artillery arc

Chapter 759: Going to the Tiger Mountain (IF Route)

(This chapter has been significantly modified and needs to be downloaded again to read.)
Wang Zhong finally arrived at the Oder River.

After raising the telescope, he switched to a bird's-eye view, observing the gray-black earth in deep winter.

Wang Zhong: "What's going on? The number of fortifications is less than expected."

Popov raised his thumb and pointed behind him: "Because the enemy was originally planning to set up defenses on the Vistula River, but we attacked us for no apparent reason. All the fortifications were left behind."

"That means the enemy has not had enough time to build solid concrete fortifications?"

"Yes, they mobilized the People's Self-Defense Forces to dig trenches day and night, but after all, the People's Self-Defense Forces were poorly trained, and many of the NCOs who led them did not have much combat experience, so the trenches were dug slowly and unprofessionally."

Wang Zhong looked down at the enemy's position again. The trenches were indeed few and unrefined. In many places, they were not deep enough and were barely wide enough for people to walk through. The trench walls were not reinforced either...

It won't be long before the bombardment begins and the trench will be torn to pieces.

Popov continued, "But this is the enemy's capital after all, and the Allies frequently carry out air raids, so they have built many air defense fortifications, which can also be used for ground defense."

Wang Zhong remembered that Sandezi had built a famous anti-aircraft tower near the capital. After the war, it seemed that the Allied engineers used more than ten tons of TNT but still failed to blow it up.

When Wang Zhong saw this historical record, he immediately thought of a joke: "How strong is this anti-theft door?" "You can't blow it open even with three tons of dynamite!" "But three tons of dynamite can send my house into the sky!" "After the house is in the sky, the door - will not fall down!"

Vasily took out some photos from his pocket, flipped through them, and quickly found the photo of the air defense tower and handed it to Wang Zhong: "Look, these are the things."

Wang Zhong carefully examined the photo and asked, "Has this been bombed with something?"

Popov: "We used a Pe-8 bomber to drop a three-ton super bomb. The bomb landed next to the fortress, but it didn't shake the fortress at all - but the overpressure seemed to have killed many people inside. Subsequent photos showed the bodies carried out by the Prosen people."

Wang Zhong: "Overpressure can kill people inside, so can napalm and flamethrowers."

Vasily: "Poison gas can also be used."

Wang Zhong: “No! When I was in Thebes, I advised the President not to use nuclear bombs because I wanted to prevent these culprits from pretending to be victims after the war.

"So we will not use any inhumane weapons, including poison gas, against the enemy."

In fact, Earth Dezi once tried to pretend to be a victim of the Dresden bombing, but failed.

Wang Zhong had no intention of giving these guys any way to pretend to be victims.

So poison gas won’t work.

But white phosphorus bombs can!

The fuel-air bomb has not been developed yet, but it would be great if it was developed!
Wang Zhong: "Prepare more white phosphorus bombs. These things may not be able to be destroyed by the Urban Cannon. If it doesn't work, surround them, pile up fuel around them, light it, and suffocate the people inside."

"Understood!" Vasily took notes dutifully, "But don't worry too much about these bunkers, because there are only a few of them, and half of them are in the west and south."

Wang Zhong: "How are the preparations for the siege of Prothenia going?"

Popov: "We are going to start from the south of the Oder River, so we don't have to cross the river. This will be a 200-kilometer advance, a big encirclement. Damn, I'm a priest, why am I explaining the offensive plan!"

Wang Zhong: "You are the third-ranked commander. How can you succeed if you are not familiar with the attack plan?"

Vasily: "Well, I think it's better not to be so familiar with each other. Marshal, if you like to rush forward alone, the chance of death is high. Don't bring Pavlov with you."

Wang Zhong looked at Vasily: "You kid..."

Vasily smiled proudly: "Now I have an important position, I can handle half of your daily affairs, do you still want to send me to scoop out manure?"

Wang Zhong: “You bastard!”

Vasily: "I am also fluent in Prosen and can serve as a translator."

Popov sighed: "Look at you showing off."

Wang Zhong once again turned his attention to the enemy on the other side of the river.

At this moment, the Ante soldiers hiding in a nearby trench shouted to Wang Zhong: "Marshal! When will we be able to enter their territory?"

