Cannon Fire Arc

Chapter 759: Chapter 16 Decision to Attack

September 2, Argesukov, First Front Army Headquarters in Kazarlia, 6:00 AM.

As soon as Pavlov entered the headquarters, he saw a big pile of meat, eggs, and milk by the entrance hall and asked the guard, “Did the locals bring these again?”

“Yes, Chief of Staff Davarish, everything was anonymously donated; we don’t know whom to return it to. The Judge has already checked it—there are no poisons or explosives.”

Pavlov said, “Take it all out and distribute it among the local populace; we cannot afford for our staff to fall ill at this stage.”

“Yes, sir.”

Pavlov passed through the entrance hall and the Ante-style great hall to enter the central map room of the headquarters, where the staff officers were already busy at work.

…

“Has today’s reconnaissance report arrived?” he asked.

The night shift Officer Popov pointed to the leather paper bag on the desk, “It has arrived, but since I am not a military officer, I haven’t opened it.”

Pavlov picked up the leather bag, opened it, and pulled out a thick stack of reports, “Wow, quite a few reports today. Let’s see… hmm? A report forwarded from the Tribunal? ‘A Comprehensive Report on the Underground Parish Intelligence Behind Enemy Lines’? That’s quite fresh. I thought this kind of report would be sent directly to Marshal Rocosov in Yeburg.”

Pavlov took out the file stamped with the Holy Seal of the Secular faction and the pattern of Saint Andrew, and began reading the summary, “…my God, according to this report, the Prosen Southern Army Group might have received reinforcements from four Armored Divisions from the Western Front.”

Popov, who was originally packing his pipe, raised his head upon hearing this, “Four divisions?”

“Yes, the underground parish also obtained the numbers and organizational details of the four divisions. Unlike those on the Eastern Front that have been shrunk down to have just one Armored Battalion per division, these four are at full strength, each with two Armored Battalions and one Armored Grenadier Battalion.”

Popov did some quick math in his head, “Doesn’t that mean the Southern Army Group facing us just got at least eight hundred tanks reinforced?”

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Pavlov flipped through the file, looking straight for the page clipped with a paperclip, then realized the paperclip was actually intended to hold a photo in place.

“Good work by the comrades in the underground parish, they even managed to snap photos of the enemy tanks, and thoughtfully included interpretations by the intelligence department. This is Prosen’s newest No. 4 H-type tank. H-type, do we have this model among the tanks we’ve captured or destroyed?”

Just as Pavlov finished asking, a staff officer answered, “No, Comrade Chief of Staff. We’ve destroyed mostly G-types, we have yet to come across an H-type.”

“How does the Tribunal know this is an H-type?” Pavlov looked towards Popov.

Popov replied, “The Tribunal has its own channels of intelligence; of course, it could also be intelligence shared by the Allied Forces. So what’s the difference with this H-type?”

Pavlov took the photo off the document and handed it to Popov, “Take a look for yourself; there’s additional armor added to its exterior.”

“It looks very thin. What use is this armor?” Popov asked with a puzzled face.

Pavlov read from the document, “‘It is speculated to prematurely detonate the concentrated explosive warheads of rocket launchers.’ Damn it, didn’t we just start using rocket launchers with concentrated explosive warheads in June? And they’ve already made a targeted adjustment?”

Popov said, “We should notify the units equipped with rocket launchers about this situation.”

Pavlov nodded, “Certainly, call someone!”

“Present, Chief of Staff Davarish.”

“Draft an order immediately, turn these photos into diagrams, and attach them to the order as a reminder for all units to be cautious when encountering H-type tanks, as their additional armor could prematurely detonate the rocket launcher’s warheads.”

“Yes, sir!”

After the staff officer left with the photo, Pavlov continued to review the document, “Other aspects… basically confirm our judgments; the Prosens won’t be able to replenish their troops or construct strong defensive fortifications in such a short period. If we cross the river now, we can catch them unprepared.

“Look here, ‘The enemy’s Infantry Divisions are still severely understaffed, the previous retreats left most Infantry Divisions with less than 50% of their personnel; some battalions are down to fewer than seven hundred men.’”

Popov asked, “Did we really eliminate that many of their soldiers?”

“It could be that after retreating to the other side of the river, the wounded had no choice but to leave the front lines, or maybe they became disoriented afterward and were eaten by wild dogs. After two years of war, the wilderness is full of stray dogs that have lost their owners; they will gradually revert to their wolfish nature and become prairie wolves.”

Popov reflected, “When I was a child, the Boye Lord of the village would organize wolf-hunting teams to deal with wolves in the grasslands, but I have not heard such things after I turned 30.”

Pavlov replied, “They are back now, and after the war ends we will definitely need to organize Cavalry Troops to round up the wolf packs on the grasslands.”

As he spoke, he passed the document to Popov.

While Popov was looking at the document, Pavlov walked up to the map, “Marshal Rocosov’s opinion is correct; we recover faster than the enemy. Launching an attack now, we can catch them off guard. But the new four Armored Divisions are an unknown variable, perhaps we should postpone the offensive until more T54s arrive at the front.”

Popov said, “You and I can’t decide this matter. It is up to the Front Army Commander to make such decisions, and the Front Army Commander is still in Yeburg—”

“I’m already back,” came a familiar voice from the door.

