Arc of Fire

Chapter 642: Chapter 84 Returning to Yarvik (Extra 32/81)

Wang Zhong’s small tank rolled directly onto Yarvik’s central avenue.

As he observed the state of the street, Wang Zhong sighed, “When we left, this was still a beautiful city, but look what it has become now.”

While he was reflecting, an Ante Infantry soldier ran over, trying to climb onto the tank. However, because the tank was surrounded by sloped surfaces, he failed to mount it despite several attempts.

Wang Zhong said, “There is wire on that side, which is there for you to step on when climbing the tank.”

This situation reminded him of something he had always overlooked before: like the Earth’s American Marine Corps, they should install a phone on the rear of the tank so the infantry could report situations simply by picking up the handset on the back of the tank. This would not only be more convenient but also safer for the infantry, as tanks generally face towards the dangerous areas.

He silently reminded himself to talk to Ke Jing about this suggestion the next time he saw him. Just then, the young warrior climbed up the tank and said to him, “General, there is an enemy anti-tank gun ambush around the left corner ahead, and there are already three of our tanks burning on the street ahead.”

Wang Zhong picked up binoculars, then switched to a downward viewpoint, and indeed saw Prosens occupying a four-story building, with an anti-aircraft gun position on the rooftop and a PAK40 anti-tank gun hidden in the basement. The gun was elevated on wooden planks, firing through the basement window.

After carefully observing the design of this stronghold, Wang Zhong marveled at the Prosens’ prowess in setting up a position. The placement of the anti-tank gun was such that even if it was detected, it would be difficult for tanks to destroy it with just a few shots.

He noticed that the balcony on the second floor of the building was directly above the basement window.

Perhaps it would be challenging to shoot a shell through the window, but it was very simple to collapse the balcony with a shell so it would fall and block the window, a task even a rookie gunner could accomplish.

The young warrior continued, “Our company commander has sent someone to call for that Suka assault gun, but the gun is several blocks away, and it takes a long time to reload after firing. General, do you think your unique tank can take out the enemy’s position?”

Wang Zhong put down the binoculars and looked at the young soldier, “What did you just say?”

"Assault gun a few blocks away

"The part after that.”

"Your unique tank

Wang Zhong frowned, “Is my tank not handsome?”

The young soldier was momentarily at a loss for words, “Uh… handsome… I guess?”

Wang Zhong said, “Don’t you know what ‘beauty in strength’ means? Fine, return the way you came, and tell your company commander to prepare to coordinate an attack with me. I will personally handle that enemy stronghold.”

"Okay!” With that, the young soldier turned around and lightly jumped down from the side of the tank.

After Wang Zhong confirmed that the young soldier was clear of the tank’s tracks, he ordered, “Start up, move forward! Remember to angle the tank when we turn the corner, there’s a PAK40 targeting the intersection.”

"You can tell by the destroyed T34 at the intersection,” the driver remarked.

The tank slowly accelerated, moving straight ahead until it was about to reach the intersection, then it turned, preparing to graze the corner. This way, regardless of where the enemy’s PAK40 anti-tank gun was located, it would face angled armor, making it impossible to hit the armor perpendicularly.

Well, Wang Zhong’s new tank didn’t have many vertical surfaces.

Especially since the enemy anti-tank gun was in the basement, firing from such a low position was likely to result in the shell ricocheting.

Wang Zhong climbed into the turret and closed the hatch cover. He didn’t need to literally peek out to see the surroundings, thanks to his external device.

The armored giant thus burst around the corner. Through his own eyes, Wang Zhong could identify the building housing the PAK40, but from the commander’s cupola, he couldn’t see the basement’s PAK40 anti-tank gun.

Geez, Wang Zhong thought, the enemy had a reason for placing their anti-tank gun there; under normal circumstances, without sticking out the head, a tank commander wouldn’t be able to see this anti-tank gun.

The sound of the gun firing rang out.

There was a clear ‘thump’ against the external armor.

Wang Zhong couldn’t see where the shell was deflected to, but he didn’t worry about it. Instead, he patted the gunner’s shoulder, “Turn the turret to the right. See the smoke from enemy gun fire?”

"I’m turning!”

Wang Zhong mentioned, “The smoke seems minimal; the enemy gun might be at a lower position. Dip the elevation gear a bit!”

Gunner Alexandria quickly complied, then shouted, “Found it, in the basement! Firing now!”

Before Wang Zhong could even say stop, Alexandria had already fired.

The shell flew directly through a window next to the basement. Good lord, Alexandria thought it was the window from which they fired!

Wang Zhong switched to a downward viewing angle. As soon as he switched, he saw the enemy fire another shot.

The shell grazed past the “turtle shell” of Wang Zhong’s tank and hit a church bell tower a hundred meters away.

Wang Zhong ordered, “Wait, stop firing at that basement window. When the enemy fires, all the basement windows generate smoke. Here’s an idea: elevate the barrel, see the second-floor balcony? Blast it down to block the window!”

