Arc of Gunfire

In the village of Badayev, the 151st Infantry Division of the 8th Infantry Army of Plossen is holding on in the village.

If you ask why a division is now guarding a village, it is mainly because their division has suffered too much casualties, and now it is only a regiment of troops.

However, those who can survive to this day are basically veterans, so although they are now guarding a village, they are fighting well.

However, after the Ants determined that they would encounter firm resistance here, they only left a small number of guard troops and bypassed the village and continued to move forward.

Brigadier General Hausen, the acting commander of the 151st Infantry Division, looked at the former commander who was killed in the explosion and decided not to go out to the snowfield to provoke Ant's armored forces for the time being.

So for the rest of the morning on the 20th, Badayev Village became as calm as the eye of a typhoon, with artillery sounds all around, and only here it was so quiet that it was scary.

By the way, the telephone contact between the 151st Division and the military headquarters has not been restored since the attack began. At the beginning, the division communication company sent people to check the telephone lines, but the people who went there also lost contact.

As for now, it is not difficult to imagine what the people who checked the lines would encounter if they left the village, so the communication company directly gave up repairing the telephone lines and turned to ensuring the radio and radio stations.

By noon, the fuel of the generator was running low, and even the radio and radio stations had to stop.

The 151st Division became a real isolated island. The Ante armored forces surrounding them did not attack, and they did not dare to go out, nor did they know the situation of the friendly forces around them.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the observation post on the commanding heights of the village reported to the division headquarters that a large number of infantry troops appeared around the village and surrounded the entire village.

The Ante armored forces that were originally responsible for monitoring the village seemed to stay to support the infantry.

Hausen, acting division commander, ordered his subordinates to be prepared to resist the enemy's attack at any time.

However, until the end of the day, the Ante people did not attack the village of Badayev.

————

At 2200 on the 20th, Abavakhan Front Command

Pavlov summarized the situation: "At present, the enemy's will to resist at several support points is very strong, but due to the terrain, these support points have been bypassed by us."

Popov: "This is not a good thing. We can bypass the support points because the entire terrain is flat, the grass is crushed by the heavy snow, and the floor is frozen, so tanks and transport vehicles can move freely.

"When the enemy wants to rescue, our defense pressure will be very high."

Wang Zhong: "Indeed. The only flaw in our entire plan is that the 15th Armored Corps that the enemy may use to rescue did not enter the encirclement. A fully equipped armored corps came to rescue, and the blocking troops were under great pressure. ”

In fact, when Wang Zhong received the news that the 15th Armored Corps was coming, he was looking forward to encircling it together, so as to eat up three enemy armored corps at once and destroy a quarter of the enemy's armored forces on the eastern front. Then the enemy would be passive on the entire southern front.

However, even if Wang Zhong issued an order to let the Air Force deliberately let the 15th Armored Corps go and not hinder their advance, this army was still slow, just like it saw through that the Sixth Army would be surrounded.

If this army suddenly speeds up now and rushes over to insert itself in the back of the encirclement force, it will be bad.

Pavlov: "We have drawn a large number of anti-tank troops, including two vortex battalions, and deployed them on the blocking line. Our cavalry also went deep into the grassland and attacked the enemy's transportation lines with their low dependence on supplies.

"This army should not be able to break our defense."

Wang Zhong: "The blocking troops should speed up the repair of fortifications to ensure the smooth annihilation of the Sixth Army. When the encirclement is completed, the tank troops can be transferred to the blocking line and act accordingly."

Popov: "Will the combat operation of encircling and annihilating the enemy not deploy tank troops?"

"Of course we should deploy, but not so many. It is better to leave the tanks in the wilderness." Wang Zhong walked to the map and looked at the group of troops with the Sixth Army written on them. "In addition, time is on our side. Maybe we can consider encircling the Sixth Army instead of attacking it, and instead eat up the enemy's reinforcements."

Pavlov: "Indeed, the Sixth Army's supplies should be almost exhausted. Maybe we can make them surrender through siege and psychological offensive. But is it too greedy to want to encircle the enemy's relief troops? Our current exchange ratio with the enemy is still at a disadvantage. Think about the Proson tank platoon that destroyed our 22 tanks."

It is actually a tank division, but there are only five tanks (one platoon) left in the entire division.

Wang Zhong: "Let's besiege them for a few days. Anyway, we have too many shells to use up. We can bombard them every day and blow them up. Then combine it with psychological warfare. In addition, all units should be prepared for a strong attack. Once the situation is not good, we can launch an encirclement and annihilation operation."

"Okay." Pavlov nodded, "There is another question. Will we not attack those support points?"

Wang Zhong: "They don't even have many assault guns. Can they break through? Just surround them like this and feed them thousands of shells every day."

————

St. Catherine Castle, Summer Palace.

