Arc of Fire

Everyone tensed up at the sound of the engine.

But someone immediately shouted, “It’s our tank!”

Only then did Wang Zhong remember that he had seen a train enter the station just now; according to what Pavlov had said before, this should be the supply train arranged by the Crown Prince, which also included some items he managed to secure.

Wang Zhong had only heard of what the Crown Prince was like, but he was quite certain that as Minister of Logistics, the Crown Prince was quite competent.

He just didn’t know if the source of the strong engine noise at this moment was the T35, that imposing beast.

If that was all they could use, then so be it.

Embracing this thought, Wang Zhong looked towards the direction of the train station, only to see the “dream vehicle” he had mentioned countless times appear at the end of the street.

The tanks he had commanded in this world were the T28 with its thin armor and generous firepower, with only the cannon being quite decent.

The KV1 had reliable armor and cannon but was astonishingly slow and prone to breakdowns.

Was there a tank that was fast, reliable, durable, had a fierce cannon, and decent protection?

Yes, the infamous T34 tank.

Inheriting the high speed of the BT series, the powerful firepower of the 76mm tank gun, and the effective defense provided by the 30-ton weight class and sloped armor, it was the tank with the best overall performance on the Eastern Front at the start of the war!

The T34 tank—the one Wang Zhong had been longing for!

However, after the recent fierce battle, Wang Zhong’s passion for this type of tank was not as high as before.

Because he remembered one thing: the T34, with its design philosophy inherited from the BT series, required the commander to also act as the gunner.

The Soviet designers initially didn’t see the need for a “do-nothing” commander.

The ace of the Sturmtiger, Otto Carius, kept complaining in his memoirs about the reluctance of Soviet tank commanders to stick their heads out for reconnaissance, leading to the T34’s poor situational awareness on the battlefield. It was common for an entire platoon to be wiped out by a single Tiger before even locating it.

However, the reluctance of Soviet commanders to stick their heads out in the early days wasn’t out of cowardice but because once they did, there was no one left to fire the cannon; they would have to stay inside the tank and use the gunner’s sight for observation.

In contrast, the M4 Sherman tanks provided to the Soviets under the Lend-Lease Act had a five-man crew with a dedicated commander, which is why the M4s participating in the same battle suffered far fewer losses than the T34s.

The Soviets themselves had also noticed these problems, having used M4s and seen what German tanks looked like and how they operated in battle.

But since the T34’s design was what it was and couldn’t be significantly modified, they could only keep their heads down and continue producing tanks without commanders to first stabilize the frontline.

It wasn’t until 1943, when the significantly redesigned T34-85 was developed, that the designers finally added the commander back and admitted that designing the commander to double as the gunner was a foolish idea.

By then, however, the Soviets had already paid a heavy price for this foolish design.

Wang Zhong was actually aware of this before, but his knowledge came from books, without hands-on experience, so he had overlooked it.

Today’s experience in the BT7 brought all this back to him at once.

What was more fatal was that the design requiring the commander to also be the gunner directly prevented Wang Zhong from replicating his achievements at Peniye—after all, he had never received training as a gunner, and even with a top-down viewing angle to gauge the enemy’s distance, he didn’t know how to adjust the gunsight.

However, the T34 that appeared in Wang Zhong’s field of vision looked a bit strange.

This T34 had a big head, looking more like the later T34-85, but its main gun was relatively short and thick, not nearly as sleek and beautiful as the 85mm gun equipped on the T34-85.

The gun looked exactly like the 76mm cannon from the KV1.

The oddly shaped tank drove straight towards Wang Zhong, and that’s when he noticed that the man standing on the rear engine deck of the tank was Sergeant Major Grigori.

Under the guidance of the Sergeant Major, the tank stopped directly in front of Wang Zhong.

Grigori hopped off the tank and saluted Wang Zhong, “General, I have brought reinforcements!”

Wang Zhong nodded, “You’ve done well!”

Meanwhile, the tank commander also jumped down, a Warrant Officer. After saluting Wang Zhong, the Warrant Officer said loudly, “Alexander Yefimovich sends his regards, General!”

Wang Zhong briefly returned the salute and then asked, “Are you the commander of this vehicle?”

“Yes, General!”

Wang Zhong: “How many crew members does your vehicle have?”

“Four, a driver, a machinist, a loader, and myself!”

Wang Zhong harbored a glimmer of hope, given that the T34 looked a bit off, but it turned out to be a four-man crew; he would have to replace the machinist if he wanted to join in.

After all, while the machinist’s title suggested work on the vehicle’s machinery, his main job was actually to man the hull machine gun; it wouldn’t be wrong to call him a machine gunner.

Alexander frowned slightly, “Why do you seem a bit disappointed?”

