Chapter 526 Fathers

October 26, 0300 hours, Army Group Center Headquarters.

"Do you think only your army is under attack?" Marshal von Pogg, commander of Army Group Center, held the receiver and said to General Walter Mendel of the Ninth Army on the other side of the phone, "The entire front, I It means that the entire front is under attack. All the armies told me that the Ants have made a breakthrough!"

Mendel said loudly over there: "But not all breakthroughs are fatal! They attack every area indiscriminately. As soon as they break through, they start to invest troops. A large number of troops that rush over cannot cause much damage at all!"

Marshal von Pogg shook his head: "No, you think there is not much threat to you because you have nearly 300,000 people. You are the strongest in the entire Army Group Center. Look at those armies with only 100,000 people." , the Ant breakthrough troops appeared less than five kilometers away from the army headquarters!

"If you are calling me to ask for reinforcements, then let me tell you, I have already sent my last reserve force to those shaky armies.

"They have called me to complain a long time ago. You are the last one, understand, the last one!"

Walter Mendel: "What if I get punched through?"

"You have been penetrated. Army Group Center should have collapsed. Why are there any blue plans?" Marshal von Pogg picked up the waffles on the table and dipped some cream in it, but did not rush to put it in his mouth. Rise.

Mendel: "So we have no reinforcements?"

"At least not until the high command gives us new troops. The high command should still have several divisions of troops on the Eastern Front. If there is another emergency, they will have to mobilize them from the country or other fronts. At least they will be good. a few days.”

Marshal von Pogg paused, as if to let Admiral Mendel feel what these words meant.

When the time was almost up, he continued: "You have to find a way to deal with the Ant attack by yourself. You have two armored corps, two! The Sixth Army, which is the main offensive of the blue plan, only has two armored corps. Rush back!"

After speaking, Marshal von Pogg hung up the phone directly.

When he put down the receiver, the marshal let out a long sigh: "I hope my momentum just now can fool General Mendel."

"Of course." The adjutant agreed from the side, "I thought you were really angry."

Von Pogg didn't answer. He finished the waffle he had just held, stood up and walked over to the map with his hands in his pockets, staring at the map for a long time.

"I'm suddenly a little worried." He turned to look at his adjutant and the army group's chief of staff. "What if we are breached by too many points and the entire line collapses? This possibility exists, doesn't it?"

Adjutant: "How is it possible? It has never happened before in military history that the whole line collapsed due to such a tactics. The Ant people are just wasting their troops. Their only successful attack so far was to first deplete our supplies. Then he succeeded.

"And now we have sufficient supplies. Because it is expected that the mud may affect the supply, each army group has stocked up on supplies in advance. The Anters will definitely gain nothing."

Marshal von Pogg put his hands behind his back, stared at the map for a few seconds, and shook his head: "It is better to prepare for the worst, Chief of Staff, organize the staff to estimate how many Ant troops we have been attacked by, and mark the evaluation You can relax a little bit and exaggerate the criticality of the situation.”

The chief of staff shook his head: "The report we have received must have been exaggerated. The command below must also be thinking of exaggerating the situation and getting a lot of reinforcements."

Marshal von Pogg waved his hand: "I am the commander of Army Group Center. My responsibility is to ensure that my Army Group does not fall into danger and to ensure that the current front is controlled. So asking the headquarters for more troops is just to complete the task. It’s my responsibility. Without troops, there’s no way to secure the front, do you understand?”

The chief of staff nodded: "Understood. Then I will make an assessment right away."

Marshal von Berg: "I'm going to take a nap first. When I wake up, I hope you have finished the evaluation and drafted the telegram to the headquarters. I want to see the first draft of the telegram, so gentlemen, thank you for your hard work, and... …Good night."

Von Borg looked at the time and changed his words: "Good morning."

————

"Morning." General Gorky yawned as he entered the Western Front Headquarters. "How is the progress so far?"

Chief of Staff: "They are all small-scale breakthroughs. There are only five breakthrough points of great value on the entire front."

General Gorky: "The second echelon is moving towards these five breakthrough points!"

"It's already being done, but because we spread the second echelon evenly across the entire front, and now it's a muddy period, I think it will be difficult to quickly form a decisive advantage at the five breakthrough points." The chief of staff said while using the map The stick gestures on the map.

No one knows where a breakthrough will be made in General Gorky's offensive plan. In order to make a breakthrough anywhere, troops can quickly follow up. In the combat plan, the second echelon was evenly distributed across the entire front, and the third echelon troops It is concentrated in a few places where progress is expected to be made.

