Cannon Fire Arc

Wang Zhong had been using his "cheat" to observe the battlefield all along.

This time, the tanks that surged into the city were all equipped with radios, and the Expeditionary Army Headquarters just outside the city could directly call the tanks, so Wang Zhong had gained vision.

Although he couldn't see the highlights himself, the situation in the city seemed to not require any highlighting.

The last time Wang Zhong saw such a scene was in the game "The Road to Survival 2."

He thought about the best way to deal with this situation in The Road to Survival 2, slapped his thigh, and said to Pavlov, "Do we have any flamethrower tanks?"

Pavlov replied, "We do, but you forbade us from using flamethrowers and poison gas bombs during the siege yesterday because they could cause a large number of civilian casualties."

Wang Zhong said, "We can use them now! Deploy the flamethrower tanks, but be careful not to spray the houses when firing!"

Pavlov looked confused, "Why suddenly deploy the flamethrower tanks? Isn't the city just reporting a large number of enemy soldiers launching a desperate charge? Aren't machine guns and high-explosive shells enough?"

Well, Pavlov didn't have the "cheat," Wang Zhong thought; he could only summarize the situation from the reports he had received and probably hadn't realized how bad things were inside the city.

At that moment, an operator suddenly shouted over the radio, "Report, the front-line tank commander has ordered the tanks to charge forward and crush the enemy with their tracks."

Pavlov then frowned, "Isn't that an unreasonable order? In urban street fighting, tanks already keep a distance from enemy infantry and are always under the protection of our infantry."

Wang Zhong patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, the 51st Army's tank commander has given the correct order. The situation in the city right now is such that it is indeed appropriate to ram with the tank bodies and crush with the tracks."

Pavlov squinted his eyes, "You know the situation inside the city?"

Wang Zhong replied, "I'm guessing, I mean, the front-line commanders have a clearer view than us. If they are giving such orders, the situation must have become that severe."

"But your statement just now clearly implied 'I know what's happening in the city,'" Yakov interjected, "I agree with the Chief of Staff on this point."

At this point, Popov stepped forward, patted Yakov's shoulder, and said, "Just think of it as an angel from Saint Andrew telling the general."

Wang Zhong forcefully changed the subject, "Send out the flamethrower tanks; relying solely on tracks is too inefficient."

Pavlov didn't ask any more questions and immediately turned to grab the phone.

Amelia leaned in close to Wang Zhong and whispered, "I've been observing from the side, and you seem to be zoning out, but every time you come back from your reverie, you look even more serious. I also notice that every time the radio establishes contact with the frontline tanks, you zone out."

Wang Zhong turned his head towards Amelia and whispered, "It's just a coincidence." Experience new stories on empire

Amelia shook her head, "I don't think so. I have a bold guess, you and I… are the same kind."

Wang Zhong was shocked, barely keeping his voice steady, "I am not a witch!"

If given a choice, I'd choose to follow the path of a Red Priest!

Amelia said, "I didn't say you're a witch! I meant… don't you also have Prayer Hands? The Prayer Hand and I are the same kind. You also have the… right, the Sound Array Master… so are you a Sound Array Master too? Did you hear the situation in the city?"

That's right, Wang Zhong thought to himself, his ability did indeed resemble that of the Monk Peter's Sound Array Master. Could it be that this ability was just manifesting in the form most convenient for his own understanding?

Could it be that this enemy-highlighting ability, on regular Anteans, would appear as devil horns above the enemy's head?

That's possible!

So being able to directly monitor the situation around his subordinates might manifest as something like the Angel's Voice Transmission. It's just that I'm a modern person who has crossed over, familiar with real-time strategy games, and so it manifested in this way for me.

While Wang Zhong was pondering, Amelia's voice floated into his ear, "See, you're zoning out again. Did you discover something happening on the front line?"

No, not this time, really just zoning out.

At that moment, Pavlov with the telephone receiver said, "The flamethrower tanks have been deployed! But it will take half an hour to reach the front line, and I am arranging for troops along the way to make way."

Wang Zhong said, "Good job, tell the troops entering the city to hold on a bit longer."

According to the intelligence from Mayer Abdullah, there were supposed to be 150,000 Balas troops outside the Royal Palace, plus the disguised Prosen Army, there could be 160,000 or even 170,000 men defending the outer city.

If all 150,000 Balas troops had taken whatever it was, they would still need time to be killed off even with flamethrowers.

This kind of mindless charge might be effective against feudal armies from the era of cold weapons, but Wang Zhong's Allied Forces couldn't be defeated in such a way.

Wang Zhong asked Yakov, "What do you think is Balas King Tutka's intention in ordering his troops to launch this kind of do-or-die assault?"

"Eh? Damaging our forces...isn't that the goal?" Yakov asked in confusion.

