Another chapter is here for your viewing pleasure, but you know the drill, the reviews come first.
1:Nice chapter... now to the big question who will drop the basic vilan lines?
thanks, and I do have a good European antagonist who will be spouting her lines to our characters ;-)
2: YEAH! The doombarn is in the here RIP to everyone and the Swedish tank is the Kranvagn
yep, the Doom barn is on the premises and here to give them a right kicking, as for the other tank, well read on :-)
with that out of the way, enjoy.
ミホは男の子を満たす - Miho Meets The Boys
The male teenager hauled himself out of the hatch and slid down the side of the tall turret and onto the deck of the tank, then made a small jump onto the tarmac floor, he walked around the front of the FV and presented himself to the girls.
Standing at around 5' 3", he was wearing what resembled a standard British tanker uniform, with a khaki jacket complete with chest pockets, small bandolier around his hips and black trousers which went down into some black, steel-toe boots, he also had a young, light face, rather average with brown eyes and brown hair, with a black beret covering it.
The girls behind Miho where in different forms of emotion, Momo was still as straight faced as she was normally, Anzu and Erwin looked on in interest, Yukari was trying to contain her excitement for the tanks that had just arrived and Saori was trying to hold her blush back.
The teen then stuck his hand out for Miho, "Tom Bolton, commander of Falcon team at your service" he greeted, with a Midlander accent in his voice, Miho was a bit stuck in shock but managed a nervous smile and shook his hand, "Miho Nishizumi, commander of the Ooarai Sensha-dō team, nice to meet you" she greeted in response, "so as you may already know, we're from Bovington Tankery Sandhurst, after you're PR manager gave us an offer and since our school wasn't participating in this tournament, we decided to transfer as your volunteers" Tom went on to explain, "and which one of you is that manager?"
"That would be me" Momo said behind them, "ah, Momo Kawashima if I'm not mistaken, we talked on the phone?" Tom addressed, "you would be correct, also I'm sure you're not operating that tank all by yourself" Momo then mentioned.
"Oh yeah about that…" Tom said and then turned to his tank, "come on out you lot, they won't bite" he called out.
At that point, the second hatch on top of the turret, the door on the rear and the driver's hatch on the chassis all opened up, and four more boys came out of their tank, they walked around and lined up side by side, they were all wearing similar uniforms to Tom, only with a few differences in accessories.
The first one stood at 5' 5" with a thin stature, he wore a pair of dark red gloves on his hands, he had a pair of hazel eyes and short brown hair, which was covered by a khaki and red British peaked cap, with an artillery insignia in the middle of the red band at the front, "Nelson Richards from Portsmouth, gunner of Falcon team at your service" he greeted with a slight posh, cockney accent.
The second one stood at 5' 1" with an average stature, he had what looked like some random papers and maps in his pockets, he had a pair of dark blue eyes and mid-length black hair, "Morgan Colwyn from Cardiff, driver of Falcon team at your service" he greeted, with a Welsh accent in his voice.
The third one stood at 5' 4" with a rather buffed stature, he had a blue and white saltire stitched into one of his collars and some mechanical tools in his bandolier, he had a pair of green eyes and short brown hair, "Ronald Lindsay from Aberdeenshire, loader of Falcon team at your service" he greeted, with a deeper Scottish accent.
The final one stood at 4' 10" with a smaller stature (more akin to a first year), he also had a blue and white saltire stitched into his collar, he had a pair of vivid blue eyes and had mid-length black hair, "Douglas Lindsay also from Aberdeenshire, assistant loader of Falcon team at your service" he greeted, with a lighter Scottish accent.
"Well it's so nice to meet you Falcon team" Miho was taken aback by the new faces, "so I bet we have to introduce ourselves" Anzu guessed, "that won't be necessary" Tom then noted, the girls looked confused, "the one with the monocle is Momo Kawashima, the short, twin ponytails is Anzu Kadotani, the one with the German cap is Riko Matsumoto AKA Erwin, the sleepy one is Mako Reizei, the tank nut is Yukari Akiyama, the… rather flustered one is Saori Takebe and the flower arranger is Hana Isuzu" he then picked out.
