Arc of Gunfire

At 1030 hours on November 3, the 1st Guards Heavy Breakthrough Tank Regiment broke through the front line.

The 1st Guards Heavy Breakthrough Tank Regiment was reinforced to the 11th Tank Corps and charged together with the T34W of the Tank Corps.

Strengthening is given to this corps because, based on aerial reconnaissance, this corps may be counterattacked by the Prosen armored forces.

Although the Rokosov Type 1 equipped by the heavy breakthrough tank regiment is called a "breakthrough tank", the troops now tend to use it to deal with the Prossen tank troops.

The T54 of the independent armored brigade is used in the same way. It is said that this principle has been written into the new tank combat operation manual. This is the operation manual used by tank operators and senior officers of the tank force who are being trained in the rear.

Of course, if all tank armies were to switch to T54, there wouldn't be so much trouble, but the current production capacity of T54 simply cannot keep up.

The heavy tank "Revenge of the Heroic Brother" was at the forefront of the entire offensive formation, and the tank commander Podolkov observed the front with a telescope.

They had already broken through the defense line defended by Proson's 377th Infantry Division and were advancing in depth.

The chatter of the tank crews of the 11th Tank Corps came over the radio.

"Why do you think our breakthrough distance was so short in this battle plan? In the summer, we even rushed two hundred kilometers before stopping."

"The marshal has his own considerations, you just need to implement them."

"But the marshal taught us to be more independent. I think we can just run all the way into Melania's territory and let our Melania Davarich return to her hometown!"

"I think so! How many days did it take for Prosinia to capture Melania? Thirty days? We will also liberate Melania in thirty days and send the cannons to Prosinia!"

"That won't work. Can you look at a map? There is an Oder River between Melania and the capital of Prossenia."

"It's already freezing in the winter! Rush over at once and end the war before Christmas!"

There was laughter on the radio, and suddenly the commander of the tank army came in: "Enough! What did the marshal say? An arrogant soldier will be defeated! A quick victory is not an option!"

The radio channel that was lively just now suddenly became quiet.

The bishop who accompanied the army was still saying: "Those who just started making noises, when you stop to rest tonight, consciously copy the marshal's works! Understand the marshal's spirit!"

There was a sparse response on the radio, but the bishop did not go into details: "Now cheer up and fight hard! The battlefield will devour those with a careless mentality!"

Podolskov was speechless. He personally felt that the work of the military bishop was a bit rigid. He thought that no wonder the Eleventh Tank Army's quick victory mentality was so serious. It was all caused by the bishop's incompetence.

Of course he would not say this out loud, he would just strengthen the army to participate in the battle, and bid farewell to them after the battle.

Podolkov looked ahead through his binoculars, his vision passing over a haystack.

Suddenly, he pulled his vision back and aimed it at the haystack.

There was no mistaking it, it was a fake made by stacking hay on a tank, and the enemy tank was ambushing in front!

Podolskov: "Attention everyone, enemy tanks ahead!"

He switches to inside mode.

"Five degrees to the left, aim at that haystack! Prepare to stop and shoot!"

Soon enough, the haystack was suddenly pushed away by the muzzle blast of the cannon.

The armor-piercing bullet accurately hit - hitting a T34W two hundred meters away from Podolkov!

Podolkov turned his head and saw the Prosin's armor-piercing projectile bouncing off the ground far behind the T34W.

Missed?

But the T34 stopped, the tank crew covered in blood began to jump out of the vehicle, and the infantrymen on the vehicle also rolled and climbed out of the vehicle.

The enemy's armor-piercing bullet pierced the T34W!

Podolkov switched the radio mode again: "Attention, the enemy is equipped with new armor-piercing projectiles!"

More enemy tanks opened fire.

The tank crews of the 11th Tank Corps, who had been chatting and laughing just now, were screaming.

"I can't see the enemy!"

"In the village ahead, you idiot!"

"The village is two thousand meters away!"

"I'm hit! The turret is jammed and the driver is killed!"

The enemy did not have much armor-piercing ammunition, so few T34Ws caught fire, but more and more T34Ws stopped.

