Wang Zhong was ready for a desperate last stand against the enemy, but when they started to flee, he was taken aback.
He had never expected the enemy to turn tail and run like that.
It seemed that the combat scenes in the movie about the Battle of Moscow, where the Soviet forces counterattacked, were conservatively shot.
In the movie, the Sturmtigers knew at least to resist with their machine guns for a while.
Wang Zhong operated the anti-aircraft machine gun on top of the turret, starting to use it for target practice.
After firing a few shots, gunner Alexandria complained, “General, you can keep shooting, but what about us? We’ve got nothing to do!”
As if to mock the idle duo in the turret, the mechanic-driver happily rattled away with the hull’s machine gun.
Alexandria cursed, “Are you doing this on purpose? Save some ammo—don’t end up needing to reload when enemy infantry suddenly appears up close!”
The mechanic laughed heartily; usually, it was the turret duo in the thick of the action while he could only watch. Now it was his turn, and he was eager to make the most of it.
Meanwhile, driver Beliyakov steered the tank straight into the enemy’s machine gun position, flattening both the machine gun and its tripod into the ground.
Alexandria continued to complain, “Where are the enemy’s 88 guns? I loaded smoke bombs as per your orders, General, just waiting for the 88s to show up! Where are they?”
Wang Zhong replied, “I’ve got no idea!”
With the aid of his binoculars, Wang Zhong’s search range was roughly 2400 meters, a distance where even elite 88 gun crews would struggle to score a first-round hit.
The ace tank crews of Sturmtigers were known to achieve first-round hits with their 88 guns at distances between 1200 and 1700 meters.
Of course, even this kill range was terrifying under World War II conditions.
Wang Zhong shot down several more fleeing enemies, starting to find this slaughter a bit dull.
Just then, over the radio, someone shouted, “Cavalry coming!”
Without looking back, Wang Zhong switched his view and saw the snow dust rising behind the skirmish line—that was a large cavalry unit charging.
Soon, Wang Zhong could see the cavalry draped in black cloaks.
There were passages left between the skirmish lines for vehicles, and the cavalry surged through them, spreading out to the flanks to form a wall after passing through the frontline skirmish line.
They looked like waves, catching up with the tank formation from behind.
Kiriyenko had said that under these conditions, cavalry could be faster than tanks; turns out, he was right.
The cavalry surpassed the tank formation and charged toward the disintegrating Prosen soldiers, doing what they did best: slicing off enemies’ heads with sabers as if they were watermelons.
An outdated branch of the armed forces was reaping what might be Europa’s most modernized military like the Grim Reaper!
Indeed, there were no useless branches of the military, only commanders who didn’t know how to use them.
With the cavalry at the forefront, Wang Zhong couldn’t fire his machine gun without risking hitting his own troops.
So he adjusted the radio frequency to one that Prosen soldiers would use—Vasily often monitored on this frequency.
Wang Zhong asked, “Musician, how do you say ‘Now who’s the prey and who’s the hunter’ in Prosen?”
There was no response.
Watching the cavalry’s easy slaughter at the front, Wang Zhong, bored, asked again, “Musician, in Prosen…”
“Are you sure you want to use the radio for such boring stuff, Illiterate Maestro?”
It was Vasily’s voice.
Wang Zhong, “Musician, since when am I illiterate?”
“To distinguish you from Beethoven. And you indeed can’t read music sheets.”
Damn you, Vasily, I think you’ve picked out too little dung!
Wang Zhong persisted, “Musician, answer my question. How do you say ‘Now who’s the prey and who’s the hunter’?”
Vasily reluctantly translated Wang Zhong’s line.
Just then, Wang Zhong spotted some Prosen soldiers kneeling, hands raised above their heads.
Taking immediate action, he questioned them in Prosen, “Now who’s the prey, and who’s the hunter?”
The questioned man was a veteran, with an insignia of exemption on his arm.
He stared wide-eyed at Wang Zhong.
From his angle, the red flag on Wang Zhong’s tank antenna was perfectly framed behind Wang Zhong.
The Prosen soldier’s mouth fell open.
Just then, a cavalry officer with the rank of major general came beside Wang Zhong’s tank, reined in his horse, slowing it down, saluted Wang Zhong, and then asked, “General, how shall we deal with the prisoners? I’ve heard of your method—capturing officers of captain rank and above and shooting the others in the shoulder—”
Wang Zhong suddenly thought of Olga—the Tsar’s words: Capture as many prisoners as possible, to take photographs and to spread in newspapers and leaflets.
So Wang Zhong said, “No, the situation has changed, we must capture all the prisoners and send them back to Ye Fort! Ensure they’re alive and receive kind treatment.”
The lieutenant general hesitated: “Kind treatment?”
“Yes, kind treatment! We need to parade them through the streets to prove to the world that we have won the defensive battle.”
“Understood. Long live Plosenia!” The lieutenant general saluted Wang Zhong, a major general, spurred his horse into a gallop, and shouted as he charged, “Do not kill the prisoners; we need to take them to the rear for a purpose!”
