Uonuma
On 2nd of May Miyako once again climbed up to the control tower in the early morning. She was nervous. She felt that the pressure that messed during the past days was about to be released in a huge boom. And that boom was not far away. In fact it was closer than even she imagined.
For three days Bonple, Jatkosota and Viggen were fighting each other in the immediate vicinity of Adlerflügel's airfield. Bonple and Jatkosota left their positions at the gate and clashed with Viggen near the northern and southern end of the runway from close quarters.
The pilot girls were now really sick of this. For too long they were listening to the gunfire and machinegun-fire barely a few hundred meters away and for too long they were expecting a possible attack against them.
On this particular day some units of the tanker's two sides came much closer to each other and the airfield than they used to. Miyako watched it from the tower with concern, so did her friends from the cover of the buildings. Viggen had positions on a small hill. Bonple could easily storm through the fence if they wanted to. But they kept the rest of their fighting desire at bay.
"What is happening down there commander?" asked Sakura who came up to Miyako in mean time.
"It's kinda the same as before. Just like before." Miyako sighed. "How are the girls doing?"
"They have had enough of this crap. Far enough. I see two options: The JSF will leave this area by themselves or we will have to inspire them a bit to do so."
"Honestly, I'd prefer the first one."
"Me too Kommandant, but it also depends on them." said Sakura pointing at the tanks. "I don't believe in war but our planes are not for joke. And if we will need them we will must use them!"
"I see your point Sakura and actually I feel the same way. But although it's hard we must keep our patience. Countless wars in the world's history have started because of arrogance and pride."
Miyako forgot to mention that an accident can also lead to a war.
"That means we should wait on?" asked Sakura. Miyako nodded as an answer and her vice-commander replied the same way. "Huh. I'm starting to feel as a caged eagle."
"Never fear my friend. For some reason I feel that you can fly through the sky again in the close future."
After this they went down to the cantina to at least have breakfast. When they entered they saw girls sitting at the tables with weary faces. They got their meals and walked straight to a girl with long reddish brown hair who was sitting lonely at one of the tables with a tray in front of her.
"Good morning Yumiko." Miyako greeted her.
"Morning Kommandant." nodded Kimura Yumiko, Adlerflügel's chief engineer.
"Is everything alright with the planes?" asked Sakura as they sat down.
"They are ready for action. All of them are operational, filled with fuel and ammunition, bombs are fixed."
"It's a good thing to know that we have such a professional like you." said Miyako.
"It's nothing Kommandant. I'm just doing my job." waved off the praise Yumiko.
"And you're doing it very well."
"Thank you Miyako-san. By the way, what's up with the other Japanese Sentoki-Do schools?"
"The directorate alerted them too. They are prepared."
"That's for sure a good thing to know."
They chatted on trying to help on the mood a little bit.
Just as they finished breakfast, they heard that the gunfire outside suddenly intensified so much that the walls and windows begun shaking. The deafening thunder of the cannons filled the air.
The girls inside quickly stood up and run outside to see what was happening. Out there they saw that some tanks of Bonple came so close to shoot the units of Viggen that their frontal armors were touching the light fence.
Even a simple accident can lead to a conflict right? That's exactly what happened at Uonuma. A 7tpjw wanted to fire at a Strv m/40. But the shot was missed and this small mistake brought huge consequences. The 37 millimeter grenade landed inside the airfield only a few meters away from the asphalt of the runway causing an eruption of earth and a crater.
For a moment everyone has frozen. How on earth did this happen? Uszka who was nearby watched the scene with wide eyes and a scared look on her face.
Miyako, Sakura, Yumiko and their friends winced seeing the impact. So it has started, the JSF decided it.
"All pilots! To your battle-stations! Take off!" shouted Miyako at the top of her lungs after she woke up from the shock. She didn't have to say it twice; the girls sprinted toward the hangars. "Inform the directorate!" ordered Miyako the ground-crew who immediately run to the radio to tell everything to the leadership of the Japanese Sentoki-Do Federation in Kiyoto.
