artillery arc

Chapter 369: Capture of Yeisk
Filippov's squad was pinned down in a roadside yard by a machine gun fired by the Prosens.

"Explosives!" Filippov shouted over his shoulder, "Blow up the wall next to us! We'll outflank the enemy!"

The Demoman spread his hands and said, "We've used them up!"

Filippov cursed Suka and pointed to the houses behind him: "Go see if there are other doors or places to climb the wall!"

Immediately, two soldiers carrying thread cutting machines ran towards the house. The leading one kicked the door open, and then the two soldiers entered the house one after the other.

Filippov leaned against the gate, took out the soup spoon he carried with him, used the back of the spoon, which was polished to a shiny finish, as a reflector to observe the position of the firing point, but he did not expect that the spoon would be knocked away as soon as he stretched it out.

His finger was scratched by the edge of the spoon and started bleeding immediately.

"Suka!" Filippov cursed.

Then he heard the engine.

"Enemy tanks?" someone whispered.

Filippov: "No, it shouldn't be. The enemy tanks should have returned when the fog cleared, but they didn't. The artillery fire outside the city has subsided for a while. I guess our tanks came in to provide support!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of the tank engine suddenly became clear. Apparently the tank had turned the corner and there was no obstruction between it and the courtyard where Filippov and the others were hiding, so the sound could be transmitted directly into their ears.

In the blink of an eye, the sound of tank gun firing was heard outside.

Filippov could even hear the sound of shells flying past the door.

Then the sound of machine gun fire that had been going on for a long time stopped.

Filippov stuck his head out and confirmed that the Prosen firing point had been completely covered by the smoke from the grenade explosion, then he ran out and rushed towards the tank that had just turned the corner.

The tank's accompanying infantry stepped forward to stop him and asked: "Which unit are you from?"

"I'm the commander of the third company of the second battalion of the 31st regiment. Didn't you see my medal?" Filippov said loudly, "We know the distribution of the enemy's firing points along the entire street below, and we're here to direct the tanks!"

At this time, the tank commander who was standing on top of the tank said, "Let him get up!"

Filippov immediately pushed aside the accompanying infantry, climbed onto the tank, and said to the commander while lying on the turret: "To the left of the firing point you just destroyed, there are two more firing points along the street, each blocking a road. We are out of explosives and cannot blow up the wall to outflank the enemy."

Tank commander: "Leave it to us. Let your troops join the accompanying infantry. We are also bringing in ammunition trucks. You can send people to the ammunition trucks to collect ammunition!"

Filippov immediately shouted to his men at the top of his voice: "Misha, there is an ammunition truck behind. Take one person to get the ammunition! The rest of you will join the accompanying infantry."

At this time the tanks began to move forward again.

Filippov gestured to the driver: "Drive forward to the corner, turn right about 30 degrees and you can start the fight!"

In the blink of an eye, the machine gun that had just been silent opened fire again. The bullets immediately knocked down three infantrymen, and then hit the armor on the front of the tank with a crackling sound.

"Fire!" the commander roared, and the 75mm gun spewed out flames again, and the muzzle gust blew up all the surrounding smoke and dust.

The shell exploded where the machine gun fire flashed, and Filippov clearly saw the machine gun and tripod rolling down through the gap opened by the shell and falling onto the street.

The machine gunner also flew out, but was caught by the steel bars exposed in the damaged part of the floor and was hanging on the ceiling of the first floor.

Filippov picked up the anti-aircraft machine gun on the top of the turret and fired at the gap created by the shell to make sure there were no living people inside.

Commander: "Forward! A little slower, to give the gunners and infantry brothers time to react."

Filippov stopped firing and looked at the fallen men. A soldier had come forward to check on them. After touching their noses, he shook his head slightly and said, "There's no hope."

Filippov fired more fiercely at the enemy-held buildings, suppressing the Prosens' firepower.

Suddenly, a wooden stick with white shorts hanging on it stretched out from the building.

The commander held up the binoculars and asked: "Am I seeing things? Did the Prosen surrender?"

Filippov also stopped shooting and tried to touch his telescope, but then he found that the string of the telescope had been broken by a bullet at some point and the telescope was gone.

He cursed.

By this time the commander had already given the order: "Cease fire! Cease fire! Is there anyone who can speak Proson?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Filippov: “I know a little bit.”

"Shout to them, tell them to raise their hands, put their weapons over their heads, and walk out slowly!"

Filippov opened his voice and translated it in his halting Prosenese.

Soon, an officer raised his hands, holding a white flag in his right hand and his pistol holster in his left hand, and walked out of the building first, followed by the dusty Plossom soldiers.

Filippov: "Throw the weapons on the side of the road in a pile!"

The officer immediately did as he was told, threw his pistol holster on the ground, and walked towards the tank with a white flag in one hand.

The other Plossons dropped their weapons onto their holsters as if they were markers.

Soon, a pile of weapons was piled high on the ground.

Filippov looked at nearly a hundred prisoners and asked the leading officer: "You still have more than half a company, why don't you continue to resist?"

