Arc of Fire

Yegorov, having had his fill of food and drink, drove directly toward the Nameless Highlands with his troops in a Willys Jeep.

Once they reached the highlands, he jumped out of the vehicle and his first words were, "Well, there sure are a lot of destroyed Prosen tanks, almost as many as last year’s battle at Shostka."

The guard driving the jeep was shocked, "So many tank wrecks, and it still doesn’t compare to Shostka?"

Yegorov nodded, "That’s right, and back then we didn’t have Whirlwinds. We used the ZIS-3 and ZIS-30 anti-tank guns, with 57mm rounds. They had enough penetration but lacked punch; often, a single shot would kill just one or two people, and the rest of the Prosen tank operators would flee."

At that moment, two men dressed in naval infantry garb crawled out of the trenches; the leader wore the rank of Brigadier, with his right arm in a bandage hanging across his chest.

He approached Yegorov and saluted with his left hand, "Naval Infantry Brigade 393, Aromeyev here. Front Army Headquarters called to say you were coming to rotate troops."

Yegorov returned the salute, "First Mobile Group Army, Guard First Mechanized, Yegorov. You’ve had it rough; we’ll take it from here. How big were your losses?"

"That’s a really senseless question," the naval infantry brigadier said with a bitter smile. "I can only tell you it’s manageable, we weren’t wiped out on our positions, and there are still over a dozen operable Whirlwinds left."

Yegorov: "That much damage to the Whirlwinds?"

"Most were damaged by enemy artillery fire, and only four were destroyed by enemy infantry who got close enough to use grenades. The Prosens have a new type of grenade that can stick to the armor of armored vehicles. Bring it over!"

After Aromeyev shouted, an infantryman came over with something that looked like a funnel and handed it to Yegorov.

Yegorov examined it, swinging it like a club, "What’s this? A close-combat weapon? I’ve indeed heard that Prosen combat engineers are equipped with hammers..."

Aromeyev pointed at the broad opening of the funnel, "This end can stick to a tank’s armor; we all think it’s like a magnet because it has no pull on people."

Yegorov swapped to holding the object in his left hand and gently stroked the bottom of it with his right hand, indeed feeling no sense of it sticking or anything.

Then Yegorov turned and pressed the object against the guard’s Papasha, and indeed, the metal part stuck with a clang.

Then Yegorov pointed at the tail end of the object, "So, is this like a Prosen stick grenade, where you have to unscrew the cap to pull out the ring and the cord?"

"Yes, after unscrewing you will see a long cord; just pull it with a finger and run forward, and the bomb will be activated," explained Aromeyev.

Yegorov thread his finger through the ring, as if to pull it, and the guard yelled out in alarm, "General!"

"I’m not going to pull it," Yegorov said with a smile. "I wouldn’t use my guards for a test. So, have you tried it out?"

"No, how could we test it on the battlefield? We gathered these up and planned to take them down once the rotation was over for specialists to analyze and study, like the Tribunal," said Aromeyev.

Yegorov was puzzled, yanking the device off the guard’s Papasha and weighing it in his hand, "You really don’t want to keep this new Prosen weapon for defending your positions?"

Aromeyev: "Because we saw that the Prosens found this too heavy to use effectively, it’s hard to throw, and due to its momentum, it often fails to stick firmly to the tank.

"The Prosens have to rush to the tank and carefully attach the head to the tank’s armor surface. After observing their methods, we thought it might be better to throw Molotov cocktails when that close—they can destroy a tank.

"Cocktails don’t require such proximity; you can throw them from the trenches. But with this Prosen funnel, we would have to leave the trenches and lie next to the tank."

Yegorov looked again at the "big funnel" in his hands, "The Prosens... came up with a useless piece of equipment?"

Aromeyev: "It’s not entirely useless; it did take out four Whirlwinds. But mainly because our soldiers were stunned when they saw the Prosens with it and didn’t realize it was an anti-tank weapon."

The naval infantryman who had brought the object interjected: "We didn’t know what it was; we really didn’t. When we saw them placing it on the Tank Destroyers, some realized it too late, and shot the Prosen sappers dead. The weight of the bodies pulled the pins.

"Then those who knew what it was started shouting, ’Don’t let the men with the funnels get close to the Tank Destroyers!’"

Yegorov pictured a scene in battle with shouts of "Don’t let the men with the funnels get close to the Tank Destroyers!" floating through his mind.

Aromeyev: "At that time, nobody knew why we had to stop the men with the funnels from getting close to the Tank Destroyers, but since that’s what the enemy wanted to do, we should stop them. So after the first four successful attacks, the Prosens never achieved any more successes, and we captured a pile of these unexploded devices."

Yegorov looked confused, "Is this the Prosen Army that sent us running in disarray?"

At this point, the Sergeant of the naval infantry spoke up, "Maybe it’s like the Prosen grenade launchers. I have captured one of those before; very complex, it took me a long time to figure it out—it’s overly complicated. But if you use it exactly as instructed, you can launch a grenade right through a bunker’s firing slit."

