Cannon Fire Arc

July 25th, noon.

On the Ant Air Force's 5th Long Range Bomber Squadron, tactical ID number 501, a B24 heavy bomber, the voice of the bomb aimer suddenly resounded through the intercom.

"Hey, Major, I see dust rising from the ground. It looks like a cavalry unit is making a charge."

"Are you sure it's not an armored convoy?"

"No, the dust from an armored convoy wouldn't be this thin. And most importantly, I saw something like ants moving across the prairie. I think they're not tanks. No, definitely not tanks."

Major Ivan picked up the map board beside him and glanced at it, "If I'm not wrong, we're currently flying over the South Ante Prairie. It seems the army has recently found that cavalry is quite effective on the South Ante Prairie and has reinstated that branch."

The bomb aimer fell silent for a few seconds, then said, "Our current course should be from west to east, right?"
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"That's right," the major confirmed.

"Then the cavalry below is moving northeast, in a battle formation. Would our Cavalry Troops do that?"

Major Ivan frowned and stared intently at the map board. Although his map board also had a flight path drawn on it, this was estimated based on the aircraft's direction of flight and the instrument readings.

This flight path was almost certainly inaccurate and could only approximately indicate the aircraft's current position.

So, Major Ivan asked over the intercom, "Navigator! Where are we now?"

The navigator immediately replied, "We're above the prairie of South Ante."

"I know that! I can tell from the scenery below. I'm asking for our exact location!"

The navigator had more instruments at his disposal, which could more accurately determine the aircraft's position.

After a brief silence, the navigator reported, "We are roughly a hundred kilometers west of Yeisk. We will soon be flying over Yeisk."

Major Ivan's brows twisted into knots. He switched on the radio and called to the fleet, "Squadron leader checking in with flight information. According to our instrument readings, we're a hundred kilometers west of Yeisk, coordinate grid—please answer with your estimated data according to your tactical ID."

After that, each aircraft began to report their positions estimated by their own instruments over the radio, which could effectively avoid deviations caused by instrument errors.

A minute later, Major Ivan confirmed that he should be near the vicinity of General Rokossovsky's troops.

He then ordered the radio operator (the command aircraft of the heavy bomber squadron was equipped with its own radio and had a radio operator), "Send a message to General Rokossovsky's First Mobile Group Army, asking if they have any large-scale Cavalry Troops in action."

"Yes, sir."

The next moment, the clacking sound of the Morse code key being tapped arose in the cabin, not even drowned out by the roar of the engines.

Soon, the radio operator reported, "Response received. All Cavalry Troops under the command of the First Mobile Group Army are resting!"

Major Ivan exchanged a glance with the co-pilot.

Then the voice of the bomb aimer came through the intercom, "Do the Prussians have cavalry? I remember they'd disbanded all their cavalry units; even the horses were sent to support units, weren't they?"

Major Ivan replied, "But we're seeing cavalry now. According to the situation map, the only troops here are General Rokossovsky's, and his cavalry hasn't moved. Then these troops must be Prussian. They might be planning to bypass General Rokossovsky's defenses and launch a surprise attack on the transportation systems or even artillery positions in the rear."

"Radio operator, send a message to General Rokossov immediately!"

The co-pilot reminded him, "We're about to fly over Yeisk. Maybe a radio call would be faster; the telegraph has to be decoded."

Major Ivan insisted, "We don't have the contact codes with the army... Damn it! We must report this information to General Rokossov whether it's plain speech or not!"

Having said that, Major Ivan began to adjust the radio, while urging the radio operator via the intercom, "Send that message, quick! We can't rely solely on the radio!"

All electrical equipment on the B24 was from the Federation, theoretically more reliable than what Ante produced themselves. But the 501 had participated in several battles already, and during repairs, many Ante-manufactured parts had been substituted, making it less reliable, including the radio.

Major Ivan, who had finished tuning the radio frequency, immediately started calling, "5th Long Range Bomber Squadron to the First Mobile Group Army! We have urgent military intelligence! 5th Long Range Bomber Squadron to the First Mobile Group Army! We have urgent military intelligence!"

After repeating the call and waiting a moment, and just as he was about to call again, a voice came through the radio, "First Mobile Group Army to 5th Bomber Squadron, you have violated radio communication discipline. I hope you have an important matter."

Major Ivan was delighted, "First Mobile Group Army, we've spotted a sizable cavalry unit moving toward your northern flank, for a northern encirclement. Be cautious. Please repeat to confirm!"

Asking for a repeat ensured the accuracy of the message delivered.

After a brief silence, the radio echoed with the reply, "You've discovered a sizable cavalry unit moving toward our northern flank, end of repeat."

"Correct! Good luck to you, First Mobile Group Army! This is the 5th Long Range Bomber Squadron signing off."

"Thank you for the intelligence, First Mobile Group Army out."

Major Ivan breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, the co-pilot who had also heard the exchange through the intercom said, "Do you think that could have been the famous General Rokossov on the other end?"

"Impossible! Why would Rokossov personally respond to a radio call! I wish it were him though; they say talking to him brings good luck, like coming out unscathed from a bullet rain!" said Major Ivan.

The co-pilot suggested, "Maybe we just did?"

"Stop dreaming!"

————

Wang Zhong put down the radio headset and mouthpiece, and looked at Pavlov, "The bomber saw cavalry moving to envelop us from our north side."

