Arc of Fire

Chapter 724: Chapter 62 Armored Assault Begins

Wang Zhong stared at the photo, lost in thought.

Pavlov asked, “You’re not thinking of getting on a plane right now for a personal reconnaissance, are you?”

Wang Zhong replied, “But at this moment, it is indeed the fastest way to get a clear understanding of the enemy’s newly arrived armored troops.

"I’m worried about our military department, which is launching an attack today. Both Yegorov’s First Mobile Group Army and Yane Yame’s Melania Army Group are mixed forces, they still have means to counter enemy armored assaults.

"Likewise, the experienced Guards Eighth Tank Army that is also entering the fray today wears its Guards title with pride.

"But the 55th Tank Army that is supposed to attack today is a newly arrived force from the rear, with only fifteen percent of personnel who have experience!

"What if this army encounters a counterattacking enemy? Once the location of the enemy’s new forces is ascertained

Pavlov interjected, “You can’t change today’s attack deployment anymore unless you tell the 55th not to advance. What would you say to those boys from the 55th?

"But they would be alive!”

"After a head-on encounter with the enemy’s armored troops, many of them will still be alive, and those who survive will become experienced veterans.” Pavlov emphasized his point with a wave of his hand, “And you, you should be used to this by now, shouldn’t you? Last winter at Abawahan, you never showed mercy.”

"That’s because at Abawahan, we couldn’t hold the line without taking those measures.”

"The same applies now; someone has to wear down the enemy’s armored forces. Are we supposed to wait for them to run out of fuel on the prairies?” Pavlov said decisively.

Just then, Vasily came in with two unfamiliar officers. Clearly, he had heard the argument and immediately raised his voice upon entering, “Maybe we won’t have to spend lives to wear down the enemy’s armored forces.”

Wang Zhong spun around, “What did you say?”

Vasily stepped aside, “This is the commander of the newly arrived Guards Third Tank Brigade, Feodor, and the Military Chaplain Yerin. Their brigade is fully equipped with new tanks, those unnamed ones with pot-shaped turrets.”

Wang Zhong was overjoyed, “Another brigade?”

Feodor saluted Wang Zhong, “That’s right, General, 41 new tanks have just rolled off the production line and all have been assigned to our brigade. Moreover, I bring good news: the production of new tanks has increased to two per day, we can equip one and a half brigades in a month!”

Wang Zhong was pleased, “Your arrival is most timely. The brigade that previously went into battle encountered the enemy’s Mark VI heavy tank units and suffered heavy losses. Our repair capabilities are insufficient, especially for the new tanks. That brigade is still in a crippled state.

"But now the enemy has a complete tank division. Once our attack begins, this division might launch a strike against us, and we expect the enemy to bypass our Whirlwind units and directly hit our assaulting armored troops.”

"That’s great, leave it to us!” Feodor exclaimed.

Wang Zhong asked, “Have your forces finished unloading?”

"Already done, General!”

"Then return to your brigade immediately to reinforce the 55th Army. This army lacks combat experience, and eighty percent of the vehicle crews have only sixty hours of driving time.” 𝙧ἈNỒВЕS̈

"All new recruits,” Colonel Feodor said seriously. “They’ll suffer tremendously if they face the Prosen’s armored forces.”

"That’s why I need you to strengthen them. They are about to launch an offensive. If you leave right now, you can meet up with them by nightfall.”

After speaking, Wang Zhong patted the battalion commander on the shoulder.

"Understood!”

Feodor turned to leave but was stopped by Wang Zhong, “Wait a minute, we have a tradition here. Commanders sent to the front must have a hot meal before they go.”

"I know, the ‘last supper’! Now only a few with especially good luck survive!” Feodor appeared eager, “They say surviving means passing the trial, becoming one of your Angels!”

Wang Zhong thought to himself that he was sick of it, even though it’s a world of miracles, hadn’t it been agreed that the Secular faction didn’t believe in this? How come they’re more superstitious than the next?

Become my Angels? My only Angel at the moment is Ludmila!

Despite Feodor’s excitement, Wang Zhong didn’t want to dampen his spirits.

But then Feodor added, “General Yegorov already survived several brushes with death at Abawahan. He has become your Angel!”

Wang Zhong couldn’t help but retort, “Him? An Angel? No, no, no, with his bear-like figure, he doesn’t look like an Angel.”

Pavlov laughed out loud, “He looks more like a Druid in human form.”

"That’s good too,” Feodor said.

Wang Zhong thought, as long as you’re happy, and gestured to Vasily, “Take them to eat.”

On the same day, at 0600 hours, the 38th Tank Battalion of the 55th Army set off for their attack starting point.

Lieutenant Alexander Fadin was about to leave the battalion headquarters when he was stopped by the battalion commander.

The battalion commander asked, “I heard you’re the only one from this batch of cadets to come out as a Lieutenant? The Colonel who selected you has only one arm, right? How did you impress him?”

Alexander was surprised, “How did you know the one selecting us was one-armed?”