At this time, the gunner shouted: "I have completed the range measurement, you can make an emergency stop."

"Stop! Fire!"

Podolkov issued the two orders together.

The gunner fired almost as soon as he stopped, obviously using his experience to offset the swing caused by the sudden stop.

Podolkov saw in the telescope that the haystacks were shot. Unfortunately, the damage effect could not be seen clearly because of the hay, so he ordered: "One more shot, not sure if they were destroyed!"

At this moment, the enemy tank launched and broke through the camouflage made of hay, revealing its true body.

The back of Podolkov's head felt numb, and he immediately shouted into the microphone: "It's the enemy's new tank! The T34W can't deal with it, release the smoke immediately!"

In fact, the 11th Tank Army already had a crew that released smoke. After Podolkov said that, more crews fired smoke grenades - this smoke launcher was forced by the marshal to be installed on the T34W. It is said that it is to make the T34W After encountering the Prosen armored unit, it can cover the enemy's sight faster and escape.

The commander of the 11th Tank Army said on the radio: "The 1st Guards Heavy Tank is in your hands. We will deal with the enemy infantry!"

"Don't worry."

In fact, Podolskov was a little nervous. After he lost his gunner last time, he knew that the defense of the Rokossov-1 tank was far from being as invincible as everyone thought.

And the enemy was equipped with new armor-piercing shells. What if--

He shook off the worries in his mind. His brother chose to move forward even though he knew he was in danger of death. As an elder brother, he could not shame his brother, nor could he shame the name of the tank written by the marshal himself.

"Move forward! We can't penetrate the enemy's new tanks at this distance! Rush to the distance where we can penetrate them under the enemy's artillery fire!" Podolskov shouted into the microphone. After he finished speaking, he realized that he was still in radio mode, so he quickly switched back.

But his words had been heard by the entire heavy breakthrough tank regiment, and a chorus of agreement came from the radio: "Well said, Poroslikov!"

"You are worthy of being the first one in our regiment to get a gold star!"

"We will follow you, charge!"

Before Podolkov could be moved, he saw the enemy opening fire.

He felt a chill on the back of his head, and he always felt that he was the target this time.

The next moment, the shell hit, making a sharp sound on the front armor of the tank.

Podolkov asked on the inside line: "Who is injured? Is anyone injured? Everyone report the number!"

Driver: "1!~"

Gunner: "2!"

Loader: "3!"

Podolikov breathed a sigh of relief. The enemy's new armor-piercing shells could not do anything to Rokossov's armor!

He stared at the enemy in the telescope and recalled the enemy's armor weaknesses marked in the new identification manual issued by the command headquarters-

At this time, the enemy tank released smoke and began to retreat!

Podolskoff was shocked: "The enemy retreated! Why?"

At this time, he saw a Proson soldier suddenly appear in front of him, carrying a rocket launcher on his shoulder - not the Ante style, but the style that Podolskoff had never seen before, the Proson model!

Podolskoff immediately operated the anti-aircraft machine gun to fire, and the enemy fired rockets while being hit. The fire dragon flew over the top of the turret of the Revenge of the Hero Brother, and the pungent gunpowder gas rushed into Podolskoff's nostrils.

"The enemy has a rocket launcher!" Podolkov shouted with a microphone, "Don't let the enemy rocket launcher get close--"

His voice was drowned out by screams of fear: "The enemy has a rocket launcher!"

"Semyon's car is on fire! Semyon!"

"Ahhhh Mom!"

"Infantry get off the car and fight, infantry get off the car and fight!"

Podolkov realized that the enemy was trying to make him fall behind the infantry's anti-tank combat distance. He shouted: "The enemy infantry ambush area is ahead, commander, I think we should stop moving forward--"

As soon as the voice fell, a Rokossov-1 type top cover that was advancing spewed out flames, and the screams of the tankers came through the radio.

Podolkov: "Back up! Stay away from the enemy infantry!"

At this time, the other tanks in the regiment also reacted and started to reverse without waiting for the commander's order.

"Commander!" Podolkov was still shouting, and then he suddenly noticed the tactical number of the burning car in front.

That was the commander's car.

