artillery arc

Chapter 561 Facing Destiny
On November 11, Lyudmila climbed up to her position as usual and began her duty.

The weather was clear today and the sun was out, but it was still so cold that even Lyudmila, an Ant, could not stand it.

The cold wind from the Arctic Circle was like a knife, constantly blowing on Lyudmila's cheeks.

In such extreme cold, she suddenly heard someone calling her name.

She stood up, pressed her hands on the windowsill, looked down, and saw a petite figure waving her hands on the ground.

"Nelly?" Lyudmila murmured in a low voice, and then she shuddered, opened the window, leaned out and shouted, "Nelly! Is that you, Nelly?"

The girl downstairs ran into the tower where Lyudmila was.

Lyudmila turned and rushed to the door. The moment she opened the door, convection was formed between the open window and the door, and a strong wind rushed in.

But Lyudmila still rushed out, leaned on the railing in the corridor and looked down.

She couldn't leave her combat position because as soon as the sound array master called her, she would have to enter combat status immediately.

So she could only shout downstairs: "Nelly!"

The sound of climbing footsteps came from downstairs, quickly approaching the top of the building. Finally, Nelly turned the corner and appeared in Lyudmila's sight.

A few seconds later, the maid rushed into Lyudmila's arms with such force that her boater's hat flew off.

Lyudmila hugged Nellie with both hands and rubbed her hair with her cheek: "That's great! You're back alive, that's great!"

Nellie: “Well, I’m back.”

The hug lasted for a full minute before Lyudmila pulled away again, her eyes falling on Nellie's eye mask, her expression becoming serious.

She gently flipped off Nellie's blindfold and stared at the horrific wound.

Nellie was a little shy: "Don't do that, it's ugly."

"It's not ugly. Go clean the wound right away. When the wound is healed, I will find the best glass eyeball craftsman to make the most beautiful glass eyeball for you!" Lyudmila forced a smile. "It will be more attractive this way! The scar can also be healed with medicine..."

“I don’t want to remove the scar.”

Nellie said calmly.

"Why?" Lyudmila asked in confusion.

Nellie lowered her eyes and stared at the gold star on Lyudmila's chest: "Because this is proof of my fighting on the beach, and proof that I fought side by side with so many good people. This is my medal."

Lyudmila was slightly surprised, and then whispered: "Only men regard scars as medals."

"Don't secularists advocate equality between men and women? The future belongs to secularists. Women can also wear scars as medals."

Lyudmila was even more surprised. Suddenly she smiled and said, "Nelly, you should tell this to the church's publicity officer. I think they will write it on the front page."

Nellie: "If the lady says so, I will say it."

Lyudmila hugged Nellie again: "Oh, Nellie, you are even more lovable than before you went to the battlefield! When Alyosha sees you, he might even hug you and spin around."

"That's too bad." Nellie said with a puffy face, "It's better not to see him for the time being. Anyway, he has his adjutant to take care of him."

Lyudmila was stunned for a moment and said, "His adjutant... died."

Nellie widened her remaining eyes: "When did it happen?"

"It's been two weeks. I heard that the signalmen are taking care of him now."

"Then I have to go there quickly." Nellie turned to leave, but was pulled back by Lyudmila.

Lyudmila: "He is already an adult and can take care of himself. You should first heal your wounds and get your artificial eye made, then go and see him looking pretty."

As she spoke, Lyudmila picked up the boat-shaped hat on the ground and gently put it on Nellie's head.

Nellie thought about it and nodded: "Okay."

Lyudmila hugged Nellie again: "That's great. Even though you've been through the war, you're still the Nellie I'm familiar with."

----

On the same day, the position of the 11th Guards Infantry Division.

Division Commander Lyokolov put down his binoculars and looked at the commander of the 2nd Guards Tank Destroyer Brigade: "It looks like the enemy will not attack today."

"Their attacks yesterday were clearly on the decline," the commander of the annihilation brigade replied. "Their new tank modifications can penetrate the vortex's weakness. Our safe enemy-annihilation distance has been compressed to the range of 1800 to 1000. However, our positions have offset the advantages of the enemy's weapons."

The vortices on the battlefield were all well camouflaged. Even the elite Proson armored soldiers found it difficult to see the vortices clearly at a distance of 1000 meters, let alone aim at the weak points.

Lyokolov nodded. "The vortex is too advantageous in armored confrontation. Why hasn't the entire army been equipped with it yet?"

"Because the production of gun barrels is not enough." The commander of the annihilation brigade looked helpless. "There is only one factory that can produce Vortex gun barrels, and we can't use all of them to make new Vortexes. We have to keep some of the gun barrels as spare parts. For example, our brigade's Vortex vehicles have fired hundreds of rounds on average in the past few days, and they will have to replace the gun barrels soon. Some crews have reported that the number of incomplete combustion during shelling has increased, and the muzzle flame seriously affects observation and shooting."

Lyuklov: "Really? How come the production capacity of such a good thing is so low? What are the people in the equipment department doing?"

At this moment, cheers suddenly broke out from the outside. Lyokolov was very surprised: "What's going on?"

