Arc of Gunfire

Two flowers bloom, one on each side.

On the 15th Division's side, not only the division commander, Major General Randolph, was lost, but several senior staff officers were also blamed for rescuing the general.

Had the division chief of staff not wisely chosen to leave in the opposite direction, the situation might have been even worse.

When the engine sound of the enemy tank faded away, the chief of staff got up from the ground and shouted: "General! General!"

The few staff officers who were still alive got up, checked the general's breathing and pulse, and then shook their heads at the chief of staff.

The chief of staff was speechless and looked in the direction of Loktov. At this time, because of the smoke grenades deployed by the guards, he could not see the city at all, nor could he see the fighting in the open space between the headquarters and the city.

Of course, now the chief of staff only needs to walk a few dozen meters more and walk outside the smoke to see the battlefield normally.

However, the Special 34 that had just raided left such a deep impression on the Chief of Staff that even though reason told him that the enemy was gone, he was still unwilling to leave the smoke screen.

"Is that General White Horse..." the chief of staff muttered in a low voice, but he immediately realized that he was now the temporary commander of the army, and he should not show off to the enemy with such a performance.

So he cleared his throat and put on a stern expression that he had never shown since putting on the staff armband: "Start to regroup the troops immediately. The attacking troops must have dispersed. Send messengers to gather them again.

"Everyone retreats to Kalinovka and sets up anti-tank gun positions. Also, let the artillery regiment retreat to prevent the enemy from coming out for sneak attacks at night."

The T-34 tank was so maneuverable that the chief of staff simply did not dare to leave the division's artillery in an unprotected place overnight.

After the order was passed on, the chief of staff asked again: "Where is the 513th Air Defense Artillery Regiment moving now? Their 88 guns are needed now!"

The surviving mapping staff immediately reported: "According to the map updated at noon today, the 513th Regiment has crossed the perimeter of Bogdanovka and is marching at full strength."

Chief of Staff: "Let them speed up! They must arrive tomorrow!"

————

When bus No. 422 drove into Loktov, the streets were already crowded with people.

Before the tanks entered the city, someone shouted "It's coming, it's coming", and then the deafening sound of urrahs was heard.

The crowd cheered as if the whole war had been won.

Wang Zhong shouted on the tank: "Don't gather together! What if the enemy fires artillery? The enemy has a 15-centimeter heavy artillery! Don't gather! Disperse! Go home!"

He didn't know that his attack had scared away the enemy's deployed artillery regiment.

After shouting five times, the crowd reluctantly dispersed.

Then a second lieutenant in a dusty uniform appeared and followed the tank.

"Stop." Wang Zhong patted the steel plate of the turret, and then heard the sound of the hammer hitting the control lever again - he was almost used to it, and he couldn't even hear it if he didn't pay attention.

Wang Zhong leaned over the turret and looked at the second lieutenant: "Are you from the 5th Beshensk Regiment?"

"Yes General."

"Where's your captain?"

"Sacrificed, I am now the commander. Give the order, general."

The joy of winning just faded away in an instant.

Wang Zhong bit his lip: "I know, what is your name?"

"Pavel Alexeevich, General."

Wang Zhong: "How many more of you are there?"

"81 were intact, and the rest were taken to the hospital by the stretcher team even if they were alive."

Wang Zhong: "Thank you for your hard work. I will let the Skitarii take over your defense area. You go to the train station and prepare to take the next train to retreat."

The second lieutenant was stunned when he heard this: "Don't you want us anymore? We can still fight."

Wang Zhong was speechless for a moment. He clearly wanted them to retreat and recuperate, but when Pavel said it, it was as if he had abandoned them.

Wang Zhong: "No such thing. I just..."

Second Lieutenant: "We can guard the station, we still have two machine guns, and we have captured a lot of equipment. Our technical equipment has never been as abundant as it is now! We can still fight, General!"

Wang Zhong was silent for a few seconds and replied: "I want you to shrink into a company and bring the smoke bombs captured by the enemy - are there smoke bombs?"

"Yes, a lot."

"Okay, bring smoke bombs, find a place to eat and drink, and sleep for three hours. When it gets dark, I want you to go out of the city to cover the workers repairing the tanks."

"no problem."

In fact, there shouldn't be any danger in this mission. The enemy is probably in chaos right now, so there shouldn't be any movement tonight.

Wang Zhong just didn't want these soldiers to feel abandoned.

Although the enemy has been repelled, there is still a lot to do tonight.

Wang Zhong said to the driver: "Drive back to Brigade Zhi, uh, do you know where Brigade Zhi is?"

"I don't know." Belyakov replied simply, "Should we go to you or should the sergeant major lead the way?"

Wang Zhong: "I'll show you the way. Go forward, drive to the intersection ahead and turn left."

————

When Wang Zhong entered the battle group headquarters - actually the brigade headquarters, Pavlov raised his head and said: "You can hear cheers three miles away from here, Your Excellency, General White Horse."

