Arc of Gunfire

Two Dow 217s from the 10th Squadron of the 55th Royal Bomber Wing of the Royal Prossen were flying in formation towards the air strike target.

In the cabin of the formation leader aircraft, the radioman was calling the ground troops: "The bald eagle is calling the wolf, the bald eagle is calling the wolf, please call back."

He waited a moment and was about to call again when a response came over the radio and was heard throughout the plane over the intercom.

"This is Wild Wolf, please speak."

The radioman glanced at the fleet commander.

The commander said: "Wild Wolf, please use the main gun of the No. 4 tank to fire smoke to mark key targets. Bald Eagle is over."

The other person was silent for a few seconds before replying: "I know. Mark the key targets and the wild wolf is finished."

————

Cruze had a sullen face. Although he lost command of the entire attack, he was still the officer who knew the situation best, so the liaison with the Air Force was left to him.

Kruse made a gesture, and a staff officer immediately came over: "Please speak."

"Choose the No. 4 vehicle crew with the best gunnery skills and fire marked smoke bombs on Hill 153, preferably on their artillery observation post."

"yes!"

————

In the air raid formation leader's aircraft, the observer reported: "I don't see the marker smoke. Can I urge you more?"

Formation Commander: "Be patient. The Army is very cumbersome. It is like an elephant. It takes time for information to be transmitted from the brain to the toes. It is not as convenient as our Air Force."

The pilot in the cockpit smiled and said: "That's true. The Army is like this. Just wait. They are now helpless against the Anters' new tanks. They can only count on our bombers and the anti-aircraft guns of the anti-aircraft artillery battalion."

The commander smiled and said: "During the Carolingian Battle, the Army only had those small tanks that were like toys. If they encountered a strong bunker, they would need dive bombers. At that time, when flying in the sky, the earphones were filled with calls from the Army. ”

The commander's words were suddenly interrupted by the observer: "If you see the indicated smoke, please circle right!"

The plane immediately banked over, and then the pilot said, "Confirm smoke indication, I'm going to make a full circle."

Track 217 began to circle clockwise, eventually turning its course to the indicator smoke.

Pilot: "It's a southeasterly wind outside, and the plane is shaking a little."

In fact, even if he didn't say it, everyone in the cabin could feel the plane shaking. It was so shaking that the compass on the map table in front of the commander began to "walk". As it trembled, it continued to move towards the edge of the table, and finally fell down. The table was momentarily held down by the commander.

Observer: "There is no problem with the heading. It is expected to enter the release position in 20 seconds. Final inspection!"

Mechanic: "There is no problem with the guidance device and the hanger is normal! It can be launched!"

Observer: "Ten seconds before release!"

Soon enough, the gunner in the dorsal turret was hit, and blood spurted directly onto the side-firing machine gunner sitting behind him.

The broadside shooter yelled: "We're under attack! We're under attack!"

Then the bullet penetrated the steel plate above his head, directly penetrated his skull, and hit the arm of the formation commander and navigator sitting next to him.

The pilot looked back in horror. At that moment, the left wing of the plane was hit continuously. The stress structure collapsed instantly and the entire wing was removed.

Immediately afterwards, a MiG-3 roared past the bomber with its wings cut off. Sparks flickered from the engine exhaust on the cigar-shaped nose.

Next to the cockpit of the MiG-3, a row of red stars was painted neatly, each one representing a kill. The pilot, surrounded by red stars, looked at the disintegrated bomber through his goggles with a smile on his lips.

Just as the MiG-3 passed by, another Dao 217 was also hit, but this time Ant pilot's work was not so subtle. The bullet only penetrated the tail of Dao 217 and damaged the steering system. By the way, The rudder surface of the left vertical tail was lifted off.

The wingman was unable to control its course and fell to the ground in an arc.

After the two MiG-3s completed their attack, they quickly pulled up to regain altitude. The lead aircraft flipped up and down, pointed the canopy towards the ground, and carefully searched the bottom for other targets worth attacking.

Through the cockpit, one can see a whole group of IL-2s skimming over the plain at low altitude.

The IL-2s lined up in a line, strafing the ground with 23mm cannons and machine guns while flying over the ground, and dropped 50 kilograms of small bombs. Although they were small bombs as aviation bombs, their charge and power were comparable to heavy artillery shells. .

Viewed from the air, the Il-2 formation looked like a plow plowing through a field full of Proscenians, and the smoke and dust created by the bombs looked like turned-up soil.

————

General Moltke stood on the mound south of Aolaqi, watching the Ant Air Force suddenly appear and bombard them indiscriminately.

"So is Grand Duke Meyer bragging again? I received a report before that the activity of the Ant Air Force increased. I thought it was mainly in the direction of the capital. Why are there so many active Ant Air Force in the southwest?"

The chief of staff of the cluster shrugged: "Maybe it came from the direction of the capital?"

"No, the Ant people will not relax their protection of the capital." General Moltke was silent for a few seconds, and then said, "It should be the Air Force bragging. In fact, they did not do that much damage to the Ant Air Force, and they did not destroy 3,000 aircraft at all. At the airport."

