Arc of Fire

However, because it was a light aircraft with twin engines, it was relatively easy to be detected by Brother Peter’s sound array.

Wang Zhong stared at this plane as it crossed the minefield and flew into the urban airspace—

The Divine Arrow was launched!

The Prussian pilot immediately tried to evade to the left but was chased down by the Divine Arrow after it turned a corner, and following the explosion, the right engine of the enemy plane burst into flames, trailing a long plume of black smoke.

It plummeted to the ground, tilting as it fell.

Wang Zhong: “Well done! Yegorov, the plane is heading toward the police station, send out a search team quickly, there are three people on board, they may have weapons, be careful!”

"Yes!” Yegorov picked up the phone, “Search team, move out, the enemy plane may have crashed near the police station.”

Wang Zhong added, “You must destroy the film!”

Vasily laughed, “If we could always block reconnaissance like this, maybe our cumbersome tractor naval guns would survive until the end of the fight!”

Dmitri glanced at him and said, “Don’t jinx it!”

Yegorov repeated the order into the phone and then hung up.

He had just put down the handset when the phone next to him rang, and he casually answered, “Headquarters, go ahead. What? Okay, I understand.”

After hanging up, Yegorov informed Wang Zhong, “Brother Peter has heard a lot of tactical bombers and Stukas, possibly over 20.”

Wang Zhong: “Everyone, into the shelters!”

As Yegorov issued the order, Dmitri asked worriedly, “Should we go too?”

Wang Zhong patted Dmitri on the shoulder, “This building is reinforced concrete, with very thick external walls, don’t worry.”

While talking, Wang Zhong saw the enemy planes; he counted 15 Stukas and 12 Do 215s, along with several escorting Messerschmitt Bf 109s.

As the planes approached the city, the anti-aircraft guns in the city opened fire, creating a fire net in front of the formation.

The Do 215 formation plunged into the fire net, heading straight over the train station to drop bombs, while the Stukas entered their characteristic “rolling” dive. The ear-piercing “Death Scream” ruptured everyone’s eardrums.

That scream involuntarily made people want to duck and lie flat on the ground.

But Wang Zhong saw very clearly, all the enemy planes were heading towards the defense group’s bunkers.

Only then did he realize his vantage point covered only the Guard 31st Regiment’s field of view; it was all dark on the side of the defense group, with only a unit emblem floating above the map’s real scenery.

This situation was very similar to when Wang Zhong had just taken command of the then-named Third Rear Amur Group in Ronied.

Could it be that by calling the defense group, he could share their field of view, just like back then?

After the enemy planes completed their bombing, bombs fell on the defense group’s position, but Wang Zhong couldn’t make out the specifics of the damage, only the smoke blooms created by the explosions.

Wang Zhong: “Yegorov, call the defense group!”

"Yes! Hello, connect me to the defense group!”

A few seconds of waiting later, Yegorov said, “It’s connected!”

As he spoke, the territory of the defense group “lit up,” and Wang Zhong gained vision of the defense group.

So it was.

The troops I [personally] [directly] command have vision, they’re under my command, but for the troops commanded by their own officers, I only have their location. Only by connecting via the phone and establishing direct command do I gain vision of the troops.

At that moment, Yegorov came to Wang Zhong and handed him the handset.

Wang Zhong took the handset: “What are your losses? I saw the Stukas heading towards you.”

The defense group commander, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich, responded, “Two bunkers were completely destroyed, work of these past days gone to waste, but we didn’t man the positions, so we only lost equipment like machine guns inside the bunkers.”

Wang Zhong: “Only the bunkers?”

"Also, seven or eight bombs fell on our positions, destroying the wooden decoy tank guns we had made.”

Just then, a voice from the phone yelled, “Enemy planes are coming back!” Wang Zhong switched to the overhead view and saw the Stukas, after finishing bombing, circling back and starting to strafe.

But most of the defense group was still hiding in the bomb shelters, so they didn’t suffer many casualties.

Wang Zhong: “As soon as the enemy planes leave, immediately restore the positions. The enemy vanguard may arrive today.”

"Understood.”

Wang Zhong gave the handset back to Yegorov, who hung up the phone, and in that moment, the vision of the defense group disappeared again.

It turned out this way, vision from non-directly commanded troops was only available during a call. It seemed I would need to make frequent calls to various front-line units in the future.

That’s what Wang Zhong thought.

Just then, the phone rang again.

Yegorov picked it up, responded a few times, and then hung up, reporting, “Brother Peter has heard enemy mechanized forces, apparently a considerable number of light tanks.”

Wang Zhong nodded.

This Brother Peter and his sound array were more useful than expected, feeling almost like the listening vehicle from “Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team,” hearing everything.

Vasily took off his headset, excitedly asking, “Are we going to use the B4 to bomb the enemy now?”

Wang Zhong: “Keep listening to your walkie-talkie! If you miss critical information, I’ll have you shot!”

Hearing that the punishment was execution rather than mucking out, Vasily shrank his neck and put the headset back on.

Wang Zhong looked out again, waiting for the Prussians to arrive.

At that moment, Mishka came back with the gauze, also carrying rope for fastening; together, they draped a layer of cloth over the artillery scope and secured it with the rope.