Arc of Gunfire

Ten hours before the start of the offensive, the Abavahan Front Army Headquarters.

Wang Zhong: "There is no specific mission goal for the commandos this time. You can destroy anything you want. I personally recommend destroying the enemy's telephone lines, telephone wiring centers, radio centers, communication camps, etc."

Emilia simultaneously interpreted his words to Jonard, the captain of Komenda.

Chouinard pushed his beret and summed it up in Onsa: "Just muddy the water."

Wang Zhong looked at Amelia.

Emilia: "They understand."

Wang Zhong nodded and made a gesture to Pavlov.

Pavlov put a stack of photos in front of the commandos: "All the guerrillas who responded to you before were sacrificed, but some of the Plosen employees contacted us proactively, and they also contacted the 51st Tank Corps who had previously assaulted the rear. The surviving tank crews have gathered together. If you need additional explosives, you can contact them."

Jonard picked up the photos, looked through them, and said with regret, "I quite like the young men who led the way that time."

Wang Zhong: "Then kill a few more Prosons."

"I will." Jonard replied before Amelia could finish her translation.

"Report!" Someone shouted from the direction of the door.

Wang Zhong turned his head and saw his old friends Kirinenko and Kasukh standing side by side at the door, with their adjutants and staff behind them.

After meeting their gazes, Kirinenko stood at attention and saluted: "Commander Kirinenko of the 1st Guards Cavalry Army reports to you, Commander of the Front Army Davarich."

"Commander of the Third Infantry Guards Army, Kashuch, reports to you. Commander of the Front Army, Davarich." Kashuch followed suit.

Wang Zhong: "You two deliberately spoke so formally. Are you trying to blame me for being promoted too quickly?"

Kashuch smiled and said: "Of course not. We knew from the beginning that you would rise faster than us."

Kirinenko: "You have been commanding us since you were a major general, Your Excellency."

"You guys are joking about this too. If this continues, I will never be able to clean myself up." Wang Zhong said as he stepped forward, opened his arms, and hugged the two old friends one by one.

Kashuch: "We can't wait to get into the fight."

Wang Zhong: "Don't worry, tonight we will test the ice conditions of the Valdaichu River first, and the artillery unit will also make final preparations. Your army group has 100,000 people?"

Kashuch: "One hundred and ten thousand, which is not exactly the same as your First Assault Army's organization, because we really can't find so much equipment. So we have more infantry, all experienced warriors, and two of the three armies have guards. title."

Wang Zhong: "Okay, you will follow the First Guards Tank Army."

Kashuch: "Why not let us accompany you, but follow behind?"

"Because we are the ones accompanying the tank." Kirinenko patted Kashuch on the shoulder. "With the cavalry accompanying the charge, the enemy infantry is not afraid of the enemy on the grassland."

Pavlov immediately responded: "Judging from the intelligence obtained so far, the enemy has basically not eaten enough these days, and has lost a lot of non-combat troops. We expect it to be a very easy battle."

Kashuch shook his head: "I don't understand. The Prosen Air Force has flown over our heads many times for reconnaissance. They should have seen that a large number of troops were gathered on the other side, but they still did not retreat. Why?"

Wang Zhong: "Maybe it's because I gave them a fake tank array in Yeisk and fooled them into being stunned. So I vowed not to be fooled again this time."

Kirinenko: "I heard that you asked the tank troops not to hide the tanks and just put them on the ice sheet. So that's what happened."

Wang Zhong smiled: "A war is never tired of deceit. I learned this from Siris's ancient military book "The Art of War". You should all read this great work when you have time."

After he finished speaking, Pavlov came to the two of them with two envelopes: "This is the battle plan for you two. Compared with the plan I gave you before, it is a little different. This is to prevent leaks. Although I I think the judges will definitely not let that happen, but it’s right to be more careful.”

Wang Zhong: "Tear it down now. If you have any questions after reading it, just ask."

The two immediately opened the envelope, took out the battle plan inside and started reading.

After a few minutes, the two almost looked up together.

"No problem."

"The plan is clearly written and we are committed to completing the task."

Wang Zhong: "Okay, I wish you all the best."

The two saluted Wang Zhong and then did not turn around.

Wang Zhong asked in confusion: "Why don't you leave?"

Kashuch glanced at Kirinenko: "Didn't you say you can eat?"

Wang Zhong laughed loudly: "Correspondent, let the kitchen fire up and cook something delicious!"

————

Six hours before the attack began.

Nellie opened her eyes and found Tatiana sitting outside the shelter, hugging her legs and sobbing softly.

She lifted the quilt, picked up a piece of charcoal and threw it into the gasoline barrel, and then came to the girl's side with her coat.

"Keep it covered. It would be a pity if you caught a cold before the counterattack." Nellie said softly, "So why are you crying?"

"It's nothing... I can't help but cry when I think it's finally over... So many days, so many sacrifices, so much suffering... Finally, it's over..."

"Yeah, it's finally over."

Nellie leaned against the door frame of the shelter and looked up at the stars in the sky.

Tatyana: "I've been having nightmares lately, dreaming about him - I mean my neighbor's brother Alexey looking at me injured. I asked him what was wrong and what he was doing here, but he didn't say anything. Look at me and smile, it's so scary, like you're coming to say goodbye to me..."

Nellie gently stroked the hair of the girl sitting on the ground: "Maybe he really died and this is the last time he came to see you."

Tatyana finally couldn't control herself and burst into tears.

Nellie raised her head and suddenly noticed a shooting star streaking across the starry sky.

Then the meteors appeared one after another and disappeared in the sky.

She hurriedly called to Tatyana: "Look! Maybe this is a meteor shower that Alexei has summoned for you."

