Author's Note: Saunders, the great American Stereotype… Well, here we go, an actual match.
Disclaimer: Girls und Panzer is the property of Actas.
CHAPTER 3:
Saunders's Shermans
The week passed quickly for the Ōarai Sensha-dō team. For Akio and the crew of the Shark, the after school team training sessions became something like an apprenticeship for them with their master being their equivalent on the Anglerfish. Senmonka Masaru sat in the tank at the gunnery range, slowly going through the motions of learning the gun and it's foibles with Isuzu-san sitting at the loader's position, explaining each step and double checking his work.
Reizei-san worked with Hayate, teaching him a few of the tricks she'd learned and how she'd drifted the Panzer IV in the final match of the championships. The Panzers, it turned out, were rather difficult to drift thanks to the lack of rubber on their tracks, and really could only manage it on wet roads or the slick conditions of sand or wet fields. Compared to the Panzer IV, the Panzer III/IV was certainly faster and worked better with a more aggressive driving style.
Saori and Kenji spent more time flirting and gossiping then actually teaching each other much. The radios in the tanks were usually replaced with more modern varieties, and while the bow machine gun was present on each tank, neither of them had ever learned to actually fire it.
Yukari would drill Heishi in the proper technique for loading shells, and even Akio was impressed when he saw the gangly looking girl heft a 75mm round and slam it into the tank gun's breech without even a grunt of effort.
Then there was Nishizumi-dono. Akio found that she was an almost inexhaustible supply of information. While Yukari could list off the capabilities of a tank's gun, its armor and weak points, Nishizumi's knowledge was of a more general and more applicable sort. She knew things like, how to choose a fighting position, how to read the dust clouds of an approaching tank force, and perhaps most importantly, how to analyze a tactical situation and react properly.
Miho took the other tank commanders aside after almost every practice to work a bit on those facets of being in command.
For the other team of newbies, there really wasn't anyone to share experience with them, as the Russian tank was quite foreign to the older teams. Alligator team therefore proceeded on a trial and error basis, and the Model Club dug through online records and various different sources to find how to operate their tank. The Cyrillic gauges and symbols were translated, and the various oddities of Russian tanks began to make themselves known to the crew.
Their gunnery however remained poor, thanks to a combination of poor and likely misaligned scopes, an inaccurate gun, and general inexperience.
But they weren't alone in that regard, Anteater team's continuing problems with learning the difference between their video games and real tanking plagued the team. It took three days of gunnery practice before Hana clambered into the Chi-Nu and discovered why the tank persisted in landing shells hundreds of meters short of the target.
Apparently, it never occurred to them that the video game's gunners compensated for bullet fall automatically and they never adjusted the sights for range. In frustration, Miho had taken one of their laptops, booted up the game, and began to tell them how things were different.
The five members of Anteater team had watched in astonishment as Miho had obliterated an enemy team of gamers, while muttering to herself. "You can't drive this fast with a real tank... The guns reload slower than this in the real world... Why isn't anyone using a machine gun, or smoke, or... You're not driving the tank like it has an automatic transmission are you?"
It was probably the single most passionate moment Akio had witnessed from Nishizumi, and after winning the random battle with every award under the sun, she'd flushed brightly as the Gamers crowed about her prowess.
Afterward, Anteater finally began to show some signs of improvement.
After the training sessions, Akio walked home with Nishizumi quietly talking about other subjects. The auburn haired girl seemed to be quite an enigma to him. Even before the team she seemed so quiet and rather nervous. She was approachable, especially for the other girls, as she didn't seem to be so 'high and mighty' or intimidating. Akio guessed it was this ability to seem so 'normal' that made her such a good team leader. She was certainly competent, and the other girls certainly trusted her judgment, but it was something she'd earned after they'd learned the dangers of ignoring her.
It was during one of those moments when he wondered at her abilities that Nishizumi stopped by the side of the road and looked curiously up at him.
"Akio-kun, I wanted to thank you."
"Hmm?"
"After Kuromorimine and the last year at Ōarai, I didn't know if I could get along with boys that well. I never really interacted with them that much, being a Nishizumi and all..." Miho glanced away. "In my family, the boys really don't mean much... My mother runs the family and really dominates over my father, and we girls are the ones that keep the name going even."
"I understand, the Nishizumi name means a lot in Sensha-dō, and for the name to continue in a female sport like that would require something like that." Akio shrugged. "The Sakai name means a lot in Sentōki-dō, or it did anyway..." He sighed. "Miho, what are you trying to say?"
Miho flushed slightly. "I just wanted to thank you for being my friend."
Akio stared at her in surprise. He hadn't really thought about that, and had naturally been friendly to her as they were neighbors and teammates after all, but he'd never really thought of it as a friendship. It made him wonder just how low the bar had been set for being Miho's friend.
"Miho, you didn't have many friends growing up, did you?" Akio asked quietly.
