artillery arc

Chapter 500 Guerrillas in Action
Gonif suddenly turned around and looked at the supply station behind the team where the fire had been put out but black smoke was still coming out.

"Hey, Casino, stop! Why do I feel like someone is calling us?"

Cassino had already walked a long way, and he stopped helplessly and looked back: "I have to remind you that we are in enemy-occupied territory, and we may encounter Proshen's patrols at any time, or even the regular army on the march. We have to quickly reunite with our team and head to the evacuation point."

Gonif stared at the black smoke in the distance for a few seconds, sighed, turned around and followed Casino.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly said, "Remember the mission in Navaron? We were chased by the Prosen people and fled into a village. We happened to see a wedding being held in the village."

Casino sighed: "How could I forget."

"The locals helped us," Gonif continued, "They changed our clothes and let us sit among the guests. The bride even danced with me."

Casino's hurried pace gradually slowed down, and he recalled with Gonif: "At that time, the bride's sister asked me to dance with her. Although I don't know their traditional dance, I am a Castilian."

"Yes, Officer Proshen and their Imperial Household Ministry agents were wandering around the wedding with their men, and in the end they didn't notice that we were dancing in the most conspicuous place in front of them. These Proshen people are too rigid and can't deal with this kind of situation." Gonif laughed as he recalled.

But his smile quickly faded.

"Later," he said, "after we escaped, we were walking in the mountains and saw a convoy of Prosen people entering the village. There was constant sound of submachine gun fire, and the house where the wedding was held was on fire. The smoke could be seen for kilometers away."

Cassino quickened his pace again, as if trying to escape from this memory.

Gao Nifu: "The local guerrillas who cooperated with us sang a very cheerful song. It seemed to go like this: One morning, I woke up from a dream and saw the invaders broke into my hometown... Goodbye, my friend. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, guerrillas, please take me away..."

Cassino was carrying the unused explosives and two MP40s, whistling to Gonif's rhythm as he walked.

Ahead was the ruins of a farm, which looked like it had been destroyed a long time ago. New vines had appeared on the charred walls, and even small flowers had bloomed.

The two walked towards the ruins. Just as they were about a hundred meters away, someone asked in broken Ant language: "Uncle Ivan?"

"No, it's Aunt Ivanka," Casino replied in the same heavily accented Ante language.

Then the ivy vines fell off, revealing the Komanda sniper hiding behind them: "Damn it, you two are walking in the field without any cover. The Prosens can see you from three thousand meters away!"

Gonif shrugged. "The Prosens are in chaos."

At this time, the leader of the team, Jonard, emerged from the ruins and said, "You two are the only ones missing. If you don't show up in ten minutes, we will retreat."

"We're here, let's go," Casino said.

Jonard nodded. "Let's go. The tunnel is in these ruins. This is Semyon something-something Zakhaev from the guerrillas."

Guerrilla Xie Miao: "The enemy now suspects that our guerrillas are leading the bombing and is searching everywhere, so you can only cross the line of fire by yourself. In addition, we have a better way. You can go directly by water. As long as you pass the central axis, you will be in the patrol area of ​​the Anten River Fleet and you will be safe."

Jonard: "The general has already notified the troops to pick us up. It will be faster to go to the front. The enemy has just arrived not long ago, so the front line should be full of gaps."

The guerrilla nodded. "Yes, we can even get ammunition from the regular army. It's easy to cross the front line now. As long as the enemy doesn't attack, it will be easy."

Gonif was amused: "Now that we have taken away all the enemy's supplies, what can they use to attack? It will take at least a week for them to recover."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of artillery fire was heard in the distance.

Jonard, the only one who had been on the front battlefield, frowned and said, "The enemy is preparing their artillery fire! Are they going to attack?"

Gao Nifu's smile froze on his face: "No way?"

Casino pushed him and said, "Call you a crow's mouth!"

----

"Speak louder!" Pavlov shouted into the receiver, "Didn't you eat? Speak louder!"

Wang Zhong looked at Pavlov who was in a furious state and couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder before turning his head to look at other people.

The entire headquarters was filled with shouts of "Speak louder!" Wang Zhong had seen such scenes many times and knew that this must be the enemy attacking. The person who called was hearing the rumbling of artillery fire, so even if he shouted at the top of his voice, the effect would be limited.

Popov stood beside Wang Zhong with his hands on his hips: "It looks like the Prosen people are forcing an attack."

Wang Zhong: "Yes, looking at the range of the bombardment, the shells will not last for a few days. They want to penetrate us before we organize our defense." Popov: "How do they know that we only have eight divisions and 64,000 new fighters?"

"Maybe they don't know, they just think that since we are working so hard to attack the logistics, the frontline troops must not be able to do it."

