Arc of Fire

North Africa, within the Mamluk region.

Admiral Erwin Jonas Eugen Rommel crouched by the Nile River, raised his camera, and aimed the lens specially customized by Zeiss Company at a small boat on the river.

There was no one on the boat, presumably because they had jumped and run seeing the Prosen Army tanks, as the boat slowly drifted downstream under a half-full sail.

Erwin continuously maneuvered the film advance lever with his thumb, like a skilled marksman working a rifle bolt, capturing the scenery of the Nile River entirely on film.

Behind him, a signalman ran over with a telegram but was stopped by the Deputy Officer.

The Deputy Officer whispered, "Unless it’s extremely important, do not disturb the General’s photography."

"Let him come over," Admiral Erwin said. "Reading a telegram won’t interrupt my photography."

The signalman immediately rushed to report loudly to Erwin: "An urgent telegram from the downstream reconnaissance troops, reporting that the United Kingdom’s Shallow Draft Gunboat and seven river defense ships are coordinating with the Armored Troops moving south."

While searching for traces of waterbirds through his camera lens, Erwin said, "That’s faster than expected. Have our mines arrived yet?"

Deputy Officer: "Not yet, currently we lack the resources to blockade the river. General, advancing too quickly has drained all our troops; we can’t defeat the Royal Navy’s fleet."

"Everyone knows we can’t beat them. The enemy knows it too, so we can take a gamble," Erwin continued to record the scenery, "By exploiting the enemy’s complacency, we can achieve a surprise victory. So where exactly are the mines? Hmm? What does the Navy say?"

The Deputy Officer shrugged. "The Navy just lost their latest battleship."

Erwin, shocked, exclaimed, "What? Isn’t the flagship of the United Kingdom stationed at Alexandria an old, decrepit ship? Wasn’t it said that the ship couldn’t even reach a speed of 27 knots? How could it defeat our newest high-speed battleship?"

Deputy Officer: "It’s not in the Mediterranean… Anyway, currently we don’t have the mines to block the river. Also, our supplies are almost depleted."

Erwin, cursing under his breath, looked helplessly at everything before him and carefully covered the camera lens and meticulously put the device into its protective case.

Erwin: "Without mines to blockade the riverway, and with our ammunition insufficient, exchanging fire with the enemy’s ship and artillery is not wise."

He pondered for a few seconds, then sighed, "Retreating is too much of a pity, we can only manipulate when the enemy’s tactics are rigid and uninspired."

The Deputy Officer asked, puzzled, "What should we do?"

"Camouflage. Both banks of the Nile are floodplains, look at all these trees and aquatic plants," Erwin stomped on the ground, "and this ground, so suitable for digging that it would be a waste not to utilize it."

Deputy Officer: "You intend to…"

Erwin turned his head towards the north, as if his gaze reached the northernmost tip of the entire battlefield.

"I’ve always studied Rocossov’s tactics from Ante, which most of our generals scoff at as child’s play. But I think differently."

Erwin paused, then continued: "What’s wrong with child’s play if it wins wars? It’s the art of war. So, we’ll imitate Rocossov, using motorcycles dragging these branches running across the desert, creating the illusion of a massive tank army withdrawing.

"And our main forces, they will be ambushed on the Nile floodplain."

Just then, the Chief of Staff of the African military urgently arrived, catching the last phrase, and exclaimed, "Then how will we face the enemy’s Shallow Draft Gunboat? That ship has poor defensive capabilities by naval standards but can resist our 88mm cannon well enough, and our 150 cannons might not even harm it!"

Erwin tapped his temple with a finger: "Think, think. We can use the 88 and 150 cannons to take out the escorting inland gunboats, then board the Shallow Draft Gunboat by boat."

Chief of Staff and Deputy Officer: "Eh?"

Erwin continued, "I’ve studied the plans of the enemy’s Shallow Draft Gunboat stolen by our intelligence department. Most of their secondary cannons are unarmored, and sweeping them with heavy machine guns and autocannons could inflict heavy casualties on their personnel, not to mention tank guns and 150 howitzers.

"And the main guns of the Shallow Draft Gunboat, they fire just one salvo every 30 seconds, as long as we are cautious with our formation, they are not to be feared. After capturing the warship, we can turn around at Lake Libor upstream, head back, strike at Alexandria. Once we’ve taken Alexandria, we’ll have supplies!"

The Deputy Officer and Chief of Staff exchanged a look.

Chief of Staff: "That’s too fanciful, General, too risky!"

Erwin looked at the Chief of Staff, "Do you think up to now, any of our combat actions weren’t risky?"

After thinking, the Chief of Staff answered, "When we first left Libya—"

Erwin waved his hands, "No, no, no, I’m talking about since Emperor started his conquest. During the Melania campaign, we only had a few Three and Four tanks, and for a smooth advance, we activated the Brandenburg troops.

