Chapter 79
On Wang Zhong's side.
"Intercept as usual," Wang Zhong said. "Exposing the position of the Divine Arrow isn't a big deal; we can relocate. After the battle at Upper Peniye, Brother Yatsemenko should be quite experienced."
Yegorov: "He's way too experienced. He even prepared trucks specifically for relocation and set up phone lines to every alternate Divine Arrow position."
Wang Zhong nodded: "Then intercept! After intercepting, get out of there fast!"
As he spoke, he picked up the phone: "Connect me to the current position of the Divine Arrow company."
Two seconds later, Lyudmila's voice came through the phone: "Hello?"
Wang Zhong: "Why is it you? Where's Brother Yatsemenko?"
"The Brother went to perform a ritual for the deceased. What's up?"
"The Divine Arrow squad can open fire now, right?"
"Yes, they can! Enemy aircraft are coming, right? Leave it to me, I'll shoot it down! I can recognize enemy reconnaissance planes with my eyes closed now!"
Wang Zhong couldn't tell if it was just his imagination, but he felt Lyudmila was forcing a smile, deliberately acting cheerful.
Had something happened?
Wang Zhong really wanted to ask, especially since this was his almost-fiancée, but with the military situation being urgent, he couldn't.
So he said: "It's in your hands! The enemy aircraft will be here any moment!"
"Mm!" At least this final sound made the girl seem quite spirited.
After hanging up the phone, Wang Zhong immediately switched perspectives to observe the situation.
He first spotted the Do 215 flying very high-huh?
As Wang Zhong observed the Do 215, he couldn't help but feel that this plane was a bit larger than the usual Do 215. Could this be a Do 217?
Moreover, it didn't seem like this plane was here for reconnaissance. With its slow, sluggish speed, it looked like it was carrying bombs.
Do-series planes on reconnaissance missions shouldn't carry bombs, as that would allow them to fly higher and faster.
While Wang Zhong was puzzled, a Focke-Wulf 189 reconnaissance aircraft entered his field of view.
Before Wang Zhong could get a clear look, the Divine Arrow was launched into the sky.
However, this 189 reacted strangely. It was as if the pilot had been prepared in advance and immediately parachuted out.
Other reconnaissance planes would at least struggle, perhaps trying to slip into the blind spot of the Divine Arrow Prayer Hand's visibility, but this one just gave up!
Wang Zhong felt something was terribly wrong, though he couldn't pinpoint what, until he saw what the suspected Do 217 twin-engine heavy bomber, flying high in the sky, dropped.
----
The lead aircraft of the 10th Squadron of the Prossenian Royal 55th Bomber Wing received orders today to deploy an experimental weapon.
In fact, this squadron had been transferred to the Bavarian Kingdom of Prossen before the Carolingian Campaign to participate in testing the experimental weapon.
This was the empire's grand attempt to replace divine favor with technology. Its success would prove that the gods worshipped by inferior races were nothing but false deities unworthy of fear.
Now, it was the day for this great and symbolic weapon to be tested in actual combat, and its target was precisely the "miracle" that the false god used to deceive the world!
The observer shouted: "Divine Arrow launched, confirmed Divine Arrow trail!"
The radio guide operator: "Visual on target, guidance preparation complete!"
The observer: "Course parameters input complete!"
The mechanical computer installed in the bomber's guidance compartment quickly completed the calculations and output the course adjustment parameters.
The squadron leader of the 10th Squadron tore off the paper strip recording the course parameters, glanced at it, and personally pushed the control stick to turn the plane onto the calculated course.
The observer: "Targeting complete, bombing window in 20 seconds!"
The squadron leader pressed the timer temporarily installed next to the operator's seat and, as the timer reached zero, shouted: "For the empire! For His Majesty the Emperor!"
As the timer hit zero, he pressed the bomb release button, and the heavy radio-guided glide bomb attached to the underbelly of the aircraft detached from its rack.
A small deceleration parachute helped the bomb adjust its posture.
The guide operator reported: "Deceleration parachute detached, bomb tail light observed! Beginning radio guidance!"
At this moment, in the guide operator's field of view, the bomb's tail light emitted a very conspicuous glow.
----
Lyudmila and the members of the Divine Arrow company raced down the stairs to the ground and climbed onto the GAZ truck that had long been prepared.
The only driver of the Divine Arrow company was smoking. Seeing everyone rush down in such a hurry, he laughed: "In such a rush? Are the Prossenians about to attack right now?"
