Chapter 2 : Knowing the Enemy
"He's here!"
Saori's announcement didn't catch anyone by surprise. It was a given that he should be there, watching.
Miho looked up towards where Saori's finger was pointed, and saw Ansaldi in an unconspicuous civilian outfit, peacefully puffing from his pipe. The figure smiled warmly, took out the pipe and lifted it up as an informal salute. She hesitantly waved her hand in response.
"I know I shouldn't, but he makes me nervous!" her ginger-haired teammate complained loudly. Everyone looked at her, and it was clear that she wasn't the only one with that peculiar problem. Even the unflappable president of the Student Council wasn't her usual careless self.
Looking at their worried faces, Miho suddenly felt the urge to rise their morale; this wasn't going to be an easy match, and they needed convinction as much as they needed brains. So she suddenly spoke up : "Everyone!" After an awkward moment, when everyone glared at her, she went on : "I know it's going to be unnerving, but we have to proceed as if he weren't here. We cannot allow ourselves the distraction, we need to concentrate to win this match!"
It was satisfying to see that her improvised speech had a certain effect on them. "That's right! If the menace of an enemy is enough to weaken your resolve, how can you call yourself a warrior?" shouted boldly Erwin. "By winning this battle, we shall show him his name is not enough to bring us to our knees!" echoed Caesar. "YES!" the rest of them shouted.
His eyes transfixed on the hodgepodge assembly of tanks that represented Ooarai's school, Ansaldi heard the shout and smiled approvingly. He was aware that his presence might unnerve the girls, but if they were to show qualities worthy of standing up to his, they needed to overcome that. And it looked like they just did.
The buzz of many mumbled conversations didn't bother him, it was preventivated. He couldn't reasonably hope to show up, even in an uncompromising outfit as the tweed he was wearing at the moment, at a Sensha-Do tournament match, and not cause an alarming level of curiosity to be sparked. The price of fame.
"Excuse me?" He turned his head, and saw exactly what he had guessed : some guys from a Panzerkraft-following TV channel, complete with camera and microphone. "You are Captain Vittorio Ansaldi, aren't you?" "I sure am!" he answered curtly. The poor lad who was hoding the microphone gathered all his courage and asked weakly : "Would you mind... if we interviewed him? For our viewers, the..." A hand and a smile interrupted him. "Go ahead, I'd be happy to!"
With a breahted thank you, the newsman gave a thumbs-up sign to his buddies, who prepped up the camera. After the customary three-fingers wait, the well-know lithany began. "Here, on the 4th Panzer Ground facility, I have the honour and pleasure to sit beside someone who doesn't need any kind of presentation. A man whose influence and skill in Panzerkraft are universally known, one of the legendary Panzer Aces... Captain Vittorio Ansaldi!" The camera flashed on the Italian's face, who nodded and waved hello.
"A quite unexpected pleasure, I must say, because it's been some time since the Italian Falcon's last appearance on such an occasion, even as a spectator. Might we inquire as to the reason of this?" As the microphone neared his mouth, Ansaldi thought of asking the man to stop being so damn formal, but decided it wouldn't yield results. So he merely answered : "Of course. I am going to assist to the forthcoming match of the Japanese Sensha-Do Tournament, between the teams of Ooarai High School and Anzio High School, for the simple reason that the skill shown by the former has mightily impressed me!"
"Is that so?" He could see the disbelief on the newsman's eyes, so he nodded vigorously. "Absolutely. I have reviewed the data from the previous two matches it fought, counting also a friendly match against St. Gloriana's Academy, and such was the surprise that I knew I had to act immediately, and watch closely over such a promising team." For a second, hesitation interrupted the flow of words; while he had made clear with Ami that he had no intention of keeping his intentions a secret, was he right in spilling the beans so quickly? He quickly made up his minds and continued : "In fact, I think I may announce that if such promise is kept in the next matches, I have the intention of issuing a formal challenge to the Ooarai High School team!"
For the next two seconds, the camera ran a huge risk of hitting the floor at a dangerous speed, such was the surprise etched on everyone's faces. He sighed and quickly added : "This might seem an absurd announcement, given my current status as a discontinued Panzerkraft participand, and given the reputation I still enjoy; but I believe, and I think that the near future won't prove me wrong, that such a team is capable of meeting myself and my teammates in a fair battle. In fact, I firmly believe that they will prove they are skilled enough even to defeat me!"
The girls noticed the commotion over the spectators' place only after they had met the enemy's commander, Anchovy, and listened to her harsh words against Miho. But they almost didn't consider it : their minds were set on the task on hand. Defeating the Anzio team as quickly and as painlessly as possible.
As the various tanks rolled up towards the starting position, the two teams divided by a steep ridge with only a passage in its middle, Yukari commented : "The only serious problem we'll face will be hitting the enemy tankettes. They are so small they are difficult to shoot, if at speed!" In her usual tone, Mako replied : "If they are so nimble, pray they don't try to ram us!" The idea, quite disturbing, was met by an apprehensive silence. "If I remember correctly... it was a tactic sometimes used by the Italian tankers in the early days of the Western Desert Campaign; perhaps the enemy could..." The commander looked thoughtful, then shook her head. "No. If anything, they'll serve as bait for some ambush. I think their commander would regard such strategy as 'cowardly', other than self-destructive!"
