Captain John thought for a few seconds, shook his head, and said, “The enemy should be approaching for close combat, a problem to be solved with Molotov cocktails. Another strange thing is, why haven’t we received their radio communication?”
The battle group chief of staff looked at the communications officer.
The communications officer immediately answered, “If our radio antennas were still deployed, perhaps we could have received it. But this morning, there was word of enemy heavy bombers coming to bomb us, so according to the air defense orders, we retracted the deployed antennas.
“Our battle group is nearly ten kilometers away from the vanguard led by Captain Hans, and without antennas, it’s quite possible we won’t receive transmissions from their vehicle-mounted radios.
“Of course, it’s also possible that their tanks are running low on power, leading to insufficient radio output. Or, the radio could very well be out of order. They reported a fierce bombing by enemy planes yesterday, and they might have encountered the same this morning.”
The communications officer explained in turn.
Captain John nodded.
The Prussian military placed great importance on radio communication; attached to the armor unit’s repair team would be an electrical engineer and a communications engineer, working together to ensure the radios of the armor unit were operational.
However, these repair troops wouldn’t charge at the front lines; when the armor unit was on a combat mission, these troops would typically stay with the fuel supply unit, only moving up alongside the fuel trucks when the armor unit stopped.
Radio equipment, particularly the antennas mounted outside of tanks, is quite vulnerable to damage from air strikes and artillery fire.
Captain John nodded and said, “There is indeed a possibility that all faults are due to bombing. Colonel Busse, we should take the initiative to strike, whether the four new heavy tanks were destroyed or have malfunctioned, broken down, we should recover them. This way, the Empire can modify the design plan based on the wreckage.”
Colonel Busse stared at the map and said, “First, let’s have the motorized reconnaissance troop that’s currently heading toward Yeisk turn back to check what’s been tailing them.”
————-
On Wang Zhong’s end, he watched the technicians dismantle the captured tank tracks, sandwiched them with tractors front and back, and hauled them away.
Just then, the soldier carrying a radio shouted, “General! Talihu Tai is calling.”
Wang Zhong took the walkie-talkie, “This is Luo—Genghis Khan, go ahead.”
“The enemy reconnaissance team that’s been retreating has suddenly turned around.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Zhong immediately switched his viewpoint, quickly located the “Talihu Tai” team, and saw they were being chased around by two Panzer IIs and a bunch of half-track vehicles.
However, the reconnaissance team had been receiving the Willis Jeeps for four months now and had become quite skilled at driving them, leading the Prussians on a wild chase across the plains without a single casualty.
Wang Zhong had read the memoirs of a Sturmtiger’s mountain infantry gunner, which mentioned how difficult it was to hit the Soviet-operated American-made little jeeps (referring to the Willis Jeeps); oftentimes, it took hundreds of rounds of ammunition to take down such a jeep.
And an MG42 would need a barrel change after firing 400 shots.
So, experienced gunners would ignore these little jeeps, focusing their firepower on trucks and half-tracks instead.
Now the scene seemed to confirm the words of that veteran mountain infantry gunner.
The dust kicked up by the jeeps, dragging brooms behind them, was even bigger than that made by tanks, making it impossible for even elite Prussian gunners to hit the speeding jeeps.
Wang Zhong said, “Talihu Tai, granny would be pleased, repeat, granny would be pleased.”
This code meant for them to lure the enemy towards the ambush site.
“Talihu Tai understands, Genghis Khan, watch us do it! Talihu Tai out.”
Although the communication ended, the view lasted for about thirty seconds longer, and Wang Zhong kept watching them dodge around the Prussian machine guns and autocannons.
The Soviet drivers even angled the vehicles so that the mounted machine guns could open fire on the enemy.
Finally, the view disappeared, and a mist covered all these images.
Wang Zhong switched his viewpoint back and took up the walkie-talkie to call another reconnaissance team.
After connecting, he saw their location; they had almost reached the suburbs of Yeisk.
Wang Zhong hastily ordered, “Terumi, stop immediately, you’re about to leave the radio range! Do not approach the city, repeat, do not approach the city.”
“Terumi received.” As he responded, Wang Zhong saw the convoy speeding across the plains turn around.
Wang Zhong then felt relieved.
————-
On the Prussian Army’s side.
The voice of the reconnaissance platoon leader came over the radio, “The light vehicles that have been chasing us seem to be dragging harrows or something, creating a huge cloud of dust.”
Colonel Busse cursed, “Earlier you reported they were an enemy tank unit!”
Platoon leader: “The information we provided was incorrect, Colonel.”
In truth, they had also been misled by the intelligence from their own forces, but the platoon leader didn’t make excuses for his mistake.
Colonel Busse’s expression softened, “Good, you bravely took responsibility and didn’t make excuses for yourself. You are a qualified soldier. About this misinformation, include it in your report when you return, and I will clarify the situation to my superiors.”
Clarifying the situation meant that he would shift the blame to the first person who sent out the false information that “100 tanks are encircling us.”
Colonel Busse, this kind of superior, usually has a good reputation among the soldiers.
The colonel looked up at John, “It seems we’ve been completely deceived. The enemy must not be strong, that’s why they’re trying to deceive us. I think we should strike, seize this opportunity and recapture the new tanks while annihilating this audacious enemy.”
————-
Wang Zhong said, “The intelligence we captured and the aerial photos the Air Force delivered yesterday indicate that the enemy forces in Yeisk consist of only one battle group, composed of an armored battalion, a grenadier battalion, and attached units, less than a hundred tanks.
