Chapter XXXIV: One Fell Swoop
Federation Carrier
The Shinano
The Day After
Miho entering the training ground today with a big surprise. Over night, Hippo Team and Chi-Ha-Tan, with other volunteers has finally made a vast scale model of Ulysses S. Grant Tank Battling Ground in Four Corner, just by maps, documents, and aerial photos. Some girls still polishing few remaining details, and Oryou check the details using few pairs of stereoscopes to get the proportion right.
Erwin greet Miho cheerfully, as if she's about to show her proud child. Although, the scale model is really something to proud of. It's very large, almost covering a size of a small playing ground, that Miho could literally walked among the modeled landscape features. They even made four large scaffold towers in each side, connected by two crisscrossed truss bridges, so that one could walk over it and observe the model from above.
"You've made it," said Miho, "all of you made it."
"What do you think?" asked Erwin.
"It's beyond my imagination," said Miho, "thank you so much everyone!"
"Now, shall we begin the examination?" said Erika.
The commanders then climbing up to the overhang bridges.
"Could you please walk us through this, Erwin-san," said Erika.
"Certainly. As you can see, the Ulysses S. Grant TBG is very vast, located in desert, but the focal points from this TBG are flag-points in which we must capture," said Erwin, "there are five of them: Tombstone, Appaloosa, El Dorado, Sierra Madre, and the last one, El Alamo in the middle. All the flag-points resembles a bow or parabolic shape, with Tombstone and El Dorado in west-limb, while Appaloosa and Sierra Madre in east-limb. So, we can divide the area TBG area into two based on that: the inner bow, and the outer bow."
"Do we know where we going to start?" asked Erika.
"No, that thing shall be decided today," said Miho, "anyhow, I think the aim is to capture the flag-points, at least to El Alamo, right?"
"Well, yes, that's the gist of it," said Erwin, "the approximate 2 hour countdown shall start when one side has more flag-points than the other. The more they have, the faster the countdown, and if both side has the same amounts of flag-points, the countdown reset. So, yes, in the end, it all come down to who will got El Alamo."
"Wait, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it possible if we go skipping El Alamo, and straight to the opposite limb?" asked Erika, "I mean, if we got Tombstone and El Dorado, we could go straight attacking Appaloosa and Sierra Madre, right?"
"Yes, in theory," said Erwin.
"Why, what's the catch?" asked Erika.
"Well, if you can see, there are different terrains in inner bow and outer bow. Inner bow is full of hills, cliffs, canyons, and rock formations that could slow down movements of large columns of tanks," said Erwin, "and on the contrary, the outer bow consists of wide open plains with sparse hills. Generally perfect for tank battle, however, would took you quite far to reach the flag-points, and enemy is easier to spot your movements."
"Not to mention that each flag-point is in raised position, give any of the defenders advantage, unless being heavily outnumbered," said Saemonza, "and don't forget about Yellow Zone and Red Zone."
"What is Yellow Zone and Red Zone?" asked Shizuka.
"Yellow Zone is no-shooting area, we have them in Japan," said Miho, "while Red Zone is no-entry area, meaning no tank allowed to enter the area at all."
"Yes, that's because some of the areas in inner bow are basically cultural sanctuary defined by the joint board of Navajo Nation and Ute Tribe Nation, as natives American-Indian authorities in Four Corners," said Oryou.
"We also found that Major League Senshado's last year finals was held here, between Colorado Gunslingers and New York Steel Maidens. Colorado used American tanks such as Shermans, Stuarts, and M6 Heavy Tanks, while New York used German tanks like Panthers, Panzer IIIs, and Panzer VIs," said Caesar, "New York tries to cut the way from Tombstone straight into Appaloosa, running through the canyons, but Colorado, with some strategically placed M6s, utilizing the terrain, able to hold the entire New York's columns, allowing the rest of their forces to overrun New York's previously held flag-points."
"So it's possible, but also not possible," said Erika.
