We remember
In September
That's the night Vienna was freed
We made the enemy bleed!
Then the Winged Hussars arrived!
Again, thanks for giving me ideas folks! And I brought in some Czech tanks requested by Lt.38. Enjoy it!
Maho knew exactly that their time was tight. The situation on the northern front was becoming more and more serious for the Federation. Besides if they wanted a soon victory they had to achieve it quickly before the late winter and spring rains and the melting snow in the north turn the country roads into mud making movements' way harder for the tanks.
In the past few days they managed to push the rebels backwards. A huge fight has happened in the Mikawa Mu Valley. It raged for a whole day and before Kuromorimine and Saunders forced the boys out and occupied the area. Moral was high among them. They were winning and step by step they get closer and closer to Matsuyama. Maybe they can finally capture the center of the Confederacy, end the war and reunite the Japan Sensha-Do Federation. And most importantly they can finally go home.
But Maho knew that this wasn't the end. They'll still have to capture the bridges to Shikoku and even if they get to the island it was obvious that the boys will not give Matsuyama easily. And before all of that there was that one certain city. Hiroshima. The home city of Uluru Academy. They had to occupy the city by all means to get to the bridges. This thought troubled Maho. Even if they and the enemy had about the same number of tanks now Hiroshima was protected by the combined forces of Uluru, Bannockburn, Diamondback, Seinarukaze, Sherlock Holmes and Conquistador. Furthermore the confederates fortified the city with a huge number of trenches, barbed wires, barriers, heaps of earth and concrete walls.
The members of the boys' schools who stayed back and didn't fight at the Koto River made a good job together with volunteers from other schools from Hiroshima who never took part in Sensha-Do but they wanted to protect their city. Besides after certain acts of the JSF they slowly begun to side with the boys. The defense lines encircled the entire city from Hatsukaichi to Kumano. It was a strong, well-built fortress system. Some of its parts were built out back in late August, early autumn, at the time of the secession.
Maho was thinking about these things as she stood in the cupola of her Tiger on the western bank of the Nishiki River watching the army of the two girls' schools passing through a small bridge in small groups. She was tired. Very tired. She knew what her duty is, but all she wanted at that moment was taking a hot shower, falling into her own bed and sleep. But only after hugging her little sister.
Will they be able to conquer that city?
Kelly's POV
The confederate army took positions behind the crenels of the walls looking over the rows of barbed wire, barricades and defensive trenches. This will be the last stand of the Kyushu Battalion and the half of the II. Honshu Battalion. Hiroshima must be the turning point on the southern front. If they lose her the way will be open for the Federation to the bridges to Shikoku. There is no way they can stop them in the small towns between Hiroshima and the Kurushima Bridge.
"May the gods be with us." thought Kelly sitting on top of his Caernarvon, wearing his dusty khaki uniform. The commander of the Australian styled school looked behind at Hiroshima, the city of Uluru. "I'm sorry you have to see war again my home. I promise you'll be spared this time!" It really disturbed him that this city, this symbol of tragedy has to meet with gunfire again. Hiroshima should be the warning sign for every human that it's time for world peace now.
"General Kelly!" a voice said.
"Ah, hi Joseph-san." greeted Kelly the boy in the uniform of Diamondback. Joseph was the commander of the Chaffee which was ordered to take pictures of the tear gas and the battlefield at the Koto River and rejoin the main force in Hiroshima.
"Pardon me general, me and the boys didn't have time until now to hand it over. Here you are." said Joseph and gave Kelly a folder filled with photos. Kelly took the out and looked through them.
"Nice job Joseph-san. Very nice." nodded Kelly and gave them back. "You may send them to Matsuyama."
"Understood sir!" saluted Joseph and left.
"Don't worry Tsuji and all of you bastards in Tokyo." thought Kelly. "We'll let the world know about all of this. And they'll not be as tolerant with you as we were for a so long time!"
Maho' POV
The girls from Kuromorimine and Saunders cheered as they rolled up to a hilltop near Lake Yasaka. In the distance they could see the roofs of the houses of Hatsukaichi. They were really close now.
