artillery arc

Chapter 376 Listening to the Old Man Talk About the Past
Afterwards, Wang Zhong and his party returned to the warehouse where the headquarters was located. However, before they entered the warehouse yard, they saw a big hole in the outer wall.

Wang Zhong hurriedly asked the guard at the door: "Were we bombarded? Was the damage serious?"

The guard laughed and said, "Don't worry, General. Three shells landed, and only one hit the warehouse building, so no one was killed. Two shells landed in the yard and exploded violently, but our yard is empty, with nothing but chaff."

In order to make the disguise more convincing, Wang Zhong gave instructions before setting out for reconnaissance. The anti-aircraft artillery battalion should be placed next to the city council, one third of which had collapsed. Even the guards at the warehouse were secret sentries, and the only visible guards were two groups of four people, guarding the two gates respectively.

It now appears that this decision turned out to be a good thing, reducing casualties from the shelling.

The convoy entered the warehouse yard and stopped at the door of the barn. The old herdsman who came with the convoy snorted: "The general is actually commanding the battle in the barn. He is no better than us herdsmen!"

Wang Zhong: "The barn is also very good, sturdy and durable, and it drains well when it rains! Come on, please!"

"Hmph, I have very sharp ears. I can recognize your majesty's voice at once. Don't try to fool me!" As he said this, the herdsman took the chair from the staff officer and sat down with his legs apart.

The old man's sitting posture, with his arms and legs stretched out, showed that when he was young he was a grassland man who ate big chunks of meat and drank big gulps of wine - or, in other words, a bandit.

Popov stood up. "What's going on? Do you want me to call the inquisitor?"

"Hmph!" The old herdsman curled his lips. "The judge is here, and I won't say a word. Go and deal with the grassland!"

Wang Zhong picked up the phone: "Connect Xia Gong."

The operator replied "OK" and said nothing more. Soon, the voice of the Xia Palace's steward came from the other end of the line: "Xia Palace, who is this?"

Before Wang Zhong could answer, he heard Olga's voice coming from the other side: "Is it Rokossov? Is it? Give it to me, give it to me!"

Then there was a burst of noise, probably someone was fighting for the receiver, and then Olga's voice hit Wang Zhong's eardrum: "Rokossov? Is that Rokossov?"

Wang Zhong: "If you are not right, it will cause misunderstanding!"

"I didn't even call you Alyosha! Oh, yes, I forgot the lieutenant general, ahem." The girl cleared her throat and said in a pretentious voice, "Lieutenant General Rokossov, how is the war on the front line?"

Wang Zhong: "I need your help. There is an old herdsman who insists on hearing the voice of His Majesty the Tsar before he is willing to help."

"Then give him the phone!"

Wang Zhong glanced at the old man and handed him the receiver: "His Majesty the Tsar is on the line."

The old herdsman knocked his half-filled pipe on the table to knock out all the tobacco. Then he put away his pipe, put on his hat, and respectfully took the receiver with both hands: "Hello?"

Wang Zhong couldn't hear what Olga said, he could only see the changes in the old man's expression.

The old man was skeptical at first, and then he was terrified - probably as he said, he recognized Olga's voice. The old man kept saying terrifiedly: "I am guilty, I am guilty, I doubted His Royal Highness."

Ok?
Because the other person was answering Olga's call, Wang Zhong couldn't correct him and could only use his eyes to signal to the people around him that "I'm not."

The next moment, the old man's expression turned into surprise: "Really? I misunderstood! What a sin!"

Wang Zhong became more and more curious about what Olga was talking about.

On the other side, the palace steward and General Turgenev are watching. They shouldn't say anything outrageous, right?

Finally, the old man nodded again like a chicken pecking at rice: "Okay, okay, I will definitely cooperate with you to the fullest, Your Majesty, don't worry! Then...how do you say that word? Don't you need to say it? Okay!"

The old herdsman kept saying "OK" and respectfully handed the receiver to Wang Zhong: "His Majesty said he wants to speak to you."

Wang Zhong took the receiver and asked, "What did you say to him?"

"Ah, just say that my brother entrusted me to your care when he was dying. Now you are like my brother, and you need him to cooperate with you fully."

Wang Zhong raised his eyebrows: "Why do I feel that you said more than this?"

"That's all. If you don't believe me, ask him!"

Wang Zhong glanced at the old man and shook his head: "I believe it, I believe it. Well, we have something else to do here. I'll call you after we finish talking!"

"You must fight!" Olga warned.

"Don't worry." Wang Zhong put down the receiver and looked at the old man.

The old man was praying the whole time, and it sounded like he was asking God to bless His Majesty the Tsar or something.

At this time, Wang Zhong finally realized why the church still wanted to retain the Tsar.

It has been such a long time since the secular church won the civil war, and almost all young people have become secular, yet they still encounter such devout believers of the Tsar.

If the Tsarist regime had not been retained, the civil war might have lasted for five more years.

In a world where supernatural powers and miracles really exist, it is extremely difficult to carry out secular reforms.

Wang Zhong waited until the old man finished praying before asking, "Old man..."

"Don't! His Majesty said that you are her foster brother, His Royal Highness the Prince, please order me around as you please!"

Wang Zhong didn't want to "order" people around. After all, he was a worker before he traveled through time. He was quite resistant to words that carried the connotation of slavery.

He couldn't care less now, so he waved his hand: "Come, to the map."

The old man came over swiftly, looking completely different from the rebellious man just now.

