artillery arc

Chapter 729: Beginning with Bombardment

When Lieutenant Henry Skarlitz rushed to the yard, he saw a Rokossov Type 1 tank with eye-catching slogans painted on the turret.

He read out the slogan: "Revenge for your heroic brother?"

The tank commander half exposed his body on the turret. He turned his head when he heard Henry's words and said, "Yes, revenge for my heroic brother! This is the slogan painted by Marshal Rokossov himself! I didn't even tell him who my brother was at the time. I just said he was the recipient of the Ante Hero Medal of the 51st Tank Army. Guess what, the marshal immediately remembered my brother's name!

"The marshal asked me: 'Your brother's name is Alexey Podolskov, right?'

"I was so shocked that I couldn't speak! Then the marshal patted me on the shoulder and said, 'All the orders for posthumous Gold Star medals were issued by me personally. When you mentioned the 51st Tank Army, I remembered it!'"

The conductor said all this proudly, his upper body straight, the gold star on his chest exceptionally eye-catching.

After saying that, the driver changed the subject: "You are Melania's people, right?"

Lieutenant Henry was surprised: "Don't you know which unit is being reinforced?"

"Of course I know, but I have to ask, maybe you are a Melania born in Ant? There is one in our army, his grandfather came to Ant during the time of Peter the Great, and he is completely an Antese."

Lieutenant Henry said with a serious expression: "I am a true Melanian. I was born during the period of Melania's independence. I fled to Ante after the invasion of the Prosen people."

"Is that so? So you've been away from home for five years?"

Henry nodded: "It will be six years this September."

The conductor said "Oh" and looked up at the western sky: "Then you are finally going home, congratulations."

Henry also looked towards the west and suddenly said, "I still remember that on the morning when the Plossoms began to attack, my father sent me to the village to buy charcoal. I was lazy and played hide-and-seek with Theresa in the farmhouse. I deliberately let her go, and she found me in an instant.

"Then I heard the engine. In my rural area, many people have never seen a tractor in their lives, and rarely see a car.

“So everyone thought it was thunder, and many people looked at the cloudless blue sky in surprise, saying how could there be thunder in such weather.

"Then the black-painted tanks of Proson drove into the village. I remember that the ones that entered the village at that time were the Type 38 tanks and Type Ts, as well as their half-track vehicles."

Henry sighed, "My country was actually defeated by the Type 2 tank. It's incredible to think about it."

The commander smiled, jumped off the car, and held out his hand to Henry: "Podolikov!"

Henry shook the captain's hand and said, "Henry, Henry Skarlitz, Skarlitz is the name of my hometown. After I escaped from Plossen's iron hoof, I changed my last name to this."

The conductor looked surprised: "Changed to this? Did your parents agree?"

"They are all dead." Henry said calmly, "Killed by the Prosen people."

"I'm sorry." Podolskikov squeezed Henry's hand. "We will soon fight back to Plossen's territory. When the time comes, we will return tenfold what they did to our homeland!"

Henry smiled and did not answer, but looked at the western sky.

----

On July 7, Wang Zhong returned to Roniezh.

When he entered the Khazaria First Front Headquarters, he sighed: "I still feel at ease in my own headquarters."

"Why, do you think the headquarters in Yeburg is too luxurious?" Pavlov asked.

"Yeah, those luxurious chairs hurt my butt." Wang Zhong pulled out his favorite wooden chair and sat down. "This one is more comfortable and breathable. The weather is hot, and I got prickly heat on my butt from sitting on Yebao's leather chair."

Popov laughed loudly, then patted Wang Zhong on the shoulder and said, "You are obviously a noble, but you have a disease that prevents you from living a noble life!"

Wang Zhong: "Yes. How are the preparations for the attack going?"

"We are fully prepared. We have analyzed the intelligence provided by the Melania Resistance Organization. Combined with the intelligence from aerial reconnaissance, we have identified fourteen breakthrough points and will launch attacks on them simultaneously. Six of these breakthrough points will be under the responsibility of the Melania People's Army."

After Pavlov finished speaking, Popov added: "The morale of the Melania People's Army is high. They can't wait to fight back home."

