“How long is this artillery barrage going to last!” Major General Witt lay on the ground and shouted.
But his shout was completely swallowed by the exploding shells.
For a moment, Major General Witt considered giving up on taking cover and simply lying on the ground, thinking that maintaining this position was tiring and may not significantly increase his chances of survival.
But in the end, he decided to maintain the defensive posture.
The shelling continued, and suddenly he heard a crack as his watch glass shattered, and the splinters scratched Major General Witt’s forehead.
Major General Witt was shocked, reasoning that if the watch glass couldn’t withstand the blasts, it would be unlikely for a person to be unscathed—
Then he realized his nose had already been bleeding profusely, with blood continuously streaming from his nostrils and dripping onto the ground.
And he had been maintaining the position of keeping his mouth open to balance the pressure inside and outside his skull!
Major General Witt immediately lay on his side, pulled out a first aid kit from his person, and took emergency measures to stop the bleeding.
Every Prosen soldier had been trained to handle some less serious injuries on their own.
Nosebleeds caused by shell shock were among these.
After taking care of the bleeding, Major General Witt decided to lie on his back instead, feeling the earth’s vibrations through his spine, sensing the ferocity of the enemy’s firepower.
Bits of crushed rock and sand kept falling on his face.
He closed his eyes, letting his eyelids shield him from the debris.
Suddenly, a voice said close to his ear, “Oh, the glory of the Imperial Armored Troops, the Asgard Knights, not to die in a tank duel, but to be blasted to smithereens by heavy artillery, how ironic.”
He opened his eyes, trying to find the speaker, only for sand to fall into his eyes, causing his tear ducts to immediately start secreting fluid to flush out the sand.
And the voice continued by his ear, “New weapons seem to change the form of war, but in the end, it’s still the big guns that have the final say.”
“Who are you? Identify yourself!” Major General Witt yelled.
The person just laughed heartily.
“Damn sorcery! It must be a hallucinogenic gas, the Ante People have mixed gas shells in with the artillery!” (Actually, there was none; Major General Witt was simply hallucinating after being concussed by the explosions.)
The shells were still falling, and the barrage seemed as if it would never end.
————
“The shelling has stopped!” Yegorov exclaimed with delight, “It’s our turn now! We’ll hammer the enemy once the dust settles!”
Military Bishop: “Given the current situation, should we also move the anti-tank guns to cover the flanks of the tank destroyer battalion and tank battalion?”
“You’re right. With the situation in the city, having just reinforced it with another wave of infantry, it’s unlikely that armored vehicles will rush out from there. Order the anti-tank guns to move and occupy position Gamma 2,” instructed Yegorov.
In the operational plans, several positions for anti-tank guns had already been mapped out, and divisional engineers had even constructed simple defensive works on these positions, with the accompanying machine guns already in place.
Soon there was a cloud of dust at the anti-tank gun positions—Rocossov’s Army Group’s anti-tank guns were all motorized, something learned from the Prosen,
with the entire Prosen anti-tank gun units motorized, while most of the heavy artillery and infantry guns were still drawn by mules and horses.
And the First Mobile Group Army had even motorized the heavy artillery.
The anti-tank gunners hitched their guns to M3 half-track vehicles and various tractors, kicking up a great cloud of dust as they moved toward new positions.
Yegorov observed the area around the anti-tank guns with binoculars, then turned his attention back to the enemy.
The dust from the shelling had been somewhat dispersed by the morning wind, and the contours of Prosen tanks became visible.
————
Major General Witt got up, intending to observe the Ante positions, only to notice a crack in the eyepiece of his binoculars when he picked them up.
Ignoring the crack, he raised the binoculars to look towards the enemy positions he had spotted before the shelling.
That Ante officer was also looking in this direction, but there were no tanks around him anymore.
Major General Witt shifted his viewpoint and saw the Ante’s tanks spread out on the grasslands; the self-propelled guns’ “haystacks” had also changed position, now facing directly toward his troops.
Using the enemy tanks’ frontal silhouette as the main reference point, Major General Witt adjusted the binoculars’ scale and began calculating the distance.
Soon he concluded the enemy was positioned at 1800 meters.
Major General Witt turned his head, “Order the armored troops to deploy; the enemy wants a shootout, and we’ve never been afraid! Our long-barrel Panzer IVs can easily handle T34s, and let the new tanks take on the assault guns!”
No one responded to him.
Major General Witt: “Chief of Staff? Hoffman (his adjutant)!”
No one responded, but a young staff officer ran over, “I’m afraid you can only command me now, sir; both the Chief of Staff and Hoffman have been injured and are unconscious.”
Major General Witt: “Have the armored troops begin the assault! The enemy wants a shootout, and our long-barrel Panzer IVs are more than a match for T34s! Let the new tanks deal with the assault guns!”
“Yes, sir!”
————
Captain John Christopher poked his head out of the tank turret and glanced around.
He clicked his tongue and began performing his duty, picking up the headset: “All units report in, all units report in! I’ll start; Tank 201 has a slight issue with its running gear, might’ve broken a wheel, but it doesn’t affect mobility.”
