July 4th, Eagle’s Nest, Prosen Empire imperial conference.
William Kelt was reporting to Reinhard, “The annual census of the war that began last month has ended. Our military personnel suffered irrevocable losses of 980,000, of which 100,000 were annihilated after being encircled by Major General Rocossov at Karanskaya.”
Reinhard cursed, “Damn it, as much as one-tenth of the losses were because of him!”
William Kelt glanced at Von Bulein, “Your Majesty, the losses caused by Rocossov are not just that, he has caused a large number of casualties to our soldiers at Orachi and Shostka. Loktov is obviously still a novice, but the exchange ratio with our army is nearing one to one.”
Von Bulein interjected, “The recently captured Coastal Fortress also used Rocossov’s tactics, causing huge casualties to our army.”
Reinhard looked at the head of Rabowell, Duke Redweitz, “Isn’t your Krat Bureau very powerful? Can’t you connect with the remnants of the Sanctified faction of Ante? Have them kill Rocossov!”
Duke Redweitz looked troubled, “We only have a cooperative relationship with the Sanctified faction, of course, I can ask them to try to kill Rocossov. After all, the Secular faction is using him to significantly strengthen their control over the Ante military, and the Sanctified faction certainly doesn’t want to see this happen.”
“But… I cannot guarantee they will agree, nor can I guarantee success.”
Reinhard, “But you need to take action, do you understand action!”
William Kelt, “Assassinating a famous enemy general, rather than defeating him on the battlefield, would make us look down upon ourselves.”
Reinhard angrily said, “And then let him continue to spill the blood of the Prosen people? No, I cannot satisfy your demand for an honorable confrontation with him. If Rabowell can’t kill him, let the Air Force do it!”
Duke Meyer was shocked, “Me? Your Majesty, our airfields are now far from the enemy’s capital, and it is very difficult to bomb the capital.”
Reinhard, “He will still come to the frontline. When that time comes, bomb him to death! Kelt, continue your report.”
William Kelt nodded, “Alright, we’ve suffered an irrevocable loss of 2179 tanks in the year since the war began. The good news is that a significant portion of these losses were models one and two, the bad news is, these losses have not been replenished to date.
“Since the beginning of the war, we have provided a total of one thousand tanks to the frontline, which means our current frontline tank numbers have significantly reduced from last year.”
As William Kelt spoke, he looked towards the head of the Armored Troops, General Moochi, who said, “It’s not fair to calculate it like that. The tanks we have provided to the frontline are models three and four, and they are improved versions of three and four based on frontline combat experience.”
“The quality of these tanks is far superior to that of models one and two. Although we have supplied fewer tanks to the frontline, we have armed new Armored Divisions, and future combat can rely on these Armored Divisions. Plus, we are about to introduce new tanks to the frontline.
“The 88mm gun carrier has just been given the production designation of Tank No. 6, and the prototype has already reached the frontline, fully able to participate in Operation Blue.”
Operation Blue, a battle plan formulated by Prosen High Command to sweep through the southern part of Ante and seize the Kuba oil fields.
Reinhard seemed to have great confidence in Tank No. 6 and asked, “Which units will these heavy breakthrough tanks reinforce?”
General Moochi, “They will form independent heavy tank battalions, reinforcing the Steiermark Armored Division of the Asgard Knights.”
The few Army generals present slightly furrowed their brows upon hearing this; after all, the Asgard Knights were not regular Army troops, but the emperor’s personal guard. The best equipment going to the Asgard Knights made the generals worry whether regular Army troops would receive sufficient modern equipment in the future.
But no one was foolish enough to voice these concerns.
Reinhard crossed his arms over his chest, “Very well, Steiermark Division is reliable. They must break through the Suhaya Weili River with overwhelming force in preparation for the next phase of the offensive. Kettler, continue your report.”
William Kelter continued to recite the investigation report, “Since the start of the war, the number of assault guns our army lost…”
“Wait a minute,” Reinhard interrupted him, “How many tanks from our losses were destroyed by Rocossov’s units?”
William Kelt was momentarily taken aback, “Uh, we haven’t collated that data, but if you count the number of tanks lost in the encirclement at Karanskaya, that should be around two hundred.”
“Another tenth!” Reinhard slammed the table forcefully, “This Rocossov is really troublesome!”
William Kelt, “May I continue my report?”
“Go ahead.”
Afterward, Chief of Staff Kelt detailed the losses of other technical equipment of the Army, concluding, “Since the beginning of the Ante campaign, our losses in armored forces and technical equipment have been far lower than during the Carolingian campaign. Even taking the average daily losses into account, they are much lower than the Carolingian campaign.
“In the most intense two months of the Ante campaign, our daily tank losses were only 15, while during the 42 days of the Carolingian campaign, the average daily loss was 26.”
