Arc of Fire

“`

Wang Zhong was trying to take a closer look at the enemy’s attack formation, but suddenly he noticed tracks on the ground leading off to the side.

A single vehicle couldn’t possibly have left such distinct tracks on the grassland, only multiple half-track vehicles could have left the highway from the same spot.

Wang Zhong immediately followed the tracks in search of this enemy unit, but after heading north for a while, the tracks went out of his field of view.

What were these Prussians up to by heading directly north?

Not quite understanding their intentions, Wang Zhong began to check the edge of his field of view just in case.

Since his perspective depended on the direction he was facing, with no visibility at the back of his head, he had to switch back to normal vision to turn and face north.

Su Fang had followed him up the water tower, and seeing him look north, she asked with a puzzled face, “Aren’t the enemies to the west?”

Wang Zhong didn’t have time to answer; he switched back to the overlooking perspective.

Good lord, these guys took a detour and ended up making a square! Wang Zhong’s field of view was circular, so he couldn’t see the corners of the square.

There were three roads converging on Peniye, forming an inverted Y shape.

The enemy’s previous attacks had all come from the west, entering the village through two westward roads, so Yegorov’s defensive positions were mainly facing the west.

To the east, the only road was lined with field hospitals and other non-combative units, and fighting forces were extremely scarce, with only some lightly wounded soldiers armed for defense.

It looked like this enemy unit that had detoured around was planning to enter the village from that one and only eastern road, for a pincer attack!

If they succeeded, it would be bad!

Wang Zhong skillfully switched perspectives, turned around, and found himself face to face with Su Fang.

Su Fang: “?”

Wang Zhong stepped aside to gain a view of the east and switched perspectives again.

At the end of his eastern field of view, he saw enemy half-track vehicles driving onto the main road!

The enemy had already taken their positions!

Each vehicle was carrying more than a dozen soldiers, packed like sardines.

The enemy had taken a rectangular route, so methodically that, in theory, they shouldn’t be overloading the vehicles. They aren’t Indians, after all.

One could only speculate that a half-track vehicle broke down during the detour, forcing the passengers onto other vehicles.

To be honest, if the enemy decided to play armored cavalry and charge with the half-tracks, they might actually catch Wang Zhong off guard.

But they stopped and began to deploy their troops!

So these Prussians can’t fight without deploying their troops, huh?

Wang Zhong hurriedly thought of a plan. The first thing he thought of was to find Yegorov and reassign a unit to establish a defensive line at the rear.

Then he considered maybe pretending not to have noticed the flanking maneuver to set up an ambush.

As he was about to choose this plan, a flash of insight crossed his mind.

He carefully examined the enemy’s equipment.

Eight half-track vehicles—these were also the characteristic equipment of a certain military force from another dimension, with the mention of armored grenadiers always involving this type of half-track vehicle.

German forces usually used the abbreviation sdkfz + a number to name these half-track vehicles, hence they got the nickname “SD Confucius” in the Chinese circle.

Among these half-track vehicles, there were versions with cannons, ranging from 20mm to 45mm, and Wang Zhong liked to use them for fun in “War Thunder”.

But the eight half-tracks that had outflanked this time were all equipped with only machine guns.

Wang Zhong scrutinized the enemy infantry’s equipment more closely.

Thanks to the aerial view cheat, Wang Zhong could clearly see how many magazines the enemy submachine gunners had brought.

After close observation, he was sure that the enemy wasn’t equipped with single-soldier anti-tank rockets like the Panzerfaust; at best they only had anti-tank grenades.

The enemy had no anti-tank firepower!

And behind them was the great plain; to avoid detection, the position where the enemy deployed was at least 1,500 meters from the village!

A 1,500-meter open plain! And that was at least! It could well be 2,000 meters!

A single tank parked at the village entrance could send the whole enemy unit to meet their maker! He wasn’t even sure if God was in charge of this world.

After realizing this, Wang Zhong was ecstatic. He switched back to normal vision, turned around, leaned over the water tower railing, and was about to call out to the tank operators below in the courtyard when something caught his eye from the corner of his vision.

