Chapter 9: To the Left or to the Right

"Based on current observations, it appears the Soviet army is attacking the German army, and I see a significant number of T-34 tanks. Can we conclude that the Battle of Stalingrad has entered the counter-offensive stage?"

"The probability is over 80%. Wait a moment... scanning the planar space map... inside a military shelter 42 kilometers away from us, an officer is signing an order. We're in luck; he signed the date. November 19th! The current time in this plane is November 19th!"

"Good luck! The time is confirmed. The Soviets have just begun their counter-offensive. The question now is, do we intervene in this battle? This is a massive confrontation between the Soviets and Germans involving over a million, nearly 1.5 million people. What role can we play? And if we intervene, which side do we help?"

"Wang Fan, aren't the values of your Yanhuang Republic more aligned with the Soviet side?"

"I hate the Muscovites. Let's just call them 'Old Muscovites' from now on. Historically, they snatched over 1.5 million square kilometers of land from the Yanhuang Republic, and they even orchestrated and supported the independence of Outer Mongolia!"

"Then do you like Germany? Since we entered this world, we have arrived here as people who shouldn't exist, which has already caused history to change—it's just a matter of the scale of that change. If we participate in this war, we will either help the Soviets achieve an early victory or help Germany prolong the conflict or successfully break through. Considering the efficiency of obtaining planar repulsion energy, I am inclined to help Germany!"

"To be honest, I don't like the Nazi leadership either, especially that madman who shouted about being an enemy to the whole world; his performance in the late stages of WWII was like an idiot! But paradoxically, I greatly admire the German army's rigor, discipline, and loyalty. It's a contradiction, of course, and that's largely because their weapons are high quality—it's a form of 'loving the house because of the eaves'!"

"However, I must remind you, even if we make a choice to support the Germans, there is still a problem facing us: we have no weapons. The supplies we prepared are more suitable for peaceful years without war, especially during the Qing or Ming dynasties. But this is the Soviet-German battlefield of World War II. What drives a war is the army, but even more so, it is munitions! We can't exactly go hacking at the enemy with broadswords, even if they are sharpened," Yadi Azure reminded him.

"Understood. How far is Stalingrad from us actually?"

"It is 52 kilometers to our southeast."

"Yadi, record the space-time coordinates of Stalingrad. At the same time, set up several more points within the city. Refer to the book *The Battle of Stalingrad* and scan and record the space-time coordinates of the recorded battle locations. Next time we come here, we will travel directly to those spots. Make sure to set the travel points in somewhat remote locations; I don't want to step out only to have someone pointing a gun at me."

"Understood, completing it immediately!"

"What time is it? How long has it been since we traveled through?" Wang Fan said, glancing at his watch. "About 59 minutes. Let's call it an hour. Yadi, let's return to the main plane. We need to go back and plan properly, and also check the time dilation ratio between the two sides."

"Understood. Beginning connection to the main plane. Connection successful. Initiating travel. Beginning binding. Constructing planar channel. Beginning teleportation..."

Silently, the stowaways of this world vanished from beneath the very noses of the Soviet and German armies.

In the basement of a villa in Xingshang Diamond Mountain, Wang Fan's figure reappeared. His first action upon returning was to grab a timer next to the basement; the time displayed was 7:30 AM.

"The feeling over there is also like early morning. When I left, the time here was exactly 7:00. The timer shows only half an hour has passed, which corresponds to about 59 minutes over there. This means the time flow ratio between the two sides is basically 1 to 2. In other words, 1 hour here is 2 hours there."

"That makes our time even more critical!"

"What do you mean, Butler?" As soon as he left the tense environment, Wang Fan's silly behavior began to resurface.

"Because according to the records in *The Battle of Stalingrad*, by mid-December, the Sixth Army would have started slaughtering their warhorses for food. By that stage, due to insufficient supplies and the freezing cold, the Sixth Army would suffer heavy non-combat casualties and a massive drop in morale. With reinforcements over 100 kilometers away, a successful breakout would be practically impossible!"

