Arc of Gunfire

At 0105 hours on January 12, 2016, the 11th Army Headquarters of Prosen was in a blackout state.

General Shipling held the candlestick and looked at the map in the dim light of the candlestick.

"What kind of ecstasy soup have we drunk to think that such a large-scale attack is a feint?" The general said in a self-deprecating tone, "I can't say whether Rokosov is proficient in the art of war, but he does understand people's hearts very well. Got us all."

"Then what are we going to do? Hold on?" the chief of staff asked.

General: "We tried counterattack before, but the effect was not very good, wasn't it? Even if we add the two tank divisions given to us by Army Group A, we still have too few tanks.

"Rokossov has not yet deployed his vortex, and our counterattack force has been fighting back and forth with Ant's anti-tank force and tank force. Although the victory we claimed is five times the number of losses, that is What's the use?

"Perhaps the tanks we destroyed only accounted for one-fifth of the number of tanks invested by the opponent, and the remaining four-fifths had to be fought by infantry and anti-tank troops."

General Shipling walked back and forth in front of the map with the candlestick, and then continued what he just said: "Numerous advantage, another numerical advantage! The Anters can be supplemented by dozens of T34s every day.

"Their losses are greater than ours, their maintenance capabilities are weaker than ours, and many times we control the battlefield at the end of the battle. As a result, their tanks are endless, and our tanks are getting fewer and fewer."

Generally, to repair damaged tanks, you need to control the battlefield after the battle. In other words, the winning side can repair a bunch of tanks from the battlefield, and theoretically the advantage should be getting bigger and bigger.

During the summer offensive of 915, the Plossen people won most of the tank battles, so the Plossen maintenance department recovered a considerable number of tanks from the battlefield, and even repaired some T34s and painted them with cross marks for use by the Plossen armored forces. .

It's just that the Prosen armored troops were not interested in the T34's two-man turret, and they were worried about their own accidental attack, so these repaired T34s were not installed on a large scale.

Under such circumstances, the Ants still had an overwhelming numerical advantage, which was simply unbelievable from the perspective of the Prosens.

Shipling continued his "talk show": "The year before last, the Ants had to have a five-fold strength advantage in order to occupy our position. Last year, the Ants had to have a three-fold strength advantage - and they couldn't be just recruited. I don’t think we can even use the three times the strength advantage of our mobilized troops this year.

"Rokosov has just the strength needed to defeat us! Many people in the troops below are worried about Rokosov's new weapons, but in fact there are only a few new weapons and the battle line is so long. The real fatal thing is this Poor military strength.

“Last year, Ante’s Western Front launched a full-line offensive that took advantage of its weak military strength, which the high command disparagingly called ‘flooding’, and achieved certain progress.

"And that happens to be the best way to fight when you are stronger than the enemy and the battlefield is extremely vast. If it were me, I would do the same."

At this point, Shiplin sighed and did not continue.

His adjutant asked tentatively: "So, what you are saying is that we will not defend Bolsk anymore?"

The general waved his hand: "How is that possible! But we cannot defend. We must implement the tactical principles of elastic defense. We must not fight the enemy to death. We must make good use of our artillery and armor, as well as our advantages in combat experience.

"The task given to us by the Anti-Orthodox Headquarters is to delay the retreat of Army Group A. It is not to defend Bolsk. We can even give Bolsk to the enemy and lay enough mines in the city before giving it away. .

"As long as the landmines are planted in a sufficiently strategic and dispersed location, the enemy's artillery fire will not be able to clear them all."

One of the main duties of fire preparation before a general attack is to clear the enemy's minefields. The overpressure created by the explosion of heavy artillery shells will detonate all mines in a wide range.

But if the mines are laid in places that are less likely to be overpressured, or fuzes such as trip wires are used that are less likely to be triggered by overpressure, you can continue to kill the enemy after heavy artillery plows the ground.

General Shipling laughed when he said this: "Rokossov also likes to play with booby traps. This time, let him experience the feeling of fear after entering the city."

The chief of staff in Episode 11 said: "We have laid a considerable number of booby traps in the city in accordance with the general's request, and some pressure mines have been scattered at various intersections in the city and placed under the floor tiles."

"Very good, let the engineering troops work harder and try to plant twice as many mines before retreating, and bury all our mine supplies in the city."

After speaking, the general looked at the map again.

"If you have any other ideas that can delay the enemy, you might as well tell them."

————

Headquarters of the Ante Abavahan Front, 0120 hours.

Pavlov waved the latest report: "The advance is beginning to encounter difficulties, and they are all troops of the 11th Army. The enemy is insufficient in strength, but has a lot of fighting will and combat experience. It is starting to be difficult to deal with."

Popov: "We can continue to use the previous strategy, divide and encircle, and encircle without attacking."

