Meanwhile on the other side of Stalingrad…

August 1942

Red army assembly area, Volga river docks

The red army were trying to amass reinforcements as much as they can through ferrying boats in the river however the crossing on the volga was dangerous. The boats were easy targets for the german Luftwaffe Stukas raining hell on them with their machine guns and bombs, many would perish just crossing the Volga but even those that made it would have to face the german guns. Some were crossing in converted barges towed by tugboats or even row wooden boats with some lucky ones coming from the city but most went forward from the opposite bank across the Volga.

The docks were full of wounded soldiers and desperate civilians attemtping to leave the city but along with that came the flow of reinforcements mostly conscripts who have no experience in combat or even training with a rifle. Among the thousands of men that made the crossing was comrade Lieutenant Lev Abramovich Isakovich in command of a Soviet infantry platoon.

His battalion was under the command of Colonel Churkin of the NKVD, their task was to charge forward and find a break for the german lines in order to spearhead a main attack to the rail station.

Amongst the soviet troopers were some women too and among them was Katyusha, Nona and Klara alongside their crews. A stroke of bad luck had them abandoned their tanks which were immobalized by landmines and Stukas that attacked them, fortunately they were rescued by a soviet army patrol who took them into the city.

The soldiers were assembled as Colonel Churkin gathered them all for a speech before going into battle, the Pravda girls were terrified as they never held a weapon before but Klara was the exception as she held a mosin once before, hunting in the cold plains of Siberia.

Churkin:"Comrades! The fascists have established a defensive line around the rail station. By order of comrade stalin! Our objective is to break through and kill as much of the germans as we can! We will make these fascists pay for each step they take into the motherland with blood!"

Katyusha:("jeez when i joined sensha-do…i didn't expect this to happen becoming the bloody infantry!")

Nonna:("i'll be with you all the way Katyusha-san…")

The soldiers soon disperesed and so did the girls but before the girls could have a chance of walking away they were stopped by a voice calling out to them.

Isakovich:"Hey! you girls! Hold for a second!")

The girls turned to see lieutenant Isakovich accompanied by his platoon of soldiers.

Nonna:"Is there a problem comrade?"

Klara:"we were just on the way to the assembly area."

Katyusha:("ugh! What is it with you all speaking russian?! Speak japanese!")

Katyusha jumped in place in fury much to the confusion of the russian lieutenant.

Isakovich:"Is she alright? Did i say something wrong?"

Nonna:"katyusha? There is no problem comrade but she doesn't understand a word of russian mind you…"

Katyusha:("Hey! What's this about Katyusha?! What are you two talking about?!")

Isakovich:"well I do hope that you help guide her, I am Second Lieutenant Lev abramovich Isakovich and you are all assigned to my platoon…so follow my orders and we will make it through alive."

Klara:"Understood sir."

Katyusha:("Nonna! What did he say?!")

Nonna subsequently translated what he said whispering to her, eventually the girls started to follow his lead. The girls were led to the base of a hill with the sounds of machine gun fire, cannons firing and screams of dying soldiers drawing near giving a feeling of fear among the Pravda girls.

Just beyond was a defensive line of stug assault guns and germans armed with MG-42s stood above with thousands of russian conscripts waiting to charge forward, with many helplessly anticipating the slaughter that is about to come.

The girls could see a line of conscripts near a supply truck where the comissars and soldiers are handing out mosins as well as clips of ammo for each soldier in certain intervals.

Isakovich: girls! Line up and grab your weapons and meet me after! Come on men! But you come with me!

Isakovich pointed at Klara who already has a mosin in hand, she nodded before telling Nonna.

Klara: da comrade, comrade Katyusha and Nonna i will see you after.

Katyusha:("Hey! Where are you going?!")

Nonna:("they are following the Lieutenant, Katyusha-san….come we need to grab our weapons.")

The girls lined up with the other conscripts in taking a Mosin with one each for two soldiers, the girls in comparison to the soldiers were smaller and it didn't take long for their uniforms to be stained with the mud and dust of the battle.

Commissar: "The man with the rifle shoots! The man without the rifle, picks up the rifle and shoots! The man without the rifle follows the one with the rifle!"

Soviet soldier:"Hurry! The fascist are waiting up there! Grab your rifle and go!"

