artillery arc

Chapter 228 Lieutenant General, I’m so cold
On October 10, the east bank of Shostka was controlled by the Plosen Army.

Giles walked off the pontoon and looked at the corpses piled on the beach.

Adjutant Feliz frowned: "I will supervise the logistics staff to clean up the corpses as soon as possible to avoid the plague."

Giles nodded.

At this time, the terrible stench had caused many staff officers to cover their noses, but Giles was unmoved.

He walked onto the Riverside Avenue with a serious expression and looked at the windows and walls that had been blown open by explosives, leaving only the bodies of Prosen soldiers inside.

Gil-Ace: "Aren't there any corpses of the Ant Army?"

The chief of staff immediately replied: "Report, we believe that the corpses of Ant Army have been buried by them in the cemetery on the outskirts of the city."

Giles: "The fact that the enemy still had time to do this kind of thing shows that we didn't put much pressure on them at all. They could have continued to defend here, but they retreated."

Giles paused and added: "He continues to defend here. We had hoped to crush his defense."

"His fuel delivery unit cannot keep up with the tank unit, and now it has to stop because the fuel stock is lower than the warning level." Feliz smiled bitterly, "And in this crazy weather, the failure rate of tanks has soared, and the maintenance unit has It’s still stuck in the mud and can’t get up, so it’s probably impossible to pursue the enemy.”

Giles was silent for a while and then said: "Just in case. Look at the Ant army. Their doctrine is to focus on offense and light on defense. You have also seen the result. We cannot have such shortcomings."

"That's the furthest we hit," Feliz said.

Feliz: "Is this necessary? The imperial army has been constantly attacking and winning one victory after another."

The street between the first and second rows of buildings was still filled with the corpses of Prosen soldiers.

Giles asked again: "Do you know where Rokossov's troops retreated?"

At this time, the chief of staff of the army said: "This is an urn city. After the enemy breaks through the city gate, they will be killed by the archers on the urn city."

At this time, the chief of staff of the army said: "The reason why they seized this opportunity to retreat is because they knew they could not stop us. The empire will win."

"The captain who attacked here the day before yesterday and escaped back reported that the enemy had demolished all the stairs leading to the second floor. We couldn't find the way up to the second floor, so we had to try to rush across the road under the cover of smoke and enter the building behind. , and ended up being killed in large numbers on the streets.”

As he spoke, he took a step forward and looked around in a circle.

Giles: "We need weapons with thicker frontal armor and the ability to completely destroy such strong buildings. The current 75mm short-barreled howitzer of the infantry unit's Type III assault gun and the short-barreled howitzer of the Panzer IV tank cannot do this. to this point.”

Giles: "The enemy knew this and knew that they could run faster than us in the mud, so they took the opportunity to retreat after the rain."

After saying that, he continued to move forward, following the path opened by the troops who landed earlier, all the way through the first row of buildings along the Shostka river.

Giles finally stopped and looked at the row of buildings along the river: "To deal with this kind of fortification, the only way is to blow up the entire first row of buildings. We should use the Buffalo Heavy Infantry Cannon to get close and shoot."

Giles looked around again, and then ordered: "Protect all these buildings and carefully measure all fortifications. This should become the standard for our army's future urban fortification and be written into the textbooks."

Feliz: "But the bison will be immediately counterattacked by enemy artillery, and also afraid of enemy anti-tank guns."

Feliz: "He walked along the railway. We advanced about 20 kilometers before we encountered the enemy's blocking force. They didn't raise a red flag, so it couldn't be them. It is said that General Moltke's troops downstream have broken through the enemy's blocking force in front of them. but……"

"Yes." Feliz nodded with a solemn expression.

If Wang Zhong knew about his masterpiece, it might cause the No. 4 Grizzly Assault Cannon and Assault Tiger to appear in advance. I don't know how he would feel.

Giles: "But?"

Giles observed the buildings on both sides and sighed: "This is a trap set here to massacre us. Look at the shooting holes on the second floor. They are specially built to kill our troops from behind."

But his tone was no longer as optimistic and confident as before.

Giles whispered: "I always feel that the reason for retreat is not that simple... The only reason I can think of is to lengthen our supply line. Kutuzov also used the same strategy against the conqueror back then. .

"I have a bad feeling. Feliz, how many winter coats do we have now?"

Feliz: "At present, the troops have only replenished clothing that can withstand the autumn temperature, and there are basically no winter clothes. But don't worry, the Typhoon Campaign Plan originally included winter operations, so the logistics department has been raising winter clothes as early as September. It should be soon Will be delivered.”

