Cannon Fire Arc

After Su Fang entered the warehouse, she smiled at Wang Zhong, "I was wondering when you would come to find me."

Wang Zhong, "Don't make it sound like I'm here for a private rendezvous. How's the situation with the folklorists now?"

"The grannies have already rested and are waiting for your summoning," Su Fang stared at Wang Zhong, "Is the fog not useful enough, that's why you haven't used the second big fog for so long?"

Wang Zhong, "Previously, we needed a relatively clear field of vision since our long-range firepower has the advantage. In fact, the enemy has been using smoke bombs all along to limit our Whirlwind Tank Destroyers' effectiveness. Summoning big fog would only make things easier for them."

Actually, Wang Zhong still harbored some doubts about whether this big fog was naturally formed, but just these few mornings there had been only a little fog which dispersed quickly once the sun rose, making the previous summoning that lasted over an hour seem unscientific.

If it could be reproduced, it would be perfect to observe whether this fog was scientific or not.

Wang Zhong, "In any case, now we are preparing to launch another surprise attack with infantry at the forefront, we need a big fog to block the enemy's long-range firepower, such as machine guns, the main guns of the number three assault cannons, and all sorts of mortars and infantry cannons—"

Su Fang, "I get it, I'll go and have the researchers start preparing for the ritual."

Wang Zhong, "Will the big fog be ready by tomorrow morning?"

Su Fang smiled and gave a thumbs-up before turning towards the warehouse door.

Wang Zhong sharp caught that Su Fang glanced back at him just before turning around.

He turned and sure enough, in the direction Su Fang had been looking, Nelly stood with a stern face, staring at Su Fang's back with the expression one might have upon finding a louse while washing clothes.

Wang Zhong coughed to draw Nelly's attention to him, then seriously said, "Although our communication capabilities have improved, Su Fang's abilities can serve as a backup. She might come in handy anytime, so—"

Nelly, "I'm not going to do anything to her, at most I'll just sprinkle some salt."

"That's good," Wang Zhong said and then turned to Pavlov, "Order the infantry troops to prepare, scout units to immediately consolidate reconnaissance information, staff officers to formulate a detailed battle plan, and tonight gather the commanders of various units for a brief meeting."

Pavlov nodded and started issuing orders one by one to the staff officers like a compiler, translating Wang Zhong's intentions in his brain into numerous executable detailed orders.

Wang Zhong couldn't help but remember a book about the Napoleonic Wars he had read before traveling through time, saying that Napoleon's efficient command of his troops was related to his chief of staff, Berthier.

One of the major reasons Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo was because Berthier did not respond to his summon.

Wang Zhong recalled his combat experience thus far and realized he could never have been so successful without Pavlov.

Rocossov also had his own Berthier.

Just as Wang Zhong thought this, he heard Popov say, "Tell the mess to prepare extra tea and coffee, as the workload for the staff officers today is not likely to be low."

Wang Zhong suddenly felt he too ought to give some orders beneficial to tomorrow's battle, so he turned to Vasily and said, "Vasily, you... you..."

After faltering for a moment, Wang Zhong waved it off, "Never mind, don't worry about it."

Having said this, he headed to the radio unit, planning to replicate the trick of obtaining a view of the front line during the brief moments of establishing radio communication.

This was something only Wang Zhong could accomplish, and it might enable him to detect a sign of the enemy's movements.

————

"On the 24th, we must be ready to attack," General Boke, the commander of the Prosen Army's Tenth Army Group, told the several Armored Division and Panzergrenadier Division commanders gathered at the Corps Command, "If we do not attack, not only will I, the Army Group Commander, be dismissed by His Majesty, but you all will not fare well either!"

The commander of the 14th Armored Division frowned, "Hasn't the first phase of Operation Blue simply been delayed for a few days until now? After all, we started the attack so smoothly, it's just that we've been delayed by Rocossov for ten days here." Find adventures on empire

Operation Blue had learned from last year's lessons, slowed down the advance to avoid the disconnection between the armored divisions and infantry, and provided buffer time for the armored troops to replenish and repair tanks.

So even though they had been delayed by Rocossov for ten days, the overall campaign plan was not set back much.

General Boke shook his head, "Do you think tomorrow's attack can break through Rocossov? He has so many troops now."

The commander fell silent.

General Boke continued, "We need to launch a swift offensive to shatter Rocossov, and strive to capture Yeisk before the end of the month. By then, the enemy's large force in the Bolsk region will be completely exposed, and we will envelop and completely devour several hundred thousand of the Ante People, just like last year."

The commander of the 16th Armored Panzergrenadier Division, Schultz, said, "With the plains terrain, there's really no need for a strict encirclement along the roads. We could conduct a smaller flanking maneuver towards the enemy's flank at Bolsk, creating a smaller encirclement—"

"The Emperor desires a grand encirclement like the one Argesukov achieved last year that can be called art," Boke interrupted the 16th Panzergrenadier commander, "So we will push to the Suhaya Weili River, and then start the envelopment using a perfect flanking maneuver to devour the enemy's large force."

