Cannon Fire Arc-Chapter 702 - 40 The Situation on the Night of the 4th

Chapter 702: Chapter 40 The Situation on the Night of the 4th

On the evening of July 4th, at 20:00, Wang Zhong said farewell to the first brigade of paratroopers and the commando force participating in the raid at the airport.

The aircraft responsible for their transport were the C47 transport planes supported by the Federation, Ante’s own authorized production version was not a high production priority at the moment and the output was small. Most of Ante’s aircraft industry capacity was being used to produce the two types of fighter planes, the Yak-3 and La-5, as well as the Pe-2 bomber.

However, the Federation’s production capacity had now been fully expanded, so providing these C47s to Ante was really no big deal.

The Federation’s Eighth Air Force was carrying out crazy bombing campaigns against the Empire of Prosen, based out of the United Kingdom, with up to 200 heavy bombers being lost in a single day.

This rate of loss was much higher than that of Earth’s Eighth Air Force and was probably due to the Prosen Air Force being much stronger than Earth’s Sturmtiger Air Forces.

According to the information Wang Zhong had received, it seemed the Prosens had even come up with the TA152, which on Earth was specifically designed for high-altitude bomber interception. That they were already equipped with it made the heavy losses of the Eighth Air Force’s bomber fleets understandable.

Wang Zhong always felt that it wouldn’t be long before Prosen’s homeland air defense warfare would transform into a sci-fi jet battle with the HO229 taking on the ultimate improved version of the P51 Mustang.

But then he realized, wasn’t this the scene he often saw in “War Thunder” before he traveled back in time?

But whatever the state of Prosen’s homeland air defense battle turned out to be, it wasn’t his concern at the moment.

He was about to send his bravest warriors on an extremely dangerous mission.

After inspecting the paratrooper troops, he approached Aromeyev and reminded him, “After completing the mission, don’t get bogged down fighting the enemy. Immediately disperse and rendezvous with the guerrillas and cavalry troops. The armored troops will also be arriving shortly.”

Aromeyev saluted, “Understood, General. Rest assured, we are aware of the great danger of this mission.”

Wang Zhong nodded slowly, then waved his hand, “Board the plane.”

Aromeyev immediately gave the order, and the soldiers of the first generation of paratroopers, adapted from naval infantry, turned in unison and headed towards the planes parked on the airfield.

The commando strike team boarding the C47 would also mix in with the first paratrooper brigade’s fleet, and when they approached the drop zone, they would land separately.

Cavalry troops on the ground would light campfires to guide the paratroopers and commandos to the landing site.

Wang Zhong watched the warriors board the planes, then the ground crew began to help turn the aircraft propellers.

The first plane started up quickly, progressing along the taxiway under the guidance of the lead plane, followed closely by the second and third.

The C47 fleet lined up like elephants walking to the starting point of the takeoff runway.

Popov, who had also come to see off the paratroopers, said, “This might be the largest scale attack on a campaign direction headquarters in this war. Before this, the Allied Forces only sent commando squads to carry out similar missions, like attempting to sabotage the Prosen African Corps’ supplies and ports, and incidentally assassinate that Erwin.”

Wang Zhong nodded, “It was Colonel Jonathan who executed the operation, but in the end, he regretfully failed to eliminate that Prosen newcomer named Erwin.”

Popov was shocked, “It was him?”

Wang Zhong glanced at Popov, “Seems like someone who skims through documents more hastily than I do has appeared in the headquarters!”

“I just felt that with you two in charge, there wasn’t much need for me to command them, so I only glanced over them,” shrugged Popov.

At that moment, a signal flare shot into the sky, and the lead plane began its taxi run, rushing into the night sky after a brief acceleration.

Wang Zhong waved to the planes.

By the time all the planes had taken off, his hand was almost numb from waving.

————

Wang Zhong and Popov returned to the headquarters to see Pavlov with a look of joy, so Wang asked, “What’s the good news, my Chief of Staff?”

Pavlov looked up, unable to suppress his laughter, “We’ve captured the headquarters of the enemy’s Third Armored Army. We didn’t catch the corps commander or senior officers, but we seized some documents and maps that had not been burned in time, as well as some low-level staff officers who stayed to burn the documents.

“The number of ready tanks in the Third Armored Army has dropped to 30, the size of three armored divisions. Besides these, they are left only with the assault gun units belonging to the 160th Infantry Division assigned to the armored army.

“All of this added up does not exceed 100 vehicles. And we alone have 500 tanks just facing the Third Armored Army!”

Wang Zhong, “Didn’t you say our exchange ratio with the enemy was three-to-one?”

“That’s the exchange rate of the T34W units with the enemy, but our new rocket launchers and new heavy tanks have pulled a lot of weight in balancing the exchange rate. Our original most optimistic estimate was two-to-one,” Pavlov’s lips curled slightly up, “but according to the captured documents it’s even more optimistic than our best guess!”

Vasily, “Actually, a significant portion of our victories didn’t come from our efforts; the enemy tanks broke down of their own accord. For instance, only a small part of the enemy’s new medium tanks participated in combat.

“Additionally, the enemy’s Elephant tank destroyers, their reports claim they were almost completely lost upon engagement with us, but our armored troops did not report encountering new tank destroyers.

