artillery arc

Chapter 584: Heading Towards the White Sea (Update 36/81)

On the evening of January 1, intelligence on the first day of the offensive was gathered at the Abawakhan Front Command.

Wang Zhong looked at the mass protruding to the west on the map with satisfaction: "Very good progress. The enemy's defense is not as solid as we thought."

Pavlov: "There are still some tough positions, but they were all taken down by the Urban assault guns or the B4 heavy howitzers firing at close range. In addition, the troops reported that the white phosphorus bombs obtained from the United States are very effective. If you encounter a bunker, you can fire a shot at it. Even if it hits outside the bunker, it can kill people inside."

Wang Zhong: "How effective is the flamethrower tank?"

"That's good too. These siege weapons have greatly reduced the difficulty of our advancement. The only regret is," Pavlov shrugged, "there are too few Urbans. This thing is welcomed by all the troops."

After all, they are Russians and they like powerful things.

Popov: "The priests accompanying the army even reported that the rising mushroom cloud could boost morale. As long as a mushroom cloud rose in one block, the soldiers fighting in the surrounding blocks would charge recklessly as if they had been injected with chicken blood, resulting in many casualties."

Wang Zhong: "We should issue an order in the name of the front army headquarters, telling everyone to pay attention to methods in battle and reduce casualties. Don't assume that the enemy has rotted into the soil just because you see a mushroom cloud rising."

Vasily looked up. "I wrote it down. Is that all? Should I send it out according to this?"

Wang Zhong looked at Vasily with emotion: "That's great. It's not in vain that I learned the staff officer major."

Vasily raised his mouth proudly: "Of course!"

As he was speaking, an Air Force colonel entered the headquarters and went straight to the table where the "Big Three" were sitting. He placed the manila envelope in his hand on the table and said, "Today's aerial photos have been developed."

"Okay." Wang Zhong asked as he untied the string on the envelope, "Did the pilot of the reconnaissance plane see anything unusual? For example, the smoke and dust raised by the enemy's armored forces when they were maneuvering?"

Most of Wang Zhong's troops are still equipped with the T34 two-man turret type. Even the T34W with a three-man turret is only available in tank units with the prefix "Guards".

However, according to the latest notification from the Ordnance Bureau, the newly launched T34W production line is already in operation, and the production of T34 can be gradually stopped, and the workers and production lines can be moved to do other things.

For example, production vortex.

In fact, the T34 production line has been completely shut down and started technical transformation. According to the plan of the Ordnance Bureau, by February 916, this production line can start producing vortexes and reach the predicted peak production speed by the end of 2.

The T34 two-man turret type is about to be phased out, but the troops still have a large number of two-man turret T34s, and this situation cannot be changed for the time being.

When facing Proson's long-barreled Type 34, these Ts can basically only be regarded as battle results by the enemy.

Fortunately, the opposing Proson army also lacks effective individual anti-tank weapons. Their magnetic grenade is too abstract and not even as useful as a Molotov cocktail, so the two-man turret T34 can still bully the infantry without any problems.

So Wang Zhong, like the Russian commander on Earth who was aware of the current situation, paid special attention to the movements of the enemy's armored divisions.

He always kept the vortex of the two brigades as the general reserve, holding them in his hands ready to be used to "put out fires" at any time.

In response to Wang Zhong's question, the Air Force officer shook his head and said, "No, in addition to reconnaissance pilots, we also asked fighter and bomber pilots, and they did not see the dust raised by large-scale armored forces in the combat airspace."

Pavlov immediately went to the map and drew a line on it with a pencil: "That is to say, north of this line, there are no Plossen armored units in action."

Vasily: "Our deception must have worked! The enemy thought it was a feint."

Popov asked: "Should we fire at the other side? This will confuse the enemy for a while."

Wang Zhong: "No, considering our current speed of advancement, it is too late for the enemy to mobilize troops. The only variables now are the Plosen Navy on the White Sea and Army Group A itself.

"Army Group A has not fought a major battle since it advanced to the edge of the grassland. They still have some strength. If they go all out to break out, a fierce battle will surely ensue on a flat snowy plain."

Wang Zhong also stood up and stood next to Pavlov and looked at the map together.

Pavlov: "There may be a tank battle, and then we will rely mainly on the vortex to stop the enemy's armored forces. Fortunately, the vortex is good at defense, not offense."

Wang Zhong: "Once our new heavy tanks start mass production, we will be able to fight the enemy in the open. By then, the death rate of our tank crews will be greatly reduced, and they will be able to accumulate experience and grow into elite tank crews."

"But now we have to avoid the edge of the enemy's armored forces." Popov also ran to the front of the map. The three of them standing in a row gave people the feeling that two bears were sandwiched between a fair-skinned scholar.

