artillery arc

Chapter 559 I have a lot of guns, so what, are you not convinced?
At 11 on November 23, the Abawakhan Front took up a blocking position outside the encirclement.

The commander of the 11th Guards Infantry Division used a telescope to observe the snowfield in front of the position at the forward observation post.

Just then, a whistling sound was heard in the sky, and Proson's artillery bombardment began.

The division commander put down his binoculars, listened for a few seconds, and asked his staff officer, "Did you hear the 210mm gun shells exploding?"

"It seems not," the staff officer replied, "only 150mm guns."

The division commander listened for a while and shook his head. "The density of the firepower is not that high. It feels like only one division's attached artillery is bombarding us. They are too dismissive of the anti-artillery bunkers we dug in the frozen soil. This level of artillery attack has no effect."

At this time, the commander of the 2nd Guards Tank Destroyer Brigade, which was defending this area together with the th Guards Division, got into the bunker and said, "The artillery fire is coming, but why does it feel like the density of firepower is not enough?"

"Indeed." The division commander smiled, "The enemy probably doesn't have many artillery shells left. Let's show them what fire preparation is."

After that, he picked up the phone and said, "Hello, artillery regiment. I am the division commander Liao Kolov. Has the heavy artillery that the army said it would reinforce arrived? Has it arrived? Very good. According to the coordinates determined before, make counter-artillery preparations. What? How much ammunition? Use one-third of the current stock, and keep the rest for backup.

"You said one-third can fight for four hours? Then fight for four hours. If the enemy wants to attack, they can either wait four hours or go through the barrage. Let them choose. That's it."

After saying that, Lyokolov hung up the phone and looked at the commander of the tank destroyer brigade: "I want to see if the Prosen people are the iron warriors they claim to be."

The brigade commander laughed. "That's definitely not possible. When I was in the Western Front, I fought against the enemy's tanks. After they realized they couldn't fight the vortex head-on, they collapsed. They are afraid of death, just like us, they are human beings."

As soon as he finished speaking, the whistling sound of artillery shells breaking through the air could be heard from overhead, forming a sharp contrast with the enemy shells that continued to fall on the position.

----

At the new headquarters of the Shiplin temporary cluster, Admiral Shiplin looked at the breakfast served by the orderly and frowned, "Is this all there is for breakfast?"

Orderly: "We have tried our best."

Shiplin was silent for a few seconds and said, "I want to eat the same thing as the soldiers. Give these to the soldiers in the guard unit. From today on, all officers must eat the same thing as the soldiers."

The senior officers in the room looked at each other, and some of them wiped the corners of their mouths quickly, fearing that there would be some residue from today's breakfast on their lips.

"Yes." The orderly paused, "This little food cannot be shared with the soldiers, so you should eat it. I will make the same meal as the soldiers from next meal onwards."

Shiplin nodded, picked up the bread and put it in his mouth. While chewing, he asked, "How is the attack of the 15th Army going?"

"They are currently conducting artillery preparations, but the enemy has responded with double the intensity of firepower. Fortunately, the 15th Armored Corps has experience and did not launch at our regular offensive starting point." The Chief of Staff reported, "Currently, they report that there is a very dense firepower network in front of the troops' deployment."

Shiplin: "The firepower network will not last forever, just let them wait patiently. What does the Sixth Army say? It is not enough for us to attack alone, they have to launch an attack on the other side as well!"

The chief of staff looked embarrassed: "The Sixth Army... said that there is not enough ammunition and tanks and it cannot attack."

Shiplin raised his head: "What?"

"They have no ammunition or tanks and cannot attack."

Shiplin sighed and said, "Send a telegram to the High Command, asking them to find a way to solve the supply problem of the Sixth Army."

----

The Eagle's Nest in the heart of Plossom.

"Why didn't you airdrop yesterday?" Emperor Proson asked Grand Duke Meyer, Marshal of the Air Force. "You said yesterday that you could airdrop. Why did you delay it for a day?"

Grand Duke Meyer: "We need to dispatch transport planes from all over the country first. In addition, the Ante Air Force has been frequently attacking airports recently, and the airports on the front line are all operating at full capacity."

"You always have an excuse! Yesterday you said that aviation lubricants don't work well in temperatures below -40 degrees Celsius. Last year you were affected by the -40 degrees Celsius temperature! It's the same this year!"

Grand Duke Meyer: "The Academy of Sciences has developed antifreeze lubricants, but... that lubricant will freeze anyway. This year's low temperature exceeds last year's lowest recorded temperature. Even Prothenia has had people frozen to death in the past few days..."

The emperor was shocked: "Did someone freeze to death in Prothenia?"

He turned to look at the only person present who was not in military uniform.

The Imperial Interior Minister shook his head hastily: "No, those who froze to death were those who drank too much and fell drunk on the street at night. There are such people every winter. This year there are a little more. We think it is because the national treatment has been improved again this year, which makes everyone excited and happy..."

Emperor Proson stared at the Minister of the Interior: "Is this true?"

The minister opened his mouth, but finally chose to remain silent.

