Wang Zhong: “The operation’s codename is Suvorov.”
In the history of World War II on Earth, there was no military operation named after Suvorov, but there was Bagration.
Bagration was also a famous general of the Russian Empire during the Napoleon era, and Wang Zhong thought he could follow suit, starting from Suvorov, then moving on to Kutuzov, and finally to Bagration.
By the time it came to Bagration, they would sweep through the enemy like a devastating storm, annihilating the Prussian army, while the first two phases would involve slowly whittling down the enemy forces bit by bit and at the same time training Ante’s troops.
Right now, the Ante troops were too weak, with even the highly trained mobile army group that Wang Zhong had personally trained only able to fight the Prussians to a draw. Fighting the Prussians with any other troops would be like throwing meat buns to a dog, wouldn’t it?
Once the Ante Army accumulated more experience, and more old Prussian soldiers died, it was estimated that they could go toe-to-toe with the Prussians.
The good news was that compared to the Russians on Earth, Ante’s performance wasn’t bad; the Russians suffed substantial losses of their forces until the eighth month of ’42, enduring irreversible casualties of 1.5 million before the battle of Stalingrad.
However, facing the much stronger Prussian Army, Ante only suffered a total casualty count of 1.5 million, a significant part of which were the troops annihilated during the siege of the Coastal Fortress.
Mainly because the Ante’s fast-victory faction had been eliminated, the largest scale offensive launched in the first half of the year was General Golikov’s action at the Duva River. When the operation was stalled, General Golikov decisively stopped the offensive and shifted focus to securing the ferry on the east bank of the Duva.
Because the losses were less than those on Earth, the Ante High Command currently had far more troops at its disposal than the Russians did on Earth.
Unfortunately, having more veterans didn’t seem to have strengthened Ante’s troops by much.
Or perhaps the Prussians were just too strong.
After Wang Zhong finished sharing his resolution with his subordinates, Vasily raised his hand: “Talking to us about it is pointless; the highest rank here is colonel, and we don’t have a single general.”
The deputy chief of staff, Alexandria, said: “Are you ignoring my rank of brigadier general?”
“Alright, apart from you, talking to us about this is useless,” Vasily spread his hands, “You might as well tell us how you plan on racing Jeeps in the future.”
That was when the scouting battalion commander spoke up on behalf of everyone: “We’ve summarized our experience internally. In future encounters with enemy tanks in open fields, we should maintain a distance of 800 meters to force the enemy to use their tank guns against us, effectively reducing casualties.”
You still plan to go toe-to-toe with enemy tanks!
Wang Zhong: “Today I had you hold off the enemy to prevent them from flanking us and engaging in melee combat with the vortex. Normally, covering the flanks of the vortex should be the job of the Anti-tank Artillery Battalion and Armored Troops. Tomorrow, the anti-tank artillery and armored troops will arrive, and we won’t need you.”
“As for the tactical resolutions I’ve just mentioned, I was organizing my own thoughts.” Continue your journey on empire
Vasily: “You’ve mentioned that tactical resolution twice already.”
“Did I say it twice?” Wang Zhong was surprised.
Vasily: “Yes, you did yesterday too, just not in front of everyone.”
Wang Zhong scratched his head: “Is that so. It’s good to repeat it a few times. When Pavlov arrives, I’ll have to tell him too.”
“Tell me about it too,” a familiar voice came from the door, and Wang Zhong turned his head to see Popov’s bald head.
The Military Bishop of the Army Group entered the room and saluted Wang Zhong: “The Military Bishop of the Army Group has arrived in Tylinka ahead of the second echelon!”
Wang Zhong returned the salute and then pointed to Alexandria: “Deputy chief of staff, hurry up and arrange for the follow-up troops to spread out; don’t crowd in Tylinka. It would be terrible if we were targeted by enemy artillery fire.”
Popov pointed to the colonel behind him and told Alexandria: “You go interface with the military personnel, while I’ll stay here to listen to the general’s campaign resolution.”
Wang Zhong: “You sure shook off that responsibility cleanly.”
“I’m a Military Bishop. If I start giving orders, it means the military commanders are done for, and that would be dire. I hope I never have the opportunity to command troops.” Popov shrugged, then quickly changed the subject, “But there’s no need to worry, after all, our military commander is Rocossov, and even Death would salute you.”
Wang Zhong: “Don’t add to my legend now.”
Popov shook his head: “Do your legends even need my embellishment? As soon as we arrived in Yarvik, we heard that you tore apart Prussian brand-new tanks with your bare hands and even captured a new general!”
Wang Zhong frowned: “Has the rear gotten so ludicrous? The enemy we fought today might not even have had a brigadier general.”
Vasily interjected: “Maybe the civilians mistook the skull on the enemy Armored Troops’ badges for a general’s insignia.”
As he spoke, he fiddled with his own badge.
“I’ve heard civilians in the tavern saying that Prussian generals have skulls on their badges.”
Wang Zhong: “Tavern, you say? When did you go to a tavern, Vasily? Didn’t we only stay in Yarvik for one day?”
Vasily: “I meant in the taverns in Ye Fort! Get it right! I never left your side in Yarvik!”
