artillery arc

Chapter 540: Walking in Ashes
Little Griff witnessed Alexei's final battle.

He hid in the attic and looked down through the broken floorboards.

After the Prosons left, he quietly opened the attic door and nimbly jumped to the ground.

He quickly came to Alexei and picked up the photo of Tatyana on the ground.

Alexei's body had been blown to pieces by his own glorious bomb, but little Griff still plucked up his courage and closed his eyes with his hands.

"Rest in peace, Alyosha. I will tell Tatyana about your last heroic act."

Little Griff said he took a grenade from the dead Plosson soldier, unscrewed the lid, inserted the grenade between two floor tiles, and fixed the pull cord to the body's belt.

He set crude booby traps under the bodies of every Proson soldier, and then put extra grenades on his waist. Then he came to the door and listened carefully to the sounds outside.

Proson's first wave of attacks had already passed through this section of the block, so it was quite quiet outside.

Little Griff came out of the room, looked around vigilantly, then crouched and quickly walked through the alley, like a real Ante warrior.

When he reached the street, he looked outside and saw several Plossom warriors cleaning up the battlefield.

They seemed to think that this area had been cleared and was a safe zone, so they talked and laughed loudly and looted property from the dead Ante warriors.

Suddenly, a submachine gun fired.

Little Griff turned his head and looked for a few seconds before he saw the window on the second floor that was spewing smoke and flames.

Three of the Proson men who followed were knocked down at once, and the last one tried to run into the bunker but was caught up by bullets.

Because there was still a fierce battle in the next block, the sound of the PPSh-27 firing was not at all abrupt and did not even attract more Plossen soldiers.

The shooter who had killed four Prosom men leaned his head out, surveyed the street, and made eye contact with Little Griff.

The shooter was mouthing something and waving his hands wildly.

Little Griff gave a thumbs up - in fact, he didn't know what the warrior was talking about, he just wanted to encourage him for his wonderful victory.

Then little Griff lifted the manhole cover and crawled in.

Little Griff's father is a plumber and often inspects the sewers. The children of these plumbers often wander around in the sewers.

Previously, the church wanted to send all the children across the river, but little Griff and his friends hid through the sewers.

Now, little Griff moved quickly in the sewers with ease. He ran for more than ten minutes before stopping to carefully check the number on the ladder going up.

"517, it's here." He whispered, climbed up the ladder and pushed open the manhole cover.

The street outside was quiet.

You can see that the windows of the building opposite are sealed with bricks.

But Little Griff knew that these houses, seemingly heavily fortified, were actually empty and were used to consume the enemy's ammunition.

All the defending forces have been dispersed in every street and are fighting freely.

Of course, there are still some important support points in the city, such as the school that little Griff hates the most. It is said that the main teaching building of the school with terrifyingly thick walls was built as a fortress. Now it is the support point of that area and is heavily guarded.

There is also little Griff's favorite movie theater, and now it is said that a regiment is defending it.

Little Griff was about to crawl out of the tunnel when suddenly a large hand grabbed him and pulled him out: "Why are you still running around!"

The person questioning was the parish priest of the church in the Little Griff neighborhood. He had now taken off his clerical robes and was wearing a khaki military uniform. However, unlike the regular soldiers, he had no rank insignia or military emblems.

Most soldiers in the militia battalions are dressed like this.

Little Griff: "Rif Street was lost, but our people are still fighting, and Alyosha died. I took back his relics."

The priest sighed and said, "That good boy has died. May Saint Andrew be with him. You are not allowed to run around anymore. Go across the river!"

Little Griff: "I've planted a lot of booby traps. I might have killed more enemies than you, Father!"

"you!"

Little Griff slapped the priest's hand away and ran eastward along the street.

"Where are you going?" the priest called out.

Little Griff answered without even turning his head: "Go to the May 5th Factory and give Alyosha's belongings to his father!"

"Be careful of the Prosens, no one knows where they have infiltrated!" the priest continued to shout.

"Know it."

Little Griff ran around the corner and suddenly stopped because he heard the roar of an engine.

I don't know whether it is Proson's tank or Ant's T34.

Little Griff hid in the shadow of the building and looked in the direction of the sound.

He took out the grenade he had just seized and unscrewed the lid.

His breathing became more and more rapid, and his heart was about to beat out of his throat.

——This is really brave.

However, no matter how deeply he breathed, his heartbeat could not calm down, and the excessive secretion of adrenaline made his fingers tremble.

It seems that facing enemy tanks is too difficult for children under ten years old.

At this moment, the source of the noise appeared in the distance of the street. It was a T34!

