artillery arc

Chapter 558 Trapped Beast
At 11 hours on November 22, Xiapelka, a village southwest of Abawahan.

The roar of the engines prompted residents to open their windows and look at the village roads covered with snow.

A T34 came from the northwest of the village road, and the snow kicked up by the tracks directly hit the faces of the infantry following the tank.

The infantrymen on the rear cover of the tank are almost filling up the radiator grille. This is probably because it is warmer on the grille. Anyway, the temperature is now minus 40 degrees Celsius, so there is no need to worry about covering the entire grille and causing the engine to overheat.

The tanks roared towards the central square of the village - actually it was the square in front of the church. Every year, village gatherings would be held here for some activities, and it was called this over time.

When the tanks drove into the central square, a naval infantry jeep drove into the square from the village road on the other side. Six burly naval infantrymen were crammed into the jeep. When they saw the tanks, the infantrymen jumped out of the car and ran towards the tanks through the snow.

"Hey!" The leading infantryman raised his hands, "Is this the vanguard of the 1st Guards Tank Army?"

"Yes! Are you from the 300th Marine Infantry Brigade?"

"Yes! We knew it was you when we heard the engine! The Prosens don't have any working tanks!"

The tank turned on its headlights, illuminating a large area of ​​snow in front. The Willys Jeep also turned on its lights, and the two sets of headlights illuminated the central square as bright as day.

More naval infantry poured into the square, while on the other side a second tank also entered the square following the rut left by the first tank.

The two groups hugged each other, and some took out the vodka secretly packed in flat wine bottles and shared it with their comrades.

Everyone is celebrating this unprecedented expansion since its development.

----

Abavakhan Front Headquarters.

The staff officer was smiling when he brought in the report.

Pavlov took the report, but did not rush to read it. Instead, he asked the staff officer: "What are you laughing at?"

The staff officer was delighted: "The pincer attack has closed, Staff Officer Davarish, we have surrounded hundreds of thousands of enemy troops!"

Wang Zhong: "We haven't won yet. The enemy's armored corps has already reached us. The troops responsible for blocking yesterday reported that they had discovered the enemy's armored reconnaissance team. It's too early to be happy now."

The staff officer immediately frowned: "I'm sorry, General. I just... I just thought of my fallen comrades and couldn't help but..."

Wang Zhong: "I know. Everyone is like this. Do your job well and don't let joy cause you to make mistakes."

Popov: "It's my job to warn them, isn't it? You're really rude to take my job."

Wang Zhong did not answer, but looked worriedly at the group representing the 15th Armored Army outside the encirclement.

He said: "I will take the Pe-3 to conduct reconnaissance, find the enemy's ammunition depot or fuel depot, and send out the Air Force - or the Komanda to blow them up."

"Yes," Pavlov replied. "It's an extra layer of insurance. We can't put all our hopes on the vortex."

Wang Zhong nodded, turned around and walked outside, calling Gregory as he walked: "Gregory, come with me to the airport."

"okay."

----

Plossen Sixth Army Headquarters.

William von Frederick picked up the can on the table, looked at the contents, and snorted, "Soybeans, I'm actually going to eat canned soybeans."

Orderly: "The logistics department said that the guard regiment will start killing horses tomorrow. Some troops have even started catching mice or field mice to eat."

As soon as he finished speaking, the chief of staff interrupted and said, "We have been short of supplies for a long time. If the 15th Armored Army cannot break through the encirclement within a few days, we will..."

The communications staff officer came running in: "Telegram from the 15th Armored Corps."

"Read!" General Frederick said loudly.

"To General Frederick, our troops are waiting for the arrival of the new commander, General Eric von Shipling, who will coordinate the various troops to launch an offensive. He is the organizer of the June coastal annihilation campaign and the October Northern Army Group annihilation campaign. I believe he will be able to lead our troops to penetrate Ant's defense and save your troops from danger."

General Frederick sneered: "Save us from the water? Commander Steiner might be feeling lucky now that he had been slacking off before, so he didn't fall into Rokossov's trap!
"Why doesn't he think about this? If we had his armored corps, we might have been able to penetrate the last 500 meters and hit Rokossov's real weak spot? meters! It's because of guys like him that we didn't get through these meters!"

Chief of Staff: "You were promoted because you captured a red flag. Others will inevitably have some opinions."

General Frederick: "This is a sweet treat given by Rokossov to stabilize us and prevent us from retreating. Can't they see it?"

No one answered.

