artillery arc

Chapter 622 Advancement
Plossom's Army, 20th Army, Headquarters of the 371st Infantry Division.

The division commander, Major General Taylor, raised his head, shook off the mud on his body, and looked up at the sky - he was originally in the bunker of the division headquarters, but the temporary bunker built with wood obviously could not withstand Ant's heavy firepower.

It can only be said that the heavy artillery only blew off the roof and did not kill all the people inside. Major General Taylor was lucky.

You can tell from Major General Taylor's name that he is not a pure Plosser. His family immigrated to the United States since his grandfather's generation. By his generation, his name has become completely United States-style, with only his last name still retaining the traditional Plosser style.

For this reason, when he chose to return to Plossen to serve his motherland, many people were very puzzled.

His fellow Plossom fellows were also very puzzled, and for a long time, the very un-Plossom name "Taylor" even became a laughing stock among senior military officers.

But now no one would laugh at him.

It was not that Taylor's fight was recognized, but that those who led the mockery of him were either beaten to death or captured.

So Commander Taylor was quite grateful to Rokossov - until Rokossov's shell fell on his head.

Taylor looked for the phone first, but after digging in the soil for a long time he couldn't find it. At that moment the commander of the communications company at the division headquarters rushed into the bunker and shouted, "Division Commander! General! Ant's armored forces have appeared!"

Taylor: "Then fire! We have so many PAK40s in our division! And the 88mm guns of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment. It's impossible that all four 88mm guns were destroyed by artillery fire. Let them fire!"

Communications Company Commander: "The front line reported that they opened fire, but the armor of the enemy's new tanks is too thick, and our direct firepower is completely ineffective!"

"What?" Taylor was shocked. "How is this possible! Wait, you mean a new type of tank? Could it be the new type of tank in the identification manual issued by the High Command?"

The Communications Company Commander said: "The front line said it was that thing. They also reported that it was harder than the High Command estimated and it was completely indestructible!"

Taylor: "Then attack the turret joint or the track! Isn't that how we dealt with the enemy's KV and T34 in the first year?"

Communications Company Commander: "Come over here and talk to the front line directly using the radio!"

"Okay, I'll be right there." Taylor just took a step and his right foot stumbled. Fortunately, the communications company commander grabbed him.

Company Commander: "Commander! There's blood on your butt!"

When Commander Taylor lowered his head, he saw a large patch of red on his buttocks. The moment he saw the blood, the huge pain that had been suppressed by adrenaline suddenly hit his nerves.

Taylor took a step back and leaned against the half-remaining wall of the bunker: "Damn it, I thought the heavy artillery let me go! Damn it, medic!"

The communications captain took out his medical kit and said, "Let me give you a preliminary bandage! Even if the medic is alive, he's too busy right now!"

Taylor nodded repeatedly: "Okay, the most important thing is to stop the pain! Damn, it hurts so much! It hurts so much to be shot in the butt! It's just a bigger needle!"

……

Five minutes later, Commander Taylor, who had finished bandaging his wounds, entered the last remaining communications vehicle of the communications company, while the other communications vehicles were burning nearby.

The signalman immediately handed Taylor the headphones and microphone.

As soon as Taylor put on the headset, he heard a hurried and chaotic call: "Division headquarters! Division headquarters! Our weapons are ineffective against the enemy's new tanks. Please give instructions! Please give instructions!"

"I stopped one! Damn, its turret is still rotating, but its tracks are broken!"

"The roller on the front of these things is so annoying, and the enemy also covered the tracks with grass, making it impossible to aim!"

"Everyone!" Taylor spoke, "I'm Division Commander Taylor! Even if the anti-tank guns can't deal with the enemy's heavy tanks, we can use machine guns to block the enemy's accompanying infantry, and then use close combat to destroy these tanks! Make good use of your magnetic grenades!"

This statement immediately triggered a barrage of curses.

Then an officer explained: "We are not scolding you, but the designer of the magnetic grenade."

Taylor recognized the voice. It might be the commander of the 371st Infantry Regiment, the absolute main force of the 651st Division.

Taylor: "Colonel Drinker, let your regiment hold its position! It's just a few heavy tanks, nothing to worry about!"

"Not scary? They have destroyed most of our firepower points! There are only three PAK40s left in our regiment! Well, now there are two! We need damn reinforcements!"

Taylor: "Block the infantry, and then fight at close range! Even if the magnetic grenade is unreliable, there are still Molotov cocktails! The Ants used this thing to effectively delay our armored attack, so we can do it too!"

"Of course I know that Molotov cocktails are useful! But the Ants have set up a new assault formation. Their heavy tanks don't have hull machine guns, so they will carry a big-headed T34 on the left and right behind the heavy tanks! It's useless to block the infantry because the enemy tanks will cover each other!"

Proson's armored forces also have diamond or grid formations, but they generally do not use them because this formation will limit the firepower of many tanks in the formation.

Proson's shock formation is designed to maximize the tank's firepower.

Obviously the Ants have no such pursuit.