In mean time the girls in the long hangar climbed inside the cockpits, checked all equipment, fired up their engines, took up the oxygen masks and released the breaks. One after another the Messerschmitt Bf 109 Gs, Focke-Wulf 190 A-5s, Focke-Wulf Ta 152s and Messerschmitt Bf 110 Es rolled out through the huge door to the runway.
Miyako herself was sitting in one of the Bf 109s. She pushed the throttle forward. The DB 605 ASC(M) engine roared up, the fighter plane speeded up and in the blink of an eye it left the ground behind. Flying always filled Miyako's heart with joy and bravery. And so like every time she was very determined now. She looked down. The tanks of Bonple were pulling back.
"Sorry girls. It's too late." thought Miyako.
Uszka's POV
"Signal them somehow! It was not deliberate!" screamed the vice-commander of Bonple desperately as she was watching the planes taking off.
But Miyako was right, it was too late. A Bf 109 turned down its bow against the tank and was closing at high speed.
"Back, back!" ordered Uszka her driver. They moved away just in time. A moment later the 20 and 7.92 millimeter machine guns of the fighter plane breathed fire and the screaming bullets ripped up the earth in front of the 7tpjw. The Messerschmitt flew away above them thundering. But there was no time for relief. Focke-Wulf 190 A-5s were incoming at low altitude, each carrying four 50 kilogram bombs and they descended upon the JSF tanks.
A 7TPdw was immobilized by their machine guns then a 190 A-5 released its bombs. The tanks disappeared in the explosions. When the smoke cleared up the white flag was waving on top of it.
Meanwhile the Bf 110s were attacking Maple east from Uonuma with machine guns and 250 kilogram bombs.
Minute by minute all hell broke loose.
Mika's POV
"Mikko. Little birds are coming." Mika said calmly to her driver while playing her kantele.
Mikko looked through her hatch and saw two Bf 109s incoming. Just before one of them opened fire she stepped on the gas pedal and the BT-42 disappeared from the way of bullets. The fighter's pair missed as well. They turned around for another pass.
"They are coming back!" said Mikko as she was driving the tank around at high speed.
"Oh God, why can't we use the gun against planes?" cried out Aki who tried to show calmness but she was actually terrified by these metal eagles.
"Sometimes it is better if we fight without fighting." said Mika with a smile. "Mikko please."
The Messerschmitt was coming from the front ready to fire. Mikko showed her timing abilities again. In the exact moment the pilot touched the button on the control stick she turned the wheel around and even those few bullets that hit the tank have bounced off its side armor.
Then came the other plane. This time it was closing from behind. The girl in the cockpit aimed before the BT-42 then fired. Mikko stepped hardly on the break and together with the wheel she drifted the tank away.
"Where the bloody hell did they learn to drive?!" One of the pilot girls raged.
"Let's play if they want to play!" replied her comrade.
And they played for long minutes. They dived, aimed, fired but nothing worked. Not a single time they managed to hit the Jatkosota girls. They even had to call for reinforcement. But still nothing. All the bullets and bombs have missed their target. Even when a Bf 110 dropped all the 500 kilogram dynamite it carried the three students of the Finnish styled school came out of the smoke with an operational vehicle. All the damages were simple scars on it.
"Mikko. I think the time has come for our spring vacation on an island." said Mika when she saw that despite of their skills they will not be able to evade the air attack much longer.
"Alright. Here we go!" shouted Mikko. She turned the tank around again and rushed toward the nearby forest. The planes have chased them but soon they disappeared under the leafage.
"Where are we going now Mika?" asked Aki.
"Where the wind blows us. I think it blows toward the sea right now."
"Girls, I don't know who they are but if I meet them again I will certainly shake their hand." radioed a Bf 109 pilot.
The others were more successful with Bonple and Maple and managed to chase them away from the vicinity of the airfield and force them to take cover.
Miyako was satisfied with her team. They showed the JSF that they are ain't nothing to joke with. But she also knew that this battle was likely not the last one.
