artillery arc

Chapter 526 Fathers

October 10, 26, Army Group Center Headquarters.

"Do you think only your army group is under attack?" Marshal von Borg, commander of the Central Army Group, said to General Walter Mendel of the Ninth Army on the other end of the phone, holding the receiver, "The entire front, I mean the entire front is under attack. All the armies told me that the Ants have made a breakthrough!"

Mendel shouted over there, "But not all breakthroughs are fatal! They attack every section indiscriminately, and start sending troops in as soon as they make a breakthrough. A large number of troops rushing in can't cause much damage at all!"

Marshal von Borg shook his head: "No, you think it is not a big threat to you because you have nearly 300,000 people. You are the strongest in the entire Central Army Group. Look at those armies with only tens of thousands of people. The Ante's breakthrough troops appeared less than five kilometers away from the army headquarters!

"If you are calling me to ask for reinforcements, I have no intention of doing so. I have already sent the last of my reserve forces to those crumbling armies.

"They called me to complain a long time ago. You are the last one, understand? The last one!"

Walter Mendel: "What if I get shot through?"

"Now that you've been penetrated, Army Group Center will collapse. What's the point of pursuing Plan Blue?" Marshal von Borg picked up the waffle on the table, dipped it in the cream, but didn't rush to put it in his mouth.

Mendel: "So we have no reinforcements?"

"At least not until the High Command gives us new troops. The High Command should still have several divisions of troops on the Eastern Front. If there is another emergency, they can only transfer troops from the country or other fronts, which will take at least several days."

Marshal von Borg paused, as if to allow Admiral Mendel to feel for himself what this meant.

When the time was almost up, he continued, "You have to find a way to deal with the Ants' attack. You have two armored corps, two! The Sixth Army, which is the main force of the Blue Plan, has only two armored corps. Drive the Ants back!"

After saying this, Marshal von Borg hung up the phone.

When he put down the receiver, the marshal sighed deeply: "I hope my momentum just now can fool Admiral Mendel."

"Of course." The adjutant echoed, "I thought you were really angry."

Von Borg didn't answer. He finished the waffle he had just made, stood up, put his hands in his pockets, walked to the map, and stared at it for a long time.

"I suddenly feel a little worried," he turned to look at his adjutant and the army group's chief of staff, "What if we are breached at too many points and our entire line collapses? This possibility exists, doesn't it?"

Adjutant: "How is that possible? Such tactics have never been used to cause a complete collapse in military history. The Ants are just wasting their manpower. Their only successful attack so far was after they exhausted our supplies first.

"And now we have sufficient supplies, because it is expected that the mud may affect the supply, and each army group has stockpiled supplies in advance. The Ants are bound to get nothing."

Marshal von Borg put his hands behind his back, stared at the map for a few seconds, and shook his head: "We still have to prepare for the worst. Chief of Staff, organize the staff to estimate how many ANT troops we have been attacked by. The assessment markings can be appropriately relaxed to exaggerate the urgency of the situation."

The Chief of Staff shook his head: "The reports we have received must have been exaggerated. The command center below must also want to exaggerate the situation and get more reinforcements."

Marshal von Borg waved his hand and said, "I am the commander of Army Group Center. My responsibility is to ensure that my Army Group does not fall into danger and to ensure that the current front is under control. So asking the High Command for more troops is just fulfilling my duty. Without troops, there is no way to guarantee the front. Do you understand?"

The Chief of Staff nodded: "I understand. I will make an assessment right away."

Marshal von Borg: "I'm going to take a nap. I hope you'll have finished your assessment and drafted a telegram to the High Command by the time I wake up. I want to see the first draft of the telegram. So, gentlemen, thank you for your hard work, and... good night."

Von Borg checked the time and changed his tone: "Good morning."

----

"Good morning." General Gorky yawned as he entered the Western Front headquarters. "How has the progress been so far?"

Chief of Staff: "They were all small-scale breakthroughs. There were only five breakthrough points of great value along the entire front."

General Gorky: "The second echelon advances towards these five breakthrough points!"

"We're already working on it, but because we've spread the second echelon across the entire front and it's a muddy period right now, I think it's going to be difficult to quickly form a decisive advantage at the five breakthrough points." The chief of staff said as he gestured on the map with a map stick.

No one knew where General Gorky's offensive plan would achieve a breakthrough. In order to have troops quickly follow up if a breakthrough was achieved anywhere, the second echelon of the combat plan was evenly distributed throughout the entire front, and the third echelon of troops was concentrated in several places where progress was expected.