Popov laughed heartily, then walked over to the map and quickly said after a glance: “The vanguard is this close to Yeisk?”
Wang Zhong: “Reconnaissance units, along with small squads equipped with wireless radios. Our army has plenty of radio equipment, so we’re using that to our advantage to control as much of the grassland as possible.”
“How many enemies?” Popov asked again.
Wang Zhong: “Quite a few. Initial intelligence indicated that the enemy’s Busse combat group had one Armored Battalion and one Armored Grenadier Battalion, but when they all appeared today, it didn’t look like just that many. It’s possible that an Asgard Knights division has already reached Yeisk.”
Popov was greatly alarmed, “Doesn’t that mean we are at a disadvantage in terms of forces? We only have one armored destroyer battalion, one tank battalion, plus an anti-tank artillery battalion, and not even a full guard motorized infantry has arrived yet. The vanguard of the 225th Division won’t reach Yarvik until tomorrow! The entire Army Group won’t be in place until the 16th.”
Wang Zhong replied, “That’s why we need to shell Yeisk tomorrow, to make it look like we plan to attack the city.”
Popov asked incredulously, “Are you relying on those second echelon 122s? The 152s and their tractors won’t arrive until tomorrow morning!”
Wang Zhong explained, “I’ve liaised with the Front Army for artillery troops. If nothing goes awry, they are currently en route to us. They will deploy here when they arrive.”
As he spoke, he picked up a pencil and marked an area on the map.
Popov was astonished, “I visited the Front Army headquarters, and frankly, I don’t trust this Front Army, especially that General Andrei.”
Wang Zhong narrowed his eyes and asked, “What, you have a bad feeling about him?”
“Yes, I find him very obstinate and self-opinionated. The Church’s personnel files on him say the same thing. The only reason he doesn’t dare command your troops arbitrarily is because they are your Army Group.”
To be honest, a general not daring to command the troops of a lieutenant general didn’t sound like they were part of an army that could win battles—Wang Zhong thought to himself.
However, he had a hunch about why the situation was as it was, so he didn’t voice his thoughts.
In fact, he was quite pleased the Front Army headquarters wasn’t meddling and allowed him to operate freely.
With this in mind, a faint smile appeared on Wang Zhong’s lips.
Seeing his expression, Popov obviously had his own suspicions and said, “Give it your best, future general. His Excellency Belinsky and His Majesty the Tsar are both looking forward to it.”
Wang Zhong replied, “I will.”
Popov added, “Also, only the 122s might raise suspicions with the Prussian generals tomorrow. Which 152 artillery battalion did you want? I’ll rush over there tonight and make sure they’ll be at the designated location for the shelling tomorrow.”
Wang Zhong indeed couldn’t remember which artillery battalions the Front Army had allocated to join the fight, so he turned to Vasily.
“The 197th Heavy Siege Howitzer Battalion, the 204th Heavy Howitzer Battalion,” Vasily immediately reported the unit numbers. He also tore off a sticky note, scribbled something quickly with a pencil, and handed it to Popov, “Their quarters are here.”
Popov, impressed, accepted the note, “Good lad, you’ve learned something other than mucking out. Well, I’m off.”
Wang Zhong nodded, watching him leave.
At that moment, the reconnaissance battalion commander stood up, “We should also head back to our units. If the shelling doesn’t fool the enemy tomorrow, we’ll be in for a tough fight.”
Wang Zhong said, “Go.”
The officers all stood, leaving the room one after another.
No sooner had they left than Nelly walked in with a large plate, “Dinner.”
Wang Zhong slapped his forehead, “Wait, call back the commanders of the units. Have them eat before they go.”
Vasily immediately ran out of the room, leaving Nelly and the two mapping staff officers behind.
The staff officers exchanged a look and decided to leave.
Wang Zhong commanded, “You two, complete the map work! Don’t worry about anything else.”
Nelly brought the plates over to the table and suddenly said, “There weren’t as many casualties today as before.”
“Yes, after all, our training has improved, and we have a tactical advantage,” Wang Zhong responded, “Wait, that’s not right—Orachi’s first day casualties weren’t high either!”
“No, I remember clearly. On the first day in Orachi, I saw corpses lined up in front of the church, and the hospital was filled with the wounded. But today, we had just over a hundred corpses, and the field hospital still had space.”
Wang Zhong thought back; indeed, Orachi’s first-day losses weren’t significant compared to a division of ten thousand or so, but there were still nearly a thousand casualties that day.
But today’s losses were truly low, even by head count.
Wang Zhong asked, “Are you happy that there were fewer casualties?”
Nelly nodded, “Mhmm.”
Wang Zhong asked half-jokingly, “Can you pat my head like a mother rewards her child?”
Nelly showed a look of disdain.
But she still reached out and gently stroked Wang Zhong’s head, “Good boy, you did well, and your efforts paid off.”
Wang Zhong lamented, “It’s a pity we can’t say the same for the exchange ratio of our other units. Many of the casualties today were from the new recruits in the infantry. We worked so hard to train them, wanting them to survive, but in the end…”
He felt the hand stroking his head press a bit harder.
“It’s not your fault,” Nelly said softly but firmly.