"The only best options we have is taking the flag-points one-by-one, race to El Alamo, and defend those like crazy," said Assam, "the one who hold El Alamo first would have a huge advantage in the battle."
"Exactly like what we did in Russia," said Shizuka.
"Pardon?" asked Assam.
"You all remember, right?" asked Shizuka, "in Russia, we also said that the one who have the hill wins the battle, before we got pounded from above."
"No, that won't be happened here," said Erwin.
"How can you be so sure? We don't expect bombardment either in Russia, but we suffered them nonetheless," said Erika.
"We don't expect that Russian found a foothold for their artillery, right?" asked Shizuka, "yet, they found it."
"Certainly that won't work this time," said Erwin, "look, let me explain to you the reason. In order to launch a successful bombardment on El Alamo, you must put your bombardier tanks in one place and one place only, this hill over here, A54 on inner bow. The only problem is, the only access to the top of the hill is now on one of the Red Zone. As a result, no tanks would be able to go from the remaining roads. Well, maybe a very very small one, but even that is a very difficult terrain."
Everyone nods.
"Wait, how about those two hills on the outer bow? B75 and B79. From the look of those, they're perfect to host some artilleries, and no Red Zone on outer bow, right?" asked Kinuyo Nishi.
"Yes, that is possible, unless that they're quite far and not as high as the ledge in Russia, which means, you need to put some kind of Karl-Gerät on there to get into El Alamo," said Erwin, "simply, America doesn't have that kind of weapons. So everything should be okay."
"Not to mention that the use of weapon like Karl-Gerät is prohibited by WSF," said Ami Chouno, which has arrived there.
"Prohibited?" asked Miho.
"Yes, when Karl-Gerät was approved on Ooarai Girls' Academy v. University Selection game, WSF send some of the representatives to observe the game, and despite Ooarai able to white-flagged it, the weapons was deemed too destructive and too dangerous. A direct hit from the shells, and not even carbon-lining able to hold it. So it possess hazard for any sensha-doin in battle," said Ami Chouno, "they even make sure that the weapon shall be banned entirely on any game under WSF's rules."
"I see, that's a relief," said Miho.
"Speaking of which, I heard that you asked me to come here before going to the mainland, Miho?" asked Ami Chouno.
"Oh yes," said Miho.
Miho quickly run to Ami Chouno and hand her some sort of note.
"WSF has a log of which tanks is allowed or not allowed to use in the game, right?" asked Miho.
"Yes, do you want to guess American tanks from there?" asked Ami Chouno, "I remind you that American would registers a numbers of tanks there."
"Well, not all, just one," said Miho, "just to make sure."
Ami Chouno opened the note, and frowned.
"This? Are you sure?" asked Ami Chouno, "I'm not quite sure how will they allowed this kind of vehicles to be in the picture. But yet, I've seen WSF allows things weirder than this."
"This is very important to us, Instructor Chouno," said Miho, "I had to make final calculations before the match."
"Okay, I'll see what I can do," said Ami Chouno, "but any strategy you concoct, please do it well. America is not an enemy we can take lightly. There're reasons why they managed to be senior team world champion last year, and two years before that."
"Alright, I will," said Miho.
Ami Chouno then took off while holding Miho's note. Only after Ami Chouno going out of sight that the commanders finally approached Miho.
"What note is that?" asked Erika, "what tank do you want to check actually?"
"A tank that is forgotten," said Miho, "but if it allowed to use, then it would cause huge effect on our strategy."
"What's in your mind?" asked Erika.
"This kind of terrains, and the format of battles," said Miho, "it would be dangerous if we're drawn by enemy's play, especially without us knowing what tanks they will use. It's not like anything we ever had on Japan, not even close to what we had in Russia either."
"Please explain?" asked Shizuka.
"In Russia, we could keep all our forces in one spot," said Miho, "but in this kind of battle, we can't do that. If we put most of our forces in one place, let's say, El Alamo, then the other flag-points we took would be vulnerable. But dividing our forces evenly also meant we'll be stretched very thin like a very small butter spread on a very large bread."
