Arc of Gunfire

At 0100 hours on November 22, Lower Perka, a village southwest of Abawahan.

The roar of the engine caused residents to open their windows and look at the snow-filled village roads.

A T34 drove from the northwest of the village road, and the snow kicked up by its tracks directly stuck on the faces of the infantrymen who were following the tank.

The infantrymen on the back cover of the tank almost occupied the radiator grille. It should be because the grille can be a little warmer. Anyway, it is now minus 40 degrees, so there is no need to worry about covering the grille completely and causing the engine to overheat.

The tanks roared towards the central square of the village - actually the square in front of the church. Every year, a village gathering was held here for some event. Over time, it was called this.

When the tank drove into the central square, a navy infantry jeep drove into the square from the village road on the other side. There were six huge naval infantrymen crammed into the jeep. When they saw the tank infantry, they jumped out of the car and ran towards the tank through the snow. Come.

"Hey!" The leading infantryman raised his hands, "Are you the vanguard of the 1st Guards Tank Army?"

"Yes! Are you the 300th Marine Infantry Brigade?"

"Yes! We knew it was you when we heard the engine! The Plosans don't have any moving tanks at all!"

The tank turned on its headlights, illuminating a large area of ​​snow in front of it. Not to be outdone, the Willis Jeep also turned on its lights. Two sets of headlights illuminated the central square as if it were daytime.

More naval infantry poured into the square, and a second tank on the other side also entered the square through the rut left by the first one.

The two groups hugged each other, and some took out vodka secretly put in a flask and shared it with their comrades.

Everyone is celebrating this unprecedented siege since its inception.

————

Abavahan Front Army Headquarters.

When the staff officer came in with the report, he was all smiles.

Pavlov took the report and did not rush to read it. Instead, he asked the staff officer: "What are you laughing at?"

The staff officer beamed with joy: "The pincer offensive has been closed, Staff Officer Davarich. We have surrounded hundreds of thousands of enemy troops!"

Wang Zhong: "We haven't won yet. The enemy's armored force has already arrived in front of us. Yesterday, the blocking force reported that it had discovered the enemy's armored reconnaissance team. It's too early to be happy now."

The staff officer immediately made a serious face: "I'm sorry, General. I just... I just thought of my fallen comrades, and I couldn't help but..."

Wang Zhong: "I know, who is not like this? Do your job well, and don't make mistakes in your work because of joy."

Popov: "It should be my job to warn them about this, right? It's really not polite for you to take my job."

Wang Zhong did not answer, but looked worriedly at the mass outside the encirclement representing the 15th Armored Corps.

He said: "I will take Pei-3 to conduct reconnaissance, find the enemy's ammunition depot or oil depot, and dispatch the air force-or Komandar to blow them up."

"Okay." Pavlov replied, "This is an extra layer of insurance, so you can't put all your treasure on the vortex."

Wang Zhong nodded, turned around and walked outside, calling to Gregory as he walked: "Gregory, come with me to the airport."

"Okay."

————

Prosen Sixth Army Headquarters.

Wilhelm von Frederick picked up the can on the table, looked at the contents, and snorted: "Soybeans, I actually want to eat canned soybeans."

Orderly: "The logistics department said that the guard regiment will start killing horses tomorrow, and some troops will even start catching mice or voles to eat."

After he finished speaking, the chief of staff interjected: "We are running out of supplies for more than a day or two. If the 15th Armored Corps cannot break through the encirclement within a few days, we will..."

The communications staff officer ran in: "Telegram from the Fifteenth Armored Corps."

"Read!" General Frederick said loudly.

"To General Friedrich, our department is waiting for the arrival of the new commander, General Eric von Shipling, who will coordinate the offensive of the various departments. He is the organizer of the annihilation of the Littoral in June and the annihilation of Army Group North in October. I believe that I will be able to lead our troops to penetrate Ant's defense and rescue your troops from danger."

General Frederick sneered: "Rescuing us from fire and water? Commander Steiner may be glad now that he has been working hard before, so he didn't fall into Rokosov's trap!

"Why didn't he think about it? If we had an armored force like him, we might have really penetrated the last 500 meters and reached Rokosov's real Achilles' heel? 500 meters! It's because guys like him are dawdling , we didn’t go beyond these five hundred meters!”

Chief of Staff: "You were promoted because you captured a red flag. It is inevitable that others will have some opinions."

General Frederick: "This is a sweetener given by Rokossov to stabilize us and prevent us from retreating. Can't they see it?"

No one answered.

