Arc of Fire

October 28, 0830 hours, Position 1 on the beachhead.

When the whistling in the sky began, Nelly was having breakfast.

She immediately took cover, adopting the standard anti-bombardment position in the trench.

This time the bombardment was vastly different from the previous probing attacks; the enemy brought in heavy artillery, and it felt as if the entire earth was shaking.

Moreover, this bombardment lasted particularly long, and Nelly felt as if her internal organs were shattered, but the bombardment didn’t stop.

The frozen mud on the ground became the best medium for transmitting the shockwaves, and even the anti-bombardment position could not fully resist the vibrations.

Suddenly, perhaps a shell had landed nearby, as a large chunk of the hard trench wall collapsed, and clumps of soil like stones fell at Nelly’s feet, hitting her toes.

Nelly kicked away the dirt clumps, but then heard someone crying and yelling amidst the deafening explosions.

She looked up, and just as she opened her eyes, mud and sand got into them, forcing her to squint and vigorously rub her eyes with her hands.

The crying continued—a girl’s voice—but amidst the explosions, Nelly couldn’t clearly discern whose voice it was.

Then the voice abruptly stopped.

The earth-shaking continued.

After an unknown duration, the bombardment finally ceased. Nelly looked up, checked her watch, and then realized the watch had been damaged by the vibrations, its second hand completely still.

Someone yelled from a distance, "Get into position! The attack is coming! Hurry into position!"

Nelly picked up her rifle from beside her, expertly cleaned the mud from the barrel, and loaded the bullets.

A squad of infantry ran past her towards the frontline of the shooting trench.

Nelly waited until they had all passed, then quietly followed the squad, walking at the end.

She had no assigned unit at the moment and was considered a free agent—or perhaps a mascot—on the entire position.

The team passed through a section of trench destroyed by the bombardment.

A shell had exploded directly inside it, creating a crater right there. The people originally hiding in the trench were now lying in twisted positions within the crater. ŕÂƝоꞖƐŚ

Nelly intended to quickly pass by the crater without looking but felt something in that instant and glanced down.

The nurse who had cried to Nelly about her nightmare the night before lay at the bottom of the crater, her lower half gone and her beautiful eyes staring at the sky.

Nelly, with a stern face, reached out her right hand to gently close her eyes, then gripped her rifle and followed the swiftly advancing men.

When she entered the shooting trench, she heard the roar of engines from the west.

Malov, with his squad, had also entered the shooting trench. The old sergeant loudly boosted morale, "Don’t panic! We’ve repelled an attack before; Prosen’s Armored Troops are no big deal! If we can fend them off once, we can do it again! Little girl, you’re back on my position again?"

Nelly responded, "My shelter is close by."

She found a shooting spot and peeked out to observe Prosen’s assault line.

Dozens of tanks lined up in a straight line at the forefront of the beachhead, with more tanks arranged behind them. The Prosens set up two staggered rows of tanks, doubling the number from the front view!

The sounds of engines in the sky were coming closer; Prosen’s BF109 fighters were performing low-altitude strafing, attempting to clear out the trenches.

Nelly looked up and indeed saw some black dots higher up, likely Stuka Bombers on standby.

Malov too looked at the sky, scoffed, and said, "Looks like the recent rain had the Prosen Air Force itching for a fight, coming on strong right from the start."

Just as he finished speaking, the beachhead’s anti-aircraft guns opened fire.

Malov was pleased, "Good, the anti-aircraft units weren’t paralyzed by the bombardment, so the enemy planes can’t act recklessly."

At that moment, the anti-aircraft guns on the opposite shore also began to fire, but due to the distance, the shells could only create bursts of black clouds in the sky further east of the beachhead.

Nelly thought of Ludmila, manning the anti-aircraft guns on the opposite shore, and turned to look east.

At that moment, the weather had cleared, and visibility was excellent, offering a clear view of the east bank of the Valdai Hills River.

Nelly saw several ferries full of soldiers moving towards Position 1 on the beachhead.

Just then, the characteristic sharp buzzing of the Stukas diving sounded.

Those experienced on the position quickly took cover.

A 1000 kg bomb from a Stuka packed much more punch than typical heavy artillery.

Yet Nelly didn’t duck. She focused on the ferries on the river, watching the densely packed people on the boats.

In a brief moment, a large splash rose from the port side of the lead ferry.

The Stuka that dropped the bomb quickly leveled off and sped away close to the ground.

"Thank goodness, it missed!" Zaitsev also observed the situation on the river, sounding relieved.

Malov retorted, "That’s a near miss, you fool! That kind of near miss could still damage or even sink the ship."

As he spoke, more Stukas dived, surrounding the infantry-transporting ferries with tall splashes—the largest splashes being seven or eight times taller than the ferries, making the ships look like toys.

The people on the ferries fired machine guns into the air, but it proved ineffective.

Suddenly, the people on ferry number 271 began frantically jumping overboard, and seconds later, under Nelly’s watch, ferry 271 tipped over onto the river surface.

Those who jumped continued frantically swimming away from the ferry.

Nelly and Zaitsev watched the river, but Malov suddenly grabbed their shoulders, "Stop watching, the enemy tanks are nearing! We wish those swimming good luck, but now we have a tough fight ahead, warriors!"

Nelly then turned back to look at the advancing Prosen tank formation.

This military display could indeed intimidate some raw recruits, no wonder the temporary infantry divisions collapsed upon encountering Prosen Armored Troops.

The temporary troops lacked sufficient combat backbone to maintain morale during battle, and their ranks were almost entirely comprised of fresh recruits unfamiliar with the ruthlessness of the Prosens.

