artillery arc

Chapter 512: Dawn on the 21st, Rain

Major General Schneider opened his eyes and was stunned for five minutes before he remembered who he was, where he was, and what he was doing.

He stood up, and at this moment he heard two guards outside the house gossiping in a low voice: "Did you know that Ante's Rokossov would melt the medals and ranks of our generals he captured or killed into a metal plate with their names and ranks written on it, and put it in his own display cabinet!"

Major General Schneider frowned, feeling that this statement sounded familiar.

Suddenly he slapped his thigh and remembered, wasn't this just something he made up when he was hysterical yesterday? How come it was taken as true after one night?

He opened the door and was about to scold the two guards for deserting their duty when he suddenly remembered that he was not wearing military pants.

Major General Schneider is the type of person who likes to take off everything except his vest and shorts before going to bed in winter.

So he closed the door awkwardly, leaving the two frightened privates outside.

A moment later, the fully armed Major General Schneider opened the door and asked the two soldiers seriously: "Where did you hear the rumors about Rokossov?"

"The entire guard company says so. It seems like it came from the communications company!" one of the guards replied.

Major General Schneider: "The Communications Company? Damn it! They don't do their job properly, and they just gossip here! Call the Communications Company Commander to me!"

The two guards looked at each other, then the corporal with the battle wound badge pursed his lips, and the private immediately turned around and ran to find the communications company commander.

Major General Schneider stood there, shivering in the cold wind: "Why is it so cold at this time? Damn it..."

He looked up at the sky, and then raindrops fell on his face.

Very fine raindrops, carrying the scent of wind blowing from the inland sea.

Major General Schneider's mood suddenly fell to the bottom.

All the memories of last year's mud flooded back to him at once: "Damn Rokossov, he's relying on this again!"

----

Wang Zhong stood on the steps in front of the commander's office, looking up at the sky where drizzling rain was falling.

Pavlov put his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky. "It's just the right time. The enemy's logistical capacity will be reduced by at least 50%. Even if they restore the supply lines and deploy anti-aircraft guns to cover key nodes, the supplies sent to the front line will be greatly reduced."

Popov: "We have railroads and allied supplies coming in via the Bahara-Barras line."

Wang Zhong nodded: "Yes, from a strategic perspective, the necessary pieces of the puzzle for victory have been put together. Now it depends on whether we can stop the Prosen people tactically."

Pavlov: "But the lower reaches of the Valdai River are about to freeze over. Maybe the Proson Army will take the opportunity to attack our railway line on the other side."

Wang Zhong: "Then we'll see who's better at winter warfare. I can't wait to see our cavalry cross the ice and attack the Prosen people's logistics routes."

After he finished speaking, Pavlov and Popov both laughed. Yakov looked at the three suspiciously and wrote in his battlefield diary: "It was raining early this morning, and the three giants of the front were laughing like villains. They were facing a powerful enemy, but they acted like winners."

----

At the Western Front Headquarters, General Gorky stretched out his hand and looked at the raindrops falling on it.

"It's finally here." he exclaimed.

His new chief of staff (the old chief of staff was promoted to the commander of the front) frowned and said: "It feels a bit unfair to defeat the enemy by using the weather."

"You're not right! If you say so, then using terrain to defeat the enemy is not fair. Only face-to-face fighting like gladiators in the Colosseum is fair and honorable. But the art of war includes the art of utilizing climate and terrain." General Gorky rubbed his rain-soaked hands on his coat, put his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky.

After a brief pause, he added: "Rokossov is a master in this regard. He foresaw this moment last year."

At this time, two staff officers came over with a thick stack of documents and saluted the chief of staff: "The plan for the winter offensive is ready."

Chief of Staff: "Okay, I'll take a look right away..."

"Give it to me." General Gorky took the battle plan and flipped through the initial outline before closing it and handing it back to the chief of staff. "Very good, follow this."

"Don't you want to take a closer look?" The chief of staff was shocked.

General Gorky: "Because the value of the offensive plan lies in the fact that we launched the offensive. As long as the Prosen troops in front of us feel the pressure - they will definitely feel the pressure, we have much more troops than them, and we have stored ammunition for so long.

"The key to the plan is to fire 40 rounds of artillery shells on the first day. Four hundred thousand rounds, understand?"

The two staff officers who were responsible for making the plan looked at each other and replied, "General, more than 40 rounds. We will follow your tactical thinking and launch an indiscriminate attack on the entire front. Then we will deploy reserve forces in places where breakthroughs are made, and adopt a policy of encircling but not attacking the support points that are difficult to break through.

"In order to ensure the implementation of the plan, we concentrated 2000 artillery pieces along the entire front line, with 20 artillery pieces per kilometer.

