artillery arc

Chapter 754 The Tower Still Exists
September 9, outside the Carolingian capital.

A Super Pershing drove into the village. The tankers looked at the idyllic little village in confusion. The gunner muttered, "Where is this from? Is this still Carolingian?"

The old farmer holding a baguette nearby said something in Carolingian.

Gunner: "What did he say?"

The commander: "How should I know? I don't speak Carolingian."

At this time, several young men came out of the bakery next door and said in Angsa: "Welcome! The Proson Army hastily withdrew a few days ago!"

Commander: "Are you a resistance organization?"

"Yes, we are the resistance, we can take you all the way into the city!"

At this time, more people came out of the house, and the young people of the resistance organization shouted something in Carolingian. The commander only understood the word "Dagao", which was the name of the leader of the Free Carolingians.

Soon the villagers surrounded the tank and threw bread, cheese and fruit onto it.

The gunner was confused by all these things: "Are we really in an occupied area? Why do we feel like they are living better than we are?"

The commander: "Yeah, look at the young people in the village, both men and women, with arms and legs. Why did we fight to get here? My two younger brothers died on the beach. Seeing them like this... Damn it!"

At this time, the crowd pulled a woman holding a child out of the building, pushed her next to the Pershing tank, and began pointing at her and cursing.

The commander hurriedly asked the young man who claimed to be a member of the resistance organization: "What's going on?"

"She gave birth to a child for Prosent, and she acts like a first-class citizen of the empire every day, looking down on her neighbors. Now everyone needs to vent their anger!"

The conductor: "What else did she do?"

The young men of the resistance looked at each other, then shook their heads together: "No, she's going to do something bad, now we'll hang her up! Hang her on the lamppost, just like during the Revolution!"

At this time, the "raped" woman's child was taken away, and she let out a heart-wrenching cry.

The conductor: "That's enough! Give the child back to her! Let her stay quiet!"

The young man who had been talking to the conductor said in confusion: "She is a traitor to Carolingian!"

Commander: "How loyal are you?"

Young man: "We have been fighting for Carolingian freedom!"

Commander: "So how many Prosens did you kill?"

Young man: "I... cut the Proson people's telephone wires! And blew up their telephone poles with dynamite!"

The commander asked again: "Did you have any brothers, sisters or friends who died at the hands of the Plossom people?"

The young man shook his head: "No."

"Then you are not qualified to judge her. Go find someone whose family was persecuted to death by the Prosen people. He is qualified to judge her! Go find him!"

The young men looked at each other in bewilderment. At this time, someone who looked like a village elder asked loudly, and the young man translated the driver's words.

Everyone was stunned and looked at each other, and the "rape" woman took the opportunity to snatch the child, rushed back to her home and locked the door.

The conductor: "Did she occupy that house?"

Young man from the Resistance: "No, it's her father's house. Their family has lived in the town for almost a hundred years."

The commander: "Let me summarize. This woman entertained a Plosson officer in her home. She was raped by the Plosson man, and then because she was a Catholic, she couldn't have an abortion, so she gave birth to the child. And you just want to persecute her because she is usually arrogant, right?"

No one answered.

The villagers didn't understand the Angsa language, but they probably guessed what the driver was saying, so they all remained silent.

At this time, the jeeps and M3 half-track vehicles of the follow-up troops drove up in a mighty manner.

The people immediately became happy again and rushed towards the Union troops entering the city, throwing flowers, bread and cheese on every vehicle.

The commander sighed and asked the young resistance member who was still beside the tank: "What is the situation in the capital?"

The young man replied happily: "Great, the tower is still there!"

----

Prime Minister Leonard threw today's Times on the table and said to his secretary: "If they had entered the Carolingian capital in twenty days, it would have been a great victory. Now all the limelight has been stolen by Rokossov. Rokossov was the first to recover the capital of a fallen country!"

Secretary: "No, we have recaptured the capital of Tunisia, which is also a captured country."

Leonard: "But it's not in Europa! It doesn't matter how many African countries we conquer, they are not as good as one country in Europa! We could have conquered a country in Europa first!"

