Cannon Fire Arc-Chapter 636 - 78 The Way of War is Deceptive

Chapter 636: Chapter 78 The Way of War is Deceptive

In the following days, Wang Zhong’s Headquarters was continuously on the move.

The main troops advanced too quickly.

The rear guard left by General Sheeplin, surrounded by cavalry and infantry, surrendered without much resistance, completely unable to delay the onslaught of the Abawahan Front Army.

The heavy troops of the Front Army, full of enthusiasm, departed but hadn’t been able to engage in battle for two days.

The supply for the Front Army was much smoother than originally anticipated because Pavlov adopted a new method of supply: across the frozen Valdai Hills River was a railway line, by planning in advance, military trains heading to Abawahan could unload their cargo early, and then volunteers from the villages along the way would transport the goods across the ice river.

Through this method, the logistics department established a large number of supply stations and fuel depots along the march route, providing ample supply to the heavy troops of the Front Army.

The only imperfection in this supply plan was the lack of a vehicle maintenance and recovery center; broken tanks could only be marked on the map and reported to the local church without further management.

After all, it was unrealistic to expect the entire Front Army to have the same level of support capability as the First Mobile Group Army.

On December 12th, Wang Zhong had been jostling in the vehicle since early morning, and after four hours he couldn’t stand it any longer and ordered a halt for rest.

Thus, the Headquarters motorcade stopped on a small hill beside the Valdai Hills River, and Wang Zhong got out of the car, strolling on the hill with a coat draped over his shoulders.

He saw with his own eyes the sledges transporting supplies on the Valdai Hills River and asked Pavlov, “Where did you find so many sledges?”

Pavlov pointed at Popov and said, “You should ask the Bishop about this.”

Popov said, “It’s all organized by the local church. Everyone was very enthusiastic before, fearing that if the Prosens won, they would cross the river and ravage their homeland.

“Now that we’ve won, their enthusiasm has grown even more. Even those identified as hidden members of the Sanctified faction have joined the supply transport ranks.”

Wang Zhong looked again at the endless crowd on the ice and exclaimed, “The victory of the 915 Winter Campaign was pulled by the vast number of people with sledges.”

Vasily said, “Huh, the statement you just made looks like it could be recorded in the quotations. Should I write it down?”

Wang Zhong said, “No, you don’t need to.”

“I’ll write it down anyway.” Vasily took out his notebook and wrote down what Wang Zhong had just said.

Pavlov said, “At this full speed, in a few more days we should reach the Suhayaweili River. I wonder how well the Prosen defenses are set up. If we can successfully capture Yarvik, the trains coming from Yeburg could directly reach Yarvik to supply us, and our supply lines would be shortened by hundreds of kilometers.”

Vasily asked, puzzled, “Gentlemen, after the enemy captured Yarvik, why didn’t they attack Yeburg again along the railway line?”

Wang Zhong explained, “Their supplies came from Shepetovka. Even if they controlled Yarvik, it wouldn’t solve the vast steppe between Shepetovka and Yarvik. You were there, you know what the steppe is like.”

Vasily then asked, “So the question arises, our entire Front Army of more than a million men, won’t it be too crowded if we rush into the steppe? Can the supplies keep up?”

Everyone turned to look at Vasily.

Wang Zhong said, “You make a good point. We were so focused on restoring the front line to its state in June, we didn’t consider this.

“Supplies can’t support large-scale troop operations on the steppe, and without a numerical advantage, facing off against high-quality Prosen troops might not necessarily result in victory.”

Popov added, “During the summer campaign, the First Mobile Group Army managed to recapture Yeisk by utilizing the time before the enemy’s main force arrived and some clever tactics. After that, it was all thanks to the ‘Whirlwind’ equipment advantage and the morale and experience of the First Mobile Group Army that we managed to stop the Prosen advance.”

Wang Zhong thought for a moment and realized that was indeed the case.

Pavlov said, “Actually, recapturing Yarvik is already quite good. We can consider it the end of the winter campaign and wait for the muddy season to end before fighting again.”

Wang Zhong said, “We need to think from the Prosens’ perspective. What do you think the Prosens will use to solve the transportation issue from Shepetovka to Yarvik?”

Pavlov fell into deep thought.

Vasily raised his hand and said, “Professor, I have an idea.”

“Go ahead,” Wang Zhong replied. He was one of the professors at Suvorov Military Academy.

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Vasily said, “Based on my observations of the Prosens over the past year, I think they will build roads.”

Indeed, on Earth as well, the Russians’ poor infrastructure resulted in the Sturmtiger facing heavy losses in 1941, prompting them to rigorously construct a multitude of high-standard highways, and by early 1943, most were completed.

Then the Russians counterattacked, and after battling at Kursk, they advanced into their homeland and discovered: “Huh, were the roads here always this good? Ah, the advance is too fast, trucks could even race Stuka dive-bombers on these highways.”

This also became a topic of fond discussion among enthusiasts studying the history of the Eastern Front in later years.

Wang Zhong patted Vasily on the shoulder, “Right, they will build the road. We can take Yarvik and face the enemy across the river, and then counterattack once they have finished the road.”

Pavlov said, “Although I’ve heard a lot of outrageous tactics since partnering with you, waiting for the enemy to build the road is something I didn’t expect.”

