artillery arc

Chapter 578
Wang Zhong was observing the enemy's situation. Although the enemy's heavy firepower had been eliminated, a large number of enemies with anti-tank weapons were still hiding in various places in the station. It would be dangerous to drive the tanks in from this side of the square.

However, using high-explosive bombs to kill the ambushed enemies one by one through the wall was a waste of shells - the enemies were standing very scattered, and one grenade could only kill two people at most.

It seems that there are only two solutions. One is to let the infantry rush forward and engage in hand-to-hand combat. The second is to turn to the direction of the railway. The terrain in the direction of the railway is open and there are few obstacles, so the firepower of the tanks can be fully utilized.

Suddenly a shout came from the headset.

"General, let me help you!"

Wang Zhong hurriedly asked: "Report your affiliation!"

"We are the drivers of the prototype tanks. Since you insist on using your old crew, we will drive the remaining two tanks to help you attack the train station!"

Wang Zhong immediately looked from a bird's-eye view, and saw two prototype vehicles driving along the railway northeast of the train station, followed by an armored train and a large number of infantry.

At the end of the armored car, the armored train also has a maintenance car, a crane and all the necessary equipment, making it a mobile tank repair factory.

Wang Zhong: "Very good, launch an attack from the flank immediately and cooperate with us in the pincer attack!"

The Prosens love the pincer attack, so let them have a taste of it.

----

When Lieutenant Colonel Hansen saw two identical steel monsters appearing in the direction of the railway tracks, his heart and lungs almost stopped.

If the 88 guns were still there, they could still hold out. But now the entire regiment has lost its long-range anti-tank firepower. What can we do with it?

Moreover, there are few buildings in the direction of the railway, and it is all flat and open land. If the two iron turtles lie there, anyone who rushes over will be seeking their death.

Not only two new iron turtles came up, but also an armored train. As soon as the quadruple 25mm anti-aircraft guns on the train appeared in the field of vision, they began to "wash" the station buildings crazily, "washing" every window with bullets all the way.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen's men didn't dare to show their heads at all.

The Iron Turtle on the railway opened fire. The 100mm large-caliber grenade flew across most of the platform and hit the enclosed overpass of the station, sending the machine gun team hidden inside into the sky.

The Iron Turtle on the station square was not to be outdone and fired a shot into the station ticket hall. The shock wave from the explosion shattered all the windows on the first floor of the main station.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen was racking his brains for countermeasures in this situation, but a battalion commander rushed into the command post and loudly asked, "What should we do, Commander? The enemy infantry is coming up, all of them are Guards with capes! Most of us only have rifles, and they all have submachine guns!"

The lieutenant colonel stared at the battalion commander for a few seconds and said, "Then why don't you steal their submachine guns?"

At this time, the sound of PPSh was heard. This sound was different from Ant's machine gun and 25mm anti-aircraft gun, and it could be distinguished at a glance.

The first battalion commander: "The enemy is coming, Lieutenant Colonel!"

The lieutenant colonel grabbed the battalion commander by the collar and said, "There is no other way except to fight bravely! If you have any objections to me, I will tell you that I will fight the enemy myself!"

After saying that, he loosened the collar of the battalion commander, picked up the submachine gun, and walked out first.

The only two remaining staff officers in the command post were shocked: "Where are you going, Commander?"

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen stood outside the door and turned around to look at the two men: "You guys don't have to stay here anymore. Now is the time to fight like tough guys. Pick up your rifles. Our motherland needs us to fulfill our duties."

----

After the infantry rushed into the station, Wang Zhong commanded the tanks to go around the side to the railway and meet up with the other two prototype vehicles.

The three iron turtles lying on the railway looked quite scary, especially when all the enemy's anti-tank firepower was powerless against them.

Soon the battle at the station was drawing to a close. Wang Zhong fired 100mm high-explosive bombs at the few enemies hiding in the houses, sending the houses they were stationed in into the air.

When the gunfire subsided, the young soldier who had been informing Wang Zhong came over triumphantly, escorting a Lieutenant Colonel Prossen.

"General!" the young soldier shouted, "I captured a high-ranking officer! The company commander asked me to personally escort him to you!"

Wang Zhong was also very happy: "Great! I will definitely remember to award you a medal during the battle summary!"

"Is it Venus?" The little soldier's eyes lit up.

Wang Zhong: "It's a little difficult to get a gold star, but it's still possible to get a medal of a lower grade! I'll promote you to corporal first class!"

The young soldier pouted and said, "No need for that. The company commander said that if I can live until next month, I will be a corporal."

Wang Zhong was originally very happy, but he was no longer happy after hearing this.

He looked at the young soldier and said, "Go back and tell your company commander that the huge casualties before were because there was really no other way but to use human lives to fill the gap. I promise you that in the future, the casualty rate will get lower and lower. I will do my best to ensure that everyone lives to see the day of victory."

"Yes! Wait a minute, I'll go tell the company commander what to do with this high-ranking official?"

