Arc of Fire

Chapter 725 -63 Encounter Battle

The forces of the 55th Tank Army swiftly charged past Vosonka Village, which had been designated as a rally point for tank operators.

The Prosen Army defending the village paid no attention to the passing armored troops, with even the anti-tank guns failing to fire.

Had the Prosens’ observation posts not watched vigilantly, the 55th might have assumed the village was abandoned and assigned the accompanying infantry to seize it as an afterthought.

But having spotted the Prosen garrison, naturally, the village was left to the following up infantry divisions, as planned, to capture by noon on the 25th.

After passing Vosonka, the 55th charged straight for Bochayev.@@novelbin@@

Based on prior reconnaissance, the defending forces there consisted of elements from the 332nd Infantry Division and the Motorized Reconnaissance Battalion of the 11th Armored Division, with a possible battalion of assault guns.

Even if the assault gun battalion was present, their insufficient strength was no match for the 55th Tank Army.

After all, Ante’s armored troops had significantly improved their integration, with the 55th comprising three armored brigades alongside several infantry and self-propelled artillery units, far from the “tofu dregs tank army” of a few years back when the war had just begun.

Alexandria’s battalion encountered the enemy’s assault gun battalion north of Bochayev at noon on the 25th.

Five minutes before the encounter.

All hatches on Alexandria’s tank were open; even the loader had emerged from the turret and stood with the infantry on the tank’s cooling grills.

Autumn, the driver, yelled, “Can you not all sit on the grills? Isn’t it hot? Some of you, sit in front of the tank! The engine’s going to overheat with this scorching weather!”

The gunner laughed, “You should be thanking our infantry brothers for shielding us from the direct sunlight! If they move, your engine might get even hotter!”

"What do you mean ‘your engine,’ as if you’re not riding in this tank!”

Alexandria was about to join the conversation when someone shouted over the radio, “Semyon Semyon! Why is your tank smoking?”

Immediately Semyon’s cursing voice reached Alexandria’s ears, “Damn it! Too hot! The oil’s caught fire! I have to stop and extinguish it! Go on without me!”

No sooner had his voice faded than someone else reported, “I think my transmission is shot, where’s the repair company?”

"Quiet down! We’re troubleshooting for tank 404 right now! Stop where you are and see if you can handle it yourselves!” said the repair company’s radio operator, coolly. After all, compared to the armored troops, the repair crew had fewer casualties and more veterans, some of whom were even transferred to the repair company after combat injuries.

The battalion commander’s voice followed right after the veteran from the repair company’s, “All tanks report your status; I need to confirm how many have broken down.”

So, the radio crackled with everyone calling out their numbers.

A few minutes later, the battalion commander’s voice, tinged with astonishment, came through the radio, “Only 12 T-34s left running? This failure rate is a bit high! We haven’t even engaged in battle yet!” ɌΆƝȎʙËs

As if echoing the commander’s words, suddenly a streak of light zipped across Alexandria’s field of vision.

For the first time on the battlefield, Alexandria was stunned and failed to comprehend what the light was.

Over the radio, the veteran Petro shouted, “Armor-piercing shell! The enemy missed! We’re ambushed!”

The atmosphere instantly tensified.

Alexandria slapped the top of the turret, “Battle stations! Battle stations!”

The gunner was the first to slip back into the turret, followed by the loader who, like an acrobat, zipped into the turret, bumping his butt in the process.

"Ow!” he cried out, his movement into the turret disrupted.

The gunner yelled, “Don’t stop! Your ass is wiggling right in front of my face now!”

The loader retorted, “Stop rushing me! I almost had my shit knocked out of me!”

Alexandria forcibly pushed the loader into the turret, “Then you might as well take a dump in the turret!”

The driver and electromechanic screamed in panic, “Don’t! If you guys in the turret take a dump, it’s going to fall down to the cabin floor, and we’re the ones who’ll smell it!”

The loader snapped back, “You should worry more about the ammunition on the floor becoming ineffective if it gets covered in shit!”

Anticipating prolonged combat, Alexandria’s tank had been crammed with extra shells, all piled on the tank’s floor.

As they, a group of inexperienced recruits, fumbled around, around a dozen armor-piercing shells came flying in, hitting two T34s, setting them ablaze. One of them exploded after burning for a minute, sending the turret and body parts soaring high.

Alexandria’s eyes widened as he stared at the spinning turret in the air.

He suddenly realized that stuffing the tank with additional shells might not have been a wise move; if his own vehicle exploded, the turret would probably fly higher than anyone else’s.

The radio was filled with cries of “Suka,” and someone screamed, “Where’s the enemy? I can see nothing but the smoke from their firing!”

"It’s the enemy’s new tank destroyers! They’re new tank destroyers!”

The battalion commander was also shouting, “Don’t panic! According to intelligence, we’re likely being attacked by the enemy’s assault gun battalion. Prosen’s assault guns are not as low-slung as our tank destroyers, we should be able to see them!”

Petro disagreed, “No, we should be deploying smoke. Fire smoke bombs in the direction of the enemy’s gunfire!”

