artillery arc

Chapter 589: Drinking Horses by the White Sea

January 916, 1, on the shore of the White Sea.

Kirinenko rode his horse along the road and passed by the supply convoy that had just been captured.

"General, here are some Prosun cigarettes. Would you like a pack?" the soldier who was distributing supplies shouted.

Kirinenko laughed and said, "You guys share. I can't get used to their cigarettes. I still prefer rolling my own!"

After saying this, he took out a cigarette rolled out of newspaper from his pocket, put it between his lips, and continued to ride forward.

His adjutant shouted to the soldiers: "Don't just focus on taking cigarettes, alcohol and food. We have to distribute the ammunition. We still have to continue fighting deep in the enemy's territory."

"Know it!"

Kirinenko's cavalry troops have been "mechanized" and are equipped with Prosen's submachine guns and grenades for the convenience of replenishment.

As for food, the local villagers took out all their savings, and some even gave all the grass stored in their homes to the troops. Seeing that the cattle and sheep would not survive the winter, they simply slaughtered them to reward the troops.

With the dual support of fellow villagers and the enemy's "supply", Kirinenko's troops advanced for seven days and became more and more powerful.

After Kirinenko crossed the road, he climbed up the small hill beside the road, and his view suddenly became clear.

The sparkling white sea extends from right under your eyelids to the horizon.

Kirinenko: "The White Sea! I never thought that one day I would be so excited to see the White Sea."

The adjutant agreed, "Yes, before the war I had the opportunity to go on vacation by the White Sea, but I didn't choose the White Sea, but went to the villa area in the mountains."

Kirinenko smiled: "Me too, I chose to go to Lake Baikal to fish for white salmon."

After saying this, the two fell silent and looked out at the White Sea together.

Kirinenko's mount seemed bored and kept swaying from side to side and twiddling its feet.

At this time, the messenger rushed up the hill on horseback, saluted and reported: "General, the Fifth Cavalry Division of the Guards has captured an artillery regiment with 21 cm heavy artillery, and asked what to do."

Kirinenko: "We can't take the heavy artillery with us. Tell them to put explosives in the gun barrels and blow them all up. Detonate the ammunition as well. Try to make a big firework, preferably so that the nearby Prosens can see it!"

"Yes." The messenger saluted again, turned his horse's head and galloped down the mountain quickly.

Kirinenko sent the messenger down the mountain and looked at the White Sea again: "A week ago, I thought Rokossov's move of letting us infiltrate was inappropriate. Now it seems that my view at that time was really wrong. The difference between Rokossov and me is that I didn't expect the locals to give us such great support.

“It is clear that the local church organization has been almost completely destroyed by the Prosun gendarmes and the Imperial Household Ministry, and most of the remaining parish priests have been arrested and hanged. The bodies of some parish priests are still hanging on the old tree at the entrance of the village.

"Yet they still supported us without hesitation, risking being beheaded by the Prosun gendarmes.

"Rokossov had anticipated this a long time ago. He had anticipated it! He once told me and Kashukh that he had been in danger in Loktov and it was the local militia who made great sacrifices to rescue him. He said that the villagers had great power!
"I didn't pay attention to it at the time, but now I finally understand that he was right!"

Kirinenko paused, took a deep breath, looked at the White Sea in front of him, and repeated again: "He is right."

Just as he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves came from behind him. Kirinenko turned around and saw several cavalrymen wearing the uniforms of Melania's People's Army running up the hill.

The leading major general saluted Kirinenko: "The First Cavalry Division of the Melania People's Army reports to you."

Kirinenko responded: "You didn't encounter any problems on the way? Haven't the locals seen your uniforms? Haven't they mistaken you for the army of Proshen's vassal state?"

The major general said in broken Ante: "They had not seen our flag, but when they saw the red flag they thought Rokossov was coming."

Kirinenko raised his head, looked at Melania's red "white goose" flag, and laughed.

Major General Melania looked towards the White Sea: "Is your hometown Khazaria?"

Kirienko shook his head: “No, I am a fellow countryman of Patriarch Belinsky and I like Chanaki stew the most.

"But I once lived in Roniezh for a while. From the window of my dormitory, I could see the White Sea. There was also a flagpole outside my dormitory. Every day, a flag was raised to wish the ships a safe journey."

Melania exclaimed: "It's great that you are back by the White Sea again. My hometown is in Pomerania, and I grew up watching the waves of the Baltic Sea.

"Part of my way home from school is by the sea. I like to take off my shoes, walk in the shallow water, and catch some hermit crabs."

Kirinenko looked at Melania and said, "You will return home, yes! We will fight with you, we will start from the Sukhayaveli River, from the river to the sea, and Melania will be free!"

"Thank you for your words! I think Rokossov-Davarich also said the same thing?"

"Yes, I stole it from him." Kirinenko laughed. "The general pretends to be an unlearned dandy, but he is actually very talented and often says such memorable words."

