Wang Zhong laughed heartily, “Even if I become a Front Army commander, I will still personally go to the front line when necessary!”
After all, one has to make full use of the cheats, so it’s possible that I might even take to the skies for a reconnaissance myself.
Kiriyenko said, “Then I’ll leave it to you. See you in Plosenia!”
“Mm, see you in Plosenia.”
After hanging up the phone, Wang Zhong looked back at the tracks and noticed that the soldiers from the tank division were laying auxiliary steel plates in preparation for unloading.
Wang Zhong suddenly remembered and asked Division Commander Mikhailovich, “Why are all T34s equipped with two-man turrets? Doesn’t your division have any T34Ws?”
Mikhailovich replied with a wry smile, “The T34W is in high demand. Many units don’t choose tanks for their quality but believe the tanks you drive must be good. Some even think these are specially produced by the Royal Family’s production plan, so the quality must be better than ordinary T34s.”
Wang Zhong asked, “Are the qualities of regular T34s not good?”
Mikhailovich said, “There are no major issues, but loads of minor ones. These T34s here are brand new. Don’t expect to hit anything beyond 500 meters, as the gunners haven’t mastered the temperament of the cannons—anyway, the shells are unlikely to hit anywhere near the crosshairs.”
Are the quality issues really that severe…
Wang Zhong responded, “I’ll have to protest about this issue with the manufacturing plant, but it’s too late for changes now. Make do with what we have, I’ll try my best to ensure we fire within 500 meters.”
“Thank you for that.”
————
At 1300 hours on November 17, in the Guards Motor Rifle Division’s bunker.
Pavlov looked at his watch, “It’s time.”
He picked up the handset, “Connect to the artillery position, open fire.”
As he put down the phone, Popov said, “The time for our counter-offensive has finally arrived. Honestly, I even imagined the enemy reaching near the divisional headquarters bunker, and I would have to personally lead the troops to launch a counterattack.”
While saying this, Popov patted the pistol on his waist, “The gun is prepared for that very moment. The enemy just made a push against our positions and then changed targets, not daring to attack our positions. At that moment, I truly felt that they were just ordinary people who could be defeated.”
Pavlov said, “We’ve known all along that the enemy is just ordinary people, right? They die if they get killed, and they wail like ghosts and howl like wolves when shelled.”
Saying this, Pavlov looked up towards the direction from which the sounds of artillery were constantly coming.
“Now, the enemy is wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves.”
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Wang Zhong sat in his assigned seat on Tank 422, and as he saw Yegorov riding his horse along the front checking the skirmish line, he shouted, “Yegorov, you’re almost flattening that horse!”
“Nonsense!” Yegorov cursed back, “How can I be that heavy? This horse is a fine breed; it weighs half a ton! Compared to it, I’m nothing!”
At this moment, the tank units’ attack formation was fully deployed with Wang Zhong’s Tank 422 at the forefront, the reason being that he wanted to locate the position of the 88mm guns first.
Wang Zhong estimated that the enemy’s 88mm guns probably still had ammunition, so this time he brought a lot of smoke bombs, planning to unleash them at the sight of the 88mm guns to blind them with smoke, avoiding a direct firefight and instead swiftly blocking their fire.
It was because the Federation had not yet passed the Lend-Lease Act and had not provided aid to Ante. Otherwise, Wang Zhong would have definitely loaded up with half a load of white phosphorus shells, blasting them at the enemy to make them start burning, and the gun would then be his.
The last 88mm gun looked fine on the outside but was actually damaged, so it could only be taken back to the rear factory for study.
With white phosphorus shells, he was bound to confiscate a gun for use.
When Wang Zhong played Company of Heroes 2, he liked to command the Eastern Front German army with the commander that had the 88mm gun to fight a war of positions against the enemy.
It seemed that in these games, they liked to make the 88mm gun’s firing sound very loud, full of oppressive force. Playing as the Allies and hearing the sound of the 88mm gun made his heart skip a beat.
This led to Wang Zhong’s continued desire to capture an 88mm gun platoon—no, better yet, a battalion!
There might be a chance in this offensive!
As Wang Zhong was daydreaming, Yegorov rode his half-ton horse over, “The skirmish line for the forces is all set up! The preparation for artillery fire seems to be ready as well, we can move out!”
After speaking, Yegorov saluted Wang Zhong on his horse.
Wang Zhong returned the salute.
Just then, a soldier wearing a white cloak and riding on skis came rushing from afar, sliding to a halt in front of Tank 422, kicking up a spray of white.
