Chapter 21:
As the match progressed, the two teenage Nishizumi sisters found themselves standing in their tank's turrets just over a kilometer apart, watching each other closely through their binoculars for any sign of movement.
"I honestly don't know what Maho is planning" Miho confessed to her crew. "This is so unlike anything Kuromorimine has ever done before."
"I think Maho is copying your style of Sensha-do, Nishizumi-dono" Yukari suggested. "You understand how your old school fights, so she's trying to use your tactics against us to confuse you."
"Maho? Copying me? I can't imagine she would try to... unless..." She abruptly lowered her binoculars from her eyes. "You're absolutely right, Yukari! And now I'm sure I know where that missing Tiger is! Maho is playing the game our way and somehow guessed where I set my trap!" She told her radio operator, "Saori, set your communications channel to the frequency where I can talk to all the Ooarai tank commanders!"
The girl working the radio quickly spun a dial. "Done, Miho!"
"Attention Ambush Team!" Ooarai's commander spoke, a strong sense of urgency in her voice. "One of the Tigers is somewhere in the forest, trying to sneak up behind you! Forget our first plan, turn your tanks around and try to defend yourselves!"
The reply from Mallard's tank was immediate. "Understood, Miho! Turning to engage-"
A sudden blast from the Tiger's gun silenced Sono's reply for a moment. "Miho!" she blurted in panic. "Rabbit team's tank has been damaged! I still don't see the Tiger that shot her!"
"Azusa, how bad is it?" The Anglerfish commander asked, trying her best to sound calm and in control of the rapidly deteriorating situation. "Are you out of action?"
"No, but we lost a track, Commander!" the girl answered. "We can't maneuver to use our main weapon to shoot at the Tiger! We'll try to return fire with our turret gun but we still don't see where it is-"
A second shot rang out from somewhere deep in the the stand of birch and elm trees, accompanied a split-second later by a shrill clang resonating in Miho's headphones. "Sumimasen, Miho!" Azusa groaned. "They hit us again! We're out of the match!"
Another voice immediately followed, "Duck team has the Tiger in sight!" Noriko spoke. "Returning fire!" Their gun blazed back at the massive Kuromorimine tank as it slowly emerged from a dense tangle of bushes, but the team's commander told Miho a moment later, "Our round bounced off its front armor like a volleyball, Miho! We'll try again!"
"Their 57mm howitzer isn't strong enough to penetrate a Tiger's front armor, Nishizumi-dono" Yukari muttered. "They'll be done for if they engage it head-on!"
"Hai, I'm getting them out of there!" her commander replied. She squeezed her throat microphone. "Fall back towards my position, Duck and Anteater teams! We're on the way to cover your retreat! Mako, get us moving towards that rogue Tiger as fast as you can!"
"Hai." Anglerfish's driver smartly spun her Panzer towards the action and headed towards the wooded area, quickly pushing her engine to full power.
Before retreating, Anteater team's larger-caliber gun also lobbed a quick snap-shot at the Tiger. "We hit it!" Nekota blurted into her radio. "No effect, Miho! That thing's front armor is crazy strong! We're falling back now!"
. . . . .
"Tiger two reports one Ooarai tank down, Maho" the Kuramorimine lead tank's radio operator told her leader in short, crisp sentences. "The worthless M3 Lee is disabled. Their Tiger has been hit twice. Minor damage but they're still fully operational."
The waiting lead Tiger I's driver impatiently gunned her engine. "We're ready to finish off those two leftover ambush tanks on your command, Maho-san. We'll send them to the junkyard where they rightfully belong!"
"Not yet" the elder Nishizumi sister answered. "I'm reserving our tank's might for Miho's Panzer. I'm going to teach my sister a much-needed lesson today. We'll let the other Tigers take care of those last two Ooarai machines." She instructed her radio operator, "Call back Tiger three to assist Tiger two. When Ooarai's failed trap is eliminated, we'll move in hard and fast and wipe my sister's tank off the map with a multi-pronged blitz attack." Maho's lips curled into a sneer, "I've been waiting too long for this moment. Miho will soon be relegated to her rightful status as a soft, weak third-rate commander in a no-name school. And Kuromorimine will again stand alone at the pinnacle of Sensha-do excellence." She made a fist and thumped it against her cupola. "Which is exactly where we belong!"
. . . . .
At the ridge...
"Minako, stop here!" Luna team's commander ordered her driver.
"Hai!" The blonde at the controls promptly stood on the brake, skidding her tank to a halt near the very peak of the narrow ridge.
Having joined the two T34s, Makoto quickly assessed the situation from inside her cupola. "Minna, the Tiger that hit us is pulling back towards the treeline really fast!" she yelled in surprise above the roar of Pravda's two firing guns. The Saunders' machines replied from the open field with a pair of large-caliber shells of their own, the four shots whizzing past each other in mid-air. "Two kills! A Sherman is out, and... damn it! They got Nonna's T34! I can see its flag!"
