Cannon Fire Arc-Chapter 688 - 26: All Cannons Fire at Once

Chapter 688: Chapter 26: All Cannons Fire at Once

After supper, Wang Zhong didn’t know how many times he had glanced at the clock on the wall when he finally urged, “It’s time; begin.”

Pavlov was about to pick up the phone receiver when something suddenly occurred to him, and he turned his head toward the Front Army artillery commander, gesturing an invitation.

The major general in charge of artillery came to the phone, picked up the receiver, and took a deep breath: “This is Artillery Commander Andrew, connecting to the artillery headquarters.”

A moment later, he looked at Wang Zhong with the receiver in his hand.

Wang Zhong said, “Begin, no need to ask for my permission any longer.”

With that, Andrew loudly commanded, “This is Artillery Commander Andrew, fire! Repeat, fire!”

As he gave the order, Wang Zhong switched his perspective. Indeed, he was now directly commanding each artillery position, so he shared their view.

The roar of thousands of cannons firing simultaneously startled the sleeping birds of the night.

However, the flock of birds was not overly frightened, but flew around the artillery, occasionally swooping down to catch the insects panicked by the cannon fire.

Wang Zhong, looking down at this scene, suddenly remembered a scene from his favorite war movie “The Great Battle” from his childhood. He remembered the voiceover from that scene: Not long ago, getting a single cannon was quite a rare occurrence, but now we can concentrate thousands of cannons, the density of the artillery formation exceeding the regulations of the drill.

Back then, Wang Zhong often fantasized that one day he would command this many cannons.

That was like a childhood dream come true.

By the way, Wang Zhong often confused this scene of all cannons firing simultaneously with another scene from the same series, a sequence mainly capturing the flock of birds in the sky already accustomed to the cannon fire.

Through the behavior of the birds, the long-lasting effects of the war on people was depicted, also hinting at the expectation for peace. In Wang Zhong’s eyes, it was one of the best war movie scenes.

If someone in the future were to make a war movie about him as the main character, he certainly wanted them to include such a scene.

That’s what Wang Zhong thought.

He stared at the scene of the cannons thundering for a while, and only when he had seen enough did he switch back to the command center perspective, then he met Pavlov’s gaze.

Wang Zhong asked, “What’s up?”

Pavlov said, “I’m a bit surprised that you didn’t personally lead the charge with your No. 422 heavy tank.”

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Wang Zhong replied, “If I personally charged into every minor skirmish, wouldn’t that make my presence on the front lines seem like a cheap and mundane matter?”

Vasily understood, “Ah, the general is trying to keep the value of his actions high! In the future, if we don’t see the general on the front lines, we’ll say ‘Surely this isn’t a tough battle we can handle!’ That way, the general won’t have to personally go to the front lines anymore!”

Wang Zhong shook his head repeatedly, “No no no, Vasily, you don’t get it! If I don’t go to the front lines myself and raise this Red Flag, how will the world know my invincibility, that I’m irresistible to thousands?”

Pavlov sighed deeply, “So you still plan to continue taking risks in the future? You won’t go unless it’s dangerous, right? Don’t do this; in the past, you had no choice but to take risks, but the current situation doesn’t need you on the front lines anymore.”

Wang Zhong said, “I thought you’d become desensitized to me being on the front lines.”

Pavlov replied, “I’ve given up, knowing it’s useless to stop you. But you’ll never get my approval for what you’re doing! A Front Army commander should stay in command properly inside the headquarters!”

Wang Zhong said, “Alright, I got it. Look, I’m staying put now.”

————

At the same time, at the Southern Army Group Command in Prosen.

Marshal Geron, looking weary, entered the command center: “So what’s so urgent that you had to wake me up?”

“The enemy has begun their artillery preparation!” said the Army Group Chief of Staff with a grave expression.

The sleepiness disappeared from Marshal Geron’s face, “Artillery preparation? Where?”

The Chief of Staff pointed to the map, “Every marked place is being bombarded!”

Marshal Geron took out his glasses in a rush, put them on, and looked at the map, “My God, has Rocossov adopted General Gorky’s tactic? An all-out artillery barrage?”

The Chief of Staff confirmed, “Yes, and all front-line units have reported that they are under exceptionally heavy bombardment.”

Marshal Geron waved his hand dismissively, “That doesn’t matter. Our officers tend to exaggerate the attacks they suffer; after all, that’s how they were taught at the military academy, to draw attention from higher command.

