artillery arc

Chapter 390: Situation at dawn on July 7

After watching the entire process of receiving telegrams and decoding, Wang Zhong finally understood intuitively how troublesome telegrams were.

First of all, telegrams are very long. It takes several beeps to produce a letter, and it takes a long beep to produce a word.

If the content of the telegram is quite long, it is normal for the operator to keep ticking for half an hour.

After receiving the message, you need to confirm whether there are any omissions. You have to listen to it again from the beginning to check and then you can enter the decoding stage.

A longer telegram might take half a day from the time the first message was received to the time it was finally delivered to Wang Zhong.

Fortunately, the cavalry's telegram was very brief and was completed in just an hour.

The decoder directly handed the coded telegram to Wang Zhong: "Telegram from the 20th Cavalry Army!"

Wang Zhong nodded and looked at the content above: "Our troops have already penetrated to the coordinates... location. The air force's attack has provided us with a lot of convenience. We have defeated part of the enemy's 240th Rear Mobile Brigade and part of the 190th Infantry Division's reconnaissance battalion, and destroyed a considerable number of enemy trucks..."

Wang Zhong quickly browsed through them, and all of them were reports of the results that had been achieved so far.

He forwarded the telegram to Popov: "It looks like the results are promising."

Popov glanced at it and nodded: "Yes."

Then he turned his head and looked at Pavlov, who was organizing his staff to formulate an offensive plan: "Chief of Staff! Report from the front line!"

"Are there any signs of collapse among the enemy?" Pavlov asked.

Wang Zhong and Popov looked at each other, and then Popov replied: "No, at least not in the telegram."

Pavlov: "That means everything is normal. We will definitely destroy some enemy troops and burn some trucks, fuel and ammunition. It's all within the expected range. I still have to make a new offensive plan, so I won't look at the specific report. You can give it to the clerk in charge of statistics."

Wang Zhong: "I understand. Hand it over to the Level 6 clerk - I mean, Colonel Karatayev, a civilian."

As he was speaking, a clerk ran over and took the telegram from Popov.

At this time, the telegraph operator who had just finished receiving the telegram suddenly sat up straight, adjusted the knob of the radio, and began to record the message he heard.

Wang Zhong: "Have you received telegrams from other troops?"

"21st Cavalry," the operator reported, rapidly recording the dots and bars.

While Wang Zhong was watching the telegraph operator at work, another decoder stood up with the decoded telegram and handed it to the communications battalion commander.

Battalion Commander: "Telegram from the Front Command."

Wang Zhong took the telegram and read the contents. He was shocked: "The front commander once again believes that we should retreat to the east bank of the Sukhayaveli River and use the river to block the enemy. What's wrong with the front commander? He is thinking about using the river to resist the enemy?

"Isn't giving up the West Bank the same as selling out Duke Myshkin?"

At this time, another decoder stood up and handed the telegram to the communications battalion commander.

Without waiting for the battalion commander to look down, Wang Zhong snatched the telegram and said as he read it: "The 60th Army on our flank also received the order to retreat. Shit, the th Army abandoned its defense zone and our flank was exposed. What is the headquarters doing? Why not replace the commander of the front army?"

Popov: "Perhaps the High Command also feels that it is not appropriate to face Prosen's armored forces on the steppe?"

Wang Zhong: "If that's the case, then Meishikin should be asked to retreat at the same time. No, I need to call the headquarters to ask what's going on."

As soon as he said this, a new telegram arrived: "Urgent message from the High Command."

Wang Zhong took the telegram, squinted his eyes and read the first two lines, then cursed: "Damn it, it turns out that Mei Shijin's rescue efforts have failed, and the remaining troops of the Binhai Army are all finished."

As he spoke, he took the telegram to the global map, picked up the map stick, pointed to the pile on the seashore and said, "This pile is gone. Myshkin's flank is exposed. The enemy can flank Borsk at any time. Now Myshkin's chance of survival is to retreat south to the entrance of the Caucasus Mountains and rely on the mountains for defense."

At this time, the staff officer in charge of updating the map rushed over and wiped off the thing representing the coastal troops.

Wang Zhong ignored the staff and continued to point at the Caucasus Mountains with his map stick: "To retreat to this line, Myshkin's troops will have to walk 150 or even 200 kilometers. He must set off immediately."

Popov crossed his arms and said, "It's a difficult task. Myshkin is going to retreat, so the front asked us to return to defend quickly. Isn't that wrong?"

Wang Zhong: "Bullshit, if we retreat, how can Myshkin escape? We can't let the enemy go all out to stop Myshkin's retreat. We should set up an offensive posture on the grassland and attract as many enemy troops as possible."

Popov had a complicated expression. "If the Ante Army had the same training and equipment level as us, we could have tried to attack. Unfortunately, it's not that easy. Think about the 401st Division. When they entered the battlefield, the enemy was already at the end of their strength, but they suffered such heavy casualties."

Wang Zhong stroked his chin and said, "I think we can use our army to pull out the teeth from the tiger's mouth, hurt the enemy's Tenth Army, and then pretend to swallow them all."

