Always Advancing
A Girls und Panzer fanfic
Part XLVII: If the Tanks Succeed
by Civilis
Authors Note: I wish to apologize for taking so long to finish this up. The good news is that the five chapters after this are done, save for a little last-minute corrections based off of this chapter. My intent is to post the next two chapters next Monday, and the last three the Monday after that.
"Five minute warning!" came the voice on the radio in the Sherman designated Eagle. "Tanks may start their engines and adjust their turrets!"
After the tank's engine coughed to a start, Kay looked around the turret. "We all ready to finish this?" she asked, confidently.
Over the hour break, Yukari had been kept busy reorganizing the ammo in the turret, which calmed her down. After the driver and gunner both chimed in that they were ready, she finished with "Loader, ready!"
They waited for the signal to begin. After what seemed like another hour, the radio chimed in with "Match restart in 3… 2… 1… go!" Off in the distance, a flare popped over the main observation area.
As soon as the word "go!" finished, Kay had the radio switched to the team channel, only to have the speaker blast as the rest of the team tried talking at once.
Finally, Saori's voice cut through the chatter. "Silence!" she ordered, copying Anchovy's mannerisms. "We don't have much time. First, what do we know?"
"We saw the recovery team drive the Konigstiger out," said Darjeling.
"And they were also able to get the Panther out," Anzu added. "They probably could have also recovered the Elefant." It had been somewhat lucky that a number of the knocked-out tanks were late-war heavy tanks, as the Sensha-do rounds, while leaving a pretty explosion, often did little real structural damage to them even when hitting with what the system registered as a knock-out blow. The shot from the Lee's 75mm cannon hadn't really penetrated the rear loading hatch of the Elefant as the system registered it would have in a real war, and so all it would take was a system reset to allow a recovery crew to drive it off the field. On the other hand, the Jagdpanzer IV had had several road wheels blown off and was pinned with Klara's T-34/85, so that tank couldn't have been removed in the time provided.
"So they have at least two possible routes," Saori summarized. "At this point, I think it's best if we all meet up and work together."
"We want to meet in the open so we can take advantage of our numbers to surround them without worrying about what roads are blocked. How about the coast road in front of the fish market?" Anzu suggested.
"I like it!" Rosehip cheered in response.
"Let's do it!" said Kay. The Sherman started moving.
"At this point, Chicken is more valuable as a scout. If we all are in one place, we won't need me to coordinate," Saori chimed in. "We'll look for the Tigers, but you all need to keep an eye out as well."
Yukari climbed up out of the loader's hatch on the Sherman and began watching the road behind them. Moments later, she spotted the dark green shape of Anzu's T-34/57 designated Shark emerge from a street behind them. In the turret, Anzu waved at the Saunders tank.
A minute later, and the pair emerged onto the coast road where they found the welcome sight of both of the St. Gloriana tanks waiting for them. Darjeeling and Orange Pekoe were enjoying cups of tea on top of the turret of Bulldog, a Churchill VII. Meanwhile, the rose-headed form of Rosehip had completely dismounted from Beagle, a Comet, and had headed over to a nearby vending machine. In Beagle's turret, Hana looked on with amusement as Rosehip returned with a can of something.
"Are you sure this is wise?" yelled Darjeeling at her teammates.
"Desperate times… I mean, 'Have you heard this saying? Desperate times call for desperate measures…'" Hana smiled serenely as she provided a hand for Rosehip to remount her tank.
On top of Bulldog, Darjeeling pretended to be annoyed, before smiling and replying with "Not particularly obscure, as quotes go, but very apropos to the moment."
Next to Yukari, Kay grinned. "St. Gloriana must be desperate, they're resorting to coffee! And worse… common canned coffee!"
"So what's the general plan?" Anzu asked the other commanders. "Use Bulldog as a shield to hold their attention, and Beagle and I will try to encircle and hit them in the flank?"
"That's about it," Darjeeling replied. "I'm given to understand that in the other timeline, I'm the only commander with a win against a Nishizumi. It's not much of a plan, but we're the most survivable."
"'No plan ever survives first contact with the enemy,'" Orange Pekoe quoted.
