artillery arc

Chapter 570: Soldiers’ deceitful ways

In the next few days, Wang Zhong's headquarters kept moving.

The main force was advancing too fast.

The rear guard troops left by General Shiprin, after being surrounded by cavalry and infantry, surrendered without offering much resistance and were unable to delay the offensive of the Abavakhan Front at all.

The heavy troops of the front set out with great confidence, but ended up not seeing any battle for two days.

The supply of the front was also much smoother than originally expected, because Pavlov adopted a new supply method: there was a railway line across the frozen Valdaichu River, so with advance planning, the military train bound for Abavakhan could unload the goods in advance, and then organize villages and volunteers along the way to transport the goods across the glacier.

In this way, the logistics department set up a large number of supply stations and fuel depots along the march route to provide sufficient supplies to the heavy armored troops of the front.

The only drawback of this supply plan is that there is no vehicle repair and recycling center. The broken tanks can only be marked on the map and the local church will be informed and then they will be left alone.

After all, it is not realistic to expect the entire front to have the same support capabilities as the First Mobile Army.

On December 12, Wang Zhong had been jolted in the car since early morning. After four hours, he finally couldn't stand it anymore and ordered the car to stop and rest.

So the headquarters convoy stopped on a small hill beside the Valdai River. Wang Zhong got out of the car, put on his coat and strolled on the hill with his hands behind his back.

He saw with his own eyes that the Valdai River was full of sleds carrying supplies, so he asked Pavlov: "Where can we find so many sleds?"

Pavlov pointed at Popov and said, "You should ask the bishop about this kind of thing."

Popov: "It was organized by the local church. Everyone was very enthusiastic before because they were afraid that if the Prosen people won the battle, we would cross the river and cause trouble to their hometown.

"Now that we have won, everyone is more enthusiastic. Even those who were identified as hidden members of the Chaldean sect have joined the transportation."

Wang Zhong once again looked at the endless stream of people on the ice and sighed: "The victory of the winter campaign of 915 was pulled by the masses with sleds."

Vasily: "Hey, this sentence looks like it can be recorded in the quotations book. Should I write it down?"

Wang Zhong: "No, you don't have to remember."

"Then I'd better write it down." Vasily took out a notebook and wrote down what Wang Zhong had just said.

Pavlov: "If we keep going at full speed like this, we will be able to reach the Sukhaaveli River in a few days. I don't know how the Prosen people's defense line is doing. If we can successfully capture Yarvik, the train from Yebao can go directly to Yarvik to provide us with supplies, and the supply line will be shortened by hundreds of kilometers."

Vasily asked in confusion: "Gentlemen, why didn't the enemy attack Yebao again along the railway line after occupying Yarvik?"

Wang Zhong: "Their supplies come from Shepetovka. Even if they control Yarvik, they can't solve the problem of the vast grassland between Shepetovka and Yarvik. You were there at the time, so you know what the situation was like on that grassland."

Vasily: "Then the question is, with more than one million people in our entire front, will it be too crowded to rush into the grassland? Can the supplies keep up?"

Everyone looked at Vasily.

Wang Zhong: "What you said... makes sense. Previously, we were so focused on restoring the front line to the state it was in June this year that we didn't consider this.

"The supplies on the grassland cannot support large-scale troop operations, and if we don't have an advantage in manpower, we may not be able to defeat the highly qualified Proson troops."

Popov: "During the summer campaign, our First Mobile Army was able to recapture Yeisk by taking advantage of the time before the enemy's main force arrived, as well as some clever tactics. After that, it was only thanks to the equipment advantage brought by the vortex, as well as the morale and experience of the First Mobile Army, that we were able to hold off the Prosen's attack."

Wang Zhong thought about it and it seemed to be true.

Pavlov: "In fact, it is good enough to recapture Yarvik. This will mark the end of the winter campaign. It is also good to wait until the muddy period is over before fighting again."

Wang Zhong: "We need to think about the problem from the perspective of the Proson people. What methods do you think the Proson people will use to solve the transportation problem from Shepetovka to Yarvik?"

Pavlov fell into deep thought.

Vasily raised his hand: "Professor, I have an idea."

"Go ahead." Wang Zhong responded. He was the dean of the Suvorov Military Academy and naturally one of the professors.

Vasily: "Based on my observations of the Prosen people over the past year, I think they will build roads."

Yes, it was the same on Earth. Because the Russians' infrastructure was too poor, Sandezi suffered a great loss in 41. So Sandezi made up his mind to build a lot of high-standard roads, which were almost completed by the beginning of 43.

Then the Russians fought back. After the battle of Kursk, the Russians rushed into their homeland and found: Hey, are the roads in my hometown so good? Oh, the speed was too fast. On this road, trucks could even race against Stukas.

This also became a hot topic among those who later studied the history of the Eastern Front.

Wang Zhong patted Vasily on the shoulder and said, "Yes, they will build roads. We can capture Yarvik and face the enemy across the river. We can wait for the enemy to build the road before counterattacking." Pavlov: "Although you and I have heard of many outrageous tactics, I never thought of waiting for the enemy to build a road."

