Arc of Fire

Chapter 52

Wang Zhong galloped on horseback, charging out of the village.

Most of the machine gun fire was on the second floor, which is why Wang Zhong wasn't shot down by friendly forces.

As he rushed toward Seryozha's crew, a shell from an enemy tank was deflected by Vehicle 67, knocking off Wang Zhong's hat.

Wang Zhong couldn't care less about that, shouting as he rode at full speed: "Enemy planes are coming! Get moving!"

By now, the roar of engines was already overhead, and Wang Zhong looked up to see the dark silhouettes of enemy aircraft against the setting sun.

Wang Zhong: "Get moving! Head toward the belly of the enemy planes! This model of Stukas locks its rudder hard during a dive, making it tough to hit a moving target!"

However, Seryozha's crew didn't react at all!

Seryozha was still following protocol, staying inside the tank turret during combat, and with the tank's own mechanical roar, he likely couldn't hear Wang Zhong's shouts at all.

Wang Zhong had never hated the Ante Empire's terrible radio technology as much as he did now.

He glanced at the enemy planes in the sky, feeling that the infamous Stuka death dive sound would ring out any moment.

At that moment, he noticed an infantryman nearby carrying captured smoke shells and shouted: "Give me the smoke shells!"

That infantryman turned out to be Sergeant Major Grigori, who, upon hearing Wang Zhong's yell, unhooked the ammo belt with smoke shells and threw it with pinpoint accuracy onto Bucephalus's saddle.

Wang Zhong pulled out a smoke shell, yanked the pin, and held it in his hand, but in his haste, he held it upside down, and the smoke sprayed downward, covering his face.

He quickly tossed the smoke shell away and pulled out a new one.

Then he tugged on the reins, making Bucephalus run into the wind, attempting to use the smoke to cover Vehicle 67.

As a veteran War Thunder player, Wang Zhong knew how hard it was to "spot enemies" from the air, especially since smoke in reality moves with the wind; if the battlefield was full of smoke, enemy planes could only drop bombs blindly.

Amid the chaos, a Prossenian soldier suddenly emerged in front of Wang Zhong!

The enemy was startled to see the white horse, hesitating for a moment before thinking to open fire, only to be kicked back into the smoke by Bucephalus.

Wang Zhong hadn't even reacted yet; at that moment, he hadn't switched to an overhead perspective, so he didn't realize the enemy had gotten this close!

Didn't pulling smoke like this just help the enemy get closer to the tank?

He quickly switched to an overhead perspective to confirm the positions of nearby enemies.

With this overhead view, he noticed the enemy planes were already directly above, circling.

Could it be that the enemy's radio technology was so advanced that they could coordinate between air and ground, and the planes knew the biggest threat below was a heavy tank?

Were they not dropping bombs because they weren't sure where the heavy tank was?

As the saying goes, speak of the devil; Wang Zhong saw a ground infantry officer pull out a flare gun and fire it toward Vehicle 67's position.

A red signal flare arced through the sky, falling toward Vehicle 67.

Ground guidance as well! Was this really an army from the Operation Barbarossa era?

Wang Zhong could see it so clearly from his overhead perspective, and naturally, the enemy planes saw it too.

He watched as the enemy planes rolled into a dive posture.

The infamous screech of the Stukas tore at Wang Zhong's eardrums.

Just at that moment, Vehicle 67 started moving, though it wasn't clear if it was because the smoke blocked their line of sight and they couldn't hit anyone, or if they heard the "death screech."

In any case, it started moving.

Seeing this, Wang Zhong pulled on the reins and turned around to flee; he had done everything he could, and now it was up to the crew's fate.

With the first massive explosion, Wang Zhong clearly felt the wind blowing from behind him.

This was followed by a series of deafening blasts; just from the sound, Wang Zhong felt that Vehicle 67's crew was done for.

Switching to overhead view, he indeed saw Vehicle 67 stopped, stalled on the vast plain, with several large bomb craters visible from the air nearby.

The enemy planes that had completed their bombing run were pulling up, seemingly planning to find an angle to drop the 50KG "small melons" still hanging under their wings.

Though 50KG is considered small for aerial bombs, to ground troops, one of those things was like a gas canister; even if you were lying on the ground, the shockwave could still leave you severely wounded.

At that moment, Wang Zhong saw Sergeant Major Grigori leading submachine gunners forward, using the bomb craters from the aerial attack as cover to protect Vehicle 67.

Wang Zhong remembered that he had previously ordered this group to defend the heavy tank at all costs and eliminate any approaching enemies.

Even if they didn't know whether the tank had been destroyed, this order was being faithfully executed.

The only good news was that the blast from the 500KG bomb had dispersed the smoke, giving Grigori's squad clear visibility to leverage the firepower advantage of their submachine guns.

The enemy infantry charging forward only had sergeants equipped with submachine guns, so they were naturally at a disadvantage in a firefight.

Suddenly, a wooden-handled grenade was thrown toward the crater.

Sergeant Major Grigori tossed his submachine gun aside, caught the grenade, and threw it back.

