Arc of Gunfire

Prosen's Army, 20th Army, 371st Infantry Division Headquarters.

The division commander, Major General Taylor, raised his head, shook off the layer of mud on his body, and looked up at the sky - he was originally in the bunker at 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 overturned the roof and did not lift all the people inside. It was Major General Taylor's luck.

You can tell by his name that Major General Taylor is not a pure-bred Proscenian. His family has immigrated to the United States since his grandfather's generation. By his generation, the names have been completely United States, and only his surname remains Prosperity. Sen traditional style.

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

His fellow Prossens were also very puzzled, and even for a long time, the very un-Prossian name "Taylor" became a joke among senior officers.

But no one would laugh at him now.

It wasn't that Taylor's fight was recognized, but that the guys who took the lead in mocking him were either killed or captured.

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

Taylor looked for the phone first, but after digging in the soil for a long time, he still couldn't dig out the phone. Just then, the commander of the division's communications company rushed into the bunker and shouted: "Division Commander! General! Ant's armored forces have appeared!"

Taylor: "Then let's fire! There are so many PAK40s in our division! There are also 88-guns from the anti-aircraft artillery regiment. It's impossible for all four 88-guns to be destroyed by artillery fire. Let them fire!"

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

"What?" Taylor was shocked, "How is this possible! Wait a minute, you said a new tank? Is it the new tank in the identification manual issued by the general command?"

Communications Company Commander: "The frontline said it was that thing. They also reported that it was harder than the headquarters expected and it was completely unbreakable!"

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

Communications Company Commander: "Come here and speak directly to the front line via radio!"

"Okay, I'll be there right away." As soon as Taylor took a step, his right foot staggered, but fortunately the communications company commander caught him.

Company Commander: "Commander! There is blood on your butt!"

When Commander Taylor lowered his head, he saw a large area of ​​red on his buttocks. The moment he saw the blood, the huge pain that had been suppressed by adrenaline 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 company commander took out the hygiene kit he carried with him: "Let me give you a preliminary bandage! Even if the medical soldier is alive, he will be too busy now!"

Taylor nodded repeatedly: "Okay, the most important thing is to stop the pain! Damn it, it hurts me so much! It hurts so much to be shot in the butt! Isn't it just like being hit with a bigger needle?"

…

Five minutes later, Commander Taylor, who had finished bandaging, entered the last remaining communication vehicle of the communication company, while other communication vehicles were burning next to it.

The signal soldier immediately handed Taylor the headphones and microphone.

As soon as Taylor put on the earphones, he heard a rapid and chaotic call: "Division Headquarters! Division Headquarters! Our weapons have no effect on the enemy's new tanks. Please give instructions! Please give instructions!"

"I stopped one! Damn it, it's still turning the turret, it just broke the track!!"

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

"Everyone!" Taylor spoke, "I am division commander Taylor! Even if the anti-tank gun cannot deal with the enemy's heavy tanks, you can still 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 attraction Grenade!"

This remark immediately triggered a chorus of curses.

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

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

Taylor: "Colonel Drinker, let your regiment hold its position! Just a small number of heavy tanks is nothing to fear!"

"Not afraid? They have destroyed most of our firepower points! Our regiment has three reinforced PAK40s left! Okay, now there are two! We need damn reinforcements!"

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

"Of course I know that Molotov cocktails are useful! But the Ants have a new impact formation. Their heavy tanks don't have body machine guns, so they will have a big-headed T34 on the left and right behind the heavy tanks! There is no way to block the infantry. Use it, because the enemy tanks will cover each other!"

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

Prosen's shock formation was designed to maximize the tank's firepower.

Obviously the Ant people have no such pursuit.

Taylor: "Don't you know how to use smoke bombs? Throw smoke bombs to block the sight of the tanks behind, and then destroy these heavy tanks in close combat!"

