Novel Full Chapter 108 Deceiving the Enemy Plan
On the night of July 26th, at 2330 hours, in the city of Yeisk, Corps Command of Ante’s First Mobile Group Army.
“Report! Urgent telegram from the Front Army Command.”
Pavlov stood up to receive the telegram.
Wang Zhong and Popov continued to sit in front of the chessboard.
Popov, “Hurry up, I want to drink a bottle of vodka and then get some sleep before continuing the game with you.”
“Quiet, I’m thinking,” said Wang Zhong as he picked up his queen and chose a square.
“That’s no good, no good,” shook Popov’s head, “if you move here I will play this, you see, like this, and then you will only have to choose between the queen and the rook.”
Wang Zhong silently put the chess piece back in its original position and complained, “It’s too hard to discern the path on this black-and-white chequered board.”
Popov laughed heartily, “Right, right, how could our general be a lousy chess player? Absolutely not! The propaganda department would have a headache if this got out.”
After laughing for a bit, he suddenly remembered Pavlov had been silent since taking the telegram and quickly looked up.
Wang Zhong was also prompted by his actions and turned his head to look at Pavlov.
The chief of staff held the telegram with a furrowed brow.
Wang Zhong, “Another telegram about our left flank being in critical danger?”
“More than just critical,” Pavlov shook his head, “Front Army Command is now unable to contact the 91st Infantry Army and their associated 50th Army Group.”
The 91st Infantry Army was the defensive force directly in front of the newly deployed enemy army group, and now that even the higher-up 50th Army Group could not be contacted, it indicated that the forces might have collapsed.
Fortunately, Ante’s army groups were rather small, so the collapse of a single 50th Army Group wouldn’t be too detrimental. If Ante’s army groups were as large as those of the Prussians, the front line would have been doomed already.
Wang Zhong stood up.
Popov, “Hey? Why aren’t you moving? I haven’t checkmated you yet!”
Wang Zhong, “Military matters are urgent. Let’s see what this is about.”
Having said that, he left quickly, going over to the map table, “The 51st Army Group is already in place behind the 50th. They should be able to hold off for a while, and the plains’ infrastructure should also slow down the enemy’s advance…”
At that moment, another communications officer from the telegram station approached, “Report, urgent telegram from the Front Army Commander.”
As Pavlov reached out to take it, he said to Wang Zhong, “This is the third one already. It’s probably still urging us to retreat across the river quickly. General Golikov is very anxious.”
Wang Zhong’s gaze turned toward the southwest of the great Nan’ant plains, to the vast area north of Raoul Mountain Pass. There, there were still a dense cluster of marks representing Ante’s troops and circled positions.
“The rear guard troops of Bolsk’s Front Army are still over a hundred kilometers from the pass,” Wang Zhong shook his head, “Although one hundred kilometers can be covered quickly by car, the rear guard has not yet shaken off the Prussian Army, and they must stop occasionally to strike at the enemy, so they probably won’t reach the pass very quickly.”
Pavlov, “If we retreat now, the enemy can’t withdraw the forces they’ve already committed. Regrouping and redeploying the troops takes a lot of time.”
Popov added a remark, “A lot of time, and a lot of hairs on staff officers’ heads.”
Pavlov actually agreed, “Right, exactly. I feel there’s no issue in retreating now.”
Popov, “I’ll sit on the fence first, and see if ‘His Excellency the Commander’ has any better ideas.”
Wang Zhong, his hand on his chin, seriously pondered.
First of all, retreating now would not be good for the friendly forces on the Bolsk Front, as the army group of the enemy that was newly adjusted for the offensive most certainly had not deployed all its units. Deploying all units in the first wave of attack would only result in crowding and render them unable to execute effectively.
With so many troops packed together, they were bound to suffer heavy losses under enemy artillery fire.
Therefore, the enemy’s attack echelons must be staggered.
Among the subsequent waves of troops, some could potentially be rapidly redeployed to the Bolsk front.
If the First Mobile Group Army were to run now, the rear guard on Bolsk’s side might suffer significant losses.
But not running now, with the enemy’s right hook punch coming, the brother units did not have the combat will and skill of the First Mobile Group Army and couldn’t hold off the attack.
To protect the Bolsk Front Army by sacrificing the First Mobile Group Army was obviously not an option either.
Caught in the middle, Wang Zhong desperately searched for a way that could best serve both ends—
Then he suddenly thought of a very famous maneuver from Earth.
A bold idea took shape.
Vasily, watching Wang Zhong’s face, said, “That expression, I knew it! The general has an idea!”
Wang Zhong looked at Vasily, “Is my expression that obvious?”
Vasily shrugged, “If you don’t believe me, ask the bishop and the chief of staff.”
Wang Zhong looked at the two, seeing them nod together, nearly blinding Wang Zhong with the reflection off their bald heads.
He waved his hands, “Stop nodding, your heads are reflecting light! I indeed have an idea, I think we can carry out a deception operation.”
Pavlov said, “We’ve already made a whole bunch of fake tanks, these past days the Prosen Air Force have almost gone mad, bombing us all the time, even the bombing at the rear in Yarvik has stopped. What else can we do?”
Wang Zhong replied, “I plan to do this. Send a troop, carrying red flags, to the front line for reconnaissance.”
