Hell On Tracks
Part 17
I waved to the crews of the two disabled tanks as they clambered out. They seemed generally pretty cheerful, and I got some waves and wishes of good luck as Blondie maneuvered us around the disabled vehicles. Curiously, Six's crew was not so cheerful as they made their way out of the brush and onto the main road. They were rather irate, and their commander made a rude gesture as we pulled away.
I shrugged it off, leaving that particular issue to future me.
"There you are!" Haruna called, sitting atop her M4's turret. Her tank was nestled up into a small alcove between a hill and a rock, and was pretty well hidden with the camouflage net draped over it. I wanted to hop out and run over to her to chat planning in person, but the middle of Sensha-do was not the time nor the place to do so.
"Sorry it took us so long. We nearly got ourselves stuck getting around the disabled tanks in the road." I apologized. "Do we have a plan, or are we waiting and letting Training make the first move?"
Blondie made a noise at that comment, but Tuco shushed her. Angel, being Angel, kept quiet about the whole subject.
"Don't have much of a plan, unfortunately." Haru replied. "We know that they're somewhere on the road between here and Training's starting zone, but other than that, nothing."
"So, do you wanna rush 'em?" I asked. "I don't see a way to get behind them, so that's our only real choice for taking them out. Either that or we wait."
"Comandante?" Tuco asked, poking my leg.
"One sec, Haru." I said, holding up a finger before dropping back into the turret. "What's up, Tuco?"
"I may have an idea for how to get around the enemy flag tank without taking too long." My loader said, her eyes refusing to meet mine.
"Oh, and what would that be?"
"It's not the safest route, but it could be quick. If there is a shallow enough slope down between here and the streambed, we might be able to traverse the slope and get down that way."
"You're crazy. We're too high up, and the slope is too steep for an M4. Almost any tank, really." I said, shaking my head.
"I could do it." Blondie piped up.
"Without getting us stuck or rolled? Because I've rolled a Sherman before, and it is not a fun experience."
"I can do it."
"Alright. Tuco, you check the map to see if there's somewhere that we can get down safely. No need to make it dangerous on ourselves, even if Blondie thinks she can do it."
"Ain't no thinkin' 'bout it, ma'am. I can do it." Blondie objected. Tuco just nodded, and pulled the map out of its case.
I stuck my head back out the hatch and faced Haruna once more. "Well, my driver's crazy enough to think that she can get me down into the streambed from up here without rolling us or otherwise getting us stuck. We're looking for a spot right now."
"That's good. Very good!" Haru cheered. "So you'll flank around through the river while I advance on their front?"
"Unless you want to swap tanks entirely and have the flag do the flanking, yeah."
"As appealing as that sounds, no thank you, Tally. Be quick on your flanking, though. We don't know where they are for certain."
"Right!" I said, giving Haru a quick salute before dropping into the tank and starting giving orders.
Tuco had managed to find a slope that wasn't too steep, and it wasn't all that far from our current position. How she'd found this with just a map, I wasn't quite sure, but it was a plan, and we could always regroup with Haru if it didn't work out. The drive over was quick, and we all hopped out of our tank to observe the slope.
"That still looks rather steep." I commented, staring down at the slope. If we went down it, we certainly weren't getting back up it. And I wasn't near as confident as Blondie in our ability to traverse it.
"It is." Blondie said. "We can make it, but you're all gonna want to strap in and brace yourselves."
I exchanged looks with the others, and they all seemed… I'm not sure if confident is the right word, but they had faith in Blondie's abilities.
"If I end up with a concussion or something like that, I'm blaming Tuco." I joked. Blondie let out a sharp laugh, but Angel and Tuco were less than amused.
With the observation out of the way, we all piled back into the tank. All of the seats had seatbelts added, but most people didn't use them during Sensha-do. The ability to move around in the tank was an important one, and belting yourself down was counter-intuitive in that regard. For cases such as this, where you knew you were going to risk tipping or rolling your tank, I felt it was better safe than sorry. Tuco and Angel obviously thought the same.
The Sherman lurched forward as soon as everyone was strapped in. I braced myself against the turret walls, and just in time, as the tank very rapidly tipped forward at a dangerous angle. Angel barked out a short curse as her head slammed into her periscope.