The result is that the second echelon can be deployed immediately, but only in a small amount. It cannot gain an overwhelming advantage all at once like a flood breaking through a gap in a dam.

General Gorky frowned: "The mud is starting to block us."

Chief of Staff: "It has always affected everyone indiscriminately, but we are used to the mud, and the shorter supply lines give us an advantage."

General Gorky did not answer, but stared at the map for several dozen seconds, then suddenly pointed to Shostka and said, "Can tanks pass through this landing site north of Shostka?"

Chief of Staff: "No, we don't have so many heavy ferries and pontoon bridges. The heavy pontoon bridges supported by the United States are now in the St. Andrews Front and the Abavakhan Front, but we don't." General Gorky: "Then have you sent them anti-tank weapons?"

"Send some ZIS3 anti-tank guns, but no 85 anti-aircraft guns."

General Gorky: "Send anti-tank guns over there immediately. If the Prosens want to counterattack, they will use armored units, at least armored grenadiers. They can't do without anti-tank firepower.

"What about our air force? Can we airdrop some light anti-tank guns?"

The chief of staff looked outside and said, "With this kind of rain, I don't think the air force can be deployed. Even if they force it to be deployed, we can't see where to drop the weapons."

General Gorky sighed: "Then our soldiers can only face the enemy's tanks with their flesh and blood."

----

October 10, 26, Plossen Sixth Army Headquarters.

Army Group Commander Wilhelm von Friedrich asked over the radio receiver: "What do you mean the enemy's tank army has disappeared?"

"General, that's what happened. According to the prisoners' confessions, the brigade we wiped out belonged to the 51th Brigade of the 124st Ant Tank Army. This army should have had several tank brigades, but we can't find them now," said Joset, commander of the th Armored Division of the Asgard Knights, which participated in the counterattack.

Admiral Frederick was about to speak when his chief of staff reminded him, "These tank brigades are destroying our artillery positions and supply lines. Several artillery regiments have lost contact, and before they lost contact, they said they were attacked by tanks."

General Wilhelm von Frederick immediately shouted into the microphone: "They are attacking our artillery positions. Find these brigades and destroy them!"

Division Commander Josette: "General, I have a better suggestion. Let's launch an attack on the beachhead and cut off their supply lines, so that the tank troops will have to go back to rescue them."

Admiral Frederick thought about it and said with a smile, "Okay, let's do it."

----

Brigade command vehicle of the 51rd Tank Brigade of the 123st Tank Army.

The brigade chief of staff, Pao, climbed onto the command vehicle and said to the brigade commander, "We have not been able to contact the military headquarters for seven hours. The troops are now seriously depleted of ammunition. Do you think we should return to the beach to resupply?"

Brigade Commander: "No, our order is to attack, keep attacking, all the way back to our positions on the outskirts of Abawahan. When the rest is over, the whole brigade will continue to move forward!"

Chief of Staff: "It's still quite far away, and before reaching our position, they will encounter the enemy's attacking force, right? Without ammunition..."

Brigade Commander: "Look at the river next to you!"

The chief of staff turned his head and looked at the Valdai River, where a large number of ships were floating downstream.

Brigade Commander: "If the pontoon bridge is still there, the ship can't land, and there will be no supplies back on the beach. Let's keep moving forward! Pour the last shells on the Plossom people!"

The chief of staff stood on the hood of the tank, looking at the Valdai River and the ships on the river, biting his lips lightly.

He said: "At the beginning of this year, when General Rokossov drove the enemy away from Yeburg, my wife insisted on having a child with me. She said that she didn't want a child before because she didn't want him to be a slave. The due date is just a few days away."

The brigade commander also looked at the Valdai River and said: "I have two daughters. The younger one is only three years old this year. I hope my stepfather can take good care of them."

"Yes." The chief of staff agreed, "I hope my stepfather can take good care of them. By the way, Admiral Rokossov's wife seems to have just given birth not long ago, and she seems to be on her way to the front line."

"I heard that this might be the reason why the general stopped jumping on the tank and charging on the front line."

"It would be a bit inappropriate for the front commander to jump on the tank and charge into the battle himself," the chief of staff said with a smile.

"really."

The two laughed for a while, and then fell silent at the same time.

A few seconds later, the chief of staff pointed to the telecommunications car and said, "I'm going back to guard the radio."

"Go ahead, tell me as soon as there's any news from the military!"

"Don't worry." The chief of staff waved his hand and got into the open door of the telecommunications vehicle.

(End of this chapter)