Arc of Gunfire

June 20, Western Front Headquarters.

General Gorky looked at the time and nodded to the chief of staff: "Let's get started."

The chief of staff picked up the phone: "Fire."

General Gorky stood in front of the map and looked at the densely packed troops on it.

The Chief of Staff of the Front Army made sure that all the orders had been issued and came to the map: "Now we can only wait. To be honest, I think this period is the most painful."

General Gorky: "Yes. After all, we are not like Rokossov, who is sure that we can win before we counterattack. Rokossov particularly admired an ancient military book by Siris, so I went to find one and read that military book. As mentioned in the preface, the more calculations you make before the battle begins, the more likely you are to win.

"Rokosov is the one who calculates all the traps before the attack starts, so he will do nothing if he doesn't attack. Once the attack starts, it will be unstoppable."

Chief of Staff: "That sounds reasonable. General Rokossov expected us to win from the beginning. Is that also because of this?"

General Gorky: "It's possible. After all, his pamphlet can't find any logical loopholes. I don't even know how to refute it. I saw the refutation of the surrender party pamphlet collected by the Tribunal from His Majesty Belinsky." , highlighting a nonsense makes Rokossov’s theory more credible.”

Chief of Staff: "When I was in Yebao, I even heard this rumor: that Rokosov and the Crown Prince - the former Crown Prince had already calculated all this, and that the Crown Prince sacrificed himself to create something for Rokosov. Chance."

General Gorky waved his hand: "These tavern jokes cannot be taken seriously. Don't say them again."

The chief of staff shut up.

General Gorky turned the topic back to the battlefield situation: "Now we attack, let's see how our old opponent responds."

————

Prosen Empire, Army Group Center Headquarters.

The chief of staff of the Army Group held the receiver and reassured General Mendel on the other side of the phone: "Don't be nervous. We have seen such a full-line bombardment last year. It should be the same flood as last year. We were able to stop it last year. It’s definitely no problem this year.”

Mendel: "How can there be no problem? Last year, all my troops were veterans, and the number of new recruits accounted for only a dozen percent. This year, the number of new recruits in my troops exceeded 35%!"

"All the veterans who were supposed to return from injury have been transferred by you to form new troops!"

Chief of Staff of the Army Group: "After all, mobilization has begun in the country, and a large number of new troops have been formed. These troops cannot be all new recruits, because their combat effectiveness will be too unreliable, and they will become as rubbish as Ant's mobilization division. In general There must be some veterans as the backbone of the battle.”

Mendel: "What about these newly formed divisions? Just give me a few to fill the front lines!"

"I can't tell you where these newly formed divisions are. Anyway, they will participate in the upcoming offensive campaign."

"Then it doesn't matter if I am breached? If I am breached, how many troops are the army group prepared to use to block the attack?" Mendel asked loudly.

"Don't be impatient, you now have our carefully built fortifications."

Mendel: "Building shit! The fortification is only 50% complete! Do you think it's pretty good when you see 50%? Let me tell you, this 50% means half The fortifications in part of the area are completely completed, but the other half has not been built at all!

"What should I do if the enemy breaks through from an unbuilt place? I want reinforcements! I want reinforcements! If there are no reinforcements, the Anters will really realize their wish. See you at Prosonia!"

After saying that, the call was disconnected.

The Army Group Chief of Staff stared at the receiver for a few seconds and shook his head.

At this time, the entire army group headquarters was filled with ringing phone calls one after another. Just looking at this posture, you can tell how many troops the Ants have invested in the attack.

The Army Group Chief of Staff sighed and muttered: "It just so happens that Marshal von Pogg is reporting on his duties at the Eagle's Nest at this time!"

After thinking briefly, he picked up the phone: "Pick up the Eagle's Nest! Leave it alone, I'll take the responsibility!"

————

Heart of Plowson, Eagle's Nest.

Marshal von Borg was holding a map stick and drawing on the sand table: "We made some targeted adjustments to the flood attack adopted by Ant last year. The first was to increase the density of support points. The Ant people discovered that our Just bypass the strong support point without attacking it. It seems that this tactic is effective, but in fact..."

Before the marshal finished speaking, the emperor's confidential secretary hurried into the conference room, nodded slightly to the marshal, went straight to the emperor, and whispered a few words in his ear.

The emperor looked at von Borg: "Marshal, Ante's Western Front, together with the Ante Front on the left and right wings, just launched an attack on your troops."

Marshal von Pog didn't look surprised: "As I just said, we have long understood that the enemy is preparing for a large-scale attack based on aerial reconnaissance and the confessions of prisoners captured on the front line. We have plans for this, my staff officer The leader should be able to handle it calmly.”

Emperor: "But he called the Eagle's Nest."

After speaking, the emperor picked up the receiver of the phone in front of him and said "take it", and then handed the receiver to Marshal von Borg.

