Arc of Fire

On the morning of July 8th at eight o’clock, Wang Zhong commanded Vehicle 422 to enter the preset positions.

The other vehicles were already in the shelters, covered tightly with camouflage nets draped with leaves.

The surviving crews of the two BT-7s from yesterday were split up and assigned to two understrength T34 crews.

As for the recovered Mark III tank, it was operated by gunners from the 31st Guards Regiment and used as a fixed artillery emplacement.

Among the military academy students who had joined the 31st Guards, there was a platoon of artillery school trainees; these young people had a strong capacity for learning and quickly mastered the manual turret operation of the Mark III.

After all, the Mark III had decent armor, which should afford these trainees a higher survival rate than if they were directly manning the 45mm anti-tank guns.

On the Eastern Front in World War II, both sides suffered high casualty rates among their anti-tank gun crews. Eventually, Sturmtigers were used as the main anti-tank firepower for infantry divisions to reduce reliance on anti-tank guns.

Wang Zhong sat in the turret, pondering aimlessly, “In the future, when I can influence arms production, I must produce something like the Sturmtiger to provide infantry divisions with anti-tank firepower.”

The Soviet self-propelled guns were indeed used as artillery pieces, with the SU-76 and SU-85 capable of firing directly by lowering their barrels, although they were more often employed for indirect fire.

This was reflected in post-war films, where “Tank Destroyers” and howitzer batteries would be placed together, angling their barrels high for indirect fire.

Originally, the early models of the Sturmtiger equipped with short-barrel howitzers were designed to fire shells, but later, due to increasing anti-tank pressure, they all switched to long-barrel guns to fight tanks.

For a considerable time during World War II, the German forces on the Eastern Front held the advantage in armor engagements, with some units reporting only a loss of 10 tanks after three days of combat, while claiming to have destroyed over 200 Soviet tanks.

However, Germany only had so many armored divisions, which meant that the infantry had to grapple with the numerous T34s.

And the Sturmtiger greatly reduced the losses of the infantry divisions.

This was a good thing to have! I should definitely get some! I need to figure out how to influence the production of equipment, I wonder if the Crown Prince can play a role in this area.

As Wang Zhong mused about the future, Vasily’s voice came over the radio: “Hound Fox calling White Horse, Hound Fox calling White Horse!”

Hound Fox was the call sign Wang Zhong had designated for the 31st Regiment headquarters—the forward command—this morning.

Wang Zhong: “This is White Horse, go ahead.”

“We just intercepted the enemy’s communications. Although we don’t know what units those call signs represent, it’s certain they stepped on landmines and had to stop to clear them.”

After realizing that their false intelligence had not fooled the Ante Army, the enemy had changed their call signs and code words, but monitoring was still meaningful, like right now.

Wang Zhong: “Are you sure they hit mines?”

“Positive. The enemy’s front line command also reported that the attack might be delayed by two to three hours.”

Wang Zhong slapped his thigh: “Good!”

Just a few mines had delayed them three hours, without any casualties! Mines really are a great thing! No wonder modern warfare involves both sides laying mines extensively.

Wang Zhong could foresee that he’d have to fight many defensive battles in the future, and mines would certainly be a great help in his military career.

After Vasily’s communication ended, Wang Zhong had just slightly removed his headset when he heard a new call: “Nun calling White Horse, Nun calling White Horse!”

Wang Zhong: “What’s ‘Nun’? Who the hell is messing around with the radio?”

“I am Sufang! Aren’t I a ‘Nun’? I received a hymn from the St. Ye Katerina Fortress choir, ordering us to attack with all our might, seeking to recover all lost territories within one or two weeks.”

Wang Zhong: “Shut your mouth! That’s plain language, the enemy can hear it too! I’m heading to the division headquarters now! You wait!”

After saying that, he slapped the top of the tank hard: “To the division headquarters.”

Beliyakov: “We just arrived at the ambush position?”

Wang Zhong: “The enemy won’t arrive for at least another two hours. We go to the division headquarters first to see what kind of frenzy the guys in the rear are in.”

————

As soon as Wang Zhong entered the command post, he saw Sufang.

The girl couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of him: “You’re here!”

Wang Zhong: “Next time, don’t talk about hymn content over the radio!”

At that moment, Pavlov looked up: “Actually, it’s no big deal. Most of the hymn content isn’t classified, and anyone with the ability to listen can hear it, so enemy spies definitely know as well.”

Oh? Is that so?

Wang Zhong: “Then does the hymn serve any purpose?”

Sufang pouted: “The envoys at Peniye called in Vehicle 67, thanks to me!”

The girl’s voice suddenly dropped.

“Although we had to sacrifice them there… at least I managed to keep us alive.”

It seemed that way.

Wang Zhong: “Alright, you’re useful after all. So what did the big shots in the capital say?”

“They ordered a full assault, to recapture lost territories within two to three weeks,” Sufang answered seriously.

Wang Zhong gave an honest appraisal, “The Emperor’s head has gone bad?”

The blue-hatted courier who had just brought the telegram was shocked and, with a guarded look, searched for the speaker. Upon discovering it was Wang Zhong, he decisively pretended not to hear.

