Chapter 40: Key Points in Deploying Anti-Armor Firepower

The Chief of Staff frowned instinctively when Andrei suddenly interjected into their conversation, though he had no intention of pulling rank on him. Putting aside the fact that Andrei’s father was suspected to be a general, the mere evidence of Andrei leading so many men safely out of the encirclement and annihilating an entire enemy battalion during the previous raid was enough to prove his competence. In war, the strong are always respected, because respecting the strong increases one's own odds of survival.

"Captain Vorontsov, why do you think that? As a military academy student, surely you must know that when deploying anti-armor fire, one must place the weaponry in areas with the widest fields of fire to control large zones with minimal firepower?"

Andrei blinked. He truly had no idea that was the standard doctrine. However, his gut told him it was a moronic idea. At the very least, from his perspective, the widest field of fire was not necessarily the best position. Drawing from his experience as a novice player of *World of Tanks Blitz*, those shooting spots that appeared to cover vast areas were often the first places the enemy would target. Especially in high-level matches, skilled veterans would always fire a few blind shots into those spots; you might end up getting hit by a blind shell before you even spotted the enemy. Of course, such locations had their advantages, but to safely snipe at enemies from there, one required cover from teammates. Clearly, the Cambrian Empire’s troops stationed here lacked such cover, and the enemy would certainly fire a few blind volleys at the obvious gun emplacements first.

"Sir, with all due respect, I believe much of what we are taught in the academy is fundamentally flawed!" Andrei didn't care about taboos at this point and spoke his mind directly. "To attack an enemy from the 'best' field of fire, we must first possess a range advantage and ensure the enemy cannot strike our position. Otherwise, we can see that it’s the best spot, and the enemy can certainly see it too—they will inevitably attack that location first! We have only one anti-tank gun in this small town. I am not sure about the extent of our other anti-armor assets, but they surely aren't numerous. Therefore, what we must prioritize now is the survival of these anti-armor weapons." As he spoke, Andrei pointed toward several more concealed areas within the town.

"If it were up to me to deploy anti-armor fire, I would set up as many dummy positions as possible, using sticks and wooden boards to create fake cannons. Places that look like they have wide fields of fire are just too exposed to the enemy's vision; these dummy positions can effectively draw the enemy's attention and provide cover for our real ones. Meanwhile, we can dig special trenches, keeping the guns low to the ground with only the top exposed, and use other materials for camouflage—for instance, placing a buried gun position behind a courtyard wall between two wooden barrels."

"For these concealed positions, we should fire only once, then move the cannon as fast as possible. We can knock through the walls of the courtyards and let the artillery play guerrilla warfare! Only in this way can we ensure our survival while maximizing the number of enemy armored units we destroy, rather than being taken out by the enemy before we’ve even managed to fire a single shot!"

Recalling snippets from World War II documentaries he had watched in the past, Andrei laid out his reasoning to the two officers. Once he finished, both were left stunned.

"Excellent, absolutely brilliant! This is exactly how we should deploy our anti-armor guns!" Colonel Unere was the first to react, clapping his hands in admiration. "My thinking had become rigid. Why must a gun have only one position? Why must it remain stationary? Using multiple positions to keep our artillery moving and distract the enemy—that is the key to achieving the best combat results!"

The Chief of Staff was clearly moved by Andrei’s words as well; at the very least, he no longer showed any intention to argue. He merely frowned, muttering under his breath about how this contradicted everything taught at the military academy. Regarding the military academy, Andrei could only say that he truly didn't know; he hadn't inherited any real memories of it, only occasional fragments that surfaced in his dreams or at random moments. These fragments were too chaotic, making it impossible to distinguish between the original owner's memories or his own dreams.

Andrei inquired about their current arsenal. Aside from the anti-tank gun of unknown origin, they possessed two anti-armor rifles, six 80mm mortars, and ten 60mm mortars. What kind of bizarre unit configuration was this? Andrei frowned; it looked more like a ragtag militia than a proper infantry regiment. A standard infantry regiment should at least have a dedicated artillery company, right? However, considering this seemed to be a replacement regiment, he supposed it wasn't surprising. But when the topic of anti-armor rifles came up, he suddenly thought of something and smiled at the two officers.

"Gentlemen, hearing you mention that, I suddenly recalled that my squad previously captured a batch of enemy weapons, including five anti-armor rifles! If we include those, our regiment’s anti-armor firepower should be quite sufficient!"

As soon as Andrei finished speaking, both officers’ eyes lit up with surprise. "That’s wonderful! Is it true? You actually captured anti-armor rifles from the Black Hawk bastards?" Colonel Unere grabbed Andrei by the shoulders, his excitement causing him to lose control of his strength, much to Andrei’s pain.

"Of course it's true. I had just forgotten about it. I’ll go gather my men now and select a few anti-armor gunners!" Andrei winced, calmly and slowly peeling Colonel Unere’s hands off his shoulders. In reality, he certainly hadn't captured any anti-tank rifles from the enemy—after all, he hadn't encountered a dedicated armored unit, only what seemed to be a mixed-specialty detachment. However, that didn't stop him from utilizing the vast amount of Influence Points he had accumulated during the previous battle to "cheat" a little for his players.