The marshal doubtfully walked over and picked up the receiver, just in time to hear the voice of the chief of staff: "Marshal, the enemy has just launched a full-line attack. A literal full-line attack. The entire front is being bombarded."

Marshal Pogg: "Same as last time, the enemy's attack like this can only make a breakthrough where our troops are weak, and it will definitely not be a critical node. After determining the breakthrough point, just mobilize the armored forces to counterattack."

Chief of Staff: "However, General Mendel of the Ninth Army said that the general mobilization expansion had transferred too many combat backbones, there were too many new recruits in the army, and half of the areas had not yet had time to build permanent concrete fortifications. He was worried about being completely broken through. ”

Marshal von Pog: "How could it be completely broken through? Last year, when there were the most enemies, there were only four breakthrough points. In the end, we sealed them all and killed a large number of enemy forces.

"Just respond according to the combat plan. This time our reserve team is twice that of last year, and can handle more than twice the breach! Okay, I will continue to report to His Majesty."

After speaking, the marshal hung up the phone directly.

But the emperor said: "You'd better go back to the front line. In addition, Marshal Celtic, do we have any troops that can be dispatched to Marshal Pogg immediately?"

Marshal Celtic: "Yes, we have just completed the formation of the 15th wave of infantry divisions and can give Marshal Pogg six new infantry divisions."

Marshal Pogg frowned: "Fifteenth wave? The infantry divisions of the eighth wave were already using the Carolingian artillery captured in the Carolingian Battle. Did the infantry divisions of the fifteenth wave all use machine guns?" Sand machine gun? Do you know how rubbish that machine gun is?”

Commander-in-Chief of the Army Rundsteyer said: "It's not that bad. The machine guns are still MG34 and MG42. At most, they have a bit of Maxim, and they won't use junk like Shaosha. The fifteenth wave is just...it just has a little less cannon. That’s all.”

Marshal von Berg: "How many? I mean, how few?"

Marshal Celtic: "Some divisions only have one artillery battalion, and they are all 105-caliber howitzers."

Marshal von Pog frowned: "Yes? Based on my understanding of the headquarters, Marshal Celtic, what you said is definitely not the worst division, so how many artillery pieces does the division with the fewest artillery have?"

Marshal Celtic: "Four 150mm heavy howitzers. But these are temporary. The expansion of production has been initially completed. The production of artillery is increasing every month. Soon we will be equipped with standards for all 15 waves of infantry divisions. The number of artillery pieces is four full artillery battalions.”

Marshal von Pog shook his head: "Forget it, can you add some armored divisions to me? My armored division had at least two armored battalions the year before last. Last year, some divisions only had one armored battalion left. This year, all divisions There is only one armored battalion! Where did you put the transferred battalion? "

"A new armored division has been formed." Marshal Celtic replied.

Von Borg: "What about the division? What about the armored division? Now you can only give me fifteen waves of infantry divisions to handle the errands. What if I am breached?"

"That's enough!" The emperor slammed the table, attracting all the attention. "You guys, you know how to grab troops from me all day long and ask for reinforcements! Why don't you look at General Erwin? Don't ask for reinforcements, just take a He started to achieve so many beautiful results for his troops!”

In fact, Erwin asked for reinforcements, but the Emperor did not dare to say so without mentioning others.

After the initial anger passed, the emperor sighed and said to Marshal Pogg: "The headquarters will go all out to support you and ensure that you block the enemy's attack. But you must also understand that we are about to launch a large-scale attack. This is This great offensive can end this war! Your defensive operations cannot affect the progress of this great offensive!"

Marshal von Pogg nodded repeatedly: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. General Gorky has already been defeated by me and General Mendel. We can defeat him again."

The emperor nodded: "Hurry back and sit on the front line, and be sure to block it."

————

At 0100 hours on June 21, Marshal von Pogg finally rushed back to the headquarters of Army Group Center.

As soon as the chief of staff saw him coming in, he hurried forward to greet him: "Marshal! The enemy has made breakthroughs in multiple areas. Currently, we have verified seven breakthroughs. And there is news that the enemy's cavalry is passing through these seven breakthroughs. points poured into areas under our control.”

"Cavalry!" Marshal von Pog scolded, "Since Rokossov used cavalry to gain an advantage, the Ants have discovered the benefits of this ancient arm. But our defense area does not have so much grassland, and the cavalry can really use it. ”

The chief of staff wiped his sweat: "The cavalry can swim across some small rivers that armored troops cannot cross, and the common people in Ant in the occupied areas support them, allowing them to come and go without a trace."

Von Pog thought for a while: "Then shoot the common people who support them until no one dares to support them. And where are our armored reserves? Start moving now and strive to launch a counterattack tomorrow morning!"