Cannon Fire Arc-Chapter 708 - 46: Tanks Roaring Across the Wilderness

Chapter 708: Chapter 46: Tanks Roaring Across the Wilderness

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn returned to his heavy armored battalion.

The brand new number six heavy tank was ready for deployment.

The lieutenant colonel greeted the battalion chief of staff who came forward, “Is there any situation?”

“The enemy’s reconnaissance plane skimmed over us but was driven away by the accompanying air defense battalion.”

Fayn’s armored battalion received special care, not only equipped with high-quality infantry and motorized reconnaissance units but also with an air defense battalion equipped with Panzer IV anti-aircraft vehicles.

These anti-aircraft vehicles, jokingly referred to as “furniture vehicles,” are the latest self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons of the Prosen Army, while the updated “Whirlwind” self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons have yet to be widely equipped.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn was astonished, “Our assembly has already been exposed; today’s attack will not be easy.”

“But we have the brand new number six tank! Even the enemy’s Whirlwind Tank Destroyers, as well as those new heavy tanks shaped like turtles, can’t penetrate the new number six tank from the front!” the chief of staff said confidently, “It’s specifically reinforced against the enemy’s 100mm guns!”

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn nodded, “Yes, after the reinforcement, the full combat weight is nearly eighty tons. Just moving to the assembly site for the attack might break a few wheels, and replacing new wheels takes 12 to 18 hours! Our new tanks are indeed formidable.”

Due to the sarcasm being too obvious, the chief of staff hesitated, unsure whether to continue the conversation.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn changed the subject, “I want to engage personally, have the commander of the 202 vehicle give me his place.”

The chief of staff was shocked, “You want to engage personally? Why?”

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn looked towards the horizon and after a few seconds replied, “Just reminiscing about the youthful passion of my younger days.”

“What?” asked the chief of staff, puzzled.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn: “Only a loyal war vehicle will provide us a steel grave.”

The chief of staff still didn’t understand, “Should I gather everyone to sing together?”

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn: “You’re a typical Prosen, my good chief of staff.”

The chief of staff, smiling, replied, “Thank you. I grew up in my family’s estate, but then it was sold to a major landowner, and we moved to Brandenburg, becoming city dwellers. However, I’ve always held myself to the standards of the traditional Junker nobility!”

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn nodded, “Prosen is fortunate to have soldiers like you. Having soldiers like me is Prosen’s misfortune.”

The chief of staff, who had wanted to continue expressing loyalty, was taken aback.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn: “Go issue the order. No, I’ll go to vehicle 202 myself.”

After saying this, he turned and strode toward the tanks, already arranged in the Strike Formation, and went straight to vehicle 202.

The vehicle commander, seeing Lieutenant Colonel Fayn approach, climbed out of the turret, “Lieutenant Colonel, are you planning to personally command the offensive after a long absence?”

“Yes,” the lieutenant colonel climbed onto the tank, took the headset from the commander, and it pressed against his cap.

He then entered the turret, looking back at the armored battalion ready to go, then, like a Prosen officer in a propaganda photo, took the microphone and ordered, “Attention, battalion, tanks, advance!”

The already thunderous sound of engines at the rendezvous now roared across the plains like rolling thunder.

The original vehicle commander of vehicle 202 jumped down, saluting the lieutenant colonel as the tanks slowly started.

Just then, the roaring of engines came from the sky as several of the Antean Air Force’s bombers dived from high altitude.

The accompanying “furniture vehicles” opened fire, and anti-aircraft explosions periodically blackened the sky.

The Antean Air Force dropped bombs prematurely, blasting towering columns of mud among the tank formations.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn asked, “Any casualties?”

“The bomb landed next to me, commander. I reckon I’ll need to recalibrate the sighting, but otherwise, all’s well.”

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn replied, “No need to recalibrate until we encounter the enemy, advance!”

Someone excitedly shouted over the radio, “Today we’ll show the Anteans’ turtle shells our might!”

The Antean turtle shells that had recently vexed Prosen’s armored troops were indeed lower and less imposing than the number six tanks.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn didn’t respond, just listening to the spirited chatter over the radio.

Vehicle 202 roared forward.

…

An hour later, large clouds of dust appeared ahead.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn picked up the microphone, “Dust clouds ahead, prepare for the enemy!”

“We’ve been ready!”

“The first victory for the number six tank will be mine!”

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn raised his binoculars, observing the area ahead.

According to the intelligence received at the Armored Army headquarters, the enemy’s Rokossovsky Type Heavy Tanks, after several days of intense combat, shouldn’t have many operational left.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn hoped that this encounter would be with T34s. The number six tank could effortlessly roll over them; last year, using the older design in the summer campaign, they easily targeted Ante’s T34 and KV tanks.

Now, with every metric significantly improved on the new number six tanks, they were sure to achieve even more spectacular results.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn, holding his binoculars patiently, finally spotted the silhouettes of the enemy tanks.

Something was off.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn put down his binoculars, rubbed his eyes, and lifted them again.

