Cannon Fire Arc-Chapter 693 - 31 Steel Collision

Chapter 693: Chapter 31 Steel Collision

Podoliskov could only ignore the infantry and picked the closest target to the muzzle, “Rotate turret right ten degrees, Ivan prepare for emergency stop!”

Just as he said this, two more shells hit the tank.

Podoliskov ducked his head but did not retreat into the tank. Instead, he held the microphone and shouted, “Emergency stop! Take them out!”

The tank stopped. Perhaps because the interval between this emergency stop and the previous one wasn’t long and the tank had not picked up speed, this stop was much smoother.

The gunner immediately seized the opportunity to fire, and their view was once again completely blocked by dust.

Podoliskov: “Move forward, move forward! Break through the dust—”

Before he finished speaking, a new shell hit the body of “Revenge,” but this time the shell didn’t ricochet; it exploded directly.

The explosion stunned Podoliskov, who was sticking out his upper body.

The infantry squatting behind the turret were alright, thanks to the shielding provided by the turret.

Podoliskov slid right into the turret, and the infantry master sergeant immediately peered inside from the edge of the hatch, “Battalion Commander Davarish!”

“I’m fine!” Podoliskov, rubbing his backside, sat up straight, “They’ve started using high-explosive shells on us! How are you guys doing, mates!”

Driver Ivan: “All good! The shell exploded above my head; my brain is buzzing! But it won’t affect my driving… Suka!”

Podoliskov: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just a nosebleed! I’ll stuff it with paper and it’ll be fine!”

As they spoke, the tank started up and surged forward a couple of steps.

Another shell, with a ‘duang,’ hit the tank’s armor.

Podoliskov poked his head out to look and was immediately blinded by rolling white smoke.

The gunner yelled, “The sight is all white, we seem to have been hit by a smoke bomb!”

“I know! Drive out of the smoke area! Quick!”

“Driving! Already at full speed!”

“Armor-piercing shell, good!”

The loader didn’t care about the outside situation, just focused on loading.

Podoliskov, with his head out, anxiously stared ahead, but the smoke seemed endless. The “Revenge” had been moving forward for dozens of seconds but still hadn’t broken through the smoke.

Over the radio, the battalion commander was shouting, “The enemy has released a large amount of smoke to close in for combat! I order all tank commanders to keep their heads out; we can’t let the enemy leverage their search advantage!”

“Got my head out! Got my head out!” Podoliskov muttered, frowning and peering into the surrounding dense smoke, “Even with my head out, I can’t see a thing!”

Suddenly, Podoliskov heard the sound of tank engines and gearboxes coming from the front!

“Revenge” should have been at the forefront, so engine sounds from ahead must be the enemy!

————

Lieutenant Gurman subconsciously touched the Iron Cross on his chest.

“Engine sounds ahead, according to the Doppler effect, they should be approaching us!” Gurman held the microphone, “Prepare to meet the enemy! Load the first round with smoke bombs to ensure the enemy’s vision is obscured! We don’t have time for an emergency stop, we must hit the enemy while moving!”

“Yes!” the gunner confidently replied.

The Panzer IV advanced at full speed.

Suddenly, a dark shadow burst out of the smoke!

“Fire!” Lieutenant Gurman shouted.

The smoke bomb exploded directly in front of the shadow, and a burst of white smoke immediately obscured the shape of the shadow.

Gurman: “Quick! Flanking maneuver! Prepare to hit its side and rear!”

“Already at full throttle!” replied the driver.

The roar of the enemy’s engine and gearbox echoed in Gurman’s eardrums, clearly showing that the smoke bomb could not stop the enemy’s indomitable new-style tank.

Gurman mentally calculated the distance between them, knowing that the two vehicles were about to pass each other—

The enemy appeared!

The enemy’s turret was still facing forward, unable to keep up with Gurman’s maneuvering vehicle!

But behind the enemy turret sat infantry, holding a weapon with a strange appearance, looking much like an ancient knight’s spiked club!

When the infantry and Lieutenant Gurman’s eyes met, the infantry raised the spiked club.

The next moment, white light shot from the tail of the club, dragging smoke as it soared toward Gurman’s vehicle.

There wasn’t a particularly violent explosion; at first, Gurman thought the device had misfired.

But then screams burst from Gurman’s headset.

“What’s happening?” the lieutenant asked just before a wave of heat hit from behind. He turned his head to see his vehicle’s radiator grill had turned into a torch, spouting high flames.

The engine was on fire!

Lieutenant Gurman: “Abandon the tank! Everyone out!”

As he issued the order, he adeptly climbed out of the turret, ready to jump aside.

That moment, Gurman recalled something: Ante tanks had infantry on their backs.

He looked up, only to see Ante infantry aiming a Papasha submachine gun.

————

Podoliskov almost had his eardrums pierced by the Papasha gunfire that erupted right beside his ear.

“Don’t fire near my ear!” he shouted.

“The enemy is trying to flee! If we let these experienced tank operators get on new tanks, they’ll cause massive damage!” the infantry master sergeant replied while shooting, “You’ve got new heavy tanks and aren’t afraid of them anymore, plus we have comrades on the T34Ws!”

Podoliskov picked up the anti-aircraft machine gun after hearing that and started firing at the enemy.

