Chapter XXXXVII: Lily Princesses

Eve of The Final Battle

Himeyuri Tank Battling Ground,
Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

Miho looked outside the nose windows of a Mitsubishi G4M Betty bomber with Chi-Ha-Tan's roundel, above the Himeyuri Tank Battling Ground, in the northern part of Okinawa island. For the first time in the competition, both commanders are allowed to do a full aerial reconnaissance of the final battleground. Teramoto and Fukuda of Chi-Ha-Tan Girls Academy assisted them in the aerial reconnaissance, though hardly anything can be seen aside of a vast ocean of dense vegetation, a clear sign that this is going to be a jungle warfare, something that Germany was very much familiar with.

Unlike Japan, which only had jungle warfare on their match against Russian in Siberia, Germany has gone through two jungle warfare matches, against Sweden in Lappland TBG, and against France in Schwarzwald Panserschlachtfeld, and in both occasions, not only Germany came out victorious, but also their victories are very much devastating to the enemy. In this way, Miho's much prefer to have the battle in Fuji or Hokkaido instead, which more familiar, not only for Miho, but also the other Sensha-do in in her rank. Himeyuri Tank Battling Ground, can be said, is relatively new, designed primarily to be the final venue of the U-18 World Sensha-do Championship. Since even the Japanese themselves aren't familiar with the venue, the WSF felt that this venue will be a fair battleground for both sides.

"Make sure none is missed from your camera, Teramoto!" shouted Kinuyo Nishi on the captain's seat.
"I won't," said Teramoto, "But this jungle is vast and dense and somewhat featureless. Aerial reconnaissance won't be useful in this kind of terrain."
"Better safe than sorry," said Nishi, "We don't get any recon from the WSF, so we have to take them ourselves. But I like this way, so we could prepare more."
"I thank you for the help, Nishi-san," said Miho, "And to all Chi-Ha-Tan's 97th Kōkūtai for the help."
"Hey, we're on the same side, right?" said Nishi, "though I still don't understand, why don't you use Kuromorimine's He-111s for the job? Erika-san has offered you too, right?"
"Oh, that's because since German commander would also doing aerial reconnaissance in the same time as us, I don't want two planes of the same type flown over Himeyuri."
"Eliminating the odds of mis-identification?"

Miho nodded. Nishi just smiled and donned her sunglasses. She moved to the upper gun battery to see the sun, which had fallen all the way to the west.

"Fukuda! You didn't forget to bring the flowers, did you?" asked Nishi.
"Hai! The flower is safe, de arimasu!" said Fukuda.

Not far from Fukuda, a large bouquet composed of many variation of lilies sat in the navigator's table.

"I think we should do this now," said Miho.
"Yeah, I think so too," said Nishi, "Get ready, Fukuda."
"Hai! De arimasu!" said Fukuda.

Fukuda then took out the large bouquet, and with Miho and Nishi, she went off to the bomb bay. After all of them put their harnesses on, the bomb bay was opened, and a large gust of wind blew from below, along with the sight of the jungle canopy moving in high speed. When Fukuda was ready to drop the bouquet from the bomb bay, both Miho and Nishi couldn't contain their tears.

"We give honor to you, Himeyuri Student Corps, whose name has been immortalized in this tank battling ground," said Miho, "Bestow to us your blessing, bravery, and preserverance for our battle ahead. Whatever the result will be, hope we shall made all of you proud."

They then clapped and pressed their palm together, followed by a moment of silence. Nishi then nodded to Fukuda, as a cue to release the bouquet from the bomb bay. Struck by the strong wind, the bouquet fell apart a moment after being dropped from the plane, spreading lily petals all over the places below like confetti. After another moment of silence, Nishi closed the bomb bay and all of them returned to their stations, and for a minute or two, nobody talked about anything.

"Look! There's a castle over there!" said Fukuda.

Everyone looked ahead, and there really is a castle there with Chinese style architecture and red in color. Around it are landscapes of ramparts, parapets, and trenches, all in tank-scale, and some of them are intact, but some of them has been deliberately reduced to rubble.