The explosion flipped the Prossenian who had thrown it.

But taking advantage of the pause in submachine gun fire, more grenades were thrown over!

Sergeant Major Grigori drew his entrenching tool and, like playing badminton, smacked the grenades back one by one.

There it was, the Slavic Superman! An Astartes Primarch!

At that very moment, the completely silent engine of Vehicle 67 spewed out a thick plume of smoke.

The enemies who had been swarming forward stopped as if they'd seen a ghost, staring in terror at the reviving steel beast.

The coaxial machine gun on the turret fired, tracer rounds shattering the enemy's last bit of morale.

But!

The Stukas circled back!

Wang Zhong had just reached a machine gun firepower point near the village edge and shouted: "Fire at the sky! There's no visibility on the ground anyway!"

The ground was full of smoke, making it hard for the machine gun to be effective.

The gunner immediately turned the barrel, only to find the elevation angle wasn't enough. At that moment, a Private First Class hoisted the machine gun's bipod, lifting the muzzle higher.

The machine gunner opened fire immediately.

Tracer rounds futilely tried to stop the swarm of planes.

Just then, a rocket rose from the ground, its tip shining like the morning star in the light of the setting sun.

Divine Arrow!

The enemy's lead plane frantically tried to evade, but the Divine Arrow turned and chased it down, dragging thick smoke and flames as it crashed to the ground.

The remaining enemy planes, unsure how many more Divine Arrows there were, immediately turned to disengage, diving to ultra-low altitude and speeding away.

At that moment, a signal flare rose from the hilltop.

A yellow signal flare.

Yesterday, when the enemy ceased their attack, Wang Zhong had seen a similar signal flare.

This should be the signal to stop the assault.

Sure enough, the Prossenian infantry began to retreat.

----

Schlieffen couldn't actually see the situation ahead; his visibility was completely blocked by smoke.

But he clearly heard the tank engine, which had stopped for a moment, roar back to life.

"The enemy tank is still operational!" he shouted into the radio, "Eagle, Eagle, I request a second attack! Use your 50-kilogram bombs!"

"Alright, this time we see the enemy tank. Have the infantry pull back further," the lead plane responded confidently from the other end of the transmission, "It's time to show some real skill."

As the saying goes, speak of the devil; a rocket rose into the sky.

Schlieffen: "Enemy Divine Arrow launched!"

"I see it, Valhalla protect us!"

Then the communication cut off, and Schlieffen watched as the lead plane, trailing thick smoke and flames, plummeted to the ground, with no pilot parachuting out.

The other planes scattered like frightened birds, diving to low altitude and retreating westward.

Major Franz: "Damn it, the air force is as unreliable as ever."

With that, he turned around, and before he could speak, Major Schlieffen said: "Let's retreat."

Major Schlieffen glanced at the sky and continued: "It's getting dark. We have no way to deal with the enemy's heavy tank. In Carolingian, we used 88mm anti-aircraft guns against their B1 heavy tanks. The anti-air battalion should arrive tomorrow."

----

Wang Zhong rode his white horse, standing at the village entrance.

The setting sun cast a blood-red hue over the entire plain.

Bucephalus, after continuous galloping and even kicking an enemy away, was surprisingly only slightly sweaty and not even panting heavily.

The enemy had retreated-did that mean the mission was complete?

There were still two hours until eight o'clock; given the enemy's current state, they probably wouldn't attack again, right?

Wang Zhong decided to take advantage of the enemy's lack of fighting spirit and move forward to get a clearer look; if the enemy's losses were significant enough, they likely wouldn't attack again today.

He lightly kicked the horse's flank, and Bucephalus, as if an extension of himself, immediately understood, walking toward the setting sun.

The wind swept across the battlefield, ruffling Wang Zhong's hair.

----

Through his binoculars, Schlieffen saw the officer who had provoked them earlier that morning reappear on his white horse.

Facing the setting sun, he assumed the posture of a victor.

Schlieffen gritted his teeth so hard they clicked.

"That bastard! Aim the infantry guns at him! Blast him to pieces!"

"Major, the infantry guns are out of ammo!"

"Then use the mortars!"

"Mortars can't hit with that kind of precision!"

"Then use a machine gun! Get me a sharpshooter machine gunner!"

"Our best machine gunners have all been killed, Major!"

"Bring my command vehicle! I'm going to ram him to death myself!"

"Major, please calm down!"

----

Wang Zhong glanced curiously at the chaotic enemy, but he had no interest in delving deeper since his objective was already achieved-confirming that the enemy had suffered heavy losses and lacked the ability to continue their attack. It was time to retreat.

If it weren't for Bucephalus's bravery today, kicking the enemy soldiers away, he might have already been dead.

Wang Zhong reflected seriously, deciding that he must be more cautious about preserving his life in the future.

Thinking back, when he rushed out earlier to cover the tank with smoke, he surprisingly felt not even a shred of fear.

Wang Zhong couldn't help but recall a time from his childhood when an old lady came to his school to give a speech.