A war hero, the Crown Prince’s buddy, the White Horse General commenting on the Emperor—what’s wrong with that? Maybe it’s a family matter. What’s wrong if a bastard complains about his dad? What if meddling causes trouble?

Acting as if he hadn’t heard anything, the blue-hatted courier approached Wang Zhong, clicked his heels together with a snap and saluted, “Urgent telegram from the Front Army headquarters!”

Wang Zhong took the telegram and saw it read “Your unit should initiate an attack as soon as possible—”

He stopped reading, crumpled the telegram, and threw it into the trash can. The coordination of this body was excellent; he scored a direct hit. The body of this wastrel was well trained; how come it failed on the battlefield?

Pavlov hurried over to pick up the telegram. Opening it, he said, “It really is ordering us to attack. Shouldn’t we have reported fewer enemy tanks destroyed yesterday?”

Wang Zhong asked, “How many did you report?”

“Two hundred,” Pavlov said with an innocent expression. “We only overreported by forty-four percent!”

“Only?” Wang Zhong frowned in disapproval. What kind of small-time thinking was this? Were they making a “grand base camp war report” here?

Then he noticed the problem, “Wait a minute! If the actual number destroyed was just over a hundred, and during the enemy’s attack, there were 80 in the city and 100 outside, and we drove all the enemies away, what about the rest?”

“They fled from the north of the city,” explained Pavlov. “By the way, they also found out that there were no defenses to the north, so that’s why I had the church send the newly formed Guardian Army there. We also need to be careful about the north side in today’s battle.”

Wang Zhong sneered and returned to Pavlov’s exaggerated count, “200 tanks! You’ve got some nerve! Even if we destroyed every tank the enemy had in their assault, there’s still a shortfall of 20! Where am I supposed to find those 20 tanks?”

“You could say that when you raided the enemy’s Armored Division headquarters, you destroyed twenty tanks,” suggested Pavlov.

Wang Zhong clicked his tongue. Suddenly, he “oh”-ed in realization, “I understand why they want us to counterattack now. You guys kept adding layers to the story, so the higher-ups think the enemy is worn out, right?”

Pavlov, with a dark face: “What do you think turned us into this?”

This Pavlov always spoke with multiple meanings!

The waiting Judge looked up at the ceiling where spiders were weaving their webs.

Wang Zhong said, “Forget it, Judge! There’s been no reply yet, has there?”

“No,” the Judge answered.

“Then don’t respond. Smash the radio and say it was destroyed by artillery fire,” Wang Zhong declared with a wave of his hand. “It’s settled then.”

Pavlov interjected, “Wait a minute!”

He told the Judge, “Call the Cryptographer and the Codebook Custodian.”

The Judge immediately left while Pavlov hunched over the desk and quickly scribbled a note, then tore it off the notepad.

The Judge returned with the Cryptographer and Codebook Custodian.

Pavlov ordered, “Take this note, go to the hospital, and fill out admission cards for three wounded inpatients. Make sure to leave a record stating you’re from the combat group’s communication team!”

The Judge, puzzled, asked, “And then what?”

“Stay there until after the battle when we rotate out with the 63rd Army Group. Then claim you’ve recovered and leave discharge records.”

Wang Zhong probed, “Aren’t they going to find out if you ‘recover’ within a few hours?”

“What’s to fear? Once the battle starts, a massive number of casualties will flood the hospital. With so many records between admission and discharge, no one will notice anything. Even if they do, we can just say we were knocked out by a shell and taken in by the stretcher team.”

Wang Zhong reassessed Pavlov: “Is this the way a noble officer behaves?”

“You are also a noble officer. In the entire Empire, you’re the only noble officer who can’t say that about me. If we really get down to it, I learned from you!” Pavlov retorted, then waved the Judges off, “Go on, hurry up.”

The Judges left.

Wang Zhong asked, “So… do we smash the radio or not?”

“No need for that. After the battle, we’ll still need to communicate with the Front Army. Look, our Cryptographer is injured and in the hospital. It’s only normal we won’t understand the telegrams we receive!”

Then, Sufang spoke up, “What about me? Should I respond acknowledging the receipt of psalms?”

Wang Zhong suggested, “How about you lie down in the hospital too?”

Sufang considered it and nodded solemnly, “I can help at the hospital. It’s perfect since I am also a Monk; I can listen to the soldiers’ last prayers.”

Wang Zhong approved, “Very good.”

Sufang turned and ran off.

Pavlov picked up the torn note, “Wait! The note! Ah, she ran off too quickly.”

Wang Zhong suddenly felt, “It’s a miracle that the Ante Empire has not yet been defeated.”

At this moment, Popov, who had been silent up until now, looked up and snorted, “Hmph, the church has been displeased for a long time. During the civil war, we were so focused on purging the Sanctified faction that we ignored the scum among the great nobles who supported the Secular faction.”

Upon hearing Popov’s words, an idea struck Wang Zhong: “Does this scum include me?”

Popov nodded, “It used to include you.” “It used to.”

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