Chapter 27:

Makoto's Panzer reached the bottom of the hill and tore like a charging lion across the field toward the Matilda. "Ami-chan, shoot as soon as we're in range! Minako-chan, after our gun fires, start zig-zagging like your life depends on it! Rei-chan, reload as fast as you can after every shot!"

A chorus of "Hai!'' rang out in Makoto's headphones and the brunette lowered herself deeper into the turret, expecting return fire from the St. Gloriana at any moment. She was relieved to see that the Matilda's gun was still aiming at Erwin's STuG.

The commander of the Matilda told her crew, "A second tank is approaching from our right. We shall deal with it after we dispatch the STuG. Gunner, fire when ready."

Seconds later, the gun unleased its round with a loud blast, while at the same instant, the STuG returned fire.

Both shots narrowly missed, leaving deep craters in the ground close beside the two tanks.

In Hippo team's tank, Suzuki Takako opened the breech to reload, but the shell slipped from her grasp and rolled across the floor, out of the loader's reach. "Sumimasen Riko-san!" She hastily grabbed another shell from the rack, but Erwin knew there wasn't enough time to reload and fire before the two tanks met.

The Hippo team commander squeezed her throat microphone. "Our fate is sealed. Minna, prepare to ram our enemy!"

The other girls in her crew replied as one loud voice, joining Erwin's battle cry:

"BANZAI!"

From a tiny viewport in the Matilda's cupola, its commander couldn't believe her eyes, her fingers tightening around her teacup's handle. "They're actually trying to collide with us! Driver, accelerate now! Full power!"

In Luna team's Panzer a heartbeat later, Ami squeezed her gun's trigger, hoping she had compensated enough for Minako's breakneck pace. The gun to her right recoiled, spewing flame and smoke from its short barrel and her shell blazed across the field, heading straight and true toward the base of the Matilda's turret.

The sudden burst of forward motion from the St. Gloriana tank caused the munition to miss its intended target, instead impacting the top of the Matilda's engine compartment. Oily black smoke poured from the gaping hole it left behind but the wounded vehicle stubbornly continued on. "We damaged them, Mako-chan, but their tank is still running!"

While Rei vigorously shoved another shell into the gun, Ami began to adjust her aim but was stunned to see Erwin's STuG suddenly appear in her viewfinder, charging suicidally at the Matilda. The Ooarai tank struck the rear of St. Gloriana's fleeing tank with a tremendous bang, flipping the STuG over on its right side where its still-spinning track gouged a long, deep furrow in the grass as it slid to an ungraceful halt. The Matilda spun hard to the left, throwing a track.

Makoto flung her hatch open and grasped the top ring of her cupola, pulling her head above the turret just in time to see a white flag pop up from the now-disabled enemy tank, joined a second later by another white flag that raised itself sideways, this time from the STuG.

Usagi confirmed the kill a few seconds later as Minako finally slowed their Panzer, its red-hot engine gasping for breath. "Erwin just reported their tank is out of action, Mako-chan! Everybody's ok, just a little shook up!"

"Arigatou, Usagi-chan." The brunette frowned, "Looks like it's three against three now."

. . . . .

Some distance away, Anzu tried to open her hatch only to have it strike against the bottom of the Matilda that was wedged so tightly on top of her Hetzer, it was almost as though it had been welded there. "Get off us, you... tea-swilling perverts!"

At that moment, Yuzu managed to coax her tank back to sputtering life, revving its engine to full power to ensure it wouldn't stall again. She was relieved to find that the mud covering her driver's viewing window had been knocked free.

"Which way, Anzu?"

"Turn ninety degrees left, then punch it!" Anzu yelled. "We'll climb out of this ditch and shake that Matilda off our back!"

. . . . .

Above the turret of her rapidly descending Panzer IV, Miho kept her eyes locked on the third waiting St. Gloriana Matilda. "Mako, just before we reach level ground, turn hard right and keep the pedal down until Hana tells you to stop!"

"Hai."

"Can you do it, Hana?"

The girl in the gunner's seat nodded. "I think so." She pulled the handle to traverse her gun to the right, turning it away from the St. Gloriana tank waiting for them, knowing exactly what her commander had in mind.

"Turning now" Mako calmly spoke, pulling back on her left control lever moments before the Matilda fired. A fountain of dirt appeared at the exact spot her Panzer would have occupied if they had continued straight on.

Hana watched the St. Gloriana tank reappear in her scope. "Mako stop now!"

"Hai." The teenage girl with the white band in her hair jammed on the brake, and Hana quickly corrected her aim and squeezed the trigger. The long-barreled gun thundered, sending its round straight at the lower right side of the reloading Matilda's hull, knocking off its track and temporarily stunning the crew inside.

In the Matilda, Yukuriri gasped, "I've... I've spilled my tea!"

"Yukari, reload!"

"Hai!... Gun is ready!"

Yukari's blazingly-fast reload time allowed Hana to send another round flying into the very same damaged area on the St. Gloriana tank seconds before they could return fire. Miho breathed a sigh of relief when she spied a white flag pop up from its turret. "They're out of action!" she told her crew. "That's two down and two to go!"

. . . . .

The Turtle team's Hetzer laboriously crawled up the slope and out of the ditch, weighed down by the Matilda still anchored upon it. Anzu told her driver, "Speed up as much as you can, Yuzu! We've got to get that tank off our-"

Her order was cut short as another shell burst through the trees and struck the Hetzer at its thinly-armored rear with tremendous force. The impact jarred the Matilda loose and killed Yuzu's engine yet again, this time for good. Another white flag sprag up from an Ooarai tank while the Matilda drove down the sloped rear armor of the Hetzer and retreated safely back into the forest.

Momo raged, "I didn't get the chance to fire my gun! Not even once!"

Anzu shrugged. "At least now we know where the Churchill is." The Council President reached for her radio microphone, finding it dangling from its cord.

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

. . . . .

Saori relayed the bad news to her commander. Upon hearing that Turtle team had been eliminated, Miho decided it would be foolhardy to take on a Churchill and a Matilda with just her Panzer. "Mako, take us to the field. We'll join up with Luna team and regroup."

Yukari asked, "What do you have in mind, Nishizumi-dono?"

Miho smiled at the brown-haired girl. "I'll let you know what our new plan is the moment we have one, Yukari."

. . . . .

"Mako-chan, Saori told us to wait for her tank at the treeline to our west. They're on their way over here."

"Hai. Arigatou, Usagi-chan." Makoto told her driver, "Minako-chan, take us into the edge of the forest in front of you, then turn our tank around so we're facing east."

"More silly trees?" the blonde groaned, setting her Panzer IV in motion.

Makoto didn't reply. She thought, 'Two on two now... and one of the St. Gloriana tanks is that monster Churchill... this doesn't look good.'

. . . . .