"No, sensha-dō made me a bit... unpopular growing up." Miho said quietly. "Akio? We are friends, aren't we?"
"Yes, I suppose we are." Akio said and Miho smiled at that. "If you wanted to be my friend, all you had to do was ask!"
Miho gaped at him. "Really?"
"Really."
The elder Sakai sat back as he looked from his fellows on the Sentōki-dō Aces Authority board to the collection of women that stood opposite them from the Sensha-dō Federation. The two groups, divided by gender stared at each other for a long moment before the women moved to sit down at the opposite end of the long meeting room table.
"We, the Sentōki-dō Aces Authority would like to formally congratulate Kuromorimine Girl's High School in its acceptance into the Sentōki-dō Authority League." Sakai said as he looked at the stern face of the school's patron, Nishizumi Shiho. "As well as St. Gloriana Girl's Academy and Chi-Ha-Tan School, we would also like to congratulate the Sensha-dō Federation on the dramatic increase in interest in their sport after the last Championship." Sakai smiled and took a sip of his tea. "I believe a number of our member schools have already petitioned for acceptance into your Federation."
Shiho's face gave not a hint of emotion as she nodded, "We thank you for your words, Sakai-sama. A large number of schools have petitioned for entry into the sport, no doubt the belief that the sensha-dō championship is more open to contest then before has encouraged them." Those last words were said with a hint of bitterness, and Sakai cracked a smile at her expression.
Lady Grey, the blonde woman who had served as the Headmistress of St. Gloriana's for the last ten years leaned forward. "Nishizumi-sama, the defeat of your school has led to an expansion of the sport. Surely this is a good thing?"
"Grey-sama, the participation of such schools as Ion Dumitru, Népe Boarding School, and Mt. Zion in this Federation may be beneficial, but that does not take away from the fact that tradition is being trampled upon—"
"Nishizumi-sama, I suggest you reconsider your words." Sakai stated coolly. "I have been searching for years as to whom you remind me of, Nishizumi... and I believe, at last, that I have figured it out." Sakai leaned back in his seat and sighed. "You, Nishizumi, are much like my superiors in the war. Clinging to tradition and seniority, believing themselves to be the ideal of our world, and all the while leading our nation to its own destruction."
Nishizumi gasped and a number of the other women in the room recoiled in shock while Lady Grey sipped at her tea. Then she stood up and snarled. "HOW DARE YOU!"
Sakai leaned forward again and stared at the woman with his single good eye. "How dare I? I dare speak the truth. What right does your school have to being the champions? What woman in their right mind plans to disown their own daughter for winning?" He stood.
"You, you plan on disowning Miho, Nishizumi-san?" One of the other women asked in clear surprise.
Lady Grey set her tea cup on its saucer and frowned. "Whom is more honorable, the daughter or the mother?"
"She does not adhere to the traditions of sensha-dō and the Nishizumi School! It is my right to discipline my own daughter. She even has men on her team now!"
Sakai glared at Shiho. "I would remind you, Nishizumi-san, that one of those men you speak so ill of is my grandson."
"WHAT DID THEY DO TO THAT KV-1?" Tsubasa said when he stopped before the massive hulk that was the KV-1S. Instead of the familiar Russian green, it's hull had been painted German dunkelgrau, a color that looked like the result of mixing 'panzer grey' with a can of black paint. If that wasn't enough, its hull had then been striped with German woodland brown, giving it a rather predatory look.
The Ōarai symbol emblazoned on its side seemed to fit a bit better than simply painting it on the Russian green.
"It's a Panzerkampfwagon KW-1S now." One of the Model Club members said from the top of the tank.
"Isn't that the 754(r) version?" Another of the club asked.
"I think this one is the 757(r) or something... The 754(r) is the KV-1C." Another of the model club said.
Tsubasa swore under his breath. "This is as bad as that Galland special..." He turned and walked away from the tank and headed over to the Tiger (P), which the automotive club had clustered around, "It's not like it'll really help in the middle of a battle to have it painted different."
"Hey, Tsubasa... Daichi told us there's an upgrade around for our tank." Hoshino said as she sat atop the front hull and looked down at the smooth front face of the armor with a picture in her hands. "Apparently the only one of these that saw combat had the Elefant tank destroyer's plate armor welded to the front..."
"It'll double the front armor's strength." Satoko said as she stared at the drawings. "But it'll also make the front ugly as hell."
"I don't think looks matter that much in this... that Jagdpanther shot straight through our front in the finals." Hoshino said. "Of course, those Tiger IIs should have as well."
"They were out of the armor piercing ammo probably." Tsubasa observed before glancing at the tank in the pictures. "We're not going to paint it like the 'real' one are we?"
"Nah... That sort of historical stuff we'll leave to the model club." Hoshino said with a faint smile. "The smoke mortars work great. I wish we'd thought of them for the championship match. They are standard on the Hetzer, Panzers, and StuG III. I wonder why we never used them before..."
"Who knows?" Tsubasa said.
