Arc of Fire

Chapter 705: Chapter 43 The Task of the New Tank

Wang Zhong: “Your Majesty, please wait a moment.”

Then he clamped the receiver between his shoulder and ear and turned to Pavlov: “What did you just say?”

"Yesterday night, a regiment of new medium tanks was delivered, a total of 42. The tank operators came as well, but there are no supply troops, not a single tank trailer or repair vehicle,” Pavlov replied.

Wang Zhong: “Can we equip them?”

Pavlov shrugged: “Of course, we can. Many tank regiments have been wiped out, but the repair camps are still operational. They’re in areas we’ve captured behind enemy lines. A brigade equipped with new tanks can encounter repair units all along their advance through the breakthrough.”

Wang Zhong internally complained, Pavlov, you bushy-browed fellow, are now cracking jokes about Hell, as if having Vasily around wasn’t enough for the headquarters.

Pavlov stared at Wang Zhong for a few seconds and asked: “Do I need to dig latrines?”

Damn, are you a superhuman too? So your superpower is reading the mind of your commander, right?

When an Antean pronounces the full name along with the father’s name, it’s a sign of respect and seriousness.

Wang Zhong: “I know.”

Olga: “What do you know? Do you like the reinforcements I’ve sent you?”

Although Wang Zhong had the receiver between his shoulder and neck, it was clear Olga had overheard some of the conversation.

Wang Zhong brought the receiver back to his ear: “Of course, I am extremely pleased, Your Majesty. These forces could very well be the last straw that breaks the enemy’s back. Of course, it’s also possible that the new tanks are too unreliable to make it to the front line.”

"Our encounters with Prosen’s new medium tanks were just like that, with most of their new tanks stuck in repair shops.”

Vasily added: “And some in their own minefields.”

Wang Zhong: “And some in their own minefields.”

Olga laughed heartily.

Wang Zhong: “Your Majesty, I have a lot to take care of here, so

"Fine, fine, I know. I’m just calling to share some good news! You keep up the good work and I’ll be waiting for your victorious report!” Olga sounded a bit forlorn, “Alright, I’m hanging up now.”

Wang Zhong: “Yes, Your Majesty. Goodbye.”

"When will you ever call me ‘sister’?”

Wang Zhong: “Even when you weren’t on the throne, I never called you ‘sister.

"Alright. Bye~” Olga hung up the phone.

Wang Zhong handed the receiver back to Pavlov and asked, “Where are my new tanks?”

Pavlov’s eyes widened: “You’re going to the front yourself again? No, no, I disagree this time. I’ve seen the specs on the new tanks; they have weaknesses on the sides and rear. I won’t allow you to go to the front line personally!” řäɴỔ฿ЕS

After all, the new tanks are 30-ton medium tanks; they can’t be expected to have all-around defense like the Rokossovsky Type, vulnerable to anti-tank guns like the PAK40 on the sides and rear.

Wang Zhong waved his hands to reassure him: “Relax, I’m not charging forward myself; I just want to take a look at the new tanks.”

"Just take a look?” Pavlov asked skeptically.

"Just take a look,” Wang Zhong nodded.

At this moment, the communication staff officer came in to report: “General, we’ve received a coded message from the Cavalry Troops; Marshal Geron of Prosen has fled, but we’ve captured a middle-aged military man disguised as Marshal Geron, likely his deputy officer.”

As someone who had seen the movie “Let the Bullets Fly,” Wang Zhong immediately understood what to do in such a situation: “Good! We’ve captured Marshal Geron! Broadcast immediately to all troops and have the psychological warfare units repeatedly broadcast in clear on all public channels; crank the transmission power to the max!”

July 5th, 0830 hours, at the new Headquarters of the Prosen Southern Army Group.

Marshal Geron entered the sparsely furnished headquarters, took off his hat, held it in his hand, and waited a few seconds for someone to take it.

He turned around in confusion, not seeing the familiar sight of his loyal orderly, and asked: “Where is Hans?”

"Don’t know, maybe he didn’t make it out,” replied the Constitutional Guard officer following the marshal, “In fact, we are among the few headquarters personnel who managed to escape the chaos.”

Marshal Geron was astonished and had to hang his hat on the coat rack by the door himself. He then surveyed the few staff officers in the room: “How can we possibly maintain the entire Army Group with so few staff officers? Which Corps Command is closest to us?”

"The Second Army Group Command is only 30 kilometers from us; shall we ask them to move here?”

"No, we’re understaffed; we need to move there,” said Marshal Geron as he looked around the meager headquarters and sighed.

Then the battalion commander of the communication unit came in, saluted the marshal: “Report, Marshal, you need to listen to this.”

The marshal asked puzzledly: “What is it?”

"The Anteans are broadcasting on all frequencies, claiming they’ve captured you!”

The marshal retorted angrily: “But I’m right here, am I not?”

Then he realized the implications.

"The damned Rocossov! Too cunning! He plans to use my scepter and uniform to falsely claim he has captured me! Use all our radios and shout back at them immediately!”

