It had been a couple of days after that match of the previous chapter as everyone had been taking a break so they could rethink strategy and see what they could learn from the last match. All the students from the previous meetings were there as they were talking about what to do with the next match.

"Last match was a complete disaster as it was just us using our much weaker tanks plus the Croatian gang and Yogurt Academy wasn't at full strength when the match happened, why was that?" Maho asked as she was still observing the results and taking notes on what to do to change that.

"We can safely say that a good chunk of our tanks were in repair from that three hundred on three hundred tank match. Plus we're trying to move away from tankettes as they aren't really that useful to us any more." Pomorie responded as there was a need to use heavier tanks to at least stand a chance against these larger tanks that Pravda was throwing at them. "We still don't know what tanks Pravda might have and we're struggling to at least knock out a T-34/76." Pomorie continued as Maho looked at her friend as she motioned her hands.

"Okay calm down Pomorie, I'm trying to get this problem sorted so that you don't continue struggling but we're struggling ourselves to have tanks that could stand against Pravda's. We might begin giving away our weaker tanks so that we can have room for the larger tanks." Maho tried her best to keep Pomorie calm. "Well after the match, we forgot it was Erika's birthday so we hastily threw a celebration together that was just as disastrous as the match itself." Erika popped onto the screen as she began speaking.

"At least the cake was good. I really liked it." Erika smiled as she was having a slice of it. Maho was disgruntled by Erika's statement.

"Yeah a richly dense chocolate cake that got Olivia sick to her stomach and in the nurse's office overnight." Maho gave her response that she was displeased with Erika's statement.

"What happened to your apprentice? Was there something she ate yet her body couldn't tolerate it?" Solti asked as she wanted to figure out what was wrong.

"Yeah there are a lot of things Olivia can't have without getting sick: Most amount of meat, beef, pork, chicken. All the dairy products, and she can't have sugar so basically she's not allowed to have sweets. She can have fish but only in small amounts which she seldomly eats. So the big safe spot for her is a lot of plant based stuff so in a sense, she's vegan." Maho explained to Solti about what her apprentice can and cannot have. Solti nodded as she agreed.

"Speaking of which, Olivia's not in this meeting, where is she?" Solti asked as she wanted to figure out where Maho's apprentice was.

"She told me that she wasn't coming as she wanted to see if her Tiger tank was going to be ready for the next match and if it was, she would use it against the tanks we might be going up against. She also told me she was going on a date with Erwin as he had a moment of free time from his classes and they wanted to hang out with each other again." Maho explained why she was absent from this meeting. Noemi figured out the news as she began to speak.

"I always forgot that Olivia had a boyfriend. We don't even hear from him and we could assume that she loves you Maho." Noemi added the statement as Maho gave her response.

"Actually the situation is quite the opposite. She just looks up to me as a sibling and a mentor figure but I do love her dearly. She's like Miho but if Miho was a little more serious and has more guts than she has. I still wish to be along Miho's side again." Maho told them as they understood. But she was getting sidetracked as she shook her head and decided to cut to the chase of what this meeting was really about. "Anyways getting back on track, this match I know that we don't have enough strength and resources for the matches going forward so I'm pulling the team back to a much more defendable Panther-Wotan position which is centered around a wide river, the Dnieper and its tributaries."

"I bet the river will be deep enough for Pravda's tanks to not be able to cross so we should be safe and with the river being two kilometers across in certain areas meaning our tanks will be able to take them out before they even hit the water." Erika told everyone that the river will be impassable and no student would be able to cross them.

"What about the bridges going across the river? Are we going to blow them up so Pravda wouldn't be able to use them?" Kafka asked as there were several bridges that crossed the river to get to the position.

