Arc of Fire

For nearly a month, Wang Zhong crisscrossed the Federation.

Initially, he was a bit worried that his berating of Chairman Douglas during the consultation meeting would ruin his popularity in the Federation, but it turned out to be a complete over-concern.

Because the Federation has a two-party system, and the chairman is from the Squirrel Party, Wang Zhong’s outburst made him a natural ally of the opposing Deer Party, who followed the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Now, the War-time President, from the Deer Party, had an uncle who was a former President of the Federation and was assassinated by a gunman from the Squirrel Party during his tenure.

Furthermore, this President was once Mr. Zhang’s personal lawyer.

Suddenly, Wang Zhong became an old friend of the Deer Party.

Moreover, in many Deer Party strongholds, the local customs are robust; boys learn traditional Federation martial arts from a young age. Wang Zhong’s use of a pistol to kill two traitorous generals was seen as something straight out of a martial arts novel -- thrilling and captivating to them.

Especially since Wang Zhong had also survived an assassination attempt from an extraordinary distance. A photo of him raising his fist under the Ante Army Flag and shouting became popular again, even turning into postcards and various souvenirs that sold hugely in the Iron Deer states (referring to the Deer Party’s solid support bases).

It is said that the Federation’s largest gambling city has opened a betting pool on whether Wang Zhong could assassinate the Plathen Emperor using the same gun.

Even among the voters of the Squirrel Party in the south, many were also dissatisfied with Chairman Douglas and wanted to replace him. Some representatives went so far as to stand up and criticize the chairman for still seeking to benefit his party’s big bosses even in such times.

This month’s shift in public sentiment made Wang Zhong grateful for his knowledge of the Federation brought from another timeline.

A month quickly passed, and the Ante War Heroes group, led by Wang Zhong, sold an amount of War Bonds equivalent to what the Federation had sold in eight months of participation in the war, directly doubling the fundraising amounts.

Of course, there were objective reasons for this too.

Experience tales with

There were many Prosens within the Federation who were not, unlike those of Fusang descent, rounded up after the war began -- since Prosen had not directly harmed Federation citizens enough to stir widespread public outrage.

These Prosens descendants were always boasting about the strength of the Empire of Prosen and suggested that the Federation should share the world with the Empire of Prosen, blah, blah, blah.

And until now, the Federation had not achieved a decisive victory against Prosen; moreover, starting in June of 915, Prosens’s attacks had been successful, turning a vast swath of the map into the color of Prosen.

Actually, most of the areas now colored belonged to scarcely inhabited steppes, but the public didn’t care about that.

Thus, a portion of the Federation’s populace believed that the Empire of Fusang, having been beaten at Midway Island, was just a matter of time; War Bonds were no longer necessary, and fighting the Empire of Prosen would be too costly, with the fear that the Bonds might not even be redeemable after such a conflict.

Wang Zhong’s soaring popularity changed all that; for a month, the delegation he led did one thing: tell the people of the Federation that Prosen could be defeated.

While Wang Zhong made public appearances everywhere, professional diplomatic delegations continued to engage with the Federation, gradually finalizing the details of assistance for the following year.

Wang Zhong achieved most of his goals—except for the B29, which indeed was a vital asset in the Federation and not something they would easily give away.

For technology transfers, besides the engines Wang Zhong wanted, companies such as the General Technologies Corporation of the Federation also transferred a large batch of machine tools that Ante could not yet produce—in the form of gifts.

In exchange, Wang Zhong became their spokesperson for free, recording a lot of advertisements—since television was not yet widespread, these were primarily for radio broadcasts.

Wang Zhong spent an entire day at the radio station recording lots of advertisement lines like "General Motors looks good to me" and "I’m Commander Rocossov, and I only use Shell oil."

Due to Wang Zhong’s immense popularity, the Federation even considered extending his visit.

But on October 11, at noon, the Ante Ambassador to the Federation entered Wang Zhong’s hotel in Consweissen State with a serious expression.

Wang Zhong was surprised: "Mr. Ambassador, shouldn’t you be busy finalizing the supplemental agreement back in the Capital?"

The supplemental agreement referred to a secret agreement on what actions the Allied Nations had pledged to take next year. Ante hoped the Allied Forces would open a second front in Europa to ease the direct pressure, while the Federation and the United Kingdom hoped Ante would launch large-scale attacks to tie down more Prosen troops.

Wang Zhong: "Is it because the Allied Forces are too demanding, setting a target for the number of Prosen troops we must annihilate?"

Although Wang Zhong, with knowledge from another timeline, knew that Ante would soon launch a vigorous counteroffensive, demolishing an enemy often required the cooperation of the adversary.

If the opponent ran fast, even an army as strong as one with a mobile suit wouldn’t be able to catch up.

Therefore, Wang Zhong wasn’t too keen on boasting about the number of enemies he would annihilate; fighting as aggressively as possible and letting the final casualty count determine success was the best approach.

The Ambassador looked at Wang Zhong and shook his head gently: "It’s not because of that. Actually, the negotiation for the supplemental agreement is going quite smoothly. The main point of contention is whether it is necessary to open a second front next year. They don’t have any additional demands for us. I guess it’s because those generals don’t believe we can make significant progress next year.