"We can't do that with our army's configuration, right?"

Wang Zhong shook his head: "It is indeed impossible. But if the front army can hand over its reserve force, the 40th Tank Army, to us, relying on the 40 tanks of the 300th Tank Army, it will not be a big problem to launch an offensive posture, and we can even break off an enemy armored division that is short of fuel and ammunition.

"Including the previously defeated Sede Division, the enemy has lost two armored divisions here—"

Wang Zhong was gesturing when Popov interrupted, "They will have no choice but to send more troops to our side."

"That's right!" Wang Zhong tapped Yeisk on the map with his map stick. "The goal of covering Myshkin's retreat has been achieved. We can even pretend to be isolated and attract the enemy to surround us. We have many trucks and they run fast." Popov smiled: "Why don't you use your reputation to fool the enemy? I think you can do it!"

Wang Zhong: "Give it a try. No matter if it works or not, just do it first!"

Vasily watched the two army leaders discuss the issue without saying anything.

At this time, the phone rang.

Pavlov rushed over in three steps and picked up the receiver: "This is the First Mobile Army Headquarters."

Popov said, "I guess it's the High Command."

Pavlov put the receiver on the table, turned his head and said to Wang Zhong, "General Gorky of the Western Front."

Wang Zhong: "Got it, I'll be right there."

After that, he lowered his voice and said to Popov: "I guess they just received the notice from the headquarters."

"Well, I guess he came to ask for your opinion," Popov said, "General Gorky attaches great importance to your opinion. It's obviously two levels apart."

Wang Zhong: "Don't say such things casually. You are the bishop."

After saying this, Wang Zhong rushed to the table and picked up the receiver: "This is Rokossov, go ahead."

General Gorky's voice came from the receiver: "Have you finished decoding?"

"It's over. Myshkin's rescue operation has failed."

"It's hard for him. Given the quality of our troops now, it's really hard for us to defeat the Prosen people." said General Gorky, who had just suffered a defeat in May.

It seems like there is a bit of blame-shifting intention.

However, Wang Zhong himself did not have a new way to use the ordinary ANT troops to launch a beautiful offensive battle, so he did not point this out.

It is a fact that the troops are of low quality and are indeed unable to fight.

General Gorky: "So what should we do? I see that your troops have already moved forward and are facing the enemy's army head-on. From what I know about General Andrei, he should be considering how to shrink his defense and may even order you to retreat to the east bank of the river."

What an accurate guess!

Wang Zhong: "He did give such an order, which is equivalent to selling out Mei Shijin. This must not be done."

"So you are going to attack?" General Gorky asked, "With the quality of your troops now? Once your elite troops are used up, the offensive will become a mess, just like what happened to me in May."

Wang Zhong: "I plan to concentrate our forces to destroy two enemy divisions, one of which is an armored division. Currently, the cavalry is having a significant effect in initiating a breakout battle. The cavalry can still roam the grasslands for a week. We plan to end the battle within a week."

Gorky was very surprised: "Is the role of cavalry so important?"

"This is related to the grassland terrain of Nanant. After this battle, I will summarize the use of cavalry units in the new era."

"Is that so? Then I wish you good luck. I am also preparing to launch some limited offensives to verify my idea."

Wang Zhong: “What do you think?”

"Yes, use a full-scale attack to test the enemy's defensive weaknesses, and then deploy a large number of troops at the breakthrough point. In essence, we don't fight the Prosen people. Since the quality of our troops is not as good as yours, we will bypass your strong defensive positions and bully the weak rear mobile brigades and supply troops." General Gorky said, "I mentioned this to you!"

Wang Zhong thought about it and it seemed that it had really been mentioned, but he had never paid attention to it before, so he forgot about it.

He quickly said, "You did mention it, I hope you can succeed."

"Whether it succeeds or not, an all-out attack here will definitely draw in the enemy's reserve forces and relieve your pressure."

Wang Zhong: "The key is to reduce the pressure on Duke Myshkin to retreat. If he can retreat safely to the Caucasus Mountains, he should be able to hold out for a long time."

If the enemy occupied the southern Ant steppe, the connection between the mountainous area and the central area of ​​Ant would indeed be cut off, but Myshkin could rely on the oil fields in Kuba and the Allied transport lines from Bahara to the north.

The supply capacity of this transport line is quite high, and it is easy to support Myshkin's front of hundreds of thousands of people.

Myshkin could hold on to the mountain line until Ant launched a major counterattack and regained control of the southern Ant grassland.

The key is to ensure that Myshkin can successfully retreat there.

Therefore, the Sukhaveli Front must not shrink its defense, but must make the enemy believe that the front is about to launch a large-scale offensive.

Wang Zhong said to General Gorky: "In short, I will try to delay the enemy and give Myshkin a chance to retreat."

"I feel relieved by your words. I don't want to hear the news of hundreds of thousands of our people being captured again. So, goodbye."

"Goodbye." Wang Zhong hung up the phone.

(End of this chapter)