If it were temporary troops defending the beachhead today, all Ante Troops would have been driven into the river.

But now, those holding the beachhead were Naval Infantry, the Black Death.

Nelly saw Prosen’s tanks pass the first target.

The anti-tank gun on the position immediately opened fire, and the shells hit Prosen’s tank one after another.

Unfortunately, too few anti-tank guns had survived the recent enemy bombardment—just three in total—ill-equipped to withstand the enemy’s overwhelming assault.

Nelly saw a Long-barreled Four tank stop and rotate its turret towards the Naval Infantry’s anti-tank position.

She hurriedly adjusted her sights and hastily aimed at the tank commander who was peeking out of the turret.

She pulled the trigger, but her rushed shot only knocked off the commander’s cap.

The commander quickly ducked back into the turret and closed the hatch.

At that moment, the Prosens opened fire.

A high-explosive shell directly hit the mantlet of the firing ZIS3 anti-tank gun, and the explosion engulfed the gun position in smoke.

Nelly clenched her teeth and looked away from the anti-tank position.

The remaining anti-tank guns continued to resist, but the recent bombardment had almost completely destroyed their cover and camouflage. The Prosens, with their precise artillery skills, targeted them one by one, and soon the anti-tank guns were completely silenced.

"It’s up to us now!" Malov shouted, "Get ready with your incendiary bombs, explosive packs, and cluster grenades. You can use the Prosens’ contraptions too, just stick them and pull the cord. Remember the sequence—block the infantry first, then stick and throw!"

Nelly ignored Malov and the others.

The weather was clear today with excellent visibility. Nelly squinted her eyes, searching for officers and non-commissioned officers among the enemy’s scattered lines.

She soon spotted a Prosen wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a distinctive sign of their officers, as regular infantrymen mostly wore helmets.

Nelly glanced at the target, estimated the distance, adjusted her sight, and took careful aim again.

After firing, Nelly slightly stretched her neck to observe and saw the exact moment the hat flew off.

She immediately searched for a second target.

At that time, the enemy’s scattered line passed the target, and the machine guns on the position opened fire.

Within seconds, the entire line had hit the ground.

At this distance, Nelly could not see the crawling enemy infantry.

Malov patted Nelly’s shoulder, "There’s an anti-tank rifle over there, it might still work. How about using that to target the tank’s viewing ports?"

Nelly nodded and ran a few steps in the direction Malov pointed. Indeed, she saw an anti-tank rifle lying next to a body, with its ammo bag still on the ground and ammunition scattered in the trench.

Nelly picked up the rifle, checked it briefly without noticing any obvious issues, and then pulled back the bolt to load a round into the chamber.

She set up the rifle, aiming at the observation port of a Prosen tank.

The moment she fired, Nelly felt like her shoulder had fractured.

She looked down to check and realized it was just her imagination, but the tremendous recoil of the anti-tank rifle left a deep impression.

Because of the pain in her shoulder, Nelly didn’t check the hit immediately.

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When she looked up again, she saw the Prosen tank continue moving forward as if it had not been affected at all.

However, soon after, Nelly noticed that only the coaxial machine gun in the turret was firing; the hull machine gun went silent.

It seemed her shot had killed the hull machine gunner—usually a Prosen tank’s electromechanical operator responsible for firing the machine gun and maintaining the tank’s electronics.

Nelly opened the rifle’s bolt but found the shell casing had not ejected automatically. She had to grab the still-hot casing with her hand, forcefully pull it out, and toss it away before loading a new round.

She chose another tank and aimed at the driver’s compartment.

When she pulled the trigger this time, Nelly truly felt her shoulder might break.

The Prosen tank stopped.

However, it soon began to move forward again! And now the hull machine gun became completely silent.

Evidently, the electromechanical operator had taken over the driving, continuing to pilot the tank!

Nelly again opened the rifle bolt, pulled out the scalding shell casing, reloaded—

If she killed the electromechanical operator, there should be no one left to replace him, right? After all, there were three crew members in the turret, each with specific tasks.

The rifle fired.

The Prosen tank stopped again, this time for a slightly longer period, but eventually, it resumed moving forward.

Nelly was stunned—the turret’s coaxial machine gun was still firing, indicating the gunner was at his original position. Could it be—

Suddenly, Malov’s voice pierced Nelly’s ears, "Run!"

As the older Sergeant shouted, he grabbed Nelly by the collar, lifted her like a rabbit, and threw her onto the trench floor.

The next moment, a high-explosive shell hit exactly where Nelly had just been lying, turning the anti-tank rifle into fragments.

Malov stiffened, standing in place looking at Nelly.

Nelly rolled over, looked up at Malov from below, and then noticed blood dripping from the old sergeant’s trouser leg.

Malov raised his hand, gently patted the pocket on his chest, and then fell backward with a look of relief.

Nelly rushed to his side, only to see the old sergeant’s lifeless eyes.

She knew it was too late.

After closing his eyes with her hand, Nelly opened his pocket and took out a letter, a photo, and a small booklet—the latter was one written by General Rocossov. The photo showed a middle-aged couple with three children.

As for the content of the letter, Nelly didn’t read it but stuffed it, along with everything else, into her maid skirt’s pocket.

At that moment, Zaitsev came over: "Malov! The enemy is approaching—Malov?"

Nelly said, "He sacrificed himself. Where’s the deputy squad leader?"

Zaitsev pushed his military cap, "He was already gone before we arrived, Sheriff! Malov is gone, you’re Private First Class!"

The one named Sheriff responded immediately, "Got it! Everyone, stay calm! Block the infantry first!"

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