Cannon Fire Arc

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Bidding farewell to the children he had encountered by chance, Wang Zhong let Bucephalus take a leisurely jog through the town.

Yeisk was now filled with tanks, and flashes of welding could be seen everywhere on the streets.

In the past, Wang Zhong dared not station a large number of troops in town out of fear of artillery strikes, but now that the Prosen 190th Division had been driven off, there were no more Prosen artillery units within range of Yeisk.

So Wang Zhong ordered the units that had suffered heavy losses to be pulled back for rest and reorganization, and he also moved the tank repair factory, originally located outside the town and housed in tents, into the town itself.

All tanks of the 40th Tank Army with mechanical issues were also brought into the town for repairs.

As everyone saw Wang Zhong riding over on a tall and majestic horse, they put down their work and saluted him.

Once Wang Zhong had passed by, you could hear people muttering behind his back, "See that? That's Rocossov!"

"Fighting under his name, we're finally going to win!"

"Indeed, before, we were fighting worthless battles, chased around by the Prussians."

"On our way here, we even saw trucks transporting prisoners; it was so satisfying."

Wang Zhong treated all these comments as though they were just compliments of flattery, feeling secretly pleased, when Vasily said, "General, your presence alone boosts morale. Priests like Popov are going to be out of a job!"

"Don't stir up trouble between the three of us commanders," Wang Zhong glanced at Vasily, "The bishop's team of priests is indispensable. Soldiers' morale can't rely solely on blind adoration for their commander—that's too dangerous."

Vasily replied, "Alright, alright, I get it."

At that moment, the roar of an engine came from up the street. Wang Zhong looked up, quickly shifted his gaze, and saw a tractor towing a broken tank into what was now serving as the tank repair yard.

That roaring sound came from the tractor's engine.

Several tanks were already in the yard, almost all of them with their engines dismantled.

General Wang switched back and said to Vasily and Grigori, "Let's go check out the repair yard."

Vasily asked in surprise, "How did you know there was a repair yard up ahead?"

Wang Zhong smiled faintly, "Most tanks are currently undergoing maintenance and wouldn't start their engines. Such a loud roaring sound must be a recovery unit's tractor. Hence, I deduced that there must be a repair yard ahead."

Vasily had an epiphany, "Oh, brilliant."

Wang Zhong spurred his horse forward, turned the intersection, and saw another tractor hauling a T34 into the repair shop.

There was a line of T34s parked at the entrance, all being repaired.
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Unlike Prosen, Ante didn't have a welder for every armored platoon; tanks requiring weld repairs had to be handled by specialized repair camps.

Along the entire road in front of the repair shop were sparks from welding, the air filled with the smell of ozone produced by the welding.

Seeing Wang Zhong approaching, everyone, as usual, stood to salute, but Wang Zhong preemptively said, "Alright, no need to salute, carry on with your work! That's what's most important right now."

With that, everyone squatted back down and continued with their tasks.

A clerk holding a clipboard approached Wang Zhong and reported loudly, "General, during the day we completed minor repairs on 10 tanks. There are another eleven tanks in the yard undergoing engine replacements, and we expect to complete their repairs by tomorrow evening.

"Additionally, the recovery units are still continuously towing back tanks. We are starting to run short on maintenance personnel, so for now, we can only repair vehicles with minor issues first."

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Wang Zhong nodded. "Alright, you've worked hard. May I come into the yard for a look?"

"Of course, you are the commander. There's nowhere in Yeisk you can't go. Please, come in! However, the space inside is limited, so you'll need to dismount."

Wang Zhong swung off his horse, tied the reins to a hydrant next to the gate, and then walked into the yard.

In fact, from an overhead view, he had already more or less understood the situation inside. Now, by walking around, he aimed to let those at the repair site feel the concern of the Army Group Command and boost work efficiency.

He came beside a tank whose engine had been hoisted out and craned his neck to look into the cavity left by the engine.

Just by looking at the welding in the engine bay, it was clear that whoever produced this tank was a complete novice. The welds were twisted and contorted with many protrusions.

Seeing these welds, Wang Zhong suddenly worried about the tank's armor protection, so he walked around to the front to examine the tank's mantlet.

It was a complete mess. Even someone like Wang Zhong, who knew nothing about welding, could tell from the welding on the mantlet and the entire front half of the turret that the strength of these parts was definitely subpar.

It seemed this batch of T34s, whether in reliability or protection ability, was thoroughly inadequate.

Meanwhile, the Prussians had already begun mass-producing the long-barreled Mark IV tank, and the upgrade of the Mark III with the long 50 cannon was probably not far behind. The Prussian Armored Troops would likely gain another impressive set of combat achievements.

As the chairman of the new Equipment Review Committee, Wang Zhong was burning with anxiety. He had to quickly churn out better, qualified tanks. Otherwise, Ante's Armored Troops would simply be sent to their deaths in vain, unable to build up combat experience or train many elite tank crews.

With such thoughts in mind, Wang Zhong turned to the mechanic working on the engine. "Has the problem with the engine been identified?"

"We've identified the issue with this one." The mechanic shook his head. "We originally thought it was a specific component that was always problematic, but until now, after disassembling ten engines, each one had a different issue. This is terrifying; it indicates there's a manufacturing problem at the factory."

If it were a specific component malfunctioning, that would allow them to pinpoint the precise production stage and then address the issue.

But now, with no way to even begin resolving the widespread problems, they would have to endure poor quality for a considerable time to come.

Wang Zhong patted the mechanic's shoulder. "You've been working hard, master. Do as much fixing as you can. The more tanks we can deploy during the attack, the greater our chances of winning."

"Rest assured," the mechanic replied with a smile to Wang Zhong, "You place such high value on us; of course, we won't let you down, Your Excellency the General."

Wang Zhong nodded, withdrew his hand from the mechanic's shoulder, and paced through the yard heavy with the scent of engine oil.

The state of the dismantled tank engines was visibly poor, as the mechanics sweated profusely working on them.

After making a round, Wang Zhong felt overwhelming concern about the attack on the 21st.

But the decision to attack had been made, and it could not be lightly modified—changes from day to night could affect troop morale, as well as their trust in the commander.

A troop doubting its commander would definitely not be able to fulfill the commander's intent.

So all they could do on the 21st was to try and see how the attack would pan out. The good news was that the Infantry Division from Prosen currently stationed in the area had trouble constructing especially sturdy bunkers; with a good shelling from the artillery, even if the condition of the tanks was not ideal, it shouldn't pose a problem.

Wang Zhong took a deep breath, looking up at the fiery clouds in the sky.

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July 21, noon.

Pavlov glanced at his watch, then at Wang Zhong, and picked up the phone. "Connect to artillery command. Fire."

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