Arc of Fire

Chapter 49

On the Prossenian forces' side.

Major Schlieffen stood up, cursing under his breath: "Didn't the air force say that the Ant Air Force was finished? So, were we just attacked by our own air force?"

Major Franz also got up, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the coffee off his uniform while chiming in: "You can't trust a single word from the air force. Rumor has it that Grand Duke Mayer diverted their budget to renovate his castle."

It seemed that the old officers from Junker noble backgrounds and the emerging younger generation had reached a consensus: the air force couldn't be trusted.

Major Schlieffen turned his head and shouted: "Adjutant, report the losses."

The adjutant came over and saluted: "A total of 21 dead, 49 wounded, and seven trucks destroyed."

Schlieffen cursed: "Damn air force, they've cost me two platoons! Two platoons!"

Major Franz: "Shouldn't this grudge be directed at the enemy? Luckily, last night we received support from an entire battalion of combat engineers. Their performance was remarkable yesterday. If we deploy more engineers today, we should be able to take the position."

"I hope so." Major Schlieffen glanced at the sky, as if worried that the plane from the earlier attack might circle back for a surprise, "But with an opening like this morning, I have a bad feeling. Did last night's observation post notice anything unusual in the village?"

The adjutant immediately reported: "Last night's sentry heard engine sounds coming from the village."

Schlieffen frowned: "Our opponent is very cunning. This engine noise might be a diversion tactic. Didn't the crew who exchanged fire with Vehicle 422 yesterday say they hit it?"

At this moment, the Chief of Staff came over and answered in place of the adjutant: "Yes, the gunner believes they landed at least one hit. But the enemy was still able to return fire, so it's likely no critical damage was done."

Schlieffen pursed his lips, stood up, and observed the distant village for a moment before speaking in a low voice: "Last night's engine noise might be a trick. Their tank could have already lost combat capability, and they're deliberately using the engine sound to intimidate us, making us hesitant to send tanks into the village for a direct confrontation."

At this time, Hoffman, the tank commander of Vehicle 170, arrived at the hilltop, clicked his heels together, and shouted loudly: "Reporting!"

Schlieffen: "At ease, speak."

Hoffman: "I request to join today's assault. I want to take on that enemy Vehicle 422 in a one-on-one duel!"

"Idiot! War isn't a knight's tournament!" Schlieffen scolded, "We're enemies, it's a fight to the death! If you don't realize that, you'll be at a disadvantage!"

"I guarantee I'll destroy Vehicle 422. The Ant people's tanks are too outdated; they only succeeded by chance through trickery. I won't let them get away with it again!" Hoffman said confidently.

Schlieffen stared at him for a few seconds, then reached out and patted his shoulder: "Very well, then this morning, your company will accompany the infantry in the assault."

He turned to Major Franz: "Hoffman is our best tank crew member, and his company is our most elite unit. I've been keeping them as reserve forces until now."

Franz extended his hand: "I'm glad to work with you, Captain Hoffman."

Hoffman quickly shook Franz's hand.

Although the young emperor now deliberately promoted younger individuals who embraced new technology to counter the old officer corps, the rank-and-file soldiers didn't care about such politics and still deeply respected these traditional Junker noble officers.

Especially Franz, whose meticulous and by-the-book demeanor perfectly matched everyone's image of the old officer corps.

Schlieffen: "Prepare for the assault. We've already been delayed for a full twenty-four hours. If even the heavy artillery regiment stuck in traffic behind us catches up, then all our earlier haste will have been for nothing!"

Franz, however, said: "The heavy artillery regiment should be arriving soon. We've been stuck here for 24 hours already. Why not wait for the heavy artillery to reduce casualties?"

"No!" Schlieffen raised his voice, "In Carolingian, we relied on tanks and Stukas, constantly attacking and attacking, and that's how we finally drove the United Kingdom's forces into the sea! Heavy artillery isn't necessary. This is modern warfare!"

Franz closed his mouth.

----

Wang Zhong watched the enemy complete their formation and shouted loudly to the people below the water tower: "Take cover! The enemy is about to start their artillery preparation!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the first salvo of artillery fire came down.