Kiyoto, directorate of the Japanese Sentoki-Do Federation
Kitamura Tsuguo, director of the Japan Sentoki-Do Federation didn't hesitate at all when he heard what happened with Adlerflügel.
"Give order to every school of ours in Japan! Start a general attack against the land-forces of the Japan Sensha-Do Federation!"
"Yes sir!" his secretary nodded.
"Until then I write a letter to Tsuji Renta. And another one to Vienna…"
Maho's POV
Kuromorimine and Saunders were still battling the Confederacy of Independent High Schools on the fields of southern Honshu.
Maho was observing the enemy line from her cupola when suddenly she heard a strange noise. It was deep, humming and it was getting louder and louder. She looked up to the sky and to her surprise she saw at least a dozen of warplanes. What is happening? When they got closer she saw that they were Henschel Hs 129 attack aircrafts.
It was the Sentoki-Do team of Otto Lilienthal Boys' High School. Maho's eyes grew wider when the planes begun to dive and opened fire at Kuromorimine. The machine gun bullets were drumming on the tanks and bombs were exploding around them, taking them out of action. For the first time in a long time Maho didn't know for a minute what to do. This attack was so sudden for her and there was no way for them to fight back. Like Jajka, Mika and Trout she didn't have any better idea than maneuvering and seeking for cover.
"Get away from here!" she ordered her driver when an bomb almost destroyed their Tiger's tracks.
Kay's POV
Kay heard unusual sounds from the direction of Kuromorimine. She popped her head out of the turret and she immediately noticed those black points circling around up in the sky. Then one of the points left the circle and stormed downward. And that sound. That terrifying, soul shaking, paralyzing sound. This was the siren of a… Stuka!
"Everyone, spread out!" Kay yelled and it was only a matter of luck that the dive-bomber missed them. Still the shrapnel of the bombs made a metallic sound on the Sherman.
And the Stukas were just coming and coming making that otherworldly scream with their sirens. Some of the Saunders girls' nerves gave up and they froze, making them easy targets.
Darjeeling's POV
Darjeeling was battling Bannockburn on the streets of Nakatsugawa when out of nowhere Yak-7 and Yak-9 multirole fighters of the Russian styled Nochnye Vedmy Girls' High School appeared and attacked them with machine guns and RS-82 rockets.
The tanks of St. Gloriana had no choice but retreat under gateways, trees and roofs.
"What is happening here Darjeeling-sama?" asked Pekoe scared.
"I guess we woke up the sleeping giant." replied Darjeeling with a sigh as the Churchill was trying to hide.
Anchovy's and Kinuyo's POV
F4F Wildcats and P51D Mustangs of Wright Brothers High School were bombing the tanks of Anzio, Chi-Ha-Tan and Maginot with rockets and machine guns. For the JSF leaders this attack was really scary because the Japanese Sentoki-Do Federation dared to strike so close to Tokyo.
Katyusha's POV
Katyusha was still fighting the battle near Mt. Kurikoma. Tsar Peter, Mannerheim and Odin were far enough for her. She didn't want any more surprises or troubles but she got.
Typhoons of St. Paul Boys' High School have appeared from between the clouds and within seconds Pravda's tanks were fired upon from the air.
A pilot boy who was flying a Typhoon with the text "Jack the Ripper" on its side aimed at one of the T-34s. "Say hello to my little friends!" he said with a grin behind the oxygen mask and launched his eight rockets. One of them struck the tanks track and another one hit its engine taking it out of action. And the intensity of the attack did not subside for a minute.
Miho's POV
Miho watched what was happening with Pravda.
"Admiral Nishizumi! Enemy planes from the north!" radioed Shark Team. Miho looked out and saw four three-engined airplanes incoming over the mountain.
"Yukari-san?" asked Miho her loader for an analysis.
"Savoia-Marchetti SM.79s!"
They were medium bombers of the Italian styled co-ed Tempesta High School.
"All tanks split up!" ordered Miho.