"No we aren't blowing up the bridges would have disastrous consequences for the local traffic so the bridges are off limits. We'll have our side of the river while Pravda has theirs and we'll be dug in so Pravda would need to come to us before we start taking them out." Maho told them about the news. The match would be like before one hundred and twenty-five tanks. They would have their own little groups and be dug in. "Any questions?" No one bothered to respond as Maho knew that they were good. "Okay I'll see you in the morning." With that the meeting came to an end as Pomorie had something to look forward to. She was still worried about Srebarna who wasn't speaking or responding in any way. She was just sitting silently in her own little corner in her office. Not being able to come to terms with her team. Pomorie knew she needed to get her trust back with Erika.

The match will come the next morning as many onlookers were watching. Two hundred and fifty tanks altogether were attending. Something truly spectacular. Maho was on her side of the river watching the road to the bridge as cars and trucks were coming over. She was leading her small group of just Kuromorimine tanks alone as she continued to observe. Olivia was also attending the match as Maho decided to look at her apprentice who had dried up scarlet cuts along her cheek. She was gently rubbing them, Maho looked at her.

"Olivia it's best not to touch them. You don't want your face bleeding again." Maho gave her the suggestion to leave her cheek alone. Olivia pulled her hand away as Maho observed.

"Err… right." Olivia responded as she placed her hand from her cheek to the turret of her tank. Maho studied her face.

"I see you got your bandages removed from your face. It shows where you got the injuries that you've sustained and I hope they don't scar up." Maho was begging that there wouldn't be a scratch on this girl's face.

"Yeah I hope so too." Olivia responded. For now they needed to focus on the match going on ahead.

Pravda meanwhile was looking at the bridge that would be normally accessible to cross if they were going to take Kuromorimine by surprise but the bridge was off limits. Katyusha looked on ahead as she wanted to figure out how to cross it. Nonna walked over to Katyusha.

"River is too deep in this section to cross with just our tanks alone. Klara said her area was shallow enough to cross and she's beginning to move." Nonna told Katyusha as she was measuring how deep this river was between them.

"Well great, looks like we're going to use Klara's path if we're going to make it to the other side." Katyusha huffed as she knew that was the only path to their victory. Nonna looked at Katyusha as she had another idea.

"I might have an idea on how we can get to the other side, why not build a pontoon bridge out of wood, nails and boats, we can cross the river and attempt a break out from there?" Nonna gave the suggestion as there were a lot of spare materials laying around to make a bridge. Katyusha began to think as she was going to give it some thought.

"Okay, we'll begin building but we're on a clock if you remember so I want no dilly dallying." Katyusha gave Nonna the go-ahead to begin building the bridge. Nonna nodded as she began walking away.

The Croatian gang and Count High Students were sitting together as usual as they were chatting away and playing games to pass the time. They were unaware of danger approaching.

"I know that Mucha would like to reestablish our relationship with the three again." Mizuki started the conversation as she was relaxing in her StuG 3. Istria was listening as she took a puff of the inhaler with this warmer weather, it meant asthma attacks had a much higher possibility of happening.

"You mean the Little Entente?" Istria asked as she shook the inhaler, she was running low.

"That's the one." Karin signaled Istria that she was correct on her answer.

"Will Eclair supply us with goodies to help SSISSN prosper?" Erin asked as she wanted stuff from Maginot Academy for their school.

"Like?" Tocai asked if there was anything they needed specifically.

"Money? Food? Tanks?" Erin began listing off what the school was willing to supply them with supplies as Istria decided to interrupt.

"Maybe more asthma medicine, I'm running out in this one." Istria gave her suggestion that more medicine will do them good. Klara was observing from a distance as her tank and a small group of T-34's and SU-76M's had crossed the river without much resistance. None of the students had noticed her, this was good as they were distracted. She began using her flags to position themselves for an ambush. They were ready.

"Probably a better hospital for the insane, it feels like we're all ditched into Saunders Willowbrook State School and then we rebel, lose and repeat and we're all here now." Barbera told the group that this was nothing new. The group was silent as they knew about Saunders delinquent program that they neglected for a few years now. They were silent as they heard something else.

