Chapter 86
The moment the 76mm cannon fired, the enemy's guard infantry threw smoke grenades.
Of course, the smoke couldn't stop the already-fired shell.
From his overhead perspective, Wang Zhong clearly saw this shot land almost at the general's feet.
However, the general's adjutant happened to push him to the ground at that moment.
It must be said that high-explosive shells fly somewhat slowly, and Vehicle 422 was indeed quite far from the target.
The adjutant died instantly, but the general he'd shielded was still clinging to life!
Wang Zhong: "Second shot!"
Alexander: "Smoke is blocking our view!"
Wang Zhong: "Fire at the original position!"
At that moment, an enemy half-track advanced at full speed, attempting to shield the general with its hull while its machine gun began suppressing fire against Vehicle 422 from this extreme distance.
Wang Zhong quickly ducked behind the turret hatch - this type of hatch was designed to serve as cover for noble observers.
Wang Zhong could look forward through the specially designed observation window on the hatch.
This observation window had limited visibility, but Wang Zhong had cheats - as long as he could observe, no matter how narrow the gap, switching to overhead view gave him a wide arc of vision.
The enemy was indeed well-trained - hitting targets from a moving armored vehicle at this range, their machine gun maintained decent accuracy, bullets pinging against the hatch cover.
The mechanic also returned fire with the hull machine gun, both sides trading tracer rounds.
The loader shouted: "Ready!"
Alexander fired! The shell flew past the obstructing half-track and landed almost exactly at the same spot!
The enemy tried to carry the general away but moved too slowly, and the general's leg was wounded.
When this shell landed, several officers wearing staff armbands carrying the general were blown down, while the general remained standing, looking up at the sky before slowly kneeling.
His posture reminded Wang Zhong of a famous scene from the Soviet version of "War and Peace."
Such a fall, quite romantic in its own way!
Wang Zhong: "Got him!"
Only after speaking did he realize he shouldn't be able to see this, since smoke blocked the view. This statement might have revealed something.
But then Wang Zhong thought - the T34 gunner's visibility was terrible, Alexander would assume Wang Zhong could see.
The driver had slightly better visibility, but his position was low and probably wouldn't notice anything unusual.
So Wang Zhong boldly said: "The enemy general's down, let's move!"
After all, there was an enemy battalion here, and bolder Prossenian soldiers were already charging the tank on motorcycles.
Even the mighty T34 feared infantry within 5 meters. This era's Prossenians shouldn't have iron fist rocket launchers or magnetic anti-tank mines yet, but grenades on the engine radiator could still disable the tank.
Wang Zhong heard a "Duang" as the tank started again and turned, making him quickly duck back into the turret.
The hatch only covered the front - like those revealing evening gowns that cover the front but expose the entire back.
If Wang Zhong didn't duck inside, his back would be riddled, leaving no White Horse General, only a Dead General.
With the hatch closed, the turret interior darkened.
Alexander glanced back: "You should wear your cap inside!"
Before Wang Zhong could respond, the tank jolted, making his head hit the turret hatch's locking latch.
He'd already gotten several bumps crawling out of the BT7 earlier - now bumps on bumps.
"In your storage compartment!" Alexander pointed to the observation seat's side.
Wang Zhong put on the tank soft cap, only to hit the latch again immediately, the pain sharp.
"Damn, this cap's useless!"
Alexander: "If it's this bad with the cap, imagine without it."
--Good point!
Despite suffering from terrible ergonomics, Wang Zhong pressed his eye to the observation window.
Only after experiencing it did Wang Zhong realize how poor the T34's visibility was - and this was a special "noble observation vehicle" with a commander's cupola. Standard T34s were practically blind.
Then Wang Zhong noticed this terrible visibility also affected his cheats - normally showing surroundings including behind him, now only the front arc remained.
Inside the tank, only that frontal arc remained.
An arc was better than blindness, and this was Wang Zhong's own vision, highlighting enemies within range - even "campers" hiding in grass.
"Vehicle 422 calling all platoons!" With no immediate threats, Wang Zhong played with the radio, "Sound off if not destroyed!"
