artillery arc

Chapter 613 Rokossov Returns to the Front

As soon as Wang Zhong's plane entered the combat area of ​​the front air force, he saw Emilia coming to escort it with a squadron of fighter jets.

Emilia flew so close to colliding with the special plane that she fluttered her wings outside the window.

Wang Zhong suddenly sensed something and turned to Lyudmila and said, "Last October, when I just came back from Baras, I was almost shot down by the Prosen people - in the end I was shot down by our anti-aircraft artillery. Emilia is probably worried that this will happen again."

Lyudmila: "Well, we should thank them for their enthusiasm."

Wang Zhong stared at Lyudmila for a few seconds before nodding: "Of course."

Dozens of minutes later, the plane began to descend. The fighter squadron led by Emilia was on alert in the air.

But this time there were no Proson fighter jets to cause trouble, and the plane landed smoothly.

The moment the hatch opened, Wang Zhong felt a slight warmth; the vanguard of summer had quietly arrived.

Wang Zhong faced the warm breeze of the grassland, walked out of the cabin and down the gangway to meet the senior officers of the front who had been waiting there.

Pavlov: "I have compiled a report on the current enemy activities, which is much more detailed than what was submitted to the High Command. You can read it on the way back to the headquarters."

Wang Zhong: "You're throwing the job at me right after I got off the plane?"

"Anyway, you should have had enough rest in Yebao." Pavlov shrugged.

Wang Zhong took the folder and asked casually, "Have all the new equipment been distributed to the troops?"

Pavlov: "We have formed a core training team in each unit to learn how to use the rocket launcher first, and then train the troops to use it after the training of the training team is completed. However, the training team said that the new weapon is very simple to use and some steps can be omitted."

Wang Zhong: "When it was designed, the emphasis was on enabling troops to quickly get started. It should not be more complicated to use than a grenade."

"The training team said it was easier to use than a hand grenade, and some people even said they wanted to replace the warhead with an ordinary grenade and use it as a hand grenade."

"Let's solve the individual anti-armor problem first, then consider other issues." Wang Zhong said as he got on the jeep. "What about the new tanks?"

Pavlov originally wanted to answer while standing next to the jeep, but Lyudmila invited him to get in, and she and Nellie got in a car behind.

As the car started, Pavlov replied: "The heavy tank battalions equipped with Rokossov-1 heavy tanks have been assigned to the two wings. When the defensive phase is over, they will launch a pincer attack on the enemy."

Wang Zhong: "How is the covert work going?"

"Before the tanks arrived, we dug a special tank shelter. It was a standard tank shelter built according to the textbook you wrote. It was a two-story shelter. The tanks could be completely hidden in the shelter and it was covered with camouflage nets."

Pavlov paused, looking troubled. "The number of heavy tanks is small, so they can be hidden like this. However, it would be a huge undertaking to hide all the huge number of T34Ws. Currently, we are just covering them with camouflage nets to prevent the enemy from seeing the real number."

Wang Zhong: "It doesn't matter. We are not afraid of the enemy seeing us. They have been fooled by us so many times that they must have become suspicious to the point of being pathological."

Vasily, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, turned around and said, "How about I do some more work for the Prosons? I think after the war, I can write a book called The Art of Strategic Deception. I don't know about other countries, but the Prosons will definitely buy a lot of them to study... Uh, will there still be Prosons after the war?"

Wang Zhong: "Of course there will be, but they are secular Prosoms, not Prosoms of the emperor and Junker nobles."

Pavlov: "In short, our war preparations are proceeding step by step, and the enemy's preparations are also proceeding step by step. The only question now is when the enemy will attack.

"According to our reconnaissance results, the enemy has completed the assembly of its forces and can attack now. June 6nd is exactly the second anniversary of their brazen invasion of us. My staff and I are inclined to believe that they will attack at this time."

Wang Zhong: "It depends on the availability of the enemy's new weapons. The enemy certainly does not want to use the Type 4 long-barreled tank to deal with our Vortex and Rokossov I heavy tanks."

Pavlov: "The prisoners we captured mentioned a tank called the King Tiger, officially designated as the Panther VI, and another tank called the Panther, officially designated as the Panther V."

Wang Zhong: "One heavy type and one medium type. How many have been found on the front line?"

"We haven't found it yet. We just asked the captives about the model."

Wang Zhong nodded: "It is uncertain when the enemy will attack, but General Gorky's counterattack has been confirmed to be launched on June 20, which will definitely disrupt the enemy's deployment and may even delay the enemy's attack.

"We'll know the details when I personally go up to the sky to investigate."

Pavlov: "I knew you would go to the air again. But strangely enough, the number of enemy air force fighters seems to have decreased according to our observations." Wang Zhong: "A large number of fighter squadrons should have been transferred back to their homeland to participate in air defense operations. This is good news."

