artillery arc

Chapter 652 Hatred
July 7, 20, village Kalinka, 0800st Cavalry Army Headquarters.

The hitching posts in front of the commander's office were filled with tall horses.

The children in the village sat on the wall of the headquarters and asked Misha, the groom who was taking care of the horses: "Misha! Why are there so many horses?"

"We are a cavalry army, so we have a lot of horses," Misha responded. "And today is the day for the commanders above the regiment level to hold a meeting. We are about to attack."

The child was overjoyed: "Are you going to kill the Plossom people?"

"Yeah, we're going to kill the Prosoms again!"

"Then are you going?" the child asked again.

Misha was embarrassed. "I was only fifteen years old, and they only let me be a hired laborer. I asked the priest who recruited soldiers for this job. I said that my family members were killed by the Prosen people, and I was the only one left. Could I go to the front line and see how they died up close?

"The priest replied, 'Nonsense, your mother is helping with the laundry. I saw her yesterday. If you really want to go to the front, you can go to the cavalry to raise horses, brush the horses' hair and clean up the horse manure every day. It's hard work. If you are willing to do it, you can go.'"

Child: “You’re here?”

"Yes, I tell you, the commander of the guard taught me how to use a saber yesterday. I asked him if he could find a Prosen to chop me, but he said no, because he wanted to treat the prisoners well."

The child frowned, "Why? When the Prosen occupied our village two years ago, they killed everyone who surrendered. Why should we treat the prisoners well?"

Misha shrugged. "I don't know either. Maybe you should ask the chaplain."

As soon as he finished speaking, the officers above the regimental level who were attending the meeting came out of the wooden house of the headquarters in high spirits.

The child bravely shouted: "Hey! Is there anything good?"

The officers looked toward the wall together.

Someone joked, "Why, are you a spy for Plossom? Be careful or the Inquisitor will catch you!"

The child was not afraid at all: "That's impossible. The Inquisitor gave me candy a few days ago because I led them to find all the booby traps left by the Prosen people!"

"Wow, you're still a little hero!"

At this time, Admiral Kirinenko walked out of the headquarters and asked: "What are you arguing about?"

"General, our little hero is asking what good news is!"

"Good news?" Kirinenko pulled on Budionny's cavalry cape. "Of course there is good news. In another six hours, we will attack Orachi as the vanguard of the entire front!"

"Olaqi?" The child's eyes widened. "Ivan from our village ran away from there."

Kirinenko: "Two years ago, many people came from there, right?"

"No, this year," said the child.

Now it was Kirinenko's turn to widen his eyes. Not only him, but all the officers and soldiers in the yard stopped and stared at the child sitting on the wall.

The child was a little scared, and his voice was raised: "I didn't say anything nonsense! Ivan just came from Orachi this year! He said it himself, and he seemed to be afraid that the yellow dog in the village at that time would hear it!"

The Prosen people gave their Ante security forces yellow uniforms, and the residents who stayed in the occupied areas called them Yellow Dogs.

Kirinenko said seriously: "Take us to see Ivan. The reward is this exchange ticket."

The exchange ticket was newly introduced this year. Because it was expected that a large amount of territory would be recovered this year, the Ante Ministry of Finance specially issued a ticket that could be exchanged for food and daily necessities at military depots and church material distribution centers.

When the child saw the exchange ticket, his eyes lit up. He immediately slid down the wall, passed through a group of cavalry officers, and came to Kirinenko. He snatched the ticket and said, "Great! I'll use it to exchange for candy!"

Kirinenko: "That won't do. If you eat all the candies that this ticket can exchange for, something bad might happen. So take us to find Ivan."

"This way!" the child said and ran away.

----

Ivan from Orachi was chopping wood in the yard when he suddenly heard the noise outside. He stopped working with his axe, straightened up, wiped the sweat off his face and looked outside the low wall in confusion.

The low wall was only as high as an adult's chest, and one could see a large group of cavalry officers walking towards the courtyard on the road outside.

The leader was probably a child. Through the low wall, one could only see his raised hands: "This way, this way! This is the yard!"

The leading officer had four stars on his shoulders, so he should be a general. He met Ivan's gaze as soon as he looked up.

Admiral: "My fellow! Are you from Orachi?"

Ivan's face darkened and he lowered his head to start chopping wood again.

Admiral: "We are about to attack in the direction of Orachi. I hope you can provide us with some intelligence! For example, how many Prosen troops are stationed in the city, the composition of the residents, and whether there are any guerrilla organizations--"

"No more." Ivan interrupted the officer. "Nothing is left. Orachi is now an empty city. There are no Prosens, no residents, and no guerrillas."

"What?" The Admiral looked shocked.

Ivan stuck the axe into the stump, looked up at the sky, and sighed deeply: "It happened in February this year. At the end of February, the Prosen people suddenly surrounded the city, set up machine guns on the periphery, and then used flamethrower tanks to set fire in the upwind direction.

