Arc of Fire

Chapter 668: Chapter 6 Isn’t This a Joke?

On March 20th, at 2330 hours, the First Front Army Headquarters in Kazarlia.

Wang Zhong heard the sound of an airplane engine outside the headquarters.

He immediately switched to an aerial view and saw a biplane descending onto the village road where the headquarters was located, under the cover of night.

The village road had just been cleared of mud that day, and it should remain dry at least until the morning dew sets in, so the plane landed smoothly.

An officer jumped out of the plane with a briefcase and even blew a kiss to the female pilot.

Wang Zhong frowned, his external device had already informed him that this man was the new liaison officer from the United Kingdom stationed in Yeburg, the previous liaison officer had been recalled to report back to the United Kingdom after a glorious victory in the winter campaign.

It seemed the United Kingdom was keen to understand the true situation behind that glorious victory.

It was normal for the United Kingdom to be suspicious, the Federation had also recalled the senior officer who coordinated the maritime aircraft reinforcements to clarify the real situation.

Till now, those officials hadn’t returned yet, and the maritime pilots were all on extended leave, teaching the Air Force pilots from Ante various unique techniques for bombing ships every day.

However, Wang Zhong didn’t know why the new liaison officer had rushed over from Yeburg, even travelling overnight on such an old model as the biplane.

He must have first taken a C47 to a nearby frontline airport, where it was already evening, then he switched temporarily to the biplane piloted by the “Dark Night Witches.”

It must be something important.

As Wang Zhong thought this, the liaison officer had already met with Amelia and was heading straight to the headquarters under the Witch’s lead.

Pavlov had just hung up the phone, “The sentry reported a biplane has landed, the person from the United Kingdom is on his way to the headquarters right now.”

Wang Zhong switched back to normal view, “It looks like we have significant intelligence here, otherwise, they wouldn’t send someone over in the middle of the night like this.”

Pavlov nodded.

Popov said, “It’s perfect timing since you guys were about to go off duty and rest, this plane arrived quite coincidentally.”

While they were speaking, Amelia led the liaison officer in, “Generals, Liaison Officer Richard has significant intelligence.”

"Not important wouldn’t have him rushing over at this hour,” Wang Zhong extended his hand, “Let me see it, or do we need to wait for translation?”

Liaison Officer Richard said, “It has been translated already, here you go.”

He took out an envelope from his briefcase and stuffed it into Wang Zhong’s hand.

Wang Zhong tore open the kraft paper envelope and pulled out the document inside. He frowned as he read the cover aloud, “Prosen High Command, Top Secret, 916 Summer Combat Operations: Fortress? Looks like ‘Fortress’ is a codename?”

Just like the code name for the Sturmtiger offensive in Earth’s history!

Instantly, Wang Zhong felt this document might be credible, but still asked cautiously, “How did this document come into your hands?”

"It was provided by a mole from MI6 in Germania,” the liaison officer answered, “I don’t know the details; the mole’s ranking is very high, I couldn’t possibly know more.”

Wang Zhong knew about the disastrous handling of information during World War II on Earth; the Enigma Machine had been cracked by the British, and then all kinds of critical intelligence were taken out, eventually even leading to the Allied bombing of the crucial synthetic oil plants.

Hence, he was quite inclined to believe that the MI6 could obtain such intelligence.

Pavlov, unaware of this background, expressed his worries, “Can we trust this?”

Vasily also voiced his concern, “Could this be a deception operation? Just like the several times we’ve deceived the Prosens?”

The liaison officer from the United Kingdom laughed heartily.

Everyone in the headquarters looked at him.

Even Amelia, his fellow countrywoman, stared at him sternly.

The liaison officer finally realized the mood and stopped smiling, “Wait, this isn’t a joke? It’s actually not a joke? Isn’t it funny that the Prosens would carry out this kind of deception operation?”

Wang Zhong and the others looked at each other, then awkwardly laughed together.

Liaison Officer said, “You don’t have to humor me like that, so you think this is a deception operation?”

Wang Zhong responded, “We’ll need to see the contents to decide.”

As he spoke, he flipped open the cover and quickly began to review the entire battle plan.

Pavlov leaned forward, trying to sneak a peek, but was blocked by Vasily, who was equally curious about the contents.

He glared at Vasily’s back, puffing his beard and glaring, but Vasily didn’t care and focused all his attention on the document.

Vasily said, “What? Are they really going to attack us proactively, just as the General had predicted? And such a great opportunity at that?”

Amelia, who hadn’t heard the conversation between Wang Zhong and General Gorky, widened her eyes, “Did you predict this?”

Wang Zhong replied, “Yes, because on the entire front line, the best part for them to attack appears to be where we are—the salient.”

Amelia asked, “Are they crazy? You are Ante’s best defense general!”

