Having dealt with the minor friction between brother units, Wang Zhong was about to speak when a radio operator from his entourage reported, “The borrowed B4 heavy artillery has arrived.”
Wang Zhong immediately said to the battalion commander of the 225th Division, “Write everything in the report, what was captured and why the enemy suddenly couldn’t shoot accurately. I will read it myself, so write it well!”
The battalion commander, obviously a military man, furrowed his brows tightly upon hearing he had to write a report.
Wang Zhong jumped onto the jeep: “Let’s go, meet up with the heavy artillery! Remember to drive around the bushes, okay!”
After everyone got into the vehicle, the jeep retraced its route and met up with the heavy artillery battalion that had been waiting for Wang Zhong.
Looking at the B4 heavy artillery, Wang Zhong exclaimed, “Haven’t seen this buddy in a long time.”
Vasily: “Wasn’t it your decision not to add more B4 heavy artillery to the Army Group?”
“That’s because it’s too cumbersome and doesn’t fit with our Army Group’s principles of mobile enemy annihilation. Besides, we can always borrow it to the brother units, can’t we?”
During the conversation, the jeep stopped next to the tractor towing the heavy artillery; Wang Zhong used the jeep as a step and jumped onto the tractor, patting the driver on the back, “Let’s go! To the city!”
Vasily took down Wang Zhong’s red flag from the jeep, carrying the red flag as he climbed onto the cannon, and just like that, he stood on the small operating platform of the cannon and moved along with it.
The city of Yeisk was gradually approaching, and the sound of the Prussian Army’s machine guns was becoming clearer.
Approaching the edge of the city, a few infantrymen jumped out from buildings on the roadside, seemingly to block the way, but upon seeing Wang Zhong standing on the tractor, they gave up trying to stop him and voluntarily stood by the roadside, watching as the tractor hauling the massive artillery entered the city.
As he passed them, Wang Zhong loudly asked, “Which way to the battlefield?”
The leading sergeant pointed straight ahead, “Just follow this main road straight ahead, take the left at every Y-intersection, and keep going straight at crossroads, it’s simple!”
Wang Zhong: “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, General!”
Wang Zhong to the tractor driver: “Did you hear that? Take the left at a fork, and go straight through crossroads.”
“Understood, General.”
The artillery continued to advance.
Not far along, a group of infantrymen appeared by the roadside, shouting and tipping their hats to Wang Zhong, “General! Why have you come this early? There could still be scattered enemies around!”
Wang Zhong: “Then I’ll just flatten them with the artillery’s tracks!”
As they talked, even more soldiers emerged from buildings along the street, and some people leaned out from second-story windows, all cheering for Wang Zhong, “General! You’ve finally come!”
“Hurrah! Let’s finish the fight with the heavy artillery!”
“Hurrah!”
The locals of Yeisk also began to open their doors and windows, curiously watching who the soldiers were cheering for.
Wang Zhong heard a local ask, “Which general is that?”
A soldier promptly answered, “It’s General Rokossovsky! We are General Rokossovsky’s troops!”
“The General Rokossovsky?”
Wang Zhong’s brows instinctively furrowed; he had a premonition that “that” was coming.
“The Rokossovsky who captured 51 Prussian generals?”
See, here it comes!
I knew this was coming!
Then Wang Zhong heard his soldier reply, “Yes, that’s the one! Besides the generals, he even captured a hundred thousand men!”
Wang Zhong thought to himself that it was over; at this rate, he might end up being rumored as the man who captured a hundred thousand generals.
Whether Prosen even had a hundred thousand generals was a question.
More and more locals and troops lined the roadsides. Though the battle was not yet over, and everyone could hear the enemy’s machine-gun fire, people crowded joyfully to the streets.
Wang Zhong had to shout, “Don’t crowd, don’t crowd! We are off to eliminate the last of the Prussians! Make way, please!”
Then the tractor entered the first intersection, a Y-intersection, and the driver decisively turned left.
The machine-gun fire was closer now.
And there were even more local residents lining the street to welcome them!
The residents began throwing bread onto the tractor; in a moment, Wang Zhong’s hands were full with five large loaves.
He could only put the loaves on the shelf at the back of the tractor, and in the process, a piece of bread even fell and got crushed under the artillery’s tracks.
(The B4 heavy artillery also used tracks for mobility.)
Never mind the bread; soon, an old lady holding a hen followed the tractor, shouting, “This hen, the Prussians wanted to steal, so I hid her away, but I hid her too well and she suffocated! My poor hen! General, you eat it, it will give you strength to fight the Prussians!”
Wang Zhong: “Keep it for yourself to eat!”
“Oh, I’m an old woman, what would I do with such fine food? It’s right for young lads like yourself to eat it! Just take it, General!”
“Old mother, there’s nowhere to put it! Look, when our men come into town, we will need to borrow some space in your home, then you can cook it and give the soldiers staying with you an extra meal, right?”
After Wang Zhong’s words, the old lady had an epiphany: “Right!”
Finally, she stopped chasing the tractor.
Now, the tractor entered a crossroads, and Wang Zhong quickly said, “Straight ahead, straight ahead!”
“I remember, General!”
The tractor pulled the heavy artillery across the crossroads.
After the crossroads, the crowds on both sides suddenly disappeared.
And the sound of machine guns was almost in front, along with the sound of the M3 tank gun’s 75.
A captain emerged from a building and saluted Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong patted the driver’s shoulder: “Stop the vehicle, I need to ask about the situation.”
