artillery arc

Chapter 542 The final struggle
Early morning of November 11, 1, Abawakhan Front Headquarters.

Wang Zhong had already been sitting in the headquarters and had drunk half a cup of tea.

I don’t know what idea the chef Seris brought back from the United States came up with, but Wang Zhong had hot snacks this morning, so he was in a good mood. The depressed mood brought about by the tragic sacrifices in recent days seemed to be swept away by the hot snacks.

Wang Zhong even seriously considered catching up on his sleep.

Just then, the phone rang.

Pavlov frowned as he held a half-eaten snack. "What's going on? It's not time for the daily report yet?"

Even so, he still picked up the receiver: "Front Command. What? How many troops rushed through your defense zone? Why were they not stopped? Okay, I get it. We must close the breakthrough point and stop the follow-up troops."

After saying this, Pavlov put down the phone and looked at Wang Zhong: "A large enemy force group took advantage of the time before dawn when our soldiers were most tired, blew up the roadblocks set up by the 62th Division of the 277nd Division, and passed through the division's defense zone from St. Andrew Avenue."

Wang Zhong immediately stuffed the snack into his mouth and walked to the city defense map while chewing. "St. Andrew Avenue? This road is connected to Tsar Avenue and can lead directly to the tunnel entrance."

Pavlov did not answer. He was on the phone: "Hello? 161st Division Headquarters? Call your division commander over! This is the front headquarters. The enemy's heavy troops are advancing along St. Andrew's Avenue! Yes, you must stop them, stop them at all costs!"

Wang Zhong looked at the defense zone of the 161st Division on the map. Pavlov skipped the defense zone of one division and directly issued orders to the division guarding the intersection of St. Andrew Avenue and Tsar Avenue.

The chief of staff had just put down the phone when it rang again. He picked up the receiver and said, "Headquarters! I know you are under attack. Stop the enemy's heavy troops at all costs. At least buy time for the 161st Division behind you.

"What? The troops have been broken up into small units, and there are no large-scale organized troops to stop them? What does your guard battalion do?"

At this time, Wang Zhong had figured out the situation with the help of a plug-in - when Pavlov was talking to the divisions below, Wang Zhong could get their vision.

Pavlov was talking to the 62th Division of the 186nd Army.

The Plossons concentrated a combined force roughly equivalent to that of a reinforced brigade, used a dozen flamethrower tanks to clear the way, and attempted to break through along the wide St. Andrew's Avenue.

It should be said that this tactic effectively targeted Wang Zhong's tactic of breaking the whole into parts.

However, at the intersection of St. Andrew's Avenue and Tsar Avenue, there is a strong defensive support point.

The support point was originally the Abawahan Theater, a solid building made of reinforced concrete and marble. After half a month of reinforcement, it has now become a fortress. Even Proson's heaviest 210mm heavy artillery cannot easily destroy it.

A reinforced regiment of defenders was deployed in the Grand Theater, equipped with more than ten 76mm anti-tank guns and dozens of machine guns.

Even for the elite Prosen battle group, it would be difficult to pass through such a strongly fortified fortress.

Wang Zhong was paying attention to the movements of the Proson battle group.

As expected, the 186th Division was unable to stop the organized Proson battle group in a hurry. Although the Ante fighters who were broken up into small groups were able to kill and wound the Proson people and obtain a good exchange ratio, they were unable to stop the enemy's breakthrough.

Although all the Ante warriors along the way were firing and fighting each other, the Prosen people were still moving forward firmly.

Only the roadblocks blocking the road slightly blocked the enemy, but unfortunately the enemy's combat engineers quickly completed the blasting and clearing of the obstacles - the 186th Division did not have enough troops to stop the obstacle clearance operation.

Just as the Prosens were about to break through, a battalion of Ante warriors appeared.

Wang Zhong could tell who these people were at once. In addition to the division headquarters’ guard troops, there were also staff officers, clerks, and other miscellaneous personnel. The entire division headquarters was there.

He even saw the commander of the 186th Division leading the way, holding a submachine gun in one hand and a pistol in the other, standing on a roadside flower bed and shouting something.

The Prosens reacted quickly and immediately launched a cross-fire network.

The flamethrower tanks advanced towards the 186th Division Headquarters Battalion, and the flames from the muzzles swept out in a fan shape.

Even the most determined warrior will forget to fight and roll on the ground in the severe pain when his body is on fire.

Wang Zhong couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he raised his angle of view. Just at this moment, Pavlov hung up the phone, which meant that Wang Zhong would lose his vision in a few dozen seconds.

He switched the screen directly and began to check the defenses at the tunnel entrance.

"Pavlov," he began, "the defenses of the Coliseum should be able to hold off the enemy's advance. But I see they are very determined. They might use smoke bombs to block their line of sight and then pass through the Coliseum quickly."

Pavlov: "It is indeed possible. The defenders of the Grand Theatre should be ordered to adopt the 'fire zone' tactics."

This was the tactic Wang Zhong had adopted in Loktov. Regardless of the firing range, all firepower was directed to sweep according to the calibrated parameters. The machine gunner only had to mindlessly shake the machine gun handle, and the gunner only had to shoot with his eyes closed.

On Earth, this is the tactic the Americans use to deal with night raids by Japanese invaders. It is very effective and has no disadvantages except for wasting ammunition.

