Arc of Fire

Chapter 623: Chapter 65 The First 24 Hours

Badayev Village, the Prosen 8th Infantry Army’s 151st Infantry Division was holding its ground in the village.

The main reason a division was now defending a village was because their troop strength had been severely reduced, and they currently only had enough soldiers for a battalion.

However, the survivors were mostly experienced veterans, so despite their diminished numbers, they were defending the village quite effectively.

But after confirming that they would encounter determined resistance here, the Anteans left only a small alert force behind and bypassed the village to continue advancing.

Brigadier Hauson, the acting commander of the 151st Division, looked at the former division commander who had been killed by a bomb, and decided not to provoke the Antean Armored Troops on the snowfields for the time being.

So, for the rest of the morning on the 20th, Badayev Village became eerily calm like the eye of a typhoon, surrounded by the sound of artillery, yet it remained quiet enough to be frightening.

By the way, the 151st Division’s telephone communication with the Military Department had been down since the attack began and had not been restored. Initially, the communications company had sent personnel to check the phone lines, but those who went also lost contact.

As for now, it was clear what would happen to anyone leaving the village to check the lines, so the communications company gave up on repairing the phone lines and instead focused on securing radio and wireless communication.

By noon, fuel for the generators was running low, and even radio and wireless communication had to be stopped.

The 151st Division had become a truly isolated stronghold. Surrounded by Antean Armored Troops that did not attack, they dared not venture out, and they were unaware of the situation of friendly forces nearby.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, the observation post on the village high point reported to division headquarters that large infantry forces had appeared around the village and had completely encircled it.

The Antean Armored Troops that were previously monitoring the village seemed to have stayed to support the infantry.

Acting Commander Hauson ordered his men to be ready to repel an enemy assault at any moment.

However, by the end of the day, the Anteans had not attacked Badayev Village.

At 2200 hours on the 20th, Abawahan Front Army Headquarters.

Pavlov summarized the situation, “At present, the enemy’s defensive will at several support points is very strong, but due to terrain issues, we have bypassed these points.”

Popov said, “This isn’t good news, though. We could bypass the support points because the entire terrain is flat as a pancake, the grass has been flattened by the snow, and the ground has frozen solid, allowing our tanks and transport vehicles to move without obstacles.

"When the enemy tries to break the siege, our defensive pressure will be enormous.”

Wang Zhong replied, “Indeed. The enemy’s 15th Armored Army, which might be used to break the siege, has not entered the encirclement, and that’s the only flaw in our entire plan. If a fully equipped armored army comes to the rescue, our blocking force will be under a lot of pressure.”

Actually, when Wang Zhong received the news that the 15th Armored Army was on its way, he had been hoping to encircle it as well, devouring three of the enemy’s armored armies at once and destroying a quarter of the enemy’s armored strength on the Eastern Front. After that, the enemy would become passive on the entire Southern Front.

However, even if Wang Zhong issued an order for the Air Force to deliberately let the 15th Armored Army through, without obstructing their advance, the army was still moving sluggishly, as if they had seen through the impending encirclement of the Sixth Army Group.

If this army suddenly sped up and arrived behind the encirclement forces, that would be disastrous.

Pavlov said, “We’ve diverted a large number of anti-tank forces, including two Whirlwind battalions, and deployed them on the blocking line. Our Cavalry has penetrated deep into the grasslands, exploiting their low dependence on supplies to attack the enemy’s supply lines.

"This army should not be able to breach our defenses.”

Wang Zhong said, “The blocking forces should hurry to repair the fortifications to ensure the annihilation operation against the Sixth Army Group goes smoothly. Once the encirclement is complete, we can move the tank units to the blocking line and act accordingly.”

Popov asked, “Aren’t we deploying tank units in the battle to encircle and annihilate the enemy?”

"Deploy, of course, but not so many are needed; tanks are better utilized in the open field,” Wang Zhong walked over to the map, looking at the mass labeled Sixth Army Group. “Moreover, time is on our side. Perhaps we can consider not attacking the Sixth Army Group immediately but instead devour the enemy’s reinforcements.”

Pavlov interjected, “Indeed, the Sixth Army Group’s supplies should be running out soon, perhaps we can persuade them to surrender through siege and psychological warfare. But isn’t it too ambitious to aim to encircle the enemy’s relief forces? We are still at a disadvantage in terms of casualty exchange with the enemy. Consider that Prosen Tank platoon that destroyed 22 of our tanks.”

In reality, it was a tank division, but only five tanks (one platoon) were left.

Wang Zhong said, “Let’s surround them for a few days first; we have more shells than we can use. Bombard them daily, break them down with artillery, and combine that with psychological warfare. Also, all units should be ready for a forceful assault; if things turn bad, we’ll initiate encirclement warfare.”

"Agreed,” Pavlov nodded. “Another issue, are we not going to attack those strong points?”

Wang Zhong answered, “They hardly have any more assault guns to break through with. Shall we just surround them and feed them a few thousand shells every day?”

At Saint Ye Katerina Fortress, in the Summer Palace.