"That's paraphrasing von Moltke, right? We've learned to adapt as well as we can," Assam supplied. "We'll improvise."
The tankers mounted back up.
It only took a minute before the first Tiger made its appearance down the coast highway, moving past the knocked-out Maus. It was 212, with Miho in the cupola, directing her crew. The Tiger traded rounds with Darjeeling's Churchill, which took point, while the others maneuvered to envelop her.
"If we can finish her before Maho gets here, it'll be a lot easier," Anzu suggested.
"We can't be sure this isn't a trap…" Darjeeling countered calmly, not audibly reacting when her response was interrupted by the ringing impact of a shell on the side of her turret. "…Although that's not the Nishizumi style."
"We've pushed both of them well beyond their style," Yuzu countered. "We can't take that risk."
"We can't win without some risk," Pepperoni interjected.
Kay leaned down into the turret and cut her radio. "We've got everyone… even Pepperoni… working as hard as we can," she said to Yukari. "Never give up hope."
"I know," Yukari replied, quietly. "Thanks."
Saori's voice came on the radio. "Eagle, check your eight!"
Kay pulled herself up into the cupola, enable her mic, and looked behind their tank. "It's Maho!" she yelled. "She's behind us! If either of them get a hit on Beagle, we're in deep trouble!"
In the stands, the crowd held its breath. The JGSDF officer controlling the airspace had to fight his instincts to watch the battle to keep the aircraft and helicopter pilots providing the camera feeds from colliding as they jockeyed to get the best footage.
On the screen, Darjeeling's Churchill fired on 217 to keep Miho distracted while Rosehip's Comet maneuvered to give Hana a killer shot. Meanwhile Kay's Sherman poured fire onto Maho's charge while Anzu maneuvered to keep the Tiger from advancing too fast. In the background, Saori and Pepperoni could be seen hanging out of the CV-33's hatch, screaming directions into their radios.
All crews knew their tanks and their advantages and disadvantages. Neither side gave the other an opening. It would come down to who's luck broke first to decide the stalemate.
As fate would have it, it was Rosehip's luck that broke. In her caffine-boosted state she lost track of where the Comet was. The crowd 'oooh'd in shock as, taking a sharp turn, the tank slid too far and hit the side of the fish market along the highway.
"Darjeeling! Rosehip's stopped!" yelled Saori into the radio. "You're the only one that can possibly take a hit from one of the Tigers! Give her a chance to pull out!"
"I hope we're in time!" Darjeeling responded. "Maho saw it too!"
Yukari heard the Tiger's 88mm cannon fire in the distance.
"She missed! Don't give her a chance for another shot!" Kay yelled.
"Get her, Anzu!" Pepperoni called out.
"On it!" the T-34/57's commander called as Mako swung the tank around back of the Tiger.
There was a loud crunch of metal from the direction of Tiger 212. Rather than give the T-34/57 a point-blank shot at a range where the gun might penetrate the heavy tank's rear armor, she had backed the Tiger into the smaller Russian tank, knocking its gun aside. Those watching could see the Pravda tank's gun was visibly skewed.
"We've got a problem!" Anzu radioed. "Our gun's non-functional again, and given the crazy angle it's at, I don't think smacking it will fix the problem!"
The Tiger fired again, sending a loud boom echoing across the city.
"I hope this works!" yelled Kay down into the turret. "Halt!" The Sherman crash stopped. "Aim! Fire!" The Sherman's cannon bellowed. Yukari rammed a shell home as Kay bellowed out again. "Aim a little lower! Fire!"
The cannon's roar hadn't fully died away before Kay's shout of "Yes! Thank you, gyro stabilization!" overpowered it.
Yukari pulled herself up. Ahead of them, Tiger 212 stood silent, a white flag a testament to the 75mm round that had hit the turret ring.
Off to the left, though, the effects of the Tiger's last shot could be seen in the form of a white flag atop Bulldog. The Churchill's bulk shielded the smaller Comet, which had been driven further into the fish market by the larger tank. With her head out of the cupola, Darjeeling gave a resigned shrug.
