Cannon Fire Arc-Chapter 641 - 83: Like a Steel Knife, Plunging into the Enemy’s Chest (Added Update 31/81)

Chapter 641: Chapter 83: Like a Steel Knife, Plunging into the Enemy’s Chest (Added Update 31/81)

Schultz only saw the flash of the tank gun firing from behind the enemy Panzer IV.

The rocket that shot up disappeared from the view of the observation window, and no matter how hard Schultz pressed his face against the glass looking upward, he couldn’t see it.

Then Schultz lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, the air was thick with the smell of scorching, the revolting odor hit his face with waves of heat, making him forget the bitter cold of minus 40 degrees in the dead of winter.

With great difficulty, he opened his eyes to a world enveloped in flames. Empty ammunition boxes, human bodies—everything was burning except for himself.

Feeling the hot air blowing persistently in one direction, he stumbled that way—his mind was a complete blank, incapable of thought.

Just then, someone grabbed his arm: “General! Don’t go that way! The exit is over here!”

He turned around to find it was his Deputy Officer.

The Deputy Officer’s head was injured, blood covering half his face, and his uniform was stained with blood.

Schultz was dragged by the Deputy Officer, away from the bunker that had become a purgatory.

Once outside, the Deputy Officer let go of Schultz’s hand, turned back to close the bunker door, took a deep breath, and said to Schultz, “The enemy fired a massive bomb. It penetrated the bunker’s ceiling, went all the way down, and exploded. I don’t know what happened down there, but we need to leave now, or we’re finished if the ammunition dump blows.”

At that moment, Schultz’s brain finally started working, and he asked, “Are there no survivors in the bunker?”

Deputy Officer: “I don’t know. I closed the door just to prevent the fire from spreading outside the bunker. Let’s get moving, General! We’ll make a long-term plan once we get back to Headquarters! The enemy’s new tanks may be formidable, but they’re not unbeatable. It hasn’t fired again; its turret ring might be jammed.

“Last year when we faced the KVs, we did the same thing. It’s time to do it again!”

Schultz: “Yes… yes… just do it once more.”

By then, the two had left the anti-tank gun bunker complex and were entering the trenches.

Suddenly, an Antean warrior appeared in front of them.

The Deputy Officer raised his MP40 and fired. The Antean, possibly stunned by seeing Schultz’s rank, didn’t react fast enough and was gunned down with several bullets to the chest.

“What’s happening?” Schultz asked.

Deputy Officer: “The elevator and tunnels to the ammunition dump are blocked. Also, the anti-tank gun battery used too much ammunition firing at the new tank, so when the Antean armored assault came, we had no ammunition left.

“The infantry got into the trenches too late and couldn’t hold back the Antean armored cavalry. Their infantry charged right atop the tank engines, leaping down to fight as they reached our position, catching us completely off guard.” The Deputy Officer explained while dragging Schultz through the communications trench at a frantic pace.

Eventually, they reached the exit of the trench, and the bucket car Schultz rode during the inspection was still outside.

The Deputy Officer opened the rear door, shoved Schultz in, jumped into the driver’s seat, started the car, and sped off.

They had not gone far when they encountered two T-34 tanks and a group of Antean soldiers.

The Anteans didn’t realize at first that the car approaching them was Prosen, and when the car drove past, one of the Anteans shouted the alarm.

Papasha bullets followed one after another, hitting the back of the car, turning the spare tires hanging on the rear into sieves.

Schultz ducked his head, hiding behind the bare steel rim of what remained of the spare wheels.

Bullets shattered the car’s windows, and the glass shards cut the Deputy Officer’s face.

Fortunately, the area held by the 16th Armored Grenadier Division was in the suburbs, with winding streets and numerous buildings.

The Deputy Officer wrenched the steering wheel, swerving the car into a narrow alley, racing through the alley.

Suddenly, right in front of the alley, they smashed into racks used by locals to dry their catch of fish, sending fish flying everywhere.

A nearly-well-cured dried fish landed on Schultz face. In a bizarre reflex, he licked it, but it only made him grimace at its saltiness.

The Deputy Officer, driving the bucket car wildly through the suburban alleys, managed to burst back onto the main street and straight to the doorstep of Divisional Headquarters!

The Division Headquarters staff were busily throwing documents and maps into two barrels of blazing gasoline.

Schultz got out of the car and demanded, “What is going on?”

The staff stopped, staring at Schultz with wide eyes of astonishment.

“Quick, call the Chief of Staff!” one of the staff members called out.

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The Chief of Staff appeared immediately, shocked to see Schultz: “I received a call from the front, reporting you were dead! So, I took temporary command, ordered the destruction of documents, and prepared for retreat…”

“A retreat my ass! We still have so many well-fortified positions and bunkers, we are not retreating, we will fight the enemy to the end!”

As he finished speaking, a bright light from behind Schultz illuminated the entire yard.

The staff all widened their eyes, staring at what was behind him.

