“`
Wang Zhong looked at his watch and sighed to Su Fang, “So, I can start the artillery preparation two hours ahead of schedule, right?”
Su Fang nodded repeatedly.
Wang Zhong turned his head and shouted, “Vasily, call the artillery command post and tell them to start firing two hours earlier.”
The artillery command post was also something Wang Zhong had learned from the Federation. The Federation had a method of simultaneous shell casting, where artillery units of different levels equipped with various types of cannons would coordinate their firing times differently, but the shells would land at the same time.
Because they landed simultaneously, the firepower density in that time period was several times more intense than that of normal firing.
During World War II on Earth, only the Americans were able to do this, and afterwards, other countries began to learn.
The role of the artillery command post was to coordinate the artillery barrage, and it was filled with mathematicians—in this era without computers, mathematicians had to perform manual calculations to work out the firing elements.
Following the experiences of the Federation, Wang Zhong established an artillery command post at the Army Group level.
This command post, for the convenience of communication, was not set up together with the Corps Command and needed a phone call to notify them of plan changes.
Upon hearing Wang Zhong’s voice, Vasily looked up, “Start two hours earlier, right?”
“Right.”
Vasily nodded and turned to make the call.
Wang Zhong looked at Su Fang, “Anything else?”
“Nothing else. General, it’s truly regrettable that Miss Ludmila couldn’t accompany you to the front lines. If you have—”
Nelly suddenly appeared, standing beside Wang Zhong, eyeing Su Fang askance.
Wang Zhong asked, “I have what?”
“If you need, I mean, if you need to talk to Miss Ludmila, you can come to me.”
Wang Zhong then recalled the Hymn Monk’s telepathy that he had tried before; it seemed to have been the first time he spoke to Olga.
Thinking about it seemed to make things weird: communicating through the mouth of a Hymn Monk who had always wanted to seduce him with his sister who admired him—the mere words could lead to many indecent thoughts.
Wang Zhong said, “I am a pure soldier. When I am on the front lines, I don’t think about these distractions. Monk Su Fang, you’re a priest too; the Eastern Holy Church should set an example in all respects within my army.”
Su Fang nodded, “Alright then. I will continue to be with the folk studies institute.”
“Is that your task, dealing with them?” asked Wang Zhong.
“No, I’m responsible for suppressing with hymns when they draw in something ominous,” said Su Fang with an enigmatic smile before walking away.
At that moment, Wang Zhong’s mind was flooded with a series of very Lovecraftian imaginations.
What kind of ominous things are they drawing in! You must clarify! Can the whirlwind’s 100mm cannon handle it? What about the borrowed heavy artillery battalion’s B4 howitzer?
If they can’t handle it, then that would be problematic!
After Su Fang disappeared, Nelly took out a bag and scattered a handful in the direction Su Fang had left.
Curiously, Wang Zhong asked, “What are you sprinkling there?”
“Salt,” Nelly replied, looking at Wang Zhong and holding up the bag, “Rock salt, to be exact. Absolutely effective, no matter how formidable the evil, it will be swept away.”
Wang Zhong reminded her, “Su Fang is a high-ranking nun, you know. Sprinkling salt on a high-ranking nun of the Secular faction—just make sure the Tribunal doesn’t find out about it.”
Nelly stuck out her tongue regretfully and put away the salt.
Wang Zhong said, “Well, it doesn’t matter if you sprinkled it, I’ll just call Judge Belinsky if need be. Don’t worry, I have to get back to the meeting.”
Nelly asked, “Should I prepare a late-night snack for the infantry officers?”
Wang Zhong looked around the room. The meeting had been interrupted by Su Fang, and the officers were casually chatting. However, they all seemed to be pointing at photographs, likely discussing tomorrow’s battle.
Viewing the young people—or rather, his peers—Wang Zhong’s expression softened, “Prepare it, and make it substantial. After all, some of them might not return tomorrow night.”
Nelly nodded.
As she was about to leave, Vasily came running back out of breath, “Report!”
Nelly jumped in surprise, looking at him quizzically.
The young officers in the room also ceased their discussions and turned to look at the door.
Vasily announced, “The phone lines were gnawed through by mice; the signal corps is out checking the lines.”
“You’re shouting over such a trivial thing? Mice?” Filippov yelled, and the officers in the room burst into laughter.
Wang Zhong didn’t laugh; he spoke seriously, “The situation is critical. We can’t wait for the signal corps to battle mice anymore, send a messenger.”
In this era, radio encryption was extremely weak. Only the Federation dabbled in frequency-hopping radios to prevent eavesdropping, but it was not yet equipped on a large scale.
Thus, in this era, important messages were either sent by encrypted radio messages or by phone, and in the absence of these, by sending someone physically, only as a last resort would they use the radio.
From the Army Group Command to the artillery command post, obviously, there was no need for a radio as it required messages to be encrypted before transmission and decrypted upon reception, a complicated process that was simpler to bypass by sending a runner.
Vasily said, “A messenger has been sent, that’s why I came back. Just to… report on the mice’s great work.”
The roomful of young staff officers laughed again.
Then Yegorov’s voice came through, “It’s quite normal for mice to gnaw through phone lines in the summer. This place is rather barren, in the black soil of Kazakhstan, the mice are three times fatter!”
Wang Zhong turned his head upon hearing Yegorov and asked, “What brings you to my place instead of staying at your division headquarters?”
“You’ve called my men over; shouldn’t I come and see?” countered Yegorov.