"Because he was the old commander of my last unit, they sent him to be a recruitment officer after his arm got shot off. He’s very strict, how did you manage to make him bend the rules to give you a lieutenant’s rank?”

Lieutenant Alexander, “I was driving the tank and shot three rounds while in motion—all hit their targets, so I was given the rank of lieutenant.”

The battalion commander widened his eyes, “Shooting while in motion? There’s no such training exercise, is there?”

Both the T34 and T34W only had very basic stabilizers and were essentially incapable of shooting while on the move.

Lieutenant Alexander, “The tank we tested was an old T34, I personally served as the gunner and took the shots, timing the firing with the shaking of the gun barrel. If you get the timing right, you can hit the target.”

"Sukabule!” The battalion commander expressed his feelings with this exclamation, “Alright then, let the Prosen people taste your prowess!”

Lieutenant Alexander, “No, the T34W has a three-man turret, so I can’t do the shooting myself, which means we’ll probably stop to shoot.”

"That’s fine, that’s fine.” The battalion commander waved him off, “Go on, I’m looking forward to your performance.”

Lieutenant Alexander saluted, turned, and left the battalion headquarters to rush toward his own tank.

The meeting had just concluded and everyone had already returned to their vehicles, explaining the battle plan to the crew and where to regroup after abandoning their vehicles.

Now, the Ante Army’s Armored Troops all set up vehicle abandonment rally points, asking all tank operators to try to get back to the rally point instead of, like before, abandoning their tanks and becoming infantry on the spot to continue fighting those damn Prosen people.

This was also a change born out of the military reform advocated by General Rokossovsky, as the Ante Troops began to place even greater emphasis on technical forces.

Alexander returned to his vehicle crew, “Alright, gather round! Everyone listen up, if you abandon your vehicle in combat, make your way back to the collection forces in Vasonka on your own. They’ll wait for you there, and then you’ll be grouped with others into new crews to continue the fight.

"Understood? No matter who’s missing, you all head to Vasonka!”

"We understand, lieutenant!” The driver, autumn forest, spoke for everyone.

"Final check! Have you got all the ammunition and fuel? And water, the weather is so hot today, you’ll sweat a lot after a day’s fighting and will need plenty of water! Don’t end up fainting from heatstroke inside a tank!” Lieutenant Alexander raised his voice a notch higher.

This was what the instructors at tank school taught.

The gunner picked up a gasoline can by his feet, “I got a few of these cans, cleaned them up, and filled them with water. They still smell a bit like gasoline, but you’ll just have to bear with it.”

"Good!” Alexander waved his hand, “Mount up.”

Not long after boarding, the signal flare shot into the sky.

Lieutenant Alexander Fadin picked up the radio handset, “Autumn Forest, advance!”

As he gave the order, the other vehicles also started up, and the armored battalion, already in fight formation, crossed the straw hurdles in front and charged onto the plains of Kazarlia.

And then, as if they had agreed upon it beforehand, IL-2 attack aircraft flew over the tanks, lined up in attack formation.

Someone said on the radio, “I heard that these planes are now specialized for this role, it’s General Rokossovsky’s order.”

"Yes, I heard too. The pilots all find the plane tricky to use, it’s hard to aim at ground targets without a sight for the cannons, and they can’t dive at a steep angle so the hit rate of rockets and bombs isn’t great either.”

"Really? But it looks so impressive, flying over our heads, it really boosts morale!”@@novelbin@@

As the radio was buzzing with conversation, a second wave of Air Force units flew over the tanks.

Lieutenant Alexander looked up and suddenly noticed a large number of parallel white lines in the higher sky.

Other crews also noticed, “What are those white lines up high?”

"You don’t know? That’s the Air Force’s heavy bombers, looks like Federation’s B25 or B26 support! They’re probably going to bomb Shepetovka.”

"Speaking of Shepetovka, I remember that’s where Petro came from, right?”

Petro was one of the few tank commanders in the unit with combat experience, reportedly having fought for two years already.

"Why isn’t Petro speaking? Tell us about Shepetovka, what’s it like?”

"Yeah!”

Normally, chit-chat like this would be nipped in the bud by the battalion commander and the Priest, but right now the two of them kept a tacit silence.

Finally, Petro’s voice came through on the radio, “Shepetovka is… it used to be a very beautiful city. There we had Kazarlia’s largest train dispatch yard, and there was also the Church’s First Tractor Factory, as well as the later Shepetovka Tank Factory, where the T34 was developed

Immediate complaints filled the radio, “Who asked you to say all that?”

"Yeah! Tell us something we want to hear, like is there anything good to eat, and what about the girls?”

Petro, “I don’t know, many girls were evacuated when we retreated. When the tanks were leaving the city, I suddenly saw a lot of girls’ bodies lined up neatly by the road. The Prosen air raid hit the evacuation convoy, the girls’ bodies were collected and buried on the spot.”

The radio fell silent.

Alexander sighed, lifted his headset to one side so he could hear the roaring of the engine.