"Do you hear that?" Dalmatia asked. Istria popped her head out of the turret as she wanted to figure out what was going on. She looked on ahead as Pravda tanks were popping free from the underbrush as they were going on the attack.

"Pravda is here!" Istria called out as she had been taken completely by surprise. Klara pushed forward as she fired the first shot. The shot landed on the Ft-17 as that tank was knocked out of action. The other tanks began firing their shots along the front as they were trying their best to avoid them but an R35 and the Panzer 2 was knocked out. Dalmatia fired but the Matilda 2 shot just bounced off the armor of the T-34. Istria grabbed the radio as she wanted assistance to all of this.

"Anyone available on the other side? This is Istria requesting assistance as we have Pravda tanks in our sector." Istria gave the call. Solti who was listening on the other side as she was wondering how Pravda was able to sneak their way across the river.

"Okay we're on our way." Solti told Istria to keep calm. Her tiger was in the area of the city as the Magyar tanks ran full speed ahead to assist SSISSN and Count. "Pull back to a much more defensible position and we'll come along and plug up the gap with the fifteen or so tanks that she had.

The minutes ticked by as more tanks were going down from both sides. Klara had lost about two T-34's and a SU-76M so far but the smaller schools were on the retreat as the Maresal covered them. The Maresal decided to shoot again as the shot took out another T-34 on the side but Klara was quick on her heels as that tank destroyer was a big threat. Klara and two other tanks decided to take a shortcut through the bushes as they were going to be taking out that Maresal. The three tanks moved behind as the SU-76M's kept it distracted. With the turret pointed at the light tank destroyers, the T-34's snuck around as they managed to get behind it. Klara snickered as she prepared to fire. She nodded as she gave the signal. The three tanks fired their shots into the rear of the Maresal as Count's Tank destroyer had been knocked out. A white flag popped out as Klara had made it to the other side. Katyusha and Nonna were watching and were surprised by Klara's actions.

"She did it. She's on the other side." Katyusha smiled with excitement as Klara was now on the other side of the river. "Hey Nonna, how much longer until that bridge of boats is finished so we can begin crossing?" Katyusha asked about the progress of the bridge. Nonna walked over as she was observing her student's actions.

"We're just about half way done so we'll be ready to cross by the time the hour is up." Nonna told Katyusha how much progress still needed to be done before they could truly cross.

"Okay I'll tell Brook that she is working on a tight schedule. I would want her to take the city when we begin crossing it." Katyusha decided to notify her friend about this turn of events. She grabbed her radio as she began to speak into it. "Come in Brook." Katyusha began. Brook grabbed the radio and began to speak.

"This is Brook and what do you need?" Brook asked as she was on another section of the river.

"Okay Brook I want you to have the city under your control by the time we finish building our bridge across." Katyusha gave the order.

"Yeah my students are building as fast as possible as I'm trying to keep on with your schedule and I feel like I'm falling behind." Brook responded as her students were working on the bridge.

"Well work on it faster." Katyusha responded.

"You're killing me. We have a smaller section of the river to work on but you've already given me a time crunch here." Brook told Katyusha about it.

"Okay but you will still need to take the city. I'm extending your deadline about fifteen minutes." Katyusha knew she needed to complete her deadline even with this add on.

"No promises." Brook responded as she was getting herself used to the few minutes to spare. She was going to need every last one of it.

Pomorie, El and their schools were on their section of the front but unlike the others they haven't retreated behind the river as they were busy chatting amongst themselves.

"So El about that party that Erika held, did you attend because I know that we haven't attended." Pomorie asked if this was correct that El attended.

"We haven't gone either, I had a project to do." El responded as Pomorie knew she wanted to do a joke.

"But want to do a little joke with Erika?" Pomorie asked if El wanted to. El smiled as she knew that was a good idea.

"Yeah get on the radio with Erika and tell her." El snickered as Pomorie got onto the radio. She began tuning it to where Erika had her channel located as she began speaking. Erika was located in the city as she was assigned to hold that area from incoming attacks.

