Chapter 731 Road Signs in Hometown

Late at night on July 16, at the Kozalia First Front Army Headquarters, the summary of the battle situation on the first day of the attack was finally placed in front of Wang Zhong.

"The troops that advanced the farthest have advanced eighteen kilometers... It's quite satisfactory." He put down the document.

Pavlov: "It is worth noting that the loss rate of new tanks has not increased as we predicted. Obviously the Plosans should be equipped with many units with 105mm anti-tank guns."

Prosen's heavy armored battalion has basically been equipped with King Tiger tanks with 105mm tank guns. The Leopards are also equipped with new armor-piercing projectiles that can penetrate the Rokosov-1 type.

Therefore, when Pavlov was planning, he deliberately increased the loss probability of Rokosov Type 1 and T54.

But it seems that the actual loss rate is not much higher than last year.

The chief of staff stared at the data in front of him and thought for a long time before saying: "I guess - it's because the quality of the enemy's soldiers has declined? Isn't this a bit too optimistic?"

Others in the room looked at each other.

Even Wang Zhong, who has read the script here on Earth, is not sure. After all, he only knew that the quality of soldiers in Sandezi declined in the later period, but he only knew it through memoirs and had not seen specific data collection.

For example, Karius's memoir "Tiger in the Mud" mentioned that the Tiger Hunting Battalion that was later given to him to command was full of new recruits. It was obviously in a position where it could easily destroy dozens of Allied tanks, but one No results were obtained.

However, Wang Zhong did not know when this decline in the quality of soldiers began and how fast it declined.

After all, even in the very late stages, Santoku still fought many tactically beautiful battles.

Anyway, now Wang Zhong and others are looking at each other in confusion.

Popov: "In this case, we will send people to conduct a careful investigation among the prisoners and come up with an evaluation report."

Wang Zhong: "Yes, this report can also reflect from the side how much war potential Prosen still has. I suggest that a special person be assigned to the project and it be completed as soon as possible!"

Vasily volunteered: "Then let me supervise this matter! Everyone knows that I am your adjutant to the marshal, and I will definitely work hard."

Wang Zhong nodded: "Okay, you can handle this matter."

————

In fact, it was not only the front army headquarters that noticed the decline in the quality of Plosen's troops.

While advancing with the troops, Yegorov's headquarters encountered a large number of Plosin prisoners.

"Wait a minute!" Yegorov slapped the driver's neck hard with his hand, "Stop, stop! Let me see what's going on!"

After the jeep stopped, Yegorov picked up the flashlight, turned it on, and looked into the pile of prisoners.

"Be good." He got out of the car and shouted to the back, "Get a translator who understands Prosen!"

Soon the translator ran up from the rear of the convoy and reported loudly: "Commander Davarisi, I am proficient in Plosen, please give instructions!"

"You, ask how old these children are."

the translator asked immediately.

The baby-faced recruit said firmly: "Eighteen years old!"

"Lie!" Yegorov shouted angrily, "You look only sixteen years old!"

Before the translator could speak, the baby-faced recruit spat at Yegorov and cursed him in Prosin.

Yegorov turned the flashlight to the next prisoner, "Oh, this one looks like an adult. How old are you?"

While asking the question, he pulled the prisoner's arm and looked at the badge on it.

"There is no exemption stamp, which means you are not a veteran."

According to the tradition of Prosen's army, veterans do not need to clean the house or take on various miscellaneous tasks. Veterans with this qualification will wear immunity badges.

As soon as the translation was finished, Private Prossen spoke: "As big as the private who just spat on you, Your Excellency General Ant."

Yegorov changed the question: "How long have you been training?"

"Six months." This time the Pulosen prisoners answered more neatly.

Yegorov: "Where are the veterans in the army? There must be veterans to take you, right?"

Translators perform their duties faithfully.

At first, the baby-faced recruit said: "We are a newly formed anti-tank gun unit and there are not many veterans. The officer said that we will soon stand the test and become veterans. Then it will be our turn to protect and drill the inexperienced The new recruits.”

