Wang Zhong finished speaking, always feeling like there should've been a plane flying across the sky to set the mood, but there wasn't.
He jumped off the tank amidst the deafening "hurrah" shouts, then saw the photographer Kapa giving a thumbs-up.
Journalist Mike: "It's a pity, there's no Red Flag in the background, nor a plane passing overhead. The composition might not be perfect."
The photographer shook his head: "No, it's perfect. I used a building full of bullet holes as the background, it's more natural and more impactful."
Wang Zhong turned to look at the building.
At this ti, a few officers crossed through the crowd and ca before Wang Zhong. It was Filippov who was ant to greet Wang Zhong.
He saluted Wang Zhong while saying: "Marshal Davarish, I thought you were going to enter the city from the direction of the chemical plant."
Wang Zhong: "Enter through the place where we fiercely fought before? I did think about this, but... Look, we retreated from here back in the day, now we're coming in from this side. Took the chance to also check the second-generation tank No. 422 I commanded."
Wang Zhong looked towards the BT.
By this ti, the local bishop finally made his way through the crowd: "Comrade Marshal! We are still busy with handling traitors. Once we're done, we'll move this tank into the museum!"
Wang Zhong: "No need. Look, most of the houses around here are nearly destroyed. Just build a square here and put the tank on a pedestal."
The Bishop: "That works too, you have the final say."
Wang Zhong continued: "Most importantly, we need to plant beautiful flowers around the tank."
Vasily: "You also required this from Argesukov. Is there a special aning behind it?"
Wang Zhong: "If we don't plant flowers, people won't co here except on rembrance days. If there are flowers, whenever people pass by here, they'll exclaim 'what beautiful flowers'."
Filippov looked at Vasily and pulled sothing out of his pocket: "Vasily, I picked up a souvenir for you."
"What?" Vasily looked surprised at the object, "Is this... a pickle jar lid?"
"Yes, I took it out from the fake minefield you created. Keep it as a souvenir," Filippov said.
Vasily laughed, looking at the lid: "Sure, the fake mines we buried together back then, now we should even award it a military decoration."
Wang Zhong: "We can tell this story to the factory that produces pickle jars. Later on, I could even advertise for them, saying this is my favorite pickle brand, used back then to strike at the Prosens."
Everyone burst into laughter, and the surrounding locals were whispering: "What brand of pickles?"
"I didn't catch it clearly, let's ask later."
"Are you dumb? There should still be pickle jar lids in the ground, just pick one up."
Wang Zhong took the lid from Vasily's hands and raised it high: "It's 'Spree Forest' brand pickles! My favorite pickles! The quality of their lids is especially good; buried in the ground as fake mines, the Prosens couldn't detect them at all!"
And then the crowd too burst into hearty laughter; the air was filled with a jovial mood.
Vasily: "I can already foresee that the supply of pickles is going to run out; they might even fetch a high price on the black market in the future."
Wang Zhong: "I'll have a word with the logistics to ensure the supply of pickles in Loktov. Filippov, lead the way, let's visit the old battlegrounds."
"Alright, this way."
————
Upon seeing the factory buildings, Wang Zhong stood up in the Jeep.
The Jeep drove into the factory, stopping in front of the main building riddled with bullet holes.
Wang Zhong looked at the building and suddenly rembered his instructor's poem: "In the urgent fury中 of battle, bullet holes in the village wall."
The opening lines of the poem seed to be "Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, who dances with a colored ribbon in the sky", and so he looked up, only to find the autumn sky was clear and devoid of any rainbow.
Wang Zhong stepped down from the car as Filippov, in the second vehicle, promptly ca over.
He said with a smile: "Your reaction was exactly the sa as mine when I first saw the factory."
Wang Zhong: "Is that so. Speaking of which, it's sowhat disrespectful to those, who rest here, but actually, I don't have much of an impression of this factory. I often dream of the mont when the masses pull from under the tank, but here — perhaps because I was at the command post, not on the frontline."
Filippov: "When the enemy truly breached the factory area and comnced hand-to-hand combat with us, you had already gone to command the tanks."
Vasily suddenly mimicked Chief of Staff Pavlov's tone: "'All you know is to dash about in your little tank!'"
Filippov was a bit confused: "What?"
"Pavlov used to tease the Marshal like that."
Filippov: "I see."
After a brief silence, Filippov said: "Vasily, you need to live to see victory, and then co to visit our graves every year."
Vasily, who was initially laughing, suddenly lost his smile: "Don't talk like that! Although I'm safer at Headquarters—"
Wang Zhong interrupted Vasily: "Filippov, stop talking such unlucky things. The Prosens are nearly exhausted, the old soldiers can feel it, the combat effectiveness of the Prosens is falling, and new recruits are increasing.
"Accordingly, our casualty rate is also falling, so stay confident."
Vasily: "Besides, you're under the Marshal's command, and the Marshal's troops have always had a lower casualty rate than other units."
Filippov nodded: "I was just saying 'what if', you understand, Vasily, just 'what if'."
Vasily: "What if it's who sacrifices? The Marshal has already lost an adjutant. So don't talk like that, nor give any poetry collections or war diaries, I don't want them, you keep them."
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