Cannon Fire Arc-Chapter 664 - 2 The Summer Campaign Plan of the Empire of Prosen

Chapter 664: Chapter 2 The Summer Campaign Plan of the Empire of Prosen

Belka Test Ground, Site Two.

The new assault gun had just completed its driving test and came to a stop in front of the group that included the Emperor.

The officer who had personally driven the assault gun climbed out of the hatch, landed lightly, adjusted his uniform, and then saluted the Emperor, “Your Majesty, the new assault gun performed well. I hope it can be distributed to the soldiers soon!”

The Emperor asked, “Did it withstand the enemy’s 100-gun barrage?”

“Yes, and its mobility and reliability are currently quite impressive.”

Maintenance, however, was overly complicated, but this was not something anyone would directly mention in front of the Emperor.

“Very well,” the Emperor nodded, “We have three to four months before our attack is launched, we must produce them quickly and deploy them into battle!”

General Ma Qi frowned, “The assault gun lacks a turret; it’s not suitable for offensive combat. When Rocossov used his assault guns, he mainly deployed them defensively, rarely in offense.

“Even if used in an attack, they serve as long-range support fire, with the T34 tanks taking the forefront.”

The Emperor turned to look at the Armored Corps Director, “Are you suggesting that I misnamed this vehicle?”

“Uh, no, not at all.”

The Emperor added, “You just mentioned Rocossov did use his assault guns in an offensive manner, so we might consider his tactics.”

General Ma Qi replied, “That would be difficult, as their assault guns have mobility comparable to the T34, possibly even better. But our experimental assault gun…”

The Emperor interjected, “I don’t understand why the Anteans can achieve high defensive capabilities with so little weight, and why can’t we?”

An academician from the Imperial Academy of Sciences, who had been listening in, interjected, “According to our calculations, Rocossov’s new heavy tank should be sixty tons, roughly the same as our new tanks.”

(Actually, it’s forty tons.)

The Emperor remarked, “Yet, his new tanks have already been racing across the battlefield, even leaving our soldiers psychologically scarred! This was supposed to be the impact our No. 6 tank had on the battlefield! The Anteans’ soldiers should be fearing our No. 6 tank, just as they fear our Empire itself!

“Instead, it’s our soldiers who are fearing the creations of Ante, a nation not known for its technological strength! Everyone at the Imperial Academy of Sciences, the Imperial Design Institute, should feel ashamed!”

The academician nodded repeatedly.

Then, Duke Meyer, Marshal of the Air Force, said, “Our Air Force’s new fighter jets have recently begun to equip the troops, ensuring we can completely secure air superiority.”

The Emperor slightly frowned, “Equipped already? Wasn’t it reported last time that the first flight would be in April?”

“Uh, not the jet one, but the Ta-152, which is an upgrade over the Focke-Wulf 190. It performs better, especially at higher altitudes…”

Before he could finish, air raid sirens began to sound.

The Emperor’s brow furrowed deeply, “An air raid during the day? Doesn’t the Royal Air Force’s rats only dare to raid our cities at night?”

Before he finished speaking, a messenger on a motorcycle raced up to the Emperor, dismounted, and saluted, “Report! Multiple observation posts and radar stations of the Empire have detected a large formation of aircraft heading inland.”

Duke Meyer, sweating profusely, stated, “This is unprecedented, but I have already deployed enough fighter squadrons to dominate the skies; they won’t succeed.”

Army generals all gave sidelong glances at the corpulent former ace pilot (Marshal Meyer was once an ace pilot).

Suddenly, anti-aircraft guns near the test ground opened fire.

The Emperor, along with generals and scientists, turned their heads towards the direction of the anti-air positions, then looked up together.

The first batch of shells had already burst into black clumps in the sky, indicating the explosions were at a considerable height.

Shortly after, numerous white trails appeared; the Emperor realized a second later they were contrails from high-flying aircraft.

The trails were clearly visible at three to four different altitudes, densely stacked on top of one another.

Giles exclaimed, “This flight path, it’s from Plowsonia; they aim to bomb the capital!”

While wiping his forehead with a handkerchief, Duke Meyer remarked, “Just from what we’re seeing, there’s more than 300 aircraft. How could there be such a large formation! Didn’t Rabowell report that the Federation has only 1000 heavy bombers nationwide? And now they’ve deployed a third all at once?”

The Emperor commanded, “Get all civilians in Berlin into air-raid shelters. My Air Force Commander, where’s the interception?”

“Over there!” a general’s deputy officer shouted, “Coming from the Northeast!”

Everyone’s attention turned back to the sky.

Indeed, there was a line of white streaks approaching the large formation from the northeast.

“How come there are only so few?” the Emperor asked again.

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Duke Meyer replied, “It looks like this is already a squadron of fighters. Not a few, not a few, Your Majesty!”

The white streaks of fighters plunged into the dense formation of bombers, and from the ground, the defensive firepower network of the bombers was not visible, leaving everyone helpless but to watch the progress of the situation closely.

