artillery arc

Chapter 555 If life deceives you
Abavakhan Front Headquarters, ten hours before the offensive began.

Wang Zhong: "There is no specific mission objective for the commandos this time. You can destroy anything you want. I personally recommend destroying the enemy's telephone lines, telephone connection centers, radio centers, communication camps, etc."

Emilia translated his words simultaneously to Commanda Captain Jonard.

Jonard pushed up his beret and summarized it in Angsa: "Just muddy the water."

Wang Zhong looked at Emilia.

Emilia: “They understand.”

Wang Zhong nodded and gestured to Pavlov.

Pavlov placed a stack of photos in front of the commandos and said, "All the guerrillas who helped you out have died. However, some of the Plosson employees have contacted us. They have also reunited with the surviving tankmen from the 51st Tank Army who attacked the rear. If you need extra explosives, you can ask them for it."

Jonard picked up the photo, flipped through it, and said with a look of regret: "I quite like the guys who led the way that time."

Wang Zhong: "Then kill a few more Prosen people."

"I will," Jonard replied before Emilia finished translating.

"Report!" someone shouted from the direction of the gate.

Wang Zhong turned his head and saw his old friends Kirinenko and Kashukh standing side by side at the door, with their adjutants and staff behind them.

After their eyes met, Kirienko stood at attention and saluted: "I, the commander of the 1st Guards Cavalry Army, Kirienko, report to you, the commander of the front, Davarich."

"Commander of the 3rd Guards Infantry Army, Kashukh, reports to you, Commander of the Front, Davarich." Kashukh also followed.

Wang Zhong: "You two, why are you speaking so formally on purpose? Are you trying to piss me off for getting promoted too quickly?"

Khashoggi laughed and said, "Of course not. We knew from the beginning that you would be promoted faster than us."

Kirinenko: "You have been commanding us since you were a major general, Your Excellency."

"You are making fun of this. If this goes on, I will never be able to clear myself of this." Wang Zhong said as he walked forward, opened his arms, and hugged his two old friends one by one.

Khashoggi: "We can't wait to get into battle."

Wang Zhong: "Don't worry. We need to test the ice conditions of the Valdai River tonight, and the artillery unit also needs to make final preparations. Does your army have 100,000 soldiers?"

Kashuh: "110,000. It is not organized completely according to your First Assault Army because we cannot find so much equipment. So we have more infantry, all of them are experienced fighters. Two of the three armies have the title of Guards."

Wang Zhong: "Okay, you will follow the First Guards Tank Army."

Khashoggi: "Why don't you let us accompany you, but follow you?"

"Because we are the ones accompanying the close-in tanks." Kirinenko patted Kashukh on the shoulder. "With cavalry accompanying the charge, the enemy infantry on the grassland is nothing to be afraid of."

Pavlov immediately chimed in: "From the intelligence we have obtained so far, the enemy has basically not had enough food these days, and has suffered a lot of non-combat casualties. We expect this to be a very easy battle."

Kashuh shook his head: "I don't understand. The Plossen Air Force flew over our heads many times for reconnaissance. They should have seen that there were a large number of troops gathering on the other side, but they still didn't retreat. Why?"

Wang Zhong: "Maybe it's because I set up a fake tank formation for them in Yeisk and fooled them, so they swore they would never be fooled again."

Kirinenko: "I heard that you asked the tank troops not to hide the tanks and just put them on the ice. So that's how it is."

Wang Zhong smiled and said, "All is fair in war. I learned this from the ancient military work "The Art of War" by Seres. You should all read this great work when you have time."

After he finished speaking, Pavlov came to the two men with two envelopes. "This is your battle plan. It is a little different from the plan I gave you before. This is to prevent leaks. Although I think the Inquisitors will definitely not let that happen, it's better to be more careful."

Wang Zhong: "Let's tear it down now. If you have any questions after you finish watching it, just ask."

The two men immediately opened the envelope, took out the battle plan inside and began to read it.

A few minutes later, the two looked up almost at the same time.

"no problem."

“The plan is clearly written and we are committed to completing the task.”

Wang Zhong: "Okay, I wish you all the best."

The two men saluted Wang Zhong and then did not turn around.

Wang Zhong asked in confusion: "Why don't you leave?"

Kashukh glanced at Kirinenko and said, "Didn't you say that we can have dinner?"

Wang Zhong laughed loudly: "Communicator, tell the kitchen to light the fire and make something delicious!"

----

Six hours before the attack.

Nellie opened her eyes and found Tatyana sitting outside the shelter, hugging her legs and sobbing.

She lifted the quilt, picked up a piece of charcoal and threw it into the burning gasoline barrel, then walked over to the girl with her coat.

"Keep it covered. It would be a pity if you caught a cold before the counterattack." Nellie said softly, "So why are you crying?"

"Nothing... I can't help crying when I think it's finally over... So many days, so many sacrifices, so much suffering... Finally, it's over..."

"Yeah, it's finally over."

Nellie leaned against the doorframe of her hideaway and looked up at the starry sky.

Tatyana: "I've been having nightmares recently. I dreamed of him - I mean my neighbor's brother Alexi, who was injured and looking at me. I asked him what happened and what he was doing, but he didn't say anything. He just looked at me and smiled. It was so scary, as if he came to say goodbye to me..."

Nellie gently stroked the hair of the girl sitting on the ground: "Maybe he really died, and this is the last time he came to see you."

Tatiana finally couldn't control herself and burst into tears.

Nellie looked up and suddenly found a meteor streaking across the starry sky.

Then meteors appeared one after another, disappearing in the sky in a flash.

She quickly called out to Tatyana: "Look! Maybe this is the meteor shower that Alexei brought for you."

The girl raised her head, but her tearful eyes could not see the starry sky clearly.