The tanks had been put through their paces for the last few days, rumbling out to the firing range as the crew practiced their gunnery, and onto the maneuver grounds for formation and tactics. All of it was rather standard fare, until night fell. Nishizumi-san had decided to take each of the tank commanders after practice and work them through a strategy session, as the match with Saunder's loomed.
"Where is Nakajima-chan?" Tsubasa asked.
"Last minute strategy meeting, I think." Hoshino said with a shrug before looking at the pictures. "I think the armor club on the ship might have this kit... we could weld it and adjust the transmission for it tonight, and be ready for battle tomorrow."
Tsubasa smirked. "Now that sounds like a plan."
Akio sat at the small table in Nishizumi's apartment, flanked by every tank commander on the team, Momo, and Yukari, who Akio had started to figure was Nishizumi's 'intelligence' officer for lack of a better term. She knew everything that could be known about tanks, and could instantly list the strengths and weaknesses of almost any tank from memory.
Nishizumi glanced at the map of the Saunder's battlefield and let out a sigh. "With ten of us, the team has become too large to manage by myself. As you know, I'm not particularly a fan of the drilled approach used by teams such as Kuromorimine. Some, I know, call it the Nishizumi-school, but that does not mean we will be using this method of organization. Instead... we will be breaking the team into smaller units of roughly equal capabilities, each with its own leader and chain of command."
Momo coughed. "These teams will be called Zug I, Zug II, Zug III, and so forth..."
"Zug is the German word for a Tank Platoon," Yukari supplied.
"Zug I will be myself and the Shark. Zug II will be our Tank Destroyers, the Hippo and Turtle. Zug III will be the Anteater and Duck. Zug IV will be Mallard and Rabbit team. While Zug V will be Leopon and Alligator," Nishizumi said. "Yukari, could you relay what you know about the Saunder's school line up and their approach?"
Yukari smiled at that and spread out some pictures on the table. "As the older members of the team are familiar, I infiltrated Saunders High School before our first match, and got some information on their lineup. They currently have nineteen separate Sherman tanks. Eight of which are the M4 Sherman with the low-velocity 75mm gun. This is the same gun as is used by Mr. Rabbit. It can't penetrate any more than 88mm of armor at point blank range, and its effectiveness rapidly drops as the range increases. I would say against most of our tanks it won't be effective much beyond five-hundred meters. Four more of the tanks are equipped with M1A1 76mm main gun. This gun has a maximum penetration of 192mm of armor plate at point blank range, and can engage any of our tanks except the Leopon at up to two-thousand meters. Then there is the six 105mm Howitzer equipped tanks that Saunders has. Those tanks can penetrate up to 93mm of armor plate at any range with HEAT rounds or bombard an area with explosives."
"And then there's the M10 and Firefly." Nishizumi said.
"The M10's performance is roughly equal to the 76mm equipped Shermans while... the Firefly is in a class of its own. It can penetrate up to 221mm of armor plate at point blank range, and over 150mm of armor plate at maximum range." Yukari said. "It's probably the most dangerous of all our opponents."
"So, how do we beat them?" Daichi said from where he sat. "They have numbers and the Firefly."
"We go against conventional wisdom, there's no way we can win a direct force on force confrontation, and they'll swarm us... as that is likely their strategy." Nishizumi said. "Instead we split our forces, forcing them to divide themselves to engage us, or allowing us to surround them if they attempt to gain the advantage by swarming one of the Zugs."
"Historical tank doctrine tends to advocate tanks being no closer than fifty meters from other members of their formation. I noticed most of our opponents tend to be much more tightly spaced then that." Daichi said.
"With twenty tanks, they will likely fall back on their American theme and deploy their tanks in platoons of four." Yukari said. "All of their tanks have at most 76mm of armor, except the Firefly which has 83mm of armor on the front. Our StuG, Hetzer, Panzer III/IV, and Panzer IV can engage them at up to a thousand meters distant and defeat their armor, or up to two-thousand meters if we can hit their sides."
"I don't know if any of our gunners can hit a target two-thousand meters away, Yukari." Akio said. "A thousand, okay maybe... but twice that? Not so much."
"The Leopon can defeat them at any distance, at least." Yukari said and Satoko smiled faintly at those words. "Unfortunately, the Duck, Mallard, Alligator, and Rabbit are much less capable..."
"They have to get really close for Mr. Rabbit's guns to punch through..." Sawa Azusa said with a frown. "We only manage 71mm at one-hundred meters with the turret and 88mm at the same distance with the main gun. We also only have 51mm of armor at our front..."
"46mm at one-hundred meters with the turret," Sodoko said. "45mm with the main gun, at least we have 60mm of armor."
"91mm, I really wish I had a better gun." Daichi said before shrugging. "Hey, Anzu, if I switched the gun to a 75mm KwK 40, would it cut costs? I mean, I know it's possible... the Germans did it with captured tanks."
Anzu blinked before shrugging. "I would have to ask Chishiki-san."
