Girls Und Panzer: World Tournament
Chapter 9: Operation Zipper!
Los Angeles Port - California, USA
Early morning, hours before the official match time, Ōarai carrier has arrived at a port in Los Angeles. Multiple branches in the water way into the port help increase the areas a ship could dock to unload or load its cargo or passengers. On the land, rows and rows of shipping containers of various colors lay there as a crane moves them to trucks or shipping boats. A very busy place, the place they docked on was more of shipping than passengers.
But considering the cargo, it was rather appropriate as cranes carried off the participating tanks onto transport trucks. From here on, Ōarai and the other school will travel to the final area via rail.
It'll only be a few hours from then to their arrival at the match area. The whole team was there getting off the carrier as the unloading process continued, dressed in their usual tanker uniforms, though some in a more comfortable fashion than their usual due to the unique fighting environment they are heading too.
"Ah, America! The land of the free!" Kay said loud and proudly as she stepped off the carrier onto the port.
"You've been here beforehand?" Saori asked.
"Nope, never stepped on its land before!" Kay said.
"Yes, yes, how embarrassing for an American-themed school huh?" Alisa said sarcastically.
"N-No! It's not like any of us has been here," Saori said.
"Though isn't it an unfair advantage? Fighting right on their home ground?" Alisa noted.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Miho said. "Mojave desert may be in the states, but its a rather unforgiving environment."
"You stocked up on desert equipment? Most of us already supplied ourselves with desert stuff onboard your ship when we knew it."
"Yeah, of course! Yukari helped."
"That's right!" Yukari beamed. "Most important thing out there is water! So I've got a couple jerry cans attached on each tank completely filled with water. Even a large crew shouldn't go through the whole thing in just one day!"
"Yes, water is important."
"Also got in some fans for each tank to use," Yukari said. "It's going to get very hot even at this time of the year."
"Oh, this is going to do something to my skin…" Saori said,looking at her hands.
"Let's just hope for the best," Miho said. "Stay comfortable most of all. I don't want anyone passing out over there."
"Unfortunately, that might be a possibility…" Anchovy said from behind Miho.
"Anchovy? Does Anzio have experience with desert warfare?"
"A bit," Anchovy said, "Or it may have been just that manga I read… Either way, there are a surprising amount of close-range fighting along with the long-range too."
"How so?" Yukari asked. Historical books about the North African fights between Axis and Allies rarely mention any range difference from tank battles other than "averaged 1 km typical engagement".
"Large dunes," Anchovy said. "Large dunes creates lots of valleys and sometimes tanks from both side just meet up in there. One time we had our L3/33 tankettes started fighting a bunch of similar machine gun tankettes from Chi-Ha-Tan…"
"Oh, I remember that!" Nishi remembered.
"I've never seen that many tracers before in my life… But bottom line is that it happened."
"Okay, but we've got our fair share of close-quarter combat experience, we should be fine." Miho said. "But I can't make any good plans until I've gotten a look on the battlefield…"
"Well, in the end, you are the team commander Miho!" Nishi said.
Miho simply smiled. Being regarded as not just a school club commander, but as a commander of a team comprising of the majority of Japan's Sensha-Dou schools. That certainly carries a weighing name to it. She was stressed out about it the first few days, but she's gotten accustomed to it. Having everyone able to obey your command was newer than just being on a supporting end receiving orders to be followed.
The dock railway was only off to the side. The transport trucks carried the tanks over there for loading onto the flatbeds available. Just like the time with Montgomery, some passenger cars were affixed to the main railway engine up front.
A man in a formal suit was there, ready to take names supposedly. "Ōarai Girls… High School?" He asked, though he seemed rather surprised at the large crowd with their very different uniforms.
"We're a bit more than that now," Anzu said. "But yes, we are."
"Ah, I see," the man said. "Do you want to rename it than?" The man then asked.
"There's an option?" Miho wondered.
"Only if you wish for it to be so," The man said.
"What do you think?" Miho asked toward the student council.
"Up to you Miho, do what you want," Anzu said.
