Wang Zhong put down the microphone and looked at General Gorky, “All I can do right now is just that. Later, I will ride to the frontline and take a look around…”
“No, no,” General Gorky waved his hand, “If you run to the frontline, it will be tomorrow. It’s very far from here to the frontline.”
Wang Zhong’s brows furrowed slightly. Just then, a staff officer reattached the map to its place, and he rushed over to find the location of the Front Army headquarters on the map.
“It’s actually this far from the frontline!” he exclaimed, “How can I understand the situation at the frontline like this?”
General Gorky said, “I have to make excuses for them here, they command the troops of the entire campaign direction, and the Front Army’s line of defense is so long, it is understandable to be a bit far from the frontline.
“You have always been commanding at the division level, and during the counter-attack phase, you commanded only army-level units, so naturally, you would find fault with their distance from the frontline.”
Wang Zhong, “Then, how far was your headquarters in Saint Andrew Fort from the frontline?”
“That’s different. Saint Andrew Fort was surrounded. My Front Army headquarters was in the city, and I had no control over the distance to the enemy.” General Gorky spread his hands, “That’s not the same thing.”
Wang Zhong clicked his tongue in wonder, “I need to organize a lean inspection team and take a round at the frontline.”
General Gorky, “I’m afraid I can’t agree to that. No one knows if the enemy has infiltrated the rear areas now. When the frontline stabilizes, my Front Army headquarters will move forward, and you can advance with us.”
Of course, Wang Zhong wasn’t worried about infiltrating enemies; a two-kilometer highlight could easily reveal them. But he couldn’t use this reasoning outright. He couldn’t claim it was the protection of Saint Andrew, could he?
General Gorky continued, “Moreover, you see, the situation at the frontline is as we predicted, the enemy has no intention of launching a major attack.
“They have already started battles to recapture positions all along the entire frontline. Even if they want to organize a large-scale breakthrough now, they can’t organize it.
“It’s not that dangerous. Your speech just now was sufficient to stabilize the troops’ morale.”
At this moment, the Chief of Staff for the Western Front Army reported, “We have assigned new targets to the troops that were originally prepared for the offensive. Should we let them act according to the new orders?”
General Gorky, “Good, let them engage in battle.”
The Chief of Staff began issuing orders.
General Gorky looked at Wang Zhong, “You see, there’s nothing worth your personal visit to the frontline. If the enemy really breaks through, I will definitely ask you to rush to the frontline as soon as possible to command the key position of the Army Group.”
Wang Zhong nodded, “Alright, with your assurance, I am relieved.”
“Come, sit down, we can continue discussing the topic from the plane, how to wage war next year. What I want to know is, will our army have any new weapons next year? My experience in the Saint Andrew Fort Army is, the KV is reliable, provided there is no long-distance maneuver, and the units equipped with T34s often achieve unsatisfactory results.”
Wang Zhong pulled over a stool to sit down, taking off his hat and placing it on the table, “The T34 has design flaws.”
General Gorky also sat down, removing his hat to reveal a shining bald forehead.
Wang Zhong saw the general’s forehead and began to wonder, do all Ante males start going bald with age? Of course, General Gorky still had some hair, but his hairline had receded significantly, almost catching up with Pavlov.
Wang Zhong subconsciously touched his own thick hair, but he was not even thirty years old, at least 20 years younger than General Gorky.
General Gorky, “Go on, what are the flaws in the T34? As a cavalry officer, my understanding of tanks has always been about the same as that of our steeds beneath us.”
So Wang Zhong began to explain in detail the issues and flaws of the T34 to General Gorky, talking for half an hour. During this process, steady good news came from the frontline, part of the wavering lines were re-stabilized.
General Gorky clicked his tongue, “So the T34 has so many problems. I had thought that saving a crew member to allow the frontline to equip more T34s was a good thing. It seems I also made the error of dogmatism, I can’t apply the doctrines of cavalrymen to modernized troops.”
After speaking, the general raised his eyebrows, “Eh, then wouldn’t the T34W, which solved these problems, be even more worth mass-producing?”
Wang Zhong, “The T34W takes too much time to produce, and its output can’t meet the demands of the troops. Our frontline loses tanks too quickly. If we could strengthen battlefield recovery and maintenance of tanks and reduce losses, the Ordnance Department could free up more capacity to produce the T34W model.”
General Gorky, “Indeed, the losses in the last six months have been too great. The Prussians have beaten us into retreat, and we can only first address the issue of whether we have tanks at all before considering anything else. Having tanks is better than none.”
Wang Zhong, “Exactly.”
Just then, a communication staff entered to report, “We have recaptured heights 451, 279, and others.”
Wang Zhong turned to look at the map, confirming the location of the two heights, “Not bad. Regaining these heights will allow us to direct artillery fire over the enemy’s controlled area. The enemy won’t even dare to light lamps at night, very good.”
General Gorky, “Tell the troops they’ve done very well, and they must hold their ground. The enemy’s counterattack shouldn’t last much longer.”
“Yes!” The communication staff saluted and left.
General Gorky looked at Wang Zhong, “You see, as I said, it’s a minor problem. The plane should have taken off. You stay here until tomorrow, then fly back.”
Just then, the telephone suddenly rang.
The Front Army Chief of Staff answered the call, “Western Front Army headquarters. Who is this?”
Suddenly, the Chief of Staff snapped to attention, tensing up, “Your Majesty, I salute you! General Rokossovsky? He’s here; I’ll get him for you.”
