Arc of Fire

“All right, let’s end the small talk here,” Wang Zhong put down his binoculars, “Although there isn’t enough time left today to conduct a detailed reconnaissance of the designated engagement area, there shouldn’t be a problem with just circling around Orachi to inspect the surrounding situation.”

Yegorov, “Indeed. I’ll accompany you for a walk around.”

“Then I’ll go… fight with all kinds of troublesome matters.” Pavlov said, grabbing Popov, “You’re not the military officer, you’re coming too.”

Popov looked up at the sky, “Alright, I’ll join. But I’m mainly in charge of communicating with the church!”

Colonel Eugene looked at the few familiar faces and asked, “Do I… as the military officer, also need to go? I am the military officer, right? Why don’t you find a real colonel instead, I’m really not up for this…”

Wang Zhong, “You, as a mine manager, how can you be so timid?”

“If you gave me a mine to manage, I would be up for it. How about this, assign me someone who understands the military, I’ll pretend, and he can give suggestions. I can do that.”

Wang Zhong, “Pavlov?”

The chief of staff scratched his head, “I’ve just got enough staff here.”

Wang Zhong, “Here’s what you do, find a staff officer, you’ll take over his duties, then send him to the Fifth Bieshensk Regiment.”

Pavlov looked at Wang Zhong with the eyes of a wronged woman, “You think I’m looking good again, don’t you? Do you really want me to have panda eyes?”

Wang Zhong, “I trust in your capability.”

“Fine, fine, one staff officer and no more!”

Wang Zhong smiled and turned to call Grigori, “Grisha, bring the vehicle over!”

“I suggest we ride horses!” Yegorov said, “You look east and it’s plain, driving there is no problem, but look to the northeast side, it’s tough for vehicles, better to ride horses, they can move through the woods too.”

Wang Zhong, “Alright then, Grisha, bring the horses!”

————

Wang Zhong took his men and half-circled Orachi, which explained why the elder they encountered before had specifically mentioned that there were horses and milk cows for sale at the local market.

There was a huge breeding ranch nearby, with many horses and milk cows kept.

Yegorov even joked, “Now, while we dig entrenchments here, we’ll have plenty of milk every day.”

Wang Zhong, “These cowsheds and such, they aren’t suitable as defensive positions, are they? And they would block the firepower points set up in sturdy buildings…”

Yegorov, “True, if the enemy attacks from this direction, we’ll have a hard time defending, there’s too much man-made cover. To defend we can only dig tank shelters here according to your method and use the tanks as support points, combined with trenches. But we have only 30 tanks.”

Wang Zhong, “25, five broke down on the road, I’ve commandeered masters from the tractor factory who are rushing to repair them.”

Wang Zhong had always thought the T34 was as rugged as the AK47, expecting it to run without issues. Now he understood that the T34’s ruggedness was only relative to the Sturmtiger tanks.

Tanks, when run on roads, do break down, and the T34 was no exception. That’s why later tanks were transported by heavy trucks when maneuvering and only drove themselves on the battlefield.

Anyway, Wang Zhong did the right thing by drafting workers and masters from the tractor factory.

Yegorov, “The enemy isn’t coming right now, they can be fixed. We’ll start digging shelters here, and it’s fine if they’re not used, it’s better than being unprepared if the enemy attacks from this side.”

Wang Zhong nodded, took out his notebook, and noted this down.

“Let’s go, we continue.”

————

The other directions around Orachi were quite suitable for defense, especially the ironware factory in the northern part of the town that mainly produced all kinds of iron pots and shovels. The factory buildings seemed very sturdy and could serve as solid defensive points.

Moreover, the factory water tower was the second-best artillery observation post around Orachi—the best one was on the 153 high ground.

After completing the city’s circumferential reconnaissance, Wang Zhong returned by the same road and saw the B4 heavy artillery being moved into the city.

Wang Zhong counted the numbers, sighing, “I originally thought the heavy artillery would break down, but to my surprise, they entered the city safely, while five T34s broke down.”

Yegorov, “Indeed, I also thought these delicate things would get ruined, but unexpectedly they made it through. If they weren’t at the very back of the formation, they would definitely have slowed down the entire division’s pace.”

Wang Zhong nodded; after all, this world’s B4, being self-propelled, wasn’t easy to tow—the powered version was too heavy.

Then these four B4s managed to travel nearly 100 kilometers under their own power to Orachi.

As Wang Zhong pondered this, an old lady stopped him, “General sir, I heard the roar of many tractors— they say they are tanks and artillery. Are the Prosen people coming to attack here?”

“Yes. Old lady, you should quickly take your children and flee.”

The old lady, “Oh, general, you’re a kind soul, worrying about us. Don’t worry, my daughter-in-law has already fled with my grandsons and granddaughters to the Holy Yekaterinburg!”

Wang Zhong, “Then why didn’t you leave?”