Taylor: "Can't you use smoke bombs? Throw smoke bombs to block the sight of the tanks behind, and then fight at close range to destroy these heavy tanks!"

"The enemy's heavy tanks have infantry on their backs, and they use PPShs to provide covering fire for the tanks. We really can't get close to them!"

Taylor: "Can't you blow the infantry down with machine guns or grenade launchers?"

"us……"

The leader of the 651st Regiment suddenly stopped talking.

Taylor: "Hello? Hello? Speak louder! What's wrong with you?"

He shouted several times but there was no response. The people from the 651st Regiment did not respond, and the people from other regiments probably didn't know what was going on and didn't dare to speak.

Taylor handed the microphone to the signalman in frustration: "Keep calling! I want to know the situation on the scene!"

————At this time, at the position of the 371st Regiment of the 651st Infantry Division in Plossen, the regiment commander, Colonel Drinker, climbed up and looked at the signalman who had been blown apart beside him, and the radio with several holes in the shell.

He took off his headphones and threw them on the radio casing, picked up a 98K rifle at random, and rushed out of the destroyed regimental bunker.

The trench outside the bunker was directly reduced by 20 to 25 centimeters due to Ant's firepower, so if Colonel Drinker stood in the trench without bending down, half of his upper body would be outside the trench.

He just stood there, raised his rifle, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

An Ant warrior who was leaping forward fell down.

Colonel Drinker pulled the bolt skillfully, loaded the bullet and aimed again - no Ant men leaped forward the moment he raised the gun, so he waited patiently.

Finally, the Ants showed up.

Drinker opened fire, and the Ants were hit.

The colonel grinned and continued to pull the bolt. The shells ejected from the chamber hit the trench wall and bounced back, hitting his uniform.

He raised his gun again and found that the turret of the heavy tank that had just fired a shot at the regimental headquarters bunker was turning again.

The black muzzle of the gun was pointed at him.

Drinker cursed and turned his gun to aim at the barrel.

At this moment, the tank's coaxial machine gun opened fire, and the bullets created a series of sparks around the colonel, and crackling sounds were endless.

The colonel thought he was not hit and tried to pull the trigger, but found that he had no strength.

The hand holding the rifle lost its strength and the rifle hit the edge of the trench.

Colonel Drinker lowered his head and saw a large red spot on his chest, and even the Iron Cross was stained scarlet.

He cursed and fell backwards. The war had nothing to do with him anymore.

----

At the same time, on the flank of the 561st Regiment's position, the 400th Anti-Aircraft Battalion of Plossen took up its position.

The only two remaining 88 guns were firing frantically.

The muzzle storm from each shot would briefly engulf the position.

Only 30% of the gunners survived the previous fire preparation, so even though half of the cannons were lost, the shooting efficiency did not improve much.

The gunner, Lieutenant Hooker, could no longer use his left hand, which just hung in his sleeve, but he still performed his duties as a gunner, loudly urging the loaders to load the ammunition.

"Quick! Reload quickly! Gunners, aim at the enemy tracks! The design of the Ants is inflexible in a sense. Even if they use grass to block the tracks, it's useless! Just guess the position! The rest can be made up by the density of firepower!"

As he spoke, the cannon he commanded opened fire again.

The pungent smell of gunpowder gases indicated that a lot of the gunpowder in this shot had not burned completely.

Normally, the barrel should be cleaned, but there is no time to worry about that in the fierce battle.

Lieutenant Hook: "Reload! Don't worry if the enemy stops or not! Just keep shooting!"

Before he finished speaking, the observer shouted, "The target has stopped! I saw something wrong with its tracks! It seems the tracks are broken!"

Lieutenant Hook: "Okay! Change the target immediately. Don't worry about whether the enemy is destroyed or not. The important thing is to break as many enemy tracks as possible! The Ants' maintenance capabilities are not good. These tanks with broken tracks will not be able to participate in the next battle for a while!"

Following Lieutenant Hook's order, the gunner quickly turned the steering wheel to aim the cannon at the next target.

Suddenly, the observer ran to the side.

Lieutenant Hook: "Where are you going?"

The observer pointed to a distant target.

Lieutenant Hook turned his head and saw that the stopped tank was aiming at this side.

Second Lieutenant: "Hide!"

At the same time as he shouted, the enemy opened fire, and the smoke and dust created by the muzzle storm directly covered the entire tank - after all, it was a gun with a larger caliber than the 88 gun, so it was normal for the firing to make a loud noise.

The enemy tank driver was obviously an excellent shooter. He hit the gun shield of the 88 gun with his first shot at such a long distance, and the charge was directly detonated without a delay fuse.

After the devastating explosion, the 88 gun's gun mount was in tatters, with the barrel drooping down and pointing to the ground.

The gunner who was operating the cannon was blown to pieces.

The loaders who were carrying the shells around also fell to the ground, and those who were still gasping for breath were basically groaning.

Lieutenant Hook tried to sit up, cursing, but his paralyzed arms were powerless.

He could only shout desperately: "Medic!"

Such shouts echoed throughout the entire air defense battalion's position.

(End of this chapter)