"The benefits better exceed the expense of purchasing the gun." Momo stated. "But we don't have time for that anyway."
"No we don't." Nishizumi agreed before turning to the map spread out before her. "Now... here is the plan, the battlefield we'll be meeting Saunders is the same as the one we fought them at before. This ridge... will be the heart of our defensive position. We'll spread out along the ridge line with our weakest tanks, Zug III and Zug IV will be in the woods that are on either end of the ridgeline, where they won't be spotted that easily. At our center will be Zug V, with the Leopon. Daichi, I want you on the reverse slope to guard Satoko in case she gets overrun. Zug I will be to two hundred meters to the left, along this fold in the hills. Akio, Hana says your gunner is getting good enough to hit out to a thousand meters so you'll be up next to us, firing directly at the enemy. Zug II, will be two hundred meters to the right along the ridge line. Anzu, Erwin... I want you in hull down positions. You should be able to engage them at up to a thousand meters as well. Once they see us on the ridge, I expect they'll throw everything at us or attempt to flank us through the woods where Zug III and IV will be waiting."
Akio stared at the positions penciled onto the map. "If they fall back and attempt to flank us?"
"We'll improvise." Nishizumi smiled faintly. "We're good at that."
The next morning the Ōarai Academy Ship slid slowly into port, it's bulk dwarfed by the massive Saunders Academy Ship moored at the other side of the harbor. Akio and Nishizumi woke up early that morning, and Nishizumi ran off muttering about waking Reizei again. Akio just shrugged and headed to the sensha-dō tank depot, where the assembled crews were gathered. The Anglerfish was gone by the time they arrived and Akio clambered aboard the Shark. He flipped open a map of the maneuvering ground that would be their battlefield as the rest of the team got ready. A full load of shells was loaded for each gun.
It was nearly half an hour later that the Anglerfish returned with its assembled crew and a rather sleepy looking Reizei in the driver seat. Miho clambered out the commander's cupola and stood on the turret. "Good morning everyone! Today, we are going up against Saunders... We beat them last time, but this time the rules are a bit different, so everyone should do their best!"
Slowly the group rolled out. Driving to the disembarkation ramps and heading off toward the meeting place that had been marked on their maps. Fifteen minutes later, they found that Saunders had once again put out a display of their fiscal strength with dozens of trucks filled with various wares, foods, and other supplies. The blonde haired senior, Kay, stood atop an M8 Greyhound as they approached and waved to Yukari. "SERGEANT ODDBALL!"
Nishizumi giggled as Yukari sighed. A moment later a rumble filled the air as Kay clambered off the Greyhound and grinned. Then twenty Sherman tanks of various types rolled into view. The eight M4 early models were just as Yukari had said, as were the six 105mm variants, and four M4A6 Shermans with the 76mm gun. There was the dark green Firefly and then, instead of an M10 Tank Destroyer, another Sherman rolled up, with a huge rack of rocket tubes mounted to the turret.
Yukari gaped, Nishizumi winced, and Saori swallowed.
"A T34 Calliope!" Yukari gushed and began bouncing in her tank excitedly.
Nishizumi swallowed. "Now is not the time for a Panzer High."
"Is that even legal?" Akio asked from the top of his Panzer.
"Sure is!" Kay said happily before leaning against the side of the tank. "We had to have something to deal with the Maus, you know!"
Nishizumi sighed and glanced over at Yukari. "I was hoping you'd go easy on us this time Kay."
"Go easy on you? You're national champions... think of it as training for Kuromorimine next year!" Kay said with an exuberant smile. "You thought I'd only bring ten tanks again?"
"Not really, I just hoped." Nishizumi said with a shrug before clambering out of the tank.
"Well you upgraded, I needed to bring my top game!" Kay said before nodding to the other nine tanks. "You still have the Type 89!"
"Yes, well... We're a poorer school." Nishizumi said with another shrug. Slowly the crews disembarked and shook hands beginning their pre-match rituals. After fifteen minutes the two teams separated, loaded up, and headed for their starting positions.
Nishizumi tapped her throat radio as they rolled off the starting line after the starting signal. "We stick to the plan, except I want all the tanks to increase their spacing as much as possible. I don't want that Calliope to be able to catch all of our tanks in one spot. Understood?"
"Hai!" The teams answered and Nishizumi took a deep breath before opening the commander's hatch and poking her head out. The whole team roared toward the ridge in the distance as fast as they could.
For those watching the match on television, it quickly turned somewhat confusing as pairs of tanks turned away from the drive toward the ridge and spread out. The airborne cameras had trouble catching more than two of Ōarai's tanks in their viewfinders at a time. On the Leopold screen, the spectators watched as they saw the Saunders Team spread out into three platoons of four tanks, a battery of assault guns, and the two unique tanks that moved from formation to formation. The Saunders team began to probe forward, spreading out trying to make contact with the enemy.
