artillery arc

Chapter 733 Ike's Chance Has Come

July 917, 7, Eagle's Nest, Plossom Empire.

"Last year, we designed an armored train based on homeland defense," an expert from the Imperial Arms Bureau introduced to the emperor. "The characteristic of this train is that only one side is armored, so the armor can be piled very thickly. In order to balance the weight, we set the weapons and mechanical devices inside the train on the other side."

Emperor: "The cross section of this thing looks so ugly!"

Expert: "But it is indestructible! Negative number of carriages connected together and parked on the railway will form a ready-made line of defense. We have organized three armored trains and parked them on the road that Rokossov must pass! They will definitely play a huge role!"

Emperor: "What if Ant's infantry approach at night and bury explosives under the vehicles?"

"We have the latest night vision searchlights!"

"What about complex terrain? According to what you said, you want to build a super-long train, right? Then there must be a train parked on complex terrain. How can we prevent enemy infantry from approaching through complex terrain and placing explosives?"

"Just a little bit of explosives won't overturn the entire train, especially such a heavy carriage." The expert gestured diligently, "Even if a section of the carriage is blown down, it will not affect the entire defense line. Even if the entire train is destroyed, it is still an obstacle to stop the Ant tanks!"

General Moltke, Director of Armored Forces: "He is right, Your Majesty. We considered the train to be destroyed by the Ants from the beginning. However, this obstacle can still kill the Ants before it is destroyed!"

The emperor touched his cheek with his fingers several times and then said, "Okay, put the three existing trains into operation, and assign several factories that produce carriages to produce these things. How many can be produced before August?"

"There are only ten days left until August," the Celtic Marshal reminded.

"Okay, how many can we produce before September?"

Expert: "I've calculated that if all of Holker's first, second and third factories are allocated to us to produce this thing, we will be able to have 600 carriages in combat by September! After all, I took productivity into consideration when designing it!"

Emperor: "Go ahead, produce as many wagons as possible and stop the Ants!"

The expert left happily with his design.

Marshal Celtic muttered, "The remaining question is, how many railways do we have that can just cross the enemy's attack path? What if the enemy attacks along the railway? From a logistical point of view, attacking along the railway is the best solution, isn't it?"

Emperor: "Then do you have a better way to stop the Ants' attack?"

"We can use ships to pick up people from the sea like the United Kingdom did. We also control the sea power of the Baltic Sea." Marshal Celtic came to the map and gestured with the map stick. "The distance is shorter than when the United Kingdom retreated, and the Baltic Sea is calmer."

Emperor: "You said the same thing when we retreated Army Group A two years ago!"

"The year before last, we did not have air superiority and were taken advantage of by the United States' experienced naval aviation. This year, the theater is within the combat range of the local air force, and the air force's me262 jet fighters have an absolute advantage."

Marshal Celtic finished speaking, and Grand Duke Meyer continued with his head held high: "That's right. Our Me 262 jet fighters have achieved rich results since they were put into combat. They have shot down many Allied ace pilots' planes and greatly improved the efficiency of intercepting Allied bombers."

Grand Duke Meyer has been suffering setbacks ever since the Allies changed their air strike combat mode last year. He was always in a state of disgrace during meetings, but now he can finally stand up straight.

The Emperor glanced at the Grand Duke. "I have carefully read the data of the 262. All its performance is obviously better than the data of the Allied Mustang fighters provided by the Air Force. Then I don't understand why the battle in the air is not one-sided? Why are there still many jets shot down by the enemy's Mustangs?"

Grand Duke Meyer took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat. "Half of the 262 lost were lost on the ground. This type of aircraft requires a very long takeoff distance, and there is basically no way to take off urgently to meet the enemy after detecting an enemy aircraft attack.

"But we have already made a response. We have built a solid hangar for 262. The bombs carried by the enemy fighters cannot damage this hangar. Before 262 pushes out of the hangar and prepares to take off, the 152 fighter plane will take off first..."

Emperor: "Really? So we have solved the half of the losses on the ground, but what about the other half? What about the half lost in the air?"

Grand Duke Meyer wiped his sweat again: "It's because... because our pilots were inexperienced and made wrong operations."

"Why is it that they lack experience? Didn't you say that the combat experience of the Plosson Air Force is far superior to that of the Allied rookies?"

"That was last year," the Grand Duke replied simply.

The emperor was choked by these words and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Marshal Celtic: "The quality of all branches of our army is generally declining, and it is not just the Air Force's problem."