The girls were next in line with Nonna receiving a rifle first but that didn't sit well with Katyusha, the other girls got theirs as well with some holding rifles and some with only ammo clips.

Katyusha:("hey! That's not fair! I want that rifle!")

Soviet soldier:"Keep moving girl! We don't have time!"

Nonna:"Katyusha-san! Let's go!"

Katyusha:("HEY!")

Nonna carried Katyusha on her back as they rushed to the top to meet lieutenant Isakovich, they were holding up behind the debris of a building being at the very back of a large human wave of soldiers.

Nonna:"Lieutenant Isakovich! We're here!"

Isakovich:"Comrades, you made it! Now we wait for it."

The girls could see waves and waves of conscripts lined up with some holding rifles and some without, most of them were terrified evidently shown on their faces as they are soon going to face the germans head on.

Commissar:"soldiers of the soviet union! From now on it is either victory or death! By order 227 anyone who retreats is a coward and a traitor to the motherland! You will die for the motherland or die by my pistol!"

This made a tense atmosphere among the soldiers including pravda girls especially with some of them terrified but Katyusha was unaware of what is going on as she didn't understand a word of what the commissar said, Nonna and Klara were calm as they held their Mosins well huddling near Lieutenant Isakovich.

The blocking detachment were already setting up the Maxim guns with their crews aiming down under strict orders by the commissars to fire their guns in the event that these soldiers are to retreat.

Commissar:"Vpered! Forward! For the motherland! URA!"

Soviet soldiers:"URA!"

The entire wave of soviet conscripts got up then charged forward as they all ran through the exposed street with little to no cover, some of the pravda girls tried to follow but Isakovich stopped them.

Isakovich:"Wait! Wait! This way!"

Isakovich pointed to a side street as he signalled for his men and the Pravda girls to follow, it soon didn't take long for the germans to open up on them as the MG-42s smashed through the first row of conscripts. Some were literally torn apart with the bullets from the machine guns slicing their limbs or the high explosive tank shells knock them back with some missing their arms screaming out in agony.

The group went into the side street and towards the second floor of a derelict building it was damaged by the bombings but mostly intact as they head upwards to the second floor, offering a good view of the german defensive line. Isakovich kneeled as he took out his binoculars to scout ahead the enemy positions, the defensive line was composed of mostly german ostruppen and grenadiers but also some machine gun positions among them.

Isakovich:"looks like they have a solid defence from here on out, they have machine guns on every flank and soldiers to guard them."

Klara:"comrade…is it possible that we can find an alternate route in their defences? Those positions are too strong."

Isakovich:"i wish we could but we have no choice its either to move forward or just wait for the commissars to kill us….there's no other way than that."

Nonna:"comrade lieutenant…we have a plan that might work."

The lieutenant turned to face Nonna and Katyusha.

Isakovich:"oh? Let's hear it then."

Nonna:"of course comrade lieutenant but do you have a map?"

The men and the pravda girls were huddled together with Isakovich placing a map in the middle of them all. The map shows exactly where they are and where the germans are including their objective which was the rail station just a few hundred metres away.

Nonna:"there should be a sewer pipe in the street below of us to the right here which should lead us straight through another building up ahead…we can use that to sneak past the germans and surprise them from behind, the view from here would allow someone who is a good shot to take those machine guns out."

Klara:"I am a handy shot with a rifle as i do with a T-34, i will help you to take these fascisti out."

The atmosphere was strange enough to change how the girls from the modern world see things, Klara was all the more determined especially since she is pure russian and willing to help fight the germans.

Isakovich:"that is good comrade…the rest of us will head inside with you, these men are shock troops and their good in close combat, lead them well comrade."

Nonna:"Yes sir."

Isakovich:"but before that happens comrade, i need to know your name."

Nonna:"its Nonna, comrade lieutenant."

Isakovich:"Comrade Nonna best of luck with you, we'll stay here to cover you…men! Follow her lead!"

Shock trooper:"Yes sir!"

Katyusha:("Hmph…this brilliant plan devised by Katyusha will win us this battle!")

The assault squad went down to street level while Isakovich, Klara and some of the better riflemen stood behind to cover them. Katyusha had to go in first since she is the smallest followed by Nonna and the shock troops along with the rest of the pravda girls.

