artillery arc

Chapter 551: One Gains, the Other Loses (Update 29/81)

At 11 hours on November 4, at the No. 2031 beachhead, the Ant Army position.

A lieutenant colonel found Nellie and said, "Our troops will bombard the enemy's artillery positions tonight, so the transportation will not be disrupted. You should go to the back to recover from your injuries."

Nellie asked, "Was it General Rokossov's order?"

"No," the lieutenant colonel shook his head, "but the front headquarters asked about your situation again today. It's obvious that the commander cares about you...you."

"He wouldn't give such an order, don't you know? He's already charging at the front. The Moravians captured today all said they envied us for being able to fight under a general who would personally charge into the front." Nellie said calmly, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay here until the battle is won."

The lieutenant colonel wanted to say something but was interrupted by the sound of artillery fire from the opposite bank.

Of course, you couldn't see the east coast artillery firing from the west coast, but everyone could clearly hear the whistling in the sky.

The lieutenant colonel looked at the east bank, then at the flickering west bank, and then returned to the original topic: "You'd better cross the river. In the current situation, the beachhead cannot be lost. Everyone knows it. Can we still let the Moravians take our position away? No way!"

Nellie: "I don't like to give up halfway. If you say so, I won't be in danger if I stay here. Can I still be killed by the Moravians?"

The lieutenant colonel was silent.

At this time, the first wave of boats crossing the river had already reached the shore. The anxious people jumped directly into the water and waded across, with the lower half of their coats wet.

A major saw the officers coming over here and came over and saluted the lieutenant colonel: "You have worked hard. We are here to relieve you."

The lieutenant colonel nodded: "Have a good rest. How is the situation on the other side?"

The major took off his wet coat and put it by the fire to dry while answering: "The counterattack is expected to be soon. The other side is full of troops. We came here first just to prevent losing the beach. Everyone says that we should wait for the Valdai River to freeze before we can counterattack."

Nellie: "Are there a lot of troops on the other side?"

"Yes, there are countless numbers. Some say there are already one million of them. There are also many cannons and rocket launchers. Just listen to the sound of the cannons. They sound like overwhelming waves across the river."

After saying that, everyone looked towards the east bank. Indeed, even across the wide Valdai River, they could still feel the power of the cannons.

The lieutenant colonel sighed: "It's finally over, let's give the enemy a final quick death!"

Nellie said nothing, just looked at the lights flickering on the western horizon.

----

Plossen Sixth Army Headquarters.

The army chief of staff put down the receiver with a serious look on his face: "We can't contact the artillery positions near the enemy landing site. We can't use artillery fire to disrupt the enemy's transportation today."

Admiral Frederick: "Where are my reinforcements?"

"An armored corps is on its way," replied the chief of staff.

Admiral Frederick suddenly became emotional: "They are not the Moravian Armored Corps, right? They are pure Prosen people, right?"

"Yes."

After receiving a positive answer, the Admiral sighed and said, "The Moravians, with equipment similar to ours - or even better - fought in a mess. They can do nothing but increase our logistical pressure!"

The staff officers in the room looked at each other.

Admiral Frederick stood up, put his hands behind his back and walked to the map. He stared at the map for several seconds and said, "Maybe we should retreat. Continuing to fight is just a waste of the lives of Proson's soldiers."

Chief of Staff: "We can send a telegram to Army Group B headquarters and copy the High Command."

Admiral Frederick thought for a few seconds and made up his mind: "Let's do this. You draft the message yourself. Use a softer tone and try to describe the situation we are facing."

"Yes."

----

At the same time, at the frontline, at the 581st Infantry Regiment Headquarters in Plosson, Major Richard sighed, "We probably can't take this city."

The only remaining staff officer pursed his lips and said, "Captain, this is not good for morale..."

"Do you think the soldiers don't know? When we first entered the city, the Ants were just a bunch of rabble who could only use dark corners to sneak attack us. As long as they were exposed before the attack, they would not cause too many casualties to us. A few of us can suppress a building controlled by an entire squad of Ants!
"But now, the surviving Ante soldiers are all experienced fighters. They can do everything our soldiers can do. They have already...grown into veterans."

Major Richard looked at the night sky with light snow outside and said, "The weather is getting colder and colder. I heard that there is already a thin layer of ice on the Valdai River. The terrible memory of last winter has given me nightmares these days."

Staff Officer: "We have winter clothes this time."

"Yes, there are winter clothes, and the weapons are also lubricated with anti-cold oil as mentioned by the military industry department." Major Richard paused and asked, "Do you know how many guns have been frozen in the past few days and have to be heated to thaw?"

The staff officer remained silent.

At this time, the major's orderly came in with a can of food: "Major, the can is heated up, have some broth."

