Prussian Army, Asgard Knights’ Ante Division Headquarters.
Giles anxiously awaited the frontline report.
The assaulting forces comprised not only the grenadier battalion from the Ante Division but also two more grenadier battalions from another grenadier division.
An additional pontoon brigade brought up from the rear was responsible for bridge-building.
After completing the bridge-building, Prussian armored units would also join the assault. The No. 2 flamethrower tanks would cleanly sweep all buildings.
This was one of the many lessons the Prussians had learned from the Carolingian campaign: even when smoke obscured vision, the flame throwers of the flamethrower tanks still inflicted significant casualties. All that was needed was to aim at the places where gunfire flashes were spotted.
According to the records, Rocossov’s troops hadn’t yet faced the No. 2 flamethrower tanks, and this time they were going to get a taste of their power.
Giles paced back and forth in the command center, finally unable to contain himself and saying, “I should go to the frontline to see for myself!”
“No!” Feliz stopped him loudly, “Absolutely not! Even though Division Commander Kluge has been rescued from danger, he can’t return to his command post!”
In reality, had the staff at the division headquarters been completely wiped out, the impact on a division wouldn’t be too great if only the division commander was injured and taken off the field.
Giles sighed, his expression stern as he continued pacing back and forth. This caused the original staff of the Ante Division to hardly dare to breathe—after all, this was the Emperor’s favored subject.
Not to mention, this was the man who could actually convince the Emperor, eager to end the war, to accept his method of using earthworks to reduce casualties, and rumors about this had been growing more and more outrageous over the past twenty days.
Some even swore that Giles had sold tricks in front of His Majesty and was, in fact, an imperial pageboy.
Giles had never denied such a claim—of course, it was also possible he didn’t know about it.
In the end, now everyone dared not speak, just watching Giles pace back and forth.
Two hours into the attack, a message finally arrived.
“Report to the major general,” said a messenger saluting Giles, “our attacking troops are completely suppressed by the Ante People on the riverbank. The first smoke has dissipated. The frontline commander requests direct fire.”
“No,” Giles scolded, “launch another Smoke Bomb. The enemy’s anti-tank fire is fierce. Have the artillery maintain smoke cover until the bridge is completed!”
“Yes, sir!”
Giles continued pacing, mumbling as he walked, “It would be great if we could deploy airborne troops right now.”
Feliz: “We could call in the Air Force for support right now.”
Giles shook his head: “There’s too much smoke by the river now. They’ll use that as an excuse not to come, saying they can’t see the targets. We’ve used earthworks to reduce so many casualties; now it’s time to use lives to breach the enemy’s defense.”
————
Wang Zhong muttered softly, “They will continue attacking after such huge losses?”
In fact, everyone in the bunker didn’t know how big the Prussian losses were, after all, they couldn’t see.
Now, the entire firepower of the first guard division was blindly firing based on pre-determined parameters to respond to the enemy’s smoke blockade.
Only Wang Zhong, who could see through the smoke, saw the Prussian soldiers piling up dead along the entire riverbank.
The enemy’s pontoon troops were still struggling to build the bridge under the fire from the heavy mortars; currently, the pontoon bridge had reached halfway.
Therefore, Wang Zhong ordered, “Direct the artillery to shift fire, have the observation posts guide the bombardment towards the ferry point.”
Pavlov did not doubt and immediately picked up the telephone receiver.
Popov suggested, “Why not let some of the enemy forces in? Shooting blindly at smoke will make the soldiers grumble. Let the soldiers see the enemy and then kill them; that’s the way it should be.”
Wang Zhong shook his head: “No, it is almost certain that the enemy will breach the first fire net. We must maximize the killing at every checkpoint to eliminate the enemy’s living forces.”
Popov: “You are the division commander, you make the decision.”
At that moment, Wang Zhong suddenly heard the sound of anti-aircraft guns firing and, puzzled, raised his head: “What are they shooting at?”
Vasily listened carefully and said, “That’s not our anti-aircraft fire; it sounds like the navy firing from the port side.”
Wang Zhong immediately switched perspectives.
Seeing that he could not control the naval forces, he could only recognize the unit insignia, but indeed he could see the traces of the naval anti-aircraft fire.
Wang Zhong: “It seems to be that inland gunboat.”
Pavlov: “Is the smoke at the port cleared? Can they see the target?”
Wang Zhong knew very well that the smoke at the port hadn’t cleared, but he could only concur, “Possibly.”
The navy probably heard the heavy guns bombarding the ferry point and deduced that there was a high-value enemy target, hence the machine gun fire from the gunboat.
It had to be said that the navy indeed had high standards; their combat will and initiative were terrifyingly high.
The enemy’s pontoon troops at the ferry point had already stopped building the bridge because of the combined washing of heavy mortars, heavy artillery, and machine guns.
The question was how long this kind of fire could be sustained.
Just as Wang Zhong pondered, he saw the Prussian soldiers suppressed on his side of the riverbank starting to climb the breakwater.
He was stupefied to see Prussian soldiers using entrenching shovels stuck between the breakwater cracks and climbing up by stepping on the shovels!
Once the first soldier who climbed up confirmed that the method worked, he immediately threw a Smoke Bomb to ensure continued smoke cover.
