Arc of Fire

Wang Zhong watched as all the able-bodied personnel at the Front Army Headquarters picked up their rifles, joining forces with the logistics department deployed near the tunnel, and surged toward Pozharsky Street.

Fortunately, even if the enemy passed through Pozharsky Street, they wouldn’t be able to see the entrance of the tunnel unless they turned around the corner.

There was also good news—the street barricades and barriers obstructed the enemy tanks’ advance, requiring the enemy’s combat engineers to clear them with explosives.

The bad news was that these obstacles provided ample cover, greatly reducing the effectiveness of the machine guns that blocked the road.

Wang Zhong saw the Prosens skillfully advancing in leaps—they even disdained to throw smoke bombs.

Moreover, Prosen tanks quickly eliminated the machine gun positions.

In such open terrain, the advantage of the Prosen tanks was greatly magnified.

Tank guns continuously knocked off machine gun covers, and the front line on the street gradually retreated.

Wang Zhong had a clear view from his vantage point.

Suddenly, he saw an Ante warrior release a smoke bomb in front of their own machine gun while it continued to fire according to pre-set parameters, thwarting the advance of the Prosens on the street. Explore stories at

This idea was indeed good; however, such unaimed firing required intense firepower to hit people, and without adequate firepower, the machine gunners still needed to aim at the enemy.

While the smoke covered the machine gun, the Prosens stood up and advanced, ignoring the stray bullets flying haphazardly.

The next moment, a Prosen tank fired, and its shell, passing through the smoke, hit the second floor of the machine gun’s firepower point.

Although this shot was off-target, the intense blast brought down the second floor, and chunks of concrete fell mercilessly on the machine gunner’s head.

Simultaneously, Prosen combat engineers pulled the fuse, detonating the explosives attached to the anti-tank concrete piles in succession, like setting off firecrackers.

After the blast, a flamethrower tank emerged from the path cleared by the engineers and shot blinding flames at buildings covered in smoke.

The building was immediately ignited, and Ante warriors hiding inside howled as they rushed out, rolling on the ground.

A Prosen submachine gunner, holding an MP40, adeptly finished off all the wounded Prosens with short bursts of fire.

Wang Zhong changed his angle and looked at Pavlov, "With this motley crew, they can’t hold back the Prosens."

Pavlov replied, "Correct, so you better retreat to the East Bank and continue to command the battle from there. We can’t let the Prosens’ last struggle snatch our victory."

Wang Zhong retorted, "No, my warriors need me now. Don’t worry, I won’t go to the front line; I just need to boost their morale a bit."

Pavlov protested, "No, I disagree!"

Wang Zhong insisted, "Pavlov, I just need to appear where the warriors can see me; you know how much this can boost morale."

Pavlov looked helpless, "Well, the presence of a commander can indeed greatly enhance morale at this time. I need Sergeants Grigori and Yakov to stick close to you."

As soon as Grigori heard Wang Zhong was going out, he had moved closer and was ready, now patting his chest, "As long as I’m alive, the General will not be in danger."

Yakov mimicked Grigori’s gesture, patting his chest as well, "Same for me."

Wang Zhong declared, "Grigori, bring my Red Flag! Without it, how would the warriors know where I am?"

"I’ve already had someone fetch it; this is the flagbearer, Nikolai," Grigori patted the flagbearer’s shoulder.

Wang Zhong’s attention, however, was entirely on the flag. It was a banner given to him by the textile workers of Shepetovka, accompanying him in battle for a whole year, bearing the marks of bullet holes and gunsmoke.

Wang Zhong gently touched the surface of the flag, reminiscing about the year he spent campaigning with it.

He wondered how the workers in Shepetovka were doing, whether they had been evacuated to the rear.

Wang Zhong released the Red Flag and said to Pavlov, "Order the artillery units across the river to fire smoke bombs at Pozharsky Street."

Pavlov nodded, but suddenly remembering something, grinned and said, "Remember a year and a half ago at Ronied? You ordered the artillery to fire the last of the smoke bombs, then had Yegorov launch an assault with a bayonet charge that crushed the advancing enemy, ultimately escaping through a breakout in reverse."