The emperor lowered his eyes and looked at the documents and reports in front of him.

For a moment, a solemn atmosphere enveloped the entire conference room.

Just then, the Grand Master of the Knights of Asgard entered the room.

The position of Grand Commander was originally held by Giles concurrently, but after his death, it was handed over to the current Grand Commander. This Grand Commander did not have a good reputation in the Wehrmacht because he was a farmer, so the senior generals of the Wehrmacht contemptuously called him the "Chicken Farm Director."

Grand Commander: "The preparations for Operation Laufer have been completed. Once the operation is launched, Rokossov must stop his march north to rescue Melania's people! We can take this opportunity to withdraw Army Group North and Army Group Center to the fortified area near Coburg."

General Moltke: "Operation Laufer?"

He looked at the Celtic Marshal, who also spread his hands to indicate that he didn't know.

The Grand Commander: "Yes, this is an action planned by your majesty and I, aimed at forcing Melania's resistance organization to launch an uprising in advance. In this way, international pressure will force Rokossov to turn his troops around, and his forces will be tied to the Vistula River line and dispersed on the vast Melania Plain!"

The head of the Imperial Household Ministry's secret service frowned. "You mean, force the Melanians to revolt in their capital and the major cities in the west? That would indeed put pressure on Rokossov, but how can we force them to revolt in advance?
“The smart people now know that if they wait a little longer… the situation will turn in their favor.”

The spy chief cleverly changed "the empire will collapse" to "the situation will be in their favor."

He continued: "Melania's leader Hermann would not make such a mistake. Revolting at this time would only waste their strength in vain.

"We also tried to persuade Hermann to revolt in advance through people working for us in the resistance organization, but he refused. The United Kingdom also urged Hermann to revolt, and even had the government-in-exile airdrop special envoys - but he remained unmoved."

The spy chief stared at the commander-in-chief.

"How are you going to make this calm and experienced warrior unable to restrain himself and revolt?"

The Grand Master gave a sinister smile: "We ordered the Knights' District Teams in various places to capture Melania's children, gather them together and kill them on the streets, so that they will be forced to revolt."

Silence fell in the meeting room again.

General Moltke, the director of armored forces, turned to the emperor and shouted: "This is wrong!"

"Shut up!" The emperor stood up and threw the pencil in his hand onto the table. "I'm saving Proson! To save Proson, I'll be willing to become a demon!"

Moltke closed his mouth and looked at the emperor with an expression of disbelief.

The emperor was still shouting: "You are now beginning to condemn me! But have you ever thought about why we resorted to this desperate measure? Because you failed to defeat Rokossov! You failed to end the war!
"Think carefully, how could Rokossov's troops grow in number? There is only one possibility, that is, you deceived me! You lied about the results of the battle! You messed up everything, and now you blame me!
"I'm just wiping your butts! Wiping your butts! Do you understand me?"

The senior generals looked at each other in bewilderment.

His Majesty the Emperor sighed deeply, and seemed to have finally calmed down. He looked at the Grand Commander and asked, "What's the situation?"

"Resistance organizations in many cities can no longer hold back and have begun to revolt. I think as long as the supporters of the Imperial Household Ministry within the resistance organizations add fuel to the flames, a large-scale uprising will occur." The commander-in-chief looked at the spy chief.

The spy chief pushed his glasses and said, "Next time you have such an operation, you should inform us first. Our supporters are just partners with us. If you do this, they might——"

"What can they do?" The Grand Master laughed. "If the Empire fails, what awaits them, don't they know? They have already boarded the Empire's chariot."

The spy chief: "You are right, but you should still greet us first."

"I was negligent. I offer a small gift to express my apology." The Grand Commander took out a large manila envelope and stuffed it into the hands of the head of the Imperial Household Ministry. "These photos were taken by us. You can give them to your insider and pretend that they are 'the truth brought back by our comrades at the risk of their lives.' Even Hermann will be unable to hold back."

The spy chief took the envelope, hesitated for a moment, and still did not open it: "I won't read the contents."

The emperor took over the conversation: "In addition to Operation Laufer, we have to make two preparations. If Rokossov does not change the direction of his attack under international pressure, we need to deploy more troops to stop him!

"Under Marshal Romer's supervision, the Western Wall fortifications on the Western Front have been unprecedentedly strengthened. We can transfer the field troops on the Western Front to the Eastern Front. The 70 field divisions on the Western Front can be reduced to ! In addition, we can transfer divisions each from the Balkans and the Kingdom of Sardinia!

