artillery arc

Chapter 9 "Military Wizards"

Prosen Imperial Army.

Lieutenant General Lord von Dietrich, commander of the 25th Infantry Group of Prosen, was looking at the smoke rising from the city suspiciously.

His headquarters was on a hill outside the city, with an excellent view, and he could even see the battleship Friedrich der Grosse on the sea in the distance.

Because of this, he could clearly see the smoke spreading in the neighborhood at this moment.

After a brief thought, the Lord asked the Chief of Staff for his opinion: "Is there any white poison gas?"

The chief of staff shook his head: "I've never heard of it, phosgene... isn't that white."

The Lord held the telescope with both hands and nervously adjusted the knob on the telescope back and forth with his fingers. This was his habitual movement when thinking.

The chief of staff said, "Maybe it's just smoke?"

"The defenders use smoke?" the Lord exclaimed. "Isn't there no way to use the firepower of machine guns? The range advantage of the Divine Arrow cannot be used! In the Carolingian Battle, our smokers had to use smoke bombs to cover the tanks as they rushed through. In the advantageous area of ​​the Divine Arrow, smoke is the attacker’s best friend and the defender’s nightmare!”

The chief of staff shook his head: "Maybe the enemy commander is a layman?"

The Lord shook his head: "The enemy's commander is the experienced Duke of Vladimir. He has received a complete military education and will not make such a low-level mistake..."

Just as he was talking, a staff officer rushed in: "It's bad!"

Lord: "Shout the report first!"

The staff officer suddenly stood at attention and stamped his heels loudly: "Report!"

The Lord was still not satisfied and lectured: "As an officer, no matter how urgent it is, you must behave in an orderly manner. Your subordinates are watching. Do you understand, Captain Hoffman!"

"understand!"

Lord Von Dietrich nodded with satisfaction: "Very good. Tell me, what's the matter?"

"The 54th Division reported via radio that the Ant Empire launched a counterattack. They have lost contact with the 353rd Regiment under their command, and broken troops have appeared near the division headquarters!"

Lord Von Dietrich was stunned: "Counterattack? It has only been two days since the war started, and we have already fallen in the city of Roniezh. Wherever we go, the armies of the Ant Empire have been defeated like mountains. They still have the morale to launch a counterattack. Impact?"

The chief of staff reminded: "You just said that the enemy's commander, Prince Vladimir, is very capable."

"Yes, I did!"

His Lordship turned to the map.

"But if the enemy has enough morale and organization to launch a counterattack, why doesn't it retreat backwards? I mean, break out backwards?
"Even if they can break through the defense line when they attack us, they can't escape. From here to the border line, there are millions of troops advancing!"

As he spoke, he patted the map between Ronezh City and the national border with the crutch in his hand, and repeated: "Do you understand a million-strong army? Even if all of His Excellency the Duke's troops have to rush out, what awaits him?" There is only destruction!"

After speaking, the Lord stared at the map for a few seconds and shook his head: "No, it can't be an attack. It's just a counterattack, trying to disrupt our position and create opportunities for retreat.

"General Hoth's armored corps will soon complete the siege of Roniezh. They are doing this in vain."

As he spoke, the Lord looked at the panicked staff officer just now: "Order the 54th Division to immediately send people to stabilize the collapsed regiment and find the scattered regiment headquarters... No, I will speak to the 54th Division in person. Is the call connected?"

"Not yet, Your Excellency, we have just learned the location of the 54th Division headquarters, and the communications vehicle has just been dispatched." The communications staff officer next to him immediately replied.

Radio communication needs to be decoded, and there will be a transmission delay. The radio will be eavesdropped by the enemy with a high probability. The phone is much safer, and the quality of communication is not comparable to that of wireless. However, the phone has to pull the wire and can only stop on both sides. Only then can the erection begin.

The Lord waved his hand: "Okay, radio is radio, I want to talk to the 54th Division."

After saying that, the Lord took the lead and walked towards the door.

The staff officer at the door quickly opened the door, then stood at attention, held his head high and watched the Lord go out.

In the communications room next door, the communications staff officer held the radio microphone and shouted: "Rheinlein, please answer if you hear me!"

"Rhine" is the radio call sign of the 54th Division.

After several calls, the staff officer handed the microphone and earphone to the Lord: "Connected, Brigadier General Hausen, commander of the 54th Division."

The Lord took the things, cleared his throat and said, "I'm Von Dietrich, what's going on over there?"

"I don't know, the situation is very chaotic, there are many broken troops." Brigadier General Hausen's voice was intermittent, and there was a rustling sound, "The broken soldiers said that Antonov's guards launched an attack, and some said that the Eastern Holy Church dispatched Paladin."

The Lord frowned: "Find out the situation as soon as possible! I think the enemy has a limited counterattack!"

"But, Your Excellency, the enemy used heavy artillery to launch smoke bombs. Now there is no wind. The smoke covers the ground and nothing can be seen. It is unreasonable to use so many smoke bombs for just a tentative attack."

