Mikhail fell silent for a few seconds, then said, “You―we will be directly commanded by the general!”
The loader retorted with confusion, “Then who’s job is the general taking over? Will the general operate the tank gun?”
Wang Zhong, “No, I will stand behind your turret.”
Loader, “That’s too dangerous!”
“No,” Mikhail said, “It might indeed be so for other tanks, but for the BT7, perhaps standing behind the turret is safer than being inside, after all, there’s an extra layer of armor for protection.”
What he meant was that he considered the entire vehicle as a shield.
————
Two and a half hours later, east of Lokotov City, Rocossov’s tank company’s hiding place.
Wang Zhong emerged from the cellar and leaned on the window to look outside.
Loader Ivanov also climbed out of the cellar, standing behind Wang Zhong, and said, “The artillery preparation is over, there’s no more sound of gunfire.”
“Hm.” Wang Zhong snapped his fingers, “Board the tanks! Prepare for combat!”
The enemy stopped their attack so long before the artillery preparation and then took so much time to prepare, they must have already completed their attack formation.
Wang Zhong pushed the door open and immediately saw the old soldier Rezenov, wearing an old Guardian Army uniform. He was the commander of the Fifth Provisional Guardian Corps.
The old man had a grey beard, and his uniform was a pre-civil war model, except for the collar patch, which was replaced with the emblem of the Secular faction.
Behind him stood a young man carrying a gigantic flag.
“Your Excellency the General!” Rezenov began, “We’re ready! We selected the cleverest lads as your guides, they’re like weasels, always running around the streets, checking out which family’s daughter is pretty! They know this area very well!”
Wang Zhong thought to himself, isn’t that just a street ruffian?
Rezenov, “And I’ve assigned Kozlov to the lieutenant colonel to be his guide. He is strong and sturdy. Even if the tank is destroyed, he can pull the lieutenant colonel out and carry him to the medical station! Besides, look at this flag. It’s the best one we could find, sure to greatly boost morale!”
Wang Zhong, “No, the lieutenant colonel doesn’t need a guide; he will be commanded by me personally, assign Kozlov to someone else.”
“Why?” Rezenov looked puzzled.
Wang Zhong pointed to his head, “I’ve already familiarized myself with the nearby streets; that’s a basic quality of a commander.”
Rezenov, “But standing behind the tank turret is very dangerous! You don’t have to personally…”
Wang Zhong, “I have already decided.”
Rezenov laughed heartily, “Really! You are a reliable general indeed! Just like that General on the White Horse in the newspapers!”
Wang Zhong felt awkward, he hadn’t expected someone still didn’t know he was that General on the White Horse.
However, he did not reveal this, as it seemed a bit like boasting about his own achievements, and besides, now was not the time for that.
He said to the old man, “Please instruct everyone to inform the nearest of our tanks about the enemy tanks’ positions, letting the tanks deal with tanks.
“Even if you must engage enemy tanks at close range, eliminate the accompanying infantry first!”
Rezenov, “Don’t worry!”
Wang Zhong nodded and climbed onto the freshly painted tank with new tactical number 422.
Mikhail also climbed into the turret, then took out the headphones and microphone and handed them to Wang Zhong, “Your Excellency the General, you take command!”
As Wang Zhong took the headphones and microphone, he asked, “And you?”
“I have a spare.”
Although this new vehicle had radio, the radio level of the Ante Empire was terrible, and it wasn’t clear whether it was due to the tank’s generator being inadequate, as the electricity mainly went to the turret motors.
Once the radio was connected, only static filled the headphones, as if someone was frying sand right beside Wang Zhong’s ears.
But for the sake of command and communication, it had to be endured.
Wang Zhong picked up the microphone, “This is the command tank, to the second platoon leader, can you hear me?”
“Hearing you loud and clear, General, please continue.”
In reality, Wang Zhong was just checking if he could get the perspective of the second platoon leader, and the answer was he could. The moment the second platoon leader’s command tank, number 2306, responded, it “lit up” in the overview.
But the areas around other tanks without radios remained dark, even though they were now under Wang Zhong’s “direct command,” they didn’t provide him with visual awareness.
Could it be because they couldn’t hear Wang Zhong’s shouts inside the tanks?
After all, even the BT7 was very noisy when moving―Ante Empire tanks were notoriously poor at ergonomics, combined with rough production techniques, which made them very noisy.
It wasn’t feasible to command tanks by shouting, so that’s why there was no visual awareness from other tanks?
Wang Zhong was pondering over this when a Guardian Army soldier shouted down from the rooftop of a nearby house, “The enemy is attacking!”
So Wang Zhong decisively called for Vasily, “Vasily! Can you hear me speak?”
He waited a few seconds, then Vasily’s voice came through the static in the radio, “I can hear you, General! Are you sure you want to communicate openly?”
“Yes, in an emergency, it’s unavoidable to use open communication.”
Wang Zhong thought to himself that what’s important isn’t the contents of the communication, but to light up the visual awareness.
After connecting to the Plosen Walkie-Talkie that Vasily was monitoring, the 31st Guards Battalion’s field of vision lit up. Along with it, the field of vision of the artillery mirror, which Dimitri was responsible for, was also obtained.
Subsequently, Wang Zhong saw that on an arc line from the southwest to southeast of Lokotov, the enemy had deployed at least 80 tanks and armored vehicles.
That was still only the first wave; behind them, a second wave consisted of about a hundred more tanks and half-track vehicles.
Wang Zhong was shocked; he knew the enemy had vast numbers, but he hadn’t expected them to be so vast.