Arc of Gunfire

On November 26, Lyudmila climbed into the fighting position and started duty as usual.

The weather was sunny today and the sun was shining, but it was still so cold that even Lyudmila, an Ant native, couldn't stand it.

The cold wind from the Arctic Circle was like a knife, constantly blowing Lyudmila's cheeks.

In such bitter cold, she suddenly heard someone shouting her name.

She stood up, pressed her hands on the window sill, looked down, and saw a petite figure waving her hands on the ground.

"Neli?" Lyudmila whispered in a low voice, and then with a sudden inspiration, she opened the window, leaned out and shouted, "Neli! Is that you, Neli?"

The girl downstairs ran into the tower where Lyudmila was.

Lyudmila turned and rushed to the door. The moment she opened the door, convection formed between the open window and the door, and the strong wind howled in.

But Lyudmila rushed out anyway, lay on the railing of the corridor and looked down.

She couldn't leave the combat position, because as soon as the sound array master called, she would immediately enter combat status.

So she could only shout downstairs: "Nellie!"

The sound of climbing footsteps came from downstairs, quickly approaching the top of the building. Finally, Neli turned the corner and appeared in Lyudmila's field of vision.

A few seconds later, the maid rushed into Lyudmila's arms with such a movement that her boat hat flew up.

Lyudmila hugged Neli with both hands and rubbed her hair with her cheek: "Great! You're back alive, great!"

Nellie: "Well, I'm back."

The hug lasted for a full minute, and Lyudmila pulled away again, her eyes fell on Neli's eye patch, and her expression became serious.

She gently opened Nelly's blindfold and stared at the horrific wound.

Nellie was a little shy: "Don't do this, it's ugly."

"It's not ugly, go for debridement immediately. When the injury is healed, I will find the best glass eyeball craftsman and make you the most beautiful glass eyeball!" Lyudmila forced a smile, "It will be more attractive this way. Yes! Scars can also be healed gradually..."

"I don't want the scars to get rid of."

Nelly said calmly.

"Why?" Lyudmila looked confused.

Neli lowered her gaze and stared at the gold star on Lyudmila's chest: "Because this is proof that I fought hard on the beach and that I fought side by side with so many good people. This is my medal."

Lyudmila looked slightly surprised, and then whispered: "Only men regard scars as medals."

"Don't secularists advocate equality between men and women? The future will be secular, and women can wear their scars as medals."

Lyudmila was even more surprised. Suddenly she smiled and said, "Neli, you should tell the church's publicity officer what you said. I think they will write it on the front page."

Nellie: "If Madam says so, I will say it."

Lyudmila hugged Neli tightly again: "Oh, Neli, you are even more lovable than before you went to the battlefield! When Alyosha sees you, he might not be able to help hugging you and spinning around in circles."

"That's too bad." Nellie said with a puffed face. "It's better not to see him for the time being. Anyway, he has an adjutant to take care of him."

Lyudmila was stunned for a moment and said: "His adjutant... died."

Nellie's remaining eyes widened: "When did it happen?"

"It's been two weeks. I heard that the Signal Corps is taking care of him now."

"Then I have to go there quickly." Neli turned to leave, but was grabbed by Lyudmila.

Lyudmila: "He is already an adult and can take care of himself. You'd better heal his injuries first, make prosthetic eyes, and then go see him beautifully."

As she spoke, Lyudmila picked up the boat-shaped hat on the ground and gently put it on Neli's head.

Nelly thought for a while and nodded: "Okay."

Lyudmila hugged Neli again: "It's great. Even though she has experienced the baptism of war, she is still the Neli I know well."

————

On the same day, the position of the 11th Guards Infantry Division.

Division Commander Lyokolov put down his telescope and looked at the commander of the 2nd Guards Tank Destroyer Brigade: "It seems that the enemy will not attack today."

"Yesterday, their attack was obviously on the decline." The fighter brigade commander replied, "Their new tank variant can penetrate the weakness of the vortex. Our safe enemy-killing distance has been compressed to the range of 1800 to 1000, but Our position neutralized the superiority of the enemy's weapons."

The vortices on the position are all well camouflaged. Even the elite Prossen armored soldiers can hardly see the vortices clearly at a distance of 1,000 meters, let alone target the weak points.

Lyokolov nodded: "The Vortex has too great an advantage in armored confrontations. Why don't we have all the army's equipment?"

"Because the production of gun barrels is not enough." The fighter brigade commander looked helpless. "There is only one factory that can produce vortex gun barrels, and it cannot be used to make new vortexes. Some of the gun barrels must be used as spare parts. Like the vortex of our brigade. On average, each vehicle has fired several hundred shots in the past few days, and the barrel will be replaced soon. Some crews have reported an increase in incomplete combustion during shelling, and the muzzle flash seriously affects observation and shooting. "

Lyokolov: "Really, why is the production capacity of such good things so small? What are the people in the equipment department doing?"

At this time, the people outside suddenly started cheering.

Lyokolov was very surprised: "What's going on?"

