Arc of Fire

Chapter 644: Chapter 86: Never Fought Such a Wealthy Battle in This Life

Wang Zhong was observing the enemy’s condition, though their heavy firepower had been eliminated, there were still a large number of enemies armed with anti-tank weapons hiding around the station. It would be dangerous to rashly drive the tanks in from the side of the square.

However, it would be too wasteful of ammunition to pick off the ambushed enemies one by one with high-explosive shells through the walls—the enemy was too spread out, and one shell could at most kill two of them.

It seemed there were only two solutions, one was to let the infantry charge in for close combat, and the other was to move to the direction of the railway. The terrain was open in that direction with few obstacles, which would allow full play to the tanks’ firepower.

Suddenly, a shout came over the headset.

"General, I’m here to help you!”

Wang Zhong hurriedly asked, “Report your affiliation!”

"We are drivers of prototype tanks, and since you insisted on using your old crew, we brought the remaining two tanks to help you attack the train station!”

Wang Zhong immediately searched the bird’s-eye view and then saw two prototype vehicles approaching along the railway from the northeast of the train station, followed by an armored train and a large number of infantry.

The armored train had a repair carriage at the end of the armed carriage; it had a crane and everything else needed, a veritable mobile tank repair factory.

Wang Zhong: “Very good, immediately launch an attack from the flank and coordinate with us for a pincer movement!”

The Prosen loved pincer movements, so let them have a taste of their own medicine.

—

When Lieutenant Colonel Hansen saw the two identical steel monsters appearing in the direction of the railway tracks, he almost had a heart attack.

If the 88 guns were still there, they might have been able to resist, but now all of the battalion’s long-range anti-tank firepower was gone. How were they supposed to fight?

Moreover, there were few buildings in the direction of the railway, it was all open ground, and those two iron turtles once settled there would turn any number of men rushing at them into suicide.

But it wasn’t just two new-model iron turtles that came but also an armored train. The train’s quad 25mm anti-aircraft gun started wildly “sweeping” the station buildings with a barrage of fire as soon as it appeared, showering each window in turn.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen’s men didn’t dare show their heads.

The iron turtles on the railway fired their guns, and the 100mm shells flew over most of the platform, hitting the station’s enclosed sky bridge and blowing the hidden machine-gun team to kingdom come.

The iron turtles on the side of the station square were not to be outdone, one shell blasted into the station’s ticket hall, and the explosion’s shock wave shattered all the building’s ground-floor windows.

While contemplating a counterstrategy under these circumstances, a battalion commander rushed into the command post and asked loudly, “What should we do, Colonel? The enemy infantry is coming. They’re all Imperial Guards with cloaks! Most of us just have rifles, but they all have submachine guns!”

The lieutenant colonel stared at the battalion commander for a few seconds, then retorted, “Then why don’t you take their submachine guns and use those?”

At this moment, the distinctive sound of the Papasha started, clearly discernible from Antean guns and the 25mm anti-aircraft artillery.

The battalion commander exclaimed, “The enemy is upon us, Lieutenant Colonel!”

The lieutenant colonel grabbed the battalion commander by the collar: “Apart from fighting bravely, there’s no other way! If you have a problem with me, I’ll tell you that I am going to personally fight the enemy!”

After saying this, he let go of the battalion commander’s collar, picked up a submachine gun, and led the way outside.

The two remaining staff members in the command post were shocked, “Colonel, where are you going?”

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen stopped outside the door, looked back at them and said, “You shouldn’t just stand here either. Now is the time to fight like brave men. Take your rifles; the Fatherland needs us to do our duty.”

—

After the infantry rushed into the station, Wang Zhong directed the tanks to the side of the railway and met up with the other two prototype vehicles.

Three iron turtles lying on the railway indeed looked intimidating, especially when all the enemy’s anti-tank firepower couldn’t touch these brothers.

Soon, the battle for the entire station neared its end. A few enemies stubbornly resisting in houses were one by one dealt with by Wang Zhong with 100mm high-explosive shells, taking them and the buildings they held up to heaven.

When the gunfire ceased, one little warrior, who had been keeping Wang Zhong informed, brought a Prosen lieutenant colonel over to him, beaming with pride.

"General!” the little warrior shouted, “I’ve captured a big officer! The company commander asked me to personally escort him to you!”

Wang Zhong was also happy: “Great! I’ll be sure to remember to award you a medal during the battle summary!”

"Is it the Venus?” the little warrior’s eyes lit up.

Wang Zhong: “The Venus is a bit difficult, but granting a slightly lesser medal is still possible! Plus, I’ll promote you to Private First Class!”

The little warrior pouted, “That won’t be necessary, the company commander said, if I live until next month, I’ll be promoted to Sergeant.”

Wang Zhong was originally very pleased, but upon hearing this, his joy faded.

He looked at the little warrior and said, “Go back and tell your company commander that the previous heavy casualties were unavoidable because we had no other option but to fill the gaps with lives. I promise you, going forward, the casualty rate will decrease more and more. I will do my utmost to ensure everyone can live to see the day of victory.”

"Yes! I will pass the message to the company commander in a moment, but what about this officer?”

