artillery arc

Chapter 378 Childhood
At the same time, at the headquarters of the 10th Army of Plossen.

After walking back and forth for who knows how many times, Admiral Bock looked up and asked the Army Chief of Staff: "Has the infantry division not been attacked yet?"

"Yes," the chief of staff replied, "it may be the shelling of the infantry division that disrupted Rokossov's deployment."

General Wilhelm von Frederick of the Sixth Army stood up and said, "Then I won't bother you from battling it out with Rokossov. My army headquarters should have already moved to its position. It's time to go back."

The Prosen people would occasionally do this: when the troops of the follow-up echelon moved forward, the commander would first "visit" the headquarters of the front echelon to understand the situation on the front line in advance.

In this way, when the headquarters of the subsequent echelons move to the front line, the commander will already be fully aware of the situation.

The prerequisite is that the two commanders are familiar with each other.

Of course, according to military regulations, the chief officer is definitely not allowed to leave the headquarters when the troops are advancing to the war zone, but Plossen is very "flexible" at this time.

If anyone questioned it, Plosson's generals would say it was a training exercise for the staff and officer corps.

Admiral Poke said to his old friend, "Be careful on the way back. My troops report that this grassland looks like you can go anywhere, but in fact, there are many places where cars get stuck once you enter. It is different from the grasslands of East Eurobia and the black soil of Khasalia. You must be extra careful."

Frederick waved his hand, gestured to his adjutant, and left the headquarters of the Tenth Army.

Admiral Polk looked at the Chief of Staff: "Where is the report from the reconnaissance force?"

The chief of staff shook his head: "Nothing unusual was found, but some troops reported that enemy reconnaissance planes were conducting aerial reconnaissance."

Admiral Pok looked at the map and said, "Rokossov should have discovered our pincer attack. But he stopped. Isn't he waiting to be surrounded by us?"

Chief of Staff: "Maybe he realized that we can't launch an offensive right away, so he wants to wait for his follow-up troops?"

According to the plan drawn up by Admiral Bock's staff, the pincer attack would begin in the early morning of the 18th. It was only the 15th now, and all the troops were still on the move and had not yet reached their starting positions. The replenishment of fuel and ammunition had not kept up.

Admiral Pok thought about the chief of staff's guess for a few seconds and then shook his head: "Where did he get the information from? No, it doesn't make sense. It's unlikely that he could judge the time of our attack. It should be the artillery bombardment that interfered with their actions. Rokossov also likes to prepare for counter-fire before our attack and disrupt our offensive deployment. This time the 190th Infantry Division did a good job!"

Chief of Staff: "Do you need to inform the 190th Division of your commendation?"

"No, there is no need. After all, bombarding and delaying Rokossov is only a possibility. It is also possible that Rokossov's battle plan is to occupy Yeisk. After all, this city is the last large city before we attack Yarvik. If we don't occupy Yeisk, his army will have no supply center."

Admiral Pok was silent for a few seconds before cursing, "Damn it! We were planning to use Yeisk as a supply center! Now we have to re-plan the supply!"

The chief of staff said quickly, "We already have a plan, so there is no need to worry about supplies. The progress is a little slower than we expected, but all the supply centers will be set up on the 17th, and ammunition and fuel will be distributed to the attacking troops."

Admiral Poke frowned. "Progress is slow? Why? When I made the plan, didn't I ask you to leave a day of redundancy?"

The chief of staff smiled bitterly. "Not only did we leave some redundancy, we also took into account the poor road conditions in the Khazaria region when we made the plan. Unexpectedly, the road conditions here are even worse, with weeds swallowing up the roads in many places. In order to prevent the follow-up troops from getting lost, we set up many traffic control posts along the way, but there were still supply teams that strayed from the road and got lost in the grassland."

Admiral Poker looked very unhappy: "So now the redundancy for one day has been used up?"

"Yes, but there will be no problem attacking on the morning of the 18th," the staff officer said confidently.

Admiral Poke nodded: "Okay, then we just need to withstand the attacks tomorrow (the 16th) and the day after tomorrow."

Until now, Admiral Polk still believed that Rokossov would attack.

----

Wang Zhong is now riding a horse and strolling in the city of Yeisk.

Although the setting sun was still in the sky, it was almost ten o'clock in the evening and time for many people to go to bed.

But now almost no one was sleeping. People from all over the city were out helping the hired workers of the First Mobile Army to collect the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

The remains of the enemies were randomly piled on the roadside.

When Wang Zhong was strolling, he saw a group of children playing a war game. The children who played the role of Ant's army had no equipment, while the children who played the role of Proson's army wore helmets and belts.

So he stopped and called out, "Children!"

The children stopped and looked at Wang Zhong. An older child saw Wang Zhong's collar badge and shouted, "It's the general! Salute to the general!"

