Arc of Gunfire

On the Prosen side, the 10th Army Headquarters of Army Group South.

The commander of the group army, General Poker, now has a distinguished guest: the commander of the Sixth Army, General Wilhelm von Frederik. He had just poured the general a drink, and before he could raise his glass, the communications staff broke into the command room: "General !”

Admiral Poker frowned. Although he was unhappy, the troops were in combat and it was obviously inappropriate to ignore the telegrams from the front line - especially in front of his peers.

So General Poker made a gesture, and his adjutant immediately stepped forward to receive the telegram: "The front-line Said Division reported that it was attacked by a heavy troop group led by Rokossov."

"We already know that Rokossov is here. The attack was frustrated today, right?" Admiral Poker behaved unusually calmly in front of his colleagues. "When I said yesterday that Rokossov had arrived at the front line, I expected that today The attack will be frustrated."

General Wilhelm von Frederik, commander of the Sixth Army, asked: "So you have a plan?"

"Of course, Rokossov is a tough guy. In order to advance quickly, we need to bypass him. During last summer's battle, General Moltke's Second Armored Group kicked his stinky stone, and his foot was sprained. In the end, General Moltke bypassed him, and then he had no choice but to break through. It is said that more than half of his division was eaten!"

General Poker stood up and drew on the map: "Seide's division will resist him from the front, and then put in two armored divisions and two panzergrenadier divisions to break through on his north and south sides."

On the map, the signs of an armored division and an armored grenadier division were drawn on the north and south sides of the Said Division.

"By the 18th, I can launch a pincer offensive against Rokossov. The enemy's Suhayaveli Front has a weak overall combat effectiveness. It can rely on morale to support it for a while relying on the city, but unfortunately, this area is full of large The only city in the grassland, Yeisk, has been captured by us."

Admiral Poker looked very proud: "Soldiers are faster and faster. We once again defeated the Ant people in terms of speed. Rokossov had no choice in the face of this vast grassland. He could only retreat to Suhayaveli." Along the river, rely on the cities along the river for defense. "

Admiral Wilhelm von Frederick nodded approvingly: "It's a very reasonable idea. Speaking of which, I also have a fate with this Rokossov."

Admiral Poker's adjutant: "You two..."

Admiral Pork: "Did you fight him in last summer's battle?"

"No, at that time my Sixth Army was following the First Armored Group. His famous Battle of Penier battlefield was less than a hundred kilometers away from my headquarters. Later when he defended Loktov, my Army was Dealing with the remnants of the enemy in the Bogdanovka encirclement, my headquarters is less than 50 kilometers away from his battlefield.”

Adjutant: "Generals..."

Admiral Pork: "You were nearby in two of the three battles in which he was defeated. This is the third time! I will not make the mistake of confronting him head-on."

The adjutant finally couldn't bear it anymore: "Your Excellencies!"

Admiral Poker finally looked at the adjutant: "What's wrong, this doesn't look like you."

Adjutant: "The Said Division did not attack. The division commander reported that the leading battle group encountered fire in the morning and immediately switched to a defensive state. When the division headquarters arrived in the afternoon, it was discovered that a large number of enemy tanks were planning to launch a pincer offensive against the Said Division. "

Admiral Poker was stunned: "What? Rokossov attacked?"

Admiral William reminded: "He also organized an attack in the winter battle last year and quickly surrounded our heavy troop group in Kalanskaya. Have you forgotten the photo of him personally escorting the captured general on a parade?"

Admiral Pork slapped his head: "Damn it, I remembered it when you said that. When I saw the photo, I had a nightmare one day, dreaming that I was also arrested and paraded on the street. I think it must be my brain on purpose. Forget about this!"

Admiral William: "You won't let Rokossov eat Division Seder, will you?"

"Of course, hell, of course not." Admiral Poker stood up and ordered to the adjutant: "Call the chief of staff in, no, I should go to the map room."

Admiral William also stood up: "I'll go with you."

The two of them walked towards the map room like this.

As soon as you enter the map room, the first thing you see is the deployment map of the first phase of the entire blue plan.

The Tenth Army was the spearhead of the first phase.

The Sixth Army was the second offensive echelon, following Admiral Wilhelm's Tenth Army, and the forwards were now just beyond Admiral Poker's line of departure.

In last summer's battle, Proson adopted the principle of concentrated use of tanks. Most of the armored units were in four armored groups.

But after a year of fighting last year, when summing up their experience, the Prossens found that so many armored units were concentrated together, which placed too heavy a burden on logistics, and Ant's poor logistics simply couldn't keep up.

The result is that the armored group rushes forward for a week before stopping to wait for the troops behind it.

That is to say, the Anters performed too poorly and failed to seize the gap where the armored forces were out of touch, otherwise it would be unthinkable. In fact, some outstanding commanders in Ant discovered the opening and launched a counterattack, but unfortunately they had too little reliable power.

