Now we get to the commander training session, the moment we've all been waiting for!

"... and so, your enemy will be tougher than you, have larger guns, and be able to fire further than you. Many will be faster than you. How do we counter these advantages?"

Azusa was the first to timidly raise her hand

"Dont... don't let them shoot us?"

Snickers came from the rest of the group, causing Azusa to retract her hand in embarrassment

Joshua spoke again, "That's absolutely right. The enemy will be able to destroy you if they can see you. So, don't let them see you. Use terrain, defilade, cover and concealment to your advantage. If alone, strike quickly and move if detected. Do not try and get into a slug match with any tanks; We don't have anything with the armor to tank that other than Sugar, and a good rule of thumb is this; There's always a bigger gun. Armor is easy to defeat, guns are easy to build. The enemy team will always have something that can penetrate any armor we have."

Erwin spoke up next, "Joshua, don't you think you're being a bit hyperbolic? Tanks have heavy armor, the entire purpose is to be able to survive fights like that, round on round, gun to gun!"

Joshua responded, "Erwin, I expect you to know this. 'It is better to be a fast runner than to have thick skin.' A tank is not made to be shot," Several giggles eminated from the group at such a blunt phrase, but he pressed on, "If they can see you, they can hit you, and if they can hit you, they can kill you. A tank is made to dish out punishment, not take it. Remember that; your positioning is important, your maneuvering, using friendly tanks to cover your advance. Erwin, your tank, being a tank destroyer, will have to take extra care to follow that rule. Always be invisible."

Miho stood up, taking over as Joshua moved to a bag he had brought and began rummaging around in it, "Joshua is right. Tank warfare is all about positioning, and striking hard before the enemy knows where you are, who you are, or how many you are. Erwin, when you and your crew were in our training match, you managed to fire three separate shots at Joshua's tank, scoring two hits and destroying a track."

Erwin grinned at the praise, Joshua joining Miho with books in his hands

"She's right. Had we been any other tank on the team, you'd have destroyed us immediately. Most tanks we'll face up against you would have taken out too. Use that camoflauge, stay hidden, strike fast."

Miho continued, looking at Noriko

"Noriko, you guys did good against the 38 (t), but you didn't notice the T32 sitting only a hundred yards away from you. Th-thats okay! you're learning! but in the future, always remember you can't get tunnel vision; you always need to be on the lookout for the next opponent"

Noriko's frown flipped as her eyes beamed, "Oh! Like always keeping your eye on the ball, but keeping your head on a swivel so you know when a teammate is gonna be set up for a hard spike over the net!"

"R-right, like that! Anzu, we already went over what happened; Yuzu did a great job of driving, and Momo will get some more practice in! and Azusa is a perfect example of the importance of positioning!"

Joshua added, "She's right. An experimental, late war american heavy tank got taken out by a tank that was outdated by 1942, Because Azusa managed to get into a position she could make the shot at. And because she was coordinating with Miho, who distracted us. I got tunnel vision, and we paid the price for it. In a real match, your teammates will be what keeps you from getting tunnel vision, so rely on them, and communicate!"

Joshua handed out copies of Tigers In The Mud to all the tank commanders, telling them there was a wealth of knowledge in it, before splitting the girls up to take supplementary lessons with the other crew positions many of them would be doubling up as.

Once they were all gone, Miho caught up to Joshua, who greeted her

"Well, I think that went rather well, don't you?"

Miho smiled and nodded, sitting on the Panzer and patting the spot next to her on the hull. Joshua obliged and the two continue to watch the training session, seeing the girls improving and hearing Michaels screams from inside the I-Go as it tore donuts around the field.

"Sure seems some of your crew are getting along," Miho said teasingly, pointing to the loaders

"Whaddya mean?" Joshua said, following her arm and seeing Caeser smiling dreamily as Hector helped her load rounds.

"Oh Jesus H Christ..."

Miho giggled, "I think her legs are shaking..."

"Miho, I'm sorry, I'll talk to him after this"

She waved him off, "Oh it's fine. My only concern was that we wouldn't get any good training in, but it seems it's not hindering her performance at all. In fact, I'd even say it's helping it!"

Joshua had to admit, once Hector withdrew to help Yukari, Caeser was loading shells much more efficiently, keeping her fingers clear of the dangerous breech.

"Well, I guess so. Hector probably didn't even know the effect he was having on her, the big oaf."

"True, he's nice though... Saori thought he was scary at first!"

The two continued to gossip, joking and laughing as they moved on to stories about their past matches, before Anzu walked up to them, interrupting their conversation with the crunch of a sweet potato

"Having fun, lovebirds?"

