Arc of Fire

Romanov’s tank was assigned to a place called the Nameless Highlands.

When the tank arrived, the Prosen tanks were charging up the high ground.

Romanov put down his binoculars and shouted in surprise, "I don’t see any Long-barreled Fours! They’re all Panzer IVs with short barrels and Panzer IIIs with short 50mm guns! We can wipe them all out!"

The gunner, with experience from last year’s war, said, "Be cautious, Prosen tank operators are very elite, they might break our tracks and jam our turret."

"Before that, let’s wipe them all out first!" Romanov confidently said, "Turret, turn left five degrees, driver, shift gears, advance slowly!"

For a tank like the KV, slowing down could shoot while on the move, and accuracy was actually better than shooting after a sudden stop, reaction speed was also faster, because the KV’s gun would sway up and down after a sudden stop, and one would have to wait for it to stabilize before firing.

The Prosen tanks were still busy entangled with the infantry on the position, completely unaware of the approaching KV.

"Armor-piercing shell, ready!" the loader shouted.

Without a second word, the gunner fired.

The shell hit the side of the Panzer III turret in a blink of an eye, and the explosion engulfed more than half of the tank.

"Good!" Romanov couldn’t help but pound vigorously on the top of the turret, "Keep going, turn the turret another 10 degrees left!"

As the turret began to turn, the loader’s voice rang out in the intercom, "Armor-piercing shell, ready!"

At the same time, the KV’s hull machine gun began to fire, and tracer bullets crossed over the trenches and fell into the Prosen skirmish line, forcing the line that had just stood up to lie down again.

"Good! Well shot!" Romanov praised while he himself took hold of the anti-aircraft machine gun on top of the tank, adjusted the sight, and fired at the Prosens.

Amidst the rattling of the machine gun, the main gun fired for the second time.

The hit Prosen tank’s turret flew into the air, flying for more than ten meters before crashing down heavily.

At this moment, the Prosens finally spotted the KV, and the 50mm gun of the Panzer III fired immediately.

Since there was no time to switch ammunition, the first round to hit KV was a high-explosive shell, which fizzled and split Romanov’s tank cap in two and broke the transverse bar of the headset.

Quick as a flash, Romanov grabbed onto one side of the headset that was slipping off while continuing to fire with the machine gun in his other hand.

The KV tanks of the 21st Heavy Tank Brigade had been upgraded, not only with extra steel plates welded on for increased protection, but they were also equipped with the latest DShK machine guns, which used new self-leveling gun mounts that required very little effort to operate.

Romanov, "Continue to turn the turret left, the target is the Panzer III aiming at us!"

Gunner, "I see it! Commander, get inside! It’s too dangerous to stick your body out."

Just as Romanov was about to reply, a high-explosive shell fired from the Panzer IV hit the tank’s tracks, apparently trying to blow the tracks off with the explosion.

The blast wave swept into Romanov’s eyes, making them ache, and he had to shrink back into the tank.

And then, because he was inside the tank and without a headset, the roaring noise inside the tank immediately made him furrow his brows.

Gunner, "Target destroyed! Instructions for the next one!"

Romanov, "What?"

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"The next target!"

Romanov still couldn’t hear, but he guessed what the gunner was saying and quickly searched for targets through the commander’s observation port.

"Turn left—"

"What?"

Romanov pressed the microphone next to his mouth, "Turn left 7 degrees! The Panzer IV that’s firing high-explosives at us—"

The next moment, a smoke bomb from the Panzer IV hit the KV.

A large cloud of white smoke was about to cover the entire field of vision.

Romanov cursed, "Another smoke bomb! Sukabule! Prosens, you can die with your smoke bombs! Advance! Move out of the smoke range! Turret, turn right, there’s still visibility on the right! Turn right 40 degrees, no 50 degrees!"

The turret began to turn right, but then the second smoke bomb hit.

Romanov, "Keep maneuvering, fire the moment we rush out of the smoke! It’s all on you now, gunner!"

"Got it!"

The tank’s engine roared, and Romanov was practically lying on the observation window, his eyes nearly implanted in the narrow aperture.

Finally, the smoke cleared—not really, the tank had broken through the smoke.

Romanov, "Quick! Fire! Before the enemy shoots new smoke bombs!"

Gunner, "Firing!"

The gunpowder gas from the main gun temporarily blocked the view, but the tank quickly left the gas behind, and Romanov clearly saw the smoking Panzer IV, although there was no open flame, the Prosen tank operators were leaping out of the tank one after another.

Then suddenly a submachine gunner popped out of the trench, spraying bullets at the fleeing Prosen tank operators.

The gunner exclaimed, "Prosen tanks reversing! They’re running away!"

Romanov, "Good! That’s great! Chase after them, wipe them all out!"

As they spoke, the KV climbed to the highest point of the Nameless Highlands.

The front opened up abruptly.

The waiting second echelon of Prosens suddenly entered Romanov’s field of vision.