"The enemy's heavy tanks have infantry behind them, and they use wave sand to provide covering firepower for the tanks. We really can't rely on them!"

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

"us……"

The words of the leader of the 651st regiment were suddenly interrupted.

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

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

Taylor angrily handed the microphone to the communication soldier: "Keep calling! I want to know the situation at the scene!"

————

At this time, on the position of the 651st Regiment of the 371st Infantry Division in Prosen, the regiment commander, Colonel Drinker, got up and looked at the communications troops around him that had been blown apart, as well as the radio with several holes in the shell.

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

The trench outside the bunker was directly reduced by 20 to 25 centimeters due to Ant's firepower. Therefore, 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, took aim, and pulled the trigger.

A leaping Ant warrior fell down at the sound.

Colonel Drinker skillfully pulled the bolt of the gun, put the bullet on it and aimed again - there was no Ant leaping forward at the moment he raised the gun, so he waited patiently.

Finally, the Ant people showed up.

Drinker opened fire, and the Ants were shot in response.

The colonel grinned and continued to pull the bolt of the gun. The shell casing ejected from the barrel bounced off the trench wall and hit his uniform.

He raised his gun again, and then found that the turret of the heavy tank that had just fired at the regiment bunker turned around again.

The muzzle of the black hole was facing him.

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

At this moment, the tank's coaxial machine gun fired, and the bullets fired a series of sparks around the colonel, and the crackling sound was endless.

The colonel thought he had not been hit and tried to pull the trigger, but found that he could not pull the trigger.

The hand holding the gun also lost strength, and the rifle hit the edge of the trench.

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

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

————

At the same time, on the flank of the 561st Regiment's position was the position of the 400th Air Defense Battalion of Proson.

The only two 88-guns left were firing wildly.

Each time the muzzle is fired, the storm will briefly engulf the position.

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

The gunner, Second Lieutenant Hooker, could no longer use his left hand, which was hanging in his sleeve, but he still performed his duties as the gunner and loudly urged the loaders to load.

"Quick! Reload quickly! The gunner aims at the enemy's tracks! The design of the Anters is very rigid in a sense. Even if they block the tracks with grass, it's useless! Just guess the location! The rest is done by firepower density. make up!"

As he spoke, the cannon he commanded fired again.

The pungent smell of gunpowder gas indicated that a lot of gunpowder in this gun was not fully burned.

It stands to reason that the gun barrel should be cleaned, but now in the fierce battle, there is no need to worry about so much.

Second Lieutenant Hook: "Reload! Don't care whether the enemy stops or not! Just keep shooting!"

Before he finished speaking, the observer shouted: "The target has stopped! I saw something abnormal in its track! It seems to have broken the track!"

Second Lieutenant Hook: "Okay! Move the target immediately. Don't worry about whether the enemy is destroyed or not. The business is to break as many enemy tracks as possible! The Anters' repair capabilities are not good, and these tanks with broken tracks will not be able to participate for a while. The battle below!”

Following Lieutenant Hooker's order, the gunner quickly turned the rotating disk of the steering wheel to aim the cannon at the next target.

Suddenly, the observer ran wildly to the side.

Lieutenant Hook: "Why are you going?"

The observation finger pointed at the distant target.

Second Lieutenant Hook turned his head and saw the stopped tank aiming this way.

Second Lieutenant: "Hidden!"

At the same time as he shouted, the enemy opened fire, and the smoke and dust created by the muzzle blast 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 fire to be loud.

The enemy tank crew was obviously very skilled in shooting. He actually hit the gun mantlet of the 88 gun at such a long distance and detonated the charge directly without setting a delay fuse.

After the devastating explosion, the gun mount of the 88-gun was in dilapidated condition, and the barrel drooped directly, pointing to the ground.

The gunner 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 breathing were mostly moaning.

Lieutenant Hook cursed and tried to sit up, but his arms that could no longer move were unable to use the strength.

He could only shout in despair: "Medic!"

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