Pavlov nodded: "Yes, the transport hub lacking air cover is very vulnerable to raids by bombers such as the Pe-2. We have destroyed many trains carrying armored units.

"Compared to the past two years, the situation on the front line has never been better."

----

"Compared to the past two years, the situation on the front line has never been worse!" Marshal Celt said with a serious expression. "The impact of the transfer of air force fighters back to the country is gradually showing. The Ante Air Force has begun to attack our logistics nodes recklessly. Although the anti-aircraft artillery units fought desperately, they could only disperse the enemy planes and the actual damage they caused was limited."

Most of the time, anti-aircraft guns only serve to force enemy aircraft to give up precision attacks, and actually shooting down an enemy aircraft requires luck.

Marshal Celtic: “Also, the Elephant tank destroyer encountered major problems during transportation because it was too heavy and directly crushed the flatbed truck. We had to remove the armor and part of the road wheels and put them on another flatbed truck for transportation.

"The Tiger King heavy tanks have the same problem. These overweight equipment have greatly delayed our speed in delivering equipment to the front line.

"After the new Leopard tanks arrived at the front, they also had problems with the local climate. The two Leopard battalions that have been deployed to the front currently have only half of their tanks ready for combat, while the others are being repaired. The third Leopard battalion... is stuck on the road."

Marshal Celtic put down the documents in his hand and looked at the new Army Commander-in-Chief, Marshal Rundstedt.

Marshal Rundstedt pushed the monocle in his eye socket and said, "Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, it is not realistic to launch an attack on June 6. It is better to launch the attack on July 22 as planned. We have the latest land Stuka, which will definitely destroy the enemy's defenses!"

Emperor: "I wanted to attack in July. Who suggested I move it forward? They said it would catch Rokossov off guard. Someone else suggested I attack before Rokossov returned from Yevgeniyev. Why didn't anyone consider the issue of troop assembly at that time?"

Marshal Celtic: "The staff officers who made these suggestions mean not to wait for new equipment, but to attack directly. As long as we attack early, Rokossov will not have time to use the new equipment on a large scale."

Emperor: "But it's already mid-June, so let's think about how to take advantage of the new equipment. How is Rokossov's defense line?"

Marshal Rundstedt: "Our close reconnaissance has limited effect. The front-line troops reported that the enemy is a master of camouflage. The barbed wire and mines are all hidden in the fields and are difficult to find."

Emperor: "Then you can't light a fire? I don't believe Rokossov's troops can put out the fire under our artillery fire. Burn the grassland and the things hidden underneath will be exposed!"

"Your Majesty, it's still relatively humid now and we can't start a fire. If we really want to burn the grassland, we have to wait until July," said Marshal Rundstedt.

Gilais stood up and suggested, "Your Majesty, since we have waited until now, it is not too late to attack after we are fully prepared. It just so happens that the Ant Army has also remained quiet and there has been no large-scale military action."

At this time, Grand Duke Meyer wiped his sweat and said, "However, our aerial reconnaissance shows that Ant's Western Front is preparing to launch an offensive, and the two fronts to the north and south of the Western Front are also obviously preparing to support it. This is likely to be a large-scale flood-like attack like the offensive in October last year."

The emperor waved his hand and said, "Don't worry. The permanent defense line we built in the Central Army Group's defense zone is 50% complete. It is as indestructible as the West Wall."

Marshal Rundstedt: "The Carolingians also claimed that the Maginot Line was impregnable. But the Carolingians eventually surrendered. No matter how strong a direction is, there will always be weaknesses. For us who lack reserve forces, General Gorky's offensive tactics are even more dangerous than Rokossov's pincer attack."

The emperor frowned. "What do you want me to do? Take part of the already assembled force and send it to the central region? No, we can't do that! Draw new and well-trained divisions from the country and supplement them to the Central Army Group.

"Even new soldiers can open fire from a fortified position! Our goal is still to capture Rokossov and force Ant to stop and negotiate with us! It would be even better if we can capture Rokossov alive!"

The generals in the war room looked at each other with stern faces.

At this time, Giles said, "We must attack. No war can be won by continuous defense. But after taking down Rokossov, I'm afraid Ante will not stop fighting, right?"

Emperor: "So what do you say? How do we end this war?"

Giles pursed his lips.

Suddenly the whole venue fell silent.

The army generals exchanged glances with each other, while Grand Duke Mayer was desperately wiping the sweat off his face.

Recently, due to the repeated failures of Proshen's home air defense operations, the Grand Duke has fallen to the brink of falling out of favor.

However, neither the army generals nor the air force generals could come up with a solution at this time.

(End of this chapter)