It wasn’t until this noon that Walter Mendel cleared up the situation.
The main attack was a feint launched by General Golikov in several places, and he even deployed the air forces assigned to the Western Front Army to bomb the headquarters of the Ninth Army Group from the air.
Mendel’s adjutant was injured in the bombing, and a young staff officer was temporarily appointed as his replacement, who didn’t even have the “adjutant’s sash” that marked his position.
The nervousness of the young man serving as an adjutant for the first time was evident, and he spoke very quickly when he gave his report.
Mendel, “Don’t speak so fast, I can barely hear you. Take it slow. As my adjutant, you always need to appear very composed.”
“Yes, General.”
The Army Group’s Chief of Staff brought over a cup of water, “Have some water, calm your nerves.”
The young man took the cup and drank it all in one gulp.
Mendel, “Have the losses from the air raid been tallied?”
“Yes, the enemy certainly knew we were here. The Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion accompanying the headquarters reported that they observed an unfamiliar type of aircraft, with a wide body and zebra-like black and white stripes on the wings. It might be a new type of dive bomber, as the bombs it dropped were extremely powerful.”
Mendel, “They didn’t identify this kind of aircraft?”
“No.” The adjutant’s face showed apology as if it were his fault.
Mendel patted the young man’s shoulder, “This is not your fault.”
The adjutant swallowed, then continued, “The commander of the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion said that the Ante Army never had single-engine dive bombers before, and the enemy’s IL-2 never performed steep-angle dive bombardments. This is definitely an entirely new aircraft, and its performance is better than our Stukas.”
Mendel frowned and muttered, “The Empire’s equipment is actually falling behind…”
Obviously, Mendel did not know that this “dive bomber” was actually a pure-blooded air superiority fighter, but because the Federation’s fighters had high-powered engines and high octane aviation fuel, they could carry nearly two tons of payload and thus were used as dive bombers.
After a brief lament, he immediately shook his head, “No, last year we already suffered on the T34 and KV heavy tanks. Although now we all know that both types of tanks have fatal flaws that make them easy to deal with, and even easier in the hands of Ante People, we must admit that these are indeed good tanks, it’s just that the Ante People don’t know how to use them.
“So now, where have the enemy’s T34s shown up?”
The new adjutant, “Mainly in two places, the first is on the defense line of the 337th Division, and the second is upstream from Shostka, we do not know where the enemy crossed the river.”
Mendel, “Has communication with the 337th Division been restored?”
“Yes, we just got in touch with their division headquarters through the radio. The defensive line on the eastern bank of the crossing has been breached, and the enemy is still establishing a beachhead on the western bank. The 337th Division had been suppressing the beachhead with artillery, but their artillery forces were soon counterattacked by the enemy.”
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Mendel looked at the map and suddenly asked the Chief of Staff, “Has the communications unit heard any of the enemy’s radio transmissions?”
“Yes, a lot, and there’s a lot of clearly pre-arranged code words and radio callsigns, and they’re no longer shouting out their numbers directly like before,” answered the Chief of Staff.
Mendel clicked his tongue, “The enemy has obviously increased the number of radios they’re equipped with, and they’re more experienced, so their inter-branch cooperation should have improved. It’s normal that divisions like the 337th, which have just been converted from National Guard Divisions, can’t hold them off.”
The Chief of Staff, “The enemy also has tanks, and the 337th is just short of assault guns. They only have the PAK38 anti-tank guns, not the latest PAK40. Last year’s combat has already proven that the PAK38 isn’t sufficient to penetrate the front of a T34.”
Mendel walked to the Ninth Army Group defense area map hanging on the wall, which now was full of markers indicating the Ante Army’s offensive.
He said, “We can now preliminarily determine that there are two main attack directions of the enemy. The first is the position of the 337th Division, and the second is a certain section upstream. We had no idea previously that the river could be crossed there, so there were no defensive forces in place, which is why we didn’t discover their river crossing immediately.”