Maho sat in the back row of the spectator stands beside her mother, a stoic look plastered on her face as she saw her mother's face tighten each time she glanced toward the front rows. After a moment Maho caught sight of an older man with an eye-patch sitting in the crowd, and realized he was the target of her mother's ire.
Slowly Maho sat back and nonchalantly turned her attention back toward the board as the Saunders team began to advance toward the ridge line, spread out nearly a mile looking for their enemies. Erika folded her arms over her chest and scowled. "These Ōarai matches, they never fight directly."
"No, they do not. Miho's school lacks the strength for a direct conflict. Instead they must rely on guile for victory." Maho said before glancing at her mother. "It requires more skill to defeat a strong enemy with a weak force then defeat a strong enemy with a strong force."
Her mother's scowl deepened at those words and Maho closed her eyes. "It may not be the most honorable approach to fighting, but it is the only path Miho has toward victory."
A slight breeze set the trees behind Miho into motion, and she could feel the wind tug at her auburn hair. Beside her, Akio was laying down with his binoculars to his eyes. He glanced at her before laying his binoculars on the ground. Then she lifted hers to her eyes and frowned. The boxy shape of four of the olive drab M4 Shermans appeared from the trees at the base of the hill. "I see them."
"That's them?" Akio asked before lifting up his binoculars again.
"I see four Shermans." Miho said as she keyed her radio.
Akio frowned and studied the dust cloud from the tanks before saying, "Yes, I'm surprised they haven't deployed more of them."
Miho smiled and glanced over at him. "They've spread out, trying to find us... We should be fine dealing with the four of them here, on our own."
"Right, shall we?" Akio asked as he clambered up into a crouch.
"Hai!" Miho said before turning and running toward her tank, sitting behind a slight fold in the terrain. She clambered up onto it before dropping into the command hatch.
"Hana-chan, Shermans, one o'clock, one thousand meters... Wait until I give you the signal." Miho said.
Yukari hurriedly loaded a 75mm round into the gun's breech as the turret began to rotate.
Saori turned to her. "Keibiin says they're ready!" Miho nodded and glanced toward the grey shape of the Shark rumbling to life, watching its gun lift toward the distant Shermans. She saw Akio watching her and raised her hand to signal to him. As the turrets of both tanks settled on their targets she took a deep breath.
"FIRE!" She yelled as she dropped her hand and the two KwK 40 75mm L/48 cannons roared almost at the same instant. She watched two tracers arc through the air toward the olive drab shape of the Shermans. Through the binoculars she saw the blast of smoke and flames from two hits and the lead tanks slid to a stop, their white flags deployed. The other two moved forward, around their wrecked comrades, gunning their engines. The distant boom of their 75mm guns answered and she saw dust clouds mark where the low velocity shells had fallen, well short of them.
"Reload, next target!" Miho shouted in her soft voice, as she heard the clatter of the empty casing fall to the bottom of the turret.
"Gun ready!" Yukari said.
"Firing!" Hana stated before the concussion of the second shell hurtling from the barrel of their cannon washed over Miho. She stared as the second round dropped through the air to meet its next target, smashing into its side. The boom of the Shark's cannon followed a moment later and she saw the shell miss its target by the mere centimeters, before plowing into the dirt behind the Sherman.
The Saunders tank reversed and backed away from the group before another cannon boom filled the air and Miho watched a shell slam into it's side causing it's white flag to deploy.
Maho gaped as the announcer called out. "Saunder's first platoon, destroyed."
"Such accuracy..." Erika muttered. "They, they didn't even have a chance."
"Hoshino, you rock!" Satoko said from the cupola of the Tiger (P).
Inside the tank Hoshino smiled as the expended round from the 8.8cm gun clattered to the turret floor. She glanced down to see Tsubasa give her a thumbs up.
"NANI?" Kay shouted as she listened to the first platoon get knocked out. "Is anyone in first platoon operable?"
"Captain, they shot us from the ridge... They're hitting us at a kilometer range!" One of the tank commanders stammered. "We could barely even see them!"
"Impressive, tell Alisa the locations... we'll shell them." Kay answered.
Miho lowered her binoculars after a moment before tapping the radio. "Same-san, Reopon-san, switch positions. Prepare for artillery fire."
"I assume we'll move as well." Reizei said as she put the Panzer IV into gear.
"Of course," Miho said while Yukari opened a side hatch and tossed out the two expended shell casings. Then she slammed it shut.
The Panzer IV slipped out of view as it moved back beyond the ridge a dozen meters and started to redeploy as the distant boom of the Saunder's team's 105mm Howitzers began to fill the air. The boom of shell impacts filled the air as the tanks waited for the shelling to stop and for them to be able to resume their positions.
"We don't see anything!" Alisa grumbled as she stared through the periscope at the now dust covered ridgeline. A moment later she glanced at the radio controls and growled. "Kay, I'm not seeing anything on the ridge! They must have pulled back or something."