A group of children imitated adults by standing at attention and saluting in a very non-standard posture.

Wang Zhong smiled and returned the greeting, then asked, "Why don't the people playing the Ant Army have any equipment?"

The older child who had just shouted the salute said, "We can't take the martyrs' things."

Wang Zhong smiled. He got off his horse, took off his military cap, and put it on the older boy: "You are the commander. Here you go. Wear it."

The child was moved and asked: "Is this okay?"

"Sure. My military cap is also an ordinary military cap, no different from a second lieutenant's cap."

The mobile army soldier who was resting nearby said, "Kid, if I were you, I would take this military cap back and hide it away. It can be passed down from generation to generation!"

The older child took off his military cap and looked at it with great delight.

Wang Zhong turned to the child who was playing the role of Proson's soldier and asked: "Where did you get this cross badge?" The child pointed to the street corner and said: "Misha, who was cleaning up Proson's body over there, gave it to me!"

Misha was probably the name of the man who helped the hired laborers with their work.

Wang Zhong came to the child, squatted down, and helped him adjust the position of the cross badge while saying, "This one should be hung around your neck, and this one is a battle badge, it should be hung here."

The child was surprised: "General, how do you know so much?"

Wang Zhong: "To defeat the enemy, we must first understand the enemy, no matter how big or small, and understand everything. We must even understand the enemy better than the enemy himself!"

In fact, before traveling through time, Wang Zhong had been a German thug for several years. Later, he read a book called "General NC" and was shocked by the cruelty and inhumanity of Sandezi - the book included a large number of photos recording the atrocities of ordinary soldiers of the National Defense Force.

After that he stopped being a fan, but the knowledge he gained during the Degun period was not lost. He can still name all the medals of Sandezi and how to wear them.

After helping the children to dress, Wang Zhong stood up and said to all the children seriously, "Listen carefully. When you are done playing, go back and tell your parents to pack your things. Tomorrow our motorcade will return to Yarvik with an empty bus, and you can take the empty bus."

The children looked at each other, and finally their eyes fell on the older child wearing Wang Zhong's military cap.

"We'll stay and fight!" the older boy said. "We'll use guns!"

Another child shouted: "Katya joined the army, so can we!"

Wang Zhong: "When did Katya join the army?"

“This January!”

Wang Zhong: "She should still be in training. Modern warfare requires more than just being able to shoot. You will be useless if you stay here. You will only die in vain. Be obedient and tell your parents to go back to Yarvik with an empty car tomorrow."

The older child was silent for a few seconds and then asked, "You let us go because this city cannot be defended, right?"

Wang Zhong: "Yes, but I promise that we will fight back before June next year. We need to use space to buy time, dilute the enemy's forces, and wear down their logistics. Once we have worn them down to the point of being skin and bones, we can strike back with one punch!"

The older child: "Then why don't we just wait for you here?"

"No, the enemy will massacre you. Did you see the priests hung on the street lamps? The enemy will do this to your parents. Since we can fight back sooner or later, why sacrifice in vain?"

The children looked at each other.

"All right," the older boy said, "let's go tell Mom and Dad. What's your name?"

Wang Zhong: "The way you use words, have you ever been to a formal school?"

"I'm in the church middle school in the city, in the ninth grade," said the child.

"Okay. I'm Rokossov, 'that' Rokossov. Your current mission is to move to the rear and finish high school. We are very short of tenth grade graduates now, and there will be a place for you to use your energy when the time comes."

Wang Zhong paused, then thought of something and asked, "Where are your classmates?"

Older child: "I should be with my family - if I'm not dead, that is."

Wang Zhong: "Then I'll give you a task. Wear my hat and go find these classmates and ask them to persuade their families to retreat with the empty vehicles tomorrow. Can you do it?"

The child smiled: "Of course!"

Wang Zhong: "Then let's go! Before it gets dark! Run!"

The older child turned and ran.

Seeing this, the other children also ran after him.

The child who played the role of Commander Prossen suddenly remembered something, stopped, stood at attention in front of Wang Zhong, saluted again, and then turned around to chase the main force.

Wang Zhong put his hands behind his back and sighed, "My childhood was in the flames of war."

Gregory: "I don't know whether I should envy them or pity them."

"Of course it's pitiful. No matter what, the children should not be associated with the war. Every time I see these children, my hatred for Prosen becomes stronger."

It’s like looking at a photo of a place before traveling through time.

At this time, two messengers came over on a motorcycle.

That motorcycle was a Harley-Davidson motorcycle supported by the United States, and it was so cool.

Wang Zhongguang was looking at the car and almost didn't hear the messenger's words.

Messenger: "General! An Air Force Boeing 2 has landed outside the city and sent us aerial reconnaissance photos."

"Okay, I'll go back to the headquarters right away."

(End of this chapter)