Wang Zhong: "Do you see the armored train behind? There is an Inquisitor in a blue hat on it. Take this guy over and hand him over to the Inquisitor."

The young soldier also laughed: "Okay! Let the judge give them a good lesson!"

----

At the headquarters of the 16th Army of Plosson, Admiral Bock frowned and said, "The th Division's defense line has been breached?"

"Yes, the enemy has captured the train station. The armored train from Novorossk has entered the station. Some people also saw a train carrying heavy artillery passing by the house where we are stationed." The chief of staff reported with a serious face.

Admiral Poke was even more confused: "Heavy artillery? Why are heavy artillery entering the city? Shouldn't they be setting up artillery positions outside the city?"

The chief of staff shook his head: "I don't know. Maybe they thought that setting up artillery positions outside the city would be too easy for our troops on the west bank to cross the river and attack, so they simply drove into the city."

Admiral Poker thought for a few seconds, but still couldn't figure it out: "Strange, too strange."

----

Lieutenant Schnett of the 541st Combat Engineer Battalion of Plossen was commanding his troops to defend a house on St. Andrew Street. They had repelled five attacks by the Ants, and the bodies of the Ants were lying all around the house.

During this rare free time, Lieutenant Schnett was calming his subordinates down and boosting their morale one by one.

Suddenly, Sergeant Hans, who had been observing the enemy, shouted, "Lieutenant! Lieutenant, come quickly! Look at that!"

The lieutenant rushed to Hans' observation post and leaned over the window to look out.

He saw the Ants drive a heavy artillery piece onto the street, with the muzzle level, apparently intending to fire it horizontally.

Sarge: "What are they going to do?"

Lieutenant: "I don't know, maybe they are planning to use grenades to fire at us? It's too risky to push precious heavy artillery to such a place. If a student in the military academy wrote something like this in the battle plan, the instructor would single out his plan for everyone to laugh at."

As they spoke, the Ants began to take aim, with the black muzzles of their guns pointed at the building where the lieutenant and his troops were stationed.

The lieutenant felt a chill on the back of his head, and he left the window, shouting, "Get down!"

However, it was too late. The earthquake caused by the explosion engulfed the lieutenant and his soldiers.

The wooden floor beneath his feet collapsed, and he fell from the third floor to the first floor. Then the roof and walls collapsed and crushed him.

In less than a second, Lieutenant Schnett and his men were buried under the rubble.

----

Admiral Polk watched the staff officer run to the chief of staff and whisper something in his ear, then asked, "What happened?"

"The enemy pushed the heavy artillery to within one thousand meters in front of our stronghold, and the high-explosive bombs directly destroyed many of our strongholds." The chief of staff's face was livid.

Admiral Polk: "Now we know why the enemy allowed heavy artillery into the city."

Just at this moment, there was another flash of light from the window. The admiral pointed at the window with his thumb and said, "This flash of light is the enemy's damn new weapon that sent our support point into the sky. The Ants are not good at attacking strongholds, so they chose to send us and our bunkers into the sky together."

The chief of staff looked up at the mushroom cloud outside, whose brightness had suddenly dimmed. "Yes. They found a simple and crude solution, just like the flooding tactics faced by Army Group Center."

Admiral Pok shook his head repeatedly: "This is a rude nation. It is hard to imagine that a great artist like Tchaikovsky was born among them."

The chief of staff did not respond, perhaps he really did not understand art very well.

At this time, another staff officer came in and whispered in the chief of staff's ear.

"You may say it!" cried Admiral Poker.

The staff officer stopped and looked at the chief of staff.

"Just say it." The chief of staff said in a low voice.

Staff Officer: "Ante troops have appeared near the railway bridge. They are advancing along the railway, leading their new tanks with red flags and tactical number... 422."

Admiral Pok: "So, if I don't retreat, Rokossov will shut the door on me, right? Or did he close the door himself?"

The staff officer didn't dare to answer and kept looking at the chief of staff.

Chief of Staff: “The ice is passable now, so I personally don’t think we need to be so nervous, but given the current situation, we might as well retreat to the other side before we find a good way to deal with the enemy’s two new weapons.

"There is a heavy anti-aircraft artillery regiment on the other side, equipped with 105mm heavy anti-aircraft guns. Maybe they can penetrate Ant's new weapon."

Admiral Polk stared at the chief of staff: "You want me to escape from the battlefield?"

The chief of staff persuaded him, "It's not desertion. The other side is also Yarvik. We can report to the headquarters that we are fighting the enemy for control of the city."

Admiral Poke came to the window, looked at the night falling outside, and looked at the firelight that became more obvious against the backdrop of the night. He was silent for a long time.

The chief of staff waited for a while, and finally couldn't help but said: "General..."

Admiral Bock: "I understand. Order the troops to resist in an orderly manner, gradually withdraw across the river, and confront the enemy across the river. Send a telegram to the headquarters saying that we are fighting with Rokossov for control of the city. Rokossov telegraphed that a million troops are unable to move on the east bank of the Sukhayaveli River!"

(End of this chapter)