Arc of Gunfire

Walter Mendel did not understand the situation until noon that day.

Mainly, General Gorky launched feint attacks in many places, and also dispatched aviation forces attached to the Western Front to conduct aerial bombardments on the headquarters of the Ninth Army.

Mendel's adjutant was injured in the bombing, and a young staff officer was temporarily replaced as adjutant. He was not even equipped with the "adjutant ribbon" that is the symbol of an adjutant.

It can be seen that the young man who became an adjutant for the first time was very nervous and spoke very quickly when giving the report.

Mendel: "Don't be so fast, I can hardly hear you. Speak slowly. As my adjutant, you must always behave very calmly."

"Yes, General."

The chief of staff of the group army brought a glass of water over: "Drink some water to calm down."

The young man took the water glass and drank it all in one breath.

Mendel: "Have the losses from the air raid been calculated?"

"Yes, the enemy must have known we were here for a long time. The command accompanying the air defense regiment reported that they had observed an aircraft that they had never seen before. It has a thick fuselage and zebra-like black and white stripes on its wings. It may be a new type of dive bomber. , the bombs dropped were extremely powerful.”

Mendel: "They didn't identify the aircraft?"

"No." The adjutant looked apologetic, as if it was his fault.

Mendel patted the young man on the shoulder: "It's not your fault."

The adjutant swallowed and continued: "The commander of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment said that the Ant Army has never had a single-engine dive bomber before, and the enemy's IL-2 has never conducted high-angle dive bombing. This is definitely a brand-new aircraft, and The performance is better than our Stuka. ”

Mendel frowned and muttered: "The empire's equipment is lagging behind..."

Obviously, Mendel did not know that this "dive bomber" was actually a pure-blooded air superiority fighter. It was just that the United States fighter had a large engine and a high octane rating of aviation fuel, so it could carry a load of nearly two tons, so it was taken away. Come be a dive bomber.

After a brief sigh, he immediately shook his head: "No, we suffered from the T34 and KV heavy tanks last year. Although now we all know that these two tanks have fatal flaws and are easy to deal with. In the hands of the Anters, It's easier to deal with, but we have to admit that this is indeed a good tank, but the Ants don't know how to use it.

"So now, where is the enemy's T34?"

New Adjutant: "It mainly appears in two places. The first is the defense line of the 337th Division, and the second is the upper reaches of Shostka. We don't know where the enemies in the upper reaches cross the river."

Mendel: "Contact with the 337th Division has been restored?"

"Yes, we just contacted their division headquarters via radio. The defense line on the east bank of the ferry has been breached. The enemy is still establishing a beachhead on the west bank. The 337th Division originally used artillery to suppress the beachhead, but immediately the division's artillery force was attacked by the enemy. fight back."

Mendel looked at the map and suddenly asked the chief of staff: "Have the communications troops heard the enemy's radio communications?"

"I heard a lot, and there were a lot of code words and radio call signs that were clearly agreed in advance. We no longer called out the numbers directly like before." The chief of staff replied.

Mendel was speechless: "The enemy has obviously been equipped with more radios and has more experience, so the coordination between their arms should have improved. It is normal for a division like the 337th Division that has just been transformed from a National Guard Division to be unable to stop it. "

Chief of Staff: "The enemy still has tanks. The 337 is missing an assault gun. The anti-tank gun only has the PAK38, not the latest PAK40. Last year's battle has proven that the PAK38 is not enough to penetrate the front of the T34."

Mendel walked to the map of the Ninth Army's defense zone hanging on the wall. The map was now full of symbols representing the Ant Army's attack.

He said: "It can be preliminarily judged that the enemy has two main attack directions. The first is the position of the 337th Division, and the second is a certain area upstream. We did not know that we could cross the river before, so we had no defensive force, so We didn’t find them crossing the river immediately.”

Chief of Staff: "This kind of thing will happen because the troops on the defense line have been severely mobilized. The headquarters must be planning to do something big."

As commanders of the army, Mendel and his chief of staff were unaware of combat operations in which their army was not involved.

Some generals with relatively strong connections will obtain some information through "old friends" within the headquarters, but the most critical part will definitely be covered up.

Mendel did not have such a powerful "old friend", so he had no idea what the headquarters would do next.

But he could probably guess the high command's plan.

Because many strategic matters are conspiracy, and no one is stupid. The real key is the specific details behind the conspiracy.

It was as if Santoku knew that the Allies would definitely open a second battlefield, but did not know where or when they would land.

Now for Proson General Mendel, he knew that he would probably take action against Kuba's oil fields next. But he didn't know the specific combat plan.

However, he also understood that the Ninth Army would not bear the main offensive responsibility in the next large-scale offensive campaign, so it was logical to transfer the troops and technical weapons of the Ninth Army to the troops that actually launched the offensive.

Mendel took over: "This must be a grand offensive operation, but it has nothing to do with us. We just need to complete our mission. Has the aircraft reconnaissance found the location where the enemy crossed the river upstream of Shostka?"

Chief of Staff: "The Air Force reported that two FW189s did not return. They are responsible for investigating these two sectors."

The reconnaissance planes sent out by the Air Force every day will divide the reconnaissance area according to sectors. Whichever plane does not return proves that something must have been discovered there.

After the chief of staff drew the sectors with a pencil, he suggested: "We should send troops to search along the Dua River and explore the river covered by the two sectors."

Mendel shook his head: "No, no, it's too late to conduct reconnaissance before deciding whether to counterattack. The station of the 1st Armored Division happens to be within the coverage of this sector. Order them to attack east immediately and fire on all the Ants they see. Destroy anything that looks like a T34."

The chief of staff nodded, walked to the phone and began to issue instructions.

Mendel's new lieutenant asked, "Is it really a good idea to have such a general order?"

"There is nothing good or bad. Have you seen how much false information we have been exposed to since this morning? In this case, the judgment of frontline commanders should be trusted. They are closer to the battlefield than us."

After speaking, Mendel cursed: "Damn, damn General White Horse, now we don't even dare to set the army headquarters within a range that can be hit by Ant's cannon."

In fact, the army headquarters that commands so many units should not be too close to the front line. The area defended by the group army is too large. In theory, the best position for the group army headquarters is in the middle of the defense area, at a similar distance from the various units organized in the army.

In this way, even if the telephone lines and walkie-talkies fail, the messengers in each department will know where to find the headquarters - or the remains of the headquarters, and no messenger will have to travel a lot more distances.

The chief of staff came back after giving the order and asked: "What about the lost beachhead over there with the 337th Division? They shouldn't be able to regain the position."

Mendel looked at the map and pointed at the 9th Armored Division stationed fifteen kilometers behind the 337th Division: "Let them engage in counterattack."

The chief of staff immediately said: "This division was withdrawn for rest, and many middle-level commanders are still in Agsukov. In addition, the equipment replenishment of this division has not been completed. They only have 46 Panzer III tanks and 15 Panzer IV tanks. We are in a state of combat readiness, and the only ones left are No. 2 and No. 1."

"Don't worry!" Mendel soothed, "We can reinforce the Panzergrenadier division of the Grossplossen Division (this is the name of the division) with 9 units to drive the Ants down the river. If If you have time to build a pontoon bridge, rush over and attack the enemy's logistics depot and headquarters."

Mendel stopped, stared at the map for a few seconds, and said to himself: "I will never let last year's blood flow in vain. You can't even get back a square meter of these lands!"