The tank was completely unpainted and had no tactical number, and it was obvious that it had just come off the production line.

The tank driver leaned his upper body over the turret with a serious expression.

Little Griff jumped out from his hiding place, waving a grenade: "Kill more Prosen people!"

The tank commander raised his right hand and said, "Don't worry, kid!" As if encouraged by little Griff, the tank drove faster. When passing by little Griff, mud splashed on his face.

Little Griff didn't know why, but his feet automatically followed the tank's pace. However, the T34 running at full speed was not something a nine-year-old child could catch up with.

After being left behind for more than ten meters, Little Griff stopped and shouted to the tank: "Kill them!"

At this time, the door of a roadside shop suddenly opened, and the lady called out to little Griff: "Child! Come in!"

Little Griff looked at the old lady and said, "Please take the children across the river. You can get on the church bus over there!"

The old lady was stunned: "Huh?"

Little Griff: "The priest said that the women who are still staying at home must have children to take care of. Let us tell them if we see them - tell you."

The old lady seemed very touched: "I don't have any children to take care of. I am still at home because the labor camp doesn't want old ladies of my age. They want those who are young and strong."

"Then you should cross the river too."

"No," the old lady smiled, "I still need to eat the soldiers' food when I cross the river. I can take care of myself. I have a lot of pickled vegetables at home!"

Little Griff saluted the old lady and said, "Well, I have a mission, so I'll leave first."

After saying that, he started running towards the direction where the T34 had just come from.

The old lady leaned against the door frame and watched him go away.

----

As soon as Griff arrived at the May 5th factory, he saw a tank driver with a bandage on his head saying to the factory workshop director: "When will the next tank roll off the production line?"

"Look for yourself, Tankman Davarish. We are not magicians and cannot conjure up tanks. If you are in a hurry, you can tell us where your tank is broken and we will send a tractor to tow it back. It will be faster to repair it than to build a new tank."

The tank driver sighed, "It's no use. The block has been occupied by the Prosoms. The tractor may not come back after it goes there. We need a new tank."

"Do you have enough tankers?"

Tankman: "My crew still has three people, but we are missing a loader. The machine gunner can take over."

"Then why don't you find a machine gunner while we build the next tank? I want every tank that arrives at the front to use all its firepower to kill the enemy."

Little Griff: "I can shoot a machine gun!"

Everyone turned to look at him.

Being watched by so many adults, little Griff was a little scared, but he still managed to shout, "I can shoot a machine gun!"

"Come on, kid," a tanker laughed, "You can't even see the machine gunner's periscope from where you are sitting. What are you shooting at? You can only shoot blindly."

Little Griff: "I can fight standing up!"

The tankers all laughed, and at this time someone else came in through the small door that Griff came in through.

"Is this the May 5th Factory?" someone who came in shouted, "I heard they're gathering tankmen here!"

The tank commander who had just asked the workshop director for a tank immediately asked, "Can you shoot a machine gun?"

"Yes, I can do any position!"

"Okay!" The tank commander turned to the workshop director and said, "Our crew is fully equipped. When will the tank be ready?"

As they were talking, the factory door opened, and a brand new T34 drove out and stopped in front of the tankers.

The worker driving the tank jumped out and said, "We built it in a hurry, so you guys just make do with it. We'll try to make the front armor as reliable as possible."

"As long as it's a tank, it will be fine." The commander waved his hand, "Quick, load ammunition and fuel! Be ready in twenty minutes!"

The workshop director looked at Little Griff with a look of relief, and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Alyosha is dead. I will tell his father."

"Which Alyosha?" asked the dean.

"Panjielaevich's."

The director pointed to the door of workshop No. 2 and said, "Look for him on the assembly line. Tell him that he has an hour's break."

Little Griff nodded and ran to the workshop.

"Wait a minute!" the workshop director shouted, "Put away the grenades, don't let them explode by mistake!"

Little Griff quickly put away the grenade and then entered the workshop.

He quickly found Alyosha's father: "Uncle, Alyosha is dead!"

The burly worker paused noticeably.

The line leader shouted: "Take a break first, don't make mistakes in the process."

"No, leave it to me." The worker continued with his work, saying, "My cabinet is No. 301, put the remains in it."

Little Griff nodded and turned to leave. The worker suddenly asked again: "Is he brave?"

"Brave, killed at least five Plossoms."

"I see." The worker tightened the screws and added, "Good job, good job."

He took a step back and the production line started moving, with the workpieces that had completed his process moving forward.

He stepped forward and began working on the new workpiece.

In the factory, the sounds of pneumatic hammers or stamping machines sounded regularly, like thunder or war drums.

(End of this chapter)