Arc of Fire

Chapter 616: Chapter 59: Gains and Losses (Additional 29/81)

November 4, 2031, 8:31 PM, Beachhead Position One, Antean positions.

A lieutenant colonel found Nelly and said, “Tonight our forces will bombard the enemy artillery positions, so transportation won’t be hindered. You should go back and recuperate.”

Nelly asked, “Is this an order from General Rocossov?”

"No,” the lieutenant colonel shook his head, “but the Front Army Headquarters inquired about your condition again today, it’s clear the commander is concerned about you… ma’am.”

"He wouldn’t issue such an order, don’t you know? He himself is charging at the front lines, even the captured Moravians said they envy us for being able to fight under a general who leads charges in person,” Nelly said calmly. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay right here until we win the campaign.”

The lieutenant colonel wanted to say more but was interrupted by the sound of artillery from the opposite bank.

From the West Bank, of course, you couldn’t see the East Bank artillery firing, but everyone could distinctly hear the roaring in the sky.

The lieutenant colonel looked towards the East Bank, then at the continuously twinkling lights in the west, and returned to the original topic: “You should cross the river, the current situation is clear, we can’t lose the beachhead now, everyone knows it. Are we going to let the Moravians take our positions? Impossible!”

Nelly: “I don’t like to give up halfway. By your account, it’s safe to stay here then, can the Moravians kill me?”

The lieutenant colonel fell silent.

At that moment, the first wave of boats for the river crossing had already reached the shore, anxious people jumped directly into the water, wading across with the lower halves of their coats drenched.

A major saw there were officers here and approached the lieutenant colonel, saluting, “You have worked hard, we are here to relieve you.”

The lieutenant colonel nodded: “Have a good rest. How are things on the opposite side?”

The major, while taking off his wet coat and placing it beside the fire to dry, replied: “The counterattack seems imminent. The opposite side is full of troops, we came over first just to prevent losing the beachhead. Everyone is saying, once the Valdai Hills River freezes over, it’s time for a counterattack.”

Nelly: “Are there already many troops on the opposite side?”

"Yes, countless units, some say it’s already a million men. There are also many, many cannons and rocket artillery. Listen to that artillery sound, it’s overwhelming even across the river.”

After talking, everyone looked towards the East Bank; indeed, even across the wide Valdai Hills River, the power of the artillery could be felt.

The lieutenant colonel exclaimed: “It’s finally ending, giving the enemy a swift bout!”

Nelly remained silent, just watching the constant flickering lights on the western horizon.

Prosen Sixth Army Group Headquarters.

The chief of staff, with a stern expression, put down the receiver: “We’ve lost contact with the artillery positions near the enemy’s landing area, today we can’t use artillery to disrupt their transportation.”

General Frederick: “Where is my reinforcement?”

"An armored army is already on the way,” the chief of staff replied.

General Frederick suddenly became agitated: “It better not be a Moravian armored division, right? It’s strictly Prosen troops, correct?”

"Yes.”

After getting the affirmative answer, the general sighed, “Moravians, with equipment almost the same—or even a little better—than ours, and yet they perform so poorly. Besides increasing our logistical pressure, they’re hardly useful at all!”

The staff in the room exchanged glances.

General Frederick stood up, pacing hands behind his back to the map, staring at it for several seconds: “Perhaps we should retreat, continuing like this only wastes Prosen soldiers’ lives.”

Chief of staff: “We can send a telegram to Army Group Command B, and CC the High Command.”

General Frederick pondered for a few seconds, resolutely saying: “Let’s do that, draft the telegram personally, use a mild tone, try to describe the situation we’re facing accurately.”

"Yes.”

At the same time, in the front line Prosen 581st Infantry Regiment headquarters, Major Richard sighed deeply: “It seems we probably won’t be able to take this city.”

The remaining staff, with lips pursed, said, “Sir, this isn’t good for morale

"Do you think the soldiers don’t know? When we first entered the city, the Anteans were just a mob hiding in the shadows, ambushing us. If their presence was revealed before their attack, they posed us no significant harm. A few of us could suppress a squad-controlled building by the Anteans!

"But now, the Anteans still alive are seasoned warriors, the soldiers know that, and they do too. They have… become veterans.”

Major Richard looked at the softly falling snow in the night sky: “It’s getting colder, I heard the Valdai Hills River already has a layer of thin ice, the dreadful memory of last winter has been giving me nightmares these past few nights.”

Staff: “This time we have winter gear.”

"Yes, we have winter gear, and the military department’s anti-freeze lubricant for the weapons,” Major Richard paused, then counter-asked, “Do you know how many guns have frozen in the last few days, needing to be heated up?”

The staff remained silent.

At that moment, the orderly came in with canned food: “Major, the canned food is heated, have some meat soup.”