"So, it's a matter of allocating our forces?" asked Erika.
"No, it's a matter of snatching victory as fast as you can," said Miho, "in one fell swoop."
Everyone startled to hear that.
"And for that reason, I need to speak to Orange Pekoe-san and Assam-san," said Miho.
"We?" asked Orange Pekoe.
"The strategy I'm thinking need both of your opinions," said Miho.
Orange Pekoe and Assam are looking on each other, a little bit confused. But they then follow Miho as she goes.
USA Senshado Official Plane
Airspace above Texas
United States of America
A B-747-8i of USA Senshado is flying through Texas airspace to go to Four Corner area. This huge plane has been used by USA Senshado to transport their teams to all venues across the world, instead of using Carrier, which solely used to transport their tanks. However, since the match is deep in the continent, all USA's tanks shall be transported via train, just like in Russia. This plane is very spacious, even more than The Moogoonghwa, and the upper deck can be used as situation room, larger if compared to the counterpart. Here, in mile high, Caitlyn Abigail Lee is currently briefing their commander about the next match against Japan. Sitting next to her is her XO, Aaliyah Jackson.
"It's one hour before landing on Arizona," said Caitlyn Lee, "I hope that y'all understand what has been briefed, and is there any question?"
Everybody silent and just nods.
"Alrighty then, dismiss, and have a rest," said Caitlyn Lee, "we will have final rehearsal tomorrow."
Everyone standing and going to lower desk to rest, except for Aaliyah Jackson which closing on Caitlyn Lee.
"Permission to speak freely, M'am?" asked Aaliyah Jackson.
"Ye always welcome to do that, Ms. Jackson, please proceed," said Caitlyn Lee.
"I don't want to bring this up in front of everybody else, but I have some objection about our strategy against Japan."
"Go on."
"With all respect, M'am, why can't we just stick to the open battle? Aren't this somewhat almost the same like what we did in China?"
"And also the same as what Russian did with Japan at first round, yes, I'm aware of that."
"So that means you know my concern here."
"Yes, I do, Ms. Jackson. But in that case, I also happened to know that Japanese Field-Commander, Miho Nishizumi, is not to be taken lightly. Unlike China, which set their team for defensive posture and relying on traps and ambush, Japan has equal capabilities both for defensive and offensive. South Korean has their lesson in a hard way on this matter."
"You mind to elaborate, M'am?"
"After attacking flag-points, there will be no way Miho Nishizumi to go out and have open battle with us. After seeing our line-ups, she would have known that attacking us on open battle is futile. And fortify a strong point would be her best chance to fight us."
"But what if she doesn't do what you're suggesting, M'am?"
"We'll make her do that. Only by then we'll be able to wipe them out, in one fell swoop."
Aaliyah Jackson still seemed unsure.
"Ye're still unsure, do you?" asked Caitlyn Lee.
"Forgive me, M'am," said Aaliyah Jackson.
"As much as I understand about yer concerns, I need ye to stand strong. Despite our different views of tactics, I respect ye as one of the most talented sensha-doin in the United States. I need ye to make this happened, beat the Japan, and together we shall have all the glory, especially since this would be my last tournament in junior amateur championship."
"Yes, M'am."
"But till that time, please stay to be my balance, Ms. Jackson, for I need that."
"But for that one fell swoop, are you sure that that would happened that way, M'am?"
"It's not about whether I'm sure or not. It has to be that way, otherwise we will give Miho Nishizumi time she need to turn the table. Any prolonged battle is pretty much advantageous on her, and we want to avoid that. We'll strike her so hard and so fast that she won't have any chance to get up and bounce back."
"Yes, M'am."
Aaliyah Jackson salute before going to lower deck. Meanwhile, Caitlyn Lee sit on her chair and watch seas of clouds through her window. Despite the shooting scenery, a shadow of doubt still lingers on her mind.
"Miho Nishizumi... We'll meet at last."