"We just went to October 19th. That means from October 19th to December 10th, there are less than 50 days over there. Translated to here, we only have 25 days!" Wang Fan said with a frown.

"In 25 days, we need to solve the issue of munitions and supplies. And it must be enough to support 330,000 men in a breakout or a defensive stand. If we choose to hold our ground, we will need long-term supply replenishment."

"How much money is left in our bank account?" As Wang Fan spoke, he returned to the bedroom, opened his computer, and entered the software compiled by Yadi Azure. "Only 2.5 billion RMB? That little? Butler, didn't you say there's at least 10 billion USD a year?"

"The funds are mainly generated in foreign accounts. The Yanhuang Republic has a short financial history and doesn't have as many accumulated black-money accounts. Furthermore, the total number of financial institutions in the Yanhuang Republic is too small; even a slightly large movement of funds could be discovered by those with ulterior motives."

"In other words, we have to go abroad to procure supplies. But those places are even more unfamiliar. Apply for passports, go abroad, arrive at a strange location, find arms channels... 25 days to procure munitions for 330,000 men. What a headache~~"

"Actually, it's not impossible. I do have an idea..."

Middle East, UAE, Abu Dhabi Defense Exhibition—one of the most famous defense exhibitions in the world. The first Abu Dhabi International Defence Exhibition was held in 1993, and it has been held every two years since, serving as the largest military equipment exhibition in the Middle East. Most of the world's cutting-edge defense technology makes its debut at the Abu Dhabi Defense Exhibition. Combined with defense seminars that gather the world's top defense groups and experts, the Abu Dhabi Defense Exhibition is hailed as the most important event in the global military-industrial manufacturing industry.

From March 17 to 21, 2013 (because February is generally the Yanhuang Republic's Spring Festival, the Abu Dhabi Defense Exhibition was postponed by one month for the sake of the plot), the 11th Abu Dhabi International Defence Exhibition and Conference and the 2nd Naval Defence Exhibition opened at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre in the UAE capital. The exhibition attracted 1,112 companies from 59 countries and regions, with a total of 38 national pavilions or booths, covering an area of over 133,000 square meters.

Companies such as Yanhuang Republic's Norinco, New Poly Technology Co., Ltd., and Yanhuang Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation participated in the exhibition. At this session, Norinco expanded its booth area to 400 square meters for the first time, becoming one of the largest exhibitors at the show. Their key exhibits, the SR5 and AR3 multiple rocket launchers, represented the current international leading level in the field. The design of the SR5 and AR3 multiple rocket launchers fully embodied the concepts of integration, modularity, automation, informatization, and intelligence, demonstrating characteristics such as high mobility, long range, heavy firepower, high precision, great power, and wide operational scope, possessing extremely high tactical and operational value.

As a large enterprise specializing in the import and export trade of defense systems, products, and services for the land, sea, and air forces, the New Poly Group introduced several pieces of equipment representing international advanced levels. The most eye-catching among them was the CS/VP3 mine-protected anti-ambush vehicle, which possessed world-class mine protection capabilities, capable of resisting an 8kg anti-tank mine at the bottom and a 16kg anti-tank mine at the wheels.

The Yanhuang Republic's Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation, whose three main businesses are aerospace defense, information technology, and equipment manufacturing, showcased five major systems: integrated air defense, ground strike, maritime defense, unmanned combat, and security defense.

On March 19, an African man wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and red tie approached the Norinco booth. He watched the introductions for the SR5 and AR3 multiple rocket launchers with great interest and lingered at the physical models for a considerable amount of time. Since Africa is a major purchaser of weapons from the Yanhuang Republic and one of its most important oil energy providers, it has always received high attention from the Yanhuang military. Seeing his intense interest, a young second lieutenant in military uniform quickly stepped forward from the booth and said, "Is it for you?"

"Oh, I have some business. I think you will be interested!"

To everyone's surprise, this African man's Yanhuang language was very fluent. Although his pronunciation was somewhat strange, it was indeed very clear.

So, who was he, and did he have any connection to Wang Fan?