Giles suddenly felt numbness on the back of his head: "No, Feliz, no, the winter clothes can't be delivered. Because all the mule and horse transportation is concentrated on transporting ammunition, oil and tank spare parts."

Feliz also looked ashen: "This...that should make the logistics department pay attention to winter clothing!"

Giles: "No, Feliz, you also saw the result of their adjustment of transportation capacity allocation yesterday. The fuel and ammunition we received were only 70% of what they were before when the supply was normal. As we move forward, this The quantity will definitely decrease, but the enemy is getting closer and closer to the supply center..."

Giles held his chin, lost in thought, his face was ashen.

Finally, he said: "I saw the great defeat that awaited the Empire in the future. The only way to deal with this defeat was to stop the advance and defend where we were. The enemy was unable to attack, so we could divert our capacity to transport winter clothing.

"But stopping the advance means that the attempt to win a quick victory has failed. The war will become a protracted war, and we will not be able to get the fuel and raw materials we urgently need."

Giles raised his head and looked at the sky where drizzle continued to fall.

"Remember the clear telegram that Rokossov sent us at the beginning? He even warned us!"

Feliz: "That's just his psychological warfare. He wants his artillery fire to kill us as much as possible."

Giles didn't answer. At this time, a messenger ran over and saluted: "Report, we discovered the way to enter Rokosov Division Headquarters."

Giles: "Let's go and take a look."

----

A moment later, Giles walked into the headquarters of the white-horse general.

Of course, the maps and documents had been burned long ago, and all the equipment had naturally been taken away. Only tables and chairs remained in the empty bunker.

And a charcoal stove with a teapot sitting on it.

Giles walked towards the charcoal stove, but suddenly he felt something he saw out of the corner of his eye, so he turned to look at the wall.

Then he saw the writing on the wall: "Dear Commander Prossen, you have fully demonstrated the art of war to us, so we sincerely congratulate you on your victory!"

It was signed "Your friend Alexei Konstantinovich Rokosov".

Feliz became furious when he saw this line of writing: "Come here! Get rid of this line of writing!"

But the chief of staff said: "No! We all know that this line is satirizing us, but others don't know! We should ask the Propaganda Department to send someone to take a photo of this line and publish it on the front page!"

Feliz was overjoyed when he heard this: "Yes, let's spread the word that General White Horse has surrendered to us!"

At this time, the communications staff entered the bunker: "Report! His Majesty the Emperor personally called!"

Giles: "Read."

Communications Staff Officer: "'Congratulations, my dear Siegfried, you captured Shostka within the time you promised. The Empire will remember your achievements.'"

Giles pursed his lips and looked at the writing on the wall again.

"Get rid of him," he said. "No one can claim to have seen this line."

Feliz: "Why? Doesn't this just echo His Majesty's praise?"

Giles: "Because I'm a soldier. I'm not that thick-skinned! Wipe it all off! Don't let those bastards in the Propaganda Department know about this! Don't let them take photos!"

After that, he kicked over the charcoal stove in the room.

Then something smoked on the ground.

Feliz yelled "Be careful", pushed Giles away, and threw himself on the thing.

Giles fell to the ground, his head hit the corner of the table as he fell, and a huge lump immediately bulged out.

At the same time, the booby trap exploded, lifting Feliz up a little bit as he lay on it.

The other staff officers fell to the ground in a panic.

When the explosion was over, Giles climbed up with difficulty, ran to Feliz, and turned the adjutant over.

Feliz's clothes were already red, but he was still breathing. He looked at Giles and said, "Lieutenant General... I... am so cold."

Then his face twisted.

Giles checked his pulse, and then gently closed his eyes with his hands.

The chief of staff got up: "We should publicize this together and make General White Horse a despicable villain! This way..."

Giles: "Erase the text! Don't you think we are embarrassed enough? I just killed my adjutant! Do you understand?"

The chief of staff kept his mouth shut while other staff officers called for soldiers and began wiping the charcoal off the walls.

Giles stood up and watched as the soldiers erased all the words written in charcoal.

Then he too fell forward.

The chief of staff was shocked. He caught the lieutenant general who was about to fall and shouted: "Medical! Medical, come quickly!"

Later, Giles was diagnosed with mild intracranial hemorrhage and had to temporarily leave his command post.

----

On October 10, Suhayaveli was controlled by Ant Army.

As soon as Wang Zhong got off the train, he sneezed several times in succession.

Lyudmila hurried up and asked with concern: "You have a cold? Let the doctor take a look!"

Wang Zhong waved his hand: "Don't make a fuss, maybe it's the Prosen people who are scolding me."

Neli opened the umbrella and handed it to Lyudmila.

(End of this chapter)