"We wanted to organize firefighting, but then we found that the city's water wells had been blocked with cement by the Proson people in advance, and the sewers were also blocked. There was no place to get water in the entire city."

Admiral: “Why do you do this?”

“I don’t know. There happened to be a secret passage in my basement leading to the outside of the city. I gathered as many people as possible from nearby and tried to lead them to escape from underground. However, the enemy’s encirclement was double-layered, and the exit of my tunnel was between the two layers of encirclement.

"The Prosens were shooting at women and the elderly, and I hid in the tunnel without making a sound. Finally, the Prosens were afraid to search the tunnel, so they sealed the exit with cement. I relied on the air in the tunnel until the fire was extinguished, and then I crawled out of the ground from the exit at the other end of the city. "The whole city has become a ghost town, with charred corpses everywhere. Even carrion birds will not visit the city because there is no meat to eat. "

Admiral: "Would you like to repeat these words to the people in the church's publicity department?"

Ivan stared at the admiral for a few seconds before nodding gently: "Okay. I already - won't have nightmares anymore."

The admiral turned to the other officers and said, "Remember, once you capture the officers of Proshen, ask them why they massacred the city of Orachi. This is very important! We need an answer, otherwise we cannot guarantee that we will be able to control our hands after we capture the city of Proshen! Tell the officers of Proshen this!"

"Yes." The officers answered in unison.

The Admiral looked at Ivan again: "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"No, there are only a few small rivers from here to Orachi. They are the kind of small rivers that can be crossed on horseback even in the flood season. When I came here in February, I didn't see any fortifications built by the Prosen people, and there were not many Prosen garrisons in the villages along the way." As he said this, Ivan took out his cigarette box, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

The admiral took out a lighter and flames came out as soon as he opened the lid.

Ivan leaned over to light the cigarette, took a puff and then praised: "The lighter is very beautiful."

"One of the supplies sent by the United States. It can be exchanged for an exchange ticket."

"It's really expensive," Ivan replied.

The admiral smiled, saluted, and turned to leave. Ivan suddenly said, "There is a guerrilla contact station in Toleka Village. I don't know if it is still there. If you need a guide, you can go and check it out."

"I got it." The admiral waved his hand and strode away.

Ivan smoked a cigarette and watched the officers leave.

He was almost finishing his cigarette when he noticed a little child peeking out of the courtyard gate.

Ivan: "Did you bring the general here?"

"Well, he gave me an exchange ticket." The child asked curiously, "Are you a guerrilla? If you are not a guerrilla, how do you know the location of the contact station?"

Ivan: "I used to be. But I got scared in February this year. I thought that if I was caught, I would endure the torture and die bravely without causing any harm to the organization.

“But after the massacre in February, I was scared. I knew that if I were caught now, the enemy wouldn’t have to interrogate me, and I would tell them everything I knew.

"That's why I fled."

Ivan looked at the child: "Don't tell anyone."

Child: "You are a deserter from the guerrillas!"

Ivan: "It's better than telling the enemy the information and killing my comrades! And for them, I have died in Orachi and become a martyr. This is good, very good."

"Ivan is a pseudonym, right?" the child asked again.

Ivan placed the new wood on the stump, straightened it, and swung the axe to chop it in two.

"It's a real name now," Ivan replied.

----

June 7, 20 a.m.

Kirinenko rode his "old friend" up the high slope next to the road.

His army was advancing along the road in four columns.

Kirinenko scanned the ranks, raised his right hand and shouted, "Davarich, see you in Proshenya!"

The cavalry responded in unison: "See you in Prothenia!"

As soon as the words fell, the sound of an engine was heard in the air.

Kirinenko looked up and saw eight Pe-2 bombers flying low.

The Pe-2 bombers are not like the Il-series attack aircraft. They usually do not fly at low altitudes. Now they are flying overhead like this, most likely to encourage the cavalry troops.

It turns out that the effect is outstanding.

The cavalrymen all raised their heads, and some even raised their hats and waved at the planes.

Kirinenko muttered: "Since Rokosov was able to command the Air Force, there have been more and more such tricks!"

The Army Chief of Staff: "I like it very much. In the first year, the scene of the Prosons attacking together with the planes opened my eyes. Now we can do the same."

Kirinenko nodded: "Who wouldn't like it? General Rokossov did all this just because we would like it."

Just as he finished speaking, a messenger came running up the hill holding a small flag and said, "Report, the special supply convoy from the front headquarters has arrived."

Kirinenko: "I understand. Let them rest first. It won't be too late for them to set off after we occupy the next scheduled supply village."

"Yes." The messenger went down the hill again holding a small flag.

The army chief of staff said: "I suddenly thought, why don't we also get a red flag? I heard that the 1st Guards Heavy Breakthrough Tank Regiment got one, and used the excuse that it was given by a nearby farmer. We can also say that it was given by a local."

Kirinenko's eyes widened. "Is this really possible? A red flag... I kind of want one, but forget it. Let's finish the mission first. When we win a decisive victory in the summer campaign, Rokossov won't mind us getting a red flag."

(End of this chapter)