Arc of Fire

Ilyich Ivanovich watched the burning KV and immediately realized that at this time he had to maintain morale.

And the best way to stabilize morale at such a moment was to charge.

Once the soldiers started charging, they would no longer be distracted by thoughts, but dominated by impulse.

What was best was that the last performance of the KV’s tank commander had been witnessed by everyone. To launch a charge at this point couldn’t be more appropriate.

As the soldiers were coming to their senses from the shock of their comrade’s heroic actions, morale was at the brink of collapsing.

So Ilyich dropped the machine gun and, brandishing his pistol, exclaimed, "Let’s fight them! Hurrah!"

Having said that, he was the first to charge out of the trench, lifting his hand and shooting a Prosen Corporal.

Every Antean in the trench who was able to move stood up, shouting "Hurrah!" and waving whatever weapons they could grasp.

The Prosens lying not far in front of the trench stood up, attempting to resist the charging Antean soldiers. In mere seconds, they were almost all knocked to the ground.

Since the enemy and allied forces were mixed together, the Prosen tanks couldn’t open fire and could only retreat with the infantry.

Ilyich led his troops in pursuit for a while, all the way to the frontline trench - which they had unknowingly lost earlier in the battle.

Ilyich rushed into the trench and yelled to those around him, "All right! We’re at the very front of the position! We’ve retaken the entire position! No need to chase them anymore, just shoot at the enemy from the trench!"

As he spoke, he continued to fire his pistol, while others followed suit, diving into the trench and shooting at the retreating enemy with their weapons.

Now that the distance between the two sides had widened, the enemy tanks were able to open fire again, and high-explosive shells continuously exploded all over the position.

Ilyich ducked his head but did not stop shouting, "We repelled the enemy attack! As a temporary Infantry Division, we repelled the attack of the Armored Division! If we can repel them once, we can repel them a second time!"

By that time, the enemy tank bombardment had also stopped.

After all, the infantry had been crushed; advancing only with tanks against the trenches felt like sending lambs to the slaughter. The Antean Commanders might do such a thing, but the Prosens would not.

The Prosen manual stated that tanks attacking a preset position required infantry support.

When it came to following their manual, the Prosens always performed very well.

When the sound of the enemy tanks had also faded away, Ilyich stood up and walked along the trench, soothing the soldiers as he went — just like before the enemy attack.

Visibly, there were many fewer men than before, and exhaustion was evident on everyone’s faces.

Ilyich patted their shoulders one by one, "Well done! You, well done! Alyosha, you did well too; I saw you personally destroy a tank."

He made his way like this until he reached Stepan’s shoulder.

Ilyich stopped, grinned at Stepan, and asked, "Survived again?"

"Yeah," Stepan laughed, "aren’t you the same? I thought you’d either die on the front or be too scared to function, but you turned out pretty good."

Ilyich leaned against the trench wall opposite Stepan and smiled, pulling out a cigarette. "I’m surprised myself, given that before I enlisted, I was just a parish priest handling hams. Last night I even had a nightmare. I dreamed that today I was the only chief officer left on the front and that all the warriors had run away; I was chasing after them, waving my pistol continuously and shouting ’Come back, come back quickly!’"

Stepan roared with laughter, and the soldiers who heard Ilyich’s words laughed as well.

After the laughter, Stepan said, "It’s better now. These new recruits have become real men. Based on my experience, those who didn’t run in the first wave won’t run later on."

The Private Second Class, who had been listening, was thrilled. "Really? So the next time the enemy comes, I won’t wet my pants?"

Stepan said, "Don’t laugh. You think that’s a good thing? No, it’s a bad thing. It means you’re no longer human. Even if you survive this war, you won’t be human anymore."

The Private Second Class widened his eyes. "What do you mean? I’ve grown three heads and six arms?"

Stepan said, "You ask the Priest, he understands. I’m a simple man, I don’t understand. All I know is that when I went home on leave to visit my family, I felt uncomfortable everywhere in the small village where even the dogs didn’t like to bark.

"Clean beds, my wife’s smile, and my son’s crying all made me uncomfortable. I even had insomnia, is that the word?"

"Come on!" The Private Second Class laughed. "You could have insomnia? In the stuffy boxcar, you were the one who slept the soundest. Your snoring was so loud, we all couldn’t sleep!"

Stepan said, "Really! It was only when I got back to the front line and climbed into the stuffy boxcar that I could sleep soundly again. The clanging noise of the boxcar was like a mother’s lullaby, and as soon as I closed my eyes, I would know nothing! Right, like a mother’s lullaby! Isn’t my analogy good, Priest?"

Ilyich laughed, "This is called war syndrome, similar to shell shock. There are specific doctors studying this. I only know a little, but it’s something like psychological trauma.

"It’s a word transliterated from Antenese; we didn’t have it in our language before! In short, people who fight will have shadows, nightmares, and the like, feeling uneasy even in a safe environment."

Stepan said, "See, the Priest knows best. I don’t understand these words. Anyway, now you guys are also suffering from this trauma syndrome. After the war ends, you’ll end up just like me, unable to sleep."

The Private Second Class shook his head. "I don’t believe it. You’re definitely messing with me along with the Priest! After all, I graduated from the tenth grade, I’ve never heard of such a word."

At that moment, a messenger ran over. "Who’s in charge here?"

Ilyich raised his hand. "I am!"

The messenger immediately ran over to him and sized him up. "A Priest? I’m looking for the military chief officer!"

Ilyich took a puff of his cigarette. "I am the military chief officer. Of course, you can speak to this warrior next to me too; there’s no one better in battle on this front than him."

The messenger looked at Stepan, hesitated for a moment, but still spoke to Ilyich. "The headquarters sent me to inform you, the Infantry Division reserve has already set out and will arrive in half an hour. You must hold off the enemy’s attack until then!"

Ilyich smiled. "The headquarters still has reserves? Impressive. We guarantee to hold off the enemy’s attack."

The messenger nodded, then asked, "What about the telephone?"

Ilyich pointed to the command post, now in ruins. "It’s been blown to bits, along with the Commander."

The messenger looked at the rubble, nodded. "Then I’ll go back to headquarters and get you another telephone. Good luck." Experience exclusive tales on

Before Ilyich could reply, the sound of a high-explosive shell tearing through the air came from above.

"Take cover!" he shouted.

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