Arc of Fire

At 1800 hours, Pavlov’s combat group passed by the water tower where Wang Zhong was located and headed for the city.

Because the 51st Army and the three divisions personally trained by Wang Zhong were different, the armored troops did not have infantry fighting vehicles (i.e., the M3 Grant Lee tanks), nor did they have any half-track vehicles or jeeps, so the infantry all sat on the tanks.

Wang Zhong watched this marching column from the water tower, feeling as if he were watching the Indian Army march.

Ante did not produce half-track vehicles itself, all the half-track vehicles were supplied by the Federation, only Wang Zhong’s directly subordinate First Mobile Group Army could get so many M3 half-track vehicles.

The First Mobile Group Army, when in combat, only organized "armored cavalry" during the reinforcement of other infantry units.

The other units, lacking half-track vehicles and even trucks which were necessary for transporting supplies, had no choice but to mount the tanks for mobility or else proceed on foot, which couldn’t keep up with the full-speed advance of the tank units.

Now, the Ante Army also knew that tanks without infantry support were too vulnerable, almost like a death sentence, so there was no choice but to continue this way.

This actually was not good, as the infantry was too easily wounded by machine guns, and their response to enemy attacks was too slow.

Thus, as Wang Zhong watched the troops head toward the urban area, he began to ponder getting some proper infantry fighting vehicles.

But this was just a consideration; the reason Ante did not produce half-track vehicles was that the majority of factories capable of producing tracked mechanisms were desperately supplying tank factories, with the remaining track production capacity going to tractors.

After Wang Zhong’s reforms, the Ante Army started to prioritize the production of tractors, elevating the status of tractors used for tank recovery in newly formed tank units and also because the artillery units needed tractors to tow heavy artillery, making tractors highly sought after.

The solution, of course, was to expand production to increase the output of tracks and running gear, but now Ante lacked skilled technicians.

After much deliberation, Wang Zhong concluded that equipping the armored troops with infantry fighting vehicles could only be achieved by securing more resources from the Federation.

At least equip his own 51st Tank Army with enough infantry fighting vehicles and half-track vehicles.

At that moment, Popov also climbed up the water tower and said to Wang Zhong, "The soldiers are all looking at you, give them a bit of encouragement! Don’t just daydream."

Wang Zhong was pulled from his thoughts, hurriedly raised his hand, intending to shout something, but the soldiers shouted first, "Hurrah!"

Popov said, "That’s how simple it is for you to rally the troops; you just need to raise a hand, and the soldiers’ morale soars."

Wang Zhong, feeling somewhat embarrassed while maintaining his raised hand gesture, said to Popov, "I didn’t want it this way."

Aromeyev said, "I heard from the Army that you once personally used a knife to blow up a tank?"

Wang Zhong said, "Do you see a knife on me? That’s definitely fake. It must be my former deputy officer spreading rumors in the tavern, he’s a musician, you know. In the Middle Ages, that would be a minstrel, and minstrel tales always have exaggerated elements."

He had just finished speaking when he saw a motorcycle making its way from the edge of the city toward them.

The two riders on the motorcycle wore red hats, and from this distance, they looked like two Marios riding over on a motorcycle.

From an overhead view, Wang Zhong confirmed their identities: messengers from the First Paratrooper Division’s special task force.

The people on the motorcycle, obviously not knowing where Wang Zhong was, neared the troops heading into the city, and asked in a heavy Antenese accent, "Where is the Commander?"

The infantry sitting on the tanks all pointed in the direction of the water tower.

Then, the paratroopers rode their motorcycle through the columns of marching troops, heading straight for the water tower, and within a minute, the two had climbed to the top.

Wang Zhong said, "Isn’t it a bit crowded on this tower?"

Aromeyev said, "Then I’ll move forward…"

"No!" Wang Zhong stopped him, although as the brigadier of the 393rd Brigade, moving forward with the command post made sense, but moving would take him out of Wang Zhong’s line of sight, "Stay here, Popov, I feel like you should play a role."

"You just think I’m fat," said the military bishop, shaking his head, "Then I’ll move a bit forward."

So Popov, along with a few priests, descended the water tower, boarded the Willys Jeep they had arrived in, and merged into the advancing column.

Wang Zhong then turned to the two paratroopers wearing red berets, "What’s the situation at the airfield?"

A paratrooper took out a stack of documents from a leather bag, "We encountered a full formation of Prosens at the airfield. We used explosives to collapse the buildings they were holding, and eliminated them all. These are the Prosen documents collected after a day’s digging."

Wang Zhong took them, pretended to look over them — he actually couldn’t understand them — then handed the stack of documents to Yakov.

Yakov immediately began to review them.

Wang Zhong then asked the paratroopers, "Were there many casualties?"

"Almost no casualties. The tactic you proposed of pretending to carry out tasks was highly successful. If it weren’t for encountering the Prosens, perhaps we could have taken the airfield peacefully," one of the paratroopers said, looking quite regretful.

Wang Zhong further asked, "What’s the defense situation at the airfield?"

