Arc of Fire

After the third shell fell, Wang Zhong furrowed his brows, “This can’t keep happening without a response.”

He picked up the phone receiver, “Connect me to Brother Peter.”

Soon, Brother Peter’s voice came through, “No enemy planes scouting, feel free to counterattack.”

Wang Zhong asked, “Then can you hear the enemy’s artillery fire?”

“The curvature of the earth will block the sound of gunfire; you know the earth is round, right?”

Wang Zhong replied, “Although I graduated last in my class, I still know that much.”

“There you go. If there are clouds in the sky that reflect the sound of gunfire, I can indeed hear it, but I would only know the direction, not the distance. Do you see any clouds in the sky now?”

Wang Zhong picked up the phone, went to the window, and looked out, indeed seeing that the sky was clear, with the moon and stars scattered, devoid of clouds.

At that moment, Nelly came in with a broom and dustpan, “Move aside, I need to sweep up the broken glass.”

Wang Zhong quickly got out of the way, glanced at Nelly, then continued speaking to Brother Peter, “Sorry for the trouble, please continue to monitor the enemy scouts.”

After hanging up the phone, Wang Zhong returned to the map and threw the receiver onto the table.

Popov asked, “Send out a night reconnaissance team?”

Wang Zhong replied, “We have no field telephones, and reconnaissance would need to return to report any findings. No, I think we can try to hit Xu Jin with an artillery barrage along the road.”

Pavlov countered, “What if the enemy has stopped in a village this time, wouldn’t that be a waste of ammunition? Although we still have two base supplies, given today’s rate of ammunition consumption, we won’t last long.”

Wang Zhong felt, “I believe the enemy is still transporting on the road. Judging by the intensity of the attacks coming from Duke Meishikin today, our pressure tomorrow will be greater. Disrupting enemy transport is good too.”

Pavlov pursed his lips and remained silent for a few seconds before saying, “You’ve convinced me, General.”

Wang Zhong said, “Telephone! You make the call, after all, you are the chief of staff.”

“Sure!” Pavlov had just picked up the receiver when he suddenly sensed something amiss, looking up at Wang Zhong, “What do you mean I’m the chief of staff? Is there a hidden meaning in your words?”

Wang Zhong deflected, “It’s just your imagination, make the call!”

————-

At the bunker of the 153rd Highland, Fifth Biesensk Regiment’s headquarters,

Colonel Eugene entered the bunker covered in dirt and took a seat with a thud.

Captain Andrei asked, “What about Misha?”

Colonel Eugene glanced at Captain Andrei, “He’s gone. He shouldn’t have come out with me. I’m someone who has survived three mining accidents! Three times!”

As he spoke, Colonel Eugene took off his cap and began to twist it violently in his hands as if trying to crush it into a ball.

“I’ve survived three mining accidents! I even organized rescue operations for two of them! Shells can’t do anything to me! Misha… the boy… he didn’t have such luck.”

Just then, the colonel saw Olof and changed the subject, “The tank operators have all entered the bunker, Captain. They’re alright; the shelters I dug will definitely hold!”

Olof nodded and placed his hand on the colonel’s shoulder.

Lowering his head, the colonel continued to twist the cap, “He never got the Imperial Guard cloak he longed for, never got the cloak.”

Olof was about to offer words of comfort when the sound of artillery fire came from behind.

Olof turned and quickly stepped out of the bunker, looking towards the southeast. The artillery regiment of the 151st Division was well-concealed, and even at night, there was no visible flash from firing, but the thundering sound was clear. ȒАＮȰʙĘŝ

Colonel Eugene also rushed out of the bunker, standing beside Olof, slapping the abused hat against the walls of the trench, “Good! Hit them! Hit them hard! Send them all the way back to Prosen!”

————-

In the Prosen Army, at the headquarters of the Amprah Armored Division.

Hearing the blast, acting division commander Kluge immediately left his tent to look in the direction of the explosions.

The duty officers also emerged from the armored command vehicle, and Kluge shouted, “What was that explosion? What new thing has that damned enemy discovered about us?”

An officer replied, “No reports received!”

“Then go and ask, quickly!”

Several officers returned to the command vehicle.

Kluge watched the rising dust clouds in the distance with a worried expression.

Ten minutes later, an officer reported, “The enemy’s Xu Jin artillery barrage is advancing along the road.”

“What?” Kluge exclaimed in shock, “Tell the artillery brigade to retreat quickly!”

“They are already retreating, but because of your order, they continue firing, so the withdrawal speed is… not very fast.”

Another officer came out, “The artillery brigade has ordered the ammunition vehicles to retreat first, and the crew has left the cannons to seek shelter from the barrage.”

Kluge scolded himself, “Who ordered them to keep firing? It was me, dammit!”

As he spoke, he slapped himself hard on the face, “It was my own damned order!”

Another officer came out, hesitated at seeing Kluge’s temper flare and didn’t dare report.

Kluge demanded, “What’s the issue? Speak up!”

The third officer reported, “The 23rd Armored Division is on the move as ordered, towards us… they are on the road. And behind them is the 12th Armored Grenadier Division…”

Kluge exclaimed, “No! Get off the road! Tell the troops behind to get off the road! Forget how many motor hours you have left, get off the road!”

