Novel Full Chapter 54 July 15th Battle Summary
By the time Wang Zhong returned to the Corps Command, night had fully fallen.
The holes in the warehouse’s exterior had been patched with canvas, and all the windows were blocked with cloth, the massive warehouse quietly nestled in the darkness, with only occasional light leaking from the ajar side door.
Wang Zhong walked through the main entrance and reached up to remove his cap, only to touch his bare forehead, recalling then that he had given his hat to a child as a family heirloom.
Since his hand was already raised, he felt a bit awkward not doing anything, so he patted his forehead and said, “That’s right, I need a new hat. Hey you, go to the quartermaster’s department and get me a new hat!”
Nelly: “I don’t go by ‘hey you’.”
“Mum, I want a new hat!”
“I’m not your mum either.” Nelly said seriously, “A new hat, right, got it.”
With that, she stuffed the cola she was holding into Wang Zhong’s hand and ran off with her skirt hoisted up.
Wang Zhong sipped the cola as he looked towards Pavlov, then saw the two female aviators in front of him also looking at him.
“Uh,” Wang Zhong put down the cola, approached the ladies, and extended his hand, “Hello, ladies, I’m Rocossov. Why did they send two different female aviators this time? The one who delivered the photos last time, uh… Lieutenant Colonel Smijanovna, why didn’t she come? I remember her partner was named Katya.”
“Both of them were hit by the enemy’s anti-aircraft guns and got injured during an emergency landing across the front line.” The female aviator with the rank of major said, “They’ll probably be spending half a year in the rear.”
Wang Zhong nodded: “I see, luckily the Po-2 has good flight performance.”
The Po-2 aircraft, with its remarkable gliding ability, allowed the female night bomber pilots to frequently shut off their engines and let the planes drift in the air, only starting the engines near the target to achieve surprise.
The major aviator nodded: “Indeed, if it were any other plane, they might not have made it back, because that would’ve resulted in landing deep within enemy-controlled territory. You really seem to know your planes, just as the rumors say.”
Wang Zhong: “Ah, my adjutant taught me.”
Vasily: “Eh? Ah yes, it was me who taught you.”
He patted his chest, then asked, “By the way, how is Miss Katya? Is her injury serious?”
Wang Zhong: “What, the miller’s daughter isn’t charming enough for you?”
“I’m concerned about a comrade-in-arms.”
Major aviator: “She can still walk, so it shouldn’t be a big problem; she should be back in the ranks in half a year. Shouldn’t we discuss official business now?”
Wang Zhong: “Yes, how should I address you two?”
Vasily: “Is this official business?”
The major aviator smiled, then stood at attention and saluted Wang Zhong: “I’m Major Yufilia, acting commander of the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, assigned to deliver the aerial reconnaissance photos. This is my partner Leniya.”
Wang Zhong raised an eyebrow: “Neither of you are from Asgard?”
Major: “Our ancestors have some blood from other countries, why, can’t someone who isn’t from Asgard fight against the Prussians?”
“Of course not, our Army Group even has Davarish from the Melania People’s Army.” Wang Zhong quickly said, and then shifted the topic to the photos, “Where are the aerial photos?”
Pavlov raised his hand: “They’re with me; the Air Force’s photography has improved.”
Wang Zhong quickly went over to Pavlov and took the photos from his hand.
Popov also leaned in, peering over Wang Zhong’s shoulder.
Wang Zhong flipped through the photos quickly, handing each one to the Army Group’s head priest after inspecting it.
Just as Pavlov had said, the Air Force’s photography had indeed improved, which of course might also be due to the monotonous scenery of the plains, highlighting the Prosen targets.
Major Yufilia explained: “Aerial reconnaissance spotted enemy armored units to the northwest and southwest of Yeisk, but the plains seem to have caused them some trouble, and we captured many temporarily abandoned armored vehicles.”
As she spoke, Wang Zhong just happened to flip to a photo showing seven or eight vehicles left on the plains, along with a small Prosen salvage team.
Wang Zhong picked the photo and asked, “Where is this photo from?”
“The coordinates of the shot are on the back.” said Major Yufilia.
Wang Zhong turned the photo over and indeed saw the coordinates, but only the grid coordinates on the map.
“Find out which map grid this is.” Wang Zhong said as he handed the photo to Vasily.
Vasily took the photo and dashed over to where the map staff were gathered, likely organizing intelligence provided by the royalist elder.
Wang Zhong, following the numbers, picked out all the photos from the same map block.
“No guard troops.” he muttered softly.
Pavlov took a photo from his hands and looked, “Indeed, no guard troops, it seems to be logistics and repair units.”
Wang Zhong: “This is a weak spot for the enemy. If cavalry were to strike here, the Prosen supply system would fall into chaos immediately.”
Pavlov nodded, then suddenly remembered something and said, “Wait a moment, our radio interception unit has also caught communications from the enemy’s traffic control department. Although they use some jargon, so we don’t know exactly which units they’re reporting, the content suggests that there is some congestion in enemy supply movements.”
Wang Zhong: “Is there a report?”
“Yes.” Pavlov snapped his fingers, “Bring the interception records.”
Soon a staff officer came over with a clipboard, on which a thick stack of interception reports was clipped: “It’s all summarized here.”
Pavlov poured the contents into Wang Zhong’s hands.
The content inside was all minor issues, like Area 53 having a broken-down vehicle blocking the road, or that Area 113 was confirmed impassable and needed route replanning, and so on.
Each report was secure, because no specific unit or location of the event was disclosed.
But when all the information was collated, it revealed that the enemy’s logistics were clogged.