"Wha? How did you know" Miho panicked with a bit of a blush, "simple, it's something called the internet" Nelson joked, "aye, you do know you all where all over the tankery news outlets when you won that 63rd tournament and against that university team? It was rather easy finding all the info on you lot" Douglas explained.
"Det stora älglaget är här!" a Swedish voice then shouted to them, the girls turned to see three more teenagers standing there, just in front of the green tank they arrived in
All three of them stood three abreast, wearing forest green Swedish tanker uniforms, which where felt jackets and trousers along with a pair of rugged boots, the jackets covered a white shirt and had small, thin epaulettes on their shoulders, the two boys either side of the centre figure wore blue cadet caps on their heads.
The one in front stood at 5' 4" with an average stature, he had a pair of green eyes and had short brown hair, the one to his right stood at 5' 3" also with an average stature, he had blue eyes and spiky medium blonde hair under his cap, and the boy on the left stood at 5' 6" with a built-up stature.
"You're the Swedish team I'm guessing?" Momo answered the boys, "you would be correct" the centre figure said.
"I'm Erik Bofors, the commander" he then introduced himself.
"Gustav Hägglunds, the driver, but I go by the nickname Knugen" the one with spiky blonde hair then said.
"Jörgen Landsverk, the gunner" the tall one then added on.
"And that lot is Elk team for you, you'll get use to their company" Tom clarified, "say, may I ask what that tank is? I don't recognize it" Erwin asked, pointing to the tank in question, with Yukari just wanting to jump in.
Erik turned to it, "oh that? That miss is the Kranvagn, a tank with was…" he began to say.
"...part of the EMIL project to develop a tank for the Swedish armed forces to counter the Soviet IS-3 tanks in case of an invasion" Yukari then cut him off, Erik looked at her shocked, "so they weren't kidding when they called you a tank nut, you just took the words out of my mouth" he exclaimed, "oh, sorry" Yukari consoled and looked rather timid, "don't be, that's one great mind you have" Erik smiled. Yukari perked up again and smiled in return.
"Should we talk more about all these new vehicles?" Anzu then suggested, Tom however looked distraught, "well I would gladly if those damn Italians came on time" he grimaced, "speaking of them, where the hell are they?" Momo then asked.
Just on que, a tank suddenly appeared at the gates and drove in quickly, it was painted yellow and was rather low-down in appearance, the turret was rounded with a cupola and hatch on the roof, a rangefinder port was present on each side of the turret just above the mantlet, which held a mid-sized gun with an X-shaped muzzle break on the end, the rear of the tank was lifted up slightly with twin, round exhaust ports on the back and a bunch of tools on the side, on the front a small Italian flag was painted on the front plate, also the symbol of twin wolf tails where on the side on the turret, along with some Italian writing.
"Speak of the devil" Tom joked as the Italian tank stopped just behind the Kranvagn, Tom at this point walked a bit closer to the girls, "now I may want to warn you that the commander of that tank may have been a womanizer in the past" he mentioned, "really?" Anzu questioned, "yep, but I did make it clear to him, no funny business between him and you all, but he is the rather laid back type may I add" Tom reassured, Miho then looked at Yukari, "you know what that tank is?" she questioned, "Wow, that's one of the Leopard I prototypes, If I remember correctly that's the I B version" she replied with glee.
At that point the hatch on top of the Italian tank opened and the teenage commander stuck out.
He was wearing a black leather Italian tanker jacket with solid red lapels, his trousers were also black and he had black, shin high boots, the commander himself stood at 5' 3" and had brown eyes and dark brown hair, which was covered by a black Italian tanker helmet which had black felt which hung down and ran around the sides and rear.
"Ciao my new companions! Alfonso Salvatore of Lupo team is here" he shouted from the cupola, with a southern Italian accent ever so present in his voice as he got his body fully out of the tank, "bloody hell Alfonso you took your time!" Tom scolded as the Italian stood on the roof of the turret, "why are you so angry, we were only…" Alfonso began to say, "...Taking the scenic route, I ain't falling for that excuse again, now get yourself and your crew over here to present" Tom barked, Alfonso huffed and proceeded to order his crew.
"I think you can now see why we consider the Lupo team to be the most interesting of our small group" Erik smiled, "I can see that" Erwin replied, she in particular had a bit of interest in the Italian commander, "but I tell you, they are one fast bunch when it comes to the battle" Knugen added on talking from experience.
