Yegorov watched as the enemy once again used smoke bombs to obscure the field of fire of the vortex.
“Sukabule, it’s all smoke!” he cursed.
Military Bishop: “The Prussians have always liked to use smoke to block the range of the Divine Arrow when they were in Melania, and in Carolingian, they took the use of smoke to the extreme. Now we use the Divine Arrow for air defense, and they use smoke to block our direct fire.”
Yegorov shook his head and ordered, “Shift the vortex, don’t engage the enemy in close combat. Now I see why General Rokossovsky emphasized the mobility of assault guns so much; he anticipated that the Prussians would use smoke like this.”
In reality, he hadn’t.
Yegorov: “General Rokossovsky has calculated every step of the enemy, he even wrote articles predicting how Prosen would lose in the future!”
The bishop felt a bit awkward: “You mean his brilliant article? That’s based on the current conditions and trends to analyze the future; don’t make it sound like a wizard predicting the future.”
Yegorov: “You’re still not familiar with the general. I’ve been with him for a long time, following him since the war broke out, let me tell you, he definitely saw through the future; he has this feeling about him.”
“Let’s not talk about that,” the bishop interrupted Yegorov, “The destroyer battalion has retreated; we should also fall back, otherwise the enemy tanks will charge right up to us.”
Yegorov looked over the battlefield and indeed, it was the case. The next sniping position of the destroyer battalion had already moved behind him, and now the destroyer vehicles were trailing clouds of dust, passing in front of him.
“Let’s go too.” Having said this, Yegorov turned and walked towards the jeep.
At this moment, the communications soldier reported: “A phone call! From Army Group Command!”
Yegorov raised an eyebrow: “The line is through? Give it to me.”
After all, they would have to re-lay the phone lines once they started moving, which could mean no phone service for possibly dozens of minutes.
Taking the handset, Yegorov spoke loudly: “This is Yegorov.”
Rokossovsky: “What’s the situation now?”
“The enemy is using smoke to negate our advantage and trying to engage in close combat. The destroyer battalion is currently using their mobility to cope with the enemy.”
————
When Yegorov reported, Wang Zhong already had a clear overhead view of the situation.
There were two large smoke zones on the battlefield, and the smoke was mostly spread horizontally. It was clear that the smoke bombs had been fired by direct-fire guns—the mortars would have caused sporadic bursts because their impact points are random within a circular area, not capable of forming such a “smoke wall.”
This meant that the enemy tanks were using fired smoke bombs to block the superior long-range fire and attempt close combat.
It was a bit like the tactic used by the American Sherman squad against the Tiger tank in the movie “Fury.”
Wang Zhong marveled, as when he provided the design specifications for the vortex, he only focused on anti-armor combat and a stable penetration of a Tiger tank’s front at 1500 meters, forgetting that in this timeline, the Prussian Army was extremely skilled at using smoke.
Now he was extremely grateful that he hadn’t sacrificed the vortex’s mobility for increased defense; under these circumstances, the vortex could still utilize its mobility to reposition.
From the overhead view, there was more than a thousand meters between the enemy’s heavy tanks and the vortex clusters, clearly indicating another opportunity for the vortex group to ambush the enemy.
Wang Zhong suddenly realized something.
He hurriedly shouted, “Yegorov, move quickly! How did you get so far forward? No more going to the front line from now on!”
In the overhead view, the enemy heavy tanks were less than 800 meters away from Yegorov! They even had a direct line of sight!
Yegorov: “I was just about to run when you called me; I had to answer!”
As Yegorov spoke, Wang Zhong saw that a Tiger tank commander had noticed Yegorov and was pointing in his direction, and the next moment, the Tiger’s turret began to rotate—
“Release the smoke and get out of there, move!” Wang Zhong hung up the phone, then using the remaining view, watched as Yegorov passed the handset to the communications soldier, then gave an order to the guards.
The guards began to throw smoke bombs.
The Tiger tank fired, and the shell landed not far from Yegorov.
Yegorov got into the vehicle; before he was seated properly, the driver floored it, and the car sped away, zigzagging across the grassland like Yegorov did when he was drunk.
The guard squad continued to deploy smoke while one vehicle bravely moved laterally, trying to draw the Tiger tank’s attention.
During this tense moment, the view cut out!
Wang Zhong cursed as if he had encountered a cliffhanger in a gripping web novel!
Pavlov exclaimed, “What happened?”
Wang Zhong switched back to the command post view: “Nothing. Yegorov ran to the front line and ended up in danger himself!”
Pavlov and Popov looked at each other before Popov said, “So you know that wasn’t right?”
Popov: “What, finally decided not to personally command the tank charge?”
Vasily: “He’s planning to lead the charge on horseback.”
The three generals in the room looked at Vasily, the captain.
Initially amused by his own comment, Vasily’s smile stiffened on his face. He quickly dropped the smile, touched his nose: “Er, perhaps charging with tanks is better.”
Popov: “I actually think it might be safer on horseback.”
“No,” Wang Zhong responded decisively, “How could horseback possibly be safer than a tank? Popov, you have to believe in science, you’re a bishop of the Secular faction.”
Popov spread his hands: “There might be a scientific principle at work here, one we just don’t understand yet. Maybe something like quantum entanglement or de Broglie waves is protecting you.”
— And you know what, that does sound rather cool, a knight protected by quantum mechanics.
At this moment, two officers from the Melania People’s Army entered the room and snapped to attention: “General!”
Wang Zhong casually returned the salute and asked, “Which unit are you from?”
