Cannon Fire Arc

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Jules 914, September 19th, Shostka, headquarters of the First Guards Mechanized Division, 2200 hours.

A captive was brought into the division headquarters by a forward scouting squad.

The headquarters staff collectively sized up the captive.

Pavlov: "This uniform… doesn't it look a lot like the ones we encountered in Orachi... that kind of opulent division? The one with especially abundant equipment, where even the Mark II tanks are scarce, and they're all equipped with Mark IIIs and IVs?"

Wang Zhong: "The Asgard Knights Division, the Plathen Emperor formed it to strengthen his political base, independent of the military department's control."

"Ah, right, that's the name." Pavlov nodded, "But is it just my mistaken impression? Last time we engaged them, it seemed pretty easy."

Popov: "The first two days were easy because the pressure of the enemy attack was on the forces of Duke Meishikin. On the third day, we encountered the enemy's main force, and we were immediately routed."

Wang Zhong: "Your words are not accurate, what do you mean routed, we maintained our formation and got out. But let's talk about the matter at hand. Vasily!"

Vasily stepped forward briskly and punched the captive in the face, causing the captive's nose to bleed.

"Oh," Vasily put on an expression of a simpleton, "You mean you want me to translate, right?"

Damn it, you just wanted to throw that punch! Stop pretending already!

Popov frowned, "It's not acceptable to beat a captive without authorization, Vasily."

"Doesn't the Judge also hit them?" Vasily retorted sarcastically.

Popov: "When the Judge does it, it's part of the job, but if you hit him, you'll be assigned to dung duty."

Vasily: "Worth it."

After speaking, he punched the captive again and then turned to ask Wang Zhong, "What do you want me to ask?"

Wang Zhong: "Ask which unit he belongs to and who his commander is."

No sooner had Vasily translated than the captive began to prattle, simultaneously exhibiting a look of pride while speaking.

Vasily: "He says, 'Your Ante army is being wiped out like pigs, and millions of troops can't even fight as well as wild boars.' I didn't add fuel to the fire, that's what he said."

The enemy looked at Wang Zhong with a provocative gaze and continued to babble.

Vasily: "He says he recognizes you; all the troops have been given your photo. Capturing you, dead or alive, would grant anyone the title of a count."

Wang Zhong frowned, "Am I that famous? Tell him to show me the photo of me."

Vasily spoke a few words to the enemy.

At this moment, the escort said, "Here, we found it when we searched him, for you."

While speaking, the escort held up an image for everyone to see.

It was taken by a Federation journalist, clearly removed from a Federation newspaper, hence the image was somewhat degraded, but Wang Zhong's face was still recognizable.

Wang Zhong was standing in front of a ZiS-30 and a T-34 tank, with a stern look on his face.

"They actually made me look quite handsome." Wang Zhong was astonished, reaching out for the photo, "Come on, give it to me, I need to flaunt it in front of Liu Xia."

Pavlov took the photo from the scout, checked it, and passed it to Wang Zhong: "It does have quite an imposing presence."

Wang Zhong looked at it and remarked, "No wonder the photographer boasted they could win a Pulitzer."

"What's a Pulitzer?" Vasily asked.

Wang Zhong: "An award established by a big con artist."

At this point, seeing that he was being ignored, the captive rattled on more.

Vasily: "He says his only regret is that he won't have the chance to capture you. But it doesn't matter, his comrades will capture you and kill you — Can I hit him now?"

Wang Zhong spread his hands, "Since you've applied, of course, I have to say you can't hit him."

No sooner had he spoken than Nelly pushed the door open, click-clacked her way to the captive, and landed a kick to the captive's groin.

The captive let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

After all, he was kicked by the very hard toe of a maid's shoe, and his eggs might have been scrambled for good.

Everyone else hadn't reacted yet, staring blankly at Nelly.

Pavlov was the first to react, turning his head to ask Popov, "What do we do about this?"

Popov: "Servicemen are considered employees of the unit, the same as laundry workers—in essence, we can only criticize and educate, at most confine them to barracks."

Just as Wang Zhong was about to give his exclusive laundry worker a piece of his mind, he heard the captive ranting in fury.

Vasily: "He says you—or us—will die tomorrow. The Prosen Empire's new weapons will crush you, and there will be paratroopers coordinating the attack, the empire's largest scale assault operation."

Vasily hadn't finished translating when the captive broke into hysterical laughter, then made a throat-slitting gesture and rattled off more.

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Vasily: "He said that our death is imminent and the entire Ante will be finished before this year's National Day. Then every person involved in the conquest will receive a huge manor."

Wang Zhong and the others exchanged glances.

Popov: "A feint?"

Pavlov shook his head, "No, our reconnaissance does indeed indicate that the enemy is about to attack, and as for timing, they must attack now. If they delay any longer, it will start to rain."

There are two muddy seasons in Ante every year.

One is in spring when the snow starts melting, and the ground becomes exceptionally muddy, lasting from March to June.

