Arc of Gunfire

0600 hours on the morning of July 26.

In the South Ant Plain, fifty kilometers north of the Raoul Pass, the temporary headquarters of the Anteborsk Front.

Prince Myshkin coughed for an unknown number of times. He took out his handkerchief and covered his mouth. After a series of violent coughs, he kept covering his mouth and was reluctant to take away the handkerchief.

Everyone looked at him.

Mei Shijin seemed to have made a lot of determination. She took the handkerchief away from her mouth and took a look.

There was no blood at first glance, but when Mei Shijin loosened his hand slightly, the blood was revealed.

The adjutant said angrily: "The special medicine sent by the United States is not effective at all!"

Duke Myshkin comforted him: "Didn't you read the document that was sent with the medicine? This is also an experimental medicine, and the test has not even been completed. This is one, and the second is that the medicine has written a course of treatment. I am the first one. The treatment has just begun.”

As he spoke, he coughed again, and the adjutant quickly patted his back to make him cough up all the phlegm.

General Fyodor Mikhailovich, who came to replace him as the commander of the front army, looked at the Duke worriedly: "You'd better rest, there is still the last stretch of the road left, I am already familiar with the entire command process, and I will hand it over to you." Me."

Meishkin shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, I called you to take over the command when I fell. I haven't fallen yet. It's not just a matter of running to the Raoul Pass. We still have so many defenders." As for the troops, they are all strong and proven troops. I hope they can come to the mountain pass safely and have a good rest in Ekaterina Dhaka!”

Ekaterina Dhaka, although its name is very close to St. Catherine's Castle, is a different city. Ekaterina Dhaka is an important road intersection in the Raoult Mountains and is also the base of the mountain railway. Main support center.

As the most prosperous city in the entire southern Ant, this is naturally a good place for troops to rest and replenish themselves.

General Feodor Mikhailovich advised: "Please believe in my ability. I was also the one who commanded a successful retreat in last year's war, although my reputation is not as good as that of you, Rokossov, and Gorky." General, but I also have some experience in retreat battles!”

Duke Myshkin put the bloody handkerchief in his left hand and patted Fyodor Mikhailovich on the shoulder with his right hand: "I know. But the troops don't know. They trust me, so now even if the enemy Pressing forward step by step, even though they were thirsty and hungry, they were still moving forward.

"Once they know that I fell - or ran away first, and the replacement commander is a general, it's hard to say whether they can maintain this cohesion."

General Feodor Mikhailovich hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded: "I understand."

Duke Myshkin could see that he was not completely convinced yet, so he continued: "The current situation of the troops is very poor. We have tried our best to organize vehicle transportation, but most of the troops still walked here on both feet.

"They have traveled hundreds of kilometers. On such a long journey, we have almost no time to set up cooking points. Many troops have not had hot soup for many days and can only eat dry food and canned Spam.

"I even suspect that they will collapse in the next second. I can't take the risk of leaving the unit at this time and going to the rear to recuperate."

Feodor nodded, looking much more determined this time: "You are right, but I think that for the victory of the empire, a talent like you needs to be alive."

Myshikin shook his head: "No, I have read Rokossov's "On Ant's Victory and Prosin's Failure", and I agree with most of the views. No matter how powerful Prosin is, he cannot stop the Allies. During the siege, their ally Fuso Empire had just suffered a major defeat and it was basically impossible to help them.

"The Allies have also begun bombing the city of Plosen. Even if the industrial production of Plosen is not reduced, they will have to devote a lot of resources to the production of anti-aircraft guns and fighter jets.

"Their defeat is only a matter of time. The only difference is whether we recover the country by ourselves, then invade the territory of the Plossen Empire, and liquidate them ruthlessly, or we wait for the Allies to bulldoze Plossen.

“I think Rokossov will liquidate Prossen, after all he was the one who came up with the slogan, ‘See you in Prossenya’, and I think he will do it.

"After completing this retreat, my duty is completed. It's time for you, able-bodied and energetic people, to dominate the battlefield."

As he spoke, Duke Myshkin coughed again.

The adjutant said distressedly: "Stop talking. Every time you talk..."

"Don't worry about it!" Duke Meshikin raised his voice and pushed the adjutant away, "I know my own body!"

Just as Duke Myshkin was about to continue speaking, a communications staff officer came over and said, "I received a telegram from General Rokossov asking about our retreat."

Fyodor: "We have never been encircled and suppressed by the enemy's new force. It is probably due to Rokosov. The enemy is now divided into two large clusters on the entire South Ant grassland. According to the report from the headquarters yesterday, Rokosov The cluster on Sov is bigger.”

Duke Myshkin came to the map table, stared at the whole situation of Nanant for a few seconds, and said, "What is between the two clusters of Prossens?"

