Cannon Fire Arc-Chapter 855 - 8 Crossing the Battle Lines

Chapter 855 -8 Crossing the Battle Lines

Prosen Southern Army Group Command, July 16, 0900 hours.

“Hello? Hello?” Mendel pulled the handset away, scrutinized it carefully, and confirmed it wasn’t crushed by his own grip.

He put down the handset, looked at the surrounding staff officers, and said: “The Commander of the 25th Army Group may have been killed in action; establish immediate contact with the Army Group Command to grasp the situation and ensure that the Army Group’s counter-offensive against Ante is correct.”

The Army Group Chief of Staff immediately replied: “The 25th Army Group has six Land Stuka squadrons; they will carry out counter-fire preparations against the Anteans, completely annihilating Ante’s offensive forces.

“Based on past experience, an Ante Troops offensive subjected to counter-fire preparations will be at least stalled for five hours, and the intensity of the attack, as well as the number of technical equipment deployed, will be greatly reduced!”

Mendel asked, “When was the last counterattack? In June, in the north?”

“No, the northern enemy forced their way through the marshes without artillery preparation and did not give us time to prepare counter-battery fire. Our troops stationed in the breakthrough area didn’t even have ‘Smoke Sprayers’.”

The Prosens call rocket artillery “Smoke Sprayers,” and what they call “Land Stuka” is just a nickname; its official name is “500mm Smoke Sprayer Carrier.”

Marshal Mendel: “So, using the Land Stuka for counter-fire preparations is a tactic from several months ago? That won’t be effective, all the Smoke Sprayers should fire after making contact with the enemy at the front line.”

Chief of Staff: “That’s too dangerous; our Land Stukas emphasize precision, not range. They might not be able to withdraw in time! This kind of counterattack should be left to the towed Smoke Sprayers equipped by the units.”

After the various calibers of Smoke Sprayers carried by the 251-series half-track vehicles proved their value, the Prosens began equipping infantry units with Smoke Sprayers that could be towed by barrel carts or even donkey carts – essentially welding a series of iron pipes that could launch rockets together.

These Smoke Sprayers have now become the Prosen Infantry’s most effective fire support for rapid assaults, more powerful than mortars, with faster coverage, but the downside is long reloading time and limited ammunition.

Marshal Mendel: “I order the Land Stuka units to open fire only after making contact with the Antean defenses! Since our advantage over the enemy’s Smoke Sprayers is precision, we must exploit this advantage!”

Chief of Staff: “All Land Stukas are independently organized; losing them would be difficult to justify to His Majesty the Emperor!”

“We’ll have a harder time justifying losing our defense lines to His Majesty the Emperor!” Marshal Mendel declared aloud, “Let them wait!”

“Yes.” The Chief of Staff signalled to a subordinate staff member with his eyes, prompting the staff to pick up phones and begin implementing the Marshal’s orders.

After a moment, the Chief of Staff reported to the Marshal with great concern: “We’ve been suddenly attacked; the Land Stuka units are now in chaos. It seems that the underground Resistance Organization might have delivered the location of the Land Stuka’s base to the Ante side.”

Marshal Mendel shook his head: “For these three years, Ante’s ‘information advantage’ has given us a hard time; fortunately, we’ll soon have an information advantage as well.”

A young staff officer seemed pleased: “Really? Has Rabowell got new intelligence channels? Why can’t they provide intelligence to us now?”

Marshal Mendel looked at the young staff officer and explained: “No, not Rabowell’s new intelligence channel. It’s that we’ll soon be fighting within our own borders. Our Resistance Organization should also provide intelligence.

“The Anteans took three years to push us back, now let’s see how long we can hold.”

The entire Command fell silent, an air of solemnity filled the room.

Marshal Mendel broke the silence: “Cheer up, the Antean territory is vast, so the war has lasted three years. Our land is not as large as Ante’s; perhaps the resistance will only last a year.”

Chief of Staff: “Is that something to be happy about?”

“Yes, better a short pain than a long one,” Marshal Mendel shrugged, “Now tell me if you have any viable suggestions? Given that we may have a group army commander biting the dust and all units being caught off guard.”

“We can deploy the 504 Heavy Armored Battalion and the newly-formed Great Pulosen Armored Division into combat. The Great Pulosen Armored Division has 98 Leopard tanks and 48 Tiger Kings fully combat-ready, plus 44 long-barreled Panzer IVs and 110 No. 4 Tank Destroyers.”

Marshal Mendel: “I ordered the deployment of the Great Pulosen Armored Division into several combat groups of 20 tanks or armored vehicles each. How is that going?”

“It hasn’t really started yet.” The Chief of Staff was sweaty, “Mainly because High Command and the Armored Corps Director are against this split.”

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Mendel cursed: “This Moochi! His vision of a huge armored division of 400 tanks is meaningless because our support systems can’t sustain such a large unit!”

After a storm of swearing, Marshal Mendel sighed deeply: “Let the Great Pulosen Division depart in batches, each batch controlling between 20 to 40 tanks. I believe these are the most flexible and effective units. Deploy them at crucial points en route to Melania where the Anteans must pass and fight shoulder to shoulder with the local infantry defenders!”

“Yes!”

————

In fact, the Commander of the 25th Army Group, Fritz, had a narrow escape.

When he woke up in the field hospital, he stared at the ceiling for a long while until an artillery shell exploded nearby, causing the wooden ceiling of the medical station to shake violently and drop a lot of dust.

Dust fell into his eyes, causing Fritz to close them. He wanted to rub his eyes with his hand, but his right hand didn’t move at all.