Always Advancing
A Girls und Panzer fanfic
Part XXXV: Mission to Pravda
by Civilis
"Whose idea was this?" chorused Kay, Yukari, and Arisa as the Saunders C-5, flown by one of the Transport Section pilots, prepared to land on Pravda's deck.
"Is this some sort of joke I don't get?" said Darjeeling from one of the passenger seats.
"Probably some Saunders prank," said Anchovy, sitting across from her.
"Do we have everything, Secret Agent Akiyama?" Kay asked Yukari.
"One Anzio Truck, Food, check. One Anzio Truck, Cargo, check. One St. Gloriana Truck, Cargo, check. One Saunders Jeep, Generic, check…" Yukari counted off on her fingers.
"Why did you bring the extra truck, Anchovy?" asked Assam.
"You'll see. We came up with something which might help," said Anchovy.
Meanwhile, Yukari continued, "One Anzio Command and Logistics (Food) Team, consisting of Anchovy, Momo, Carpaccio, Pepperoni, Saori, and Erwin, with bags. Erwin, are you going to be okay without your friends?"
"Ja," said Erwin. "They're working on things back at Anzio. Since I have the most experience with Panzer tactics, they thought I should come along."
"Thanks for coming to help!" said Yukari. "Ok, we also have One St. Gloriana Command and Maintenance Team, consisting of Darjeeling, Pekoe, Assam, Yuzu, Satoko, Tsuchiya, Suzuki and Hoshino, with bags."
"Why did you come along, Darjeeling?" asked Kay. "I thought you were just sending Assam and Yuzu and the mechanical experts."
"I've had a revelation recently, thanks to Pekoe, here," said Darjeeling. "Being in command means being willing to take a fresh look at what goes on around you."
"And we have one Saunders Command and Intelligence Section, plus Transport Team, with bags," Yukari finished.
"What are you reading this time?" asked Arisa.
"I'm reading Kursk: Hitler's Gamble. Figured that might be a good inspiration for looking at the upcoming battle. I also brought a lot of books on German and Soviet tanks." Yukari pointed to a second bag alongside her familiar backpack.
With a heavy thump, the massive plane set down on the Pravda deck, then quickly breaked to a stop.
The Saunders aircraft crew, with help from the St. Gloriana mechanics, got to work unsecuring the trucks.
Kay lowered the plane's ramp to see the Pravda command team already waiting. They'd even thrown together an honor guard for their visitors.
"Hey, Nonna! Hey Klara!" called Kay. "Thanks for the warm welcome!"
Nonna walked over to the group, Klara and Pazomi in tow. "Kay, I didn't know you would be coming. Darjeeling and Pekoe either."
"Somebody needs to keep an eye on Arisa and Yukari. We can't have them causing trouble, now, can we?" Kay laughed.
Nonna, impassive as ever, looked over the trucks. Spying the feared red SPQR food truck, and the familiar fox-haired Anzio history buff nearby, she narrowed her eyes. "I thought you wouldn't resort to dirty tricks…"
"Relax," said Anchovy. "Saori and Pepperoni will be cooking. The truck is just as good as any other. Erwin is here to help Yukari and Arisa with the intelligence side." She was careful not to mention the near riot that had broken out when the Sensha-Do team had tried to use the truck at Anzio, and that at Pravda they could use it because there were no other alternatives.
"And the other truck? The food you requested was delivered by Sunkus Supply Ship this morning," said Klara as she gestured to the olive drab supply truck.
"I had our Art Club put together a relief map of the JGSDF's Fuji Training area. We packed it in with some of our camo netting as protection during the flight," Anchovy explained.
"That was very thoughtful," said Nonna, impressed.
"We can loan you the netting," Momo interjected, always thinking of the budget.
"Darjeeling, will you be joining the intelligence team or will you be working with the Chairman on the political end?" asked Nonna.
"Neither, Pekoe and I will be with our mechanics," said Darjeeling, gesturing to the four who were taking the opportunity to study one of the massive Saunders jet's engines. "Though Assam or Yuzu can relay things to me if need arises."
Nonna turned to the Discipline Committee member at her side. "Nozomi, please make sure rooms are ready for our extra guests."