Yegorov shone his flashlight around again and found that almost none of the Plosin prisoners doubted the officers' words.

"What about you officers?" Yegorov's chief of staff finally caught up, "You can't be the only ones on the battlefield, right?"

"He died," the baby-faced recruit said.

Yegorov sighed: "If I were to command such a bunch of new recruits, I would rather die early."

Chief of Staff: "But our troops have already been recruits like this."

"Really?" Yegorov's eyes widened, "Is that so?"

"Yes, it's just that the new recruit has grown into a tough guy again." said the chief of staff.

Yegorov spat: "Your words make me don't know what expression to make."

Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, and his expression brightened: "It was the division commander who brought us out of this dangerous situation! The division commander saved our country and turned the new recruits into veterans!

"Ask the Prosen people if they have such a great person as the division commander!"

The translator made a grimace: "Why do you ask this?"

The bishop accompanying the army group suggested: "Just ask him who he thinks can lead Proson out of the current predicament."

The translator did so.

The recruit Prosen was asked, and he looked embarrassed. This question was a bit too high for a recruit who was not yet an adult. He hesitated before replying: "I think Marshal Erwin Rommel can do it."

After listening to the translation, Yegorov cursed: "Asshole! How can this Romel be as good as our division commander! Let him think again!"

The army bishop stopped Yegorov: "Come on, don't embarrass other people's children, I can't stand it anymore! Let's go, let's go, we are still ten kilometers away from the new headquarters! If we wait a little longer, it will be dawn. , maybe the Proson Air Force will come to attack!"

"You're right." Yegorov climbed onto the jeep and suddenly laughed for no reason. "We beat Prosen so hard that we had to send these new recruits to the battlefield. We are so damn good."

Others in the jeep laughed too.

The jeep started up and plunged into the night.

————

July 18, the 72nd hour of the attack.

Henry Scaritz suddenly shouted: "Stop! Stop at the sign ahead!"

Commander Podolkov slapped the roof of the tank hard: "Stop! Stop in front of the road sign!"

Henry vaguely heard a "duang" sound, which seemed to be the sound of a wrench colliding with a heavy object. Then the tank stopped, but it was obviously too late, and it stopped after passing the road sign for seven or eight meters.

Henry jumped out of the car, took three steps to the street sign, and looked at the place names written in Prossen and Melania.

He rubbed his eyes and confirmed that the line above Prosin was indeed Melania's.

It is impossible for the road signs in Ant to be in the Melania language. This has nothing to do with how long it has been occupied by Prosen.

At this time, the infantry of Melania's People's Army, which was advancing on foot, also came over. When passing Henry, everyone looked at the road signs.

"Damn, did I see Melania's language?"

The ensign who said this wiped his eyes hard.

“I’ll go, it’s really Melania!”

“Have we entered Melania’s territory?”

"Isn't that right? Shouldn't we see a boundary marker or something first?"

"You're stupid. The Prosen people think that they are a thousand-year empire and will rule these lands forever, so they demolished all the boundary markers, thinking that this will be a country in the future!"

"Really? So we are in Melania's hometown?"

"Hey, who is that? Haven't you never been back to your hometown? Your hometown is here!"

Many of the Melania People's Army are descendants of Melania living in Ant. After all, before the independence of modern Melania, most of the country's land was ruled by Ant.

In order to commemorate the Ant Queen who annexed Melania, the Ant people named their capital after her until now: Saint Catherine Castle.

Henry stood there, staring at the street sign, as if he wanted to write down every detail of this ordinary road sign.

"Henry!" Podolkov's voice came from the direction of the tank, "We can't set off until you come up, we're going to block the road!"

Henry turned around - at this moment, an "explosion" sounded.

Melania's People's Army, including Henry, thought they were being attacked and threw themselves to the ground. Then they discovered that it was a flashlight - in this era, the flashlight would have had a small explosion, but it was actually detonated. A small flashbang.