Schultz sighed, turned his head slowly, and saw another mushroom cloud rising.

It looked like another meticulously constructed concrete fortress had been utterly destroyed.

For a moment, Schultz was at a loss for words, and could only stare dazedly at the mushroom cloud ascending into the sky.

Chief of Staff, “General, your instructions?”

Schultz suddenly snapped to attention and ordered, “Immediately bury anti-tank mines on the main road, Rocossov’s new weapons still use tracks, and our anti-track mines can handle them perfectly!”

The Chief of Staff continued, “The enemy is demolishing us. Our entire front line has collapsed. Currently, the units below report that at least two new Assault Guns have been confirmed, and they’re clearly designed to target bunkers, with very effective results.

“The explosive power of these things can even blow a Panzer IV tank to the second floor!”

Schultz, “If we think about it, ever since the summer campaign began, we’ve been consistently disadvantaged by Ante’s new weapons. What are the Imperial Academy of Sciences and the Equipment Department doing? Where are our new weapons?”

The staff exchanged glances.

The Chief of Staff, “The key is what to do now.”

Schultz, “What to do? Obviously, we must resist at every step and report the situation to Headquarters! This time we won’t retreat. If the Anteans can hold Abawahan, we can hold Yarvik too!”

At that moment, the telephone ring spilled out from the Headquarters’ door—because Rocossov’s offensive had commenced without preparatory artillery fire, most of the phone lines were still operational.

Schultz strode briskly into Headquarters and picked up the phone receiver.

———

On the telephone, Admiral Bock of the Tenth Army Group asked the instant the call connected, “We saw a huge fireball rise from your division’s defense area. What happened?”

Schultz, on the other end of the line, was a bit incoherent, “Rocossov! A masterpiece by Rocossov!”

Admiral Bock’s face grew serious, “A fireball created by him? Surely, that’s not something a mere mortal can produce, is it?”

“He used two types of new armored vehicles, one that looks square from the front, without even a hole, just enormous slanted armor plates protecting its Combat Room.” Perhaps it was the military academy training taking effect, as Schultz sounded much more composed when he began reporting.

Admiral Bock, “So that great orb of light was the masterpiece of the new weapons? Are your losses severe?”

“Our division’s first line of defense has been breached. The new weapon fired just one shot and destroyed the main support point on the defense line, nearly killing me too! This weapon… it’s terrifying. Extremely terrifying!”

Admiral Bock, “Do you have a way to counter it? Do you need me to send over the 14th Armored Division from the reserves to counter-attack?”

“No, Rocossov has another new tank that looks like a giant turtle. We concentrated eight PAK40 and one 88 gun to shoot at it but only managed to jam its turret ring!”

Admiral Bock was astounded, “What?”

———

On the outskirts of Yarvik, Wang Zhong sat on top of a tank turret, passing the time by listening to the Tank Operators chatting over the radio.

At that moment, engine sounds approached from behind, and turning his head, he saw the tank repair vehicle imported from the Federation—since all of Ante’s production capacity was used to produce trucks and tanks, there was no spare capacity to make these things.

Sitting in the back of the repair truck was the “top student” Ke Jing had previously introduced, who shouted to Wang Zhong from a distance, “General, are we too late?”

“Not at all, we hit a mine here an hour ago; you’ve arrived quite quickly.”

This time Wang Zhong was unlucky while driving the small tank. Not only was it pinned down at a distance of 1000 meters due to its turret ring getting stuck, but it also ran over an anti-tank mine while advancing and had its tracks blown off completely.

Real life wasn’t a game; repairing broken tracks was a troublesome task. And having the turret ring stuck was not something they could fix without a professional repair vehicle.

Thus, Wang Zhong could only tearfully hand over the task of annihilating enemies in the city to the T34s while he waited for the repair vehicle.

Finally, the repair vehicle stopped in front of Wang Zhong’s position.

Ke Jing’s top student jumped down, circled the tank, and said, “This is quite a severe breakdown. The tracks are a minor issue, easy to replace, but the turret ring can’t be fixed in less than half a day.”

Wang Zhong, “Then start repairing, and use this opportunity to do a protection capability analysis.”

The “top student” grimaced, “Please, spare me. Do the protection analysis at the test range with captured enemy artillery. Firing a few rounds to see at what distance they can penetrate.

“Reliable protection capability analysis cannot be done based on visual inspection of shell scrape marks on the vehicle.”

Wang Zhong, “Then write a report about what issues you’ve found during your inspection and how you solved the malfunctions. I think this is crucial for Ke Jing, to help him know how to modify the designs next time.”

The “top student” nodded, “Alright, I’ll write the report.”

Wang Zhong nodded and voiced his most pressing concern, “How long till it’s fixed?”

The top student replied, “If we’re quick, by tomorrow night it’ll be operational and can even participate in the evening’s operations. My suggestion for the General is to take out the second tank and have a go in the city. When the second one breaks down, the first should be almost ready.”

Wang Zhong considered for a moment and nodded, “You make a good point!”