artillery arc

Chapter 522 Raging Waves
In the early morning of October 10, on the west bank of the Valdai River, at the position of the 25th Artillery Regiment in Plossen.

This is a new position. The old position of the 240th Artillery Regiment was somehow discovered by the Ants two days ago, so they launched a round of artillery fire from the other side of the river. Six of the artillery regiment's 12 150mm heavy artillery were destroyed, and a large number of artillery shells were also lost.

The good news is that most of the personnel were in anti-artillery shelters at the time, so there were not many casualties.

The artillery regiment's trailer truck was also transporting artillery shells, but on the day of the bombardment it was confined to the road by mud and thus escaped.

After the bombardment, the artillerymen used manpower to push the remaining cannons to new positions and camouflaged them overnight.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook, the commander of the 240th Artillery Regiment, couldn't understand why his position was suddenly found when it was so well camouflaged and Ant's reconnaissance plane had failed to detect it after several flights.

What's even more bizarre is that on that day, all the artillery positions and observation posts deployed on the west bank of the Valdaicio River were bombarded from the opposite bank, causing the Prossen artillery to suspend its control of the Valdaicio River for two days.

The Ants took advantage of this opportunity to establish a landing site on the west bank and are said to have built a pontoon bridge.

Yesterday at midnight, a rear combat battalion arrived at the position of the 240th Regiment. They said that they were infantry units that were transferred overnight by the Sixth Army to prevent the Ants from launching a ground attack on the artillery positions.

The rear division - or the National Guard Division - was very poorly equipped. A battalion might only have ten submachine guns, and not every squad had a machine gun.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook took one look and knew that these "infantrymen" were no match for Ant's regular army - maybe they could just fight against guerrillas.

If they encountered the cloaked Ant Guards, such an army would most likely be defeated at the first blow.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook felt that the only thing that could save his troops now was the order to retreat.

Ant's landing site was less than fifteen kilometers away from his position, so even the infantry on foot should have arrived.

What is the Army Group Headquarters doing?

Because of anxiety, Lieutenant Colonel Hook suffered from insomnia yesterday. He only managed to get some sleep at dawn today. As soon as the light came through the clouds, he left the bunker and patrolled the position.

The remaining six heavy artillery pieces were arranged on the position, covered with hastily erected camouflage nets. The artillerymen nearby were still digging anti-gun pits. The excavated soil had not yet been processed and was piled up like a small hill. After being soaked by the rain, it looked like a large pile of excrement.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook stopped and asked his men who were digging the pit, "What time did you change shifts this morning?"

"Report to the regiment commander, the shift has not changed." The leading sergeant stopped, and the engineer shovel was stuck in the ground with both hands leaning on it. "Everyone is working. After all, the anti-artillery holes are used to protect our own lives. Who knows when the Ants will bombard again. The enemy commander is that Rokossov, and he likes to bombard suddenly."

Lieutenant Colonel Hook was about to answer, but suddenly stopped and looked into the distance in confusion.

"Captain?" the sergeant asked doubtfully.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook: "Shh, did you hear that? It sounds like a tank engine."

The sergeant stopped, listened for a few seconds, turned around and shouted to his men digging the pit: "Stop digging, be quiet!"

The sounds of shovels digging and small talk immediately faded away, and the roar of tank engines became apparent.

And it's getting bigger.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook immediately shouted: "Enemy tanks are approaching! Combat alert! Enemy tanks are approaching!"

The sergeants and artillerymen nearby also started shouting, and soon the entire position was filled with shouts of "Ah Lao".

Because the Ants were right in front of them, Lieutenant Colonel Hooker and other Plosson officers took it for granted that there would be no more shelling, so they ordered all the troops into position.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook also ran to the front-line observation post, wanting to see the enemy's origins as soon as possible.

He pushed away the observer in front of the gunner's telescope and put his eyes on the eyepiece.

He saw a column of enemy tanks, with four or five infantrymen sitting on each tank, making the tanks' outlines appear larger.

As an artillery officer, Hook immediately determined the distance of the tank through the readings of the gun scope: three kilometers more!

Hook stared at the approaching tank troops.

When they reached two kilometers, the Ante infantry jumped out of their vehicles and followed the tanks.

Apparently, the enemy had long known that the new position of the 240th Artillery Regiment was here. This puzzled Hooker - how did they know? We had clearly been camouflaging overnight.

No, even if we discovered it yesterday, it would be too late to arrange troops to attack.

too weird.

Just as he was wondering, a whistling sound was heard from the sky.

Damn, there's even shelling!

Lieutenant Colonel Hook yelled, "Take cover!"

Before he could finish his words, the shells fell and the ground began to shake.

The bombardment was very brief. With his experience as an artillery officer, Hooker estimated that only about 20 heavy artillery shells and several 76mm high-explosive shells had been dropped. He got up, patted the dirt off his body, and shouted, "Hold on! Report casualties!"