Wang Zhong: "How could I possibly forget? That was the starting point of my resistance. Today let us try it once more, remember to ensure the smoke bombs cover the entire Pozharsky Street."

"Alright."

Wang Zhong turned to leave the room, but suddenly remembering something, turned back to Pavlov and said, "If I am sacrificed, please request from Headquarters that General Gorky of the Western Front Army come to command the troops."

Pavlov stared at Wang Zhong, "I had a lot to say to you, but upon reflection, you’ve courted danger too often. It is likely that even Hell is scared of you."

Wang Zhong: "So, this is just in case."

Saying this, he strode briskly out of the room with Grigori, Yakov, and Nikolai bearing the Red Flag following closely behind him.

Pavlov sighed and picked up the receiver: "Operator, connect me to the Western Front Army."

As he awaited the connection, Pavlov shouted to the communications staff, "Send a message to the High Command, if Rokossovsky is sacrificed, have General Gorky take over command. Once the message is sent, destroy the cipher books and all telegraphic archives, and prepare to fight."

General Gorky put down the receiver, his expression grave as he stared at the desk.

The Chief of Staff asked, puzzled, "What’s wrong? Is the Tsar questioning why the assault has not made progress yet?"

General Gorky lifted his head to look at the Chief of Staff, "No, it was the Chief of Staff of the Abawahan Front Army who called, stating that if something unexpected happens, Admiral Rokossovsky hoped that I would take over the command."

Chief of Staff: "Does this mean the enemy has reached the Front Army Headquarters? Shouldn’t the headquarters be considering a retreat?"

General Gorky took a deep breath, removed his hat, and placed it on the desk, "Rokossovsky likes to go to the front lines himself. I suspect the situation there is quite perilous, and he’s gone to boost morale in person. Pavlov just made a call to prepare me in advance. Once the aircraft from the High Command arrives, I can depart immediately."

The Chief of Staff of the Western Front Army widened his eyes, "Is the situation in Abawahan that dangerous?"

"Just a temporary difficulty." General Gorky picked up the intelligence from the desk, "Look, we have so many units listed here, indicating that the enemy has redirected a considerable part of its forces to face us on the frontline. We’ve tied down so many Prosen troops, his side— I mean Rokossovsky’s side should ideally be relatively relaxed."

Chief of Staff: "But the battle has escalated to close quarters, indicating that the enemy has also put significant pressure on the Abawahan Front Army."

"I believe the enemy is on its last legs, merely a fleeting resurgence," General Gorky stated firmly.

After a brief silence, General Gorky murmured, "I was also thinking about making a name for myself in Ante’s military history, vying with Rokossovsky for the rights to name a new tactic, but he is only focused on victory and even showing up at the front line to inspire the troops."

He stood up and walked over to the large-scale map of the entire battlefield, gazing at the name of the city near the mouth of Valdai Hills River.

"Compared to Rokossovsky’s actions, I truly pale in comparison," General Gorky said with an admiring expression.

As soon as Wang Zhong walked out of the tunnel, the smell of charred flesh hit him.

The guard at the tunnel entrance was significantly reduced from when they had first moved in, as the Guard Corps of the Front Army Headquarters had been pulled to the front line.

Seeing Wang Zhong emerge from the tunnel, followed by the Red Flag, the remaining guards immediately stood at attention and saluted with their weapons.

Wang Zhong waved his hand, "Secure the entrance. If we can’t repel the enemy’s attack, this will be the last line of defense, at least hold until all the documents below are burned."

The guards and soldiers exchanged glances, then one said, "General, shouldn’t you retreat to the other side of the river? Let us handle the dangerous work. Your sacrifice would tremendously impact the progress of the war."

Wang Zhong: "If I am sacrificed, there will be thousands more like me stepping forward. Ante will not lose the war for lack of one man."

Saying this, Wang Zhong proceeded towards Pozharsky Street.

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