"In the minds of many high-ranking officers of the Allied Forces, you can achieve a series of tactical victories, but strategically, we Ante can only hold Prosen at bay. They believe defeating Prosen is a role only the Allied Forces can play as the main characters."

Wang Zhong: "Hmph, they will eventually realize how ridiculously wrong they are. So, what brings you here then?"

Mr. Ambassador produced a telegram: "This encrypted message must be delivered to you personally, and burned after reading."

Wang Zhong’s expression turned grave.

Since arriving in the Federation, he had been unable to obtain first-hand war reports because the High Command had forcefully suppressed any negative news to ensure the smooth progress of the negotiations here.

Wang Zhong could only rely on personal contacts to obtain intelligence from the Allied Forces, and the intelligence from the Allied Forces was second-hand, stolen by their intelligence officers in Yeburg. It was not necessarily accurate, and it certainly contained deliberately released false information.

Therefore, Wang Zhong was not quite clear about the actual situation on the front lines.

But since things had become so urgent that a coded telegram had to be sent to him, then probably—

Wang Zhong picked up the telegram and opened it to read.

"Admiral Rokossovsky, the front is critical; enemy forces nearing Abawahan, return immediately."

He read the string of words softly, pursed his lips, and took out the lighter given to him by Admiral Hawthorn, lighting a corner of the telegram and watching it burn slowly.

The Ambassador did not speak, just watching Wang Zhong.

Abawahan, a port city by the Inland Sea, the endpoint of the Allied Forces’ supply line stretching north from Balas.

What happened to the promised Steelgrad? What about stopping the Prosen Army at the big turn of the Valdai Hills River?

How did the battle suddenly reach Abawahan?

Wang Zhong remembered the days he spent in Abawahan before the Expeditionary Force set out to land in Balas.

The good news was that Pavlov had led the Expeditionary Army Headquarters and all forces not stationed in Balas back to Abawahan—Wang Zhong would immediately assume his appointed position, with a batch of familiar troops ready to use.

Pavlov should also have a grasp of all the surroundings of the city.

The bad news was that if the enemy had reached this far, it was likely that the oil from Kuba was not getting out, and many places would have a difficult winter this year.

Wang Zhong weighed his options, and then the fire burned to his fingertips.

He quickly tossed the telegram into the ashtray and put his scalded, reddening fingertips in his mouth.

Finally, the Ambassador couldn’t help but ask, "What are your thoughts?"

Wang Zhong asked, "Has Prosen used any new weapons of astonishing power?"

History had changed so drastically, Wang Zhong could only suspect that Prosen had dropped the bomb.

The Ambassador shook his head, "No."

Wang Zhong asked, "Has the Western Front Army launched an offensive?"

On Earth, it was the Western Front Army that launched the Zhelefov offensive, grinding meat in Zhelefov and attracting a large number of Sturmtiger elites there, which was why the push in the south couldn’t gain traction.

Wang Zhong was using the process of elimination, to sift through all the possible causes of this situation.

The Ambassador replied, "Not to my knowledge, no. That is, there hasn’t been a large-scale offensive."

Wang Zhong understood that he had communicated to General Gorky that it was too costly in casualties to forcefully push against Prosen forces at this stage and that it was better to wait for the troops to slowly accumulate training and combat experience.

Wang Zhong had eliminated what should have been a meat-grinder battle on the central front. Left unchecked, a large contingent of Prosen forces had been directed into the Southern Front offensive.

And since Prosen was stronger than Earth’s Sturmtigers, this was the result!

This time, the butterfly had truly stirred up a hurricane. I, Wang Zhong, am that cursed butterfly.

Now, I must return to my second homeland, my current homeland, to extinguish the storm I have sparked.

Wang Zhong took a deep breath when Admiral Hawthorn entered without knocking—ever since Wang Zhong had shot to fame, this media-savvy admiral had been staying close by.

"Rok!" Admiral Hawthorn called out joyfully, always condensing Wang Zhong’s surname to "Rok," "Good news, Operation Torch’s first phase was a success, we’ve landed on the North African territory of Vesigarolin, our troops are mopping up! The days of the Desert Fox are numbered!"

At that moment, Admiral Hawthorn noticed the ash in the ashtray, "This... is it a bad time?"

Wang Zhong replied, "No, you’ve arrived just at the right time. I need you to inform the President of the Federation and those who are waiting for me to speak, I have urgent official duties, and I must return immediately to my homeland."

At that point, Yakov came in, "General! Just received a domestic telegram, you have been appointed as the Commander of the Abawahan Front Army, please return home immediately!"

Wang Zhong’s eyebrows tightened. The appointment had been sent through without using a more secure radio. This meant the High Command could no longer keep things under wraps, and soon the Allied liaison officers in Yeburg would be aware of the crisis in Abawahan.

Admiral Hawthorn had an expression of sudden realization: "The Prosens, they’re about to succeed, right?"

Wang Zhong replied, "No, they won’t succeed. I will turn the tide just as I did last year. I surely will."

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