"We have prepared five base quantities of ammunition for each gun. These were accumulated over a period of four months."

General Gorky nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, that's it. Rokosov is good at precise breakthroughs and encirclements. His fighting style is actually very similar to the Prosen people on the opposite side, full of beauty. I am different from him. My fighting style is the real Ante's fighting style.

"And the time I choose to attack is different from Rokossov's. He won't attack in the muddy season. I choose the muddy season specifically so that I can catch the Prosen people off guard." General Gorky put his hands behind his back and watched the rain getting heavier. "The most important victory this winter must be Rokossov's. This is the great victory he told me about last year. And my attack on the central front will help him win.

"Future war historians will remember my contribution, understand?"

The chief of staff was somewhat puzzled: "Aren't you a general of the Rokossov faction?"

"I am, of course I am." Gorky nodded repeatedly. "But as Rokosovites, we also have to rank them, right? He has the chief of staff, the bishop, and the division commanders who have been fighting with him, plus Kashukh and Kirinenko who will soon join his army... But history will remember that my attack was also important."

General Gorky held his head high: "My tactics, although born from Rokossov's idle chat, are indeed my tactics! There will be a place for them in the works of the military academy in the future!"

After a pause, he said in a voice that only he could hear: "I might be able to get the rank of marshal before Rokossov - if the offensive goes well."

The chief of staff didn't know whether he heard this or not, but he was going to pretend that he didn't hear it. At this time, one of the two staff officers asked timidly, "Then... when is the time for the attack?"

General Gorky thought for a moment and replied, "Four days later. It will take about that long for the battle plan to be issued and for the troops to be deployed. The bombardment will begin at 25 a.m. on the 5th."

"Yes!"

----

Wang Zhong's side.

A motorcycle drove up to the group of three in the heavy rain.

A priest with bandages on his body got out of the car and saluted Wang Zhong with his left hand: "Commander Davarish!"

Wang Zhong: "You are the Bishop Ilich Davarish who held the Nameless Hill for a day, right?"

"Yes," the priest was deeply moved. "You know my name?"

Wang Zhong stared at Ilyich for a few seconds and said, "Your eyebrows are really thick."

"Ah?" The priest was shocked by this sudden topic, "This... I shave it?"

Wang Zhong: "No, no need. Thick eyebrows make him look honest. I saw everything in the battle yesterday."

Ilyich was deeply moved: "Sure enough! I can feel that you are watching us from heaven!"

Wang Zhong: "Uh... it's better not to say such things in heaven. I haven't died yet."

"Excuse me!" Ilyich saluted immediately.

Wang Zhong: "Don't mind me, I was just joking. Go and have your meal. My chef Seris cooks delicious meals. I specially asked him to prepare a feast today."

"Thank you very much!" Ilyich answered loudly.

Wang Zhong: "Okay, stop saluting and go eat."

Ilyich turned to leave, but suddenly remembered something and turned back: "General, today at the most dangerous moment, a KV tank saved the situation. But the tank was destroyed by the enemy. When I handed over the position to the 393rd Marine Infantry Brigade, I recovered some things from the wreckage. As a chaplain accompanying the army, I have the responsibility to apply for honors for them."

As he said that, Ilyich returned to the motorcycle, took out a backpack from the bed, carried the backpack to Wang Zhong, and took out the things inside one by one.

The burnt military rank, the half-burnt photo, the completely blackened cap badge...

Wang Zhong picked up the military rank. He was sure he had seen this rank before, on the shoulder of Major Romanov, the commander of the 21st Heavy Breakthrough Tank Regiment.

"Is the tank's tactical number 2101?" he asked.

"Yes." Ilyich was surprised. "You know this major?"

Wang Zhong: "I know. I saw him yesterday before he went to the battlefield. Is there anyone in their crew who survived?"

Ilyich: "No more. Major Romanov was the last survivor. He left the tank and continued to fight until a bullet pierced his head. Because he was outside the tank, there were so many of these things left. The inside of the tank was burned so much that even the cap badge melted."

Wang Zhong held his military rank in one hand and a half-photo in the other. It was unclear whether the girl in the photo was Romanov’s daughter or girlfriend - it should be his daughter.

It was raining heavily, and the wind blew the bean-sized raindrops onto Wang Zhong's face.

Pavlov looked up and said, "Damn it! Why is it suddenly raining so heavily?"

Wang Zhong: "Because Ant's mother is crying."

Yakov silently wrote this sentence down in his notebook.

Wang Zhong collected the remains and said to Ilyich, "Leave them to me. I will personally deliver them to the family members."

Ilyich saluted silently, got on his motorcycle, stepped on the accelerator and drove away.

(End of this chapter)