After thoroughly crushing the prisoners’ confidence, Wang Zhong waved his hand: “Take them away!”
Acting Chief of Staff Alexandria watched the prisoners being led onto the vehicles before approaching and saying, “The few destroyed new model tanks we inspected have been confirmed to have no salvage value. Is this intact one being towed back?”
Wang Zhong: “Yes, remove the tracks and tow it back. It will damage the running gear, but right now, we don’t have a better solution.”
In fact, he wasn’t certain whether the Tiger could be towed with its tracks removed, but before his time travel, he had seen the Russians treat the Leopard 2A6 this way. Since the 2A6 could be handled like this, then the Tiger should probably manage as well, right?
Unlike the somewhat unsure Wang Zhong, Alexandria immediately relayed the order to the engineers who had been brought along to “capture the Tiger.”
While the engineers were busy, Wang Zhong picked up the walkie-talkie to start calling the ambush squad: “Genghis Khan calling Agu Da, Genghis Khan calling Agu Da.”
“Agu Da is listening, please speak, Genghis Khan.”
“Has your unit engaged the enemy?”
“No engagement, repeat, no engagement, Agu Da out.”
Wang Zhong handed the walkie-talkie to Vasily and said to Alexandria, “The ambush squad didn’t make contact, what a pity. The Vortex could probably knock out the enemy’s long-barreled Mark IVs. I estimate that an ambush from a preset position could inflict heavy losses on the enemy.”
Alexandria hadn’t spoken yet when his adjutant Vasily interjected: “Then why don’t we take the offensive?”
Wang Zhong: “Not possible. Although the Vortex passed its ‘big test,’ it is after all a tank destroyer, meant for defense. The lack of a turret is a significant disadvantage when on the offensive.”
Reports from World War II on Earth had said as much: during the Battle of the Bulge, both sides noticed that assault guns didn’t perform well in an offensive role, the limitations were too great.
An attack still required a turret.
At the moment, Wang Zhong had the Vortex at his disposal, which meant he had the strongest shield, but the Vortex wasn’t suitable for offense.
Besides lacking a turret, the vehicle’s excessive emphasis on frontal armor was also a big problem. After all, the Vortex had only so much weight to distribute, so with such reliable “front facing,” the sides naturally wouldn’t hold up well, likely getting penetrated by Prosian Army’s heavy anti-tank guns like the PAK40.
(In the Prosian military, anti-tank guns above 70mm were considered heavy, so the 75mm PAK40 was definitely a heavy anti-tank gun.)
But to develop even more outstanding tanks, they would have to wait until all the machine tools and other aid from the Federation had arrived.
Forget it, this kind of task couldn’t be expected to be completed within the year, so it was best not to think about it now.
Defeating this small vanguard enemy unit could at best be considered a snack before the main meal; the appetizer would be this Busse combat group.
While Wang Zhong was clearing the battlefield, Vasily approached with a document case: “I found an infantry captain, and this is his map case and documents.”
Wang Zhong urged immediately, “Take a look quickly!”
Vasily first opened the map: “Oh, a very detailed map, but it was updated the day before yesterday.”
The vanguard combat group had been attacked by air on the second day of their journey and was left stranded, then the next day, they were wiped out by Wang Zhong and his advance team, so the map probably was updated on the morning of the day the group set out.
Vasily examined the map closely: “The Busse combat group is located in Yeisk, the main force being an armored battalion from the Asgard Knights’ Sede Armored Division, reinforced by a grenadier platoon, plus numerous auxiliary troops. Why do they seem so few in number?”
Wang Zhong: “Prosian battalions are big battalions, with at least over 70 tanks. Their armored grenadier platoon is also large, with 20 squads. Besides, the combat group is reinforced with heavy tanks; their strength is not to be underestimated.”
At that moment, Wang Zhong didn’t know that the enemy had received a reinforcing armored battalion the night before; in fact, he was now facing the entire Sede Division’s armored force and half their armored grenadier might.
After a brief contemplation, Wang Zhong said, “Vasily, take note. After analyzing the captured enemy maps and intelligence, I plan to concentrate superior forces to launch an annihilation offensive in two to three days to eliminate the enemy’s Busse combat group.”
Vasily quickly wrote it down and then looked up: “And then?”
“Send it back to Pavlov, with copies to High Command for General Tugenev.”
Vasily made a few more notes, then looked up again: “Aren’t you going to mention our latest war trophy?”
“No need to make a special point of it; in the end, the object will have to be sent to the Ordnance Department for testing… But make sure to mark on the map the positions of the remaining three wreckages of the new heavy tanks, try to tow them back. Having one for study isn’t enough; we should share with our allies, letting them know the level of the Prosian new tanks.”
Vasily wrote diligently.
Once he was done, Wang Zhong turned to Acting Chief of Staff Alexandria and said, “Have the Vortex, our tiger fighter, move west, and join the ambush troops. Send out as many scouting teams as possible, equipped with walkie-talkies. According to the codebooks we’ve previously captured, there are still two scout groups active on the battlefield, be very careful.”
