“`
“Has he confessed?” Wang Zhong asked, rising Popov.
This time, capturing prisoners, he didn’t waste time meeting with them face-to-face but handed them over to the “professionals.”
Popov: “He has, in fact, he spilled everything as soon as he saw the Judge, and even embellished a bit.”
Wang Zhong asked curiously, “Embellished a bit?”
“Yes, saying that we are about to lose anyway, so it doesn’t hurt to tell us,” Popov said, spreading his hands, “Are they colluding? Normally, I’d suspect this to be an enemy trap.”
Wang Zhong: “Alright, so what did he reveal?”
“The progress chart for the earthworks, the rotation schedule—but the recent night raid has nearly wiped out a company, and the rotation will definitely be disrupted. Additionally, there’s interesting news that now, any command post above the division level within our artillery range relocated every two days.”
Wang Zhong replied with suspicion, “Relocate every two days; must they lay the phone lines all over again?”
Based on Wang Zhong’s experience thus far, once the division headquarters was established, it was quite difficult to change because a plethora of phone lines ran from the headquarters and needed to be relaid entirely if the location was to be altered.
This was a very, very troublesome task. Given the communication battalion’s capabilities of the Ante Army, it would take about a day to lay the lines to each regiment, meaning that every time the division’s location changed, a day was spent laying lines. Before the lines were done, communication had to be conducted via couriers.
Popov: “The interrogated man was a captain, just a company commander, so how could he know how the phone lines were laid? Anyway, they change headquarters every two days. You forced them to!”
Wang Zhong: “This is a good thing though, their communications will definitely be affected when moving the command post. It’s a pity we are not the attackers; attacking while the enemy is relocating their command post would be excellent.”
“When we attack, the enemy’s command posts should be in concrete bunkers. They’re not necessarily afraid of being bombed,” said Popov.
Wang Zhong clicked his tongue, “That’s true. Let’s consider such matters when it’s our turn to attack.”
Popov continued, “Moreover, the captain also disclosed the location of his battalion’s headquarters, which is in a temporary bunker here.”
As soon as the words were out, there was the sound of an explosion from across the river.
Wang Zhong quickly stood up, went to the observation port to look out, and although he could barely make out the smoke rising opposite, after changing the view angle, he saw an injured soldier in the trench, probably wailing—Wang Zhong couldn’t hear, only guess by his movements.
Then, medics carefully approached to administer first aid, and a lieutenant was issuing orders to subordinates.
Sappers with mine detectors then appeared.
Wang Zhong: “The mines are effective. Too bad we didn’t have them bring pickle jar lids over.”
Vasily: “The note I wrote for Sergeant Grigori is in Prosen language, stating we planted 200 mines.”
Wang Zhong: “Might that be a bit excessive?”
“I signed it with your name,” Vasily said with a mischievous smile.
Wang Zhong clicked his tongue, “What’s the logic in that? The enemy will believe it just because it’s signed with my name?”
Vasily: “You never know! The enemy is famously rigid; maybe they’re still looking for the remaining fifteen mines in Karlinovka.”
Wang Zhong waved his hands dismissively, “Not likely, not likely, those are just stereotypes.”
Turning to Popov, he asked, “Did you say the captain confessed the enemy’s battalion headquarters?’
Popov took up a pencil and marked an HQ symbol on the detailed map of the front line on the table, “Here. They’ve set up a shelter with wooden support structures. It’s said the soil layer is one meter thick; unless a 152 artillery shell hits the battalion’s shelter directly, it’s unlikely our shelling will do much.”
“Also, right next to the battalion headquarters is the brigade headquarters of the engineers responsible for the earthworks, also dug in,” added Popov.
Looking at the battalion headquarters label, Wang Zhong clicked his tongue, “So enemy command posts will all be digging these bomb-proof types from now on? Will decapitation become impossible then?”
Vasily: “We could have the Air Force give it a try; a 100 kg bomb dropped right on the bunker would definitely blow the whole thing sky-high.”
Popov admired the idea: “Good thinking, let’s give it a shot.”
Wang Zhong shook his head, “No, no, they couldn’t hit the artillery positions accurately, so we would need to cover with our shelling. This bunker would be definitely harder to identify from the air; I doubt the accuracy.”
Vasily: “Let’s just try; don’t worry about the plane losses, the air strike target is just five kilometers in front of us. After dropping the bombs, they can fly low to return to the safety of Divine Arrow. The pilots are idle anyway!”
Wang Zhong and Popov exchanged glances.
Popov: “I support giving it a try.”
“Fine,” Wang Zhong conceded, “we’ll have the Air Force give it a try after daybreak.”
————
“We didn’t hit the target,” Harlamov’s voice came through the phone, “Actually, we’re not even sure which one the bunker was, it’s too hard to distinguish. We can try again after the planes are serviced, but honestly, don’t get your hopes up.”
Wang Zhong: “Understood. Continue with your combat readiness and air defense duties, thank you for your hard work.”
“This is what we should be doing,” Harlamov replied.
Wang Zhong put down the receiver, looking at Pavlov who had not been present when the decision was made last night, “That’s the situation, the air strike was ineffective.”
Pavlov clicked his tongue, “Shelling’s useless, air is ineffective. It seems taking out that battalion headquarters is no longer an option, indicating the enemy’s earthworks method is working. Last night’s raid delayed their progress, but tonight, they will certainly be prepared.
“Should we consider retracting our defense line to the east bank and abandoning the original plan of letting the enemy bleed at the bridgehead? If we only defend the east bank, the enemy would have to cross the river, and the exchange ratio should be favorable.”
“`