The Chief of Staff said, “Such a situation is also due to the severe drawdown of troops along the defense line. High Command must be planning a major operation.”
As command personnel of the Army Group, Mendel and his Chief of Staff were unaware of the operational actions in which their own Army Group was not involved.
Some generals with significant connections could obtain some information through “old friends” inside the High Command, but it was certain that the most critical part was concealed.
Mendel did not have such powerful “old friends,” so he had no idea what the High Command was about to do next.
However, he could roughly guess the High Command’s plans.
Because many strategic matters are overt, everyone is not foolish; the real key lies in the specific details beneath the overt strategy.
It was like the Sturmtiger knew that the Allied Forces would certainly open a second front but did not know exactly where they would land or when they would land.
Now, for General Mendel of the Prosen, he knew that there would probably be a move against the oil fields of Kuba next. But he was not privy to the specific battle plans.
Nevertheless, he understood that the Ninth Army Group was not responsible for the main assault in the upcoming grand offensive campaign. Therefore, reallocating the Ninth Army Group’s manpower and technical weaponry to the units that would launch the actual attack was logical.
Mendel took over the conversation, “This will definitely be a grand offensive that has nothing to do with us. We just need to do our task. Have the planes found out where the enemy crossed the river upstream from Shostka?”
The Chief of Staff reported, “The Air Force said that two FW189s hadn’t returned. They were in charge of reconnoitering these two sectors.”
The recon planes sent out daily by the Air Force would divide their reconnaissance area by sector. If a plane did not return, it meant that it certainly had discovered something.
After delineating the sectors with a pencil, the Chief of Staff suggested, “We should dispatch troops to move along the Duva River and search forward, scouting the entire river covered by the two sectors.”
Mendel shook his head, “No, it’s too late for reconnaissance to decide whether to counterattack now. The garrison of the First Armored Division is also within the coverage of this sector. Order them to strike east immediately and open fire on every Ante person they see, and destroy everything that looks like a T34.”
The Chief of Staff nodded and went to the telephone to issue the order.
Mendel’s new aide asked, “Is it really okay to give such a broad order?”
“There’s nothing good or bad about it, you’ve also seen how many false messages and misinformation we’ve encountered since this morning. Under such circumstances, we should trust the judgment of the frontline commanders, who are closer to the battlefield than we are.”
After speaking, Mendel cursed, “Damn White Horse General, now we can’t even set up the Army Group Command within the range that Ante’s artillery can hit.”
In fact, the Corps Command that directs so many units should not be too close to the front line. The Army Group’s defensive region is too large; theoretically, the optimal location for the Army Group Command is in the middle of the defense area, maintaining approximately equal distances from each unit in the army.
In that way, even if the phone lines and walkie-talkies were inoperative, the unit couriers would know where to find the Command — or remains of it — without any courier having to travel much extra distance.
The Chief of Staff returned from issuing the order and asked, “What about the beachhead positions that Divison 337 lost? They’re probably unable to retake their positions.”
Mendel looked at the map and pointed to the Ninth Armored Division stationed fifteen kilometers behind the 337th Division, “Let them join the counterattack.”
The Chief of Staff immediately said, “This division was pulled out for rest, and many mid-level commanders are still in Argesukov. In addition, this division’s equipment supplementation has not been completed; they only have 46 Panzer III tanks and 15 Panzer IV tanks ready for combat, with the rest being Panzer IIs and Is.”
“Don’t worry!” Mendel reassured, “We can reinforce them with the Prosen Armored Infantry Division (this is the division’s name), and have them drive the Ante People back across the river. If they can manage to assemble a pontoon bridge in time, then cross over to attack the enemy’s logistics and command post.”
Mendel paused, stared at the map for a few seconds, and muttered to himself, “I will not let last year’s blood be shed in vain. Not a square inch of this land shall you take back!”