Arc of Fire

When Jonathan heard the sound of the mortar, he knew trouble was brewing.

Before joining the Commando Force, Jonathan had served in the Highland Corps and participated in the Expeditionary Force, so he knew the threat artillery posed to light infantry.

Though the Commandos were exceptionally skilled soldiers, they were still just light infantry when faced with artillery fire—even just mortar fire.

Jonathan shouted, "Take cover! Get to solid shelters! Get to solid shelters!"

As he yelled, he grabbed two ammo boxes and rushed down the stairs to take cover inside the Bridgehead Fort.

Inside the Bridgehead Fort was an MG34 machine gun without a tripod, using the same ammunition as the mounted machine gun on the roof.

After Jonathan rushed into the Bridgehead Fort, mortar shells began landing outside the bunker.

Martin and George, a step behind, tumbled down the stairs.

"Damn, you stepped on my face!"

Jonathan glanced at them, ignored them, and continued to focus on the outside.

The Prosens seemed to have realized their mistake and started to head toward the bridge, only to run directly into a barrage of mortar shells, scattering in panic.

Jonathan laughed heartily—despite the dangerous situation the Commandos were in, he couldn’t help but laugh seeing the enemy caught in their own fire.

Martin and George, done bickering, exchanged a glance, then both looked at Jonathan.

That’s when the bunker phone rang.

Jonathan immediately answered, "Hello? Who is it?"

"I’m a doctor. We’ve captured the enemy headquarters, and there’s a radio here that they didn’t manage to destroy. We need someone who can operate it!"

Jonathan replied, "Someone who can operate it? This…"

He looked at Martin, "Wait, Martin, didn’t you work in the telegraph office at the train station before you enlisted?"

"Railway telegraph office! Telegraph office! How many times do I have to say it was the telegraph office, not the reception room! It was a major station!"

Jonathan said, "Alright, alright, got it. Can you send telegraphs?"

"Of course, but I don’t have the codebook, neither for the Allied Forces nor the Prosens. I can only send telegraphs using the international postal standard code, which anyone can receive and read." Martin spread his hands.

Jonathan opened the door of the Bridgehead Fort, "Go to headquarters. There’s a radio there. We must get immediate support from the landing Antean Troops, or we’ll be wiped out by the sheer number of the enemy and this damn mortar barrage!"

Martin looked at the continuously falling mortar barrage outside, just as a shell conveniently landed on the roof of the Bridgehead Fort, showering them with a burst of debris and dust.

Martin exclaimed, "Are you sure you want me to run to headquarters under this artillery fire?"

Jonathan took out a Scottish Bagpipe he had been carrying on his back and looked at Martin seriously, "Yes, I’ll go with you."

Martin, squinting at the musical instrument in Jonathan’s hands, asked, "What does pulling out a bagpipe have to do with anything?"

Jonathan blew a long note, then tested all the holes of the bagpipe to make sure the instrument was in perfect condition.

Then he began to play "The Highlanders Are Coming Forward," a famous Scottish battle song and the regimental song of the Highland Corps.

He then walked into the mortar barrage, playing the bagpipe.

Martin and George exchanged a look.

Martin cursed, "Either he’s insane, or the world is insane, probably both."

With that, he crouched and dashed out of the Bridgehead Fort, following Jonathan.

Martin shouted, "Hurry up, man! Move faster out of this damn barrage!"

Jonathan continued to play the song casually. Meanwhile, a group of Prosens spotted them and attempted to shoot, but right at that moment, a mortar shell hit among them, sending everyone flying.

The Balasian mortar, appearing to be 80mm in caliber, was extremely powerful.

Jonathan kept playing the bagpipe, calmly walking towards headquarters at a parade ground pace.

The doctor peeked out from behind a pillar at the entrance of the building, looking at Jonathan skeptically.

When the two finally entered the sheltered area beneath the building’s roof, the doctor asked, "What kind of sorcery is this?"

Jonathan shrugged, "Don’t know, maybe it’s just probability. The mortar shells land randomly, and they didn’t happen to hit around us."

The words written all over the doctor’s face were: I call bullshit.

Jonathan urged, "Quick, to the radio!"

The doctor immediately realized, "Right, the radio! We’ve already been calling via radio, but the Anteans are too far away; radio calling doesn’t reach them. We must use the radio!"

Martin halted the two people who were about to go inside and said seriously, "I indeed can send a telegram, but I can only send it in clear text."

The doctor said, "Clear text is fine; it even saves the time for decoding. In this situation, clear text is good! Just send it in clear text!"

Martin said, "You said it! If there’s a leak or if it’s pursued afterward, you’re responsible!"

"I’m responsible," the doctor patted his chest.

At the same time, at the Antean Expeditionary Army Headquarters.

Wang Zhong was talking to Amelia, "Your anti-aircraft shooting was really good. If it weren’t for you taking down two enemy planes, one shot down and one scared away, the headquarters would have suffered heavy losses."