The leading lieutenant colonel: “Tank destroyer battalion.”
Wang Zhong: “Great, come to the map, we need your vortex units right now.”
He stepped up to the map first, gesturing to the officers: “We launched an attack in the heavy fog this morning. The enemy commander is clever; to avoid having his armored units easily destroyed by infantry in close combat, he pulled his troops out of the city first. Now they are in a melee here with the armored forces of the Guards Mechanized Infantry.”
Both Melania officers clearly only had the lieutenant colonel who understood Ante language, while the major behind him was utterly confused.
Lieutenant Colonel, “Are you planning to have us go for support?”
Wang Zhong, “Yes, there is a good anti-tank position here, and also remember not to go here, this area is a swamp, and tanks will sink in.”
The lieutenant colonel took out a map from his map case and began updating the information on it.
Wang Zhong did not disturb them but turned his head to Pavlov and said, “Check on the situation with the 225th Division. Where have their armor units reached?”
While carrying out artillery shelling against the enemy, Wang Zhong had ordered the armored units of the 225th Division to bypass the city and encircle it, but since the route was a bit long, they had not yet arrived.
Pavlov immediately picked up the phone and began to confirm the situation, “This is Pavlov, connecting to the 225th Division.”
Wang Zhong watched as the Melania officers professionally completed the map updating process.
After finishing the updates, the lieutenant colonel handed the map to his follower and looked up at Wang Zhong, “We will rush to support immediately.”
Wang Zhong nodded, then turned around and called out, “Nelly!”
Nelly entered from the side door full of anticipation, “What’s up?”
Wang Zhong, “Tell the kitchen to give the Melania boys something they can hold and eat while driving.”
Nelly nodded and turned to leave.
Melania Lieutenant Colonel, “We are indeed a bit hungry, but just some biscuits will do.”
“No, trust me, eating something good can boost morale,” Wang Zhong waved his hand, “Go ahead!”
The two Melania officers saluted and turned to leave.
————
At the front line.
Yegorov pointed ahead, “Stop over there! On that slope!”
The driver immediately turned the steering wheel, so the Willis jeep climbed a hill less than ten meters high.
As soon as the vehicle stopped, Yegorov stood up and looked through his binoculars at the high ground they had just left—now it was shrouded in smoke released by the guard platoon, and the smoke also blocked Yegorov’s view.
He could no longer see the enemy’s new heavy tanks.
Yegorov cursed under his breath, looked to the other side, and saw one of the guard tank regiments’ T34s ablaze.
The enemy’s long-barrelled Mark IV had come around and was exchanging fire with the T34s of the guard tank regiment.
Yegorov frowned because he saw many of the enemy’s shots were missing.
“What the hell, the enemy’s shooting skills have decreased? Have they added a lot of new recruits?” he muttered to himself.
The Military Bishop also stood up to observe through binoculars, nodding as he did so, “Indeed, it feels like their shooting skills have gone down. But this won’t do, we should release smoke to force the enemy to come closer, to let our anti-tank guns play a role! Our division has the upper hand against enemy tanks in trade-offs!”
Yegorov, “You’re right, although I don’t like smoke, it should be done this way. Radio!”
The radio was handed to Yegorov immediately, who shouted into it, “This is Grizzly! Wolfpack, Wolfpack, release smoke to force the enemy into Hound’s range!”
“Wolfpack understood!”
Accompanying the response, the T34s in view started shooting smoke bombs, quickly creating a wall of smoke that forced the enemy to continue moving.
That’s right, now the guard tank regiment also carries smoke bombs, all learned from the Prussians.
————
In the 16th Armored Battalion of Prosen, the battalion commander’s command tank stopped on a high ridge. The commander, speaking into the handset, angrily questioned, “Our firepower strike efficiency is not enough. Are you just sitting there doing nothing?”
“Reporting to the commander, the sighting scope was damaged by artillery, and our long-distance shooting accuracy has dropped! We suggest advancing for a direct short-range shot!”
The commander swore, “Haven’t you thought of calibrating the sighting scope before going into battle?”
“We were preparing to adjust, but then the order to attack was given.”
Commander, “Forget it, there’s no time now. We cannot give up our long-range advantage. Later, tanks that can hit the enemy will share ranging data, and you can temporarily adjust! Now, move southeast, bypassing the enemy’s smoke!”
“Yes!”
————
At the Anti-Tank Gun Position of the Mechanized Infantry Guards.
Dmitri stood tall and observed the enemy’s movement with his binoculars.
The enemy’s tank cluster chose to bypass the smoke to the side and was soon to enter the anti-tank gun position’s range.
Dmitri put down his binoculars and ordered the gun battery he commanded, “Get ready! Let the enemy come within 500 meters before firing to achieve a higher hit rate. Wait for my command.”
He looked at the enemy again.
This was not his first time facing the charge of enemy tanks. He was an old soldier who had fought with General Rokossovsky since the time of Loktov; at Loktov, they only had three cannons.
Now, he was commanding a fully-staffed anti-tank gun battery.
The enemy’s tanks crossed over the target.
Dmitri raised his hand, then brought it down with a vigorous chop, “Fire!”
The concealed 57mm anti-tank guns opened fire!
Dmitri, “Fire as fast as you can! Fire fiercely!”
Because it was a fully-staffed anti-tank unit, each gun had five or six loaders, and shells were continuously loaded into the chamber, allowing almost every three seconds a shot could be fired!
A tempestuous barrage swept across the enemy tank units.