Arc of Fire

Chapter 643: Chapter 85: Use the Enemy’s Blood to Wash Our Tracks

After the Prosen mortar attack ended, Wang Zhong once again opened the hatch and climbed out.

There were no new corpses in the street, especially no civilians, which eased Wang Zhong’s mind.

"Move out, advance toward the train station!”

The tank began to move again, but this time at a very slow pace, possibly because the driver was worried about speeding and running over civilians who might suddenly rush out to present flowers to the General.

As a prototype heavy tank, reaching speeds of 50 kilometers per hour on the road was indeed a bit terrifying.

Of course, by Prosen standards, a tank weighing more than 40 tons wasn’t considered heavy.

It was unclear how the Prosens managed to get their Tiger Kings to weigh over sixty, nearly seventy tons.

The infantry company that had just coordinated with Wang Zhong immediately followed his tank, forming two columns on each side of the street.

Wang Zhong’s prominence made all the Prosens guerrillas and stragglers hiding around him have nowhere to hide.

When they reached Victory Street (commemorating victory in the civil war), Wang Zhongjun directly ordered a halt, then swept the basement on the left side of the street with the anti-aircraft machine gun on the turret, and said through the internal comms to Gunner Alexandria, “Quick, high-explosive shells, aim at the window I’m shooting at.”

At that time, the Prosens hiding in the basement thought it was intimidatory fire and stayed put.

So the tank gun swung around, and a 100mm caliber high-explosive shell was fired directly through the window.

All the highlights disappeared in an instant, but Wang Zhong, drawing on his rich experience of watching movies and animations, mentally pictured the slow-motion scene of the shell flying into the basement.

The next second, the smoke from the explosion billowed out of the vent, blowing the fragments of the window frame clear to the other side of the street, embedding them in the snow.

Since no “parts” of any Prosen soldiers were blown out, Alexandria muttered, “Was it really necessary to fire a shell?”

"It’s always good to be cautious.”

At this time, the company commander sent a brave infantryman dashing forward, who crouched in front of the shattered vent to peer down.

Then the infantryman shouted, “There’s a machine gun crew hiding here, a whole machine gun crew!”

Wang Zhong, “The infantry say there’s a machine gun crew inside, you see, being careful does no harm, I knew this spot, with the Prosens’ rigidity, would definitely have a machine gun crew.”

He was just making it up on the spot; after all, no one would doubt his word at this moment.

Tank 422 continued to advance. The nimble young warrior again hopped onto the tank, “General, the way forward leads to the junction—it’s the train station square! There might be anti-tank guns waiting for you!”

Wang Zhong, “Kid, I stayed in this city half a year ago, I know.”

Actually, it was because he had an overhead cheating perspective; did the kid even know what a real-time strategy god was?

The young warrior nodded and swiftly got off the tank, running towards his company commander.

In fact, Wang Zhong had already spotted the anti-tank guns on the square, a total of two PAK40s and two PAK38s. PAK40s were hidden behind the display windows of shops, ready to shatter the glass and open fire. The PAK38s had been moved to the rooftops by the Prosens, perhaps to negate the sloped armor common in Ante tanks by using height.

Near the square, the Anti-Air Group also had an 88mm gun stationed on the anti-aircraft defense position within the train station, which could only be reached through the vehicle entrance.

The Prosens had already aimed the barrel at this vehicle entrance, just waiting to hit the side of the 422 vehicle.

Furthermore, two enemy groups were ambushed at the vehicle entrance, the enemies on the first floor armed with Prosens’ newly developed “anti-tank cone” (actually a magnetically adhered anti-tank grenade), and the enemies on the second floor armed with the characteristic Ante anti-tank weapon: Incendiary Bottles. ṜάΝȎ฿Ɛș

Seeing the enemy also considered Incendiary Bottles as a primary anti-tank weapon, Wang Zhong felt a sense of how times had changed.

Knowing the enemy’s setup, Wang Zhong wasn’t the least bit worried. He carefully planned a route that ensured 422’s best-defended side would be facing the enemy.

As for the enemies planning an ambush, Wang Zhong had a surprise in store for them.

Wang Zhong, “Advance! Ahead is the train station square, and there might be enemy anti-tank guns waiting for us!”

