November 17, 04:30 hours, bunker of the division headquarters of Ante Army’s 1st Red Banner Mechanized Infantry Division of the Guards.
Wang Zhong had also arrived at the division headquarters bunker early.
The bunker originally housed two bears, and now with Yegorov there, three bears were drinking tea by the fire, a rather comical scene.
Vasily and the other staff were squeezed to one side, and although they too wore thick overcoats, they appeared more slender.
Wang Zhong, “When will the blizzard stop?”
Attacking in the snow would pose many problems, primarily due to poor visibility, and coupled with Ante’s terrible communication capabilities, they might end up with a bunch of friendly fire incidents.
Pavlov, “The weather forecast said it would stop today, at worst we’ll attack in the afternoon.”
Wang Zhong, “We can’t attack right now anyway. Have our armored divisions arrived?”
“The railway is buried in snow. Even after it stops, we’ll still have to clear the snow. Hmm?” Pavlov lifted his head.
The other two also turned to look out the observation window.
The wind had become calmer.
Wang Zhong, with his rudimentary knowledge of meteorology, determined that this meant the cold air front moving southward had already pushed further to the south.
He approached the observation window to look outside; the feather-like heavy snow had stopped, although fine snow was still drifting in the sky.
Wang Zhong, “Quick, make a phone call, find a way to clear the railways, bring up the tank division!”
Yegorov, “Everything was normal when we came by car, but the train got stuck on the way back. This weather…”
Pavlov picked up the receiver and said as he dialed, “Ante Mother Nature is fickle. You get used to it.”
————
November 17, 05:00 hours, headquarters of the Prosen Army’s 2nd Armored Cluster Command.
General Moochi came out of the wooden hut—built overtime yesterday, as it would be terrible to stay in tents with this weather.
Especially given the severe shortage of heating fuel for the Prosen Army.
To keep warm, almost all the woods around the Corps Command had been chopped down for firewood.
The general looked at the supply convoy that was stuck not far from the command post and demanded loudly, “Why aren’t we moving forward? Karanskaya’s troops need supplies!”
Immediately, a captain from the logistics unit with the insignia on his arm ran over to salute and then reported, “The blizzard was too strong yesterday; the convoy had to stop, and today none of the vehicles can start. Some of them can’t even turn the crank; everything inside is frozen solid.”
General Moochi cursed, “Cannot you light a fire to melt the ice? Use wood to burn!”
“Yes!”
After the captain left, General Moochi looked up at the sky and asked his aide, “What’s the temperature now?”
The aide, “Our thermometer has failed.”
“What?”
“It’s failed, the temperature has dropped below the freezing point of mercury, and the mercury has frozen.”
General Moochi fell silent; his breath turned into ice crystals on his mustache.
The aide comforted him, “We’ve checked Ante’s climate records from previous years, and this is an astonishingly low temperature. In such cold, no one would maintain the will to fight.”
————
“Our march is long, where do our comrades look forward, our unit flag flies high in the wind, and the commanders are at the very front!”
Accompanied by the song “Departure,” the railway workers risked their lives to crank the mechanical device of the snowplow train, while hand-cranked rail carts traveled along the railway, with the snowplow installed at the front sweeping all the snow on the tracks to the left side.
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Behind the small cart followed a group from the Guardian Army, responsible for using brooms to sweep the missed snow to the side.
Further back, the train moved at human walking speed.
When the train reached the station, it also sounded its whistle, as if to proclaim to everyone the arrival of the tank troops.
Wang Zhong stood on the platform watching the train enter the station and shouted to the train driver as the locomotive passed by, “What about the stuffy tank cars that were blocked on the return trip?”
Driver, “We stopped at the side track to make way. General, I’ve brought the tanks for you!”
After the locomotive passed, the soldiers standing on the coal cars saluted Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong returned the salute with a hand gesture and then turned his gaze to the tanks on the flatbed cars.
Then he noticed that they were ordinary T34s, without either a commander or radios.
An officer with the rank of major general on his collar jumped down from the car, took a few steps to steady himself on the platform, and saluted Wang Zhong, “Your Excellency General! Commander of the 77th Tank Division, Ardalion Mikhailovich reporting to you!”
Wang Zhong, “How many tanks do you have?”
“Forty freight cars, eighty tanks! There is another train following with another eighty tanks; that’s all our division possesses.”
Wang Zhong, “Then what about infantry, artillery, and machine guns?”
Mikhailovich spread his hands, “None. We have nothing but tanks; even division logistics need to be provided by you!”
Wang Zhong, “Get your men to unload, and then go to the supply depot to get a couple of barrels of extra diesel to strap to the back of the tanks; we have a long way to rush!”
As soon as Wang Zhong finished speaking, two railway workers emerged from a wooden hut at the station, one holding a phone and the other carrying a wire.
The two approached Wang Zhong; the one with the phone said to Wang Zhong, “General, a call transferred from division headquarters.”
Wang Zhong took the receiver, “This is Rocossov.”
“Rocossov, this is Kiriyenko. Guess what? My cavalry army has been replenished and is coming up again. When you attack, I’ll let them charge and cover you!”
“They run faster in the snow than your tanks! Don’t believe me? Let’s race!”
Wang Zhong laughed, “Kiriyenko, you are not to leave the Army Group Command; you still need to command the follow-up forces.”
Kiriyenko’s enthusiasm suddenly deflated, “You rogue, charging about on your own and not letting us charge. I think you should quickly become a Front Army commander so you can only nurse calluses on your butt in the command headquarters in the rear!”