The girl raised her head, but her hazy tearful eyes couldn't see the stars clearly.

She quickly wiped her tears with her hands, but her dirty hands left black marks on her face.

"Really, meteor shower..." Suddenly, Tatyana was excited, "I want to make a wish! Saint Andrew, please bless Alyosha. If he has sacrificed, then please bless me to realize his wish and invade Prosenia.”

Nelly raised her head and murmured softly, but no one heard her wish.

At this time, there was an engine roar from the beach.

Nelly turned her head and saw a T34 loaded with heavily armed infantry driving over the ice.

Someone was holding a flashlight and checking the ice for cracks.

More people heard the roar of the tanks, emerged from the trenches, and looked toward the river.

"The counterattack is about to begin!"

"It's really about to start!"

People were whispering.

————

Four hours before the attack.

In the area occupied by Prosen's Sixth Army, Captain Ivan knocked on the door of the farmhouse with his hand and made a code of three long and one short.

After knocking the last note, the door opened.

"Come in quickly." The lady who opened the door stepped aside, and the captain entered. Then the aunt came out, looked around, and then went back inside and closed the door.

After the desperate assault of the 51st Tank Corps, Captain Ivan hid in his aunt's house, kept in contact with the employees at the nearby military station, and went out to cause sabotage whenever he had the opportunity.

Tank crews are all technical arms and can repair tanks and carry out explosions, which greatly strengthens the strength of the guerrillas.

Captain Ivan went down to the cellar, pushed away the jar of pickles, tapped the tiles below, and sent another set of codes.

The floor tiles were immediately removed, revealing the ladder underneath.

Captain Ivan slid down the ladder and saw that their guerrilla group was already here.

Everyone gathered around a radio.

"Any news?" he asked.

The driver operating the radio shook his head: "No, I'm not saying anything now, I'm just playing music. Have you eaten?"

"No."

"There's food over there."

The captain turned around and saw the basil and sour cream on the table.

He went over and broke off a piece of Leba, dipped it in sour cream and started eating it.

At this time, the music on the radio suddenly stopped, and the announcer said: "Now, a special program for the people in the occupied areas. Today is a special program on Ant literature. I hope you will not forget that you are Ant people.

"The first song, "I Meet You at Sunset," by Pollock. I meet you at sunset, and you use your paddle to swing away the silence of the river bend..."

Captain Ivan chewed Leba and asked: "Are there any pickles?"

"No, today the Prosen soldiers came and snatched them away. This Lieba was kept in a secret hiding place."

"Sukabule, you Proson bastards, I want them to look good when we counterattack!"

At this time, on the radio, the announcer said: "The second song, "If Life Deceived You", anonymous."

Captain Ivan stopped, chewing bread, and looked at the radio.

Everyone else in the room stopped and stared at the radio.

Announcer: "If life deceives you, don't be sad, don't be angry, but believe that happy days are coming. Winter has come, can spring be far behind?"

Captain Ivan threw the bread with a thud on the table.

"Quick! Attack today!"

The driver turned off the radio, opened the hidden compartment for weapons, took out the MP40s hidden inside one by one, and distributed them to everyone.

"Remember, any chaos we create will help the frontal attack! So, go all out and destroy everywhere!" After Ivan armed himself, he looked around the basement and looked at everyone's faces in turn, "Or, see you at the Martyrs Cemetery , or see you in Prosenia! Let’s go, Davarisi!”

————

Five minutes before the attack begins.

Wang Zhong paced back and forth in the headquarters.

"Why, it's already this time and you're getting nervous instead?" Popov joked.

Wang Zhong: "The most important thing I have learned over the past year is that in this world, no battle can be carried out exactly as planned. If something is likely to happen unexpectedly, then it will definitely happen."

As soon as he finished speaking, Pavlov put down the receiver: "All troops are ready and can start."

Wang Zhong looked at the time and said, "I want to speak to the entire army."

Pavlov picked up the receiver again: "The commander wants to speak to the entire army. Take the call to the entire army."

After a while, he handed the receiver to Wang Zhong: "Okay."

Wang Zhong picked up the receiver: "Davarich, this is Alexey Konstantinovich Rokosov. Last winter, I personally commanded the counterattack around Yebao and successfully surrounded 100,000 enemy troops.

"Today, our target is the enemy's Sixth Army. In addition to the original troops, they also have reinforcements from several armies that have arrived one after another. There may be 400,000 Proson people in our planned encirclement.

"In addition, there are about 200,000 Moravian troops, who are regarded as vassal troops by them. And our army has 1.2 million troops in the attack.

"At the beginning of this year, the Proson people proudly declared that it took five Ante fighters to eliminate one Proson soldier. According to this calculation, we are like an egg hitting a stone, and we will fail quickly.

"I have to admit that the Proson people are indeed excellent fighters, and we do lack war experience. We have fought very badly in the past year or so.

"Maybe we really can't eat these 600,000 Proson people.

"However, after such a long war of attrition, we have accumulated favorable conditions to annihilate the enemy, just like a concave convex mirror facing the scorching sun, a hundred times, a thousand times the light gathered to one point, white-hot, smoking, can not help but burn!

"The so-called strategic decisive battle is to bet on the fate of the country and the army. The word bet is not good, but there is no more accurate word to replace it!

"That's it, snap, bet on it!"

Wang Zhong stopped and glanced at everyone in the headquarters.

He continued: "It is precisely because of this that when things come to the front, I can't help but beat my heart. How can this be justified? What is the heart beating for?

"We are not afraid of burning, we are not afraid of white-hot! We are not afraid of burning here and there!

"Six hundred thousand Proson troops, this is a pot of half-cooked rice, half-cooked or half-cooked, we have to eat it!

"Fire!"