Alexandria responded, “Okay!”

While he adjusted the elevation, the loader completed loading, shouting, “High-explosive shell, loaded!”

Then the enemy fired their third shell, clearly aiming for a weak spot; they targeted the coaxial machine gun port on the mantlet.

The shell hit, and although it didn’t penetrate, Wang Zhong heard a noise before something ricocheted back and forth inside the tank.

Finally, that thing scored a line across Wang Zhong’s face, scratching his cheekbone.

"Suka blyat!” Wang Zhong cursed, and instinctively touched it, grimacing in pain—although the wound didn’t feel deep, it seemed like some machine gun parts or screws had been dislodged by the enemy’s shell.

Just then, Alexandria fired. The high-explosive shell directly shattered the balcony, breaking it into many pieces that fell and tightly blocked the observatory windows.

Wang Zhong: “Good, keep aiming at the second floor, there’s a machine gun emplacement in the window!”

Just then, the enemy machine gun began its desperate sweep.

Alexandria: “I see it! If he hadn’t opened fire on his own, I would still be figuring it out!”

Loader: “High-Explosive Shell, ready!”

No sooner had the loader shouted than the gunner fired.

The window where the machine gun was located, and about seven or eight windows around it, blew out smoke and dust, the walls around the machine gun then collapsed entirely, and the building was left with a gaping circular hole. More bricks and debris fell to the ground, blocking the basement air vents even more.

At that moment, the rooftop anti-aircraft emplacement began firing at Wang Zhong’s tank.

Wang Zhong: “See if you can breach the building’s load-bearing columns and bring it down!”

"I’ll try, the left side has already been blasted, let me try the right!”

The turret turned a tiny angle to the right and, accompanied by the loader’s shout “High-Explosive Shell, ready”, the 100-gun roared again.

The shell hit the stairwell, hollowing out half of the building’s right side.

The next moment, the building collapsed towards Wang Zhong’s side, the roof came tumbling down along with the 20mm autocannon and the heavy machine gun set upon it, and with them, the Prosen soldiers fell too.

Immediately thereafter, a cheer erupted, and the Ante Warriors, previously hidden in other buildings, surged out of their shelters and attacked the crumbling Prosen stronghold.

At the same time, the machine guns assigned to the infantry platoon swept the building, revealing all the surviving Prosens as there were no walls left on this side of the building.

The infantry rushed forward instantly, giving the enemy’s remnants no chance to reorganize.

Wang Zhong patted Alexandria on the shoulder and then slapped the loader’s shoulder with his left hand: “Well done, guys! Well done!”

At that moment, someone knocked on the hatch, Wang Zhong looked down and saw it was the young warrior who had brought him news earlier.

He then opened the hatch and poked his head out: “What’s up?”

"The company commander says thank you, General, and he also says our mission is to advance to the train station as the spearhead platoon. Can you provide support?”

Wang Zhong: “Tell him to just follow me; I’ll take us directly to the train station.”

"Okay!”

The young warrior turned and ran.

Wang Zhong was watching the young warrior leave when he suddenly noticed someone watching him from across in the second-floor window.

He waved at the window, and it was abruptly shut.

Why? Could they be one of the locals who sided with the Prosens?

Given the size of Ante, it was not strange to find such people.

The next moment, the window opened again, and the lady who was there before had changed into a new dress and washed her face.

Now, more windows were open, and the people who stayed in the city were looking at Wang Zhong’s tank.

Most of the people who opened their windows were elderly, and some were young girls.

An elderly man shouted loudly: “General! Are you not leaving this time?”

Wang Zhong: “Yes, I’m not leaving this time.”

"Last time they all said that when Rocossov came, he would never leave, but you still left!”

Wang Zhong: “This time, I’m not leaving. We have already surrounded and annihilated six hundred thousand Prosens, capturing almost four hundred thousand.”

He almost mentioned that they would encircle tens of thousands more, but he held back since that was still confidential, not wanting to interfere with Vasily’s deception operations.

Wang Zhong: “The Prosens have failed. In this winter, I, Alexei Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, pledge to you with my honor and life, this city will not fall a second time, never again!”

After his words, the entire street fell silent, making the gunfire from nearby areas stand out more sharply.

Suddenly, someone threw confetti from a window.

"Reclaimed!”

People shouted.

More confetti flew, as if these people had been making confetti during the six months of occupation just for this moment.

Despite the intense gunfire around, people continued to celebrate the reclaiming.

"Reclaimed!”

Wang Zhong: “Folks, don’t rush to celebrate just yet, the enemy has not yet retreated! And we currently don’t have the capacity to cross the river, the enemy can still shell us from the other side! Folks! Stay off the streets! Don’t get too excited!”

He shouted for a while in vain when suddenly a mortar barrage landed on the street.

Wang Zhong immediately ducked inside the tank, while the celebrating crowd dispersed like birds and beasts.

Yet Wang Zhong still felt exhilarated.

"I’m back, Yarvik!”

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