Secretary: "Perhaps we shouldn't have forced the Melanians to revolt. That way Rokossov would have stopped to rest, and we could have recaptured the capital of a Europa country first."

Leonard stopped talking and sat in his chair sullenly.

At this time, Marshal Mago pushed the door open and said to Leonard in high spirits: "We are ready to launch Operation Market Orchard!"

Leonard: "Ike agreed?"

"Yes, Ike said this was an action that had to be taken, so he agreed to the entire combat plan, but they asked that the United States paratroopers be dropped near the bridge. I guess they don't have confidence in their own paratroopers."

Leonard pursed his lips and said, "It's hard to say. Maybe they just don't want to drop the airborne troops in the enemy's hinterland. Maybe they think this plan is bound to fail and the paratroopers can be withdrawn at any time."

Marshal Mago: "No matter what they think, we just need to attack. The Prosens have been defeated. The empire is now a broken house that will fall down with a slight push! The reason why Rokossov did not advance is entirely because his reserve forces and supplies have been exhausted.

"As long as we are stuck with the Lend-Lease Act, there is no way for Ant to move forward with its weak industrial strength, and we will advance triumphantly. Rokossov said he would meet us in Alsace, but we will meet him at the Oder River!"

Leonard: "Very good. If everything really unfolds as you predicted, you will be the most outstanding general in this war! I mean, if you don't count the naval generals!"

Marshal Mago was delighted: "Just wait and see, I will definitely complete the task!"

----

Headquarters of the 1st Parachute Division, United Kingdom.

The division commander, Major General Sean, stopped holding the tea in his hand and looked at the staff officer from the headquarters who came to convey the order in confusion: "You said we are going to airdrop 300 kilometers behind enemy lines?"

Staff Officer: "292 kilometers. And why are you using the metric system like the Plossans? We should use 'Miles'."

Major General Sean: "I like the metric system. Decimal calculations are more convenient. I thought such a plan would start after we captured Antwerp. This is ridiculous. The person who made the plan has no military knowledge at all. Which politician did it?" "It was Marshal Mago."

Major General Sean: "Ah, I see. So he plans to run for prime minister after retirement? That must be the case, right?"

Staff Officer: "The battle plan has been approved, Major General, you must go, or are you prepared to disobey orders to the end?"

Major General Sean shook his head: "Even if we don't consider the problem of being too far from our front line, do you know what the terrain of the Low Countries is like? There are swamps everywhere, and gliders can't find a place to land, and parachutes can't carry heavy weapons.

"It is almost impossible for us to capture such a bridge behind enemy lines and hold it until the troops arrive."

Staff Officer: "The 30th Army will arrive in just seven days. Along the way are exhausted Plossom's fleeing soldiers. The war will end by Christmas."

Major General Sean: "I don't agree with this plan. I'm going to call Ike and ask him, the Allied commander-in-chief, to stop this crazy plan."

"He has approved the battle plan," the staff officer said. "Nothing you do now can change the situation."

Major General Sean stared at the staff officer for a few seconds, scratched his head, and could only sigh helplessly: "Okay."

At this time, the commander of the Melania Airborne Brigade who came with the staff said: "If you ask me, this is suicide. I suggest that all of us write a statement saying: 'We do not agree with this crazy plan, but our military duty forces us to attack. If the battle fails, please be sure to hold Marshal Mago, who made the plan, accountable.'"

Major General Sean thought about it and nodded: "Okay, let's make it clear, so that when future generations judge us, they won't think we are mediocre people who don't even have military common sense."

He actually took out the paper money and wrote furiously on the table, asking as he wrote: "Where do you think it would be best to post this statement?"

The staff officer who delivered the message advised: "It's useless. The department responsible for news censorship will not allow this statement to be published."

Major General Sean: "Then let him file it, or put it in my correspondence, so that my children can publish "Major General Sean's Brigade Letters" in the future to clear my name."

Staff Officer: "You... please do as you please, but please sign for this order."

Major General Sean straightened up, took the order, and signed the notebook opened by the staff officer.

----

September 9, Melania Capital, Melania Front Command.

Pavlov looked at his watch and said, "There was no shelling today. It looks like the enemy is finally unable to strike."