The officer shook his head: "We have no anti-tank weapons and cannot fight tanks. Besides, we have fought for our motherland long enough." Filippov shook his head: "I thought you were more determined fighters."

"That's the propaganda of the Propaganda Minister. It doesn't count," said the officer.

----

Wang Zhong peeled the peanuts and put them into his mouth.

The bowl in front of him was already full of peanut shells.

Popov joked: "Thanks to the boiled peanuts, General Rokossov no longer has to worry about not being able to go to the front to kill the enemy in person."

Nellie: "I will cook a pot every day from now on and I guarantee he won't be able to finish it."

Wang Zhong looked at Nellie and said, "Thank you!"

Pavlov: "Actually, if you really have so much free time, you can do some staff work. Staff officers draw maps and clerks organize documents, which is very hard work."

Wang Zhong: "Why, do you also think that the frontline soldiers only need to fight the enemy, but the staff officers have to consider a lot? If you say that, I will let Popov teach you a lesson!"

Vasily: "Ah? I thought we were carrying manure together! What? Come on, the three of you are looking at me together. I am under a lot of pressure! Look, I am almost bald!"

Popov touched his bald head and said, "What's wrong with being bald? This is the fate of men. You and the general will be bald sooner or later!"

Perhaps because there has been good news at the front and the atmosphere in the army headquarters is very relaxed, Popov made a joke.

Wang Zhong was concentrating on peeling peanuts.

At this time, the communications staff came in: "We received a telegram from the Air Force. They discovered enemy armored forces to our northwest."

Wang Zhong immediately looked up: "Northwest? How far?"

The telegraph cannot provide vision. After all, sending and receiving is too time-consuming and has long been out of date.

Communications Staff: "55 kilometers."

Wang Zhong and Pavlov acted in sync and stood in front of the map at once.

The cartographic staff hurriedly updated the information on the map.

Wang Zhong: "It can report the enemy's position so clearly. It must be a reconnaissance aircraft of the Pei-2 Kai. It has a navigator."

Pavlov: "And there is a telegraph, so we can send telegrams. What do you think?"

Wang Zhong: "The enemy wants to launch a pincer attack on us."

He looked at the communications officer: "Did the telegram say that the enemy is on the march, or has it deployed in assault formation?"

The communications officer shook his head: "No, he just reported the position and distance."

Wang Zhong: "Let them see the enemy's situation clearly. It would be best if they could take photos. Send a message now."

Just as the communications officer was about to leave, another telegraph operator came in and handed the telegram in his hand to the officer: "Just decoded!"

"Got it." The staff officer took the telegram and looked down at its contents.

Wang Zhong stepped forward and grabbed the telegram, reading it himself and reading it aloud: "According to the information obtained from interrogating prisoners and deciphering captured documents, your unit is currently facing the enemy's Tenth Army, commanded by General Bock. We are sure that the army has three armored divisions, three motorized infantry divisions, and three to six infantry divisions, with a total strength of 20 to 30 people."

After reading it, Wang Zhong raised his head: "Information sent by the intelligence department of the trial court."

Pavlov took the telegram and said as he read it: "There is no copy, which means it was sent directly to us. Shouldn't the front convey this kind of information to us?"

Wang Zhong: "The headquarters should have given similar intelligence to the front. In short, we know the enemy's current strength. Although we got a taste of the goodness first, the enemy still has two divisions like this. One of them was just discovered by aerial reconnaissance."

He clicked on the map and continued, "I have reason to believe that the enemy originally planned to use a division plus the defense of Yeisk to hold us back and then launch a pincer attack on us. But they didn't expect us to defeat the Sai De Division so quickly."

Pavlov: "But the enemy's pincer movement has not been broken. So what should we do? A frontal assault? A breakthrough in the enemy's front?"

Wang Zhong shook his head. "Today, the Sai De Division was only defeated by us. Many of its backbones must have escaped and will soon be organized into a powerful unit. In order to weaken Proson's strength as quickly as possible and reduce the number of veterans, we should fight an annihilation war like they did last year."

In fact, Wang Zhong had originally planned to fight a war of annihilation. He planned to wait until all his troops arrived on the 16th and then launch an attack on the 17th.

At that time, Yeisk would be surrounded and the enemy would be completely annihilated.

In today's attack, Wang Zhong had no intention of taking Yeisk, but he attacked fiercely and Yeisk was taken. The enemy was defeated and the annihilation battle became a bubble.

It's not a good thing to hit too hard.

Pavlov: "You want to eat up the Tenth Army? That's too big an appetite. It will cause indigestion. We are only 100,000 people."

Wang Zhong: "I know. And the battle this morning showed that our armored forces on the grassland are a little insufficient."

The phone rang again.

Pavlov picked up the phone, responded with a few words, then put down the receiver and said to Wang Zhong: "The main enemy forces in the city have surrendered, and there are still sporadic resistance. I estimate that if we set off now, by the time we reach Yeisk, the enemy will be almost wiped out."

Wang Zhong nodded: "Okay, let's go into the city. Yeisk is the supply center for my army."

(End of this chapter)