Chapter 91
On the early morning of July 8, 914, Jule, Wang Zhong woke up amidst the rubble.
The "senior officers' dormitory" next to the former forward command had half its roof blown off, but miraculously, none of the three beds were hit.
As soon as Wang Zhong opened his eyes and sat up, he saw Yegorov cleaning his gun.
"No more polishing your leather shoes?" he asked in confusion.
Yegorov picked up the leather shoes and showed the massive tear in the front: "Blown up by a grenade*just noticed it this morning, so I sent Vasily to get me a new pair."
Wang Zhong: "You've made Vasily your orderly?"
"Why, is that not allowed? Don't tell me the rumors are true?"
Wang Zhong: "What rumors?"
"That you guys have a..." Yegorov seemed to be searching for a word, twirling his hand in the air, "wolf-sheep relationship!"
Wang Zhong thought for a moment, then realized Yegorov probably meant to say 'dragon-sun relationship' but got it wrong.
Wang Zhong: "Not at all! Don't you know my reputation? I'm the bulldozer of Saint Yekaterinburg, the noble ladies' chastity terminator!"
Yegorov: "That doesn't contradict it! By the way, did I get the phrase right?"
Wang Zhong: "Nope."
"Knew it!" Yegorov cursed, "Suka! You guys always use these useless words nobody ever needs!"
Wang Zhong changed the subject, looking at the empty bed: "Popov didn't come back last night?"
"How could he? After that huge battle last night, there must be mountains of things to do. A normal brigade command needs over a hundred staff, laborers, and clerks*we've only got a few! It won't be surprising if Pavlov collapses any moment."
Wang Zhong: "A brigade command needs that many people?"
"And that's not even counting communications or security. A regular brigade HQ with logistics and accompanying civilian laborers easily totals a few thousand."
Wang Zhong: "A brigade? That many people?"
"Yeah, and that's a conservative figure for logistics. In a fully staffed and well-supplied brigade, the ratio of civilian laborers to soldiers is basically 2:1. Only with a lot of vehicles can you reduce it to 1:1."
Wang Zhong scratched his head*no wonder they say the victory at Huaihai Campaign was pushed out on wheelbarrows.
He had only known it on paper before, but now Wang Zhong finally understood what it meant that modern warfare is a war of logistics.
Along the way, Wang Zhong also finally understood why Pavlov always had panda eyes from exhaustion*he hoped Popov could help share some of the burden.
That was Wang Zhong's hope.
At that moment, Yegorov said again: "Heard you wanted the laborers to dig tank emplacements yesterday?"
Wang Zhong: "Yeah, a type of tank emplacement I came up with myself."
Of course, he hadn't come up with it himself*it was copied from a Soviet armored defense manual from another timeline.
No one ever said plagiarists could only copy poems and lyrics, right?
Wang Zhong picked up a brick, cleared a clean patch of ground, and started drawing a diagram for Yegorov.
(Image from Bilibili uploader Dog-Like Chocolate)
While drawing, Wang Zhong explained: "Look, the flat wall side is the front, the enemy-facing side. The sloped side is the rear. The rear is divided into two steps so the tank can move between them under its own power.
"If the tank drives to the bottom of the emplacement, the front side will completely block it. The enemy won't spot it and can't shoot directly at it.
"When the tank reverses to the stepped side, only the turret will be exposed for firing. At this point, the large space in front can absorb the muzzle blast, making it hard for the enemy to locate the tank."
Yegorov stroked his chin: "Even though I'm an infantry officer, I can tell this is clever! Kind of like during the Civil War when we dug trenches with uneven height*it made it harder for the enemy to shoot backward once they entered, and easier for us to counterattack and reclaim the trench!"
Wang Zhong hesitated: "Uh, I think there's still a difference."
"Well, it's all about using height differences in trenches. So, did you end up digging these tank emplacements?"
Wang Zhong shook his head: "Nope, the laborer camp said the amount of earth to dig was too much. With their manpower, they wouldn't even finish by tomorrow night*let alone tonight. So we had to assign them more immediately impactful tasks."
"Like laying landmines."
Yegorov looked up in surprise: "We've got landmines?"
"They were delivered last night. By the way, I've got some new ideas about minefields too. See, the enemy uses artillery to detonate minefields, right?
"We need to think in reverse. So I had the engineers instruct the laborers to bury the mines five kilometers away from the city*out of the enemy's artillery range.
"But near the city, we put up signs in Prossenian and added some pickle jar lids.
