Cannon Fire Arc

October 25th, early morning, on the west bank of the Valdai Hills River, position of the 240th Prosen Artillery Battalion.

This was a new position, the old position of the 240th Artillery Battalion had been unexpectedly discovered by the Anteans two days ago, and they shelled it from across the river, destroying six of the twelve 150mm heavy cannons and a large amount of ammunition.

The good news was that at the time, most personnel were in bomb shelters, so there were not many casualties.

The artillery battalion's trailers had also gone to transport ammunition and, restricted by the mud on the main road on the day of the bombardment, narrowly escaped.

After the bombardment, the artillerymen had used manpower to move the remaining cannons to the new position and camouflaged them overnight.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook of the 240th Artillery Battalion couldn't understand how his previously well-camouflaged position had been discovered, as Antean reconnaissance planes had flown over several times without spotting it.

Even more bizarre was that on that day, all Prosen artillery positions and observation posts on the western bank of the Valdai Hills River came under bombardment from the opposite bank, disrupting Prosen's control of the river for two days.

The Anteans took this opportunity to establish a beachhead on the western bank and, it was said, even built a pontoon bridge.

Yesterday at midnight, a rear operations company came to the 240th Battalion's position, claiming to be an infantry unit hastily transferred by the Sixth Army Group to prevent a ground attack by the Anteans on the artillery position.

This rear division—or what might be called the National Guard Division—was poorly equipped, with a company managing to muster only ten submachine guns and not every squad having a machine gun.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook took one look and knew these "infantrymen" were no match for regular Antean soldiers—they could maybe handle guerrillas.

If they encountered those Antean Imperial Guards wearing capes, such a force would likely collapse on first contact.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook felt that the only thing that could save his troops now was a retreat order.

The Antean landing field was less than fifteen kilometers from his position; even marching infantry should have arrived by now.

What is the Army Group Headquarters doing!

Due to his anxiety, Lieutenant Colonel Hook had suffered from insomnia the previous night and had barely managed to sleep for a while just before dawn. As soon as daylight broke through the clouds, he left the shelter to patrol the position.

The remaining six heavy cannons were lined up at the position, hastily covered with camouflage nets, while the artillerymen were still digging anti-bombing pits, the excavated soil piling up like small hills, looking very much like a mass of excrement after the rain.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook stopped and asked the digging subordinates, "What time was the shift change this morning?"

"Report, Colonel, there was no shift change," the leading master sergent stopped, planted his sapper shovel in the ground, and rested his hands on it, "Everyone's been working since bomb shelters protect our own lives, who knows when the Anteans will shell us again. Their commander is that Rocossov, who likes surprise bombings."

Lieutenant Colonel Hook was just about to respond when he suddenly stopped, perplexed, looking into the distance.

"Colonel?" the master sergeant asked, confused.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook whispered, "Do you hear that? Sounds like the engine of a tank."

The master sergeant paused, listened for a few seconds, then turned to shout at his subordinates digging the pit, "Stop digging, be quiet!"

The sounds of shovels and chattering promptly disappeared, revealing the true sound of the tank's engines.

And they were getting louder.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook immediately shouted, "Enemy tanks approaching! Battle alert! Enemy tanks are approaching!"

The master sergeant and the artillerymen also started shouting, and soon the whole position was reverberating with the cries of "Arau."

Because the Anteans were right in front, Lieutenant Colonel Hook and the other Prosen officers assumed there would be no more shelling, so he ordered all troops into their positions.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook also ran to the frontline observation post to get a clear view of the enemy firsthand.

He pushed aside the observer in front of the artillery mirror and put his eyes to the eyepiece.

He saw the enemy's tanks in line formation, each tank also carrying four or five infantry, making the tanks appear larger.

Being an artillery officer, Lieutenant Colonel Hook quickly calculated the distance of the tanks through the readings of the artillery mirror: three kilometers away!

Hook fixated on the approaching tank forces.

When it was two kilometers away, Antean infantry began jumping off and advancing behind the tanks.

Clearly, the enemy had known about the 240th Artillery Battalion's new position for some time. This puzzled Hook—how did they know? We had camouflaged overnight, after all!

No, even if it was discovered yesterday, it was too late to organize an attack.

This was very strange.

Just as he was wondering, a howl came from the sky.

Damn, there was more shelling!

Lieutenant Colonel Hook yelled, "Take cover!"

The sound of cannon shells had barely ceased when the ground began to shake.

This barrage was very brief; Hook, relying on his training as an artillery officer, estimated that around 20 heavy artillery shells and several 76mm high-explosive shells had fallen.

He got up and, while dusting the dirt off his body, shouted, "Hold steady! Report casualties!"