All personnel in the headquarters stood up and turned toward the entrance.

Marshal Rocosov, wearing a brand new shoulder board adorned with a single large star, walked into the room; the Golden Stars on his chest had also increased from one to two.

Popov: “Comrade Marshal, I recognize the extra Venus, but what is this other medal?”

Rocossov looked down at his chest. “This? This is the Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to me by the United States.”

Pavlov: “You seem to like that medal a lot.”

“Quite all right,” shrugged Marshal Rocossov. “What were you just talking about?”

————

After listening to Pavlov’s report, Wang Zhong approached the map: “The positions where the four new Armored Divisions are deployed are—”

Pavlov immediately picked up the document and marked the location of the enemy’s new active forces on the map according to the intelligence on the document.

Wang Zhong smiled: “How will the enemy fight like this? The underground diocese has found out all their troop deployments; the entire battlefield is transparent to us in one direction.”

That’s right, there wasn’t even a need for me to scout the skies personally anymore.

Popov: “Our victory has inspired the underground diocese, and it has also made many traitors who previously surrendered to the Prosens change their hearts. So now, our work behind enemy lines has become much easier.”

Wang Zhong: “What does the Tribunal think of these ‘turncoats’?”

“Of course, they assess their merits and demerits separately—if someone can offset their faults with merits, they will be forgiven. As for those with heinous crimes…” Popov changed the subject, “Why have you come back so soon?”

“To deceive the enemy. The Prosens must think I won’t attack while I’m still in Yeburg. So I released the information that I would return on September 15th, but actually, I’ve taken many photos, and from today on, Yeburg newspapers will keep publishing news about me for the next ten days, all of which were prepared in advance.”

Wang Zhong: “We will attack on the 5th and catch them off guard!”

————

“The Rocossov is intentionally releasing false information!” The Plathen Emperor pounded the conference table, “I’ve seen through him! He is sure to attack now! Our four fully equipped Armored Divisions will certainly give him a taste of his own medicine!”

The generals looked at each other. Generals like Xiplin, who led the front-line troops, had already returned to their Headquarters, leaving the war room in the Eagle’s Nest somewhat empty, with many vacant chairs atop the large desk. These were positions reserved for the front-line generals.

Celtic Marshal: “Our assessment suggests that Rocossov won’t be ready to cross the river until after September 20th. Crossing the river now would be too hasty.”

The Emperor stood up: “That’s why you are being played by Rocossov in a round of applause!”

Marshal Rundstedt: “But, Your Majesty, even if we accurately predict Rocossov’s time to cross the river, it’s still hard for us now to stop him. The only thing we can rely on is the four brand-new Armored Divisions.

“But if—I mean, if the number of Rocossov’s new tanks exceeds our estimates, these four Armored Divisions might not be able to stop him.

“These four Armored Divisions are equipped with both Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs, it’s uncertain if they can match Rocossov’s new tanks.

“The only tanks that can cope with Rocossov’s new tanks, the Leopard and Tiger King, add up to only four battalions, and the latest Panzer IV Tank Destroyer, we only have one battalion. If Rocossov deploys more than 300 new tanks, the situation could become quite tricky.”

Emperor: “So we just don’t resist? Hand over the Dibo River to Rocossov? No! In the summer’s tank battle, although we lost, the exchange ratio was still in our favor! We were only worn down by Ante’s tank troops who used their lives!

“Now that we’ve increased our numbers, this time it’s definitely going to be Rocossov who runs out of blood first!”

————

Pavlov: “We currently have two complete T54 brigades. If the enemy Armored Divisions are all Panzer IIIs and IVs, it would be entirely possible to use one brigade along with enough Infantry Divisions to counter one division.

“But even then there will be two more divisions. Personally, I think we should not hand these divisions over to the troops still using the T34Ws to contend with.”

Wang Zhong: “What about our heavy breakthrough tanks?”

“They are all deployed in the main direction of breakthrough, and the current battle plan is to use them to break through the enemy’s defenses.”

Wang Zhong: “Given that the enemy’s infantry divisions and fortifications are in such poor condition, we could consider pulling these breakthrough tanks out to engage in tank combat with the enemy Armored Troops. How many battalions do we have in total?”

“Six battalions, 126 tanks, Comrade Marshal,” a staff officer replied.

Wang Zhong: “That’s quite good. Have all the tanks damaged in the summer offensive been repaired?”

“Most of them have been fixed, plus there are new reinforcements,” said Pavlov. “I hear that even the battalions originally meant for the Western Front Army have been transferred here.”

Wang Zhong: “Good, our basic principle remains unchanged—we’ll have the new tank brigades with an anti-armor advantage and the heavy breakthrough tank battalions deal with the enemy’s main armored forces. The tank troops equipped with T34Ws will mainly bully the enemy infantry. If they encounter enemy armored forces, they should avoid battle as much as possible.

“The campaign will launch on the morning of September 5th, with the goal being to liberate Ronied before the autumn mud sets in.”

Ronied, the place where Wang Zhong had crossed; for him, it was the starting point of this war.

Just thinking that in a little over a month, he could return to the city he had fled in such a hurry made Wang Zhong’s hands tremble slightly.

He quietly clenched his fist and hid it in his pocket.