Major General Witt saw smoke from firing emerging ahead of the tank front line and hurriedly raised his binoculars.
Several seconds later, he confirmed that the armored forces had encountered the enemy’s anti-tank gun emplacements.
Over the past year, the Ante Army’s anti-tank gun units had caused much more losses to the Prosen armored forces than the tank units.
Of course, the Prosen Tank Operators were also very experienced with anti-tank gun emplacements.
First, they would try to find the anti-tank gun emplacements and attack them with artillery shells. If artillery couldn’t resolve the issue, they would release smoke, then charge towards the anti-tank gun emplacements.
Last year, for the most part, Prosen’s attacking front had a much higher tank density than anti-tank gun density. Moreover, the Ante Army had mostly 45mm anti-tank guns, which didn’t pose a high threat to the front of the Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks.
Then, the Ante gunners’ shooting skills were quite poor, so most of the time the Prosen Army didn’t rely on smoke; instead, they destroyed those anti-tank gun positions through direct fire.
Yes, the Ante anti-tank gun positions had caused great loss, but most of the positions were still breached, followed by tanks slaughtering the Ante infantry and gunners at the positions.
It was only because the performance of other Ante units was so poor that the anti-tank gun units became the number one threat.
Now, it seemed the commander of the armored battalion was following last year’s experience, ordering the troops to turn towards the anti-tank gun position, and launching an assault against it—more precisely, the position was already on the battalion’s flanking route; they just needed to turn the vehicles’ heads left about ten degrees to charge toward the position.
With one hand holding binoculars and the other clenched into a fist, Major General Witt yelled, “Quick, annihilate them! Show them what we’re made of!”
Unfortunately, from his position, he could not see the effect of the tank group’s strike. All he could see was Prosen tanks catching fire one after another—catching fire basically meant the tanks would be completely destroyed.
As for those tanks that stopped and didn’t move, Major General Witt also had no idea whether they had been taken out or their crew members were only stunned and temporarily halted.
Suddenly, the Ante People’s T34 tanks appeared from the flank, beginning to strike the sides of the Prosen tanks!
These Ante tanks had excellent marksmanship; one volley of fire had halted a dozen advancing Prosen tanks.
The commander of the armored battalion ordered the tank units on the flank to turn and engage with the Ante tanks in close combat.
Last year, once it came to a melee, the Ante tanks could only be unilaterally pummeled, and Prosen had many new tank aces who had gotten their medals by continuously taking out T34s in close-quarters battle.
But this batch of Ante tanks was clearly different; they didn’t have the “blindness” issue that T34s used to have.
Because they were all the big-headed T34Ws!
The March combat report from this year had specifically mentioned that encountering the big-headed T34W units, they could not be treated as regular T34 units.
These tanks were often driven by the Ante’s best armored operators, and they had added separate tank commanders, giving them incomparable situational awareness.
Major General Witt was frantic; he could see that his armored forces were in trouble, gradually losing the upper hand!
“What are the heavy tanks doing? Quickly take out the enemy’s assault guns, and help us out!”
Major General Witt cursed aloud.
The new Chief of Staff said carefully, “The enemy’s new assault guns are powerful, our new tanks are doing well just to hold them back…”
“Shut up!” Major General Witt rebuked, “My forces are melting away! Damn it, if it weren’t for the artillery barrage that paralyzed so many tanks, we were supposed to have the advantage in numbers!”
Suddenly, someone shouted, “General, look quickly!”
Major General Witt turned his head sharply and saw smoke rising in the north—a clear sign of an armored force moving across the plains.
Immediately, he raised his binoculars, “Are those friendly forces from a pincer attack on both wings?”
Then he saw the silhouette of the racing tanks on the plains.
Sloped armor!
Prosen tanks currently had no sloped armor!
The Ante People’s tank forces were flanking from the north side!
Major General Witt shouted, “Prepare defenses! All crippled tanks stop repairs; crew, get on board, at least they can serve as fixed gun positions! Where are our anti-tank guns?”
The aide responded, “Report, the enemy’s artillery fire has almost completely taken them out!”
Armored forces had better resistance to artillery strikes, but softer targets like infantry suffered greater losses.
Major General Witt waved his hand dismissively, “Never mind, just relying on the firepower of the crippled tanks is enough. The enemy’s T34s can’t do anything to our new tanks. Just two crippled new tanks can thrash the enemy. Infantry units, make good use of the remnants of the half-track vehicles; it’s time for your incendiary bombs to play a role!”
Then, the charging T34s stopped for their first round of shooting.
Instantly, tanks lying in wait caught fire one after another, and probably several more were hit, but as long as the crew didn’t abandon ship, it wouldn’t show.
The Prosen tanks also fired, but most of their shots missed.
The Major General frowned slightly and then shouted, “It’s the sights!”
Crippled tanks meant that artillery shells had exploded very close to the tanks. Since even the road wheels and tracks were damaged, the more delicate optical systems couldn’t possibly be unaffected.
Major General: “Recalibrate the sights!”
Now, the crippled new heavy tanks began to fire, and the first barrage set two T34s ablaze, causing them to stop.
The crew members, engulfed in flames, leaped out of the tanks and rolled on the ground.
The new heavy tanks kept firing, and their 88mm main guns shattered the Ante tanks like hammers smashing eggs, turning them into burning wrecks.
The Ante People returned fire, and the shells exploded against the heavy tanks, creating white “cotton”!