Richard: “All we have to eat are canned goods, dry food, and pickles looted from the Anteans, and ammunition is increasingly running out. What will happen to the troops’ morale then? Conquer the city, end the war, huh.”

Staff: “Superiors will come up with a solution.”

"Yeah, they’ll come up with a solution,” Major Richard took the can, scooping a spoonful of meat soup into his mouth, chewing the undercooked meat chunks.

After finishing, he cursed: “This is simply pigswill, do you understand?”

Wang Zhong raised the ham in his hand, “A toast to our Amelia for making it back safely!”

Amelia: “Don’t make it sound like I was in any danger! Those Prosen people are far from being able to shoot me down.”

"Haven’t been in danger, you say? Then a toast to Amelia for shooting down another enemy plane!” Wang Zhong improvised his toast.

Amelia: “You just want to drink, don’t you? You Anteans are all drunks!”

Wang Zhong burst into laughter.

After finishing the ham on his plate, Pavlov passed his plate to the cooking team’s girl, “Bring me some more.”

Wang Zhong, “Can the whole army get hot meals today?”

The cooking team girl answered, “We’ve been trying to send hot meals to the front lines, but it seems some units have disintegrated. I’m not sure what that means.”

The girl looked like she had just finished tenth grade and was ready to get married.

Wang Zhong, “It means that a whole unit has disbanded into countless small combat groups, scattered across the city like stars. You know what stars are, right?”

"I do know that, my husband used to make wreaths for me with those.”

Wang Zhong, “Oh? Where is he now?”

"He went missing at Saint Andrew Fort,” the girl said calmly.

Silence fell.

Fortunately, at that moment, a major general entered the headquarters shaft. He spotted Wang Zhong and saluted loudly, “Reporting! Division Commander Leonid Aleksandrovich of the 1st heavy breakthrough artillery division reporting to you, General Rocossov Davarish.”

Wang Zhong looked up at the major general, “How heavy is your heavy breakthrough artillery division?”

"We have two hundred artillery pieces above 200 mm, and two hundred 152 mm guns!” Major General Leonid Aleksandrovich said proudly.

Wang Zhong: “Not bad, Pavlov, include them in our fire plan. When we counterattack, we want to flatten the enemy’s positions and blast all their trenches!”

"Leave it to me,” Pavlov stood up, wiping his greasy hands directly on his coat, and gestured to Leonid Aleksandrovich to come over.

The major general hurried over, “Yes, sir?”

Pavlov, “This is our current fire plan, my staff will incorporate your division. I estimate we’ll deploy you here, supply routed from Mamayev military station

Wang Zhong took a big sip of hot soup.

Just then, a soldier from the Guard Corps entered and reported, “General, it’s snowing.”

Wang Zhong, “Hasn’t it been snowing all along?”

"Heavy snow, General. You’ll see if you come out!”

As soon as the words fell, cold wind poured down the shaft, making Wang Zhong shiver—despite being next to the stove and hot soup!

He hastily buttoned up his field jacket, zipped up his coat, and wrapped a scarf around—

He paused, fingers twirling the scarf.

It was Yakov’s scarf, reportedly hand-knitted by his wife.

Wang Zhong bit his lip, loosened the scarf, and turned to the guard, “Let’s go see how heavy the snow is!”

Soon, he stepped out of the tunnel entrance and stood under the night sky of Abawahan.

The north wind swirled the snowflakes down like feathers.

The wind on his face felt like blades scraping his skin.

It seemed there was hail mixed in the snow, creating a cracking noise as it hit the ground.

Wang Zhong faced the heavy snow and laughed, “Good! Excellent! Let it keep pouring down like this to drown the enemy’s supply lines!”

Pavlov also came out of the tunnel, frowning at the heavy snow, “Such heavy snow, we might need to mobilize laborers from churches along the route to clear the snow to keep the trains running.”

Wang Zhong, “Isn’t that good news? The enemy can’t mobilize so many laborers to clear the snow, and since they don’t have railways, if the snow is heavy enough, even tanks can’t move!

"Mother Antea is finally showing her colors to the enemy!”

Popov exited the tunnel too, shrinking his neck as he came out, “Man, it’s so cold! This winter might be colder than the last.”

Wang Zhong, “Isn’t that good? Many of us have lived in the extreme cold of the Far East; they’re definitely more used to harsh winters than the Prosens.”

Pavlov, “We still have Kuba’s fuel oil, good for heating, while they can only burn tank engine oil and gasoline.”

As if to respond to Pavlov’s words, a gust of north wind roared in, sweeping up nearly five centimeters of snow from the ground, enveloping everything outside the tunnel in a dense fog.

For a moment, Wang Zhong thought he had arrived at some Sacred Mountain, and the fog was a prelude to a deity’s entrance.

But the bone-chilling cold kept him lucid.

He murmured softly, “Welcome, General Winter!”

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