Arc of Fire

Despite being given a seemingly overwhelming task, the senior officers of Rocossov’s combat group, having done everything that could be done at hand, decided to engage in an intense game of bridge.

It was a bit like playing a round of Gwent regardless of how urgent the situation was.

Wang Zhong had gradually become accustomed to this pace.

When there’s nothing to do on the battlefield, there is truly nothing to do, but a Sword of Damocles hangs over one’s head at all times, never knowing when it might fall and destroy everything.

Those new to the battlefield might spend every day terrified of the sword hanging above their heads, but old soldiers like Wang Zhong become accustomed to it over time.

Yes, Wang Zhong had only been a soldier for less than two weeks but he had already become a seasoned veteran; the battlefield was indeed a crucible for training people.

As Wang Zhong was looking at his cards, the telephone rang.

He picked up the receiver as a matter of course, “This is Rocossov, go ahead.”

“This is Brother Peter, I hear a large enemy air group approaching. I don’t know if it’s for bombing or passing through. There’s a large number of six-engine heavy bombers.”

No sooner had he spoken than the air raid alarm outside began to sound; clearly, Brother Peter had already notified the town’s military station command and the air defense troops.

Wang Zhong threw down his cards and went to the window to look up at the sky.

Dmitry asked, “Do we need to evacuate?”

“The city doesn’t have a subway, and there was no planning for standard air-raid shelters before, so if you want to hide, your only choice is the cellar where they store cabbage in winter.” Wang Zhong said, “This place is more solid than most basements.”

While he was talking, Wang Zhong saw the formation of planes.

He switched to a bird’s-eye view, allowing him to observe the entire formation without the limitations of the window’s field of vision.

A large formation comprised of 30 six-engine heavy bombers and an equal number of fighter planes was approaching. If this was targeting Loktov, it meant there were no longer targets in Bogdanovka that required the cover of such a formation.

Wang Zhong was thinking when Vasily suddenly shouted, “I hear the enemy clearly calling out, it sounds like ground-to-Air Force communication.”

“What did they say?” Wang Zhong asked, though he had a vague idea.

Vasily: “They’re asking the Air Force to deal with the heavy artillery in the city.”

“How did the Air Force respond?”

“The Air Force said to find the tactical bomber squadron since they’re tasked with bombing train stations and supply warehouses.”

Yegorov clicked his tongue, “Luckily, we moved the artillery position from near the station before.”

The initial location Wang Zhong chose for the B4 position was the station’s stackyard, which had now been moved to the city park north of the station and the small garden in front of the municipal building.

These places were naturally camouflaged due to dense vegetation, and it’s hard to spot them from the air with the added camo nets — Wang Zhong had personally confirmed this with a bird’s-eye view.

The city’s anti-aircraft guns began to fire, but sadly, the 25mm anti-aircraft guns had little effect on the high-flying enemy planes; they fired now simply because they were air defense troops.

As the enemy planes approached the chemical plant, they began to drop bombs — Loktov wasn’t big, so with the altitude the enemy was flying at, dropping bombs near the chemical plant meant the explosives would land near the station and supply warehouses.

The shrill whistling of the bomb tail fins made Wang Zhong’s ears ache.

Yes, different from the “whoosh” of shells falling, this “whizz” came from whistles specially mounted on the tails of the bombs.

The enemy planes that had completed their bombing began to turn around.

Wang Zhong moved to another window and watched as the bombs fell towards the ground.

Thirty heavy bombers conducted a carpet bombing.

The closely packed bombs carved thirty bloody scars on the ground.

A cloud of dust engulfed the streets of Loktov.

Plumes of smoke rose up one after another.

Wang Zhong suddenly felt relieved that he did not have a view of the streets being bombed; otherwise, he would have seen the heartbreaking scene below.

Unlike the villages outside, Loktov had many civilians living in it. Men who followed the Secular faction of the Eastern Holy Church formed militias, women joined the volunteer labor camps, and numerous elderly and children were waiting to be evacuated by train.

It was unknown how many civilian casualties such heavy bombing would cause.

————

Ludmila rose from the ground.

She and the Divine Arrow sniper team were stationed on the roof of the only Anatoly public bathhouse in Loktov, ready to snipe any enemy reconnaissance planes at any moment.

The B4 artillery position was just a street away to the north of the public bathhouse. If any enemy dive bombers targeted the artillery positions, Divine Arrow could offer some protection.

One of the “scars” plowed by the recent level bombing was not far from the bathhouse.

If the enemy had dropped their bombs just a few seconds later, the Divine Arrow team would have perished in the flames.

Lying on top of the rooftop railing, she looked down at the devastation below.

Suddenly, she saw something.

Ludmila sprinted off, rushing downstairs, with Brother Yeca Neiko shouting after her, “Where are you going? Reconnaissance planes might take this chance to confirm the results of the bombing! We have to be ready for battle!”

Ludmila shouted back, “I’ll be right back!”

She sped along the makeshift ladder beside the bathhouse and onto the street, rushing to where she had seen the object.

It was a glass jar that had shattered on the ground, its baby’s breath flowers scattered all around.

A hand was still tightly gripping the jar, its skin wrinkled from using rough soap to wash too many clothes.

Ludmila picked up the hand, which was now just a palm and half of the wrist, and looked around for the owner of the hand.

Then she saw not far away was the place where laundry soap was distributed, where several girls assigned to Rocossov’s combat group to wash clothes were squatting on the ground, sobbing loudly.