"Is that Shuri Castle?" asked Fukuda.
"Of course not," said Miho smiled, "The original Shuri Castle is in Naha, the southern part of this island. From the looks of it, I think this is the replica, meant as battle feature for Himeyuri TBG."
"The layout is suitable for the site of final battle," said Nishi, "Not even El Alamo can be compared to this."
"We've good at playing defensive warfare, and such a place give us an advantage," said Fukuda.
"Not really..." said Miho, "We must also understand that German tanks, especially the late war version, has been suited for defensive warfare as well. I don't think this battle will be won simply by anyone holding the higher ground."
"Taichou, should I map this site as well?" asked Teramoto.
"Of course," said Miho, "Don't miss any small details."
"Oh, and there's our friend," said Nishi.

Miho looked to the left, and a jet bomber, Arado Ar-234, with the German insignia flown not far from them. After seeing their Japanese counterpart, the Arado flew closer to the G4M, almost side by side, and Miho could see Brunnhilde Knispel looking at her on their nose window. Before any attempt on contact can be made, the Arado broke formation and roll away.

"I thought they wanted to scout along with us," said Nishi.
"I think they've done that already," said Miho, "It's just their way of saying hello."
"They're dangerously close, though, for a simple hello."
"Let's not talk about them. We'll make another round before going back to the carrier. Don't miss anything."

Later that night...

Sensha Town
Federation Carrier Shinano
Off the coast of Iejima
Okinawa, Japan

The Japanese Carrier Shinano is currently anchored off-coast of Iejima, on the west side of the main island, as opposed to the German Carrier Bismarck, which anchored off the coast of Tsukenjima, on the east side of the main island. This arrangement was made because both teams would start in diffent side of island, Japan on the west and Germany on the east. The southern portion of the island, which included Naha City and Kadena Air Force Base is off limits, so the only way the battle would go was to the north from the respected starting points. Safety measures has also been enacted to the local settlements around the Himeyuri Tank Battling Ground. As addition, Kadena Air Force Base has also been selected as the command center for the WSF during the final match. The Sensha-do Combat SAR unit has also been stationed in Kadena, along with Combat SAR from Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Air Force designated for the event.

The situation in Okinawa itself is bustling in general. On the west off-coast, high-school carriers of all the schools in Japan already gathered for the show. And cities of Okinawa, especially Naha, has become epicenters for spectators and supporters alike from both teams. The hotel occupancy in entire Okinawa has been fully booked, so jam-packed that many people decided to set up tents in wherever place available. The match will also be aired to all off Japan, as well as worldwide, live. Jumbo screens have been placed everywhere so that people could watch the match. It's eve of the finale, and the anticipation is mounting everywhere, including aboard the [Shinano], where Miho would held her final strategy meeting. Especially when Ami Chouno brought home some unsettling news.

