artillery arc

Chapter 355: The Situation Before Suvorov's Action
On the Plossen side, the 10th Army Command of the Southern Army Group.

Army Group Commander General Bock now has a distinguished guest: General Wilhelm von Frederick, commander of the Sixth Army. He had just poured the General a glass of wine, but before he could raise his glass, the communications staff officer burst into the command room: "General!"

Admiral Polk frowned. Although he was unhappy, the troops were in combat and it would be inappropriate to ignore the telegram from the front line - especially in front of his peers.

Admiral Bock then made a gesture, and his adjutant immediately stepped forward to take the message: "The front-line Sai De Division reported that it was attacked by a large group of troops led by Rokossov."

"We already knew that Rokossov was coming. Did the offensive fail today?" Admiral Pok acted unusually calm in front of his colleagues. "When they said yesterday that Rokossov had arrived at the front, I expected the offensive to fail today."

"So you have a plan?" asked General Wilhelm von Frederick, commander of the Sixth Army.

"Of course, Rokossov is a tough nut to crack. In order to advance quickly, we need to bypass him. During the summer campaign last year, General Moltke's Second Panzer Group kicked this stinky rock and sprained his ankle. In the end, General Moltke bypassed him, and then he had no choice but to break through. It is said that more than half of his division was wiped out!"

General Bock stood up and gestured on the map: "The Said Division will hold him in the front, and then two armored divisions and two armored grenadier divisions will break through on his north and south sides."

On the map, Shengli drew the symbols of an armored division and an armored grenadier division on the north and south sides of the Sede Division.

"By the 18th, I can launch a pincer attack on Rokosov. The enemy's Sukhaveli Front's overall combat effectiveness is not good. They can still rely on the city to support their morale for a while, but unfortunately, this area is all steppe, and the only city, Yeisk, has already been captured by us."

Admiral Pok looked very proud: "Speed ​​is of the essence in war. We have once again defeated the Antes in terms of speed. Rokossov had no way to deal with this vast grassland. He could only retreat to the banks of the Sukhayaveli River and rely on the coastal cities for defense."

Admiral Wilhelm von Frederick nodded approvingly: "It's a very reasonable idea. Speaking of which, I have a connection with this Rokossov."

Admiral Poker's adjutant: "You two..."

Admiral Polk: "You fought him in last summer's campaign?"

"No, my Sixth Army was following the First Panzer Group at the time. His famous battle at Peigne was less than 50 kilometers away from my headquarters. Later, when he was defending Loktov, my army was dealing with the remaining enemies in the Bogdanovka encirclement. My headquarters was less than kilometers away from his battlefield."

Adjutant: "Generals..."

Admiral Polk: "You were nearby in two of the three battles where he was driven away. This is the third time! I won't make the mistake of confronting him head on."

The adjutant finally couldn't stand it anymore: "Your Excellencies!"

Admiral Poker finally looked at his adjutant: "What's wrong? This is not like you."

Adjutant: "The Said Division did not attack. The division commander reported that the vanguard combat group encountered fire preparation this morning and immediately switched to a defensive state. After the division headquarters arrived in the afternoon, it was discovered that a large number of enemy tanks were planning to launch a pincer attack against the Said Division."

Admiral Pok was stunned: "What? Rokossov attacked?"

Admiral William reminded him, "He also organized an offensive in last year's winter campaign and quickly surrounded our heavy troop concentration in Kalanskaya. Have you forgotten the photo of him personally parading the captured general through the streets?"

Admiral Poker slapped his head and said, "Damn it, now that you mention it, I remember that when I saw the photo, I had a nightmare that day. I dreamed that I was also arrested and paraded through the streets. I think my brain must be deliberately trying to forget this!"

Admiral William: "You won't let Rokossov eat up the Sede Division, will you?"

"Of course, damn it, of course not." Admiral Polk stood up and ordered his adjutant: "Call the Chief of Staff in. No, I should go to the map room."

Admiral William also stood up: "I will go with you."

The two of them walked towards the map room.

As soon as you enter the map room, the first thing that catches your eye is the deployment map of the first phase of the entire Blue Plan.

The Tenth Army was the spearhead of the first phase.

The Sixth Army was the second attacking echelon, following General William's Tenth Army, and its vanguard had just crossed General Bock's starting line.

During last summer's campaign, Proshen adopted the principle of concentrated use of tanks, with most of the armored forces in four armored groups.

But after a year of fighting last year, the Proson people found out when summarizing their experience that concentrating so many armored units together would put too heavy a logistical burden, and the logistics in Ant's poor place simply could not keep up.

The result was that the armored group would have to stop and wait for the troops behind after charging for a week.

In other words, the Ants performed too poorly and failed to seize the gap when the armored forces were out of touch, otherwise it would be disastrous. In fact, some outstanding commanders in Ant discovered the gap and launched a counterattack, but unfortunately they had too few reliable forces.

