Arc of Fire

Yegorov: “That’s really hard to say. In theory, the headquarters could be anywhere. Once the communications company sets up the telephone lines, that place becomes the command post. But it’s easy to guess where the soldiers might assemble because if there’s a house, it would make no sense not to use it, right?”

Wang Zhong: “So, where could it be?”

"Karlinovka, Novorossk, either is possible.”

Wang Zhong turned to Grigori and said, “Drive over here. I want to personally inspect these villages.”

Grigori: “Just the two of us? If the Prussians have already surrounded Bogdanovka, their reconnaissance units may have infiltrated our southwest, which could lead to an encounter at any moment.”

Wang Zhong: “Then let’s take a squad with us, add a machine gun, and have a truck follow us.”

Yegorov: “I’ll come too…”

Wang Zhong stopped him, “You’re the one to command the defenses, and you’re good at this.”

After all, Wang Zhong had only played video games, and although he had also looked at some military manuals available online, such as the German Infantry Tactics Handbook translated and published by Zhidu Books, he only skimmed through them.

When it came to arranging defenses, Yegorov was the professional, much more so.

But when it came to reconnaissance, that was definitely Wang Zhong’s strong suit, especially because he had the “Heavenly Eye.”

Moreover, the cheat compelled Wang Zhong to do the reconnaissance himself. His troops’ field of vision couldn’t even highlight enemies and their overall “visible range” was shorter; he needed to be on the front line himself to maximize the effect of this cheat.

Incidentally, all the memoirs Wang Zhong had read emphasized the importance of personally inspecting the front line, especially if they were written by junior or middle-ranking officers.

Wang Zhong was ready to put it into practice.

Yegorov saluted Wang Zhong with an expression that said, “You’re indeed the competent leader I thought you were,” assuring him, “Leave it to me. And you, be careful.”

Wang Zhong: “I’ve got Sergeant Grigori with me.”

Having a Slavic superman who could toss back seven or eight grenades with a shovel was quite reliable indeed.

Sergeant Grigori looked into the distance, seemingly a little embarrassed.

————

Wang Zhong thus set off in a jeep to survey the terrain.

On the jeep, besides Wang Zhong in the back seat and Sergeant Grigori in the passenger seat, there was also Dimitri, temporarily driving—the very Dimitri who was excellent with artillery.

Following behind the jeep was a Gaz truck with a DP28 light machine gun, colloquially known as the “big plate chicken,” mounted on top of its cabin.

A squad of Imperial Guard soldiers, armed with brand-new Tokarev semi-automatic rifles, sat in the bed of the truck.

The vehicles had just left the city when Wang Zhong shouted, “Dmitri, stop the car!”

The jeep immediately braked to a halt on the dirt road.

Wang Zhong got out, stepped down the road shoulder, and pressed his foot into the fertile black earth.

He turned and asked Grigori who had followed him, “Are you a farmer, Sergeant?”

"Yes, Your Excellency.”

Wang Zhong continued, “Then at this time of year, how fast would mules and horses travel on this kind of black earth?”

Grigori shook his head, “Not fast, and it would also ruin their hooves. The village blacksmith would curse a lot. Only in winter, when the ground is completely frozen solid, do mules and horses move more efficiently on this type of land. But then, the snow is usually very thick.”

Wang Zhong nodded.

If trucks lose speed off the main road and might even get stuck, and if mules and horses cannot leave the road either, then the enemy’s offensive would have to unfold along the road.

Flanking movements would only work for light infantry with relatively low supply demands.

In the case of Peniye village, where the enemy troops bypassed them, the number was small and the detour brief, ensuring that their half-tracked vehicles wouldn’t stall out due to a lack of fuel.

But encircling a city like Loktov, with quite a few factories, escalated the difficulty substantially.

Besides, Loktov wasn’t an isolated island on an ocean; around the city were plenty of units like the Rocossov combat group, reorganizing themselves. These units occupied the villages surrounding the city and would likely initiate defenses on the spot.

From this perspective, there’s no need to worry about being encircled for now.

Wang Zhong climbed into the vehicle, and after Grigori got in as well, he waved his hand grandly, “Keep moving!”

————

Karlinovka was a village that reminded Wang Zhong of Upper Peniye.

Standing on the hill north of the village, Wang Zhong had an even clearer impression.

Of course, this village should be much smaller than Upper Peniye, at least through his binoculars Wang Zhong hadn’t seen a distillery or Boye Manor’s large estate.

However, the church looked exactly the same as the one in Upper Peniye.

That bell tower looked like it could easily be toppled by one shot from a Prosen Tank.

From his vantage point, Wang Zhong discovered that there were troops from the Ante Army in the village.

So he decided to go in and take a look.

After entering the village, Wang Zhong quickly found a lieutenant commanding a small unit at the village post office.

"General sir!” The lieutenant saluted, looking tense.

After all, the men Wang Zhong brought with him were all cloaked in Imperial Guard capes.

Wang Zhong gave a casual hand lift in return as a salute, then got straight to the point, “What unit are you from?”

"Reporting to the general, we’re the 133rd Air Defense Observation Post, our mission here is to report to Loktov by phone as soon as we hear enemy aircraft engines,” the lieutenant reported.

Wang Zhong gave an “Oh” and asked again, “Judging by the uniform, are you Priests?”

The lieutenant replied, “No, we are not; we are from the Guardian Army.”

Guardian Army? Does your organization also include slave workers and mechanical servants, commanded by a mechanical Priest with eight octopus-like limbs attached to his body?

No, that can’t be right, it must just be a coincidence in names. After all, the Warhammer 40K setting was also cobbled together by Brits using various historical prototypes.

Wang Zhong asked, “Where are your Priests then?”

"They’re upstairs listening out for the enemy planes,” the lieutenant responded.

"Listening?” Wang Zhong raised his eyebrows.

"Yes.”

"Take me to see,” Wang Zhong said, then realizing his tone was a bit too forceful – after all, they were not from the same unit – he hastily added, “May I go up to take a look?”

"Please follow me.”

Wang Zhong followed the lieutenant, climbing up to the third-floor platform of the post office.

There were many large loudspeakers installed on the platform.

Wang Zhong had seen such devices in picture collections relating to World War I; the British used similar equipment to listen for the sound of Zeppelin airships attacking their homeland.

Afterward, with the invention of radar, this kind of steampunk-esque device was abandoned.

A male Priest was sitting under the massive array of loudspeakers, wearing headphones.

Wang Zhong softly asked the lieutenant, “Does this Priest also have the power to guide the Divine Arrow?”

"Probably not,” the lieutenant replied, “Those able to guide the Divine Arrow would have angel wings on their Monk insignia. Brother Peter can only operate this sonic array.”

It seemed that this device’s formal name was a sonic array.

Just as Wang Zhong wanted to ask more, Brother Peter suddenly frowned, began to manipulate the panel in front of him, and the mechanical device turned the loudspeakers that were aimed at the sky towards the ground.

Wang Zhong realized something and asked, “Brother, did you hear something unusual on the ground?”

Although Brother Peter did not remove his headphones, he still responded, “Yes, and it’s very close, keep quiet! I’m identifying the sound pattern!”

He picked up a book with a leather cover and flipped through it quickly, finally stopping on one of the pages.

"It’s Prussian motorcycles! There are at least three motorcycles approaching the village!”