After confirming once again that there was nothing unusual in the enemy's deployment, Wang Zhong strolled down from the water tower as if taking a leisurely walk amidst the booming artillery sounds and entered the manager's office in the distillery.

The distillery was the only concrete building in the entire town, and the 75mm infantry guns' high-explosive shells couldn't do anything to it.

Of course, shells could still kill people inside if they came through the windows, but the enemy's firepower was indirect, and the angle of impact made it unlikely for shells to enter through the windows.

Wang Zhong looked at the map inside the room, as if the explosions outside didn't exist.

He tried to find the Kingdom of Kosalia on the map, but only located the name of the region they were currently in: the Duchy of Wostrom.

The terrain of the duchy was completely flat, and he reckoned that the small hill west of Upper Peniye was likely one of the highest points in the entire duchy.

Additionally, Wang Zhong noticed that to the east of Upper Peniye, they would soon encounter a large river called the Tiber River, with Bogdanovka situated on its bank.

While Wang Zhong studied the map, the artillery fire outside stopped.

He glanced at his watch: "Strange, today's bombardment is so much shorter than yesterday's?"

----

"Why did it stop?" Schlieffen asked, frowning.

The artillery company leader looked bitter: "The enemy's air raid just now destroyed our ammo truck. We don't have enough shells."

Schlieffen's mouth twitched.

Franz seized the opportunity to suggest: "Then let's wait for the heavy artillery..."

"Have the mortars fire smoke shells and begin the assault!" Schlieffen interrupted Franz, "Also, contact the air force and make them take proper responsibility!"

"Yes, sir!"

----

Wang Zhong climbed back up the water tower and, as expected, saw the enemy's mortars deploying smoke.

The landing points of the smoke shells were exactly the same as yesterday's, down to the inch!

Wang Zhong didn't know whether to call the enemy rigid or commend them for being well-trained and precise.

Once the smoke was fully deployed, the enemy's assault troops began to move out.

When the sound of engines reached this side, Vehicle 67, a heavy tank hidden at the village entrance, also started up, moved out of its cover, and charged along the highway toward the ambush position.

No, calling it an ambush wasn't accurate; it was more like a position for a head-on clash with the enemy.

In the enemy's assault formation, Wang Zhong spotted a familiar sight-a Type III tank with the tactical number 170. This was the same tank that, from a distance of two kilometers, had fired a precise shot that destroyed the church bell tower, causing the large bell to fall.

That cracked bell was still lying in the street now.

The enemy had sent their elite forces forward.

Taking a closer look at Vehicle 170, Wang Zhong noticed two golden rings and three silver rings on its barrel.

Wang Zhong didn't know how the Prossenians of this era defined such markings, but he knew that the German individual tank destruction badge was five silvers for one gold.

If these kill rings followed the same principle, then this Vehicle 170 had already destroyed thirteen tanks.

An elite unit, indeed. If he could take it out here, how many tank crew members' lives could be saved!

Thinking of this, Wang Zhong felt a surge of excitement.

At that moment, at the edges of his field of view, he saw a heavy truck drive into sight and then stop.

The hairs on the back of his neck immediately stood up. Heavy trucks like this were generally used to tow heavy artillery, and typically, heavy howitzers with calibers of 100mm or more wouldn't be positioned so close to the front line.

After all, those cannons had ranges of over ten kilometers, so there was no need to bring them to the front.

Only direct-fire cannons would be brought to the front line.

A direct-fire cannon towed by a heavy truck-Wang Zhong could only think of one type.

No, he had to confirm what this truck was towing.

Wang Zhong rushed down the water tower like a gust of wind, untied Bucephalus from the wooden post at the entrance, mounted the horse, and galloped off.

The guard at the distillery gate saw him and shouted: "Count, where are you going?"

"I'll be right back. Hold your position!"

As he spoke, Bucephalus raced through the scarred streets of Upper Peniye.

Soldiers hiding behind cover poked their heads out to watch Wang Zhong.

"Are we charging?" someone asked.

In this situation, Wang Zhong knew that if he actually ordered a charge, these men might genuinely leave their shelters and follow him on horseback into the open plains.