“Update on the latest enemy situation!”

At the Chief of Staff’s command, a staff officer immediately came over with a thick stack of documents.

The documents were handed to the Chief of Staff, who then passed them to Marshal Geron.

The Marshal quickly leafed through the documents and said, “If the enemy deployment information we have is accurate, Rocossov intends to break through at these two places.”

He put down the thick documents and tapped the map with a map stick twice.

The tapped locations were right at the two ends of Orel.

Geron speculated, “He might be planning a pincer movement to encircle and consume our concentrated heavy forces in Orel that are prepared to break through his lines.”

After a brief pause, Marshal Geron added, “Of course, we can’t completely rule out the possibility that he intends to push west and encircle the Eleventh Army Group defending the Coastal Fortress. In terms of execution difficulty, encircling the Eleventh Army Group would be simpler.

“It’s just hard to tell what Rocossov will choose.”

At that moment, the red telephone on the Marshal’s desk rang. He hurried over and picked up the handset, “This is Marshal Geron of the Southern Army Group.”

The Emperor’s voice came through the handset, “Marshal Geron, I heard that Rocossov has attacked you?”

The Marshal glanced at the Chief of Staff, who whispered softly, “It wasn’t me, it must have been a senior officer from the Asgard Knights who reported to the Emperor.”

The Marshal had an expression that read “damn it,” but his spoken words were full of humility, “Your Majesty, you are correct, Rocossov has indeed begun his attack.”

The Emperor sounded very excited, “Good, although you have transferred some troops to the Central Army Group, you still have a very strong remaining force. Hit Rocossov hard! How dare he attack us when our troops are not tired, our equipment is without damage, and our supplies are plentiful. Let him taste our strength!”

Marshal Geron agreed, “Right away, I’ll commit our elite Armored Troops for a counterattack!”

“No, no, no! Use positions to wear them out! Pure infantry units won’t be much use in a counterattack, but they can play a role in defensive warfare! Use infantry and positions to drain Rocossov! Just like he wears us down!”

Marshal Geron’s face twisted with embarrassment.

He looked at the Chief of Staff and decided to tell the truth, “We only received orders to start digging trenches on June 26th, and so far, the works have barely begun. Relying on them to stop Rocossov… and with the fierceness of Rocossov’s artillery, I truly doubt how much of what we’ve hurriedly constructed will remain after bombardment.”

“Don’t you still have cities and villages?” the Emperor countered, “Kazarlia isn’t some desolate area like Nan’ant. There’s a high density of cities and villages. Rely on city defenses, and the woods! Rocossov conducted a splendid defense in Orachi, and he didn’t dig trenches for more than a few days then!”

Marshal Geron explained, “They had the help of local residents; Rocossov could mobilize hundreds of thousands of civilian workers to help them build fortifications. We can’t organize that. If we conscript civilian workers, we’re lucky if they don’t sabotage us!

“Your Majesty, we should really commit the Armored Troops against Rocossov’s forces for a battle on the plains! I have confidence in our Armored Troops lads!”

The Emperor was silent for a long time before answering, “If Rocossov breaks through the infantry’s lines and there really isn’t any way to hold them back, I agree to let you commit the Armored Troops for a countercharge. Either way, make sure Rocossov suffers! The Air Force will also give you full support.”

The Emperor then hung up.

The Chief of Staff asked, “What did His Majesty say?”

Marshal Geron replied with a wry smile, “He said to use infantry to delay and wear down Rocossov’s forces, the same way he wears us down.”

The Chief of Staff noted, “That tactic shouldn’t pose any large issues, indeed it should be so. But we have only been digging trenches for four days, and the strongest bunkers on the front line are just made of wood and bricks. Given the firepower and armor strength of Rocossov’s troops, such fortifications won’t be very effective, will they?

“From a practical standpoint, deploying Armored Troops in conjunction with infantry for a counterattack would be the best response.”

Marshal Geron recounted, “His Majesty said that if the infantry truly can’t hold and are quickly breached, then he allows us to deploy the Armored Troops for a counterattack. What a joke, if the infantry could hold, then why would we even need to go to such lengths?”

The Chief of Staff inquired, “Are there any other orders?”

“That’s all. Oh, and His Majesty said the Air Force would support us with all their might.” The Marshal offered a resigned smile.