“We could consider annihilating them. To bait the enemy, before we wipe out their reconnaissance platoon, we can pretend to retreat, like having some vehicles create a dust cloud behind the ambush site and letting some others withdraw in front of the enemy.”
Vasily: “We’d have to get the tank destroyer unit to intentionally leave behind an armored half-track with an antenna, or a tank.”
Wang Zhong: “Let’s do that. You issue the order.”
Vasily was shocked: “Me, issue the order myself?”
Wang Zhong: “Practice makes perfect, think about how Pavlov would break down my tactical intentions into specific instructions.”
Vasily thought back for a moment, then started imitating the Chief of Staff’s method, breaking Wang Zhong’s tactical intentions down into different orders, and passing them down to the various units.
After Vasily finished, Wang Zhong praised him: “You’ve already become quite the seasoned staff officer! Keep it up and I’ll promote you to an official rank.”
Vasily had a worried look on his face: “And then use my brain till it’s as bald as Pavlov’s?”
Wang Zhong glanced at Vasily’s thick hair: “That’s still a long way off!”
At that moment, a call came through the radio: “Talihu Tai calling Genghis Khan, we’re engaging the enemy.”
Wang Zhong immediately adjusted his view and saw the blocking force’s Whirlwinds firing, with half-tracks transporting accompanying infantry retreating full of soldiers and spoils, while in the rear, a lone Willis Jeep was kicking up dust.
Further away, Whirlwinds from the Tiger Combat Team were rushing to rendezvous, also creating a massive dust cloud.
It looked even more like they were forming a long line and fleeing.
The Whirlwinds quickly dispatched the Prussians’ reconnaissance squad, leaving behind a half-track with a long antenna, shells constantly hitting around them but just missing by a hair’s breadth.
Wang Zhong felt that the gunners in the blocking force were showing off their skills. In theory, at such a density of fire, even blind shots should hit that one vehicle, yet all the shells skimmed over the enemies’ heads.
Suddenly, the Whirlwinds gradually ceased firing, and Wang Zhong immediately realized that the troops were feigning running out of ammunition.
It could only be said that some of Wang Zhong’s rather cheeky tactical style had already been passed down to his troops.
After the ceasefire, a report came through the radio from the blocking force: “Genghis Khan, we’ve exhausted our ammunition, and one of the enemy got away.”
Wang Zhong: “Got it, retreat. Genghis Khan over.”
————
“The enemy is trying to escape,” Colonel Busse said decisively upon hearing the report, standing up, “We can’t let them get away, nor can we let them take the new tanks back. Stick to the original plan of advance, attack!”
Colonel Busse turned to Captain John: “Can we get support from heavy tanks?”
“The wheels are still not fully mounted,” Captain John said gravely, “You’ll have to enjoy the hunt without them.”
He stood up and saluted Colonel Busse.
The colonel returned the salute.
————
Wang Zhong’s Jeep unit was the first to discover the Prussian Army pouring out from Yeisk.
As soon as he received the report, he immediately switched views, only to witness a wild car chase unfolding on the plains.
The Prussians had dispatched motorcycle and Jeep squads to race, trying to drive away these rabbit-like sprinters from the side of the main column.
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But it was not that easy! The Willis Jeep could be lighter than the Prussians’ three-wheeled motorcycles, and it had decent horsepower. On the grasslands without mud, it was superbly useful.
The Prussian motorcycle squad was like chasing flies, shooing away one only for another to sidle up beside them.
The whole scene was just like the car battles in Mad Max; replace the plains with a desert, and it was practically identical!
Seeing that they could not chase off the Jeeps, the Prussians began to fire with the MG34 machine guns mounted on their motorcycles, but in such a bumpy state, targeting the wildly sprinting Willis Jeeps, how could they possibly hit their mark!
The return fire from the Willis Jeeps was also mostly outlining the targets, as both sides performed evasive maneuvers to the max.
Wang Zhong thought to himself, this way of fighting is just useless. The most effective weapon in a car chase is a pumpkin! Throw the pumpkins!
As for the main body of the enemy forces, a large number of Mark III tanks were arranged in a single column on the highway, moving at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour.
The length of the marching column directly exceeded Wang Zhong’s field of vision, which means it was over two and a half kilometers long.
Seeing such a long procession, Wang Zhong couldn’t help but mutter, “Is this an armored battalion or a grenadier battalion?”
At that moment, he suddenly spotted the ambush position of the Whirlwinds ahead.
Most of the Whirlwinds had stopped on the small hill slopes, and they had also dug shallow pits to further reduce their already low profile. The main body of the tank destroyers was hidden by tall wheat fields, with only the periscopic gun sights and commander’s observation periscopes sticking above the wheat.
Wang Zhong suddenly realized something; the enemy convoy was heading straight for the ambush position.
If this were a naval battleship exchange, it would be the legendary T-shaped formation, optimal for firepower utilization, capable of concentrating fire to sink the enemy’s lead ships one by one.
But this ground battle didn’t need concentrated fire. With a hundred guns, once a Mark III was penetrated, there would be no survivors left.
Which meant that the current situation simply wouldn’t allow for a rapid annihilation of the enemy. It would inevitably turn into a two-sided firefight!
And now that the enemy was nearly within the ambush squad’s line of sight, it was too late to adjust, and they might even expose the vulnerable sides of the Whirlwinds to the enemy.
They would just have to make do with the fight.
Wang Zhong felt very remorseful because he got too carried away watching “Mad Max.”
However, the commander of the Whirlwind battalion also lacked mastery. I clearly taught them that when ambushing, they should align on the side of the enemy’s marching column! I taught them clearly!
When this commander comes back, I’m going to lock him up to contemplate what he’s done!