On November 8th, the Recon Squadron of the Guards Motorized Infantry set out on a reconnaissance mission.
Commander Koshkin planned to go up to the usual mound to survey the situation, but as he spurred his horse halfway there, he suddenly heard the sound of an engine coming from the mountain.
He sharply pulled on the reins, holding his breath to listen more intently.
It was indeed an engine, and the sound was becoming clearer.
He turned and shouted, “Misha (Mikhail’s nickname)! Start running! We’ve encountered the enemy, hurry back and send a message to headquarters!”
Mikhail was the best horseman in the unit, so he always rode the most spirited horse. Hearing the commander’s shout, Mikhail immediately turned around, spurring his horse into a wild gallop, hooves kicking up splashes of mud.
While snatching a smoke grenade that he had confiscated from the enemy from his belt, Koshkin shouted, “Prepare the smoke! We need to buy Misha some time!”
In these road conditions, a horse at full gallop could outrun mechanized troops.
But to be on the safe side, Koshkin decided to lead his team in staying behind to block the enemy’s reconnaissance forces.
As he threw the smoke grenade, a motorcycle crested the hill.
Rather than a machine gunner, the motorcycle sidecar held the commander of the motorcycle reconnaissance team, so machine-gun fire didn’t come immediately.
But when the second motorcycle ascended, the machine gunner in the sidecar opened fire right away.
The Recon Squadron immediately had three horses brought down by machine-gun fire, and only two of their riders were able to jump off in time; the third was pinned under his horse, screaming in agony—likely his leg was crushed.
The fallen horse continued to struggle, trying to stand up.
Hiding in the smoke, Koshkin shouted to his unit, “Spread out! Deploy smoke! Make the enemy hesitant to pursue!”
The reconnaissance squad scattered to avoid machine-gun fire, throwing smoke grenades.
Soon, the entire hillside was enveloped in smoke, and the enemy’s machine-gun fire stopped.
Koshkin: “Disperse and retreat, make the enemy unsure of who to chase, and regroup at the division headquarters tonight!”
After issuing the command, he lay flat on the horse’s back and sped away at full gallop.
————
Major Cohen, commander of the 512th Motorized Recon Battalion, climbed out of the sidecar.
He looked at the ground beneath his feet: “The mud on the hilltop is gone, this damn weather is finally passing.”
After confirming the ground was indeed no longer muddy, Major Cohen grinned, “With this weather over, we can attack with full force. The end is nigh for Ante!”
The others laughed heartily as well.
No wonder they were laughing; after breaking through the Duva River, the Second Armor Group had been unbeatable, crushing every Ante Army unit they encountered, no matter how fiercely they resisted.
Although it was not an encirclement battle, and not many prisoners were captured, the morale-boosting effect of continuous victories on the troops was self-evident.
In the midst of laughter, the half-track vehicle accompanying the recon battalion also ascended the slope, and Major Cohen immediately ordered, “Establish an observation post and support point here, ensuring the enemy’s harassment forces cannot cross this slope.”
“Yes, Major.”
The Major then turned back and yelled to the Tank No. 2 at the bottom of the hill, “How’s it going! Is it fixed yet?”
It had become standard for the Prussian Army to outfit reconnaissance units with Tank No. 2; these tanks were no longer fit for front-line combat, but they were quite capable of lending their 20mm cannons as support fire to the reconnaissance troops.
Faced with the Ante People’s small units and scouting Cavalry Troops, Tank No. 2 was outstanding.
In response to the Major’s question, the commander of Tank No. 2 yelled back, “No good, it’s completely broken down; we need the repair team up here!”
The Major: “Then leave it here. Mark its location on the map, and we’ll wait for the repair team to come up.”
The rapid advance of the Second Armor Group, coupled with the mud, had left the repair team a hundred kilometers behind.
In October, they had to stop their advance for two full days to wait for the repair team.
Afterward, the logistics department allocated a significant amount of transportation to the repair teams, barely enabling the field repair shops to keep up with the shock troopers.
But as the Second Armor Group penetrated deeper, the situation again began to deteriorate.
The tank crew, abandoning their tank, quickly made their way up the hill on motorcycles, and once the commander dismounted, he protested to Major Cohen, “The field repair shop is still a hundred kilometers back. If we leave it here, it might never be fixed. If we had the third gear of the transmission, we could fix it ourselves. We should check if other tanks have a third gear.
“Our tank’s spare parts kit is just missing the third gear; we have the rest, so we could trade with other tanks.”
Major Cohen looked at the commander, “You all carry spare parts kits?”
“Of course, with this lousy weather, logistics are as unreliable as the Air Force. Every tank carries its own spare parts kit and makes its own repairs. In actual combat, the spare parts kit can even serve as additional armor!”
Major Cohen nodded, “Alright, you can use the radio to ask if any other tanks have a third gear.”
“Thank you, Major.”
Recon units typically maintain radio silence to avoid revealing their position, breaking it only to report significant targets spotted.
After sending off the Tank Operator, Major Cohen shouted to the signaler, “Report to division headquarters that we have advanced to a position ten kilometers west of Suhayaveli.”
————
On November 8th at noon, Suhayaveli, Guards Motorized Infantry Division headquarters.
A cavalryman was led into the division bunker.
Wang Zhong: “Eh, aren’t you Private Mikhail from the Recon Squadron?”
