artillery arc

Chapter 432: The Borsk Front Retreats to Raoul Pass (24000 monthly tickets plus more)

7 hours in the morning of July 26th.

The temporary headquarters of the Antebolsk Front is located on the South Ant Plain, fifty kilometers north of the Raoul Pass.

Prince Myshkin coughed for who knows how many times. He took out his handkerchief and covered his mouth with it. After a series of violent coughing fits, he kept covering his mouth with his handkerchief and was reluctant to take it off.

Everyone looked at him.

Mei Shijin seemed to have made a great decision. He took the handkerchief away from his mouth and took a look.

There was no blood at first glance, but when Myshkin loosened his grip a little, blood appeared.

The adjutant said indignantly: "The special medicine sent by the United States is not effective at all!"

Duke Myshkin soothed him, "Didn't you read the documents sent with the medicine? This is also an experimental drug, and even the test hasn't been completed. This is one thing. Second, the doctor wrote down the course of treatment for the drug, and I have just started my first course of treatment."

As he spoke he started coughing again, and the adjutant quickly patted his back to help him cough out the phlegm.

Admiral Fyodor Mihajnovich, who came to replace him as the commander of the front, looked at the Duke worriedly and said, "You should take a rest. There is only one last section of the journey left. I am familiar with the entire command process. Leave it to me."

Myshkin shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, I called you over to take over the command when I fell. I haven't fallen yet. It's not enough to just run to Raoul Pass. We still have so many rear guard troops. They are all well-tested and strong troops. I hope they can also reach the pass safely and have a good rest in Ekaterinary Dhaka!"

Yekaterinburg, although its name is very similar to St. Ekaterinburg Castle, is a different city. Yekaterinburg is an important road intersection in the Raoul Mountains and a major support center for the mountain railway.

As the most prosperous city in the entire southern part of Ant, it is naturally a good place for troops to rest and replenish.

Admiral Fyodor Mihajnovich advised: "Please believe in my ability. I also commanded a successful retreat in last year's war. Although my reputation is not as great as yours, Rokossov, and General Gorky, I also have some experience in retreat!"

Prince Myshkin held the bloody handkerchief in his left hand and patted Fyodor Mihajnovich on the shoulder with his right hand: "I know. But the troops don't know. They trust me, so now, despite the enemy's relentless pursuit and despite their thirst and hunger, they are still moving forward.

"Once they know that I've fallen - or have escaped first, and the commander who replaced me is a general, it's hard to say whether they can maintain this cohesion."

Admiral Fyodor Mihajnovich hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded: "I understand."

Prince Myshkin saw that he was not yet completely convinced, so he continued: "The troops are in a very bad condition now. We have tried our best to organize vehicles for transportation, but most of the troops still walked here.

"They have traveled hundreds of kilometers. We barely have the energy to set up cooking stations on such a long journey. Many troops haven't had hot soup for days and can only eat dry food and canned Spam.

"I even suspected that they would collapse completely in the next second. I couldn't risk leaving the troops and going to the rear to recuperate at this time."

Fyodor nodded, looking more resolute this time. "You are right, but I think that for the victory of the empire, a talent like you needs to be alive."

Myshkin shook his head: "No, I have read Rokossov's "On the Victory of Ant and the Defeat of Proson", and I agree with most of the views. No matter how powerful Proson is, it can't stop the siege of the Allied Forces. Their ally, the Fuso Empire, has just suffered a great defeat and is basically impossible to help them.

“The Allies have also begun bombing the city of Prosom. Even if Prosom’s industrial production does not decrease, it will have to devote a large amount of resources to the production of anti-aircraft guns and fighter planes.

"It's only a matter of time before they fail. The only difference is whether we recover our own territory and then invade the Plosson Empire to deal a heavy blow to them, or wait for the Allies to flatten Plosson.

“I think Rokossov will liquidate Proshen. After all, it was he who came up with the slogan, ‘See you in Proshenya,’ and I think he will do it.

"Once this retreat is complete, my duty is done. It is time for those of you who are able-bodied and energetic to lead the battlefield."

As he spoke, Prince Myshkin began to cough again.

The adjutant said distressedly: "Please stop talking. Every time you talk, you are..."

"Don't worry about it!" Prince Myshkin raised his voice and pushed his adjutant away. "I know my own body!"

Just as Prince Myshkin was about to continue, a communications officer came running over and said, "We received a telegram from General Rokossov, asking about our retreat."

Fyodor: "We have not been surrounded by the enemy's fresh forces, probably thanks to Rokossov. The enemy is now divided into two large groups on the entire Nanant Steppe. According to the report from the headquarters yesterday, Rokossov's group is the larger one."

Duke Myshkin came to the map table, stared at the Nanant situation map for a few seconds, and said, "What's between the two clusters of Prosen people?"