The vehicle stopped, and before Wang Zhong could ask, the captain volunteered, “General! The enemy’s last stronghold is straight ahead, the machine gun positions are very tricky, and the 75 can’t hit them.”
Wang Zhong: “Why not adjust the firing angle for close-range shots?”
Captain: “The enemy has an anti-tank gun set up on the first floor, which has already taken out two of our M3s. We tried to get close using the complex terrain, and we’ve tried using smoke, but none of it worked. They just spray into the smoke and stop us, causing heavy casualties.”
Wang Zhong: “Alright, leave it to us. We’ll just tear down the building, and they’ll have no way to fight back!”
The captain nodded: “It’s up to you!”
Wang Zhong then patted the driver on the shoulder: “Forward!”
The tractor started up again.
At that moment, the commanders of two M3 Grant tanks at the street corner heard the engine noise, turned their heads back, and when they saw the tractor towing a big gun coming their way, they quickly reversed to clear the path.
And so, the tractor, towing the heavy artillery, entered the enemy’s last bastion — the square in front of the city council building.
Wang Zhong immediately understood why this concave-shaped building was so difficult to attack. Its entrance was right in the middle, and it was shielded by the wings on either side.
The Prussians had sealed all the windows on the first floor of the building, and the second-floor windows were also covered with wire mesh, which made climbing with hands utterly impossible.
There were already many bodies of Ante Army soldiers on the ground.
The M3 commander who had just moved aside shouted: “General! We’ve forced the enemy away from the exterior windows, and we were planning to take this opportunity to climb the building, but those inside—”
Before he could finish, a sizzling noise came from the direction of the building, and Wang Zhong turned his head to see a large pot of boiling oil being poured out from a third-floor window.
Wang Zhong was shocked. Pouring boiling oil? Was this some kind of medieval siege warfare?
The M3 commander continued: “Look! The locals said that the Prussians moved all the olive oil stored in the church next door into the city council building. They heat it until it’s scalding hot and pour a vat down from time to time.”
Wang Zhong: “They won’t be able to act so recklessly for much longer. Artillerists, dismount and prepare to fire!”
After the order was given, all the artillerymen sitting in the transport truck dismounted. They worked with the tractor driver to swing the big gun around, aiming it at the still-resisting building.
Then the connection between the tractor and the cannon was removed, and the “freed” tractor moved aside to stand by.
Wang Zhong jumped off the tractor and climbed directly onto the cannon: “Lower the cannon flat, aim directly. M3, provide fire support! Suppress the enemy!”
After all, the cannon was now too close to the enemy, and the artillerymen operating it were very likely to be killed by machine gun fire from the building.
Therefore, fire support from friendly forces was needed for suppression.
The two M3 tanks opened fire at full force, suppressing the Prussians so they didn’t dare raise their heads.
On the B4 side, loading was quickly completed, and the artillerymen all jumped off the cannon.
An artillery captain came up to Wang Zhong and said: “General, you can’t stay on the cannon. When firing at a flat trajectory, we won’t fix the cannon in place. This allows it to recoil backward, absorbing the energy of the recoil in the process.”
Wang Zhong: “Would there be a problem if I stood on it?”
“It would be very dangerous.”
Wang Zhong: “Then there’s no need to worry, I’ll hold on tight.”
The captain hesitated, but ultimately chose to comply with Wang Zhong’s wishes.
Wang Zhong stood on the cannon, grabbing the edges up to the railing, opened his mouth wide: “Fire!”
The next moment, Wang Zhong’s head was stunned by the shock, his mind went blank for about a second or so, he might have been knocked unconscious, but he quickly came to.
Wang Zhong couldn’t see anything in his field of view, it was all smoke and dust from the cannon fire.
The violent recoil almost made him vomit.
Damn it, I shouldn’t have shown off!
He had no time to observe the results of the shelling, and it wasn’t until he regained his senses that he realized the people around him were cheering.
Then he saw a large chunk of the city council building’s side blasted away, the concrete walls crumbling like a sandcastle struck by a giant’s hand, tumbling down to pieces.
Wang Zhong smacked his lips: “My, is the firepower that strong?”
At that moment, the artillery captain suggested: “I recommend another round, hitting the same spot.”
Wang Zhong nodded: “Approved!”
Then he jumped off the cannon and moved away from it.
The captain hesitated, then chose to turn a blind eye.
Because the B4 was leveled, loading was made much easier. The artillerymen quickly dismounted the cannon and took positions next to it, ready to brace against the shock.
Wang Zhong did likewise.
At that moment, the captain ran up to Wang Zhong: “Please order to fire!”
Me again!
Wang Zhong shouted: “Fire!”
Then, as the captain pulled the lanyard, Wang Zhong assumed the shock-resistant position again.
The second shot was fired!
A strong wind blew across Wang Zhong’s cheeks — that was the blast from the muzzle!
This time, Wang Zhong had the chance to observe the point of impact. He saw the cracks in the wall burst asunder, followed by a massive explosion.
As if a string had been touched, more than half of the west wing of the building collapsed, exposing the interior floor structure.
Wang Zhong: “Good! Another one!”
Loading was quickly completed, and the cannon roared again. This time, the entire west wing collapsed completely.
The rising dust from the collapse even covered the entire square.
While sneezing, Wang Zhong shouted: “Be careful of the enemy counterattacking under cover of the dust!”
At that moment, Prussian could be heard through the dust.
Vasily immediately translated: “They want to surrender.”
Wang Zhong sneered: “Just three shots, and the Prussians aren’t as brave as they boast.”