The result is that the second echelon can invest immediately, but it can only invest a little bit, and cannot suddenly gain an overwhelming advantage like a flood breaking through the breach in a dam.

General Gorky frowned: "The mud has begun to block us."

Chief of Staff: "It has always affected everyone indiscriminately. It's just that we are used to the mud and the supply lines are shorter, which gives us an advantage."

General Gorky did not answer. He stared at the map for dozens of seconds, then suddenly pointed at Shostka and said: "Can tanks pass through the landing site north of Shostka?"

Chief of Staff: "No, we don't have so many heavy ferries. Floating bridges - the heavy pontoon bridges supported by the United States are now available to the Fort St. Andrew Front and the Abavahan Front, but we do not."

General Gorky: "Will you deliver anti-tank weapons to them?"

"Some ZIS3 anti-tank guns were sent over, but the 85 anti-aircraft guns were not sent over."

General Gorky: "Immediately send anti-tank guns over there. If the Prosins want to counterattack, they will put in armored troops, at least armored grenadiers. They can't do it without anti-tank firepower.

"What about our air force? Can we air-drop some light anti-tank guns?"

The chief of staff looked outside: "With this rain, it is estimated that the air force cannot be dispatched. Even if it is forced to dispatch, there is no way to see where to airdrop."

General Gorky sighed: "Then we can only let our soldiers face the enemy's tanks with their flesh and blood."

————

October 26, 0700 hours, the headquarters of the Sixth Army of Plosen.

Army commander Wilhelm von Frederik took the radio receiver and asked: "What do you mean the enemy's tank army has disappeared?"

"This is the case, General. According to the prisoners' confessions, one of the brigade we eliminated belonged to the 124th Brigade of the 51st Ant Tank Corps. There should be several tank brigades in this army, but now we can't find them." Ah, who launched a counterattack. Joset, commander of the 5th Armored Division of the Sgard Knights, said.

Just as General Frederick was about to speak, his chief of staff reminded: "These tank brigades are destroying our artillery positions and supply lines. Several artillery regiments have lost contact, and they all said they were attacked by tanks before they lost contact. "

General Wilhelm von Frederik immediately shouted into the microphone: "They are attacking our artillery positions. Find these brigades and destroy them!"

Division Commander Joset: "General, I have a better suggestion. We launch an attack on the beachhead and cut off their supply lines, so that the tank troops have to go back for rescue."

Admiral Frederick thought for a moment and smiled: "Okay, let's do it."

————

Brigade command vehicle of the 123rd Tank Brigade of the 51st Tank Corps.

The brigade chief of staff climbed onto the command vehicle and said to the brigade commander: "We have been unable to contact the military headquarters for seven hours. The troops are now severely depleted of ammunition. Do you think we should return to the beach to resupply?"

Brigade Commander: "No, the order we received is to attack, keep attacking, and return all the way to our army's position on the outskirts of Abawahan. When the rest is over, the whole brigade will continue to move forward!"

Chief of Staff: "It's still so far away, and before reaching our position, we will encounter the enemy's attacking troops first, right? There is no ammunition..."

Brigadier: "Look at the river next to you!"

The chief of staff turned to look at the Valdaichu River, where a large number of ships were moving down the river.

Brigade Commander: "If the pontoon bridge is still there, the ship can't get off, and there will be no supplies when we get back to the beach. Let's keep moving forward! Pour the last cannonballs on the heads of the Prosens!"

The chief of staff stood on the engine cover of the tank, looking at the Valdaichu River and the ships on the river, biting his lip gently.

He said: "At the beginning of this year, when General Rokossov drove the enemy away from the Yebao, my wife said she wanted to have a child with me. She said she didn't want children before because she didn't want him to be a slave. Calculating the estimated date of delivery, It’s been a few days.”

The brigade commander also looked at the Valdaichu River: "I have two daughters, the younger one is only three years old this year. I hope my stepfather can take good care of them."

"Yes." The chief of staff agreed, "I hope my stepfather can take good care of them. By the way, General Rokossov's wife seems to have given birth not long ago, and she seems to be on her way to the front line."

"I've heard that. Maybe it's because of this that the general didn't jump on the tank again and charge on the front line."

"It would be a bit outrageous for the commander of the front army to jump on the tank and charge in personally." The chief of staff laughed.

"really."

The two laughed for a while and then fell silent.

A few seconds later, the chief of staff pointed to the telecommunications vehicle: "I'm going back to guard the radio."

"Go ahead and let me know as soon as the military has news!"

"Don't worry." The chief of staff waved his hand and got into the open door of the telecommunications vehicle.