"Then we will have 50 divisions of fresh troops to stop Rokossov's attack!"

At this time, Marshal Erwin Romer, the commander-in-chief of the Western Front, who had always acted as if it had nothing to do with him, stood up and said, "How can this be possible? There are millions of Allied soldiers on the other side of the Channel, just waiting to cross the Channel!"

The head of Labberville, Duke Redweci, said: "Our ace spy Garcia reported that the Allied forces across the strait are actually only one million people. Because of your outstanding performance, the Allied forces have decided to defeat the Fuso Empire first.

"The Allied landing fleets are now heading towards the Pacific Ocean."

Erwin Romell hesitated: "Is it that Garcia?"

"Yes, it's Garcia who is as famous as the Kratt Bureau." Duke Redwich said proudly.

Romell thought for a moment and said, "If it's one million, I can handle it with only thirty divisions, but you can't withdraw my armored division! Absolutely not!"

"Of course not," the emperor patted his chest, "we will never withdraw your armored divisions. The fifty divisions we are withdrawing this time are all infantry divisions. The purpose is not to counterattack, but to set up an iron wall in front of Rokossov to stop him! We will refer to his tactics in Abavahan, break the troops into small pieces, and resist until the last moment!"

Erwin Romell nodded: "That's good. All that's left is to hope that there are really only one million enemies left."

----

"Three million troops are ready to go!" Admiral Little John said to the Allied commander-in-chief, four-star Admiral Ike, holding a cigar in his mouth, "And there are super Pershing tanks! There is absolutely no way Plosson can drive us into the sea this time!"

Ike: "In fact, if we delay for a while and wait for the Prosens to transfer more troops to the Eastern Front, we will have a better chance of success. If we attack too early, the Prosens will not be able to withdraw their troops, and Rokosov may end the war this year." Admiral Little John: "Why, do you think my attack speed will be slower than that of Kutuzov?"

"It's Rokossov."

Admiral Little John waved his hands repeatedly: "The names of the Ants are so long, no one can remember them! I say we should land tomorrow and compete with the Ants in speed.

"They want to capture the heart of Plossom. They have to cross all of East Europa and then Plossom's territory. After we land and pass through the Low Countries, we will be in the heart of Plossom! We have the advantage, Ike!"

Admiral Ike said earnestly, "But Prosonia is closer to them. When Emperor Prosonia planned this new capital, he deliberately kept it away from the coastline and West Europa in order to prevent the United Kingdom from easily threatening this new capital."

Admiral Little Johann: "Why didn't he put it in the mountains of Bavaria? That's farther away! Or just choose Vilna as the capital!"

Admiral Ike: "In short, D-Day will be sometime in August. We need to give the Plossons more time to mobilize their troops. It's no use for you to tell me. We might as well pray that the weather forecast will give us good weather as soon as possible. Maybe we can land just after August."

Little John put on his helmet and said, "Damn politicians! I know without thinking that it must be Leonard who asked for the postponement! If it weren't for him, we would have landed in June!"

Admiral Ike looked at Little John and smiled, "On the bright side, we can invade Prothenia before that Rokossov."

Little John: "No! This is cheating! Even if he and I arrive at the outskirts of Prothenia at the same time, I will let him enter the city first! Do you understand?"

After a brief pause, the thorny man also laughed at himself: "But if he is still blocked on the east bank of the Oder River when we arrive in Prothenia, then I will not be polite!"

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Everyone in the room laughed.

----

Return to the Eagle's Nest.

During the break in the meeting, in the lounge, General Moltke lowered his voice and asked Marshal Celtic: "What do you think?"

"Walls have ears, it's best not to look," said the Celtic Marshal.

Marshal Erwin Romer also came over and said, "Borrow a light."

The Celtic Marshal nodded and took a deep puff to light up the cigarette.

Marshal Romel lit up the cigarette, but held it without smoking. He said in a deep voice, "Since the death of His Excellency Giles, His Majesty has gradually become hysterical."

The other two stared at Marshal Romel with an expression that said "Damn it, how dare you say that?"

Erwin Romer continued, "Operation Laufer will bring shame to the entire empire. It would be fine if it works, but the worst thing is that Rokossov ignores this operation and continues to march north."

General Moltke: "Perhaps then he will be guilty as well as we are."

"Maybe." After a brief silence, Erwin asked, "Will he care?"

Marshal Celtic: "He may not care about this, but if the resistance organization is forced to revolt because of this, then Rokossov may also change the target of the attack because of this."