Wang Zhong: “Very good, very good. Our terrible infrastructure has come to our aid once again.”
Popov frowned, “Your words can be taken out of context to mean you are attacking the Church’s Five-Year Plan for not investing enough in infrastructure—but you’re not afraid of being quoted out of context. If we said something like that, we could be done for.”
Wang Zhong paid no attention to Popov. His focus remained on the photographs, “Now we just wait for the cavalry. On the vast grasslands, it’s impossible for the Prussians to defend everywhere. If we can roll up all the supply units scattered across the grasslands, their pincer movement won’t be able to get off the ground!”
Vasily exclaimed excitedly, “Then we’ll fight an annihilation battle?”
Wang Zhong shook his head, “No, to annihilate the enemy, we’d need to maintain an encirclement. How would we ensure supplies for the troops encircling on the grasslands? This time, we should still aim to defeat them. Don’t be in a hurry to bite off more than you can chew. Our current goal is to delay the enemy, prevent them from breaking through the Suhaya Weili River Front Army in one fell swoop, and coordinate with Duke Meishikin’s operations.”
If the Suhaya Weili River Front Army is breached, then Duke Meishikin’s Bolsk Front Army would be in danger.
The enemy would pour into the grasslands, making straight for Abawahan.
At this moment, Major Yufilia said, “You’re discussing strategy, so we won’t interrupt. I believe the planes must have finished refueling by now, so we’ll take our leave.”
Wang Zhong: “Alright, Vasily, escort the two of them to the plane.”
“Okay,” Vasily gestured with a ‘please’ motion, “This way, please.”
The two pilots walked in single file toward the doorway.
Popov watched them leave and suddenly said, “Did you know? The captured Prussians say our night flying squad consists of monsters with cat blood, claiming their eyes have vertical pupils just like cats.”
Wang Zhong turned back to glance at the female pilots already at the door: “Really? I didn’t notice!”
“Of course it’s false. How could anyone have vertical pupils? The Prussians also believe they can perform magic, thinking that what they drop at night isn’t bombs but magical fireballs.”
Wang Zhong shook his head, bent over to continue examining the photographs, and as he looked, he said, “The Prussians sure have an imagination, I’ll get angry with anyone who says they’re rigid.”
At that time, the telephone rang.
Pavlov picked it up, “Army Group headquarters. Your Majesty? Alright, I’ll hand him the phone.”
Wang Zhong frowned, “Why is she calling me now?”
Pavlov shrugged and handed over the receiver.
As soon as Wang Zhong put the receiver to his ear, he heard Olga’s displeased voice, “You said you would call me tonight!”
“The headquarters’ phone lines are very busy. And it’s nearly midnight now, you should go to sleep!”
“I won’t sleep unless you tell me about today’s battle!”
Wang Zhong: “We’ll summarize the battle report tonight and send it to High Command in a coded telegram. You can find out at tomorrow morning’s imperial conference!”
“I don’t want Tugenev to read it to me, I want…”
“Your Majesty!” Wang Zhong raised his voice, “We’re at war! I’ve just witnessed the funerals of a dozen young kids on the street, I’m not in the mood to coddle you. Grow up!”
In truth, there had not been a funeral for young children.
Surely, children had died in the gunfire, but Wang Zhong had not personally bid them farewell.
Olga shut up.
Wang Zhong: “I much prefer the intelligent and sensible Olga who knows the bigger picture.”
Olga: “Alright… Sorry, I thought you might need to talk to someone since Liu Da isn’t with you…”
Wang Zhong thought to himself, you’re overthinking it, I have Nelly for hugs.
The next moment, Olga’s voice turned serious: “Okay, my steward also advised me not to call the front line all the time. I promise this is the last time. Please tell me, is everything alright?”
Wang Zhong: “It’s okay. We’ve recaptured Yeisk, which the enemy occupied a few days ago, and defeated the enemy’s elite Asgard Knights Cede Division.”
As he said this, nearby Pavlov muttered, “Tomorrow’s headline will be the great victory at Yeisk.”
Olga: “Very good. Did you capture any generals?”
“No, all the enemy’s senior officers escaped. We can say in the propaganda that they fled in terror at the mere whisper of our approach.”
“Good, good, good!” Olga’s mood obviously improved a lot, “That’s great! Remember to report the battle situation every day! I will look forward to it at the imperial conference every morning! Promise me, okay?”
“Alright. I promise you.”
“Mm, good night then.” Olga sounded a bit reluctant, but she hung up the phone anyway.
Wang Zhong put down the receiver and told Pavlov, “Write up a detailed battle report every evening and send it up with a coded telegram.”
Pavlov turned to a staff officer and said, “You, write up a detailed battle report every day—”
Just then, a staff officer approached with a document in hand: “Report, we have an initial summary of today’s losses.”
Wang Zhong took the document directly and started reading.
His expression immediately turned solemn.
After reading, he handed the report to Pavlov, turned towards the map with hands clasped behind his back, and sighed deeply, “Although it was a great victory, we suffered considerable losses as well.”
“Cheer up,” Pavlov said. “With the prisoner exchange ratio now at three to one, that’s a significant improvement. Before, we had to exchange six of our men for one Prussian. Moreover, the majority of casualties are from the recently mobilized 401st Temporary Infantry Division—if we only count ours, we might even have an advantage. In war, it’s impossible not to lose anyone. It’s an unavoidable reality.”
Wang Zhong: “Those who have to be sacrificed because there’s no other way should not exist at all. I know it’s impossible to have no losses, but as commanders, we should aim to bring everyone home.”
Pavlov: “That’s something only magic can achieve. Be realistic.”
Wang Zhong pursed his lips and said nothing.