artillery arc

Chapter 365: Until Death (Silver Extra 10/10)

Through the telescope, Yegorov saw the new, square tanks moving forward.

"Tsk," he said, "the enemy tank commander made the wrong decision. Even though I'm an infantry officer, I know he was wrong."

The bishop beside him was holding a telescope: "Maybe someone saw where the vortex is?"

"How is that possible? It's so far away, and the smoke from the vortex is so huge that even if we could see it, it would be completely blocked." Yegorov shook his head. "I think I understand what he was thinking. He thought that only his tanks could fight against the vortex, so he ordered them to move forward."

After saying this, Yegorov turned to the Proson tank group that was maneuvering to the flank and said, "That's the right choice. Leave the vortex's fire area and go around it. The vortex has no turrets, so it is not very effective against this kind of tactics."

Bishop: "And we have moved the anti-tank guns to the side."

Yegorov smiled: "Yes, that's right. We still have 30 T34Ws as mobile forces. I feel we can win."

Just then, the enemy's new type of tank opened fire.

Yegorov was shocked: "Did they really see the location of the vortex? We don't even know where the vortex is without the map!"

The next moment, the shell landed in front of the vortex position and exploded into a ball of white cotton, quickly blocking the view.

Yegorov slapped his thigh and said, "Forgot they had this thing!"

The next moment, other enemy tanks also opened fire, and smoke bombs quickly covered the front of the vortex position.

Yegorov pursed his lips, thought for a few seconds, and then ordered: "Let the vortex shift and retreat to the second preset position."

The bishop accompanying the army: "The second position is used to fight against the enemy leaving the city."

"The second position is on high ground. We can snipe a wave of enemies. Just fall back when they are obscured by smoke. Also, contact the 225th Division. Enemy tanks are coming towards us. Request them to attack from the rear."

The radio operator immediately began to relay orders, while Yegorov continued to observe the enemy.

He discovered something: "The grass on the enemy's assault route is relatively high. Perhaps we can do something about it. Let the accompanying infantry of the 1st Guards Tank Battalion get off the vehicles and hide in the grass behind the smoke."

Bishop: "It takes great courage for a soldier to face a steel behemoth with his flesh and blood!"

"Don't worry, our soldiers may lack cultural knowledge, but they have courage," said Yegorov.

A few minutes later, the accompanying infantry of the tank battalion in the telescope got off the vehicle and dispersed into the green tent.

Yegorov also saw some infantrymen trying to drive a Willys jeep into the grassland, but their wheels were immediately entangled in the grass - the grass was too high and only tracked vehicles could enter. Even the half-track M3 would probably not be able to drive in such grass.

But this grass can hide infantry.

----

Prosen Army.

Captain John was satisfied to see that the smoke bomb had completely obscured the enemy assault gun's vision.

The cooperation of the No. 4 long-tube unit has expanded the coverage of the smoke to an unprecedented level.

Captain John: "No matter how powerful your attack is, it's useless if it can't hit! Go full throttle and charge!"

At this time, his car had already passed the No. 203 car that was used as the calibration target. Captain John shouted to the commander of No. 203: "Let's go! Attack together! Let's see the performance of the Ante Army's new assault gun!"

Thick smoke was belching out of the exhaust pipe at the back of car No. 203, which caught up with car No. 201.

All the new tanks that were still able to move advanced towards the enemy's assault gun position. Captain John also reminded on the radio: "The assault gun's firing range is not good. We must maneuver as much as possible to force the enemy to turn the vehicle and aim at us!"

In fact, aiming an assault gun is far from as simple as in later games, mainly because the operator of the assault gun does not have the third-person perspective in the game, and only has a little information seen from a very narrow observation hole.

Even though the assault gun has a commander's turret and the commander has a better field of vision, there is still a delay in him conveying orders to the driver.

Therefore, assault guns are only suitable for occupying positions and conducting long-range sniping. Once they enter close combat within 500 meters, they will be at a great disadvantage.

The Plossen Army was equipped with a large number of Type 3 assault guns and had extensive experience in their use, so they were of course very clear about this.

No. 201 rushed into the smoke curtain wall they had set up. John ordered: "Reload the smoke bombs, and immediately fire a new row of smoke bombs after the smoke bombs are fired. The enemy will definitely move their positions. Although we don't know where the enemy's new position is, it's always a good idea to fire the smoke bombs first!"

Everyone responded in unison: "Understood!"

No. 201 was the first to rush out of the smoke.

"Fire, quick!"

The gunner opened fire, and the shell landed about 300 meters ahead, exploding into a ball of white.

At the same time, the enemy's artillery shells whizzed in and flew less than one meter away from the side of No. 201!

Immediately afterwards, the sound of enemy artillery fire was heard - the artillery shells were obviously much faster than sound!

Captain John looked in the direction of the artillery sound, but only saw the smoke from the enemy's firing and could not see where the assault gun was.

But it is enough to know the approximate position of the enemy.

"Turn the turret 35 degrees left! The enemy is on the hillside! Reload the smoke bomb!"

While giving the order, John turned on the radio so that all tanks could hear it and turn their turrets in advance.

The enemy salvo is coming!

Obviously, the enemy who opened fire first had good skills and quick aim, but it was a pity that he fired too hastily - it may also be that he lacked experience in shooting at moving targets.

