Cannon Fire Arc

October 3rd, early in the morning.

Pavlov maintained his position holding the receiver and said, "The troops at the bridgehead have completed their retreat, and the explosives are installed."

Wang Zhong, "Detonate."

Pavlov, "Detonate."

The next moment, the top cover of the bridgehead bunker on the opposite bank was completely lifted off by the explosives, and the approach section of the big bridge collapsed into the river with a loud crash, like building blocks pushed by a naughty child.

The remaining sections of the bridge, yet to be detonated, were twisted by the enormous blast, but the next moment the explosives on the bridge also detonated, blasting the rails into many pieces, which flew into the air before falling back into the water.

From Wang Zhong's overhead view, all the high-light targets in the enemy trenches that had been motionless suddenly sprang into action, clearly startled by the consecutive booms.

Watching the little red-highlighted figures running about in the trenches, Wang Zhong found a touch of childhood innocence he hadn't felt in a long time. Unfortunately, he didn't have a mineral water bottle to pour water into the trenches now.

Pavlov put down the receiver, "Next, we'll see how fast the enemy advances through the trenches. Based on the current pace, they're estimated to reach the bank by October 9th. If we're optimistic, it should start raining by then."

Wang Zhong observed the opposite bank and, hearing the footsteps of the communications staff officer, turned around to see the staff starting to update the full map of the front line on the wall.

Generally, division-level command posts do not update their front line status maps immediately because commanders can't control other units' situations, so they compile intelligence over a period before updating all together to reduce the staff's workload.

Thus, division-level command posts can be updated by just two or three staff officers.

If it's the Front Army headquarters, more than a dozen staff officers would be continuously busy updating the map with verified intelligence, and several dozen more staff officers would be in charge of verifying all sorts of miscellaneous messages.

Wang Zhong looked at the staff updating the map and suddenly noticed something, "The enemy on the northern line didn't advance yesterday? Was there a unit that stopped them?"

The staff officer, "It's the enemy who stopped advancing, probably to resupply fuel and ammunition."

Wang Zhong laughed, "The enemy's supply line is starting to break down. They have advanced so far on the northern route, but their logistics can't keep up."

Pavlov's gaze swept from the extreme left—the westernmost point—on the map to where the enemy vanguard was now situated, "That's nearly a thousand kilometers. It's normal for something to go wrong."

Wang Zhong, "After the rain, bigger problems will arise."

He looked out of the observation window again, "Fall, rain, fall!"

————

However, up until October 9th, there was still no indication of rain.

On the morning of October 9th, as soon as Wang Zhong entered the divisional bunker, he saw Popov, who had been on the night shift, answering the phone, "The enemy currently has no intention of crossing the river, and we are closely monitoring them. Yes… Oh, he's here, I'll hand the phone to him."

After saying that, Popov passed the receiver to Wang Zhong, "Major General Kiriyenko."

Wang Zhong took the receiver, "Hello, General."

"The situation is a mess," Major General Kiriyenko blurted out. "If it wasn't for the continuous support of the Guardian Army, our front line would have already collapsed. The good news is, the enemy's northern spearhead has stopped for two days."

Wang Zhong, "Yes, the northern enemy forces probably can't keep up with the supplies. They need progress from the southern route to complete their pincer movement. So the pressure is greater on us."
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Kiriyenko, "It's not just a question of us being under more pressure, did you know that Kashuk's headquarters was overrun yesterday? He himself only sustained a scratch, but his staff are nearly all dead. Even if his forces retreat now, I doubt they can do it properly.

"If we don't get rain soon, we might not be able to pull back!"

Wang Zhong, "No, that won't do. The enemy facing us has a short supply line and has been holding back here for so long. If it doesn't rain, they will catch up to us."

Kiriyenko, "Damn the weather. Some places should have started raining on the 7th in past years."

Wang Zhong, "Telling me that doesn't help, what can I do, conduct a ritual and pray for rain for you?"

"What?" Kiriyenko's confusion was palpable even over the phone line. It seemed that the Ante People did not have the custom of praying for rain; they were never short of water.

The territory of Ante was laced with many rivers, but all these rivers ran from south to north. Despite the abundance of water in these rivers, they could not support east-west cargo transportation across their long and narrow territory.

Wang Zhong, "I mean, pray to God for rain."

"You forgot we are the Secular faction?"

The Secular faction believed that all "miracles" had scientific explanations; they just hadn't been discovered yet.

Therefore, the Secular faction would not pray for rain but would predict it based on meteorological data.

Kiriyenko, "According to past data, it might not rain until October 20th at the latest, so we'll have to be prepared to fight and retreat simultaneously.

"The good news is, since the northern enemy stopped, we'll soon have reinforcements from the regular army. Additionally, the Western Front Army is building a second line of defense behind us."

Wang Zhong was about to respond to Major General Kiriyenko, when suddenly the sound of artillery shells falling pierced the sky.

