Arc of Fire

Chapter 191: Hell

At the same time, in the northern woods of Orachi.

When the shells fell, Prosen soldiers all hit the deck.

However, these were 152mm heavy artillery shells, the shockwaves and overpressure of which could also inflict massive casualties.

Not to mention the secondary damage caused by trees shattered by the explosions.

Most wood splinters weren’t lethal, but being impaled by them hurt a million times more than being hit by shrapnel.

Even for the elite Prosen Armored Grenadiers, being punctured in the face by such splinters could put them out of action.

Heavy artillery shells continued to rain down, and the storm of wood chippings swept through the Armored Grenadiers’ ranks.

However, the forest had been bombarded many times by both sides yesterday, leaving numerous craters on the ground that provided temporary shelters for the Armored Grenadiers to dodge the artillery fire.

In addition, the artillery bombardment had cleared the forest of mines. While some may remain, as long as one stuck to the paths with craters, they would definitely avoid the mines.

Even under artillery fire, the Armored Grenadiers pressed on until the Ante Army’s machine guns started firing.

Wang Zhong left a guard unit in the solid support points and behind them, in the anti-artillery shelters. They would hold off the approaching Prosen soldiers until the main forces could enter the positions.

The machine guns swept through the forest; preset firing solutions ensured deadly accuracy, and anyone daring to stand up would be turned into a sieve.

Prosen soldiers kept crawling forward.

Prosen machine gunners set up their guns in the craters and returned fire, but the interference from trees skewed their distance estimation, making their suppressing fire rather ineffective.

Suddenly, a heavy artillery shell hit a crater, blowing the machine-gun team stationed in it sky-high.

Wang Zhong put down the receiver, having just confirmed through the phone call that there would be no immediate issues in the northern forest, and with T34 support, Hill 153 should be able to hold on for a while. The most precarious situation was actually at the 5th Belshensk Regiment, 3rd Battalion’s position on the eastern side.

If this position were breached, the enemy would enter the forest and soon discover the artillery positions.

“Grigori!” he called out loudly.

The sergeant major entered with his submachine gun and saluted.

Wang Zhong said, “Take the guard company and reinforce the 5th Belshensk Regiment, 3rd Battalion positions on the east side. Defend the artillery. Also, tell the B4 heavy artillery unit to organize direct fire support. Make sure the shells keep falling on the enemy’s offensive line. Organize the firepower and don’t fire them all at once!”

Loading the B4 required a crane from the ammunition truck and was extremely slow. But by properly timing the firing sequence, they could ensure there was always a 203mm shell landing on the front line.

Grigori saluted and quickly left.

Popov stood up, “I’ll go and pull out the Guardian Army from the city. They may not be well-trained, but they know the city’s layout well, after all, it is their homeland.”

“Go ahead,” Wang Zhong said, extending his hand toward Popov.

Popov took it, “You take care too. There are so many enemies this time, don’t charge as fiercely as before.”

“I’ll try,” Wang Zhong answered with the same reply as the former commander of the 13th Armored Battalion used to.

When Grigori arrived at the position of the 5th Belshensk Regiment, 3rd Battalion, the young men of the B4 heavy artillery company had already flattened their guns behind the makeshift shelters.

The shelter was a simplified version of Wang Zhong’s tank shelters, with only one layer to protect the B4 heavy artillery vehicle and provide simple covering for the gun barrel.

But it was just simple cover; after all, when this thing fired, it made such a racket that everyone could see it clearly, even through the woods.

Grigori ran to the artillery company commander, squatting low, and yelled, “The general orders you to fire in sequence and maintain a continuous rate of fire!”

The commander shouted, “We can’t fire all at once anyway; some guns are only being set down and moved after firing their last round! They’re now loading!”

Grigori peeked at other gun positions only to notice that the other three guns were approaching the shelters at a snail’s pace.

The commander continued, “The projectiles and cartridge cases are so heavy that it’s far too slow and risky to move the guns while they’re loaded. Accidents could happen, like having charges and shells slip out of the barrel.”

Then, the gunner operating the crane on the ammunition truck yelled, “Projectile hoisted in place!”

Two more gunners immediately used gigantic tools to jam the shell into the barrel.

The crane operator then hoisted the cartridge case onto the slides behind the barrel: “The cartridge bag is ready!”

Again, two gunners worked to push the cartridge case into the barrel with their tools.

Finally, after a long wait, the fourth gunner closed the breech, completing the locking procedure.

The gunner started aiming—the cannon had to be set to a specific angle for each loading; otherwise, the shell wouldn’t fit.

But conversely, for flat shooting, this reduced the process of elevating the barrel, objectively speeding up the rate of fire.

The gunner made a rough adjustment to the cannon’s horizontal orientation, didn’t touch the elevation gear at all, and just stepped back to pull the rope, ready to fire.

The commander raised his hand high and chopped down like a knife.

The gunner pulled the lanyard with force, and the cannon roared deafeningly.

The blast from the muzzle even made the trunk of a large birch tree convulse like it was shuddering.