"Plane!" the adjutant reported.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lyokolov heard the sound of an airplane engine coming from the direction of Abavahan. He strode out of the bunker and looked towards the city, and sure enough, he saw a red Pe-3 reconnaissance plane flying through the air.

Everyone on the position was cheering for the red reconnaissance plane.

"I heard that Rokossov will personally conduct reconnaissance in the red reconnaissance plane." said the adjutant.

Lyokolov: "How is that possible? However, every time the red reconnaissance plane flies over, the artillery regiment will receive the artillery coordinates directly issued by the front headquarters. It does make people suspect that there is a special person on the red reconnaissance plane."

As they were talking, the plane had already passed over the position and was flying towards the enemy-controlled area.

Lyokolov and his men watched the red shadow disappear into the horizon.

----

At the Abawakhan Air Force Base, after landing, the ordinary-painted Pe-3 slid towards the Air Force Commander.

Before the plane came to a complete stop, Wang Zhong opened the canopy and stood up, pointing at the camera gun: "I took a lot of good photos. Go and develop them and identify them carefully."

The Air Force Commander personally grabbed the boarding ladder from the ground crew and pushed it to the side of the cockpit: "Commander Davarish, I protest against your continued takeoff and reconnaissance. The most difficult time has passed. You don't need to take risks."

Wang Zhong: "What are you talking about? The enemy of the Sixth Army has not surrendered yet, and the battle is not over yet. This is the first point. Second, after annihilating the Sixth Army, we will switch to the mode of encircling and pursuing other enemies. If I don't personally investigate, how can I determine where the enemy's key parts are? How can I know where to strike to paralyze the enemy?"

Air Force Commander: "It seems that the battle will not end even if the enemy is annihilated?"

"Of course. The enemy is now very close to the Kuba oil fields. I plan to drive the enemy back to their starting point last June during the entire winter campaign." Wang Zhong said confidently, "The campaign will not end until the mud returns next spring, Davarish!"

The Air Force Commander had a complicated expression, but the pilots and ground crew around him were extremely excited:
"Did you hear that? The attack will continue until next March!"

"Go back to where we started in June! Doesn't that mean... driving the enemy out of all of Nanant?"

Wang Zhong: "Why are you so surprised? How can we meet Prothenia if we don't counterattack?"

The pilots and ground crew looked at each other excitedly.

Wang Zhong's words ignited their desire for victory.

It is not the victory of a battle, but the victory of the entire war.

Wang Zhong patted the Air Force Commander on the shoulder and said, "Hurry up and develop the photos. The Front Army Chief of Staff needs to use these photos to formulate the next phase of the battle plan."

"Yes." The commander saluted Wang Zhong, "I will personally supervise the process. The photos must be developed and sent to the headquarters before midnight."

----

Pavlov: "From your reconnaissance today, there have been some changes in the enemy's deployment. Look at this photo."

He picked out a photo and put it on the table.

Wang Zhong and Popov came forward together and looked at the photo carefully.

The photographer Wang Zhong slapped his head and said, "I remember this is an infantry division, in..."

"They are digging trenches," Pavlov said. "The enemy, who is responsible for the relief, has the infantry division digging trenches. This is obviously to block our attack. The enemy commander, General Shiplin, has begun to prepare for retreat. But now the Sixth Army has not been destroyed by us, so he cannot retreat."

Wang Zhong: "How about we surround them again and eat up the enemy who comes to rescue us?"

"The enemy's supply lines are now shorter and the supply situation has improved a lot. I don't think they will be surrounded as easily as the Sixth Army. Even if we can withdraw 50% of the troops that surrounded the Sixth Army, we will not have enough troops to surround another Proshen heavy group."

Pavlov finished speaking, paused briefly, and added: "Of course, this is just my opinion as the chief of staff. You may have a different opinion. If you want to try to eat another group of enemies, I will do my best to help you implement your strategic concept."

Wang Zhong thought for a moment and said, "Well, let's give it a try. Let the cavalry cross the river at this location to create the illusion of continuing the encirclement."

As he said this he drew an arrow in the middle of the Valdai River.

Pavlov: "How many troops do you plan to deploy?"

Wang Zhong: "In order to make the momentum look big enough, 10 to 20?"

Pavlov calculated in his mind for a few seconds and answered, "Two hundred thousand is not enough. This would require all of our reserves to be deployed in this feint attack, which is not appropriate. What if the enemy really makes a breakthrough? If it's 100,000, we should be able to withdraw them."

Wang Zhong: "Very good. But, you have so many preparations?"

"Of course. And what do you mean by I left so many reserves? The reserves are the reserves of the front you command."

Wang Zhong said "Oh" and smiled, "I understand why the conqueror could never win a battle without his chief of staff. Let's see if Admiral Shiplin dares to continue to rescue the Sixth Army after we launch a flanking attack."

As soon as he finished speaking, the communications staff ran into the headquarters: "The enemy is dropping airdrops again!"

Wang Zhong: "Let's go and take a look."

(End of this chapter)