Yukari's attempt to further look around was cut short by Kay's scream of "Drive! NOW!" She fell into the Sherman's turret as the tank started forward.
Moments later, an 88mm shell from Miho's Tiger 217 passed through the space the tank had vacated.
"Where to?" yelled Kay's driver.
"AWAY FROM HERE!" Kay yelled back. "JUST KEEP MOVING!"
"Just stay in the tank," an official who had approached the Churchill called out to Darjeeling while keeping a wary eye on the tank battle moving down the street.
Darjeeling obediently ducked back into the knocked out Churchill and shut the hatch behind her.
Meanwhile, Rosehip had squeezed out of the Comet's turret and clambered down to the front of the tank, coughing from the dust all the time. The rose-haired commander grabbed a piece of wood from the fish market's wall that had wedged itself in the tank's tracks, pulled it out with a groan, and threw it aside.
"What do you think you are doing?" the official yelled at Rosehip as she ran over to the tanks at a crouch..
"Getting my tank unstuck," Rosehip yelled back. She helped Yuzu climb out of the driver's hatch, then stopped and looked around.
"Something the matter, Rosehip?" Yuzu asked.
"I swear I've done this before," the rose-haired commander replied. She picked up another piece of the wall and threw it aside, narrowly missing the official.
"Get back in your tank until the battle's over!" the official yelled at her.
Rosehip pointed to the Comet's turret. "Our tank's not knocked out," she replied, before grabbing another piece of wood and throwing it, this time in a direction other than the one the official was standing in.
"What do you mean, it's not knocked out?" the official replied, pointing at the tank. "The white flag is right…" She realized, belatedly, that the tank didn't have a flag, unlike the Churchill next to it.
Yuzu made a 'let me handle this' gesture to Rosehip. She walked up to the official, put her arm around the woman's shoulders, and led her to a door on the Fish Market that had been knocked open by the impact of the tank. "It's the duty of both officials and competitors to see to the safety of people on the field, right?" Yuzu said with the diplomatic voice she had used on the Student Council.
The official nodded.
"Then it's my duty to make sure that you get to safety," Yuzu told the official as she gently guided her into the market. "Please try to stay away from the outside wall until the end of the match. I'll make sure everyone else is safe until the match ends."
"Thanks for that," Rosehip told her driver. The Comet's loader had joined her commander in trying to free the tank, but after moving the smaller boards out of the way it had become obvious that the tank was stuck until the knocked-out Churchill or the building itself was moved; Yuzu wasn't sure which would be easier.
"As long as she doesn't remember to rule us as knocked out, we're still alive. Though if Kay's Sherman goes down, they'll probably rule the match is over because we have no mobile operational tanks," Yuzu explained, remembering some of the plans for dealing with the Maus. "Now, since we're not digging ourselves out this time and the gun is now clear, we should get back in the tank."
The shot went just past the Sherman.
"We need a new plan, quickly," Kay radioed. "Right now, Eagle is the only fully operational tank. If we go down, it's over. If we can get Beagle out, we might be able to squeeze them, but we don't have time."
"I do have a limited arc of fire down the highway towards the cape," Hana's voice replied. "If you can lure them in, I can shoot."
The Sherman traded shots with Tiger 217. Yukari rammed another shell home. "We need to come up with something very fast."
Mako's quiet voice came on the line. "They're ignoring us because they've realized we can't fight. I'll herd them in."
"Miho's not stupid, she'll realize what we're doing," Saori countered. "If she figures it out, it's over."
It hit Yukari. "I can do it. I can stop Miho. It's crazy, but you have to trust me."
Kay grinned. "We've trusted you this far. Go for it… Oddball."
Yukari handed Kay the shell she was holding. "We're switching places."
The two managed to swap places. The Sherman fired, and Kay slammed the shell home.
"We want her so that she's facing the highway. From there, without Miho's direction, they'll resort to doctrine and close with us. Saori, let me know when you see it," Yukari radioed. "We need to cross the highway just after they shoot. We'll be exposed, but they should be as well. I'll do it then."
"Got it!" Saori replied.
There was another exchange of fire. Kay rammed another shell home.
"They're in position!" Saori radioed.