The shell landed within a kilometer in the middle of enemy formation, making the earth seem like it was the surface of the sea, bulging up and then exploding upwards.

Two tanks were swallowed up by the explosion, the lighter Panzer IV was lifted off the ground and tumbled several times before landing upside down.

The tank operator, his brain jumbled from the shaking, climbed out from the bottom hatch of the tank only to be met with machine gun fire from the third battalion’s position.

The platoon leader watched the effects for a few seconds and exclaimed, “It’s more effective than I thought! Load quickly! Prepare gun two! Why haven’t you moved the gun into cover? Never mind, is gun three ready? Fire when you are ready!”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than gun three fired, the muzzle blast even reaching the spot where Grigori stood.

Grigori: “You’ll be spotted by the enemy; this is too loud.”

Platoon Leader: “Indeed. I’m figuring the enemy’s artillery barrage will be coming any minute now, so we need to shoot as quickly as possible! Sergeant Major, please leave. The third battalion will need a veteran soldier like you.”

After speaking, the platoon leader saluted Grigori—though his rank was lower than the sergeant major’s.

Grigori returned the salute earnestly and then led the guard platoon rushing towards the third battalion’s position.

The Prosen Army’s 23rd Armored Division, First Armored Battalion, was subjected to the direct fire of Ante Army’s heavy artillery.

The battalion commander, who had been observing the situation behind the front line of the whole battalion’s attack, became restless upon seeing the enormous eruption of earth (referring to the blast of a 203mm shell).

“Where is the enemy’s heavy artillery? All units, pay attention and locate the enemy’s heavy artillery!” he shouted over the radio. “This looks like direct fire, the artillery must be within our line of sight!”

Just after he finished speaking, someone responded: “In the forest to our west! Look quickly, Commander!”

The moment the commander turned his binoculars, he saw large plumes of white smoke in the forest, and the trees swaying from side to side in the wind.

The next moment, shells landed on the battalion’s line, halting two tanks in their tracks.

Commander: “All tanks, be advised, there’s heavy artillery hidden in the woods on your right, focus fire immediately, I repeat, focus fire!”

The tanks of the 23rd Division’s First Battalion immediately turned their barrels.

Although the battalion had not yet reached the “passing line” set by General Moochi, they took decisive action.

All for victory!

The 50mm gun of the Panzer III and the short-barreled 75mm howitzer of the Panzer IV opened fire, quickly engulfing the forest in flames from the explosions.

Grigori rushed into the third battalion’s trench, yelling, “Where’s your battalion commander?”

“He’s been killed!” a captain shouted back. “I’m the commander now, what do you need?”

“I’m here to support you!”

Just as Grigori finished speaking, the enemy’s tank guns began hitting their mark, firing a mix of calibers.

Behind the position, the heavy artillery battery continued to fire, and one 203mm round struck a Panzer IV directly, shattering it instantly, with parts raining down from the sky like a downpour.

Several Prosen soldiers were hit by the falling debris, knocking them unconscious on the spot.

The enemy immediately fired a second round of direct fire, and something exploded at the artillery battery.

Witnessing the fireball, the fresh recruits in the battalion were petrified.

Some even began to leave the trench and run towards Orachi City.

Grigori shouted, “Under His Majesty the Tsar’s latest order, surrender or desertion is treason, punishable by execution!”

As he spoke, he raised his submachine gun and fired a dozen shots into the sky.

The deserters stopped.

Then they were hit in the back by the enemy’s machine gun fire and fell into the trench like a burst sack from outside the trench.

Grigori kicked away the coward and bellowed, “I’m a guard of General Rokossovsky, and the general has sent his guard platoon! The star of victory will shine upon you!”

No sooner had he spoken than another B4 howitzer fired, causing a huge fireball to rise on the enemy’s attack front.

Prosen Army, 23rd Armored Division, 66th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion.

The reconnaissance battalion’s motorcycles followed right behind the First Armored Battalion, and by this time the observer in the sidecar had completed the range-finding and picked up the radio handset to call in: “Wolf’s Den, Wolf’s Den, this is Hare, we’ve located a suspected enemy heavy artillery position.”

As the B4 artillery fired from within the forest, concealed by dugouts and other types of cover, the reconnaissance battalion’s observer could not tell exactly what type of heavy artillery was firing, so he reported as such.

“Coordinates as follows… please arrange fire support as soon as possible, over.”

After speaking, the observer took up his binoculars and quietly waited for the first shell to fall.

He didn’t have to wait long.

A 17cm heavy shell landed in the forest, but it missed by quite a bit, failing to hit the enemy’s heavy artillery.

The observer picked up the handset again: “This is Hare, call for fire adjustment, X… Y… adjustment complete!”

Soon the second trial shot fell, landing about 800 meters south of the impact of the first shell.

Observer: “This is Hare, fire adjustment…”

Moments later, the third heavy shell fell, hitting the forest precisely.

Something inside the forest detonated violently, sending a fireball soaring into the sky.