Chapter 126
Twenty minutes later, thirty T26s rolled into the city and drove straight to the front of Wang Zhong's division headquarters.
Mainly because Lord Boye's yard was big enough to park anything.
Leading the group was a platoon leader's vehicle with a long radio antenna, and as soon as it stopped, a burly Major tanker struggled out of the small tank, jumped to the ground, and rushed toward Wang Zhong.
Seeing the other man's posture, Wang Zhong thought he was coming for a handshake, so he extended his hand.
The other man didn't think much of it, grabbed Wang Zhong's hand and shook it vigorously a few times before realizing it wasn't appropriate, then quickly stood at attention and saluted.
After returning the salute, Wang Zhong said: "You've had a tough time. Where are the other units of the Tank Corps?"
The Major's mood immediately sank: "They're all gone. We had cover from interceptors, and originally thought we didn't need to worry about enemy air forces this time. But we never expected the armored unit we ran into would be so fierce!
"The enemy we faced head-on was mainly equipped with Type 38 tanks. Logically, we should have been able to go toe-to-toe with them-our main guns can easily penetrate those tanks-but the battle went completely beyond our expectations!
"We usually need to be within 300 meters to score an effective hit, but the enemy could hit us from 700 meters! Don't underestimate that 400-meter difference-it's the difference between life and death!"
Pavlov, standing nearby, consoled: "The enemy's sights are more advanced than ours, and their training is better. It's not your fault."
Wang Zhong: "Where did you encounter the unit equipped with Type 38 tanks? What did their vehicle markings look like?"
By looking at the insignia, one could identify which division it was from, and Wang Zhong was very familiar with Earth's military history-he could deduce the enemy's composition from the division number.
Major: "We were at... do you have a map?"
Wang Zhong gestured politely: "Come on in."
Then he and Pavlov led the Major into the headquarters.
The rest of the 5th Tank Corps stayed outside with the tanks, locking eyes with the soldiers of the guard battalion.
At this moment, Nelly came out: "You must be hungry, come eat."
As she spoke, Nelly started calling over the field cooking team girls, who carried over barrels of thick soup using shoulder poles.
The fragrant soup immediately drew the tankers over.
"This Karlcho soup is actually made with real beef!"
"Amazing, I can eat three big bowls!"
Soon, all the tankers had been served soup, and each bowl had a large piece of meat.
A younger tanker, after a few sips, suddenly broke down emotionally and began to sob.
His tank commander immediately scolded: "Why are you crying! The brother units are watching! You're disgracing the 5th Tank Corps!"
But the commander's reprimand only made the young tanker cry even harder.
"You bastard!"
Popov suddenly appeared and grabbed the commander's raised hand: "Alright, after such a devastating defeat, anyone would snap from the constant stress. It's understandable to relax after tasting some good soup."
"But, Bishop, this kind of behavior might demoralize the troops..."
Popov: "No, it won't. Everyone feels fear, everyone gets scared, and everyone pretends to be strong. Crying and letting it out is a good thing. He'll be braver afterward."
The young tanker nodded repeatedly.
Popov: "Drink the soup quickly-cold soup won't taste good!"
The tanker obediently lowered his head and began drinking the soup.
----
Inside headquarters, Wang Zhong clicked his tongue: "Looks like the very left-or rather, the far west-of our front line is held by a ragtag division equipped with Type 38s and a sizable number of Type 2 tanks."
Whether it was the Type 2 or the Type 38, both were outdated at this point.
These outdated tanks could be handled by 45mm anti-tank guns and PTRD-41 rifles.
Of course, T26s could also handle them.
But using T26s required tactical finesse.
Wang Zhong shifted his gaze from the battlefield situational map on the wall to the topographic map of the Olachi area on the map table, beginning to think about how to effectively use the T26s against the likely-to-be-encountered enemy ragtag armored unit, to minimize losses of powerful units like the T34.
Just then, Nelly came in, holding a bowl of thick soup for the Major: "Have some food."
The Major's stomach immediately let out a loud growl.
----
Outside, the remnants of the 5th Tank Corps were eating hot soup and gnawing on rye bread when a dozen warhorses trotted into the headquarters' yard.
The leading cavalry Captain looked a bit confused at the sight of so many T26s.
Just then, the T26 tankers spotted the person strapped to the cavalry saddle.
"He's got a Prossenian with him!"
"Damn it, kill that bastard!"
"Shit, in black uniform-it's a Prossenian tank crew for sure!"
"Kill him!"
The cavalry Captain quickly shouted: "Don't shoot! He's a prisoner we managed to capture after great effort! The General wants to interrogate him! We lost two men capturing him!"