"All right, here we go!" Yukari pulled herself up through the commander's hatch as the Sherman crossed the highway in front of the Tiger, tapped her boots a couple times on the top of the tank to establish the rhythm, and began. "An an an an ananan…"
Shiho Nishizumi stared at the screen incredulously. "What is that idiot doing on top of the tank?"
"It looks like that local dance from earlier," Chiho Shimada replied, a sly smile crossing her face. "If you can't beat them with brains, baffle them with bull. We know Miho's weakness is she sometimes gets confused, like that Pravda match last year when the tank slid into the water."
"Finish them!" Shiho yelled futilely as the students and townsfolk in the crowd began to cheer wildly.
"She stopped too soon!" screamed Saori over the radio.
"On it," Mako replied, throwing the T-34/57 forward.
In the Tiger's turret, the gunner waited for the order to fire with the Sherman dead to rights in her scope. Still, the order didn't come; exactly as Yukari predicted, the Kuromorimine crews were too used to having competent commanders that without them, they hesitated, exactly as they had when Canary had made its escape from the Maus.
"Miho's frozen up again!" the radio operator yelled back. "Take the shot!"
The Tiger's gunner's squeeze of the trigger was interrupted as the massive tank lurched; when she was back on the sight, the Sherman was no longer in the recticle. The tank lurched again, with a groan.
"What's going on?" the loader asked.
"It's the T-34!" the driver yelled back.
"The damaged one? What can they do?"
"Ram us!"
Another cheer went up, louder than the last, as the crowd in the stands watched the damaged T-34/57 charge forward again into the larger tiger, pushing it another few feet across the pavement.
In the front of the Pravda section doing the loudest cheering, Nonna's hands tightly gripped the railing at the front of the stands. "The Tiger's too big. It's not going to be enough…"
"Mako's got it going the right direction. They just need a little more…" Klara added. As her gaze wandered to the block display, her voice shifted from despair to hope, "… and here it comes!"
A loud cheer of "Avanti!" went up from the Anzio contingent as the small yellow CV-33 tankette came in at high speed to join in the efforts to push the Tiger.
In the Tiger, the crew fought down panic.
"I'm going to move forward onto the highway!" the driver yelled back. "Take the opportunity to finish off the Sherman and end it!"
The Tiger lurched into motion, pulling away from the two smaller tanks. It clanked to a stop on the highway, giving it a clear shot at the Sherman.
Hana calmly squeezed the 76mm cannon's trigger with the same care she used when pruning the smallest branch from one of her arrangements.
In the turret of the Tiger, the gunner squeezed the trigger on her cannon.
Nothing happened.
She checked to make sure the Sherman was square in her sights and squeezed it again.
Nothing still happened.
"What's going on?" she asked as she squeezed it a third time.
Yet again, nothing happened.
She pulled herself away from the sights and looked around the turret. Nearby, the loader, still clutching the next round, stared blankly at Miho in the commander's hatch. Neither moved at all.
She returned to her sights. The Sherman was still dead center.
There was a brief squeal of static from the radio, which then cut out.
"Did I miss something?" the gunner asked.
The radio came to life again.
"Ah… ah…" the voice on the radio was hesitant. The radio squealed yet again.
"Ah… the Kuromorimine fla… ah… I mean, the last Kuromorimine tank has been eliminated. The Alliance has won the match."
Hana turned to her loader, who was calmly storing her ready shell. "I told you I only needed one shot."
Next: XLVIII: Then Victory Follows
Author's Note:
I've known for a long time how the battle had to end: Yukari, Hana, Saori, and Mako needed to be there at the finish, and each needed to contribute something. It was hardest to think of Yukari's contribution, since she's a loader, but this worked. Kinda cheesy, but fits the needs of the story.
I've been fighting writer's block and depression since the last chapter was published last year. I managed to finish chapters 48 and 49 in September, but this one was the most elusive. What finally worked was writing the chapter backwards; since I knew how it had to end, write that, and use that to write what was immediately before it, and so on until we reached the beginning of the chapter. This isn't quite as polished as I would like, but I'd rather finish telling the story than keep dithering.