“`
At this time, the 10th Tank Army and their “mounted” tank riders had already engaged the enemy in battle, tracer rounds and explosions relentlessly tearing through the dawn.
Thanks to their created chaos, the battalion advancing on the highway didn’t attract much attention—even though it was now daylight.
Wang Zhong had originally thought that stationing his No. 422 tank here could draw the enemy’s attention if they attacked, covering the battalion’s retreat.
But he didn’t know how long this situation could last; the Prussians were bound to react eventually, and after all, the 10th Tank Army could only attack the enemy forces they had in direct sight.
Additionally, the enemy’s Air Force was a great concern. Based on the previous few days’ experiences, the first wave of enemy aircraft usually arrived around six in the morning, and there was now less than two hours until then.
Concerned about the Air Force, Wang Zhong subconsciously checked the anti-aircraft machine gun.
The painful lesson of the entire crew’s sacrifice due to a BT tank’s anti-aircraft machine gun malfunctioning back in Loktov had compelled Wang Zhong to thoroughly learn the mechanics of the gun.
Now, Wang Zhong’s inspection of the machine gun was entirely that of a seasoned veteran, and even a layman could tell.
Nelly looked at Wang Zhong’s hands adjusting the gun mechanism, then at his face.
Ludmila laughed, “You’re handling that gun more skillfully than you handle girls now!”
Wang Zhong frowned and looked at Ludmila.
At that moment, the little boy sitting in front of the turret turned his head, “What does handling girls mean? Playing house?”
The adults walking by the tank, both men and women, all laughed.
The boy was utterly bewildered, asking repeatedly, “What are you laughing at? What’s so funny?”
After Wang Zhong finished checking the machine gun, just as he was about to impart some adult knowledge to the little boy, he saw Yegorov sitting in the middle of the road on a peasant’s cart.
Wang Zhong immediately asked, “Yegorov, since when did you start slacking off?”
Yegorov raised his right foot, showing off the splint and straps around his lower leg, “I broke my leg during the retreat, just got it set. I could’ve walked on crutches, but the peasant hauled me up here.”
The peasant driving the cart said, “If you don’t ride my cart to Shepetovka, your leg would be ruined, you wouldn’t be able to fight the enemy anymore, and it might even need to be amputated. Now I’ll give you a ride, and in half a year, you’ll come back and fight the devils.”
Yegorov spread his hands, “See, the peasants sure know how to keep accounts!”
Wang Zhong laughed too, but he quickly asked a new question, “What about your unit?”
Yegorov pointed westward, “They’re behind! The bunkers worked this time, I managed to lead quite a few out. If you stay in Shepetovka for a few days, I expect more scattered troops will rejoin the ranks.”
“Alright, I will,” Wang Zhong answered.
Yegorov’s nonchalant smile suddenly disappeared, he looked squarely at Wang Zhong and said, “I’m going to recuperate for half a year, and then I’ll come back to hell to join you, General, in half a year.”
Before Wang Zhong could respond, someone among the soldiers shouted, “In half a year, it might be the enemy’s hell!”
Everyone burst into hearty laughter, including Wang Zhong, even though he knew that in half a year, they were far from the end of their bitter struggles.
Yegorov’s cart passed by Tank No. 422, heading towards Shepetovka.
Wang Zhong watched him for a long time until he could no longer see him clearly, then withdrew his gaze.
Then he noticed Colonel Eugene, carrying a miner’s pick in the midst of the troops, and his assigned military staff officer, Captain Andrei.
Wang Zhong, “Colonel Eugene, why are you carrying a miner’s pick?”
“It’s handy,” the colonel said while slinging the pick over his shoulder, “If you’re asking about the troop’s condition, most of them are here.”
Wang Zhong, “What about Olof from the 5th Tank Army?”
“He’s behind. I planned to use their light tanks to transport some of the slightly injured, but as soon as we left the position, they broke down, and the injured had to be helped on foot.”
Wang Zhong nodded and then saw Pavlov and the bunch of military staff officers and clerks in the crowd.
The Chief of Staff merely nodded without speaking.
Wang Zhong, “Pavlov, why aren’t you speaking?”
Pavlov pointed to his throat and gestured; it seemed that he had damaged his voice by talking too much during the organization of the retreat.
After Pavlov passed by, Ludmila suddenly said, “I haven’t seen Popov and the choir members.”
“Indeed, I haven’t seen them either,” Wang Zhong sighed, “And there are many others I haven’t seen, like my guard, Grigori. I sent him with the guard platoon to reinforce the positions in the eastern woods to cover the artillery.”
Ludmila hesitated, sharing Wang Zhong’s anxious gaze towards the west.
Just then, a rumbling sound came from the sky.
Wang Zhong’s first reaction was to look westward and northward, then he realized the sound came from the northeast.
He then saw IL-2s, in attack formation, flying low to the ground, strafing the Prussian forces with their machine guns.
The people on the tank all looked up, watching the Ant Air Force ruthlessly ravage the enemy.
Cheers of varying volumes erupted from the mixed column on the move.
Ludmila suddenly said, “Rumor has it that this reinforcement was requested by you from the Crown Princess?”
“Yes, at that time I thought about what could immediately reach the battlefield and be instantly effective, and that was the Air Force,” Wang Zhong turned his head to look at Ludmila, “Are you familiar with the Crown Princess?”
