artillery arc

Chapter 662: The Steps of Liberation

Plossen, Army Group South Headquarters.

General Eric von Shipling rubbed his eyes and said, "Damn it. I now wonder if Marshal Goron knew the situation would be so bad and that's why he was so anxious to give me the command."

Colonel Fisher, his old subordinate who was transferred from the Primorsky Fortress, replied: "That's definitely true. But our situation is not hopeless yet. The Greyhound Division has successfully delayed the enemy's offensive of the Shepetovka Front."

"That's because the Central Army Group is cooperating with us and putting considerable pressure on the Antshepetovka Front." General Shiplin looked at the map. "Fortunately, the Central Army Group blocked General Gorky's offensive. If the central line collapsed, the situation would be disastrous. How many troops have we managed to escape now?"

The chief of staff left by Marshal Goron immediately replied: "Twenty percent of the troops have reported reaching the Tiber River."

Shiplin: "Five days, 20 percent."

"General, with such a long distance and constant harassment from the enemy cavalry, this number is already quite good," the chief of staff argued.

"I know." General Shiplin waved his hand. "I don't mean to blame you. How long will it take for these troops to join the Tiber River defense line?"

"The various units reported that it would take about a week to gather their troops. Many troops were separated during the long retreat - or perhaps they were wiped out by the cavalry."

General Shiplin: "Tell them not to rush. Rokossov will not be able to launch an attack so soon after taking Shepetovka. Have them carefully confirm how many people are missing and try to get as many veterans back to their original formations as possible.

"We may not receive reinforcements before Rokossov attacks the Tiber River defense line, so it is very important to maintain the integrity of the original unit."

General Shiplin was well aware of the speed with which Plossen replenished his troops at the front line, and it would be a blessing if each division could be replenished with a battalion of new soldiers by September.

He will most likely use the troops he has to defend the Tiber River.

Fisher asked, "What about the remaining 80% of the troops?"

"No, no, 80% of the troops have not yet reached the Tiber River, but they are on the way and have been on the road for five days. Look outside Shepetovka. Apart from the rear guard troops and our headquarters, how many troops are there? None."

Fisher: "That's right. I see that even the anti-aircraft artillery regiment protecting the railway station has been withdrawn. The engineers are loading explosives on the remaining anti-aircraft guns."

As soon as he finished speaking, a series of explosions were heard outside.

Fisher: "This should be the engineers blowing up the anti-aircraft guns and the locomotives in the train station."

General Shiplin: "Bomb as much as possible. All our damage to Shepetovka will be transformed into future advantages! The later Rokossov restores Shepetovka's function, the longer it will take us to build a defense line on the Tiber River!"

Suddenly, there was a sound of fierce gunfire outside.

General Shiplin asked, "What's going on?"

The staff officers who were burning documents in the room looked at each other, no one knew.

At this time, a captain came in from outside and saluted General Shiplin: "General, the guerrillas are trying to stop us from blowing up the Shepetovka Textile Factory, and the textile workers have also organized themselves!"

General Shiplin: "We kept the flamethrower tanks for this moment. Send out the flamethrower tank troops to burn the factory and the Antes to ashes, leaving not a single textile machine or cotton yarn for the Antes!" "Yes!" The captain saluted again and turned to leave.

Fisher asked worriedly, "Isn't this too much? What if the Ants counterattack into the Empire and do what we did again?"

Admiral Shiplin looked at Fisher and said, "Have you forgotten what happened when the invasion just started? Do you think that if we pretend to be kind to the Ants now, they will give up their revenge?
"No, they won't. It's better to be ruthless and disrupt their production as much as possible to slow down their attack."

At this time, the communications staff came in with a telegram: "Report, we just received a telegram from the Schultz battle group. General Adel Schultz believes that the collapse is about to happen. We should make plans early."

"Collapse?" Shiplin took the telegram and frowned as he read the text on it. "Is there any error in the decoding?"

"No, the Enigma machine is set up perfectly. There is no way it could go wrong."

Shiplin asked again: "Can you contact Adel Schultz?"

"No, by the way, we have also lost contact with the 332nd Division, and most of the troops near Pochayev did not respond to our calls."

Shiplin's face was long: "Pochayev was lost, Schultz's battle group was also destroyed, and the defense line was finished. It was too fast, Rokossov came too fast!"

Fisher: "Does the troops left behind to deal with the rebels now mean they have been abandoned?"

Shiplin shook his head. "No, the situation has changed. All troops have abandoned their current missions, including the military police, engineers, and flamethrower tanks. They have all begun to retreat. Rokossov will not wait for us. His troops will rush to Orachi as quickly as possible. The Schultz battle group has been wiped out. Nothing can stop him."

Said Shiplin, looking at the staff officers who were still burning the documents: "Stop burning them, let the engineers light a fire. Whether it can be completely destroyed depends on luck. Retreat immediately!"

Fisher: "There is a Junkers plane waiting at the airport. We can take that."

Shiplin shook his head: "If I leave by plane, everything down there will be chaos. No, I leave by bucket truck."

"The enemy's cavalry..."

"The enemy's cavalry has been galloping and killing on the grassland for five days. Their swords should be blunt! Now we don't have to worry about their cavalry!" Shiplin stopped and looked at the long road leading to the Tiber River on the map.

"Hunger and thirst are the soldiers' biggest enemies. It's not realistic to provide supplies to all of us, but when our barrel trucks pass by, at least they know they haven't been abandoned."

After a short silence, Shiplin said to Fisher: "This is very important. Whether we can defend the Tiber River and Agsukov depends on this. Without morale, even the most experienced soldiers cannot perform their combat effectiveness!"

Fisher: "Put yourself in danger just for this?"

"Yes, that's what Rokossov did. He risked his life time and again to turn the tide. I think an outstanding general should learn from the enemy's strengths."

General Shiplin paused, and repeated as if to convince himself: "We must learn from the enemy's strengths! Yes, the strengths!"

As he said this, the sound of gunfire outside became more intense, as if the city could not wait for liberation and was eager to liberate itself.

(End of this chapter)