Arc of Gunfire

Suburbs of Shostka, Plosin-controlled area, 0510 hours on June 21.

Lieutenant Hansen used a telescope to observe the area controlled by the Ants.

Yesterday, the Ants launched a whole day's attack, forcing Second Lieutenant Hansen's battalion back to its current position, and then they suffered heavy casualties in front of the solid reinforced concrete fortress.

The Ants dispatched new assault guns and tried to destroy the fortress with a cannon that was said to be a hundred millimeters long, but the fortress did not move at all.

Later, the Anters mobilized giant cannons and fired at the fortress from a distance of 500 meters, but failed again.

Within Lieutenant Hansen's field of vision were the remains of three Ant cannons. The Ant artillerymen were very brave. They approached the fortress with these unarmored weapons. They paid heavy casualties, but they only blew up the surface of the outer wall of the fortress, exposing the steel bars.

The Ants should continue to attack today, but they will definitely continue to suffer in front of the strong fortress - Lieutenant Hansen believes so.

At this time, his orderly passed through the long tunnel and entered the bunker under his command: "Master, it's time to have breakfast."

Second Lieutenant Hansen turned back and glanced at the plate carried by the orderly: "Didn't I tell you that everyone's share should be prepared? I can't have the food to myself in the battle position."

Orderly: "I tried my best, but the kitchen said that the egg storage room was occupied by Ant people yesterday and there were not enough eggs, so I only fried one egg for you. The others are one for each person."

Machine Gunner Hawke smiled and said: "We are satisfied with the ham sandwich. You see, there are lettuce leaves in this sandwich."

Orderly: "I also put cheese in it! Just no fried eggs."

"And cheese! Come on, Bavarian, it's yours!" Hawke took a sandwich and ate it himself, and helped the deputy shooter get one with the other hand.

Everyone has forgotten the real name of the Bavarian, mainly because he speaks with a strong Bavarian accent. Even in the company, everyone will think of him when they say "that Bavarian".

He took the sandwich and ate it while looking out the shooting window.

At this moment, the roar of artillery shells was heard outside, and before everyone could react, the sound of explosions came and the ground began to tremble.

Although everyone was hiding in a safe bunker, the intensity of the shelling still made everyone shrink back.

The orderly even squatted down and leaned against the wall.

Machine gunner Hawke laughed and said: "It's dangerous for you to lean against the wall. The vibrations of the shells will be transmitted to you along the wall and shatter your internal organs! The safest posture during shelling is like this. I'll show you one time!"

The machine gunner lay on the ground and assumed a standard anti-cannon posture: "Although this is laborious, it can protect you to the maximum extent. Of course, if the artillery shell explodes within ten meters around you, any posture will be useless. Just lie down in the trench. It's no use either.

"If a cannonball explodes within 20 meters of you, even if you don't die, you will suffer a concussion and have to be carried off."

The orderly frowned: "Are you bluffing me? According to what you said, the enemy can clear out the fortress just by firing cannons, right? Once a cannon hits the outside, everyone inside will be stunned."

Second Lieutenant Hansen spoke: "What do you think happened to those casualties in the main castle yesterday? The enemy's 210 heavy artillery hit the main castle directly (actually it was 203, but Proson did not have a 203 caliber, only a 210, so the second lieutenant said so). Although there was no It penetrated, but still injured a lot of people inside.”

Machine gunner: "I heard that it killed several people. It's really scary. It can kill people through such thick reinforced concrete."

Second Lieutenant Hansen continued: "The reason why the Ants started to advance after firing the artillery yesterday was because they knew that the main fortress that was under fire would not be able to make an effective counterattack for a while. In fact, it was very dangerous yesterday. If it weren't for the bunkers on both sides, it would still be possible. Someone is awake and it’s time for us to retreat again.”

At this time, the feeling of the earth shaking suddenly stopped.

Lieutenant Hansen looked at his watch: "Why did it stop so soon? It's only half an hour!"

Hawke: "Perhaps the enemy ran out of artillery shells yesterday? I saw that domestic newspapers have been publicizing that Ant does not have enough artillery shells now."

Second Lieutenant Hansen: "How is that possible? We are being bombed in this country, and we have enough artillery shells to send to the front line. Ant has a safe rear area, and there is support from the United States, so the artillery shells must be enough."

"Perhaps they were all given to that Rokossov?" said the orderly. "He seems to be very good at using artillery."

Just as Lieutenant Hansen was about to reply, the Bavarians shouted: "There is movement! The enemy is coming up."

After he shouted, others also noticed the roar of the engine and the noise of the gearbox.

The gearbox noise of the Ant tank is completely different from that of Proson. It is said that the design of the Ant gearbox is very simple.

Lieutenant Hansen lay down next to the firing port and raised his binoculars.

He saw dust rising in the distance, and armored vehicles were maneuvering behind the buildings that were already riddled with holes!

However, Second Lieutenant Hansen's bunker did not have anti-tank firepower, so he did not need to worry about these armored units. His job was only to intercept and destroy the enemy's infantry.

