Cannon Fire Arc

Chapter 775: Chapter 31 Everyone Will Face Their Destined Ending (6K words)

September 21st, 916, the heart of the Empire of Prosen, Eagle’s Nest.

Marshal Xiplin had just exited the elevator when he saw a group of generals standing in the hallway outside the Combat Room.

Xiplin stopped in his tracks, eyeing everyone with suspicion.

Marshal Rundstedt spoke up first, “Don’t worry, His Majesty just wanted to be alone for a while, so he asked us to step out for a smoke.”

Celtic Marshal said, “It’s understandable. His Majesty had fully anticipated Rocossov’s movements this time, seized the initiative, and even drew troops from the Western Front. Personally, even upon receiving news of Rocossov’s offensive, I had a drink in advance to celebrate another victory for the Empire.”

“Now it’s come to this, I need some quiet time too.”

…

Xiplin looked at the Celtic Marshal, “Did you really have a drink?”

“Yes, in the staff room of the High Command, many people saw it.” After a brief silence, the Celtic Marshal sighed, “The situation now is extremely frightening. It shows that the Anteans can defeat us fair and square. In the past, they had to rely on General Winter and all sorts of military nonsensical tactics to beat us.”

Xiplin said, “Actually, there’s no need to be so pessimistic. The Anteans simply adopted tactics suited for Kazakhstan. On the current vast front, we don’t have any particularly good methods to counter these tactics.

“In fact, when the Central Army Group faced the same tactics last year, they were somewhat flustered but managed to hold the line due to the forests, swamps, and dense river networks in the Central Army Group’s defensive area.

“But in Kazakhstan, we are completely out of options against these tactics. Comparatively speaking, Rocossov’s elite armored forces, equipped with new-model tanks, didn’t play a big role.”

General Moochi, the Armored Corps Director, asked with surprise, “Really? I thought you would blame these new tanks.”

“No, Rocossov did use these elite armored forces to crush most of our armored counterattacks, but these elite Armored Brigades also suffered heavy losses themselves and didn’t actually cause much damage to our regular troops.

“Also, a part of the Western Front Armored Division that was committed to the counterattack was defeated by the Antean armored forces. It’s proven that the tank operators from the Western Front, compared to Anteans who battled their way up, no longer have any advantage in combat skills.”

After a brief pause, Xiplin continued, “Furthermore, the No. 4 Tank Destroyer-equipped 504th Independent Tank Destroyer Battalion performed well. I believe we should immediately increase the production of this type of tank destroyer.”

Celtic Marshal said, “We are already handling this matter. By early next year, the production of the No. 4 Tank Destroyer will triple!”

General Moochi followed up, “They will all join the newly formed Armored Divisions!”

“What?” Xiplin’s eyes widened, “The 504th Battalion’s excellent performance was because they cooperated with the infantry! These tank destroyers working with the infantry to build anti-tank fortifications will play an immense role in our future homeland defense battles!”

General Moochi said, “These tank destroyers are classified as Panzerjäger; naturally, they should be counted as part of the Armored Troops, under my command, incorporated into the Armored Division.”

In fact, ever since the tank destroyer category was proposed, General Moochi had already included all vehicles under this classification as part of the Armored Troops, seizing control of their allocation.

Xiplin was about to argue when Celtic Marshal intervened, “Keep calm, in reality, General Moochi and we have already reached an agreement. The No. 4 gun carrier with an open-topped turret that’s already produced as a prototype belongs to the self-propelled guns category, the same as the Bison self-propelled infantry guns, and will be assigned to the infantry squads on the front line.”

Xiplin chuckled dryly, “A gun carrier with a turret is not considered a tank and joins the infantry, while those without turrets, which are obviously better suited for defense — I mean tank destroyers — are incorporated into the Armored Divisions?”

Celtic Marshal, “But the problem is solved, isn’t it? The Armored Corps Director got more armored vehicles, and the infantry received valuable mobile anti-tank firepower.”

Xiplin, “But tank destroyers are more suitable for defense! In defensive combat, there’s not so high a demand for firing arcs, and reliable frontal defense can play a bigger role. Gun carriers — I never expected the Bison self-propelled infantry guns to counter tanks! Those can be penetrated by heavy machine guns!

“And enemy equipment like the P47 can kill all the crew with just one strafing run!”

At this point, Xiplin noticed the smile on Moochi’s face.

Well, this guy had purposely handed over the open-topped vehicles without combat room armor to the infantry! He knew full well how vulnerable these vehicles were to machine-gun fire!

General Moochi spoke, “The Western Front Allied Forces are very fond of using open-topped tank destroyers, and those fast-moving tank destroyers have caused us tremendous trouble. I believe that the brave Prosen soldiers can do the same.”

Xiplin’s face turned green with anger, and Rundstedt, from nowhere, produced a glass of wine, “Come, have a drink, don’t get agitated.”

Xiplin took the glass, drained it in one gulp, slammed the empty cup down on the table, and stared down General Moochi with a ferocious gaze.

It’s a pity that his sidearm had been left on the counter at the entrance of the reception room, or something unspeakable might have happened.

Such as, “How could the Empire of Prosen be well governed with such vermin”…

————

At the same time, it had already become night at the Bogdanovka headquarters of the Kazakhstan First Front Army.

Wang Zhong opened the envelope brought by the envoy from the Federation, pulling out a stack of photos.