"Right, well... fire a smoke shell and we'll start the advance again. Second platoon: split by section and cover command platoon's advance. Assault guns and Calliope: be ready to bombard the crap out of them." Kay ordered. "Naomi, find a good spot to watch our attack and engage anything that tries to stop us."
"Right."
Alisa scowled as she glanced down at the loader. "Load 'Willie Pete' for the last shell."
"Right..." The loader grumbled as she lifted the massive 105mm shell into the gun's breech.
Miho sat in her tank, waiting when the radio crackled to life once again. "Miho, this is Duck, they've fired a smoke screen... It looks like they're advancing now."
"Hai, Mako, back to the firing position."
"Right," Reizei said in a board tone as she put the tank back into gear and rumbled forward.
"All tanks, to firing positions, prepare for close contact." Miho ordered.
Maho watched the screen, her fingers tapping her leg nervously as the Saunders tanks rumbled forward, eight spaced out in a rough line similar to the tactics she'd employed in the championship match. Behind them, the six assault guns, rocket launcher, and Firefly sat waiting for an opportunity. On the screen, she saw that the individual units that made up the Ōarai team were moving back to their firing positions.
In the lead tank of the command platoon, Kay stared through the periscope at the clouds of drifting smoke. To her sides she could see the rest of her team's combat tanks advancing up the hill. As they entered the smoke, it seemed to quiet as the tanks slowly began to scan the area ahead for targets.
"JESUS!" One of the tank commanders yelled before a huge boom filled the air and Kay looked up to see a flash to her right.
"Contact left! HETZER!" Another voice called out before another bang filled the radio channel.
"Rock, Watchdog! Report!" Kay yelled.
"Rock is disabled..."
"Watchdog, we're immobilized."
"They're everywhere!" Kay's gunner shouted.
Kay scowled. "No, they're spread out on the whole ridge! Command platoon, double your spacing and gun your engines. If we can get to the ridgeline we can outmaneuver them."
"Second platoon, what about us?"
"Advance!"
Tsubasa blinked as he stared through the MG34 Panzerlauf's periscope at the clouds of smoke before them. Behind him, he could hear the Tiger turret turning as Hoshino searched for more targets. Through the radio, he heard Miho giving commands to the other teams, telling the Zug III and IV to advance on the flanks of the enemy and keep out of sight while Zug I, II, and V engaged.
"Target, directly ahead!" Satoko shouted, and Hoshino twisted in his seat as he swung his machine gun toward the apparent enemy. Overhead he heard the turret grind through its traverse.
A long barreled Sherman rumbled through the smoke and there was a crack as its gun fired, sending a shell ricocheting off the newly reinforced 200mm thick front hull. Then the turret lined up and a boom echoed in the compartment as an 88mm shell slammed into the Sherman, knocking it out.
As the empty shell casing hit the floor, a second Sherman lumbered into view, its engine roared as it climbed past them, aiming to get over the ridgeline and behind them for a kill shot. Hoshino was cursing as she tried desperately to keep the Sherman in her sights before a second crack sounded from behind them and Tsubasa heard Ego Daichi whoop as the Sherman's white flag deployed.
Then a boom echoed in the tank and Tsubasa heard the white flag deploy.
Naomi blew a bubble as the breech of the 17-pounder main gun chucked out an empty casing and started scanning for another target as the smoke began to clear in places.
"Leopon has been knocked out." Miho heard Satoko say. She scowled before glancing over at where the Shark should have been in the smoke.
"Miho, I just bagged another short barreled one." Erwin said. "It's time to roll them up, I think."
Miho nodded and tapped the radio at her throat. "All units: Advance... Zug III and IV turn to the center and engage!"
Maho stared in shock as the airborne cameras caught sight of the rest of Ōarai Team. She gaped as the Type 89, Type 3 Chi-Nu, M3 Lee, and Char B1 Bis appeared from the forests on either side of the ridge line and turned inward toward the smoke cloud. Even the 57mm peashooter on the Type 89 could damage a Sherman at point blank range in the rear, and now the three remaining advanced tanks in Saunder's team were being surrounded by the Ōarai Team.
Erika beside her was similarly gaping at the screen as Ōarai's tanks rolled into the smoke clouds. "What the hell are they doing?"
Kay swore as reports began to come in from the rest of her tanks, while she peered through the smoke clouds. Her simple plan, to move up and engage the numerically inferior foe now lay smashed before her. The smoke curtain her team had laid out was turning against her and made artillery spotting impossible, taking her 105s and T34 Calliope out of the equation.
In the corner of her eye she saw something in the smoke and shouted, "Movement, three o'clock! Gunner!"
"On it!"
"Kay, what the hell is going on? I need orders!" Alisa's voice shouted through the radio.
The crack of a 17-pounder shell going overhead filled the air and there was a flash behind her before Naomi's cool voice came through the channel. "Kay, I just took out their Type 89, it was behind you!"