This time, due to the urgency of the situation, after conveying the attack determination to each unit, Wang Zhong directly phoned the 31st regiment and had the men summoned over.
“`
Wang Zhong: “Nonsense, what do we do if the enemy launches an attack?”
“The Prussians won’t launch a night attack. Besides, you’ve summoned all my infantry battalion and company commanders here. If the enemy does break through, it won’t be my fault, but yours to shoulder, Commander!”
Wang Zhong scratched his head: “It shouldn’t come to that. On the vast plains, no attack can succeed without tank troops. And tanks don’t operate well at night, they can’t see anything.”
Yegorov spread his arms: “Exactly, so you see, even you think there’s no problem with me coming over!”
Wang Zhong: “Alright, depending on the situation tomorrow, we may also need armored troops to coordinate, so it’s fine for you to come over. Also, call over Major General Eugene from the 225th Division; his division is almost all here.”
Vasily immediately saluted: “I’ll go and call the acting division commander of the 225th Division now.”
Yegorov: “You’re assigning the main attack to your old unit, the 31st Regiment, and only having the 225th Division’s infantry conduct a feint. Is there a risk of favoritism?”
Wang Zhong said seriously to Yegorov: “I chose you because this kind of combat requires troops to have extremely high personal initiative, and every soldier needs the courage to search for opportunities alone in the fog.
“I think that only the 31st Regiment can fight this way. The Fifth Belinsky Regiment still needs training.”
Yegorov turned his head and shouted to the young officers: “Did you hear that? Only we can do it! You better not disgrace us tomorrow! Make sure to convey the General’s trust to every soldier, tell them, even if they’re on their own, even if they cannot distinguish directions, they must move toward the sound of gunfire!”
“Good!” Everyone in the room answered in unison.
Wang Zhong asked: “Continue studying the photos. Have you figured out anything?”
“Report!” Filippov stood up, “Can we call over some locals to explain things to us? There should be many civilians who have fled to Trinka or even further east.”
Before Wang Zhong could answer, Vasily came in: “Acting Division Commander Eugene is on his way.”
Yegorov: “The phone line on that side hasn’t been chewed through by mice, has it?”
Vasily: “If that’s also cut, I might have to find a Judge.”
Wang Zhong put his hand on Vasily’s shoulder: “Don’t go looking for a Judge, go to the church and call the Priest here. I have something to ask him.”
If there were refugees, then the local church would surely be in charge of their accommodation; asking the church’s Priest would be right.
Vasily turned around: “Alright, just now I was running next door to make a call, this time I have to run to the church. Although neither distance is long…”
Wang Zhong: “Don’t complain, it’s better than hauling manure.”
Yegorov teased in a goading tone: “Run fast, Vasily!”
Vasily took off at a sprint.
————
“This is a low wall,” said Ivan, the refugee from Yeisk, “Adults can climb over it. But the series of courtyards inside don’t connect with each other; once you enter one courtyard, you must keep moving inward until you reach the main road.”
Filippov asked: “Can we blow up walls between two courtyards using explosives?”
The refugee Ivan widened his eyes: “Explosives? I don’t know how powerful they are…”
Filippov: “They’re about as powerful as the explosives used in mining.”
The refugee Ivan looked confused.
Yegorov: “Enough of that; the old farmers here haven’t seen mining. This area doesn’t even have a stone hill. Look here, Ivan, how big of a hammer would it take to break through this wall?”
Ivan clenched his right hand: “A hammer the size of two fists, this big, could break it.”
Yegorov cursed: “How can such a thick brick wall be broken like that? You guys might need to bring more explosives.”
Filippov snapped his fingers: “Got it!”
At that moment, there was the sound of a car engine from outside.
Wang Zhong looked towards the door and saw Vasily leading in Major General Eugene of the 225th Division.
The first thing Eugene did upon entering was to sigh.
Wang Zhong: “What’s wrong? Morale is immeasurable among the soldiers and officers, and your sighing isn’t helping!”
Eugene quickly shut his mouth, then explained reluctantly: “I’m just a mine manager, commanding a division in an assault is too difficult.”
“Your division is executing a feint.” Yegorov said, “If you really don’t know how, just have your soldiers shout ‘hurrah’ in the fog, and that’s enough.”
Eugene shook his head: “No no, I’ve seen the Prussians too, they won’t believe that. Tomorrow my troops have to enter the urban area; at the very least, we need to inflict casualties on the Prussians, make the Prussian machine guns fire into the fog.”
Wang Zhong pointed at Eugene, and said to Yegorov: “Our mine manager says he doesn’t understand, but once he starts talking, he’s very precise.”
Popov laughed: “I think Major General Eugene could command an Army Group, why don’t you let him take over, General?”
Yegorov: “That won’t do, the soldiers would have something to say about that. Everyone wants to fight under the ‘Magician of the Battlefield’, the undefeated Rocossov.”
Outside, there was another sound of an engine.
Wang Zhong: “Vasily, go see what unit is coming in at this late hour.”
Vasily stood up: “Alright, I’ll go take a look.”
A moment later, Vasily returned leading General Tadeusz, commander of the 1st Division of the Melania People’s Army: “Report, the vanguard of the Melania People’s Army has arrived.”
Wang Zhong was delighted: “Arrived so quickly?”
Tadeusz said in heavily accented Ante language: “It’s well-arranged by the Chief of Staff.”
Wang Zhong: “How many troops are in the vanguard?”
Tadeusz: “An infantry battalion.”
“Then you reinforce the 31st Regiment, you come over here, let me tell you…”