artillery arc

Chapter 582 Rokossov's Right Hook

拉乌尔山口以北75公里，A集团军群司令部，916年1月7日0700时。

General Ewald von Steiermark held a coffee cup in one hand and a bulletin that had just been delivered this morning in the other.

"Shiplin continues to command the 11th Army... Is this really appropriate? He is a general, and I am a general too." The silver-haired general sighed, "These young people are promoted quickly. He was only a lieutenant general a few years ago, and now he is a general. After a while, he may become a marshal, and I will still be a general."

The general's adjutant also sighed: "I remember he was only five years older than me."

"You are a staff officer, it's different, unless you have the opportunity to be promoted from a staff officer to a chief officer like Ludendorff. But he was looked down upon by many people back then, who thought he was just a staff officer and could not take on big responsibilities." General Steiermark said, and took a sip of coffee after that.

The adjutant asked with concern: "How is it? I used coffee beans today, not instant coffee."

General Steiermark's eyes widened. "Where did the coffee beans come from? We have been under blockade for a long time. Let me think about it. Were they smuggled in from Casablanca through Castile?"

"No," the adjutant shook his head. "It was seized from an enemy supply truck. Judging from the trademark and text, it was produced by a United States company on a plantation in South America."

General Steiermark raised the coffee cup, carefully observed the color of the coffee, and then sniffed it: "Oh, it's really good stuff. I was wondering why it doesn't taste like mud today. Hey, before the war, we could easily drink coffee and tea, but after the war, we can only drink factory-produced mud."

Adjutant: "There is some tea in the seized goods. If you want to drink it..."

"Is it black tea?"

“Yes, from Assam in Bahara.”

"Then let's have afternoon tea today. By the way, why don't I remember when we intercepted the enemy supply convoy?"

"It was done by the armed reconnaissance team of the Third Armored Army. They were sent back yesterday."

The general nodded repeatedly: "The Third Armored Army is very good."

At this time, the phone on the general's desk rang.

"Who are you, so early?" The general frowned unhappily.

Just as the adjutant stepped forward to answer the phone, the office door opened and the chief of staff and a group of staff entered the room with serious expressions.

The general saw the expression on the staff officer's face and his expression also became serious. He waved his hand to drive away the adjutant who was about to answer the phone and picked up the receiver himself: "This is General Steiermark, what happened?"

Then the general's expression became visibly tense: "Is this true? Today is Ant's Christmas, they should be receiving communion, praying, and listening to sermons.

"Yeah, okay, got it."

Finally, the general hung up the phone, his hand still on the receiver, and looked seriously at the chief of staff and a group of staff who had just entered the room.

"How much do you know?" asked the general.

Chief of Staff: "We just received the call as well. We didn't know someone called you directly to report it."

At this time, the adjutant was the only one in the huge office who was not in a good mood. He asked, "What happened? You all look so serious!"

General Steiermark: "The Abavakhan Front, which is fighting for Yarvik, is bombarding us with a very high density of firepower. Several fifth-echelon infantry divisions deployed on the front line have lost contact with the higher command post."

Proson's infantry units are divided into levels according to echelons. Generally, the divisions closer to the front are better equipped and trained, while the troops further back are more likely to be cannon fodder divisions used to fill the line.

For example, the fifth-tier division has this kind of characteristics. Many of the artillery pieces in the division are still old items from 10 or 20 years ago, and the machine guns may be the Maxim guns that have been eliminated by the previous batches of troops.

But even for a division like this, it was too outrageous that the entire division lost contact due to artillery fire.

Adjutant: "Even if it's the fifth echelon, it shouldn't be lost directly due to artillery fire. I don't think the Imperial infantry has reached that point yet. They are not Moravians."

"That's the problem." General Steiermark looked at the chief of staff, "Send a plane immediately to check what's going on. Remember to send someone with a radio."

Not all aircraft are equipped with radios, but heavy bombers and professional reconnaissance aircraft such as the FW189 will be equipped with a radio that can maintain long-distance contact with the ground.

The chief of staff turned around and winked at one of his staff officers, who immediately turned and left the room.

General Steiermark came to the wall in the room where the map was hung, frowning, "Didn't Rokossov say he was planning to attack Shepetovka? Is attacking us just... a feint?"

Chief of Staff: "The High Command's telegram did mention that Rokossov might launch a feint attack on us."

General Steiermark: "And then they defeated four fifth-tier divisions in one fell swoop and made them unable to even make a sound?"

Adjutant: "It's also possible that the radio and the radio were damaged."

"Four divisions at the same time? The probability is too low." General Steiermark frowned. His intuition acquired from many years of military career told him that things were not simple.

After thinking for a few seconds, he said, "I'm going to call His Majesty the Emperor."

After saying that, the general walked to the table in three steps and picked up the receiver: "Connect me to Eagle's Nest, now, immediately."