Isakovich:"comrade do you see the machine gunner?"

Isakovich sat next to Klara as she calmly aimed down the sights resting the reticle on top a german MG-42 gunner, her finger was gently touching the trigger.

Klara:"da."

Isakovich:"take the shot when you are ready."

Klara had never killed anyone before in both sensha-do or even real life but this felt personal for her since she had grandparents that suffered during the german occupation. The german gunner killed many conscripts now and is killing more the longer he stays, she hesitated for a bit before gently squeezing the trigger of the mosin.

The recoil didn't surprise her and soon the bullet exited the barrel travelling at a high speed then finding its mark hitting the helmet of the german soldier before exiting behind his head leaving a trail of brains and blood.

German soldier:("Scheiße!")

His lifeless body soon dropped on the floor ending his damage on the men charging forward, his helmet fell soon after. Klara pulled the bolt out of the receiver and the spent smoking shell went out before she pulled it back in place sending a fresh new bullet inside.

The soldiers beside her did the same firing on the germans that are killing their comrades aiming specifically for the HMG gunners where it takes one or two more to kill them but the threat remains since the defensive line isn't going to break that easily.

Nonna:"lets go."

The assault team exited the other end of the pipe going inside a destroyed building right behind the germans which was unguarded, the team crawled out creeping through the rubble of bricks pulling behind the unaware germans. The shock troopers armed with their PPSH-41s were at the front aiming their sights down on the germans manning the MGs or busy firing at the charging russians.

Nonna had her mosin trained at one of the officers who was directing the assault, she concluded that if the germans lose their officer it will eventually break their lines. The officers gave orders pointing his arms and swinging his pistol ordering soldiers to man each flank, he was unaware of what is going to become of him.

She like Klara gently aimed at the officer before gently squeezing the trigger, the bullet hit the officer in his left chest as he fell to the ground causing more confusion among the german soldiers.

Shock trooper:"Ura!"

The shock troopers soon opened up with their PPSHs with their destructive power ripping any german that came too close, the pravda girls helped too as they fired their mosins on the german soldiers but Katyusha couldn't bring herself to fire her gun as she sat their stunned and frozen.

The german line soon began to break as they all began to retreat paving the way for the conscripts to continue charging forward, the germans took whatever weapons they have and went back to another position closer to the rail station.

Soviet conscript:"they run like cowards! Forward! Ura!"

Soviet commissar:"URA! Show them no mercy!"

It didn't take long for Isakovich and the others to join them to see the advancing human wave of red army soldiers chasing after the germans deeper in the city, Nonna felt a sense of accomplishment as she saw what her and Katyusha's plan had done.

The assault soon moves forward towards the main square near the rail station with the germans holding another defensive line, the german soldiers manning this defence however is a formidable enemy and opponent. The presence of the Pravda girls and Anglerfish team seems to change the course of history like these soldiers that are manning this defence weren't heer or wehrmacht soldiers but instead they were Hitler's dreaded Waffen SS in particular the 12th SS division.

The soldiers manning the defences were young probably the same age as the japanese girls from the future but they were ruthlessly indoctrinated and eager to fight since they showed no signs of giving in. while most of the wehrmacht soldiers falled back and retreated, these SS soldiers were looking for a fight which is coming straight for them.

SS officer:("kill these bolshevik bastards! Kill them all!")

SS soldier:("commie bastards! Bring it on!")

Lieutenant Isakovich and his squad hid right behind a destroyed T-34 to see their fellow comrades being slaughtered by the german MGs. the defensive line had only infantry and no armored support which gives the soviets a slight advantage.

Isakovich:"comrade Klara, do you have a shot at the officers?!"

Isakovich peaked his head out but a bullet ricocheted off the metal nearly hitting him but it knocked his helmet down.

Soviet soldier:"lieutenant!"

Isakovich:"I'm alright! It didn't hit me!"

Klara stood a few feet back as she aimed her Mosin closely down the sights on an SS officer, he was ducking his head down with a radio phone in his ear likely telling his superiors for reinforcements.

SS officer:("oberst voss sir! We need urgent reinforcements! The enemy numbers are too great for us! We need those panthers now!")

Voss on the radio:("lieutenant just hold your ground, the panthers are almost there just stand your ground for a little longer.")