"Hey Erika, how does it feel to be seventeen years old now?" Pomorie asked as El was laughing. Erika didn't have the tolerance for their jokes.

"Stop that." Erika called out for them to quit screwing around as they had a match, Pomorie and El just laughed as it was too good of a joke.

"Sorry but we just needed to ask as it was your birthday the other day and we wanted to know how it was." Pomorie spoke as Erika listened. She calmed down and began to think about it.

"Eh it was alright not like when I was eight and that party was the worst." Erika responded as they knew they needed to stay focused as the conversation was serving as a distraction. A distraction that Nina needed.

Nina, Alina and their group had snuck around as they were using the chatter of the other students to get themselves set up. Nina was in her SU-152 as she was observing from a distance.

"They're distracted, perfect." Nina told Alina that the time to pounce will be now.

"We should go now." Alina whispered to Nina. Nina snickered then nodded as this plan was going to be a success.

"Let's do this." Nina told her. Their tanks began to turn as they were getting into position right there and poised to strike.

"Dunno if you want to hang out with me this weekend Pomorie as I will show you love from a Blue Division student." El asked as Pomorie ignored her. She raised her hand as she had something else on her mind.

"Do you hear that?" Pomorie asked as she wondered what that noise was. Shells began raining in from the massive SU-152's that were trying to soften up their position. "Everyone scatter!" Pomorie called out as the tanks began moving wildly in many different directions. The vickers and the Panzer 2 drove off as T-34's began closing in from the sides. Pomorie opened her hatch to see the chaos that was going on, six tanks had been knocked out already and the others were beginning to panic. She had a choice to make and it would be for the best. "Everyone pull back to the other side of the river!" Pomorie shouted on the radio as the vickers took the lead. The tanks still in the match in the area began following along as they sped on ahead. Pomorie knew she needed to give the news to Maho.

"We got you." El told Pomorie as she began relaying the order again. Pomorie had to speak with Maho directly. She grabbed the radio as she began speaking.

"Maho this is Pomorie, we're under attack from Pravda and we're pulling back to the other side of the river, permission for you to destroy the bridge over?" Pomorie asked if it was okay to shoot the bridge to bring it down to prevent Pravda from crossing the river.

"Okay permission requested, tell us when you want to blow the bridge up?" Maho gave the permission to blow the bridge as Pomorie nodded. The turret of the Vickers rotated back as it fired a warning shot onto the Pravda tanks, the shell struck Nina's SU-152 but it did nothing in terms of overall damage but it was a distraction as the other tanks sped on ahead.

The wooden bridge they were going to retreat over was delicate and too much weight can cause it to collapse in on itself but for the retreating schools, the bridge was strong enough to hold up the weight of the light tanks but Pomorie was hoping for the bridge to collapse in on itself when the medium tanks or the heavy SPG's would begin to cross. Pomorie made sure her tank was the last to cross as she fired off more warning shots with the HE shells. These will do nothing against the heavy behemoths but it will keep them at bay. Once the last tank had got onto the bridge, her tank followed behind as Varna was driving as fast as she could. The T-34's followed onto the bridge shortly afterward as they made an attempt to pursue the light tanks. The bridge creaked as the weight of many tons of steel was heard.

Meanwhile Maho and Olivia had their sights on the bridge for a while as Pomorie had given the signal for them to take up position to blow the bridge up. Along the right side of the road were five Brummbars as they had loaded their HE shells in and were poised to fire. Olivia was watching as she was going to signal Maho to spring the trap with their SPG's

"Okay they're coming over the bridge." Olivia told Maho as she continued to observe. Maho nodded as she spotted Pomorie and their vickers trying to book it across the bridge followed by many T-34's,

"Okay and fire!" Maho shouted. The Brummbars fired as their shells began smashing the wooden bridge. Pomorie looked at Varna as she had a choice word for her.