Emperor: "The current difficulties are temporary and will be alleviated once Ant is defeated! In fact, the grain, meat and dairy products collected from Khazaria this year have greatly improved life in the country and reduced the impact of the enemy's blockade.

"Once we capture the oil fields in Kuba, our dependence on synthetic oil will be reduced, and the raw materials released can further improve the living standards of the people."

All the generals dared not speak.

The emperor looked at them and asked, "Why are you keeping silent? Do you think it is impossible to get the Kuba oil fields now?"

The generals looked at each other.

The fattest Meyer took out a handkerchief and wiped his sweat. The emperor glanced at the generals again and again, and finally sat down dejectedly: "Okay, it's enough to rescue the Sixth Army. No matter what, we can't let the Ants capture so many of our troops! No!"

Marshal Celtic and Marshal Brian looked at each other.

"What?" The Emperor looked back and forth sharply. "Do you think you can't even save the Sixth Army?"

Marshal Celtic looked embarrassed: "Our supply lines are too long and are affected by the guerrillas."

"I don't understand. Didn't we crush them in October? Can't we crush them again now?"

Marshal Celtic: "In October we faced Ant's replacement troops, while Ant's veterans were either resting after the summer campaign or lying in hospital.

"The enemies in front of the Shiplin Group have now finished their rest and are beginning to return to the front in large numbers. These troops are not so easy to shake."

The emperor's mouth twitched.

"Except Gil Ace, everyone else get out."

The generals left the war room, feeling relieved.

The young emperor looked at his best friend and asked, "If I give you the command, can you save the Sixth Army?"

Giles: "If you transfer all the armored forces of the Western Front Command to me, there is still some hope."

The Emperor shook his head. "I can't do that until we complete the anti-ship missile line, you know."

Giles said gloomily, "Then I can't do it either."

The emperor was silent.

Giles waited for a long time before speaking: "I have read the pamphlet written by Rokossov sent by the intelligence department. It is full of open conspiracies. We must mobilize all forces to have a certain chance of breaking his 'prophecy'."

Emperor: "Didn't you see the look on the Minister of the Interior's face just now? If we mobilize now, the people's confidence that we have worked so hard to build up will be destroyed."

"That's better than losing the war," Giles said. "This defeat is an opportunity to disclose the true situation on the front to the people and start a general mobilization. Next year we still have hope of a respectable ceasefire."

The emperor stared at the globe and said softly, "I need to think about it."

----

New headquarters of the Shiplin Group.

"Why haven't you attacked yet?" Admiral Shiplin glanced at the clock. "It's almost 12 o'clock now!"

Chief of Staff: "The enemy's barrage has not stopped. The 15th Armored Corps has determined that forcing its way through the fire blockade will result in heavy casualties."

Admiral Shiplin: "Still not stopping? Damn, how many shells do they have?"

"I don't know." The chief of staff replied immediately, "Our aerial reconnaissance found several places that looked like ammunition dumps, but because our opponent was General Rokossov, we didn't know whether these dumps were real ammunition dumps or false targets."

Admiral Shiplin: "It's okay to wait a little longer. They are wasting ammunition like this. When we really attack, we won't have enough ammunition."

As soon as he finished speaking, the communications staff came in and reported loudly: "The old headquarters was attacked by the Ant Air Force, and the anti-aircraft artillery unit that remained at the original site shot down five Ant dive bombers."

"Look!" Admiral Shiplin raised his voice, "This Rokossov is not as perfect as you say. He can still be calculated. Don't demonize him and don't scare yourself."

Chief of Staff: "But his subordinates are now using excess shells to forcibly hinder our attack. It seems that we don't have any good way to deal with it."

Admiral Shiplin: "I said, just waste his shells. I don't believe his supply is really good enough to support such extravagance."

----

Abavakhan Front Headquarters.

Pavlov: "After the intensity of enemy air raids decreased, the number of munitions trains arriving every day increased by 20% compared to October. In addition, the number of supplies coming from the direction of Baras has also increased. It seems that because the Fuso Empire in the South Pacific suffered a defeat, its ability to harass the South Pacific transportation lines has decreased."

Wang Zhong picked up the report that Pavlov had just placed in front of him and looked directly at the final summary: "Wow, I've never fought such a rich war. It seems that we have to resume the night bombardment of the enemy every night. If we don't use up all the shells, it would be a big loss if they are blown up by the enemy's air raid."

Popov: "Indeed, we can formulate a firepower plan to ensure that 30% of the inventory is available for emergency use every day, and the rest will be deployed."

Wang Zhong: "If we had so many artillery pieces by the end of October, the sacrifices would not have been so great."

Pavlov: "The most difficult time has passed. Now it depends on General Frederick of the Sixth Army - oh, General, how long he can hold out."

Wang Zhong: "Intensify the psychological offensive. Have the loudspeakers I requested been set up?"

"Sixty percent of the work is done." Psychological offensive is Popov's "specialty area", so he is also responsible for this aspect. "The broadcast will begin today."

(End of this chapter)