The commanders exchanged glances.

It was still the 16th Panzergrenadier's commander Schultz who said, "According to the High Command's military situation report, the enemy at Bolsk shows signs of retreat. If we continue the encirclement as per Operation Blue, won't we be too late? The High Command wouldn't be so foolish as to insist on the original plan at this juncture, they should have a new plan, perhaps even deploying the Imperial Marine Corps to launch a landing operation on the coast."

Schultz approached the map and drew a line on the coastal part with a pencil, cutting off the connection between Bolsk and the mouth of the Raoul Mountains.

General Boke stepped forward, picked up an eraser, and wiped off the line on the map, "That's for High Command to consider, not our concern. We just need to continue the attack as planned."

All Schultz could do was nod, "Understood, we'll coordinate the attack with the Armored Division."

General Boke nodded, glanced at the others, and stressed, "The attack must be launched on the 24th. Fortunately, Rocossov has not continued his advance either; surely his supply has also been affected by the steppe."

No, in fact, Rocossov was just lying in ambush, waiting for your "Armored Division" to deliver itself to him.

Who could have thought that the cavalry and air force bombings had disrupted the Tenth Army Group's supply plans to such an extent—of course, this was also related to the Tenth Army Group's rapid consumption of ammunition and fuel before encountering Rocossov.

"Everyone's resupply is troubled, so let's see who can complete their resupply first. Who knows, on our way to the attack, we might just run into Rocossov's tank troops and have a decisive tank battle!" General Boke said with full conviction.

————

At the same time, at the Front Army headquarters of the Ante Army, in Bolsk.

Duke Meishikin covered his mouth with a handkerchief, coughing incessantly from the smoke of burning maps and documents, much to the concern of his staff.

His adjutant worriedly said, "Your Grace, you should leave first, we can handle the burning of the documents."

Meishikin said, "Once I start moving, the retreat will inevitably fall into chaos, and each unit will have to decide for itself, to solve the problems in front of them—until the command post reaches the new location, is set up again, and establishes radio contact with them.

"But by then, some units might be marching and unable to deploy radios, do you understand?"

The adjutant nodded.

Yet the Duke still set the record straight, "That's why I want to stay here as long as possible, to address the issues that units encounter during the retreat."

No sooner had Meishikin finished than a messenger rushed into the command post, now littered with scraps of paper, headed straight for the Duke, and reported loudly, "Enemy forces spotted near Diporosk."

Duke Meishikin clicked his tongue, "The enemy has realized we're running and plans to encompass us in a small encirclement. Order the Fifth Guards Tank Brigade to strike; they don't need to defeat the enemy, just hold them off."

The messenger was about to turn away when Duke Meishikin stopped him, "Tell Colonel Stolov of the Fifth Tank Brigade to hold off the enemy at any cost, even if it means the sacrifice of his entire brigade."

The messenger nodded.

Duke Meishikin released his hand and gave a slight wave.

Thus, the messenger ran off without looking back.

The Duke called over another messenger and continued with his orders, "Command the 331st Infantry Division to set up a blocking position south of Diporosk. I know it's difficult to hold off armored units on the steppe, but they must hold the enemy back, they must!"

After the messenger sprinted out upon receiving the order, Duke Meishikin began coughing violently.

The adjutant hurriedly began patting his back.

The Duke waved his hand away, "No, no, don't worry about me. The Prussians surely realize we're fleeing. The enemy's 11th Army Group has just defeated our forces within the encirclement of the Coastal Fortress and needs reorganization. The 12th, after fighting us for so many days, shouldn't have the strength to encircle us either.

"The enemy will need to deploy fresh reserve forces to cut off our escape."

The adjutant quickly corrected, "You mean, retreat."

"There's no difference, my troops won't care about such trivial wordplay. If the enemy wants to catch us, they must commit their reserves, and at such a time, we can only hope that General Golikov stirs up something big in the direction of Suhayaveli and draws the reserves there."

The adjutant said, "There's also 'that' Rocossov over there; they'll surely manage."

The Duke stared at the map, pondered for a few seconds, and said, "That Rocossov excels at defense; last year's offensive was launched only after depleting the enemy's supplies, which doesn't prove he's outstanding at offense. If we want to break out, we'll probably have to see how well General Golikov does with his attack."

After saying this, the Duke began to cough heavily again.

The adjutant continued to pat his back.

When the coughing subsided, the Duke felt an ominous sensation and, looking at his handkerchief, saw a large stain of deep red.

He told the adjutant, "Send a message to High Command, asking them to dispatch a capable commander to take over my command."

The adjutant exclaimed in surprise, "What? At a time like this? Changing commanders during a retreat could be even more fatal than before an attack!"

"Carry out my orders," Duke Meishikin said sternly.