Last year, Ant's armored forces performed extremely poorly, and even if the commander noticed the opportunity, he could not seize it.

The infantry units did succeed in seizing some opportunities, but their scale was limited and insignificant to the massive summer campaign.

By the way, Rokosov was one of the few commanders who discovered and seized the opportunity. Unfortunately, he only had one regiment at the time, and the rest were messy auxiliary units.

In short, while the people of Ant were summing up their experience, the people of Proson were also summing up their experience.

Therefore, before the Blue Plan, the armored cluster was split into smaller units and assigned to various army groups and infantry to advance together. The overall attack speed was slowed down, effectively avoiding disconnection.

The 10th Army has three armored divisions, three armored grenadier divisions, and six infantry divisions, with a total strength of about 220,000 including the army's direct troops.

The more powerful Sixth Army, with 300,000 men, followed the Tenth Army as the "spearhead" and undertook the task of expanding the breakthrough area and extending the occupied area to both sides. Admiral Bock briefly recalled the tasks of himself and his allies, and then the chief of staff, who was busy at the map table, said, "How bad is the situation of the Sede Division?"

Chief of Staff: "You mean the damage? Last night they reported..."

"I mean their current situation! Never mind the battle damage."

The chief of staff pointed at the map and said, "I just updated the situation. It seems that the Sai De Division has not been attacked yet. It was just bombed to pieces by heavy artillery."

Admiral Pok: "How many troops does Rokossov have?"

"I don't know." The chief of staff was very straightforward. "We don't know how many troops he commands. We have obtained two designations. One is Rokossov's old unit, the 225st Guards Mechanized Infantry Division, and the other is the new designation th Infantry Division, the composition of which is unknown."

Admiral Pok: "Are the people in the High Command just there to do nothing? Rokossov's name has been on the list for three days, and they still haven't figured this out."

Chief of Staff: "The Air Force is conducting aerial reconnaissance, perhaps..."

"To hell with the air force! Where are the four divisions that were to take part in the pincer attack?"

Chief of Staff: "They have already deployed to both wings. It is inappropriate to cancel the deployment order and let them rush to Yeisk. It will cause chaos. I suggest that the troops originally prepared to defend Yeisk speed up."

Admiral Pok stroked his chin and said, "And the troops in the original pincer attack continued to carry out the operation - is that so? To eat up Rokossov's heavy troops? But can our army eat up this group?"

Admiral William, the guest, had been silent until he heard what Admiral Bock said, "The troops under Rokossov's command have been increasing. During the Kalanskaya siege last year, Raberville thought he commanded an army group.

"Is he now the commander of the front?"

Admiral Bock: "Front... You mean, we should ask the Army Group for its opinion?"

Admiral William: "Anyway, your pincer attack won't be ready until the 18th, right?"

"That's right. Let's try to give the Sai De Division a blood transfusion first to prevent them from being eaten. Then we'll see what the army group says."

----

Meanwhile, Yeburg, Summer Palace.

Olga tried to maintain a dignified expression and sat in a chair.

In front of her was an easel and a huge canvas, and the royal painter was working on it.

Suddenly, the cat on Olga's lap discovered something, jumped off her lap without warning, and ran away quickly.

Olga: "Ah! It ran away! I'll go get it back!"

"No need. I can just draw the cat based on my own feelings. Your Majesty, are you planning to use the opportunity of looking for the cat to sneak into the map room of the headquarters?"

Olga pleaded, "This is a critical period. Lieutenant General Alyosha Rokossov's troops are fighting at the front! I want to go to the map room and watch!"

"You can't command a war, and that's not your job. But painting a portrait is! It's going to be hung in the gallery, and it's full of the Antonov dynasty monarchs. How can you be left out?"

Olga pouted.

"After the war, there may be no Tsar, and these portraits will be collected in the museum..."

She muttered quietly.

The painter was shocked: "What?"

Olga: "I told you to draw quickly and finish it quickly, so that I can go to the map room to supervise their deployment of troops!"

As soon as he finished speaking, General Turgenev entered the studio.

Olga was overjoyed and stood up immediately, but the royal robe she was wearing was a little too heavy and she almost lost her balance.

"General Turgenev!" She stood up and asked, "What's the situation?"

General: "Rokosov plans to take advantage of the enemy's penetration too deep to fight a short annihilation battle. The staff of the Operations Department thinks the idea is feasible. We are mobilizing forces to provide reinforcements to Rokosov's group, that is, the First Mobile Army."

Olga: "He can win the battle again, right?"

"I don't know." General Turgenev said sternly, "Even Rokossov may lose the battle."

Olga: “Don’t say that!”

"My duty is to report the worst possible scenario to His Majesty the Tsar." General Turgenev paused and then said, "But you can hold on to the best of hopes."

(End of this chapter)