Cannon Fire Arc

```

The cavalry troops' attack on the enemy's armored units, though only a part of the tanks were destroyed, indeed played a role in delaying the advance of the enemy's tank forces.

The tank units were forced to deploy into formation to counter the cavalry attack and galloped across rough terrain for over an hour.

By the time the cavalry troops were completely defeated and retreated, the number of tanks that were malfunctioning or damaged exceeded those that were destroyed.

Many of the tanks were even immobilized by gopher holes, the most modern war machines hobbled by harsh environments and this primitive form of troops.

————

Prussian Tenth Army Group Corps Command.

General Boke couldn't help exclaiming, "Halting progress after a cavalry charge? I didn't know our armored units had become this frail!"

The Chief of Staff replied with a wry smile, "The 14th Armored Division reports that, indeed, not many tanks were destroyed by the cavalry, but many were damaged due to the harsh natural environment.

If we leave all these tanks behind, or only leave the repair crews to fix them, the enemy cavalry will surely come back and use incendiary bombs to burn the tanks completely, even harming the repair personnel.

So the division commander decided to halt and wait until a majority of the less severely damaged tanks were repaired before moving out."

Boke shook his head repeatedly, "No, no, no! Leave an armored company to guard the repair teams, and order the rest of the units to continue marching back to receive supplies!"

The Chief of Staff nodded, "Okay, I will issue the order immediately."

An hour later, General Boke was pacing back and forth inside the command post when finally, a communications officer lifted the tent curtain and entered, "Report from the 14th Division!"

The Chief of Staff hurriedly went to take the telegram and frowned at the first glance, "The 14th Division reports another harassment by cavalry, and the enemy has planted even more mines. Unlike the hasty placements before, this time they've had time to bury the mines deep into the ground."

General Boke said, "Have the engineers clear the mines! Tell the 14th Division to hurry back! They are an armored unit, how can they fear the enemy's sabers?"

The Chief of Staff was still looking at the telegram, and upon hearing the general said, "The enemy cavalry used smoke to cut off the tanks' mutual cover, then approached and threw incendiary bombs.

The enemy suffered appalling casualties but still kept pressing on, leading to severe depletion of the tanks' machine gun ammunition."

General Boke frowned deeply, "Nonsense! The enemy using casualties to deplete the tanks' bullets sounds like a bad joke!"

The Chief of Staff said, "But the 14th Armored has been in combat for a considerable time. Machine gun ammo naturally runs high, and it is possible to run out of ammunition.

Before Operation Blue commenced, many tank crews, based on last year's combat experience, mounted a lot of extra machine gun ammo behind the tank turrets. If not for that, the ammo might have run out even earlier."

General Boke pressed his forehead in frustration, "Damn, why is this godforsaken Ante so vast? We've advanced so far, if this were in Carolingian it would have been enough to do another Battle of Arden Forest, but in Ante, damn it!"

The Chief of Staff also revealed a wry smile, but he still reminded, "What now? If the 14th Armored runs out of machine gun bullets, they can only use high-explosive shells to deal with cavalry. If the high-explosive shells get depleted to a certain extent, the 14th Armored's offensive capacity will be greatly reduced.

As the Army Group Chief of Staff, I would not agree to an attack by such a unit without resupply; it must be replenished."

```

General Boke sighed, "I understand. Then withdraw all the Armored Divisions and Armored Grenadier Divisions currently preparing for a pincer attack. I don't believe Ante's cavalry can block all these troops."

"We only called back the 14th Armor because we had not given up the idea of a pincer offensive against Rocossov, with the result that the 14th Armor suffered a great loss.

"As long as we give up the concept of a pincer attack and go all out to consolidate our forces and rescue the 190th Division, there is still hope!"

Chief of Staff, "Then we must report this decision. The previous concept of a pincer attack against Rocossov was praised by the Emperor, and now it's being canceled, the Emperor will get angry. It would be best to ask Marshal Von Bulein to intercede or to go directly to General Giles."

"Never," General Boke waved his hand abruptly, "I will absolutely not resort to that Emperor's favorite!"

————

"Damn it!" the Plathen Emperor slammed his fist on the table, "Forced to abandon the pincer attack by cavalry, is this still the glorious Prussian officer corps, the glorious Junker nobility?"

William Kyle, "The enemy is too cunning, and the natural environment is too harsh, which led to this situation. It's not something shameful, Boke is still trying to rescue the 190th Division."

Plathen Emperor, "Then why wasn't it investigated earlier that the situation was so dire? Last year during Barbarossa, you underestimated Ante's infrastructure level, planned the supply according to the average level of Western Europa, and it was a mess!

"Not seizing Ekaterinburg Fortress last year, High Command's staff should bear more than half the responsibility! And then what? No one was punished, just a meaningless transfer out of the staff office and that was it!

"Now you have misjudged the severity of the grassland again! Just wait, if Operation Blue fails, I swear someone will be shot, even if it offends the Junker Nobility, they will be shot!

"I should learn from Rocossov, use a pistol and shoot you one by one! At the military academy, you only learned how to use knives and forks to eat!"

A few senior officers exchanged glances.

General Moochi, who had been highly trusted, said, "Actually, the situation is not too bad yet, it's just one division that's been surrounded. As long as that division fights with all their might and holds out for three to five days, the horses of the cavalry won't be able to stand it."

The soldiers of the cavalry can eat the Prussian supplies they capture, but the horses cannot.

The Prussians also have military horses, but mostly they are pack horses used for carrying things, and their consumption is far less than that of military horses.

Military horses, reliant solely on wild grasses from the plains, will quickly lose condition, and then their physical performance values will greatly diminish.

So cavalry cannot really operate behind enemy lines indefinitely, a military horse that carries a robust soldier with a full set of weapons and equipment, as well as various combat supplies in the saddlebags, truly can be ridden to death if not fed sufficiently. Read new chapters at empire

Although the Prussians no longer have purely cavalry troops, many of those present had started out as cavalry officers and were well aware of this.

The Emperor surveyed everyone, sighed, and changed the subject, "Where is the Moravia cavalry now?"

"In transit, able to reach Shepetovka by the 19th."

"Make them hurry! As long as they can handle the enemy's cavalry troops, they will all be granted the status of honorary citizens! Equal to ordinary Prussians!"

The Emperor paused, as if making a great concession, and added, "It can be hereditary! This privilege can be hereditary!"