Then he heard someone shouting, "Captain! The guard division's men have escaped!"

"what?"

Hook rushed out of the observation post and saw a large number of soldiers from the Guard Division rushing out of the trenches and running back without looking back.

He even saw some artillerymen running along with the guards.

The lieutenant colonel rushed out of the trench, grabbed a guard and threw him back into the trench: "You are crazy! You are more likely to be hit by bullets if you run like this! You have a higher chance of survival if you hide in the trench!"

At this time, Ant's tank opened fire. Tracer bullets swept across the trenches, and some bullets that were fired at a lower level hit the soil that had not been cleaned in time, making a whooshing sound.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook suddenly stopped, and blood flowed from his hat, covering half of his eyes and nose, then his mouth, and finally dripping from his chin, hitting the deserter's face.

The deserter screamed, pushed Colonel Hook away, rushed out of the trench, and ran backwards. However, he was caught up by tracer bullets. Seven or eight bloody flowers appeared on his back. He fell forward to the ground and slid forward a short distance.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook leaned against the back wall of the trench, his body sliding down little by little, and finally lying on his side in the trench.

The sound of the tank engine became louder and louder. Finally, the wide tracks of the T34 crossed the trench. Mud kept falling and stuck to Lieutenant Colonel Hook's face.

The tanks crossed the trenches and rushed towards the heavy artillery on the position, broke through the hastily built breastwork, and hit the gun barrel, slowly but steadily deforming the gun mount, with the long gun barrel pointing to the sky.

After confirming that the cannon was destroyed, the tank reversed two meters and then went around it.

At this time, the Ante soldier slid into the trench and said in Ante: "Damn, why is this trench so shallow? Will the Prosen people also deal with errands like this?"

The officer who slid in a step later shouted, "The Plossons are also human beings. Judging from the traces we saw, they just moved here from their old positions yesterday and didn't have time to dig deeper. See if there are any documents or guys who look like high-ranking officials. Maybe we can find the enemy's deployment map! We need the enemy's deployment map!"

It turned out that the Ants were following the traces left by the Proson troops when they relocated their positions.

Although Lieutenant Colonel Hook was lying next to him, he could no longer hear the answer.

----

Headquarters of the Sixth Army of the Plossom Army.

Commander General Wilhelm von Frederick frowned as he looked at the new red arrow that appeared on the map.

The chief of staff said nearby: "This is Rokossov's response. He is determined to cut off our logistics."

Admiral Frederick shook his head. "Not necessarily. Maybe he just wants to eliminate the threat on the west bank and restore shipping. The Valdai River will be open to navigation for one month, less than one month.

"He wanted to send as many reinforcements as possible to Abavahan by ship."

Admiral Frederick turned his gaze to the large gray urban area on the far right side of the map.

"We are less than 50 kilometers away from the coastline. We can soon drink from the Inland Sea like we did from the Atlantic Ocean last year. Although sea water is not drinkable."

The staff officers around laughed in cooperation.

"I'm not kidding!" Admiral Frederick shouted, "This is our final test, and also the final test of the Empire! Once we pass it, no one in the entire Europa will be able to stop the Empire. We will accomplish the feat that the conquerors of the past failed to accomplish."

Frederick turned his head and looked at everyone: "The final trial! Do you understand? The trial!"

At this time, a communications soldier ran into the headquarters with a serious expression and handed a writing board to the army chief of staff.

The chief of staff lowered his head and was about to read it when Frederick strode over, took the writing board, and read out the contents: "The Central Army Group was heavily bombarded by the enemy, and the enemy launched an attack on the entire front."

Frederick frowned. "Attack now? It's hard not to suspect that this is a feint by the enemy's Western Front to relieve the pressure in the Abavahan direction."

Chief of Staff: "Will this... reduce the number of troops that will be sent to us later?"

"Impossible! His Majesty the Emperor knows what is important and what is not. So we just need to trust His Majesty. What we need to deal with now is Rokossov's counterattack!"

Frederick picked up the map stick and slapped the new red arrow.

"Since the Ants are using armored forces to counterattack, we should use armored forces to respond! The 41st Armored Corps should have an armored division that has not moved?"

"Yes, the 5th Asgard Knights Armored Division under the 41st Armored Corps is currently serving as the army reserve and has no combat operations." The chief of staff reported immediately.

Frederick: "Let them fight back! Now, immediately."

The chief of staff looked embarrassed. "General, mud is good for Ant's wide tracks. Our Type 3 and Type 4 are not easy to move in this mud. I suggest that you use the anti-aircraft artillery to set up a blocking line here."

Frederick: "The tanks can't move, so how can the anti-aircraft artillery trucks move? How is that possible! The trucks certainly can't move. Let the tanks fight back! Destroy the armored spearheads of the Ants!"

(End of this chapter)