Arc of Fire

Wang Zhong had hoped the wildfire would blaze through and blow away the Prosen people.

But he soon discovered the enemy had used bulldozers to clear a firebreak, and any scattered flames were quickly extinguished with hand grenades.

As a child, Wang Zhong watched “The Little Soldier Zhang Ga,” where the guerrillas set the enemy’s watchtower on fire, only to have the enemy put out the fire with hand grenades. Initially, he thought it was an over-the-top anti-Japanese drama, but later he heard from old veterans that it was actually true.

It turned out that even children’s films back then could have veterans who had real combat experience as military consultants, unlike the later anti-Japanese dramas.

It seemed that this wildfire strategy wasn’t so easy to use after all.

The fire kept burning until four o’clock in the afternoon.

Mounted on his white horse, Wang Zhong looked out over the grassland, which had become a stretch of ashes, and couldn’t help but think about the scenery he had seen that morning.

The stark contrast between the two landscapes made him acutely aware of the presence of war.

The sight brought to his mind the song “One day, the smoke will return to the village, that faint smell of late rice… fragrant in the evening.”

After the big fire had consumed all the wild grass, it gradually died out, and the enemy could launch an attack at any moment.

Xie Liaosha, peeking out from atop the turret of the same pulled-back 67th heavy tank gun at the village entrance, asked, “My lord Earl, how shall we fight this time?”

Wang Zhong said, “I suspect the enemy will use smoke to gradually close in on you. So we can’t leave you out in the open like before.

"The good news is that the fire has scorched all the grass, so the enemy can no longer hide in it. I suggest you park next to that house.”

He pointed towards the southwest, at a small building on the edge of the village.

As a house on the village edge, the small building had been fought over repeatedly, its roof torn off, and several big holes in its walls, the whole structure vulnerable to collapse at any time.

Wang Zhong said, “There, your cannon can cover two main village entrances, and we can set up crossfire on both sides of the village to protect you, gunning down any enemy trying to rush over and throw grenades.

"We can also lay in ambush with submachine gunners behind the low walls on both sides of you, making sure the enemy’s advance is met with fierce resistance.”

Xie Liaosha nodded, “Very good. But I have a question, why didn’t we hold the outer defenses of the village before? I noticed that few buildings on the perimeter bear the marks of direct hits from tank guns.”

Wang Zhong replied, “Because defending the outskirts of the village makes it easy to be targeted directly by enemy tanks, and our most effective anti-tank weapon is the Molotov cocktail, which is why we let the enemy come in to fight at close quarters, giving us a chance to destroy their tanks in the melee.”

He paused, then added, “We had a few T28s at the time, and it’s clearly unrealistic for this kind of tank to engage in open firefights with the enemy, isn’t it?”

"Indeed,” Xie Liaosha said with a grin, “Now we’re here, we can engage the enemy in the open, and we’ll make sure to take out the enemy before they destroy our machine gun positions.”

Wang Zhong cautioned, “Don’t be so sure, Lieutenant, the enemy might use smoke to obstruct your vision, and those Prosen people are quite skilled at using it.”

"Then we can be mobile and bypass their cover. Leave it to me,” Xie Liaosha said, patting his chest with a proud smile.

Wang Zhong patted his shoulder and then rode his horse straight to Lord Boye’s manor, planning to tell Yegorov to adjust the deployment.

But after only a few steps, he saw Yegorov approaching with a group of men.

From a distance, the regiment commander shouted, “I guess we should take advantage of our firepower on the outskirts of the village, so I’ve already ordered everyone to adjust their positions. Don’t worry about the machine gun position I chose.”

Wang Zhong nodded. Although he had cheats, he was still a novice with no military experience, still growing and learning.

Leaving the placement of the machine guns to the old soldier Yegorov was the best course of action.

Still, Wang Zhong felt he needed to offer a few words of advice to highlight his role as the commander. He said, “Ensure a clear field of fire! Fully cover the 67th vehicle! And organize a squad of veterans skilled in hand-to-hand and close-range combat to stand by around the tanks, ready to take down any approaching enemy troops.”