————

Admiral Eric von Shipling walked into the newly established headquarters of the Eric von Shipling Group and looked at a large group of officers already waiting there.

These include Lieutenant General Steiner, commander of the 15th Armored Corps, Lieutenant General Schmidt, commander of the 25th Infantry Corps, and so on.

The chief of staff assigned to him saluted him on behalf of everyone: "Your Excellency! We originally wanted to go to the airport to greet you, but the airport reported that it was strafed by Ant Air Force. For safety..."

"You're right not to go. You won't be able to play any role at the airport." Eric von Shipling came behind the desk, took off his gloves, folded them, put them on the table, and then opened the buckle with his hands.

"Air force?" he asked.

"I received great help."

"Panzer?"

"The Fifteenth Armored Corps currently has half of its tanks on combat readiness, including the latest Long-barrel No. 4."

"infantry?"

"There are 100,000 people, all veterans."

"supply?"

"It's quite sufficient."

"Morale?"

The chief of staff, who had been answering questions fluently just now, fell silent.

Eric von Shipling sighed: "There is no morale, yes, after all, the troops have been frozen in the ice and snow for so long, the supplies are not good, and the enemy has just launched a massive attack, I can understand it."

"The morale of one unit is pretty good," the chief of staff said. "The 16th Panzergrenadier Division, which is responsible for guarding the vast grasslands between Army Groups A and B, has high morale. We can let them serve as the spearhead of the counterattack. ”

Shipling frowned: "The 16th Panzergrenadier Division? I seem to have the impression that it is the division whose mark is a hound?"

"Yes, their division's nickname is Greyhound." the chief of staff replied.

Shipling thought for a while and said: "Send a report to the headquarters and ask for the Greyhound Division to be transferred to us. But whether we can get it is another matter. Now let's solve the supply problem first. The reason for the poor supply What is it?”

"Precision bombing by the enemy's air force, sneak attacks by cavalry troops from the frozen Valdaichu River, and continuous destruction by the guerrillas." The chief of staff replied, obviously having done his homework.

Admiral Shipling: "Destroy them one by one. Didn't it mean that we have the full support of the Air Force? Let the Air Force cover our supply lines, dispatch military police units, and completely wipe out the guerrillas. As for the cavalry units coming across the ice..."

The general was silent for a while and shook his head: "We can only send more escort troops. I can't believe that at this time, I still have a headache for the cavalry troops. If the people in the country know about this, they will definitely be inexplicably surprised. Because of the attack When Melania was there, our propaganda department even laughed at Melania’s cavalry for using sabers to chop tanks!”

Everyone kept a straight face.

In fact, the Ants used a large number of cavalry units during their counterattack in Yebao last year, making full use of their characteristics and causing a lot of trouble for the Proson troops.

But now, the damn situation in the South Ant Grassland gives the cavalry more room to play.

General Shipling: "In short, take action and solve the problems one by one. General Steiner, when can your troops attack?"

"It will be possible tomorrow, but our reconnaissance force discovered that the enemy has set up a blocking line, including that troublesome new assault gun, and more well-hidden anti-tank guns.

"To break through this line of defense, we need the support of heavy artillery!"

At this time, the phone on the table rang, and Admiral Shipling answered the phone: "I'm Shipling, what's going on?"

"The air defense observation post saw a red P-2 bomber (enemy recognition error) flying towards the headquarters, pay attention to air defense!"

Shipling: "The red Pendant 2? Is it the Pendant 3 reconnaissance type? It is said that Rokossov will personally fly on this plane for reconnaissance."

As he spoke, he left his desk, strode to the window, and opened it directly, so that the cold wind rushed in.

At this moment, a red twin-engine "bomber" came into his sight.

This plane was as fast as lightning, as if it was three times as fast as an ordinary P-2 bomber.

It flashed across Shipling's field of vision.

But Shipling always felt that he was eye-catching with the person in the back seat of the plane.

Shipling: "The headquarters will be moved immediately."

"Now?" the chief of staff was shocked, "This will seriously affect all preparations! Just because an enemy reconnaissance plane flies over the sky?"

Shipling: "Execute the order. If Rokossov was conducting the investigation himself, this place would have probably been discovered. Next, he would send bombers to focus on taking care of this place. By then, the work delay would be even more serious."

With that he turned to Steiner: "You will have artillery support and you will have to launch a probing attack tomorrow."

Steiner looked troubled: "As long as you give me one more day, I can repair dozens more tanks and attack with more troops."

"Execute the order and attack tomorrow." Shipling said in an unquestionable tone.