The second soldier to climb up carried a bundle of rope and ran toward the roadside tree.
Clearly, he planned to secure the rope to the tree to allow Prussian soldiers to pull themselves up the breakwater!
These people—
Just as Wang Zhong was about to use the radio to issue orders, the defenders on the second floor suddenly started throwing hand grenades down.
What’s going on?
The defenders on the second floor didn’t have Wang Zhong’s ability to see through the situation.
He carefully observed these grenade-throwing defenders and finally realized they had noticed the new smoke points popping up unexpectedly, figured something was amiss, and that’s why they started throwing grenades.
The Prosen soldiers thought they had been spotted and threw a grenade directly at the second floor.
However, the grenade was caught on the second floor and thrown back down.
This also alerted the Ante side that Prussians were coming up.
Wang Zhong saw a captain shouting, and soon a captured Prussian machine gun was brought over and set up on the second floor to blindly fire downwards.
Others began a fierce grenade battle.
The Prosen soldiers were outnumbered and suppressed from a higher ground, quickly losing the upper hand.
But more enemies found a way to climb up the breakwater.
Of course, the blockade of the staircase had to continue, or else the enemy would surge up like a tide.
Wang Zhong was focusing on the defense around the breakwater when the Prussian infantry guns started firing again—despite having been suppressed by heavy artillery just before!
However, due to the smoke, the enemy’s first volley from the infantry guns fell directly on the riverside avenue between the building and the breakwater.
The Prosen soldiers, who had just managed to climb up and get a footing, were hit by their own artillery!
Wang Zhong’s mouth fell open in astonishment.
Prussian artillerymen, are they trained in hell? More precise at hitting their own men than the enemy?
Wang Zhong, “Have the artillery observation post guide our suppression of the enemy’s artillery positions.”
Vasily, “Indeed, I just heard the sound of the enemy’s infantry guns exploding. But this back-and-forth suppression is chaotic. How about we split into two groups, each suppressing separately?”
Wang Zhong, “No! Haven’t you heard the saying ‘It’s better to cut off one of the enemy’s fingers than to injure his five fingers’? Artillery should be concentrated for use, spreading it out will achieve good results on neither front.”
In the meantime, another round of smoke bombs arrived from the enemy’s artillery troops.
Wang Zhong clicked his tongue, “The enemy doesn’t plan to stop with the smoke bombs, huh.”
————
“Don’t stop the smoke, until all smoke bombs are used up,” Giles ordered, “If we can’t complete the pontoon bridge by day, we’ll keep attacking until night. Keep on attacking, attack!”
Feliz, “The first echelon reports heavy casualties, but if they don’t withdraw, the second echelon mounting an assault will just pile up on the narrow beachhead.”
Giles, “Let the second echelon cross the river from upstream of the crossing point. Further cover for the bridge-laying operation.”
“Yes.”
————
At the Guard Division bunker, the telephone rang.
Pavlov picked it up, “Division headquarters. Where are they crossing the river? Understood.”
He put the phone down, “The enemy is trying to cross upriver.”
Wang Zhong, “Dispatch the armored units. The river is so wide upstream, the enemy is getting desperate.”
The Duva River, although at its lowest level now, was nevertheless a navigable river. Shostka was already the narrowest part of this stretch of the river.
As Pavlov ordered the armored units to strike, Wang Zhong heard the sound of engines.
Since Brother Peter had not informed them, it must be the Ante Air Force coming to assist in the battle.
As expected, four Yak-1s dived down first, dropping bombs on the western landing.
100-kilogram aviation bombs directly flung the Prussian bridge-laying vehicles into the air, to be overturned in the river.
After the first wave of bombing, the second wave of four Yak-1s dived to continue the attack.
Two waves of 16 bombs directly turned the crossing into a sea of fire.
At that moment, Vasily suddenly said, “There’s a wind!”
Wang Zhong, “What wind?”
Vasily stretched his hand out of the observation window, “Yes, there is a wind, blowing downstream, which means it’s about to rain.”
Then, a strong wind blowing from the north began to sweep over the Duva River. Join the journey at m-vl-em-py-r
In just ten minutes, the smoke enveloping the eastern bank was blown away.
All the Prosen soldiers who had climbed up the breakwater were fully exposed under the eyes of the Ante soldiers on the second floor.
Then, a storm of gunfire erupted.
The Prosen soldiers, who had just managed to climb up the breakwater, were swept away from their high position.
At the same time, enemy fire from the opposite bank also began targeting the second floor.
Fire from both sides started to exchange across the Duva River.
Wang Zhong heard the sound of the 57mm anti-tank guns opening fire, as high-explosive shells were continuously fired toward the western crossing.
This firepower was much denser; a 57mm anti-tank gun crew could achieve a high rate of fire with three seconds per shot.
The ferocious firing of 12 anti-tank guns was much more terrifying than any heavy machine gun.
The enemy’s pontoon troops were wiped out in an instant.
Wang Zhong laughed heartily, “Good! We held them off this wave!”
He turned around and high-fived others to celebrate.
Then Nelly, who had been silent until then, suddenly shouted, “Rain, it’s raining!”
On the afternoon of October 9th, 914, the rainy season arrived.