She turned to the group. "Pravda welcomes you and your assistance."
The next morning, after a hearty but relatively tasteless Pravda breakfast, Kay wandered over to the Sensha-Do garage where the tanks were being tuned up before the final match. The Discipline Committee member at the gate checked her Saunders student ID before calling over a Pravda tanker to escort her inside.
At the garage, she caught sight of the four overalled St. Gloriana auto club mechanics standing around the T-34/57 with their Pravda counterparts. From what she could see, two of them were bent over the engine, one apparently pointing something out to the other mechanics.
Nearby, on a folding chair, Pekoe sat watching. Next to her was a folding table, with an English teapot, a Russian teapot, a pot of coffee and a stack of styrofoam cups.
"Where's Darjeeling?" asked Kay.
Pekoe pointed to the tank.
As the mechanics shifted around to get a better view of the tank's innards, Kay caught sight of a head of perfectly maintained blonde hair amongst the mechanics on one of the girls bent over the engine.
"She has determined that it's her duty as commander to have a better understanding of what the other sections have to go through to keep our Sensha-Do team operational," explained Pekoe. "I would be in there as well, but it's crowded enough as it is. And she only brought one extra pair of overalls."
Suzuki, one of the St. Gloriana auto club members, walked into the garage carrying a stack of cans, one of the Pravda mechanics beside her with another. "We got the extra oil!" she called, and they set the cans down nearby.
"Hi Kay!" she called, walking over to the table, where she poured a cup of Russian tea for the Pravda mechanic, then a cup of coffee for herself.
"I think that's the first time I've seen Darjeeling getting dirty," said Kay.
"She did manage to spill her tea all over herself when she got knocked out at the match at Ōarai," said Pekoe. "We thought you missed twice, not that you were clearing a line of fire for Arisa. The red uniform does a good job of hiding tea stains, fortunately. Still, it's a rare occasion for her."
"Yeah, for the past week, she's been working hard. I think she's rebelling against the alumni, only, you know, in a very polite and proper fashion," added Suzuki.
"I suspect that it's having a good effect on you. I've seen you four in the school uniform three times in the past week," said Pekoe, looking at the mechanic. "Even if Hoshino doesn't wear her sweater."
"I think that's because, thanks to you, we now think of St. Gloriana as our school," Suzuki replied.
For reasons unknown to Kay, Pekoe could only blush.
"So, have there been any problems with our guests so far, Midoriko?" asked Nonna, as the Pravda command group stood in line for lunch.
"About the only thing I've heard anyone complain about is the insistence that the Intelligence Team eat in the planning room," said Sodoko. "Other than that, they've been well behaved."
"I think that's Katyusha's fault, actually," said Gomoyo, from behind her Discipline Committee superior. "And she's been insistent about maintaining secrecy."
"The Chairman and her team also eat by themselves," added Pazomi.
"Well, that is the Chairman's prerogative," said Klara. "Besides, nobody is willing to call her out on it."
"It's also the first private time she's had with her friends. You'll notice Assam eats with Darjeeling and the mechanics," said Nonna, before switching to Russian. "[I'm surprised you're sticking with us, Klara. You have a perfect excuse to fangirl any number of Sensha-Do figures from the other schools or just eat with Katyusha.]"
"[You're restraining yourself, so I have to do the same. We did get them to agree to a photo session for PR purposes, and to sign a few autographs,]" said Klara, smiling as she looked forward to the opportunity.
Nonna felt a tug at her sleeve. "Yes, Nozomi?"
"It looks like one of the regular students is trying to sneak into the lunch line," she said, pointing to a Discipline Committee girl trying to get in close to the food truck.
"Good catch," said Nonna, complementing Pazomi. "Klara will hold our spot while we go address this. Since you're a fellow Discipline Committee member, you take the lead. I will be behind you."
The pair walked over to confront the interloper. Since Nonna had taken the quiet Discipline Committee volunteer as her personal loader, she had found the girl to be an effective assistant, and more willing to speak up when not directly overshadowed by her senior, Sodoko. With a little push, Nonna felt she could easily stand better on her own, and had felt the same with Gomoyo, which was why she had sent the three volunteers to help crew different tanks.
