Cannon Fire Arc

Chapter 762: Chapter 19 Crossing the River

Positions of the 504th Independent Tank Destroyer Battalion.

Major Hauson, the battalion commander, saw through his binoculars that Antean T34 tanks were crossing the river from a ford.

“No weird pot-lid heads, no bizarre turtle shells, damn it, we’re up against T34s!”

Although the Panzer IV Tank Destroyers equipped by the 504th Battalion were emergency response units, their 70-caliber long 75mm cannons were among the few weapons in the hands of the Prosen Armored Troops that could deal with the new Antean tanks, and now they had to fight T34s which could easily be destroyed by Prosen Armored Troops—undoubtedly a waste.

But the armored troops of the 504th Battalion were unaware of their commander’s concerns; they were cheering:

“It’s a T34! We can penetrate them from 2000 meters or even farther!”

“The competition of design and technology has begun! Let’s see who does better!”

“This isn’t fair, tank destroyers don’t have turrets, who can hunt more depends on their position in the entire formation, and the number of enemies they face!”

“Ah, I’m already missing my Panzer IV G model.”

With a quiet sigh, Major Hauson picked up the handset and ordered through the radio: “Attention all, fire at will!”

The moment the order was given, someone opened fire. Even a veteran like Major Hauson could not capture the trajectory of the shell; he only saw a T34 that had just crossed the 2250-meter mark ignite in flames.

Cheers of excitement came over the radio: “Vehicle 405 scores the first hit!”

The others, not to be outdone, began firing.

T34s were catching fire one after another.

The hunt lasted less than three minutes before the Anteans began releasing smoke.

The smoke bombs fired by the T34s exploded in front of the 504th Battalion’s position, and another smoke screen appeared in front of the Antean tank assault formation.

Through his binoculars, Major Hauson saw that it was the “armored cavalry” mounted on the back of the tanks releasing the smoke.

As a veteran, Major Hauson had served in the Eastern Front for a year and a half before his assignment to the 504th Battalion. When faced with superior Prosen firepower, the Antean tank operators would normally close in recklessly to counteract Prosen’s shooting expertise with close-range combat.

To release smoke with less than thirty percent losses upon first contact greatly exceeded Major Hauson’s understanding.

He quickly sensed that the Anteans might have changed the basic principles of armored warfare.

So he immediately called the communications company over the radio: “Communications company, this is the battalion commander, send a telegram to the Army Group Command immediately, inform them that the Anteans have changed their armored combat strategy, the T34 units may now be starting to avoid contact with our armored troops!”

Meanwhile, the tank operators of the 504th Battalion complained over the radio, “The No. 4 Tank Destroyer is fine in every aspect except that it has no turret; it can’t maneuver in combat! If we were driving regular Panzer IVs, we would have already burst out of cover to pursue the enemy’s armored units!”

“The Anteans have lost their nerve all of a sudden? They used to charge at us recklessly and then get destroyed by us beyond 1000 meters.”

Major Hauson was about to remind his men not to be too arrogant and underestimate the Anteans but suddenly realized something.

The engine noise of the tanks was going away, but the sound of other engines had not yet faded; it was simply overshadowed by the noise of the tank engines.

“All units, be advised, the enemy’s half-track vehicles and light armor have not retreated! The enemy’s mechanized infantry is still approaching!”

No sooner had the words fallen than an Antean-marked Prosen half-track vehicle burst out of the smoke, followed by Antean infantry.

The half-track immediately released a fresh smoke screen and charged with the infantry towards the infantry positions guarding the 504th Battalion’s location.

It went from bad to worse; a large number of 76mm and even 105mm artillery-fired smoke bombs rained down, enveloping the 504th Battalion’s location and the infantry positions covering them in white smoke.

With his extensive experience, Major Hauson immediately ordered, “Exit the cover! Exit the cover! Retreat backward! We cannot engage infantry units close up without turrets! It would be at a disadvantage!”

His own command vehicle was the first to leave the cover, reversing out, leaving clear tracks on the soft ground.

Due to the smoke, he couldn’t see the movements of the other vehicles or what was happening behind them.

The enemy’s smoke also hindered the 504th Battalion’s retreat!

But Major Hauson had already given his vehicle commanders prior orders to confirm the ground conditions behind them, ensuring a smooth exit from the cover.

Now he was more than relieved that he hadn’t canceled the order because of his subordinates’ complaints when they arrived.

The more preparations made beforehand, the greater the chance of survival, that iron rule proved true once again!

Major Hauson’s command vehicle retreated wildly, finally leaving the smoke-covered area, and he saw that many of his vehicles had also successfully retreated.

“All units, take hold of the alternate positions and continue to snipe at the enemy!” Having said that, he switched frequencies and called the cooperating 340th Infantry Division, “Pelican, Pelican! This is Running Wolf calling Pelican!”

Pelican was the emblem of the 340th Division, so it was also used as the division’s radio call sign.

“This is Pelican, Running Wolf, go ahead.”

“My unit will occupy position number 2.”