He looked up immediately, just in time to see smoke rising from the western hills.

Then, the sound of artillery shells tearing through the air ruptured his eardrums.

Enemy shelling!

While Wang Zhong was busy with the flanking unit, the enemy had moved their artillery to the hilltop!

“`

The first shell fell in the wheat field west of the village, sending dirt flying as high as a two-story building!

"The charge on this shell is a bit too much!”

Wang Zhong shouted, “Artillery incoming! Take cover!”

Before his words faded, the second whistling sound came, Wang Zhong distinctly felt the object making the noise fly over his head—it seemed to be aimed high.

Turning around, he saw the house on the eastern edge of the village being hit, its roof blasted away in a large chunk.

Wait a second, one shot too close and one too far—the enemy is adjusting their fire!

If the third one falls in the village, the rapid firing will begin!

The third screech came, and before Wang Zhong could react, the roof of the mechanical mill was hit.

The explosion nearly blew Wang Zhong off his feet.

Luckily, the distance was somewhat far, and neither the shrapnel nor the shock wave reached Wang Zhong.

At this moment, Sufang rushed over and pushed Wang Zhong to the ground.

The girl lay on top of Wang Zhong’s back.

Wang Zhong heard her urgently say, “You can’t die!”

The next moment, more whistling sounds came.

The explosions tore at Wang Zhong’s eardrums one after another.

Could just one battery of howitzers produce such an effect?

Wang Zhong vaguely understood why artillery was called the King of War.

However, Wang Zhong couldn’t just lie there.

He was lying facing west, so he couldn’t see what was happening in the east, but he could imagine the enemy’s troops circling behind and advancing towards the village.

Action must be taken immediately!

He rolled over, flinging the Sufang on his back to the ground, and jumped up, shouting, “Tank operators to your stations,” as he rushed down the stairs.

The tank operators were all lying around the tank and only got up when they heard Wang Zhong’s voice.

Wang Zhong reached out and dragged the loader from under the tank, then climbed directly onto the tank.

By this time, the gunner had already reached the turret and, opening the side door for the gunner and the loader, asked as Wang Zhong climbed in, “My Lord Count, what has happened?”

Wang Zhong replied, “I spotted the enemy’s flanking troops from above, on the eastern side. The enemy doesn’t have anti-tank weapons; we have to block them at the eastern entrance to the village.”

"Understood!” The gunner nodded and climbed through the side door, followed closely by the loader.

Wang Zhong ascended the turret, squeezing into the commander’s hatch, and put on the headset and the internal microphone.

At this point, the driver and electrician had also entered the tank.

Wang Zhong asked, “How many high-explosive rounds do we have left?”

"Don’t worry, we haven’t fired many high-explosive rounds, there are still 42 left!” came the gunner’s voice through the headset.

Before Wang Zhong could reply, a shell fell in the courtyard, collapsing part of the enclosing wall.

Several shrapnel pieces struck the tank’s armor, ringing with a clang.

Wang Zhong thought for safety’s sake I should get in the tank first—

At this time, Sufang climbed onto the tank, standing on the grill above the engine, at the back of the main turret.

Wang Zhong ordered, “Get down!”

Sufang replied, “I’m going to use this anti-aircraft machine gun!”

As she spoke, she adeptly operated the machine gun on top of the turret, aiming forward.

Wang Zhong insisted, “I’ll operate the machine gun! You get down.”

"You’re feverish, you might not shoot accurately!”

Wang Zhong wanted to say more, but thinking that the enemy could be creeping in from the east at any moment, he had no choice but to let her be.

Wang Zhong directed, “Driver, engage forward gear, and go! Turn left out of the gate, head east until you reach the junction.”

The driver confirmed, “Same route as this morning, I got it!”

The tank charged out of the brewery gate, taking a sharp turn.

Just then, the building across from the brewery was hit by a shell, and broken tiles cascaded down. Wang Zhong ducked his head, feeling the gravel pattering against him.

Sufang was struck by a tile, cutting a gash above her right eye, and blood flowed down.

Wang Zhong urged, “You’re bleeding, get down!”

"I won’t!”