artillery arc

Chapter 439 Desert Fox
North Africa, Mamluk territory.

Admiral Erwin Jonas Eugen Romer squatted by the Nile, raised his camera, and aimed the lens specially made for him by Zeiss at the small boat on the river.

There was no one on the boat. They probably jumped off the boat and fled when they saw the tanks of the Plosson Army. The boat slowly drifted downstream under the push of the half-full sail.

Erwin kept pulling the lever of the film winder with his thumb, like a skilled gunman pulling the bolt, and the scenery of the Nile River was fully recorded on the film.

Behind him, a signalman ran over with a telegram, but was stopped by the adjutant.

The adjutant whispered, "Don't disturb the general from taking photos unless it's something extremely important."

"Let him come over," Admiral Irwin said. "He's just reading a telegram and won't interrupt my photography."

The signalman immediately ran to Erwin and reported loudly: "The downstream reconnaissance force sent an urgent message and found that the United Kingdom's shallow-water heavy gunboat and seven river defense ships were cooperating with the armored forces to move south."

While using the camera to look for traces of water birds, Erwin said, "It's coming faster than expected. Have our mines been delivered yet?"

Adjutant: "Not yet. We currently lack the resources to block the river. General, advancing too quickly will drain all our troops. We cannot defeat the Royal Navy's fleet."

"Everyone knows we can't win. The enemy knows it too, so we can take a gamble." Erwin continued to record the beautiful scenery with his camera, "Take advantage of the enemy's carelessness and win by surprise. So where are the mines? Hmm? What does the navy say?"

The adjutant shrugged: "The navy just lost a new battleship."

Erwin was shocked. "What? Isn't the flagship of the United Kingdom's fleet stationed in Alexandria an old, dilapidated ship? Isn't it said that the ship can't even reach 27 knots? How can it defeat our latest high-speed battleship?"

Adjutant: "Not in the Mediterranean... Anyway, we don't have any mines to block the river. And our supplies are running out."

Erwin cursed as he looked at everything in front of him, helplessly covered the camera lens, and carefully put the camera into a special protective case.

Erwin: "Without mines, we can't block the waterway, and we don't have enough ammunition. It's not a good idea to engage in a firefight with the enemy's naval guns and artillery."

He pondered for a few seconds and sighed, "It would be a pity to retreat. We can only make use of the enemy's rigid tactics."

The adjutant asked doubtfully, "What should we do?"

"Disguise. Both sides of the Nile are floodplains. Look at all the trees and grass." Erwin stamped the floor again. "And this ground. It would be a shame not to use it if it is so suitable for digging."

Adjutant: “You intend to…”

Erwin turned his head and looked towards the north. It seemed that his gaze had been heading north all the way to the northernmost end of the entire battlefield.

"I have been studying the tactics of Ante's Rokossov. Most of our generals scoff at his tactics, thinking they are just tricks used by children in fights. But I am different."

Erwin paused and continued, "What's wrong with petty tricks? Winning a war is the art of war. So let's imitate Rokossov and use motorcycles to drag these branches across the desert to create the illusion that the tank army is retreating.

"And our main force is lying in ambush on the flood plains along the Nile River."

At this time, the Chief of Staff of the African Army also hurried over. Just when he heard the last sentence, he exclaimed: "Then how can we face the enemy's shallow-water heavy gunboat? The ship's defense is very poor by warship standards, but it is enough to resist our 88mm guns. Our 150mm guns may not be able to hurt it!"

Erwin tapped his head with his index finger. "Use your brain. We can use the 88mm and 150mm guns to take out the escorting river gunboats, and then use the boats to rush to the shallow-water gunboats and board them."

The Chief of Staff and the Adjutant: “Huh?”

Erwin continued, "I have studied the enemy's shallow-water heavy gunboat blueprints stolen by the Intelligence Department. Most of their secondary guns are not armored. Using heavy machine guns and machine guns to sweep past can kill a large number of enemy personnel. Of course, there are also tank guns and 150-mm howitzers.

"The main guns of the shallow-water heavy gunboats can only fire one salvo every 30 seconds. As long as we pay attention to the formation, we won't have to worry about it. After capturing the warships, we can turn around at Lake Lipol upstream, drive back, and attack Alexander. If we capture Alexander, we will have supplies!"

The adjutant and the chief of staff looked at each other.

Chief of Staff: "This is too far-fetched, General. It's too risky!"

Erwin looked at the chief of staff. "Do you think that any of our combat operations so far have not been risky?"

The Chief of Staff thought for a moment and answered: "When we just left Libya..."

Erwin waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, no, I mean after His Majesty the Emperor began to conquer. During the Melania Campaign, we actually only had a small number of Type 3 and Type 4 troops. In order to advance smoothly, we activated the Brandenburg troops.