----

General Eric von Schipling walked into the newly established Eric von Schipling Group Command and looked at a large group of officers who were already waiting there.

Among them were Lieutenant General Steiner, commander of the 15th Panzer Corps, Lieutenant General Schmidt, commander of the 25th Infantry Corps, etc. His chief of staff saluted him on behalf of everyone: "Sir! We wanted to go to the airport to greet you, but the airport reported that it was strafed by the Ante Air Force. For safety..."

"It's right not to go. You won't be of any use at the airport." Eric von Shiplin came behind the desk, took off his gloves, folded them, put them on the table, and then opened the discipline button with his hands.

"Air Force?" he asked.

“We have received great help.”

"Panzer?"

"The 15th Armored Corps currently has half of its tanks ready for combat, including the latest long-barreled Panzer IV."

"infantry?"

"There are 100,000 of them, all veterans."

"supply?"

“It’s enough.”

"Morale?"

The chief of staff, who had just answered questions fluently, fell silent.

Eric von Shiplin sighed, "No morale, yes. After all, the troops have been frozen in the ice and snow for so long, and the supply is not good. The enemy has just launched a massive attack. I can understand that."

"There is a unit with good morale," said the chief of staff. "The 16th Panzer Grenadier Division, which is responsible for guarding the vast grassland between Army Groups A and B, has high morale. We can let them serve as the spearhead of the counterattack."

Shiplin frowned. "The 16th Armored Grenadier Division? I seem to remember it. Is it the division with a hound as its emblem?"

"Yes, their division's nickname is Greyhound," the chief of staff replied.

Shiplin thought for a moment and said, "Send a telegram to the High Command, requesting that the Greyhound Division be assigned to us. But whether we can get it is another matter. Now let's solve the supply problem first. What is the reason for the poor supply?"

"The precise bombing of the enemy's air force, the cavalry's sneak attacks from the frozen Valdaicio River, and the guerrillas' continued sabotage," the chief of staff replied, obviously having done his homework.

Admiral Shiplin: "Deal with them one by one. Didn't we get the full support of the Air Force? Let the Air Force cover our supply lines, send out the gendarmerie, and completely wipe out the guerrillas. As for the cavalry units crossing the ice..."

The admiral was silent for a while and shook his head: "We can only send more guards. I can't believe that at this time, I still have to worry about the cavalry. If the people at home knew about this, they would definitely be surprised. Because when attacking Melania, our propaganda department also laughed at Melania's cavalry for using sabers to cut tanks!"

Everyone had a stern face.

In fact, last year when the Ants counterattacked in Yebao, they used a large number of cavalry units, fully utilized their characteristics, and caused a lot of trouble to the Proson troops.

And now, the damn situation of Nanant Grassland gives the cavalry more room to play.

Admiral Shiplin: "In short, take action and solve the problems one by one. General Steiner, when can your troops attack?"

"It could be tomorrow, but our reconnaissance forces have discovered that the enemy has set up a blocking line with those troublesome new assault guns and more well-hidden anti-tank guns.

"To break through this line of defense, we need the support of heavy artillery!"

At this time, the phone on the desk rang, and Admiral Shiplin answered the phone: "This is Shiplin, what's going on?"

"The air defense observation post saw a red Pei 2 bomber (an enemy misidentification) flying towards the headquarters, pay attention to air defense!"

Shiplin: "Red Pe-2? It's the Pe-3 reconnaissance model, right? It is said that Rokossov will personally take this plane for reconnaissance."

As he said this, he left his desk, strode to the window, and opened it directly, so the cold wind blew in.

Just then, a red twin-engine "bomber" came into his sight.

The plane was as fast as a flash of lightning, and seemed to be three times as fast as an ordinary Pe-2 bomber.

It flashed past Shiplin's vision.

But Shiplin always felt that he met the eyes of the person in the back seat of the plane.
Shiplin: "The headquarters will move immediately."

"Now?" The chief of staff was shocked. "This will seriously affect all preparations! Just because an enemy reconnaissance plane flew overhead?"

Shiplin: "Follow the order. If Rokossov had conducted the reconnaissance himself, this place would have most likely been discovered. He would then send bombers to focus on this place, and the delays would be even more serious."

Then he turned to Steiner: "You will receive artillery support and must launch a exploratory attack tomorrow."

Steiner looked troubled: "If you give me one more day, I can repair dozens more tanks, and the attack force will be even greater."

"Follow the order and attack tomorrow." Shiplin said in an unquestionable tone.

(End of this chapter)