No, that message could easily be misunderstood.
Putting prisoners to work repairing the Guihe Bridge is also a purpose.
Wang Zhong sighed and said, “I always feel like my two offensives have been too easy, as if the enemy is like glass, shattering at a single blow.”
Vasily: “Beethoven, you still have the transmit function of the radio on.”
Wang Zhong was shocked to realize that he had been too excited upon seeing the surrendering prisoners and had applied what he learned without switching off the radio’s transmit function, mistakenly thinking he had turned it off.
He quickly turned it off.
But on second thought, he felt it was inappropriate, turned on the radio again, opened his mouth to speak, and then hesitated.
He originally wanted to say: “I know, musician. This is to mock the enemy, a sophisticated tactical strategy.”
But saying that would seem too deliberate, like an idiot.
So Wang Zhong said, “Musician, thank you for the reminder, I forgot to switch it off.”
Well, that’s enough, admitting candidly that he forgot to turn it off.
I can’t control how the enemy thinks.
————
General Heinz Wilhelm von Mauch slammed his fist on the table, making everything on it jump.
“Damn it! I must counterattack! Where are the three divisions promised to me?”
The communications staff officer immediately replied, “They’ve been forced to halt their advance due to the blizzard and are now frozen in place.”
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“Is it so hard to build a fire for the engines? What do you mean they are frozen in place?”
At that moment, the adjutant cautiously suggested, “Perhaps we should retreat. Based on current frontline reports, the enemy’s vanguard is only ten kilometers from us. Rokossov’s artillery could strike headquarters at any moment.”
General von Mauch glared at the adjutant: “I have three armored divisions and four grenadier divisions that might be encircled! You want the headquarters to retreat?”
Adjutant: “If you’re injured by Rokossov’s artillery strike, more than seven divisions might be encircled. We should retreat now. Once the three divisions from the Ninth Army Group arrive, we can attempt a breakout to try and rescue the encircled troops.”
At that moment, the Army Group Chief of Staff said, “The troops at Karanskaya may not necessarily be encircled. To their west is permafrost that has frozen solid, and because there’s been no fighting, they can move even without roads.”
General von Mauch: “But they have no logistics!”
Chief of Staff: “That’s still better than being encircled. Besides, the Air Force has promised to airdrop supplies. Now is the time for the Air Force to come into play, as the weather is clear, isn’t it?”
General von Mauch, however, shook his head: “No, we haven’t repaired the airfields, the Air Force bastards will hold a grudge against us.”
Adjutant: “Not necessarily, General, the Air Force might perform the airdrop to gain favor in front of His Majesty and provide supplies to our troops.”
Von Mauch hesitated for a long time before nodding: “Okay, send a telegram to the Air Force. Also order the troops at Karanskaya to leave volunteers to cover their retreat and head west over the frozen ground.”
————
Central Army Corps Headquarters also heard the radio transmission, and the imperial Household Ministry’s radio department even recorded it, preparing to report it to the Eagle’s Nest.
Field Marshal von Bock’s expression was ashen: “Now, even if Ante had considered surrendering before, he certainly won’t surrender now. Our captured soldiers’ photos will surely spread widely, and the war will become a protracted, total war.”
He sighed, “This General Rokossovsky might really have changed the course of history. Now what we urgently need to prevent is a complete panic like the failure of the Rudendorf offensive twenty years ago.
“All units must reaffirm to the soldiers that our army was only defeated by winter. Additionally, we should set up troops and ample supplies in the far rear and begin constructing defensive fortifications.”
Field Marshal von Bock picked up a pencil and drew a line on the map. Despite being hand-drawn, the line precisely crossed several critical points that could serve as defensive pillars, including Shostka.
“This is the line. We must stop the enemy’s counteroffensive near this line and ensure we control the territory we held around October 20th. This is the most important matter; all other affairs must yield to this one.”
Field Marshal von Bock looked at the Chief of Staff: “Carry this out to the letter.”
At that moment, the communications staff officer came in: “Urgent telegram from the Second Armored Army Group.”
“Give it to me.” Field Marshal von Bock gestured, and the staff officer stepped forward to hand over the telegram.
After carefully reading the telegram, Field Marshal von Bock said, “General von Mauch’s understanding is clear. He’s preparing a two-pronged approach: allowing the encircled seven divisions to break out over the permafrost and simultaneously deploying the Air Force to airdrop supplies.
“He’s also ready to use the three newly assigned divisions to conduct a relief operation. This provides a good explanation for the soldiers and to His Majesty.”
Chief of Staff: “An explanation?”
“Yes.” Field Marshal von Bock removed his monocular glasses, “Now what we can do is to give His Majesty an explanation, isn’t it? The effort to end the war quickly has failed. But whether we have lost victory is still not a settled matter.”
He paused, tapped the pencil in his right hand against his left palm, and emphasized after a few seconds of thought, “It’s still not a settled matter!”