"Full speed ahead!" Pomorie shouted as the vickers sped up and drove away. The shells began raining down as some broke through the wood while others exploded. Paintballs went everywhere as the wooden bridge came crashing down. The Brummbars had targeted multiple areas but decided to concentrate their fire on just one and it was a success. The T-34's had stopped dead as they weren't going anywhere. The plan was a success.

"Looks like we managed to block their advance again, we managed to blow up Bridge Mozart." Maho told her as she began taking a count of the tanks that remained. What was once Thirty tanks, nineteen remained. The eleven or so tanks had been knocked out in the scramble across the river. Nina was looking from her side of the river as she began to relay the information.

"Katyusha, my T-34 crews have concluded that the Mozart crossing point has been destroyed. It might be a while before the bridge is repaired and we can cross." Nina gave the information to Katyusha that their only way across was gone. Katyusha who was on the other side grumbled as Maho just beat her to the bridge.

"Looks like we need to wait before you can cross." Katyusha growled as she missed the perfect opportunity to rush tanks across the river. Nonna looked at her as they may have lost this opportunity but there was still plenty more to take.

"If Klara had crossed the river then maybe the others would too." Nonna told Katyusha to have a little patience. "Our bridge still has plenty to be done before we can begin crossing but hopefully one of our leaders is ready."

"Okay tell the others that are working on the bridge to get moving. I would want to rush across the river." Katyusha told Nonna to tell those that have their bridges complete to get ready to move. Nonna nodded as she grabbed the radio.

"Okay Brook, is your crossing bridge complete?" Nonna asked her if she was ready to go. She was given a deadline to complete the bridge and now that time was up.

"We just finished constructing the bridge and we are preparing to cross it." Brook responded to what she planned on doing. Nonna nodded as completing the bridge was good news.

"Okay good. Katyusha is giving orders to take the city back where Klara was encircled during one of our disasters last year." Nonna responded as she was ready to give the order.

"Okay I will get a move on." Brook responded as she decided to keep her head out and her fingers gripped onto a modification to her T-34/76 in particular. A PM M1910 was mounted in a swivel of the T-34 and was fed with paintball tracers, these tracers gave off a glow as it would in theory help locate targets in darkness or dense environments. About a five thousand round belt had been attached as well as a barrel with a water jacket. This water jacket was filled with water and the sole purpose was to keep the barrel from overheating under intense fire. A shield around the maxim was used to help block paintballs from HE shells.

"Okay I wish you luck." Nonna gave the news to Brook as her T-34 began its journey. The tank roared to life as it was the first to lead the group. Brook had the SU-85's in her group which were the tank destroyers that Pravda could rely on. The tanks crossed the river one at a time, about keeping fifty feet from one to the next. Brook was the first to cross the river as she began giving orders to her group of twenty-five or so tanks. About ten or so of these tanks were SU-85's. This was crossing Shakespeare.

"Okay Tank destroyers will drive straight into the city to take on the tanks inside while we go around to flank. Once that is done we can move on and tell Katyusha the news." Brook gave the orders for the Tank destroyers to take the main road in while Brook was to take the winding road behind the city and fight her way into downtown. The SU-85's went first as Brook decided to take her group around to flank.

"Going for the flanking route eh? I think with your tanks you can easily break through their lines and be able to cut off their escape route." Nonna replied to her over the radio as she knew this tactic was nothing new, if successful however, Brook could cut off all tha tank in the area. The tanks began winding their way through the roads and eventually arrived in the city. Two SU-85's and seven various Kuromorimine tanks had already been put out of action.

"Okay let's hunt down these tanks and we can give Katyusha the news." Brook gave the order to locate the tanks and have them knocked out. The T-34 rumbled as it began to go on the hunt for Kuromorimine tanks. The fifteen or so tanks split up and began the hunt.