Motor hours usually refer to the continuous operating time of an engine before maintenance is needed.

“`

However, maneuvering through the field off the highway not only greatly increases the rate of mechanical failures, but it also accelerates the consumption of engine hours.

As soon as Kluge finished speaking, a staff officer immediately ran towards the radio vehicle.

It was then that Kluge realized, “Which divisions are moving toward us?”

“The 23rd Armored Division, the 12th Armored Infantry Division. Besides, the Second Armored Cluster Command is also moving toward us, but they’re not taking the main roads, they’re coming from the northwest on small paths.”

Kluge: “And what about frontline command authority? When will I lose command authority?”

“We have not yet received any orders, nor have we been notified of assuming command over the 23rd Armored and the 12th Armored Infantry.”

Kluge: “Nonsense! How are we supposed to organize tomorrow’s attack?”

The staff officers looked at each other, then the highest-ranking one answered, “We don’t know.”

————

In Orachi, the counterattack began five minutes ago.

Wang Zhong looked at the ceiling, “Did they stop shelling us with cold artillery?”

Pavlov glanced at his watch, “It’s been five minutes since they fired, it stopped. Damn, you won the bet again.”

As he spoke, he patted Wang Zhong on the shoulder.

Popov: “In the future, will the Prussian Army establish a regulation that artillery positions can’t be set up in towns or along highways?”

Wang Zhong: “Possibly. The future trend in artillery is motorization, which would then actually require deployment on highways.”

This was Wang Zhong’s experience from “War Game Red Dragon,” where during 1V1 ranked games, both sides kept close watch on enemy artillery positions, hence self-propelled artillery had to be placed on roads to quickly maneuver following a firefight, or else they’d be caught by enemy counterfire.

Towed artillery, the kind that’s inconvenient to move, was completely obsolete.

But whether game experience would be of much use in reality was another question.

Pavlov: “Self-propelled artillery, huh.”

Popov: “Looks like we’ll finally get a good night’s sleep.”

Wang Zhong: “Have the casualty numbers from the troops come in yet?”

“Not yet, the shelling caused some chaos, it might take another half-hour to reach us.” Pavlov looked at his watch, “You should go rest. You’ve been running around the front lines all day today. If the soldiers don’t see you at the front tomorrow, they will start imagining things, dealing a fatal blow to morale.”

Wang Zhong thought for a moment and realized Pavlov had a point. He was indeed exhausted today, having ridden his horse around since the early morning, and later in Tank 422 as well, feeling so fatigued like lead was poured into him that it wouldn’t be surprising if he collapsed at any moment.

“Then I’ll go rest. Nelly!”

Nelly immediately responded, “The bed is already made, but I’m not sure if you can sleep after the recent shelling. I’ll go check, wait a moment.”

Having said that, Nelly quickly left.

Wang Zhong yawned deeply.

Popov: “You better sleep quickly, maybe you should call Ludmila back to help you sleep more soundly.”

“Please, spare me.” Wang Zhong revealed a wry smile, “Under these conditions, asking for my ‘public grain’ is just poking fun at me, isn’t it?”

“Who’s asking for your ‘public grain’? I meant, you should rest well in the tender harbor of your loving wife.”

Wang Zhong: “I’d rather choose to sleep like a baby in the embrace of my mother. Do you understand what I mean by a mother’s embrace? Ludmila is indeed virtuous, capable of doing everything that a mother can, but she has more of a young girl’s feel, lacking in maternal radiance.”

Pavlov: “What about Nelly then? She seems quite like your nanny.”

Wang Zhong was taken aback and looked at the staff chief who had a bear-like stature and was somewhat balding, “Nelly? Maternal? Are you sure?”

“I just said she’s like a nanny. Look at all the jobs she’s doing.”

Popov: “That’s what an orderly does, it’s all the same.”

As they spoke, Nelly came in, “The bed’s ready, I’ve also warmed some water for you. I can help you wipe down before you sleep. It can help relieve fatigue.”

Wang Zhong stared at Nelly.

For a moment, he truly felt a “mother-like” glow radiating from Nelly.

But that was ultimately an illusion.

Pavlov nudged Wang Zhong, “Go on, General. Have a good rest after wiping down.”

Wang Zhong nodded and followed Nelly out of the command post.

Popov looked at Pavlov, “Aren’t you taking an orderly with you?”

“I have an orderly; the old man who made tea for me this morning is my butler,” Pavlov said.

Popov: “I see. No wonder the coffee tasted so good.”

“It was tea,” Pavlov corrected.

Just then, the phone suddenly rang.

Pavlov: “At this hour?”

Although puzzled, he still answered the phone, “Division headquarters, Pavlov speaking. What? When was this heard? Alright, I’ll head to the sanctuary with the regiment commander immediately.”

After hanging up, Pavlov looked at Popov, “The choral heard a hymn from St. Ye Katerina Fortress, for us. And the other side is still in a state of hymnal, so we can communicate with them.”

Popov stood up, “Then we must hurry over, this state won’t last long.”

Pavlov turned to a staff officer and shouted, “Go get the regiment commander down here!”

“`

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