Arc of Fire

Chapter 38

Major Schlieffen was still standing on his command tank, observing Upper Peniye Village.

Beside the tank stood an officer whose hair was already half gray; this officer did not wear the flamboyant red insignia like Schlieffen, so he appeared to be of lower rank.

But in reality, he was the Regiment Commander of the 351st Armored Grenadiers, Major Franz of the Prossenian forces, and should be on equal footing with Schlieffen.

"It seems the enemy hasn't noticed our detour maneuver," Major Franz said, lowering his binoculars, "I can congratulate Major Schlieffen in advance."

Major Schlieffen's face remained stern: "No, the enemy commander is a tough one. I will not celebrate prematurely until I've broken through their defenses."

"Prepare the infantry for attack, mortars fire smoke!"

The smoke tactics of the Prossen Empire were originally developed to counter Divine Arrow, which could often hit Prossenian tanks from two or even three kilometers away, while the accuracy of tank artillery at such distances was pitiful.

Therefore, Heinz Wilhelm von Moltke, the director of Prossenian tank crews, decided to equip armored units with vehicle-mounted mortars to accompany assaults, arming them extensively with smoke shells.

Setting up a smoke screen with mortars before an armored assault became a standard tactic of the Prossen Empire.

Soon, Prossenian infantry units also discovered that this tactic could effectively limit enemy firepower during an attack, so they too began to be widely issued smoke shells.

The mortar platoons, having received reinforcements, didn't even bother adjusting their aim; they immediately began a rapid barrage, quickly creating a wall of smoke on the western side of the village.

Major Schlieffen glanced at his watch: "Two hours until nightfall. If all goes well, we can spend the night in the village. Begin the attack."

With the sound of a whistle, the tanks accompanying the assault started their engines first, moving forward in sync with the infantry's pace.

At the same time, the infantry of the 351st Regiment followed closely behind the tanks, step by step.

Type III tanks are not infantry tanks, and their cannon power is limited, but they are still adequate as mobile cover for infantry.

Moreover, the machine guns on the tanks could suppress enemy firepower points.

Major Schlieffen, watching all of this from his command tank, muttered softly: "It's your turn to make a move. Don't disappoint me, arrogant nameless Ant."

----

At this moment, Wang Zhong was speeding through the village.

For a fleeting moment, he wondered what would happen if he were unlucky enough to be hit by a shell falling from the sky while racing forward.

He realized he had never even considered such a possibility, his mind solely focused on defeating the enemy.

As Wang Zhong was about to dwell on this thought, the tank exited the eastern village entrance.

Under the setting sun, the plains were coated in a layer of gold, and the black-uniformed soldiers were as visible as black bugs in a rice jar.

Wang Zhong: "Stop!"

The moment he gave the order, the tank screeched to a halt.

Su Fang lurched forward, knocking the machine gun askew.

Wang Zhong, holding onto the hatch cover, shouted his command: "Load high-explosive shells, target the half-track on the highway directly ahead!"

"Loading complete!"

Wang Zhong: "Fire!"

The blast from the cannon's muzzle pushed aside the surrounding wheat.

A column of smoke rose in front of the target; the shot fell short.

The machine gun on the half-track immediately opened fire, tracer rounds forming a long whip that lashed toward the tank, sparking a series of flashes on the armor.

Su Fang wasn't fazed at all; she swung the machine gun around and fired back.

The two machine guns on the tank's front turrets also returned fire, though their target was the skirmish line on the plains.

Wang Zhong: "Hurry and reload!"

"Loading complete!"

Wang Zhong: "This time, aim true! Fire!"

As the gunner pressed the pedal, the cannon's muzzle erupted in flames once more.

An orange fireball erupted from the left side of the target's chassis, the explosion flipping the half-track onto the ground.

From an overhead perspective, Wang Zhong clearly saw an enemy soldier's body being flung high into the air.

Wang Zhong: "Good! Reload again, next one!"

After saying this, he switched back and patted Su Fang's shoulder: "Don't just focus on the vehicle, sweep those infantry!"

Su Fang adjusted her aim, swinging the whip of death toward the skirmish line.

At that moment, the driver shouted: "Smoke! The enemy's deploying smoke!"

