Cannon Fire Arc-Chapter 721 - 59 The Beginning of the March of Suffering (Additional update 46/84)

Chapter 721 -59 The Beginning of the March of Suffering (Additional update 46/84)

On the evening of July 20th, at the Southern Army Group Command Headquarters in Prosen.

General Sheeplin had not waited for the arrival of Major General Adel Schultz, commander of the 8th Armored Division. Instead, several commanders of the Armored Grenadier Divisions had come.

The five division commanders, bristling with fury, entered the headquarters and then froze upon seeing both Marshal Geron and General Sheeplin standing before a map table.

Marshal Geron pointed to General Sheeplin, “You may not yet know that General Sheeplin has been promoted to commander of the Southern Army Group. I haven’t left yet because I want to help him complete the handover successfully. If you have any issues, take them up with the general.”

The commander of the 10th Armored Grenadier Division, Major General Bishop, immediately spoke up, “Whose idea was it to disband the Armored Grenadier Divisions? We’ve already suffered heavy losses, dissolving us now will prevent us from forming a united front, and we’ll fall apart when the enemy attacks!”

General Sheeplin responded, “When the enemy attacks, the two Army Group-sized battle groups we have formed will be responsible for the response. Your current task is to use your armored advantage to cover the retreat of the infantry and supply convoys.

“A large number of Ante Cavalry has already crossed the demarcation line between the two armies, and aerial reconnaissance indicates they’re heading towards the Oraqi Ruins. If we don’t take action, they’re going to slaughter our infantry and truck convoys.”

Major General Bishop questioned, “Why not let the Air Force handle this? Have them send in fighters to strafe the cavalry on the ground!”

Marshal Geron answered on his behalf, “We’ve tried that, to little effect. Additionally, many of our fighter pilots have now been recalled for homeland air defense operations, and we don’t have enough fighter aircraft to both seize air superiority and attack ground targets.”

The division commanders looked at each other uncertainly.

In the end, it was Bishop of the 10th who spoke up again, “But scattering the Armored Grenadiers to the winds is just foolish! What about the assault guns of the infantry divisions? They would do well against the cavalry, wouldn’t they?”

General Sheeplin replied, “The losses in the Assault Gun units are as significant as yours, and they alone cannot deal with so many cavalry.

“Moreover, since the reclassification of assault guns as tank destroyers at the beginning of the year, they’ve been under the purview of the Armored Corps Director. The assault gun battalions have been outfitted in black uniforms, and newly formed infantry divisions seldom receive a full complement of assault guns.

“More than half of the assault gun companies in our infantry divisions are understrength.”

The division commanders exchanged looks again.

General Sheeplin continued, “Stop complaining, accomplish the mission, and once we fall back to the Dibo River, your forces will be reconsolidated. At that time, you’ll be needed as a defensive and counter-attack force.”

Just then, Major General Adel Schultz of the 8th Armored Division entered the room. Seeing a group of his fellow Armored Grenadier commanders, he hesitated, “Uh, should I step outside for a smoke first?”

“No, we’re done here,” said General Sheeplin. “The commanders have understood my intentions. They will complete the mission.”

“Hold on!” Major General Bishop spoke up again, acting as the spokesperson for everyone, “Disbanding us is still too outrageous. We can actually use the Panzer II tanks for this kind of task. The Panzer II tanks of the Armored Reconnaissance Battalion can easily chase down the cavalry in the open fields, can’t they?”

General Sheeplin asked, “How many Panzer II tanks does your 10th Armored Grenadier Division have left, Major General Bishop?”

The Major General was momentarily at a loss for words, “Well… less than ten.”

Marshal Geron interjected, “I heard that the Imperial Armament Department is planning to repurpose the Panzer II production line to manufacture Lynx reconnaissance tanks. Perhaps using them against the cavalry might be a good idea?”

General Sheeplin added, “That would be better than stripping down furniture trucks and laying the machine guns flat. I don’t know which idiot designer came up with that, an anti-aircraft gun that can’t be laid flat.”

It was only then that everyone belatedly realized that maybe a good method to counter the Ante Cavalry Troops had just been born.

General Sheeplin turned to the Chief of Staff and asked, “I recall we have Whirlwind anti-air guns?”

“Just a few prototype models; they were sent to the front lines for testing,” the Chief of Staff answered.

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General Sheeplin commanded, “Send all the Whirlwinds to cover the convoys and infantry!”

“Yes, sir.”

The General again looked towards the Grenadier Division commanders, “Any other questions?”

The commanders shook their heads.

“Then go execute the orders. The enemy’s cavalry is already racing across the plains. The infantry and transport convoys need you!”

The division commanders saluted and left.

General Sheeplin turned towards Adel Schultz, extending his hand, “I’ve heard a great deal about you, ‘Armored Schultz’.”

“It’s just a title concocted by the propaganda department to counter Rocossov,” said Schultz modestly, as he shook the offered hand lightly and then let go.

General Sheeplin remarked, “Modesty is a virtue, good. I called you here for…”

“To deal with the Ante Cavalry?” Schultz interjected, but then shook his head, “No, the cavalry moves too fast, and tanks can’t keep up. It shouldn’t be that we expend valuable motor hours on such tasks.”

General Sheeplin nodded in agreement, “You’re right. In fact, we’re planning to form the Schultz Group, gathering all the armored forces we can muster, with just one mission: to deliver a counter-strike when Rocossov’s armored forces launch their assault.”

Schultz confirmed, “No problem. That’s exactly what we were doing in the Central Army Group, and we did it quite well, birthing many ace tank crews.