The explosion quickly followed, shaking the bunker with a shockwave that sent a plume of dust onto Wang Zhong's head.

Pavlov stumbled in, "Damn, it's heavy artillery. The enemy is probably planning a major assault."

Wang Zhong looked outside; the enemy's trenches had been dug to about 20 meters away from the river's floodbanks. Meaning, if they launched an attack, the enemy would need just a few steps out of the trenches to enter the river.

With the aid of his "outsider advantage," Wang Zhong had already seen the enemy's pontoon unit transporting bridge materials to the riverbank through the trenches.

He immediately ordered Pavlov, "Prepare the artillery battalion, implementation of Firepower Plan Four."

The fourth fire plan was to bomb the riverbanks, potentially damaging the bridge equipment that had been moved to the edge of the river.

As Pavlov was giving orders on another telephone, Kiriyenko asked Wang Zhong beside him, "Has it finally started over there too?"

"Yes, the enemy has advanced to the riverbank and is about to begin a forceful river crossing. But I am prepared for close combat with them."

"Then I won't disturb you any longer. Good luck," Kiriyenko said before hanging up the phone.

Wang Zhong put down the receiver, and Popov said, "They're finally here. The soldiers have been getting impatient. We can definitely hold them off in today's attack."

Just then, as Pavlov had finished giving orders to the artillery, his expression changed abruptly, and he shouted, "Artillery? Artillery?"

He hung up the phone, turned his head and yelled, "Signals officer! The line has been cut by a bomb! Send someone to check the wires immediately!"

Although the enemy was in the middle of preparing their firepower, under these circumstances, it was necessary to send someone to check the wires and restore communication immediately, even if it meant putting the signalman in great danger.

If they delayed much longer, they could miss a crucial opportunity in the battle.

Wang Zhong: "At least we still have the radio as a backup."

"If you use the radio, the other side will know everything!"

Wang Zhong: "In a critical moment, who cares about that?"

As he said this, he looked across the river.

On the other side, besides the trenches, about a kilometer from the riverbank, there was an artillery observation post. Wang Zhong had been keeping an eye on that post, hoping for some high-ranking officers to show up. However, it seemed the Prussians might be cautious because all that had appeared after so many days was a junior officer "leading" the post.

Wang Zhong no longer wanted to waste shells on a junior officer.

----

Prussian Army, Asgard Knights, First Army headquarters.

Giles: "I want to personally oversee the attack at the frontline today! We must break through the defense in one day!"

Feliz: "That must not be done! The White Horse General likes to behead!"

"First, we now have solid shelters; second, the White Horse General's two beheadings might just be a coincidence," Giles said seriously. "And if my soldiers are willing to die bravely and I, as a commander, am not willing to face any danger, how can such an army win?"

Feliz: "But the White Horse General almost blew up the headquarters last time! It was your tin soldier that took the hit!"

Giles laughed, opened the flap of his officer's coat, and revealed a key hanging at his waist, "I have repaired the tin soldier, and if need be, he can take the hit again. That's it -- inform Major General Kluge of the Ampla Division that I want to personally supervise his division!"

----

When Kluge heard the order from headquarters, he frowned deeply, "If the commander dies on my front, I'm finished."

He turned to his chief of staff and asked, "Is there a relatively safe place with a view of the front line? Maybe some high ground or something."

The chief of staff looked at the map: "There's an artillery observation post that's well concealed and has not been bombed by the Ante People so far. I think we could arrange for the army chief to supervise from there."

Kluge nodded, "More than a kilometer from the riverbank, good, let's choose that place. Prepare the car; I'll go check whether the observation post is safe."

Kluge's aide immediately turned to get the car ready.

About thirty minutes later, Kluge's car hurried to the artillery observation post.

He did not head straight to the post but got out of the car about a kilometer from the post and moved toward it through the trenches.

The Prosen soldiers he encountered along the way all looked at him with surprise and snapped to attention to salute.

And so, Kluge walked right into the artillery observation post.

The captain guarding the post was shocked, "Division Commander!!"

Kluge waved his hand and approached the observation window from the shade, carefully peering outside.

Both banks were in plain sight; it was indeed an excellent observation spot.

The only remaining question was whether Rocossov would bomb this place.

Kluge had seen Rocossov blow up the former commander of the Ampla Division in disguise, leaving him fatally injured.

He decided to wait here for Major General Giles.

----

Wang Zhong had not been paying much attention to the artillery observation post a kilometer away from the Duva River; he was busy identifying the enemy's main direction for crossing the river to position the reserve troops correctly.

It was then that he took a quick glance at that artillery observation post and was startled.

Damn, there's a division commander!

Ever since he had located that artillery observation post, Wang Zhong had measured the firing parameters for his artillery, just waiting for a "fat pig" to present itself.

Now the pig had finally arrived!

While it didn't want to hit the tree itself, the tree could come looking for it!