"Inside the lids were real mines, and beneath those, we buried improvised booby traps made from grenades. If engineers try to disarm them and miss the booby trap*BOOOOM!"
Yegorov stared in shock: "You came up with that?"
Nope, it was from the movie "Landmine Warfare"*war films back then always had real combat veterans as advisers, so it should be reliable.
But Wang Zhong brazenly patted his chest: "Yeah, I came up with it!"
Yegorov gave him a thumbs-up: "No wonder you like that troublemaker Vasily*you're both the kind of guys who come up with crazy ideas."
Wang Zhong laughed heartily, then kept that smile as he stood up and walked to what used to be a window*only the breast wall remained now. If not for the vase still on the sill, you wouldn't even know it used to be a window!
Looking at the fields outside, Wang Zhong's smile disappeared.
It hadn't felt that way last night, but now the once lush green fields had turned iron gray.
Just like Dimitri said, this land had basically become all iron.
But Wang Zhong noticed a patch of grass stubbornly growing under the morning sun.
While cleaning his gun, Yegorov asked: "What do you think the enemy will hit us with first today?"
"I think it'll be an airstrike," Wang Zhong answered. "They always start with bombing runs*otherwise the Prossenian air force can't justify itself to the army."
"Makes sense."
As soon as he finished speaking, a telephone rang from the neighboring room.
Moments later, Dimitri entered to report: "Monk Petro says he heard a large enemy aircraft formation approaching."
Wang Zhong: "Got it*sound the air raid alarm."
Before he'd even finished speaking, the air raid siren blared. Clearly Monk Petro had already called the air defense team.
Yegorov: "Did a lot of people see the air force shoot down the enemy's high-altitude recon plane yesterday?"
"I saw it. After they downed the enemy, they swooped over the city and saluted the fallen youths," Wang Zhong said. "I really appreciate their morale-boosting efforts, but I still hope the air force can pull more real weight."
The roar of engines came from the sky, and Wang Zhong symbolically dove to the ground.
Twenty minutes later, the enemy planes had flown off. Wang Zhong got up and brushed the dust off himself.
At that moment, Vasily burst into the room: "Regiment Commander, I brought the boots!"
Wang Zhong: "You weren't caught in the bombing on the way, right?"
"Nope! A kind old lady pulled me into her cellar. Now I reek of pickled cabbage*can you smell it?"
Wang Zhong and Yegorov both shook their heads.
Vasily handed the boots to Yegorov and excitedly asked Wang Zhong: "What's the plan for today?"
"It's simple. Although we didn't manage to dig complete tank emplacements yesterday, I had the laborers stack some sandbags for cover. The front of the tanks and turrets are also covered in sandbags.
"We'll engage the enemy at the city's edge, using the ruins for cover."
Wang Zhong glanced at Yegorov and continued: "The T-34's visibility is terrible*I confirmed that myself yesterday. Their tank commander also serves as gunner, so most of the time he's glued to the sight.
"So we line up the tanks on the edge, staggered and unified in direction, to minimize their blind spots."
Yegorov: "You're turning tanks into artillery platforms?"
"That's what yesterday's battle taught me. Those ceremonial troops*they're okay with stationary firing, but asking them to charge enemy tanks in close combat is asking too much.
"When enemy infantry gets close enough to threaten the tanks, we'll reverse, and the machine guns deployed at the flanks of the tank emplacements will cover them."
Wang Zhong spoke with conviction, as if he were already a seasoned tank commander*though considering the Ante Empire's terrible tank losses, maybe Wang Zhong really was its top tank expert now.
Yegorov nodded: "I can't handle tanks*I'm just a rough infantry guy. Today I'll keep holding our position. Actually, compared to yesterday, things are looking up*we've got more men."
Thanks to Wang Zhong's heroic fighting yesterday, the church managed to mobilize a surge of Protectorate Army troops*five whole battalions were added to Rokosov's battle group.
But most of them had barely any combat training, and their weapons were just old ones from the warehouse.
In the words of Paradox game players, these were the true "line-fill infantry." But having line-fill infantry is better than letting elite units fight alone.
Yegorov: "What about you, General? Still riding your tank?"
"Yes. I'm mobile*I'll show up wherever I'm needed."
**That's the confidence a top-down view gives me.**
Just then, the whistling of artillery shells came from the sky.
The enemy's artillery barrage had begun.
Everyone in the room hit the floor, assuming the standard artillery-avoidance posture.
As the shells landed, Yegorov smiled and said: "Looks like today's going to be lively again!"
(End of Chapter)