At this moment, Katyusha, not convinced, said, "I could have shot down the enemy planes too! Those cunning Prosens, actually flying at super low altitude to stay out of my sight!"

Little Katyusha (Ekaterina’s nickname) guided the Divine Arrow, which could continue to track the enemy even out of sight until it hit.

Of course, it wasn’t unavoidable. If the Prosen pilots had experienced using third-generation air-to-air missiles, knew how to use F-POLE maneuvers to continually deplete the "missiles’" kinetic energy, they might be able to dodge it.

But that was just a possibility; after all, a propeller aircraft’s performance was far inferior to that of a third-generation fighter, and they might run out of kinetic energy after dodging the Divine Arrow, only to crash to the ground.

In short, once an enemy plane entered Katyusha’s sight, as long as it was locked by the Divine Arrow, there was no escape.

But the enemy planes must first enter Katyusha’s sight.

This time, the sneak-attacking planes, until they abandoned the attack and turned to leave, only then came into Amelia’s sight, and little Katyusha hadn’t seen the two BF110 planes at all, thus couldn’t guide the Divine Arrow to attack.

Amelia looked at Katyusha, "Your Divine Arrow is too limited against low-flying enemy planes, so that’s why I took the initiative to shoot. There would have been many staff dead without me; I think you should honestly be grateful, since protecting the Expeditionary Army Headquarters was initially your duty."

Little Katyusha pouted her lips.

Wang Zhong was about to smooth things over when a communications staff member ran over with a telegram, "General! Report! We have received a clear code telegram, the Commando Force is encountering a massive assault by Balasian Army at Fenny Valley Bridge, and the situation is critical."

"What?" Wang Zhong rushed over, snatched the telegram, and said while reading, "How could this happen, the Balas forces daring to confront the Commando?"

The telegram stated two things; first, the Commando already defeated the disguised Prosen Army at the bridge, occupying the bridge, and second, the previously retreating Balasian Army suddenly returned and attacked the Commando troops occupying the bridge.

The enemy had mortars, and the Commando, armed only with light weapons and close-combat equipment, were in a dire situation.

After reading, Wang Zhong handed the telegram to Pavlov, who was nearby, and asked, "Can the 51st Army depart tonight?"

Pavlov glanced at the telegram, confirmed the situation, and handed it to Popov while replying, "No. Even if the 51st Army is ready, I wouldn’t recommend departing now. The retreating Prosen soldiers still have considerable fighting spirit;we might be ambushed by Prosens if we march at night.

"Additionally, we don’t know if there are Prosens waiting in two villages along the way. We must wait for daylight to depart! Then, visibility will be good, and we can send out the Air Force to scout the two villages along the road."

Wang Zhong said, "But the Commando Force might not be able to hold out until tomorrow noon, they are elite, but too few in number, and not adept at this kind of frontal combat. We must deploy now to rescue them, rush to the Fenny Valley in three hours!"

Pavlov asked, "Are you willing to wager the lives of soldiers on the chance that there are no enemies along the way?"

Wang Zhong thought for a moment and said, "I’ll personally lead the rescue team!"

Pavlov said, "No, what difference does that make other than putting you in danger as well?"

Wang Zhong said, "Trust me! The troops I lead will never be ambushed by the enemy, nor will they suffer a sneak attack!"

Because any enemy approaching within 2.5 kilometers would be highlighted, and a sneak attack? Impossible.

Amelia said, "That is such an unreasonable confidence! No, although the Commando is our United Kingdom’s elite, I’m against this irrational rescue operation that puts the expeditionary force commander in jeopardy!"

"I think it’s possible," Popov suddenly said, looking at Wang Zhong, "I think it’s possible. The Admiral wouldn’t make such a low-level mistake. He has an astonishing battlefield intuition, I believe he won’t be ambushed."

Pavlov pondered for a while, sighed, "I believe too. Then, General, you personally lead the rescue team, depart immediately, and rescue the Commando Force fighting at the Fenny Valley Bridge."

Wang Zhong slapped his thigh, "Great! I’ve been wanting to take a spin in a tank for a while."

Pavlov squinted, "I knew you just wanted to go for a tank ride."

Amelia said, "You are the Chief of Staff; you can’t agree to the commander’s irrational decision!"

"No," Pavlov shook his head, "Miss Emilia, when I was still the staff officer of the Third Amur Group, I fought alongside the General. He indeed has an amazing insight into the battlefield; when he personally leads the troops, there are only others being ambushed by him, never the other way around."

Popov also chimed in, "I know it’s unreasonable, but... we of the Secular faction, value pragmatism, and the facts are right here, undeniable."

Emilia, skeptical, looked at the two bears (referring to Popov and Pavlov), then skeptically at Wang Zhong.

Then she said, "Fine then, I’ll come along. If it’s a night skirmish, my abilities can also contribute; I’ll be a machine gunner that will chill our enemies."

That’s right, you’re not relying on sight when firing a machine gun, but on superpower.

Wang Zhong said, "Then it’s settled. Form the assault team immediately, led by my tank #422. Grigori, bring my Red Flag!"

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