Cannon Fire Arc

The machine gunner immediately opened fire.

The tracer rounds futilely tried to stop the fleet of aircraft.

Just then, a rocket rose from the ground, its head blooming with a Venus-like glow in the sunset.

Divine Arrow!

The enemy’s lead plane scrambled to evade but was overtaken by the Divine Arrow as it curved in pursuit, plummeting to the ground with thick smoke and flames trailing behind.

The remaining enemy planes, unsure of how many more Divine Arrows there were, immediately turned to disengage, swiftly descending to treetop level and sped off.

At that moment, a flare shot up from the mountaintop.

A yellow flare.

Yesterday, when the enemy had ceased their attack, Wang Zhong had seen such a flare too.

It must be the signal to stop the attack.

Sure enough, the Prosen infantry began to retreat.

————

Shrifen actually couldn’t see what was happening in front of him; his view was blocked by smoke.

But he clearly heard the tank engines, which had briefly stopped, roar back to life.

“The enemy tanks are still there!” he shouted over the radio, “Flying Eagle, Flying Eagle, I request a second strike! Use your 50kg bombs!”

“Alright, this time we see the enemy tanks, let the infantry pull back a bit,” the lead pilot confidently replied over the comm, “It’s time to show some real skill.”

As the words were spoken, a rocket ascended.

Shrifen: “Enemy Divine Arrow launched!”

“I see it, may Valhalla protect us!”

Then the communication cut off. Shrifen watched as the lead plane, trailed by billowing smoke and flames, crashed into the ground without any sign of the pilot ejecting.

The other aircraft scattered like birds, retreating to low altitude and heading west.

Major Franz: “Damn it, the Air Force really can’t be relied on.”

After saying this, he turned around, and before he could speak, Major Shrifen said, “We should retreat.”

Major Shrifen turned to look at the sky and continued, “It’s getting dark. We have no way to deal with the enemy’s heavy tanks. In Carolingian, we used eighty-eight millimeter flak guns against the enemy’s B1 heavy tanks. The anti-aircraft battalion should be up by tomorrow.”

————

Wang Zhong, mounted on his white horse, stood at the entrance of the village.

The setting sun dipped westward, casting a crimson hue over the entire field.

After a relentless gallop and even knocking an enemy airborne, Bucephalus had only broken a small sweat, not even breathing heavily.

With the enemy retreating, did it mean—the mission was accomplished?

There were still two hours until eight o’clock. The enemy likely wouldn’t attack in this condition, right?

Wang Zhong decided to use this opportunity when the enemy lacked the will to fight to move forward and verify their situation. As long as the enemy had suffered significant losses, it was highly probable they wouldn’t attack again today.

He gently kicked the horse’s belly, and Bucephalus, as if understanding his intent, immediately set off towards the sunset.

The wind swept across the battlefield, lifting Wang Zhong’s hair.

————

Through his binoculars, Shrifen saw the officer who had come to provoke them in the morning appear again on a white horse.

He faced the setting sun with the posture of a victor.

Shrifen’s teeth clenched with a gritting noise.

“That bastard! Aim the infantry gun at him! Blast him to bits!”

“Major, the infantry gun is out of ammo!”

“Then use the mortar!”

“The mortar can’t hit that accurately!”

“Then use a machine gun! Find a sharpshooter!”

“Our best machine gunners are all dead, Major!”

“Bring my command vehicle! I’ll run him over myself!”

“Major, calm down!”

————

Wang Zhong looked puzzled at the disorganized enemy. He didn’t bother to investigate further, as his objective was already achieved. Confirming that the enemy had suffered heavy losses and lacked the capability to continue the attack, he could leave.

If it hadn’t been for Bucephalus’s bravery today, kicking the enemy soldier into the air, he might have died.

Wang Zhong reflected seriously, realizing he still needed to be cautious about preserving his life in the future.

Speaking of which, when he had charged out earlier using the smoke to cover the tanks, he hadn’t felt a trace of fear.

Wang Zhong couldn’t help but remember an old lady who had once come to give a talk at his school.

The old lady was a sanitary officer who had been recognized with three significant merits (before the reorganization, there were no different levels of merit, only major and minor). She had joked, “Looking back now, I find it unbelievable. I never knew what fear was back then.

“Now, when I’m on the street, seeing a pickpocket makes me worry whether he has a knife or accomplices.

“It seems that the courage I had back then has forever left me. Maybe it’s because the dreams I had back then have come true!”

With that, the old lady beamed with a radiant smile.

“That kind of courage,” now Wang Zhong knew exactly what “that kind” of courage was.

He had somehow resonated with the predecessors of his original timeline, despite having crossed over to this world, and the feeling was remarkable.

With such sentiments, Wang Zhong returned to tank number 67, looking at Xie Liaosha, who was bandaging his wounds: “How’s it going?”

Xie Liaosha smiled: “Still alive. We’re all alive. But this buddy has broken down.”

He patted the turret’s top armor.

Wang Zhong: “Can it be fixed? We’re retreating at eight tonight.”

However, Xie Liaosha shook his head: “It can’t be fixed. The spare parts we brought have been blown up. The engine can still turn, but who knows when it will break down too, then we can only operate the turret manually.”

Wang Zhong’s chest suddenly tightened.

He had a vague premonition that something was about to happen.

Xie Liaosha spoke up: “We’ll keep holding back the enemy here, fighting until the last bullet is fired. You can retreat in peace.”

Wang Zhong’s lips trembled. After a moment, he said, “No, I order you to try and fix the tank in the night. If it’s not repaired by midnight, abandon the tank and retreat. We’ll rendezvous at Bogdanovka.”