Chapter 8
The Big Tournament
It was late during Sunday. Ano and Miho walked through the town, as the streets bustled with cars and trucks. Honks and chatter filled the air of the city.
Miho looked up at Ano, who was smiling up at the sky.
"Whatcha looking at?", Miho asked. Ano looked at his new girlfriend, still smiling.
"It's beautiful up there, isn't it?", he asked. Miho in turn looked up, to see the cloud formations and the blue sky.
"It is.", Miho said. She sighed as she took Ano's hand in her own.
"I prefer looking at you, though.", Ano said, as he winked. Miho blushed and looked away.
Ano chuckled and kissed Miho on the forehead, before looking ahead. They reached a crosswalk and waited.
"We were wondering on going on a second date.", Ano said out of the blue. "Does next week sound good?"
Miho looked up in confusion. "Isn't the big tournament next week?", she asked.
"Oh, right.", Ano said. "Sorry, I've been a bit busy."
"Don't worry. So have I.", Miho said. "Are you still using the T-35?"
"Kenn decided to take the T-35, so I'll be picking a new tank."
"Will it be Soviet?", Miho asked. Ano smirked.
"That'll be a secret to be discovered tomorrow.", Ano said, booping Miho on the nose. Miho giggled and simply hugged her boyfriend's arm.
The crosswalk light turned green, and Ano and Miho began to cross the street.
"Ano?"
Ano and Miho turned to see Kenn and Yuzu walking towards them.
"Oh, hi!", Ano said, waving.
"What're you doing here, Yuzu?", Miho asked.
"Oh, well...you see-", Yuzu said, shyly. Then Kenn spoke up.
"We're on a date.", Kenn said, nonchalantly.
Yuzu's face exploded into a blush, as Miho rah up squeezed her hand.
"This is so great! We can double date!", Miho said, excitedly.
"Did you have to tell them?", Yuzu asked, her tone a mix of shame and anger.
"They asked. Besides, they're dating too. It's not like we're gonna be spotlight material for long anyway.", Kenn said.
Yuzu looked down. "OK...", she said.
"We were gonna go out for dinner. Where were you guys going?", Ano asked.
"We were gonna meet Council President Anzu to discuss the tournament.", Yuzu said. "You're the commander, so I believe it'll help if you come with us."
"OK. Where are you gonna meet?", Ano asked.
"There's a cool restaurant called Tamaya. We're gonna try it. Anzu agreed too, so you wanna come with?", Kenn asked.
Ano and Miho blinked, before sharing with each other looks of fear.
Later, the four reached the Tamaya restaurant, where Anzu was just ordering.
Anzu turned to see the four tank-mates walking in.
"Ano? Miho? I didn't expect you.", Anzu said.
"We ran into them on the way here. So, we invited them to go over the plan with us.", Kenn said.
"I see.", Anzu said. The waitress, Ano's mom, as usual, walked up and rubbed her son's hair hard.
"Hey, kiddo!", she said, as Ano blushed.
"Mom, stop it!", Ano whined, making Anzu's eyes widen in surprise.
"Oh! I-I didn't know.", Anzu said.
"You must be his friends! Don't worry, I'll gladly offer a 50% discount!", Ano's mom said. "Anything for my wonderful son."
"Mom...", Ano groaned. Anzu giggled, and Kenn stifled a laugh. Yuzu smiled, while Miho blushed.
Ano's mom raced into the kitchen, as Ano quickly raced back there after her.
"What's the deal?", Kenn asked, as the four of them sat down.
"Well, Ano's mother goes overboard when Ano has friends.", Miho began to explain.
"Kind of makes you question his past, doesn't it?", Anzu asked. Miho gasped as Anzu said this.
"President, how could you say that? I'm sure he has friends other than us!", Miho said.
"Remember Yukari Akiyama? You told us how her dad was when you and your team visited.", Anzu said. Miho shut up.
"Wow, he sounds he had a very lonely childhood.", Yuzu said.
Then a little Flakpanzer 38(t) chassis rattled in with a plate of gyoza.
"Oh dear.", Miho said. "Prepare your stomachs."
"What? Why?", Yuzu asked, before the sound of even more rattling filled the air.
Timeskip: an hour
The five walked out of the restaurant, groaning.
"Your mom's crazy.", Kenn said, struggling to even walk normally.
"Yeah...she's like that.", Ano said.
Ano's mom giggled as she brought a four foot stack of dirty dishes to the back.
Timeskip: next day
After school, Miho, Yukari, Saori, Mako, and Hana walked to the garage, before they all gasped in surprise. Except Mako. She doesn't gasp.
In front of them were a group of T-28 Soviet tanks, T-18s, as well as a Hummel Self-Propelled Gun.
"Whoa...", Yukari said. She walked up to the artillery tank. Ano peeked out of the tank, before jumping out and onto the ground.
"T-28s?", Miho asked.
"Why not? Infantry support rules.", Ano said.