Nonna:"take the shot Klara."

She breathed calmly then holding her breathe the same as last time, she squeezed the trigger gently the bullet exiting the barrel of her mosin finding its way landing on the SS officer's head causing his body to fall to the ground. The soviets took the opportunity to charge forward fighting the SS soldiers hand to hand, Isakovich led his squad forward alongside the Pravda girls.

Isakovich:"Forward! Ura!"

Klara had her rifle knocked away as an SS soldier went after her but luckily with a bit of Judo training courtesy of Nonna she managed to block his punches. The soldier was knocked back by the heel of her boot as he looked at her with pure hate and anger.

SS soldier:("i will kill in you, commie bitch!")

Klara:("Bring it on you fascist.")

Her words in german made the soldier all the more riled up as he pulled a knife from his side, the knife was a hitler youth knife as he held it up in fighting stance as she did the same. The soldier was slightly older and taller than her but that didn't faze her as he lunged forward swinging the knife at her.

He swung it at her but she manages to use that force against him as he did, she countered by a delivering a left hook on his face knocking his helmet off then delivering a knee kick to his abdomen. This caused the knife to fall from his hand as Klara picked it up and pointed it at the SS soldier.

SS soldier:("go ahead! Do it!")

Klara just stared at the soldier sprawled on the ground as he looked at her hatefully as they shared a moment staring at each other as the battle waged all around them. Suddenly their moment was interrupted by a huge explosion and the sound of tracks, the SS reinforcements arrived in the form of a column of panther tanks.

Shock trooper:"Comrade! Let's go!"

Conscripts:"Blyat! Fallback!"

The tide turned on the soviets as their counterattack was pushed back by the german armour, a shock trooper grabbed Klara by the back of her collar as they ran with the rest Isakovich's squad into a derelict building.

The german panthers pushed the soviet conscripts back as the commissars struggle to have them push forward with them firing their pistols at those falling back, one conscript punched a commissar right in the face as they all ran for their lives.

Soviet commissar:"By order of comrade stalin! Nobody retreats! Turn back and fight you-!"

One commissar was gunned down by the machine gun of a panther as his body was soon consumed by the tracks of it, some conscripts that fell while they ran were finished off by the german machine guns or run over by their tracks.

Klara looked on helplessly as she saw those men killed by the germans as she felt anger deeply inside of her, she also had no sympathy for the commissars that brought them there seeing them slaughtered like animals and forced to fight like machines.

Meanwhile…

German forward command post, northern Stalingrad.

Despite what Yukari had initially thought of the battle and its outcomes their mere present seems to have changed the course of things that happened there. Oberst Voss wasn't in command of just a tank battalion but rather the already established Kampfgruppe Lehr and the german flanks weren't protected by the weaker romanians and italians but rather divisions of the Waffen SS as well as Estonians and spanish volunteers.

The tanks that were there are late models as the germans have already developed both version of the tigers including the King tigers,Panthers and Jagdtiger tank destroyers. The ooarai girls were worried that with their captured anglerfish tank it would give the germans an edge since it has future developed engine that goes faster than any of their current Panzer IV's.

The girls were sitting in front of Oberst voss at his desk in his office located in a trench line accompanied by the Berger brothers. They were terrified as to what the german colonel will do to them since they are in the middle of the bloodies battle of world war 2.

Voss:"that tank of yours has an engine thats faster than ours, tell me…how did you girls managed to develop it?"

Yukari:*translates*

Saori:("o-o-our automotive club developed it…t-t-they developed all our engines in the school..")

Yukari:*translates*

Voss:"automotive club? Impressive that a school of girls like yourselves developed something magnificent."

Voss:"but that's not the discussion that i want to have with you today…miss Nishizumi."

Miho was stunned and so did her friends since they didn't tell him her name.

Miho:("sir, how did you know my name?")

As Yukari was about to translate, Voss suddenly spoke in fluent japanese.

Voss:("my vice commander told me who you are and i am most intrigued with your family's way of tanking…the nishizumi style correct?")

Miho:("vice commander? You don't mean…")

Voss:"bring her in!"

Aldrich opened the door to let the guest in as the girls turned to see who it is they were stunned especially Miho, the figure standing behind her was none other than Maho but she wore a Kampfgruppe tank commander's uniform similar to Voss. she stood at attention then proceeded to salute oberst Voss.