Miho didn't think about it too long, "We'd like to call ourselves the 'Ōarai Compound Team!'"
"Ōarai Compound Team? Are you sure?" The man asked.
"Yes!"
"Alright, I'll send in the report. Now you may just have to wait a bit because we didn't expect such a… large crowd."
"As long as we get there in time for the match!" Yukari shouted.
"I can manage that," the man said. "Please wait around here, don't interfere with the business here," the man said before departing.
"He's got the mysterious vibe of the league alright…" Saori said.
"I still don't get why they operate so covertly…" Hana wondered.
"Maybe they just got tired of dealing with the public openly?" Alisa said. "They are advocating the usage of weapon of war as sports."
Miho did wonder. The league was a very mysterious organization for one with a good control over international Tankery.
Within the hour, the girls were all loaded into the three passenger cars now provided. Now with enough flatbed cars, the girls helped drive each tank off the truck transports onto the flatbeds. Care was given on making sure all the tanks fitted on the way towards the destination. Once all clear, the train departed from the port, on the way towards the Mojave desert.
Everyone did their own business. Nap, chat, party, eat, and other activities to ward off boredom.
"It's about a five hour train trip huh?" Saori said. "If tanks were air transportable, we'd be there faster…"
"Yeah, but we'd only have Locusts, Tetrarchs, or the T-60…" Yukari said. "Those are pretty weak in armor and even armament to save weight."
"Ugh, there's gotta be a way to kill time…" Saori whined.
"Hey, wasn't there a match yesterday?" Miho just realized.
"Oh right! The first round of the exhibition matches was yesterday wasn't it?!" Kay seemed to have popped out of nowhere and gotten Miho her elbow.
"We've been too busy with training and preparing to get the recent news huh?" Miho said.
"I wonder how the 3rd cadets fared?" Hana asked.
"I know how to find out…" Yukari said as she dug into a pocket. Yukari took out a smart phone. She started what seems to be a TV app on her screen. Dialing through the numbers, she reached one in a manner that seems rehearsed. The video was already loaded in the middle and it buffered.
"…and so we see here, the 3rd Cadets is turning this into a one sided fight against Merlion." A man said behind a press table to the right.
"That's right, and I'm sorry to say this, but this was very expected." A man Miho recognized was sitting on the left.
"Maybe for you, you've been following the 3rd Cadets since you started George."
"So I'm biased you saying?" George said as he chuckled.
So 3rd Cadet is winning? Miho concluded from the stream so far.
"Anyways. To those of you just coming in, welcome back to the first round of the 26th World Tournament exhibition matches! I'm George Jackson, this is Anderson Clark. In the first round, we have Merlion Waves Academy from Singapore against the 3rd Cadet Royal Tank Regiment from Britain. They're facing off in the tropical forests in the Pacific, in… where was it? Ratua?"
"That's right George! A small private island rented out by the League, it's a rather good tropical environment for this match. However, it doesn't seem to be ending well for Merlion. Though they've got some formidable tanks of their own, the 3rd Cadets managed to outfox them. Within the first few minutes of cannon fire, 3rd Cadets spectacularly knocked out five of Merlion's tanks with no losses of their own. Though that's the numbers are still within competition, 3rd Cadets pushed the initiative on the surprised Merlion crew members. Casualty grew until now it's 15 to 28. Merlion's now outnumbered 2-to-1."
"Unless they manage to get all of 3rd Cadets in one swell swoop, Anderson, it's not very likely that their winning this one."
"Their armor is just too much!" The man on the right, Anderson, said. "They keep their heavy armor supported by the cruiser tanks. Merlion's Shermans can't get to their vulnerable side armor."
Heavy tanks? Churchills? Miho thought. Despite not going into deep details, the announcers show that 3rd Royal Tank Regiment now has a completely different fighting style than they did when they fought against her.
