Wang Zhong had occupied Hill 391 and had been waiting until it got dark—which didn’t take long because it was getting dark so early now—when finally Colonel Eugene arrived with his miner’s pickaxe.
Eugene jumped off the truck, approached the defensive core next to position 422, and complained, “The weather is getting colder and colder, even with my coat on, the wind made a fool out of me on the ride here.”
Wang Zhong: “All right, all right, look at the ground, can it be dug? We found that the heavy artillery only made craters of that size.”
He pointed to the side, then realized that in the pitch-black winter, one couldn’t see the size of the crater at all.
Eugene took the miner’s pickaxe off his shoulder: “That’s why I brought this old buddy along.”
Wang Zhong stepped back, making room for him to dig.
The colonel struck with the pickaxe and immediately furrowed his brow.
Wang Zhong’s brow furrowed too, as he watched the colonel’s expression.
Eugene tried another spot and swung again, then shook his head repeatedly, “It’s still possible to dig for now, but it will be very laborious. I suggest using explosives to blast it first, and then we can think of ways to smooth and shape it.”
Wang Zhong: “It’s already frozen this hard; no wonder the Prussians couldn’t dig much of a trench to protect their 88mm anti-aircraft guns. They couldn’t dig through it.”
Eugene tried a few more times and quickly dug a pit big enough to plant a sapling, which was about the size of the pits Wang Zhong had dug during the tree planting festivals of his childhood.
Then Eugene stood up and shook his head, “Digging trenches will be too physically demanding, I’ll go look for softer ground. I estimate this hilltop can only have foxholes blasted with explosives and then stack some sandbags.”
Wang Zhong: “Then don’t bother, there are plenty of shell craters already. Now we’re in trouble. When the enemy’s heavy artillery fires come down, nothing will be left.”
Gunner Alexandria, who was also an instructor for the tank training squad, suggested at this time, “Bring the KV up and use it as a basis for defense.”
Wang Zhong: “That’s the only way to do it. I’ll call the KV up with the radio, Eugene, find a place where trenches can be dug! It’s all up to you now.”
Eugene waved his hand, “Leave it to me! If I can’t find it, then it really can’t be found.”
As he spoke, he hoisted the miner’s pickaxe and walked into the darkness.
Alexandria: “Although he’s dressed in a military uniform, he looks just like a miner.”
Wang Zhong: “Don’t I look like a playboy?”
“Yes, General, absolutely,” said Alexandria.
When Wang Zhong climbed onto the tank, the moment his hand touched the metal, he felt a stickiness. He quickly pulled his hand away, relieved that it hadn’t resulted in his skin being torn off.
“Damn,” he looked at his hand, “it’s not even below zero yet, and it’s already starting to be like this?”
Alexandria: “You better get used to wearing gloves. If it’s minus 40 degrees and you touch the metal of the tank like this, we’ll have to hand you over to the medics.”
Wang Zhong swore under his breath, climbed onto the tank, and reached for the radio.
————
At eight o’clock in the evening, Wang Zhong heard the engine sound of the KV and quickly adjusted his view to see two KVs approaching Hill 391.
Wang Zhong immediately asked through the radio, “Why only two?”
“Reporting to Dibo River, another one broke down, the crew has gone back to Suhayaveli for emergency repairs,” came the reply.
Wang Zhong cursed, “Suka”—he had also gotten used to replacing “fuck” with “suka.”
The KV was very heavy and underpowered, which directly resulted in a high rate of breakdown, no matter how much it was improved.
Like a small horse pulling a heavy cart, even if everything else was fine, the horse might collapse from exhaustion.
Wang Zhong was still cursing when Colonel Eugene came over beaming with joy, “General! General! I’ve found a layer of soil accumulated from rotten leaves in the woods at the foot of the hill—well, what used to be a forest. Most of the trees were cut down by the Prussians to make firewood and tents, and the rest were flattened by your artillery fire.”
Wang Zhong was overjoyed, “How deep can you dig?”
“We can’t dig too deep; there’s still hard ground below, but we can fill the soil into sacks to use as sandbags and the location is great. I haven’t studied military science, but I roughly know, on the reverse slope we can avoid artillery fire. So, on the reverse slope!”
After saying this, Eugene looked around and suddenly realized that this hill wasn’t really that high, plus it had a very gentle slope.
“Uh… I’m not sure if this hill can provide cover from artillery fire,” Eugene added somewhat embarrassingly.
Wang Zhong: “Don’t worry, the enemy had very little time to coordinate their artillery fire before attacking us. Their supply is failing, and the ammunition isn’t getting here. We’ll use the enemy’s wreckage to create false targets, and when the artillery moves into position, we’ll take their tractors and drag the wreckage to the front line and cover it with grass.”
Colonel Eugene laughed heartily, “General, you make warfare a pleasure— I mean, as allies, you bring joy.”
Wang Zhong also laughed.
No kidding, I always enjoy being the crafty one in any competitive game, alright! Being crafty feels great, always crafty, always thrilling.
Wang Zhong stood up on the tank, looking westward.
The whole land was pitch black, only the sparks from earlier shelling were still burning.
It seemed like a tree was on fire, reminding Wang Zhong of the lyrics from “The Song of Lonely Mountain,” “The trees like torches blazed with light.” Because of language issues, he didn’t feel much for most English lyrics, with a few exceptions, and this was one of them.
Wang Zhong looked at the solitary burning tree that made the surrounding darkness seem even deeper.
Wang Zhong had, in fact, once considered pushing the defense line to this area.
But at that time, the road conditions from the station to here were too bad, and supplies couldn’t get through.
