Arc of Fire

Chapter 25

Wang Zhong, of course, had never been on a battlefield; his true homeland hadn't fought a war in over thirty years.

But he had played War Thunder, dubbed "Russia's Genshin Impact," and had extensive experience in defeating enemies in this game, knowing which terrain to use to block the vulnerable flanks of tanks.

Upper Peniye Village had three main roads, two of which entered the village from the west, forming a Y-shape with the road exiting to the east.

If you considered the south as "below," this was a lying-down Y, with the open end facing west.

But in reality, these three roads didn't directly intersect; instead, they enclosed a triangular area in the middle of the village.

On the north side of the area was the luxurious estate of the local Lord Boye, with the main structure being a three-story red brick building.

The most prominent building in the triangular area was the local church, which was as tall as Lord Boye's three-story estate, and it also had an even taller bell tower.

Next to the church was the village mill, a mechanical mill equipped with a steam boiler.

Further south were two two-story buildings, homes of the town's affluent class, one of whom was said to be the emperor's forestry officer.

The distillery, which Wang Zhong chose as his headquarters, was located on the east side of these structures, next to the single leg of the lying-down Y; stepping out of the distillery gate, it was just a few steps to the triangular area.

Of course, Wang Zhong couldn't even walk those few steps and had to command the stretcher bearers to carry him over.

"Stop!" he shouted at the mill's entrance, squinting as he looked toward the west side.

When observing from an Overhead Perspective, he thought he'd be able to see all the way to one of the village's western entrances from this position, but upon actual observation, he realized a section of stone wall and a wooden house blocked the view.

Wang Zhong immediately recognized that this was an excellent terrain to force enemy tanks into a 1v1 with his own tanks; the road to the west wasn't wide, making it unlikely for two tanks to travel side by side, so the enemy would have to come one after another.

Moreover, this spot had a fallback option; if too many enemies surged in, they could reverse and hide behind the mill.

The mechanical mill was two stories high, tall enough to conceal even the bulky and large frame of a T28.

Wang Zhong immediately shouted: "Someone! Call Captain Lubokov over!"

Soon, the tank with tactical number 422 was deployed at this street corner.

Wang Zhong, battling a groggy head, explained to the tank commander: "When more than two enemy tanks appear in your field of view, retreat and let the mill cover you!"

The commander of tank 422 was a Corporal, looking extremely nervous, nodding repeatedly as he listened to Wang Zhong.

Wang Zhong: "Measure the distance now and make sure you hit the enemy on your first shot when you see them!"

The commander: "Understood, retreat when I see the enemy!"

Wang Zhong was stunned, thinking he must have misheard due to his fever.

Captain Lubokov, riding a white horse, scolded: "Listen carefully to the Count's orders! The Count told you to measure the distance now!"

The Corporal: "Measure distance? Measure what?"

Wang Zhong: "How long have you been a tank commander?"

The Corporal: "One day, I was transferred from another crew!"

Wang Zhong: "Replace this position with an experienced crew."

Captain Lubokov sighed: "I'll take over here, guard this spot, measure the distance, and retreat into the mill's shadow if facing more than two enemy tanks, right?"

Wang Zhong: "Correct."

Next, he directed the stretcher bearers again, assigning tasks to the other two tanks, instructing them to use the terrain for pop-out attacks to surprise the advancing Prossenian tanks.

As for tank 422, whose commander was overly nervous, Wang Zhong thought for a moment and assigned them to the distillery yard as the final reserve force.

Upon hearing their task was to be the reserve force, the Corporal, who had only been a commander for a day, let out a long sigh of relief.

After arranging the tasks for the tank unit, Wang Zhong was about to order the stretcher bearers carrying him to return to the distillery when he saw a vehicle stop in front of the church, and a middle-aged man got out, looking up at the church bell tower.

"This position must have a great view," he said. "Bring the Divine Arrow up! We'll give the Prossenians a little shock from the bell tower!"