With that, the Chief of Staff handed over the phone receiver with the utmost respect to Wang Zhong, “Your Excellency General, His Majesty the Tsar is on the line.”
Wang Zhong picked up the receiver, “Your Majesty, I salute you.”
Olga, “Alyosha, what’s the situation at the frontline?”
Wang Zhong, “No big deal, just as we assessed before we left, the enemy’s goal is not to break through. But someone got cold feet, nearly causing the entire army to collapse. General Gorky has stabilized the frontline, and I will return to Ye Fort tomorrow.”
Olga, “Are you saying that General Tukhachev is the one who got cold feet?”
“Yes. Who else could it be?”
“I know,” Olga said with an icy tone. “I will personally observe his trial to ensure he receives the punishment he deserves.”
Wang Zhong: “Your Majesty is wise.”
Olga: “Then I will wait for your return. See you tomorrow.”
With that, the call was ended on the other end.
Wang Zhong frowned slightly. Was Olga’s last sentence a bit ambiguous?
He handed the receiver back to the Chief of Staff and then noticed that everyone in the command post was looking at him.
Wang Zhong with a stern face: “In the face of a great enemy, the Mother of Ante expects everyone to perform their duties!”
Only then did everyone return to their work.
Only General Gorky continued to look at Wang Zhong with a meaningful gaze.
Wang Zhong: “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” the general shrugged his shoulders, “Let’s continue the topic we were on…”
At that moment, the communications officer came in again: “We have recaptured the position northeast of Shostka, and now we can overlook the city of Shostka again.”
Wang Zhong: “Northeast… ah, that position, did we fail to recapture the nearby airport?”
The communications officer shook his head: “Not yet. In fact, we have never managed to take the airport. The terrain is too open, which suits the Prussian Army to deploy their firepower.”
Wang Zhong clicked his tongue.
The firepower of the Ante Infantry Regiment is far inferior to that of the Prussian Infantry Regiment—not to mention, maybe the firepower of an entire Ante Infantry Division doesn’t match that of a single Prussian Infantry Regiment.
The Prussian Infantry Regiment has a bunch of mortars and tube artillery, as well as 15cm caliber heavy infantry guns. The Ante side only has 152s at the divisional level of firepower units, and usually in small quantities.
Having a battalion stuffed with 36 pieces of 152 artillery, like the Guards Motor Rifle, is quite rare in the entire Ante Army.
General Gorky: “No need to rush for the airport. Just occupy one corner to ensure the enemy cannot take off or land planes. We have all the time in the world.”
Wang Zhong: “When attacking Shostka, we can refer to the enemy’s methods of attack, continuously using sappers to approach the city, and strive to push our attack launch positions to within fifty meters of the enemy.”
General Gorky: “I will send a sapper brigade there. Are you sure we can use sappers in that area?”
Wang Zhong: “Yes, I’ve personally surveyed the terrain and soil around Shostka. The soil there is perfectly suited for sappers to approach. That’s also what the enemy did; otherwise, their casualties in Shostka wouldn’t be so low.”
General Gorky laughed heartily: “You are truly greedy, as if causing so many casualties to the enemy in Shostka wasn’t enough.”
Wang Zhong: “Of course, it’s not enough! We must make the Prussians bleed dry!”
General Gorky: “Then, before you return to Ye Fort tomorrow, I will strive to make the Prussians bleed a bit more. Chief of Staff, is the artillery ammunition originally assigned for fire preparation still available?”
Chief of Staff: “Of course, it is.”
General Gorky: “Then open fire, target the enemy positions that haven’t been contested. Give them a good pounding to prevent them from moving these troops to support the contested positions!”
“Yes.”
————-
The next day, Wang Zhong returned to St. Ye Katerina Fortress.
As soon as he got off the plane, he rushed to the Tribunal to observe Tukhachev’s trial.
However, before he reached the main street where the Tribunal building was located, he ran into His Majesty the Tsar’s motorcade.
Olga cracked open the car window and called out to Wang Zhong, “Alyosha, over here!”
Not only did she call out, but she also stuck her hand out and waved.
Wang Zhong hurriedly got out of his car and approached the Tsar’s vehicle, bending over to the window: “Your Majesty, may I assist you with anything?”
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“Get in and tell me about the situation at the front,” Olga said as she scooted over to the other side of the seat and opened the car door.
Wang Zhong could only make a gesture to his own convoy and then got into His Majesty the Tsar’s car.
As soon as the door closed, Olga asked with a serious face, “Is everything really okay at the front? I only trust what you say; I believe you would never deceive me.”
Wang Zhong: “Rest assured, there isn’t a single problem at the front. Up until the time I boarded the plane, we had completely stabilized the position and even recaptured some key heights. The artillery of the Front Army caused heavy casualties to the enemy.”
Olga breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s a relief. Last night I had a nightmare. I dreamt that all the reassurances about the front line were lies, that the enemy had recaptured Karanskaya, and from Eternal Fortress, they bombarded the Summer Palace. In my dream, I was torn apart in an explosion.”
Wang Zhong: “That will not happen.”
Olga looked at Wang Zhong with a pitiful gaze: “If it were my brother, he would definitely hug me at a time like this.”
Wang Zhong: “No, you are not as fragile as that. You’re just pretending.”
After saying that, Wang Zhong flicked Olga’s forehead.
“Ouch!” Olga cried out, “What’s wrong with pretending for a bit? There’s no one else in the car, and the curtains are drawn tight. Can’t you just let me be a little whiny?”
“No,” Wang Zhong said decisively.