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen of the Prosen Infantry battalion tasked with defending the station got the news early from soldiers retreating into the station’s defense position—a new Ante tank bearing a red flag and tactical number 422 was approaching the train station square.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen immediately convened a short meeting with chief officers of the battalion, and he issued combat missions: to destroy the new Ante tank and to kill or capture Rocossov alive.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen considered this goal reasonable. From the situation earlier that morning, the Ante Army’s heavy artillery had not yet caught up, and apart from the type of assault guns that were creating huge fireballs, the Ante Army had almost no means of dealing with solid concrete defenses.

Yarvik’s train station was constructed extremely sturdily, and even those Assault Guns creating rising fireballs might not be able to completely conquer the train station.

Even if those fearsome Assault Guns collapsed the building, the rubble would become good cover, and Lieutenant Colonel Hansen’s troops would continue to fight from within the ruins.

At this time, the engine sound of the legendary “new model heavy tank” was already clearly audible, along with the clack of the gearbox and the rumbling of the tracks.

Finally, a tank burst onto the train station’s square from the westernmost avenue.

Even to those seeing this vehicle for the first time, it wouldn’t be confused with any existing Ante models; its overall slanted armor, like that of a turtle, and its rounded turret rear spoke to its extraordinary defensive capabilities.

The PAK40 team hidden in the clothing store fired first, but the shell hit the tank’s front armor, sparked off in a different direction, and flew into the second-floor window of a watch store, where it exploded.

Shattered glass from the broken window rained down on the tank.

The tank halted; its main gun was already pointed in the direction of the clothing store, only needing slight adjustments to complete its aim.

The next moment, the smoke from the firing concealed most of the tank.

The shell shot through the display window of the clothing store, and after the first blast, a larger explosion occurred (possibly other shells detonating), throwing the second and third floors of the clothing store into the air. They disintegrated before hitting the ground, breaking into countless pieces.

The husk of the ruined clothing store remained, but the fire from the shell explosion ignited the rubble with frightening speed.

The terrifying war machine moved once again, its wide tracks crushing the corpses of Prosen soldiers that lay in its way.

Their helmets were also flattened in an instant, squashed flat like chewing gum on the ground.

Another PAK40 team lay concealed in a furniture store; its Gunner was very patient, holding fire without command, clearly waiting for an opportunity to hit the new tank directly from behind.

However, the turret of tank No. 422 turned around.

When Hansen saw the turret begin to turn, a cold sweat broke out; a terrible thought crossed his mind: Could it be that Rocossov knew about our ambush all along, knew the location of every PAK40?

As this thought was forming, No. 422 fired, hitting the furniture store where the PAK40 was hidden.

This time, the shell didn’t trigger a chain explosion, but it was enough to give Hansen a scare.

Was all my preparation today in vain?

At that moment, the PAK38 hidden in the attic revealed itself and fired at the new tank adorned with the Red Flag.

Yet the PAK38, now outdated, might be adequate against lightly armored targets and old tanks like the T28 with its thin armor and large frame.

But against tank No. 422, a heavy tank, the PAK38 was simply not sufficient; in reality, most shells fired by the PAK38 shattered upon contact with the armor, without any ability to ricochet towards other buildings.

Tank No. 422 faced the fire from the PAK38 and, one by one, knocked out the anti-tank guns hidden in the attic.

Having calmly dealt with the anti-tank forces around the square, Wang Zhong ordered his Gunner to individually target the enemy’s machine gun positions.

Soon there were no more Prosen heavy weapons on the square capable of projecting firepower.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen ordered, “Mortar fire! Make it look like we’re out of options!”

Wang Zhong heard the sound of mortar shells exploding upon impact.

He quickly shifted his view, indeed seeing shells continually falling on the square.

The Gunner shouted, “They’re resorting to mortars against heavy armor now; they must be out of options!”

Wang Zhong, “No, they still have more, don’t let your guard down. Follow my command now, turret left 25 degrees! Yes, that direction. Alexandria, use a High-Explosive Shell to bring down that wall!”

After a simple aiming procedure, the Gunner fired.

The shell hit the wall, blowing away a large section and revealing an 88mm gun hidden behind it.

The Gunner Alexandria exclaimed, “From the direction of the 88, they planned to hit us hard the moment we entered from the cargo truck entrance, trying to obliterate us completely!”

Wang Zhong, “Stop with the sentiment! Use the machine gun to wipe out the crew operating the 88! If you dawdle, this gap will close!”

Alexandria responded immediately, with Tracer Bullets from the coaxial machine gun dispatching all the Prosen troops operating the heavy gun.

Having eliminated the most threatening 88mm gun, Wang Zhong once again observed the enemy movements through an overhead view.

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