Arc of Fire

Chapter 691: Chapter 29: Mountain Rain is Coming

The attack began on the second day at 0200 hours, as the guards of the Kazarlia First Front Army’s third tank army, the vanguard of the 24th Guards Tank Brigade.

"Brigade commander!” The brigade chief of staff knocked fiercely on the hatch of the brigade commander’s vehicle, “Brigade commander!”

The hatch opened, and the brigade commander, yawning, poked his head out, “What’s the matter, Mikhail?”

"Engine noise!”

The brigade commander shivered, instantly wide awake. He raised his head and indeed heard the sound of engines in the night sky.

After a brief listen, he cursed, “Prosen’s half-track vehicles—it must be the enemy’s reconnaissance unit. Why haven’t our units opened fire?”

The brigade chief of staff replied, “They might not have figured out the situation either.”

"Damn it, our half-tracks are all at the brigade headquarters! Tell them to open fire!” The brigade commander suddenly stopped.

He remembered he was inside a tank. Ever since last year when the Federation provided assistance with radio production lines, all brigade command tanks had been equipped with high-powered radios, so he picked up the handset, turned on the radio, and started calling, “This is the brigade headquarters, the engine noises are definitely from the enemy; fire at will!”

The Ante armored forces didn’t have half-tracks because the production capacity for track vehicles was too precious, not used to produce tanks and self-propelled artillery, then tractors, leaving no spare capacity for producing half-tracks.

The M3 half-tracks imported from the Federation were luxuries that could only be used on a large scale by forces like the First Mobile Group Army. The 24th Guards Brigade had only eight half-tracks, all of which were listed under the brigade reconnaissance battalion, and should currently have no tasks.

That meant the engine noise could only come from the Prosen’s sdkfz half-track vehicles.

Seconds after the brigade commander called out, the sound of cannons and machine guns erupted.

The night that enveloped the earth was pierced repeatedly by the flash of the cannons firing and tracer bullets from machine guns.

The battle lasted for about twenty minutes.

Over the radio, a report came from the battalion that encountered the enemy: “Brigadier, we repelled the enemy!”

Brigade commander: “Any losses?”

"Some crew members who didn’t spend the night on the tanks were injured, but it’s not serious.”

Ever since Rocossov undertook reforms of the armored forces organization, the Ante Army’s armored troops also came with several reserve personnel.

These personnel were generally experienced tank operators and, when not needed to supplement other crews, were mainly responsible for driving towing tractors and maintenance vehicles, serving as tank maintenance personnel.

Whenever a combat crew suffered casualties, these veterans would fill in.

Brigade commander: “It’s too dark, don’t pursue; stay put for the night as planned, and we’ll see what’s going on at dawn.”

"Yes, brigade commander.”

A few hours passed.

Wang Zhong had only slept for less than five hours when he sat up abruptly.

As he was waking up, Ludmila patted his back, “Don’t be so anxious. If there really were urgent military intelligence, Pavlov would have woken you up directly.” řãＮο₿Ёṩ

"Today, the enemy should react; how could I possibly sleep peacefully?” Wang Zhong said as he stood up to get dressed.

Nelly seemed to hear the noise in the room and immediately entered, carrying a basin of hot water and a wet towel.

Wang Zhong: “Thank you. Was there any movement at the headquarters in the middle of the night?”

Nelly: “No, Chief of Staff Pavlov also went to rest around two o’clock; it should have been a peaceful night.”

Ludmila also got up: “See, I told you there was nothing to worry about.”

Wang Zhong finished dressing, took the hot towel to wipe his face, and rushed out of the room toward the headquarters.

Ludmila sighed, “After he fell asleep last night, he started giving orders in his sleep, ‘Alexandria, turn the turret right fifteen degrees.

Nelly: “After coming down from the front, I often dreamt of being on the front, of enemy night raids.”

Ludmila: “I’ve never dreamed of such things, maybe because I haven’t fought the enemy face-to-face.”

"Don’t you dream of it in Upper Penie?” Nelly asked, puzzled.

Ludmila: “In Upper Penie, we were suppressed by the enemy’s tanks in a house; it was quite dangerous, but Prosens didn’t come close enough for hand-to-hand combat. I am a Prayer Hand, always well protected. You stopped me when I wanted to go to the front.”

Nelly: “A Prayer Hand shouldn’t be on the front line; it’s not right, neither emotionally nor logically.”

After another year of fighting, the number of Prayer Hands like Ludmila had dwindled to one percent of what it was before the war. Previously, Divine Arrow teams with Prayer Hands could be equipped up to the division level, often with formations like God’s Arrow Company, with many Prayer Hands per company.

But now the Prayer Hands were mostly used individually, often positioned at critical hubs at the Front Army level for air defense tasks.

Ludmila stared at Nelly’s face and sighed softly, “Last winter, when you were fighting across the river, I often dreamt that you were getting farther and farther away from me. You all plunged into the furnace of war, while I stood outside it.”

Nelly: “But now you are here with us.”

Ludmila did not reply.

Wang Zhong entered the headquarters and found Pavlov already drinking coffee, so he asked, “Nelly said you went to sleep at two; are you okay with that?”

Pavlov: “There’s coffee, no problem. Once the war is over, we’ll have all the time in the world to rest however we please.”

Wang Zhong started to speak but then hesitated, and eventually just turned his head to ask Vasily, “Where’s the coffee?”

"The coffee is ready, right here,” Vasily said as he came over with a coffee pot and cups, pouring Wang Zhong a full cup.

Wang Zhong took a sip and his brows knitted together in bitterness.

Vasily said, “Seeing that expression on your face tells me it’s definitely effective.”