The war reporter said in Melania's language: "Don't be nervous! I'm just recording this scene. Believe me, this photo will appear on the front page of The Times in a few days! Maybe it will become one of the classic photos of this war. one."

Henry: “Are you from Melania?”

"I am a special correspondent for Melania's government-in-exile. Can I take a photo of you sitting on a tank and moving forward?"

Henry: "Of course!"

He got up, quickly climbed onto the tank, and made a "please" gesture to the reporter.

Podolkov was very nervous. He put on his anti-collision hat and adjusted his clothes so that the medals on his chest did not block each other.

The flashbulb flashed and the reporter smiled: "Very good, I wish you good luck in the battle!"

Podolkov: "I can't understand what he said, but I know we are going forward, pilot, go forward!"

The Hero's Brother Revenge roared angrily, blowing out thick smoke and sailing forward.

————

About twenty minutes later, a small town appeared in front of the Revenge of the Heroic Brother.

Several carriages were destroyed at the city gate, and the bodies of the horses pulling them were piled on the roadside together with the carriages. An old lady wearing a headscarf was lying next to the body, scratching the body with a knife.

"Stop!" Henry patted Podolkov on the shoulder.

This time the tank stopped very quickly and only missed the lady slightly.

The old lady raised her head when she heard the roar of the tank and looked at Henry: "Aren't you from Prossen?"

"We are not, old mother," said Henry. "Are there any Prossens in the city?"

"Yes, they said yesterday that they would defend to the death and asked us Melania people to also take up arms. A few crazy kids who wanted to be honorary Proscenians responded. You must be careful, don't be fooled. Their faces are deceived! Shoot these turtles to death immediately!”

Henry: "Didn't they give you a hard time?"

"Why not? Be careful. The anti-tank piles on the road were built by us women. We secretly cut corners and smashed them if we hit them hard!"

Henry said "Oh", then took out the sausage from his pocket: "Take it, Auntie, go quickly, hide outside, and come back when the gunfire stops! The troops behind are all Melania's troops, and they all understand what you say!"

The aunt was stunned: "Are they all Melania? The Proson people said that the Ants are coming back to enslave us!"

"We are the secular Melania People's Army, and we are not the same as the Ant nobles. We are back to liberate our country!"

Podoliskov understood the word "liberation" in Melania, and echoed: "Yes, liberation, we are here to liberate! Unlike the nobles before!"

The aunt looked at Podoliskov suspiciously, but the sausage in Henry's hand looked indeed of high quality, so she took the sausage and walked eastward, looking back every few steps.

Henry: "Let's go into the city. The anti-tank piles are all shoddy. They can be directly knocked down. The enemy has occupied the city center."

Podoliskov: "Go into the city. The anti-tank piles are all shoddy."

The Revenge for the Hero Brother started again, passing by the wreckage of the carriage, the roadside compost, and several dilapidated wooden houses, and then encountered the first brick and stone building.

The building was hung with a sign, which was in Melania's language.

When the tank passed by, Henry saw a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child on the second floor sticking his head out and shouting: "Go! Go! The enemy is ambushing you!"

Before the child finished speaking, he was dragged back by his parents, the windows were closed, and the curtains were drawn.

Henry: "Stop! The locals said that the enemy is ambushing us, and we should let the infantry go down to see the situation."

"You are right." Podoliskov is also a veteran, of course he knows the best solution for this situation, so he ordered the tank to stop.

Henry: "Get off the car! Your legs and feet must be numb after sitting for so long! Stretch your muscles!"

Melania People's Army soldiers jumped off the car one by one and spread out on both sides of the tank.

Henry carried his "weight launcher" and ran to the front of the tank in small steps and moved along the street.

His men immediately took turns to move forward and keep up with his pace.

Henry ran all the way to the corner before stopping, and then followed the wall and carefully poked his head out.

The next moment, machine gun fire swept over, bullets crackled on the brick wall, and the fragments that bounced up scratched Henry's eyes.