As soon as Wang Zhong finished speaking, Pavlov hung up the phone: "The front line was hit hard by artillery fire, and the poorly trained temporary infantry division can't stand it."

"Well," Wang Zhong stood up and walked to the map. The staff officers were constantly pasting the bombardment signs on the signs of the front-line troops. "The enemy's response to our action was to launch a preemptive attack. They actually got it right."

At present, the Abawahan front is mainly composed of the Barras Expeditionary Force that has returned home and the eight newly added divisions.

The expeditionary force's divisions had combat experience, but it was only combat experience against the Barras puppet army. Moreover, they had just returned from such a faraway place and had only rested for less than a week, so they were quite tired.

The eight additional divisions did not even have many experienced non-commissioned officers at the rank and file, and their morale was not particularly high - perhaps they were also full of confidence when they first joined the army, but high morale is not so easy to obtain, and only those iron divisions that have been tempered in hundreds of battles on the front lines have truly high morale.

The Russians on Earth are like this. Even in the Kuznetsov War in 43, a large number of troops collapsed in morale when faced with the German tanks and turned around and ran away.

Look, these eight divisions started to collapse as soon as they came into contact with the enemy's artillery fire.

Pavlov: "Get ready to add troops. Just in time, an experienced 56th Infantryman got off the train today. Let them fill in first."

Wang Zhong: "The 56th Infantry Army? Was it reorganized after being disbanded, or has it been fighting all the way from last year to now? Generally speaking, the troops that have been fighting since last year should be guards, right?"

Ant suffered heavy losses in the war that started in June last year. Troops with low mobility, such as the infantry army, most of which have the title of guards as long as they have not been destroyed.

That’s why Wang Zhong had this question.

Pavlov: "It was reorganized in February this year, and then participated in General Gorky's spring offensive. When retreating from the ferry, more than half of the troops were lost, and they went to the rear to rest. Several regiments under the 56th Army have the title of Guards, but the army does not."

Wang Zhong: "Immediately arrange for them to go to the front line, and leave the division with the most guard titles behind as the front's reserve."

"Yes." Pavlov immediately began to make arrangements.

Popov suggested: "We still have a reserve force in our hands. We have a division of naval infantry in our hands, a total of three brigades, which is a master."

The naval infantry division is larger than the general infantry division. Generally, a naval infantry brigade has more than 5,000 people. A division with three brigades has 15,000 combatants, which is about the same size as the division under Wang Zhong’s First Mobile Army.

Popov continued, "Together with the 393rd Brigade that originally belonged to us, the naval infantry of these four brigades can join in the defense of the fortified areas when necessary..."

Wang Zhong: "No, naval infantry will do naval infantry's job. I will take off today to scout the banks of the Valdai River and find a place where the enemy's defense is weak to launch a landing operation!"

Pavlov, who was arranging the mission, was startled. He looked up and asked, "You want to fly again? When the enemy is attacking?"

Wang Zhong: "Of course. I am useless in the headquarters. You just need to keep pushing troops to the front line. You can't push them faster if I am here. But I found the enemy's defensive weakness through reconnaissance. We can use the naval infantry to launch a landing operation, build a pontoon bridge, and send the 51st Tank Army in from here to flank the enemy's waist."

Pavlov came to the map and said, "Shouldn't we let the 51st Army enter the city, but attack from the side? But if the enemy's tank units counterattack, it will turn into a tank battle between the two sides, and we can't win."

Wang Zhong: "Victory is achieved if we can hold back the enemy's tanks. Moreover, the Prosons are very rigid in using their troops. While they deploy tanks to counterattack, they will also mobilize infantry to defend.

"With more infantry outside the city, there will be fewer infantry entering the city. It's a simple math problem, isn't it?"

Pavlov: "Indeed. But the tank soldiers will pay a heavy price. Those are the original T34s with two-man turrets. Against the Proshen tank troops..."

Wang Zhong: "I know there will be a lot of casualties, but now we have to protect Abawahan. Start preparing immediately. I will go to the airport to catch a plane."

"Report!" shouted a strange-looking tank major.

Wang Zhong glanced at him, but before he could say anything, he introduced himself: "I am Romanov, commander of the 21st Heavy Breakthrough Tank Regiment! We have 21 KV tanks ready for battle! Our tanks have enhanced armored defenses for urban combat. Let's go to the front line, Commander Davarich!"

Wang Zhong walked up to the major who was much older than him and squeezed his shoulder. "You arrived just in time. The enemy just launched a full-scale attack. I will assign a support team to each of your tank platoons to ensure that you can get to the front line!"

Major Romanov smiled. "That's great, General. We were just worried that we wouldn't be able to get to the front!"

Wang Zhong: "This is my chief of staff. He will introduce the situation on the front line to you. Once you have a clear understanding, let's set off!"

(End of this chapter)