Arc of Gunfire

For the Prosen Army, 1 hour before the attack was launched.

Major General Franz put down the telescope and praised: "The 513th Regiment has expanded very quickly. As long as it successfully lures the enemy later, it will definitely achieve good results."

Then he turned to the other side and used his binoculars to observe the position of the artillery battalion equipped with the PAK38 fifty-millimeter anti-tank gun under the 24th Army.

After a minute, Major General Franz put down the telescope: "Very good, this will form a crossfire, and the enemy's new tanks will be destroyed no matter what kind of monster they are!"

As he said that, he turned around and said, "We just need to retreat to the back and wait for the Ant army who wants to steal the credit to rush over."

After taking two steps, Major General Franz stopped and had some new ideas. He turned around and said, "Is the communication vehicle carrying the 15th Division still there? Remove the personnel and put the communication vehicle and other vehicles here!"

As he spoke, he pointed to the 120 highlands at his feet.

"Make this look like a headquarters!"

The major general's order was quickly implemented. All the armored command vehicles from the original 15th Division headquarters were driven to the high ground, and the personnel were withdrawn, leaving only the vehicles.

Franz's adjutant was watching from the side. At this time, he finally couldn't help but come up and said: "These are almost all the radio equipment belonging to the 15-unit headquarters. If they are damaged, they will not be able to replace them for a while. The command and communication capabilities of the 15-unit It will be a big discount.”

Franz: "But if we can eliminate the enemy's war heroes, it is worth it. Think about our offensive operations along the way. Although we encountered some heroic resistance troops, in most places, the enemy was defeated in front of us. !

"Now the enemy's resistance has increased significantly. In the encircled Bogdanovka, there are still troops continuing to fight. The Sixth Army has to clear out the enemy house by house!

"At times like this, it is even more important to attack the enemy's morale! No matter whether this Rokossov is General White Horse or General White Eagle, we must destroy him!"

Major General Franz habitually hit his palms with his riding crop.

"As long as the armored force completes its task of luring the enemy, the enemy without its commander will become a mess, and we can take the opportunity to capture Loktov. When there is a railway, wouldn't it be easy to add some radio command vehicles?"

In fact, after such a battle, the 15th Division had to stop and rest.

Franz looked at the acting commander of the 15th Division and showed a gloomy smile.

————

As soon as Tank No. 422 arrived at the bunker, the enemy appeared on the horizon.

Wang Zhong immediately observed the enemy's situation from a different perspective.

Looking at him, his brows knitted into knots: "There are so few accompanying infantry?"

If it were from a normal person's perspective, it would probably not be obvious. After all, when viewed from the front, the infantry were blocked by tanks.

But Wang Zhong's bird's-eye view can also light up the enemy, making it clear at a glance.

With such a small number of accompanying infantry, it doesn't look like they are going into the city to "grind meat" at all. Instead, it seems like "if there are no accompanying infantry, their flaws will be seen, so let's do it casually."

Wang Zhong frowned.

At this moment, he remembered that in the history of Earth's wars, Santoku once used armored forces to pretend to retreat, lured T34 to pursue them, and then used an 88mm anti-aircraft gun to launch an ambush.

Could it be that the Prosens also adopted this tactic?

No matter what, Wang Zhong decided to fire first, regardless of whether the enemy was a lure, and get the results first.

So he raised his hand - and then he remembered that no one could see him raising his hand at this time. The T34 commanders' eyes were all on the gun mirror, aiming at the target.

He could only put down his hand in embarrassment and order over the radio: "Fire!"

The next moment, all platoon commanders' cars with radios opened fire.

Other tanks heard the sound of gunfire and then opened fire. Half the regiment's T34 completed a salvo.

The shells crossed a scorched plain and hit four No. 3s.

The enemy also opened fire, but the T34 was already well-armored and now had sandbags as cover.

Proson's crew's accurate shots hit the target 80% of the time, but all the shells bounced off and hit the brick wall behind the tank bunker.

