Cannon Fire Arc

Chapter 871: Chapter 13 ‘God Bless Us

When the explosion happened, Helman had already passed through three houses, but the shockwave still knocked him to the ground.

After the earth-shaking moment, Helman pushed aside the chest of drawers pressing on him and struggled to stand up.

The other guerrilla fighters were somewhat shaken.

So Helman shouted loudly: “Calm down! The enemy must have used high-powered explosives or something else. Is anyone injured?”

“I think I twisted my ankle.”

Helman: “Luke, go help him! No matter what the enemy used to blow up our little building, the infantry will be here soon, so let’s go quickly! This is our city; we come and go without a trace!”

Luke helped the injured guerrilla fighter and ran toward the opening leading to the next house.

Helman then turned back to set up a booby trap under the chest of drawers so that when the Prosen soldiers pursued, they would trigger it.

Of course, there might also be Melania civilians triggering the booby trap, but Helman couldn’t worry about that now.

After setting up the booby trap, Helman grabbed his weapon and caught up with the team, which had already retreated to the next house.

The group quickly reached the sewer entrance and entered the sewer.

On the way, they encountered guerrilla fighters from other sections, and the leader shouted loudly as soon as he saw Helman: “We’ve taken the radio station and are broadcasting to the world; with a shortwave radio, you can hear that Melania is fighting.”

“That’s good news.” Helman replied.

The leader laughed: “This way, we’ll get reinforcements!”

Helman’s expression darkened: “Let’s hope so. Our messenger should have reached Marshal Rocossov’s place long ago, but we still haven’t received any news from them on the radio.”

Leader: “Even if the Anteans ignore us, the Allied Forces will help us!”

Helman just held his gun and strode forward.

Twenty minutes later, they returned to the Rebel Headquarters.

As soon as he entered, Helman asked the telegrapher who came forward: “Have we received any telegrams?”

“No, we’ve been listening all day, and the Anteans still haven’t sent us anything.”

Helman let out a long sigh, turned off the safety of his submachine gun, hung it on the wall, and sat down with a heavy heart.

“The good news is,” the telegrapher said, “there will be an airdrop for us tonight, and it will be in the usual place.”

Everyone else was overjoyed to hear this.

“Will there be Commandos coming to support us?”

The telegrapher shook his head: “No, only weapons, ammunition, and supplies.”

Helman: “The Anteans have launched a massive offensive, and the Allied Forces must be preparing for landing operations, so they won’t send precious Commandos to help us at this time.

“These Commandos might be needed for difficult tasks like capturing bridges.”

Silence fell.

Just then, the phone suddenly rang.

Helman immediately picked up his weapon: “How can the phone be ringing? The Prosen people couldn’t possibly know the Headquarters’ number!”

As he spoke, the phone was picked up, and moments later, someone came running to report: “The telephone exchange was captured, and now the phone system is under our control!”

The telegrapher: “That’s great; now we control all the key municipal facilities: the power station, the water plant, the radio station, and the telephone exchange! We’ve liberated most of the city!”

Helman: “But the Prosen still control their barracks and the surrounding neighborhoods, and Prosen reinforcements are continuously pouring in.

“Strange, does the occupation force have such a large armored force?”

————

“We’ve discovered many military units we’ve never seen before.” Pavlov placed the latest report in front of Wang Zhong, “It seems they were transferred from the Western Front and other places.”

Wang Zhong: “They’re all infantry divisions.”

“Yes, infantry divisions are naturally better suited for defense. Now the enemy has completely abandoned the old tactic of sealing breakthroughs with armored counterattacks and instead learned from us during the Abawahan period, using infantry divisions to grind with us in large settlements.”

Wang Zhong flipped through the report and sighed: “The tables have turned.”

“What?”

“It’s a Ceres proverb, don’t mind it.”

Popov: “If it was just a matter of grinding, we’d still have the advantage with our superior strength, but the situation has become complicated since the enemy transferred fresh troops from the Western Front.”

Pavlov: “The advance is slower than we expected, and issues that plagued the Prosen during the first year of the war are now affecting us as well. Firstly, the troops are advancing too quickly, and units with poor mobility, like the artillery, can’t keep up.”

Wang Zhong smiled wryly: “Back then in Upper Penie, we managed to hold the first day because the enemy’s heavy artillery couldn’t keep up. Now it’s the enemy’s turn to exploit the opportunity when our heavy artillery can’t keep up.”

Vasily: “Don’t we have many self-propelled artillery brigades? It shouldn’t be completely hopeless, right?”

Wang Zhong: “There are so many units at the front; not every unit is fortunate enough to be reinforced with self-propelled artillery.”

Pavlov: “Moreover, the maintenance issue has become increasingly troublesome; from Headquarters to the north, there are abandoned self-propelled artillery and T34s due to mechanical failure, and occasionally, you’ll see T54s and Rocossov Type Ones with mechanical issues.”

Units equipped with T54s and Rocossov Type Ones generally have better maintenance support units, so the failure rate is lower compared to units equipped with T34s and various self-propelled artillery.

Pavlov: “Given the current situation, I still insist on resting for at least a month after completing the encirclement to the north, ideally until this winter.”

Wang Zhong: “No, a month is the limit. Complete the encirclement operation northwards by mid-August, destroy the enemy’s Central Army Group and Northern Army Group, rest until mid-September, and then begin advancing toward the Vistula River.”