Arc of Fire

Chapter 675: Chapter 13: ‘Victory in Sight for the Empire of Prosen’ (Update 42/84)

At the same time, at the heart of the Empire of Prosen, the Eagle’s Nest.

"Three months after total mobilization, our total military strength has reached 9.3 million! The forces on the Eastern Front have even surpassed the initial stage of the war, having broken through six million, with 4.1 million deployed on the front line.”

Celtic Marshal was holding a map rod, explaining while gesturing on the map.

"We are currently building strongholds in the central part of the front line; once completed, we will be able to free up the forces of 18 full divisions for use in other directions.

"Furthermore, to solve the supply issues at the front, we started building a highway network since 914, which was progressively completed this year, significantly enhancing our transportation capacity during the muddy seasons. It can be predicted that when the summer campaign launches, our supply conditions will be better than ever before.”

The Emperor nodded, “Very good, how many troops have we already assembled?”

Celtic Marshal replied, “In the planned main direction of the attack, we have already assembled 12 first-wave infantry divisions, 8 armored divisions, and six Armored Grenadier divisions – a heavy concentration of troops with a density exceeding any of our previous offenses.”

"Not enough!” the Emperor shook his head, “We need to strive for a breakthrough at the frontline with 150 tanks per kilometer! We need to stun the enemy from the start, catch them off-guard! We also need to equip our troops with at least four heavy tank battalions, 200 of the newest heavy tanks!”

Celtic Marshal said, “If we want to achieve this goal, then the attack needs to be postponed until July.”

"That’s fine, if we delay until July, our new medium tanks will also be combat-ready. We have three new medium tank battalions, three hundred of the latest Leopard tanks! The Anteans will be shocked by our force!”

Celtic Marshal glanced at the others.

Armored Corps Director General Moochi said, “The performance of the new tanks is definitely outstanding, but uh, the test field reports that the new tanks have a slightly high failure rate, especially after the new armor plates were installed. The overall balance of the vehicles has some issues, there have been quite a few—uh, I mean, reports of front wheel shattering.”

The Emperor responded, “These issues are acceptable! If the front wheels shatter on the battlefield, we can stop the tanks in place and use them as supporting turrets for others! After all, it’s not like the Elephant tank destroyers without turrets.”

Before, Prosen called non-turreted armored combat vehicles assault guns, and now they had adopted Antean terminology, naming the new cutting-edge vehicles as tank destroyers (pronounced as tank destroyers).

By the way, General Moochi was the staunchest supporter of this name change because when they were previously called assault guns, these vehicles were always assigned to infantry divisions as support.

Now being called tank destroyers, they naturally should belong to armored divisions, as the primary function of an armored division is to destroy the enemy’s armor, hence “tank destroying.”

It was this name that allowed General Moochi to snatch almost all the Elephants for the armored divisions, giving none to the infantry.

General Sheeplin was grinding his teeth in hatred.

The Emperor stood up, pacing around the conference table, “In the past two years, our initial assaults have been quite successful. Even Rocossov had to resort to some cunning tricks to escape from our encirclement!

"In the first year, we almost caught him at Orachi! He abandoned a large number of his troops just to flee in disarray!”

The Imperial Propaganda Minister had been busy discrediting Rocossov in recent months, and hence Rocossov’s military actions at Orachi were portrayed as a total failure, the outcome being that Rocossov fled only with his wife and concubines.

The so-called Miracle of Orachi was merely a lie from the Antean propaganda department.

In order to align with the Minister of Propaganda’s narrative, the Imperial Ministry deployed the Constitutional Guards to completely devastate Orachi, eradicating all witnesses to that battle.

The Emperor was obviously aware of these actions, but he partially believed the Propaganda Minister’s statements.

"Now,” the Emperor continued pacing, “we will replicate that victory once again on the plains of Kazarlia! Rocossov will flee just as he did before!”

After the Emperor finished, Dr. Porsche from the Empire’s Military Science Academy stood up, “This time, we will also be using new Golia remote-controlled weapons. These remote-controlled minesweepers will efficiently clear Antean minefields and explode within the enemy’s positions!

"We will also deploy the latest model of the Smoke Sprayer rocket artillery. Last year, the Anteans caused panic in our forces with their large-caliber heavy rocket artillery, and now we are deploying rocket artillery of the same caliber!

"On the sides of the sdkfz251 half-track vehicles, we have mounted a total of six launch frames, firing 480mm Smoke Sprayer rockets. When they fire simultaneously, they produce a sound akin to the Death Scream of the Stuka, deserving the name Land Stuka!

"The technology of the Empire will crush the bravery of the Anteans!”

"Hmm, of course! In fact, we are also developing a new type of bomb, and the raw material factory in the north has been completed. It will continuously supply us with the necessary raw materials.

"Once we accumulate enough weapons-grade materials, we can complete this weapon! Just by detonating one, the entire Antean Empire will bow down to us! The war will also completely end!”

The Emperor stopped, scanning the conference room, and then, just like during his first speech after coming to power years ago, he clenched his right fist, looked up at the ceiling as if declaring his divine destiny: “Victory for the Empire of Prosen is in sight! I will prove that the light of technology will indeed replace the grace of God!”

The generals looked at each other.

Rumors of the new bomb had been around, but the generals, not understanding the science or the concept of a chain reaction, merely thought it was an ordinary bomb.

(Indeed, the nuclear bombs of World War II were genuinely just the ultimate enhancement of ordinary bombs, and even a powerful country like the United States only made a few, considering their greater value as a deterrent compared to their actual application in the scale of the war)

Nevertheless, the generals stood up, clapping furiously.

Amidst the applause, several Imperial Ministry operatives entered with pensive expressions, whispering something into the Emperor’s ear.

Emperor: “What?? Blown up?”

The Imperial Ministry operative glanced at the attending generals and spoke softly, nodding: “Yes, the Heavy Water Plant was assaulted by Commandos, and critical facilities have been completely destroyed.”

The Emperor stepped back a few paces, and his good friend Giles caught him just in time.

Then Giles turned to the Guard Commander and said, “Go call the Emperor’s sister, she’s the only one who can console His Majesty now.”

"Yes,” the Guard Commander swiftly left the room.

Emperor: “Giles, don’t worry about me, I have been through many such things before. This won’t defeat me! Dr. Porsche, immediately have Dr. Heisenberg fly to the Heavy Water Plant to see how long it will take to recover

Dr. Porsche looked troubled: “We haven’t been able to contact Dr. Heisenberg since yesterday.”

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