Wang Zhong looked at the person who was shouting and saw a weather-beaten face. Then he looked at the medal and found that he had actually won a gold star.

He is a veteran of battles.

Wang Zhong: "Did you have relatives who died at the hands of the enemy?"

"No. Fortunately, you blocked the enemy in front of Yebao and Abawahan, so my hometown was not affected.

"But Marshal, 70 men from my combat group have died! 70 men! I will take their place and set foot on the territory of Prosom!"

Wang Zhong: "Don't worry, Comrade Sergeant, we will attack as soon as the snow stops!"

"Will it be February or March next year? Are we going to let them go for that long? Comrade Marshal, look at the front, there are no fortifications at all, and most of the defenders are old people, women and children!"

Vasily: "Well, old people and children can include women."

"I'm talking about young women. There's this one hanging around, this one!" The old soldier gestured in front of him, "I led a reconnaissance team across the river to see, there were at least a company of female soldiers!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a young soldier joked: "Why are you so surprised? We already have female snipers, female nurses and female pilots here. They are pretty normal!"

"That's different. The enemy didn't use women before. I said this to tell the marshal that the enemy is already very weak, and now giving it a fatal blow is the best option!"

Wang Zhong: "I will consider your opinion."

"May Andrew bless you," said the old soldier.

His new recruits reminded him: "The Marshal is a living saint, and he has always been blessed by Andrew."

Veteran: "Then give me one more blessing!"

Wang Zhong looked away from the soldiers who were eager to fight and continued to observe the enemy's formation. Popov stepped forward and said, "Morale is very high. Even if we launch an attack right away, we can rely on morale to force our way forward."

Wang Zhong: "But the casualties will be great. However, it seems that attacking in advance will reduce the difficulty of breakthrough. The veteran's advice is worth referring to. Let's go, walk along the river, maybe we can find the enemy's weak spot like Kashuh did."

After this incident, Kashuh has changed from a general who was good at using infantry to fight tough battles to a general who is good at using infantry to attack the enemy's weaknesses.

So Wang Zhong led a group of people and began walking southeast along the river bank.

----

Yegorov: "What did you say? The division commander went to the river bank?"

The adjutant nodded: "Yes, the marshal, with the bishop and his entourage, went to the river."

Yegorov slapped his thigh and said, "How can this be possible? I don't know where the Melania people on the east coast have gone. They are all Prosen people who came to occupy the city! What if we encounter the enemy's People's Self-Defense Forces?"

Chief of Staff: "If you want to go to the river, just say so. No need to pretend."

"I'm going to protect the division commander!" Yegorov stood up excitedly, "Come, bring a thread cutting machine."

The guard immediately brought the gun over.

Yegorov: "The guard company, get ready. We are going to set out to protect the marshal. Don't be careless! Anyone who is drunk cannot participate in this operation. Let the priests put them in solitary confinement - no, punish them to dig out feces!"

The chaplain of the front army nodded and said, "Okay, I already know who drank tonight, I will do it right away."

At the same time, the guard company's assembly whistle was heard outside.

Yegorov picked up the thread cutter, skillfully checked the condition of the gun, and loaded it.

Chief of Staff: "You look like a kid on a picnic."

"Really? Anyway, you have no reason to stop me this time. I'm going to protect the marshal!"

After saying this, Yegorov walked out. After a few steps, something suddenly slipped out of his pocket.

He stopped and stared at something on the ground: it was an old photo of Yegorov's dead wife and children.

Yegorov cursed: "Didn't I throw away this photo?"

Adjutant: "Ms. Katya picked it up and asked me to put it in your military coat pocket."

Yegorov pulled out his pocket and found a hole in the bottom. The photo had slipped through the hole and fell to the floor.

Yegorov picked up the photo, stared at the person in it, and suddenly rubbed his eyes.

"Damn it, Katya must want me to remember the hatred and kill all the enemy's children."

The bishop of the front immediately reminded: "This is a violation of discipline, the marshal will be unhappy."

Yegorov was silent for a few seconds and shook his head: "Just kidding, I definitely can't do something like killing a child."

After saying that, he put the photo in his pocket, picked up the thread cutting machine and went out.