While the operator was operating, the general prayed quietly: "Can the field mice leave our telephone lines alone? Can they leave our telephone lines alone today?" In this era, the process of making long-distance calls was quite complicated and required a long wait.

After about two minutes of waiting, a lazy voice came from the other end of the phone: "Eagle's Nest General Office."

"Schneider!" As they were old acquaintances, General Steiermark directly called out the man's name, "I want to speak to His Majesty!"

Schneider: "His Majesty took sleeping pills and went to bed an hour ago, and he is in a bad mood because several generals jointly requested a general mobilization yesterday, and he was furious. Now only Gil Ace dares to wake him up, but Gil Ace is not here."

General Steiermark suppressed his anger and said, "Then go find Giles! I have to talk to His Majesty now!"

"Did something big happen?" Schneider asked puzzledly.

"Rokosov is shelling me, and I have lost contact with the four fifth-echelon infantry divisions in the front line."

Schneider's voice was very relaxed: "The High Command has already predicted that this is a feint. As for the four divisions that could not contact the front line, it is possible that the guerrillas reported the location of these divisions, and then they were given special attention. Rokossov used this method in the offensive at the end of last year. He is particularly good at this!"

General Steiermark: "You... I suddenly find that there seems to be no way to refute you. This is indeed something Rokossov would do. Well, I will contact you after the results of the aerial reconnaissance come in."

After hanging up the phone, General Steiermark cursed: "My call was rejected! Just because our emperor took a small sleeping pill! He wants to sleep!"

Others dare not speak.

The Chief of Staff forcibly changed the subject: "So what do you mean?"

"It was a feint, and Lieutenant General Schneider... Lieutenant General Schneider believed that this was a trick by Rokossov. He used the intelligence provided by the guerrillas to accurately bombard the division headquarters, causing it to lose contact. No matter what, what we have to do is the same, to find out the situation as soon as possible."

Chief of Staff: "In fact, there is a simple way to judge. As long as the enemy's mountain front does not cooperate with the attack, it is a feint. If Rokossov wants to encircle us, the mountain front will definitely cooperate to contain our army."

As soon as he finished speaking, the phone on General Steiermark's desk rang.

At the same time, a staff officer ran in and reported loudly: "The mountain front has started shelling us!"

The chief of staff's face fell.

Steiermark picked up the phone: "This is General Steiermark. You were bombarded, right? Well, don't panic yet. Prepare for defensive operations according to normal procedures. Now we are trying to figure out the situation. It may be a feint attack."

After hanging up the phone, General Steiermark looked at the others and said: "The Mountain Front also opened fire, but this cannot be used to conclude that it is not a feint attack. It may also be a deception operation to make the feint more realistic.

"Until we figure out the situation, we need to prepare for defense. Also, what is the situation of the 11th Army?"

Chief of Staff: "Yesterday they reported that they had just received a batch of reinforcements, and an armed cargo ship escorted by the Imperial Navy brought in a batch of supplies. Currently, their strength has recovered to 60% of its full strength."

General Steiermark sighed: "Shiplin and I are both generals, so it is not easy for me to command him openly. The commander of Army Group B is Marshal Goron, so the commander of the general is legitimate, I... forget it, I'll make a phone call later and ask.

"Our first priority now is to figure out the scale of the attack. If it's a feint, it won't be too large. Move!"

……

An hour later, the communications officer came in with a serious expression, holding the translated telegram, and handed it to the chief of staff.

General Steiermark: "What's going on?"

The Chief of Staff's face turned pale. "The aircraft reconnaissance report said that the density of the bombardment may have reached more than 20 heavy artillery pieces per kilometer. From the air, we can no longer see any active troops on our front line."

General Steiermark frowned.

His adjutant asked: "Is this... also a feint?"

The general picked up the receiver: "Connect to Eagle's Nest! Quickly!"

Two minutes later, Schneider's voice came from the other side of the receiver again: "Eagle's Nest."

"Schneider!" General Steiermark said hastily, "Rokossov has deployed more than 20 heavy artillery pieces per kilometer on the front! And he is not shelling the Tenth Army at the moment! This is obviously..."

"Calm down, Rokossov likes to do this kind of thing. You think you are the main attack direction and you have fallen into his trap."

General Steiermark: "But what if it's not a feint? The 11th Army is still in the process of reorganization. They only reported yesterday that their strength has returned to 60% of their full strength. Rokossov has a million troops!"

Schneider: "Calm down. His million-strong army will have to leave troops to guard against the Tenth Army across the river. The river is still frozen, and the Tenth Army will be able to reach his supply line - the railway - by crossing the river.

"Considering the gap in combat power between the two sides, Rokossov must leave at least 500,000 to 600,000 troops to defend the banks of the Sukhayaveli River."

Steiermark hesitated and said, "Okay, I'll see what happens. Goodbye."

He put down the phone and looked at everyone: "Contact the four divisions on the front line, or find the defeated soldiers. Also, send out reconnaissance planes again. If Rokossov really wants to attack, we will practice with him!"

(End of this chapter)