"Why haven't I heard the news of victory today?" Olga asked General Turgenev, "When can I give my brother the rank of general?"

Turgenev smiled bitterly: "The battle must be carried out step by step. The encirclement has not been completed yet. According to the combat plan submitted by the front, it takes 72 hours to complete the encirclement. The first 24 hours have not yet passed, my dear majesty."

Olga: "Then what does tomorrow's newspaper say? It says it will take 48 hours for the encirclement to be completed?"

"It was said that Operation Kutuzov had started and was progressing smoothly, and Rokosov sounded the clarion call for counterattack."

Olga: "Last time his operation code name was Suvorov, this time it's Kutuzov, next time will it be called Bagration?"

Turgenev: "I don't know, you should know better than me."

Olga frowned: "Don't make it sound like I had a lot of interactions with him in private. I wanted to interact, but he ignored me."

Turgenev looked at Olga, blinking and hesitated to speak.

————

Heart of Prosin, Eagle's Nest.

Emperor Prossen pounded the table and asked: "So when will Steiner's Fifteenth Panzer Corps launch an attack?"

Marshal Celtic: "Half of their tanks are currently in a state of repair. The guerrillas destroyed the repair shops on the road and killed a large number of maintenance personnel. The 15th Armored Corps alone cannot cope with the 500-kilometer wilderness with its own support. Maneuver.”

"Where is the highway?" the emperor asked.

“Since the snow started falling, there’s not much difference between road maneuvers and backcountry maneuvers because the roads in Unter are so bad.”

Emperor: "I had no idea our tanks were such fragile things!"

"Your Majesty," Marshal Brian said, "within a maneuvering distance of 500 kilometers, half of the tanks from any country will break down when they arrive. This distance should have been towed by tank trailers, or a complete battlefield emergency repair system should be established to deal with emergency repairs. But we have neither.”

Emperor: "Then use the remaining half of the tanks to attack. The enemy can only block the 15th Army in the wilderness. We have the advantage in the wilderness, and it has always been like this!"

Marshal Brian: "But the enemy has new assault guns, and we no longer have the advantage in shooting in the wilderness. Many reports indicate that there are more and more new assault guns in the enemy's troops."

Emperor: "Then we will do nothing? Wait until the Imperial Academy of Sciences comes up with a tank that can shoot at the enemy's assault gun before we take the next step? Are you still an honorable Plossian soldier like this?"

At this time, General Mao Qi, Director of the Armored Forces, said: "The Panzer IV tanks equipped by the Fifteenth Armored Corps are equipped with a new 48-caliber gun, not the previous 43-caliber 75 mm gun. They should be able to penetrate the enemy's new assault The frontal armor of the gun.”

How many times the caliber refers to the length of the barrel of the gun, which is how many times the caliber.

Generally, the longer the gun with the larger diameter, the better the armor-piercing capability.

"Look! The Director of Armored Forces said so, let Steiner attack! As long as Steiner attacks, everything will be fine! We can rescue the Sixth Army and let them escape unscathed!"

Marshal Celtic looked helpless: "I will draft a telegram right away and ask the 15th Armored Corps to launch an attack tomorrow."

"Very good!" The emperor sighed, "The Krat Agency gave us two different pieces of information. We finally accepted Rokosov's bluffing information. This was a mistake in our interpretation of the information."

At this time Giles shook his head and said: "No, we were deceived by Rokossov's deception. He obviously deliberately exposed the tank on the snowfield, causing us to misjudge after being deceived once. We were deceived. He did it."

The emperor was silent for a while, as if unwilling to admit that he had been tricked.

Finally, he spoke: "Yes, we were fooled by him, like fools."

Marshal Brian: "Actually, if we hadn't captured his military flag, we wouldn't have been so naive to believe that he had reached the end of his strength."

No one spoke.

Finally, the emperor said: "Anyway, let's rescue the Sixth Army first. It's not time to despair yet! I need to send an outstanding general to the front line to direct the breakout. Do you have any recommendations?"

Field Marshal Celt: "General Eric von Hippring can take on this task. After he commanded the Eleventh Army in the coastal area in June to complete the encirclement of the enemy's heavily armed coastal group, he also performed very well in the Northern Army Group. Yes, two enemy armies were surrounded and annihilated at Bankala Lake."

"Then let him go. And what is the Eleventh Army doing now?"

Marshal Bryan: "The formation of Army Group A was preparing to attack the Raoul Pass, but heavy snow prevented their attack. Now it is too late to draw out the Eleventh Army."

"Okay, then give him a new group army organization, incorporate all the troops that can participate in the rescue, and tell him that we must rescue the Sixth Army before Christmas at all costs!"

Although the Ant people's encirclement has not yet been completed, the emperor's tone has already acquiesced that the Sixth Army was surrounded.

The generals present looked at each other and said nothing.