"Manito tanks?" asked Miho.
"Yes, the WSF would put 10 random tanks, in battle ready condition in some places of the battling ground, " said Ami Chouno, "And both teams could use them, as long as they can find them."
"But, what tanks are those?" asked Erika.
"I don't know, the WSF weren't spilling about tanks they use as manito," said Ami Chouno, "Could be anything from the WSF's own arsenal."
"Hence the Secret Santa part of the game," said Erika.
"Did they tell you where they put them?" asked Shizuka.
"Nope, but they're putting them tonight," said Ami Chouno.
"What if we launch our plane there and see, Instructor Chouno?" asked Nishi.
"Nope, after that aerial reconnaissance session, the WSF has declared the entire Himeyuri TBG is off-limits till the opening of the match tomorrow," said Ami Chouno, "Not even JSDF officials were allowed to enter."
"So, what is this? We have additional 10 tanks now?" asked Erwin.
"I think what Instructor Chouno said, is that our tanks would remain 30," said Miho, "but if we can find the manito tank, we could commandeer the tank as part of our forces, and in doing so abandoning the tank we currently use."
"But the rule of UCD is still applied, right?" asked Shizuka, "so we could split the crew of a tank to get both."
"On paper yes, but I hardly recognized any tank still maintain its full-function after losing half the crew," said Erika, "but if any of you got white-flagged, you can use the tank as backup, do you?"
"That's what I thought," said Miho, "Is it?"
"Any way on how you use them is alright," said Ami Chouno, "UCD offers us more liberty on doing some strategic movement on the field."
"I kinda wonder what they put on the field," said Azusa, "Would they put standard tanks, you know, Sherman, T-34, Cromwell..."
"I'd be more afraid if they put A7V, Schneider, or Saint-Chammond," said Orange Pekoe.
"Well, they might've done that, so be prepared," said Ami Chouno, "Though I don't think you should be worry about that too much."
"Might be small, but I think if somebody took the right tank, it could do change things a lot," said Miho.
"I'm sure, but we don't know that yet," said Ami Chouno, "Oh, and final infos from the WSF is that for the finale, the judges team will be from Czech Republic, with Ms. Jana Simicova as the head judges."
"The Czech once led the match between Germany and Great Britain, right?" asked Erika.
"Yes, but they also the best judges in Europe right now," said Ami Chouno, "They have flawless reputation in leading some of the top-tier games in the world, so I guess we shouldn't worry about them."
"Anything else, Instructor Chouno?" asked Miho.
"Nope, that's all I got," said Ami Chouno, "Aside from the manito tanks, I don't think there are other things we should worry about."
"So, about these manito tanks, what should we do?" asked Shizuka, "If we find them, of course."
"I think, if we find them, we should mark the locations in our map, so that we could take them whenever we need," said Miho, "However, I think I'll leave to the discretion of each tank commander who found them. I just don't want we're too fixed on those and forget anything else."
"Also I think we should report immediately should we find a good tank," said Erika, "Not like that we need them, I just for the sake of not letting the Germans get their hands on them."
"Be careful," said Shizuka, "You might find yourself in need of one very soon at the battle."

Erika just smirked.

"About the UCD..." said Miho.

Everyone then listen to what Miho is about to say.

"I know we had it during the battle against United States," said Miho, "But we haven't done that properly at that time."
"Define 'properly'," said Erika.
"Well, against Germany, there might be situations which you have to completely re-arrange the team," said Miho, "When you need to do that, just do that. You all don't need to ask me for approval, just report to me after it."
"What's with this being all so sudden?" asked Erika.
"It's just that... I fear that Germany will attack us with all their might, and when they do, I'm afraid that we won't have much chance if keeping on the current team given the circumstances," said Miho, "So, I urge you, please act according to the circumstances, and do what you have to do. The only thing I want is for all of you, no matter what, don't break the chain of command. Even if one captain falls, the other must resume as captain whatever happened."
"Geese, you scared me, Miho," said Shizuka, "This feels like a last will. You're not planning on being KIA, right?"
"I'm not, but we have to be ready for any possibilities," said Miho.

Ami Chouno laughed.

"Don't be so dramatic," said Ami Chouno, "I'm sure it won't be as worse as we thought it'll be."
"Why do you say that?" asked Nishi.
"Look, the rule of deployment based on tank weight was enacted by the British exactly to sap on German superiority on tank warfare," said Ami Chouno, "The limit for medium tanks here is 40 tonnes, which means, German won't be able to field their Panthers as medium tanks; instead, they can only deploy their Panthers along with Tigers or other heavy tanks, which, as we know, were limited to 10 tanks each. In this arrangement, they could only field Panzer IVs or Panzer IIIs as their medium tanks."
"Make sense," said Erika, "I have to admit that Panthers are the German tanks I fear, along with Tigers or Konigstigers. If they're deployed on the same category, then we don't have to be afraid. Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs are equal to our Shermans, but can also be killed by our Crusaders as well."
"You see? So don't any of you worry," said Ami Chouno.
"Still, I won't take any chances," said Miho, "Germany could perhaps prepare their trump card in their sleeves for us, so we have to be careful."