"Plane!" the adjutant reported.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lyokolov himself heard the sound of the aircraft engine, coming from the direction of Abavahan. He strode out of the bunker and looked towards the city, and sure enough he saw a red Pe-3 reconnaissance plane passing through the sky.

Everyone on the battlefield was cheering for the red reconnaissance plane.

"I heard that Rokossov will personally take a red reconnaissance plane to conduct reconnaissance." The adjutant said.

Lyokolov: "How is that possible? But every time a red reconnaissance plane flies over, the artillery regiment will receive the bombardment coordinates directly issued by the front army headquarters. It really makes people doubt that there is any special person on the red reconnaissance plane."

As he spoke, the plane had already passed over the position and flew towards the enemy-controlled area.

Lyokolov and his men watched the red shadow disappear from the horizon.

————

At the Abawahan Air Force Base, after landing on the ground, the Pei-3 in ordinary paint continued to slide towards the commander of the aviation force.

Before the plane stopped, Wang Zhong pushed open the canopy and stood up, pointing at the camera gun: "I took a lot of good things. Take them to be developed quickly and identify them carefully."

The commander of the aviation force personally grabbed the boarding ladder from the ground crew and pushed it to the side of the cockpit: "Commander Davarisi, I protest that you continue to take off for reconnaissance. The most difficult time is over. There is no need for you to take risks."

Wang Zhong: "What are you talking about? The enemies of the Sixth Army have not surrendered yet, and the battle is not over yet. This is the first, and the second is, after annihilating the Sixth Army, we will turn to attack other enemies. In the encirclement, pursuit and annihilation mode, how can I determine where the enemy's key parts are without conducting personal reconnaissance? "

Commander of the Air Force: "This means that even if the enemy is annihilated, the battle will not be over yet?"

"Of course. The enemy is now very close to the oil fields in Kuba. I plan to drive the enemy back to their starting point in June last year throughout the winter campaign." Wang Zhong said confidently, "Until the mud comes again next spring, The battle will not end until now, Davarisi!"

The air force commander had a complicated expression, but the pilots and ground crew around him were extremely excited:

"Did you hear that? The attack will last until March next year!"

"Rush back to the starting point in June! Doesn't this mean...to drive the enemy away from the entire South Ant?"

Wang Zhong: "Why are you so surprised? If you don't counterattack, how will Prosonia see you?"

The pilots and ground crew looked at each other excitedly.

Wang Zhong's few words ignited their desire for victory.

Not the victory of one battle, but the victory of the entire war.

Wang Zhong patted the commander of the aviation force on the shoulder: "Hurry up and develop the photos. The chief of staff of the front army needs to formulate the next phase of the battle plan based on these photos."

"Yes." The commander saluted Wang Zhong, "I will personally supervise the process. The photos will be developed and sent to the headquarters before midnight."

————

Pavlov: "Judging from your reconnaissance today, the enemy's deployment has undergone some changes. Look at this photo."

He picked out a photo and placed it on the table.

Wang Zhong and Popov came forward together and looked at the photo.

The photographer Wang Zhong slapped his head: "I remember this is an infantry division, in..."

"Trenches are being dug," Pavlov said. "The enemy responsible for relieving the siege has asked the infantry division to dig trenches. This is obviously to block our attack. The enemy commander, General Shipling, has already begun to prepare for the retreat. Be prepared. But the Sixth Army has not been destroyed by us yet, so he cannot withdraw. "

Wang Zhong: "How about we launch another siege and eat the enemies who come to relieve the siege?"

"The enemy's supply lines have been shortened now, and the supply situation has improved a lot. It is estimated that they will not be surrounded as easily as the Sixth Army. Even if we can mobilize 50% of the troops that surrounded the Sixth Group, our troop strength It’s not enough to surround another heavily-armed Prossen group.”

After Pavlov finished speaking, he added after a brief pause: "Of course, this is just my personal opinion as the chief of staff. You may have different opinions. If you want to try to eat another group of enemies, I will go all out. Help you implement your strategic ideas.”

Wang Zhong thought for a while and said: "Let's try this and let the cavalry troops cross the river at... this position to create the illusion of continued encirclement."

As he spoke, he drew an arrow in the middle reaches of the Valdaichu River.

Pavlov: "How many troops do you plan to commit?"

Wang Zhong: "In order to make the momentum look big enough, 100,000 to 200,000?"

Pavlov calculated in his mind for a few seconds and replied: "Two hundred thousand is not enough. This requires all our reserves to be put into this feint attack. It is not appropriate. What if the enemy really makes a breakthrough? If it is one hundred thousand, It should be able to be extracted.”

Wang Zhong: "Very good. But have you left so many preparations?"

"Of course. Also, why do I keep so many reserves? The reserve is the reserve of the front army under your command."

Wang Zhong said "Oh" and said with a smile: "I finally understand why the conqueror can no longer win a battle without his chief of staff. So let's see if Admiral Shipling dares to After we assume a flanking posture, we continue to defend the Sixth Army.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the communications staff officer ran into the headquarters: "The enemy is airdropping again!"

Wang Zhong: "Let's go and take a look."