artillery arc

Chapter 760 Attack Plan
"Absolutely impossible!" Pavlov slammed the table, "We can't capture Prothenya before January 1 next year! We can't do it!"

Wang Zhong: "Give priority to replenishing the returning soldiers of the troops that participated in the attack..."

"Now all the troops are looking forward to the return of the wounded veterans!" Pavlov interrupted Wang Zhong. "When you attacked Melania's capital in September, you already used the trick of pulling the returning veterans into the assault troops. Do you know how serious the shortage of grassroots backbones in the army is now?"

Wang Zhong was shocked. It seemed that the situation of the troops was worse than he had expected.

But he immediately thought of the Melanias: "Where are our draftees in Melania?"

"We did recruit a lot of people, but they have no military skills at all. I don't know how they occupied the capital."

Vasily said: "It is possible that people with military qualities have been sacrificed."

Everyone in the headquarters turned to look at Vasily.

Vasily: "I was Melania's temporary chief of staff in the capital for a while, remember? I knew the level of the guerrillas and resistance fighters who were still alive at the time.

"I think Marshal, you should give up on using Melania's soldiers to take down Prothenia."

Wang Zhong began to pace around the room.

Pavlov: "Does it have to be Christmas? Didn't we agree with the United States to take March? We can definitely take it with a month's fierce attack."

Wang Zhong: "But the enemy's preparations for the March attack are more thorough. Now there are a large number of untrained children and elderly people among the enemy."

"And women," Vasily said. "Children and the elderly cannot cover the large number of women between 20 and 40 years old."

"Thank you for your supplement. The enemy is now much more vulnerable than we thought, which is why Kashuh's infiltration was successful. If we attack in advance, it may be effective."

After Wang Zhong finished speaking, he looked at Pavlov.

The chief of staff touched his bald head and said, "You may have a point, but without troops, there is no troops. Think about it, we have fallen to the point where we need to wait for the wounded to recover. Plossen has no manpower left, and we are the same."

Wang Zhong turned and walked to the map of Prothenia hanging in the office.

This is not a city defense map, but a map of an area with a radius of 100 kilometers with the center of the capital of Prothenia as the center.

The area on the east bank of the Oder River controlled by the Ant Army is in the northeast corner of the entire map.

Wang Zhong: "How come a short distance of only 60 kilometers has suddenly become a chasm in front of us?"

Pavlov: "We can cross it in March, don't worry."

Wang Zhong pondered for a few seconds and sighed, "Brute force won't work, we can only outsmart it."

Pavlov: "I can tell you that our troops on the southern front are equally exhausted, so even a feint attack won't work."

Wang Zhong: “I know.”

"Really?" Pavlov asked.

Wang Zhong thought for a moment and said, "I knew it before, but I had no practical concept. Now, thanks to your expressive explanation, I have a practical concept. I will think of a method that does not require so many troops, which is the so-called victory through clever tactics."

Pavlov: "Even if you personally fly in the plane to instruct the artillery targets and fine-tune the troops like before, you can't do it. Give up. Remember, although our losses in that assault were much smaller thanks to your fine-tuning, there were still losses. Before your desperate assault, the irreversible losses of various troops reached 15%!"

In addition to deaths in action, irreversible losses also include those who were seriously injured and could not return to the battlefield. This number has reached 15%, and most of the troops have lost nearly half of their personnel.

Ant is a country where priests and officers like to charge forward, and there are probably only a few junior officers left.

Wang Zhong pursed his lips, looked at the map, and fell into deep thought.

----

Kosrek and Andreas looked at each other.

Koslake: "The camouflage uniforms of the Asgard Knights look pretty good."

Andreas: "I hope the camouflage can really increase our survival rate. What do you think of the awakening agent issued?"

Kosrek looked around and made sure there were no military police or Imperial Household Ministry spies. Then he lowered his voice and said, "I saw other people who used this thing and they looked like the people I saw in the opium den.

"I suggest you don't touch this thing. Just pretend to have used it before entering the battle. Others who have used it probably won't be able to recognize our brains anyway. We just need to shout loud enough to fool them."

Andreas nodded and asked again, "Did your family write to you?"

"No, but it is also possible that their place has been occupied by the Allies. The progress of the Allied forces on the Western Front is top secret. What about you?" Koslake asked back.

Andreas: "It is said that the Ant Army is parked across the river at the foot of my mountain, and the mountain division is consolidating the defense line. I think we are really unlucky to be incorporated into the Armed Knights at this time."

Koslake: "Don't lose heart. We have escaped so many times. We will definitely be able to go home."

Andreas nodded and said as if he was chanting a spell that could relieve all the depression and tension: "Go home. By the way, have you killed any Ante civilians?"

By the time Andreas joined the battle, it was almost time for the Ants to counterattack, and he really didn't have a single civilian life on his hands.

Kosrek: "There is no veteran like us who hasn't killed people. They are all inferior races, right? And at that time, no one knew that they would turn defeat into victory. Think about what we did on their land... Maybe when you return home, your relatives have been killed by the Ants."

Andreas took out a cigarette and held it between his lips tremblingly: "May God bless my family."

————Emperor Proson looked even more haggard than a few days ago.

The generals in the map room exchanged a few knowing glances.