Pavlov exclaimed, “No! You’re not allowed to go!”
Wang Zhong quickly reassured the chief of staff, “Don’t worry, I won’t go! Not going, not going! I mean, we’ll pretend I’m on a front-line reconnaissance and get as close as possible to the enemy’s forces. Because I used to do this often, with the Prosen’s meticulousness, they’re certain to have noticed.
“Didn’t a paratrooper just spill everything yesterday, down to his underpants? He said that the Prosen have files on me, summarizing my commanding habits in detail, but his rank wasn’t high enough to see this file. Enjoy new adventures from empire
“I bet it definitely includes the bits about liking to wave red flags and venturing close to the enemy lines for reconnaissance.”
Pavlov said, “That it does—you even nearly charged up to the enemy tanks on horseback. The Prosen definitely have records of that.”
(Indeed they did, and it was penned by the person who had missed the chance to eliminate General Rokossovsky on that occasion.)
Popov queried, “I don’t get it, what’s the purpose of this fake front-line inspection troop? To pretend that you got killed?”
“No, no, no, of course I can’t pretend to have been killed; then the enemy would just go and attack the Bolsk Front Army.” Wang Zhong waved his hands continuously, “However, the enemy will definitely try to kill ‘me’. This reconnaissance squad certainly can’t really be wiped out, but they can leave behind some corpses!”
Indeed, Wang Zhong’s tactic was inspired by a famous deception operation in the history of World War II on Earth, in which the British intelligence agency fabricated the corpse of a dead officer from an air crash, placing on the body meticulously crafted documents that were indistinguishable from the real thing.
The Sturmtiger scooped up this body and immediately treasured it as a prize, and then the intelligence on the corpse perfectly matched the (fabricated) content provided by the legendary spy Garcia, so the Sturmtiger was duped, thinking that the landing site was at Calais instead of Normandy.
Wang Zhong elaborated, “When this troop sets off, pick a fresh corpse, dress it in an officer’s uniform, and carry document bags and map cases filled with our forgeries…”
Pavlov had an epiphany, “Ah, with our offensive plans on top!”
Wang Zhong confirmed, “Right! As well as documents about the ongoing bombardment causing a delay in the offensive and files about moving a new Army Group to block the enemy’s hook punch, making the Prosen think that on one hand, we’re reinforcing the left flank to withstand the offensive, and on the other hand, we’re also preparing a right hook to crush the enemy’s Tenth Army Group!”
Popov was already laughing, “Nice, nice! This is good! In reality, we’re secretly retreating…”
Vasily interjected, “Not quite! We need to prepare a confidential diversion plan that says we’re pretending to retreat, but in reality, we’re attacking!”
The others exchanged glances, then burst out laughing.
After laughing, Wang Zhong forcefully patted Vasily on the shoulder, “Brilliant! You get it! So, you’ll be in charge of producing everything for the map case and document bags!”
Vasily’s smile instantly froze, “What? Me?”
Popov also came up to pat his other shoulder, “You’re our camouflage expert here! Think about it, from Loktov onward, you’ve been deceiving the enemy.”
Vasily asked, “Are you sure it’s me deceiving the enemy? The cunning old fox by my side is there, you know!”
He pointed at Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong replied, “I’m just the idea man, the implementation is all yours, maestro.”
Vasily sighed, “I knew it. Whenever you call me ‘maestro,’ it’s never good. Fine, I’ll do it.”
Pavlov then asked, “How many staff officers do you need? How many clerks?”
After thinking, Vasily answered, “Five staff officers to draw the maps, five clerks to write the documents—should be enough, I reckon.”
Wang Zhong nodded vigorously, “Hmm, excellent, truly fitting for our deception and forgery expert—already figured out how to do it. That’s professionalism at its best!”
“Don’t rile things up for no reason. Go organize the deception troops. This unit will face the enemy attack head-on, and aside from the prepared corpses, everyone else must either find a way to withdraw from the enemy’s assault unscathed or keep their lips sealed if captured. Neither situation is easy to achieve.”
Wang Zhong acknowledged, “Hmm, indeed.”
Popov added, “Need to pick a dare-to-die squad; if someone gets wounded and can’t keep up, but doesn’t die, they must have the determination to pull the pin on a Grenade of Glory.”
Wang Zhong decided, “Let’s recruit volunteers based on the dare-to-die squad’s criteria then. Bishop Dawasili, you’re in charge of this.”
Popov nodded, “Alright!”
He stood up to leave then turned around after two steps, “Wait a minute, did you just clear yourself from all this?”
Wang Zhong explained, “I… I’m off to persuade Bucephalus to agree to be this actor! See, if my horse is there, then I’m there too. Whoever plays me will likely be thrilled to ride my horse, I bet.”
Vasily commented, “They’d be overjoyed, alright. You don’t know, over in the stables they’re already saying that if you’re with Bucephalus, even if enemy shelling flattens the stables, you’d come out without a scratch. Some are even secretly selling the horse’s hair!”
Wang Zhong’s eyes widened, about to comment on that when Pavlov shouted, “Vasily! I’ve rounded up the people for you, get started!”
The comment from Wang Zhong’s mouth also changed instantly, “Right, let’s get started!”