Yegorov’s eyes widened: "The Prosens have such equipment?"

Then the battalion commander of the 225th anti-tank battalion came over, recognizing Yegorov, he saluted without introducing himself: "You finally arrived! My battalion has only half its Whirlwinds left, and we’re almost out of ammunition. We need to pull back for rest and refit. Several Whirlwinds have broken tracks or engines, so we’re leaving them in position for you to use as fixed gun emplacements."

Yegorov nodded, "Alright, thank you for your hard work. Our own Whirlwinds should arrive tomorrow, and the anti-tank guns are probably being unloaded now; they should be here by the afternoon."

"Good luck to you all."

"Wait a second," Yegorov raised the funnel in his hand, "what do you make of this?"

"How should I see it? Just like the interleaved road wheels of the new Prosen tanks we destroyed, I can’t understand it, I’m thoroughly shocked." The anti-tank battalion commander spread his hands, "What I don’t get is, they get up close to the tanks, why not just throw incendiary bombs? As far as I know, there isn’t a tank yet that’s immune to incendiary bombs, just throwing one on the engine vent cover should do the job."

Yegorov took one last look at the object in his hand and handed it back to the Naval Infantry who had just delivered it: "Take it away, I’ve seen enough. Let’s see what the equipment department’s scientists have to say about it."

The Naval Infantry took the item and said, "Actually, we should be happy that the Prosens are using resources to make these useless things. If they had made effective weapons, Whirlwind’s losses would have been even greater."

Yegorov nodded: "You’re right."

Aromeyev of the 393rd Brigade: "Then, may I take my leave?"

"No, wait a minute, you’re familiar with the situation of the position, I’m asking you, if I want to counterattack, capturing what place would most improve the situation on the high ground?" Yegorov asked with the utmost sincerity, although his rank was higher.

Aromeyev pointed toward the distant factory in the rain: "Do you see that? That’s the Agricultural Machinery Station, and a factory for repairing tractors, made of reinforced concrete. By the time we got there, it had already been occupied by Prosen troops.

"If you can take it back and place DShK heavy machine guns in the factory windows, you’ll be able to form crossfire with our side."

Aromeyev gestured.

Yegorov nodded: "Indeed, the factory and the highlands are only a kilometer apart, and the 14.5 mm DShK could shoot over, hitting the enemy’s light armor on the flank. If I deploy a Crusader AA gun there..."

The 40 mm Bofors autocannon of the Crusader Self-Propelled AA gun would definitely give the Prosens attacking the high grounds a hard time.

Yegorov: "All right, that’s our counterattack objective. Reconnaissance battalion!"

The reconnaissance battalion commander quickly ran up to Yegorov: "Reporting!"

"Organize a reconnaissance, of that Agricultural Machinery Station and the repair factory next to it. Find out the enemy’s defense situation as soon as possible, and try to capture a prisoner."

"Yes!" The reconnaissance battalion commander saluted and jogged away.

Yegorov turned to Aromeyev: "Thanks for the intelligence, we’ll take it from here."

He didn’t salute but instead reached out his hand.

Aromeyev: "I’ve injured my right hand."

"Sorry." Yegorov quickly switched to the other hand.

Aromeyev gripped his hand firmly and pinched hard in the palm: "Good luck to you."

On the afternoon of October 22, the joint headquarters of the 14th Prosen Armored Army’s 9th Armored Division and 9th Armored Grenadiers Division.

Find your next adventure on

Major General Schneider suddenly frowned, looking outside: "What’s going on? Artillery? Is Rocossov now conducting artillery harassment during the day?"

Schneider’s Deputy Officer shouted "Silence," and all the staff in the headquarters stopped, and the noisy headquarters became completely quiet.

Thus, the rumbling sound from afar became clear.

Major General Schneider cursed: "It’s heavy artillery; no, these are the sounds of heavy artillery exploding that can travel this far!"

Major General Hoppe turned his head and yelled: "Find out where the gunfire is coming from, quick!"

Soon a staff officer reported: "The shelling is hitting the area occupied by the 20th Armored Grenadiers Division next to us; it seems to be an Agricultural Machinery Station they took over yesterday."

Major General Schneider approached the map: "Where? Here?"

He pointed to a symbol on the map.

"That should be it," the staff officer replied, "The Nameless Highlands are on the outskirts of the city, and within our line of sight, that’s the only all-concrete building."

Major General Schneider twisted his brow into a knot: "I have personally surveyed the terrain at the front line. If that Agricultural Machinery Station is taken, it could form crossfire with the fire from Nameless Highlands, at least making the attack on this side of the highlands very difficult!"

He picked up a pencil and quickly drew a triangle on the map, fitting it between the Agricultural Machinery Station and the Nameless Highlands.

"I need to call the 20th Armored Grenadiers! Quick!"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!