artillery arc

Chapter 753 "The Distant Bridge"

On September 9, Proson Melania occupied the headquarters of the army.

When General Hawke heard the phone ringing, he let out a long sigh.

"After hiding for so long, what's coming has finally come." He picked up the receiver of the red phone on the table, "This is Hawke."

"Is your condition so bad that you can answer the phone now?" Emperor Proson demanded.

"Yes, our situation is very chaotic. We didn't organize a counterattack until yesterday." General Hawke tried his best to make his voice sound frank.

Emperor: "You guys, none of you have good intentions! Several admirals and marshals in Koburg all said that they could not abandon the troops and refused to come back! Everyone knows that Rokossov will not attack Koburg. He did not attack when he took Melania's capital, and he will not attack now!"

General Hawke: "We believe that Rokossov will not launch a large-scale offensive in the next few months."

"Of course he won't launch a large-scale attack. Look at the map and see how far he has advanced since he started from the border of Khazaria! He first went 500 kilometers to the north, then 150 kilometers to the west. In less than three months, he is almost at our doorstep!
"Why did we attack Melania back then? For living space, for a buffer zone! Now the buffer zone is gone! If he stops and takes a breather for three months, he can directly threaten Prothenia!
"Our only hope is that you can drive him back across the Vistula so that we can still defend by the river! But can we? Can you?"

The emperor's words were somewhat inconsistent, and Admiral Hawke recalled the rumors recently brought by the officers who came from Prothenia: the emperor was using the "awakening potion" newly developed by the imperial scientists.

It is said that the Academy of Sciences is distributing this potion to the Asgard Knights.

No one knows what this potion is. Dr. Heisenberg, who developed it, claims that it is the result of studying the Berserkers of Barras and is the key to human evolution.

But Admiral Hawke sensed a dangerous aura from the emperor, and this awakening potion was probably not a good thing.

It was making the emperor hysterical and unable to think.

Faced with the hysterical emperor's questioning, General Hawke considered for a moment and replied: "If the quality of our troops is the same as when we occupied Melania six years ago, I have no doubt that I can drive Rokossov, who has not yet established a firm foothold, suffered heavy losses in manpower and is short of ammunition, back to the other side of the Vistula River.

“But, Your Majesty, it took our troops so many days just to recover from the chaos. The new troops are all rookies, and we can’t even guarantee that the core non-commissioned officers have enough combat experience.

"With such troops it is impossible to drive Rokossov back across the river."

Emperor: "Admiral Steiner has experienced troops! I'll have him come to support you!"

General Hawke: "That would leave the rest of the Vistula River undefended."

The emperor was silent for a long time and then hung up the phone.

Admiral Hawke looked at the red receiver in his hand, sighed, and put it back on the phone.

----

Plossom's Western Front Command.

Marshal Mendel explained his plan to all the officers: "We must abandon the defense near Falaise and shrink the defense line to the border of the Low Countries and the Maginot Line. We should mobilize the troops in the Southern Carolingian Empire as soon as possible, and the troops in the Kingdom of Sardinia can be defended along the Alps-"

At this time, the red telephone rang.

Marshal Mendel sighed and nodded to his adjutant.

The adjutant picked up the receiver: "Western Command, please speak."

After a few seconds, he handed the receiver to Mendel: "Your Majesty."

Mendel took the receiver: "Your Majesty."

"I heard you want to give up Carolingian?"

Mendel: "Yes, our best option now is to fortify along the borders of the Carolingian and Low Countries and our country. We no longer have the troops to fight the Allies in the vast Carolingian lands."

"Aren't there still a few rivers? You can set up defenses along the rivers!"

Mendel said patiently: “Your Majesty, these rivers can prevent our army from capturing the Carolingian capital, which means that they generally flow from east to west.

“And now the enemy is advancing along the river, and our reconnaissance planes have even seen them moving their warships into the Seine.

“At the same time, our aerial reconnaissance also shows that Qinbao’s scorched earth warfare has achieved remarkable results, and the enemy is currently unable to make good use of Qinbao’s port.

"As things stand, the enemy must capture the port of Antwerp in the Low Countries to completely solve the supply problem. We can retreat to the border, block the enemy, and at the same time carry out a scorched earth operation in Antwerp and blow up all the ports."

"No." The emperor shouted, "Carolingian military production is of great significance to our continued war! You must drive the Allies into the sea! What Romel can do, you should do too!"

