Cannon Fire Arc-Chapter 949 - 7 "Undead Magic"_2

Chapter 949 -7 “Undead Magic”_2

“Who will put an end to this war?”

Wang Zhong stared at the young man’s face for a few seconds and said, “Alright, it’s my lack of awareness. I wish you—wish you to live until victory.”

The young man raised his chin and saluted Wang Zhong: “Thank you.”

Vasily: “Everyone’s itching to be the first to charge into Plowsonia, plant our flag on Prosen’s royal palace. Is it true the Plathen Emperor has stayed inside the royal palace all along?”

Wang Zhong: “That’s exactly what our intel says.”

Vasily: “Well, I bet there’ll be plenty vying to storm the royal palace.”

“Undoubtedly.”

Silence descended in the stables, Vasily hesitated for a moment, and finally asked, “Marshal Davarish, will you personally lead the charge again? Against Prosen’s royal palace?”

Wang Zhong: “If I take the lead again, Pavlov would definitely quit—he wouldn’t tolerate it. We can’t afford to lose such a capable Chief of Staff now.”

Vasily clicked his tongue: “What a pity. The staff education I received is barely sufficient to handle division-level work, otherwise, I’d step in.”

“Kid, make sure to go back to school for further studies after the war.”

“Absolutely. My military aptitude caps out at Colonel at best. If I want to become general-grade, I’ve got to return to school. There’s no way I can rely on laying mines or mucking out trenches to make General, right?”

Wang Zhong: “What’s this? Dreaming of becoming a general now?”

Vasily scratched his head: “Well, it beats going back to being a musician, right? Heck, even better than mucking trenches.”

Wang Zhong patted Vasily’s shoulder: “I support you. But first, focus on the task at hand—scare the Prosen devils witless!”

“Yes, sir!”

Vasily stood at attention and saluted.

————

As an exempted soldier, Andreas didn’t need to stand guard.

But he still volunteered for the first watch tonight—mainly because he didn’t trust the green recruits.

The Anteans favored night battles.

Although the Anteans were still dozens of kilometers away from Andreas’ position, unsettling news had been trickling in since last night—word was the Anteans had already crossed the Oder River.

Some even swore that the Oder River defensive line had collapsed, and Rocossov’s forces were flooding toward Plowsonia.

Andreas felt that leaving the sentry watch to green recruits would have him worrying sleepless all night.

He stayed at the post for a while when Kosolek came to join him. The two stood side by side amid the falling snow, rubbing their hands while gazing into the boundless night.

Suddenly, Andreas heard a sound, grabbed his rifle, and shouted: “Who’s there?”

“Don’t shoot!” The reply came in Prosenese.

Two armored soldiers covered in snow crawled out from the snowy ground, sliding into the trenches of the Asgard Knights.

Kosolek: “You’re deserters! We’re turning you over to the Constitutional Guards!”

The leader, a Sergeant, glanced at Kosolek’s chest adorned with his Wound Badge and participation medal, and said: “You’re a veteran like me; you know the Anteans have a weapon called the Divine Arrow, don’t you?”

Kosolek: “Yes.”

Sergeant: “I saw it with my own eyes! From the houses in Ante-occupied Luki Town, more than 20 Divine Arrows flew out! Instantly, a dozen tanks were gone!”

“The tank operator recruits don’t know how to deal with the Divine Arrows because they’ve never learned it! Normally, the Anteans should only use Divine Arrows for critical air defense!”

“But 20 Divine Arrows! Twenty arrows glowing with heaven’s light (actually, it’s just the missile’s rear intentionally brightened for easier visibility by operators), wiped out an entire armored platoon in a flash!”

Kosolek spat on the snow near the veteran’s boots: “Bullshit! How could there be so many Divine Arrows? We didn’t see such concentrated firepower during our initial attacks on the Anteans!”

Sergeant shouted: “It’s real! Everyone saw it! Sure, the tank operators were rookies, but plenty of armored grenadiers supporting them were veterans like me! We all saw it happen!”