Wang Zhong: “See the armored train behind? There’s a Judge with a blue cap on board. Take this prisoner over to him and hand him off to the Judge.”

The little warrior smiled as well, “Good! Let the Judge teach them a proper lesson!”

At the Prosens Tenth Group Army Headquarters.

Admiral Boke furrowed his brow, “The 16th Division’s defense line has been breached?”

"Yes, the enemy has captured the train station. The armored train from Novorossk has already entered the station, and some have seen trains loaded with heavy artillery passing by their houses,” reported the Chief of Staff, his face stern.

Admiral Boke was even more puzzled, “Heavy artillery? Why would heavy artillery enter the city? Shouldn’t it be deployed in artillery positions outside the city?”

The Chief of Staff shook his head, “I don’t know, they probably felt that setting up artillery outside the city was too vulnerable to our forces on the West Bank attacking across the river, so they simply drove it into the city.”

Admiral Boke thought for a few seconds but still couldn’t figure it out, “Strange, very strange.”

Lieutenant Schneider of the Prosens 541st combat engineer battalion was commanding his troops from a house on Saint Andrew Street. They had already repelled five Antean attacks, and the bodies of Anteans lay all around the house.

During this rare break, Lieutenant Schneider was going from one soldier to the next, soothing their nerves and boosting morale.

Suddenly, Sergeant Hans, who had been observing the enemy situation, shouted, “Lieutenant! Lieutenant, come quick! Look at that!”

The Lieutenant hurried over to Hans’ observation post and leaned out of the window to look.

He saw the Anteans moving a piece of heavy artillery onto the street, leveling the barrel, as if they intended to fire it directly.

Sergeant, “What are they planning to do?”

Lieutenant, “I don’t know, maybe they plan to fire shells directly at us? It’s risky to push precious heavy artillery to such a place. If a cadet suggested this in a military academy, the instructor would have singled out his plan for ridicule by the whole class.”

As they spoke, the Anteans began to aim, the dark muzzle pointing directly at the building where the Lieutenant and his troops were stationed.

A chill ran down the Lieutenant’s neck; he moved away from the window, shouting simultaneously, “Get down!”

But his warning came too late; the explosion shook the earth, engulfing Lieutenant Schneider and his soldiers.

The wooden floor underneath him collapsed instantly, and he fell from the third floor to the first, followed by the roof and walls falling on top of him.

In less than a second, Lieutenant Schneider and his troops were buried under the rubble.

Admiral Boke watched a staff officer whisper something to the Chief of Staff’s ear, then asked, “What’s happened?”

"The enemy has pushed heavy artillery to within a kilometer of our positions, and direct fire from High-Explosive Shells has destroyed many of our strongpoints,” reported the Chief of Staff with an ashen face.

Admiral Boke, “Now we know why the enemy brought the heavy artillery into the city.”

Just then, another flash appeared at the window, and the Admiral pointed at the window with his thumb, “And that flash is the enemy’s damnable new weapon sending our support points to heaven. The Anteans are not adept at siege warfare, so they’ve chosen to send us and our fortifications to heaven together.”

The Chief of Staff looked up at the mushroom cloud, which had already diminished in brightness, “Indeed. They’ve found a brutally simple solution, like the flood warfare faced by the Central Army Group.”

Admiral Boke kept shaking his head, “Such a crude nation, it’s hard to imagine that they produced a great artist like Tchaikovsky.”

The Chief of Staff didn’t pick up on the topic, maybe he really didn’t understand art.

Another staff officer entered and whispered in the Chief of Staff’s ear.

"But speak freely!” said Admiral Boke loudly.

The staff officer paused and looked at the Chief of Staff.

"Just say it,” the Chief of Staff said softly.

Staff Officer, “Ante Troops appeared near the railway bridge. They’re advancing along the railway, leading their new tanks adorned with the Red Flag, tactical code… 422.”

Admiral Boke, “So, if I don’t retreat now, I’ll be ‘beaten by Rocossov when he shuts the gate,’ right? Is it he who’s closing the gate personally?”

The staff officer didn’t dare to answer, just kept looking at the Chief of Staff.

The Chief of Staff, “The ice can now support movement, so I personally don’t think there’s a need to be so tense, but given the situation, without a good way to deal with the enemy’s two new weapons, it might be better to retreat across the river for now.

"On the other side, we have the heavy Anti-Air Artillery Corps, equipped with 105mm anti-air guns, which may be able to penetrate the Anteans’ new weapons.”

Admiral Boke stared at the Chief of Staff, “Are you asking me to desert in the face of the enemy?”

The Chief of Staff persuaded, “It’s not deserting, the other side is still Yarvik. We can report to the High Command that we’re contesting control of the city with the enemy.”

Admiral Boke moved to the window, looking out into the night that had fallen, looking at the fires that appeared even more evident against the night sky, and was silent for a long time.

The Chief of Staff waited a while, then finally couldn’t resist saying, “General

Admiral Boke, “I understand. Order the troop to resist in an orderly fashion, progressively withdraw across the river, and confront the enemy from across the river. In the telegram to High Command, say we’re contesting the city’s control with Rocossov, with Rocossov’s one million strong forces immobilized on the East Bank of the Suhayaweili River!”

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