Wang Zhong said, “But I really haven’t stopped them in the wilderness before. I either rely on pre-established positions in forests or rivers, or extensive reinforced concrete buildings.”

Vasily asked, “Have you forgotten Yeisk?”

Wang Zhong paused, “Ah? Oh right, Yeisk. I stopped them on the prairies near Yeisk, leveraging the advantage of the Whirlwind. But General Gorky said that the frontline discovered the enemy’s new anti-tank guns, which have very thick barrels.”

In fact, at this moment, Wang Zhong was not thinking about the Big Max or Emil’s type, he thought it was a Weasel 3 type.

The Whirlwind should be able to resist the PAK40 cannons mounted on Weasels at longer distances.

He didn’t expect that his creation would lead to Prosen’s technology tree pointing towards the 105mm anti-tank gun, racing toward the direction of an E100 artillery carrier.

Amelia said, “The way you talk, it sounds like we might not hold it, but your expression is brimming with confidence.”

Wang Zhong shrugged, “Let them come, we’ll deal with them. Even if the enemy has better artillery, we can handle it. Weren’t we able to survive when they first deployed the Long-barreled Four in combat?”

Pavlov couldn’t hold back anymore and said, “Can I take a look at the plan?”

"Oh, sure,” Wang Zhong quickly handed the plan to Pavlov.

Pavlov quickly flipped through it and said, “From the details, it looks very much like a plan Prosen would make. But… adding fifty divisions? That’s a bit too stretched. Prosen’s divisions are large.”

Popov said, “Fifty divisions… it might be possible for our mobilized infantry divisions, after all, fifty divisions are just 250,000 men and can’t form a threatening heavy force cluster on the front line, just a fill.”

Wang Zhong said, “If the enemy has two directions of attack, fifty divisions might be plausible, spread across both sides of a pincer movement, in a multi-echelon setup. But their battle plan only intends to give us a left hook, so fifty divisions are unreasonable.”

Vasily joyfully said, “This increases the likelihood that it’s a deception plan!”

The liaison officer immediately covered his mouth, “Sorry, it’s not a joke, I understand now.”

Pavlov handed the plan brought by the liaison officer to Popov, then approached the map, “I still find it incredible that they’d attack us. Our forces are strong, and we have many units within our formation that are titled as ‘Guards’. Except for the newly reorganized Eighth Guards Tank Army, other units are veterans that have retained their combat backbones from hard battles.”

The Eighth Guards Tank Army was formed based on the old 51st Tank Army, which had suffered severe losses. Only the vehicle crews and officers who had gone behind enemy lines for guerrilla warfare had survived. Thus, although this army held the ‘Guards’ title, it was essentially a new army.

Wang Zhong said, “Our infantry has also been tested time and again, most having experienced the bloodbath at Abawahan. However, we are exactly in a salient, and last year they almost pulled off the feat of quickly switching from attacking Yarvik to attacking Bolsk.”

Last year, Wang Zhong had Vasily create a fake tank formation, which completely fooled the enemy. The troops, originally intended for a flank attack on Bolsk, were diverted to the Battle of Suhayaweili River Bay, allowing Meishikin’s Bolsk Front Army to escape and eventually being reformed as a Mountain Corps.

Popov suggested, “So, is the enemy planning to complete what they didn’t last year? Should we also retreat like before, extending the enemy’s supply lines and then counter-attacking in winter?”

Wang Zhong shook his head, “No, this year the enemy won’t fall for it again, even if they are Prosen, they wouldn’t make the same mistake thrice. The enemy is likely to undertake a short-term campaign this summer, just as I predicted to General Gorky.”

As he said this, he approached the map, “Whether this intelligence is true or false, we should focus on annihilating the enemy’s vital forces in defense and counterattack, using fortifications to tire and deplete the enemy, waiting until the enemy is spent before launching a counter-offensive.

"Prosen has already mobilized fully; if we delay, the enemy’s strength might increase, and their equipment may improve, which could make the situation tricky. We will have to make more sacrifices to achieve victory.

"Now, we need to think not only about winning the war but also about winning with minimal sacrifices. If we win and go back to find that our villages are without labor and our factories filled with wounded workers, then the cost of this war is too great, comrades!”

Popov slammed the table emphatically, “You’re right! Let’s start building the fortifications now!”

Wang Zhong continued, “To prevent the possibility of false intelligence or a change in the enemy’s battle plans, we should build fortifications along the whole front line while actively conducting reconnaissance to grasp as much as possible about the enemy’s assembly and ammunition supplies.

"The next four months are crucial, determining how many sacrifices we need to achieve victory. We must minimize the sacrifices! Much as possible, reduce them! Let’s get moving, Davarish!”

Pavlov clapped loudly, “You all heard him!”

Popov added, “Wait a minute, have you forgotten the time? People who don’t rest can’t work. You should rest first, let the night shift handle things, and get thoroughly busy tomorrow!”

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