Wang Zhong is actually not short and his shoulders are not narrow. It’s just that the two bears are too large, which makes him look very slim.

The three discussed the enemy's actions for a while, and Popov changed the subject: "Speaking of which, the one guarding Borsk this time is our old acquaintance, General Shiprin. He ran away decisively last time, which saved his own troops from the side, but the other troops of Army Group B were harmed by him.

"Do you think he will fight to the death this time?" Wang Zhong shrugged.

----

Borsk, Plossen Eleventh Army Headquarters, 2200 hours.

General Shiplin held the telephone receiver and said, "How can this be a feint? Four of our divisions have been wiped out, and a large number of troops have been crippled. The enemy's cavalry has blown up telephone lines everywhere. The reason we can communicate now is because this line is buried underground and the enemy cavalry doesn't know about it!
"Rokosov deployed cavalry to disrupt us and interfere with our judgment of the current situation! Now I and the frontline regiments can only communicate by radio!"

Sometimes, radio stations would be assigned to the Plosson regiment level, but most of the time, in order to prevent the Enigma machine, Plosson's most important secret, from being obtained by the Allies, most infantry regiments did not have radio stations.

If a regiment wanted to contact its superiors, it could either make a phone call, send a radio message, or send a messenger.

The situation that Shiplin is facing now is that the messengers dare not go out, because they will be intercepted and killed if they go out. Similarly, the communications soldiers who go out to check the lines and repair the telephones dare not go out either.

Shiplin could only communicate with his subordinate troops through radio.

General Shiplin told all this to the person on the other end of the phone.

There was silence for a few seconds, and then someone said, "I understand the situation you are facing, General Shiplin, but the soldiers of Proson will not be shaken by such things. General, defend Borsk!"

General Shiplin sighed, "General Steiermark, there's no need to use official language. You can let me hold on, but you have to tell me how long I can hold on. You can't just tell me 'hold on as long as you can', right? My troops and I need a deadline, and when the deadline comes, we will retreat no matter what!"

Steiermark was silent for a long time, probably calculating.

Finally, the general responded: "I ask you to hold on until January 1th!"

General Shiplin's face was pale: "This is impossible! My troops are only 200% of the full strength, and the number of tanks is even less. Counting the supplementary tanks, my army has less than tanks!"

Steiermark didn't seem particularly surprised: "I'm sending you two armored divisions. These two divisions have only a hundred tanks in total, including the Type 3 and the long-barreled Type 4."

General Shiplin held his forehead with his hand and said, "I knew your situation was not good, but I didn't expect it to be this bad."

General Steiermark: "The army group has many armored units. The last time they received new tanks was in September. Among the new tanks, there were 38t tanks used to make up the numbers. I thought this type of tank had been out of production for a long time."

General Shiplin: "Maybe the destroyed tanks have been returned to the factory for repair. All in all, I have a rough idea of ​​the situation. Wish us both good luck. We will all need good luck next."

"Thank you, and I wish you good luck as well, General Shiplin," General Steiermark replied.

----

Steiermark put down the phone and looked at the chief of staff and a group of staff members: "This call can be said to have gained nothing. Shiplin doesn't know what happened. From this point of view, Rokossov's purpose of using cavalry has been achieved."

Chief of Staff: "In fact, there are also reports from some supply stations that cavalry quickly penetrated the defense circle from the supply station's sentry tower fire, and then threw something that looked like homemade explosives. A lot of supplies have been destroyed."

The adjutant asked seriously: "So, are we going to retreat?"

Steiermark's face tightened.

This question is too difficult to answer.

After a moment, he said, "The emperor believes this is a feint. We will be blamed if we retreat now. Moreover... I can't figure out Rokossov. Strictly speaking, there is still a possibility that this is a feint, and it is not low."

The officers looked at each other.

Admiral Steiermark: "Also, while the navy can still help us send letters, write some letters to your family and tell your children that dad loves them."

Chief of Staff: "Giving up just like that? Isn't that a bad idea?"

Steiermark: "Then tell me what else we can do. We can't retreat, and the front-line troops are being held back by the mountain front that is attacking desperately.

"I have played my last two cards. I am out of cards, gentlemen.

"But you don't have to be too pessimistic. Maybe the 11th Army can hold on. After all, the Ants are not good at attacking, and their new weapons are definitely not in large quantities. General Shiplin is also an outstanding general. He was promoted from major general to general in just a few years."

After a brief pause, Steiermark continued, "Moreover, we do still control the White Sea. If we are really surrounded, we can escape by sea, but we cannot escape completely."

(End of this chapter)