Arc of Gunfire

"Why is this bombardment lasting so long!" Major General Witte shouted while lying on the ground.

But his shout was completely swallowed by the shells.

For a moment, Major General Witte wanted to give up the artillery defense and just lie on the ground. It was tiring to hold on like this, and his survivability might not be improved much.

But in the end, he decided to maintain the anti-artillery posture.

The bombardment continued, and suddenly he heard a snap, and the glass of the watch exploded, and the scattered glass fragments scratched Major General Witte's forehead.

Major General Witte was shocked. Since the watch glass couldn't stand it, it was impossible for the person to be fine--

Then he found that his nose had been bleeding for a long time, and the nosebleed was flowing out of the nostrils and dripping on the ground.

He had been keeping his mouth open to balance the pressure inside and outside the skull!

Major General Witte immediately lay on his side, took out the first aid kit from his body, and took emergency measures to stop the bleeding.

Every Plosson soldier has received relevant training and can deal with some less serious injuries by himself.

One of them is nosebleed caused by shells.

After Major General Witte finished the treatment, he simply turned over and lay on his back, feeling the vibration of the earth through his back and feeling the fierceness of the enemy's firepower.

Gravel and sand kept falling on his face.

He closed his eyes and let his eyelids resist these small pieces.

Suddenly, a voice said in his ear: "The glorious Imperial Armored Corps, the Asgard Knights, did not die in the tank duel, but were blown to pieces by heavy artillery. What a irony."

He opened his eyes and tried to find the person who spoke, but sand fell into his eyes, and his tear glands immediately began to secrete, trying to flush the sand out.

And the voice continued in his ear: "New weapons seem to have changed the form of war, but in the end, artillery has the final say."

"Who are you? Tell me your name!" Major General Witte shouted.

The man just laughed.

"Damn witchcraft! It must be hallucinogenic gas. The Ants mixed poison gas bombs in the shells!" (In fact, it wasn't. Major General Witte was just blinded by the explosion and had hallucinations)

The shells were still falling, and the bombardment seemed to never stop.

————

"The shelling has stopped!" Yegorov shouted in surprise, "It's our turn! Wait until the smoke clears and we'll beat the enemy!"

The military commander: "In this situation, should we move the anti-tank guns to cover the flanks of the destroyer battalion and the tank battalion?"

"You're right. Given the situation in the city, and a wave of infantry has just been added, there shouldn't be any armored vehicles rushing out of the city. Order the anti-tank guns to start moving and occupy the Gamma 2 position." Yegorov gave the order.

In the combat plan, several anti-tank gun positions had been planned long ago, and even the divisional engineers had built simple fortifications on these positions, and the covering machine guns had been deployed.

Soon, smoke appeared over the anti-tank gun positions - Rokossov's army's anti-tank guns were all motorized, which was also learned from Proshen.

Proshen's anti-tank gun units were all motorized, while most of the heavy guns and infantry guns were still mule-horse-powered.

The First Mobile Army even motorized its heavy guns.

The anti-tank artillery hung the cannons on the back of the M3 half-track vehicles and various tractors, dragging a lot of smoke and dust to the new position.

Yegorov used a telescope to observe the anti-tank guns, and then turned his attention back to the enemy.

The smoke and dust from the bombardment had been blown away by the morning wind, and the outline of the Proson tank could be seen.

————

Major General Witte got up and wanted to observe the position of the Ants, but when he picked up the telescope, he found a crack on the eyepiece.

He ignored the crack and raised the telescope to look at the enemy position found before the bombardment.

The Ant officer was also looking here, but there was no tank around him.

Major General Witte turned his view and found that Ant's tanks had been deployed on the grassland, and the "haystack" of the assault gun had also changed its position and was deployed facing his own troops.

Major General Witte used the front outline of the enemy tank as the main measurement object, adjusted the scale on the telescope and began to estimate the distance.

Soon he came to the conclusion in his mind: the enemy was lined up at a distance of 1,800 meters.

Major General Witte turned his head: "Order the armored forces to deploy. The enemy wants to shoot back at us. We have never been afraid!"

No one responded to him.

Major General Witte: "Chief of Staff? Hoffman (his adjutant)!"

No one responded, but a young staff officer ran over: "I'm afraid you can only order me. The Chief of Staff and Hoffman are both injured and unconscious."

Major General Witte: "Let the armored forces launch an attack! If the enemy wants to shoot back, our long-barreled No. 4 is more than enough to deal with the T34! Let the new tanks deal with the assault guns!"

"Yes!"

————

Captain John Christopher poked his head out from the top of the turret and looked around.

He clicked his tongue slightly and began to perform his duties, picking up the microphone: "Report from each vehicle, report from each vehicle! I'll go first. There is a problem with the running mechanism of No. 201. One wheel may be broken, but it does not affect mobility."

