Chapter 656: Chapter 98 Full-scale Attack

January 15, 916, Eleventh Army Group Headquarters, 0641 hrs.

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As soon as General Sheeplin entered the headquarters, he asked the Chief of Staff, “Was there any good news while I was sleeping? Don’t bother with the bad news; I’ll look at the map myself.”

The Chief of Staff said, “The vanguard of the reinforcements coming from Shepetovka arrived at Diboskaya last night, only 30 kilometers away from us.”

General Sheeplin’s nose twisted in anger, “The High Command realized the main attack direction was here on the 8th, and you’re telling me that the troops are only moving now?”

“The movement order was actually issued on the 9th, but during the process, the enemy’s Western Front Army and the Kuskov direction from Shepetovka launched an attack, which significantly increased the defensive pressure in Shepetovka’s direction, so the troops were not immediately redeployed,” the Chief of Staff explained. “Moreover, after the Sixth Army Group was surrounded, the guerrillas in the rear suddenly became active, affecting transportation.”

General Sheeplin didn’t speak, merely took the coffee passed by an orderly, and sipped from it while standing in front of the map.

The Chief of Staff continued, “Furthermore, moving from Shepetovka to our location would normally take about three days. Even if they set out on the 9th, arriving on the 12th was the best scenario, it wasn’t really…”

“Not much of a delay, was it? After all, it’s only just started on the 15th. Is that what you wanted to say?” General Sheeplin retorted.

The Chief of Staff nodded.

The general sighed, “Never mind all that, these troops are under my command now, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then order them to disembark and deploy into combat formation as soon as they get off the train and advance towards Bolsk. No more trains; the route is full of Ante Cavalry and guerrillas.”

General Sheeplin’s words had barely finished when a telephone in the operations room rang.

A staff officer hurriedly answered.

As soon as that telephone stopped ringing, another immediately started, followed by everyone’s phones beginning to ring.

Holding his coffee cup, General Sheeplin, looking at headquarters suddenly noisy like a marketplace, cursed, “Dammit, so early in the morning!”

The first staff officer to answer had already hung up and reported loudly, “General, the 61st Infantry Division is under artillery fire!”

He hadn’t even finished when the telephone rang again.

General Sheeplin said, “No need for individual reports. Plot all the artillery strikes on the map; I want to see where Rocossov is planning to attack!”

…

Twenty minutes later, General Sheeplin, looking at the dense artillery markers on the map, furrowed his brow heavily.

His adjutant said, “Looks like Rocossov has learned his colleague’s method of attack.”

The Chief of Staff shook his head, “It’s useless against us. Our front is not as drawn out as the Central Army Group, and we have much higher troop density. There’s basically no gap for them to ‘exploit’.”

General Sheeplin said, “No, you forgot that they just took Prinka from us yesterday. Rocossov’s forces are generally strong, and he is attacking this way because he believes he can achieve a breakthrough everywhere.”

At this statement, all the senior officers around General Sheeplin fell silent.

There were staff officers looking their way, but they had other tasks to attend to.

More artillery markers were added to the map.

General Sheeplin asked the Chief of Staff, “Do we have enough forces to counter-attack at so many places? I mean, assuming they achieve—achieve fifty percent breakthrough.”

The Chief of Staff shook his head, “No. In fact, launching counter-attacks at two directions simultaneously is already our limit. Unless the troops at Diboskaya can come immediately, our elastic defense strategy will falter.”

General Sheeplin thought for a few seconds, then said, “Draft a telegram to the High Command, and copy it to the Group Army Headquarters A, stressing our difficulties. If they don’t send more troops, Bolsk is in danger of falling, and we might have to retreat to the Coastal Fortress, ready to evacuate by sea.”

“Yes,” the Chief of Staff immediately went to his desk.

General Sheeplin added, “You’re an experienced staff officer; you know how to handle this!”

Every staff officer in the Prosen Army was adept at crying poor to their superiors to garner more attention and reinforcements for their units.

————

Same day, by the White Coast, Prosen Group Army Headquarters A.

“Urgent message from the Eleventh Army Group!”

As soon as the communication officer finished reporting, General Steiermark hurried over, took the telegram from his hands, quickly glanced through it, and then handed it over to the Chief of Staff.

General Steiermark: “Send reinforcements? You’re joking. Where do I have troops? The Mountain Corps with hundreds of thousands of men is right behind us, and our rear guards have no natural barriers to utilize. We can only fight to the death with the enemy on the plains.

“The remaining troops are all squeezed at the shore preparing to retreat, with many abandoning their heavy equipment. Where am I supposed to find people to send him reinforcements?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of a ship’s horn came from the direction of the beach, very much in harmony with the conversation.

Then, air raid sirens blared, and five minutes later, continuous anti-aircraft gunfire and bomb explosions echoed from the direction of the beach.