"Why haven’t I heard the news of victory today?” Olga questioned General Tugenev, “When can I bestow the rank of General onto my dear brother?”

General Tugenev forced a bitter smile, “The battle must proceed step by step; the encirclement isn’t even complete yet. According to the Front Army’s operational plan, it will take 72 hours to complete the encirclement, and we haven’t even finished the first 24 hours, my dear Emperor.”

Olga asked, “What will the newspapers say tomorrow then? That it will take another 48 hours for the encirclement to be complete?”

"They will say that Kutuzov’s operation has begun and is progressing smoothly, with Rocossov blowing the horn for a counterattack.”

Olga inquired, “Last time his operation was codenamed Suvorov, this time it’s Kutuzov, is it going to be Bagration next time?”

Tugenev replied, “I don’t know; you should be clearer on this than I am.”

Olga frowned, “Don’t make it sound as if I have a lot of private interactions with him. I would like to, but he ignores me.”

Tugenev looked at Olga, blinking rapidly as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

At the heart of Prosen, Eagle’s Nest.

The Plathen Emperor questioned while slamming the table, “So when can Steiner’s 15th Armored Army launch an attack?”

Celtic Marshal replied, “Currently, half of their tanks are under repair. The guerrillas have destroyed the repair factories on the road and caused massive casualties among the repair personnel. Relying solely on the 15th Armored Army’s own support forces, it’s impossible to handle a 500-kilometer field maneuver.”

"What about the highways?” the Emperor queried.

"Since the snowfall began, there’s not much difference between highway and field mobility because the roads in Ante are very poor.”

The Emperor exclaimed, “I didn’t know our tanks were such fragile things!”

"Your Majesty,” Marshal Bryan began, “a 500-kilometer operational distance would cause any country’s tanks to break down by half. This distance should be covered by tank transporters or by establishing a comprehensive battlefield rapid repair system to cope with it. But we have neither.”

The Emperor said, “Then let’s attack with the remaining half of the tanks. The enemy can only intercept the 15th Army in the wilderness, and we have always been at an advantage in the wilderness!”

Marshal Bryan responded, “But the enemy has new-model assault guns, and we’re no longer at an advantage in the wilderness shootouts. Many reports indicate that the enemy forces are increasingly equipped with new-model assault guns.”

The Emperor asked, “So, we just do nothing? Wait for the Imperial Academy of Sciences to come up with a tank that can compete with the enemy’s assault guns before we take the next step? Is this still the proud Prosen military?”

It was then that General Ma Qi, the Armored Corps Director, stated, “The 15th Armored Army is equipped with Panzer IV tanks with new 48-caliber cannons, not the previous 43-caliber 75mm cannon. They should be able to penetrate the frontal armor of the new enemy assault guns.”

Caliber ratio, which is the length of the gun barrel, is a multiple of the caliber.

Generally, the longer the caliber ratio of a gun, the better its armor-piercing capability.

"Look! The Armored Corps Director says so too. Order Steiner to attack! As long as Steiner attacks, everything will improve! We can rescue the Sixth Army Group and get them out intact!”

Celtic Marshal said with a helpless look, “I will draft a telegram immediately, ordering the 15th Armored Army to launch an attack tomorrow.”

"Very well!” sighed the Emperor. “Krat Bureau gave us two different pieces of intelligence, and we ultimately believed the report that Rocossov was just bluffing. That was our error in intelligence interpretation.”

At that moment, Giles shook his head, “No, we were tricked by Rocossov’s deception. He clearly exposed his tanks in the snow on purpose, creating a misjudgment for us who have been fooled once before. He played us.”

The Emperor fell silent for a while as if he was reluctant to admit that he had been played.

Eventually, he spoke up, “Yes, we were played, fooled as easily as simpletons.”

Marshal Bryan added, “In fact, if we hadn’t captured his banner, we wouldn’t have been so naively convinced that he had reached his limit.”

Everyone fell silent.

Finally, the Emperor said, “In any case, we must first rescue the Sixth Army Group. It’s not yet time to despair! I need to dispatch an outstanding officer to the front to command the breakout. Do you have any recommendations?”

Celtic Marshal suggested, “General Erik von Xiplin is capable of undertaking this task. In June, he commanded the Eleventh Army Group in the Coastal Region and successfully encircled the enemy’s heavy forces. Also, his performance in the Northern Army Group was quite commendable, having encircled two enemy army groups at Bankara Lake.”

"Then let him do it. What is the Eleventh Army Group currently doing?”

Marshal Bryan reported, “They’re under the A Army Group, preparing to attack Mount Raoul, but the heavy snow has halted their offense. Regardless, it’s too late to redeploy the Eleventh Army Group now.”

"Alright then, establish a new Army Group for him and incorporate all the troops that can participate in the rescue. Tell him that he must rescue the Sixth Army Group before Christmas, no matter what!”

Although the Antean encirclement was not yet complete, the Emperor’s tone had already conceded that the Sixth Army Group was surrounded.

The generals present exchanged glances, but no one spoke.

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