————

By now, the sky had turned into a melee.

The bombers in tight formation fired intense firepower at the Prosenian fighters trying to intercept them.

The latest model of the B17 bomber was virtually a flying porcupine, bristling with self-defense cannons and machine guns, and the firepower of one plane could perhaps outmatch that of an Empire of Fusang destroyer.

The dense formation of more than three hundred large aircraft unleashed a super high density of firepower, as several Prosenian fighters caught fire and plummeted to the ground in thick smoke.

The pilots of the Eighth Air Force had trained on their homeland for over half a year, and their marksmanship was guaranteed. Moreover, the defensive firepower of the bombers and the ground-based anti-aircraft firepower had similar tasks, both aimed at driving away enemy aircraft and forcing the enemy to abandon their attack.

As the enemy aircraft charged in, the formation also entered the fire network of ground-based anti-aircraft guns.

If they were planes from the Royal Air Force, they would mostly choose to evade the ground anti-aircraft gunfire and engage in a battle of wits with the gunners.

However, the Federation’s Air Force adopted a completely different strategy. The generals believed that at the flying altitude of the formation, the fixed anti-aircraft fire from Prosen wouldn’t be very effective, and maintaining a tight formation was better to counter the threat from enemy fighters.

Thus, over 300 bombers just dived headlong into the area where shells were exploding continuously.

Just as the generals had stated, the enemy’s anti-aircraft fire was hardly accurate—it was also unlikely to be accurate, as ground attacks on bombers flying at that height generally just aimed according to the parameters issued by anti-aircraft commanders and fired based on those parameters.

Even if a bomber was indeed shot down, the ground anti-aircraft units wouldn’t know of their achievement, as it was uncertain whose shell had taken out the bomber.

————

The Emperor of Prosen maintained a posture of looking up, watching the enemy’s formation of bombers disappear from view.

Only after the anti-aircraft guns ceased firing did he divert his attention.

The Emperor’s expression was very grim.

The Emperor said, “The Federation has started bombing our industrial cities. If the Air Force does not exert effort, our industry will soon grind to a halt. But for now, let’s forget the Federation’s brazen daylight bombing and return to Wolf’s Lair to review our offensive plans!”

Wolf’s Lair was far from Plowsonia and naturally also far from the Belka Test Ground.

The Wolf’s Lair was also the code name for the secret sleeping quarters of the Emperor of Plowsonia and served as his wartime headquarters.

An hour and a half later, the Emperor led a group of generals into the grand conference room of the Wolf’s Lair, where maps had already been prepared by the staff, and drafts of the operation plans were placed on the table according to the number of attendees.

After the generals were seated, the Emperor spoke, “Last year and the year before, we tried to end the war swiftly, but our efforts failed. This summer, we will try again to end the war or at least achieve a relatively favorable peace. Celtic Marshal, it is your turn to speak.”

The Celtic Marshal stood up, picked up a map stick, and approached the maps prepared by the staff: “Gentlemen, to achieve His Majesty’s goal, we believe the fastest way is to massively eliminate the enemy’s living forces.

“This is also more feasible than the objectives of the past two years. We were defeated by the mud and severe winter in those years because we demanded our troops drive deep and capture targets within the vast territory of Ante, which put great pressure on our logistical supply.

“This time, we will only fight in areas easily accessible by our supply lines, leading to expectably better supplies during the combat.”

After the Chief of Staff finished, all the generals nodded continuously, and Duke Meyer added, “The front line is very close to our well-conditioned Yonggu Airport, and the Air Force can also give their all.”

The Celtic Marshal nodded, “That’s the situation. The shorter distance for the thrust also helps us to quickly achieve our campaign objectives. Now, the next question is which part of the enemy should we consume.

“Currently on the front line, the Anteans have five major troop conglomerates, the most northern being the Saint Andrew Fort Army Group, followed by the Belix Army Group, Western Front Army, Shepetovka Army Group, and the most southern, the Kazakhstan Army Group.

“Starting from the north, the Saint Andrew Fort Army Group operates in an area consisting entirely of dense forests and swamps with a dense network of water bodies, making it inconvenient for large-scale encirclement warfare.

“The three Army Groups in the center actually merge together; they have held their region since the winter of 914, which hosts many large industrial cities and has many reinforced concrete fortresses built. Trying to consume a heavy troop conglomerate here is like pulling teeth from a tiger’s mouth!

“Moreover, gentlemen, please look, the entire central terrain is also not suitable for our attack because our controlled area bulges toward Ante, resembling a big…”

The Celtic Marshal looked at Duke Meyer.

The Emperor interjected, “Enough, that’s enough. We get your point.”

The Celtic Marshal nodded, “There aren’t many options left, actually, there’s only one, which is to occupy the Kazakhstan First Front Army that holds Bolsk. The good news is, we almost had Bolsk Army Group surrounded here once but were deceived at the time, dispatching our forces toward Yeisk-Yarvik direction.

“Now, we will not divide our forces. We will surround Rocossov’s Kazakhstan Army Group here!”