And the main force of the enemy’s assault came from the southeast, with a total of 20 Panzer IVs with short barrels and 6 Panzer IIIs, as well as a slew of half-track vehicles.
Was he expected to rely on 10 BT-7s to eliminate so many enemies?
Even 10 T-34s would have to tread lightly!
Only 10 KVs could take on so many enemies.
No, he couldn’t be intimidated by the number of enemies; they weren’t familiar with the terrain, and once they entered the streets for close-quarters battle, wasn’t it just more opportunity for combat achievements, no matter how many they were?
At that moment, a messenger from the 5th Byshenk Regiment appeared on horseback in front of Wang Zhong’s No. 422 vehicle and shouted loudly, “Our regiment is ready to let the enemy into the city to fight as per your command!”
Wang Zhong replied, “Very good, tell your regimental commander that my personally commanded armored forces will encircle the enemy and strike them a heavy blow!”
The messenger saluted, turned his horse around, and galloped away.
At that moment, Mikhail’s voice came through from inside the line: “General, we’re entering the ambush position!”
“All right, roll out.”
As the words died away, the engine of the new No. 422 vehicle roared to life, accompanied by the sound of the gearbox gears meshing.
The tank shuddered slightly and started moving.
Wang Zhong grabbed the anti-aircraft machine gun to steady himself, spreading his legs to stand behind the turret.
Behind the turrets of the other tanks stood a machine gunner, all of whom were local guides responsible for giving directions to the tanks.
Once the enemies attacking from the southeast entered the city, Wang Zhong would lead these tanks to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy and then quickly maneuver away from cover around their flanks.
————
After watching the tank column move out, Rezenov exclaimed, “What an incredible general! Just like Bagration leading the Imperial Guard in a charge himself!”
He turned his head and shouted to the Guardian Army soldiers, “The general is at the front! We cannot be afraid to die!”
The Guardian Army soldiers shouted in unison, “We are not afraid to die!”
Rezenov commanded, “All Guardian Army, Temporary 5th Regiment, forward march!”
The soldiers, who were civilians just a few days ago, marched without the precision of real soldiers, but the forest of bayonets they formed was still not to be underestimated!
————
Just then, Wang Zhong lost sight of the 31st Regiment, and he quickly called out again, “Vasily?”
“General, if you’re not giving orders, why do you keep communicating with me? I have to listen in on the Prosen people’s chatter too!” Vasily’s complaint came through the static noise into Wang Zhong’s ears.
For a moment, Wang Zhong thought about ordering the machine gun to be moved left five centimeters.
Five centimeters wouldn’t affect the construction of the firing position, but it was still an order, which would make his insistence on maintaining radio communication seem less strange.
But in the end, he resisted the urge.
Yegorov had done well, and he and the veterans of the 31st Regiment had accumulated a vast amount of experience in the fierce battles of Peniye, so Wang Zhong could rest easy.
In fact, Wang Zhong didn’t have the confidence that he would have done any better than Yegorov and his men.
At that moment, Wang Zhong suddenly noticed Grigori driving a jeep, not far from the side of his tank.
So he switched perspectives and called out, “Grigori! What are you doing here? Get back to the 31st Regiment! The troops need an experienced sergeant major like you! I’m in the tank, I don’t need a bodyguard at this time!”
Grigori looked like he had something to say but finally saluted and drove the jeep away.
After seeing Grigori off, Wang Zhong was about to continue observing the battlefield when Mikhail, who had been demoted from battalion commander to gunner, asked, “Your Excellency, did you really command a tank that destroyed 100 enemy tanks in the battle of Upper Peniye?”
Wang Zhong answered, “No, that was an exaggeration by the newspapers.”
The driver muttered, “I knew those newspaper guys were all talk and no truth!”
The loader asked, “So how many was it, exactly?”
“Eight tanks. Before our T-28 was destroyed, we managed to knock out a total of eight enemy tanks.”
This number impressed everyone else.
Mikhail said, “That’s quite impressive too! Especially considering it was a T-28! We all know that tank was quite terrible! It was the marshals and the Emperor who liked those big, mighty-looking, multi-turreted tanks that just turned out to be for show!”
Wang Zhong nodded, “I know.”
He was well aware that it was pure fluke that they managed to take out four Panzer IVs right away with the crummy T-28; the “cheat” had played its role. Later, when they faced the enemy head-on and the “cheat” got weakened, they immediately found themselves in a disadvantage.
Whoever came up with that kind of thing and then sent it to the battlefield should have been shot.
Finally, No. 422 arrived at the prearranged ambush position.
This was a row of buildings destroyed by enemy artillery fire; the remaining broken walls provided excellent cover, allowing the tanks to hide inside and strike at the enemy.
Once the enemy entered the city and kept moving along Suvorov Street, they would come within the firing arc of the hidden BT-7s.
Even the now-outdated 45mm cannon could open the enemy tanks like cans, one after another!
Wang Zhong, standing behind the tank turret, felt a bit hot—no wonder, as the tank’s cooling system was right under his feet.
Just then, he heard the sound of the B4 firing.
Mikhail was surprised, “There’s heavy artillery too? We heard there was none on your side!”
Wang Zhong replied, “A gift from the Crown Prince.”
“What the hell?” Mikhail looked at Wang Zhong with incredulity.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good time to boast, and all Wang Zhong could say was, “I’ll introduce you after the war is over, focus for now.”
Having said that, Wang Zhong switched his view to an overhead perspective, but now he could directly command too few troops, and the battle was too dark; only his own and another platoon command tank (equipped with a radio) had illuminated fields of vision.