artillery arc

Chapter 554 Rokossov flees in panic (Update 30/81)

On November 11, as soon as Wang Zhong entered the headquarters, he heard artillery fire outside.

If it could reach the underground headquarters, it must be heavy artillery.

Pavlov was drinking coffee. When he heard the sound of the artillery fire, he went straight to the phone, touched the receiver, and was ready.

The phone rang.

As a result, Pavlov picked up the receiver before the first ring was over.

"Headquarters. Where are you hitting? What's the intensity of the bombardment? Okay, got it."

After hanging up the receiver, Pavlov looked at Wang Zhong and said, "Looking at the location of the bombardment, it's heading for the tunnel entrance again."

Wang Zhong: "The first time it was so dangerous because we put too much emphasis on breaking the whole into parts and there were no vortices. Now there are rows of vortices at every intersection in the city. What can they use to rush?"

Pavlov spread his hands.

Wang Zhong continued, "After the vortex was put into use, our casualties in urban warfare were greatly reduced. This shows that although tanks are much more vulnerable in urban warfare than in the wilderness, we cannot survive without tanks."

Pavlov: "After all, heavy armor is much more resistant to attack than infantry. It is relatively weaker than in the wilderness. As long as there are infantry accompanying us and the enemy's individual anti-tank weapons cannot hit the tanks, the role of heavy armor in urban warfare cannot be ignored."

Wang Zhong: "You have summarized it very well. You should write the summary of experience after the war."

Pavlov stopped and looked at Wang Zhong with a frown.

Emilia entered the headquarters. "Is that the sound of artillery fire again? Are we shelling?"

Wang Zhong: "No, in order to save ammunition for counterattack, there is no plan to bombard the enemy in the past few days. The enemy is bombarding."

Emilia was shocked: "Why? Shouldn't they be running now?"

Wang Zhong knew the ending of Steel Gerer in another time and space, but now he had to pretend that he didn't know: "Maybe the emperor of Proson was unwilling to accept defeat? After all, when they were closest, they were only 800 meters away from victory."

Popov: "And then they were pushed back by a charge led by Rokossov himself."

Emilia looked at Wang Zhong and said, "I'm on the other side. When I have nothing to do, I go to the hospital to help take care of the wounded. They say that you held the sword given by His Majesty the Tsar in one hand and the scepter of Saint Andrew in the other, and you personally went into battle and chopped down every enemy you encountered. Some people even swore that a halo appeared on your head."

Wang Zhong looked up and saw only fluorescent tubes.

Pavlov laughed: "Haha, this means that you will inevitably become bald in the future!"

Wang Zhong was shocked: "Fuck, you actually have a sense of humor!"

Pavlov: "Is this humor? This is not true. I am only making fun of myself."

"Self-deprecation is also a high-level form of humor," said Wang Zhong.

Emilia changed the subject: "By the way, is this really okay? Almost everyone knows that we will counterattack on the 20th, so the enemy should flee, right?"

Wang Zhong: "But listen, they are attacking again."

As soon as he finished speaking, the shelling stopped.

Pavlov: "It seems that the shells have been used up. I don't know what they want. We are well fed and well clothed, while the enemy has been hungry for several days. Such soldiers can still attack... I can only say that the quality of Proson's soldiers is indeed high."

Wang Zhong: "As their losses grow, their quality will decline. General Gorky of the Western Front did a good job. He attacked on all fronts, found the enemy's less elite troops stationed, and deployed a large number of troops to break through.

“His tactic is not fully effective now because Proson still has a lot of elite troops, most of whom are veterans.

"Next year, when we attack again using the same method, the Plossoms' defense will become like a sieve, leaking everywhere. This is because by then, about half of their troops will have a large number of new recruits.

"In another year, we will be able to annihilate their forces in large numbers just as they surrounded and annihilated us in the first year."

Wang Zhong's words filled the entire headquarters with joy.

Suddenly he began to hallucinate and heard Yakov say, "I can't wait to see that day!"

He was startled and turned his head to see that it was Mikhail, the temporary orderly who had just been replaced.

Mikhail said, "I can't wait to see that day."

The tone was so, so like Yakov's.

Wang Zhong nodded: "Yes, we can't wait to see that day."

Emilia: "Eat your meal one bite at a time."

Wang Zhong: "Yes, we will attack the Sixth Army first. However, I am a little afraid that they will escape. Pavlov, how about we lure the enemy deeper into our territory? Anyway, all our troops on the west bank have obtained enough supplies, so let's give this place to the enemy."

Pavlov: "Yes, you can, but this bunker... you can't blow it up with your new tank. It's underground. If the enemy holds on here, there will be great losses."

Wang Zhong thought about it and gave up: "Forget it. We can give them some other benefits. Which target do you think is suitable?"

Pavlov looked around and suddenly pointed to a building not far from the tunnel entrance: "This is the auditorium! There is a statue of Suvorov at the entrance of the auditorium. It's very famous."