“My eyes, they’re almost blind. I’m useless, better to stay here.” The old lady gestured over her eyes, “You see, now I can’t even make out your rank, I can only judge you’re a general by the color of your insignia!”

The Ante Empire’s general collar insignia is orange, different from all other ranks, making it quite recognizable—It is said this was learned from the Prussians.

Wang Zhong didn’t know how to respond to the half-blind old woman, and could only say, “Grandma, I still have work to do. If you have any difficulties, speak to the Priest from the church, they will help you.”

The half-blind old woman asked, “I just wanted to ask if my son is in your troops? He is called…”

The old woman gave a name, but Wang Zhong had no recollection of it.

He had collected the names of all the new recruits, just as he had in Loktov, but the names of the Ante People were too long and repetitive, and difficult to remember.

It was already difficult to remember a thousand names, now with nearly ten thousand soldiers in his troops, Wang Zhong truly had no way to quickly grasp so many names.

Therefore, Wang Zhong could only say, “I’ll keep an eye out. Now, I must be going.”

“Of course!” The old woman stepped back to the side of the road, drawing a triangle on herself, “Bless you, kind General.”

————

Pavlov had set up the division headquarters and accommodations for the senior officers, staff, and clerks in a large house owned by the local noble, Boye.

The local Boye was a count, and the house was befitting of his title. Pavlov transformed the parlor directly into a map room, while the adjacent dining room became the telegraph room’s office.

He also didn’t close the door between the map room and the telegraph room, so the taps of the telegraph could be clearly heard in the map room.

Wang Zhong quite liked this aspect, as the tapping noise provided the atmosphere of a command headquarters.

The staff who had arrived early with Popov yesterday had already drawn a detailed topographical map of the area surrounding Orachi, which was displayed on the large table in the map room, while the situational map of the entire southern front hung on the wall.

Wang Zhong took out his notebook and began pointing at the topographical map, “The artillery positions, I feel, can be set up here. The woods are not too dense, so they won’t hinder the artillery fire, but they’re thick enough to shield from aerial reconnaissance, and with camouflage nets, the effect would be even better.”

Yegorov said, “We can dig artillery emplacements for further concealment. Also place some fake artillery positions nearby.”

Wang Zhong continued, “If God’s Arrow Company is solely responsible for air defense, we can disperse them in these four directions, and Brother Peter’s sound array can be placed here.”

“I have no objections,” Pavlov said, “after all, I haven’t surveyed the terrain in person.”

Yegorov said, “The reserve troops can be placed around the artillery positions, giving us one battalion on Hill 153 and another near the artillery positions—two battalions of reserves should be enough.”

Wang Zhong added, “Apart from these areas needing fortifications, we also need to dig shelters that can accommodate two tank platoons near the pastures east of the town. Let’s start tonight!”

Popov scratched his head, “The locals have some with night blindness, we’ll need illumination for construction at night, and we temporarily do not have that many torches.”

As they spoke, everyone looked out the window, the night had completely fallen.

Yegorov suggested, “Waiting until daylight to begin construction won’t be too late, as the nights are very short right now.”

Wang Zhong said, “Telephone lines must be laid between the artillery positions and the command post. It would be best to set up a radio as well.”

After all, vehicle number 422 had a radio, so when Wang Zhong was in the vehicle, if the artillery had a radio, he could call for precise strikes.

But Pavlov’s face immediately showed difficulty, “Radios are truly scarce. How about we let Vasily bring over the captured Plosen Walkie-Talkies?”

“That works,” Wang Zhong replied.

Actually, there was another way, which was to leave a tank platoon leader’s vehicle.

However, tanks with radios were too precious, and Wang Zhong couldn’t bear to part with them.

“Tomorrow morning, I plan to lead a reconnaissance mission to the northwest, northeast, and due north of Orachi, expecting to advance approximately twenty kilometers,” Wang Zhong said, slapping the northern edge of the Orachi map on the table, “Take the staff who drew this map with me, and make sure to draw the maps of the designated combat zones as well.”

Pavlov ordered, “Captain Andrei! Bring your aide with you tomorrow and advance with the General.”

“Yes, sir!”

Wang Zhong glanced at Captain Andrei and noticed his boots were not riding boots, then asked, “Can you ride a horse?”

“I learned at a club,” the Captain answered.

Wang Zhong queried, “A club? You’re not a noble?”

“No, but don’t worry, my riding skills are no problem. I studied for three years at the club,” he said.

Wang Zhong affirmed, “Alright. I’ll have Grigori pick out a more gentle horse for you to ride.”

Yegorov spoke up, “General, are you really planning to advance twenty kilometers to engage the enemy?”

Wang Zhong assured, “Indeed, just as you wouldn’t expect me to do this, the enemy certainly won’t expect it either. To catch them unawares is the key to victory.”

At that point, Vasily couldn’t help but turn around, “General, aren’t we going to ‘plant’ fake mines this time?”

Wang Zhong declared, “This time we have enough real mines.”