“Exactly, exactly,” Reinhard nodded repeatedly, “The Ante armoured forces are ten times that of the Carolingians, amounting to twenty thousand! Ante is an inferior race, even with such a numerical advantage they only caused us such low losses.”
General Moochi interjected, “Their troop quality is indeed low, and they lack coordination, only their bravery is admirable. But bravery is only characteristic of a few units, most Ante troops will retreat when their losses reach ten percent.”
Reinhard said with an expression of appreciation, “Gentlemen, although we have suffered 980,000 casualties, we inflicted four to five times that number on the Ante people, destroying 20,000 of their tanks in 100 days. The time to completely defeat the Ante Empire is approaching.”
“William Kelt!”
William Kelt made a gesture, and his adjutant and a staff officer came over with a map, which they unfolded on a small blackboard that was already prepared.
William Kelt said, “For the first phase of Operation Blue, we plan to commit the 5th, 10th, and 15th Army Groups to advance eastward and eliminate the Ante forces on both sides of the Suhaya Weili River.
“In this phase, which we call the Battle of the Suhaya Weili River Bend, due to terrain issues, we should not be able to annihilate the enemy en masse.
“But in the second phase, without having to worry about our flanks, we will implement a pincer offensive against the Ante troops on the plains south of the Suhaya Weili.
“They have just retreated from the Coastal Fortress, with a substantial number of fresh forces concentrated in an area of roughly 100,000 square kilometers near Bolsk, where we will carry out an encirclement operation like the one against Argesukov, annihilating about six hundred thousand Ante troops in one fell swoop!
“The third phase of the plan, in the lull after the enemy’s reserves have been annihilated, involves a rapid advance to the southwest, aiming to capture Kuba, and possibly even further, Abawahan, to gain a permanent airbase on the Inland Sea!”
After William Kelt finished, Duke Meyer said, “Once we control Abawahan, the Air Force will pour out and cut the supply routes on the Inland Sea—well, the destination of that route is Abawahan itself, but even if the Ante people move the end of the route northward, the Air Force is confident it can cut it off.”
Field Marshal Von Bulein suddenly interjected, “Two years ago you said the same about the United Kingdom, that the Air Force could make them surrender and such.”
Duke Meyer frowned. Experience new stories on empire
Reinhard interrupted the two, “Either way, once we occupy Abawahan, the Ante people will be dealt a heavy blow. This plan, compared to the one to attack Ye Fort, has one major highlight: a large number of combat zones are in Ante’s mature industrial areas, so our supply situation won’t be as dire as it was last year.
“The first phase of the attack will commence on July 9th! Executed by Field Marshal Ewald von Steyr-Mark of the Southern Army Group!”
————
At four-thirty on July 9th, in the newly established Suhaya Weili Front Army headquarters of the Ante Army, Commander General Andrei was awoken by the sound of artillery.
He immediately picked up the phone, “Connect to the headquarters. Is that the headquarters? Where is being shelled?”
The staff chief of the Front Army on the other end of the line said, “It’s the front line; the enemy is preparing with artillery barrages.”
General Andrei said, “Let’s follow Rocossov’s example, have the Front Army artillery groups immediately start counter-artillery preparation, and bombard the enemy’s possible assembly areas.”
“Yes,” the chief of staff answered, “Any other instructions, General Andrei Ivanovich?”
General Andrei, “No, I am heading to the headquarters right now; tell all divisions to hold their ground and we will find a solution!”
“Yes.”
————
At five in the morning, the Prussian Army left their positions.
Colonel Busse, the commander of the first wave of the attack, looked at the barrage falling in front of the assembly area—the literal front—and laughed heartily: “The Ante people learned a little something from General White Horse, but that’s about it!”
The Prussian Army, because of better organization and higher troop quality, could place the attack launch site further away than normal, yet still maintain a relatively intact formation during the assault.
At this moment, Colonel Busse heard engine noises from behind and quickly turned around, only to see several tanks with very wide tracks and a blocky shape approaching.
These tanks all had menacingly thick and long barrels, and most of the Prussian soldiers recognized at first glance that these were 88mm guns!
Many soldiers cheered: “New model tanks!”
“They look very good!”
However, Colonel Busse furrowed his brows, jumped down from his command tank, approached the wide-tracked heavy tanks, stopped the convoy, and said looking up, “I’m the battle group commander, Colonel Busse. What’s going on here? I heard that a company was being reinforced to me, why are there only four tanks? Are you telling me your company only has four tanks? This is a platoon!”
The commander of the new model tank replied with a wry smile, “We didn’t want this to happen either, but eight tanks broke down on the way here from the station. The reliability of this thing is worrisome, but don’t worry, sir, the remaining four will still give the Ante people a harsh lesson, just watch!”