"Oh, let's look at this, we've got new development," George said as the screen switched over to a feed of the match. It showed a few tanks in Merlion team, some M4 Mediums, M3 Mediums, and Matilda II's hiding behind a hill. The camera panned in a distance and showed the incoming 3rd RTR team. It consisted mainly of Comet I tanks, charging in like a traditional cavalry charge, rapidly firing their machine guns on the way, forcing the commanders poking out of their tanks on Merlion's side to retreat to cover. As the Comets close in, Churchills followed, but they were not needed as the Comet closed in on the Merlion tanks. The first few Comets appearing around the hill were shot at by the Merlion tanks. Some were knocked out, but the Comet closed in for a slaughter. At near close-blank range, the Comets fired their cannons rapidly at the different Merlion tanks it comes across. Annihilating the bunch, the Comets began to move on as the Churchills took over the position.
"And with that," Anderson started again, "Merlion is down to 7 tanks."
"Not very good for them. Looks like a clear 3rd Cadets victory over here now."
"I agree" Anderson said.
"Wow, Third Royal really wrecked them huh?" Saori said watching.
"That speed and ferocity…" Kay said while watching, "looks a lot like something we would use combined with elements of Pravda and St. Gloriana's fighting style… They're quite pro huh?"
"In the international community, there were only four main competitors…" Yukari said. "America, Britain, Russia, and Germany. The strong has always been strong. These guys must have been monopolizing the World Tournament for a while now."
"And we're fighting with America in the first round…" Hana said. "But, I have faith that we can pull it off!"
"Yes!" Miho agreed.
"That's the spirit commander!" Kay said while five-starring Miho on the back. "We gonna get out there and kick some ass!"
"I'm with you all the way!" Azusa popped up beside Miho. "Don't think we're gonna back away like we did anytime before!"
"A good commander among us, like Eisenhower!" Caesar said arms crossed.
"Good one!" The rest of Hippo team approved of that name's usage.
Miho made a small laugh on that thoughtful suggestion. The trust among her teammates, even the temporary ones, ran high. Miho looked at her team in the passenger car. In a few hours, they will be heading into battle with one of the most well-known Tankery organization in not just America, but in the world.
"Everyone, rest hearty and play well, because we're going to kick their butts later!"
"YEAH!
Somewhere in the Mojave Desert - California, USA
Within a few hours, Miho found the train had come to slow down… in a middle of nowhere.
Well, as nowhere as it can get from the landscape. Aside from the station, the land beyond it was sand, bushes, and lots and lots of rock formations. The train came to a complete stop as Miho saw workers already stationed outside starting to get to work unhooking the tanks from the flatbed support and loading ramps for unloading. Miho and the others in the car headed to the still-closed door.
The door opened and Miho could see they were at a form of station in a middle of the Mojave desert. The desert was a lot milder than Miho presumed. Though the sun glared from above, blinding the girls, the actual air temperature was rather bearable.
"Huh…" Saori noted, shielding her eyes from the sunlight. "Aside from that outrageous sun, it's not as bad as I thought out here…"
"Quite an interesting land formation out there…" Hana said. Looking out, miles of miles of just nothingness except the fauna and flora of the desert. There weren't any large rolling sand dunes present at their area, just large rocks stacked high like mountains, bushes as tall as some of the girls, and the sand under all that. Some of the sand were even red colored too, an interesting blend.
"I guess I prepared for the wrong desert…" Yukari said. "The one in North Africa must be worse than this."
"Then you prepared us for the worst then Yukari," Miho assured. "You did great either way."
"Thanks Nishizumi-dono!"
Miho stepped out of the train car. Now that she's actually under it, the sun radiates a whole lot more heat than what's felt in the air. Overexposure to this may lead to heat exhaustion, Miho thought. She'd hate to think this is a standard work condition for the men at the station. Outside, the men had finished their work and the tanks were ready to be unloaded by their crew.
"Okay…" Miho said. "Everyone, unload your vehicles!"
Everyone scrambled to their vehicle flatbeds. Upon reaching the Panzer IV, a touch of the metal was near sizzling.
"Ow!" Miho said surprised. The sun rays had been shining on the exposed tanks the whole way and their metal looked hot enough to sizzle eggs.