"The northern campaign was the same, massively using paratroopers to raid the enemy’s coastal fortress clusters, including risky amphibious operations. Isn’t that plan wild too?

"During the Carolingian campaign, sending tank troops through the forest, wasn’t that risky? And the Low Country campaign, capturing Antwerp in advance with paratroopers, those were unprecedented, wild ideas!

"This is the glory of Prosen, and now we will continue this glory here. When we incorporate Mamluk into the empire’s territory, no one will remember Rocossov anymore, everyone will praise us, praising me."

The Chief of Staff still looked distressed, but he did not rebut further.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Officer had gotten excited: "Indeed. In this situation, the enemy will also think we can only run, we’ll definitely catch the enemy by surprise! Fantastic, General, you truly are our empire’s foremost commander!"

Erwin grimaced, "No, if I had mines, to use them to blockade the river, I wouldn’t have resorted to this. But we don’t have mines, no! Damn, I told the Navy I needed mines long ago, why haven’t they delivered?

"I even told the Air Force I needed mines, they vowed to deliver them using large seaplanes, but they never came!"

At that time, even the Chief of Staff showed a sympathetic expression, "If it weren’t for the incompetence of the Navy and Air Force, our logistics wouldn’t be so strained."

Erwin said, "No worries, once we take Alexandria, we’ll have supplies, and we can even launch a new offensive to completely block that canal and choke the United Kingdom!"

August 4th, in the capital of Ante, St. Ye Katerina Fortress. Find adventures at empire

Wang Zhong stretched and approached the dining table, picking up the newspaper that was already laid out.

The moment he saw the front-page headline, all his tiredness vanished.

The Empire of Prosen defeated the United Kingdom’s river defense fleet and is approaching Alexandria?

What the hell?

Did the world change while I was asleep?

Is this still Ante?

Wang Zhong quickly checked the name of the newspaper. It was indeed still an Ante newspaper.

Then he took the newspaper back to the room, rubbed the frontal armor of Ludmila, who was combing her hair, to make sure she was still his wife.

Ludmila looked puzzled, "What’s wrong? Is there news in the paper?"

Wang Zhong looked again at the front-page headline, "I don’t know. There’s a very sci-fi story here. How did he (referring to Desert Fox) manage to do this?"

The African Army with that dire supply situation can still approach Alexandria along the Nile River?

Wang Zhong said, "I need to make a phone call, several calls!"

After saying that, he ran off in a hurry.

Ludmila and Nelly exchanged glances and then shrugged simultaneously.

While Wang Zhong was busy confirming the situation, on the banks of the Nile River, Erwin handed his beloved camera to his Deputy Officer, then stood by the riverbank, posing as if he were gazing at the Shallow Draft Gunboat flying the Prosen flag.

The Deputy Officer found the right angle and pressed the shutter.

Erwin said, "No, I shouldn’t be standing like this for the shot. Bring over a Long-barreled Four!"

"Yes!"

The radio operator immediately began calling, and soon a Long-barreled Four arrived by the riverbank. The vehicle commander jumped down, saluted the General, "General! Salute to you!"

Erwin nodded, casually waved his hand, and began climbing the tank. The vehicle commander hurriedly offered a hand and the driver also leaned out to help pull Erwin up onto the vehicle.

The Admiral, with his left hand on the turret and right hand holding a telescope, posed as if gazing at the Shallow Draft Gunboat.

Without needing his command, the Deputy Officer started finding angles and snapped away.

Erwin said, "Hold on, there should be some more film. Let me get inside the tank and take another picture."

Thus, Erwin climbed into the tank, expertly put on the headphones, allowing the headband to press down on his large cap—an iconic look of a Prosen tank commander.

After "arming" himself, Erwin struck a pose, and the Deputy Officer took more photos.

Erwin said, "Make sure both the tank and the Shallow Draft Gunboat are in the shot!"

"Rest assured, General."

While Erwin was busy, two guards nearby were chatting:

"Why does the General keep taking photos?"

"I’ve heard the General actually wanted to be a photographer. He even won a photography prize when he was a battalion commander—apparently, it was the big prize across all of Prosen."

"Really?"

At that moment, a communication soldier came running, saluting, "Report, the Air Force has contacted, the seaplane carrying sea mines will be able to land on the river today!"

The photographing Erwin stopped and frowned as he looked at the communications soldier, "They should have been here two days ago! Then I wouldn’t have had to take this risk!"

The communication soldier awkwardly said, "It’s not like I told the Air Force not to deliver, General."

Erwin shook his head, "What else?"

"There’s also that, the Air Force group carrying secret weapons completed its repositioning today, and they can join the fight tomorrow. Their secret weapons are highly effective against the aged battleships of the United Kingdom’s Aegean Fleet."

Erwin replied in an uninterested tone, "Hmm, noted. We would take Alexandria without them anyway."

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