Wang Zhong: “It’s nothing. How many T34s do you have in total?”

At this time, Wang Zhong’s thought was that since he couldn’t personally command a tank to dominate the battlefield alone, he should find a way to make full use of this kind of technical equipment that could steamroll over the enemy in terms of tactics.

Alexander: “We have 25, but this one is different from the other tanks.”

“Oh?” Wang Zhong was intrigued, “How is it different exactly?”

“As you can see, this is a noble’s parade tank, designed for the playboys—oh no, wrong, for the pillars of the Ante Empire to experience driving tanks.”

Wang Zhong was stunned: “What?”

Alexander spread his hands: “To get new tank designs approved, we have to build these parade tanks. The bigwigs ride in them, like them, and the approval process speeds up.”

Wang Zhong was shocked: “Is it that corrupt?”

Alexander: “I didn’t say that! You did! Don’t worry, I will never rat you out to the Tribunal if they ask!”

Wang Zhong: “So, this parade tank, does it differ from ordinary tanks in any other way?”

“Ah, there are plenty of differences, like it has a speed limiter added so it won’t go too fast and won’t jolt around too much…”

“Remove it,” Wang Zhong stated decisively. “Now, immediately remove it.”

Just kidding, how could he snag the best sniping spots and take on the role of old sixth if he couldn’t speed?

Alexander: “It’s simple to remove, as it’s just a modification in the gearbox to restrict the gears. Beliyakov, the general wants you to remove the speed limiter! Hurry!”

Then a tall, lean sergeant crawled out of the iconic driver’s observation port of the T34, circled around the turret, and began to fetch the toolbox strapped to the back of the turret.

Wang Zhong: “Anything else different?”

“Anything else? As you’ve seen, our tank turrets are quite big, that’s because there’s an additional seat installed for the lords to enjoy life, with an excellent view, letting the lords enjoy the sensation of the wind through their hair.”

…Ah, I see!

It took quite an effort for Wang Zhong to contain his ecstasy. Initially, he thought he could only command heavy tanks with commanders like the KV in the future, but he didn’t expect that in this timeline there would be something like a noble’s parade tank!

Alexander continued: “Also, next to the lord’s seat, there’s a small box containing champagne.”

Wang Zhong, still in the midst of his glee, was taken aback: “Champagne?”

“Yes, champagne. Do you want to swap it for vodka?”

Wang Zhong shook his head: “No, no, no.”

He suddenly thought of the embarrassment of facing the enemy with just a pistol today and said: “Can it be converted into a personal belongings box? I want to put some life gadgets, like grenades or submachine guns.”

“Possible, all possible,” Alexander assured him, patting his chest. “As long as you don’t want to dismantle the parade seating, everything else can be modified. However, if you want to use the parade seat, we need to clear the clutter piled on it first.”

Good lord, these guys had been using the extra turret space as a storage for clutter!

Alexander cautiously asked: “You want to use this parade seat, correct?”

“Correct,” Wang Zhong nodded.

Alexander: “You will personally lead us in the charge into battle, right?”

“Right. How did you know?”

Alexander glanced back at the driver who was dismantling the gearbox, then replied: “The Crown Prince said you might want to do this, so he especially had us come drive this parade tank.”

Wang Zhong: “Only had you come drive it? You weren’t originally driving this one?”

“No, we are instructors from the Armored Troops teaching squad, hand-picked by the Crown Prince, said to provide his good brother with the best personnel.” Alexander shrugged. “Of course, it might also be because the original crew responsible for this tank were drunkards without proper form, as they were all connected individuals; they just needed to maintain a neat military appearance when the lords came for inspections.”

After hearing all this, Wang Zhong seriously asked one question: “The Crown Prince… Are they male or female?”

Alexander was taken aback: “Male, why do you ask?”

Actually, the Ante language clearly distinguishes between male and female. Not to mention names, many names themselves change form based on gender.

The term Crown Prince itself could not possibly be feminine, although the Ante Empire had a history of very powerful empresses, and the capital is still named after such an empress.

Yet, so far, the Crown Prince had behaved too much like a good wife and wise mother. Wang Zhong, steeped in the culture of the second dimension for many years, always had the feeling that a good brother was about to tear off the chest wrap and reveal a feminine side.

Wang Zhong waved his hand, deciding to deal with this matter later. After all, he was bound to meet the Crown Prince someday, and he could simply confirm it then.

Wang Zhong: “How long will it take to remove the speed limiter? The enemy is attacking now, and we need to strike immediately.”

“Very quickly,” Alexander answered.

Wang Zhong nodded: “Okay, then give this tank a new tactical number. Paint it 422, and hang this flag on the communication antenna.”

He displayed the blood-stained red flag as he spoke.