The entirety of Lupo team was now lined up in front of them, Alfonso was on the far right with his subordinates to the left.
The first stood at 5' 4" with a slightly thin stature, his uniform was similar to Alfonso's, the main difference however was his jacket was a greenish-grey colour and was made of felt compared to the dark blue and leather of the normal uniform, he also wore a model 1934 Italian peaked cap on his head, with a gold eagle on the front and some extra gold trimmings around the band, the boy himself had brown eyes and short auburn hair, "Alberico Badoglio, loader of Lupo team madam" he greeted.
The second stood at 5' 3" with a rather buffed stature, his uniform was also similar to Alfonso, the difference being he had a belt with a few pouches containing range finding equipment and an Italian bustina cap on his head, he had hazel eyes and short brown hair, "Hugo Giovanni, gunner of Lupo team madam" he introduced himself.
The final one stood at 5' dead with an average stature, the inclusion of a few tools on his belt and the square glasses on his face being the only differences in terms of uniform, he had green eyes and black, mid-length hair, "Floriano Cavallero, driver of Lupo team madam" he saluted with his hand.
Miho smiled at all the new male faces looking at her, "I'm guessing this is all of you now?" she asked, "yep that's all of us" Tom replied, "well I think I'll start off first, I'm Miho Nishizumi and I'm the commander of Ooarai's Sensha-dō team, that girl over there is Momo Kawashima, she is the PR manager of the Student council and will be the one keeping all of us in check, that girl is Anzu Kadotani, she is the leader of the Student council, next to her is Yuzu Koyama, the student council's paper pusher and this girl next to me is Riko Matsumoto, AKA Erwin who is my vice-commander" she listed everyone to the males, with the respected girls giving nods in greeting.
"I was wondering what the name of that glorious commanding girl was" Alfonso quipped with a smirk, his words directed at Erwin, with her pulling a surprised face and trying to hold back a blush, "did he just say that?" she thought to herself, Elk team sniggered slightly while Tom just face palmed to the cringe, Anzu and Yuzu couldn't help but smile, but Momo then coughed into a fist, "may I remind you Salvatore that flirting with the vice-commander in front of the leadership of the team isn't the most wise decision" she reprimanded, "oh, I do apologise" Alfonso backtracked, but with a slight grin still present on his face.
"Erm, okay with that out of the way, all the crews can go inside the building and get themselves settled" Miho then ordered, "what about the new tanks?" Yukari then asked, "well they can be parked up in the hanger by the drivers" Miho replied, "well we have some belongings we have to take out, may take a wee-little while" Ronald brought up, "okay, do that and take your belongings to the male bunks, I'll show you where they are" Momo interjected.
Miho, Yukari, Erwin, Anzu, Noriko and the three European commanders watched as the final vehicle, the FV was being reversed into place by Morgan, with Nelson guiding him backwards with voice and hand signals.
"Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, Stop!" Nelson exclaimed with swiping arms, Morgan hit the brakes and the FV came to a sharp halt in the hanger and the engine shut off, Morgan got out of the driver's hatch, slid down the front plate of the hull and walked over to Nelson, and they both started to walk to the main building, "thanks for that guys, you get yourselves comfy" Tom said to them both, "your welcome mate" Nelson replied, with his gentleman like persona showing.
Now they were standing in front of the FV, its large gun and turret towering over them, "ok the FV4005 Stage II, where do we start with this thing" Anzu said to herself, "well I'm going to leave it to the tank nut, she seemed to know more about this vehicle than I do" Tom stood himself aside for Yukari.
"Oh thanks Tom, well this vehicle, it was developed in the early 1950's in order to counter heavy Soviet armour like the IS-3 and the Lenin at the time, it was designed alongside the FV215 project which was based on the Conqueror chassis, while this was based on the Centurion chassis, where the FV215 didn't make it past the mock-up stage, the 4005 made it into two prototypes, the Stage I and the Stage II, the Stage I had the gun completely open to the elements, as it was loaded by a semi-automated magazine feed, however it was decided having the gun automated and unprotected wasn't worth the cost in crew safety, the Stage II ditched the mechanical system for the traditional two loaders in the large fully enclosed turret, the tank did well in its trials, but in 1957 the Malkara ATGM was slowly coming into fruition, which did the same job as the FV but without the hassle of such a huge vehicle, as a result, the FV4005 was declared obsolete and the project was abandoned, the vehicle was later moved to a museum where it resides to this day".