The battalion commander, who hadn’t served as long as Petro, quickly heeded his suggestion and changed the orders, “All vehicles, load smoke bombs! Fire in the direction from where I’m being shot at!”

Immediately the commander’s command vehicle fired the first shot, and a smoke bomb burst in the direction from which the enemy armor-piercing shells came.

Petro’s vehicle fired too, with a second plume of smoke exploding not far from the first.

The Prosens’ armor-piercing shells continued to fly through the smoke clouds.

Alexandria commanded, “Load smoke bomb! Turret, turn left 30 degrees!”

The Loader complained loudly, “How am I supposed to load a smoke bomb? I don’t think we will need this thing; I didn’t put it in a handy place! Wait for me to look for it… Damn it, there’s no light inside the tank, and I can’t see where I put the smoke bomb!”

The Gunner said, “Never mind that now! Load a high-explosive shell, it will kick up the dirt on impact and create a smokescreen!”

"Found it!” the Loader interrupted the Gunner, “Smoke bomb loaded!”

The Gunner immediately fired!

Alexandria saw his tank’s smoke bomb dive into the already-formed wall of smoke, unsure if it had any effect.

A new order came, “Turn the whole unit 30 degrees to the left, no need to adjust formation, advance towards the enemy assault gun positions! Prosen’s assault guns don’t have our maneuverability, they’re not like Whirlwind! They can’t escape!”

Alexandria repeated the battalion commander’s order, “Autumn (driver), turn 30 degrees to the left! Charge towards the smoke wall! The enemy’s assault guns are behind it!”

"Roger that!”

The T34 immediately turned, and the severe jolts during the turning process caused everyone inside the tank to bump heads.

After completing the turn, Alexandria heard the roar of the engine and the wail of the gearbox.

Alexandria asked, “The gearbox doesn’t sound right! Autumn, what are you doing?”

"I’m squeezing its last bit of potential, don’t worry, Commander, the loyal war machine won’t fail us now!”

At that moment, the entire tank battalion formed an echelon formation and powerfully charged towards the smoke.

Alexandria’s tank plunged into the smoke and soon hit rough terrain, causing two infantrymen who hadn’t held on tight to fall off the tank.

The leading Sergeant slammed Alexandria’s shoulder, “My men have fallen off!”

Alexandria replied, “How can I possibly stop in the smoke? What if the tank behind us doesn’t see us and crashes into us? The men who fell off will just have to fend for themselves!”

The infantry sergeant cursed, “Sukabule!”

A minute later, as they continued through the smoke, Alexandria’s vision suddenly cleared.

He keenly spotted a camouflaged assault gun and shouted, “Turret left 5 degrees, enemy assault gun! That clump of grass is an assault gun! Load an armor-piercing shell!”

Loader: “Loaded!”

While shouting “Fire!”, the Gunner pressed the firing pedal.

The main gun spewed a puff of smoke, and the glowing armor-piercing shell hit the “haystack.” A second later, several figures jumped out of the haystack, indicating that the last shot had penetrated the assault gun’s armor, and the Prosen commander had ordered an abandonment of the vehicle.

Alexandria exclaimed, “We hit it! We hit it! The enemy’s abandoned their vehicle!”

Gunner: “Should we keep firing at this vehicle to ensure it catches fire?”

Alexandria: “No! Turret right 15 degrees, new target! We will control the battlefield; even if it doesn’t catch fire, the Prosens won’t have a chance to repair it!”

Loader: “Armor-piercing shell, ready!”

The Gunner didn’t wait for Alexandria’s command and fired straight away.

This time, however, the shell was deflected.

"Reload!”

As Alexandria shouted, the enemy fired back, their armor-piercing shell grazing the side of Alexandria’s tank and whizzing past into the air!

Both sides managed to merely scratch each other’s paint in the first round with the second target!

Loader: “Armor-piercing shell, loaded!”

The Gunner immediately fired, and Alexandria watched as the glowing orb flew swiftly, hitting the clump of grass.

The next moment, the grass burst into flames, and Prosen tankers scrambled out, rolling on the ground to extinguish the fire.

Only then did the infantry on the back of the tank remember to attack the Prosen tankers who had bailed out, opening fire with their Papashas.

Alexandria patted the Sergeant’s shoulder, “The Papasha won’t be accurate at that distance! Use the anti-aircraft machine gun!”

Sergeant: “Right!”

He then leveled the anti-aircraft machine gun, holding the handle at the tail end, and firing at the burning Prosen assault gun.

Loader: “Armor-piercing shell, ready!”

Gunner: “Commander, give me a target!”

Only then did Alexandria command, “Turret right 5 degrees, enemy half-track! Load a high-explosive shell!”

"Hold on, I’m getting the shell out now!” the Loader replied.

"There’s no time, I’ll fire first!” the Gunner said, and fired.

The armor-piercing shell hit the half-track but didn’t explode; instead, it passed right through and hit the ground behind the half-track.

Soon after, the half-track vehicle burst into flames.

Alexandria: “Good! Next target

Suddenly, an alarmed voice came through the radio, “Enemy tank! An enemy tank has appeared!”