"According to the investigation, there should be only a small number of patrol troops. However, the infrastructure in this entire area is extremely poor and cannot support a large-scale troop." Fyodor answered.

Duke Myshkin nodded: "Okay. By the end of this year, Rokossov should make use of this place."

"Using it?" the adjutant asked doubtfully.

Prince Myshkin nodded: "Didn't you see the operational plan of the High Command? I am almost certain that the main proposer of this plan was Rokosov, or it evolved from the plan he submitted.

"Use space to exchange time, stretch the enemy's supply line, and then wait for General Mud to arrive. It is exactly the same tactic as last year. I guess the Proson people will not be frozen to death this year like last year. The cars and tanks cannot be started, and the machine guns are frozen and cannot fire-no, they will not be like this this year.

"But they can't solve the mud, they can't solve it! When the muddy season comes, the enemy will definitely have difficulty in supply. This is when Rokossov will fight back."

The adjutant was shocked: "Using the mud again? Why doesn't he change his tactics?"

Admiral Fyodor: "As long as this trick works, it doesn't matter if it is used a few more times. And this is basically an open conspiracy, and the enemy knows it. So they have to fight enough results before the muddy season comes, such as occupying Abavakhan, or even occupying the oil fields in Baku.

"And Rokossov is best at defense. He has blocked the enemy's Tenth Army in Yeisk for so long. And his casualties are far less than our defensive battle last year, and he has killed a large number of enemies.

"If it's Rokosov, he will definitely be able to stop the enemy's attack until General Ni arrives."

Prince Myshkin started coughing again, and then he took over the conversation after coughing: "What has not been decided yet is that there will be a decisive battle before the end of the year. I don't think this decisive battle will start in Abavakhan, but it seems that there are no other key nodes."

The Duke looked at the long Valdai River. As one of the three major industrial belts in Ant, the entire Valdai River bank is full of endless factories. Even the small cities and villages on the riverside look very rich, full of reinforced concrete buildings.

Corresponding to this prosperity, the entire Valdai River does not seem to have any particularly important nodes - that is, the kind of points that can be used to hit the snake and hit the seven inches after being blocked.

If you have to say it, as long as the Valdai River can be blocked, it doesn't matter where it is blocked.

But the Valdai River, as the mother river of Ant, is really wide and the water depth is terrible. There is also an inland fleet on the river.

The Red Navy also got a lot of large gunboats with land artillery on board. It is still difficult to completely block the river surface if it only occupies one side of the Valdai River.

So even Prince Myshkin was not sure where the enemy would stop to fight to the death, and where the fight would turn into a fierce battle.

He could only look at the map and pray that Rokossov could find a way to break the enemy's offensive.

————

While Prince Myshkin was thinking about the future, his front was still trudging towards the mountain pass.

Sergeant Ivan Konstantinovich had not eaten hot meals for several days. He took off the kettle while walking, unscrewed the lid and poured it into his mouth, but found that not a drop of water could be poured out.

He looked at the sky. The scorching sun was hanging high in the sky, scorching everything.

Ivan even felt that the badge on the boat-shaped hat was getting hot, as if it was going to brand his forehead with a double-headed eagle.

He tried to smack his lips and tried to moisten his lips with saliva.

At this time, a half-full kettle was stuffed into Ivan's hand.

He looked up and found that it was the battalion commander.

"Drink it." The battalion commander said, "Take a sip and pass it to the back."

Ivan nodded, opened the kettle, licked the water on the lid, and passed the kettle to the person next to him.

The people passed the battalion commander's kettle around like this, and no one was willing to drink more, until the kettle finally returned to the battalion commander's hands.

The battalion commander shook the kettle and scolded: "If you do this, the water will evaporate during the transfer process! No, you have to drink it when you need it!"

At this time, Ivan said: "Actually, the water is fine. My kettle has just been emptied, but I can't stand the hunger anymore."

The battalion commander sighed and said: "According to the map, we will have supplies as long as we reach Xiguta, including water and hot soup. But on this grassland, the scenery looks the same no matter how far you walk. I don't know how far we are from Xiguta."

Ivan asked: "What is Xiguta?"

"It's a place name. This area was ruled by the Khitan Khan in ancient times. Many place names look like this."

As soon as the battalion commander finished speaking, someone in front suddenly shouted: "We are at Xiguta! I see the flag of the cooking team! And there is smoke from the bonfire!"

The battalion commander and Ivan looked forward together, and indeed saw a lot of smoke rising into the sky.

I don't know who shouted: "Run forward!"

So the team entered the running state in unison and rushed towards Xiguta.

Soon, they arrived. The girls from the cooking team had set up a series of water jars by the roadside, and everyone could scoop water from them.

Ivan scooped a ladle, took a big sip, and then poured it over his head.

He felt alive again.

In fact, the entire front was alive again.