"BEHIND?" Kay shouted before spinning around to see a massive form roll into view directly behind her tank. She gaped as the 75mm gun of a Char B1 bis pointed to her engine deck and she kicked the driver. "ROTATE! ROTATE!"
The boom of cannon shell filled the air and the Sherman shuddered for a moment. She gaped as she saw that her turret was still moving, despite flames rising from the engine deck. Then a second shell, this one from the Char's top turret, hit the engine deck. Smoke filled the compartment and Kay heard the tell-tale pop of the white flag deploying.
She slumped and a slight smile played across her face, now these were champions... She put the radio to her lips and took a deep breath. "This is Kay, I've been disabled. Fire the Calliope into the smoke, everyone else... fall back and defend the artillery. Alisa, take command."
Saito swallowed as he heaved a 75mm shell into the gun breech of the M3 Lee's main gun. All around him, the girls were shouting and he could hear bangs from the top turret going into action.
Azusa shouts from the top turret echoed through the whole tank as she issued commands. "Sherman, one o'clock. She's running!"
The M3 Lee rocked as the driver yanked the controls, turning the tank sharply toward the Sherman. Saito stepped back as Ayumi let out a squeal of delight before pulling the trigger.
The M3 bucked as the 75mm casing shot from the back of the gun and Ayumi let out a whoop of glee. "Got her! Got her!"
"Awesome!" Azusa snapped. "Rabbit to Miho, Sherman knocked out!"
Alisa gaped as she heard the tanks reporting in and started counting them off on her fingers. "Twelve! That's twelve tanks they've knocked out!" Her eyes were wide and the rest of the tank crew looked at her suddenly remembering her breakdown from their last match with Ōarai. She grabbed the radio. "EVERYONE FIRE! FIRE INTO THE SMOKE!"
Outside the T34 Calliope lined up it's sixty rocket launch tubes to the center of the smoke cloud, now augmented by the billowing clouds of black smoke from knocked out tanks. Then it began to fire, hurling the 144mm rockets like a swarm of buzzing bees into the ridgeline and what little that could be seen of the ridge disappeared behind the volley of ordinance.
Miho yanked shut her command hatch and winced as the crump sound of rockets detonating all around her filled the air. Yukari looked like she'd gone white and even Hana seemed a bit disturbed by the onslaught of the rocket barrage. Still she listened to the radio channel, worriedly.
"This is Turtle, I think we lost a track!" Anzu's voice came through the radio despite the barrage.
Then after fifteen seconds that seemed like fifteen minutes, the explosions stopped. Miho cautiously pushed open her commander's hatch and glanced out at the battlefield. "Everyone, alright?"
"We're okay..." Akio said in a voice that seemed a bit shakey.
"Leopon and Duck team are knocked out. Turtle lost a track... We have seven mobile tanks to their eight now!" Yukari said suddenly. "And they're almost all artillery!"
Miho's eyes widened before she tapped her radio. "EVERYONE ATTACK!"
Akio swallowed before kicking Hayate. "Lets go, we'll take on the Firefly."
"If the Firefly gets a bead on you, do not be afraid to pop-smoke. Anteater, you can take the lead. Everyone! Advance!" Miho ordered again as the tanks surged into motion. Through the perisocpe Akio could see the hulking KV-1S roll over the top of the ridge and gun it's engine. Everwhere else, tanks surged into motion as the Shark rumbled down the hill in the smoke.
The occasional random shell from the 105s sent up clouds of dirt and smoke, but the winds began to thin it as they advanced. Through the forward perisocpe he watched as the T34 Calliope jettisoned it's launcher and rushed forward, firing it's 75mm gun.
"HALT! Target, Calliope, five hundred!"
The treads squeeled at the sudden stop, while Heishi swore as he loaded a shell into the breach as Masaru lined up the shot. A second later there was a boom as a round arced through the air and slammed into the T34's front mantlet. Black smoke poured from it's engine as it's white flag appeared.
"Cease fire, Hayate, advance... Zig Zag."
"Hai!"
Another shot echoed across the hillside and Akio watched as a round from Erwin's StuG III slammed into a 105mm Sherman, knocking it out. Other shots rang out as the Anteater slammed to a stop with artillery shells landing all around it. It's gun swung toward the nearest Sherman and fired, sending the round into the front hull knocking it out.
Then there was the crack of the 17-pounder and the StuG III disappeared in a flash and a cloud of black smoke.
"I see her! Target: Firefly, dis-" His orders stopped as he saw a tracer arc through the air and collide with the Firefly. For a moment, Akio thought the shot had missed before a belch of black smoke spilled from the tank and it's flag popped out.
"Nice shot," Akio said before glancing toward the Anglerfish and it's smoking barrel. "Isuzu-san."
Alisa whimpered as she watched her force reduced to a mere four 105mm Howitzers. "Reverse, fall back to defense positions! We can't match them force on-"
There was a ping as a round glanced off the gun mantlet and she shivered. "What was that?"
