Chapter 78
Although the higher-ups had given them what seemed like an extremely daunting task, the senior officers of the Rokosov Battle Group, having completed all they could for now, decided to play some intense and exciting bridge.
It had a bit of that "no matter how urgent the situation, let's play a round of Gwent first" flavor.
Wang Zhong was gradually getting used to this rhythm.
When there was nothing happening on the battlefield, there was truly nothing happening, but there was always a Sword of Damocles hanging overhead, ready to fall at any moment and destroy everything.
Newcomers to the battlefield might spend all day trembling in fear of the sword above them, but veterans like Wang Zhong eventually became accustomed to it.
Indeed, Wang Zhong had only been transmigrated for less than two weeks, yet he was already a battle-hardened veteran - that's how quickly the battlefield tempers people.
Just as Wang Zhong was looking down at his cards, the phone rang.
He casually picked up the receiver: "This is Rokosov, go ahead."
"This is Monk Petro. I hear a large enemy aircraft formation approaching, though I don't know whether they're coming to bomb or just passing through. There are many six-engine heavy bombers."
"Understood." Wang Zhong put down the phone and said to Yegorov, "Air raid alarm!"
As soon as he spoke, the air raid siren sounded outside - clearly Monk Petro had already notified the supply depot headquarters and anti-air units in the city first.
Wang Zhong threw down his playing cards and went to the window to look at the sky.
Dimitri asked: "Should we retreat?"
"This city doesn't have a subway, and no standard air raid shelters were built beforehand. The only place to hide would be the cellars for storing winter cabbage," Wang Zhong said. "This place is sturdier than most basements."
As he spoke, Wang Zhong spotted the aircraft formation.
He switched to Overhead Perspective, allowing him to observe the entire formation without being limited by the window's view.
A large formation of 30 six-engine heavy bombers with an equal number of fighter escorts was approaching. If they were coming to bomb Loktov, it meant there were no targets left in Bogdanovka worth sending such a formation to cover.
Wang Zhong was just thinking this when Vasily suddenly shouted: "I hear the enemy broadcasting in the clear - sounds like ground-to-air communications."
"What are they saying?" Wang Zhong asked, though he could already guess.
Vasily: "They're telling their air force to take out the heavy artillery in the city."
"How did the air force respond?"
"The air force said to contact the tactical bomber squadron instead - they're the ones bombing stations and supply depots."
Yegorov clicked his tongue: "Thank goodness we moved our artillery positions away from the station earlier."
Initially, Wang Zhong had chosen the station's storage area for the B4 positions, but they had since been relocated to the city park near the station and the small garden in front of the municipal building.
These areas were naturally well-vegetated, providing natural camouflage that, combined with camouflage nets, made them nearly invisible from the air - Wang Zhong had personally confirmed this using Overhead Perspective.
The city's anti-air guns began firing, though the 25mm guns couldn't do much against high-flying enemy planes. They were firing now simply because they were anti-air units.
The enemy planes approached the chemical plant and began dropping bombs - Loktov was small enough that from their current level flight altitude, bombs released when approaching the plant would land right near the station and supply depots.
The whistles attached to the bombs' tails produced sharp, piercing sounds that hurt Wang Zhong's ears.
Yes, unlike the "whoosh" of falling artillery shells, this "shriek" was the handiwork of special whistles attached to the bombs' tails.
The bombers that had dropped their payloads began turning away.
Wang Zhong moved to another window to watch the bombs fall.
Thirty heavy bombers, conducting carpet bombing.
The tightly packed bombs plowed thirty bloody furrows across the ground.
A cloud of dust enveloped Loktov's streets.
Dozens of smoke columns rose into the air.
Wang Zhong suddenly felt grateful that he couldn't see the streets being bombed, sparing him the horrific sights.
Unlike the villages outside, Loktov still had many civilians - men from the secular faction of the Eastern Holy Church forming self-defense forces, women joining volunteer labor camps, and many elderly and children waiting to be evacuated by train.
It was impossible to know how many civilian casualties such intense bombing would cause.
----
Lyudmila picked herself up from the ground.
She and the Divine Arrow squad were deployed on the roof of Loktov's only Anatolian public bathhouse, ready to snipe any enemy reconnaissance planes.
The B4 artillery position was just one block north of the bathhouse. If any enemy dive bombers came to attack the artillery, the Divine Arrows could provide some protection.
One of the "furrows" plowed by the level bombing had landed not far from the bathhouse.
Had the enemy dropped their bombs just a few seconds later, the Divine Arrow squad would have been consumed by flames.
She leaned on the roof's railing, looking down at the devastation below.
Suddenly, she spotted something.
Lyudmila sprinted off, rushing downstairs as Brother Yatsemenko shouted after her: "Where are you going? Recon planes might come now to assess the damage! We need to prepare!"
Lyudmila called back: "I'll be right back!"
She descended the temporary ladder beside the bathhouse, dashed into the street, and ran to where she'd seen the object.
It was a glass jar that had shattered on impact, its baby's breath flowers scattered across the ground.
A hand still tightly gripped the jar, its skin wrinkled from washing too many clothes with coarse soap.
Lyudmila picked up the hand - now just a palm and half a wrist - and looked around for its owner.
Then she saw, not far away near the laundry soap distribution point, several laundry girls assigned to the Rokosov Battle Group crouched on the ground, wailing.
Lyudmila took out a bandage, tore off a piece, wrapped up the baby's breath flowers from the ground, and carried both the flowers and the severed hand to the laundry girls.
She couldn't recognize the girl lying on the ground - it had been dark last night when they met.
But the girl's severed hand told the whole story.
As did these baby's breath flowers.
The laundry girls wept: "The squad leader just told us to come get soap! How could this happen..."