Smoke Bomb!
The Ante People had learned too!
All the crippled heavy tanks were hit with smoke bombs, shrouded entirely in white smoke.
Then the Ante’s T34s started picking off Prosen tanks—that should say Prosen fixed gun positions—without recalibrated sights.
For a moment, the whole Prosen position was a sea of fire, with burning tanks everywhere.
The Ante People still shot at the wreckage, making sure it caught fire—so it wouldn’t suddenly “come to life” and cause casualties for the Ante People.
The fire illuminated Major General Witter’s face.
At that moment, footsteps came from behind; he turned to find Captain John, “General!”
Major General Witter told his adjutant, “Gather all the vehicles that can still run and take all the surviving tank crews with you; retreat along the way we came. The surviving infantry, assemble and I personally lead the rear guard mission. Deploy smoke bombs to force the enemy tanks into close combat.”
The adjutant saluted sharply, “Yes, sir!”
Major General Witter instructed, “You lead the retreat. And, take the staff officers with you, all of them.”
The Chief of Staff was shocked, “Me as well?”
Major General Witter affirmed, “Yes, you are just inexperienced, but you will make a competent chief of staff in the future.”
The Chief of Staff opened his mouth as if to speak, but ultimately didn’t say anything. However, his eyes became moist.
Major General Witter gestured emphatically, “Move quickly!”
Captain John stood at attention before Major General Witter and saluted, “I salute you.”
At that moment, the guard shouted, “Halt! Who goes there?”
A three-wheeled motorcycle approached, driven by a sergeant with a private holding a machine gun in the sidecar. Neither of them wore the impressive leather jackets of the motorcycle units.
“We are messengers from the 16th Armored Grenadier Corps,” said the sergeant, “The Grenadier Corps is still fighting in the city, requesting support.”
Major General Witter shook his head, “There’s no support left. You two act as the vanguard for the retreating troops. Get moving!”
The sergeant’s expression relaxed, he saluted the general, and drove straight to the gathering motorized division.
The smoke set by the infantry had already formed a curtain to the north, so Major General Witter couldn’t see the movement of the enemy armor, but he could hear the engines getting closer, as well as the noise from the gearboxes.
Ante tanks have really loud gearboxes, he thought.
On the column’s side, the surviving Tank Operators and wounded were loaded onto the vehicles still in operation.
The adjutant seemed to want to report back, but Major General Witter waved him off, “Go! As soon as you’re ready, go!”
From a distance, the adjutant saluted the Major General, then removed his gold adjutant’s aiguillette—no longer an adjutant after the commanding officer’s sacrifice.
Major General Witter watched the column head west.
An infantry captain approached him, saluting, “General, the remaining Armored Grenadiers are ready.”
“Give me a submachine gun,” the Major General said.
The captain immediately handed over his submachine gun and ammo pouch to the Major General.
The Major General slung them over his shoulder and then pulled a stick grenade from the captain’s grenade pouch.
“‘I Still Have One Last Grenade.'” he quoted.
The captain asked, “What?”
The Major General explained, “An Ante saying, a song Ante People have taken to singing of late. Since the song became widespread, our captured prisoners have decreased by sixty percent. Most Ante People prefer to pull their grenades and die with us rather than be captured. I used to think they were mad, but now—I may have gone mad myself.”
He tucked the grenade into his belt.
It looked somewhat incongruous for an officer to attach such a grenade to his dress belt.
Major General Witter didn’t care about that in the slightest. Hands behind his back, he sniffed the burnt scent of corpses in the wind, saying, “This wind, this sensation, this is the smell of war.”
No sooner had he spoken than an unfamiliar tank burst through the smoke.
This tank boasted a thick cannon on its body, and atop its tall frame was a turret with a thinner gun.
The machine gun on the tank sprayed bullets toward the Major General.
The captain threw himself at Witter, pushing the Major General to the ground.
The Major General lay flat, brushing the grass blocking his view, and then he saw a brave Prosen soldier clutching an incendiary bomb, charging at the tank—
Then a door on the side of the tank opened, and an Ante soldier leaped out, firing his submachine gun.
Then a second Ante soldier emerged, followed by a third, a fourth…
The Major General watched in astonishment as seven infantrymen jumped out of the tank. Was this actually an “infantry fighting vehicle”?
In the next instant, the tank’s main gun fired, and a high-explosive shell hit the debris in front, sending a Prosen soldier who had just stood up from the grass flying into the sky.
Major General Witter’s mouth hung open.
At that moment, another “infantry fighting vehicle” charged through the smoke, and another squad of infantry disembarked.
Fierce close-quarter infantry combat erupted, but for the first time in such combat, Prosen infantry fell short in firepower against the Ante People with their “infantry fighting vehicles”!
The Ante People began efficiently slaughtering the Prosen rear guard.
They were closing in on Major General Witter still prone on the ground.
The Major General looked to the captain who had just tackled him to find him with a vacant expression and his pupils dilated.
It was clear that he had been shot while leaping at the Major General.
The Major General pushed the captain aside and struggled to his feet. He did not pick up the submachine gun; instead, he grabbed the grenade, pulled the pin, and clutching the grenade, charged at the Ante soldiers.
Machine gun fire struck the Major General’s shoulder, forcing him to his knees.
In the next moment, the grenade in his hand exploded, reducing him to a bloody mist.