"Sukabule!" Romanov muttered.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen of the Prosen Armored Army’s 9th Armored Division’s 1st Armored Battalion observed the Nameless Highlands from his command tank and clearly saw the second Panzer IV destroyed.

He picked up the handset, adjusted the radio, and asked, "1st Platoon, what’s happening? What keeps destroying your tanks?"

Over the radio came the response: "Battalion commander, it’s a KV tank that seems to have extra armor plates welded on, but we can handle it."

"If you can’t handle it, fall back."

"We can handle it!" The platoon leader of the 1st Platoon was very assertive.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen: "Understood, I’ll leave it to you. But retreating with your current armaments against a KV is no disgrace."

The 1st Platoon was sent in because they were equipped with older tanks, so their loss in a meat grinder wouldn’t be too regrettable. The second echelon’s Panzer IIIs and Fours were all new models outfitted with long-barreled guns.

Yes, even the Panzer III had been outfitted with the new 50-caliber gun, giving these tanks the capability to directly penetrate the front armor of a KV tank.

Of course, the platoon leader of the 1st Platoon had just reported that the KV had new welded armor, which could mean that the long-barreled guns might not penetrate its front armor.

But Lieutenant Colonel Hansen had confidence in the long-barreled gun on the Panzer IV.

At this moment, another Prosen tank atop the Nameless Highlands was destroyed.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen picked up the handset, but after thinking for a moment, put it down again. He decided to trust his platoon leader.

Another Panzer III was destroyed, and Lieutenant Colonel Hansen merely watched through his binoculars.

He saw the crew of the Panzer III bail out and run backward, only to be gunned down by Ante submachine gunners who emerged from the trenches.

Even so, he remained unmoved, silently counting the loading time for the KV. Lieutenant Colonel Hansen, having faced KV tanks last year as the Armored Platoon commander, was well-versed in the capabilities of these massive machines.

He finished counting quickly but no new tanks were destroyed.

It seemed the platoon leader had chosen to deploy smoke, blocking the KV’s line of sight.

A correct judgment—Lieutenant Colonel Hansen thought to himself.

If the KV wished to charge out of the smoke, it would have to get close to the 1st Platoon’s tanks, which then could surround it, break its tracks and jam its turret ring.

Just as he thought this, another friendly tank was hit.

He picked up the handset once more—

However, the tanks of the 1st Platoon began to retreat, meaning the platoon leader had also judged that continuing to fight the KV on their own would incur too great a loss.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen turned to the Long-barreled Four next to him, number 210: "William! Your tank fires, aim to take out that KV with one shot."

The tank commander of vehicle 210 gave a thumbs-up, said something while holding the microphone to his neck, and the tank’s turret began to rotate while its elevation mechanism started to lift.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen continued to watch the top of the high ground with his binoculars.

Due to the loud engine noise from the friendly tanks, he couldn’t hear the KV’s engine.

Finally, the green tank appeared.

No Red Flag.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen felt a tinge of disappointment, yet after careful thought, it made sense that Rocossov, now the Front Army Commander, would not be personally driving a tank at the very forefront.

He raised his right hand, signaling vehicle 210.

The long barrel of 210 aimed at the KV.

"Fire!" Lieutenant Colonel Hansen’s hand chopped down like a guillotine.

Vehicle 210 fired its shot.

The Armor-Piercing Shell, like lightning, struck the KV’s front armor, leaving behind a round hole still emitting flames.

The next moment, the rear engine compartment of the KV exploded into an orange fireball.

Flames then burst out from around the tank turret ring, enveloping the turret.

No tank operators bailed out, at least not yet.

Lieutenant Colonel Hansen turned to nod at the commander of vehicle 210, who took out his water bottle and took a sip.

-------------

When Romanov came to, his first feeling was heat.

He looked to the side and saw that the entire tank interior was aglow with red.

The gunner and the loader lay in the turret, motionless, their uniforms soaked with blood.

After grasping the situation, Romanov picked up the only submachine gun in the tank and crawled out of the turret through the hatch that had not been closed in time.

The first thing he saw was Prosen soldiers approaching the tank, so he aimed the submachine gun intending to shoot, but when he pulled the trigger, he realized it was not loaded.

He worked the charging handle and opened fire on the Prosens from atop the turret.

The next moment, a rifle bullet hit him in the forehead.

Romanov leaned backward, fighting against the urge to fall with all his remaining strength. In this instant, he and his tank were like a statue.

His hand was the first to lose power, and the submachine gun slid off onto the side of the tank with a thud.

Romanov wanted to scream, to curse the Prosen devils, to bid farewell to his wife far behind the lines, but the sinister bullets kept hitting him one after another.

He finally rolled off the turret and landed on the scorching engine vent grill. The flames caused his muscles to spasm involuntarily, forcing him to tumble.

He rolled down like that onto the ground, his face buried in the dirt.

The half of his eye that was exposed remained wide open, staring at the burning battlefield.

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