“After careful confirmation with various units, these Elephant tank destroyers were wiped out by our infantry divisions.”

Popov’s eyes widened, “How is that possible? Infantry? Did they use rocket launchers?”

Vasily’s face revealed his signature sly smile, “No, the infantry troops that took out the Elefants didn’t have rocket launchers; they used incendiary bottles to finish them off.”

Popov, “In the open field? While attacking?”

Vasily nodded.

Wang Zhong surmised, “I guess, in the pursuit of protection, the Prosens learned from our Whirlwind and didn’t install a machine gun port in the frontal armor.”

Vasily said further, “They took it a step further; there isn’t even a machine gun port on the front of the Elefant tank destroyers. Actually, the Elefant tank destroyers don’t have machine guns at all.”

Although Wang Zhong already knew about the Elefants on Earth not being equipped with machine guns at the beginning, he purposely acted very shocked, “What?”

Vasily laughed heartily, “They pursued the extreme even more than us! As a result, infantry approached with incendiary bombs and destroyed them all!”

Wang Zhong laughed along for a while before asking, “What about the other heavy tanks? Where did the heavy tanks go?”

The smile faded from Pavlov’s face, “The enemy’s 3rd Armored Army didn’t receive any heavy tanks. We interrogated a staff member of the enemy who informed us that there are two battalions with a total of 90 heavy tanks that have been assigned to the 2nd Armored Army of the Asgard Knights.”

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“We have confirmed with the various units at the front that only the Guard First Heavy Breakthrough Tank Group has encountered a battalion from Anpura Armored Division of the 2nd Armored Army of the Asgard Knights, totaling 28 new Leopard tanks.”

Wang Zhong said, “So, this Anpura Division is face to face with the Guard First Heavy Breakthrough Tank Group? They will soon come across Tiger…”

Wang Zhong almost let the word “Tiger King” slip out, but fortunately, Antenese is an alphabetical language, and uttering just the first sound usually wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

Moreover, it couldn’t be certain that they would encounter the Tiger King; the Prosens might directly deploy the Mouse or even the E100 heavy tank.

To tell the truth, given the current equipment of the 100mm cannon, it would be somewhat difficult to take out the Mouse. If the Prosens really brought the Mouse up to the front line, they could only use smoke bombs to cover the infantry as they rushed to throw incendiary bottles.

Tanks of this era were not universally equipped with NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) protection systems, so they were all vulnerable to incendiary bottles; just one throw onto the engine’s cooling grilles meant game over.

Dispelling his inner concerns, Wang Zhong asked, “How many Rokossovsky Type tanks are left with the Guard First Heavy Breakthrough Tank Group now?”

Pavlov shook his head, “None, the last Rokossovsky Type had its tracks broken in today’s battle. Their assigned repair units are already operating above capacity; it won’t be until tomorrow afternoon that they can fix three Rokossovsky Type tanks.”

Wang Zhong asked, “Then if the enemy’s new heavy tanks attack, wouldn’t that be very dangerous?”

Pavlov said, “I’ve already dispatched a new T34W Tank Brigade to reinforce them, and I’ve ordered the Guards 108th Infantry Division behind them to speed up their advance. The 108th is equipped with new rocket launchers, and recently many infantry units have found that using tall grass on the plains to approach the enemy can effectively maximize the advantage of rocket launchers.”

Wang Zhong nodded, he had no more to say regarding Pavlov’s arrangements.

Popov spoke up, “If tonight’s attack on the Headquarters of the Southern Army Group is successful, does that mean we don’t have to worry about the enemy’s heavy tanks rushing at the Guard First Heavy Breakthrough Group without tanks tomorrow?”

Wang Zhong said, “Not necessarily, perhaps their officer corps is competent and can quickly complete the transfer of command, maintaining the stability of the entire command system. We should still make multiple preparations.”

————

At the same time, at the old location of the Headquarters of the Prosen Southern Army Group.

Marshal Geron inquired of his Deputy Officer, “Why can’t we leave?”

The Deputy Officer replied, “Because nearby units have reported enemy paratroopers landing, it’s too dangerous to leave now, we don’t know how many enemy troops have landed.”

As soon as these words were spoken, an illuminating flare went up outside the window, its dazzling light piercing into the armored command vehicle.

Immediately after, machine-gun fire sounded, like the ripping of canvas.

Marshal Geron furrowed his brow, “That’s very close.”

“Yes,” the Deputy Officer responded gravely, unbuttoning his holster.

As the light from the flare faded, the sound of machine-gun fire continued.

Marshal Geron shouted, “Find out which unit is firing outside! Get on it quick!”

“Yes,” the staff officer responded, just as a second illuminating flare shot up, followed by the sound of Papasha gunfire.

Clearly, it was the Anteans who were firing.

Marshal Geron clenched his brow, “So many submachine guns? Did the enemy air-drop a considerable force just to capture my Headquarters?”

The Deputy Officer reassured him, “Don’t worry, sir. We’ve mobilized all the nearby armor that can still move…”

Marshal Geron interrupted, “Fool! At night when the infantry have crept near, what use is armor? To light themselves up and illuminate the surroundings? Prepare for close-quarters combat!”