Wang Zhong suddenly saw the 88mm gun he had been dreaming of.
The gunners had already been chopped up like melons and vegetables by the cavalry, with only a few left trembling on their knees with their hands raised.
These four guns were even still aimed skyward.
Upon seeing the guns, Wang Zhong urged Beliyakov, “Turn left 30 degrees, see that gun? Hurry over, no, not too fast! Don’t damage it! And Alexandria, don’t fire, if you damage that gun, I won’t let it go!”
Tank 422 thus approached the enemy’s 88mm gun position, and when it finally stopped, it knocked over the sandbag wall protecting the gun.
Beliyakov: “I didn’t touch the gun! I didn’t touch it! The sandbags can’t be my problem, can they?”
Wang Zhong: “Alright, alright, you did well!”
After saying that, he took off his headset and the microphone around his neck, climbed out of the tank, and jumped down in two steps, only to hurt his legs upon landing. He stood still for a few seconds before he could move his numb legs towards the 88mm gun.
Alexandria poked out his head and asked, seeing Wang Zhong like this, “What’s wrong, General?”
Wang Zhong: “You stomp, your legs will also be numb.”
“What?” Alexandria looked puzzled, full of question marks.
After walking a few steps and finally recovering completely, Wang Zhong briskly made his way to the front of the big gun.
The Prosen soldiers on the ground surrendering saw Wang Zhong and then the red flag on the tank behind him; they were so scared they started to run to the side.
The guards from the Guards First Motorized Rifle Division Private Second Class roared: “Don’t move! Stay put on your knees!”
Wang Zhong looked at these men in confusion: “What are they afraid of?”
The Private Second Class nearby shook his head: “I don’t know, General. We don’t understand Prosen. Don’t you either?”
Wang Zhong: “I’m the absolute worst, how could I understand that stuff.”
Actually, the armored troops inside the tanks with radios should all know by now that Wang Zhong doesn’t understand Prosen, but the infantry can’t hear the conversations over the radio.
The Private Second Class had a very strange expression upon hearing “the absolute worst,” and one could imagine he’d have quite the story to share around the campfire tonight.
Wang Zhong’s reputation was skewed by these folks, and as an Ante person, not drinking was impossible; at most, they would just keep it to a level where the Priest wouldn’t catch on.
Therefore, Wang Zhong’s legend grew more and more distorted each day.
Wang Zhong didn’t care about these things, walking straight up to the big gun, and then he finally understood why it was still in an anti-air configuration—its mount had been frozen!
The lubricant had frozen solid, and the entire rotation mechanism of the gun mount had turned into a block of ice. Next to the spade at the bottom of the gun were several pioneer shovels, apparently the artillerymen had planned to use the shovels to chip away the ice to rotate the big gun.
That scene, just thinking about it, made you feel sorry for them—the enemy tanks and cavalry were charging at them, and then their all-powerful gun was frozen.
Wang Zhong glanced at the machine gun covering the big gun, and without going closer, he knew the machine gun was most likely frozen too.
The Prosen Army never imagined it would get this cold, so they were completely unprepared for anti-freeze lubricants.
Or perhaps they were prepared, but not for anti-freeze lubricants that could withstand negative 40 degrees Celsius.
After all, this winter was exceptionally cold.
Wang Zhong had personally observed the tank troops switching to anti-freeze oil, and knew that different oils’ performance varied greatly at different temperatures.
Satisfied after inspecting the four guns bound in ice, Wang Zhong ordered, “Make fires next to the guns to melt the ice, then drag them back. Beliyakov! Do you have any spare anti-freeze oil? Find a way to solve this freezing issue.”
Beliyakov gave a thumbs-up: “I brought two buckets of spare oil, they’re both hanging on the tank chassis.”
Wang Zhong: “Good! Take them down, restore the joints of these guns, then change the oil. We’re going to haul them all back.”
Just then, T-34 with tactical number 4221 arrived in front of the 88mm gun position. The commander of the 77th Tank Division jumped down from the tank and saluted Wang Zhong: “General, congratulations on your great victory.”
Wang Zhong: “It’s too early to congratulate a victory now. We have almost no losses and can continue to move forward, completing a large encirclement!”
Suddenly, Wang Zhong had a hallucination, seeing Ivan and Count Rocossov smiling at him.
The illusion was fleeting, and to others, it looked like he merely stammered.
He continued, “Just like how the enemy did to us at Argesukov!”
Mikhailovich laughed: “Of course we can. We still have one hundred and forty-five tanks that can move; we will surely complete this encirclement!”
Wang Zhong was shocked: “How many tanks?”
Mikhailovich was stunned, then quickly corrected himself: “Actually, it’s just the aggregated data reported by the platoon commanders, but there shouldn’t be too big of an error. At least 140 tanks can move.”
Wang Zhong: “Why has the number decreased? The enemy is in such condition; look at this gun, it’s frozen like an ice lolly! How were these 20 tanks lost?”
Mikhailovich looked puzzled, as if wondering why Wang Zhong was angry.
That’s when Alexandria, the gunner of tank 422, an old tank operator as well as a tank instructor, spoke up: “It must be mechanical failures. The mechanical failure rate of T-34s is much better than KVs, but it’s still not great.”
“`
“We motor-marched from Suhayaveli to Hill 391 for 11 kilometers, and then retreated here, which should be almost 40 kilometers, and only 20 vehicles broke down, indicating good maintenance.”