Only then did everyone notice that two of the saddles in the cavalry unit were empty.
The tankers, who had been riled up moments ago, fell silent.
The Prossenian lieutenant looked shell-shocked, staring around with fear in his eyes.
A tanker noticed this and shouted: "That's weird-aren't they supposed to be a superior race? Why's he so scared of us?"
"Yeah! Look at this coward!"
The Captain dismounted, pulled the prisoner off the saddle and onto the ground, made him stand up, then he and a soldier on either side escorted him into headquarters.
As they entered, they happened to run into the Major from the 5th Army coming out of headquarters.
The Major was startled but quickly realized it was a prisoner, and spat in his face, cursing: "You bastard!"
The prisoner was then taken into the division headquarters.
As soon as they entered the map room, the Captain saluted General Rokosov: "General Rokosov! We've captured the leader of the enemy's armored reconnaissance team! We also seized his briefcase and map case!"
----
Wang Zhong was overjoyed and immediately stepped forward to examine the prisoner.
He noticed that the prisoner's collar insignia was different from regular Prossenian soldiers.
Standard Prossenian soldier insignia looked very plain, purely functional with no frills.
But this prisoner's insignia was finely crafted and rather ornate-Zeus holding a spear made of lightning bolts, glaring downward.
A spear made of lightning... Wang Zhong vaguely remembered it was called the Heavenly Spear Kongernirs.
Wang Zhong frowned. On Earth, there was a notorious unit whose insignia was two lightning bolts. He wondered what effect removing one lightning bolt had on the unit's combat effectiveness.
Wang Zhong called out to Vasily: "Come here, be the interpreter."
"Got it!"
Vasily immediately put down his headset and trotted over: "Ask whatever you want-I'll translate it perfectly."
Wang Zhong: "Which unit are you from?"
Honestly, Wang Zhong was a little worried the prisoner would pretend to be defiant unto death, but unexpectedly, the prisoner opened up right away: "Captain of the Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Amplar Armored Division, Asgard Knights."
Wang Zhong looked at him in surprise: "Is it really okay to be so straightforward?"
After Vasily translated, the prisoner sneered: "Why not? You'll all be wiped out by the Amplar Division tomorrow-there won't even be scraps left! We're going to win this war soon, very soon!"
"By next spring, we'll be free to pick whichever plot of land we fancy across the vast fields."
Wang Zhong: "Next spring? I thought you'd say you'd win the war before Christmas!"
His own people were startled by his words and all turned to stare at Wang Zhong.
Even the Inquisitor responsible for monitoring the codebooks in the next room shot Wang Zhong a sharp look.
Vasily caught the sarcasm in Wang Zhong's tone and nearly burst out laughing during the translation.
Who knows how he translated it, but the prisoner widened his eyes and shouted something angrily.
Vasily: "He says not even we would be that optimistic!"
Wang Zhong: "You're already this optimistic-a little more won't hurt. As for me, I think the war will last at least four years. Four years from now, we'll be marching into the ruins of your capital!"
Vasily proudly translated Wang Zhong's declaration for the Prossenian prisoner.
The Prossenian laughed heartily and said (from this point, Vasily's translation is not shown): "You guys? With those outdated T26s in the yard? You probably don't even know that even your newest T34s can be easily destroyed by our 88mm anti-air guns!"
Wang Zhong: "I don't believe it!"
Prisoner: "Hmph! Today, our division was hit by over 200 T34s from your 6th Tank Corps, yet not a single one got close enough to spot our anti-air gun positions!
"Our technology has already surpassed your imagination!"
No, it's just a high-velocity anti-air gun-its performance is excellent, sure, but in the end, it's still just an anti-air gun. Don't exaggerate so much.
Wang Zhong: "Hmph, I don't believe it!"
The prisoner got agitated immediately: "Then just wait to be crushed under our tracks!"
Wang Zhong: "So, when exactly will you be rolling over us?"
"Of course, tomorrow morning! Our division will take this city in one morning, wipe out your outdated T26 tanks, and slaughter all your infantry!"
Wang Zhong: "Tomorrow morning, huh... Did you just leak your military secrets?"
The prisoner sneered: "What does it matter? Even if I revealed the exact time of the attack, you still wouldn't be able to stop our offensive! You've never been able to stop our offensives!"
Wang Zhong: "Is that so? Then you better stay alive and watch how we beat the crap out of your-what was it? Asgard Knights? Amplar Armored Division of the Asgard Knights?"
Prisoner: "Hmph, ignorant primitives!"
(End of Chapter)