Wang Zhong laughed and continued, “But the winter campaign must not stop at Yarvik. With our current rate of advance, as long as we don’t get stuck outside Yarvik, we could even take the city before Christmas—I mean the Gregorian Christmas.

“There is so much time until the muddy season next year, and with a million troops, there’s not much consumption, stopping would miss the opportunity. Since we are not attacking Shepetovka now, we could consider taking Yarvik, establishing a defensive line and then turning left to attack Bolsk, subsequently recapturing the Coastal Fortress.”

Vasily took out a small map he carried and exclaimed, “Wouldn’t that encircle the A Army Group? If they want to escape, they’d only have a chance for a Dunkirk-type sea evacuation.”

Wang Zhong said, “That’s exactly the idea. We need to pretend to attack Shepetovka but actually turn the troops left.”

Pavlov said, “God, can you think things through first, not decide on the battlefield and slap your forehead? Now I have to create a new plan overnight again.”

Wang Zhong said, “I trust in your abilities! And with so many staff under you now, you can definitely do it.”

After finishing speaking, he suddenly remembered, during the most critical moment, he had ordered the staff and headquarters logistics to go to the front line, to charge and kill the enemy alongside him.

It seemed like a third of the staff were sacrificed, including Yakov.

So he looked at Pavlov with an apologetic face, “Sorry, I forgot about that for a moment.”

Pavlov said, “I know, last time you even had Yakov make you coffee. I’ll get the plan done, don’t worry. Just one thing, I don’t quite understand why we need to pretend to attack Shepetovka? The enemy has been fooled by you repeatedly, they won’t believe it.”

Wang Zhong said, “No, think about Marshal Frederick’s remark about the Prosen Emperor. This time, that Emperor will arrogantly think he’s outsmarting me. He has been played by me all this time, certainly scheming to beat me once to regain face.

“Moreover, logically, it is very difficult for a large corps to cross the vast steppes to attack Shepetovka and can only use smaller local groups, but we don’t have an advantage with small groups.

“His Majesty’s staff will assure him it can’t be Shepetovka, just as they opposed going through the Ardennes Forest before.”

Wang Zhong showed a sly smile, “He will think Shepetovka is the main direction of the attack.”

Vasily said, “I’ve studied the ancient military texts of Ceres that the General highly regards—this is called deception in warfare, right?”

Wang Zhong said, “Exactly. The highest art in the art of war is the art of grasping the main opponent’s general. So we need to make a grand show of attacking Shepetovka, we can use a scheme we’ve used before, find a dead body, dress it as a messenger going to Shepetovka to convey orders to the guerrillas, attach a parachute, and drop it into the enemy-occupied zone.”

Vasily laughed, “Using this again? I’m familiar with it! Last time, I was the one who crafted the body. But, could it be too realistic and backfire?”

“Just relax, make it as real as possible,” Wang Zhong waved his hand largely, “Even if the Prosen Emperor isn’t deceived, we can still forcefully destroy his interception troops, we have a million-strong army, and although it’s not enough to conquer the world, breaking through this distance shouldn’t be a problem.

“It’s a pity that the prototype vehicle was destroyed by me, otherwise it would’ve been more stable, could have sent the Prosens’ bunkers and the people inside sky-high.”

Pavlov said, “Exactly, it seems like four prototype vehicles are on the way here, said to be some new heavy breakthrough tanks.”

Wang Zhong said, “Really? This time I’ll use them sparingly, deploying them in the attack on Yarvik.”

After speaking, Wang Zhong looked towards the ice again and noticed many people seemed to deliberately approach the high ground where he stood. The flow of people on the ice was originally straight, but now it curved past the front of the high ground.

Wang Zhong turned around and saw that the Red Flag had been raised.

Such a patch of red in the icy snowy landscape was extremely eye-catching.

He already heard the passing people saying, “It’s Rocossov! General Rocossov!”

“The General has come to see us!”

“Run, Doggy, don’t let the General look down on our Doggy!”

Wang Zhong could only raise his hand and wave, resulting in the crowd starting to shout “Hurrah.”

This scene, perhaps only historical generals like Suvorov had ever enjoyed in Ante’s history.

After waving his hand, Wang Zhong turned away from the crowd’s sight and while walking, he spoke to Pavlov, “Anyway, that’s the plan, get the attack scheme ready as soon as possible. To achieve the second phase of the campaign’s goal, we need the cooperation of the Mountain Corps, the Mountain Corps, and the White Sea Fleet.”

Pavlov said, “The issue of sea control is a bit tricky, although Prosen’s ace battleship was taken out by the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, they still have many cruisers and destroyers in the White Sea, and we only have destroyers.”

Wang Zhong said, “Maybe the Federation can think of a solution, like borrowing their navy dive bomber squad, those guys are experts at striking battleships.”

Vasily said, “Would they lend them? The Empire of Fusang did withdraw from Gwadar, but…”

Wang Zhong said, “Right now, the Federation navy is down to one aircraft carrier, one carrier can only carry one squadron of aircraft, and there’s a squadron with nothing to do, let them come over and get some practice. I’ll send a telegram to His Excellency, the President of the Federation.”