Chapter 953: Chapter 9: Friends from Afar_2

If it weren’t for the serious lack of assault capabilities, without enough cannons and explosives, the New Fourth Army might have already liberated Jinling.

Faced with Pavlov’s doubts, Wang Zhong directly skipped over them: “If we provide artillery and machine guns to Ceres guerrillas, can they crush the Fusang Empire troops the way we’re now defeating the Prosen scum?”

“Impossible!” Pavlov shook his head, “They’ve just retreated 2,400 kilometers!”

Wang Zhong thought for a few seconds and said: “I want to meet the Ceres Delegation, but I can’t leave the front lines. Can we arrange for them to fly here?”

“Of course, you just need to make a call to His Majesty the Tsar.”

At that moment, the armored command vehicle jolted violently.

——–

Also on November 20th, Western Front, Federation Third Army Group Headquarters.

Admiral Leonard was angrily berating his subordinates.

“Do you know? On the Western Front, the Anteans launched their offensive half a month ago. Although their advance isn’t swift, they are progressing steadily, and they’re now less than sixty kilometers from Plowsonia!

“Meanwhile, we are still more than a hundred kilometers from our target, and we’ve been attacking for half a month without any progress! We were even pushed back to our starting position by Prosen armored troops!

“You always tell me this is insufficient, that is lacking — supplies are insufficient, manpower scarce, morale is low! But no matter how insufficient, could it be worse than the Eastern Front under Rocossov?”

Leonard’s communications officer spoke up: “We are indeed short on supplies, and the Red Ball Express has temporarily eased the situation, but…”

“Enough!” The Admiral slammed the table, “I can see clearly now — the only thing we lack is offensive spirit! We must attack, bring forth the spirit of attack! Just like Pickett at Gettysburg!”

The communications officer reminded: “Pickett’s charge ultimately failed.”

“Even if it failed, it remains celebrated for its courageous offensive spirit throughout history!”

Communications officer: “Actually, at East Point Military Academy, that charge is used as a cautionary example…”

“Enough! I must have been blind to let a coward become my communications officer!”

The communications officer tried to argue, but suddenly a technical sergeant entered and whispered something into his ear.

Leonard: “It better not be some damned bad news! As long as the Prosens haven’t pushed us back again, it’s fine!”

“No, Admiral, we’ve picked up some strange signals that sound like our forces conducting offensive operations. But they’re using unidentified radio call signs, and we don’t know which unit they are or where they’re located.”

Leonard stood up: “What kind of situation is this? Why are we still standing here? Let’s get to the radio communications center!”

He stormed out of the office ahead of everyone and rushed to the radio center next door.

“I hear there’s a unit behind enemy lines?”

The on-duty lieutenant at the center answered: “Yes, Admiral. We only know there’s combat happening near Clement, and one of our units seems to be trying to cross a river.”

At this point, the Army Group Chief of Staff standing behind Leonard said: “I’ve checked the deployment records. The right flank’s 35th Division and 321st Division have shown some unusual movements. It might be their forces breaking through the lines. Should I contact their HQ?”

“No, don’t make any noise!” Leonard grabbed the on-duty junior officer by the shoulders. “You just mentioned Clement, right?”

“Yes, Admiral, but…”

Leonard shook the junior officer’s shoulders fiercely: “That place is thirty miles behind enemy lines!”

Junior officer: “But… we don’t know who they are. They’re using call signs like…”

Leonard: “What kind of call signs?”

“Bank, Kep, Kelly, Big Joe and Little Joe… things like that.”

At this moment, a radioman shouted: “We’ve received another signal from them!”

Leonard immediately shoved aside the radioman and sat down at the radio himself, grabbing the controls — as a former tank technical officer, he naturally had training in radio operations.

Soon, the speaker crackled, and the signals became clear.

“Ober, this is Kelly.”

“Hey Kelly, what’s your situation over there?”

“There’s barely any enemy here, Ober. What’s the status with the tanks?”

“We only have one left. One’s in the water, the other is on fire. Open fire!”

Through the radio came the sound of tank guns firing, accompanied by intense machine gun fire.

“Alright, I can see the one burning.”

“Kelly, what about Big Joe? How’s his situation?”

“He’s across the river. Shut up, I’ll ask him. Big Joe, Big Joe, this is Kelly calling.”

Leonard turned to a group of officers at his side: “Do any of you recognize these call signs?”

Everyone shook their heads.

At this moment, a new voice came over the radio: “Kelly, this is Kep. What’s the situation now?”

“We’re bombing, that’s the situation.”

“Listen Kelly, we need to do something!”

Then, the armored commander, possibly with the code name Ober, interjected: “Open fire!”

Another sound of tank guns was heard.

Then, likely due to ionospheric interference, the radio transmissions became unclear again. Leonard hurriedly adjusted the radio, mimicking the armored commander’s earlier voice, shouting, “Open fire!”

After a few minutes, clear audio resumed from the speaker: “Kelly, the bridge isn’t done yet. Our trucks can’t get across. I need five hours to complete the crossing! Can you hold out for five hours on the other side?”

Leonard immediately became anxious: “No no, keep advancing! Push forward! If you stop, you’ll give the enemy time to regroup!”

As soon as he finished, Kelly’s voice came from the radio: “No, Bellamy. We’ll keep pressing on and won’t wait for even a minute.”

Leonard shouted: “Yes! That’s exactly the offensive spirit I admire — attack, attack, and attack again!”

The speaker continued with dialogue: “No, Kelly. We’re in this together. Don’t leave us behind!”

Leonard grew even happier: “Yes, yes! That’s precisely the spirit! This is the soul of the Federation Army!”

Kelly responded: “Then you’d best hurry and catch up.”

A new voice joined the conversation: “This is Grave-digging Squad. We’re about to cross the river!”

Leonard was ecstatic beyond words: “They even have a Grave-digging Squad! I don’t know who this Kelly is, but if he’s a major, I’ll promote him right now to colonel! I’m going to throw all our reserves into this breakthrough portal and tear the enemy’s defenses apart!

“Advance!”

He stood up and spread his arms wide.

——–

November 23rd, Antean forward command headquarters, 72 kilometers from Plowsonia city center.

Wang Zhong was reviewing the latest Allied Western Front status report.

“The Third Army Group has breached the Prosen defensive line and liberated… Clement? That name sounds familiar.” Wang Zhong muttered to himself, “Isn’t there a bank there?”

Pavlov: “The Allies have also achieved a breakthrough. Should we initiate full-scale movement as well?”

Wang Zhong thought for a moment and nodded, “Let’s start moving. If you encounter strong resistance from the Asgard Knights, bypass them. The remaining Prosen units now have severely diminished combat effectiveness.

“Our goal is to occupy as much of Prosen territory intact as possible — while we might not be able to reach the southwestern corner of Prosen, we must try to secure the rest of their regions.”

Pavlov: “If we manage to capture the Prosen Emperor, we’ll be in a race with the Allies to occupy all of Prosen. Should we hold off attacking Plowsonia to let Prosen forces inflict heavy losses on the Allies, ensuring they lack the strength to compete for territory…?”

Wang Zhong: “No, if we do that, how would we be any different from Leonard? And besides, as I see it…”

At that moment, Wang Zhong’s new deputy officer entered the room, reporting loudly: “Marshal, a Type One aircraft carrying the Ceres Delegation has just landed, and they’re on their way here!”