The airfield, due to its very open and extremely flat terrain, has always been one of the hardest areas to defend.

The paratrooper said, "Each of us dug foxholes, and we even got mines from the airfield’s warehouse to lay down. We’ve been waiting all day for the enemy’s counterattack, but we only heard your side fighting intensely. The enemy actually didn’t consider retaking the airfield!

"If you ask me, General, you might as well use us as regular infantry. We came here to hone our skills, but what are we honing exactly?"

Wang Zhong couldn’t help but smile wryly: using elite paratroopers as regular infantry felt extravagantly wasteful.

He could only say, "Don’t worry, we’ll still need you to parachute in later, there will be battles."

"Really?" The two paratroopers were overjoyed.

"Yes, you’re just sergeants, so you don’t know. In a couple of days, you’ll be taking a glider to seize a bridge, and that’s key to our ability to advance quickly!"

The two paratroopers looked at each other and asked, "Are you talking about the Fenny Valley Bridge?"

Wang Zhong grew serious, thinking there had been a leak, "Yes, how did you know?"

The paratrooper smiled, "We also study maps and make battle plans. After all, paratroopers operate behind enemy lines, and it’s not surprising to encounter any situation during a drop. When we were studying the map, we thought that Commando would probably be the ones to seize the Fenny Valley Bridge."

Commando!

Wang Zhong, "Are they the superheroes from the United Kingdom who destroyed the Prosen supplies and shallow draft gunboats at Alexandria?"

"They just have better training," said the paratrooper, his face filled with pride.

Wang Zhong, "Well, I look forward to their performance. But if they don’t show up, it’ll be up to you to take the bridge in the gliders."

"If we really need to launch an attack, we guarantee we’ll complete the mission." The red-beret paratrooper said confidently, his reliable posture almost unbelievable for a United Kingdom soldier.

That’s not right, even on Earth, the special forces and paratroopers from Ying are quite reliable.

Wang Zhong nodded to them, "Very well, are you heading back now? Give my regards to your commander and tell him he’s done well."

"Yes."

Then the two paratroopers didn’t take the staircase, instead they parkoured down from the water tower, jumped on a motorcycle, and left.

Aromeyev was not impressed, "Just come down properly, no need for stunts! All flash and no substance!"

Wang Zhong looked at Aromeyev, thinking that maybe someday he should invite the Commando from the United Kingdom to teach you guys the tricks, but better not say that out loud.

By the time the sun set, only one local temple in Moha City remained under the control of the Barlas Imperial Guards.

Wang Zhong personally arrived at the temple and looked from a distance at the canine-headed statue, becoming visibly upset—dammit, the Balas Plateau looks just like the Egyptian desert, but why does the local god also look so Egyptian?

Could it be because Egypt’s current location had turned into Mamluk?

Looking at the temple that was so clearly out of place with Earth, Wang Zhong wondered if this planet he was fighting on was actually a world formed after someone on Earth started a game of Civilization VI.

Egypt starts off at the Balas Plateau and then conveniently takes over the wonder Petra?

A tank destroyer from the 225th Division’s Whirlwind Tank Destroyer Battalion approached the temple, but suddenly inside the temple door, there was a burst of flames and smoke, and an armor-piercing shell hit the Whirlwind’s front armor, blasting it off and striking the buildings behind it.

This shell had actually left a mark on the Whirlwind’s highly reliable front armor.

Wang Zhong looked down and saw a hidden 88mm cannon inside the gate.

He shouted, "That trajectory, and that sound, it’s an 88mm cannon! Bring up two more Whirlwinds, otherwise we might not be able to handle it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another shell came over, hitting the Whirlwind’s mantlet, twisting it completely, and the 100mm cannon stuck at a 20-degree angle.

Another Whirlwind rolled out, firing at the temple gate.

Smoke and dust raised by high-explosive shells enveloped the entire gate.

The two statues of canine heads at the portal also got covered in the lifted dust, glowing red in the orange sunset.

Wang Zhong shuddered and quickly ordered, "Don’t attack the statues! Avoid the statues! Later we need to persuade the local tribes to help us! Damaging the statues could be hard to explain!"

Then the third Whirlwind fired, the shell grazed the statue and shot inside the gate.

Wang Zhong shouted, "Don’t hit the statues!"

The second shell exploded and immediately triggered a chain of explosions.

The entire temple’s roof was blown sky high, and the main body of the temple collapsed thunderously, spreading to the surrounding structures like dominoes.

Both statues at the front also fell and disintegrated.

Wang Zhong’s mouth gaped open in an ’O’ shape.

At that moment, he heard the voice of Colonel Benjamin of the Federation from behind, "General, I’ve brought the local tribal leader."

Wang Zhong spun around, looking at the kind-faced old man, "Uh, this... well..."

The old man made a gesture of the Eastern Holy Church and said in very standard Antenese, "Our tribe has already embraced the Secular faction, General, you need not worry." Explore more at empire

"Uh… that’s good to hear," Wang Zhong relaxed, introducing himself, "I am that Rocossov, a pleasure to meet you."

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