Brook kept her head out of the tank as she was going to put some of the effort into the machine gun that was mounted. A Panzer 4 made its appearance as it was trying to seek shelter. It was heading away from the battlefield of the wrecked city. Brook signaled for the tank to follow it down The T-34 began rumbling along the ruins of the city as it was going to go hunt for the Panzer 4. Rolling over some wreckage, they were able to find the tank trying to navigate its way from an alleyway. Brook snickered as she had the Maxim gun primed and ready for action. She pushed her thumbs on the trigger as the glowing paintballs began to splatter the rear of the Panzer 4. Even with five thousand rounds of ammunition. She knew she needed to save her shots for when they mattered.

"Fire!" Brook ordered her gunner to finish the job. The T-34's cannon roared as the tank was shot in the rear with a red Paintball round. The Panzer 4 crew were rattled as their tank was shot. Brook fired a few more shots with the Maxim gun to keep the crew occupied. After that ordeal a white flag popped out as that tank was gone. Satisfied, the T-34 rolled off as it went to go look for more targets to hunt.

The minutes ticked by as the tanks were engaged with one tank and another fighting their way through the city. Erika who was in the city knew she was going to get cut off and decided to order a retreat out of the city and back to friendly lines. From the ten or so tanks stationed there, she was the only one to make it out. She decided to radio Maho about this.

"Maho this is Erika I would like to tell you that the city I couldn't hold and I'm in retreat from it as a result." Erika began. Maho was listening as she was taking notes.

"So you failed to hold the city?" Maho asked Erika if this was correct.

"Yes you're right." Erika huffed as she wasn't able to hold the line.

"How many tanks did you escape with?" Maho asked if Erika was able to make it out with her group intact.

"I'm the only tank in my group left, it was a massacre I tell you." Erika told Maho as she was the sole survivor of her group. Maho began thinking as the situation was dire.

"At least you're okay as you are the flag tank after all." Maho told Erika as she was going to have the front lines reorganized. "I'll have Gregor and Magyar to close up the city to make sure that Pravda doesn't stage a breakout, You're being grouped with Count and the Croats." Maho told Erika on what her orders would be. Erika didn't like having to be placed with the group that came under fire from Klara but if it was something to hold Klara back, she would do it.

"Okay but I don't expect any more surprises after that." Erika responded as she didn't want to be caught off balance again. Maho nodded as she would have the group situated on the bend of the river. Now came for a chance of peace.

Brook was relaying the information back to Katyusha about their recent victory in the city.

"...so we lost about eight tanks in the city but we pretty much wiped Kuromorimine from its defenses." Brook finished as Katyusha nodded with approval.

"Good work. We've just finished our bridge and we are going to cross it to meet up with Klara and we'll decide our plans from there." Katyusha told Brook as she was preparing to cross the completed bridge. Nonna was busy with information of her own.

"Katyusha, Nina and Alina told me they were beginning the repairs on crossing Mozart as they want to join the action." Nonna told Katyusha. Katyusha nodded but that wasn't what she was focusing on.

"Good work Nonna, now prepare to take crossing Flower Whiskers and meet up with Klara." Katyusha gave the order. Nonna nodded as Katyusha began to speak over with her megaphone. "Students in our group we are preparing to cross, the ones with the self propelled guns go with Nonna and T-34's come along with me." Katyusha gave the order. The two tanks took the lead as Katyusha crossed the river first with Nonna following behind. This crossing was finally in their hands. Katyusha also had another plan in mind.

She took out the map and noticed that the enemy team had concentrated all of their tanks along the bend of the river where Nina and Alina were focusing on fixing the bridge. She looked over to see where the enemy flag tank was as she noticed one thing. If she could have all the groups from the other side of the river pull this off swiftly, the flag tank will be trapped and knocked out. This will draw attention away from the bend of the river and get Nina's tanks to bear.

This needed to be carried out in complete secrecy.

[A/N]: This match will be divided into two parts, this is just part 1 of the match and the second part will be when they break out of the breach heads and attack all of their tanks. Now seems to be quiet but not for long with Katyusha on the hunt. Next part will come as swiftly as I can type. Goodbye.