Cannon Fire Arc

Chapter 910: Chapter 26: Becoming a Drop in the Tide of Freedom

After the tank crossed the bridge, Wang Zhong ordered: “Stop the vehicle.”

With a loud “duang,” the tank stopped on the road leading to the approach bridge.

Wang Zhong shouted to a Melania Guerrilla warrior passing by the tank: “How do we get to the radio station?”

The Melanian stopped and looked at Wang Zhong blankly.

Wang Zhong remembered, although Melanianese and Antenese are quite similar, not every Melanian can understand Antenese.

So he called out to a Melania People’s Army officer who was saluting him: “Do you understand Antenese?”

“I do, Marshal.”

Wang Zhong: “Then translate for me, tell him I’m asking how to get to the radio station.”

The officer engaged in a conversation with the guerrilla fighters, then told Wang Zhong: “He said just follow the road from the bridgehead straight ahead, it’s less than two kilometers.”

Wang Zhong: “Good, pursue the remaining enemy with courage, they are in total collapse now, don’t give them time to breathe. Relay orders to the whole army, continue advancing!”

Just then, a guerrilla fighter with two identification armbands ran over and spoke to Wang Zhong in Antenese: “I’ll be the guide and lead you to the radio station! The Prosens blew up the tunnel between us and the radio station, and the temporarily laid telephone line was somehow discovered too. We’re very concerned about the radio station’s condition.”

Wang Zhong patted the loudspeakers on both sides of the turret: “At least they are still broadcasting.”

“Yes,” the guerrilla fighter said, “we were using the radio to boost morale before, then the Prosens used artillery to destroy the house where the radio was located.”

Saying so, the guerrilla fighter pointed to the nearby ruins: “That house, the owner was killed in the blast, along with several guerrilla warriors.”

Wang Zhong glanced at the house and said to the guerrilla fighter with the two identification marks: “The enemy will pay with blood. Are you the Guerrilla Captain?”

“The captain sacrificed himself, now we tie an extra armband to whoever is willing to command among the survivors. Enemy snipers target those, so not many compete for it. Be careful, when daylight comes, enemy snipers might open fire.

Now they fear exposing their positions with gunfire, so they don’t dare to shoot.”

Wang Zhong: “Got it. Come on up, lead us to the radio station.”

The infantrymen on the back of the tank extended their hands and pulled the Melanian up onto the tank.

“Straight ahead!” he said.

Wang Zhong: “Straight ahead! Turn on the headlights, be careful not to get stuck in shell craters.”

The tank engine roared to life, and the steel beast slowly started moving.

By the tank’s headlights, Wang Zhong observed the surrounding ruins.

He saw a towering tree burning like a torch, illuminating the wreckage around it.

Melanians with bayonets walked by the tree continuously, not minding the falling sparks at all.

As the tank passed by the tree, Wang Zhong suddenly noticed, in the rubble beside the tree, under the charred beams, lay a toy pony.

Wang Zhong stared at the pony for several seconds, until he was blocked by the debris.

—— Was he still too late?

But the loudspeaker continued broadcasting Helman’s speech: “Continue to be the thorn in their throats, become a storm that never turns back, until the world knows we stand for justice.”

Wang Zhong still couldn’t fully understand what he was saying, but he could feel the conviction in his words.

This reminded him of a part he likes from Thomas Macaulay’s “Roman Narrative Poems,” which tells the story of Ancient Rome facing the invasion of Sextus, where the gatekeeper Heracles and two warriors blocked a thousand-man army.

This “Heracles on the Bridge” has been referenced in many works.

For instance, the film about Churchill’s “Darkest Hour,” and the final climax of Wang Zhong’s favorite comic “Gun Girl.”

“Gatekeeper Heracles said:

“Everything in the world will eventually die.

“To guard the tombs of our ancestors, to protect mothers nursing infants, to defend the pure maidens about to light the sacred fire, against the vile Sextus, how glorious it is to die.

“Consul, please order the bridge dismantled, let three men stand against a thousand on the bridge! Which warrior will guard the bridge with me?”

In Helman’s speech, Wang Zhong detected the same inner spirit.

Ironically, the rebels happened to have a bridge to guard as well.

Wang Zhong recalled the story from the Roman Narrative Poems, remembering that Heracles actually swam back to Rome after successfully destroying the bridge.

Who knows if this Melanian Heracles will have such luck.

————

Melania Occupying Forces Headquarters.

General Hawke: “I can’t retreat! I refuse!”

Chief of Staff: “But panic is spreading, and it will be impossible to prevent the troops’ collapse before dawn, just like we can’t stop an avalanche. Retreat now, regather the troops at dawn, and prepare for a counterattack, that’s the best response!”

General Hawke: “Weren’t these supposed to be elite troops? What’s causing the panic?”

“We don’t know, we’ve lost contact with most of the troops’ headquarters, the city is in chaos, we don’t even know how many Ante Army soldiers entered the city, or how many tanks they have!”

General Hawke: “You useless bastards! What about the troops across the river? Can’t they cut off the enemy’s supply line to the city?”

“They have already collapsed, rumors say fifty thousand Ante Troops have entered the city, all the troops are in retreat. According to our intel, many are throwing away their weapons and equipment and crossing the river at night, you can see a bunch of soaking wet soldiers with no weapons if you go to the riverbank now!”