Wang Zhong: "I need to organize the workers in the auto repair shop to go out of the city to repair the tanks tonight. There are eight tanks that are just malfunctioning and can be repaired."

"Okay, there are still three hours before nightfall, and we should be able to organize it." Pavlov turned his head, "Sufang, go to the auto repair shop to find someone. They said they need a team of skilled workers in three hours."

Sufang nodded, then ran to the gate. When she passed by Wang Zhong, she stopped and smiled.

Wang Zhong:?

"War heroes will be favored by girls, it has always been like this." Pavlov said, "Is there anything else I can do?"

Wang Zhong: "I need to replenish ammunition and fuel. In addition, I need a lot of anti-aircraft camouflage nets and branches to hide my tanks. The enemy will definitely launch an air strike tomorrow, and the Stuka is a big threat to these tanks."

Pavlov: "Lyushenko! Order the Guardians to camouflage tanks!"

Wang Zhong: "Guardians?"

"The church handed over five Guardian battalions to us. They are all organized locals. They are poorly equipped, but they have enough bullets. They are just right for doing odd jobs. As for the shells, let me confirm that the guns on the tanks are the same as our 76 anti-tank guns, right?"

Wang Zhong was silent. This involved his blind spot in knowledge.

He is a military fan, but he is not hardcore enough to distinguish what kind of shells each artillery fires.

Although the caliber of the T34's L11 gun is indeed 76.2, the same as the ZIS-3 anti-tank gun, he really doesn't know whether the two use the same ammunition.

Pavlov waited for a few seconds and sighed: "Only at this time will I think of your previous rumors, General."

Wang Zhong: "My gunner is the instructor of the armored training team. He must know that I am right to send him to the military station headquarters to get the shells!"

"Indeed, let him do it."

Wang Zhong: "How are the casualties of the troops?"

When asking questions, he thought of the second lieutenant of the 5th Peshensk Regiment.

Pavlov stopped, took off his glasses, took out a glasses cloth and wiped them, without answering.

Wang Zhong: "Tell me, I'm ready."

"The wounded are still being looked for, but the living have been counted. After all, we can find out as long as we gather and report the number. There are still 611 people in the 31st Guards Regiment who can report the number. One-third of them are injured.

"I estimate that there are still hundreds of wounded people in the pile of dead bodies. It's hard to say how many can be cured and return to the team."

Wang Zhong pursed his lips: "The loss is so great."

Pavlov continued: "The good news is that the enemy's losses are greater. In the past, even if the enemy was the attacking party, the losses were lower than ours. This time they suffered."

Wang Zhong nodded: "This may be the only thing to be comforted."

"However, the enemy's losses are higher, most of which are caused by the tank troops you personally commanded. Including BT-7 and the T34 behind. The frontal minced meat enemy's losses still won. "

Wang Zhong: "The enemy is well-trained, I have fully understood this. "

"In addition, there is good news. Although position A was suppressed by enemy artillery fire, there is still one 203 gun left. We still have five 203 guns now, and we can give the enemy a big wave tomorrow."

Wang Zhong frowned: "Can we call for aerial reconnaissance to find the enemy's artillery positions? It has been seven days since we first saw our air force. The air force behind should be replenished, right?"

Pavlov: "You ask a brigade chief of staff this question? You should ask the chief of staff of the front, who can manage the air force. I..."

Before he finished speaking, an inquisitor came in with a telegram: "The latest order from the front headquarters."

Wang Zhong was stunned for a moment before he realized that his telegram was in the charge of a group of inquisitors. He stretched out his hand: "Give it to me."

After taking the telegram, he read it out loud: "The 63rd Army is expected to arrive in Loktov tomorrow afternoon. Your unit should try its best to delay the enemy. The information we have obtained shows that there may be a reorganized armored division of the enemy in front of your unit, plus part of an armored grenadier division.

"We believe that the enemy armored group is crossing Bogdanovka, and we expect your unit to be hit hard by armored vehicles tomorrow."

Wang Zhong looked up at Pavlov: "That's what they (the front) said."

Pavlov snorted: "What a 'timely' notification. Does the front know that if it weren't for the T34 sent by the crown prince, this place would have been lost? I guess they don't know."

Wang Zhong: "Then let's tell them!"

He turned to the judge and said: "The reply is as follows, please write it down!"

The judge immediately took out a notebook and pencil and prepared to record it.

Wang Zhong: "My unit suffered heavy losses today. If it weren't for the newly joined T34 troops - and the remnants of the 23rd Tank Army performed well, Loktov would have fallen. My unit urgently needs to replenish ammunition and personnel, especially armored forces and anti-tank technical weapons. In addition, my unit needs air force support, Alexei Konstantinovich Rokosov."

The judge wrote quickly, and only looked up at Wang Zhong after writing the last word.

Wang Zhong always felt as if something was missing. He thought for a while and said: "Please repeat it!"