“`
The cavalry was startled, “You recognize me?”
Wang Zhong replied, “I remember the names of all the officers and soldiers in the entire division.”
He had remembered them with the help of a cheat.
But the cavalryman didn’t know, and immediately looked touched, “That’s astonishing!”
“Don’t be astonished, report the situation. You went on reconnaissance, didn’t you? Why didn’t Captain Koshkin come himself?” Wang Zhong asked.
The cavalryman immediately became serious, “Captain Koshkin had me come back first to report. They are responsible for delaying the enemy. We encountered the enemy’s reconnaissance unit on Hill 391, with motorcycles and half-track vehicles, and there were more engine sounds, but I didn’t see those vehicles.”
Pavlov immediately picked up an engagement marker and placed it on the situation map on the tabletop, next to a triangular symbol representing the hill and its elevation of 391.
Naming hills after their elevation is also a traditional practice in military cartography.
Only after a major battle has occurred will a hill be named, with names like “Tiny Nameless Ridge” and so on.
Wang Zhong wore a serious expression, “The enemy’s reconnaissance unit is already within ten kilometers of us.”
Pavlov asked, “Should we hit them?”
Wang Zhong replied, “Are we sure the enemy has stopped? They might continue advancing toward us, right?”
Just then, Vasily suddenly reported, “Wait a moment, I heard some shouts in Prosen. It seems like one of their Number 2 tanks has broken down and needs spare parts delivered by another tank.”
Wang Zhong asked, “Is the radio clear?”
“Clear, the speakers might be around ten kilometers from us,” Vasily answered.
Wang Zhong praised him, “Well done, musician.”
He then picked up the handset himself, “Connect me to the artillery position. Artillery position, is that you? This is Rocossov.”
“General, hello! We are conducting a simulated firing drill!” the artillery regiment commander reported.
Wang Zhong instructed, “Stop the simulation, let’s do real firing. I’ll give you the map coordinates; you calculate the firing elements yourself. The map coordinates are…”
Wang Zhong found Hill 391 with a bird’s eye view. Although there was a “fog of war” currently covering the hill and he could only see the landscape, not the enemy on it, giving a coordinate was still a simple matter.
After giving the coordinates, he continued, “Fire three rounds at rapid speed.”
The artillery regiment commander confirmed, “Three rounds at rapid speed, understood. General, are we about to kill another general?”
Wang Zhong sternly rebuked, “Don’t say things without basis. It’s just that there might be a Number 2 enemy tank that has broken down there, and perhaps the enemy’s motorized reconnaissance team is also present. So, we are firing three rapid rounds as a sort of lottery.”
“Just a lottery?”
“Yes, anyway we are now close to Ye Fort, and replenishing shells is easy.”
In fact, Wang Zhong had so many shells at his disposal that he was concerned that if their storage was struck it could explode and decimate the entire division — they had that many.
Wang Zhong hung up the phone and looked at Pavlov, “They’re asking me if I’m about to kill another general.”
Pavlov burst into laughter.
Wang Zhong stated, “Such unrealistic comments should be avoided from appearing repeatedly.”
Pavlov replied, “Just give up, have you not seen the latest tabloid from Ye Fort? The people there are talking about your rumored affair with the Princess, how many Prosen generals you’ve killed, and even that you’re actually the reincarnation of Saint Andrew.”
Wang Zhong frowned, “What’s that last part about?”
Pavlov pointed at Popov, “That’s his area of expertise, ask him.”
After Popov faced Wang Zhong’s gaze, he said, “Firstly, this was not spread by the church, but… Generally speaking, claiming someone to be the reincarnation of Saint Andrew would be considered sacrilege by the Tribunal. Yet such talk has made it into the papers, even if it’s just a tabloid… right?”
“What do you mean ‘right’?” Wang Zhong said, then heard the sound of artillery firing outside; the artillery unit had finished calculating the firing data and commenced firing.
Vasily suddenly interjected, “I hope it takes out a general. An enemy one.”
Wang Zhong glared at him.
————
When Major Cohen heard the whistling of artillery shells, he immediately threw himself to the ground and assumed a professional artillery crouch.
The first wave of shells hit the hill, flipping the half-track vehicle over, and its mounted machine gun dislodged from its mount and landed right in front of Major Cohen.
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As the second wave of shells fell, Cohen had to open his mouth wide to equalize the pressure inside and outside his head.
By the time the third wave of shells hit, he had already passed out from the shock.
It turns out that while the artillery crouch is indeed useful, if the enemy’s firepower becomes intensely concentrated, the crouch is not so effective.
Unaware of how long he had been unconscious, Major Cohen woke up, sat up dazedly, and looked around blankly.
At that moment, his brain wasn’t functioning; he was in a state of physical stupor.
His ears couldn’t hear anything either, only a strong ringing.
Then he saw a captain rushing towards him, mouthing words at him incessantly.
It wasn’t until the buzzing in Cohen’s ears suddenly dissipated and the world seemed to return around him, allowing him to hear the screams of wounded soldiers and the captain’s words, that he realized what was happening.
“Major! Our motorcycles and half-tracks are all destroyed! Should we continue the reconnaissance?”
The major shook his head, “No, get off the hill quickly! The enemy, the enemy is Rocossov! It’s the General on the White Horse! This sneaky, sudden bombardment, it has to be him!”
“`