Miho sputtered, blushing as she tried to deny it.

Joshua, however, grabbed her hand and squeezed it, looking at her

Trust me.He'd had it with this little twin tailed demon, and he was gonna show her what it was like to be on the backfoot for once.

"Yes, actually. My little Miho-kins here just made a confession to me, and said she saw how you were eyeing my body. Would you like to join our relationship? you can be the first one in our harem." the American said in his best deadpan voice

Anzu coughed, choking on a sweet potato as she struggled to catch her breath

After half a minute of the poor girl desperately trying to hack out a lung, Joshua took pity on her and grabbed a water bottle from the cooler he had set up on the Panzer, tossing it to Anzu, who gulped it down gratefully

"Ah... Ah, Jeeze! N-no! What do you even mean?? Miho, when was this?! W-who even said I'd be interested??? It was Momo wasn't it?!?!"

Miho had meanwhile caught on, and was enjoying seeing Anzu be embarrassed for once

"Actually, it was Yuzu. She said how she had been lusting for your body for years now. What did she call it Joshua?"

"Lolicon, I think is the term in your country?"

"That's it!"

Anzu's face went from red to white to red again, her mouth flapping open like a fish, before shouting loudly

"I-IM NOT A LOLI! IM JUST SHORT!"

The sound echoed over the practice field, every eye on Anzu before they slowly returned to what they were doing, Joshua and Miho holding their sides and kicking their legs in mirth

"Ahahaha! aha... ahahaha... ha... You shoulda seen your face, jeeze..."

Anzu pouted, trying to return to her normal demeanor.

"R-right, very funny. Well I hope todays training went well, because we have that practice match set up with St. Gloriana's Girls College, and we better be ready!"

"Don't worry, your Holiness, we'll be ready. It's just a practice match anyway, right? Doesn't even go on our record."

Anzu shrugged, "I guess that's true. Still, it's the relaunching of Oorai Sensha-Dō, so let's do our best to impress, mkay? We want everyone to-"

Her speech - and indeed everyone's activities on the practice field - was interrupted by the ear splitting BOOM of the T32's gun firing unexpectedly, causing several loaders to drop their shells in shock.

Joshua and Miho were the first to race twords the tank, fearing some sort of freak accident with the ammunition. As they approached, the commander and loader hatches opened, and Rachel and Hana stumbled out of the tank.

The tall flower girl barely managed to dismount from the tank, falling over onto her hands and knees and panting like she had just run a marathon. Rachel wasn't doing much better, tottering on unsteady legs as she helped her friend to lean against the hull of the tank.

Joshua and Miho gaped at the gunners, who were oblivious to the world around them, sweat dripping down their foreheads and pupils dilated. Hanas head lolled back and forth mouthing 'Wow' as Rachel flashed her an exhausted grin

"D-didnt I tell... tell you Hana? Oh gosh... gosh... hooo boy..."

"That... that was... quite a rush... Miss Rachel... I... O-ooh... I've never... fired a gun that powerful before..."

Miho looked away, embarrassed for everyone involved, when Hector approached from behind them.

"Rache, you alright?"

"I-Im fine!"

"Miss Isuzu?"

"Haaa... Haaaaaah..."

Satisfied, he nodded, grabbing the shoulders of his two commanders and leading them away from the girls on the ground

"Not a word."

"But... she... they.."

Hector turned both commanders twords him, fixing them with a glare

"Not. A. Word."

Miho and Joshua nodded, leaving a satisfied Hector to return to his duties

Miho turned to Joshua

"Josh?"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Please... please tell me that there was water they could have sat in inside your tank..."

"what? no, no I don't think so... why?"

"Th-their skirts..."

The Americans eyes bulged out, before he quickly hurried his counterpart as far away from the heavy tank as possible

As they left the practice field for the small conference room attached to the hangers, Joshua looked back, and saw Hana and Rachel lying on the grass, cuddling eachother, before hurrying up his pace

And now we're all done with basic training. Jesus that was alot, three whole chapters for a 30 second montage in the show.Joshua's first speech about commanding is actually taken from a United States armored warfare training film made during the 70's-80's. Back then, Soviet T-62 and T-72 tanks were a massive threat to Allied armor, and in most cases actually outclassed the current US tank arsenal, both in quantity and quality. People tend to forget that in the modern day, especially with the US military having had no peer adversary like the Soviets in decades, but until the M1A1, we really didn't surpass the Soviets. Even then, the introduction of our advanced fire control systems were what really made the difference more than armor or guns, though both were important. Look up General Motors model of the M1 if the M16 adoption over the FAL and Pentagon Wars didn't get you angry enough at the Pentagon.The more you know!