Arc of Gunfire

Filipov's detachment was pinned down in a roadside yard by a Prosin machine gun.

"Explosives!" Filipov shouted back, "blow up the wall next to it! Let's outflank the enemy!"

The Demoman spread his hands and said, "We're done!"

Filipov cursed Suka, and then pointed to the house behind him: "Go and see if there are other doors or a place where you can climb the wall!"

Immediately, the two soldiers ran towards the house with thread cutting machines. The first one kicked the door open with a flying kick, and then the two entered the house one after another.

Filipov leaned against the courtyard door, took out the spoon he carried with him, and used the polished back of the spoon as a reflector to observe the location of the fire point. Unexpectedly, the spoon was knocked away as soon as he stretched it out. .

His finger was scratched by the edge of the spoon and bled immediately.

"Suka!" Filipov cursed.

Then he heard the engine.

"Enemy tank?" someone whispered.

Filipov: "No, it shouldn't be. The enemy tanks should have come back when the fog cleared, but they didn't. The gunfire outside the city has subsided for a while. I guess our tanks have come in to support!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of the tank's engine suddenly became clear. Apparently the tank turned the corner and there was no obstruction between it and the small courtyard where Filipov and others were hiding, and the sound could be transmitted directly to their ears.

Soon enough, the sound of tank guns firing came from outside.

Filipov could even hear the shells flying past the door.

Then the constant sound of machine gunfire stopped.

Filipov stuck his head out and made sure that the side of Prosen's firepower point was completely covered by the smoke from the grenade explosion. Then he ran out and ran towards the tank that had just turned around the street.

The infantryman accompanying the tank stepped forward to stop him: "Which section are you in?"

"I am the commander of the third company of the second battalion of the 31st regiment. Didn't you see my medal?" Filipov said loudly, "We know the distribution of enemy firepower points in the entire street below, and we are here to guide the tanks!"

At this time, the commander looking over the top of the tank said: "Let him come up!"

Filipov immediately pushed away the accompanying infantry, climbed onto the tank, lay on the turret and said to the commander: "To the left of the fire point you just destroyed, there are two more fire points along the street, blocking one road each. We have no more explosives. , there is no way to blow up the courtyard wall and outflank the enemy.”

Tank commander: "Leave it to us. Let your troops join the accompanying infantry. We also came in with ammunition trucks. You can send people to get ammunition from the ammunition trucks!"

Filipov immediately shouted to his men at the top of his lungs: "Misha, there is an ammunition truck behind you. You take one person to get the ammunition! The others join the infantry."

At this point the tanks began to move forward again.

Filipov gestured to the commander: "You drive forward to the corner, turn right about 30 degrees and you can fight!"

Soon enough, the machine gun that had just been silenced opened fire again. The bullets immediately knocked down three infantrymen, and then crackled on the armor on the front of the tank.

"Fire!" the commander roared, and the 75mm gun sprayed flames again, and the muzzle blast sent all the smoke and dust around it flying.

The shell exploded where the machine gun's fire flashed. Filipov clearly saw the machine gun and tripod rolling down from the gap opened by the shell and falling on the street.

The machine gunner also flew out, but was caught by the steel bars exposed in the damaged floor, and was hung from the ceiling on the first floor.

Filipov fired the anti-aircraft machine gun on the top of the turret and fired at the gap opened by the shell to ensure that there were no living people inside.

Commander: "Forward! Slow down a little to give the gunners and infantry brothers time to react."

Filipov stopped shooting and looked at the fallen people. A soldier had already stepped forward to check. After touching the opponent's nose, he shook his head slightly: "It's hopeless."

Filipov fired more fiercely at the enemy-held buildings, suppressing the Plosans' firepower.

Suddenly, a wooden stick stuck out from the building with white pants hanging on it.

The commander held a telescope: "Did I see it wrong? Did the Prossens surrender?"

Filipov also stopped shooting and wanted to touch his telescope. Then he found that the telescope rope was broken by a bullet at some point and the telescope was gone.

He cursed.

At this time, the commander had already ordered: "Cease fire! Cease fire! Does anyone know Prosen?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Filipov: "I know a little bit."

"Shout to them, ask them to raise their hands high, put their weapons on their heads, and come out slowly!"

Filipov opened his voice and translated in broken Prosin.

Soon, an officer raised his hands high, holding a white flag in his right hand and his own gun holster in his left hand, and walked out of the building first, followed by the disgraced Plosin soldiers.

Filipov: "Throw the weapons in a pile on the roadside!"

The officer immediately did so, dropped his pistol holster on the ground, and walked toward the tank holding a white flag in one hand.

The other Prossans dropped their weapons on their pistol holsters as if they were markers.

Soon, a pile of weapons was piled high on the ground.

Filipov looked at nearly a hundred prisoners and asked the leading officer: "You still have more than half of the company, why don't you continue to resist?"

The officer shook his head: "We don't have anti-tank weapons and can't fight tanks. And we have fought for the motherland for a long enough time."