But those houses were behind massive barricades and thick walls protected by the remained heavy and medium tanks of the southern forces of the army of the Confederacy of Independent High Schools. And there were those freaking self-propelled guns too. Maho knew that this one won't be easy at all.
It was now late afternoon so she ordered the army to stop.
"Everyone, take a sleep. We'll attack at dawn."
Slowly the Sun sank behind the hills on the western horizon. As darkness fell most of the girls were sleeping in their sleeping bags under warm blankets to protect themselves from the February cold. On the other hand Maho couldn't rest. Her mind troubled her. What if they fail? She didn't really care about that anymore but she knew that if the boys repel their attack this madness will go on and on. How much time of her life was wasted already? And for what? In the beginning she was so determined to fight and keep the JSF together but now… She just wanted to go home to Kumamoto and sit in one of the classrooms on the school ship of Kuromorimine.
She looked at Erika who was sleeping next to her fixed Königstiger. The vice-commander never gave a voice to her opinion but Maho was sure that she shared the same thoughts.
05:00 a.m.
Maho got about two or three hours of sleep. That's not good it can affect her battle performance. It was still dark; the Sun didn't emerge from the sea yet. Dense fog covered the fields and the valleys.
The girls slowly started to wake up. They'll begin the attack at 07:00 a.m. In a comfortable tempo they ate their breakfast, checked their vehicles and prepared themselves for the battle. By the time their clock showed 07:00 the federal tanks and TDs were all in formation ready to move.
"All units, geradeaus marsch!" ordered Maho and the armored vehicles all moved forward. It was still pretty dark and the fog still reduced the visual range to a few dozens of meters. After a few kilometers they reached the first line of tank barriers. As there was no sign of enemy some tank crews climbed out to remove them from the way. They succeeded without interruption and the army could go on. The nerves of the girls stretched to acne. The enemy could show up in every second from nowhere. The silence was too big to bear.
Soon they reached a trench. It was crossable for the Tigers and other bigger tanks but not for the smaller ones. A few Panzer IIIs found a point where the trench was narrower. They crossed it there together with a couple of Shermans to scout the area before them. Suddenly the commander of one of the Panzer IIIs froze. She noticed a Panzer IV from Conquistador just before them and it was aiming at them. A moment later it fired and took out the smaller tank.
"Enemy force before us!" screamed a Saunders girl into the radio. As she said that a few more confederate Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs appeared and opened fire at the scouts.
"Fire at will!" commanded Maho and the shooting begun. It went on for about half a minute when Maho saw big flashes from the other side of the curtain of fog. Soon the sound of thundering guns reached her too. "Watch out!" High-caliber shells landed between them.
The two sides fired blindly at each other for about half an hour until the fog cleared later in the morning. Maho noticed the wall about 500 meters away. Stugs, Fireflies and Pershings were shooting at them from behind the crenels. As the battlefield was clear now the artilleries opened fire too from inside the fortress. The Verdeja Is of Conquistador and the Priests of Diamondback unleashed their salvos. Because of the incoming ballistic shells Maho had to order her troops to stay in motion to avoid the enemy bombardment.
Soon she had to realize that this wasn't the best place to break through and she pulled back the federal forces to the other side of the hill. Maho sent out scouts to study the wall and find a more appropriate place to attack. It was early afternoon when the scouts returned and reported that they found one of the iron gates a little further north. Surely the wall was weaker there. The federal army moved there and restarted the assault. But still hundreds of meters stood between them and the wall itself with different types of barriers, not to mention the constant enemy fire. However Maho had no choice. If they want to invade Hiroshima they have to pass here.
"Stretch our line alongside the wall! Attack them on a front as wide as we can!"
It was lucky for them that Saunders had so much Shermans. They were able to attack the boys at two gates and at the section between them at the northwestern side of the city. They've sent dozens of shells into the wall in every minute but the fort was standing strong. Furthermore their advance was painfully slow. They had to send tanks directly into the rain of confederate grenades to destroy the barricades and each time they lost some of them. Days passed by and they were only a bit closer.