Just as Pavlov was about to answer, Wang Zhong said: "We are approaching Borsk, and the density of the town has suddenly increased. After all, it is an important industrial city. Now it is time to test the ability of the hard bridge and hard horse to attack difficulties. . The Ordnance Department didn’t send a new Urban?”

"not yet."

Wang Zhong: "Then don't wait. The B4's level shot clearing efficiency is also good, but it can't boost morale."

This translates to the fact that the B4 bombardment of the bunker is not loud enough.

Pavlov: "Tomorrow we will attack Plinka, the first satellite city of Borsk, just to test the enemy's defensive strength. The 33rd Guards Infantry Corps is responsible for the main attack. In addition to their artillery, I will also provide They reinforced the breakthrough heavy artillery division and two Guards rocket artillery brigades.

"Before the attack begins, barreled artillery (referring to artillery with barrels such as 152 and 203) will prepare for two hours of firepower. The rocket launcher unit will cover the skirmisher line after it sets off. In this way, the rocket launcher will just cover the skirmisher line. Here we are.

"The 21st Guards Tank Brigade and the 12th Guards Breakthrough Tank Regiment will cooperate with the 33rd Infantry Corps' attack."

Popov smiled and said: "Okay, let's invest so many troops with the title of Guards at once."

Wang Zhong: "Let's test the quality of the enemy. If the troops configured in this way can't defeat it, it means that we don't have the ability to attack the enemy with hard bridges and hard horses. We will think of other ways when the time comes."

When encircling the Sixth Army, Wang Zhong's strategy was to bypass the enemy's strongholds when they encountered them, and bombard the enemies who surrounded the strongholds indiscriminately.

Now that we have reached the developed area of ​​Khazalia, the city density has increased and we cannot do this anymore.

Moreover, future attacks on Shepetovka, Agsukov and even Prosonia will be tough battles in the reinforced concrete jungle, so there is no problem in training the troops' toughness in advance.

Wang Zhong looked at his watch: "Okay, I'm going to take a rest first and ask my wife to wake me up before the gunfire tomorrow morning."

Pavlov and Popov said in unison: "Go ahead."

————

On January 13, Wang Zhong was woken up early by Lyudmila.

"Let's attack today. Didn't you say you were going to the headquarters to take charge?" Lyudmila said, throwing all the clothes that had been warmed on the stove onto the bed.

Wang Zhong answered while getting dressed: "That's what happened. But I have a feeling that there won't be much of a problem. We are in Abawahan, but we fight with the consciousness of fighting the enemy until death. The Pulosen people don't do that." After all, this is not their hometown, not their country, they will waver, cower, and run away.”

As he spoke, he got out of bed and got dressed.

Lyudmila picked up Yakov's relic scarf and wrapped it around Wang Zhong's neck with gentle movements: "This scarf has some wrong stitching. The girl who knitted it is not very good at knitting."

Wang Zhong: "But I think this must be Yakov's favorite scarf. He just gave it to me."

Lyudmila: "When the winter campaign is completely over, go to Ye Castle to see the widow."

Wang Zhong: "Yeah."

Even if Lyudmila hadn't said anything, Wang Zhong would have gone.

He wanted to tell Yakov's wife personally that Yakov had behaved well and was very brave.

But now, Wang Zhong's first priority is to crush the Prosen Group Army in front of him and close the encirclement.

He kissed his wife on the lips, turned around, opened the door, and walked into the winter sunshine.

————

Plinka, 0700 hours on the morning of the 13th.

Whistling sounds came from the sky, and before the Pulosans guarding the city could react, intensive artillery fire fell from the sky.

More than 400 heavy artillery pieces and a larger number of 122mm cannons were ravaging this Prossen defense stronghold.

In the city defense commander's office, the commander of the infantry division guarding the city shouted on the phone: "We are under heavy shelling! Heavy shelling!"

Echoing his words, gravel and dust continued to fall from the ceiling.

Suddenly, a heavy artillery round exploded next to the headquarters, and a whole piece of plaster fell off the ceiling, slamming onto the table where the phone was placed.

Division Commander: "We are under heavy shelling! Heavy shelling!"

The person on the other end of the phone was very calm: "Resist appropriately. If you can't beat us, evacuate the city and trade space for time! Do you understand, trade space for time!"

Division Commander: "We are an infantry division! Let us leave the bunker and enter the wilderness. Do you want us to be strangled by armored troops and cavalry?"

The other end of the phone: "Then you must hold on firmly. No matter what, just consume and delay the enemy forces. The group army will launch a counterattack at the appropriate time! At that time, we will-"

The division commander slapped the receiver on the table: "Damn it!"

Before he could continue scolding, a 152 heavy artillery shot hit the division headquarters building. The violent tremor made the division commander kneel on the ground.

Then the chandelier on the ceiling finally fell down, smashing the map table into pieces, and the crystal glass on the chandelier shattered all over the floor.