Cannon Fire Arc

Chapter 313: Chapter 2: The "Inferior Student" of the Military Academy

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Wang Zhong here.

As soon as he exited the Summer Palace, he saw Grigori leaning against a jeep with a captured submachine gun in his arms—that must be his ride in the capital.

Ever since yesterday's victory parade, Wang Zhong hadn't wanted to ride a horse.

Just thinking about horseback riding made his buttocks phantom-ache.

Wang Zhong, holding his briefcase, walked towards Grigori, and only after taking a few steps did he notice a car filled with Judges parked in front of his own vehicle.

Well then, in the future, there would always be Judges following him wherever he went in Ye Fort.

Though it was indeed safe, wouldn't it frighten the common people?

He approached Grigori and glanced at the driver, asking, "This driver is..."

Grigori responded, "Assigned by the court etiquette department, the Judges said he's not a problem."

Great, they even began to compete over who has control over his personal security forces.

Wang Zhong shook his head, deciding not to meddle in these affairs, focusing solely on contending with the Prussians.

He got in the car and said to the driver, "Go to the Suvorov Military Academy."

The driver nodded.

The car filled with Judges heard and started first.

Grigori seated himself in the co-driver's seat and the vehicle started moving before he even closed the door, directly following the Judges' car.

One car after another left the Summer Palace, driving along Officers Street—most of the officers working at the High Command lived on this street.

Wang Zhong observed the sides of the street and could clearly see that the number of guards was more than before the state funeral. In addition to the guards, there were Guardian Army troops, each group distinctly separated across the street, facing each other.

Of course, this might be because the enemy had just been repelled from near Ye Fort.

Wang Zhong asked the driver, "How long will it take to reach the Military Academy?"

The driver replied, "Given the current traffic conditions, we'll get there in half an hour. After all, it's impossible to encounter traffic jams now, and the cars on the road will give way to us."

Wang Zhong nodded, leaned back in his seat, and started to rest with his eyes closed, but in reality, he was thinking about the future.

If everything on Earth was similar, next March the enemy would have the Panzer IV F2. But on Earth, the Sturmtiger wasn't really provided to the old Armored Divisions on the Eastern Front after the Panzer IV F2 came out. Instead, the organization size of the old Armored Divisions was reduced, with some even downsized to just one Armored Battalion, with the rest becoming Grenadier Battalions.

A few Panzer IV F2s were sent to the Eastern Front, and they all played a significant role.

Whereas a large number of Panzer IV F2s were used to reequip three Armored Divisions resting on the Western Front and to form new Armored Divisions and Battalions.

The Panzer IV F2's defense didn't increase much. The main change was the use of a long-barreled 75mm gun, which suddenly improved its armor-piercing capability.

Then the Prussian Armored Troops, relying on their high quality, contended with the T34 using their existing equipment—the second year the overall quality of Prussian Armored Troops decreased somewhat, but they still overpowered the Soviet armored forces.

It wasn't until September that the Tiger King began to appear on the battlefield.

Wang Zhong, having read many memoirs of old Prussian soldiers, knew that the true strength of the Tiger King was completely different from its portrayal in various movies and TV shows.

Such works always highlighted the Tiger King's strong armor defense.

But in reality, the real power of the Tiger King lay first in its firepower, and second in the people who operated it.

On Earth, the Tiger Kings on the Eastern Front could go on a rampage. Most of the time, the armor wasn't necessary. Instead, a pair of Tiger Kings at distances over 1000 meters scored first-hit, first-kill, and then they just pumped out around 20 kills of T34s, directly crippling the attacking tank brigade to the point where it had to withdraw.

And usually by then, the T34s wouldn't even have spotted the Tiger Kings.

Because the elite Tank Operators always carefully surveyed the terrain, picked good positions, and were very concealed.

This was like playing a game where veterans enter low-level rooms to dominate, hiding in all sorts of tricky spots to decimate new players until they run out of ammunition, achieving astonishing kill-death ratios (K/D).

Moreover, the Tiger King's 88mm gun was truly powerful. Looking at the combat cases against the Tiger King, the T34s that got farmed basically were all destroyed, and ninety percent of them caught fire and burned.

This was something Wang Zhong had experienced firsthand in combat, and his understanding was profound. With tank guns, in most cases, you couldn't tell if you had destroyed the enemy.

Normally, you'd keep firing until the target caught fire or crew bailed out, and only then you'd switch targets.

It was only Wang Zhong, who was like a cheater in that respect, as he could tell at a glance the effect of the attack, directing the Gunner to switch targets instantly.

With the Tiger King's 88mm gun, ninety percent of the time a hit would set the enemy on fire or even cause the ammunition to explode. This allowed the Tiger King to switch targets quickly, greatly increasing kill efficiency.

So, the Tiger King's prowess was mostly due to the strength of its 88mm at-all-ranges gun.

The Tiger King could actually be called an "88mm gun armored transport."

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On Earth, the tactics employed both on the Eastern and Western Fronts to counter the Tiger King were not to destroy it directly, but rather to disrupt Prosen's logistics, breaking down forces that didn't receive Tiger King support and gradually eroding the front lines.

Even someone jokingly said that the Soviet method of dealing with the Tiger King was to deplete its Armor-Piercing Shells with T34 numbers, forcing the Tiger King to retreat.

Wang Zhong didn't want such a thing to happen in Ante.

Therefore, a tit-for-tat approach was necessary. They needed a vehicle capable of destroying the Tiger King at long ranges and then to entrust these to the most elite tank operators.