Wang Zhong smiled and continued, "But the winter campaign cannot stop at Yarvik. At our current speed of advancement, as long as we don't get stuck under the city of Yarvik, we can even capture the city before Christmas - I mean Christmas Day according to the Gregorian calendar.

"There is still a lot of time until the muddy period next year, and the million-strong army has little to lose. Stopping will only delay the opportunity. Since we are not attacking Shepetovka, we can consider occupying Yarvik, establishing a defense line, turning left to attack Borsk, and then retaking the Primorsky Fortress."

Vasily took out the small map he carried with him and looked at it, shouting, "Wouldn't that mean Army Group A is surrounded? If they want to escape, they can only have a sea retreat like Dunkirk."

Wang Zhong: "That's exactly what happened. We're going to pretend we're attacking Shepetovka, but in reality the troops are turning left."

Pavlov: "God, could you please think it through instead of making up your mind on the battlefield? Now I have to make a new plan overnight."

Wang Zhong: "I believe in your ability! And you have so many advisers under you now, you will definitely be able to do it."

After saying this, he suddenly remembered that at the most critical moment, he ordered the staff and logistics of the headquarters to go to the front line and charge and kill the enemy with him.

It seems that one third of the staff was killed, including Yakov.

So he looked at Pavlov with an apologetic look on his face: "I'm sorry, I forgot for a moment."

Pavlov: "I know. You asked Yakov to make coffee for you last time. I will make the plan, don't worry. But I don't quite understand why you pretend to attack Shepetovka? The enemy has been deceived by you time and time again. They won't believe it."

Wang Zhong: "No, think about the comments of the surrendered Marshal Frederick on Emperor Plossen. This time the emperor will be so self-righteous that he will see through me. He has been fooled by me before, and he must be deliberately trying to beat me once and get back at me.

“Moreover, logistically, it is very difficult for a large army to cross the vast steppe to attack Shepetovka. We can only use smaller local clusters, but we have no advantage in small clusters.

"The Emperor's staff will tell him with all their assurances that it cannot be Shepetovka, just as they had opposed going through the Ardennes before."

Wang Zhong gave a sly smile: "He will think Shepetovka is the main attack direction."

Vasily: "I studied the ancient military book of Seris that the general highly praised. It is called the art of warfare, right?"

Wang Zhong: "That's right. The most advanced art of war is the art of controlling the enemy's commander. So we have to make a grand show of attacking Shepetovka. We can use a trick we used before. Find a corpse and pretend it's a messenger going to Shepetovka to convey orders to the guerrillas. Hang a parachute on it and throw it into the enemy-occupied area."

Vasily laughed: "You're doing this again? I know it! I was the one who faked the corpse last time. But, will I make it too real and have the opposite effect?"

"Relax, we'll do whatever comes to pass." Wang Zhong waved his hand, "Even if Emperor Proson doesn't fall for it, we can still forcibly destroy his blocking troops. We have a million troops. Although it's not enough to conquer the world, it won't be a problem to break through this distance.

"It's a pity that the prototype was damaged by me. Otherwise it would be more stable and could have carried the Prosen bunker and the people inside it into the sky."

Pavlov: "By the way, it seems that four more prototypes are on the way. They are said to be some new heavy breakthrough tanks."

Wang Zhong: "Really? I'm going to save them this time and use them to attack Yarvik."

After saying that, Wang Zhong looked at the ice again and found that many people seemed to be deliberately approaching the high ground where he was. Originally, the flow of people on the ice was straight, but now it turned and passed in front of the high ground.

Wang Zhong looked back and found that the red flag had been raised.

Such a touch of red in the snow is so eye-catching.

He could already hear people passing by saying: "It's Rokossov! General Rokossov!"

"The General is here to see us!"

"Run, dog! Don't let the general look down on our dog!"

Wang Zhong could only raise his hand and wave, but the people below started shouting "Ura".

Perhaps only famous generals like Suvorov in the history of Ant have enjoyed such a scene.

Wang Zhong waved his hand and turned away from everyone's sight. As he walked, he said to Pavlov: "In short, the plan is set. Come up with an offensive plan as soon as possible. In order to achieve the second phase of the campaign objectives, we need the cooperation of the Mountain Front, the Mountain Front, and the White Sea Fleet."

Pavlov: "The issue of sea control is a bit difficult. Although Plossen's ace battleship was destroyed by the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force, they still have many cruisers and destroyers in the White Sea, while we only have destroyers."

Wang Zhong: "We can ask the United States to think of a solution, such as borrowing their naval dive bomber unit. Those people are experts in attacking warships."

Vasily: "Will they lend it? Although the Fuso Empire has withdrawn from Gwadar, but..."

Wang Zhong: "Now the United States Navy has only one aircraft carrier left. An aircraft carrier can only carry one carrier-based aircraft wing. There are many aircraft wing with nothing to do. Let them come over and practice. I will send a telegram to His Excellency the President of the United States."

(End of this chapter)