I believe my boys are itching for a showdown with Rocossov’s Guard Tank Formation.”

Marshal Geron interjected, “Don’t be complacent. Rocossov has many new tanks, and there are also a significant number of Whirlwind tank destroyers.”

Schultz retorted, “In the initial days of the conflict, my units performed admirably against KV tanks, and I think it’ll be the same with Rocossov’s new tanks. There’s always a way to counter them.”

General Sheeplin informed, “Intelligence indicates that Rocossov’s new tanks are nearly depleted. Your opponents, until August, should mainly be T34Ws, at most with a few Whirlwinds added.”

“That’s excellent news; watch and see,” said Schultz with confidence.

————

At 0800 on July 21st, on the northeastern road of Orachi.

Andreas, carrying the tripod of his machine gun, trudged along, panting heavily.

The freshly repaired asphalt was searing hot under the summer sun.

Andreas was extremely thirsty and shook his canteen, but it made no sound. It was obviously empty.

He twisted the cap off and licked the bottle opening with his tongue.

At that moment, a canteen was passed over to his side, “Drink up. You still haven’t learned, have you? During a retreat like this, you should carry more canteens.”

Andreas glanced at the person offering the canteen and, realizing it was Master Sergeant Kosolek, took a big gulp from it and retorted, “How come you have experience in retreating?”

Master Sergeant Kosolek replied, “During the Unification War of Prosen, my grandfather was on the defeated side. He taught me.”

As he spoke, the sergeant adjusted the position of the machine gun he was shouldering.

Just then, the soldier walking in front shouted, threw down his gun, and began to strip off his magazine pouch—

Both Andreas and Kosolek shouted, “Hold on to your weapon, soldier!”

The recruit looked back and then collapsed on the ground: “I can’t go on; just let me stay here with my weapon and face the Anteans’ cruelty!”

Andreas and Kosolek exchanged glances, then grabbed the recruit by the arms and pulled him up, one on each side.

Kosolek encouraged, “Pull yourself together! Think about your family. Don’t you want to see them again?”

Andreas warned, “The Anteans will have the Judge interrogate you and then send you to the labor camp to work until you die! (This is all propaganda.)”

The recruit protested, “It’s not that I don’t want to go; I really can’t move anymore. I haven’t eaten in two days!”

Andreas took out compressed biscuits, tore the packaging, broke off a piece, and was about to stuff it into the recruit’s mouth.

Kosolek stopped Andreas and picked up the canteen, unscrewing the cap, “He can’t digest compressed biscuits without water in his mouth!”

After taking three sips of water, the recruit finally managed to swallow.

Andreas stuffed the biscuit into the recruit’s mouth.

Chewing the biscuit, the recruit coughed violently when swallowing.

Andreas patted the recruit’s back, helping him steady his breath.

The recruit said, “You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up in a moment—”

Just then, a cry came from behind, “Cavalry! Ante Cavalry is coming!”

Master Sergeant Kosolek and Sergeant Andreas exchanged looks.

The sergeant, with his machine gun, rushed toward the wreckage of a nearby car, opened the bipod of the gun, and set it up on the car’s roof.

Without a tripod, the MG42 was just a light machine gun, its accuracy not enough to combat Cavalry charging across the plains, but it was certainly better than nothing.

The first Cavalryman appeared, Master Sergeant Kosolek immediately opened fire, and the characteristic tearing sound seemed to instantly calm the panicked Prosen deserters.

More Cavalrymen appeared in their sight, and they didn’t adopt the traditional Cavalry wall formation but spread out instead.

Master Sergeant Kosolek cursed, “Damn! The enemy’s gotten clever; now it takes more bullets to bring down a horse!”

Andreas lay beside Kosolek, lifting the ammunition belt with his hand.

When the belt was nearly empty, Andreas reminded, “Better change the barrel!”

“After this belt’s done!” Kosolek responded.

In the midst of their conversation, the ammunition ran out, and Andreas stood up, expertly uncoupling the barrel’s fastening and pulling out the red-hot barrel.

Although he touched the glowing barrel during the change, as a seasoned machine gunner, he was used to such burns.

Quickly, the machine gun firepower was restored, and a few Ante Cavalrymen charged very close to their position.

Kosolek immediately mowed them down but couldn’t prevent a thrown grenade.

The sergeant rolled down the wreckage with his machine gun.

Andreas, a bit slower to roll down, felt the grenade explode just as he did so, with shrapnel clinking against the wreck.

Andreas propped up his upper body with a submachine gun and sprayed bullets at the Cavalrymen seizing the opportunity.

The sound of the MP40 was much weaker compared to the “tearing machine.”

And in his haste, Andreas ran out of ammunition, emptying nearly ten shots without hitting the charging knight.

At that moment, the tearing machine sound echoed once more.

Looking up, Andreas saw Kosolek, who had just rolled off the wreckage, again prone on top of it, firing.

That’s when a more reassuring sound began to fill the air.

Andreas could tell immediately that it was the sound of a 20mm machine gun.

But he didn’t remember any of the hand-cranked 20mm guns being left in their division; they should have been discarded near Oborony along with the Opel Blitz trucks that had towed them.

Standing up to look in the direction of the sound, he saw an unfamiliar armored vehicle moving forward and laying down a barrage of 20mm fire.

The Ante Cavalry turned and retreated, dropping smoke bombs—yes, the Anteans had now become masters of smoke too.

Andreas breathed a sigh of relief, telling himself, “I’m still alive, yes, I’m still alive.”

He raised his voice, “Kosolek, we’re still alive!”

“I see that, to the bitter end!”