Wang Zhong: "Our troops are here, and supplies are flowing smoothly. If they continue to attack now, it will only be a waste of manpower. What I am concerned about now is how long we have to stop before we can continue to advance towards the Oder River."

Pavlov: "At least three months. Considering the loss of core forces, I suggest waiting for six months, so that most of the injured officers and NCOs will recover and return to the team."

Vasily: "Have we been reduced to waiting for the injured NCO to recover and return to the team?"

Pavlov picked up a document from the table and said, "Look at this. Yesterday I approved the promotion of 60,000 privates to non-commissioned officers. These non-commissioned officers have never received a single day of training at the non-commissioned officer school. If we don't wait for the injured non-commissioned officers to return to the team, our attack will definitely be a mess."

Wang Zhong: "To what extent can we recover in three months?"

Pavlov: "You plan to start the offensive next January?"

Wang Zhong: “Yes, we have learned from the prisoners we have captured that the enemy has run out of manpower and has begun to requisition children, but modern weapons are like this, even if used by children they can threaten adults.

"We can't give the enemy's scouts enough time to train. The sooner we attack, the lower the casualties."

Pavlov: "Three months - we can only adopt the method of not allowing the old soldiers who have recovered from the wound to return to their original units. We can concentrate the old soldiers who have recovered from the wound into the units scheduled to participate in the attack, and the reinforcement of the core forces of other units will be slightly slowed down.

"In addition, we can recruit soldiers in Melania, recruit guerrillas from all over the country, train them for three months, and then recruit them into the Melania People's Army. We can expand the number of the People's Army several times."

Wang Zhong: "Okay. Anyway, I'm going to attack in January, and you find a way to get the troops out."

At this time, the phone rang. Wang Zhong saw that it was the red one, so he picked it up and said, "This is the Melania People's Army Headquarters."

Olga: "I'm looking for Marshal Rokossov."

"I am."

Olga immediately spoke in an official tone, then changed her tone to a casual conversation: "Brother, I just received a newspaper from the United Kingdom. I sent a copy to you by plane. The troops of the United Kingdom and the United States have occupied the Carolingian capital, and General Dagaud has returned home."

Wang Zhong: “Isn’t this a good thing?”

Olga: "There is another piece of news. The Inquisitor got the enemy's liaison officer drunk and got information from him. He said that they are about to launch a shocking operation to end the war before Christmas! I guess it is their Christmas, which is December 12th!"

Wang Zhong looked at the calendar on the wall and said, "Don't worry, they can't do it."

"how do you know?"

Because I read the script.

Wang Zhong: "Because I have common sense. They have just liberated most of the Carolingian region, and they are still dozens or hundreds of kilometers away from the Plossen border. Moreover, this section of the distance is full of solid bunkers, which are the fortresses of the Maginot Line. It is very difficult to fight.

"They can only go through the Ardennes Forest or occupy the Low Countries to the north. However, there are too many bridges and swamps in the Low Countries, making it difficult for mechanized troops to deploy. The defenders have an advantage in this terrain."

Olga: "Oh, I see. I'm relieved. Oh, by the way, President Luo sent me an invitation. They will hold a meeting in the capital of the Mamluks."

Wang Zhong thought, that's not right, didn't the Russians have anything to do with the Cairo Conference? The next time Olga attended such a conference, it would be the Potsdam Conference.

Did I give Ant the qualification to attend the meeting?

This doesn't seem surprising. He saved Melania from the capital uprising and now has great reputation around the world.

Olga: "I feel like they are not inviting me, but you, so why don't you go with me? Anyway, you don't have a war to fight now, so just leave the work to General Pavlov."

Wang Zhong glanced at Pavlov.

Pavlov: "As long as you don't drive a small tank on the front line, I have no objection to anything else."

Vasily: "Why do I feel like the Chief of Staff is like a young wife?"

Pavlov rolled his eyes.

Wang Zhongze said to Olga on the phone: "Okay, when exactly do you want to go?"

"President Luo said it's not decided yet. We may have to wait... until the war over there is over. I'm just saying hello to you first."

Wang Zhong: "Once you decide on a date, send a plane to pick me up. I'll be free until January next year."

"Good!" Olga said happily.

(End of this chapter)