Arc of Fire

The tank rolled out halfway when Wang Zhong issued his second command, “Turn left.”

Turning left meant going east, which looked like fleeing.

Actually, Wang Zhong was making a flanking maneuver.

The driver didn’t raise any objections, or perhaps he did, but Wang Zhong couldn’t hear him.

He had tinnitus—no, that’s not right, it wasn’t tinnitus anymore, it was indistinguishable music.

In fact, he couldn’t hear anything now: the sounds of gunfire, the roar of engines, the screams of soldiers dying, and so on were all drowned out by the ringing (music) in his ears.

————

Su Fang stood at the doorway, watching Count Rocossov speed away in a tank.

Someone exclaimed, “The Count is fleeing in a tank!”

Su Fang shouted loudly, “No! He has not run! He said that as long as he lives, he would never let me… let us be captured! By shaking our morale like this, I should have you shot!”

The shouter immediately fell silent.

Su Fang then looked out the gate again, where by now, nothing was left but the tracks of the tank.

Count Rocossov, can I truly trust you?

————

Wang Zhong: “Turn right!”

He couldn’t hear a response and could only pat the top of the turret forcefully: “Turn right, ah ah!”

The tank’s right track slammed to a halt, swinging the vehicle around in a tailspin to complete the right turn.

Wang Zhong was shaken so severely he felt his brain might burst out.

At this point, he was still in the commander’s view mode, vomiting uncontrollably.

But that didn’t stop him from giving orders: “Follow the stone wall, main gun pointed straight ahead, load the high-explosive shell!”

The order was perfectly executed, and by that time, the tank had just passed the southernmost wooden hut in the village—probably an outhouse—and the view suddenly opened up. A Prosen half-track vehicle was parked at the edge of the wheat field.

Wang Zhong: “Emergency stop! Emergency stop!”

The tank braked hard, and thanks to the T28 being a rather long tank, the jolt was minor during the emergency stop; otherwise, Wang Zhong would have likely been thrown out.

The Prussians near the half-track were shocked. The machine-gunner on the vehicle, who was firing at the village, hurriedly turned the gun barrel upon seeing the tank.

"Target the half-track vehicle, fire!”

The smoke from the gun muzzle obscured Wang Zhong’s vision, although it was just a small 45mm gun, the firing action was still quite intense.

The front half of the half-track was blown up into the air, and the surrounding Prosen soldiers immediately fell like bowling pins.

The machine guns in the two small turrets at the front of the T28 rattled off, and in an instant, there were no longer any standing figures left.

Wang Zhong, by this time, felt a bit weak in the legs and simply sat on the edge of the hatch, leaning to the side and propping himself up with the hatch cover: “Continue forward!”

At this moment, Wang Zhong finally clarified the persistent music in his ears—it turned out that he was hallucinating from a fever, mistaking his physiological tinnitus for music.

He clearly heard a voice singing beside him:

Listen, the horn of battle sounds the alarm/dress in uniform and grab your weapons/the youth brigade assembles/to march and unite as one to defend the country!

Wang Zhong nodded to the rhythm of the song, without forgetting to give orders, “Rotate the hull thirty degrees to the right, turret turn 90 degrees, load the armor-piercing shell!”

As the tank turned, the machine guns on the forward turrets fired tracer rounds non-stop like Death’s scythe reaping everything Prosen.

Wang Zhong even had a moment to pay attention to the distance, making sure the smoke completely blocked the enemy tanks behind.

Vehicle 422 charged all the way, eventually encircling the southwestern entrance of the village.

"Right turn, come to an abrupt stop when you hit the main road!”

Wang Zhong’s order was executed with precision.

After a brief shaking, Wang Zhong confirmed with his naked eye the backs of two enemy tanks.

"Target the left tank, fire!”

The shockwave from the cannon’s firing kicked up all the dust on the ground around them.

A hole immediately appeared on the back of the target, but from the naked-eye perspective, it was impossible to tell if the tank had been destroyed.

But from Wang Zhong’s overhead view, it was clear that all three crew members inside the target turret were done for.

Wang Zhong, “Load the armor-piercing shell! Switch targets, aim at the right tank!”

As the turret turned, it so happened that Wang Zhong’s earpiece was playing the chorus part of a song, so he hummed along, “Let’s say goodbye dear mother, please kiss your son goodbye~”

At that moment, the enemy infantry noticed the tank behind them, and a brave sergeant charged at the tank, knocking on the hatch with his hand.

The coaxial machine gun opened fire, turning the sergeant into a sieve, but the tracer rounds also exposed the direction of the incoming machine gun fire, the enemy’s tank began turning its turret!

Wang Zhong yelled, “Fire!”

He didn’t know if the loading was complete, he couldn’t hear.

However, the moment he yelled, the cannon responded to him.

The armor-piercing shell hit the target, the rotating turret immediately stopped, and the next moment, the enemy tank operators crawled out of the tank.

The coaxial machine gun ungraciously claimed their souls.

At this time, Wang Zhong, through the overhead view, noticed that two tanks on another street suddenly stopped attacking the defending infantry.

One started to turn around on the spot while the other seemed to plan cutting through a side alley.

It must have been the radio—the second destroyed tank had informed its teammates via radio that they were being flanked.

Wang Zhong laughed, fighting street battles with someone who’s good at navigating maps?

He immediately gave the order for the tank to enter the alley next to them.

As they moved, he continued to hum along to the song in his ear:

Goodbye, mother, don’t be sad, bless us with a safe journey~

As he sang the chorus for the second time, Wang Zhong directed the tank to the side of the enemy’s number 188 vehicle, and with a command of “Fire!” the enemy vehicle’s ammo detonated, and its turret flew high into the air.

Only one left!

That one had looped back to the northwest village entrance, attempting to encircle Wang Zhong.

Wang Zhong’s response was straightforward—direct the tank onto the main street, turn the barrel southwest, and wait for it to appear.

While waiting, the tank’s machine gun harvested Prosen soldiers on the street.

Wang Zhong was only concerned with humming:

Goodbye, dear hometown, the star of victory will shine upon us~

The last tank appeared, and without waiting for Wang Zhong’s command, the gunner stepped on the firing pedal, and the armor-piercing shell hit the center of the tank’s body.

The target almost instantly burst into flames, with the Prosen tank operators emerging from the hatch engulfed in fire, frantically rolling on the ground to extinguish it.

Wang Zhong personally took up the machine gun on top of the tank turret, spraying the enemy tank operators, singing as he fired, “Goodbye, mother, don’t be sad, bless us with a safe journey! Ura!”

A deafening “Ura!” echoed from every street corner as the infantry of the Amur Group poured out like a tidal wave, attacking the enemy who had lost their tank cover.

Proudly, Wang Zhong declared, “We’ve won!!!”

Then, as if he had used up the last bit of life in him, he passed out.

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