"This was especially true in the Northern Campaign, which involved the massive use of airborne troops to assault the enemy's coastal fortresses, as well as risky landing operations. Wasn't that a wild plan?
"In the Carolingian Campaign, wasn't it risky to send tank troops through the forest? And in the Low Countries Campaign, using airborne troops to capture Antep in advance was an unprecedented and unconventional idea!
"This is the glory of our Prosun, and now we will continue this glory here. When we incorporate the Mamluks into the empire, no one will remember Rokossov anymore. Everyone will praise us and praise me."

The chief of staff still looked aggrieved, but he did not refute.

The adjutant was already excited: "Indeed. In this situation, the enemy will think that we can only run. We will definitely catch the enemy off guard! Great, General, you are indeed the best general in the empire!"

Erwin gave a bitter smile: "No, if I had mines and could use them to block the river, I wouldn't do this. But we don't have mines, none! Damn it, I told the navy a long time ago that I wanted mines, why haven't they delivered them yet!
"I also told the Air Force that I wanted the mines, and the Air Force vowed to send them to me using a large seaplane, but in the end they didn't!"

At this time, even the Chief of Staff showed an expression of empathy: "If the navy and air force were not so incompetent, our logistics would not be so tense."

Erwin: "It doesn't matter. If we take down Alexandria, we will have supplies and can even launch a new offensive to completely block the canal and strangle the United Kingdom!"

----

August 8, Ant capital, St. Catherine Castle.

Wang Zhong stretched his body as he walked to the dining table and picked up the newspaper that was already on the table. The moment he saw the front page headline, all his tiredness flew away.

The Plosson Empire defeated the United Kingdom's river defense fleet and approached Alexander?

What the hell?

When you wake up, the world line has changed?

Where did this come from? Is this still Ant?

Wang Zhong quickly looked at the name of the newspaper and it was indeed Ant's newspaper.

He ran back to the room with the newspaper and rubbed the front armor of Lyudmila who was combing her hair to make sure that she was still his wife.

Lyudmila looked puzzled: "What's wrong? Is there any news in the newspaper?"

Wang Zhong looked at the front page again: "I don't know, there is a very sci-fi news, how did he (referring to Desert Fox) do it?"

Given the poor supply situation of the African Army, how could they approach Alexandria along the Nile River?

Wang Zhong: "I have to make a phone call, a few calls!"

After saying that, he ran away in a hurry again.

Lyudmila and Nellie looked at each other, then shrugged at the same time.

----

While Wang Zhong was looking for people to confirm the situation, on the banks of the Nile River, Elvin handed his beloved camera to his adjutant, then stood by the river, posing as he was looking at the shallow-water heavy gunboat with the Plossen flag flying on the river.

The adjutant found a position and pressed the shutter.

Erwin: "No, I shouldn't be standing like this and shooting. Drive a long-barreled 4 over here!"

"Yes!"

The radio operator immediately started calling, and soon a long-barreled Type 4 drove to the river. The commander jumped out of the car and saluted the general: "General! Salute to you!"

Erwin nodded, waved his hand casually, and began to climb the tank. The tank commander hurried to lend a hand, and the driver also leaned over to help, pulling Erwin onto the car.

The admiral held the turret with his left hand and held the telescope in his right hand, posing as if he was looking at the shallow-water heavy gunboat from afar.

Without his order, the adjutant started looking for angles and took a lot of pictures.

Erwin: "Wait a minute, there should be some film left. Let me get inside the tank and take some more pictures."

So Erwin got into the tank, put on his headphones with ease, and let the crossbar of the headphones press on the big hat - this is also the classic look of the Proshen tank commander.

After "arming" himself, Erwin posed and the adjutant started taking pictures again.

Erwin: "Make sure the tanks and the monitors are in frame!"

"Don't worry, General."

While Erwin was busy, two guards were gossiping:
"Why does the general keep filming?"

"I heard that the general actually wanted to be a photographer. When he was a battalion commander, he won a photography award. I think it was the biggest award in Plossom."

"real or fake."

At this time, the signalman ran over and saluted: "Report, Air Force contact, the seaplane carrying the mines can land on the river today!"

Erwin, who was taking pictures, stopped and looked at the signalman with a frown: "They should have arrived two days ago! Then I wouldn't have to take the risk!"

The signalman was embarrassed: "It's not me who said the Air Force couldn't deliver it, General."

Erwin shook his head: "What else?"

"Also, the air force wing carrying secret weapons will complete the transfer today and will be able to join the battle tomorrow. Their secret weapons are very effective against the old warships of the United Kingdom's Aegean Fleet."

Erwin replied in a tone of disinterest, "Yeah, got it. We'll take Alexandria without them."

　Recommended "I am a Fairy": There are cloud gods who use radios to forecast the weather, ghosts who use electric batons, fire gods who carry flamethrowers, Taoist immortals who use pistols as palm thunder, and the Yangtze River Dragon King who guards the dam.

　　When you possess technology and power that transcends your time, you become a god in the eyes of mortals.

(End of this chapter)