"Sukabulie! The commander died, the deputy commander!!"

"Also died, the priest is commanding the support team, you are the leader, Podolskov!"

At this time, a Proson infantryman howled and rushed out of the bunker, carrying a rocket launcher.

He shouted in Proson language, but Podolskov vaguely heard the pronunciation of "Rokosov".

-Yes, I am hanging a red flag.

Podolskov: "Everyone pay attention, I am hanging a red flag, the enemy will mistakenly think that I am the car of Marshal Rokosov, I will attract them to besiege me and organize defense around me-"

The next moment, the new Proson tank that had just released smoke rushed out, and the distance was already within 1,000 meters!

Podolskov: "Gunner! Kill him! He thought I was the marshal's car and rushed forward!"

The gunner opened fire directly without even waiting to stop.

The shell accurately hit the front of the enemy's turret, which was the "weakness" marked in the command identification manual.

The next moment, the enemy's behemoth slowly slowed down, and then the turret top cover spewed out flames, and the whole vehicle also burned.

Podoliskov: "The weakness is effective, repeat, the weakness is effective! Form a formation around me and keep a distance from the infantry!"

At this time, the regiment priest spoke: "Podoliskov, the 11th Tank Army is retreating, let's retreat too. Now the enemy has effective anti-tank means, we have to wait for the infantry to come up before continuing the attack."

Podoliskov looked at the village that was gradually going away and sighed: "Okay."

————

At 8 o'clock in the evening on November 3, the city of Roniezh, the headquarters of the First Front of Antekosalia.

The situation of the first day was almost summarized at this time. Pavlov concluded to Wang Zhong: "The increase in the density of enemy forces has indeed made our advancement difficult. In the areas guarded by elite troops, we only penetrated about one kilometer of the defense line on average."

Wang Zhong: "What about non-elite troops?"

"We made a breakthrough in the Moravian position, but soon encountered the second line of defense formed by the Prosen people. The situation was similar in other areas defended by the so-called "second-class citizens".

"The enemy took advantage of the lack of motorization of our artillery units, organized a defense line outside the coverage of our artillery fire, and used second-class troops and 'second-class citizen' troops to ensure that our artillery did not dare to advance boldly."

Pavlov said and thrust the report into Wang Zhong's hand.

"It's up to you to see."

Wang Zhong: "Sure enough, the Pulosen are an opponent that cannot be careless. They take advantage of the fact that our artillery is not motorized and use troops with weak combat effectiveness as a barrier, so that our artillery dare not follow up rashly and organize a strong defense outside the range of our artillery. "

The Maozi artillery force on Earth has never been motorized. It often uses dozens of pack horses, four 76mm anti-tank guns and supporting ammunition trucks.

Maozi's heavy artillery unit has never been equipped with trucks, and maintained a large number of mules and horses - just like Sandoku's artillery.

Therefore, it is not very kind for military fans to accuse Santoku of being the "Holy Mule and Horse Empire" all day long. In fact, in World War II, only the US military completely got rid of its dependence on mules and horses, and other countries relied on livestock.

Santoku also said that at least their anti-tank artillery unit had completed motorization - in order to keep up with the advance of the armored division and panzergrenadier division.

Of course, Ant's situation in this time and space has greatly improved. On the one hand, the losses in the early stage are not as exaggerated as those on Earth. A large number of BT7s have been retained. These tanks become tractors after removing the main guns and other things, and weld a grabber on the back. The hook can be used to tow the artillery.

Furthermore, the assistance from the United States of Time and Space was even more powerful. In the first two years, trucks and jeeps were basically sufficient. Although the supply began to be tightened in the third year, Wang Zhong's activity put the United States in a situation of "tightening the supply but then tightening the supply." Not fully tightened" state.

Although Ant didn't get any more tanks, planes and other weapons, the transport trucks still ate a lot.

Therefore, the artillery of the Zalia Front is fairly motorized.

But the problem is that the enemy has placed a bunch of second-class troops in front of the real line of defense. These troops are scattered on incomplete positions. Before these remnants are completely cleared, the artillery units without protection dare not rush in. .

The Prosen people seized this opportunity to organize defense.