Ant's armored forces performed extremely poorly last year, and even if the commander noticed the opportunity, he could not seize it.

The infantry units did manage to seize some fighters, but the scale was limited and insignificant in the grand summer campaign.

By the way, Rokosov was one of the few commanders who discovered the fighter plane and captured it. Unfortunately, he only had one regiment at the time, and the rest were a mess of auxiliary units.

All in all, while the Ant people are summing up their experience, the Prosen people are also summing up their experience.

Therefore, before the blue plan, the armored cluster was split into smaller units and assigned to each group army and infantry to advance together. The overall attack speed was slowed down, effectively avoiding disjoint.

There are three armored divisions, three armored grenadier divisions, and six infantry divisions under the Tenth Army. Counting the total strength of the troops directly under the army, it is about 220,000.

The stronger Sixth Army, with 300,000 men, follows the Tenth Army as the "spearhead" and is responsible for expanding the breakthrough area and extending the occupied area to both sides.

General Poker briefly recalled the missions of himself and his friendly forces, and then the chief of staff who was busy at the map table said: "How bad is the situation of Seder's division?"

Chief of Staff: "You mean battle damage? They reported last night..."

"I'm talking about their current situation! Never mind the battle damage."

The chief of staff pointed at the map: "I just updated the situation. It seems that the Seide Division has not been attacked yet, but was blown to pieces by heavy artillery."

Admiral Poker: "How many troops does Rokossov have?"

"I don't know." The chief of staff said bluntly, "We don't know how many troops he commands. At present, we have got two designations. One is Rokossov's old unit, the 1st Guards Mechanized Infantry Division, and the other is a new designation. 225th Infantry Division, organization unknown."

Admiral Pork: "Are the people in the headquarters just for a living? Rokossov's name has appeared for three days, and he still hasn't figured this out yet."

Chief of Staff: "The Air Force is conducting aerial reconnaissance, maybe..."

"To hell with the Air Force! Where are the four divisions preparing to participate in the pincer offensive?"

Chief of Staff: "They have already deployed to both wings. It is not appropriate to cancel the deployment order now and let them rush to support Yeisk. It will cause great chaos. I suggest that the troops originally prepared to defend Yeisk speed up."

Admiral Poker touched his chin: "And the troops originally engaged in a pincer offensive continued to carry out the operation - is that so? Eat the Rokossov heavy troop cluster? But can our group army eat this cluster?"

As a guest, Admiral William remained silent. Hearing Admiral Poker's words, he couldn't help but said: "The troops commanded by Rokossov have been increasing. During the siege of Kalanskaya last year, Rabelais Just think that he commanded an army.

"Could he be the front commander now?"

General Poker: "Front Army...you mean, we should ask the army group for its opinion?"

Admiral William: "Anyway, your pincer offensive won't be ready until the 18th, right?"

"You're right. Let's work hard to transfuse Seide's troops first so that they don't get eaten. Let's see what the army group says."

————

Meanwhile, Ye Castle, the summer palace.

Olga, trying to maintain a solemn expression, sat in her chair.

In front of her was an easel and a huge canvas, and the royal painter was painting.

Suddenly, the cat on Olga's lap discovered something. Without any warning, the cat jumped off her knee and ran away quickly.

Olga: "Ah! It ran away! I'm going to catch it!"

"No, cats or whatever, I can just draw them based on my own feelings. Your Majesty, are you probably trying to sneak into the map room of the headquarters by taking the opportunity of looking for the cat?"

Olga begged: "This is a critical period now. Lieutenant General Alyosha Rokossov's troops are fighting on the front line! I'm going to the map room to watch!"

"You can't direct battles, and that's not your job. But painting a portrait is! This is going to be hung in the gallery. There are all the monarchs of the Antonov dynasty. How can you be missing? "

Olga pouted.

"There may be no Tsar after the war, and these portraits are destined to be included in museums..."

She muttered quietly.

The painter was shocked: "What?"

Olga: "I told you to hurry up and finish the drawing. Then I can go to the map room to supervise their deployment of troops!"

As soon as he finished speaking, General Turgenev entered the studio.

Olga was overjoyed and stood up directly. As a result, the royal robe she was wearing was a bit too heavy and she almost lost her balance.

"General Turgenev!" She stood firm and asked, "How is the situation?"

General: "Rokossov is preparing to take advantage of the enemy's penetration too deep to fight a short battle of annihilation. The staff of the Operations Department believe that the idea is feasible. We are mobilizing forces to provide the Rokossov Group, which is the First Mobile Army, with reinforce."

Olga: "He can win the battle again, right?"

"I don't know." General Turgenev said with a straight face, "Even Rokossov may lose the battle."

Olga: "Don't say that!"

"My duty is to report the worst possibility to His Majesty the Tsar." General Turgenev paused and said, "But you can have the best expectations."