Wang Zhong: "They will be able to achieve their wish tomorrow, but our first goal is to surround the heavy troops in Proson."

Although the offensive that will begin tomorrow will enter Melania’s homeland, it will only pass through the northeastern part of Melania, and its main purpose is to encircle and annihilate the Prosen Central and Northern Army Groups.

Melania's capital is not on the attack route, and even Melania's mother river, the Vistula, is not on the attack route.

The Vistula River is 1,100 kilometers long and runs almost through the entire Melania. Generally speaking, as long as you fight in Melania, you will encounter tributaries of the Vistula River.

However, Wang Zhong's battle plan this time did not even touch the Vistula River, so it might cause dissatisfaction among Melania's People's Army.

Finally, the staff officers included a tributary of the Vistula River into the combat plan and ordered the Melania People's Army to solemnly recapture a medium-sized city on this tributary, which could be regarded as an explanation to the Melania people.

After the summer campaign is over, the First Khazaria Front will turn its spearhead towards the Vistula River during the winter offensive in October.

But no specific battle plan has been formulated because no one knows what the outcome of the summer campaign will be.

If they can successfully eliminate the Prosom Central and Northern Army Groups, then the First Army of Kosalia will take advantage of Prosom's troop weakness to march straight in, directly liberate Melania's capital, and head straight to the northeast of Prosom, where the Prosom capital is located.

If the battle to eliminate Proson's heavy troops is not successful and is delayed for a long time, or even allows the enemy to partially break through to the north and central parts of Melania, then the battle will probably be delayed until next year.

Whatever the situation is, we will know soon after the attack is launched tomorrow.

Pavlov: "This is the final version of the offensive plan that will begin tomorrow. Would you like to take a look?"

Wang Zhong: "The plan should have been distributed to all units, right?"

"Yes, the specific plan has been issued to the battalion and company level, so it is too late for you to change it now. I just want you to take a look at the plan," said Pavlov.

Wang Zhong pushed open the thick plan book and said, "That's not necessary. We'll see tomorrow!"

----

In the early morning of July 7, Pavlov looked at his watch and turned his gaze to Wang Zhong.

Wang Zhong was also looking at his watch. The moment he looked up, he met Pavlov's gaze and nodded, "Let's get started."

Pavlov picked up the receiver and said, "I am Pavlov, the Chief of Staff of the Front, and Davarich, the Commander of the Artillery, fire."

Popov: "Although the scene of giving orders is the same as before, it has been a long time since our headquarters heard the sound of artillery fire, whether enemy or ours."

Wang Zhong: "Our headquarters is getting further and further away from the front line, which may not be a good thing."

Pavlov had just put down the phone and returned to his seat. When he heard Wang Zhong's words, he became alert: "What do you mean? Are you going to the front line to drive tanks again?"

Wang Zhong: “I didn’t say that!”

"I'm telling you, the defense of the Rokossov I is not as reliable as before. At least three new vehicles from Proson can penetrate the armor of the Rokossov I. Under such circumstances, I can't agree to let you go to the front line to race tanks!" Pavlov raised his voice. Wang Zhong: "I didn't say that! Besides, we are about to put the Rokossov I equipped with a new engine into use, and we will strengthen the defense accordingly and weld new additional armor on the turret."

"I will agree to let you go to the front in person after these new cars arrive," said Pavlov.

Vasily: "Now the Marshal has one more reason to urge the rear to strengthen tank defense."

Popov: "That's a good thing for our tankers, isn't it?"

----

Move forward five minutes.

Fritz Krauss, commander of the 25th Army under the Plossen Southern Army Group, is inspecting the front-line bunkers with his beloved dog.

He entered the command bunker of the 54th Division of the Army Group and nodded to the saluting division commander: "Good morning, General."

"Good morning, Commander," the division commander replied respectfully, "The patrol we sent out last night captured two prisoners. They have been laughing at us and said they will teach us a lesson today!"

Fritz looked at the commander. "Really? Did they really say that?"

"Yes, but both of them have been handed over to the military police, so we don't know the results of the subsequent interrogation."

Fritz said to his adjutant: "Go to the gendarmerie headquarters and ask what's going on."

The adjutant nodded, turned around and ran out of the bunker.