"So, what does it have going for it?" Erwin asked, Tom took over at this point, "well let's get the obvious out of the way, you all may have noticed the rather impressive gun on it, it's the 183 mm L4A1 tank gun" he explained, "183 mm?" Anzu said in a bit of shock, "that's a big-ass gun" Noriko said to herself, "bloody right it is" Tom replied to her with a smile, "if you want comparisons, the gun on Pravda's KV-2 is only 152 mm's" Yukari mentioned, "yep, and the shells it fires are two-piece 183 mm HESH rounds, each shell weighs around seventy kilograms and each round has an equivalent of sixteen kilograms of TNT, you can see why we need two loaders" Tom continued.
"What's so special about these HESH rounds?" Erwin questioned, "well may I start by saying that HESH stands for High Explosive Squash Head, it does exactly what it says on the tin, the shell hits the armour, squashes up against it and then detonates, the shockwave it creates in the armour causes a lot of spalling which in turn can wreak havoc on the insides of the tank, but then the shell itself can penetrate the amour if its weak enough, and need I say more if the shell explodes on the inside" Tom lectured, "the main issue is that's it's a pain in the backside to reload the bloody thing, even when Ronald and Douglas are warmed up, reloads take up to twenty five seconds, and also the turret armour isn't very good as well, it can really only stop machine gun fire and that about it" he then warned.
The girls all nodded, "okay thanks for the info you guys, now can we move on to the next vehicle?" Miho asked, they all moved over to the next vehicle.
"So this is the Kare… Krain… Kgra…" Anzu struggled to pronounce the Swedish word, "Kranvagn" Erik corrected her, "yeah, the Kranvagn, that's what I meant" she quickly snapped, "well I can start" Yukari suggested.
"This tank, otherwise known as the KRV was the third and final tank variation which resulted from the EMIL project, just like the FV4005 it was intended to take on the heavy Soviet tanks which would be used in case the Soviets invaded Sweden, two main companies developed the tank, Landsverk developed the hull and tracks while Bofors developed the turret and gun system, the tank had a flat, low profile hull with an American twelve cylinder V12 engine, it even had a pike nose which was inspired by the Soviet tanks, the gun was placed in an oscillating turret and had an autoloader mechanism, akin to the French AMX-13 tanks, Landsverk was able to produce two prototype chassis' for testing, but Bofors where never able to complete the turret due to problems with the proposed 150 mm smoothbore gun, with them resorting down to a proposed 120 mm rifled gun, soon Sweden was importing British Centurion tanks, which were designated the Strv 81, and soon after that the whole EMIL project was canned, one of the prototypes was used for suspension testing for the S-tank project, and it was later put into storage after all these tests where it resides now".
"Did you say autoloader?" Miho questioned, "yes she did, this vehicle has a twin drum, four round autoloader mechanism for the 120 mm gun, we usually have one drum, which is located behind my position loaded with HE ammunition, while the other which is behind Jörgen's position is loaded with APCR ammunition, we couldn't use the original APDS due to tournament rules on sub-calibre rounds, but the APCR drum is the one we use regularly use" Erik took to explain, "so it means you can fire four rounds in rapid succession?" Erwin asked, "exactly, we can fire all four shells within the space of twelve seconds, the issue is that once the drum is empty, Jörgen has to then load the drum back up one shell at a time, which can take up to thirty seconds if he's fast, but we also do have armour to protect ourselves, the turret is up to 180 mm thick, and the gun can depress very well, so this has good potential in hull-down tactics" Erik answered with his experience with the tank.
"Also, may I ask why is it called Kranvagn?" Anzu said in curiosity, "Kranvagn roughly translates to crane wagon in Swedish, it was done during its development to confuse any potential spies on the project, although you may hear it being called the 'trolley' as well, but that's just a miss-translation" Erik answered.
Now they were onto the final tank in the European's arsenal, the the Italian Leopard prototype, "well Yukari?" Miho asked the fluffy.
