Yegorov was not in his division headquarters at that time but had, like Rocossov, run to the front lines and joined the guards’ first tank battalion.
His chief of staff, Alexandria, and Pavlov were just as powerless and furious, and after unsuccessfully trying to persuade him, the military bishop also rushed over, saying he was prepared to physically restrain him before he personally led a charge.
Yegorov stubbornly insisted, “I won’t be leading a charge in the flesh; I’m not Major General Rocossov. I know my limits.”
The bishop looked at him askance, “Oh really? Do you now?”
Just as Yegorov was about to speak, he suddenly furrowed his brow, “Hold on a second!”
He looked toward the city where at that time the fog was still thick, rendering anything beyond five meters invisible.
Bishop: “What’s wrong?”
“Hush! Do you hear that engine sound?”
“No, isn’t it the sound of our tanks’ engines?”
“That’s not right! Our tanks are only maintaining engine turnover without being geared; they wouldn’t be that loud. This is the sound of tanks in motion.”
If a tank’s engine is idling without being in gear, although the sound is loud, it will not be as loud as a tank that is moving.
The bishop also held his breath and listened intently before speaking, “Indeed, engine sounds. The enemy in the city has moved, and they’re moving away from us.”
Yegorov: “Phone!”
The signalman immediately brought over a portable phone and handed the receiver to Yegorov.
Yegorov: “Connect me to—no, the Corps Command, damn, can’t get used to it.”
The bishop chuckled, “After all, the General is your old boss.”
Seconds later, a male voice came through the receiver, “Corps Command, go ahead.”
“This is Yegorov, I need General Rokossovsky!”
“One moment.”
After another twenty seconds, Rokossovsky’s voice came from the receiver, “This is Rokossovsky, what’s happening Yegorov?”
“The enemy has left the city, the engine sound is loud; looks like their whole tank force is out.”
“Understood, can you direct artillery fire?”
“No, visibility is only five meters here; we can only hear them, can’t see anything.”
“Got it, I’ll figure something out. Wait a second, can you tell which direction the sound is coming from? I need a specific direction.”
Just as Yegorov was about to speak, an idea struck him, and he bent down to pull out a compass, carefully checking the scale before replying, “Roughly thirty degrees to the northwest from our position.”
“Good. Keep monitoring… Adjust the positions of the eddies before the fog lifts, so we are ready to fire as soon as it clears.”
“Yes sir.”
Rokossovsky hung up the phone.
Yegorov handed the receiver back to the signalman, looking puzzled at the bishop, “The General asked for the sound’s direction but not for my position, what is he planning to do?”
The bishop spread his hands, “You’ve been with him for a year, and you don’t know. I’m new here; how would I know?”
————
Wang Zhong, through an external device, obtained Yegorov’s position and marked it on the Army Group Command’s map, then drew a line north-northwest.
Pavlov: “What is this?”
“Yegorov heard the enemy’s engine sound; I’m marking it. Connect me to General Eugene of the 225th Division.”
After a few dozen seconds, Vasily handed the receiver, “The General is waiting.”
Wang Zhong took the receiver, “General Eugene, your troops should hear the enemy’s engine sounds coming out of the city.”
“Ah? Did they hear them? Let me check.”
Wang Zhong switched his view, and indeed, General Eugene was not on the front line but remained in his division headquarters; he was a normal commander.
Because the phone was connected, Wang Zhong’s external device, which normally only displayed a division headquarters symbol, now showed the detailed situation at the division headquarters, making it clear Eugene was inquiring his chief of staff.
The chief of staff then personally picked up another phone’s receiver, starting to inquire about the troops.
Immediately after, Wang Zhong realized that under these conditions, he could not directly see the front line. When Vasily was calling down the line right next to him, he could see what was happening below.
Could it be that the key lies in the communication process involving several different devices?
While Wang Zhong was pondering this, General Eugene got his answer and reported, “Indeed, we heard the engine sound, towards the southwest.”
“Understood. Adjust the position of your tank destroyer battalion to ensure they face the enemy as soon as the smoke clears.”
For a brief moment, Wang Zhong considered having the 225th Division send a reconnaissance team with a radio to find the enemy’s position.
But he quickly realized it was impossible; first, in the thick fog, a reconnaissance team would probably have difficulty determining their own position, and second, it was unlikely that an individual soldier’s radio would directly connect with the Corps Command— even if the fog didn’t affect radio communication distance, it would not be feasible.
The Army Group Command was now too far from the frontline.
So Wang Zhong instructed Eugene, “That’s it, be careful.”
At that moment, Eugene reported, “General, we are supposed to be conducting a feint, but the front line reports a smooth advance, and we’ve already penetrated deep into Yeisk.”
Wang Zhong: “Stop and hold your ground, to avoid any mishaps with friendly forces in the fog.”
“Yes sir.”
Wang Zhong hung up the phone and drew another line on the map.
He shook his head after studying the map for a few seconds, “No, trying to determine the enemy’s position this way is too imprecise, it would only waste artillery shells. I need to go to the front line myself.”
Pavlov: “No! With such dense fog, what if there’s a car accident?”
Wang Zhong: “I’ll go on horseback! Bucephalus will safely take me to the front lines.”
“That won’t do either! Even if Bucephalus is a divine beast that can gallop through the fog, it’s unacceptable. Think about how far we are from the front lines now! By the time you get there on horseback, the fog will have almost dissipated.” Pavlov stared at Wang Zhong, then picked up the telephone receiver and handed it to him, “You can make a call to the front. We established an anti-tank gun position last night, and the phone line has reached the position.”