"You!" said Pazomi, calling to the intruder.
"Yeah? I'm here on Discipline Committee business," said the girl.
"Oh?" asked Pazomi. "What business? Who's your superior?"
"That's none of your business," said the girl.
"Let's see what the Student Council has to say about that. Nonna?" said Pazomi.
"Yes, Nozomi?" said Nonna, seemingly materializing behind the intruder, looking down at her. "Is there a problem?"
The girl turned white at Nonna's icy, emotionless stare.
"Since this girl has a problem which is beyond us, let's see if she can explain it to the Student Council," said Pazomi.
The girl quickly turned and dashed off.
"I'll follow up with the Discipline Committee after lunch," said Pazomi. "I don't want to lose our place."
As Pazomi walked back to the line, Nonna gave one of her rare, genuine smiles behind the girl's back.
"Look at them go!" said Pepperoni, watching Yukari pose for photographs.
Saori looked across the Pravda dining hall that the Sensha-Do team had commandeered for their members and guests. The decision had been made early on to just deploy the food truck for lunch at the Sensha-Do garage, and use a conventional dining hall for breakfast and dinner.
"What do they have her in this time?" Saori asked, bending back over to resume scrubbing one of the pots they'd used to cook dinner. The Pravda girls had offered to do the dishes for them, but Saori and Pepperoni had insisted on helping.
"It looks like they borrowed one of the St. Gloriana girls' uniforms, and they're having her pose with Sodoko and their Discipline Committee girls," Pepperoni replied. They'd started with the required photos of the team commanders shaking hands and smiling, then filled in publicity shots of various groupings of people, such as the mechanics and the Chairman and her old friends.
And then someone had had the brilliant idea to get the two legendary Saunders spies to pose for the camera. Arisa had quickly vanished at that point, but Yukari had been all for it. Somebody had even found a Pravda uniform roughly in her size, and she'd cheerfully posed for pictures with most of the Pravda girls. Klara, for some reason, had been especially happy to take pictures with her prisoner.
Saori looked around the kitchen area. Most of the Pravda students that were supposed to be helping her clean were at the door, watching the photo session.
"Hey! There will be time for photos later!" called Saori.
One of the girls pointed to a stack of plates covered with the remains of Anzio's improvised goulash. "But… but… there's so many!"
"We need to get this done. Yukari will be around for several more days. We'll make sure you get photos another day," Saori explained to the girls.
Reluctantly, they turned and began returning to their clean-up duties.
"You really think Yukari will still be up for photos?" asked Pepperoni.
"I know Yukari," said Saori, "she's a hard worker. I'm sure she'll be able to fit in some photo time for you as well, Pepperoni."
"You're a hard worker too, Saori," said Pepperoni. "I know you weren't happy at the Fashion Club because they kept you working for them, and here you come and join us and you spend all your time cooking with us."
"That's because I'm cooking with you, not just for you," said Saori. "You've been cooking just as much as I have. I've learned a lot from you. Same with everyone else. One day, I'll find the right man, and then I can cook for him, but until then, cooking with someone is better."
"I didn't think about it that way," said Pepperoni thoughtfully, "but there are a lot of girls behind the scenes doing things. It's kind of like you and your radio. When we were facing off against Saunders, it was you relaying messages from Anchovy and keeping us all moving together. We never think about how important that voice on the radio is."
They were interrupted by a Pravda Discipline Committee runner. "Have you seen Nonna or the Chairman? We've captured a Saunders spy!" said the girl, out of breath.
"Poor Arisa," said Saori, with feigned sympathy. "Serves her right to get captured the one time she isn't spying."
"Come on, somebody could have bailed me out!" complained Arisa, the next day in the makeshift planning room.
"That's what you get for sneaking off from the photos," Yukari replied cheerfully, as she stooped to look over the counters on the planning map.
They had entered the planning room on the first day at Pravda to find some girls from the crafts department cutting down the legs on a couple of cheap desks that were going to serve as the basis for the planning map. She had thought the desks were a little low at the time, especially after the four map pieces were put in place, but that's because she had forgotten who Pravda's chief tactician was.