One night when the fight was pausing Maho was thinking about the siege.
"Taichō."
"Hm?" It was Erika with another Kuromorimine girl.
"Hina has an idea to help on our situation." said Erika.
"Yes Hina?" asked Maho.
"You know commander, I've been learning much about tactics of the 15th-16th century in Europe." said Hina.
"And?"
"There is another way we can approach the problem."
"What did you think for?" asked Maho interested.
Matsuyama harbor
It was night and Kyousuke stood at the end of a pier under a street lamp. He was looking over the sea toward Honshu and Hiroshima. It was tens of kilometers away but as the air was clear and motionless he was nearly convinced that he could hear faint sounds of gunfire from the other island.
"Evening Hamada-san." a female voice said behind him. Kyousuke turned around.
"Evening Chonou-san." he greeted the young woman in green JGSDF uniform.
"Do you have it?" asked Ami.
"Of course." replied Kyousuke and dug into the inner pocket of his coat. He took out the folder which came from the troops. "Are you sure you want to help our cause?"
"Then I wouldn't have had meetings already with the foreigners."
"May I ask what your motivation is?" the confederate president asked.
"That I want to clear the Japan Sensha-Do Federation and give back its former honor. If you want to separate yourselves from it, it's okay for me."
"I see. Then here you are." said Kyousuke and handed the folder containing the photos over.
Ami left the scene and Kyousuke was alone again. Even if he was still confident it was nerving for him that the front got so close to Matsuyama. "I hope you boys can stand for a little more. I'm organizing your help!"
Hiroshima
"General! There is something strange out there!" the voice of the watch wake Juan from his sleeping at dawn. He rushed to the wall immediately.
"What happened?"
"Look!" said a boy from Conquistador and gave him binoculars. Juan looked at the battlefield. He saw small moving boxes emerging from the woods.
"Oh, damn it! Everyone! Goliaths are coming. Open machinegun fire!"
The boys ran to their action stations and fired the machine guns of their tanks. The hit some of them but despite of this the multiple radio controlled tracked mines reached the barricades and exploded making the way clear for the federal tanks.
"That doesn't look good." stated Johnson.
"No, it doesn't." nodded Juan. Looks like they stopped now. Maybe they are out of them. As he said that enemy shells started to hit the wall again. "Return fire!"
The shooting started again. But something was wrong the enemy didn't start to advance. They bombarded the boys from a distance. They moved often to avoid the artillery fire of the boys but the girls' schools didn't come out of the forest.
"What are you planning?" thought Wallace.
The armies were two weeks into the siege when in a wide band half of the barriers came down. The girls received more Goliaths from the JSF HQ and each day they got closer to the point when they can launch a frontal attack.
In the next three days the defense before the walls collapsed in sequence. The constant rain of AP and HE shells weakened the wall very much at some places. During the nights the boys tried their best to repair it somehow but the risk of the fall of the wall grew bigger and bigger and the enemy attack was expected soon.
Maho' POV
Maho held a meeting with Erika, Kay, Alisa and Naomi.
"Don't wait Maho! Just do it and charge in!" cheered Kay.
"I'd like to keep that solution as a last option." replied Maho. "I know that our sappers are almost ready, but try to break the gates at first."
"Eh. If you say so." sighed Saunders's commander.
"Then in the morning." said Maho. "We attack with everything we have. We would finish this tomorrow."
Inside the fort
It was suspicious for Juan that the girls haven't attacked in a pretty long time. They only fought from a distance. Like they were… trying to gain time for something or somebody? When they told him at the evening that all enemy activities stopped it was quiet obvious that the next day will be critical.
Juan and his fellow generals called all the soldiers together. The boys stood in attention before their commanders.
