“`
The cryptographic staff officer came over with the call-sign manual and handed it to Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong flipped through the manual and asked, “How long can we still use this call-sign?”
To prevent the enemy from catching on to any pattern, the call-sign had to be changed every few days.
The cryptographic staff officer answered, “Two days, we just changed it last night.”
Wang Zhong nodded and casually passed the manual to Vasily: “Take care of this, and later you’ll also be responsible for the radio.”
“I knew it,” Vasily said with a resigned expression.
Wang Zhong said to the cryptographic staff officer, “My call-sign is Genghis Khan. Then, I’m off.”
He turned and left the headquarters.
General Andre heaved a sigh of relief and sat down with a slump: “Good thing, good thing, I thought he came to execute me.”
The chief of staff reassured him, “The higher-ups also know that our retreat wasn’t due to a tactical error, but because the enemy deployed a new weapon.”
“New weapon,” General Andre clicked his tongue, “I heard that General Rocossov’s forces also have new weapons, something called Vortex, I wonder what it looks like.”
————
Because the enemy was over 40 kilometers away from Yarvik, riding a horse was a bit too far and would be very tiring, so Wang Zhong chose a Willis Jeep as his transportation for this reconnaissance mission.
So far, the Federation had shipped 6000 Willis Jeeps to Ante, and Wang Zhong had intercepted 1000 of them to equip his own Army Group.
Within the Army Group, each division had a motorcycle reconnaissance battalion primarily equipped with Willis Jeeps, and during wartime this battalion would break into several reconnaissance companies to be reinforced to the level of an armored troops’ company.
There was also an independent reconnaissance battalion within the Army Group, which was under the direct control of the Corps Command.
Aside from these units that were officially equipped with Willis Jeeps, every division’s headquarters and each independent artillery brigade also had a large number of Willis Jeeps.
Wang Zhong didn’t even count these Jeeps as vehicles, but allocated them as if they were military horses.
Although these machines ran on fuel, they only burned 11 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, which, even if adding 98 octane gasoline, amounted to roughly nine kilograms.
A military horse could consume ten to twelve kilograms of fodder (hay + concentrate) per day. Of course, in an emergency, a military horse could graze on site, but that would cause the horse to lose weight, and its endurance and such would greatly decline.
Of course, in the long term, military horses and mules were also necessary, especially given the rough terrain of Ante, which made it certain that vehicles would encounter a lot of breakdowns.
But for a short-term decisive battle, the advantages of Jeeps were very obvious.
Wang Zhong set out with his guard company in a Willis Jeep, accompanied by an M3 half-track vehicle.
He also put on a pair of sunglasses and impersonated General Patton while in the Jeep.
As the eight-vehicle vanguard passed the Suhayaweli Bridge, Wang Zhong heard the neighing of a horse from behind; turning to look, he saw Bucephalus spiritedly chasing after them, slowing down beside the Jeep and starting to nibble at Wang Zhong’s helmet.
Wang Zhong was speechless, frowning as he tried to shoo the horse away.
Grigori said, “It’s so eager, just take it with us, after all, we’ll be back in two or three days.”
Thus, the peculiar troop of eight vehicles plus one horse set off.
————
Having crossed the river, Wang Zhong continued along the road to the west, maintaining an elevated viewpoint to monitor the area ahead.
After driving for a bit over an hour, Wang Zhong suddenly saw red points in front of him.
He shouted, “Stop the car!”
Vasily braked hard and turned to look at Wang Zhong: “What’s wrong?”
Wang Zhong stood up, holding onto the windscreen and picked up his binoculars to look into the distance—though in reality, he maintained this pose as he switched his viewpoint.
Two kilometers away, a small convoy composed of three motorcycles and one number 2 half-track vehicle was stopped inside an estate.
There were roughly a platoon of enemies in a highlighted state.
The tank commander and loader of the number 2 tank were sticking their heads out, obviously the vehicle was in a state where it couldn’t attack.
However, as soon as the commander withdrew, he would immediately be able to fire the main weapon.
“`
About two squads of enemies were searching the main building of the manor—a two-story house.