"Well, this tank was the product of a combined project between France and Germany in order to produce a 'Standardpanzer' which could equip both armies, in 1958 when the project was still going through its design phase, Italy joined the joint effort, which I'm guessing that's how you Italians got your hands on it, the first prototypes, I A and I B, which is the one here right now, were finished in 1960, with them going through testing, the second batch were finished in late 1961, these being II A and II B, in the end the II A version was picked as the winner of the entire project, and that would go on to become the Leopard I, although at that point, the joint program between Germany, France and Italy had collapsed due to missed deadlines and lack of contributions, especially from the French side".
"So this has some strong roots with a famous MBT doesn't it" Noriko simpered, "you are correct in that, in terms of a more correct name, us Italians called this version the Prototipo Standard B, its very similar to the original I B prototype, but us Italians gave it a small trick in the turret" Alfonso suggested, "and what's the trick?" Erwin asked, "have you heard of the OTO-Centauro project?" he questioned, "oh yeah, It was to create an autoloading mechanism for the Leopard series… wait, so your saying?" Yukari answered and then wondered, Alfonso smiled and slapped the side of the tank, "yes madam, we have that system in this tank, modified to use 90 mm shells, however we had to limit the system to three rounds, two in the magazine and one in the chamber in order to get it approved by the ETA, the beauty of it is that we can constantly top it off, I would also have to mention just like with Elk team we had to use APCR shells instead of the original APDS, but we also have HEAT-FS and HESH rounds, although our HESH rounds ain't nowhere near as effective as Falcon team's" he then revealed, "what about manurability?" Miho questioned, "well this thing is fast with the MB837A engine, allows us to get to sixty-five kilometres per hour, but that speed's at the cost of armour, this things only got fifty millimeters of front plate, and even less side and rear armour, that won't stop much" Alfonso answered.
Miho then stood there thinking for a bit, "Okay let's recap these new tanks" she then said.
"So the FV4005 is a heavy tank destroyer with five crew members, its gun is immensely powerful and can take out most enemies with a single shot, but has a long reload and the turret is rather weak in terms of armour".
"The Kranvagn is a heavy tank with three crew members, has a four round autoloader which allows it to hit multiple enemies in a single clip, and it also has good turret armour, but has a slow reload after the magazine is empty".
"The Standard B is a fast medium with four crew members, has a high top speed and a very versatile gun, but is lacking in armour protection and is rather fragile".
"You got that?" Miho then asked Erwin who nodded in return, "okay then, let's go to the strategy room, I like to see what's there" the commander suggested.
Alfonso, Erik and Noriko left them at this point as they walked through the corridor, as they had other stuff to do, they reached the room in question, the strategy room, upon walking into the room through the foggy windowed door they were bestowed by a large square table in the middle of the room, this table having a large map of the entire play area, with multiple seats and a grander looking desk chair surrounding it, the walls were also covered in maps and a blackboard, and the window which let light in did have a pair of blinds to go with it.
Anzu immediately claimed the large desk chair in the room, doing a spin in it as the others sat down in the other seats.
"This is the strategy room, where we're going to be making up all of our plans?" Yukari said while looking around the walls, "pretty much, I can tell I'm going to be spending a lot of time in here" Erwin replied.
"So Tom, how much do you know about the European schools which will be in this tournament?" Anzu then asked Tom, "oh, well tell me who's participating and I'll give some insight into their leaders and their tactics, I can't be sure on tanks, they may have changed them between the last European tournament and this one" the Falcon commander replied.
Anzu pulled out a piece of paper out of her pocket and read off the words.
"Žatec-Pilsen Girls Academy, DST and NTC compound team, SCARLAT Tankery School and MTF".
"Well let's start with Žatec-Pilsen, they're lead by a girl known as Zlata Vančura, and her vice-commander Marika Beneš, they mostly employ mediums and lights, and those tanks are a mixture of Czech inter-war vehicles and prototypes, and modified Soviet tanks" he described.
"They sound rather tough" Miho theorised, "yeah, but their major weakness is in command, Zlata has nerves made of dried twigs, she'll crack under any form of strain which is out of her control and will attempt to use the tankery equivalent of 'appeasement' tactics to ensure the survival of her forces under attack, but Marika is different, very hot-blooded, has a short temper, she believes in rock-hard defensive tactics, and telling everyone to stay put, of course both of them end up barking out their conflicting orders, the whole team is confused and everything goes south for them" Tom then described.