Fritz's dog turned his head and looked in the direction the adjutant left.

Fritz came to the observation window of the bunker and looked out. Then he patted the second lieutenant on duty in front of the artillery mirror and said, "Come, let me see."

The second lieutenant immediately gave up his seat: "Please."

Fritz put his eyes on the gunner's telescope. "Let me see. The enemy side... looks very calm. Of course, they have been digging communication trenches and departure positions for so long that even if they really want to attack, we won't be able to see it from here."

Commander of the 54th Division: "Recently, the enemy's reconnaissance activities in front of us have been very frequent. It looks like they are about to launch an attack."

Fritz: "The High Command believes that this is a trick by Rokossov to prevent us from withdrawing troops to the north."

The division commander looked worried: "Really? If Rokossov attacks now, do we really have enough troops to resist them?"

Fritz straightened up, returned the observation position of the artillery telescope to the second lieutenant on duty, turned around and looked at the division commander: "Don't worry about things that haven't happened yet. We have indeed been drawn away a lot of troops and are seriously short of manpower, but as long as the enemy does not attack, it's no big deal.

"And we have strong permanent fortifications!"

Fritz reached out and touched the concrete wall of the bunker. "Look at this wall. It's solid and reliable. This fortification alone is equivalent to an army of 500,000! 500,000, understand?"

The division commander asked: "What if Rokossov sends out 1.3 million troops to attack?"

The Southern Army Group now has a strength of 116 troops, plus fortifications equivalent to troops, which is equivalent to million troops.

If Rokossov dispatched 130 million troops——

"The High Command believes that he doesn't have that many troops left." Fritz waved his hand. "What else can we do except trust the High Command's judgment?"

Then the phone rang.

The 54th Division's staff officer picked up the phone: "54th Division. Yes, the general is with us. Do you want to speak to him?"

Fritz looked at the staff officer: "Looking for me?"

The staff officer nodded: "Yes, Marshal Mendel, the commander of the Army Group."

Fritz reached for the receiver. "My name is Fritz Krauss. I'm in the headquarters bunker of the 54th Division."

Marshal Mendel asked, "Fritz, we just received a report from the gendarmerie that Rokossov's front may launch an attack today. Have you found any signs of an attack in the front-line bunker?"

"No." Fritz answered truthfully, "But the enemy has been operating on the opposite side for half a year and has already built a starting position. Even if they really want to attack, we can only know when the artillery is ready."

Marshal Mendel: "Is the artillery fire ready to begin?"

"No." Fritz changed his tone to a teasing one. "If the artillery preparations started, you would hear it."

"Is there anything else you need to report?"

Fritz was about to say no, but suddenly remembered the report from the commander of the 54th Division, so he said, "There is one thing. The 54th Division organized a patrol last night and captured two Ante prisoners. They both said that we will know how powerful they are today."

"Really? Are the two prisoners in front of you now?"

"No, they are not here. The division commander handed them over to the military police. I sent my adjutant to inquire about the situation."

"Understood. Report any news immediately—"

Fritz suddenly heard a scream in the sky.

His first reaction was to lower his body, grab the phone and lean against the wall of the shelter - the supporting effect of the wall made it less likely for a person leaning against the wall to be buried directly.

Then the ground began to shake.

The overpressure of the explosion almost instantly took away Fritz's hearing.

He shouted into the receiver, but he couldn't hear his own voice at all, not even the sound from bone conduction.

After shouting several times, Fritz finally realized that his hearing was gone. He touched his ears and felt only blood from the shock.

He shouted into the receiver amidst the earth-shaking, "Marshal, did you hear that? Ant's attack has begun! The High Command's judgment is bullshit! I repeat, bullshit!"

Just at this moment, a large piece of cement from the ceiling fell down and hit Fritz on the head, knocking him unconscious.

The commander of the 54th Division rushed over and used his body to protect the army commander. At the same time, he picked up the receiver and shouted: "Marshal, the enemy has begun to attack!"

Then he suddenly realized that the telephone line had been pulled out at some point.

"Damn it!" the commander cursed.

At this time, the entire ceiling of the bunker collapsed.

The solid fortifications that Plossen was proud of were defeated by Ant's artillery fire.

(End of this chapter)