They didn't have to wait much to verify it. Sending Teams B and E to recon ahead, they saw the enemy occupying the pass; while returning towards the main line, they were indeed ambushed by the Italian tankettes, supported by two M13/40. Ansaldi, his eyes transfixed on the screen, only moved a muscle to puff some smoke. But that was a reflex : every bit of his attention was on the match, and the tactics. Not that those were difficult to extrapolate : considering the situation, an ambush was the best choice Anchovy could have made, and sacrificing the L3s to lure the enemy made them almost useful.
Almost. As soon as he had heard about the Anzio lineup, his innards twitched (not his exterior, because he had trained it for a long time); even when he was a complete rookie, and the Italian tank school was considered the worst in the world, not even in their lowest point had they used such pathetic excuses of a tank. Agile as they were, fast as they were, small as they were, they simply were powerless against any enemy they faced. True, they had sometimes used the L6, but they were at least comparable with other light tanks as the Stuart or the T70 or the Panzer II; when he had climbed his way up to command, he had put all light tanks in storage, and gone all out with medium tanks and Semoventi. And he had forgotten all about the 'swarm' tactics his predecessors used, to favour a more rigid, powerful concept.
Without any surprise he saw the L3s being taken out swiftly and surely by the Ooarai's tanks, and without any surprise he saw that the lure had been almost successful. Again, almost, because Miho wouldn't have fallen in such a transparent trap. However, this was the time when the Semoventi and the P40 would begin to speak; this could prove somewhat challenging.
As the shells rained around Ooarai's vanguard, amongst the small explosions of the 47 mm shells the far bigger and stronger explosions of 75 mm shells could be easily distinguished. The Semoventi were admonishing them they were more than willing to prove their gun's worth on their armour; and this was a risk too big for any of them to handle.
Yet, as they fought back, there was no sign of things going bad. Moreover, when Team D knocked out an M tank, their excited screams of triumph were overpowering; too bad that the shell that immediately after pierced their side armour was overpowering too. As the customary white flag shot up, everyone looked up, and saw the triumphant silhouette of the P40, its gun still smoking from the bullseye.
"Retreat!" called Miho. It was useless to try and charge the enemy, making easy targets as they towered over them. As Teams B and C fell back, the former trying to protect the latter (it was their flag tank after all), the Anzio tanks fired again and again, but they only managed to scratch the paint of the StuG. As they reformed the formation, Erwin asked over the radio : "What are your orders?" Mako said : "Do we have to go up there and try to dislodge them?" The question was tricky : climbing up again would prove potentially fatal, even if Anzio's aim wasn't exactly flawless. Miho looked from the cupola, saw dust being lifted towards the high ground, and nodded. "Don't worry about that." she said. "Anzio is going towards us!"
Any remaining consideration of the worth of the Anzio commander left the Panzer Ace's mind as soon as he saw the tanks rolling down the pass. Typical, he thought. Instead of showing patience and make the enemy come to them, Anchovy chose to seize the opportunity and capitalize on their supposed weakened spirits. Fat chance.
He mentally nodded as he saw Ooarai reforming its line to meet the enemy as it went down. And he kept approving as he saw the counter-ambush, carefully laid, with every tank careful not to waste such a chance.
One by one, the remaining Anzio tanks were taken out. Last, was Anchovy's tank, whose armour had proved enough to deflect Momo's and Akebi's shots; at last, she had proven to be quite determined, as she relentlessly tried to get one good shot at the StuG, thereby winning the match. Its furious maneuvers, however, were cut short by a masterful shot on Sana's part; the only instance when the Italian commander showed some outward emotion and nodded vigorously.
As Miho led her victorious teammates back towards the cheering public, she was both flustered and worried as she saw Ansaldi's tall figure, the pipe still firmly planted in his mouth, heartily clapping his hands. She made a note on the effect it had on the others : all were proud and smiling from such a compliment, even if a hint of worry could be see in their eyes.
A noise of trucks interrupted her thoughts; the defeated Anzio tanks were being taken away to be repaired, ingloriously humble. As the crew of the Italian-themed academy strode on the ground, some clapping was heard, but it was just for the record. Everyone felt they had turned a disappointing performance; and their commander felt that too, if her demeanor and her devastated expression meant anything.
The silence thickened when the Italian commander left the stands and went down to the ground. He marched up right towards Anchovy, and stopped when he towered on her; his hand was clapping his pipe, and his eyes were fixed on the defeated girl. She bowed her head; his expression remained the same. After a second, he let out a grunt, and touched her shoulder with his other hand. And then, like an ancient oracle he spoke.
"Your tactic and your command style is flawed." After one or two seconds of anguished silence, he went on : "But you have potential. Keep training, and you might win your next match!" His white teeth audibly gritted his pipe, as his arm dramatically pointed to the tankettes, infamous in Italy for bearing the name of a brand of canned food. "But please, lose immediately the Arrigoni! They aren't worth the fuel they gargle up!"
And with that, he left, leaving Anchovy very confused, but somewhat relieved. And in the silence, Saori's sentence boomed like thunder : "Isn't he prodigiously cute?" As per the script, Mako was quick to reverse the score. "Isn't he a bit old for you?"
If there was any better way to end a battle than laughing, not even Ansaldi knew it.