"Nonononono..." I heard Tuco muttering under her breath as we slid down the slope. With how much we were sliding side to side as Blondie fought to keep us straight on, I couldn't help but agree with her sentiment.
We hit the ground with a heavy thud. For a long moment I thought we were stuck, as we were still sitting at that dangerous angle. Then, the engines roared once more, and the tank leveled out. Everyone in the turret breathed a sigh of relief.
"Driver! Take us further down the stream! We have a flag tank to surprise!" I ordered, removing my seatbelt and sticking my head out the hatch. Looking back at the slope we had come down, it was amazing that we hadn't tipped or rolled. Had we landed less than a hull width to either direction, we would have hit a large rock and either gotten stuck on the slope, or tipped and been eliminated.
The drive down the stream was surprisingly quick, given the ten to fifteen minute estimate for getting from Training's spawn point to the ambush point. I guess the terrain in the hills was a lot rougher, and pushing up a slope is a lot harder than following a shallow rocky streambed.
Tuco and I rode unbuttoned, keeping a lookout for the blue flag affixed to the last remaining Training tank. With all of the tanks being the exact same make and model, and with them having the same color scheme, the color of the flag would be the only way we could tell which tanks was Training's, and which one was Haruna's.
"Head's up, Five. I'm putting an HE shell into the hill across the stream." Haru reported over comms.
"Baiting them out?" I asked, curious at the tactic.
"Yeah. Keep an eye out for activity."
"Roger that, Four."
A few moments later, the blast against the hillside echoed through the hills and valleys of the field. I scanned the rough patches of trees and shrubbery, looking for anything that might give them away.
What was… There!
"Panzer halt." I called into the tank's intercom. "Angel, M4 at ten o'clock. Two hundred meters. It's well camouflaged and hidden by a low rise in the ground."
"Good spot, TC!" Tuco cheered, before dropping down into the turret to load the gun. Blondie brought the tank to a halt, and Angel slewed the gun on target.
"Four, this is Five. We have eyes on the target." I said, before giving our location. Y'know, in case that things went horribly wrong and we got taken out. Unlikely, but not impossible.
Haruna acknowledged. The gun was on target. We were ready to engage.
"Gunner, fire." I commanded.
There was no traditional shout of "on the way," or any acknowledgement beyond the 75mm gun roaring. I rocked back, bracing myself before I could slam into the hatch edges.
The puff of dirt maybe ten feet short of the M4 was all the indication I needed that Angel had missed. It was also all the warning the Training M4 needed to hit the gas and get moving. Tuco had a second shell in the breech quick, but not quick enough for Angel to hit the target before it was moving along swiftly through the trees.
"After them!" I commanded, point forward. "Angel, if you can't hit them while on the move, try and get them to head towards the Four Tank."
"Hai." My terse gunner responded, sending another shell downrange. This one went high and wide, and prompted a return shot from the Training tank. It flew close enough that buttoning up and commanding my tank that way would probably be safer.
"Four, target is still up and heading your way. We'll try to herd them, but we need you as the anvil to our hammer." I said into the radio.
"Got it, Five. Good luck!"
It was a tense five minutes of chasing. Even with the stabilizers in use, the 75s were not accurate while on the move. Neither team hit their target during the chase, though there were some shots that were darned close.
The shot that ended the match came from an unexpected angle. Not an unexpected source, but an unexpected angle. Haruna's tank was on a very clear mini-hill within the hills of the field. It had good sightlines to the various paths in the southern part of the map, but it was completely exposed.
A very risky position unless you knew that your sole opponent would be focusing on something else entirely. However, since Haru knew that my tank was engaged and chasing, she could use the position to her advantage. And from there, it was only a matter of edging the Sherman onto the downslope and putting a shot directly into the Training tank's engine deck at close ranges.
"Training team's flag tank is eliminated! Practice team wins!" Arisa called out over the broadcast radios.
Inside my tank, everyone was cheering. Tuco gave me a solid high five, and even Angel had a smile on her face. Relief coursed through my body, and I drooped in my seat a little bit. We'd done it. We'd won!
Now all that was left was to congratulate everyone who participated, get back to Camp Intrepid, and take a nice relaxing break while we watched Kay and the Combat Company absolutely stomp the combined Practice and Training teams.