The enemy tank did not waver and stayed in place, continuing to target the T34 in the bunker.

At this time, Vasily's voice came from the static noise of Wang Zhong's headphones: "The enemy is shouting for another round! I feel something is wrong!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the tanks on both sides opened fire at the same time - obviously the enemy's 50mm cannon loaded faster.

Three more Panzer III tanks were billowing smoke.

Then the enemy started firing smoke grenades, and the infantrymen who had just been hiding behind the tank also threw smoke grenades, which helped block the T34's vision in the bunker.

Wang Zhong was speechless. At this time, he was sure that the enemy was luring him.

————

In Car No. 213, the commander shouted: "The enemy has retreated! They released smoke to interfere with our vision!"

Loader Alexey stuffed a shell into the barrel: "Then what are you waiting for? Rush out and destroy all the enemies! We can drive straight in, destroy the enemy's headquarters, and then blow up the artillery position!"

"No!" the commander shouted, "We have to wait until the platoon leader's car rushes over before we can rush! The platoon leader's car can hear the general's orders!"

Alexey pursed his lips. The boss was unhappy, as if someone had snatched the medal away from his chest.

————

Wang Zhong took out the map at this time, turned sideways, and spread the map on the top of the turret.

Wang Zhong had personally surveyed the terrain outside the city to Kalinovka before. Last night when the skitarii and engineers went out to lay mines, Wang Zhong confirmed the terrain again.

Now he knew everything about the outside of Loktov.

Looking at the various signs he drew on the map during the investigation, Wang Zhong muttered: "If it was an ambush by the Eighth-Eight Artillery, it should be here!"

A good ambush position should ensure several conditions: first, have a very good vision; second, have woods and the like to provide cover; third, have a retreat path.

Referring to these three conditions, Wang Zhong found several suitable locations on the map.

However, considering the retreat direction of the enemy tanks, Wang Zhong finally locked three positions.

He climbed out of the turret with the map and jumped to the ground, ran into the house next to the bunker, and picked up the temporary phone he had set up before.

This house not only has a telephone, but also an artillery mirror. This was originally an artillery observation post, and two artillery school cadets were on duty inside.

When the students saw Wang Zhong coming in, they immediately saluted.

"Take a break!" Wang Zhong said casually, picked up the phone, "Answer the artillery position!"

There was one artillery piece that survived in position A before, so today Wang Zhong simply put the two groups of artillery together, preparing to fire together tomorrow to give the enemy a little heavy artillery shock.

"Artillery position?" Wang Zhong lowered his head to check the position marked on the map and read out the coordinates. "Immediately launch an attack at the following three coordinates... and shoot a salvo at each coordinate."

"Three targets?" The artilleryman asked after hearing the coordinates, "Are you going to hit all three targets? They are far apart!"

No, not far, just enough to form a crossfire, Wang Zhong thought to himself.

Wang Zhong raised his voice: "That's right, hit all three targets!"

It would be great if the heavy artillery could take out the enemy's 88mm gun, so that in the future we would only have to worry about 50mm guns like the PAK38.

If I remember correctly, the 75 mm caliber PAK40 anti-tank gun will not be sent to the front line until November. It is a weapon that can effectively contain the T34 and KV1.

The artilleryman in the earpiece checked the launch coordinates again. After confirming, he said: "We will fire right away, general! But... what is this?"

Wang Zhong: "I speculate that the enemy's anti-tank gun positions are at these locations. The tanks in front of the enemy are pretending to surrender. I think this may be a trick to lure the enemy."

The artilleryman was shocked: "You... ordered us to attack these places based on your feelings?"

"No, I have personally conducted reconnaissance before. These places are very suitable for setting up anti-tank gun positions."

If you play the game "Steel Division", Wang Zhong will definitely arrange his anti-tank guns at these three points.

I just don’t know if General Proson on the opposite side will “see the same thing as the hero”.