"General Rokossov, maybe the greatest military strategist of our time? Fortunately he is on our side."

As soon as Melania finished speaking, Kirinenko waved his hand and said, "If you say this in front of Rokossov, he will tell you that the current situation is not his credit. He will say that history chose him." "History chose him? The general is really a humble man."

After the words were spoken, silence suddenly fell.

Only the waves of the White Sea continued to echo, as if they were the never-ending throbbing in everyone's chest.

----

On January 1, General Shiplin looked at the wreckage of the 15cm heavy gun that had just been towed back by a trailer.

"So, Rokossov's cavalry has reached the White Sea? Damn, where does their sustained combat capability come from?" Shipin asked.

Chief of Staff: "It seems that the locals took out their stored hay and winter food to entertain them. The gendarmerie is punishing the locals who support them, but the effect is not great. Moreover, they themselves suffered heavy losses in the cavalry attack."

"Locals! You want to tell me that the locals have provided enough fodder and food to supply more than 100,000 cavalrymen? And this is after we have already collected the food?" Shiplin asked.

Chief of Staff: "Yeah, it looks like the locals are hiding a lot of stuff."

"Damn it, I knew these guys were dishonest! The Imperial Household Ministry and the Military Police should arrest them all and send them to the gallows!"

After a brief pause, Shiplin sighed, "But it's useless to say these things now. They will be 'liberated' soon. How is the counterattack going?"

Chief of Staff: “We have not been able to retake Plinka, but the counterattack has been successful in some of the villages that were also lost yesterday.

"We have recaptured 55 percent of the ground we lost yesterday."

Shiplin: "Very good, very good. Just like that, we will continue to fight with Rokossov's troops to buy time for retreat."

As he was speaking, a motorcycle drove over. The captain on the motorcycle jumped off without waiting for the vehicle to stop, walked quickly to the chief of staff, and whispered a few words.

Shiplin: “What’s going on?”

Chief of Staff: "Yakovlev was lost. Akhtka reported that the Ante army was found."

Shiplin pursed his lips and said after a brief silence: "It seems that the positions we regained in the counterattack are completely inferior to the positions we lost today. How many troops does Rokossov have? Why are his troops everywhere?"

----

"We have formed an arc in front of the 11th Army." Pavlov drew a circle on the map with a map stick. "This is a scaled-down version of the offensive launched by General Gorky last October. We will launch attacks along the entire arc. Wherever we achieve a breakthrough, we will deploy follow-up troops there."

Wang Zhong: "It's a pity that the battle line is not long enough and the enemy's density is still too high."

Pavlov: "The attack on Plinka has proved that the combat effectiveness of the 11th Army has not recovered. Judging from the composition of the prisoners, they have many new recruits and have not replaced the combat backbone lost in the past six months.

"If we attack a little later, when their injured players return, the situation may become complicated.

"In addition, by launching an all-out offensive like this, we can effectively counter the enemy's counterattacks. Yesterday, their counterattack recaptured a lot of positions, but today... today we are attacking along the entire arc. No matter which direction the enemy counterattacks, they can only recapture the positions lost in one direction."

Wang Zhong was very satisfied: "Very good, then how long do you think it will take to capture Borsk?"

Pavlov did some mental calculations and replied, “I originally thought it might take ten to fifteen days, but judging from the combat effectiveness shown by the 11th Army, seven days is about right.

"They lack manpower and equipment. Their previous superior combat experience no longer gives them an overwhelming advantage. Also... their fortifications are not as good as we imagined. Maybe they didn't expect us to counterattack so quickly."

Vasily agreed immediately: "Yes, I went to Prinka to take a look. All the reinforced concrete fortifications were built by Duke Myshkin when he was defending here. Our attacking forces have obtained detailed design drawings and know their exact locations.

"There are basically no new permanent fortifications, and the semi-permanent fortifications are only barely adequate. Most of the fortifications are made of sandbags and cannot withstand the flat fire of the B4."

Popov: "It's absurd that the sandbag fortifications can withstand B4's flat fire, right?"

Vasily shrugged.

At this time, Lyudmila pushed a cart into the headquarters: "Everyone, it's time for supper!"

Wang Zhong looked at her and said, "Didn't you just work a day's shift at the magic arrow?"

"It's a very leisurely shift." Lyudmila said with a smile, "And the midnight snack was not prepared by me, but by your chef Seris. He is really amazing. He can make a sumptuous midnight snack with such simple ingredients!"

Wang Zhong: "What's the midnight snack?"

"A kind of lotus seed soup, very sweet. I think it can help everyone replenish the sugar consumed by mental work." Lyudmila said as she opened the lid of the pot.

Wang Zhong smiled when he saw it. What lotus seed soup? This is a common sweet soup in southern Seris: Qingbuliang.

"Give me a bowl, I want to try how this weird lotus seed soup tastes!" he said.

(End of this chapter)