The silhouette of the enemy tank didn’t look like a T34 at all.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn had never personally seen the legendary Rokossovsky Type Heavy Tank, which resembled a turtle shell; he had only seen it in the identification manuals issued by Prosen High Command.

He felt that the silhouette didn’t quite match the “Rokossovsky Type” in the identification manual.

Moreover, after so many days of combat, there shouldn’t have been so many of them left.

Yet, Lieutenant Colonel Fayn saw at least twenty outlines.

Also, the Rokossovsky Type was said to be fast, but could it really be this fast?

After all, it was a heavy tank!

And these silhouettes before him, Lieutenant Colonel Fayn noticed, had already grown significantly larger in just a short while, clearly approaching at an astonishing speed!

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn made a quick decision, picking up the handset to order, “All units, halt!”

With a mournful cry from the gearboxes, the entire battalion under the Lieutenant Colonel came to a stop.

The company commanders urgently asked, “Lieutenant Colonel, what’s going on?”

“The enemy is off, their approach speed is too fast! We stop here and try to maintain distance for long-range shooting,” Lieutenant Colonel Fayn commanded, “All tanks fire the first volley at 1800 meters, aiming for a first-hit success.”

For Prosen tankers, hitting their target on the first shot at 1800 meters was not an overly challenging objective, as their training and advanced aiming equipment supported this capability.

The company commanders began to relay Lieutenant Colonel Fayn’s orders, “All units, fire at 1800 meters, first shot must hit!”

“Those who miss will clean the latrines for a week!”

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn then switched to internal communications, “No need to rotate the turret, there’s one approaching right in front of us. Do you see it, Cole?”

The gunner, Cole, replied, “Seen, I’m aimed in. I can hit at 2000 meters, request permission to fire at will.”

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“No, if we fire, the others will follow suit. Fire at 1800 meters,” Lieutenant Colonel Fayn decisively said.

“Alright.”

Since the old design of the Panzer VI’s main gun couldn’t penetrate the front of the Whirlwind Tank Destroyer, the new Panzer VI’s main gun had been significantly lengthened and was dubbed the “Long 88,” with penetration power far superior to the Anti-Air Battalion’s 88mm guns.

It was said that the designers originally planned to equip the upgraded Panzer VI with a 105mm tank gun, but ultimately, due to the excessive weight, they opted for the Long 88 instead.

If Prosen’s designers thought the tank was too heavy, it must really have been too heavy.

Now was the time to test the piercing capability of the Long 88mm gun.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn himself estimated the enemy’s distance using the scale on his binoculars.

Since he didn’t know the enemy’s specific parameters, his estimate might not be accurate. Lieutenant Colonel Fayn was using the width data of the Rokossovsky Type from the identification manuals for his estimation, meaning if these were indeed Rokossovsky Types or an upgraded version, then the distance data would be mostly accurate.

He didn’t know which set of data the gunner was using.

When the distance Lieutenant Colonel Fayn estimated reached 1800 meters, the gunner of Tank 202 fired.

The muzzle flash from the cannon fire momentarily blocked Lieutenant Colonel Fayn’s view.

However, there was a strong wind on the grassland at that moment, and the dust raised by the muzzle flash was quickly blown away, allowing Fayn to see the projectile hit the target.

It seemed the shell was deflected, indicating it was somewhat difficult to penetrate the Rokossovsky Type’s armor at a distance of 1800 meters.

The enemy tank returned fire.

It must have been a snap shot, but at this distance, it was hard to tell if the enemy had abruptly stopped.

The shell ‘duang’ hit the armor of Tank 202, leaving a striking scratch on its ripple-patterned ferro-magnetic coating.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn’s heart, which had been in his throat, settled down; at least the enemy also couldn’t penetrate the front of a Panzer VI.

Next, it would be a matter of who could penetrate the other’s armor as the distance closed.

Just as he thought this, the enemy’s second volley arrived.

Smoke bombs!

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn was somewhat taken aback; firing smoke bombs meant voluntarily giving up long-range firing to close the distance for close combat.

But why would heavy tanks engage each other in close combat? Wasn’t it better to compete at long range with armor-piercing rounds?

Suddenly, a realization struck Lieutenant Colonel Fayn.

Unless the enemy was not heavy tanks at all.

Considering their speed, which far exceeded that of typical heavy tanks—these tanks were medium tanks! They were successors to the T34!

So knowing they couldn’t match the defense of the newly designed Panzer VI, they had given up on long-range engagement to use their speed for a close-quarters battle!

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn switched to radio mode and shouted into the handset, “Retreat! All units, reverse! The enemy has medium tanks, they are planning to close in for a close combat!”

“What? But they don’t look like T34s!” a company commander questioned.

Lieutenant Colonel Fayn replied, “Think about their approach speed! Only a medium tank like the T34 could have such speed! Do not engage them in close combat! They have armored cavalry on their backs; close combat is highly disadvantageous for us! Reverse!”