"Okay, what about DST and NTC?" Erwin continued the conversation, "oh god them, okay, DST is led by a rather large girl called Katarina Branković, very obnoxious, arrogant, and thinks everyone is below her, I've heard the grievances you've had in the past with Katyusha and Erika, but Katarina will make them both look like a bunch of dummy-sucking toddlers, NTC is led by a boy called Vlatko Milojević, he's has a quiet and demeaning mental state, he basically signed a black cheque with Katarina, do anything and I'll silently support it, in terms of tanks they have MBT's and they pride themselves on their technological advantage, but are small in comparison to other teams as these tanks are very expensive".
"Interesting, well next is SCARLAT isn't it?" Miho coaxed, "okay, the Specialized Central Academy of Romania for the Logistics and Academics of Tankery, and yes I did take the time to learn the acronym, are led by their 'captain' Theodor Ionescu and his vice-commander Daniel Vladimirescu, you'll get a lot of 'Garda de Fier' vibes off of them as well, they're colours and tactics are based off that certain historical group, they mostly employ tank destroyers and sneak attack tactics in order to destroy their opponents, and be prepared for them to charge, they have the mentality of 'we'll be glad to throw our corpses on our enemies to guarantee our captain's success', the crews will execute any orders from the captain without hesitation".
"And finally MTF" Erwin brought up the final school, Tom got them into his mind, "MTF, those Hungarians are led by a small girl called Annuska Cinege, she has a few sub-commanders, the closest to her is a guy called Tamás Sovány, then the other two are Margaréta Somogyi and Jakab Balázs, three words can describe their tactics, light tank swarm, they use mostly light tanks and will try to surround the enemy and distract them, while their other heavier vehicles sit further back and pick the tanks off one by one".
"And I think that's it" Tom finished, he had then just noticed that Erwin was writing down on a notepad, Anzu then looked out of the window, "looks like it's getting rather late" she pointed out, the others also looked out the window and also noticed the sun getting lower and lower on the horizon, "yeah and that car will probably come soon to pick us up" Miho then mentioned, Tom looked at her confused, "ohh I forgot to mention a car will be coming to pick us up and take us to a meeting of all the commanders, I thought it was best if you came as well" she then explained, "oh god that means I'll have to come up against that Croat monster, well if you insist, I can attend" Tom then accepted with a bit of reluctance, "good, well we have everything now so you all can go and do whatever you need to do" Anzu said cheerfully, just as she pulled out another pack of sweet dried potatoes.
When the sun went below the horizon the lights of a vehicle came into the compound, and on time, Miho, Yukari, Momo, Erwin and Tom where waiting at the front door of the main building as the fancy looking limousine pulled up, a chauffeur wearing a suit and white gloves got out the driver's side, "are you the one taking us to the meeting?" Momo questioned, "yes madam" the chauffeur replied as he opened the rear doors for them, "thank you" Miho said as she got into the limousine, there was enough space in the back for all five of them, Tom and Momo sat themselves on the seat facing backwards while Miho, Yukari and Erwin sat on the back seat facing forwards, the chauffeur after closing the doors got back into his seat at the front.
"May I ask politely for you to put your seat belts on" he said with a polite tone, the four girls and the boy did exactly that, "thank you, now we shall depart" the man approved as he started the car moving.
"Why do you have that?" Erwin asked Yukari who was holding a micro camera, the same one which she used while infiltrating Saunders and Anzio, they had all been on the road for a while now as it had turned completely dark, "I brought this along so I can snap pictures of any tanks we may see, just so we have more intel on the other teams" she proceeded to explain, "well just don't go floundering that thing around okay, where tankers, not paparazzi wannabe's" Momo warned, "if you keep that attitude up, you'll end up being the last person anyone takes a fashionable picture of" Tom joked to himself, "what?" Momo spun around to him, "nothing!" he then quickly snapped, but the other girls couldn't help but giggle at that wisecrack.
The car then pulled up outside a building, the chauffeur got out and proceeded to open the door for them, "everyone ready?" Miho asked her group, "all peachy, now let's cause a ruckus" Tom grinned.