Chief of Staff: "After all, it is the Air Force, so it is normal for this to happen."

General Moltke was speechless: "The Air Force is disrupting the situation. I guess the next wave of attacks will be postponed again, right?"

"I'll go check it out." After saying that, the chief of staff turned and walked towards the radio communications vehicle.

General Moltke stood on the slope with his hands behind his back, looking at the city of Orachi that he had left "behind".

Next to him, the Prosen armored troops in a marching column were driving past in a steady stream, advancing southward.

About fifteen minutes later, the chief of staff came back: "The losses of each department are not as great as expected, but it does take time to reorganize the attack."

General Moltke: "Then use heavy artillery to bombard Orachi first, and continue bombarding it until midnight."

"Zero o'clock?"

"Of course. In the trench era, there were usually several days of firepower preparations. Now we only prepare until night. What's the fuss? The preparation area is not only the urban area, but also the difficult woods around it.

"The enemy's heavy artillery must be hidden in the woods. Don't bother to find them. Just blow them up. Plow through the entire forest."

The chief of staff turned to give some specific operational instructions to the staff, and then asked General Moltke: "Then when will we attack?"

"Of course, attack after the fire preparations are completed."

"Zero o'clock? Attack in the dark?" The chief of staff was shocked.

General Moltke smiled: "Don't worry, in the early morning, the entire city will become the lighting of our army's attack. The entire city will burn like daylight.

"What a white horse general, what a defensive genius, huh!"

The general was smiling: "With such a despairing power gap, what's the point of personal talent? Let him wither here. I will record him in my memoirs, including his genius." The same tank bunker.”

After speaking, General Moltke turned around and walked towards his command vehicle: "Let's move on. We're going to camp in Metz tonight!"

————

At midnight on August 6th.

Wang Zhong got up from the ground and looked out the window: "Has it finally stopped?"

Outside the window, the firelight dyed everything red.

Wang Zhong: "Guard! Go see what's on fire!"

The guard came in and said, "General, everything is on fire! The whole city is burning!"

Just as Pavlov was about to speak, he heard the roar of engines: "Ours? No, we don't have that many engines. The enemy's? Night armor attack?"

Wang Zhong looked out the window, goose bumps appeared on the back of his head: "No, this is not a night attack, the fire turned everything into daytime!"

————

Just as Lyudmila woke up from her coma, she heard the sound of an engine.

She looked outside and saw the Prossen tanks advancing toward the city along the highway that passed through the city with their headlights on.

"Natalia! Tonya!" She called loudly to the nuns and skitarii assigned to her, "Are you okay?"

No one responded.

Lyudmila turned around to look for the divine arrows and the divine arrow launchers, and then found that the attic where she was was half destroyed, and the divine arrows, nuns, and skitarii were all gone.

At this time, he heard the voice of the defensive Skitarii downstairs: "Miss Praying Hands, go quickly! We use machine guns to block the enemy! Go to the church headquarters quickly!"

Lyudmila got up, picked up the Mosin-Nagant rifle on the ground, stumbled open the attic door, and ran down the stairs.

When she reached the first floor, the machine guns were already firing. As soon as the Skitarii saw him coming down, they shouted: "Take the back door! Go out and run along the road! You are more important than us! Go quickly!"

Lyudmila nodded and rushed to the back door. As soon as she rushed to the street, she heard the sound of tank guns behind her.

The machine gun immediately misfired.

Lyudmila ran desperately, and after running five or six steps, she heard the sound of machine guns ringing again, like a phoenix reborn from nirvana, blocking the enemy.

She turned around, only to find that the building blocked her view, and she couldn't see the brave machine gunners.

She could only keep running.

————

Wang Zhong checked the situation through the phone that was still available and made a decision immediately: "We can't defend here anymore. There is no point in holding on. The main enemy force has bypassed us and gone south."

Pavlov: "How to break out of the encirclement? In this situation..."

Wang Zhong: "No, the enemy's attack at night gave us a chance. If they surround us and don't fight, I don't know how to go. If they attack the city now, even if there is fire lighting, they will fall into chaos. How about Said the fire itself was a source of chaos."

In the chaos, if someone can highlight all the enemies and know their location, that person will have a great advantage.

Of course, it won't be able to annihilate the enemy, but it will be fine to confuse the enemy and allow the troops to break out of the encirclement.

Wang Zhong began to give orders: "Vasily! Call Tank No. 422. It will come to the entrance of the division if it is not broken or it will fight for its life!"

Vasily didn't ask any questions and started calling directly.

Wang Zhong: "The telegraph team sent a report to Duke Myshikin, saying that we are preparing to break out in the chaos, and hope that the Duke can respond - just hope. After sending this telegram, destroy the radio station and burn the code book.

"All division personnel, whether they are clerks, staff officers, or cooks, be armed!"

Wang Zhong paused because he saw Nellie coming in carrying a Mosin Nagant that was taller than himself.

He said out of nowhere: "It matches your boat hat very well."

Nelly smiled.

At this time Vasily shouted: "I contacted No. 422, they are coming! With six T34s!"

Wang Zhong smiled: "Okay! Everyone! It's not time to die generously yet, see you in Shepetovka!"