Wang Zhong waved his hand, "Damaging our forces is only the direct objective, but what indirect goal does he hope to achieve by inflicting damage on our forces? He surely can't hold the city..."

As Wang Zhong fell into thought, his voice also lowered, and he stopped speaking mid-sentence.

At that moment, Amelia said, "Maybe Tutka has gone mad?"

Wang Zhong: "If that's the case, it would be simpler. No minister would follow a monarch who has gone insane. But I always feel there's another intent... He ordered the troops to take drugs; could that be to buy time to do something else? Like activating some giant war statues underneath the Balas Palace or something."

Amelia squinted, "You've read too many nonsensical books, haven't you? Isn't that content only found in the Amazing Stories of the Federation?"

At this time, the term "science fiction" was not yet in use, but there were already magazines that published science fiction stories, with the American Amazing Tales magazine as the representative, and thus the magazines that combined the latest scientific discoveries with various hackneyed gimmicks came to be known as Amazing Stories.

Wang Zhong looked at Amelia, "How do you know about Amazing Tales magazine? You haven't been reading a lot of them, have you?"

"I certainly haven't!" Amelia raised her voice, seemingly having indeed read quite a few issues of Amazing Tales magazine.

Although teasing Amelia could offer the pleasure of seeing her flushed appearance, they were still at war, so Wang Zhong forced himself back to the topic at hand.

He said, "I was just joking earlier, there can't be such a fanciful development. I'm wondering if the King is planning to flee?"

Colonel Benjamin immediately said, "Impossible! We've obtained all the blueprints of the Royal Capital (only missing the one from the Prosen engineers which MI6 doesn't know about), all the escape routes have been sealed off by our agents."

Wang Zhong: "According to Meyer's intelligence, the Balas Palace spies, under the guidance of Prosen's Imperial Ministry agents, conducted a large-scale manhunt in the city yesterday. Perhaps your agents have already been taken out."

Benjamin frowned, "That's indeed possible. But even if the King manages to flee the Royal Capital, there will be a lot of trouble to leave the country."

"The tribes have already decided to support the younger brother of the Emperor. They won't let the King pass through their controlled areas. For King Tutka, all roads have been blocked."

Wang Zhong: "No, there's one more route. He could go by air."

Benjamin shook his head, "No, the airport has been taken over by us. It's impossible."

"It doesn't have to be an airport. Prosen's transport planes can take off from straight highways, and their pilots have all been trained to take off from highways." Wang Zhong quickly walked over to the map and began searching for straight stretches of road—

Suddenly, Pavlov slapped his bald head, "Wait a minute, I remember from the intelligence that the Prosens helped build a high-standard highway, located between the Royal Capital Balas City and the King's Summer Resort!"

The Chief of Staff hurried to the map and quickly found that section, "Look, here it is! There's a stretch that's completely straight!"

Wang Zhong: "Send out troops immediately—damn it, our Expeditionary Force lacks half-track combat vehicles and reconnaissance motorcycles!"

Pavlov: "We have captured some! We've captured quite a few motorcycles, especially at the Valley Bridge, where we seized a lot of motorcycles with punctured tires, and we fixed some of them."

"Good, quickly organize a motorcycle team, bypass the city, and take control of that stretch regardless of whether you encounter the fleeing Emperor or not." Wang Zhong commanded with a wave of his hand, "Quick!"

————

Meanwhile, inside Balas City, the flamethrower tanks rolled to the frontline.

The difference between a flamethrower tank and an individual flamethrower was very clear. After all, the weight and output of the firing mechanism were quite different, as was the sustainability of the firepower.

A long stream of fire crossed the entire street, igniting everything it touched, and those drug-fueled Balas soldiers instantly turned from "Skeleton Soldiers" into "Flaming Skeletons."

The stimulants couldn't help them resist the neural spasms caused by the burning flames, and the intense pain broke through the stimulants' suppression, causing these "Undead Warriors" to howl.

As a result, the entire scene became even more terrifying: a bunch of skeletons on fire were dancing and wailing.

The commander of Whirlwind Unit 22501 watched this scene, silently making the sign of the Eastern Holy Church in front of him, and murmured, "This is truly a vision of Hell. Saint Andrew above, please grant me courage and steadfast faith to confront this horrifying sight."

The other members of the Whirlwind Unit heard the commander's murmur and likewise sketched symbols on themselves, chanting softly.

Despite the dreadful sight they created, the flamethrower tanks indeed had an unparalleled advantage in massacring tightly-packed enemies. The fire swept through, and none of the enemies survived.

Some enemies retained a bit of consciousness, knowing to jump into the water to douse the flames, so soon all the street drains were clogged, and the sewer entrances were blocked.

Some people, in their panic, ran into buildings, and soon house after house caught fire.

Civilians fleeing the flames from their rooms were discovered by the drug-fueled soldiers, who had become bloodthirsty, and were captured for torture.

The scene of Hell on Earth spread throughout the urban area.