Ludmila shook her head vigorously, “Not familiar.”
“How come, I’m so well acquainted with the Crown Prince, how come you didn’t take the opportunity to get to know her?”
“The Crown Princess doesn’t often come to salons and always hangs out with the older men at balls, listening to them talk about those incomprehensible things. She is Saint Ekaterina Fortress’s most unattainable flower, even you got rebuffed.”
I actually got rebuffed!
More IL-2s joined the battlefield, it seemed at least two air regiments had arrived.
The Prussians hastily organized anti-aircraft fire, but it did not seem very effective against the IL-2s, known for their robustness.
At this moment, Wang Zhong saw planes with yellow-painted noses diving down from the sky.
BF109!
The Prosen Air Force finally took off to provide air cover for ground units!
Wang Zhong had thought that this era’s Prosen Air Force would only deploy dive bombers and horizontal bombers.
As the 109s joined the fray, the Ant Air Force’s LaGG-3s also entered combat.
Voices of Ant pilots could be heard over the radio, “Up, take them out! Cover the attack air squadron!”
Then a row of LaGG-3s dove down from the direction of the rising sun.
Wang Zhong muttered subconsciously, “Why LaGG-3s, where are the Yak-3s?”
Ludmila and Nelly both looked at Wang Zhong curiously, as neither had heard of these two models of planes.
Wang Zhong, “Send out the Yak-3s!”
Ludmila asked curiously, “What’s wrong with the LaGG-3?”
Wang Zhong, “This plane will lock up at high speeds, you can’t pull up, and it maneuvers like a brick at low speeds. The engine performs like it’s constipated, and the speed is completely lost with the slightest manoeuvre, it needs flaps to have enough lift…”
Um?
He realized then, this was information Rocossov should not have known.
He looked guiltily at his fiancée.
Ludmila, “How do you know all this? I thought you’ve never flown a plane?”
“It’s… It was Vasily! He flew at the flying club! He told me!” Wang Zhong made up an excuse.
Ludmila blinked, “Vasily knows quite a lot!”
“Yeah,” Wang Zhong shrugged, “a professor’s son, the professor’s!”
“But if he joined a flying club, he should have gone into the Air Force, why would he join the infantry school?”
Wang Zhong, “Uh… His father wouldn’t allow it! A professor’s son, you know, his father thinks all Air Force guys are rascals and he would pick up bad habits.”
“I see,” Ludmila nodded.
By then, LaGG-3s had been shot down by the skillful pilots of the 109s, plunging into the grass, bursting into fireballs.
The remaining LaGG-3s were still dogfighting with the enemy planes.
The radio was filled with shouts from Ant pilots, “Number 8, it’s behind you! Behind you!”
“Semyon, bank left! Damn, bank left! Remember, our plane’s banking performance is different on each side!”
“Mama!”
“Nikitovich, take care of my son for me!”
White parachutes blossomed in the sky, appearing like lone dandelions.
After watching for a few seconds and feeling too distressed, Wang Zhong adjusted the reception frequency of the radio to stop listening to the pilots’ channel.
Pilots were more valuable than tank operators, just to be killed by lousy planes.
Whoever was in charge of assigning such lousy equipment to the troops should be taken out for target practice.
He tried to direct his attention elsewhere and looked westward along the road, only to see Grigori nonchalantly walking with the column while smoking a cigarette.
Wang Zhong, “Grigori! Where are the men I gave you?”
Grigori pointed behind him, “About two hundred are still alive, but that’s the whole battalion combined. Some surviving artillerymen are behind us too, tangled up with the civilians. The organization is a mess, I don’t know how many we have.”
Wang Zhong clicked his tongue and waved his hand.
Grigori continued on toward the northeast, smoking leisurely as he walked.
Ludmila, “He looks so calm.”
“Yeah, that’s just how he is. He was the same last time we ambushed an enemy scout team, frighteningly calm,” Wang Zhong said.
Just then, Nelly suddenly pinched Wang Zhong’s waist fiercely and pointed into the distance, “Look!”
Wang Zhong looked over and saw several hundred meters away that some Prosen troops realized that the column walking on the road were not their own men.
“Alexandria!” Wang Zhong immediately ordered over an internal connection, “Turret left turn 20 degrees, load high-explosive shells, wipe the enemy out! Quick!”
The turret began to turn right away and then it fired.
The Prussians who had noticed something amiss were blown into the air in an instant.
Wang Zhong operated the anti-aircraft machine gun, sprayed the Prussian tents nearby where the Prussians were, shouting to the people on the road meanwhile, “Move it! Double-time! The enemy has noticed us!”
The 422 vehicle’s hull machine gun also opened fire, knocking down another group of enemies who had spotted something odd on the road.
Wang Zhong, “White Horse calling the Tenth Tank Army, White Horse to the Tenth Tank Army, the enemy has spotted us, please engage the enemy as much as possible!”
No sooner had he spoken than he heard someone shout, “Alyosha!”
He turned towards the voice and saw Sofia sitting on an oxcart, with Popov driving the ox, and a large group of Guardian Army villagers surrounding the cart.
Wang Zhong, “Stop shouting, hurry up! The enemy is catching on!”
After speaking, Wang Zhong fired at the enemy once again.