Cannon Fire Arc-Chapter 878 - 15 Artillery Preparation_2

Chapter 878 -15 Artillery Preparation_2

“Then hurry up and find out, you idiot!”

————

Jean Pol led his squad to ambush by the roadside.

Vice-Captain Will asked nervously, “Are you sure the Prosens will pass through here?”

“Of course, we’ve tested it. Whenever we cut off the Prosen’s phone line, their repair team passes through here to reach the midpoint of the line. That way, they can test whether the break is in the first half or the second half of the line.”

Will: “Every time?”

“Every time. So if we ambush here, we can blow up the repair truck and if any Prosen engineers survive, we’ll kill them with submachine guns.”

Just then, a guerrilla lookout ran back, looking tense, “Bad news, nine armored cars are coming!”

Jean Pol frowned, “How many?”

“I counted, nine with their lights on, but I don’t know about those with their lights off.”

At this time, everyone could hear the engines of the enemy armored cars.

Will: “We only have fifteen people now, nine armored cars mean at least dozens of enemies. Do we still attack?”

Jean Pol took a deep breath: “Yes! We have the advantage of surprise; we’ll withdraw as soon as the enemy responds! Don’t detonate the mine on the lead armored car; let’s blow up the one in the middle. Maybe there’s someone important in it!”

Will spat, shouldered his submachine gun: “Alright, I’ll take two people to intercept the head of the armored column.”

He said that and then disappeared into the hedges with two guerrillas.

The messenger guerrilla also turned back to his post after seeing this.

Jean Pol picked up the detonator, did a final check, then turned the power on and inserted the control lever.

The engine sounds of the armored cars were now very close, and the headlights shone directly over.

Jean Pol hunched his shoulders, trying hard to hide his body behind the roadside embankment.

The first vehicle passed, and the light disappeared, but immediately the second vehicle’s headlights shone again.

Jean Pol waited until the third vehicle passed before he fiercely twisted the detonation control lever.

The explosives planted in the road exploded, flipping a half-track vehicle onto the ground, which then skidded off the road and into the roadside ditch.

The sound of Sten submachine gun fire rang out, along with the explosions of grenades.

Jean Pol tossed away the detonator, picked up the Sten, and raised his upper body to fire at the nearest armored car.

The machine gunner on the armored car was shot and fell, knocking the machine gun aside, its muzzle pointing skyward spraying tracer bullets like a stream into the sky.

The MG42’s rate of fire was incredibly fast, eating through more than half the ammo belt in an instant, then jamming.

The Prosens were shouting.

It was clear they had already begun to recover from the initial chaos of the ambush.

Jean Pol heard a Prosen shout (he could understand Prosenese), “The enemy doesn’t seem to be many, spread out, flank them! Use incendiary bombs to light up the bushes!”

Jean Pol: “The enemy’s reacting, retreat!”

Saying this, he whistled, the agreed-upon signal for retreat.

Whistling, he dove into the hedge, changing magazines while running frantically.

At this time, he heard a Prosen shout, “Go check on the Marshal!”

Marshal?

Jean Pol couldn’t contain his excitement, spat out the whistle in his mouth, and shouted, “We might have injured the enemy’s Marshal!”

“Yes, I remember, the emblem on that armored car seemed to be Marshal Erwin Rommel’s emblem!”

The Prosen Marshals all had their emblems, with flags displayed by Headquarters, and vehicles marked accordingly.

Jean Pol laughed heartily, “We attacked the Prosen Marshal, even if we didn’t kill him, it will definitely disrupt their command!”

At this time, Will’s three-man team appeared too, and upon meeting up, asked Jean Pol, “How could the Marshal leave his Headquarters at a time like this? Could it just be the Marshal’s car?”

“I heard a Prosen shout ‘check on the Marshal’s situation’!”

————

Marshal Erwin Rommel was rescued from the armored car by his men, cursing, “Damn it! Schmidt was right! I need to get to the 21st Armored Division!”

“No, you need to go to the hospital!” The escort commander said sternly, “You’re seriously injured and cannot command now.”

The Marshal hesitated to speak and finally fainted from excessive blood loss.

The escort commander: “To the nearest hospital! The Carolingian’s hospital will do too!”

————

August 3, 0440 hours, Prosen Western Front Command.

“The phone is connected!” The communications officer reported.

