artillery arc

Chapter 552 In the Snowstorm

Troop train No. 532 was trapped in heavy snow.

The train conductor Nikolai had to order the soldiers on the train to get off and shovel the snow to move forward.

However, the soldiers on the train only had engineer shovels and no special equipment for shoveling snow, so progress was very slow and the train could only move forward slowly at the speed of a human walking.

Nikolai was so anxious that he went to shovel the snow himself, but the snow was too heavy. As soon as he shoveled out a small space, several centimeters of new snow fell on it.

Seeing that the train was about to be buried by the heavy snow, a soldier waded through the snow to report: "Conductor, there are people coming from the back, a lot of people!"

"What? The Prosen people are crossing the river to attack?" Nikolai asked nervously.

"No, look!" The messenger turned around and pointed behind him.

Nikolai looked over and saw a large group of people walking towards him in the wind and snow, holding flags.

Those people soon came up to them, and Nikolai saw clearly that what they were holding were not weapons, but various snow-shoveling tools.

"Who are you?" Nikolai asked loudly.

"Comrade conductor, we are students from a nearby school. The church has organized us to shovel snow!" shouted the young man in the lead.

Nikolai nodded and looked at the flag they were holding: "Why are you carrying a red flag?"

"Because we heard that the most courageous troops in combat will be awarded red flags. We are not old enough to go to the battlefield, but we can fly the red flags first! We dyed them ourselves!" The young man smiled fearlessly in the snowstorm.

Nikolai looked at the young faces, then at the red flag, and shook his head: "You should go back. This kind of heavy snow is very dangerous!"

"How could that be more dangerous than a battlefield?"

The soldier who was shoveling snow nearby laughed, "That's indeed the truth, Train Master Davalishi, let them do it, and we'll get to the assembly point earlier."

Nikolai took a deep breath, and when he exhaled, he had already made a decision. He waved his hand and said, "Go, kids!"

The leading boy turned around and said, "Go! Dig out the train!"

All the boys - no, girls too, all brandishing tools and rushing towards the train.

Nikolai stared at them for a few seconds, then walked along the railway towards the rear of the train. Along the way he saw many red flags with words written on them:
"Youth Commando of the Tenth Middle School."

"Badayev Village Youth Pioneer Team."

"Kalinka Youth Rescue Team."

……

Suddenly, no one knew who started it, but the young people began to sing: "Listen to the roar of the wind and snow, watch the shooting stars flying~"

"My heart is calling me to go to the turbulent distance~"

----

At the same time, Plossen's 420th Motor Vehicle Regiment.

The regimental commander, Major Hansen, almost didn't hear someone knocking on the car door. He opened the door of the command vehicle and saw a guy outside who was almost turning into a snowman. He had to work hard to recognize that he was the battalion commander by his military rank.

"We can't move!" the battalion commander shouted, "We can't move at all! And if the snow keeps falling, we'll be in danger of being buried! We should find a house nearby to take shelter!"

Major Hansen looked up at the sky and sighed, "It's dangerous to march in the snow at this time. Let's wait on the truck until the snow and wind pass. Use the radio to ask the military station if there is anyone who can come to rescue us."

As soon as he finished speaking, the radio operator in the command vehicle said, "It's no use. The radio can't reach anyone right now. It may be frozen, or the ionosphere may be in turmoil due to the snowstorm. Anyway, no one can be called."

Major Hansen cursed, "Don't you know what to do? Keep calling! Until someone is called!"

----

Plossen Sixth Army Headquarters.

Admiral Frederick looked at the creaking window. There was a layer of fog on the window and he couldn't see outside at all. However, through the creaking sound, he could still feel the biting north wind outside.

"General Dong." The admiral sneered, "You chose to come at this time. You really know how to pick the time."

His chief of staff was on the phone and just finished talking. He put down the receiver and looked over: "General, the transport team that set out this morning has not yet reached the next stop. Our transportation line is completely paralyzed. This is much more deadly than mud.

"But the good news is that the situation on the enemy's side, the Ants, is not much better. The railway has to be shut down in this snowstorm."

The admiral was silent, staring at the white window, not knowing what he was thinking.

The chief of staff waited for a moment and asked, "General?"

"Ah? Oh, yes, this is the only good news. They should have more troops than us, and they will suffer more than us if their supplies are cut off."

----

East bank, Badayev village.

The door of the Melekhov family was knocked roughly. Old Melekhov opened the door cursing, "What's the matter? It's still not quiet in this weather! Hmm? What's the matter, parish priest?"

The priest said seriously: "The railway line has been blocked by the blizzard. Uncle Melekhov, you have experience in transporting goods in the snow. We need to organize a transport team. Can you ..."

Melekhov looked at the sky and said, "Many people will die in this kind of weather, Your Excellency."

“We priests will also participate in the transportation.”