"Let Sergeant Grigori take care of this task,” Yegorov replied, “With him there, the enemy’s infantry won’t get close.”

Wang Zhong nodded and decided to return to his VIP spot: atop the water tower!

This position allowed him to clearly see everything around him, and he could quickly enter the concrete distillery for cover once the enemy’s artillery preparation began.

No sooner had he climbed up the water tower than the enemy started firing smoke.

This time there was no artillery preparation?

Wang Zhong was extremely surprised and hurriedly checked the enemy’s artillery position, afraid that the enemy was up to some fierce trick, such as dismantling their guns and carrying them to the front line to assemble and fire at ground level.

Then he realized he had been overthinking it; the enemy’s infantry guns simply seemed to be out of shells.

Could it be that this morning’s solo raid by the IL-2 had blown up the enemy’s ammo storage? Could it be such a coincidence?

No, the IL-2 pilot must have deliberately targeted what looked like a stack of supplies to shoot their rockets at, hitting either canned food or ammunition.

Well done! Wang Zhong silently gave a thumbs up to the Ant Air Force. Although they only showed up for the first time since the war began, and it was just a single aircraft, they did a good job!

Throughout the fierce battles of the day, casualties caused by enemy artillery preparation accounted for at least sixty percent, with the remainder being losses from close-range combat.

It was a pity there was only one IL-2. Had there been a squadron of four, the enemy wouldn’t have been able to organize an attack.

————

At this time, in Bogdanovka, 63rd Army’s headquarters.

Officially it was the 63rd Army’s headquarters, but in fact, the Duke of Vostrom himself was also there.

As the Duke held the rank of Lieutenant General, the 63rd Army’s headquarters was now also the 41st Army Group’s headquarters.

The Duke was studying a map when his most trusted intelligence staff entered the map room: “My Lord, the planes that volunteered to support Peniye have returned today. The pilot reported no sight of our tanks. It was a group of infantry defending the village of Peniye, and there’s also a field hospital in the village, visible from the air with a Red Cross to deter enemy bombing.”

The Duke cursed, “What’s going on? Hasn’t anyone told them that the Prosen bastards would bomb the Red Cross? These pieces of shit, afraid that the veterans will recover and return to the front as experienced soldiers, are deliberately targeting the hospitals!”

The staff officer noticed the Duke’s slip of the tongue but hesitated and did not point it out.

The Duke cursed, took a breath, and then asked, “Why is there a field hospital? From where did this field hospital retreat?”

"That’s not something we know,” the intelligence staff answered. “There are far too many field hospitals that we’ve lost contact with now.”

At this moment, the commander of the 63rd Army spoke up, “Yesterday, locals were continuously arriving with horse-drawn carts carrying wounded soldiers. They said they were from the Ronied City field hospital.”

The Duke immediately rushed to the map table to check the map, “Ronied? Weren’t all of our forces there wiped out?”

"It seems not. The wounded also said that they belong to the 3rd Rear Amur Group and are now under the command of Count Rokossov.”

"Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?” the Duke demanded.

The commander spread his hands, “I only found out myself just now. The wounded soldiers were brought in by the local carts last night, and it was all chaos then.”

At this point, the Chief of Staff of the 41st Army Group concluded, “So, the situation is clear. Yesterday the village of Peniye sent out a distress signal, indicating that they have a Hymn Monk there, very likely a scattered Monk retreating from Ronied who joined the fleeing soldiers en route.

"Then the fleeing soldiers encountered the remnants of the 31st Regiment of the 4th Tank Army, which had been prepared to defend Peniye, and they organized a defense on the spot.”

The Military Bishop of the 41st Army Group spoke, “I mostly agree with this assessment. Although the enemy would deliberately slaughter clergy, there should still be some that managed to escape.”

The Duke leaned on the map table with both hands, “This Count Rokossov… can’t be that playboy brother of the Crown Prince, the good-for-nothing and ignorant Aleksei Konstantinovich Rokossov, can it?”

Everyone exchanged glances.