"My friends!" started Juan. "The time has come. Many of you are fighting since the beginning. But tomorrow will be the most important day of the war and perhaps of your lives. Let's face the facts. The forces of the JSF are standing at our front door. Our forces are depleted. And our enemy is strong. They are here to conquer. They are here to take what is ours. They are here to take what is dear to us. But we are here to stop them. We are here to be glorious and to defend the freedom of our schools after they spent decades in infamy! The opponent has no such motivation! Do not doubt yourselves! If my tank gets hit do not worry! If any of the generals get hit carry on the fight! You will be still here! Fulfill our mission! Do not let the enemy into Hiroshima! Do not let them to Shikoku! Not just for the sake of ourselves but for your fellows! Fight for the person next to you! Fight for your friends! Your comrades! Your schools! Your sport! The future students of our schools! Fight for the freedom! We will not stop to resist 'till the last operational tank, 'till we all get disabled! We won't! President Hamada Kyousuke-san placed this army group under my command. I promise I will not fail you! Win and I'll pay a whole bottle of some good Spanish wine for each one of you! Okay?"
"Sir Yes Sir!" thundered the reply of all the boys in the fort. Their former uncertainty has disappeared. They looked at Juan and the other general and they felt like they could charge the gates of hell.
"Prepare boys!"
Next morning
The southern forces of the JSF army stood into position. They looked at the perforated wall of the fortress with self-confidence. One big charge and the gate will be opened for them to Matsuyama. Maho shot a signal rocket and the German and American tanks moved forward. As soon as they left the forest they opened fire. Almost immediately they met with confederate artillery bombardment. The boys increased their firing rate as much as they could. This made the federals to slow down between the ruins of the barricades and the craters made by the Goliaths. Several Shermans and german medium tanks got hit and the white flag popped out on top of them.
The TDs, the Stugs, Archers, Fireflies and the others were shooting through the crenels. The confederate army used up all of its reserves. Everyone had to fight in the first line.
As Maho and the others advanced something unexpected happened. One of the two besieged gates opened and Pershings, Crusaders, Caernarvons, Shermans and Panzers stormed out from the fort. They broke into their ranks. The boys wanted to turn a weakness of german tanks to their own benefit. They were far better in long range fights than at close quarters. The field turned into a whole mess. Steel clashed with steel. The boys tried to focus on the Shermans and the medium tanks of Kuromorimine but they also managed to take out some Panthers, the Elephant and they could destroy the tracks of the Jagdtiger. For the annoyance of Maho she had to save the tanks, they just couldn't afford to lose them in huge numbers.
"Retreat! Retreat!" she ordered and the girls' schools pulled back into cover. At the evening she got a message from the HQ in Tokyo. They called her to finally break the resistance in Hiroshima.
"What do you know?" she thought in annoyance. "What do you know about what it's like here?" But she also knew at the same time that the leadership had right to be dissatisfied. They were besieging Hiroshima for a month now and they achieved nothing. On top of that the rains arrived. There was mud and water everywhere. The water could also fill… THAT tunnel.
"Erika!"
"Yes commander?"
"Alert Hina and her sappers. They shall do it at noon. As soon as the smoke will be cleared we charge into that city!"
"Jawohl commander!"
Well. Now or never.
Juan's POV, next day
Everything was quiet during that day. It was strange and the boys didn't see enemy movements at all.
Shortly before noon Juan ordered a guard mount at the walls. The TDs which were at the wall went inside the city. And that was their luck. Suddenly the boys felt like they were near a volcano eruption. A huge part of the wall just disappeared in a so big explosion that it sent the earth flying to even a kilometer away. Many of them nearly went deaf. That was the trick of Kuromorimine. They dug a chamber under the wall and they filled it with ammunition. That was the 16th century like tactic Hina was talking about.
The boys jumped into their tanks with their adrenalin level in the skies.
"Holy God, help us now!"
Yeah, it was obvious that they won't be able to bear a charge under these circumstances.
"Well we tried it." thought Juan. "Looks like the only thing we can do is to make a show as a last stand."
A few seconds later the JSF tanks appeared. The suburbs of Hiroshima were right before them. But the boys had no intention to give them an easy victory. The battle which took form was so harsh like never before and even after an hour the confederates held their positions behind the buildings. But everyone knew that it was only a matter of time when the Federation will break through.
