Arc of Fire

Major General Schneider thought he might be about to give up the ghost at the front line.

He had heard before that Rocossov liked to use artillery, but he never imagined it would be "used" like this.

He suspected that there were 1,000 pieces of heavy artillery firing at them now, the shells practically flipping the entire camp upside down.

According to statistics from the Prosen High Command, Rocossov had directly or indirectly killed four major generals with his artillery, and now Schneider worried that he might become the fifth.

Amidst the earth-shaking bombardment, he took out a notebook and begun to write his will with a trembling pencil, "My dearest Erika, if you are reading this... Damn, why the hell am I writing if you are reading this!"

As if in response to his words, the roof of the artillery observation post they were in—an improvised roof made from wood and ropes that was practically only a psychological comfort against shelling—suddenly collapsed.

Major General Schneider was knocked out cold. In his unconsciousness, he saw his long-deceased grandparents smiling at him (Schneider was 51 years old).

He also saw his parents, who had passed away many years ago, holding a child in swaddling clothes, watching the child babble and grow up gradually.

Just as the child was joining the Youth Corps, everything suddenly disappeared, replaced by Schneider’s deputy officer shouting at him, "General! General, wake up!"

The deputy shook his head, "No, General, we’re in hell."

It was only then that Schneider heard someone shouting nearby; he turned his head to look and saw tank operators with fire extinguishers and fireproof canvas, trying hard to put out the fire on a tank.

Next to the battered truck, mechanics were looking for anything usable.

Stretcher bearers were sprinting with their stretchers, the wounded on them screaming without any of the honor and pride of the Prosen Empire’s soldiers.

Major General Schneider: "I’m still alive?"

Deputy: "Yes, but the entire command unit you brought has been wiped out, and the radio is gone. We’ve lost contact with the division’s headquarters. Most critically, we can’t find a working motorcycle to send a messenger, so I’ve sent one on horseback with the message."

Major General Schneider stared blankly at the scene of "total chaos" before him, and after a long pause, he remembered to ask loudly, "What about Lieutenant Colonel Hansen?"

Deputy: "The lieutenant colonel and the recently arrived commander of the 9th Armored Grenadier Corps’ First Regiment both died, as did the entire command staff of the 9th Armored Grenadier First Regiment."

The deputy pointed to a burning armored command vehicle in the distance, "It is said that the 9th Armored Grenadier First Regiment was just gathering all the chief officers for a meeting."

Major General Schneider, holding his forehead: "I should have anticipated Rocossov would shell our assembly and departure points. I should have ordered the troops to move out and rest elsewhere!"

The battlefield is vast, and such shelling is mostly a waste of ammunition if it just misses the target by a bit.

But the problem was that Major General Schneider didn’t order to change the location before resting, and all units of the 9th Armored Division were at the positions they had at the end of today’s offensive.

It was likely that the entire division had been smashed to pieces by Rocossov’s barrages.

Schneider silently learned from this lesson and turned to give orders, "Immediately promote new command personnel, tell the new officers the plan for tomorrow’s battle; the plan for tomorrow morning’s offensive remains unchanged. I’m heading back to division headquarters."

Deputy: "General, the only fit horse was taken by the messenger, and now we have no means of transportation to return to Headquarters."

"What?" Major General Schneider exclaimed in alarm, "Quickly call the division headquarters with the radio and ask them to send a vehicle for me!"

Deputy: "The tank units were just bombarded, and radio equipment on tank vehicles is the most readily destroyed by shelling. It is likely that no tank radio is operational—"

At that moment, a tank operator on a nearby tank shouted, "We just fixed the radio!"

Every armored company in the Prosen Army was assigned one or two electrical engineers, who often sat next to the driver and the machine gunner and were really "mech-electricians," each possessing at least some skills to repair radios.

Major General Schneider exclaimed with delight, "Quick, call Headquarters! Tell them to send a car for me! And bring new guards, all my attendants here, except for Lister (the Deputy Officer), have been sacrificed."

The radio repairmen immediately began to call.

Major General Schneider sighed and turned to look at the ruined Armored Battalion and Armored Grenadier Corps.

Wang Zhong struggled to use the overhead surveillance system to get a clear view of the artillery strike’s effect. Unfortunately, the overhead map completely obscured the situation below, and Wang Zhong could only infer through icons where the villages were, where the farms lay, but how many Prosen troops were stationed there, the composition of the forces, and what their state of preservation was after the recent bombardment—all of these details were unknown to him.

He could only pace back and forth nervously in the command center. After walking for a long time, he suddenly felt thirsty and called out, "Nelly! Fetch me some yogurt!"

Suddenly, he realized that Nelly had not yet arrived. The last time he observed from the air, Ludmila was there, and Nelly had been by her side.

The two of them now seemed to be stuck on the road, only able to proceed towards Abawahan bit by bit aboard a transport vehicle using the railway, while hitching a ride with a group of nurses.

Pavlov originally wanted to issue a command to give them special treatment, but Wang Zhong refused.

Wang Zhong hoped that they would arrive at the front later. If the situation in Abawahan proved dangerous, he could have them stop on the opposite bank—the opposite side was definitely safe, as neither the Ante Inland Sea Fleet nor the Inland Fleet would allow the Prosens to cross the river.

At worst, they would split the river mouth’s port in two.

However, whether Kuba’s Front Army could hold back the Prosen Army’s direct advance once past Abawahan was uncertain. On the path to Kuba, there were no rivers, no fortified cities, and not even complex terrain—it was completely flat.

Under such terrain, the Ante Army currently could not withstand the Prosen Army. Find more chapters on

Even if Kuba’s Front Army could resist with the aid of General Winter, with transportation lines choked, the oil transported inland from the oil fields would drastically reduce.

Ante was now heavily reliant on Kuba’s oil—once the transportation lines were severed, they might even lack enough fuel oil to make it through the night, potentially freezing millions to death and greatly shaking the entire resistance will of Ante.

The current situation from all aspects indicated that Abawahan was this timeline’s Steelgrad, where a very brutal meat grinder battle in the city was bound to ensue.

Wang Zhong did not wish for his wife and the little maid to arrive at such a time.

Because he was certainly going to share the city’s fate, just like another time’s Chuikov did.

When the enemy forces closed in and the heavy artillery could reach Abawahan, Wang Zhong would have to move to a much sturdier underground command center.

By then, the Headquarters would probably see a large number of casualties daily due to artillery and heavy bombs.

Wang Zhong did not want his important women to come here.

So he played a little trick, causing them to be trapped on the railway, only able to start and stop each day.

At first, Pavlov did not understand, but now he did, and thus he was fully cooperating with Wang Zhong.

Since Nelly was not there, Wang Zhong had to ask someone else for yogurt.

"Yakov! Yogurt... huh?" Wang Zhong looked puzzled as the yogurt was passed into his hands.

Yakov smiled, "Yogurt it is, sir. I just checked the time and figured it was about right, so I prepared it. Even without Miss Nelly, I can take good care of you!"

Wang Zhong smiled, took a sip of the yogurt, and gave a satisfied sigh of appreciation.

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