artillery arc

Chapter 363: The Front Without Rokossov

As soon as the hand-to-hand combat began, the Ants began to gain the upper hand.

It's not because the Ants are big, but because the guns in the hands of the Ants have higher stopping power. Proson is a specially assembled commando, equipped with MP38 and MP40 submachine guns, and the pistol bullets they shoot, as long as they don't hit the vital parts that can kill them in one shot, the target will most likely continue to move.

The weapons in the hands of the Ants fired reduced-charge rifle bullets, which caused huge damage no matter where they hit. The Prosen people fell down after being hit by one shot.

This is very critical in hand-to-hand combat, because everyone is splashing water at close range, and whoever has a higher single-shot stopping power will have the advantage.

Yes, whether it was Ant or Proson, they would shoot if they got the chance in hand-to-hand combat.

In addition, the weapons in the hands of the Ants are heavier and very sturdy, and are very effective when used as melee weapons.

Brutal hand-to-hand combat soon broke out in every corner of the city.

----

Filippov used the butt of his rifle to knock a Prosen soldier from bottom to top and sent him flying into the air.

Without waiting for the enemy to land, Filippov quickly resumed his submachine gun shooting posture and looked for enemies to shoot. As a result, he found that his team had killed all the opponents.

"Take a five-minute break, reload your weapons, and collect the grenades from the enemy. Misha, you stand guard."

The corporal nodded upon receiving the order, and immediately rushed to the pile of firewood beside the wall, sticking his head above the brick wall to guard the direction of the road.

Others began to turn over the bodies of the Prosoms.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "There's a live one here!"

Filippov turned his head and rushed over in two steps, and found a Proshen soldier with a wounded shoulder, with his hands raised high.

"Kill him and it will be over once and for all," said the corporal in the team.

Filippov held down the corporal's gun and said, "We are General Rokossov's troops. The general hated Prosen so much, but he didn't torture the prisoners. At most, he just shot them in the shoulder and let them go."

The corporal's expression softened. "Okay, you're right. So we should shoot him in the shoulder, too?"

"No, the situation is different." Filippov turned to the private with a bandage on his shoulder, "Grisha, you stay."

"I can still fight!"

"I know, that's why I left you here to guard the prisoners. What's the point of keeping you here if you can't fight? You did a good job today. I saw you kill a Prosen who was taller than you."

The private stopped arguing and looked at his captive with resentment.

Filippov: "You'd better tie him up. The rest of you continue to follow the orders and reload the magazines."

In addition to the magazines on the guns, the ANT infantry usually carried three full magazines, but by now everyone had used up most of their magazines. In addition to the magazines, everyone also carried some loose bullets in the bag behind them.

The specific number of people you bring depends on your own load-bearing capacity.

Now Filippov is giving everyone time to take out the spare bullets from their backpacks and put them into the magazines.

He also checked the empty magazine in his chest mount and took out spare bullets to fill it up.

While loading the bullets, he suddenly heard Grisha say, "Who has extra bullets? Give me some."

He looked up and asked, "Why, you didn't bring enough?"

Grisha spread his hands and said, "I didn't think I'd live long enough to empty all my magazines. Shit, someone give me some!"

Everyone shook their heads, and someone responded, "Everyone's magazines are almost empty, and they may not even be able to refill their own."

Grisha sighed, put the empty gun behind his back, and picked up the enemy's MP40 on the ground: "Last year, I thought the Proson submachine gun was the best designed weapon in the world. I even planned to use it to fight the entire war."

As he spoke, he skillfully pulled out the magazine to check the amount of ammunition inside, then inserted the magazine back and loaded the gun skillfully.

Filippov: “Why not?”

"Because there are better weapons. Proson's submachine gun is light and easy to use, but it is obviously not as good as our new gun. This thing can only shoot blindly at a distance of 100 meters."

Filippov: "It's a submachine gun, it fires a pistol, don't be too picky."

"Yes. It's barely enough for urban warfare."

Filippov had loaded the last of the bullets. He now had two full magazines, and with the half-empty magazine in the gun, he should be able to fire for a while.

He inserted the magazine into his chest mount and put it away, then looked down at his watch and checked everyone's situation. He decided to extend the rest time by a few minutes, at least until everyone had put all their spare bullets into the magazine.

At this time, there were artillery shells breaking through the air overhead.

The veterans all looked up at the sky.

"Bombing outside the city?"

"I heard the sound of an engine in the fog just now. The enemy armored forces must have escaped from the city."

"Everyone heard it. I guess the shelling was aimed at the armored units."

Filippov: "Stop chatting, arm yourself quickly, there are still many enemies waiting for us to kill."

Everyone hurriedly lowered their heads to load the bullets.

After a while, seeing that everyone was armed, Filippov stood up and said, "Let's go! Now that the fog has dissipated, there is no need to worry about accidental shooting. Go in the direction of the dense gunfire and restore contact with other troops as soon as possible."

----

On Prosen's side, Andreas and Corporal Kosrek had already run to the edge of the city.