Admiral Schmidt immediately picked up the receiver, “Is that the 21st Armored Division?”

“Yes,” came the voice of the 21st Armored Division Commander from the other end, “We’ve checked all the tanks, and we’re ready to move out anytime.”

“Has Marshal Rommel arrived with you?”

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The 21st Armored Division Commander hesitated for a moment: “What? The Marshal? We haven’t seen the Marshal.”

Admiral Schmidt: “He left for your place at two o’clock, he should have arrived by now!”

“If he’s here, it would be the Marshal talking to you on the phone now.”

Admiral Schmidt looked solemn, muttering, “This is bad.”

At this time, the Western Front Prosen Army Chief of Staff said: “The parachute landing situation has been clarified. There are three main landing zones. We’ve captured Federation and United Kingdom prisoners, their numbers are Federation’s 82nd, 101st, and United Kingdom’s 1st Paratrooper Division. According to High Command’s intelligence, these three divisions have at least fifty thousand paratroopers. Fifty thousand! This is an unprecedented operation!”

Admiral Schmidt said into the phone, “I’ll call you back later,” then hung up and said to the Chief of Staff, “Yes, an unprecedented operation, fifty thousand paratroopers! When we captured Crete Island, we only sent ten thousand paratroopers!”

“At this critical moment, our Commander, the great Marshal Rommel, is not at Headquarters! Not at Headquarters!”

Chief of Staff: “Where’s the Marshal? Isn’t he at the 21st Armored Command?”

“No, no one knows where he is, or even if he is alive or dead!” Admiral Schmidt sat down and sighed, “The good news is that the landing hasn’t started, we still have a chance, immediately order the Coastal Defense Division to prepare for combat.”

Chief of Staff: “Marshal Rommel already ordered the Coastal Defense Division to prepare for combat before he left for the 21st Armored.”

“Alright.” Schmidt picked up the phone, “Connect me to Fort 400’s Coastal Defense Division.”

————

The Commander of the 400th Coastal Defense Division had long since arrived at his unit’s command bunker—all Coastal Defense Divisions’ command centers were on the West Wall.

The command bunker was the highest point of the entire defensive line; it could not only overlook the entire line but also face the direction of the sea.

The phone rang, and a staff officer inside the bunker picked it up: “Hello? It’s the 400th Division, yes, the Commander is here.”

The staff officer handed the receiver to the Commander: “Admiral Schmidt from Headquarters.”

“Hello Schmidt,” the Commander took the receiver, “I’m in the bunker, everything is normal.”

Schmidt: “Are you sure? I need you to pick up binoculars and look towards the sea; if the enemy is going to land, it should be happening now!”

Commander: “Alright, alright, taking the binoculars, looking at the sea.”

He held the receiver in one hand and binoculars in the other: “It’s completely calm, nothing there. The enemy is either late or not attacking today.”

“But the paratroopers have already landed, fifty thousand paratroopers! It’s definitely a major operation, I need you to double-check.”

So the Commander of the 400th Division double-checked.

“There’s nothing, the sea is calm.”

Schmidt: “Alright, although I don’t know what’s up with the enemy, at least the landing hasn’t started. Strange, they should have started by common sense now.”

400th Division Commander: “Then I’ll confirm one last time, maybe there’s something now.”

He leisurely raised the binoculars, then his body froze.

Schmidt waited for a moment and asked, “What’s wrong? Say something.”

The 400th Division Commander clamped the receiver with his arm, freeing his hands to rub his eyes, then looked through the binoculars again.

“My God! Schmidt! I’m seeing 5,000 ships! I’m seeing 5,000 ships!”

Schmidt: “Calm down, the Allied Navy combined doesn’t even have 5,000 ships. During Operation Dynamo, they mobilized all fishing boats, and it was just one or two thousand!”

“That was five damn years ago! I swear on my life, I’m facing 5,000 ships on the sea right now!”

(In fact, he was just scared and exaggerating.)

Schmidt: “Calm! If the landing really starts, the enemy would have some preparatory bombardment, and I haven’t heard any artillery!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the battleship’s heavy artillery shells landed on the 400th Division’s positions, causing the bunker floor and ceiling to shake together.

Commander: “How about now! Damn it, did you hear the sound of the preparatory bombardment?”

Just as he finished speaking, a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling, hitting the Commander’s head.