Wang Zhong: "Can you understand the map?"

"Of course. I used to be in the Fifth Guards Cavalry Brigade of His Majesty the Tsar. Cavalrymen are responsible for delivering letters. How can they do that if they can't read maps?" said the old man.

Wang Zhong: "When I personally investigated before, I found that there was a large meadow around this location. Where does this meadow extend to?"

The old man picked up a pencil and began to draw lines. His hands were shaking slightly. After finishing, the old man said, "I'm sorry, I'm old and can't draw straight lines anymore. Just make do with it. Even horses can hardly walk on this meadow. It has been abandoned for a long time! Once, a Cossack wanted to open up this land for farming, but failed."

Wang Zhong: “It’s such a big area.”

"Don't be fooled by the fact that the grassland is all grass. In fact, there are all kinds of things! This part over here," the old man continued to draw on the map, "is actually a swamp. The melted snow in winter has nowhere to go, so it all accumulates here."

Wang Zhong: "Is there any terrain on the grassland that is difficult to pass? I mean the terrain that wheeled vehicles cannot pass."

"There are plenty. For example, here, even a tractor - I mean a tank - can't move an inch here!"

"What's there?" Wang Zhong asked.

"Voles," the old man answered seriously. "Voles have dug a lot of holes here. A horse might sprain its ankle if it walked on them, and a tank would definitely collapse if it drove over them."

Wang Zhong was shocked: "Is the rodent infestation so serious? Our telephone lines are dug up every few days."

"Telephone lines need to be put up on the prairie. That's what the secular army did during the civil war."

Wang Zhong looked at the colorfully drawn map and stroked his chin: "I originally thought that the grassland was a plain like the desert, and I also thought of a high tide tactic."

In fact, the idea was copied from Earth's Desert Fox. The general content is that the desert can actually be regarded as the sea, and supply lines can be connected everywhere, so desert warfare does not have to be so restricted to roads and settlements.

It is entirely possible to use armored forces like a fleet, letting tanks cruise on the sea of ​​sand, breaking through the enemy's weak points, and then all troops rush in from the single breakthrough point, like a rising tide.

Now it seems that the grassland and the desert Gobi are very different.

There is no way to use the high tide tactic on the grassland, and you still have to stay on the supply line.

Wang Zhong murmured to himself: "Does the enemy know this?"

Pavlov: "We don't know, and the enemy certainly doesn't know. Their scouts don't have time to survey the entire steppe."

Wang Zhong: “So we can be sure that the enemy’s armored forces will be disconnected from motorized forces such as trucks, and their supplies will be blocked by the complex terrain hidden under the grassland.

"If we can launch a raid on the enemy's supply chain, we will gain a huge advantage. Although we cannot launch an annihilation campaign due to insufficient manpower, we can still defeat the enemy!"

Popov asked: "What kind of troops should we use to launch a raid? Even tanks can't pass through Vole Hill and swamps."

Wang Zhong also fell into deep thought.

At this time, the old herdsman said, "Why don't you try riding a horse? What about Xia Boyang's cavalry?"

Wang Zhong looked at Pavlov and said, "Yes, cavalry! How can we gallop on the grassland without cavalry?"

Pavlov: "I remind you that we have no cavalry at all."

Wang Zhong: "I want to remind you that I can get any troops I want."

He picked up the phone: "Connect Yebao, Xiagong."

Pavlov frowned beside him: "Isn't this a bad idea? His Majesty the Tsar has interfered with military deployments time and time again. Even the late emperor didn't do this."

Wang Zhong: "Why not? Have you forgotten Agsukov?"

At this time, the phone was connected, and Olga's voice came directly: "Hello? Lieutenant General Rokossov?"

Wang Zhong: "It's me."

"Tell me, what kind of troops do you want?"

Wang Zhong: "I need cavalry. Transfer Kirinenko's cavalry army over here!"

Pavlov: "Lieutenant General Kirinenko's army is in other directions. Wouldn't it be a bad idea to just take troops from him?"

On the other end of the line, Olga had obviously taken the receiver off the hook and was exchanging views with the person next to her - probably General Turgenev.

After a few seconds, she said, "Lieutenant General Kirinenko's cavalry corps cannot be transferred to you. But the reserve front still has a newly formed cavalry corps, can it be transferred to you?"

Wang Zhong: "Okay, transfer the cavalry to me."

"What are you going to do?" Olga asked, her tone full of curiosity.

Wang Zhong: "Let them gallop across the vast grasslands and carry out the war of breaking up ties."

"Hmm?" Olga asked doubtfully, "Isn't 'inter-naval warfare' a term used by the navy?"

Wang Zhong: "Why? I'm still using the navy's guns, so what's wrong with using the navy's words?"

"Okay... Anyway, you are confident that you can defeat the enemy, right?"

Wang Zhong: "No, I'm not sure yet. I need to see what to do. Anyway, give me the cavalry first."

Olga: "Well, cavalry, I promise - what? You want to speak? Well... General Turgenev is going to speak."

Then Turgenev's voice came: "We tried using cavalry to break up the battle last year, but it didn't work."

Wang Zhong: "That's because you haven't tried it on the grasslands of Nanant. Believe me, the situation here is much more complicated than the black soil of Khazaria. There is a reason why this land has not yet become an agricultural reclamation area!"

"Is that so? Then try again. I will dispatch two cavalry corps. I estimate they will arrive on the 17th."

"Okay, I'll be waiting!" Wang Zhong replied.

(End of this chapter)