artillery arc

Chapter 515 October 10, Light Rain
At 10 on October 22, Ante Abavakhan Front Command.

Wang Zhong stared at the second hand on his watch. When it passed the number 12, he looked up and asked, "Did the enemy attack?"

Pavlov: "At least no troops are reporting being hit."

Wang Zhong snapped his fingers: "Great! The enemy really has no more shells! We must seize the time today to adjust the defense line, replace as many wounded as possible, and send them to the rear to recuperate. When they return from their injuries, they will all be the backbone of the battle.

"We are most in need of combat backbones."

Pavlov: "Don't worry, we have summarized last year's experience and also referred to the practices of the Allied Forces. The number of first aid stations and field hospitals has increased a lot compared to before, and the configuration is more reasonable.

"Although it's not as good as the United States Army's rescue rate, it's still much better than last year."

Popov: "The church is also organizing a large number of stretcher teams, made up of men in their 40s and 50s and women who want to help. We have also organized cattle teams to transport the wounded."

After a brief pause, the bishop of the front added: "And the bodies. Because all the large bags were used to carry sand to build the barricades, there are not enough body bags now. The church has done its best to ensure that every body transport vehicle can be allocated a piece of canvas to cover it."

Wang Zhong: "Don't worry. Even if the new soldiers who come here can't see the corpses, they will know this is Purgatory through other means."

Popov: "That's the truth. The sealed cars that transported the new soldiers were returning to transport the wounded. I went to the train station yesterday and saw that all the sealed cars were filled with blood and vomit. When the soldiers got on the trains in Yebao, they knew what kind of hell this place was."

At this time, Yakov changed the subject: "The enemy has no ammunition today, can we fight back?"

Wang Zhong: "If we have the troops, we can give it a try, but the troops we have that have not been put into battle are preparing for the landing that is about to be launched. That is the highlight. If successful, the ships can transport a lot of troops and supplies before the Valdai River freezes."

Yakov nodded: "I see, I've learned something new."

Popov: "Learn more. Your predecessor Vasily has already learned it. He is now studying in the military academy. He will be a regiment commander when he graduates. Maybe he can become a general after the war is over."

Yakov smiled and said, "I'm fine as a staff officer, but not a commander."

At this moment, a strong wind suddenly blew in from the direction of the door, blowing a lot of documents on the desk away. A group of staff officers were shouting and picking up the documents.

Wang Zhong turned his head and saw a burly figure standing at the door.

"Egorov!" he shouted in surprise, "You are here at last! Where is my Guards Mechanized Infantry?"

Yegorov brushed the rain off his body and walked towards Wang Zhong. "Here they come. They said the front line urgently needs infantry, so they sent the infantry regiment over first. I tell you, they insisted on disbanding your regiment, saying that it is a waste to concentrate so many combat backbones in one unit, and they should disband a few more regiments.

"I said yes, but the new regiments must be under the command of Rokossov, otherwise I would write a letter to the palace and ask the general's sister to judge! In the end, they split four regiments and formed a new 230th Division, which was also under the name of the st Guards Mobile Army."

Wang Zhong: "I have one more division?"

Pavlov shook his head. "Yes, the 230th Division has no temporary divisions, but the artillery and various auxiliary forces are not fully equipped. Only the infantry regiment is fully equipped. According to the plan, this division should continue to train, and when all kinds of messy troops are equipped, it will become a composite division that meets your standards and then be transferred to the front line.

"But given the current situation, I have ordered the 230th Division to rush to the front line."

Wang Zhong: "Who is the commander? Do I know him?"

Yegorov: "You don't know him, I guess. He's an old guy who drinks a lot. He came here on his own before the mobilization reached his age. He should be on the next few trains."

The bear-like Yegorov stopped, looked around, and asked, "Is there any water?"

Yakov immediately came over with the cup: "Here."

Yegorov took the cup but didn't drink it right away. He stared at Yakov and said, "Not bad, he looks like a real adjutant than that thorny Vasily. Our general finally has a decent adjutant!"

Wang Zhong: "We were just talking about him. He said that if he learns more from me, he can go back to school for further studies and become a regiment commander when he graduates."

"Okay, it's definitely right to learn from the general!" Yegorov patted Yakov on the shoulder and drank the water in the cup. "Let's get back to business. Where should I go? A regiment of infantry has arrived. Vortex and tanks are on the way. Oh, and I brought your No. 422 vehicle here."

Pavlov: "That's not necessary. Our commander now has a new vehicle, the Pe-422 reconnaissance plane with tactical number 3."

"We're taking a plane instead?" Yegorov looked puzzled. "Aren't those planes very fragile? What if they're shot down?"

"You don't have to worry about that." Emilia's voice came from behind Yegorov.

Yegorov turned his head and was immediately shocked: "Tsk, this... is not good. Vasilyevna (Lyudmila's father's name) is on the way and may arrive at any time. I heard that she is on her way here on foot to make way for the military vehicles?"

Wang Zhong: "Yes, this is my instruction. I hope she will come to this purgatory later, and it would be best if she stays on the other side of the river."

Yegorov glanced at Emilia: "Really?"