They didn’t occupy any high ground, nor had they set up a machine gun. The machine gunners were carrying their guns and chatting with their assistants.
Another squad of enemies was chasing chickens.
The last squad of enemies was preparing to start a fire and cook in the middle of the farm.
At that moment, two Prussian soldiers suddenly emerged from the outside entrance of the cellar, each holding a bottle of wine and shouting something to the others.
Wang Zhong finished his observation and said to Vasily and Grigori, “There are enemies on the farm ahead, and by the looks of their vehicles, there’s about a platoon of them. They don’t appear to be on alert.”
Grigori immediately picked up a thread cutter: “Then let’s ambush them; I’ve been itching to test out my new gun on the Prussians.”
Shit, don’t talk as if you’re a samurai testing blades on peasants during the Japanese Sengoku period!
Wang Zhong asked Grigori, looking down, “Wilderness, how do you plan to ambush them?”
Grigori answered, “If it’s two kilometers, we can just sneak over there, and it’ll take at most twenty minutes to get close. The grassland is tall enough to conceal us, just like a green curtain.”
Wang Zhong thought for a moment, then nodded, “Proceed.”
Grigori immediately stood up to observe the distant farm, then jumped down from the vehicle and shouted behind him, “First squad, follow me; the rest stay and protect the general.”
Suddenly, a squad of soldiers disembarked and under Grigori’s leadership, formed a column and stealthily made their way towards the enemy.
Wang Zhong watched from a bird’s-eye view as they moved through the tall grass.
It felt a bit like playing a war simulation game, only Wang Zhong couldn’t control Grigori and his men; he could only watch as a spectator.
A bit like auto chess?
You promote capable officers and NCOs, then let them fight on their own while you can only watch.
Fifteen minutes later, Grigori took cover behind a scarecrow in a rice field, stuck his head out to survey the farmstead, then huddled his soldiers in a small circle in the wheat field, flattening a patch of ground to brief them on the situation.
After the briefing, Grigori’s squad dispersed and moved in groups of three, circling the manor from different directions.
Grigori was the first to open fire, targeting the tank commander and loader who were sticking out of Tank No. 2.
The firing distance was only about a hundred meters, and a burst of gunfire took the targets down. The Prussian tank commander fell backward, his lower body stuck inside the tank, while the loader was flung out of the tank, planting headfirst into the ground.
The Prussian soldiers around the tank were all stunned.
The machine gunner on the half-track vehicle immediately turned the gun, but the unique quietness of the thread cutter led him to misjudge the direction of the incoming bullets: he pointed the gun in the completely opposite direction.
That was because the sound of bullets hitting hard metal actually wasn’t the “BIU” sound made by many TV shows and movies, but more like the “crack” of throwing fireworks.
At the same time, many bullets hitting walls sounded even more like water being poured into a sizzling hot oil pan, creating a crackling noise.
No wonder the enemy gunner misjudged the direction.
Grigori’s assistant gunner also opened fire, taking down the half-track’s machine gunner.
The others also started shooting, and a hailstorm of bullets put all the enemies down on the ground.
The Prussians had no idea where the attack was coming from because not only was the sound of the thread cutter low, but the muzzle flash and smoke when firing were also minimal.
They started firing wildly, only to be taken down by precise shots.
The fight was over in less than a minute, leaving only Tank No. 2, which, driven by the sole surviving driver, charged out of the farm’s gates.
Then Grigori landed an incendiary bomb on the rear body of the tank.
The tank caught fire and slowly came to a halt. As soon as the driver jumped out, he was killed by Grigori.
Wang Zhong was very satisfied; with the help of his special ability, he could see that there were still a few Prussians alive inside the manor.
This time, taking an M3 half-track vehicle, he could stuff the prisoners inside and take them away, no longer needing to shoulder-shoot them and then drag them back.
He could even bandage these prisoners!
At this moment, the walkie-talkie in Vasily’s hand relayed Grigori’s report: “Genghis Khan, Genghis Khan, my unit has annihilated the enemy, awaiting instructions.”
Wang Zhong snatched the walkie-talkie: “Stand by, I’m on my way, Genghis Khan out.”