Just as he finished speaking, a communications soldier ran into the room, “Report on the situation this morning.”

Pavlov immediately took the report and began to quickly browse through it.

Wang Zhong continued to drink his coffee, each sip clearing his head a bit more from the bitterness.

After about five minutes, Pavlov handed the report to his staff to update the map, then turned to Wang Zhong and said, “Last night, a light armored reconnaissance battalion of the enemy encountered the 24th Brigade of the Guards Tank Third Army.

"After a brief exchange of fire, the enemy retreated. The Guards 24 Brigade didn’t understand the situation, so they didn’t pursue. At dawn around four o’clock, they tallied the enemy wreckage left behind and identified the insignia on the debris, confirming the enemy as the light reconnaissance unit of the 19th Armored Division of the Third Armored Army.”

Wang Zhong said, “It looks like the enemy is planning a counterattack. The Third Armored Army, originally our intelligence indicated they were deployed here

As he spoke, he took a map stick and tapped a spot on the map in front of him.

Pavlov said, “Judging by the distance, the enemy started moving yesterday afternoon.”

Wang Zhong said, “It looks like they knew they couldn’t stop our breakthrough in the afternoon and began to move their troops.”

Pavlov said, “Based on the enemy’s previous movement speed, the counterattack will be launched this afternoon between two and three o’clock.”

He raised his hand to check his watch, “If they start the counterattack at three, there will be over six hours until sundown, giving the enemy ample time for several tank battles.”

Wang Zhong said, “Send out reconnaissance planes—not just reconnaissance planes, but all the main aircraft that operate at low altitude, including the Yak and the now less commonly equipped IL series, to pinpoint the position of the enemy’s armored vehicle forces and prepare our tank troops with early warnings.”

In this timeline, due to Wang Zhong’s interference, the number of equipped IL series had been greatly reduced, but a portion was still preserved, mainly used for attacking the enemy’s softer targets with cluster rockets.

In fact, this also represented the most effective attack method for the IL series on Earth.

Pavlov immediately picked up the phone to give orders.

Wang Zhong watched the staff update the map.

At that moment, Amelia entered the room, and upon seeing Wang Zhong, she said, “When I was covering the Pe-2 in bombing the enemy’s logistical stations, I saw armored troops moving on the plains, about 20 kilometers east of Bariev.”

Wang Zhong glanced at the map, “It’s in front of the Guards Tank First Army, the expected time of contact with the First Army

"Five hours,” Pavlov, having finished giving orders and putting down the phone, immediately reported the calculated time, “Considering the time the enemy will need to reorganize their formation and refuel upon arrival, it’s roughly three in the afternoon when they’ll start the counterattack.”

Amelia added, “On our way back, we saw a lot of dust clouds at a height of 3000 meters in the air; the enemy will definitely launch a large-scale counterattack today.”

Wang Zhong said, “We’ve already anticipated this.”

Popov joined in, “The tank troops are eager for action; ever since they were equipped with the T34W, they’ve been itching to measure up against the Prosens. Now they’ve got their chance.”

Wang Zhong said, “Too bad we’re using T34Ws to counter the enemy’s Long-barreled Fours. Our new medium tanks are still behind schedule.”

Pavlov said, “What I’m really worried about now is that according to the guerrillas’ report, if the enemy’s new tanks are massively deployed, whether it will cause us significant casualties.”

Wang Zhong nodded in agreement.

Although he knew that on Earth, the initial deployment of the Leopard ended up in failure due to mechanical malfunctions and getting trapped in their own minefields without reaching the front lines, he couldn’t guarantee that the Leopards in this timeline would repeat the same mistake.

The T34W, despite its large profile, still had a 76 mm gun, and although it was now equipped with new armor-piercing bullets, it still found it hard to deal with the Leopards.

Of course, Wang Zhong had also prepared a contingency plan—in case Leopards were deployed en masse, he planned to use the Rokossovsky Type Heavy Tanks in his hand as a fire brigade, much like how the Sturmtiger was used on Earth to back up the Tiger tanks.

As for what would actually happen, he could only wait to see when they encountered the enemy at three in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, with the Prosen Army, within the Ante Army’s Asgard Knights’ Anpura Armored Division, was the 51st Armored Battalion.

This armored battalion, just reinforced to the Anpura Armored Division in early June, was equipped with 96 of the newest “Panzer V.”

His Majesty the Emperor had high hopes for this battalion and their Panzer Vs, so he had personally appointed the current number one ace of the Prosen armored forces, Lieutenant Colonel Otto, to command the battalion.

However, Lieutenant Colonel Otto was currently frowning, “Sixty sent in for repairs?”

"Yes,” the battalion maintenance company commander nodded, “There appears to be a problem with the running gear of the new tanks. We’ve finished repairs on ten of them, and they all had the same issue.”

Lieutenant Colonel Otto asked, “And when can the remaining 50 be fixed?”

The company commander looked bitter, “That’s hard to say. The overlapping bogie wheels of the new tank are tricky to disassemble; even though we know where the fault lies, taking apart and reassembling a bogie wheel takes over five hours. Including various other maintenance tasks, fixing one in seven hours would be fast, and we can repair three at a time.”

Lieutenant Colonel Otto said, “So you mean, a maximum of ten can be repaired in a day?”

"That’s under the best circumstances,” the company commander shrugged, “The new tanks are a hassle to repair. I don’t understand why they didn’t just use the mature suspension system of the Panzer IV.”

Lieutenant Colonel Otto sighed, “Our designers have their own considerations! Repair as quickly as you can! The remaining 46 can still be deployed for combat, right?”

"Yes, at the moment, that is. As for how many will actually make it to face the enemy, it’s hard to say.”

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