“Bullshit!” Kosolek spat again. “You deserted and now you’re making excuses! Your unit is probably preparing tomorrow’s attack, yet you bailed!”

Sergeant: “The war is lost! I’m going home! Even if I can’t make it home, I refuse to be caught by the Anteans—I’ll surrender to the Allied Forces in the west!”

“The Anteans won’t leave survivors! They never do!”

With that, the Sergeant bolted out of the trench, heading west.

Andreas raised his rifle to shoot but was stopped by Kosolek: “No need. He’s bound to run into the Constitutional Guards. That idiot should’ve just stripped his uniform right there and pretended to be a civilian.”

“Uh…”

A timid voice followed, revealing another armored grenadier deserter—a Private Second Class. fгeewebnovёl.com

Andreas: “You saw the Divine Arrows fire as well?”

Private Second Class: “I don’t know what it was. All I saw were glowing dots flying out of the town, as if alive, hitting our tanks, and then the tanks stopped. Some caught fire, and panicked tank operators jumped out.”

Kosolek: “How far were you from the city?”

“I’m not sure. Far enough that the houses looked tiny, just specks, and the city’s bell tower was merely this tall!”

The Private gestured with his hands.

Andreas was about to speak when the distant sound of brief machine-gun fire rang out.

The fleeing Sergeant likely wouldn’t meet any Allied soldiers after all.

Kosolek: “Take off your uniform.”

“What?”

Kosolek: “Strip off the armored troops’ uniform. If the Constitutional Guards find us here, they’ll recognize you as a deserter. Switch to an infantry uniform. You can handle a rifle, right?”

The Private nodded.

Kosolek: “Alright, you’re now part of our platoon as my assistant gunner. Follow me, I’ll find you a new uniform.”

The Private stood dumbfounded until Kosolek began walking away. Only then did he scurry to catch up.

Andreas sighed, pulled out a cigarette, clamped it in his mouth, and struck a match.

The first match broke without lighting.

The second lit but was swiftly extinguished by the icy wind.

He went through multiple matches without success. Frustrated, he pinched the box flat, tossed it on the ground, and gazed into the distance, cigarette still dangling.

“Damn it, I can’t even compare to the little match girl. At least she saw roast goose, a cozy fireplace, and her grandmother when she lit her matches.”

He muttered softly to himself.

————

“Divine Arrows?” The Emperor’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Over 20 Divine Arrows fired in unison? How is that possible! Even at the start of our war with the Anteans, there wasn’t this level of density!”

“But reports from the two attacking armored brigades and the 503rd Heavy Anti-tank Battalion are corroborating each other; it doesn’t seem pre-arranged,” Celtic Marshal said.

Emperor: “Ante’s Prayer Hands were nearly exterminated by us—exterminated! Even Rocossov’s wife had to assume air-defense shift duty! Where did they conjure up so many Prayer Hands to guide the Divine Arrows?”

The generals exchanged uneasy glances.

Someone murmured: “Perhaps Rocossov manifested divinity?”

Emperor: “Is that scientific? No, I refuse to believe in such nonsense! They must’ve employed some kind of trick! I understand now—it must be missiles! Remote-controlled rockets!”

At that moment, the Imperial Propaganda Minister hesitated: “But our own remote-controlled rockets are far less efficient. If the Anteans are deploying such technology en masse, how could we convince people they’re an inferior race?”

The Emperor was stumped, speechless for a while.

He suddenly realized that if they admitted Rocossov manifested divinity and supplied new Prayer Hands, science would stand defeated by mysticism.

If they declared it was scientific, then Aryan racial superiority would no longer hold.

While the Emperor “stalled,” Celtic Marshal reminded him: “Armored troops are falling into panic, with numerous desertions. If no action is taken, the panic will worsen.”

“Many veterans are already saying Rocossov has granted his soldiers the light of heaven.”

Emperor: “Order the Constitutional Guards to arrest all who spread such treasonous rumors and execute them on the spot!”