Cannon Fire Arc

At eight o'clock in the early morning of the 19th, Wang Zhong heard the rumbling of tanks outside. He switched his view and saw the vanguard squadron of the 40th Tank Army rolling in mightily.

After switching back, he made a gesture to Pavlov and Popov, "The 40th Tank Army should have arrived, let's go out to meet them and see how many tanks have broken down along the way."

Popov said, "I think about one-fifth might have broken down?"

"Based on our experience with long-distance maneuvers in the past, one-fifth, but they probably don't have as good maintenance and care as we do. I guess one-third," Pavlov said.

Wang Zhong replied, "Then I have no choice but to bet on one-half."

Everyone laughed, and Wang Zhong himself couldn't hold back and joined in the laughter. Clearly, no one thought there would be such high non-combat losses.

After the laughter, Wang Zhong made a gesture and then took the lead as they all headed towards the gate.

Just as they reached the warehouse's main entrance, they saw a T34 tank, flying a flag and marked with the tactical number 4022, drive in. Wang Zhong always felt that this tactical number was also trying to piggyback on his own vehicle marked 422.

Although the 40 was likely meant to denote the 40th Tank Army and the subsequent numbers were simply a sequence, there could also be a tactical number like 40122.

After the 4022 tank came to a halt, the turret hatch opened, and a tank officer in a general's uniform climbed out, took off his crash helmet, donned a military officer's cap, jumped off the tank, adjusted his clothes, and then walked over to Wang Zhong.

Upon reaching Wang Zhong, he saluted and said loudly, "Salute to you, General Rocossovsky! The 40th Tank Army has arrived!"

Wang Zhong returned the salute and then countered, "Is this all the troops of the 40th Tank Army?"
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The Army Group commander looked back awkwardly and corrected, "The vanguard force of the 40th Tank Army has arrived."

Pavlov stepped forward and asked, "How many tanks were lost on the march?"

The commander replied, "I led the vanguard force, the 112th Tank Brigade, with an establishment of 70 T34s; 41 actually arrived."

Pavlov turned to look at Wang Zhong, "You actually won the bet, Commander."

Wang Zhong said, "I am not happy about it at all."

He turned to the Army Group commander, toggled an overlay to check the commander's name—though he could have seen it on the organization chart earlier, he found Ante's name too long and didn't bother to read it, since he had an overlay.

Wang Zhong said, "General Kexikoff, your tank brigade has been reduced by half before even reaching the battlefield. How are you going to strike the enemy?"

"The grasslands are too difficult to navigate, and we also lack support forces," Kexikoff defended, "Besides, the quality of the new tanks is really poor, so it's not our fault."

Wang Zhong wanted to say something, but Popov played peacemaker: "General, you just bet on a loss of one-half, which means you anticipated this kind of situation, right?"

Damn it, I only chose one-half because you guys had picked everything else!

Wang Zhong's actual prediction was also based on the attrition his own troops had suffered while moving here, so it was more or less in line with what Popov and Pavlov had estimated.

To think that a tank brigade could really have forty percent of its tanks break down.

Hold on, Wang Zhong suddenly thought of something: A significant portion of the tanks that had broken down in the motorized Army Group were those that had been recently reequipped.

So he asked Kexikoff, "Among the tanks that broke down, were most of them new tanks that had just been issued?"

Kexikoff frowned, "I really didn't notice... Balev!"

Soon, a colonel with a somewhat scholarly air ran over, "Hello, General. What do you need me to do?"

Kexikoff asked, "Our broken down tanks, are there a lot of new tanks among them?"

Balev replied, "I've reported to you that the high number of tank malfunctions might be due to the poor quality of the new tanks. This conclusion was reached because two-thirds of the tanks that broke down were new, and they all had engine problems."

Pavlov looked toward Wang Zhong, "It seems that that's the case. Despite taking a series of measures, we still couldn't prevent the decline in equipment quality."

Popov nodded, "If that's true, then there should be quite a few reports throughout the army by now."

Balev suggested, "Before that, could we dispatch rescue forces to tow all the tanks we've abandoned along the way back here? Some tanks have functioning movement mechanisms and only the engines are broken, so they can be towed."

Wang Zhong looked at Pavlov, and the chief of staff immediately shook his head, "Although we've organized many tractors, we can't tow so many at once. By the time all the broken-down tanks are towed back, it would probably be a week later."

Wang Zhong picked up where Pavlov left off, "Then let's leave it at that for now. Once all of your four armored brigades have arrived, do a tally and form a strike group."

Kexikoff saluted, "Yes, form a strike group. And then?"

Wang Zhong replied, "Then, while the enemy is still unable to react, we'll launch a strike with the support of our artillery on the remaining three enemy infantry divisions in front of us."

Kexikoff immediately became ecstatic, "Yes! We will complete the mission! We will use 100 KV tanks as the vanguard to strike the enemy's positions!"

Pavlov coughed and said, "Regarding the 100 KVs, we've decided to disperse them among the units for distributed use. Rokossov believes that having 100 KVs concentrated together would actually be hampered by our logistics capabilities."

Kexikoff was astonished, "Are you taking away my 100 KVs? I fail to see the necessity! The KVs do have a high malfunction rate, but doesn't a higher malfunction rate mean we should concentrate them more? That way, we'll have more tanks reaching the Prussian front!"

Wang Zhong was also surprised, was there such a way of thinking? Yet it was quite an enticing idea.

Perhaps that's truly how the Russians on Earth initially thought, but it proved unworkable in the end.

Wang Zhong clarified, "How can you calculate it that way? The true situation is this: your support capabilities can ensure that 21 tanks make it to the enemy, and no matter how many you pile up, it will still be 21 tanks reaching the enemy in the end, because the additional tanks won't receive enough support and will break down en route.

"So invest as many tanks as your support capabilities can maintain, not simply amassing quantity. Amassing tanks can easily overstretch already weak support capabilities, thinning them out even further, and reducing the number of tanks that could have met the enemy from 21 to now only 15!"

Kexikoff's eyes widened, "That actually makes sense!"

Wang Zhong said, "That's the correct way to think! Fight the battles that match your logistical capabilities. Modern warfare is a war of logistics, understand?"

"Understood!" Kexikoff said loudly—possibly because Wang Zhong had raised his voice just then.

At that moment, a lieutenant ran over and whispered a few words into Balev's ear.

Wang Zhong asked, "What's the matter? Speak freely."

Balev glanced at Kexikoff before reporting loudly, "We've just received a report from the heavy tank brigade. The number of tanks that have broken down has reached 55, and there are some minor issues with the other tanks as well. They are planning to stop and repair the tanks, and then set out at dawn."

Popov looked at Wang Zhong and remarked, "You really do predict things like a prophet."

Wang Zhong inwardly wanted to curse.