"There goes our best gun!" Rei groaned.
Katyusha's voice crackled loudly in Makoto's headset, "Ooarai Panzer, follow me down the hill! Target the remaining Sherman! It must be destroyed now, for the honor of Pravda!"
"Let's go, Minako-chan!" the brunette spoke. "Keep us pointed straight at that Sherman!" She instantly changed her mind. "No! That won't work! Try to drive us past it then spin us around so Ami can hit their rear armor! It's our best chance!"
"I'm all over it, Mako-chan!" Her driver shifted into top gear and stood on the accelerator, sending her Panzer careening downhill. "Give me ten seconds to get in position!"
"We may not have that long" Rei muttered. "Floor it, Minako-chan!"
"I already am!" Minako giggled. "Minna, I live for times like this!"
Kay's tank fired again as the last T34 and Makoto's tank raced down the grade side-by-side, the Sherman's round tossing a huge cloud of dirt into the air in the narrow gap between Red team's charging tanks.
Usagi gasped as stones ricocheted off the hull beside her, "That sounded way too close! Minna, do something!"
"We're working on it" Makoto muttered grimly. "Ami-chan, any luck with the stuck turret?"
"Still jammed tight, Mako-chan. I'll probably have time for just one straight-on shot before they return fire. I'll do my best to make it count."
Reaching level ground, the short-barreled Panzer IV continued hurtling forward while the T34 slowed, soon charging past the Saunders tank as its gun blazed again, still aimed at the nearby Pravda tank.
Makoto twisted her neck around to peer through the rear-facing viewport. "Katyusha's tank was hit! The Sherman was too! I don't see any flags yet! Turn us now, Minako-chan!" She braced herself against her cupola's steel frame, knowing Luna team's Panzer was now well within lethal killing range of the American tank's powerful gun.
"Here we go!" The blonde in the driver's seat braked hard to shed most of her forward momentum, then reapplied full power while yanking her right control stick all the way back. Her tank's left track spun wildly on the grass, then dug into the soft earth beneath, propelling the Panzer into the start of a dizzyingly-tight one hundred and eighty degree turn. "I'll give you a big target to shoot at, Ami-chan!" Minako promised. "Just watch an expert at work!"
Another pair of shells ripped through the air between the duelling Sherman and the T34, with both rounds striking deeply home.
"Katyusha is out of action!" Makoto yelled in disbelief as the skirmish in the field neared its climax. "It's up to us to finish Saunders! Do your best, Minako-chan!"
"You want good driving?" the blonde replied, her blue eyes narrowing. "I'll give you good driving!" True to her word, Minako finished her turn and halted her machine with less than five meters between Makoto's tank and Kay's, her Panzer sitting directly behind the Sherman and its gun pointed at the center of the enemy tank's engine compartment. "Now, Ami-chan!"
Ami held her breath and squeezed the trigger. "Firing!"
The blue-haired girl's weapon instantly thundered, with a spurt of flame and stream of smoke following the shell from its muzzle while the gun's breech recoiled violently back between Ami and Rei. Luna team's Panzer unleashed its armor-piercing payload directly at the engine bay of the last operational Saunders tank.
. . . . .
Ninety seconds later...
"I have the Tiger in my crosshairs, Miho" Hana spoke, her soft voice still sounding remarkably composed despite the unnerving sight in her viewport. In the distance the Kuromorimine tank's long gun barrel began swinging rapidly towards her Panzer. "I'm taking the shot."
Only one Ooarai tank remained alive of the three in Miho's initial ambush plan, and the Anteater team's Chi-Nu valiantly added its 75mm shell to the impromptu assault by Miho's Panzer IV.
"Two hits! No kill!" Miho told her crew moments later. "Mako, we need to get a lot closer to really hurt them!"
"Hai." The petite driver expertly steered the Anglerfish tank between two tall stout trees, accelerating as fast as she dared towards the competing school's massive machine. The tree on her right exploded into fragments as they roared past, taking the shell meant for their Panzer IV.
Miho felt her tank sharply turn and watched the Kuromorimine tank loom large in her viewport. "Try to bring us within- There's the second Tiger!" she gasped. "It's on your left, Mako!"
"I'll drive between them, Miho-san."
The newly-recalled Tiger's gunner smiled evilly as she pulled her trigger, marking the moment with a booming blast from its heavy gun and a loud metallic thud as the round struck its target. An eyeblink later another white flag sprang from its compartment ending the day's match for Anteater team.
"Two Tigers against one Panzer" Miho breathed, speaking so softly that most of her teammates didn't notice the deep disappointment in her voice. "I failed with my strategy and I failed in my command. Maybe Maho was right after all." She thought of her beloved Yusei, remembering her boy's sweet, encouraging smile, and felt a sudden rush of courage well up inside her fast-beating heart. "Bring us close to that first Tiger, Mako! As close as you can get! If we go down, we're taking it with us!"
"Hai!"
. . . . .