Wang Zhong: "I bet that after our artillery catches up in a few days, the Pulosen will retreat."

Vasily: "Retreat? Aren't you going to defend to the end? Didn't the former 'running general' Shiplin go home to farm?"

Wang Zhong: "I just imagined that the Prosen people are the most difficult to fight. Vasily, you should know that if we continue to advance, we will enter the enemy's territory, right? The enemy has encountered supply problems in our territory. We are in the enemy's territory. You will also encounter it.

"Such as the issue of different railroad tracks."

The distance between Prosen and Melania's railroad tracks is different from the distance between Ant's railroad tracks.

Therefore, the supplies transported by train from Prosen have to stop at the Ante border, unload the goods, and then load the goods onto trains that can travel within the territory of Ante.

In this era, there was no equipment like that used in later generations at Seris Port to hoist the entire train and replace the running mechanism as a whole. The train could only be loaded and unloaded.

Therefore, the Prosin people's supply was so poor after entering Ant, not because of their logistical incompetence, but because of too many objective restrictions.

On the other hand, Ant's army rushed into the territory of Prosen and Melania, and they also had to face problems caused by different railway track standards.

Moreover, when supply was most difficult, Ant relied on local church organizations to mobilize a large number of civilians. These favorable conditions were lost when he went to the enemy's land.

Wang Zhong told Vasily all this.

Vasily: "But if we go straight to the Baltic Sea and the Oder River through Melania, will the Melania people help us?"

"Not necessarily. You have to remember that most of the Melania people who believe in the Eastern Holy Religion secular faction have gone to Ant and are now fighting in Melania's People's Army, while the guerrillas who are now fighting in Melania are Most of the team’s beliefs are different from ours.”

Wang Zhong stopped and hesitated for a moment whether to speak directly, but then he finally said: "Their headquarters is in the capital of the United Kingdom. It's hard to say whether they will fully support us. After all, the United Kingdom is, right? Their notorious The mainland’s balance strategy is so fucked up.”

"Europa is a troublemaker," Popov said. "Vasily, if you paid more attention to history, you wouldn't be unfamiliar with this nickname."

Vasily protested: "I'm not unfamiliar with it, I just didn't think about it that way."

The communications officer came in: "Report, weather forecast."

Pavlov went over to take the forecast and glanced at it: "Damn it, it said there might be heavy snow, and we found signs of a cold current heading south at the weather station in Kamchatka."

Wang Zhong: "Is it snowing heavily at this time? Shouldn't it start in December?"

"The weather forecast says so. If it snows heavily now, there may be big logistical problems." Pavlov looked at the entire battle line map. "We are okay, but the north is really terrible. In order to retake Navajo, they also launched In the second landing operation, it would be terrible if there was heavy snow in advance and the port was frozen, and the landing troops were trapped behind the enemy. "

Wang Zhong was silent for a few seconds and said: "General Dong treats everyone equally. In the past few times, we were just more adaptable to him than the Prosen people."

At this time, Emilia and two United States Army Aviation officers entered the headquarters and said to Wang Zhong: "Marshal Davarisi, these two liaison officers have something to ask you."

Wang Zhong: "Why did you call me Davarixi?"

"Is it possible to call you sister?" Amelia asked.

Wang Zhong: "No, just Davarich. So, as an officer of the United Kingdom, how can you be the introducer of the United Kingdom?"

"Because these two misunderstood our relationship." Emilia said angrily, "Don't worry about that reporter from Mike. He has gone beyond the limit in order to gain attention. I didn't even include tidbits in his reports. It’s so simple, I already have your child!”

Wang Zhong deliberately pretended to be surprised: "When? Oh, was it that time?"

"Asshole! I didn't get better even once! Why are you like this?"

Just teasing you.

Wang Zhong skipped this topic and looked at the two United States officers seriously: "So, what's the matter with you two?"

"We are preparing to launch a long-distance bombing campaign."

Wang Zhong: "Then just blow it up. No need to say hello to us. We are also using Pei-8 to bomb the large maintenance plants and train dispatching stations behind the enemy as much as possible."

