Cannon Fire Arc

Heavy rain, coupled with artillery fire, Brigadier Aromeyev could hardly hear or see anything.

Once the artillery fire ceased, he immediately shouted, “With such artillery fire from the enemy, the infantry might have already sneaked up! Prepare for combat!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than gunshots rang out from the west.

It was the sound of Papasha firing, accompanied by loud shouting.

This was followed by the sound of grenade explosions.

Brigadier Aromeyev immediately understood, “The enemy is here! They advanced to our position, risking being hit by their own artillery! Prepare for hand-to-hand combat and protect Whirlwind at all costs!”

At that moment, gunfire erupted from all directions, and it was evident that the Prosens had deployed many troops, already reaching every position in the Nameless Highlands.

Brigadier Aromeyev picked up the Papasha beside the bunker, checked the chamber to ensure not too much sand had entered, reinserted the magazine, and charged it: “Everyone get ready, our Naval Infantry has never feared hand-to-hand combat, never!”

————

Master Sergeant Hans crawled forward on the ground with his submachine gun.

Artillery shells from his own forces continuously flew over his head, landing on the hilltop more than a hundred meters ahead.

He heard the Private Second Class beside him complaining, “What if it hits us by mistake?”

The Master Sergeant said, “If you want to survive on the battlefield, don’t worry about such things. The more you worry, the more likely it is to happen. Keep your head down and crawl forward. Get close to the position, throw a grenade to clear the trench, then move to the next.”

The Private Second Class shut up and continued to crawl silently.

The group quickly approached the trench, and finally, the leading Lieutenant ordered the whole team to stop.

They were right in front of the actual artillery fire zone; any further and they would indeed be blown to bits by friendly fire.

Soon the order to rest in place came down.

Master Sergeant Hans sighed in relief and looked back at the Private Second Class.

Although he couldn’t see the recruit’s face, he instinctively felt his anxiety and added, “Calm down. The Antean soldiers in the positions are just as green as you. Plus, you’ve trained for six months, fired thousands of rounds, and worked in the Labor Camp for half a year. Antean recruits only have three months of training and have fired about fifty rounds!”

Private Second Class: “I’ve heard about that, and heard that Ante, as defenders, suffer more casualties than us attackers.”

Master Sergeant Hans nodded, “That’s exactly it. These greenhorns probably panic at the sight of grenades, just blasting them all dead. Then we take advantage of the chaos to charge, remember when encountering Anteans always shout first. Recruits panic when they hear shouting. I’ve figured this out after killing countless Antean recruits.”

“Shout loudly, got it,” the Private Second Class took a deep breath.

At that moment, the artillery shells that had been whistling overhead suddenly disappeared.

The explosion sounds ahead also faded away, and suddenly everything around was quiet, with only the sound of rain drizzling incessantly.

The silence lasted less than three seconds, a new order came down: “Crawl forward quickly, the enemy is 50 meters ahead!”

“Here we go!” Master Sergeant Hans took out a hand grenade, bit it in his mouth, then started to crawl rapidly.

He could hear the Private Second Class’s panting, clearly, the recruit was not performing well in the rapid crawling drills, getting out of breath after a while.

Suddenly, gunshots rang out from the west.

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The Master Sergeant just glanced towards the west, then continued moving forward.

The Private Second Class behind him stopped and stared blankly towards the west.

Hearing that the recruit’s breathing wasn’t following him, the Master Sergeant immediately turned around and kicked the recruit’s arm, making a “tsk tsk” sound—he couldn’t speak as he was biting the grenade.

Luckily, the Private Second Class came to his senses, gave Master Sergeant Hans a look, and continued to crawl.

Just as Hans turned his head back to the front, he saw someone ahead prop up their upper body, a hooked arm throwing a grenade towards the trench.

Immediately afterward, he saw hands stretch out from the trench in the heavy rain, catching the grenade and throwing it back.

The explosion hurled mud up like a fountain, and flying helmets were visible.

Hans was shocked.

Then, more grenades were thrown from the trench, and a mud “fence” suddenly rose in front of them.

But the heavy rain immediately patted down the exploded mud back to the ground.

Machine gun fire began, and the long strip of machine gun fire left a bright streak in Master Sergeant Hans’s eyes.

Due to the poor visibility caused by the rain, the Machine Gunner was obviously not aiming carefully, just firing casually based on previously determined parameters.

The barrage swept over Master Sergeant Hans’s head, making him instinctively lie down, face pressed to the ground, trying to keep his head as low as possible, praying that his helmet was reliable this time.

He heard the sound of bullets hitting rotten flesh beside him—this sound was clearly different from that of bullets hitting the muddy ground.

So Master Sergeant Hans turned his head and saw a Non-Commissioned Officer lying on the ground next to him, his head tilted to the side, helmet rolled off.

The Non-Commissioned Officer’s back was spreading red, obviously hit by the stray bullets.

Master Sergeant Hans cursed, took the grenade from his mouth, pulled the pin, and threw it.

The grenade exploded near the machine gun firing point. Although it didn’t successfully enter the firing point, it momentarily stopped the machine gun bursts.

Master Sergeant Hans seized the moment to continue crawling forward, encouraging the Private Second Class as he crawled, “Hurry! In this situation, even a novice enemy can easily kill us. Charging into the trench for hand-to-hand combat is our only chance!”

Private Second Class: “I know, I know! Huff huff huff…”