Richard: "All we have is canned food, dry food, and pickled vegetables looted from the Ants. Ammunition is also starting to run low. What will happen to the morale of the troops? We have to occupy the city and end the war. Hum."

Staff Officer: "The higher-ups will figure out a solution."

"Yes, we'll find a way." Major Richard took the can, scooped a spoonful of broth into his mouth, and chewed the diced meat that was not cooked through at all.

After eating, he cursed: "This is just pig food, pig food, do you understand?"

————Wang Zhong raised the ham in his hand and said, "Cheers to Emilia's safe survival!"

Emilia: "Don't make it sound like I've been in some danger! It's still too early for the Prosen to shoot me down."

"Didn't you experience any danger? Then let's toast to Emilia for shooting down another enemy plane!" Wang Zhong changed his toast temporarily.

Emilia: "You just want to have a toast, right? You Ante drunkards!"

Wang Zhong laughed.

Pavlov finished the ham on his plate and handed it to the girl from the cooking team: "Give me some more."

Wang Zhong: "Can all the soldiers have hot meals today?"

The girl from the cooking team replied, "We have tried our best to deliver hot meals to the front line, but it seems that some troops have been broken up into small groups. I don't know what this term means."

This girl looks like she has only finished tenth grade and is ready to get married.

Wang Zhong: "It means that an entire army is disbanded into countless combat teams, scattered in the city like stars in the sky. You know the stars in the sky, right?"

"I know that. My husband used to make wreaths for me with it."

Wang Zhong: "Oh? Where is he now?"

"Missing in Fort St. Andrew," the girl said calmly.

Silence fell.

Fortunately, at this time a major general led his men into the shaft where the headquarters was located. He saw Wang Zhong at a glance, saluted and shouted: "Report! Leonid Alexandrovich, commander of the 1st Heavy Breakthrough Artillery Division, reports to you, Rokosov Davarich."

Wang Zhong raised his head and glanced at the major general: "How heavy is your heavy breakthrough artillery division?"

"We have 200 cannons over 200 mm and 152 200 mm cannons!" said Major General Leonid Alexandrovich proudly.

Wang Zhong: "Not bad, Pavlov, add them to our firepower plan. When the counterattack begins, we must wipe out the enemy's positions and blow up all the trenches!"

"Leave it to me." Pavlov put down the ham and stood up, rubbed the oil on his hands directly on his coat, and made a "come" gesture to Leonid Alexandrovich.

The major general hurried over: "You go ahead."

Pavlov: "This is our current firepower plan. My staff will include you in it. I guess you will be deployed here, and the supplies will go from Mamayev Station..."

Wang Zhong took a big sip of the hot soup.

At this time, a soldier from the Guards came in and reported: "General, it's snowing."

Wang Zhong: "Isn't it snowing all the time?"

"Heavy snow, General, you will know when you come out and see!"

As soon as he finished speaking, cold wind poured in through the vertical shaft, making Wang Zhong shiver - the stove and hot soup were right next to him!

He quickly buttoned up his jacket, pulled up his coat, and put on his scarf.

He paused, twirling his scarf with his fingers.

This is Yakov's scarf, which is said to be knitted by his wife.

Wang Zhong gritted his teeth, loosened his scarf, turned around and said to the guard: "Let's go and see how heavy the snow is!"

Soon, he was out of the tunnel gate and standing in the night of Abawahan.

The north wind blew heavy snow down.

The wind blowing in his face felt like a blade scraping his face.

There seemed to be hail in the snow, which made crackling sounds when falling to the ground.

Wang Zhong laughed loudly at the heavy snow: "Great! Great! It would be best if we just keep snowing like this and completely flood the enemy's supply lines!"

Pavlov also followed him out of the tunnel and frowned at the heavy snow. "With such heavy snow, we may have to mobilize the churches along the way to shovel the snow to ensure the train can pass through."

Wang Zhong: "Isn't this a good thing? The enemy can't mobilize so many workers to shovel snow, and they don't have railways. If the snow is heavy enough, even tanks can't move!
"Mother Ant finally showed the enemy what she can do!"

Popov also came out of the tunnel. As soon as he came out, he shrank his neck: "Oh my god, it's too cold. Maybe this winter will be colder than last year!"

Wang Zhong: "Isn't that a good thing? We have quite a few people, but they live in the extremely cold permafrost of the Far East. They are definitely more adaptable to the harsh winter than the Prosen people."

Pavlov: "We still have Kuba's fuel oil, which we can burn for heating, but they can only burn tank oil and gasoline."

As if in response to Pavlov's words, a gust of north wind came howling, blowing up all the snow on the ground that was almost five centimeters thick, and the entire tunnel was filled with white fog.

For a moment, Wang Zhong thought he had arrived at some sacred mountain and the mist was the prelude to the appearance of the gods.

But the biting cold kept him awake.

He whispered, "Welcome, General Dong!"

(End of this chapter)