Steiermark walked to the window and looked outside through the foggy glass: “All of this is a chain reaction. The Sixth Army Group surrendered too early, releasing Rocossov’s million-strong army, resulting in the ongoing decimation of Group B Army.

“Once Group B Army was decimated, Rocossov’s million-strong army faced no opposition, hence delivering us a right hook. Incidentally, Rocossov’s deception was successful partly because Group B Army was crippled—it and Shepetovka were protected only by the Tenth Army Group.

“The High Command had no choice but to reinforce the Shepetovka direction. All this is connected, starting with Frederick’s premature surrender! If he had held out for a month, Group B Army could have reorganized and continued to confront Rocossov.

“If he could have held on for two more months, by the time Rocossov dealt with him, the mud season would have arrived.”

Steiermark shook his head repeatedly: “Frederick has betrayed the Emperor’s faith in granting him the marshal’s scepter!”

————

Empire of Prosen’s heart, Eagle’s Nest, 4 hours later.

“After two days of retreat, we have evacuated forty thousand people by sea,” reported the commander of the White Sea Fleet proudly. “At this rate of retreat, in ten more days, we will have evacuated all the vital forces of the A Army Group.”

Emperor of Prosen: “Didn’t you tell me that we could evacuate thirty thousand people per day?”

“Uh… at that time, we hadn’t considered the damage to port facilities, nor had we estimated that using small boats for transportation would be so inefficient. A considerable part of the Army soldiers can’t swim. Many are too frightened to move when transferring via rope nets, greatly reducing the efficiency of transfers…”

The White Sea Fleet commander looked helpless: “Our estimate was based on the level of the Navy and the Marine Corps.”

Marshal Bryan: “This is absurd, blaming the Army! Clearly, it was your Navy that failed to plan properly! It’s your incompetence!”

“We’ve gathered all available transport ships, and while we were driving off Ante’s navy, we were also using naval artillery to support ground operations. Without the naval gun support, the rear guard of the A Army Group would have been crushed by the Mountain Corps!”

“You!”

“Enough!” The Emperor slammed the table, “Enough! What time is it, and you’re still playing the blame game!”

Marshal of the Air Force, Duke Mayer, stood by, his mouth shut tight. Maybe because the heating in the room was too high, his forehead was drenched in sweat.

At that moment, the Emperor looked at Mayer: “How many aircraft can the Air Force spare for the retreat?”

Duke Mayer swallowed: “In the recent operation of air-dropping supplies to the Sixth Army Group, we lost quite a number of transport planes, and with the airports around Bolsk being harassed by Cavalry, it’s not safe to operate aircraft…”

Emperor: “So you’re saying you can’t help, right?”

Mayer: “I wouldn’t say I can’t help. Recently, our fighter and bomber forces have been fully operational, constantly supporting ground forces and the Navy. In just this past week, we’ve seen three new aces!”

The Emperor’s face was stern, showing none of the excitement he used to have when hearing about new aces.

The Duke’s voice, which had risen slightly, began to fade again.

After a long silence, the Emperor said, “We’ll just have to push the Fifteenth Army Group that’s just moved near Bolsk from Shepetovka.”

Celtic Marshal: “About that, there’s a problem. The Fifteenth Army Group needs to use the road for the attack, but the road is filled with retreating troops… they’ve got a traffic jam.”

The Emperor fell silent at this remark.

Celtic Marshal continued: “The Armored Troops and half-tracked vehicles can leave the road and travel across the snow fields, but the trucks still need the road. Additionally, the enemy’s Cavalry harassment hasn’t been stopped…”

Emperor: “Think of something! You should be thinking of solutions! Not complaining all day in front of me! Last year— and the year before, we suffered because of issues with Ante’s infrastructure! We’re still suffering now!”

Celtic Marshal: “We started building high-standard roads inside the Kazarlia Kingdom since the year before last, and it’s beginning to show results. Otherwise, the Fifteenth Army Group wouldn’t have been able to get into position so quickly. The section of road that’s problematic now, was newly occupied after last summer’s offensive, and we haven’t had the chance to build roads there yet.”

“Six months from summer until now, what were the engineering troops doing?” the Emperor questioned.

Celtic Marshal: “Repairing the road from Bolsk to the Raoul Mountains, their efforts were crucial in keeping the supply lines to A Army Group alive through last year’s muddy season. Incidentally, maintaining the Sixth Army Group also consumed a lot of our engineering resources, and these troops were heavily damaged in the last month’s great defeat of last year, and they haven’t recovered yet.”

The Emperor opened his mouth but didn’t speak.

At this time, Giles said, “I actually have a suggestion that could contain Rocossov. We could allow the Eleventh Army Group to cross the river and attack Rocossov’s rear. If we cut off the railway line from Yeburg to Yarvik, it would disrupt his supplies, and he wouldn’t be able to fully commit to attacking the Eleventh Army Group.”

The Emperor looked at Giles, paused for a moment, and nodded: “It’s a plan. Let’s try it.”