Having conquered Scandinavia, I started going home.
For the most part, the trip was smooth.
Since the snow melted, I didn't have to contend with the Winter Warriors anymore, so I could cross the Mannerheim Line without any problems.
When I tried crossing Karelia, though, that's where the trouble began.
The Soviet-American Alliance was back in force, and this time, they were really mad.
I wasn't too worried at first.
After all, they did start off by sending an M8A1 just like they did last time.
They also had a Tetrarch, which wasn't too tough for me to handle, though I was a little suspicious because they didn't have any last time.
My suspicion increased when I spotted an M10 tank destroyer.
Wait…did they replace some of their tanks before this engagement?
If so, then what else did they have awaiting me?
If they were as easy to destroy as the M10 proved to be, then I was fine with that.
However, since my last engagement with them wasn't exactly a walk in the park, I doubt that all of their tanks would be this easy to take on.
While I did go up the hill, I only bothered to take out one tank – a T-28 – while overlooking the northern area.
Since they didn't have any SPGs, I decided to turn Goliath around and pick off tanks that tried to engage me from the bottom of this hill.
A few moments later, an M2 medium tank showed up, followed by a KV-2 with a 107mm ZiS-6.
Knowing that the KV-2 was the greater threat, I targeted that one first.
BOOM!
Enemy vehicle knocked out!
The M2 fired at me, but it didn't even scratch Goliath.
I was more concerned about an incoming KV-3, though, so I backed away anyways.
The M2 attempted to flank me, but I didn't want to waste a shell on him, so I finished the tank off with a grenade instead.
As for the KV-3, I had to get crafty, so I drove Goliath forward a little.
It took a shot at me, but the KV-3 missed.
With its attention drawn, I drove back down to engage the KV-3.
Thankfully, its gun was still pointed uphill, so I took aim and fired.
BOOM!
The KV-3 wasn't killed, of course, but for some reason, it failed to respond for a moment.
I couldn't possibly have killed the entire crew with that shot, so I figured that I might have killed the gunner or another crewman responsible for rotating the turret.
In any case, I just sat there and lined up for another shot.
All of a sudden, somebody else hit me, but who!?
Rather than finding out, I sighted in on the KV-3, whose cannon was turning in my direction, albeit more slowly than usual.
Of course, I destroyed the tank before it could get in another shot.
As for my mysterious "friend", it was an M7 medium tank.
No problem!
However, since it was quite close, I used an anti-tank grenade to dispose of it rather than using the cannon.
When the cannon was reloaded, I took aim and wiped out a T-127.
I pressed forward, but then I came upon another tank – an M4A3E8.
It was quicker on the draw than I was, so it ended up hitting me first.
I took aim at it…but I couldn't!
The turret was stuck!
I was angry at this, but I just backed into cover and along with the crew, hammered away at the turret ring.
Eventually, we got Goliath's turret going again, but it wouldn't turn as fast as before, and considering how slow one of these usually turned, we had to be careful.
Nevertheless, we hit the Easy Eight real good, and while it was not destroyed, a resulting fire finished it off.
Instead of pressing further, I turned Goliath around and headed for that hill.
It was a good thing, too, because I sighted a KV-13 just before going behind that hill.
I jammed Goliath in reverse and aimed for a quick shot.
The KV-13 got first shot, but Goliath wasn't horribly damaged.
When I fired back, the KV-13's track was severed.
With that, I drove Goliath uphill to attack it again.
Because the turret wasn't going so fast, I had it rotated to the left a bit more so that it would take less time to aim at the enemy tank.
By the time I'd gotten to the top, the KV-13's crew had fixed the track, but that didn't matter because…
BOOM!
He was gone!
I took another look into the open area to see if anyone else was on patrol for me.
I spotted a KV-3 coming from the east.
It didn't appear to have spotted me, and in fact, it was about to disappear behind a rock when I hit it.
Because I had most likely given away my position, I turned around and started going back down the hill.
However, before I went down, an M6 heavy grazed Goliath with a shot.
I didn't have time to reload, so I used my last grenade on it.
The M6 wasn't dead, but it was immobilized, giving me more time to get away.
Approaching the eastern hill, I saw a tank destroyer of some sort defending the hill.
Its first shot missed, as did mine, so it simply retreated behind a rock.
I was low on ammo from my encounter with the SS panzer division "Vidkun Quisling", so I couldn't afford to miss any more shots.
I kept going, hoping to get ahead of that M6 before the crew fixed its track.
I knew it was risky to engage the tank destroyer at close range, but my tank was still holding together, so I pressed on.
Predictably enough, when I rounded the corner to take on the tank destroyer – an SU-85B – it hit my tank and damaged it.
However, Goliath made short work of it.
At the top of the hill, I spotted an SU-85 looking west, so after the cannon was reloaded, I capped that one off, too.
I then took up a defensive position and awaited the remaining tanks.
Surprisingly, they both emerged at the same time from the south.
Not sure of who to take on, I simply aimed between the two and fired.
The shot ended up hitting the M6 and destroying it, and the splash damage from the explosion broke the KV-3's track.
I backed away a little should the KV-3 spot me.
After the cannon was reloaded, I emerged from cover to find the KV-3 moving again.
Apparently, the crew got the track fixed in no time.
Having seen me, it stopped and took a shot at me, which hit and did some serious damage.
Thankfully, I managed to get the gun sighted in, so I took aim and fired.
BOOM!
All enemy vehicles destroyed!
Having wiped out the Soviet-American Alliance a second time, I took Goliath back home for its usual round of repairs and maintenance.
Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.