Arc of Fire

Chapter 23

Wang Zhong stared at the captain riding a white horse, his head dizzy and unable to recall the man's name, so he asked: "You... what did you say your name was just now?"

"Lubokov."

Wang Zhong: "I am Count Rokosov, and I order..."

Only then did he remember to fire a signal flare to notify his troops to come over, so he reached for the holster at his waist.

At that moment, two more soldiers came over from the tank side, and upon seeing the scene, they immediately raised their guns and shouted: "Danger, Captain!"

Captain: "Calm down! This is Count Rokosov! He is now our commander! Send someone back to tell the tank crew that friendly forces who have captured Prossenian trucks are coming over, and not to open fire!"

Immediately, a Private First Class turned and ran toward the hilltop, while the other, a Sergeant, continued to look at Wang Zhong with suspicious eyes.

Wang Zhong couldn't care less; he pulled out his Flare Gun, trembling as he loaded a signal flare, mustered all his strength to raise his hand, and pulled the trigger.

A red signal flare slowly rose into the sky, illuminating the still not fully bright dawn.

Wang Zhong let out a long sigh of relief, tossed the Flare Gun aside, and asked in a weak voice: "Do you have a stretcher? I don't think I can make it to the tank on my own."

The Captain said: "You can ride a horse. Come, we'll help you up."

Wang Zhong: "My driver jumped out of the vehicle. Whether he's dead or alive, drag him over here."

The Captain said to the two soldiers: "Sergeant, did you hear that? Why aren't you searching along the road?"

The Sergeant, who had been suspicious of Wang Zhong, finally jogged along the highway. As Wang Zhong was helped onto the horse by the Captain, he saw the Sergeant pulling up Captain Sergei from the ground.

The man had a head injury, but judging by his stance, his condition seemed much better than Wang Zhong's.

"Suka blyat." Wang Zhong cursed under his breath.

At that moment, a Prossenian military truck in the distance sped toward them at full throttle, its wheels likely hitting a rock, causing the entire vehicle to jolt as if it might fall apart the next second.

When it reached the white horse, the truck swerved with a sharp drift, barely stopping just before crashing into the wreckage.

The passenger door opened, and Lyudmila jumped out: "Alyosha!"

Wang Zhong weakly raised his hand.

At the same time, Sergeant Major Grigori jumped out of the truck's cargo area with the veteran scouts, holding submachine guns: "Count Rokosov!"

Wang Zhong: "I'm fine. It's good that the tank unit is on alert. I've ordered them to retreat into the town. Set up an observation post on the hilltop. The Prossenian forces might attack at dawn."

Grigori looked at the Captain holding the horse's reins and reported in a formal tone: "We passed through Kurasovka to the west around 3 a.m. today. We spotted about a regiment of infantry and at least 20 Type III tanks."

Wang Zhong subtly raised an eyebrow. So, in this timeline, Prossenians also name their tanks with numbers.

Captain Lubokov's voice trembled slightly: "Twenty! My God, we almost engaged them in the open on the hilltop."

Wang Zhong: "I've already ordered you to retreat to the village. Execute the order quickly. Leave only Grigori's observation post on the hilltop."

Sergeant Major Grigori asked: "Are we retreating to Upper Peniye Village?"

Wang Zhong didn't know what village that was. Using his Overhead Perspective earlier, he had only noticed a village behind them, so he could only reply: "The village behind the hill."

"That's Upper Peniye Village. We can use the truck to take you there first, along with Miss Melekhovna."

Wang Zhong: "Lyudmila, you should stay with the Divine Arrow squad."

Lyudmila pouted: "Understood. Then I'll wait here for Brother Yatsemenko and the others."

Wang Zhong nodded, allowing Grigori and another scout to lift him into the passenger seat of the truck.

The truck started, moving forward along the highway, bypassing the small hill to the east, and soon Upper Peniye Village came into view.