A box of toy tanks, ludicrously oversized for the map, had been placed on a side table, and a small hand had begun placing toy T-34s on the map.
"Katyusha doesn't have a lot of the German tanks," Katyusha had said, "so we'll have to make do."
Fortunately, Erwin had gone through her wargame collection, and had produced a box of counters from her bag, each neatly labeled with a German or Soviet tank model. Soon, the group had been going over possible scenarios in two separate categories, either meet Kuromorimine head on right away or make a break for favorable ground, either the hill or the city, both of which were spots Oarai had used for defense in the other timeline. Katyusha would lay out the Pravda forces, and Erwin would suggest a likely Kuromorimine response.
The problem was that, with the slow IS-2 and KV-2, Pravda had little chance to reach either the city or the hill, unlike Ōarai, meaning they would be hit from the flank on the move. Even the more nimble Ōarai team had been hit hard early in the other timeline. Given that, almost all the plans had concentrated on the corner of the map where the battle would start. They had pulled that corner section away from the others to make it easier to reach.
Looking over the map now, the Anzio artists had done a good job. She could clearly make out the details of the JGSDF training area that served as the traditional final match location for the National High School Sensha-Do Tournament.
"You really don't think they'll use it?" said Arisa, gesturing to the hastily handmade counter sitting on the map quadrant with the city. Erwin's wargames hadn't thought to include a counter for the Maus.
Yukari's revelation that Kuromorimine could field that behemoth had startled all three of the other planners, but Katyusha had recovered quickly.
"If they do, then we'll actually be at an advantage," said Katyusha. "As I said the other day, the Maus is too heavy to use anywhere but the city without a serious risk of it bogging down, and it's really too slow to keep up with their wedge. We'd have plenty of time to get away."
"Why wouldn't they just use it as a flag tank?" asked Arisa, ever the munchkin.
"You would," said Erwin, "but Kuromorimine's pride won't let them use anything but one of their Tigers."
"What else can we do to give ourselves an edge?" asked Yukari. "Can we use those camo nets for anything?"
"There are nowhere near enough of them," said Arisa. "You could cover one or two tanks, perhaps the long range gunners like the SU-100. Still, they were made for the terrain outside Nagasaki, so they won't be as effective here."
"We've played with smoke screens, and the dust screen in the Anzio vs Saunders match worked well," said Katyusha. "Is there something we can do with that?"
"Let's look at this from the basics," said Erwin. "Kuromorimine's going to form a wedge, with the Elefant and Jagdtiger at the front." She laid out the counters. "They'll send the wedge through the woods at the start area, and won't stop unless they see your forces running away or see the flag tank."
"But they will steer towards the flag tank," said Katyusha. "If we turn the wedge at the right moment, they'll open a gap, and we can try to get a tank, like the Akula, through the gap."
"The Akula?" asked Yukari.
"That's Nonna and Anzu's nickname for Mako and the T-34/57. It's like a shark, sneaking around then popping up and eating things," said Katyusha.
"One tank isn't going to do it. After St. Gloriana, they'll have Maho's Tiger and at least another Panther or two covering Miho," said Erwin, pointing to the counters. "You'd need more than that."
"Even with smoke?" asked Arisa, always a fan of trick plays.
"The lead tank isn't protected if you're advancing with smoke. If it gets knocked out, and Kuromorimine's gunners will likely hit it, then it's all over," said Yukari.
"You'd need a lot of tanks to get some through the Kuromorimine line." Erwin mimed a holding a teacup. "Have you heard this saying? 'Quantity has a quality all its own'."
"How about this?" asked Katyusha, pushing the Soviet counters representing Pravda around. "I call it operation Nonna, 'cause it's big like the Russian Steppes."
Arisa whistled. "That… that might work."
Erwin grinned. " 'Audacity, audacity, always audacity', said Patton."
Yukari looked at the smaller girl and smiled. "One thing I like about you, Katyusha, you always think big."
Next: Always Advancing Part XXXVI: The Big Game
Author's Notes: Thanks for your patience; it's not been easy to maintain a semi-regular posting schedule and finish up the last chapters of the story.