The second, which is shorter, is the late autumn rainy season, when the land becomes exceptionally muddy, and rivers enter a brief period of high water levels.

Pavlov: "After it rains, the water level of the Duva River will rise to at least the third mark on the hydrological pillar by the bank, making it difficult to cross the river. And after the high water season, the naval gunboats can move upriver. Are they really planning to have tanks and gunboats exchange fire?"

Wang Zhong: "So what he said is true. They'll attack us tomorrow, and there are also paratroopers. Get Major General Kiriyenko on the phone at the rear."

Pavlov immediately picked up the receiver: "Connecting to Major General Kiriyenko—it's the Army Group headquarters! Hello? I am Pavlov, Chief of Staff of the Guards 1st Division. We just received new information; please have Major General Kiriyenko take the phone."

Moments later, Pavlov handed the receiver to Wang Zhong: "The general is on the line."

Wang Zhong took the receiver: "Major General Kiriyenko, I have some new information here. We captured a prisoner who said that the enemy will launch an attack tomorrow, with paratroopers landing behind our division."

Kiriyenko: "What scale of paratroopers? Behind you is the position of the 331st Division; they are tasked with protecting the railway lines."

Wang Zhong pressed the receiver, turned to Vasily, and said, "Use reverse psychology on him, try to get him to reveal the scale of the airborne troops."

Vasily: "(In Prosen language) You won't succeed. Our rear forces are strong and can easily crush your airborne troops! Those paratroopers will achieve nothing but provide us with more combat achievements!"

The captive laughed loudly and spouted a bunch of words.

Vasily: "He said it, the 100th Paratrooper Hunter Division, and everyone speaks of another special force unit."

Wang Zhong: "Kiriyenko, the enemy is probably one paratrooper hunter division and a special force unit of unknown size. I estimate the special forces will be wearing our uniforms, speaking Ante."

The last sentence was added by Wang Zhong, based on Earth's war history.

Kiriyenko clicked his tongue: "The same old deceit and infiltration tricks, huh? Okay, I have an Inquisitor-led internal guard division here, I'll send them; they're professionals."

Wang Zhong: "There are also tank units. The enemy light infantry has no anti-tank weapons in the plains; tank units can eliminate them."

"I'll have the tank units on standby as reserves ready to move out. Have you contacted the Air Force yet?"

"Just about to, but I only have the Yak-1 Fighter Regiment here, and they probably can't intercept the enemy's airdrop planes at high altitude. We need MiG-3s."

"I'll handle that notification. Kiriyenko out," and with that, he hung up.

Wang Zhong gave the receiver back to Pavlov: "Call Kashuk again, the attack can't only be targeting us. The 51st Army will also be attacked. And call the airfield; tell them to prepare for emergency takeoff tomorrow morning, we might face enemy air raids. I need Yak-1s to protect our heads."

The ZIS-30 is particularly vulnerable to the Air Force because it's completely unprotected. Even if the aircraft doesn't drop bombs, just strafing could kill the gunner operating the big gun.

If a Stuka was to drop a 500 kg bomb, landing it within 50 meters of the ZIS-30, it could knock it out of action.

Apart from the 500 kg bomb, the "little potato" from the 50 attack is also formidable; that's the price of an open-topped vehicle.

Of course, the ZIS-30s under Wang Zhong's command may not be that afraid of enemy air raids because these days, Wang Zhong has ordered his troops to construct many shelters for ZIS-30s along the riverbanks.

They opened holes in the side of buildings facing away from the river, allowing the ZIS-30 to go in. From there, the windows facing the river became natural firing ports.

And as long as they don't stick the barrel out, firing from inside the building, the enemy might not even spot them.

Despite these preparations, having Air Force cover is still better than none.

If the Stuka can precisely drop a 500 kg bomb, it will inevitably cause massive casualties on the ground.

After making several calls, Pavlov finally relayed all the orders, then looking at the phone and then at Wang Zhong, he suggested, "I suggest you go and get some sleep now, so you'll be ready to command us when the battle starts."

Wang Zhong looked towards the prisoner and said to Vasily, "Find a way to make him tell us the time of attack tomorrow."

Vasily immediately used his reverse psychology technique.

The prisoner revealed a contemptuous smile and said a bunch of things.

Vasily: "He says that even if we know, we can't do anything about it. The attack will begin at 4:30 in the morning."

Wang Zhong and Pavlov exchanged a look.

In fact, if it weren't for such occurrences in Earth's history, Wang Zhong would definitely suspect this man was a spy.

In Earth's war history, the Sturmtiger prisoners, because of their overconfidence, completely divulged their plans, thus giving the Soviet army time to prepare.

Wang Zhong: "Then at four o'clock, we'll launch counter-bombardment preparations on the enemy assembly area, trying to delay the enemy's attack time to nine in the morning. That way, they won't be able to coordinate with their airborne troops."

Pavlov nodded: "That can be done. You better hurry and get some sleep. Have Nelly wake you up at three."