The communications battalion commander looked helpless, “Most of our communication equipment hasn’t been transported to the new headquarters in time. With our current equipment, receiving signals is fine, but broadcasting… it’s too much pressure.”

Marshal: “What about the telephone then? The telephone lines should’ve been set up by now, right? I need to call the headquarters of each Army Group! Then have them broadcast to stabilize the troops’ morale! No, the glorious Prosen soldiers won’t be fooled by such tricks.”

Constitutional Guard Colonel: “But Rocossov has already captured a marshal.”

Marshal Geron pressed his lips together as if unwilling to admit that Rocossov’s ploy could indeed shake the loyalty of his troops.

After brooding for a while, he took a deep sigh, “Give me the phone. I’ll personally order all Army Group headquarters to start broadcasting that I am still alive and still commanding the Army Group.”

Suddenly, he stopped and took another look at the new headquarters.

"Where is my Chief of Staff?”

The Constitutional Guard Colonel shook his head.

In the wasteland, the tactical number 4041 sdkfz half-track vehicle burned quietly, with Prosen soldiers retreating from the Army Group Command headquarters passing by in groups of three or two.

There were several more such wrecks within sight, all destroyed by Ante Cavalry in the chaos of the previous night.

No one gave it a second glance, nor did anyone take the time to put out the fire or scavenge from it — the Prosens dared not linger, fearing the Ante Cavalry, while the Anteans were deep in enemy territory and had no spare time to bother with it.

So, nobody knew that the half-track vehicle carried the number two person of the Prosen Southern Army Group, His Excellency the Army Group Chief of Staff.

Headquarters of the Prosen 335th Infantry Division.

Major General Hauson hurriedly asked the radio operator, “What’s the situation?”

"Both sides are broadcasting. The Anteans say the marshal has been captured, and the Army Group headquarters says the marshal is still commanding the troops,” the radio operator reported truthfully.

Hauson put his elbow on the radio, looking at the Chief of Staff, “What do you think?”

"If the marshal was alright, why wouldn’t he come out and speak himself?” the Chief of Staff replied.

Hauson stroked his lips.

The Chief of Staff continued, “We’ve suffered heavy losses. The Antean Armored Troops have turned our positions into swiss cheese, and morale is low. If someone hears the radio message that the marshal has been captured, it would be unthinkable.”

Hauson: “We’ve held out for so long; now if we give up, the comrades who sacrificed themselves before did so in vain! No, we can’t give up our positions. Immediately send someone to notify each unit not to be deceived by enemy propaganda.”

Headquarters of the Sarria Army Group, July 5th, 1230 hours.

Pavlov: “Today’s advances in our units seem to corroborate the intelligence we received yesterday, the enemy doesn’t have many tanks left.

"I believe we can take this opportunity for our tank forces to pause as well. They have been fighting the enemy so intensively for so many days. They need rest, and the tanks need maintenance.

"The good news is that the roads the Prosens built are very useful. The supply situation for our units is better than we anticipated.”

Wang Zhong: “If we pause for rest, does that mean we can employ the newly arrived state-of-the-art tanks when we resume the offensive?”

"Yes. If we resume the offensive on July 8th, the new tanks will become the spearhead.”

Popov, worriedly asked, “The Prosens have better tank maintenance capabilities than we have. Won’t that allow them to repair some of their tanks?”

Wang Zhong: “This time we control most of the battlefields where the tank fights occurred. The enemy has the ability to repair but can’t salvage the tanks that broke down on the battlefield.

"However, the unit equipped with new tanks might restore some because those tanks broke down before they could even be deployed.”

Pavlov: “The Guard First Heavy Tank Brigade and a few medium tank brigades reported that the enemy’s Type 5 tanks perform well, having a crushing advantage over our T34Ws. Units equipped with T34Ws will suffer greatly when they encounter them. Even if they only have ten, we can’t take them lightly.”

Wang Zhong: “During the rest, we’ll send out as many aerial scouts as we can to locate those new tanks.”

"It’s too hard to distinguish new tanks from the air. We completely failed to notice these tanks being moved to the frontline before,” Pavlov shook his head. “It might be better to rely on Cavalry Troops to raid repair factories more often; perhaps we could gather some intelligence.”

Wang Zhong: “I can scout personally!”

"You can only monitor one line, though, right?”

Wang Zhong had to admit, Pavlov was right — his own surveillance range, compared to the currently vast battlefield, was indeed too limited.

He changed his approach: “Then let’s not look for the enemy’s new tanks. How about we stake out a location they would definitely send new tanks to capture?”

As he spoke, he moved to the map, picked up the map stick, and looked at it for a few seconds, only to shake his head, “A vast plain, with no key points.”

Pavlov shrugged: “Exactly.”

Wang Zhong: “Then like this, we’ll make our new tanks the general reserve, positioned here.”

The tip of the map stick pointed to a location on the map.

Pavlov: “That’s possible. This way, no matter where the enemy comes from, we can quickly move to support — assuming the new tanks really do have such strong maneuverability.”

"We have to try and see,” Wang Zhong replied. “We’ll deploy the new tanks here then!”

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