Lubokov's tank platoon descended from the hill, smashing through the stone walls of the fields, cutting diagonally onto the highway, and following behind Wang Zhong's vehicle.

Wang Zhong switched to his Overhead Perspective and noticed he had gained a new dog tag: 4th Tank Corps, 31st Tank Regiment, 2nd Battalion, commanded by Captain Lubokov.

A tank battalion with only four tanks left, all thin-skinned, heavily armed T28 multi-turret tanks. How could they fight with this...?

Wang Zhong looked at Upper Peniye Village, taking several seconds to realize that the village surprisingly had quite a few two-story buildings and even seemed to have electricity.

Looking closer, there was a fairly large factory building on the eastern side of the village with a sign that read "Tractor Station."

Wang Zhong asked the Sergeant driving: "What's a Tractor Station?"

The Sergeant looked surprised: "According to the new agricultural law, local lords must pledge their assets to secure loans to establish tractor stations and seed stations. In the past decade, any village with a resident lord has had them, right?"

Wang Zhong was stunned.

However, Upper Peniye Village being more modern than expected gave Wang Zhong an idea to defeat the enemy.

These two-story buildings and streets reminded Wang Zhong of the "anti-tank gymnastics" of locals from a certain place before he transmigrated.

Tanks from this era weren't like Merkavas; a Molotov cocktail could give them a hard time. They didn't even need "anti-tank gymnastics"-just throw cocktails from the second floor.

As for where to find materials for cocktails-joking aside, the Ante Empire he was in was a close kin to the Russians. Wang Zhong didn't believe he couldn't find high-proof alcohol in the village.

Thinking of this, Wang Zhong chuckled.

The Sergeant driving glanced suspiciously at Wang Zhong's profile, looking like he wanted to ask something but didn't dare.

----

As soon as they entered the village, Wang Zhong saw an old woman standing at her doorstep with her grandson, looking around.

Wang Zhong: "Stop the truck!"

The truck screeched to a halt. Wang Zhong opened the window and shouted to the old woman: "Run! Don't stay here! The Prossenians will slaughter you!"

Old Woman: "Sir, you don't look well. Come inside and rest for a bit."

Wang Zhong: "Leave now! Take your family and go!"

Old Woman: "Sir, you tell us to leave, but where can we go? Everyone in the village who has relatives elsewhere has already left. But we've lived in this village for generations. We have no relatives to turn to."

Wang Zhong: "They will slaughter you!"

The old woman showed a sorrowful smile: "Then let them kill us. At least we'll die on the soil of our homeland. If we run now, wandering aimlessly, we might still die in the end, but far from home."

With Wang Zhong's current weakened mental state, he couldn't think of any words to refute her. He had no way to convince this old woman to take her grandson and leave.

The thought that they might soon be killed by the Prossenians in their own cesspit filled Wang Zhong with a sense of tragic sorrow, weighing heavily on his chest.

At that moment, Captain Lubokov jumped down from the tank behind, ran to Wang Zhong's car door, and saluted: "We've received orders from the 4th Tank Corps to hold Upper Peniye until at least tomorrow night before retreating to Bogdanovka."

Wang Zhong: "Tomorrow night?"

He glanced at his watch. Calculating from 8 p.m. when it gets dark, Lubokov's four tanks would need to hold here for thirty-eight hours.

Lubokov looked distressed: "We might not make it out of here."

Wang Zhong: "Don't worry. With me here, we'll give the Germans a good lesson right in this place!"

Lubokov asked, confused: "Germans?"

Wang Zhong, feverish and confused, didn't even think to correct his wording.

He pointed at a large house by the roadside: "I'm setting up my headquarters here!"

In truth, he was pointing randomly.

Lubokov: "This... after the battle starts, this house will be the first target of enemy artillery fire! It's better to choose a house deeper in the village!"

Wang Zhong raised his voice: "Get Yegorov to come to me!"

(End of chapter)