Wang Zhong touched his chin and said, "No, Suvorov doesn't seem important enough. So, let's get a red flag, a little torn, so that it looks like the flag that has been with me for more than a year, and hang it on the roof of the auditorium. Then, put some documents and desks inside the auditorium."

Pavlov: "I see. Your red flag is here, which means it is your headquarters! But you are too stingy. You are not willing to give me a real red flag."

Wang Zhong: "Of course not. This is a gift from the textile workers in Shepetovka. I will return it to them when I return to Shepetovka. It is enough to give them a fake flag. You should quickly dye the flag red and use a gun to punch holes to make it more realistic."

"I'll make arrangements."

Wang Zhong suddenly laughed: "Since Vasily is here, it's his turn to come on stage." Popov: "He is still struggling with military theory. You may not know that he is the last in the class."

Wang Zhong: "Really? It's very much like me."

Pavlov: "Then he'd better not have any military achievements. If he does become a marshal, then everyone in the Suvorov Military Academy will be proud of being ranked last."

Wang Zhong: "It's not enough to be the last one, you have to pass the exam. I am just the last one, I am not failing to graduate."

He no longer dared to imagine the scene in the future where a group of people in the Suvorov Military Academy would intrigue and manipulate points.

Oh wait, this seems to be a form of training, right? By then, every graduate will be a master of deception.

It seems... okay.

----

November 11, Abawahan Auditorium.

General Wilhelm von Friedrich, commander of the Sixth Army, looked up at the red flag flying on the roof of the auditorium.

"Is that the flag?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Take it down. I want to take a look."

Soon, the flag was delivered to Admiral Frederick. He took the flag, unfolded it, and looked at the bullet holes on it: "It is really a flag that has been through many battles."

The army chief of staff laughed and said, "This is the flag that Rokossov has been fighting for over a year! Capturing this flag will be enough to boost the morale of the entire army!"

Admiral Frederick: "It also makes it impossible for us to retreat."

The chief of staff's smile froze on his face.

The admiral handed the flag to his adjutant, walked to the front of Suvorov's statue, looked at it for a few seconds, then turned back and said to the photographer: "Take the photo in front of this statue. Here, bring the flag. You come here too..."

The war correspondent said, "No, it's better to just be you. This way the photo can be taken vertically, and the statue can be included in the whole photo, which will make it look more heroic."

"Heroic?" Frederick said with a wry smile, "Well, let's follow the advice of the professionals."

The flag was handed to him, and then the "professional" pressed the shutter.

Frederick: "Immediately send the flag and the photos back to Prothenia by plane - no, back to the Eagle's Nest."

----

Plossom Heart, Eagle's Nest.

Emperor Proson picked up the tattered flag and smiled very proudly: "See, everyone, I said Rokossov was bluffing! He himself fled! But the flag was left behind! Some of our soldiers were frightened by the rumors, now they can be desensitized!"

As he said this, he handed the flag to the Imperial Propaganda Minister: "Send this flag to the Imperial Military Museum! Put it on public display! All newspapers must publish Admiral Frederick's photo tomorrow! Oh, by the way, he shouldn't be an admiral anymore, promote him to General Frederick!"

General Moltke, the director general of armored forces, looked embarrassed.

But Marshal Celtic and Marshal Brian in the room looked very happy.

This may be because Frederick’s name contains the word "von", which means that he is a nobleman and a Junker, and a member of the old officer corps.

Emperor: "From the map, they are less than 500 meters away from the underground tunnel. As long as we work harder, we can take the tunnel. So far, the entire blue plan has been a complete success!

"This winter is exceptionally cold. Ant will surrender in a few months! Then the Empire can turn all its attention to Africa! Our anti-ship missiles have achieved quite good results! The Allied forces will soon be defeated! We will achieve complete victory!"

Marshal Brian: "Congratulations, Your Majesty."

All the other senior officers in the room began to malfunction: "Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

"congratulations!"

The emperor raised his hand and made a downward gesture: "No, no, it's not time to be happy yet. We can celebrate after all the wars are over! Now, the Sixth Army must take down that damn tunnel!"

However, as of November 11, the Sixth Army had not made any further progress.

----

In the early morning of November 11, before daybreak, a T20 drove onto the ice on the east bank of the Valdai River.

"Slow down, slow down!" the guide next to the tank shouted, "Okay, drive slowly, I don't see any cracks."

A group of people around T34 held flashlights and carefully observed the ice surface.

"It shouldn't be a big deal." A sergeant ran over and said to the captain, "We bombarded the ice with 152mm artillery yesterday, but it didn't budge at all."

"The thickness of the ice is different, you idiot," the captain cursed. "We can only be sure if the tanks pass through smoothly. All right, keep moving forward!"

The T34 moved slowly, and the anti-skid tracks were still slightly slippery. The eight fully armed soldiers acting as "weights" on the back of the tank looked more nervous than the tank driver.

Finally, the fully loaded tanks arrived at the west bank of the Valdaicio River. There were already eight T34s on the shore, which had been driven over from different places before.

Captain guide: "Well, it is confirmed that the ice is completely frozen. Let's call the front headquarters!"

(End of this chapter)