"M3 Lee, two o'clock!" The gunner said.
"WELL SHOOT BACK!"
Miho watched as the four remaining Shermans reversed, trying to escape. Their guns fired non-stop, sending shell after shell whistling past their targets. She calmly popped her head out her hatch. "Akio-san, Hana-chan, you may fire at will."
"Aye, Nishizumi-dono," Hana answered as Yukari grinned. The few tanks that remained armed with the L/48 guns sighted in on their foes as the panicked and Shermans fired on the move, sending their shots wide. Overall, Miho knew that if Leopon, Turtle, and Hippo were still in action the enemy wouldn't stand a chance.
The Alligator, Anteater, and Mallard teams were racing toward the retreating Shermans, eager to get into ideal range for their weapons against the artillery pieces. Miho heard the clatter of a shell being loaded and smirked to herself as Yukari called. "Ready."
Against a team organized like Kuromorimine, the team that Kay had fielded would have been a decent counter. Kuromorimine used tight packed mutually supporting formations that had been drilled into the team with set formations and responses they practiced over and over again. The Calliope would have torn such a formation apart, forcing it's component units to scurry for cover. Volleys of HEAT rounds from the 105s would have fallen on the lightly armored roofs of Kuromorimine's Panzers. Even the Maus wouldn't be able to survive a hit to the engine deck.
All of that had been countered simply by spreading her ten tanks out. Artillery wasn't meant to be accurate: in fact most artillery was designed to have a certain level of inaccuracy so that it could saturate an area with bombardments of shells. Like with a shotgun, having too tight a grouping could at times be a drawback.
The Panzer IV fired and she watched the shell arc through the air to catch another of the Sherman artillery pieces. To her left, another shot arced through the air from the Shark, hitting the ground just before one of the retreating Shermans. A pair of bangs from the front drew Miho's gaze and she smiled on seeing the Rabbit had hunted down another of the Shermans and delivered a swift one-two punch from it's guns. Another crack had her gaze sweeping over to the KV-1S as it charged down the hill, and she watched the shell ricochet off one of the Shermans while the Anteater swung around to one side and pumped a round into the tank's side armor.
Only one Sherman remained and then, Hana fired again. Miho watched the shell fly through the air and strike the front hull of the Sherman. It sputtered for a moment before it's white flag deployed.
A gentle breeze rolled down the hill side, carrying away the last of the smoke as Miho pushed the transmit button again.
"That's the match... well done."
Alisa slumped as she waved away the thick curtain of smoke that filled the compartment of her tank. "We lost... again!"
"Cheer up Alisa-chan..." Kay's voice came through the radio speakers. "We lost to the Champions!"
The freckled girl felt tears well up in her eyes. "It doesn't make me feel better!"
Shiho sat straight backed as Sakai applauded with the rest of the Ōarai supporters. Beside her Maho's stoic expression seemed to crack and Shiho felt her anger begin to rise once again.
How dare her! Miho had used guile and deception, turning her enemy's own smoke screen against them to allow her weaker tanks to inflict losses on the enemy. Clearly, Miho should have lost, and yet... she had done more than win. She had swept the field, only losing three of her tanks and having but one immobilized temporarily by rocket fire.
Sakai's clapping drew her attention once again and Shiho's lip twitched in anger. "I would not call that an honorable victory."
"No, I'd call it a good show." Sakai said as he stood. "I will go congratulate my son..."
Shiho sneered. "We're leaving Maho."
"Yes mother."
Akio stared in surprise as Kay walked up to Miho's command tank and clambered aboard. As the small timid Miho climbed out of the hatch, Kay offered her hand. "Good match."
Miho flushed. "It would have worked against another school." Then she took Kay's hand and flinched as the boisterous blonde pulled her into a hug.
As Kay released Miho, she laughed to herself. "So sensitive..."
Miho shrugged as Saori popped out one of the bow hatches. "Hey, Miho? Since we won so fast... can we go shopping?"
"How about lunch first?" Akio suggested from the top of his Panzer.
"Hai, that sounds like a good idea." Miho said.
Author's Note: Yes, originally I was going to have an M10 Tank Destroyer in this match, but after a few minutes writing I suddenly thought… 'Is there a rule against the T34 Calliope?' As you can see, this is the result.
I decided to go with a much more tactically astute Miho then even the anime really suggested. She's more flexible and a risk taker, but she's still not that good with the morale and inspiration parts of being a leader.
I've decided that Shiho is definitely going to end up a major antagonist, with Miho and Maho caught in the middle and the elder Sakai playing the role of her opposite. So, we've got our first annihilation match, now for some down time and character development…
Hmm, who to go up against next?
How about an informal Poll: In your review, name which team you want to see next in a match?
Anzio Academy (Italy), Azul Academy (Nationalist Spain), Chi-Ha-Tan (Japan), or a New School (Advocate the Nation)
Also, this work is now on a monthly schedule… Next Update is planned for Monday, June 24th, 2013.