After the civil war, civilians could become officers too, so at this moment all the civilian officers present shut their mouths, as they were not very familiar with the notorious Count.

However, the nobly born Chief of Staff of the Army Group added, “Which other Rokossov could it be? If we had known this earlier, we wouldn’t have sent reinforcements; surely this prodigal was just frightened out of his wits! It’s highly probable the enemy isn’t much of a problem, after all, even infantry could hold them back.”

The intelligence staff interjected, “According to the pilot’s report, the forces attacking Peniye are the enemy’s armored grenadiers and tank units. Additionally, combining intelligence from other directions, I personally believe that the force confronting Peniye is a mixed combat group led by Major Shrifen, a recipient of the Iron Cross.”

The headquarters fell silent.

The Chief of Staff of the Army Group scoffed, “You’re telling me that a bunch of routed soldiers stopped Prosen’s elite combat group? Those are veterans who have participated in the Bohemian and Carolingian campaigns, and their commander is a tough one! Since Count Rokossov proved to be so capable, I suggest that when he returns, we should send him to Loktov to reorganize the fleeing soldiers!”

After pondering, the Duke replied, “That also gives him and his troops a chance to rest and regroup.”

————

Wang Zhong, of course, was unaware of what was happening back at the headquarters; his focus was entirely on the enemy.

Thanks to a cheat, Wang Zhong could see the enemy’s formation clearly through the smoke.

Besides the infantry skirmish line at the front, the Prosen had also sent tanks on a wide flank, seemingly preparing to attack the side of tank number 67.

Unfortunately for them, the KV1 had good all-around defense, except for the engine at its rear, which was the only weak point.

And now, tank number 67 was back against the remains of a house, with its rear shielded.

The Prosen devils were about to be disappointed yet again, and the thought filled Wang Zhong with delight.

The first Prosen soldier showed up from the smoke!

The machine gun mounted on the second floor immediately opened fire. Freed from worrying about direct fire from enemy tanks, the Amur Group’s machine gunner fought like a man possessed, landing precise shots that dropped several enemies in succession.

The remaining enemies all went prone.

Their uniforms were black, and the grassland that had just been scorched was also black, providing surprisingly effective camouflage once they hit the ground!

Wang Zhong had never imagined the Prosen’s dark uniforms could have this effect.

He was still in shock when the enemy threw smoke bombs. One has to admit, the Prosen troops really were battle-hardened veterans. They reacted quickly, and the placement of the smoke bombs was accurate.

But experience was on this side too. They continued to fire through the smoke, reasoning that since they still had a lot of ammunition left from looting the third group’s depot, they might as well use it up, lightening their load for the evening’s retreat.

More enemies emerged from the thick smoke, and the machine gun fire Yegorov had carefully set up continued to erupt.

Without the cover of direct fire, infantry are helpless against machine gun fire.

Not to mention the KV’s high-explosive shells.

The fierce battle raged on. The enemy tanks reached the side and opened fire on tank number 67.

Wang Zhong clearly saw the armor-piercing shell hit the side of tank number 67’s turret, scraping off the paint!

After two days of intense fighting, Wang Zhong had never felt this relaxed.

He even began to feel like he was playing a game of “Storm the Beaches,” joyfully shooting at live targets.

Just then, Wang Zhong heard an engine noise coming from the sky.

This time it was not from the east, where their allies were positioned.

He immediately raised his view and then realized that his cheat allowed him to see planes from even greater distances than he could see on the ground.

It was rather logical for a cheat, despite being one.

He saw a whole squadron of Stukas heading towards Peniye.

Trouble.

Wang Zhong knew at a glance that these Stukas were the B-2 model because he had flown them in games. He knew that in maximum load, they could carry one 500kg “big potato” and four 50kg “little potatoes.”

The little potatoes couldn’t threaten the KV1 unless they were dropped with pinpoint accuracy, but the 500kg big potato was no joke.

Tank number 67 had to get moving; a stationary target was too easy to hit.

Wang Zhong rushed down the water tower, expertly untied Bucephalus’s reins, mounted, and galloped away in a cloud of dust.