tasks every day!

Ludmila immediately pulled out the chair in front of the desk, tested the pen on a notepad beside her, and then looked toward Wang Zhong with a look that indicated she was ready.

Wang Zhong, on the other hand, flipped to the anti-tank gun page and read, “ZIS-3 anti-tank gun…”

Chekhov, “Hold on, does your division have an anti-tank battalion?”

Wang Zhong, “No, but this is not…”

“Then you should go to the Front Army headquarters and request a battalion. It’s much simpler than requesting guns from me to form a battalion. Do you know how many tanks, ammunition carriers, and mules and horses a 2000-person battalion requires? If you apply for everything from me, you’ll probably fill up half of that stack of forms you’re holding.”

Wang Zhong thought about it, and it seemed to make sense.

Major General Chekhov, “My suggestion is that you first apply for weapons, machine guns, mortars, military clothing, military boots, and other miscellaneous items to arm the two infantry regiments.

“Then go to the command to request guns, anti-tank artillery battalions or regiments, and howitzer regiments. If you get those, they’ll come fully equipped and manned.”

Wang Zhong with his chin propped up, “So we shouldn’t just grab the equipment, but also snatch the troops. Is that what you mean?”

Major General Chekhov, “Pretty much. Actually, that’s the optimal solution. You already have the Crown Prince’s seal. As long as you don’t snatch troops under another division’s command and keep an eye on those unaffiliated units, you should be fine!

“A lot of these unaffiliated technical weapon units under Argesukov’s command are waiting to be incorporated into some newly formed division.”

Wang Zhong, “You mean, I’ve come to the wrong place?”

“We still need uniforms and rifles.” Ludmila interjected, “Okay, I have filled out the rifle form. Do I just give it to the clerk over there?”

The clerk, “Fill out another form for ammunition. Rifles alone won’t cut it. Additionally, I suggest filling out a form for gun cleaning kits as well.”

Wang Zhong, “Right, fill out the form for the trucks too…”

Major General Chekhov, “You should go to the command and request an unassigned motor battalion. A battalion’s worth of trucks could supply a division. I mean, if they’re running non-stop!”

Ludmila, “I’ve filled out the bullets, is this number enough?”

Major General Chekhov glanced at it and said, “Double it, trust me, double it and you’ll have the bare minimum.”

Ludmila quickly corrected it, handed it to the clerk, and started filling in the uniform details.

At this point, the clerk brought the first form back to Wang Zhong, “We’ve stamped it on our part, it needs the Crown Prince’s seal; the ink is right here.”

Wang Zhong took out the ring, pressed the face of the ring into the ink, even shuffled it back and forth, and then pressed it firmly onto the form.

Major General Chekhov looked at the military clothing form Ludmila was filling out and said, “Later, fill out a form for cloth bags as well. The soldiers need cloth bags for their personal belongings, which they can place at their rest area before advancing to the front line.”

Wang Zhong, “You… you’re quite experienced.”

Major General Chekhov, “I’ve been in charge of logistics since the civil war; I’m clear on all this. I’m not one of those generals who just boast without being responsible for specific military affairs.”

Wang Zhong nodded and handed over the thick inventory ledger directly to Major General Chekhov, “Then please, an experienced major general, tell us what we need to claim.”

The major general looked at Wang Zhong with a “does your old man at home know how shameless you are?” expression, but still took the ledger and began going through the materials based on his experience.

Wang Zhong stood there holding the Crown Prince’s ring, waiting to stamp the seal.

——

When the clock on the wall struck 12 noon, Chekhov closed the ledger, “That should be it. We’ll arrange transportation to your station after all these items are out of storage. They should arrive in the next day or two.”

Wang Zhong, “Alright, we’re off to the Front Army headquarters to request troops!”

Major General Chekhov hesitated for a moment and said, “Did you talk back to Major General Skorobo last night?”

Wang Zhong, “Yes… but, it was the Grand Patriarch who asked me to explain the situation and give my opinion.”

“Then it’s best if you avoid Major General Skorobo at the Front Army headquarters and go directly to the Front Army Chief of Staff. He’s more approachable, and if he really has the troops you need, he’ll give them to you.”

Wang Zhong, “Understood, thank you.”

With that, Wang Zhong saluted Chekhov.

Chekhov returned the salute, “Just one more thing, don’t reveal at the Front Army headquarters that I did this special favor for you! Major General Skorobo is rather petty.”

Wang Zhong, “Aren’t you afraid of him finding out by saying that about him? There are so many people here.”

Major General Chekhov laughed, “I’ve never gotten along with him. We enlisted the same year, and now I’m just a logistics commander while he’s a Front Army major general. I heard that before the war His Majesty the Tsar had considered promoting him to Marshal.”

Wang Zhong thought there might not be a chance for that now.

Since the minor conflict down south, the entire southwestern Front Army had relied on hope.

Major General Chekhov escorted Wang Zhong and Ludmila to the door, repeating his advice, “Go find the Chief of Staff, don’t let Major General Skorobo see you!”

“Thank you, we will.” Wang Zhong waved his hand.

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