Mendel: "What about the Romer? Ah, he was captured. Was he really captured?"

There were people in the army who had been privately saying that Romell knew he could not fight any longer, so he used the excuse of going to the 21st Armored Division, but in fact he had already discussed it with the guerrillas and surrendered directly.

Considering Romell's situation at the time, it was understandable - not to mention whether he could drive the Allied forces into the sea if he stayed, the Emperor had never stopped suspecting him, and even went so far as to fill his headquarters with a large number of "staff officers" who could do nothing but tell tales.

Mendel glanced at the staff in the room and was not surprised to find that many of them were not paying attention to their work and were listening to the situation here.

How can we fight a good war with this group of insects?

Emperor: "Romell... Let's not talk about him. Are you worse than Romell?"

Mendel: "I am indeed not as good as Marshal Romer in organizing an attack."

Mendel's "frankness" directly silenced the emperor.

He also "seized the victory and pursued the enemy": "Your Majesty, now the Allies seem to be planning to encircle us in the Falaise area. Retreating as soon as possible can leave precious seeds for the Western Front. We can at least stop the enemy at the border, so that you can concentrate on dealing with Ant's attack."

Your Majesty is different now than when you just started the war against Ant.

At the beginning, he regarded the Allies as the main threat and was unwilling to transfer the troops stationed in the Carolingian Front to the Eastern Front, leaving these troops idle - even though the fighting on the Eastern Front was in a stalemate at the same time.

At that time, military academy graduates called being assigned to the Western Front a "vacation," which was undoubtedly a lucrative job.

Now, the best soldiers and the newest equipment are given priority to the Eastern Front. The Plossen Empire is doing its best to resist the "steamroller", and the Emperor of Plossen is most worried about the Eastern Front.

So now, Mendel's mention of "being able to concentrate on the Eastern Front" was an "unrejectable condition" for the emperor.

Finally, the emperor spoke: "Okay, retreat. But you can't just leave like this. I want to transport all the artworks in the Carolingian capital and light a fire that will never go out! We must carry out a thorough scorched earth operation! The Allies will have to use their precious logistical resources to feed the tens of millions of people in Carolingia!"

"Yes," Mendel replied.

The emperor hung up the phone.

Mendel put down the receiver, glanced at his staff, and then said to his adjutant: "His Majesty has agreed to our plan and we will immediately prepare to retreat. In addition, His Majesty has requested a scorched earth campaign against the Carolingians, and you will carry it out in person."

The adjutant immediately understood what he meant. Why was he still carrying out a scorched earth war in the Carolingian Empire at this time? Was he thinking that the rope used to hang him during the trial was not thick enough?

Even if Mendel himself could not escape the hanging, he should have thought about his subordinates.

When the emperor asked, he said that the Carolingian resistance organization was wreaking havoc with scorched earth warfare, and their leader, General Dago, was as strong as a monster, and he could not defeat him no matter how hard he tried. After watching his adjutant leave, Mendel suddenly felt a little sad. Even a "loyal" General Plossen like himself had begun to make such plans. It was probably only a matter of time before the Plossen Empire fell.

Mendel walked to the window, looked at the Carolingian sky outside, and sighed deeply.

----

The Prime Minister's official residence in the United Kingdom.

Leonard looked at Marshal Mago who came to report to him: "Rokossov sent our special envoy to bring me a message, mocking your turtle-like slow progress! He also said that if you continue like this, he will join us in Alsace! Alsace!"

Marshal Mago: "Our army is making good progress and will be able to recapture the Carolingian capital by the end of the month. Our landing operations in South Carolingia will also be launched soon, and by October we will have recovered the entire Carolingia."

Leonard: "Rokosov has captured Prothenia!"

Marshal Mago: "I don't think so. Rokossov should rest for more than half a year before launching another offensive. The final forced advance must have cost him a lot of valuable veterans."

Leonard: "Really? You mean his next attack will be next March?"

"February is possible, depending on when he is ready, and we think the battle in the East will remain firmly in its current position until then.

"In addition, the Ante Army's attack on the southern front has also stopped. Their current round of offensive has ended."

Marshal Mago reported confidently.

"And our offensive has just begun, Mr. Prime Minister. I have formulated a battle plan. We will use seven days to cross the Low Countries and reach the core industrial area of ​​​​Prosun. We will end the war before Christmas!"

Leonard: "What kind of plan? Landing in Hamburg? The Admiralty has rejected this idea, believing that a direct landing in Hamburg is too risky and we don't have enough transport ships."