Marshal Romel: "Do you think so? He is the commander who personally ordered thousands of people to go to the battlefield and die. Think about the orders he gave in Abavahan.

"No, he won't be merciful and change the target of the attack. In the end, the only ones who will work are the fifty divisions we have transferred. This damned Laufer operation should be stopped. It has no meaning other than bringing us a bad reputation!"

General Moltke: "How about you go and give advice to His Majesty?"

Erwin shut up.

Celtic Marshal: "We will do our part, and let him do the rest."

----

On July 7, Melania was in a house on the banks of the Vistula River in the capital.

Hermann smoked silently while the representatives from various districts in front of him were excited.

"We can't stand this any longer! They are systematically killing children!"

"Hellmann! We must revolt!"

Hermann: "Can the uprising defeat the Plossom defenders? Tell me!"

"We can gather together the guerrillas in the surrounding villages and cities, so that we will have enough military advantage!"

Hellman: "What about weapons? Do we have enough weapons?"

"We can capture the enemy's arsenal and open it to distribute weapons! And we have been preparing for the uprising and stockpiling weapons, right?"

Hermann: "The reason why we haven't revolted yet is because we don't have enough supplies! The Prosens have successively sealed off several of our arsenals. Now, regardless of our personnel or weapons and equipment, we are not allowed to revolt!

"We should wait for the Ant Army to attack us, and then cooperate with them! When the Prosen people are defeated and are about to destroy the railway hub and bridges, we should take sudden action to protect the bridges and hubs. This is the right thing to do!
"With our help, the Ante Army can quickly recover the entire Melania and reach the banks of the Oder River! That's Prothenia!"

After Herman finished speaking, someone sneered, "I finally see clearly that you are an Ant running dog!"

Someone immediately got upset and grabbed the person who said that by the collar: "Asshole! Without Hermann, we wouldn't have made it this far! Keep your mouth shut!"

Herman: "That's enough! It's normal for everyone to have complaints against me. Our priority is not to revolt, but to cover and evacuate the children who have not been caught and hide them.

"As for the children who have been captured, since the Prosen people's goal is to lure us into action, they will not kill them all at once. We will find a way to rescue the locked-up children.

"A rash uprising might just play into the hands of the Prosen people."

Everyone who was excited just now calmed down a little.

At this time, the person who just said that Herman was Ante's lackey said: "Can't he go to Rokossov and ask him to send a troop to stop the atrocities? He has so many troops, it would be no problem to send hundreds of thousands of people to liberate the entire Melania, right?"

Someone immediately echoed, "Yes, Rokossov has a unit composed of Melania people under his command, called the Melania People's Army. Let this unit march towards us. Prosen is already at the end of his strength, and one unit can drive them away!"

The people who had just quieted down started to chatter again:
"Yes! Let Melania rescue her children!"

"It seems to be called the Melania People's Army, let them come!"

"Contact Rokossov, he will save us!"

Hellman: "Quiet! Okay, quiet!"

He shouted several times before the room became quiet.

Hermann: "Rokosov's troops are outflanking Plossen's Army Groups Center and North. Dispersing our forces will only make the Plossen people happy!"

"We will be happy too! The demise of the Prosen people is only a matter of time. What's wrong with fewer troops?"

"Yes, I think this Rokosov is just greedy for martial arts! He wants to become the best general in Ant and replace Suvorov!"

"Yep!"

"Quiet!" Hermann shouted, "I will send a special envoy to explain the current situation to General Rokossov. Perhaps the general will have the energy to help us. Everyone else, remember, do not revolt. Protect the children who have not been captured yet!"

At this time, fierce gunfire was heard outside.

"What's going on?" Hermann demanded.

Everyone looked at each other.

"I don't know. The leaders of all the districts are here. It's impossible for us not to know about the action."

The sound of gunfire outside was getting more and more frequent.

At this time, someone entered the meeting place and shouted, "Oh no! The detachment from the third district has started an uprising! They are besieging the armory!"

"What? The armory?"

"How many people are participating in the operation?" Heilmann demanded.

"More than a hundred!"

Hellmann was silent.

"Hellman, we can't wait any longer! Take action! Otherwise, we will just sit there and watch over a hundred people die! We might even be uprooted!"

"Go ahead, Hermann!"

Hermann placed his pipe upside down on the table and sighed. "Hey. The liaison team should leave as soon as possible. Only Rokossov can help us now. Everyone else, return to your own divisions immediately and start mobilizing all forces!"

(End of this chapter)