Maho:"reporting for duty sir…"

Voss:"at ease hauptmann Nishizumi…"

He saluted back ordering her back to rest, Maho glanced at her sister and her friends before looking back to Voss.

Yukari:("Hauptmann? She's a captain already?")

Miho:("what?! Onee-chan! You can't be serious by helping the germans!")

Maho:("there are some things that we must do little sister and its Captain or hauptmann.")

Miho realised in her heart that Maho was different, she could tell just by how she is speaking and how she addressed Oberst Voss. She couldn't believe it that her sister is willingly fighting for the germans.

Voss:"Hauptmann Nishizumi…these girls will be in the care of Hauptmann Berger and they will start in the same rank as any enlisted tanker in your squadron, i trust that you will be fine with this?"

Maho:"that's not going to be a problem sir although i would prefer that they be assigned to my squadron."

Voss:"they will be in time, Wolfgang!"

Wolfgang:"sir?"

Voss:"they will be in your care, make sure they are combat ready."

Wolfgang:"with pleasure sir"

Half an hour later…

The girls were escorted to the motor pool of the Kampfgruppe's tanks and vehicles, the motor pool is inside a gigantic storage warehouse as well as factory. The girls were changed into the traditional tanker uniform of the panzer corps as they are escorted by wolfgang to their assigned panzer.

Saori:("Jeez! These uniforms are so tight! Now i know how it feels to wear a Kuromoromine uniform!")

Mako:("ugh! I can't sleep in these! They're so tight…")

Mako's head was spinning as Saori catched her by the shoulders.

Saori:("Hey now! Don't fall over!")

Hana:("these can barely fit my chest, i'm practically suffocating.")

Hana's face was beet red not from how tight it is but from embarrassment as her bust was shown tightly by her uniform attracting a few stares from the male tankers.

Yukari:("nishizumi-dono look…")

Yukari pointed at the wide array of panthers and tigers as well as the late model king tigers being welded or maintained by the wehrmacht crew, Miho knew it didn't make sense that these would exist in 1942 at stalingrad.

Miho:("i see them too, those are the late war king tigers and panthers…they shouldn't be in production by now till 1943 or 44.")

Yukari:("it gets worse…those panzer crewman are SS likely from the 12th division.")

She pointed at the unit insignia painted on the front hull of their tanks, the young tankers soon stared back at them with suspicious looks written all over them.

Wolfgang took notice of the girls looking at the SS tankers.

Wolfgang:("you shouldn't mess with them, you are practically the same age as them but they're arrogant as well as foolish.")

Yukari realised that the tough looking Hauptmann of theirs is speaking to them in Japanese.

Yukari:("you speak japanese sir?")

Wolfgang:("Erika gave me and my little brother Aldrich some lessons in your language but i could only speak little.")

They soon came upon a group of tankers huddled around, one tanker was playing his harmonica and the rest are singing a song which was evidently "Erika".

Tankers:"auf der heide bluht ein kleines blumelein! Und das heißt….Erika!"

The girls walked closer to see that Erika itsumi and her crew were singing alongside them, the excitement was broken up when Erika spotted Woflgang.

Erika:"Attention!"

The huddle soon broke up as they all stood at attention at Hauptmann Wolfgang, he saluted back.

Wolfgang:"At ease!"

Soon they all stood at rest, Erika looked over to see the anglerfish team of which she put two and two together likely realising they were in the same predicament as them.

Wolfgang:"these girls are going to be a part of the unit, Oberst Voss has put them under my command and you Leutnant Erika will be in charge of their education to have them combat ready. That'll be all! Carry on!"

Wolfgang proceeded to leave as the tankers began dispersing, Erika and her crew walked up to Miho with her friends.

Erika:("i take it that you travelled back in time after an explosion perhaps?")

Miho:("that is correct Erika-san, we just arrived today.")

Erika:("today? Well i guess me and the commander plus the other girls came early when we jumped into this timeline we were in 1939 poland.")

Miho and her friends were shocked at her statement realising that they came later than them.

Yukari:("What?! That's absurd! No wonder they have those heavy tanks already! Kuromoromine unintentionally gave it to them!")

Saori:("Oh my gosh! What does this mean for us in the future?! Will everything change?!")