Mud is a double-edged sword.
If they set up defenses here, it wouldn’t have been possible to construct defensive fortifications as good as those at Suhayaveli.
Moreover, even now, Wang Zhong could choose to trust the allied troops and just defend his own small patch of land.
No, to be precise, when he had just retreated to Suhayaveli, Wang Zhong never imagined that the Prussians would be able to “crawl” that far in the mud.
Perhaps it was because the Prussians were much stronger than the Sturmtiger.
Wang Zhong quietly watched the burning lone tree, surrounded by the bustling construction site.
————
The next day, at dawn, Wang Zhong had retreated to a spot about one kilometer behind Hill 391.
He hid the tank battalions in the bushes—even though the bushes had been razed by artillery fire yesterday.
He would wait until the soldiers from the Blyshensk battalion grinded down the enemy and depleted their numbers to a certain degree, then he would deploy the tanks for a countercharge.
This was Wang Zhong’s plan.
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The sound of artillery fire from not too far behind could be heard—it was the advancing artillery units covering the path leading to Karanskaya.
At that moment, a signal corpsman came trailing the telephone wire: “General, the chief of staff wants us to lay the telephone wire.”
Wang Zhong, “Why not use wireless?”
“Afraid of being intercepted, the telephone wire is more reliable, he said.” The signal corpsman then took out pliers, cut the telephone wire, expertly snipped away the rubber coating from the cut end to expose the metal wire, and connected it to the portable phone he carried.
After these tasks, he placed the phone on the ground, cranked the handle hard to generate power, then picked up the handset: “Division headquarters, division headquarters! Connection established, your general.”
Wang Zhong took the handset that was handed to him: “What is it, Pavlov?”
“The First Imperial Guard thanks us for advancing to blockade the highway, but they can hold off the enemy. They have four Imperial Guard divisions and carefully constructed fortifications.”
Wang Zhong, “Is that so? But since we’ve come all this way, we might as well alleviate some of their pressure. That way, the enemy is bound to commit a significant number of troops to attack us today.”
Pavlov, “I support your decision, it’s better to have control over the outcome of the war in our own hands.”
Wang Zhong, “Then I’m counting on you to deal with them. I’ll keep the phone.”
As soon as he’d finished speaking, shells fell on Hill 391, one kilometer away.
Wang Zhong, “The enemy’s artillery fire is starting. I’m hanging up.”
Without waiting for Pavlov’s response, Wang Zhong hung up the phone abruptly.
The enemy’s artillery fire was quite dense, but like yesterday, it only lasted for half an hour.
Moreover, most of the fire was attracted to the fake tanks Wang Zhong had set up, sparing the positions on the backside of the hill.
Based on Eugene’s scouting from yesterday, Wang Zhong’s defensive firepower was all deployed on the reverse slope, with anti-tank guns even hidden in the woods.
As soon as enemy tanks crossed the hilltop, they would be struck head-on.
However, Wang Zhong didn’t think the enemy would make it over the hilltop.
He had divided the rocket artillery brigade into three battalions; he felt that having one brigade concentrate fire on the same area was a bit wasteful.
So, after splitting them into battalions, they would fire one after another.
Hiding there, Wang Zhong thought that even without any add-ons, as soon as enemy tanks crossed the hilltop into his line of sight, he could order the rocket artillery to fire, and one volley would cripple the enemy.
Wang Zhong waited for the enemy tanks to cross the hill.
He had already heard the sound of engines.
But it came from behind!
Wang Zhong quickly turned his gaze and saw a lagging KV limping towards him.
Describing it as limping was because the KV seemed to have an issue with the suspension on its left side, wobbling slightly.
The KV’s tank operator stuck his head out and waved at Wang Zhong: “General! We’ve caught up!”
Wang Zhong, “Get into your position! Do you see Colonel Eugene’s makeshift shelter? The one covered with tree trunks! Park next to it, and you’re done. Be careful not to drive into a ditch!”
The tank operator looked toward the shelter with his hand shading his eyes: “Alright! Don’t worry!”
Then the KV staggered off, but before it reached the spot, it suddenly came to a halt—its problematic left track broke off, the vehicle abruptly stopped, and it even turned approximately 30 degrees due to the momentum.
Seeing the position of the KV, Wang Zhong thought to himself, impressive, it accidentally stopped in a perfect hull-down position.
Just then, enemy tanks crossed the hilltop.
Wang Zhong, “Grizzly! Fire! Grizzly, fire!”
This was the call sign designated for the three battalions. Before issuing this order, it hadn’t been used, and it wouldn’t be reused after; new call signs would be given to the runners.
The meteor shower that had been witnessed once yesterday flew over Wang Zhong’s head again.
However, as the targets aimed for were out of his direct view, he could only watch through an overhead angle, which seemed to lessen the impact.
The sight he had witnessed with his own eyes yesterday, with its overwhelming momentum, left a profound impression on Wang Zhong.
As the rocket artillery opened fire, the ZIS-30 hidden in the treeline also fired.
Wang Zhong hadn’t brought the 57mm towed gun platoon with him, as it was too slow to move, and having its position targeted and covered would have been troublesome.
The ZIS-30 could run so fast, just hit and relocate.
Though the ZIS-30’s rate of fire wasn’t as rapid as that of the towed gun platoon.
A volley of concentrated fire brought all the tanks that had crested the hill to a stop.
The tank operators bailed out and retreated.
Wang Zhong burst into laughter, thinking it looked like there was no need for an armored countercharge until all the rocket artillery battalions had expended their ammunition.