She hurriedly wiped her tears with her hands, but her dirty hands left black marks on her face.

"Really, a meteor shower..." Suddenly, Tatyana shuddered, "I want to make a wish! Saint Andrew, please bless Alyosha. If he has died, please bless me to fulfill his wish and capture Protheniya."

Nellie raised her head and murmured softly, but no one heard her wish.

At this time, the roar of an engine came from the beach. Nellie turned her head and saw a T34 loaded with fully armed infantry driving over the ice.

Someone was holding a flashlight, checking the ice for cracks.

More people heard the roar of tanks, poked their heads out of the trenches and looked towards the river.

"The counterattack is about to begin!"

“It’s really about to begin!”

People were whispering.

----

Four hours before the attack.

In the area occupied by the Sixth Army of Plossen, Captain Ivan knocked on the door of the farmhouse with his hands to make a secret signal of three long and one short.

After the last knock, the door opened.

"Come in quickly." The lady who opened the door stepped aside and the captain walked in. Then the lady came out, looked around, and then went back into the house and closed the door.

After the 51st Tank Army's desperate assault ended, Captain Ivan hid in the old lady's house, kept in touch with the hired workers at the nearby military station, and went out to cause sabotage whenever he had the chance.

Tank drivers are technical soldiers who can repair tanks and carry out blasting, which greatly enhances the strength of the guerrillas.

Captain Ivan went down to the cellar, pushed aside the jars of pickles, tapped on the floor tiles below, and gave another set of signals.

The floor tiles were immediately removed, revealing a ladder underneath.

Captain Ivan slid down the ladder and saw that their guerrilla group was already complete.

Everyone gathered around a radio.

"Any news?" he asked.

The driver operating the radio shook his head. "No, nothing is being said right now. Music is playing all the time. Have you eaten?"

"No."

"There's food over there."

The captain turned his head and saw black bread and sour cream on the table.

He went over, broke off a piece of bread, dipped it in sour cream and started eating.

At this time, the music on the radio suddenly stopped, and the announcer said: "Next, we will play a special program for the people in the occupied areas. Today is a special edition of Ante literature. I hope you will not forget that you are Ante people.

"The first one, 'I Meet You at Sunset', Pollock. I meet you at sunset, you paddle away the silence of the bay..."

Captain Ivan chewed his bread and asked, "Do you have any pickles?"

"No, the Proson soldiers came and took them away today. This bread was left behind because it was hidden in a secret hiding place."

"Sukabulie and Proson bastards, we'll make them pay when we counterattack!"

At this time, the announcer on the radio said: "The second song is, "If Life Deceives You", by Anonymous."

Captain Ivan stopped, biting his bread, and looked at the radio.

Everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing and stared at the radio.

Announcer: "If life deceives you, don't be sad, don't be angry, believe that happy days are coming. Winter has come, can spring be far behind?"

Captain Ivan threw the bread on the table with a thud.

"Quick! Attack today!"

The driver turned off the radio, opened the secret compartment where weapons were stored, took out the MP40s hidden inside one by one, and distributed them to everyone.

"Remember, any chaos we create will help the frontal attack! So, go all out and destroy everything!" After Ivan armed himself, he looked around the basement, looking at everyone's face in turn, "Either, we'll meet at the Martyrs' Cemetery, or at Prosinia! Let's go, Davarich!"

----

Five minutes before the attack begins.

Wang Zhong paced back and forth in the headquarters.

"Why, you're getting nervous at this time?" Popov joked.

Wang Zhong: "The most important thing I have learned in the past year is that there is no battle in this world that can be carried out completely according to plan. If something can go wrong, then it will definitely go wrong."

As soon as he finished speaking, Pavlov put down the receiver and said, "Everyone and the troops are ready. We can start."

Wang Zhong looked at the time and said, "I want to give a speech to the entire army."

Pavlov picked up the receiver again: "The commander wants to speak to the entire army. Connect the call to the entire army."

After a while, he handed the receiver to Wang Zhong: "OK."

Wang Zhong picked up the receiver: "Davarich, this is Alexey Konstantinovich Rokosov. Last winter, I personally commanded the counterattack around Yebao and successfully surrounded 100,000 enemy troops.

"Today, our target is the enemy's Sixth Army. In addition to the original troops, they also have reinforcements from several armies that have arrived one after another. There are probably 400,000 Prosen people in our planned encirclement.

"In addition, there are about 120 Moravian troops who are regarded as vassal troops by them. And our army has million troops deployed in the attack.

"At the beginning of this year, the Proson people proudly declared that it took five Ante warriors to kill one Proson soldier. According to this calculation, we are like an egg hitting a rock, and will fail quickly.

“I have to admit that the Plossans are indeed excellent fighters, and we do lack experience in warfare. We have fought very badly over the past year or so.

“Perhaps we really can’t eat these 600,000 Prosen people.

"However, after such a long war of attrition, we have accumulated favorable conditions to annihilate the enemy, just like a concave-convex mirror facing the blazing sun, a hundred times, a thousand times the light is concentrated on one point, it becomes white-hot, smokes, and cannot help but burn!
"The so-called strategic decisive battle is a gamble on the fate of the country and the army. The word gamble is not a good word, but there is no more accurate word to replace it!
"That's what happened. Just snap, and it's on!"

Wang Zhong stopped and looked at everyone in the headquarters.

He continued, "That's why, when things come to my face, I can't help but feel my heart beating. How can this be justified? Why is my heart beating?

"We are not afraid of burning, we are not afraid of becoming white-hot! We are not afraid of burning here and there!

"Six hundred thousand Plossom troops, this is a pot of half-cooked rice. Even if it's half-cooked, we have to eat it!

"fire!"

(End of this chapter)