“`
Yegorov saw through his binoculars that the enemy’s new square-shaped tanks were advancing.
“Tsk,” Yegorov clicked his tongue, “The enemy’s tank commander made the wrong decision. Although I’m an infantry officer, I know he’s definitely wrong.”
The Military Bishop beside him also held binoculars: “Maybe they spotted the vortices?”
“How could they, from that distance? Besides, with the smoke and dust from the firing vortices, even if they could see, it would all be blocked.” Yegorov shook his head, “I think I understand what he’s thinking. He believes only his tanks can counter the vortices, so he ordered an advance.”
Having said that, Yegorov turned towards the Prosen tanks maneuvering towards the flank and said: “That’s the correct choice, to stay out of the vortex’s firing zone and circumvent from the side. The vortex doesn’t have a turret, so it’s not very effective against this tactic.”
The Bishop said: “And we’ve moved the anti-tank gun squads to the side already.”
Yegorov laughed: “Yes, that’s right. We also have 30 T34Ws as a mobile force. I feel we can win.”
Just then, the enemy’s new tank started firing.
Yegorov was shocked: “They really spotted the vortex’s position? Without a map, we wouldn’t even know where the vortex is exactly!”
The next moment, a shell landed in front of the vortex’s position, bursting into a ball of white cotton and quickly obscuring the view.
Yegorov slapped his thigh: “I forgot they had this thing!”
The next moment, the enemy’s other tanks also fired, and smoke bombs rapidly covered the area in front of the vortex’s position.
Yegorov pursed his lips and after a few seconds of thought, he ordered: “Have the vortex move and retreat to the second preset position.”
The Military Bishop said: “The second position is for engaging the enemy coming out of the city.”
“The second position is on the high ground, which can snipe at the enemy. We’ll retreat after being obscured by the smoke. Also, contact the 225th Division, enemy tanks are coming towards us. Ask them to launch an attack from the rear.”
The radio operator immediately began to relay the orders, while Yegorov continued to observe the enemy.
He noticed something: “The grass along the enemy’s assault path is quite high, perhaps we could make use of that. Tell the accompanying infantry of the Guard Tank Battalion to dismount and hide in the grass behind the smoke.”
The Bishop said: “To confront steel giants with flesh and blood, it takes immense courage from the soldiers.”
“Don’t worry, our soldiers may lack cultural knowledge, but they’re not short on courage,” said Yegorov.
A few minutes later, through the binoculars, Yegorov saw the Guard Tank Battalion’s accompanying infantry dismount and scatter into the blue gauze tent.
Yegorov also saw some infantry trying to drive a Willis jeep into the grass, but the tall grass immediately tangled up the wheels—it was too high, only track vehicles could go in there, even the half-tracked M3 would struggle in such grass.
But this kind of grass could conceal infantry.
————
On the Prosen Army’s side.
Captain John was pleased to see the smoke bombs completely obscure the view of the enemy’s assault guns.
The cooperation of the Long-Barrel Division No. 4 even further expanded the coverage of the smoke.
Captain John said: “The most powerful attack is useless if it can’t hit the target! Full throttle, charge!”
At this moment, his command vehicle had already passed the No. 203 vehicle, which was used as a reference for calibration. Captain John shouted to the commander of 203: “Come on! Attack together! Let’s see the performance of Ante Army’s new assault gun!”
Thick smoke spewed from the exhaust pipes behind No. 203 as it followed No. 201.
All available new tanks of the Prosen army moved towards the enemy’s assault gun positions, while Captain John reminded them over the radio: “The field of fire for the assault guns is poor. We need to move as much as possible to force the enemy to turn their vehicle body to aim at us!”
Indeed, aiming with assault guns was not as simple as in the video games of later eras because the operators lacked a third-person perspective and could only see a very limited amount of information through the extremely narrow viewing slots.
Even if there was a commander’s cupola with a better view, there’s still a delay in passing orders to the driver.
Therefore, assault guns were only suitable for occupying positions for long-distance sniping. Once they entered within 500 meters of close combat, their disadvantages became very significant.
The Prussian Army, having equipped a large number of No. 3 assault guns and having extensive experience with them, was of course very clear about this.
No. 201, pushing through its own wall of smoke, Captain John ordered: “Load smoke bombs, fire a new row of smoke immediately after leaving the smoke. The enemy will definitely move their position. Although we don’t know where their new position is, firing smoke first is never a mistake!”
Everyone responded in unison: “Understood!”
No. 201 charged out of the smoke first.
“Fire, quickly!”
The gunner fired, and the shell landed about 300 meters ahead, bursting into white.
Simultaneously, enemy shells came whistling over, passing less than a meter beside 201!
Then came the sound of enemy guns—the shells were obviously much faster than the sound!
Captain John looked towards the direction of the gun sound, only to see the smoke from the enemy’s firing. He couldn’t see where the assault guns were at all.
But knowing the approximate position of the enemy was enough.
“Turret, turn left 35 degrees! The enemy is on the hillside! Load smoke bombs!”
While giving the command, John was on the radio, so all tanks could hear him and turn their turrets in advance.
The enemy fired a salvo!