"Sukabulie!" Henry cursed like an Ante, covering his eyes with his hands, "My eyes!"

The bullets of the machine gun swept across the street and hit the building on the other side.

But the machine gunner was obviously inexperienced. He was too excited and fired wildly without even seeing the target.

Corporal Vernon, who followed Henry, said, "Why do I feel like a rookie, but the sound of the machine gun is still MG series? The regular army we met has started to use Maxim, and the rookies of the local garrison use MG?"

"It's a bit strange." Henry pulled out the spoon he carried with him, used the smooth back as a mirror, and peeked out of the wall, "The machine gun is on the second floor opposite, a three-story brick building. I think the Rokossov 100-caliber gun can directly solve the problem."

Corporal Vernon: "Not so good, the position of the enemy tank is not exposed. The enemy should have a tank, right?"

At this time, the sound of machine gun shooting stopped.

The obviously inexperienced shooter shot the barrel red and needed to stop to replace the barrel.

Henry: "There is a bunker when you run forward from the corner. Occupy it and prepare for fire support! Take a squad there, Vernon!"

After speaking, Henry threw down the spoon, took the submachine gun and got out of the corner, shooting at the machine gun on the second floor.

Corporal Vernon shouted: "Duke, Yang! You two follow me!"

After that, he rushed out and ran across the street.

The People's Army soldier whose name he called also ran to catch up.

At this time, Henry had used up all the bullets in the magazine. He took a last look at the three members of Vernon's team and hid back at the corner.

The machine gun fired again, but the target was still the position where Henry was hiding. The bullets crackled at the corner and even broke the brick wall.

At this time, Vernon's team opened fire, and the machine gun firepower was immediately suppressed.

Henry shouted to his men while changing his ammunition: "Next group, get ready. After you go out, walk along the right wall, find new cover, and form crossfire with Vernon's team!"

At this time, the door of the shop next to Henry opened, and a bearded old man poked his head out: "Are you Melania people?"

Henry: "Yes, old man, you should hide quickly. Our tanks may fire later, and these buildings will be blown up!"

"The Proson people's bunkers can't hit the yard. I will take you through the yard and throw grenades when you go out!" The old man's hand tightly grasped Henry's shoulder, "I know this will work, because my grandson is a guerrilla! Trust me!"

"What about your grandson? Wouldn't it be better to let him lead the way for us?"

"Sacrificed, anyway, you follow me! After driving away the Proson people, I can give you free haircuts!"

Henry then noticed this shop on the corner, with a sign that read "barber shop"

Grandpa: "Come on!"

Henry: "You three, follow me! We'll attract the attention of the Proson people here!"

The three people Henry pointed at nodded and followed the grandpa into the house.

At this time, the enemy stopped shooting again, probably because they were changing the gun barrel.

Henry dodged again and splashed water on the second floor.

When the weight launcher fired, the sound was like blowing air, but the crackling sound when the bullet hit the target was very loud, even Henry could hear it.

The Vernon squad occupying the opposite position also opened fire, and the bullets fell on the small building where the enemy machine gun was located, and the flash and smoke produced by the bullets were everywhere.

Suddenly, a grenade flew into the window of the small building from the side.

The explosion occurred, and the machine gunner Plosson was blown out of the sandbag and fell to the ground on the first floor.

Henry held the submachine gun and rushed to the small building while firing.

He was just attracting the enemy's attention. In fact, the people who followed the old man around had already appeared downstairs in the small building.

Several grenades were thrown into the first floor of the small building. After a series of explosions, the whole building became quiet.

Henry heard the sound of the engine halfway through his rush. Looking back, he saw that his heroic brother, the Revenge, had turned the corner.

"Don't worry!" Henry shouted, "Maybe the enemy tanks are still hiding! We can handle them!"

Podolskov, who was on top of the tank, spread his hands and said, "You want to take all the credit for liberating the city, but we won't agree to that! And you will suffer fewer casualties if you use tanks!"

Henry shook his head and rushed forward with his gun.