The only escaping Prosen tanker had slithered into the smoke, while Podoliskov kept up the barrage.

Then the sound of another engine approached.

Podoliskov said, “Another one is coming, we’ll stop and be still, the engine sound will fade, and the gearbox noise will disappear!”

The driver, Ivan, immediately came to a halt, and the noise from the Revenge tank abruptly lessened.

Podoliskov held his breath as if that could lower the chances of being detected.

The infantrymen behind the turret also tensed up, not daring to even breathe heavily.

Suddenly, the enemy appeared.

The Prosen tank commander on top of the turret widened his eyes, evidently not expecting an Ante tank lying in wait here.

The enemy’s turret was facing a different direction too, clearly on alert for other sources of sound.

The Prosen commander roared, and the turret immediately started to turn, with the body of the tank following suit. It was clear that he intended to coordinate the rotation of the hull and turret to quickly bring his cannon to bear on the Revenge.

Podoliskov shouted, “The enemy is right in front of us, fire!”

As he gave the order, the gunner fired.

The enemy was too close this time; the dust kicked up by the shot was instantly dispersed by the explosion of the enemy tank, and the turret of the Panzer IV ended up embedded in the ground in front of the Revenge.

The explosion also cleared the surrounding smoke, giving Podoliskov a clear view of another Prosen tank.

Before he could even give the order, the target crashed into an ally-driven Rokossovsky Type.

The Prosen driver climbed out of his vehicle, holding a magnetic anti-tank hand grenade, ready to slap it on the Rokossovsky Type.

Podoliskov swung the anti-aircraft machine gun around and sprayed bullets, but without aiming, the shots splashed over like water, surprisingly missing the Prosen!

The man stuck the grenade onto the wedge-shaped armor at the front of the Rokossovsky Type, pulled the pin, and dove to the side.

The magnetic hand grenade exploded.

The hatch of the Rokossovsky Type opened, and the tank operators clambered out, cursing and swearing—it looked like everyone except the driver was alive.

Just as the Prosens abandoned their vehicle too, climbing out of the Panzer IV.

The Prosen commander picked up an MP40 to spray bullets, but was tackled and rolled off the tank by the Ante commander.

The two sides immediately grappled with each other.

The Rokossovsky Type had only four crew members (without a mechanic), the driver still hadn’t climbed out of the tank, probably dead, while the Prosen Panzer IV had five men.

Despite being outnumbered three to five, the Ante tank operators gained the upper hand.

The Ante commander knocked the Prosen commander out with two punches, and after standing up, an uppercut sent the gunner flying, knocking out several teeth.

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At this time, the Revenge finally arrived at the scene of the fight, and Podoliskov, recognizing the crew, shouted, “What happened to your driver?”

The commander spat at the unconscious Prosen tanker he was fighting and looked up at Podoliskov, “He’s dead. We only abandoned the tank after we saw him catch fire. He was on fire, and there was no sound from the inside; he must have died right from the start.”

As soon as he finished speaking, flames flickered from the tank’s driver compartment.

Podoliskov said, “It looks like the fire can still be put out! Quick! Put out the fire before the tank is completely destroyed; with some repairs and a new driver, it can still be used! Ante needs every tank!”

“Podoliskov is right, quick, put out the fire, guys!”

The three tank operators who had just finished brawling rushed toward the tank which only just started to show visible flames.

Just as Podoliskov was about to command the tank to move forward, the voice of the battalion commander came over the radio, “The enemy is retreating! We have defeated the enemy in the tank battle! We have won!”

Joyful cheers of victory came through the radio, “Hurrah!”

Podoliskov said, “We should pursue the enemy! We can’t let them escape easily! We have an advantage over them, but the regular units’ T34Ws have no advantage against people! We can’t let the enemy go and harvest our Davarish!”

The battalion commander paused for a second before responding, “Podoliskov is right, advance! Although our heavy tanks are not as mobile as the enemy’s Panzer IVs, we will still try our best to pursue! Try to take them down! All forces move out!”

————

At the same time, not far from where Podoliskov’s Guard First Heavy Breakthrough Tank Group was located, within the Guard Tank Army, the Guard 24th Tank Brigade, the Third Battalion.

Semyon, the battalion commander, confirmed that his shell had hit the front of the enemy Panzer IV.

However, the shell only sparked without penetrating the Panzer IV’s front armor, now reinforced to 80mm.

He picked up the receiver, “Our 76mm gun can’t penetrate the enemy’s front, charge and engage in close combat! Strike the sides of the enemy tank! If all else fails, ram them!”

At this moment, several Panzer IVs on the battlefield stopped moving, but even more T34Ws were on fire.

Judging solely by the burning tanks, the exchange rate between the sides was roughly three to one.

Over the radio, Prosen tankers could be heard shouting, “The Iron Cross is within reach!”

Semyon couldn’t understand Prosenese, he could only watch, heart in agony, as his soldiers kept dying.

The hand gripping the receiver turned white at the knuckles.

Finally, he said word by word, “Davarish! See you at the Martyrs’ Cemetery! Advance!”

His tank roared and charged toward the Panzer IV directly ahead.

That Panzer IV was adorned with a Prosen army flag on top, clearly the enemy’s command tank.

Semyon’s tank had barely made it 50 meters when the Prosens opened fire.

The T34W was hit and exploded into an orange-red bloom.