Dietrich looked out the window. Even in the communications room, he could see the thick smoke in the city in the distance.

The Lord raised his voice: "No, no, it is unreasonable to attack at this time! It is just a defensive counterattack! Where is he going to attack? Behind us are tens of thousands of Proson troops!"

"But your lord...the enemy...the rout...how did it happen?"

Dietrich frowned: "Brigadier General Hausen! Brigadier General Hausen! There are gunshots over there, what's going on?"

But all he got in response was static.

Dietrich handed the headset and microphone back to the communications staff: "Troubleshoot as soon as possible!"

The communications staff officer immediately checked the status of the radio itself, and then checked the hand-operated generator before reporting: "Your Majesty, there is no mechanical failure." Lord: "Then keep calling!"

The communications staff did not dare to neglect, and immediately shouted into the microphone: "Rheinlein, please answer if you hear it!"

His Lordship began to pace the communications room, tapping his cane on the palm of his hand as he went.

After a while, the Lord took out his pocket watch and looked at it: "It's been five minutes, what's going on?"

"It may be a mechanical failure on the Rhine side—I mean on the 54th Division side. But..."

The communications officer hesitated to speak.

Lord: "But?"

"But the division headquarters has several high-power radios, and it's hard to imagine problems happening at the same time."

The Lord pursed his lips, his face gradually darkened, and he ordered: "The 54th Division may be in trouble, and our expectations of the enemy's situation may be too optimistic. Where are the army reserves now?"

"Arrived at Shulshevka."

Lord: "Isn't that still more than ten kilometers away from us? Why are you walking so slowly?"

The chief of staff looked helpless: "There's a traffic jam. The road conditions in the Ant Empire are worse than we imagined. In the combat plan, the 'road' is regarded as a modern road with asphalt pavement, but in fact it is just a compacted dirt road.

“The road capacity is very low and the damage to cars is huge.

"So the troops advancing by car are stuck on the road."

The Lord had a shit-eating expression on his face: "There are always problems on the battlefield, either here or there. It's always going to happen anyway. Is there any way to contact the 54th Division now? Keep calling!" "

The last words were addressed to the communications staff officer, who quickly picked up the microphone and continued mechanical work.

The Lord looked at the other staff officers.

The chief of staff spoke: "There are cavalry in the reconnaissance battalion of the group army. You can consider sending them."

The Lord pointed out the window with his stick: "Although we are outside the city, the 54th Division is already in the city."

At this time, the communications staff officer who was still working hard suddenly stopped calling and said, "I have a way to call the armored units assigned to our attack. There are radios in the tanks."

Lord: "Next time, remember to report first."

"report!"

"No need to make up for it now! I've heard your opinion. Let's do it. Do you know the frequency of the armored soldiers?"

The communications staff officer nodded: "Of course, we have heard the armored soldiers' communications."

"Then shout."

The communications staff approached the microphone again: "This is the Eagle's Nest, this is the Eagle's Nest, calling the commander of the armored forces."

The Lord continued to pace, tapping his cane on the palm of his left hand.

"Your Excellency, it's connected!" The communications staff officer was overjoyed and handed over the microphone and earphones.

The Lord took the thing for the second time: "I am Lord Dietrich, who is talking to me?"

There was a broken Prosonian voice coming from the other side: "It's your Uncle Ant!"

After this sentence, it’s all Ant language.

After becoming a distinguished family, the Lord spoke Carolingian and Ant in addition to Plossian. In fact, before the war, the Plossian court and the Ant court had quite a lot of contacts, so they signed a non-aggression treaty.

Therefore, the Lord completely understood the other party's scolding, and then asked in Ant language with basically no accent: "So, you are an Ant soldier? You don't speak at the headquarters of the 54th Division, do you?"

The person on the other side obviously didn't think about this situation at all and just fell silent.

After a moment, the voice responded: "I don't know what division this is, and I don't know your Pu Luo Sen character! Anyway, many maps and documents here have been seized. Naturally, there will be staff who understand your language to study it carefully. !”

The Lord's brows knitted into knots. He immediately decided to collect more information and asked: "Brave Commander Ant, may I have your name?"

"Do you think I will reveal this information to you? Go to hell! Wash your neck and wait. I don't understand your language, but I can read a map! I know where your headquarters is! Let's see!"

Lord: "Wait a minute! This officer Ant!"

He shouted several more times, but the only response was a rustling of static.

The Lord turned to look at the Chief of Staff: "Let the guard battalion, reconnaissance battalion, and special battalion be ready for battle. Drive the tanks belonging to the headquarters to the top of the mountain and prepare to fight against the enemy's attack!"

The chief of staff nodded: "Understood!"

The Lord looked at the thick smoke that had enveloped a quarter of the city in the distance, and said in shock: "Does Duke Vladimir actually have this kind of command style? But I remember that when the two countries engaged in joint military campaigns, the Duke was a The master who sticks to the rules...

"Under such circumstances, the person who destroyed one of our divisions and launched this counterattack is a military wizard!"

(End of this chapter)