The big tournament's gonna be big. Saunders, St. Gloriana, Pravda, Anzio, Chihatan, Jatkosota, and Kuromorimine.", Hana listed.
"Saunders Academy went co-ed too, and their boys battalion has Hellcats.", Saori said.
"Leave it to Anzio and Pravda to stay prideful with their one-gender schools.", Yukari said.
"I think Anzio's getting new tanks. Whether they're Fiat or Semoventes, I don't know.", Yukari said, standing on top of the Hummel's 150mm Howitzer.
"I'm not sure if Jatkosota is gonna have any luck in this. I'm pretty sure a BT-42 isn't gonna really dent anyone.", Nekota said.
"You never know. It's not about the tank, but the crew inside.", Miho reminded.
"Well, I'm getting the T-28. I might as well get a big one.", Ano said.
"Let's see, one driver, one gunner, one loader, one radioman, and two machine gunners.", Kenn said.
Kenn looked over at the T-35. "We'll be taking this.", he said.
"The rules for this tournament is twenty tanks max each.", Miho said, reading a clipboard Momo had given her. "That means 160 tanks in total at most."
"It's like an all-out Battle Of Kursk.", Erwin said.
"Hey, Erwin.", one of the T-26 drivers said. He wore his uniform, and he held his tanker helmet, revealing brown hair and red eyes.
The blonde girl turned around, adjusting her peaked cap in the process. "Yes?", she asked in a sort of authoritative voice.
"Erwin, as in Erwin Rommel?", the boy asked. "My name's Zuss."
"Zuss. Zussman. Second Lieutenant Raymond Zussman, given the medal of honor for brave actions after the invasion of Normandy.", Erwin deduced.
"Wow. And Erwin Rommel, Battle of Kasserine Pass.", Zussman said.
Erwin smiled. "Let's talk.", she said, as she and Zussman walked over to the Hummel.
"Zan, can you come over here?", Ano asked. Ano's loader walked up, carrying a 76mm shell. He still had his rebreather and goggles, but his helmet was off, showing black hair.
"Can you and Momo-chan run diagnostics on the T-35. We can use some upgrades.", Ano said.
"Got it.", Zan said.
"Don't call me that! Why do you call me that?!", Momo cried out, before Zan walked up and took Momo's hand.
Momo seemed to calm down, as she and Zan walked towards the T-35.
"Looks like there's another lucky couple in the bunch.", Anzu said.
"What about you, president? Are you seeing someone?", Yuzu asked.
"No.", Anzu said, nonchalantly. "Not interested that much to be honest."
The girls looked around, to see everyone else with their boyfriends or girlfriends. Whoever wasn't talking or cuddling or making out, was working on the tanks.
"But...I might be interested soon.", Anzu said, winking playfully at a boy cleaning out the barrel of the Porsche Tiger.
Miho walked up to Ano and took his hand. "I'm a bit nervous about this. Are you?", she asked.
"Yeah, I am. A bit.", Ano said. "But with you in command, I'm not as nervous as I usually am."
Miho blushed, as Ano chuckled. He planted a kiss on Miho's cheek and walked towards the T-28.
Miho smiled as she walked towards the Panzer IV.
The next week of training and practice was difficult, but soon, the tournament was now taking place.
The tanks of Saunders academy rolled in. Ten M4 Shermans, with two of them being M4A1, the Sherman Firefly, an M40 Gun Motor Carriage, two M7 Priests, five M18 Hellcats, and three M2 Lights.
St. Gloriana had their trademark Churchill VII, seven Matilda II tanks, four Cruisers, four Comets, two Churchill AVREs, and two Archers.
Pravda had six T-34/76 tanks, six more T-34/85 tanks, the KV-2, Nonna's IS-2, two T-44s, two SU-100s, and two T-27 tankettes.
Anzio Academy had their P26/40, two Semovente da 75/18s, two Semovente 90/53s, three Fiat M13/40s, two Fiat L6/40s, and ten Carro Veloce L3/33 tankettes.
Chihatan had ten Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks, one Type 5 Chi-Ri tanks, two Type 4 Chi-To tanks, three Type 5 Ke-Ho tanks, three 95 Ha-Go tanks, and one O-I super heavy tank.
Jatkosota had four BT-42s, six Vickers 6-tons armed with 2 pounders, six Light Tank Mk VI tanks, and four Finnish Renault tanks.
Kuromorimine had their classic Tiger I, two Tiger II tanks, two Nashorns, the Stürmtiger, the Maus, a Panzer III, two Marder IIIs, four Panthers, the Elefant, two Jagdpanzer IVs, two Jagdpanthers, and the Jagdtiger.
Ooarai had their Panzer IV, StuG III, Hetzer, Type 89b, Porsche Tiger, Char B1, M3 Lee, Type 3 Chi-Nu, three T-28s, their T-35, their Hummel, two T-18s, a T-26, two BT-5s, and two BT-7s.
All schools were octagonally facing each other on corners of the map, miles away from each other.