After all, with so many road wheels on the Panzer VI heavy tank, breaking one wouldn’t really affect the overall mobility, it would just gradually cause the other wheels to break down.
“Tank 202 might have an issue with the turret; its turning speed has dropped significantly, we may have to hand crank it soon.”
“Tank 203…
“Are your sights working properly?” someone suddenly interrupted the orderly reporting.
John looked at the gunner, “Periscope!”
The gunner immediately put his eye to the sighting scope, his hands starting to work the knobs, “Running a self-check… there seems to be a problem, but I need a fixed reference point to recalibrate.”
Sighting scopes were often thrown off by artillery hits, but they could be recalibrated using objects at known distances.
As for how to tell if the sighting scope was off, you would either know when your shells missed their mark, or you would rely on the experience and intuition of the seasoned gunners.
And John’s tank platoon was full of old birds with plenty of experience; they could feel it directly when aiming if the sighting scope was crooked.
John: “Recalibrate the sighting scope, Tank 203, move forward, and tell us the change in the odometer reading when you stop.”
The travel distance on the odometer was only an estimate based on the engine and transmission gear’s rotations, but it was still better than no calibration at all in this situation.
Certainly better than not recalibrating at all.
“203, roger that.”
John watched as Tank 203 left the line and moved forward.
At that moment, an order came through the radio: “All tank units be advised, Panzer IV platoon form up, target enemy T34. New heavy tanks, target enemy assault guns! Form up immediately!”
John cursed, “Engaging in a tank battle with the enemy under these conditions?”
At that moment, someone climbed onto his tank.
He turned his head and saw the face of Tank 211’s commander.
“My tank’s radio is busted, and the tracks are broken too. We can’t join the assault. Any instructions?”
John: “Go find the repair platoon, have a tractor tow your tank away.”
Tank 211’s commander: “Are you sure? The enemy is right in front of us! We can stay and cover the retreat, just like those KV tanks of the enemy’s did last year.”
John: “Follow the orders. Besides, we’re on the offensive. Even if we’re wiped out here, the follow-up armored forces will catch up. We don’t need to worry about covering retreats. Go find a tractor now!”
The commander saluted and jumped off John’s Tank 201.
John grabbed the microphone: “Anyone else unable to join the battle? Continue reporting!”
“Tank 204 here, the walking mechanism is damaged; we’re immobilized and can only stay put.”
“Go find a tractor to tow away your tank, your battle is over. The rest continue to report.”
“Tank 205 here, our tracks got blown off too, the artillery’s effect on breaking tracks is too good, isn’t it?”
John clicked his tongue. He turned his head and saw that both Tanks 3 and 4 belonging to the unit were beginning to move, but there were also many tanks paralyzed on the spot.
It seemed the artillery had done severe damage to the tracks, and even the Panzer IV’s front Number 1 road wheel had completely come off, leaving the tank stuck on the ground.
Reports continued in the headset: “Tank 206 here, we are all good.”
“Tank 212 here, all systems normal, and by the way, Tank 211’s commander might have a busted radio, I saw him come to find you.”
“He found me. I ordered them—”
Before he could finish, a beam of light flashed by, hitting the advancing Tank 203’s armor, ricocheting off.
The loud boom of the shell was heard even by John, who was wearing a headset.
“Assault gun!” John yelled, “The enemy is attacking us! Tank 203! Turn your hull!”
As he shouted, Tank 203 had already turned just in time for the second shot to hit the side of the hull and ricochet off again.
The shell that flew past went over John’s head, landed not too far away, and bounced again.
The voice of Tank 203’s commander was steady: “It’s a large-caliber anti-tank gun, with high initial velocity, but it didn’t penetrate us because we are too far away!”
Meanwhile, John was straining to locate the firing assault gun.
However, the damn thing was hidden in the bushes, utterly out of sight.
More shells flew at Tank 203, all bouncing off.
“We’re not too badly hit, someone got knocked out by the shock, but they should wake up soon—already awake!”
————
Yegorov watched as the enemy’s boxy tanks continuously ricocheted the shells from his swirl-pattern gun, cursing, “This thing is really tough; it seems a bit too hopeful to try to penetrate it at 1800 meters. Switch targets! Don’t keep hammering at the enemy’s turtle shell!”
But the destroyer battalion kept firing anyway.
Yegorov: “Get me a radio, I need to call them, tell them to target those Panzer IVs!”
————
“The enemy has started shooting at the Panzer IVs!”
As the voice came through the headset, John saw a Panzer IV’s turret flying through the air.
“Damn it!” he yelled, “Everyone, calibrate the main gun! Tank 203, what’s your reading?”
“Calculate it as 93 meters!”
“Adjust your sighting scopes, everyone, use 93 meters for calibration. Speak up when ready.”
“Tank 202 ready!”
“Tank 204 ready!”
…
After all tanks had reported, John waved his arm grandly, “Armored troops, advance! Don’t lose to the enemy!”