Wang Zhong smiled wryly: “You’re right.”
He took the receiver: “Connect me to the Anti-tank Battalion of the 225th Division.”
The main force of the assault battalion used whirlwinds and belonged to the armored troops, whereas the anti-tank battalion mainly used anti-tank guns, which counted as field artillery. The assault battalion had not established positions, so there was no phone line laid, but the anti-tank battalion’s position naturally could have a phone line.
Soon, Wang Zhong saw that among the units of the 225th Division, an icon representing the anti-tank unit lit up, affording him the view from the battalion.
Wang Zhong immediately moved over, only to find a dense fog obscuring his sight, barely making out the anti-tank battalion’s positions, let alone anything in the distance.
“Who is this?” the battalion commander of the anti-tank battalion was still asking.
Wang Zhong: “It’s me, Rokossovsky!”
“General!” The voice on the other side immediately became respectful and went up an octave.
“Have you heard engine noises?”
“Yes, judging from the distance it’s not our tanks, and they are moving away from us.”
Wang Zhong: “Direction?”
The battalion commander immediately reported the bearings, using the compass scale as Yegorov had done.
“Continue to be on alert.”
Wang Zhong left with these words and hung up the phone, and started replotting on the map.
Pavlov shook his head: “The accuracy is still too low. If it were this easy to hit the enemy, we wouldn’t need an artillery observation post. Let’s wait for the weather to clear. The Folklore Society said the fog would last two hours, and there’s less than one hour left now. The enemy won’t be able to escape.”
Wang Zhong looked at his watch; indeed, there was less than an hour left. Even if he rode out on Bucephalus right now, he wouldn’t make it to the front lines in time.
Only by driving there could he reach the front lines before the fog dissipated, and pinpoint the enemy’s position with the “cheat.”
After a moment’s reflection, Wang Zhong made up his mind: “We can’t let the enemy get away. Grigori, prepare the car!”
At times like this, one could only trust Grigori’s driving skills.
Pavlov: “No! I disagree! Popov, you try and talk some sense into him too!”
Popov, who was sitting on the sidelines, suddenly became alarmed when his name came up: “Eh? Me?”
Vasily suddenly shouted: “Look outside!”
Wang Zhong turned his head and saw a ray of sunlight falling on the windowsill of the Corps Command.
Pavlov was impressed: “The fog has cleared earlier than expected; this ‘spell’ is really unreliable, isn’t it?”
Popov, however, wore an expression as if he’d seen a ghost—or rather, as if he’d witnessed Saint Andrew performing a miracle.
Wang Zhong: “Look! The fog is starting to clear; there’s no danger for me going to the front lines now!”
Pavlov: “Now that the fog is starting to clear, our artillery observers will be able to see the enemy tanks, so there’s no need for you to go to the front line.”
Wang Zhong was stunned: “Oh, that seems right.”
Damn, there goes my chance to show off with the “cheat”! What about the two hours of dense fog?
Suddenly, he realized there was something more important: “No, that’s wrong; with the fog gone, the enemy might recover. We’ve only sent two regiments and one battalion in, what if there’s trouble? Order the 401st Temporary Infantry Division to advance! Into the city!”
Pavlov: “But that division isn’t under our command.”
“Who cares? It’s in our area of operations, it’s our troop. Hurry up! Use our trucks to transport them into the city, move fast, while the fog hasn’t completely lifted.”
Pavlov immediately turned to implement the order, while Popov looked at Wang Zhong, saying: “I don’t think it’s because the researchers of the Folklore Society lack skill; it’s rather that a pair of mighty hands has dispersed the dense fog.”
What mighty hands? Hayek’s mighty hands? A clergyman and he knows economics?
While Wang Zhong was inwardly complaining, Popov continued: “The fog assisted our attack; now that the enemy is leaving the city and we need a clear line of fire, the fog has quietly dissipated. General, please allow me to report this to the Church headquarters.”
Wang Zhong solemnly said, “There’s no need to report such a thing, it’s just that the spell didn’t work, that’s all. I even think that the fog wasn’t created by any spell, it’s just natural fog. Didn’t the meteorological department find weather records? It’s normal to have fog at this time of year.”
Popov shrugged: “You’re right; let’s report it that way then.”
About fifteen minutes later, the phone rang.
Wang Zhong stepped past Pavlov and picked up the phone: “This is Rokossovsky.”
Yegorov’s voice came from the other end: “The fog is clearing a bit, I think I can see the enemy tank forces. They’ve set up a circular defensive position outside the city, circular! Damn, the enemy commander is quite classical.”
Wang Zhong switched his view, and since Yegorov was able to see the enemy, he naturally could see them from his overhead perspective as well.
Seeing the enemy’s formation, he wondered if he had seen it wrong.
They really formed a ring!
And the Prussians had their headlights on, so anyone trying to approach stealthily through the fog would be blinded by the lights.
No, this isn’t the time to be impressed.
Yegorov: “I’ve calculated the enemy’s coordinates, please bombard the following coordinates!”
He reported a series of coordinates.
Wang Zhong: “Understood. We’ll get the artillery firing immediately. Also, move the assault and tank battalions to see if they can close in to 1500 meters—no, 1800 meters to fire. Keeping a bit more distance is safer, it won’t matter if they fire a few extra shells.”
“Got it.”
After hanging up, Wang Zhong altered the last digit of the coordinates slightly, “Yegorov has given us the coordinates; fire at these coordinates!”