Ano smiled from his perch on his triple-turreted tank, before looking at Miho's tank, which was at least a centimeter taller.
Miho smiled back at her boyfriend.
Then the starting shot fired, and the match was under way.
The T-35 and the T-28s flanked left, while the BT-7s, BT-5s, T-18s, and the T-26 flanked to the right. The Hummel, Hetzer, and the StuG III stayed put, while the remaining tanks moved up front.
Kuromorimine's Maus, Tiger II tanks, Jagdtiger, and the Stürmtiger moved to the front, while the Panthers and Jagdpanthers moved left. Maho took her Tiger and led the Marders, Nashorns, and the Jagdpanzer IVs towards the main field.
All of Saunders's Shermans rolled to the right, while the Hellcats and Lights pulled to the left side of the field. The artillery, plus the Firefly, stayed put.
All Comets and Matildas moved up, the Churchill MK VII following close behind. The Archer tank Churchill AVREs stayed behind, whilst the Cruisers all drove to the left.
All the T-34s of Pravda, along with the IS-2 and the KV-2 charged down the front, with the T-27s and T-44s taking the left. The SU-100s stayed on their hill, providing fire support.
All of Chihatan's tanks charged down the middle.
Jatkosota's BT-42s and Vickers E tanks rolled down their hill, the Finnish Renaults and Light Tank MK VIs moving left.
Anzio sent their L3/33s down the middle of their field, with the P26/40 leading the M13/40s down the right. The Semoventes drove to the left, seeking a higher firing position.
Soon, all 160 tanks were scattered in little groups all over the map.
Miho looked around, seeing the area clear around them. It was quiet for a few minutes, before she decided to check in.
"Sniper Team, status.", Miho ordered over the radio.
Momo looked around on the periscope, before quickly getting on the radio.
"It appears Ano's team is currently under fire from the enemy. Four tanks from Chihatan and three tanks from Pravda.", Momo reported.
"Alright, keep me updated.", Miho said.
"Commander, we see Saunders approaching, three kilometers away.", Hana said. Sure enough, the ten Shermans were rolling towards Miho's team. Kay smiled and waved from her Sherman's top hatch.
"Alright, prepare cannons and-", Miho said, before a loud explosion rippled the tanks.
The smoking barrel of the M40 GMC was visible as the massive 150mm cannon discharged an empty shell. The Sherman Firefly's 17 pounder fired right after that.
"Alright, zigzag so we can reduce our chances of getting hit.", Miho ordered.
"Yes, commander!", Nekota said. Then a 75mm shell glanced off of the Chi-Nu.
Miho turned and saw the Hellcats and M2 Lights charging towards them, racing past the Sherman tanks.
Miho could see a blond haired boy atop a Hellcat, pointing at the Panzer IV. Just as she processed that, a barrage of 75mm shells struck the tanks, none of them luckily knocking them out.
Meanwhile, the T-35 was encircled by the three T-28s, with the BT-7s and BT-5s attacking Pravda's T-34s. The T-18s and T-26 were chasing the Chihatan tanks.
Two Type 5 Ke-Ho and two Type 97 Ha-Go tanks circled around the T-28s, firing as they attacked.
The T-28s took the hits, as they fired their turrets at the Japanese tanks. One T-28 struck the track of a Ha-Go, immediately knocking it out.
"Type 97 Ha-Go, knocked out! Ooarai's T-28 earns first kill!", the loudspeaker boomed. The crowd of spectators cheered as the camera on the giant screen showed the tank that took out the first enemy.
Ano smiled. "Nice shot!", he said. Then a shot struck the side of his turret.
"Fire!", Kenn yelled, and the 76mm gun of his T-35 fired, knocking out the other Ha-Go.
The Ke-Ho tanks immediately withdrew, and the T-18s chased. The T-26 returned to the other tanks, and Kenn sighed.
"About time.", he said. He turned to see their other tanks fighting off Pravda.
"Fire, fire!", Katyusha yelled. The 85mm gun on her T-34 fired, grazing a BT-7. The BT-7 turned and fired, the tank shell knocking out Katyusha's tracks.
Two BT-5s immediately knocked out a T-34/76, by hitting the two canisters on its rear, while a BT-7 immobilized another T-34/76.
Katyusha's tank was about to hit a BT-7 when the T-26 fired a shot that jammed the T-34's turret ring.
"Dammit! Nonna, Nina, get over here!", Katyusha cried.
Kenn looked through his binoculars, to see the IS-2 and the KV-2 racing as fast as they could to rescue their commander.
"Fall back!", Kenn yelled.
Ano turned to see the Kliment Voroshilov tank stop to fire. "Oh, shit-"
Just as he yelled that, the KV-2 fired.
Miho heard the explosion before seeing the aftermath. She saw the smoke in the distance while her ears were still ringing.
"Ano? Kenn?", Miho muttered. Saori got on the radio and quickly switched to their frequency, only to hear static.