It seemed this was Brother Yatsemenko, the one commanding the Divine Arrow squad.

Lyudmila climbed out of the truck's rear compartment and looked at Wang Zhong with slight surprise: "Alyosha?"

Brother Yatsemenko then noticed Wang Zhong and stood at attention, saluting: "Count Rokosov, sir, my respects to you."

Wang Zhong nodded.

At this moment, Brother Yatsemenko's subordinates unloaded the Divine Arrow from the truck.

This was the first time Wang Zhong had seen this weapon up close; despite his impaired thinking due to fever, he still noticed aspects of the Divine Arrow that differed from what he had imagined.

So he asked: "Where's the guidance system? This just looks like an ordinary rocket!"

In his memory, such anti-tank missiles had fairly large guidance systems; when he was a child reading light weaponry magazines, the anti-tank missiles featured always came with substantial sighting equipment.

But this Divine Arrow launcher was just a bare sliding rail, unimaginably crude.

Brother Yatsemenko looked puzzled: "Didn't you see the holy emblem on the Divine Arrow's head?"

Wang Zhong, his brain sluggish from fever, didn't react immediately: "Holy emblem?"

A Private First Class carrying the Divine Arrow specifically turned it around so Wang Zhong could clearly see the holy emblem on its head.

Brother Yatsemenko glanced at Lyudmila: "Captain Melekhovna, as a Prayer Hand, is exceptionally skilled; she has already successfully hit an enemy tank. According to regulations, I should apply for a combat achievement mark for her, but given our situation, as you know..."

Only then did Wang Zhong's brain catch up: Holy emblem, Prayer Hand-could it be that the Divine Arrow was truly guided by "divine power"?

He had thought it was like the Adeptus Mechanicus in Warhammer 40K, where high technology was misunderstood and turned into religion.

Wang Zhong waved his hand: "I understand. Are you preparing to go up to the bell tower?"

Brother Yatsemenko nodded: "Yes, the view from the bell tower must be excellent."

Wang Zhong: "But the enemy will see you just as clearly. Doesn't the Divine Arrow produce obvious tail smoke when launched?"

He had seen the Divine Arrow's flight trajectory from an Overhead Perspective, and it was as conspicuous as could be.

Brother Yatsemenko: "The tail smoke is indeed very obvious, but even more noticeable is the light from the warhead during guidance. What's the issue?"

Wang Zhong waved his hand again: "Then going up to the bell tower is a bad idea. The moment the first shot is fired, you'll be spotted immediately, and the enemy tanks will focus on the bell tower."

A clear field of view usually works both ways.

Wang Zhong pointed at the church: "I suggest preparing multiple launch positions, placing one Divine Arrow at each position, and after firing, quickly move with this lightweight frame to a new spot-hit and run!"

Brother Yatsemenko: "According to the manual, we should snipe enemy tanks from a position with a wide field of view, maximizing the Divine Arrow's range advantage. The Divine Arrow can hit targets two kilometers away! Enemy tank cannons can't reach that far."

Wang Zhong: "The enemy will use smoke to block your vision; they did that in Ronezh!"

Although Wang Zhong was running a high fever, he still remembered the events in Ronezh. At that time, Brother Yatsemenko's team destroyed an enemy tank, and immediately after, the enemy infantry set up smoke to block their vision.

Clearly, the Prossenians were very familiar with how to counter the Divine Arrow.

Brother Yatsemenko still wanted to object: "But..."

"There's no 'but.' I'm the current commander. I forbid you to go up to the bell tower!"

At this moment, Yegorov stepped in to mediate: "How about this? We've found a few good machine gun positions that are also suitable for setting up the Divine Arrow. Why not set them up there? The infantry can cover you as well!"

Brother Yatsemenko hesitated for a moment, then said: "Fine, I hope Count Rokosov isn't making this decision because of a fevered mind. And I hope he's not giving special treatment to Miss Melekhovna!"

As he spoke, he glared at Lyudmila.

(End of chapter)