Uncle Melekhov sighed, "What else can I say? Old woman! Bring me my coat!" "Coat? What are you going to do? Are you going out in this weather?" Uncle Melekho's wife came out cursing, and her face changed immediately when she saw the parish priest, "Hey, priest, come in and sit down."

The parish priest shook his head and said, "No, the young men at the front are still waiting for food. We need to send meat and food up there. Your three sons may also be waiting for food at the front."

"Is that so? Let us go, old man. He is very familiar with snowstorms! What are you doing, old man? Do you want the parish priest to kneel down and beg you?"

"My coat!" cried old Melekhov angrily. "I just called out 'my coat!'

"Okay, okay, coat, coat, I'll get it for you right away!"

Soon, the coat and the pipe were delivered to the old man.

While putting on his coat with the help of his wife, the old man said to the priest: "The old man next door is a Tatar. He is also familiar with blizzards. If we go together, we will definitely reduce a lot of casualties!"

"Yes, he has arrived at the church! I came to invite you specially!"

"Okay, let's go!"

Then the old man, fully equipped, and the parish priest disappeared into the blizzard.

The old lady stood at the door and stared in the direction they left for a long time.

----

On November 11, the snowstorm continued.

All the windows of the headquarters support point of the 581st Infantry Regiment of Plossen had been sealed, leaving only the firing holes for the machine guns.

This shooting hole was also blocked with the dead soldier's coat. If this was not done, the cold wind coming in through this hole would freeze everyone in the entire support point to death.

Major Richard, the acting regiment commander, and several soldiers huddled together around a small stove for making coffee, shivering.

Someone made up his mind and picked up the thermometer at his feet, then immediately started cursing: "Twenty-seven degrees below zero? And there's a fire!"

Major Richard sighed, and the water vapor he exhaled turned into ice chips, some of which hung on his beard that he hadn't shaved for several days - shaving in this weather was terrible, and the razor was terribly cold. It would definitely shake the moment it touched the skin, and then cut his face.

Major Richard: "Be content, you took the thermometer away from the fire, it froze and then exploded."

"Will it explode?" The man holding the thermometer looked surprised.

"Maybe. I don't know. I've never seen a mercury thermometer freeze." Major Richard shrugged. "You can try it. It's like a scientific experiment."

At this time, the machine gunner came over and asked: "Do you have any extra things to burn? The fire under the machine gun is almost out. I'm afraid the machine gun will freeze. It will be terrible if the enemy attacks."

"Even if they are the Ants, they won't attack in such horrible weather, right?"

Someone muttered.

Then, as if in response to this sentence, Bobosha's voice was heard outside.

Major Richard shouted, "Battle alert! Get into position! Open the gun port!"

The machine gunner who had just come to borrow fuel ran back to his position like crazy, and his assistant gunner had already pulled out the coat that was blocking the firing hole.

A bitter cold wind immediately blew into the room, causing the flames on the small stove to dance wildly, as if they would go out at any moment.

Major Richard also rushed to his own observation port and tried to pull out the thing that was blocking it, but he couldn't pull it open after several attempts. It was obviously frozen, and he might have spilled some water on it while drinking.

He could only squeeze past the soldiers next to him and look out through the shooting hole.

No Ants were seen in the heavy snow.

But the sound of the PPSh was still ringing, and several guns joined the "concert".

“Perhaps the enemy is just firing into the air for the sole purpose of unsettling us.” The last remaining staff officer in the regiment offered his professional insight.

"I don't know." Major Richard shook his head. "Well, seal all the holes, or we'll freeze to death before the enemy attacks. Seal them up!"

When everyone was trying to block the hole in their own way, the machine gunner screamed, and everyone stopped and looked over in fright.

Heavy: "The bolt is frozen! Damn, it was just a little cold wind! How do the Ants keep their weapons working properly?"

"They have real antifreeze lubricant," said Major Richard. "If we engage the enemy, we can try to capture some of the lubricant for our own use."

"Damn it, what the hell is going on in our Academy of Sciences? Even the Ants can't compare to them!"

Major Richard: "Stop complaining. This kind of cold winter is hard on anyone, and the Ants will surely be unable to move."

As he spoke, the major took out a piece of letter paper and, in the dim light of the stove, wrote to his wife with a pencil:
"This damned Ante winter came so suddenly and so unreasonably. Darling, if you knew how bad the situation we are in now, you would definitely cry out of pain.

"No one can continue to fight in such a cruel cold..."

The sound of PPSh gun firing was heard again outside.

The people in the room rushed towards the shooting hole that had just been blocked.

Major Richard: "Enough! This must be a trick of the Ants. Let them make noise! ​​It's not too late for us to take action when the bomb explodes outside the wall! Stay still!"

The soldiers in the bunker hesitated for a moment, but still carried out the order.

The major continued to write: "There are less than 500 people left in our regiment, scattered in three different fortresses. They are called fortresses, but in fact they are simple brick and stone houses of the Ants. They are the best big houses here, but in Prothenia, the houses in the suburbs are better than these..."

(End of this chapter)