But suddenly… When the gunfire was not so loud at the moment a strange voice reached the ears of the soldiers of both sides. It was very high. Wait. A harmonica? It surprised the sides so much that they entirely stopped shooting and listened. It came from far. From the hills. Then the recognized the melody. It gave power and hope for the boys and filled the girls with fear. Soon they could hear the lyrics too.
Come gather 'round, people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
And you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'
They looked to the north. A tank appeared on top of the closest hill.
Several hours earlier in Nagoya
Eugen left the main force of Habsburg Boys High School at the care of his vice-commander Wolfgang at Shizuoka together with De Gaulle and went back to Nagoya. On the main square a huge group of German, American, Japanese and Anglo-Saxon tanks stood before him together with crews. They all listened to him as he spoke.
"Everyone! Your job is to free our friend in Hiroshima! That's all you have to know! Chase the enemy out of our land back to Kumamoto and Nagasaki! Colonel Friedrich from Habsburg will lead you!" he gestured at a boy in Habsburg's grey, WW1 Austro-Hungarian styled uniform. "Are you ready?"
"Yes!"
"What did you say?"
"YES!"
"Are you sure my friends?"
In response the other boys from the Austrian styled school started to sing the old imperial anthem.
Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze
Unsern Kaiser, unser Land!
Mächtig durch des Glaubens Stütze,
Führt er uns mit weiser Hand!
Laßt uns seiner Väter Krone
Schirmen wider jeden Feind!
Innig bleibt mit Habsburgs Throne
Österreichs Geschick vereint!
"Very well! Now go and fulfill your duty!"
Hiroshima, present
That one tank was followed by another. Then another. And another. In the blink of any eye the hillside was black because of the massive number of tanks. There were Tigers, Panthers and Panzer. There were Škoda T24s and T25s also with the emblem of Habsburg since Bohemia was once part of the Habsburg Empire. There were Shermans, Pershings, Chaffees, Crusaders, Black Princes, Cromwells, Caernarvons and many other types.
Everybody stared in awe, especially the girls. How can it be? How could the rebels bring a so big army?
They were the reinforcement. The tanks to resupply the ranks of Diamondback, Seinarukaze and the others have finally arrived.
A moment later another large tank group appeared at the east. It was the whole Szent István High School! The Zrínyi assault guns and even the little Turán light tanks charged bravely at the JSF.
Slowly a wide smile grew on Juan's face. "God bless you guys!" he laughed. "I love you all!"
The arriving tanks opened fire. At first Maho froze. No that's impossible. It just cannot happen. Then she realized that this was the reality.
"Turn back!" she yelled. "Turn back!"
"There is no running away in the Nishizumi style!"
"Yes there is!" she murmured. "I'm tired with this!"
Many JSF tanks fell as they quickly begun their retreat. The rest could just barely save themselves. They were fleeing back to the west. By no means they could fight so much enemy tanks.
When the last enemy tanks left too, the boys jumped out of their vehicles in joy. They rushed to their comrades, their friends and they hugged each other. They did it! They did it! Hiroshima remained a rebel city! The Austrian, American, Australian, Spanish, Scottish, Japanese, English and Hungarian uniforms mixed with each other. They were one. One unity. Brothers. Nothing can destroy their bond!
Maho's POV
The federal tanks stopped near the town of Yoshika on a field. Maho was sitting on her Tiger and just stared. She didn't even care about the rain which was falling on her. They forced them back. Just as they were about to conquer the city. The enemy became multiple time stronger than their forces. When will this finally end? It's for sure that the boys will attack them to regain their territories. Of course they will try to prevent them from that. And then? Will they attack Hiroshima again? And what if they'll be forced back for the second time? Maho felt herself in a damn rat race. Not to mention she was really tired. Someone end this please!
Vladivostok
Ami was walking the streets of the far eastern Russian city. She had talks earlier on telephone but this was the first time she came personally. After she got off from the plane she immediately went on her way. After a short searching she found the place. It was not too small-not too big classicist styled building near the port. The text over its main entrance said: "INTERNATIONAL MARTIAL ARTS FEDERATION LOCAL OFFICE"
Ami looked at the folder in her hand. She sighed deeply and went inside.