The guard company outside has assembled, and all members are thread cutting machines.

"Get in the car!" Yegorov waved his hand and got into the jeep first. The car had already started, and when the driver saw Yegorov, his adjutant and the guards getting in, he stepped on the accelerator.

As a result, a black cat suddenly jumped out from the front.

The driver swerved the steering wheel and the car crashed into a tree stump on the side of the road. The cat meowed and left gracefully.

The adjutant looked at the cat and said, "General, this is not a good sign. We should not go, right?"

Yegorov: "It's just a change of car, stop talking nonsense." A few minutes later, the guard company led by Yegorov set off.

The black cat squatted on top of the guard booth, looking at the departing convoy.

----

After leaving the headquarters, Yegorov and his party drove safely for five kilometers.

At this time, a barn appeared in front of them, with two Ant soldiers standing guard at the door.

Yegorov frowned: "Wait a minute, stop the car!"

The car stopped a hundred meters away from the barn. Yegorov took out the map he carried with him and said, "Why don't I remember there are troops deployed here?"

Adjutant: "Maybe the quartermaster of a nearby unit brought the people here?"

Yegorov frowned. "And we have two sentries in a barn? This is not like our way of deploying sentries. Deploy battle formation."

The adjutant turned around and shouted to the guards: "Deploy battle formation!"

The entire company immediately got off the vehicles and spread out on both sides of the convoy.

Yegorov stood up, picked up the thread cutter, and jumped out of the jeep.

"Forward!" After saying that, he walked forward in square steps with his gun in hand.

The adjutant immediately followed, and the two of them formed the spearhead of the infantry wedge formation.

The two sentries at the barn door were obviously scared.

Yegorov unexpectedly shouted in Proson language: "Surrender your weapons and you won't be killed!"

The two guards raised their hands reflexively, and then reacted and seemed to be about to open fire—

Yegorov opened fire first, and the bullets from the thread cutter instantly tore the two men apart.

"Asshole," he cursed, "I shot too accurately, I should have left him alive to ask where he got the uniform!"

At this time, the barn door opened, and a large group of young people who looked only sixteen or seventeen years old rushed out.

Yegorov knocked them all down without mercy, even the two tall girls were not spared.

After the thread cutter emptied its magazine, Yegorov hid behind a tree and skillfully replaced the magazine.

During this process, the soldiers of the guard company turned the barn into a sieve, and no living thing could survive.

Yegorov rushed into the barn with a fully loaded gun.

Then he suddenly saw a living enemy and immediately raised his gun and opened fire.

The moment he pulled the trigger, he saw clearly that it was a child who was probably only eight years old, so he quickly raised the muzzle of the gun. The bullet shattered the goggles on the child's head and knocked off the military cap that was pressed down by the goggles.

Blood immediately flowed down, covering half of the child's eye.

The child was so frightened that his hand holding the MP40 froze in mid-air.

Yegorov raised the muzzle of his gun and smiled at the child: "Don't be afraid, are you okay?"

The child was shaking all over, as if he had malaria.

Yegorov observed him for a few seconds, put down his gun, turned around and shouted to the outside: "Translator! Is the translator alive? Come here quickly!"

At this time, the child screamed, and his hysterical voice was like a desperate wolf cub.

Yegorov: "Don't be afraid, child—"

The MP40 fired, and a black cat rushed out from the side, hitting the gun of the MP40 with its entire body.

The first bullet hit Yegorov's left shoulder, and the subsequent bullets all flew onto the ceiling.

The adjutant had just opened the barn door and shot immediately upon seeing this. The bullet, like a threaded weight, immediately shattered the child's body.

Yegorov: "Asshole! He's just a kid! Look, he can't even counteract the recoil of the MP40!"

Adjutant: "You've been shot, General! What are you still talking about!"

Yegorov: "The shoulder is not a fatal injury!"

At this moment, a heavy object fell from the second floor and stuck into the floor.

He was an adult Plossom soldier, and his camouflage uniform indicated that he belonged to the Asgard Knights field force.

Yegorov and his adjutant turned their heads to look at the ceiling. It turned out that the gun that the kid had not controlled well had hit a member of the Armed Knights who was hiding in the dark and preparing for a sneak attack.