After all, the No. 6 heavy tank has so many road wheels, and breaking one does not really affect the overall mobility, but will gradually break other wheels.

"There may be something wrong with the turret No. 202. The rotation speed has dropped a lot now. Maybe it will have to be cranked manually in a while."

"No. 203..."

"Is your scope okay?" Suddenly someone interrupted the orderly report.

John looked at the gunner: "Scope!"

The gunner immediately put his eyes on the sight and began to operate the knobs: "Self-check in progress... There is indeed a problem, but I need a definite reference to readjust it."

The sight is often blown up by artillery fire, and it can be calibrated by finding a reference at a certain distance.

As for how to judge whether the sight has a problem, either you can know it when the shell flies away, or you can rely on the experience and intuition of the old gunner.

And John's tank company is full of experienced veterans, and they can directly feel when the gun mirror is crooked when they aim.

John: "Recalibrate the sight, No. 203, you drive forward, and tell us the change in the odometer reading when you stop."

The driving distance on the odometer is only an estimate based on the rotation of the engine and transmission mechanism, but this situation can be made up for now.

It's better than not calibrating at all.

"203 understands."

John watched No. 203 leave the front line and move forward.

At this time, an order came from the radio: "Attention all tank units, the long-barreled No. 4 company will deploy the formation, target the enemy T34. New heavy tanks, target the enemy assault guns! Deploy the formation immediately!"

John cursed: "In this situation, engage in a tank battle with the enemy?"

At this time, someone climbed onto his tank.

He turned his head and saw the face of the No. 211 tank commander.

"My car's radio is broken, and the track is broken, so I can't participate in the attack. Any instructions?"

John: "Go to the maintenance company and use a tractor to tow your tank away."

Captain of No. 211: "Are you sure? The enemy is right in front of us! We can stay and cover our retreat, just like the enemy's KV tanks last year."

John: "Execute the order. And we are attacking. Even if the Sede Division is exhausted here, the follow-up armored forces will follow. We don't need to consider covering our retreat. Now find a tractor!"

The tank commander saluted and jumped off John's No. 201.

John took the microphone: "Are there any other people who can't join the battle? Keep reporting!"

"No. 204, the running mechanism is damaged, we are also stranded, and can only stay where we are."

"Go find a tractor to tow your tank away, your battle is over. Others continue to report."

"No. 205, our tracks have also been blown off. Isn't the effect of breaking the tracks by artillery too good?"

John was shocked. He looked back and saw that the No. 3 and No. 4 tanks belonging to the Said Division began to move, but a large number of tanks were also paralyzed in place.

It seems that the damage to the tracks by the artillery fire is very large, and even the No. 1 road wheel at the front of the long-barreled No. 4 tank has fallen off completely, and the tank is also lying on the ground.

The report in the headset is still continuing: "No. 206, everything is fine with us."

"No. 212 is fine, and by the way, No. 211 may have a broken radio. I saw his tank commander went to find you."

"He found me. I ordered them--"

In a flash, a beam of light flashed in front and hit the armor of the No. 203 tank that was ahead, and it was bounced away.

Even John, who was wearing headphones, could hear the loud noise of the shells.

"Assault gun!" John shouted, "The enemy is attacking us! No. 203! Turn sideways!"

While he was shouting, No. 203 had already turned sideways, so the second shell hit the side of the car body and bounced off again.

The flying shell passed over John's head, landed not far away, and bounced off again.

The voice of the commander of No. 203 was very calm: "It was a large-caliber anti-tank gun with a very high initial velocity, but it didn't penetrate us because the distance was too far!"

John was trying to find the assault gun that fired.

However, that thing was hiding in the bushes and could not be seen at all.

More shells flew towards No. 203 and then bounced off.

"We are fine. Some people were knocked unconscious, but they should wake up soon - they have already woken up!"

————

Egorov watched the vortex main gun being bounced off by the enemy's box tank and cursed: "This thing is really strong. It seems that it is a bit too much to want to penetrate it at 1,800 meters. Change the target quickly! Don't focus on the enemy's turtle shell!"

But the annihilation battalion was still firing.

Egorov: "Give me the radio, I want to call them and let them shoot those Type 4s!"

————

"The enemy started shooting at Type 4s!"

As the voice came from the headset, John saw the head of a Type 4 flying into the air.

"Damn it!" He shouted, "Everyone, calibrate the main gun! 203, what is your reading?"

"Calculate it according to 93 meters!"

"Each vehicle adjusts the sights and adjusts it according to 93 meters. Okay, talk."

"202 is ready!"

"204 is ready!"

...

After all the vehicles reported, John waved his hand: "Armored troops, move forward! Don't lose to the enemy!"