Filipov shook his head: "I thought you were more determined warriors."

"That's propaganda, it's too much to do," the officer said.

————

Wang Zhong peeled off the peanut shell and put the peanut into his mouth.

The bowl in front of him was already filled with peanut shells.

Popov joked: "Thanks to the boiled peanuts, General Rokossov will no longer be restless because he cannot go to the front line to kill the enemy in person."

Nellie: "From now on, I'll cook a pot every day to make sure he can't finish it."

Wang Zhong looked at Neli: "Thank you!"

Pavlov: "Actually, if you are really so free, just do some staff work. Staff officers draw maps and clerks organize documents. It is very hard."

Wang Zhong: "Why, you also think that the frontline soldiers only need to fight the enemy desperately, but the staff have to think a lot? If you say this, I will let Popov teach you a lesson!"

Vasily: "Ah? I thought we were picking shit together! What are you doing? Don't be like this. You three generals are looking at me together. I am very stressed! Look, my hair is almost bald!"

Popov touched his bald head: "What's wrong with being bald? This is the fate of men. You and the general will be bald sooner or later!"

Maybe it's because there has been good news on the front line and the atmosphere at the army headquarters is very relaxed now, so Popov was joking.

Wang Zhong focused on peeling peanuts.

At this time, the communications staff came in: "Received a telegram from the Air Force. They discovered enemy armored forces northwest of us."

Wang Zhong immediately raised his head: "Northwest? How far?"

The telegraph cannot provide a field of vision. After all, sending and receiving is too time-consuming and has long expired.

Communications staff: "55 kilometers."

Wang Zhong and Pavlov acted in sync, and they were both standing in front of the map.

The mapping consultant was busy updating the information on the map.

Wang Zhong: "It can report the enemy's position so clearly. It is probably a reconnaissance aircraft modified by Pei 2. It has a navigator."

Pavlov: "There is also a telegraph machine, so we can send telegrams. What do you think?"

Wang Zhong: "The enemy may want to launch a pincer offensive against us."

He looked at the communications staff officer: "Did the telegram say whether the enemy was on the march or had already launched an assault formation?"

The communications staff officer shook his head: "I didn't say anything, so I just reported the bearing and distance."

Wang Zhong: "Let them see clearly the enemy's status. It's best to take photos and send the report immediately."

Just as the communications staff officer was about to leave, another telegraph operator came in and handed the telegram in his hand to the staff officer: "It was just decoded!"

"Got it." The staff officer took the telegram and looked down at the content.

Wang Zhong stepped forward and took the telegram, read it for himself, and read aloud: "According to the information obtained from interrogating the prisoners and deciphering the captured documents, your unit is currently facing the enemy's 10th Army, and its commander is General Poker. We are convinced that the The group army has three armored divisions, three motorized infantry divisions, and three to six infantry divisions, with a total strength of 200,000 to 300,000 people."

After reading, Wang Zhong raised his head: "Message sent by the intelligence department of the Tribunal."

Pavlov took the telegram, read it and said: "There is no CC, which means it was sent directly to us. Shouldn't this kind of information be conveyed to us by the front army?"

Wang Zhong: "The headquarters should give similar information to the front army. In short, we know the current strength of the enemy. Although we had a good bite first, the enemy still has two divisions like this. One of them has just been captured. Aerial reconnaissance found.”

As he spoke, he clicked on the map, and then continued: "I have reason to believe that the enemy originally planned to use an additional division and the Yeisk city defense to hold us back, and then launch a pincer offensive against us. But he didn't expect us to defeat the enemy so quickly. The teacher was defeated."

Pavlov: "But the enemy's pincer attack has not been broken yet. So what should we do? Frontal assault? Penetrate the enemy's front?"

Wang Zhong shook his head: "Today the Seide Division was defeated by us. Many of its key members should have fled back. They will soon be organized into a strong force. In order to weaken Proson's strength as soon as possible and reduce the number of veterans, we should do something like They fought annihilation like that last year.”

In fact, Wang Zhong originally planned to fight a battle of annihilation. He planned to wait until all his troops arrived on the 16th before launching an attack on the 17th.

At that time, Yeisk will be surrounded and the enemy will be completely annihilated.

Wang Zhong had no intention of capturing Yeisk in today's attack, but the attack suddenly became fierce. Yeisk was captured, the enemy was defeated, and the annihilation battle came to nothing.

Hitting too hard is not a good thing either.

Pavlov: "You want to eat the Tenth Army? That's too much appetite and will cause indigestion. We only have 100,000 people."

Wang Zhong: "I know. And this morning's battle showed that our armor strength on the grassland is a bit insufficient."

The phone rang again.

Pavlov picked up the answer, responded a few words, then put down the receiver and said to Wang Zhong: "The main enemy forces in the city have surrendered, and there are still sporadic resistances left. I estimate that we will set off now, and when we wait for Yeisk, the enemy will be there." Almost wiped out.”

Wang Zhong nodded: "Okay, let's enter the city. Yeisk is the supply center behind our army group."