Clearly, the first enemy to fire was skilled and aimed quickly, just too eager—he might have lacked experience shooting at moving targets.
Now, No. 201’s travel direction made a 35-degree angle with the enemy’s line of fire; for the enemy, this was a moving target!
As John watched at least ten shells fly towards him from the turret, in a flash, his tank suddenly made a sharp turn to the right. The preemptively aimed shells all missed their mark, whizzing past the tall grass in front of the vehicle.
John laughed out loud: “Well done, Kyle! You fooled them all!”
“It wasn’t me!” Kyle yelled, “Our idler wheel is busted! We’re skidding!”
No. 203 charged out of the smoke, firing the moment it emerged—the gunner deliberately aimed low, so the shell landed between the enemy’s position and John’s company.
“`
The smoke immediately obscured the line of sight.
Still, shells pierced through the smoke and hit the front of Tank 203, which slowed down and stopped right next to Tank 201.
The commander of Tank 203 turned back to look at Captain John.
The next moment, a shell aimed at Tank 201 came through the smoke—the enemy had clearly adjusted their aim based on the last known positions.
Tank 203 was hit by seven or eight rounds, and a great fire burst from the commander’s hatch, turning the commander into a burning torch.
His screams nearly tore through John’s eardrums.
The next instant, Tank 203’s ammunition exploded, and all the openings on the turret burst open. The commander’s body was flung into the air, spinning before finally landing in front of Tank 201.
Tank 203 had become a bonfire.
John witnessed the entire process, but in his mind was still the last glance of Tank 203’s commander.
Every muscle motionless, so no expression, just looking at John.
In that moment, John knew he would never forget that face for as long as he lived.
It would appear in all his nightmares until death.
“Commander!” the gunner shouted, “Direct us!”
John turned off the radio, “Turret right, fifty degrees, target the Ante’s T34, free to engage the enemy!”
Gunner: “I’m on it!”
At that time, more No. 6 tanks burst out of the smoke, for the recent strike on Tank 203 had spared these tanks from enemy sniper fire.
John turned the radio back on, “I can’t move forward, the deputy commander will take over, the enemy is 35 degrees to our front left, on the hillside.”
Deputy commander: “Understood, all units fire smoke bombs to the left, ensure cover, and advance towards the enemy in a spiral!”
The four remaining new tanks surged past Tank 201.
At the same time, the main gun of Tank 201 fired at the T34 group, immediately turning a T34 into a fireball.
Then the enemy released smoke as well!
John was shocked, “The Ante people actually know where we’re firing from? Can they precisely cover our vision?”
Gunner: “This is Rocossov’s troops, the most elite unit of the Ante Army, it is said that their exchange ratio with our armored units is astonishing, each crew has destroyed more than ten of our tanks.”
John was taken aback.
Driver Kyle: “What do we do next?”
John: “Check how bad the situation with the load-bearing wheels is, whether it’s possible to repair them on the battlefield.”
“Yes.”
The driver immediately took off his headset, climbed out of the tank, and fell to the side to inspect.
He promptly reported, “No hope, four load-bearing wheels are shattered.”
As soon as the words were out, a burly Ante man sprang from the grass and slit the driver’s throat from behind.
John was shocked, bent down to find the MP40 issued to each tank, but then noticed another Ante man climbing onto the tank from the other side—
He immediately ducked, grabbing the tank’s hatch door and locked it.
“Lock the hatches! Enemy infantry is right beside us!”
Then he despairingly saw light streaming in from the driver’s seat, clearly the driver hadn’t closed the hatch when he went out.
The next moment, a grenade was thrown in.
The machinist dived on top of it.
Then the damned Ante grenade exploded with tremendous power, blasting the machinist into the air, shards flying close to the bottom of the tank.
Most of the shrapnel was blocked by the floor of the turret basket, but some bounced back and hit the gunner’s foot, causing him to scream in pain.
John thought it was over.
At that critical moment, the sound of Prosen machine guns came from outside the tank.
A barrage of bullets hit the tank’s armor, making a crackling sound.
John and the loader exchanged glances, while the gunner took sulfanilamide powder from the medical kit and sprinkled it on his wound, grimacing.
John picked up the submachine gun issued to the crew, cautiously opened the hatch slightly, and looked out, only to see a half-track emerging from the smoke with six Prosen soldiers scattered around.
“The enemy is in the grass!” John shouted.
The machine gunner on the half-track immediately started firing into the grass, bullets cutting through many stalks, scattering green juice everywhere.
Then the half-track’s front wheel got entangled in the grass and halted.
The driver cursed, “Damn! The grass is too tall! The half-track can’t move any further!”
A sergeant climbed onto the tank and said to John, “Let’s retreat, no idea how many Ante people are in the grass. If we fall back, at least we can get to where the grass is shorter!”
John was about to say, “We can continue fighting when the smoke clears,” but the next moment he remembered the face of Tank 203’s commander.
“Alright.” He looked down inside the tank, “Can you walk?”
Gunner: “No problem, it’s just a minor wound.”
John nodded, “Alright, Tank 201’s combat mission is over, abandon tank! The current mission is to strive to get back!”