Then he heard someone yelling, "Commander! The guards are running away!"

"What?"

Hook rushed out of the observation post and indeed saw a large group of guards fleeing the trenches without looking back.

He even saw some artillerymen mixed with the guards, running away as well.

The lieutenant colonel burst out of the trench, grabbed a guard, and threw him back into the trench: "You're mad! Running like that makes it easier to get hit by bullets! It's safer to stay in the trenches!"

At that moment, Ante's tanks opened fire, tracer bullets streaked over the trench and other low-fired bullets hit the unprocessed dirt, hissing loudly.

Suddenly, Lieutenant Colonel Hook stopped; blood flowed from his cap, covering half his eye and nose, then his mouth, and finally dropped from his chin, landing on the deserter's face.

The deserter screamed, pushed Lieutenant Colonel Hook away, and dashed out of the trench, frantically running backwards, only to be caught up by tracer bullets, which blossomed with seven or eight blood flowers on his back before he fell forward to the ground, sliding a little further.

Lieutenant Colonel Hook leaned against the rear wall of the trench, his body slowly slid down, finally resting on his side within the trench.

The sound of tank engines grew louder, and finally, a T34's wide tracks crossed the trench, mud continuously falling and sticking on Lieutenant Colonel Hook's face.

The tank that crossed the trench charged toward the heavy artillery on the position, colliding with hastily erected breastworks, and hit the barrel of the cannon, slowly but firmly deforming its carriage, the long barrel now pointing skyward.

After confirming the cannon was destroyed, the tank reversed two meters, then bypassed it.

At this moment, Ante soldiers slid into the trench, speaking in Antenese, "Damn, why is this trench so shallow? Do the Prosens handle shoddy work like this too?"

An officer who slid in moments later yelled, "Prosens are humans too, judging by the traces we've seen, they just moved from the old position yesterday and didn't have time to dig deep. Check for documents or someone who looks like a high-ranking official, we might find the enemy's deployment maps! We need their maps!"

It turned out that the Anteans were following traces left by the Prosens as they changed positions.

Although Lieutenant Colonel Hook was lying nearby, he could no longer hear this answer.

---

Prosen Army Sixth Army Group Headquarters.

Commander General William Frederick frowned, observing the new red arrows appearing on the map.

The chief of staff beside him said, "This is Rocossov's response, he's determined to cut off our logistics."

General Frederick shook his head, "Not necessarily, maybe he just wants to clear the threat on the West Bank, restore shipping. There's still a month's navigation time on the Valdai Hills River, less than a month.

"He plans to ship reinforcements to Abawahan by ferry as much as possible."

General Frederick's gaze shifted to the large gray city area on the far right of the map.

"We're now less than fifty kilometers from the coastline; soon we will be able to water our horses by the Inland Sea like we did the Atlantic two years ago, though the sea water is undrinkable."

Staff members appropriately chuckled.

"I'm not joking!" General Frederick scolded, "This is our final trial, as well as the Empire's final trial! Once we cross it, no one in Europa can stop the Empire anymore. We will accomplish what the Conqueror of yore didn't complete."

General Frederick turned to the people, "The final trial! Understand? Trial!"

At this moment, a communications officer ran into the headquarters with a serious expression, handing a clipboard to the Army Group chief of staff.

The chief of staff was just about to read it when General Frederick strode over, took the clipboard, and read aloud, "The Central Army Group is under heavy enemy fire, and the enemy has launched attacks along the entire line."

General Frederick frowned, "An attack now? It's hard not to suspect it's a feint by the enemy Western Front Army to reduce pressure towards Abawahan."

The chief of staff said, "Could this reduce the reinforcements sent to us?"

"Impossible! The Emperor can prioritize. We just need to trust His Majesty. What we need to deal with now is Rocossov's counterattack!"

General Frederick picked up a baton, tapping the new red arrows.

"Since the Anteans are counter-attacking with armored troops, we'll respond with armored troops! The 41st Armored Army should still have an Armored Division uncommitted?"

"Yes, the fifth Asgard Knights Armored Division of the 41st Armored Army is currently reserved as the Army Group's reserve force, with no combat operations," the chief of staff immediately reported.

General Frederick commanded, "Let them engage in the counterattack! Now, immediately."

The chief of staff looked uncomfortable, "General, the mud favors Ante's wide tracks; our Mark III and IV tanks struggle in these conditions. I suggest deploying the Anti-Air Artillery Corps and establishing a defensive line here."

General Frederick retorted, "If tank troops can't move, how could the Anti-Air Artillery Corps' trucks? Impossible! The trucks definitely can't move either. Order the tank troops to counterattack! Destroy Ante's armored spearhead!"