“Don’t go to position number 2, the assault gun battalion that was reinforced last night is there; please proceed to position number 4, we are in the process of—”

Suddenly, the radio signal cut off.

——

Colonel Hoffman, the division commander of the 340th, looked at the handset in his hand, confirmed there was no problem, and continued calling: “Running Wolf, Running Wolf, this is Pelican calling! Running Wolf, Running Wolf!”

At that moment, the communications company commander of the division rushed in: “The radio antenna was hit by a stray bullet.”

“Fix it quickly, then!”

“Yes!”

The division commander threw down the radio microphone and turned to the telephone. “Is the phone line still working?”

“It works, but the 504th battalion has already left their position and can no longer be contacted by telephone.”

The division commander cursed, just as he released the telephone handset the phone rang.

He picked up: “This is Hoffman, speak!”

“Commander! This is Hill 201! We can’t hold on any longer! Ante infantry is everywhere, Ante infantry is everywhere! We have already fired twenty thousand rounds, twenty thousand! We need reinforcements!”

Hoffman: “I’ll send the division headquarters guard company to reinforce you! Now, immediately! Hold on!”

Without waiting for a reply, he slammed the handset onto the telephone base.

But as soon as he put it down, the ringing started again.

Hoffman picked up the handset reflexively: “Hoffman here! Speak!”

“This is the beachhead, this is the beachhead! We can’t hold on! We need reinforcements!”

“There are no more reinforcements, only my staff and I are left to go!”

“That’ll do!”

“Hold on! Hold on!” Hoffman said as he hung up the phone.

Then, just as he had placed the phone down, it rang again. He simply yanked the phone cord out of the back of the base unit and hurled both the base and the handset to the ground: “Enough! I can’t conjure up more reserves!”

Originally, the 340th Division was a follow-on unit, commonly known as the ‘Line-filling Division.’ Having withdrawn from the frontline at the end of July, they had not received much replenishment and were already severely understrength. Now, to expect them to hold in the face of concentrated enemy assault was outright impossible.

The chief of staff said, “We should never have been assigned to defend such an important shallow water area.”

Hoffman: “That’s not the fault of the Army Group Command; other units have even more critical sectors to defend. Along such an extended battle line, the enemy will always find a weak spot to break through—especially at a time when we are far from having recovered from July’s retreat.”

“Yes,” the chief of staff sighed. “I’ll organize the staff officers and direct-reporting units of the division to support the frontline. That might have some effect.”

Hoffman was silent for a few seconds before he said, “Please, take them. I know you’ve all received so much military training, not to perform grunt work on the frontline, but in light of our circumstances, we must simply do our duty.”

After saying that, he also donned his cap: “Give me a submachine gun, I’ll go with you.”

The chief of staff: “You should link up with the 504th battalion—”

“My troops are here, I will fight with you until the last moment.” Hoffman said.

————

Major Hauson called many times and finally became convinced that communication with the 340th Division headquarters was lost.

He switched back to the frequency for unit communication: “Everyone, we might have lost our covering infantry! The situation has become complicated, enemy infantry could sneak through the undergrowth to ambush us. We should fight while we retreat, link up with the Loktov City defense units. The enemy will surely attack Loktov; we will be needed there!

“The enemy’s Urban assault guns need to be dealt with by us, otherwise, they will blast both the defending units and the bunkers to the sky!”

As soon as he had finished speaking, someone among his subordinates said, “Wasn’t it mentioned that the Urban assault guns could be dealt with by the Land Stukas?”

“Having one more option isn’t a bad thing!”

At this moment, a strange voice cut into the conversation: “This is the commander of the 144th Assault Gun Battalion, we have 91 Sturmgeschütz III assault guns still operational, are you retreating?”

Major Hauson: “We are retreating! Come with us, be it tank destroyers or assault guns, fighting without infantry cover is too dangerous.”

“You’re right.”

Then Major Hauson realized that speaking openly on the radio like this was a breach of security protocol.

He would surely face scrutiny later.

He couldn’t be concerned with that now: “Retreat towards Loktov!”

————

Argesukov, Kazarlian First Front Army Headquarters.

Wang Zhong looked satisfactorily at the string of breakthrough markers on the map.

“Just as we expected, the enemy’s defense is riddled with holes.” Pavlov summarized, “Although in some areas, Prosen’s elite troops have put up a resolute and effective defense, causing us heavy losses, we have still made progress at the positions of their weaker troops.”

Wang Zhong: “General Gorky’s tactics are indeed effective, but we should be careful not to end up with heavy casualties like him.”

Pavlov: “Rest assured, we have utilized the prepared materials to build pontoon bridges, cavalry and armored troops are crossing the river. Soon the enemy’s defense will crumble, and we will encircle Loktov.”

Wang Zhong: “Loktov, how nostalgic.”

At this moment, the communications staff officer loudly reported: “Comrade Marshal, the Guard First Heavy Breakthrough Tank Group has encountered enemy armored troops!”

Wang Zhong: “Is it the 29th Armored?”

“The unit couldn’t identify the enemy’s insignia. They are engaged in combat now.”