Marshal Mago unfolded the map: "No, we are not landing in Hamburg. We are going by land. You see, there is a wide road here that passes through the Low Countries and directly reaches the border of Plossen. This road was built by the Plossen people in order to better rule the Low Countries.

"We can use this high-standard highway to capture the three vital bridges on the highway with paratroopers. Once the bridges are captured, our 30th Army can move forward unimpeded! Unimpeded!"

The military organization of the United Kingdom is actually equivalent to Plossom's Army Group, which is a very large battle group.

Leonard stared at the map for a few seconds and asked, "Where are the Prosons' defenses?"

Marshal Mago said confidently: "The Low Countries are not well-defended, so the Plossons can advance straight into the country when they attack. Conversely, the same is true when they defend. The only thing they can rely on is the river.

"As long as we capture the bridge, the river will be nothing to fear."

Leonard thought for a long time and asked again: "How long will it take to prepare for this operation?"

"Seven days, Prime Minister." Marshal Mago patted his chest and said, "Seven days to prepare, seven days to complete the battle plan. From now on, blitzkrieg will no longer be a term exclusive to the Prosen people! However, there is still a problem..."

"What's the problem?" Leonard asked quickly.

Marshal Mago: "Allied Commander-in-Chief Ike did not agree with my plan, thinking it was too risky."

Leonard: "He wanted to give all the credit to the United States Third Army, so I put pressure on him personally. No, I directly lobbied his immediate superior, their President!"

----

United States, Presidential Palace.

The president put down the receiver and said to the secretary of state, "That old sly fellow has come up with a very fantastic idea that can end the war and ensure that the Proson Empire is dismantled according to our wishes."

Secretary of State: "According to our meaning, there is no participation of the Ants? This is inappropriate, right? After all, the Ants have tied down and eliminated so many Proson troops, otherwise we would not have been able to land so smoothly."

President Luo nodded. "That's what I mean. That old sly guy is still trying to strike a balance. He might agree to let Proson maintain the imperial system and let the emperor who committed such a heinous crime continue to stay in office."

People in the room looked at each other.

The security assistant said, "We can't let them carry out this plan!"

President Lao Luo: "I think this plan is full of possibilities of failure. It is better to do them a favor. When the plan fails, we will have full say in the military operations against Europa."

The Secretary of State asked worriedly, "You are not a professional military strategist. How can you be sure that this plan will fail?"

President Luo smiled and said, "Because seven days of preparation time is a bit too short for such an ambitious plan. I don't understand military affairs, but I know how much preparation is needed to launch an attack that far into enemy territory."

The Secretary of State raised his eyebrows. "Seven days? I think he is crazy. No battle can be prepared in just seven days."

"Yes, so let him try. Let them place our paratroopers on the bridge close to the starting position, and let the United Kingdom's paratroopers capture the distant bridge!"

At this time, his secretary came in with a newspaper: "Today's special edition."

President: "Anyway, it's Rokossov who's on the front page again."

"Yes, but today's special edition is a photo edition, full of photos of Melania and her people welcoming Rokossov's troops."

President Luo took the newspaper and looked at the huge photo on the front page.

It was a photo of Melania guerrilla playing the piano in the ruins, with other guerrillas next to her and an ANT officer holding a harmonica.

The guerrilla with a rifle appears to be singing, and judging by his size he is probably a singer.

President Luo praised: "This photo is of high quality. It's Robert Capa again. He has been in Ant for so long. How many Pulitzer Prizes has he won?"

Secretary: "No, this time it was his partner, reporter Mike, who took the photo."

President Luo raised his head and looked at his secretary in surprise: "Really?"

“Yeah, it looks like Melania Trump is chock-full of Pulitzer-worthy moments right now.”

The president stared at the photo again for a few seconds and said, "I can only say that Rokossov did a great job this time, but he always does a great job. Congress is expected to pass a bill to extend the Lend-Lease Act again, and the opposition whip will be furious."

After saying this, the old man laughed from the bottom of his heart.

----

On September 9, Chief of Staff Pavlov arrived at the city defense headquarters in Melania's capital.

After hugging Wang Zhong, he said seriously: "If you jump on the small tank and charge forward yourself, I will immediately resign and go home to live with my wife and children."

Wang Zhong: "But our raid received a very good response from the allies, didn't it?"

Pavlov: "Yes! But there won't be a next time! There won't be a next time!"

(End of this chapter)