————
Meanwhile, on the Prosian military’s side.
At the Yeisk Busse combat group headquarters, Colonel Busse furrowed his brows, muttering to himself while looking at the map, “What’s going on? What happened to the attack by one to two hundred Ante tanks that was supposed to happen?”
While he said this, Colonel Busse roughly guessed what was going on.
In wars, commanders at various levels often exaggerate the strength of the enemy and the difficulties they face. Whether it was to make excuses for their own failures or to secure more reinforcements.
So even without the enemy deliberately releasing false information, commanders in a war could still gather a basketful of unreliable intelligence.
“`
Colonel Busse had participated in all the campaigns launched by the Prosen Empire in the conquest of Europa and naturally knew this.
He looked at the commander of the newly reinforced heavy tank company, Johann: “It’s that Lieutenant Linden of yours who’s the source of the false report.”
Johann shook his head, “It’s possible that the enemy deceived him.”
“How did they deceive him?”
Johann spread his hands: “I don’t know, maybe they tied a broom behind each vehicle.”
Colonel Busse looked at the map again, thought for a while, and said, “Send out the reconnaissance team again, and request air reconnaissance as well. Staying in the city like blind men is definitely not an option.”
Johann nodded: “I support that.”
Although Johann was only a captain, his command of the new heavy tanks was the main reason for the success of Colonel Busse’s attack this time, so his opinion naturally became important.
Moreover, the new tanks were highly anticipated by Emperor Reinhard, and this company commander might become a favored one before the emperor in the future. Colonel Busse didn’t want to offend the captain and sought his opinions on everything.
The colonel gave orders to his chief of staff and then continued to look at the map.
At that moment, the communications staff rushed in and said loudly, “Report, we’ve intercepted enemy radio communication and have recorded it.”
Colonel Busse was overjoyed: “Quick, play it! Where’s the translator?”
The translator immediately pushed the door open: “I’m here, Colonel.”
“You do the translation.” After speaking, Colonel Busse nodded to the communications staff.
So the staff took out the recorder, pressed the button, and the tape began to roll.
Soon, Ante language floated from the speaker.
Translator: “Genghis Khan calling Wanyan A’guda.”
Johann frowned: “Genghis Khan? Why use that as a call sign?”
“It might mean nothing,” said Colonel Busse, while gesturing for the translator and the communications staff to continue.
Translator: “‘A’guda’ replies to ‘Genghis Khan’, saying the reinforcement troops did not hit their mark.”
Colonel Busse and Captain Johann exchanged glances, then Johann gestured for Colonel Busse with his higher rank to proceed.
Colonel Busse said, “We lost contact with Tank 217—no, with all the heavy tanks in the vanguard units half an hour ago. Considering the current situation, the vanguard units might have been completely annihilated.
“The enemy left forces to block ours, which means they’re guarding against us moving out to rescue the encircled allies.
“And the rumored massive armored attack wave never arrived.
“I believe this morning’s supposed enemy armored forces attack was entirely a ruse, aimed at making us ignore our surrounded allies. Clearly, they’ve accomplished that very well!”
Captain Johann nodded, but immediately said, “But how could the enemy overcome the new heavy tanks? Their tank guns shouldn’t be able to penetrate your tanks! Not even the ZIS3 heavy anti-tank gun can do it.”
The colonel was about to answer when the deputy communications officer pushed the door open: “Report! The Air Force just flew over our armored assembly area west of the city and dropped off a recording.”
The colonel muttered, “Another recording tape?”
Johann urged, “Let’s quickly see what’s on the recording.”
Colonel Busse nodded to the communications officer, and the new tape was put into the recorder.
From the speaker came a cultured voice: “To all members of the Busse Combat Group, my aircraft received a radio transmission at 12:30, and now the recording is presented to you.”
As the words ended, there was a brief pause before an angry roar in Prosen language came from the speaker: “If you do not surrender, I will personally climb onto your tanks and blow your heads off with my pistol! Your family and friends will receive a letter stating you died from stupidity and overestimating yourselves!”
Even without a translator, everyone present could understand.
Colonel Busse cursed: “Damn, this sounds like a bid to get us to surrender.”
Johann furrowed his brow: “That shouldn’t be, the combat capabilities of the new heavy tanks with broken treads are still there. What have the enemies used to destroy their will to resist? Just with such poor threats? No, I don’t think my men would be intimidated by this threat.
“And if you look closely, the threat is odd. To personally climb onto the tanks, you can’t open the hatch from the outside, isn’t there a step missing between climbing the tanks and blowing heads off with a pistol?”
Colonel Busse: “You care about this?”
Stay tuned for updates on empire
“No, it’s important. What exactly did the enemy use to break the heavy tanks’ defenses?”
Colonel Busse clicked his tongue: “Maybe that Rocossov cut it open with a knife.”
“`