These vehicles should be modeled after Prosen's heavy-armored Tiger King companies, organized independently into companies, complete with ample support troops and logistics, ready to be dispatched wherever a Tiger King appeared.

If you use the Tiger King as a fire brigade, I will specially form a Tiger-hunting team.

The question then was, in Ante's arsenal, which weapon could precisely hit a Tiger King at 1500 meters and guarantee a first-hit kill?

Wang Zhong, considering the knowledge he had brought from Earth, thought for a moment; it seemed there truly wasn't one, especially with the stipulation of 1500 meters.

At 1000 meters, there were indeed weapons capable of penetration, but they required specific entry angles.

In some more realistic World War II games, when facing the Tiger and Tiger King, Wang Zhong typically used 152mm high-explosive shells to stun the crew and capture the equipment.

But obviously, that was not practical in reality.

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Moreover, Tiger tanks mostly did not act alone; they were always coordinated with other units.

"Tiger King" Carius emphasized in his memoirs that it was crucial to maintain a good relationship with the accompanying infantry and to cooperate with them in combat.

Wang Zhong was pondering over his grand strategy to defeat the Tiger tanks when suddenly the vehicle came to a stop. The driver turned around and said, "General, we have arrived."

Only then did Wang Zhong notice that the car had stopped in front of a grand building. To the right was the staircase leading to the main entrance, and to the left stood a statue of a general from over a hundred years ago mounted on a majestic horse.

The statue was presumably of Suvorov.

As he continued to look at the statue, a group of people in military uniforms emerged from the building's main entrance, squeezing out smiles as they walked towards the car.

Wang Zhong knew that they must be professors from the Suvorov Military Academy.

He got out of the car, waiting for the group of professors to approach him.

The leading professor reached Wang Zhong and immediately extended his hand, "We have been waiting for you for a long time, General Rokossovsky!"

Wang Zhong didn't actually recognize any of these people and had to rely on an "external helper" to see their names and titles. The one greeting him now was named Valery Nikolayevich, a professor who taught infantry tactics, and also the vice principal.

Wang Zhong shook his hand, "Professor Valery, I still remember your comments about me."

The professor's hand trembled slightly, "This... "

Wang Zhong immediately confirmed that this guy had criticized him in the past, otherwise he wouldn't be scared like this!

However, since he didn't remember which of the professors had taught what, and he wasn't sure which one to dismiss, Wang Zhong made up for it by saying, "Your teachings have benefited me greatly!"

Huh? Why does it sound even more sarcastic?

Hopefully, the professor wouldn't drop dead like the character in Chekhov's short story "The Death of a Government Clerk."

Forget it, if he dies from this, it shows he has a guilty conscience.

Wang Zhong, "I'm new here and not familiar with the academy's situation. Introduce me to everything."

Professor Valery immediately responded, "Of course, of course, we are here to give you a tour of the campus. The heads of each subject are all here, and we will make sure you get a complete and clear understanding of the school. Let's start by showing you around."

Wang Zhong, "Good, lead the way."

Valery then turned and pointed at the building behind him, "This is our school's comprehensive teaching building, which houses the school's main lecture halls and most of the theoretical classrooms—"

Wang Zhong, "How come I can't hear any students?"

Valery, "Because the war has broken out, aside from allowing the students in the two grades closest to graduation to graduate early, the school has also rearranged the curriculum of the other grades and reduced the theory classes. Now, most of the students are in the war-gaming building, conducting war games to understand the Prosen tactics as quickly as possible."

Wang Zhong became interested, "Good, take me to see them."

Professor Valery looked slightly embarrassed, "Not going to take a look here?"

Wang Zhong, "We'll talk about that later. I want to see what the students are up to."

"Alright, this way please..."

As he spoke, Wang Zhong saw a dozen trucks full of military officers enter the school, circle around the fountain, and stop between the statue of Suvorov and the building.

Only then did Wang Zhong notice that the officers on the trucks were all young lieutenants and majors, with very few lieutenant colonels.

"What are these?" he asked Valery.

Valery, "You don't know? The Military Orders Department instructed all officers recovering from injuries who are about to return to their units to attend a two-month training course here."

Wang Zhong, "What course?"

Valery looked at Wang Zhong with a puzzled face, "The Military Orders Department said you would personally teach the course."

What the hell? I wasn't told I would have to teach personally, was I?

Wait, there was something like a knowledge-sharing session before, but those who came were generals, at least colonels.

This time they've setup a low-end version?

And they came in more than a dozen trucks?

There must be a few hundred people at least, right?

But the catch is, Wang Zhong hadn't planned what to teach; all he had been thinking about was how to fight the Tigers.

At that moment, the excited cadets started to notice Wang Zhong. Someone asked, "Excuse me, are you Principal Rokossovsky?"

Wang Zhong, "Yes, I am Rokossovsky."

After responding, he felt there was something missing, so he added, "Hello, students!"

As a result, the officers who were whispering among themselves all looked his way.

"Could it be General Rokossovsky?"

"I heard he was going to be the principal of the Suvorov Military Academy!"

"He's become the principal even though he was last in the class!"

When the remark about being last came up, Wang Zhong noticed Valery's eye twitch slightly, revealing obvious distress.

Wang Zhong, "Students!"

Having commanded tens of thousands of troops before, his voice was absolutely loud enough.

The officers all fell silent.

Wang Zhong, "You are here to attend a temporary training program, and technically, I should be instructing you. However, I have not yet decided what to teach. I assure you that I will figure it out by tomorrow! For today, feel free to mingle and share with the cadets your experiences at the front and what war is all about, consider it a favor to me!"