Now there is a 201-degree angle between No. 35's moving direction and the enemy's firing line. It is a moving target for the enemy!
John watched from the turret as at least ten shells flew towards him.

In the blink of an eye, his tank suddenly turned sharply to the right, and all the shells he had calculated in advance missed the target and whizzed through the tall grass in front of the car.

John laughed out loud, "Well done Kyle (the driver)! You fooled them all!"

"It's not me!" Kyle yelled. "Our roadwheel is dead! It's slipping!"

No. 203 rushed out of the smoke and opened fire the moment it came out - its gunner deliberately fired a little low, so that the shell fell between the enemy position and John Company.

The smoke immediately obscured the firing range, but a shell still pierced through the smoke and hit the front of vehicle No. 203, causing it to slow down and stop right next to vehicle No. 201.

The commander of the 203rd turned around and looked at Captain John.

The next moment, a shell aimed at vehicle No. 201 came through the smoke - the enemy had obviously adjusted its aiming point based on the last position seen.

Vehicle No. 203 was hit by seven or eight shells. Fire burst out from the commander's hatch, turning the commander of No. 203 into a burning torch.

The screams nearly ripped John's eardrums apart.

The next moment, the ammunition on the hull of the No. 203 exploded, and all the openings on the turret were blown open. The commander's body flew into the air, spinning in the air, and finally landed in front of the No. 201 vehicle.

No. 203 turned directly into a fire.

John witnessed the whole process, but what remained in his mind was the last look back by the captain of the 203rd tank.

Not a muscle twitched, and therefore no expression, as he just stared at John.

At this moment, John knew that as long as he lived, he would never forget this face.

It will appear in all of your nightmares until you die.

"Commander!" the gunner shouted, "Command us!"

John turned off the radio: "Turn the turret right 50 degrees, target Ant's T34, free to kill the enemy!"

Gunner: “I know this!”

At this time, more Type 203 tanks rushed out from the smoke. Because of the previous shot by , these tanks were not hit by enemy snipers.

John punched the radio again: "I can't move forward. The deputy company commander will take over the command. The enemy is 35 degrees to the left in front of us, on the hillside."

Deputy Company Commander: "Understood. All vehicles fire smoke bombs to the left to ensure cover, and advance towards the enemy in a spiral line!"

The remaining four new tanks rushed past vehicle No. 201.

At the same time, the main gun of No. 201 opened fire at the T34 group, immediately turning a T34 into a ball of fire.

Then the enemy also released smoke!

John was shocked: "The Ants actually knew where we were firing from? And they could accurately block our vision?"

Gunner: "This is Rokosov's unit, the most elite unit in the Ante Army. It is said that their exchange ratio with our armored units is very amazing. Each crew has destroyed more than ten of our tanks."

John was shocked.

Driver Kyle: “What should we do next?”

John: "Check the condition of the road wheels and whether battlefield repairs are possible."

"Yes."

The driver immediately took off his headphones, climbed out of the tank, and landed on the side of the tank to check.

He immediately reported: "It's hopeless. Four road wheels are broken."

Just as he finished speaking, a big man suddenly jumped out from the grass and cut the driver's throat from behind.

John was shocked and lowered his head to find the MP40 that was issued to each tank. As a result, he saw another Ant climbing onto the tank from the other side out of the corner of his eye.

He immediately lowered his head, closed the tank's hatch and locked it.

"Lock the hatch! Enemy infantry is right next to us!"

Then he discovered in despair that there was light shining in from the driver's seat, and it was obvious that the driver did not close the hatch when he went out.

The next moment, a grenade was thrown in.

The mechanic and electrical operator leaped forward and landed on the grenade.

Then Ant's damn grenade was so powerful that it blew the mechanic operator up into the air, and the fragments flew along the bottom of the tank.

Most of the fragments were blocked by the floor of the turret basket, but some of them bounced back and hit the gunner's feet, causing him to scream.

John thought it was over.

In the blink of an eye, the sound of the Proson machine gun was heard outside the tank.

A large number of bullets hit the tank armor, making crackling sounds.

John and the loader looked at each other, while the gunner took out sulfa powder from the medical bag and sprinkled it on the wound, grimacing.

John picked up the submachine gun assigned to the crew, carefully opened the hatch, and stuck his head out. He saw a half-track vehicle driving out of the smoke with six Proson soldiers scattered around it.

"There are enemies in the grass!" John shouted.

The machine gunner on the half-track vehicle immediately began firing at the grass. The bullets broke many grass stems and green juice flew everywhere.

Then, the front wheels of the half-track vehicle were caught in the grass and stopped.

The driver yelled, "Damn! The grass is too high! No, the half-track can't move forward!"

A corporal climbed onto the tank and said to John, "Retreat. We don't know how many Ante's are in the grass. If we retreat, we can at least retreat to where the grass is shorter!"

John wanted to say, "We can wait until the smoke clears and continue fighting," but the next moment he remembered the face of the captain of tank No. 203.

"Okay." He looked down at the car, "Can you go?"

Gunner: "No problem, just a minor injury."

John nodded: "Okay, the combat mission of the No. 201 crew is over, abandon the car! The current mission is to try to get back!"

(End of this chapter)