The soldier saluted, “General, the ski reconnaissance troops report that there are no mines ahead, the path is clear!”
Hearing the report, Yegorov laughed and said, “This weather doesn’t allow for burying mines, okay? Unless you bury them in the snow, not the ground. An artillery strike would just blow them up, and then they’d explode.”
Wang Zhong saluted the ski reconnaissance squad, “Thank you for your efforts. Please continue to lead the armored units.”
He paused for a moment, then added, “See you in Plosenia.”
Like a magical incantation, the soldier’s morale visibly soared. After saluting back, the two skiers returned the way they came.
Wang Zhong straightened up in his seat, raised his right hand high, and as he did so, he looked up at the red banner atop the antenna.
The soil of Kazarlia at his waist seemed to be warming.
Clearing his throat, he shouted, “Tank division, advance!”
He heard a familiar duang sound. Come on, even after a trip back to the factory, the problem with having to hammer the control stick with a wrench hadn’t been fixed! What exactly did they repair at the factory!
Smoke billowed from the dual exhaust pipes at the rear of Tank 422 as it lurched forward before picking up steady speed.
The newly arrived 77th Tank Division hadn’t had the chance to train with Wang Zhong, yet they managed to form up quite neatly behind his eight T34Ws.
Behind the tank units, the infantry line spread out with Yegorov leading them on horseback—he really wasn’t afraid of attracting bullets!
But then Wang Zhong thought about it and realized he had no right to criticize. With the Tank 422 at the forefront, bearing the red flag, all enemy anti-tank firepower would definitely concentrate on it.
By now, Wang Zhong could see the enemy positions.
The ground was too hard at this time. The enemy had no proper defense works, resulting in heavy casualties.
Nevertheless, the remaining troops were still trying to man their defensive positions.
It was a pity that the Guards Rocket Artillery Brigade had already left; otherwise, Wang Zhong could have called in another rocket barrage.
Suddenly, Wang Zhong saw an enemy machine gunner struggling to pull open the lock of his gun.
Goodness, these guys had no experience dealing with the bitter cold. They didn’t know to warm up their guns, and now the machine guns were frozen solid!
Who needs rocket cover then!
Wang Zhong immediately had an idea and turned to shout at Yegorov, “Yegorov, sing a song!”
Yegorov, “What song? I Still Have One Last Grenade?”
Lay off, it’s not called that, it’s called The Last Courage, okay!
Wang Zhong, “That won’t do, too tragic! The Holy War won’t work either, it’s too much like a hymn. Sing ‘Tanya Tanyusha’ instead!”
“Are you sure you want to sing that one?”
“I’m sure!”
On the battlefield, to sing of love, to scorn death, nothing could be more fitting.
The infantry began to sing, “I remember a little provincial town,
Lonely, remote, deeply moving.
There were tree-lined paths, a marketplace, and the church,
And a swirling mist of melancholy waters.
I see—
“Dear familiar figures,
Blue caps,
Blue tunics;
Dark skirts, the silhouette of a girl,
My love, fleeting as an evening flower!”
————
Prussian machine gunner Johann was frantically trying to pull open the frozen lock of his gun.
The roar of enemy tanks shook the snowy plains.
At that moment, he heard a song coming from afar, at first like a breeze, as if a maiden whispering tenderly in his ear, pleasing to the mind.
Even Johann stopped his struggle with the jammed lock, looking bewildered at the enemy.
Suddenly, the sing-song turned fierce (actually, they were just entering the chorus), with the enemy shouting battle cries (actually calls of love to the girl), ferociously charging forward.
Johann heard someone scream, “The red flag! It’s the devil’s red flag! They’ll kill you and then urinate on you, branding you with the mark of hell with their urine!”
The shouter stood up and ran, like a startled rabbit.
Everything fell apart at that point. The frontline collapsed instantaneously, and everyone began to run in panic.
The ones who couldn’t move were the ones who’d suffered frostbite the night before.
Johann, too, abandoned his machine gun and started running.
Then the tank’s machine guns began to fire, tracers forming a lethal whip, efficiently mowing down the retreating Prussians.
And the song, like whispers from a demon, grew ever louder, shaking Johann’s eardrums.
All of a sudden, it felt as if he’d been punched.
Realizing something was wrong, he touched his chest, only to find a gaping hole left by the bullet that had gone through, then with the impact’s force, he toppled forward into the ground, his mouth wide open and filled with mud-laden snow.