Wang Zhong frowned; he remembered the T34 as being rugged and robust. Wasn’t it said that it could motor-march 400 kilometers without breaking down?
The Sturmtiger’s generals also highly praised the T34 as an exceptionally outstanding tank.
Of course, Wang Zhong had also seen opposing data, such as translated Russian documents indicating that the T34 actually had a terrible power system, and was even an oil destroyer—it would burn through its oil after just 145 kilometers and need to be refueled.
But Wang Zhong didn’t take this data seriously.
Could it be that those documents were the truth?
However, Wang Zhong suddenly remembered he was also a T34 user. His own Tank 422 definitely fit the rugged and robust description.
So he hastily asked, “But we’ve never had problems, and we’ve driven everywhere without issues!”
Alexandria: “Because you’ve always conducted short-distance defensive operations. In Loktov, you led us out of town for a single sortie, and the one that went the farthest was your own command, Tank 422.
“In Orachi, we hardly maneuvered during the defensive battles, just moving between defensive positions, and even then, so many broke down. The tanks that later retreated to Shepetovka were selectively good vehicles.”
Wang Zhong furrowed his brow, uniquely interpreting Alexandria’s words: those that broke through Orachi were vehicles with spirited engines.
Of course, it could also just be pure luck.
Wang Zhong: “That’s not right though, there was one vehicle that didn’t have any major breakdowns and kept on running! That’s my ride, Tank 422!”
Alexandria and Beliyakov exchanged glances; the latter, as the person specially in charge of handling machinery, answered: “Because that one is a royal review vehicle. Its engine isn’t the V-2 but the V2K engine, where ‘K’ stands for ‘royal.’ The production time for this vehicle was about three times that of a regular T34.
“After all, it wouldn’t be good if the review vehicle constantly broke down, especially since you and the Crown Prince, as well as your friends, liked to go tank racing.”
Wang Zhong’s mouth fell open.
So the ruggedness and robustness of his vehicle were due to him and his buddies wanting to go for joyrides?
And the rest of the T34s weren’t actually that rugged and robust?
No, that’s not right.
Wang Zhong thought to himself, real knowledge comes from practice. Up to now, the T34s in this timeline had never conducted long-distance maneuvers since they were always destroyed right out of the gate.
We need a long-distance maneuver to test and see if they are truly rugged.
Just then, Yegorov and the new Major General of the cavalry came over, so Wang Zhong said: “Yegorov, assign reliable people to guard these four guns. I must capture them intact along with all their ammunition. Also, leave enough people to guard the prisoners. I think Kiriyenko’s follow-up troops will arrive soon.”
Yegorov smiled: “Planning to continue the offensive?”
Wang Zhong: “Yes, the cavalry will advance with us. Today we’re going to race too.”
At that moment, a Prussian Communication Vehicle painted in Ante colors and bearing the Ante flag drove up, and Vasily jumped out from the van saying, “Chief of Staff Pavlov has asked me to keep up with you. I’ve brought the cryptographer and the Judge overseeing the codebooks, so we can send telegrams.”
Wang Zhong: “Perfect timing, Vasily, take this down.” Experience more content on m v|l e’-NovelFull.net
Vasily took out a notebook.
Wang Zhong: “To Army Group Commander Major General Kiriyenko: After my unit advanced 20 kilometers, we found the territory empty of the enemy, who had scattered like birds and beasts. I assess that my unit should execute a northward enveloping maneuver to surround the enemy concentrated near Karanskaya.
All units of the Army Group, as well as the reinforcements placed under your command, should follow up as quickly as possible. Over. Rocossov.”
After finishing, Wang Zhong frowned himself: “Doesn’t sound much like a suggestion, does it?”
Vasily: “It sounds like an order.”
Wang Zhong: “Revise it to add words like ‘request’ and ‘suggest’ and similar.”
Vasily quickly made the revisions and read aloud: “To Army Group Commander Major General Kiriyenko: After my unit advanced 20 kilometers, we found the territory empty of the enemy, who had scattered like birds and beasts. I believe there is an opportunity for my unit to execute a northward enveloping maneuver to surround the enemy forces concentrated near Karanskaya.
However, this requires prompt follow-up by all units of the Army Group as well as our fellow troops to prevent being surrounded on all sides. I hope for your approval and cooperation. Over. Rocossov.”
Wang Zhong nodded: “Good, send it like that.”
Vasily immediately tore the page out of his notebook, handing it to the cryptographer, who converted the message into an encrypted code, with the Judge watching on sternly.
Wang Zhong then turned to Yegorov and—
Wang Zhong asked the new army commander of the cavalry: “How may I address you?”
“Major General Nikolai Andriyevich Oskov,” he replied.
Wang Zhong: “Let’s execute a grand encirclement! All units eat immediately, we set out tonight, we can’t afford to waste time! Get the torches ready!”
Yegorov: “I suggest leaving our infantry behind to defend, to prevent a counterattack from the enemy. You’ll have enough with the cavalry. If the tanks charge, our infantry might not be able to keep up.”
Wang Zhong: “Makes sense. Also, have Pavlov bring up the anti-tank guns to ensure absolute security.”
At this point, Nikolai Andriyevich asked: “What about the captured enemy division commander and the divisional staff officers? We have two of the division commanders alone.”
Wang Zhong: “Have someone escort them to Suhayaveli, put them on a train, and just say they are gifts from me, Rocossov, to Her Majesty the Empress.”
“`