Erika:("i'm afraid that's the case…we were smack dab in the middle of a battle too, the germans luckily didn't shoot at us thanks to the iron cross on our tanks but we've been trying to find a way home for 3 years.")

Miho:("i'm surprised your not under the command of Onee-chan instead you're under command of a german.")

Her words slightly made Erika uncomfortable as she looked down before looking back at Miho.

Erika:("its complicated and a long story but thats for another time, come i'll show you your tank.")

The girls were led into a separate hangar as Erika and her tank crew guided them to their tank, it was being modified by a team of pioneers and engineers. The girls were awe struck as they saw them working on the tank.

The Panzer IV was painted in urban camouflage they kept most of its Armor as well as its engine but underwent some minor modifications such as smoke launchers on the turret, a mounted MG-42 on the commander cupola and finally their radio was supercharged thanks to the tech recovered from the Kuromorimine team. Aldrich (the younger Berger brother) was standing nearby chatting with one of the mechanics as he soon turned to see the girls awe struck looking at their tank being modified proceeding to walk over to greet the entourage.

Erika took notice of the young lieutenant walking over as he gave him a sly smile.

Erika:"you came to bring me my money Aldrich?"

Aldrich:"In your fucking dreams Frau Erika besides you cheated during that game."

Erika:"i told you it was a lucky draw, you boys are just shit at playing cards!"

Erika gave a playful punch on the young lieutenant's arm as he looked visually annoyed at her turning his attention to the Ooarai girls.

Aldrich:("so which one of you is the commander?")

Miho:("that'll be me…Miho Nishizumi.")

Aldrich:(" so you must be the younger Nishizumi, i heard you beaten your sister in a sensha-do competition using your own form of tankery.")

Miho:("that's correct, we saved our school during that competition sir.")

Aldrich:("no need for formalities, i may outrank you as oberleutnant but no need for that and please call me aldrich, sir is what you call Wolfgang.")

Aldrich:("follow me and we'll begin your training.")

The girls were confused for a moment but followed his lead as he brought them to a makeshift shooting range just a few yards away from the motor pool, The Kampfgruppe command post sits established in a patch of cleared land nearby and the base was mechanized too because its coordinated with command halftracks.

Yukari:("Pardon to intrude Oberleutnant but what kind of training? We know how to use our tanks even in combat.")

Aldrich:("yes Soldaten, you know how to use tanks but what happens when you are stranded in enemy territory? And most of all don't know how to use small arms?")

The girls could see some new fresh faced german soldiers training and shooting their weapons too, the targets lined up were straw mannequins wearing soviet uniforms. The soviet uniforms were tattered,bloody or torn likely taken from the bodies of the dead.

German sergeant:"Beachtung!"

The entire row of soldiers stood at attention stopping at what they are doing, turning full attention to oberleutnant Aldrich and the girls. Aldrich led them to a deserted portion of the range, the standard german infantry weapons.

Hana:("oh dear i have never shot a gun before.")

Hana looks obviously uncomfortable looking at them, Saori felt so too.

Saori:("I think these would mess up my nails!")

Mako:("ugh…just take me to bed already…zzz..")

Saori:("Hey! Don't fall asleep on me now!")

Saori shook Mako by the shoulders again, Aldrich raised his Walther P38 from his holster showing it to Yukari and Miho. His gaze soon turned towards the commotion between Saori, Mako and Hana.

Aldrich:("Pay attention Frauleins!")

The commotion stopped as they turned to Aldrich, holding his pistol explaining the intricancies of the Wallther P38. Mako was sound asleep while the others kept a watchful eye on him, Yukari looked over to Miho likely still processing the thought of Maho acting that way.

Yukari:"Nishizumi-dono seems so lost, i wouldn't blame her because if my sister were to put herself like that i would be shocked too. I'll try to help her every step of the way."

Yukari thought to herself then looking back at Aldrich, true to Yukari's words Miho was still processing what happened earlier.

Miho:"i still couldn't believe it, Onee-chan was stuck in this world earlier than us?! She still kept that discipline like demeanor but she changed. Did this damn war made her that way? Erika is still the same but i just hope that Kay, Darjeeling and Katyusha are alright or safe at least."

Miho:"i guess only time would tell us."