Yegorov: "My God, I think you may have a point. We should issue an order that anyone holding a weapon, no matter how old they are, should be regarded as an enemy and should be fired upon first."

Yegorov touched his shoulder and looked at the blood on his hand. "Damn it! Now I can't charge the enemy. Why at this moment?"

----

Wang Zhong was sitting in a jeep and moving along the river.

The more he investigated, the more he felt that he should attack sooner.

The enemy is not fully trained yet, but that may not be the case in half a year.

At this moment, Vasily suddenly frowned, pressed the radio headset, and picked up the microphone: "Say it again, I didn't hear it clearly just now."

Wang Zhong switched back to his physical perspective and looked at Vasily: "What's going on?"

Vasily: "Yegorov encountered the remaining Self-Defense Forces on his way to join the reunion. He is currently in the field hospital."

Wang Zhong: "What? Where is he?"

"He is being treated by Dr. Katya in his front hospital."

Wang Zhong: "Turn around and hurry there immediately!"

----

It was already evening when Wang Zhong's convoy arrived at the hospital.

He confirmed Yegorov's location from 2.5 kilometers away using a bird's-eye view. At least he was still alive.

The car drove into the hospital. Wang Zhong rushed out without waiting for the car to stop, and jogged all the way to the operating room, just in time to see Dr. Katya lifting the curtain and coming out.

Wang Zhong: "Where's Yegorov?"

Katya: "His shoulder is broken. Even if he recovers, he will never be able to lift heavy objects with his right hand. He must leave the battlefield forever."

Yegorov's howl came from the room: "I still have my left hand! Sukabulie, I still have my left hand!"

Wang Zhong: "Come on, Yegorov, what can you do with your left hand, point at the moon?"

Oh no, I accidentally made a joke that no one in this era can understand. Now that things have come to this, I can only create "Left Hand Pointing to the Moon" more than 90 years in advance.

"Pointing at the moon? Why would I point at that?"

Wang Zhong lifted the door curtain and went in, looking at Yegorov lying on the hospital bed, and then found a black cat squatting on his bedside table.

"What's up with this black cat?"

Yegorov: "It is my lifesaver. I gave it two cans of fish. Just now, it helped me push the muzzle of the submachine gun away. Comrade Marshal, I think we should issue an order to remind the whole army not to be soft-hearted to children."

Wang Zhong: "...Such an order should be issued. Children with guns are just as dangerous as adults."

Yegorov added: "I begged Katya for a long time, but she didn't agree that I should stay on the front line. I'll hand over my troops to the miners. They've been in the same trenches as us, and they'll treat us well."

Wang Zhong: “I know.”

Yegorov: "Also, I think we should launch the attack now. The enemy is weak. If we give them more time, they may recover their morale, get more ammunition and equipment, and build more fortifications.

"Forget about the encirclement. We will break through from the front. Even if Emperor Proson escapes, their morale will be ruined. An avalanche will come!"

In the military, an avalanche refers to a chain reaction caused by the collapse of morale in troops.

Wang Zhong: "During my reconnaissance, I also found that there seem to be many opportunities for attacking now. We can try to concentrate the troops that have completed the replenishment, form an assault cluster, and try to attack. Just like we did in Melania in September."

Yegorov sighed: "What a pity! I can't take part in this offensive. I played the whole game, except for the final battle to liberate Prothenia..."

Yegorov took off his holster and handed it to Wang Zhong: "This is the holster I always carry. It was given to me by my ex-wife. Every time I caress this holster lovingly, Katya's expression will change - I don't know how to describe it. I'm a rough man. So, I give it to you, Comrade Marshal."

Wang Zhong solemnly took off his holster and saluted Yegorov.

"Comrade Yegorov, your war is over, and I order you to embrace a new life."

Yegorov also returned the greeting to Wang Zhong: "Comrade Marshal, I promise to complete the task."

Wang Zhong turned around and said to Vasily, "Notify the General Front Command immediately and have Pavlov formulate a new combat plan to launch an attack with the elite assault group that has been reorganized first."

"If the attack goes well, we will end the war before Christmas, which is January 1th."

(End of this chapter)