Lyudmila stood silently.
Then Brother Yatsemenko rushed to her side: "You must return to your post! Without you, the Divine Arrow can't guide!"
The monk glanced at the girl on the ground, sighed, and took the severed hand and flowers: "I'll handle this. Return to your post!"
Lyudmila nodded and walked back toward the bathhouse, looking back with every step.
----
Wang Zhong turned away from the window and went to the phone, hand ready to pick up the receiver.
If the artillery positions took any damage, they would report to Wang Zhong immediately.
This was the call he was waiting for.
Thirty seconds passed without the phone ringing.
Wang Zhong sighed in relief: "Our artillery seems fine."
Yegorov: "Moving the artillery away from potential bombing targets was the right call."
Popov asked: "Should we relocate the artillery? Might the enemy pilots have spotted the positions?"
Wang Zhong: "No, the enemy didn't even fly over our positions - they probably turned after dropping their bombs right above us."
As he spoke, he made a circling motion above his head.
Then the phone rang again.
Wang Zhong picked up the receiver himself: "Rokosov speaking, go ahead."
"This is the Fifth Beshensk Regiment. We've spotted enemy armored reconnaissance vehicles on the small road southeast of our position."
The Fifth Beshensk Regiment hadn't received replacements or equipment resupply, so Wang Zhong had dispersed them among local church militia to monitor the two main roads leading out of the city to the southeast and northwest.
Loktov was indeed a small city, but with his limited forces, Wang Zhong couldn't possibly defend it completely - he could only focus on the front while deploying secondary units to monitor the roads on both flanks.
Wang Zhong: "Southeast? Half-tracks?"
"Half-tracks and Type II tanks. Following the tractor station workers' suggestion, we used a tractor disguised as a tank to scare them off."
Wang Zhong: "What? A tractor disguised as a tank?"
"Yes, it worked perfectly. We just piled straw in front - looked like camouflage on a tank turret. When we drove it out with the transmission clattering, the enemy fled immediately."
Wang Zhong burst out laughing. The others, not having heard the conversation, looked at him puzzled.
"Well done. Keep scaring them off - don't let them discover how thinly stretched we are! Excellent work!" After saying this, Wang Zhong hung up and explained the Beshensk Regiment's tactic to the others.
Vasily laughed heartily, then was glared at by Popov: "Do your job!"
Yegorov: "But fake tanks can only scare people. We still need real tanks soon so His Excellency the General can utilize his tank command talents."
Apparently in Yegorov's eyes, Wang Zhong was already a genius tank commander.
Wang Zhong: "At brigade HQ I saw remnants of the 23rd Tank Corps north at Dolgi. I wonder if we can get them transferred here. Whatever tanks they have could be useful."
"Useful" meaning he could personally command a tank using his cheats to flank around enemy blind spots and attack from behind - standard practice for War Thunder ground force players.
Popov: "They should be equipped with BT series tanks."
Hearing this, Wang Zhong frowned. While the T28 was thinly armored too, at least its gun was decent. The BT series lacked even firepower - many Prossen tanks had reinforced frontal armor based on Carolingian Campaign experience, which the BT7's small gun might not penetrate.
And the BT7 itself was extremely fragile - even heavy machine guns with decent penetration could pierce its sides.
The tank's only redeeming feature was its mobility, using the famous Christie suspension that allowed it to remove its tracks and race down roads on wheels when high speed was needed.
As they spoke, Wang Zhong was already considering whether he could use the BT7's amazing mobility to his advantage.
Just then, the phone rang again.
Vasily: "I never knew war meant playing cards at headquarters and constantly answering phones."
"Less talking." Wang Zhong picked up the receiver: "Rokosov speaking, go ahead."
"This is Monk Petro. I hear a single Do 215, probably at high altitude. Also a Focke-Wulf 189 at low altitude."
Wang Zhong frowned. Bombers in this era usually flew in formations for mutual machine gun protection. A single Do 215 at high altitude...
Wang Zhong: "One high, one low?"
Monk Petro replied: "Yes. Accounting for sound travel time from altitude, the Do 215 is ahead. It's flying extremely high - only MiG-3s could intercept it at that altitude, which we obviously don't have."
Perhaps there originally were, but they were all destroyed on the airfields on the first day of the war.
Wang Zhong: "Understood, thank you."
After hanging up the phone, he looked at the others: "A lone Do 215 at high altitude, likely a reconnaissance plane. Then there's a low-flying 189. What do you think?"
Yegorov and Popov exchanged glances.
Vasily: "I know! The enemy keeps losing 189s over Loktov, so they want to see what's happening!"
Wang Zhong exchanged looks with the others.
----
Major General Randolph, commander of the 15th Armored Division, heard the sound of aircraft overhead and looked up.
His Chief of Staff said: "Flying very high - a reconnaissance plane. Could they be observing the effects of the carpet bombing?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a Focke-Wulf 189 flew right over their heads.
Because the Focke-Wulf 189 had an advanced-looking design, the soldiers saw it as a symbol of Prossenian cutting-edge technology and cheered, taking off their caps.
The Chief of Staff frowned: "I heard the air force lost several reconnaissance planes over Loktov. These planes are extremely hard to shoot down. Could it be... they want to see what's shooting down their recon planes?"
Major General Randolph cursed: "We've reported those artillery positions so many times! Those B4s have already caused over a thousand casualties, and the air force does nothing! But lose a few recon planes and they mobilize everything!"
Having said this, the Major General sighed.
"Let's wait until our division artillery arrives, then think of something," the Chief of Staff said.
The Major General nodded: "That's all we can do. When will our air-ground coordination be as good as what Grand Duke Meyer boasted about?"
(End of Chapter)