Meanwhile up in the sky the bombers were preparing to unleash their payload on the ground below.
"Pilot to bombardier: it's your turn." said the male commander of the lead bomber to the girl in the plane's ventral gondola.
The girl leaned over the aiming system to guide the squadron over the target. "Bombardier to pilot: four degrees to starboard! Enough. Now straight ahead!" She watched as the crosshairs got over those tiny tanks. "Three, two, one, bombs away!"
The pilot felt as the airplane suddenly jumped as the five vertically carried 250 kilogram bombs were released.
Turtle Team has disappeared in the smoke and dust. The Hetzer was now lying on its side white flagged. "Sorry Nishizumi-chan. This blow was too much for us." said Anzu.
"Are you girls alright?!"
"Oh. A few cuts and bruises are not the end of the world." laughed the president.
"Listen everyone! Go and find some safer place! Perhaps they'll come back!"
Tokyo, JSF HQ
The evening fell and the directorate of the Japan Sensha-Do Federation gathered together for a crisis meeting. Usually their faces were strict and determined. But now their expressions betrayed that they were in serious trouble. None of them said a word and they avoided each other's look.
Tsuji finally spoke up. "Alright. I'll speak with Kitamura Tsuguo."
And so the spectacled director took the telephone to call the director of the other Federation. "Under what conditions are you willing to stop the air attacks Kitamura-san?"
"First, I want you to stop threatening Adlerflügel Girls' High School by evacuating the area of Uonuma completely."
"Unluckily I can't do that. We have to deal with Viggen High School."
"Pity. Secondly I want you to stop the aggression against Viggen High School and Count High School, furthermore the irregular attacks on that so called Confederacy of Independent High Schools. You have gone too far with all of this."
"Sorry Kitamura-san but what are you talking about is an inner issue of the Japan Sensha-Do Federation. You cannot intervene into our conflicts."
"So sure are you? I have informed the leadership of the International Martial Arts Federation. Don't worry; they will take the necessary steps."
"Ehm. That would be an aggression Kitamura-san."
"It's a matter of perspective." replied Kitamura and he hung up the phone.
Eventually Tsuji has partly fulfilled the conditions. He called his forces back from the airfield but kept up the blockade around Uonuma. Still, with this he made the air attacks to stop after two days and he could concentrate again on the war against the Confederacy and the two rebellious girls' schools.
Hamburg, Gustav's POV
"What will be about school?" asked Gustav's mother, Agnes as she watched her son packing his clothes into a suitcase in their house. He was about to leave to Vienna with his friends and the representatives of the German Sentoki-Do, Sensha-Do, Senkan-Do and Hohei-Do Federations. The day before all of them got a letter in which they were called to the session of the IMAF's Federal Assembly.
"They will send us what we will have to learn mother. The school year is close to its end anyway." said Gustav.
"Take care of yourself, okay?"
"Mom, I'm going to Vienna, alright? Not to the Congo."
"I know, but that's how mothers work."
"Believe me, I appreciate it."
"Gustav!" a little girl's voice sounded and Gustav's 9 years old little sister, Greta run into his room. "Are you leaving?" she asked with a sorrowful tone.
"Don't worry Greta, it will not take long." smiled Gustav and patted his sister's head.
"But I'll miss you!"
"I'll miss you too. But I have to go. But you know what? When I come home, I'll bring you something from Vienna. Okay?"
"Yes Gustav!" smiled Greta and hugged her big brother. "Take care of yourself."
"I will, I promise." said Gustav and he saw that his mother raised an eyebrow but with a smile.
Next morning he, Gertrud, other students from other Sensha-Do, Sentoki-Do, Senkan-Do and Hohei-Do practicing schools and some adults gathered together at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof and took the train to Austria's capital.
On the way through the country other representatives from other cities joined them. Gustav looked out the window and watched the passing countryside. It looked so peaceful early in the morning. He thought that unluckily his fellow students in Japan cannot enjoy this. Hopefully they can change on this.