And Wang Zhong has no shortage of ammunition now.

While Pavlov was on the phone, Wang Zhong continued to view Tsar Avenue from a bird's-eye view.

"Just in case, a few barriers should be set up on Tsarskaya Avenue with trucks."

He turned around and told Yakov: "Go outside and stop the motorcade that is returning through the tunnel. Ask the commander to come find me."

The returning motorcades were either empty or loaded with corpses or seriously injured people.

It should be feasible to stop empty vehicles and drive them onto the avenue to reinforce the roadblocks.

Pavlov put down the receiver and said to Wang Zhong, "The Grand Theater has received orders. Even if the enemy uses smoke, it won't be easy to get through." At this time, Yakov came in with the head of the motor vehicle regiment. Wang Zhong greeted the head directly, "Don't salute. This is an emergency. An enemy brigade is rushing towards the tunnel. All the empty vehicles in your regiment are now driven to Tsarskaya Avenue. We have set up roadblocks here, here, and here. Use trucks to reinforce the roadblocks and find a way to block them."

"Yes." The captain saluted again. "We saw the location of the roadblock on the way to transport it. We will take up our positions immediately."

"Good luck to you. The situation is urgent, so I won't treat you to a meal." Wang Zhong picked up the fried soybeans on the table, "Have some of this."

The team leader grabbed a handful and stuffed it into his mouth, then turned and left.

Pavlov: "You actually memorized the location of every roadblock?"

Wang Zhong: “Just a note.”

After a brief silence, Wang Zhong added: "I think this is not enough. We need to mobilize troops to block the enemy at this position and prevent the tunnel entrance from entering the enemy's firing range."

He poked his finger at the map.

Pavlov: "Indeed. We can block the sight by burning tires, but it is a bit difficult to block the enemy's elite mixed combat group. I still have a tank brigade reserve in my hands, hiding in the school next door. Shall we let them attack?"

Wang Zhong: "Let them attack, and tell them that a destroyed T34 will also be a roadblock on the road. Let them block the road when they die."

Pavlov glanced at Wang Zhong's profile and said, "I thought you would attack in person."

Wang Zhong was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "Will you allow me to attack?"

"No, because we no longer have the advantage in armor-piercing shells. The T34 is just a consumable against the Prosen armored forces. I can't let you die." Pavlov replied.

Wang Zhong reached out to feel for the soybeans on the table, but didn't find any. Then he remembered that he had already given them to the head of the motor vehicle regiment.

Then he recalled the day last year when he left behind the militiamen who had rescued him from under the car.

He always felt that he would feel guilty for the decision he made for the rest of his life.

To ease his guilt, he ordered, "Bring the radio. I want to hear what the tank soldiers are saying."

It’s actually about gaining perspective.

----

Proshen Hoffmann Provisional Battle Group.

Brigadier General Hoffman shouted, "Stop, stop! Yes, stop by the side of the road. I want to see what's going on!"

The command vehicle braked, and the vehicle body and gun barrel began to shake back and forth.

Brigadier General Hoffman picked up the telescope and looked into the distance: "They seem to be using trucks as roadblocks. We can't let them succeed. Keep attacking! The Ants are in great need of trucks. They've started using trucks as roadblocks, which means we're getting closer to our target!"

At this time, Brigadier General Hoffman received a report from his wingman in his headset: "Look in the distance, they have set something on fire to create a black curtain wall to block our sight. It may be the tires that are burning."

"That means there's a tunnel behind us." The brigadier general put down his binoculars, turned around and shouted to his troops, "Forward! The goal is ahead, and we will win today!"

At this time, the driver's exclamation came from the headset: "T34!"

"Don't panic, kill them!" the brigadier general ordered.

The wingman fired first.

The leading T34 was immediately hit and stopped on the side of the road. Two tankmen jumped out of the tank with PPShs, firing while looking for cover.

The battle group's long-barreled Type 34 tanks continued to fire, and the Ts rushing along the road exploded one after another.

"Humph, it's a meaningless suicide!" Brigadier General Hoffman said contemptuously, but he immediately realized something, "Wait a minute, they are going to block the street with the wreckage! Damn it! They are blocking the road with the wreckage!"

"But we can only destroy them. Their main guns can penetrate us. If they don't die, then we will die."

"Damn it!" Brigadier General Hoffman cursed, looking down at the city's road map.

"Wait a minute, there is another road next to it. Let's go to the road next to it. Although it is narrower and we can't directly hit the tunnel entrance, it can still lead to our destination! Everyone, follow the command and turn right! Take the fork in the road!"

----

Wang Zhong stood next to the radio, pretending to listen, but actually watching the enemy turn into the fork in the road from a bird's-eye view.

There are roadblocks on the forked road, but they seem to be roadblocks that can be blown up by combat engineers.

And because of Wang Zhong's strategy, there were only more than a hundred Ante soldiers divided into groups of three on the fork in the road.

He immediately ordered Pavlov: "Let the anti-aircraft artillery regiment and the guard regiment of the front headquarters move to Potemkin Street and prepare to stop the enemy."

Pavlov immediately took the microphone, then remembered that these orders did not require a microphone, he could just shout them loudly, and the messenger could go out and convey them.

So he shouted.

(Nellie's progress. Originally the artist wanted to draw a scar like Balalaika, but I stopped him.)
(End of this chapter)