"According to reconnaissance, there should be only a small number of patrol troops. However, the infrastructure in this entire area is extremely poor and cannot support a large-scale force." Fyodor replied.

Prince Myshkin nodded and said, "Okay. By the end of this year, Rokossov should be able to use this place."

"Use it?" the adjutant asked doubtfully.

Prince Myshkin nodded: "Didn't you see the operational plan of the High Command? I am almost certain that the main proposer of this plan was Rokossov, or it evolved from the plan he submitted.

"Use space to buy time, stretch the enemy's supply lines, and then wait for the arrival of General Mud. It's the same tactic as last year. I guess the Prosen people won't be frozen to death this year like last year, with cars and tanks unable to start, and machine guns frozen and unable to fire - no, they won't be like that this year.

"But they can't solve the problem of mud. They can't solve it! When the muddy season comes, the enemy will definitely have difficulty in supplying. This is when Rokossov will have to strike back." The adjutant was shocked: "Using mud again? Why doesn't he try another tactic?"

Admiral Fyodor: "As long as this trick works, there's no harm in using it a few more times. And this is basically an open conspiracy, and the enemy knows it. So they have to achieve enough results before the muddy season comes, such as occupying Abavakhan or even the oil fields in Baku.

"Rokosov is best at defense. He has blocked the enemy's Tenth Army in Yeisk for so long. Moreover, his casualties were far less than our defensive battle last year, and he killed a large number of enemies.

"If it's Rokossov, he will definitely be able to stop the enemy's attack until General Ni arrives."

Prince Myshkin started coughing again, and then he took over the conversation: "What has not been decided yet is that there will be a decisive battle before the end of the year. I don't think this decisive battle will start in Abavahan, but it seems that there are no other critical nodes."

The Duke looked at the long Valdeci River. As one of the three major industrial belts of Ant, the entire Valdeci River bank was lined with endless factories. Even the small cities and villages along the river looked very prosperous, with many reinforced concrete buildings.

Corresponding to this prosperity, the entire Valdai River does not seem to have any particularly important nodes - the kind of points that can be used to hit the snake at its most vulnerable part after being stuck.

If you must say it, as long as we can block the Valdai River, it doesn't matter where we block it.

However, the Valdai River, as the mother river of Ant, is quite wide and the water depth is terrifying, and there is also an inland fleet on the river.

The Red Navy also had many large gunboats equipped with land artillery on board, and only occupied one side of the Valdai River. It was still difficult to completely block the river.

So even Duke Myshkin was not sure where the enemy would stop and fight to the death, and where the fight would turn into a fierce meat grind.

He could only look at the map and pray that Rokossov could find a way to break the enemy's offensive.

----

While Prince Myshkin was thinking about the future, his front was still trudging towards the pass.

Sergeant Ivan Konstantinovich hadn't had a hot meal for several days. As he walked, he took the kettle, unscrewed the lid and poured water into his mouth, but found that not a drop of water came out.

He looked at the sky. The scorching sun was hanging high in the sky, scorching everything.

Ivan even felt that the badge on his boat-shaped cap was getting hot, as if it was going to brand his forehead with a double-headed eagle.

He smacked his lips hard, trying to moisten them a little with his saliva.

At this time, a half-full kettle was stuffed into Ivan's hands.

He looked up and saw it was the battalion commander.

"Drink it," the battalion commander said, "take a sip and pass it to the back."

Ivan nodded, opened the kettle, licked the water on the lid, and handed the kettle to the side.

The battalion commander's water bottle was passed around by everyone, and no one was willing to drink more, until the water bottle finally returned to the battalion commander.

The battalion commander shook the kettle and cursed, "If you do this, the water will evaporate in the process of passing it! No, you have to drink it when you need to!"

At this time Ivan said: "Actually the water is fine, my kettle just emptied, but I can't stand the hunger anymore."

The battalion commander sighed and said, "According to the map, we can get supplies as long as we reach Xiguta, including water and hot soup. But on this grassland, the scenery looks the same no matter how far we go. I don't know how far we are from Xiguta."

Ivan asked, "What is Siguta?"

"It's a place name. This area was ruled by the Khitan Khan in ancient times. Many place names look like this."

As soon as the battalion commander finished speaking, someone in front suddenly shouted: "We've reached Xiguta! We can see the flag of the cooking team! And there's smoke from the bonfire!"

The battalion commander and Ivan looked forward and saw a lot of smoke rising into the sky.

Someone shouted, "Run!"

So the team started running in unison and rushed towards Xiguta.

Soon, they arrived. The girls from the cooking team had placed a series of water jars on the roadside so that everyone could drink from them with a ladle.

Ivan scooped up a ladle, took a big sip, and then poured it over his head.

He felt alive again.

In fact, the entire front came back alive.

(End of this chapter)