Chapter 28:
The remaining two Ooarai tanks reunited just inside the thickly-forested area west of the open field, keeping well out of sight of the disabled Matilda and Erwin's partially-overturned STuG. Miho and Makoto climbed down from their Panzers to assess the grim situation they now faced.
"Makoto-san, I think our only hope is to somehow lure that last working Matilda away from Darjeeling's Churchill. It's the safest way to take it out and improve our odds."
"Hai" Makoto nodded. "If we gang up on it, we should be able to put it out of business with one shot each. But how can we trick it into leaving the Churchill?"
Miho pondered the difficult question, knowing they didn't have much time before the St. Gloriana tanks came hunting for them. "There is at least one thing still in our favor. Our Panzers are faster than either of Darjeeling's tanks." She laughed, "A lot faster, with Mako and Minako driving them!" She happened to glance at the emblem on the turret of her idling tank and an idea began to take shape in the young Anglerfish commander's mind. "Makoto-san, how do you feel about your tank becoming an esca?"
"Nani? What's an esca, Miho-san?"
Miho pointed to her emblem. "It's that little round ball dangling in front of the anglerfish's eyes. They use it as a lure to attract their prey."
"And then they eat them" Makoto grinned wickedly. "I'm definitely in, Miho-san! What would you like us to do?"
. . . . .
It took but a minute for the two girls to work out the details for their risky course of action. They climbed into their Panzers and began briefing their teams, with Miho first instructing her driver to take them deeper into the forest. Mako started her tank's engine and the massive vehicle rumbled away.
In Luna team's tank, Makoto told her gunner, "Ami-chan, turn your turret so the gun points to the right, maybe... thirty degrees or so. And don't move it again until I give the word, no matter what happens. Even if someone shoots at us."
"Hai." The puzzled blue-haired girl pulled the control handle and the turret swung to match her commander's request. "Our gun is thirty degrees right, Mako-chan."
"Rei-chan, are we still loaded?"
"Loaded and ready to fire, Mako-chan."
"Minako-chan, take our tank back onto the big field, but keep us moving kinda slow. You're going to drive us past that dead Matilda, but not too close, fifty meters would be good. When we get near the middle of the field, hold our position but keep the engine running." She told the miko, "That's when you and I go outside and stand on the hull, Rei-chan." Makoto chuckled, "We'll soon find out how well we can act."
"Mako-chan, getting out of our tank in the middle of a battle sounds really dangerous!" Usagi fretted. "I don't want to see you or Rei getting hurt!"
"We won't be outside too long, Usagi-chan. A minute at most."
Rei asked, "Is Miho's tank joining us there?"
"Not yet. She's staying hidden in the woods for now. We'll be on our own for a while."
Ami pointed out, "We'll be very vulnerable in that situation, Mako-chan. Perhaps someone in the disabled Matilda may even see us sitting there completely exposed, and radio our activity to Darjeeling."
"I hope they do, Ami-chan!" Makoto grinned. "It's not really necessary but would maybe give us a little extra help."
Ami thought for a moment, putting the pieces together in her brilliant mind, then smiled. "Now I understand." She giggled, "That's a rather devious plan, Mako-chan."
"Hai, it is" the brunette chuckled. "Miho is calling it Operation Tea Time." She told her driver, "Everything depends on how convincing you can be, Minako-chan. We need to make the Matilda gradually chase us closer to a certain spot beside the forest, while not being too obvious about where we're leading them. And we have to try to stay just out of range of their gun, too. If they catch on, we'll be in big trouble."
She asked her team, "Minna, I know this all sounds a bit complicated, but we don't have any other good options left. Do you think we can do this?
"Of course we can do it, Mako-chan!" Minako insisted with a bright, confident smile. "We're all teenage girls, and at least in this dimension, teenage girls can do or accomplish nearly anything they want!" She giggled, "Especially when they're sitting at the controls of a big, powerful Panzer!"
. . . . .
Less than a minute later, Luna team's Panzer IV trundled towards the middle of the field with Makoto standing in the turret with her binoculars to her eyes. She turned in place, repeatedly scanning all around her tank and seeing nothing except the two previously knocked-out tanks far in the distance.
"This is as good a place as any, Minako-chan. Stop us here."
The Panzer she commanded halted and Makoto climbed down onto the hull of the massive machine, followed soon after by Rei emerging from her side hatch. Both girls crouched beside the turret, pretending to examine its base closely, as though there was a problem with it. The brunette commander reached to her neck, activating her intercom. "Move it the way we planned, Ami-chan."
Her tank's turret began to swing left a degree or two, then right a few degrees in a jerky stop-start motion. After it had done so twice and stopped, Makoto and Rei continued their faux troubleshooting for a short time, then Makoto again called Ami and the blue-haired girl repeated the process. After the turret stopped moving again the brunette stood up, looked at her loader and shook her head.
"Do you think they'll take the bait, Mako-chan?" the miko asked as she continued to pretend she was examining the turret's mount.
"That much I'm not too sure about, Rei-chan. But I trust my senses, and they're telling me we're definitely being watched."
. . . . .
At the top of Hill 14, Darjeeling lowered her binoculars and gracefully descended into her Churchill's turret. "It appears that one of Ooarai's Panzers has developed a mechanical fault with their turret positioning mechanism" she told her crew. "However, it may also be nothing more than a clever ploy on the part of Miho." The St. Gloriana commander smiled. "She has become quite the proficient tactician and leader after such a brief time in command of her school's teams. The art of Sensha-do truly runs strong and deep within the Nishizumi bloodline."
"Is it Miho's tank that's having the fault, Darjeeling?" her gunner asked, her voice heavy with suspicion.
"No. It is the Panzer crewed by the new girls, Assam." Darjeeling sipped her tea. "Oddly enough, there appears to be entirely no sign of Miho's tank. And her new Luna team is sitting uncomfortably far from any protection that she, or the forest to our west, may grant them."
"It sounds like a rookie mistake to me" her loader spoke. "They're having trouble so they stopped in the field to see if it was fixable without paying any heed to the consequences."
"Perhaps..." Darjeeling mused. "In any event, a lone tank sitting on open ground does present us with a rather inviting opportunity, Orange Pekoe. If it were rendered inoperable without further loss to us, we would be all but assured an easy victory in today's match."
She frowned, weighing the consequences of the chess-like dilemma she faced before deciding, "I will dispatch our remaining Matilda to investigate. If it is in fact a ruse, and the Panzer miraculously repairs itself and attempts to return fire, the Matilda will remain just beyond their gun's range until we join them. But if Miho's new team is indeed having mechanical issues, they will swiftly eliminate it from further play and today's battle will truly be ours for the taking. Minna, although I still harbour reservations, I believe this is an opportunity too promising to ignore."
She told her radio operator, "Contact the Matilda. Relay to its commander what we have discussed here, and instruct her to proceed with caution down Hill 14 and into the clearing. Our Churchill shall remain where it now rests until the truth reveals itself."
. . . . .