Emilia sighed, "Of course it's true. My relationship with Admiral Rokossov is very innocent, and everyone knows it. In order to avoid rumors, I even moved my residence to the airport. When he is not conducting reconnaissance, I will fly my Spitfire fighter to attack."

Wang Zhong: "She shot down four Proson fighters and one bomber in the past two days."

“Two,” Emilia corrected. “Two bombers.”

Yegorov's eyes widened. "So amazing? Shot down six enemy planes in two days? Much better than the 'White Lily' Lilia that was in the newspapers!"

Wang Zhong: "She is a witch. Have you forgotten that she killed the falconer who was trying to assassinate me at a distance of three kilometers?" Yegorov touched his head and said, "Indeed, I thought she was just good at shooting, a talent like those female snipers."

Wang Zhong: "If she hadn't escorted my plane back home, it would have been sent to the bottom of the inland sea by Proson's twin-engine heavy fighter."

Yegorov immediately showed respect to Emilia: "That's amazing. On behalf of the entire army, I thank you, Pilot Davarich."

"I should do it," Emilia smiled.

At this time, Pavlov came over with an order and handed it to Yegorov: "This is your mission. We have a salient on the front line, which is currently surrounded by the enemy on three sides. We call it the Nameless Hill. The 393rd Marine Infantry Brigade and the 225th Division's Annihilation Battalion took over the defense the night before yesterday and have been fighting the enemy for a day.

"Go and replace them. Also, the enemy should be running out of ammunition now. See if you can launch a small-scale counterattack to ease the situation around the nameless hill."

Yegorov flipped through the orders and stopped at the map page attached to the order. He stared at it for a few seconds and said, "Okay, I'll go to the place to investigate in person. Once I have an idea, I'll launch a counterattack and ask the front for artillery support."

Wang Zhong: "As long as you want, there will be enough artillery fire. We have more artillery shells than the Allies have sent us. I need you to hold on to the nameless heights for at least two days."

Yegorov stood at attention and saluted: "I guarantee to complete the mission!"

After saying that, he suddenly laughed: "It seems like we are back to last year, when the war just started. This time we have to hold out for even longer."

Wang Zhong also smiled: "Yes, we held on under my command last year - well, we were able to hold on mainly because of the timely arrival of the KV tanks. Now you have to hold on for a longer time, and there are no KV tanks."

"I have a vortex." Yegorov was very confident. "This thing is much more reliable than the KV heavy tank. It's a good thing made by you, General. Then I'm leaving!"

"Wait a minute!" Wang Zhong called him, "Eat your meal first. I'll go eat with you."

He stood up, patted Yegorov on the shoulder, and walked out.

Pavlov: "If anything goes wrong, I'll send someone to the canteen to call you."

Yegorov followed Wang Zhong out and asked as he walked, "Is this the last meal before execution?"

Wang Zhong: "Don't be such a pessimist. But you're right, this time is different from the past. Maybe this is the last hot meal you'll ever have."

Yegorov: "Why are you so sentimental all of a sudden? Are you still the Rokossov who came back from hell?"

Wang Zhong: "I'm just inviting you guys to dinner, why are you so distracted?"

Yegorov laughed and changed the subject: "I heard that your Seris is an excellent cook?"

Wang Zhong: “Yes, everyone who has eaten it says it’s delicious.”

At this time, the two men walked to the cafeteria next to the headquarters. The burly cook Seris was busy. He looked up when he heard the voice and laughed when he saw Wang Zhong: "Good morning!"

Wang Zhong also replied in Cantonese that he had just learned: "Good morning, what do you want to eat today?"

The cook replied, "I made something different today! But it will definitely suit the taste of the Ants!"

Wang Zhong could understand it directly, but he still pretended not to understand and looked at the translator.

The translator gave the answer directly: "Today we are eating northern Seres cuisine, pork stewed with vermicelli."

The cook used a large spoon to scoop a spoonful directly from the pot - from the bucket.

Wang Zhong swallowed.

And Yegorov has already started rubbing his hands: "Oh, this looks so good, and it smells so good! It reminds me of the stew from home! What is that transparent thing?"

Wang Zhong: "Vermicelli, a kind of... uh, pasta from Seris, should be considered pasta."

Yegorov picked up the empty bowl on the table and said, "Fill it up for me. Something this delicious can't be bad. Come on, fill it up!"

Wang Zhong looked at Yegorov's excitement and asked the cook, "How much have you made? Is it enough for the whole regiment?"

The cook looked at the translator, and when the translator finished speaking, he immediately looked troubled: "This... is too difficult. The main reason is that there are not enough seasonings. There is enough pork - oh, and there is not enough vermicelli."

While Wang Zhong pretended to wait for the translation, Yegorov was already slurping the food, just like a bear eating honey.

Yakov also came over: "This... looks really delicious, can I have a bowl too?"

"Come on!" Yegorov pointed at the bucket, "It's such a big bucket, I can't finish it!"

Do you still want to finish eating?

Wang Zhong suppressed his desire to complain and watched the two Ant men, one fat and one thin, eating heartily.

(End of this chapter)