Chapter 46: Wisdom from the Elders

The enemy tanks seemed to still be planning to enter from the western entrance of the village.

Wang Zhong’s tank was now stopped on the road leading to the southwest entrance of the village. Although there were obstacles between it and the entrance, these barriers were suitable for covering infantry but somewhat ineffective for hiding such a large tank.

As an old model with multiple turrets, No. 422 was quite “imposing”.

Wang Zhong immediately ordered to drive into the side alley on the left, which was where he had just passed through to destroy the enemy’s combat engineer vehicle accompanied by a half-tracked vehicle.

This way, they could temporarily avoid a head-on confrontation with the enemy tanks.

The engineering squad had just cleared the houses on the southwest side, and with his external equipment, Wang Zhong could clearly see the enemy infantry entering the houses and exchanging fire with the Ante Army infantry across the road.

As long as the position of the tank was close to the side occupied by the Prosen infantry, they didn’t need to worry too much about incendiary bottles being thrown at them.

On Wang Zhong’s side, apart from the Divine Arrow and the tank beneath him, the only remaining means of anti-tank warfare were incendiary bottles. To be effective, one had to either climb to the second floor and ambush the tanks as they passed or clear the infantry around the tank before approaching for anti-tank combat maneuvers.

Observing the movements of the enemy tanks, Wang Zhong surmised that this time they would definitely not advance without the cover of infantry.

The earlier rush by the Mk.IV tanks was probably due to the enemy’s assumption that the Ante Army lacked anti-tank experience. After being hit with incendiary bottles, the enemy had also learned their lesson.

Wang Zhong calculated that the enemy had brought up 8 tanks this time. The good news was that they were all Model III with slim barrels, which probably didn’t have the same anti-infantry efficiency as the previous Mk.IV ones.

Probably.

But, given the enemy’s tighter combined infantry and tank operations, the effectiveness of incendiary bottles was expected to be greatly reduced.

It still depended on his own No. 422 tank.

However, this multi-turret tank design was already outdated, with thin armor; one solid hit could mean destruction.

If the Prussians fired a shrapnel shell, he too could be in big trouble.

He must make good use of the high-angle view, trying to ambush the enemy tanks just like he did with the Mk.IV tanks in the morning.

At this moment, the enemy tanks had reached the southwest entrance and started attacking the buildings on the street with shrapnel shells.

Contrary to Wang Zhong’s expectations, the Prosen 50mm shrapnel shells were quite effective against personnel. The main reason was the long-barreled 50mm cannon fired shells with unexpectedly high penetration power, which could penetrate the brick walls of buildings and explode inside.

Not to mention wooden structures.

This was a serious problem; it was imperative to deal with the enemy tanks as soon as possible. Every extra minute of delay would result in more casualties.

Although the Third Rear Amur Group had continuously repelled enemy attacks and morale was high, its numbers had been reduced to a dangerous level, and it was solely relying on high morale to avoid collapse.

The enemy’s shrapnel shells were weak, and even after penetrating a stone wall and exploding, they would usually only kill two people, but if this attrition continued, morale could break at any time.

However, directly engaging the Prussian Armored Troops from the front would likely be deadly.

Attempting a flank maneuver was also risky, as the enemy had left four additional tanks on the periphery—probably because the infantry who retreated in the morning reported the flanking done by the No. 422 tank, so now the Prussians were prepared.

Continuing along this morning’s route meant engaging in a direct artillery duel with Prussian Model III tanks in the open fields.

No, not Wang Zhong, but Count Aleksei Konstantinovich Rokossov.

The tank made clattering sounds as it drove through the lane, leaving the village.

Wang Zhong: “Stop!”

He looked at the smoke ahead, thinking that the Prussians really didn’t skimp on materials; the smoke was so dense that nothing could be seen with the naked eye.

At that moment, an excellent idea occurred to him.

As a child, Wang Zhong was very fond of an old movie called “Heroic Tank Operator”, which was about the story of Tank 215 operated by heroic crew members during the Korean War.

It included a segment adapted from a real battle situation: the Americans planned to use heavy artillery to bombard the stalled Tank 215. The commander then instructed the driver to rev the engine wildly, creating a loud noise, and then gradually throttle down, making the sound get quieter. As a result, the American soldiers thought the crew of Tank 215 had fled, so they extended their bombardment further back.

Wang Zhong decided to emulate the heroic deeds of his predecessors.

He gave the order, “Driver, listen up, I want you to put it in neutral, then rev the engine, let it roar. Then gradually reduce the throttle, make the sound quieter and quieter.”

Driver: “Understood, My Lord Count!”

Wang Zhong: “Loader, one armor-piercing shell, quick! How many armor-piercing shells do we have left?”

"Over twenty, enough to send a few enemies packing. Armor-piercing shell loaded!”

Wang Zhong, looking at the enemy tanks in the overhead view, muttered, “Shoot, now it’ll take two shots to knock out one enemy.”

————

Inside Tank 422, all crew members were drenched in sweat. Wang Zhong was exposed outside, feeling the breeze and beside him a beautiful woman, utterly comfortable—unlike inside the tank, which was stuffy and hot, and noisy to boot.

But the crew’s morale was high.

Especially when they heard Wang Zhong’s words through the earphones: “Shoot, now it’ll take two shots to knock out one enemy.”

The loader and the gunner exchanged glances, then looked down at the mechanic and driver in front of the tank.

The entire crew exchanged knowing looks.

The gunner mouthed: “He’s still planning to take out ten more!”

Loader: “This time we’re avenging the whole company!”

All tank operators revealed ecstatic expressions but dared not make a sound—for according to the rules, idle chatter on the internal comms during combat was considered a disruption of command and subject to confinement.

Moreover, no one wanted to interrupt the Count’s commands.

The tank operators could only laugh silently, giving each other high-fives.

Then the Count’s order came: “Now, driver, floor the throttle!”