At this time, more than one person was actually waiting for the emperor himself to be killed by the awakening agent, so that he could surrender to the Allies.

Although after the Thebes Conference, the Allies issued the Thebes Declaration, refusing to accept any surrender other than unconditional surrender, many people in the Plossom military system still dreamed of making peace with the United Kingdom and partially retaining the army and territory.

Emperor: "We have distributed enough awakening agents for 600,000 people! These are the products of the Empire's proud science and technology that cracked Baras's secret medicine! Those who are injected with the awakening agent will become iron warriors!"

Marshal Celtic suddenly asked: "Then you should have become an iron warrior, right?"

The emperor raised his head and stared at the marshal fiercely. The look in his eyes could indeed be called that of a steel warrior, but it was a pity that looks could not kill.

Finally, the emperor looked at the map on the table again: "We have not failed yet. The enemy has a salient at the bend of the Oder River. As long as we cut off the salient and eliminate the hundreds of thousands of Ante troops on it, Rokossov will not be able to organize an offensive for a long time!
"Now we turn west and push the Allies into the sea! We will fight on two fronts like Frederick the Great did, using the time difference to win on both sides!"

General Hawke: "What can we do to capture this salient on the Oder River? The enemy's forces on the other side are three to four times ours, and they have a constant supply of reserve forces."

Emperor: "We will deploy the most advanced Maus tanks, which will crush all enemies!"

Admiral Steiner: "That thing weighs nearly 200 tons. How is it going to cross the river?"

"Of course, we cross the river underwater!" The emperor replied immediately. "Long before we invaded Ante, we developed snorkel technology that allows tanks to cross the river underwater!"

The tank, weighing nearly 200 tons, dived through the muddy riverbed and used a snorkel to keep it ventilated.

This is no different from seeking death.

But no one dared to point this out.

The room suddenly became quiet.

The emperor continued to look at the map: "Now the enemy's attack on the western front has stopped. Our defense near Antwerp has been very successful. General Mendel made a very wise decision. He reorganized the scattered troops and boosted their morale.

"We can extract a few more reorganized troops from Mendel and transfer them to the Eastern Front!"

Marshal Celtic: "Our railway system has been bombed repeatedly by the Allies. It will take about two months to mobilize so many troops."

The emperor was stunned into silence for a moment, and after a moment he looked at Air Marshal Grand Duke Mayer with a ferocious look.

The Grand Duke wiped his sweat and said, "Our synthetic oil factory has been exposed somehow. Now our aviation fuel production is only one-fifth of the original. We have ordered the ME262 jet aircraft to stop performing combat missions.

"Propeller planes with lower fuel consumption have no combat power advantage, so..."

Emperor: "The Empire has lost the sky, has it?"

Grand Duke: "But! The first batch of rocket interceptors have been equipped to the troops! These planes use rocket power and have high speed and climbing capabilities! They can give the Allies a head-on blow!"

The emperor nodded dully and continued to look at the map: "As long as we launch an attack, everything will be fine! Admiral Steiner will be in charge of this attack!"

Steiner: "Me?"

Emperor: "You go cut off Rokossov's salient and destroy his exposed troops!"

Steiner: “This…”

The emperor stood up: "We still have hope of victory! The entire Proson Empire is with us! We have 20 million people's self-defense forces! It is wishful thinking for the Ants to defeat us!"

Marshal Celtic: "What if... Rokossov charges in person again? Our soldiers, especially the veterans, are very afraid of him charging in person. There are also many superstitious beliefs, such as angels, demons, think tank directors, and so on."

Emperor: "What the hell is a think tank director?"

Marshal: "The wailing on the radio seems to be from the Ansa language, with some deformation. In short, our troops are now in a state of panic. As long as Rokossov attacks personally, as long as the red flag appears, morale will collapse.

"The Melania War has proven this. Our psychologists believe that the soldiers are just making excuses for their escape, but... but if these excuses are said too often, they will become reality, Your Majesty."

The emperor waved his hand and said, "What a heresy!"

The door opened and a well-dressed gentleman entered the room: "It's psychology, Your Majesty. I am an expert in communication psychology. Your propaganda minister appreciates my theory very much and uses it in a lot of propaganda practice. I think our troops are now extremely panicked about Rokossov.

"If he charges in person once more, we will collapse. The enemy's naming him a living saint seems to be a top-notch conspiracy. The soldiers will be fooled by the title of living saint and they will fear him spontaneously."

The emperor waved his hand and said, "Enough! Are you saying that Rokossov's personal charge into the battle line will destroy our morale? No, this cannot happen! Even if it does happen, as long as there is one imperial soldier who does not waver, he can kill Rokossov!"

The psychology doctor pushed up his glasses and said, "This is the scary part, Your Majesty. In our world, there really is such a thing as a divine arrow."

The emperor stopped.

Doctor: "What if Rokossov really has some mysterious power to help him? It could be quantum physics, or something else we haven't figured out yet, or it could just be some mysterious power."

The emperor looked up.

Doctor: "If a soldier raised his gun to Rokossov, he fired, but the bullet missed. It could be because of the wind direction, it could be because his hands were shaking, or it could be some other reason... but... what do you think he would think?

"I tell you, sir, he will feel that some mysterious power is protecting Rokossov, sir."

(End of this chapter)