Lyudmila: "There's a reconnaissance plane in the sky. We've been exposed. An attack will come soon, either artillery or bombers."
"Hey, it won't be that fast. And look, Brother Yatsemenko is still over there praying for the deceased girl! Wait a bit..."
Lyudmila grabbed the driver by the collar, yanked him out of the driver's seat, threw him to the ground, and climbed in herself, expertly starting the vehicle.
The driver, dazed from the fall with stars in his eyes, got up and still didn't take it seriously: "What are you so nervous about? I've been watching that Brigadier General these past few days, and I don't think he's that impressive! He's just..."
Before he could finish, something suddenly smashed through a section of the dome of the Anatolian bathhouse, as if someone had cracked a hole in an eggshell.
The next moment, an explosion inflated the bathhouse like a balloon before it burst with a pop.
The shockwave swept up the driver from behind, slamming him into a stone wall on the other side, instantly twisting his neck into an unhealthy angle.
Brother Yatsemenko, who was performing the ritual, was also knocked over and ended up sprawled on the ground.
The shockwave also caused the GAZ truck Lyudmila was driving to sway wildly, as if it had downed five bottles of vodka.
In a panic, Lyudmila hit the brakes, which directly caused the truck to flip over on its side and slide a full five meters.
Everything settled as the dust cleared.
Lyudmila struggled to climb out of the driver's seat and stand on the ground, clutching her injured right hand, staring at the bathhouse that had been razed to the ground.
Brother Yatsemenko-now a deputy knight-also got up, looking at the bathhouse with her.
Yatsemenko: "What's going on? I didn't hear the sound of enemy aircraft. What the heck just bombed us?"
Lyudmila glanced at Yatsemenko: "You'll need to find a new driver. Make sure it's someone who follows orders."
----
Wang Zhong was deeply shaken.
After confirming that Lyudmila was okay, he began to think.
He recognized what the Do 217 had just dropped: the Fritz X radio-controlled bomb!
Could it be that Prossen, stimulated by the divine-guided weapons of the Eastern Holy Church and the Lutheran Church, developed guided weaponry faster than Earth's Third Reich?
Or was it that "Giant Germany" had abundant resources, so their scientific progress in various fields outpaced the Third Reich?
No, that's not right. Prossen is still using short-barreled Type IV and early-model Type III tanks in a high-low mix, so their technology doesn't seem much more advanced than the Third Reich of the same era.
It's likely that seeing others' guided weapons prompted them to go all out and develop one of their own.
Now the problem is, how many of these things do they have? If there are a lot, then the fertilizer plant I'm in right now isn't safe either. One of these could send us all sky-high.
Damn it, how do we fight this! The opponent is Giant Germany, and their tech is advanced... Can we only rely on divine power? The problem is, there's not much divine power either. We've only got ten Divine Arrows in total, and we've already used nearly half.
Wang Zhong decided not to think too much about it-overthinking wouldn't help. When the boat reaches the bridge, it will naturally straighten out.
He exited the overhead perspective mode and picked up the phone: "Connect me to Monk Petro. Monk, did you note the sound characteristics of this Do 217 overhead? I'm telling you, it's carrying a heavy guided bomb. Next time you detect a target with the same sound signature, notify me immediately."
Considering the threat of this thing, they might need to use a Divine Arrow to shoot it down, especially since there are no MiG-3 high-altitude fighters at the front line capable of reaching a Do 217.
----
At this time, on the Prossenian forces' side.
The communications officer ran over from the radio truck and saluted Major General Randolph: "Report! The division artillery just passed through Kalinnovka and is currently selecting artillery positions!"
Major General Randolph clapped his hands together: "Excellent! They've arrived just in time! Give them two hours to set up their positions and prepare to fire!"
He pulled out his pocket watch to check the time: "We'll begin artillery preparation at 4:30 tomorrow morning, using three hours to clear a path through the minefield. At 7:30, the artillery fire will extend toward the enemy positions.
"We plan to deploy an armored grenadier battalion, reinforced with two Type IV tank companies, to launch a probing attack!
"The enemy will definitely use heavy artillery to stop us. This time, tell the damn air force that they must send a reconnaissance plane to high altitude, no matter what! Even if we can't overrun the enemy positions, we need the division's 15cm heavy artillery to take out those annoying B4s!"
(End of Chapter)