Popov was shocked, "The Prussians still have cavalry? I mean, apart from the packhorse teams and mounted messengers, do they have actual units that use horses?"

Wang Zhong replied, "They've even got messengers on motorcycles now. In terms of motorization, only the Federation could match Prosen. Call in both cavalry army commanders right now! It's an emergency."

Pavlov suggested, "Besides dispatching cavalry, maybe we could use the light armored reconnaissance troops to drive off the enemy?"

Wang Zhong objected, "No, the vast grassland would cause the light armored units to quickly suffer mechanical breakdowns while chasing cavalry. This prairie is heaven for cavalrymen. I have no idea where the Prussians managed to gather these cavalrymen from; perhaps they are troops from nations that haven't been fully integrated. In any case, we need to deploy our cavalry to meet them!

"The key isn't to crush them, but to prevent them from getting close to Yeisk and discovering that our tanks are fake."

At that moment, both cavalry army commanders—one following the other—arrived; their troops were resting in the city of Yeisk, so naturally, they arrived quickly.

Wang Zhong said, "I have an urgent task for you! Our long-range bombers just spotted enemy cavalry preparing to envelop us from the north. Don't let the enemy's cavalry get close to Yeisk, and prevent them from taking any intelligence out!"

The grins on the faces of the two cavalry generals froze. Rodionovich, the commander of the 20th Army, frowned, "I thought we were called in for a commendation; turns out it's military intelligence? But where did the Prussians get cavalry troops? Could the pilots have made a mistake?"

Wang Zhong shook his head, "The pilot risked breaking radio silence to inform us, so I think there's no mistake. Anyway, send your troops out immediately, with radios, and see what's going on! If it's an enemy armored unit, notify my armored forces to intercept!"

Rodionovich nodded, "Alright! Are both of our armies striking together?"

Wang Zhong thought for a moment, then shook his head, "No, the enemy has no reason to just envelop one side. There might be other forces encircling from the south. The 21st Army will scout south. I know your soldiers are tired and the horses haven't regained their condition, but we have to deploy you now. We're counting on you!"

Rodionovich smiled, "Blocking enemy cavalry reconnaissance has always been our duty; we're just getting back to our roots! We just never thought we'd get the chance to do our old jobs again."

Wang Zhong urged, "Then set off!"

Both commanders saluted Wang Zhong.

————

The leader of the 33rd Division of Cavalry Army 20, Gorokhov, personally led his troops out from Yeisk and, after a two-hour trot on the prairie, saw a trail of dust in the distance.

Gorokhov immediately galloped to a small hilltop, took up his binoculars, and observed the dust cloud. The battalion staff officer and the military chaplain, too, spurred their horses up the hill, raising their binoculars to look in the direction of the dust.

After a moment, Gorokhov said, "I believe that's the enemy cavalry. Damn it, when I received the orders to charge, I thought General Rokossovsky was jesting with us. But there really is an enemy cavalry unit!"

The chief of staff grimaced solemnly, "We didn't bring lances. There will be problems during a cavalry charge, won't there?"

The military chaplain was even more pessimistic, "Never mind the lances; we haven't conducted cavalry-versus-cavalry combat training in a very long time. When the time comes, we can only charge and hack away with sabers."

Gorokhov lifted the Papasha hanging from his saddle, "No, we still have this."

The two men laughed, "That's true. We can use the submachine guns and then draw sabers if we need to."

Gorokhov commanded, "Alright, order the troops to form the traditional wall formation! Damn, it's been a long time since I've charged in a wall formation."

The military chaplain asked, "Should we sound the trumpet?"

"Of course, how can there be a cavalry charge without the trumpet? Tell the buglers to play it loud!"

Soon, the 33rd Cavalry Regiment of the 20th Cavalry Army formed two lines of troops—this was the so-called wall formation. In this formation, the horses' competitive instinct would be ignited, urging them to charge forward fearlessly, much braver than usual.

And what cavalry fears most during a clash is their own horses flinching first.

Gorokhov shouted, "Sound the trumpet! Sound the trumpet!"

All six buglers of the regiment raised their trumpets and blew the call to attack for the cavalry.

The wall formation began to move across the prairie, gaining speed toward the enemy, literally rolling over the prairie like a steamroller.

Prussian cavalry also appeared on the prairie, forming their wall formation, and both sides began to accelerate towards each other.

Whichever side's horses faltered first, would lose.

This was the method of cavalry confrontation handed down from the era of the line infantry of that Conqueror over a hundred years ago!

Gorokhov's mount beneath him grew more excited the faster it ran!

However, the entire wall formation was accelerating, so Gorokhov did not rush out of formation!

Only a hundred meters remained!

Gorokhov raised his Papasha and started to spray bullets, and seeing this, others around him followed suit; the barrage from the submachine guns swept through the Prussian cavalry formation in an instant.

The Prussian cavalry, equipped only with rifles, were caught off guard and many were knocked down.

Relying on the confidence built by the wall formation, the morale of the horses crumbled all at once, as all the horses began to scatter, carrying their riders away.

Gorokhov yelled, "Clean them up! Don't let any escape! Charge! For Mother Ante! For His Majesty the Tsar! For Rokossovsky! Ura!"

"Ura!" Amidst the deafening shouts, the cavalry thundered across the prairie, overwhelming the enemy with irresistible force.