"That's right, this time we plan to have the bombers land at Ant's airport after dropping bombs, replenish ammunition and rest, fly over Plosen at night, and bomb again.

"Our staff believes that this can greatly increase the number and efficiency of bomb drops."

Wang Zhong: "But it will tire the pilot to death."

"It doesn't matter. You may not understand the living arrangements of bomber pilots. They have many days to rest between bombings because the ground crew has to repair the aircraft."

Of course Wang Zhong knew this. After all, he relied on "Memphis Belle" and as a military fan, he knew the little knowledge that "you can go home after participating in 25 bombing missions."

A little research revealed that many crews of the Eighth Air Force had not participated in 25 bombing missions in one year of service.

A little math shows that the pilots have a lot of free time between bombings.

The officer of the United States continued: "So it is not a big problem to be tired during bombing, and the benefits are obvious. The number of bombs dropped in one day will double, and the damage to the Prosen Empire will also double."

Wang Zhong nodded.

He remembered that the Eighth Air Force on Earth had also carried out such bombings, and then he was surprised to find that the conditions at Maozi Airport were very poor, and that the Maozi Air Force did not have control of the air at all. Santoku's fighter jets came at the smell and bombed the parked area. Bomber airfield.

So this "leap bombing" plan was quickly stopped.

But now, this plan suddenly became executable. The Ant Air Force had recently taken control of most of the battlefield air supremacy. The Proson Air Force could only seize the opportunity to launch an attack while the Ant Air Force returned for supplies.

In this case, as long as the air force is allowed to attack the Plosen Air Force Base before the arrival of the Allied bomber group, it can cover the large group of aircraft and ensure their safety when they land in Ant.

Wang Zhong: "Okay, I agree with this plan. What do you need me to do? Just issue an order to the air force commander of the front army and ask him to assist you?"

"We also hope that you can mobilize the pilots." the United States liaison officer said.

"That's easy to say." Wang Zhong agreed. At this time, he saw the weather forecast he had been holding in his hand and reminded, "But it is likely to snow heavily here."

The United States liaison officer was an Army Air Corps officer himself, and he understood what Wang Zhong meant when he heard it: "Of course we will carefully confirm the weather conditions before executing the plan, so don't worry about this."

————

On the Plosen side, Army Group South Headquarters.

Marshal Mendel put down today's "Daily" and said to the Chief of Staff: "Considering our grassroots officers' habit of exaggerating the enemy's blows to themselves, Rokossov's progress today is minimal."

Chief of Staff: "The plan to build a second layer of positions outside the range of the enemy's artillery fire has worked. Next, we should counterattack at night to regain some positions as much as possible, so that the enemy's artillery will not dare to follow up tomorrow."

Marshal Mendel nodded: "That's it. By the way, didn't you say that the Imperial Academy of Sciences sent some night vision equipment? What do you mean by that equipment?"

Chief of Staff: "I assigned the 16th Panzer Grenadier Division to cooperate with the sent technical experimental unit 603, but the amount of equipment is too small. I personally think it is unlikely to be a big deal."

Mendel: "It doesn't matter, the key is to let the Ant people know that we have night fighting equipment, then Rokossov will have more worries - he taught us this trick, 'step by step', it's very impressive." "

At this time, the sound of grenades exploding was heard outside.

Of course, this was not a grenade, but a bomb dropped by an Ant Air Force night bomber.

There has been a legend among the Prosen troops that in order to carry more bombs on this small wooden biplane, the Ants simply threw hand grenades. The wooden aircraft that originally could only carry two small bombs could carry a sack of grenades at a time. , the explosion won't kill a few people, but it can cause panic wherever the plane passes.

Mendel pointed outside: "Can those night vision equipment deal with these aircraft first to see their strength?"

Chief of Staff: "Let me give them a call."

"No, it's better not to fight. The things the Imperial Academy of Sciences creates to please His Majesty are rarely reliable."

Chief of Staff: "The new tank-killing bazooka was well received in today's battle."

"That's a counterfeit Ant product!" Mendel suddenly raised his voice.

But he immediately suppressed his inner thoughts and sighed.

"Okay, let's launch a night attack first."