Wang Zhong, a military fan, might have something he hasn't considered. The Prosen officer corps is more professional.

But you have to give it a try, right? After all, no one knows how many days these cannons can be kept. Maybe Proson's air force will come in the afternoon and blow these cannons into the sky.

In this case, it's better to seize the time and fire a cannon, blast him!

If you don't win, at least you have momentum.

Wang Zhong: "After binding the various elements, let's fire!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone and ran back to the tank.

Gunner Alexander asked: "Why not pursue it directly? The enemy seems to be at the end of his strength."

Wang Zhong: "This is to lure the enemy. The enemy is preparing to sneak attack us with 88mm anti-aircraft guns from behind."

"What?"

Wang Zhong continued to explain: "Don't you think there were very few infantry accompanying you just now?"

Alexander shook his head: "No, no, no, we can't see the accompanying infantry at all. They may have fallen down when the fighting started."

Wang Zhong emphasized again: "The enemy is accompanied by very few infantry! I think this is a way to lure the enemy. I have called 203 artillery fire to hit the possible positions of the enemy's anti-tank guns."

Alexander was speechless: "You were so reckless yesterday, why are you so steady today? You were so scared after being so reckless yesterday?"

"I've always been rough and yet delicate!"

After Wang Zhong said this, he realized: Am I Zhang Fei?

At this time, there was the sound of cannon fire from behind, followed by the roar of cannonballs passing over everyone's heads.

Alexander: "It really hit... Will it be a waste of 203 ammunition? I heard that there are not many 203 shells left!"

Wang Zhong said confidently: "Just wait and see, the enemy will have a good drink!"

————

When General Franz heard the whistling of artillery shells, the adjutant threw him to the ground with a flying jump.

Franz cursed: "What are you doing? This shell will obviously not land here! You will know it by hearing the roar!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a large artillery shell fell on the position where the PAK38 50mm anti-tank gun crew was ambushed. In the blink of an eye, a PAK38 battery gun and the gunner on the position were sent into the sky.

Franz stared dumbfounded at the dust cloud that looked like a torpedo exploding in the water.

He immediately reacted from the shock: "It's the heavy artillery of 203! The enemy has an observation team around!"

He made the same judgment as his junior brother!

But the landing points of the next few shells clearly deviated from the anti-tank gun position.

For this accuracy, either the enemy's observation team is too poor, or - or it's just a fool's errand!

Franz's scalp was numb: "That White Horse General, he has scouted the terrain and knows where to place anti-tank guns!"

The Junker nobleman concluded that this was the work of General White Horse without any reason.

Franz: "Let the air defense battalion leave the position! If we are fooled, we won't just attack here!"

At this time, the roar came again.

The second wave of shells landed near the hedge on the west side of Hill 120.

Franz was even more certain: "This is also a suitable place to deploy anti-tank guns! Retreat quickly! Let the anti-aircraft artillery regiment retreat quickly! The third wave is coming!"

Major General Franz yelled, forcing the communications staff to shout in plain language on the walkie-talkie: "513th Regiment! The general wants you to leave the place!"

The call was still effective. The 513th Regiment began to close the deployed hoe of the 88th Artillery. Although they moved very quickly, in order to stabilize the artillery, this thing was as rigid as the character of the Prossen, and the closing movement was not fast. stand up.

The sound of shells breaking through the air was heard.

The anti-aircraft artillery soldiers who were still stationed at the hoe spread out and lay down, and even the artillerymen on the vehicle got out of the car and got into the bottom of the vehicle.

203 landed!

The first four shots all missed, and only the last shot hit the ammunition truck of the 513th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion.

An orange-red fireball rose from the ground, and then the fireball turned into a mushroom cloud.

That is to say, no one has seen mushroom bombs in this era, otherwise they would be crazy.

Major General Franz stared at the mushroom cloud with his mouth open, and angrily read out the name: "Alexey Konstantinovich Rokosov! Damn you!"