Corporal Kosrek: "There's a motorcycle!" Andreas also saw the motorcycle, which should be the motorized reconnaissance battalion's three-wheeled motorcycle with a bucket.

Corporal Koslake stepped forward and quickly checked the car, then skillfully smashed the lock with the butt of his rifle and stepped on.

Andreas was shocked: "What are you going to do?"

"Didn't you hear the engine in the fog? The troops have withdrawn. We are now leaving the city to chase the main force!"

"Is this okay?" Andreas asked worriedly.

"If the troops hadn't left the city, there would be problems with what we did. If we ran into the supervision team, I would be shot, and you would have to go to the punishment camp to prove yourself. But the troops have left the city, and we are just following orders. Get in the truck!"

Andreas hesitated, but did as the corporal said, and the corporal began to pedal hard to start the motorcycle.

Suddenly, he stopped struggling with his pedals and looked up at the sky.

Andreas was a new recruit and didn't understand what the whistling sound in the sky meant, so he could only look at the sky like the corporal.

Corporal: "It was bombed outside the city. Why?"

These two men had been running on the ground, and had not reached the commanding heights after the fog had cleared, so they did not know that the Sai De Division's troops had simply driven their vehicles out of the city to avoid being attacked in close combat by the infantry who had taken advantage of the fog.

Finally, the corporal shook his head and said, "Whatever. Let's go."

He stepped on the pedal hard again and the car finally started.

Corporal: "You control the machine gun in the truck bed. Although I think the machine gun will be useless against the enemy's armored forces after leaving the city, it is better than nothing. Also, it is still quite useful against the enemy infantry before leaving the city."

Andreas grabbed the back of the machine gun and put the butt against his shoulder: "I'm ready!"

The corporal stepped on the gas and the motorcycle started, soon speeding along the narrow street.

----

Yegorov saw through the telescope that his tank battalion and tank destroyer battalion had already moved to their positions, so he shouted to the communicator on standby beside him: "Telephone!"

The receiver was immediately put into his hand.

Yegorov: "To the army headquarters - Hello? Switchboard? Hello!"

After shouting several times, he angrily returned the receiver to the operator: "The field mice have bitten the telephone line again, send someone to check the line! Bring me the walkie-talkie!"

The military bishop: "We want the artillery regiment to stop firing?"

Yegorov pointed to the distance and said, "Nonsense, look at the artillery fire, we can't even see where the enemy is. We can't destroy the enemy unless the artillery stops."

Bishop: "Maybe they don't need us anymore."

"How is that possible? The enemy must still have some armored forces left. Artillery bombardment can solve many problems, but it is not a panacea."

The signalman handed Yegorov the walkie-talkie: "Headquarters has been called."

Yegorov picked up the receiver: "Commander! This is Yegorov. Our formation has been deployed. Stop the shelling and leave it to us!"

Rokosov's voice came from the other side: "Are you sure? The enemy has a lot of Long-Barreled Type 4s, right?"

Yegorov raised his eyebrows: "Not a few?"

"I guessed," said Lieutenant General Rokossov. "My guesses are always right, aren't they? Let's keep bombarding for another 30 minutes."

Yegorov: "Well, you are the boss, you have the final say."

After hanging up the receiver, Yegorov turned to his adjutant and said, "Send someone in a jeep to pass on the message. The shelling will stop after 30 minutes. Get ready."

The adjutant saluted and left.

The bishop who was accompanying the army looked at the dense barrage of bullets in front of him and said, "Why, the lieutenant general still trusts his own artillery fire more?"

Yegorov: "He's good at this."

At this time, the guard next to him shouted: "General, look over there!"

When Yegorov turned his head, he saw smoke and dust billowing on the broken dirt road between the 225st Guards Mechanized Infantry and the th Infantry, and a troop was coming from the direction of the army headquarters.

Bishop: "Melania's First Division troops?"

Yegorov: "That's not right. Our army's troops are so mechanized. The infantry rides on M3 half-track vehicles, and the smoke is bigger than this. This looks like a bunch of cars."

At this time, a Willys jeep drove over, and the brigadier general of the army's motor vehicle brigade got out and saluted Yegorov: "The motor vehicle brigade has been ordered to escort the 401st Provisional Infantry Division through the defense zone."

Yegorov raised his eyebrows. "Sending newbies into the city to be minced? When did Rokossov become so cautious?"

Bishop: "Now most of our two regiments are in the city, with a strength of about 6,000 to 7,000. There shouldn't be any problems. Listen, the gunfire in the city has become sparse."

The commander of the motor vehicle brigade spread his hands and said, "I am following orders."

Yegorov: "It's good to let the rookies gain some experience. Call the troops in the city on the radio and tell them that the brothers of the 401st Provisional Infantry Division have entered. Be careful of accidental injuries."

The signalman immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and started calling.

Yegorov continued to use a telescope to observe the enemy armored forces covered by artillery fire - he always regarded them as the "big fish" and the city was just a bonus.

"How come 30 minutes takes so long!"

(End of this chapter)