Wang Zhong quickly looked ahead and indeed saw white smoke rising from the fields.

Switching to overhead perspective, he could see that the enemy infantry were throwing smoke shells.

It was clear the enemy was well-trained, using this tactic with great proficiency; often, a single smoke shell could cover most of their comrades and the half-tracks.

At this point, the loader shouted: "Loaded!"

The gunner yelled: "I can't see the target! What do we do?"

At this moment, the enemy was still over a thousand meters from the village entrance, right in the tank's range advantage zone.

But if the enemy got within a hundred meters, the situation would become unpredictable.

Not to mention anything else, if the enemy used bolt-action rifles to shoot at Wang Zhong, he wouldn't be able to withstand it and would have to duck into the tank. And Su Fang, standing on the radiator grille, had nowhere to hide, only able to rely on the turret as cover.

If the enemy closed to fifty meters, the threat of anti-tank grenades would increase dramatically.

Wang Zhong observed the enemy's movements from the overhead perspective and made a snap decision: "We can't stay in one place. Driver, turn right thirty degrees, get off the highway, and move!"

The order was immediately executed.

The tank rolled off the highway, speeding toward the southeast.

Wang Zhong: "Turret, turn left!"

"How much?" the gunner asked loudly.

Wang Zhong switched back to normal vision, reached out to grab Su Fang's hands on the machine gun, and forcibly turned it in a new direction.

"Pull the trigger!"

Su Fang immediately pulled the trigger, sending tracer rounds sweeping into the smoke.

Wang Zhong: "Turn toward the direction of the tracer rounds!"

"Got it!"

As the turret rotated, the tank finally bypassed the first wave of enemy smoke, gaining a clear view of the half-tracks!

They were right near the cannon's line of sight!

Wang Zhong: "Stop!"

The driver slammed on the brakes.

When the tank stopped, the cannon barrel swayed violently up and down.

The moment the swaying stopped, the gunner pressed the pedal and fired.

But this shot missed again, landing among the skirmishers behind the half-track, blowing an unlucky soldier into the air.

Wang Zhong suddenly realized that this gunner might not be very skilled at range estimation. He also recalled that in another timeline, early Soviet tanks had very rudimentary rangefinding equipment, unlike the Germans who had a mature and convenient system.

As a result, early Soviet tanks were at a significant disadvantage in long-range engagements.

Perhaps it was the same in this timeline.

But from the overhead perspective, Wang Zhong could see specific coordinates and roughly calculate the distance with mental math.

So he immediately switched to overhead perspective, estimated the distance, and ordered: "Distance 980 meters! Gunner! Nine hundred eighty meters!"

Gunner: "How do you know that?"

"Just an estimate, don't worry about it, aim for that distance!"

"Loading complete!"

"Fire!"

As the gunner pressed the pedal, the truck bed of the slowly moving half-track exploded, and the vehicle quickly came to a stop.

A machine gunner, engulfed in flames, jumped out of the vehicle, rolling on the grass.

At this moment, the enemy infantry released smoke again, perfectly blocking the tank's line of sight.

Wang Zhong: "Move, move! Keep circling around the enemy! There are still six half-tracks and over a hundred infantry! We'll wipe them out on the open plains!"

Vehicle 422 started moving again, its tracks kicking up clumps of dark mud.

This time, they didn't go far before another half-track came into view.

Wang Zhong: "Emergency stop! Distance 910 meters! Don't pick the wrong scale!"

The tank had barely stopped when the gunner pressed the pedal and fired.

This time, the target exploded into a fireball, sliding across the plains for a distance before stopping.

Su Fang fired in bursts, and Wang Zhong glanced at the scale on the machine gun, noticing that the girl had adjusted the distance according to his instructions, so the tracer rounds formed a precise whip that swept through the enemy ranks.

The well-trained enemy immediately dropped to the ground.

This reminded Wang Zhong of a famous Vietnam War meme: those who run are the enemy, those who lie prone are well-trained enemies.

But here, the enemy truly was well-trained; before Su Fang could finish a burst, the enemy released smoke again.

Wang Zhong: "Keep circling around the enemy!"

(End of chapter)