When platoon leaders responded, Wang Zhong briefly gained their vision to check the rear armored melee.
Then he found these platoon leaders' visibility was terrible too! Basically just what was in front of their tanks!
No wonder many Third Reich memoirs mentioned T34s being blind.
Truly blind.
Wang Zhong could only rely on his own vision.
Just then, he spotted a Type III tank with tactical number 233 breaking from battle, maneuvering sideways.
233's commander boldly stuck out his head, seemingly confident no T34 would attack him.
Suddenly, 233 stopped abruptly, firing at a T34's turret-ring, jamming it.
Then something shocking happened - that T34's entire crew abandoned ship!
What the hell?
The Prossenian tank used its coaxial machine gun to slaughter the crew, then stopped immediately.
Didn't want tracers revealing their position?
----
Captain Eisen berated the machine gunner: "Don't fire! Even if the enemy are idiots, they can trace our position from tracers! These Ant tanks are blind - we can still win!"
Gunner: "We can't penetrate them!"
"Then jam their turrets, break their tracks! We did this against B1 tanks in Carolingian! Just disable them and let infantry finish the job!"
Captain Eisen paused: "Besides, these Ant tankers have no experience - they abandon ship at jammed turret rings! Must be rookies! We can win!"
----
Wang Zhong: "Emergency stop! Turret left 15 degrees! See that number 233 tank?"
Alexander: "Spotted, armor-piercing! Quick!"
Loader: "AP, ready!"
Now inside, Wang Zhong clearly saw the loader ram the AP shell into the breech before it auto-locked.
Alexander stomped the pedal.
Inside the turret, no muzzle flash or smoke - just the recoiling barrel ejecting a smoking shell.
The shell casing fell to the floor, ignored.
Wang Zhong suddenly remembered he needed to confirm the kill, not watch gun operations.
Switching views, he saw 233's crew bailing out.
Wang Zhong: "Fire! Machine guns! Mow them down! Load HE! Probably their veteran crew - kill them all!"
Vehicle 422's hull and coaxial machine guns opened up.
Unfortunately, neither Alexander nor the mechanic could see the prone enemy crew, making the suppression ineffective.
Loader: "HE, ready!"
Alexander fired immediately - the HE shell landed beside abandoned 233, killing one crewman, wounding another, but their commander was unharmed!
Wang Zhong: "Reload!"
Early military forums often romanticized admiring enemy skill and showing chivalry, but Wang Zhong wanted none of that now.
Thinking how these elites could return to slaughter allies after recovering, he wanted them all dead.
The second HE shell left only the mechanic alive.
Deciding another shell wasn't worth it for one man, Wang Zhong ordered: "Advance, regroup with our tanks."
Just then, Wang Zhong noticed the enemy retreating from town and changed orders: "Left thirty degrees, climb that small hill!"
The order was executed instantly.
On the hill, Wang Zhong opened the hatch, checking behind first to ensure no machine gun fire before looking out.
"Turret left 5 degrees, see that retreating Type IV? 750 meters! AP!"
The gun fired immediately, hitting the Type IV's engine dead-on, igniting it.
"Don't let the machine gun idle - suppressing fire!"
As 422 unleashed full firepower, other T34s noticed and converged.
Wang Zhong counted - damn, 8 lost!
The enemy couldn't even penetrate T34s, yet 8 lost?
Scanning the battlefield, he noticed all abandoned T34s were intact - either tracks broken, turret rings jammed, or drive wheels damaged after collisions.
Wang Zhong couldn't understand why crews abandoned just for jammed rings - they could've driven back for repairs!
After battle, he'd need a thorough debrief and harsh words for those crews.
As Wang Zhong thought this, the lined-up T34s unleashed hell on retreating enemies.
This enemy offensive had collapsed.
Wang Zhong had even bagged their general! Prossenians probably couldn't regroup today.
Stroking his chin, he planned night operations to recover and repair abandoned T34s.
These were precious, hard-won weapons.
Alliance Leader Little Eagle's bonus chapter
(End of Chapter)