So he shouted: "Stay where you are! Remember your orders! Don't move! Stay in position!"

While shouting, he rode out of the village and, at the village entrance, pulled the reins, bringing Bucephalus to an emergency stop.

At the village entrance, he clearly saw that the heavy truck was actually towing a pontoon bridge.

Then he remembered that he had indeed seen several rivers on the map earlier. If the enemy wanted to advance quickly, they had to consider the possibility of the Ant Army destroying bridges.

Wang Zhong felt slightly relieved, but then thought, since he'd already come to the village entrance, why not go another five hundred meters to get a clearer view of the enemy's setup?

After all, with the smoke as cover, even if the enemy tried to pursue him as the commander, they'd be blocked by Vehicle 67, the heavy tank.

So Wang Zhong urged his horse forward, observing the enemy's movements through his Overhead Perspective while advancing.

Besides the bridge-building team, Wang Zhong also spotted numerous heavy engineering vehicles. It seemed the enemy would have more combat engineers joining the assault.

At that moment, Wang Zhong suddenly heard someone shout at him: "Count, what are you doing?"

He switched to normal vision and saw that Bucephalus had already passed Vehicle 67, the heavy tank. Seryozha, in the turret, was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Count!"

Wang Zhong: "I'm just scouting the enemy. Don't worry."

After saying that, Wang Zhong continued forward.

Switching perspectives, he even saw armored repair vehicles. They were fixing a damaged Type III tank.

Good grief, was he facing an entire enemy combined arms battalion? Did the concept of combined arms battalions exist this early in this era?

Using his external view, Wang Zhong could see everything about the enemy, down to the color of their underwear.

He was reveling in the thrill of this cheat-like ability when he suddenly wondered if he had gone too far forward.

Snapping back to reality, he switched to his own perspective and realized there was no smoke ahead-Bucephalus had run too fast!

He immediately pulled the reins tight.

Bucephalus, running with too much momentum, almost didn't stop, lifting its front hooves off the ground.

Wang Zhong barely managed to stop his overexcited mount, but in his panic, his actions caused Bucephalus to stand sideways in the middle of the road.

Then, he found himself face-to-face with the enemy's army.

Awkward.

This time, he was truly sweating bullets.

----

But from Major Schlieffen's perspective, the situation was entirely different.

The sharp-eared Major had long since heard the roar of engines from the Ant people's side, so he raised his binoculars, wanting to see what kind of fool dared to challenge the invincible Prossenian armored corps on the open plains with outdated tanks.

However, the tank commanders of Ant seemed to lack courage, unwilling to open their hatches and observe the situation.

Just as Major Schlieffen was thinking this, a white horse emerged from the smoke.

On the white horse sat a gallant and heroic General.

The General pulled the reins, and the white horse reared up high on its front hooves.

Major Schlieffen, not being a Junker noble, knew little of horsemanship, but Major Franz, an old Junker noble beside him, exclaimed in admiration: "Excellent horsemanship. In equestrian competitions, this move is a challenge to the opponent. He is expressing contempt for us."

The Major pursed his lips.

At that moment, the General maneuvered his white horse to stand sideways, blocking the middle of the road.

Franz: "This gesture means..."

"I know." Schlieffen squeezed the words through his teeth, "He's saying we can't take another step forward."

Franz: "Indeed. By the way, this horse is exceptional. In the capital Germania, it could fetch at least three hundred thousand marks."

Schlieffen suddenly grabbed the radio handset: "Hoffman! Take out this General! Don't harm the horse!"

"What?" Franz was shocked, "That's ungentlemanly!"

Schlieffen sneered coldly: "There's no need for gentlemanly conduct toward inferior races."

At this moment, from the hillside, one could see Vehicle 170 come to a stop.

It was still a thousand meters away from the General on the white horse, but Schlieffen had no doubt that Hoffman would hit the target with precision.

Vehicle 170 began to rotate its turret!

In the blink of an eye, behind the General on the white horse, a steel beast charged out of the white smoke.

That beast was larger than any tank in the Prossen Empire, its tracks crushing the helmets abandoned by defeated soldiers on the road, the powerful roar of its engine echoing across the entire grassland.

(End of Chapter)