The old lady was a medic who had earned three major merits in her role (before the restructuring, merits were only classified as major or minor). She self-deprecatingly said, "Looking back now, I find it incredible. The old me didn't even know what fear was.

"Now, when I'm on the street and see a pickpocket, I worry if he might have a knife or accomplices.

"That kind of courage from back then seems to have left me forever. Maybe it's because the dreams of those days have already been fulfilled!"

As she spoke, the old lady smiled brightly.

"That kind of courage from back then"-now Wang Zhong understood what "kind" of courage it was.

Even though he had already crossed into another world, he felt a connection with the predecessors from his original timeline. What a strange feeling.

With such thoughts in mind, Wang Zhong returned to Vehicle 67, looking at Seryozha, who was bandaging his wounds. "How is it?"

Seryozha smiled. "Still alive. We're all alive. But this old buddy is down for the count."

He patted the top armor of the turret.

Wang Zhong: "Can it be fixed? We're retreating at eight tonight."

Seryozha shook his head. "Can't fix it. The spare parts we brought were destroyed in the blast. The engine still turns for now, but who knows when it'll give out. We can only rotate the turret manually now."

Wang Zhong's chest suddenly tightened.

He had a vague premonition that something was about to happen.

Seryozha spoke up. "We'll stay here and hold off the enemy, fighting to the last shot, the last bullet. You all retreat without worry."

Wang Zhong's lips trembled. After a moment of holding back, he said, "No, I order you to repair the tank tonight. If it's not fixed by midnight, abandon the tank and retreat to the rear. We'll meet in Bogdanovka."

To prevent Seryozha from disobeying, Wang Zhong added, "This is an order!"

Seryozha slowly shook his head, the setting sun casting a blood-red hue on his face. "Sir, we can't leave the tank to the enemy. If they repair it, they'll use it against us. The armor they can't penetrate, we also struggle to breach. Think about how many of our own would die if this old buddy falls into enemy hands.

"If we abandon it, we have to blow it up. Right now, the enemy fears this tank. Once it's destroyed, they'll immediately start pursuing. Trust me."

Wang Zhong couldn't find words to respond.

Seryozha continued, "Give us an explosive pack. Then we'll resist until the last moment and use the pack to take a few devils down with us."

Wang Zhong stared at Seryozha, noticing a light shining in his eyes.

--"Looking back now, I find it incredible. The old me didn't even know what fear was."

Wang Zhong: "I accept your suggestion. Do you have any letters you want me to deliver?"

"Yes." Seryozha pulled a letter from his left chest pocket and handed it to Wang Zhong. "The address is written on it. Just help us mail it."

"I have one too!"

"And mine!"

Soon, all the letters from Vehicle 67's crew were in Wang Zhong's hands.

Wang Zhong clutched the thin stack of papers, feeling as though they weighed a thousand pounds.

He saw Seryozha and the entire tank crew smiling fearlessly.

He used all his strength to keep from shedding tears in front of these brave young men.

He tucked the letters into his pocket-where there was already another bloodstained letter.

Wang Zhong, mounted on his horse, saluted those who were heading to their deaths.

Then, with resolute determination, he turned his horse's head and rode toward the east.

----

That night, at exactly eight o'clock.

Wang Zhong lowered his hand and looked at the troops already lined up on the street.

Compared to 38 hours ago, the size of the unit had drastically shrunk, and almost everyone bore injuries.

Yet, every single person-including the lightly wounded soldiers from the hospital-was in high spirits.

Wang Zhong dismounted, helped a wounded soldier onto the horse, and then gave the order to the entire army: "All troops, march in step!"

The unit set off in silence.

Wang Zhong also began to walk.

He saw the local villagers who had decided to stay behind standing by the roadside, watching them with complex expressions.

Wang Zhong: "Show some spirit! Let the villagers see our resolve! Let them know that one day, we will fight our way back!"

Then, the sound of synchronized footsteps grew even louder.

Wang Zhong felt it wasn't enough, so he shouted, "Su Fang! Take the lead and start a cheerful song! We are a victorious army; we must carry the spirit of victors!"

Su Fang's voice came from the back of the formation.

"I remember a small town in a distant province

"Peaceful, tranquil, and melancholic

"With a church, a station, and a tree-lined path

"Sometimes in the crowd, I could catch a glimpse

"Of that familiar, beloved figure..."

More voices joined in the chorus.

"She wore a blue sunhat

"A blue short jacket

"A dark skirt framing a young girl's form

"Ah, my fleeting love!"

As the refrain arrived, everyone sang together, the rhythm of the song merging with their synchronized steps. The forest of bayonets swayed with the melody, like an impenetrable Great Wall!

"Tanya! Tanyusha! My Takiyana!

"Do you still remember that scorching summer

"I can't forget those days

"Those days of love!"

The summer breeze blew through the ranks, carrying the warmth of the season.

Someone began to whistle playfully, as if mocking the war and the invaders!

"Tanya! Tanyusha! My Takiyana!

"Do you still remember that scorching summer

"I can't forget those days

"Those days of love!"

(End of Chapter)