"Get ready, check the machine guns!" the second lieutenant ordered.

Hawke stuffed the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and checked the machine gun with his deputy.

There are three machine guns in the bunker, but one is a spare. Its main task is to maintain the continuity of firepower while the other two are changing their barrels.

Lieutenant Hansen's telescope tracked the smoke behind the building.

Suddenly, the smoke and dust stopped, and correspondingly, the roar of the machinery also temporarily subsided.

Then the sound of the gearbox changed obviously, and it felt like the armored vehicle was turning.

Then, the mottled brick wall in Lieutenant Hansen's telescope collapsed, and a square-headed armored vehicle crossed the brick wall in a lot of dust, crushed the bodies of the soldiers behind the brick wall, and drove towards the fortress.

The anti-tank guns of other bunkers immediately opened fire, and the PAK40 shells hit the thing head-on, but were directly bounced off!

What's more terrifying is that there is no opening on the front of the armored vehicle, not even a gun barrel, just a whole piece of armor plate.

Lieutenant Hansen heard the sound of the anti-tank gun and looked at the direction of the tracer bullet flying. It should be aimed at the observation port above the enemy's main armor.

However, Lieutenant Hansen, relying on his understanding of armored vehicles, felt that the observation port was probably a periscope, and even if the reflector was broken, it should be able to play a certain role.

Sure enough, the armored vehicle continued to drive towards the fortress.

The Ante infantry followed the left and right of the armored vehicle, skillfully alternating to cover the advance. At the sight of this advancement rhythm, you can tell that these are all veterans.

Not to mention they have the cloaks of the Guards.

Hawke cursed: "Damn, it's the cloaked cockroaches!"

This is what the Proson soldiers call the Ant Guards, because these guys are as tenacious as cockroaches and can't be killed at all.

Lieutenant Hansen: "The enemy has passed the 400-meter mark, open fire!"

Hawke pulled the trigger, and the unique sound of the Proson machine gun tearing canvas immediately sounded, and the dense fire net swept across the Ant formation.

But only one person was hit and stopped, and the others all hid in the bunker in time.

Then the "cloaked cockroaches" began to leap forward skillfully. Wherever the machine gun swept, the people on the other side would stand up and rush forward to enter the next bunker.

Hawke cursed while firing: "Two years ago, they would only die like fools! Damn it, damn it!"

In Lieutenant Hansen's bunker, no one cared about the armored vehicle that was still slowly advancing.

The lieutenant was also focused on the enemy infantry, constantly giving instructions, until Hawke shouted "Change the barrel", he looked at the armored vehicle.

So he happened to see the anti-tank gun shooting at the tracks of the armored vehicle.

However, there was a mine roller and a bulldozer in front of the thing, and two consecutive armor-piercing shells failed to hit the tracks hidden behind, but only knocked off the mine roller on one side.

After all, the tracks are not easy to hit, there are too many debris and obstacles on the ground, and now there are a lot of these things.

Finally, the moment the third armor-piercing shell hit, the armored vehicle stopped.

The lieutenant shouted: "Good! Hit the track!"

Then he saw a bright new star rising from behind the armored vehicle.

Lieutenant Hansen's head was numb, and he suddenly remembered that the report said that the Ants had a new weapon that fired large-caliber rockets.

The Empire also made a thing called Land Stuka based on the design of the Ants.

Could it be this?

It is said that this thing can blow up all kinds of bunkers and leave a huge mushroom cloud.

Lieutenant Hansen watched the new star until it disappeared from his sight.

Hawke was still shooting non-stop, not paying attention to the rocket that was launched.

After all, he was just a machine gunner, and he couldn't care about other things even if he wanted to.

Lieutenant Hansen sighed.

The shock wave of the explosion engulfed the small bunker and stunned everyone in an instant.

————

Lieutenant Andre looked at the rising mushroom cloud and rushed out of the bunker in one step: "The enemy must have been stunned! Charge quickly!"

"Ura!"

The Guards soldiers rushed out from behind the bunker and rushed to the fortress.

Yesterday, the Ante troops were trying to determine the location of the enemy's well-fortified fortresses. After all, these fortresses are difficult to find when they are not firing.

Today, the Urban assault guns of the First Breakthrough Rocket Artillery Brigade of the Guards were put into battle, and under the guidance of the infantry troops, the enemy's fortresses were removed one by one.

The 53rd Guards Infantry Regiment cooperated in the battle.

The rising mushroom cloud was the horn of the attack.

Lieutenant Andre led the troops and rushed to the completely silent fortress.

"Flamethrower! Spray at the firing port! Burn them to death!" After Andre shouted, the flamethrower rushed up and pulled the trigger at the firing port.

The bright rocket engulfed the firing port and sprayed out from another window of the fortress.

Then, the sound of bullets exploding came from the fortress, crackling like firecrackers.

"Keep going!" Andre shouted, "Burn them all to death! Forward! For the motherland!"

"Ura!"

The soldiers swallowed everything like a tide.

When the surroundings gradually became quiet, in a corner that no one noticed, a yellow wild flower bloomed silently.