"Here Miho!" Yukari waved something towards Miho. "I got us gloves!"
"Thanks!" Miho took on a pair and placed them on. Gripping onto the hull of the Panzer IV, she climbed up. Heat could still be felt seeping through the glove and she took care not to let any part of her exposed leg touch the metal. She was relieved to see that everyone was following suit on climbing the Panzer IV. Despite the rather difficult climate, everyone was doing their job.
Miho got to the commander's position. Inside was a lot worse than outside due to the accumulated heat inside the tank. She kept the cupola open, and all the other girls kept their hatches open, when she ordered Mako to carefully drive off the flatbed. Mako didn't seem to be much affected by the heat itself, aside from the gloves so the hot steering rods don't burn her. The others, however…
"It's hot…." Saori whined for the third time since getting off the train.
"It's only going to get hotter if you think about it," Hana said to Saori via the intercom."
"You're not helping!"
"Here!" Yukari said, giving a plastic bottle towards the rest of the crew before giving one to Miho. Water! "I got more here in this container so if you finish, I can fill it up!"
"Thanks Yukari!" The crew said in relief. Water can help go a long way in the desert.
"I only hope everyone else is doing fine…" Miho wondered.
Everyone and their tanks got off the flatbed and followed the directions heeded by the men working on their tanks. Miho at lead, they ended up somewhere out the station as a man was there with some documents. He climbed up Anglerfish's Panzer IV with little difficulty.
"Ōarai Compound Team?" He asked to Miho, who was still unbuttoned.
"Yes, that's us!"
"Alright, here's a map of the field," He hands Miho a map. Miho takes it and analyzes it. "We're here right now. Drive your tanks to this part here, that's your starting location," he points towards a specific area. "We'll then send someone over to make the official start-up greetings before we start."
"R-right!" Miho said as the man stepped off. "Everyone, please follow me!"
It was not a very long drive from the station. Miho looked closer at the map as they rolled along. The map showed the field had a rather rough geography. Miho noted the two teams are starting on the north and south portion of the map, with Ōarai on north. The map geography had a long, rolling sand desert on the west side, a large place full of little cover. The middle was entirely mountains. A small passageway is shown there, but in all sense it was a mountain road. East side was a mixture of flat areas and heavy rock formations. More cover than the west and less congested than the center.
Miho guided the tanks across to a point that indicates where they would start. "Everyone halt!" She radioed in as they closed in. "Get into formations as in training!"
The many tanks that Miho has under her command, all thirty of them, rolled to their formations they practiced in training. Three groups of tanks named Dandelion, Sunflower, and Jasmine along with one headquarter command simply called "HQ".
"Everyone at ease!" Miho then gave the order to relax. Soon some of the girls were doing their various activities.
As they did, Miho could see in a distance a vehicle moving. The desert heat produces a mirage that makes it much harder to see.
"What's that?" Hana said, peering out from the turret side hatch.
"I think we have visitors…" Miho said as she disembarked the Panzer IV. The soft sand of the desert wrapped around her boots as she landed. When she did, she saw some of the other commanders of the vehicles getting out as well.
The vehicle was a lot closer now, Miho recognized it as a classic Willys MB Jeep. It was green colored and had no roof on top. On the back was a M2 heavy machine gun, the same model as those on the Achilles back against 3rd RTR.
Miho could finally make out two figures on the jeep. A lady with gracing shoulder-length brunette hair was the driver. On the passenger side was a man with distinctive brown hair. They came to a stop and disembarked. There was a height difference between the two occupants.
"That's Daniel Marshall on the right," Kay said, appearing besides Miho.
"Huh? He's that short?" Miho said surprised. As the duo came closer, Miho could see that Daniel Marshall was probably only around the same height as Miho. In contrast, the lady was towering over him a good three quarters of a foot. The two were wearing yellow uniforms with long sleeves.
How do they stay cool under that? Miho wondered. But she also recognized that the uniforms were very similar to those worn by the U.S. tankers in North Africa Theater of World War II. If they could've done it back then, these uniforms must have something for them worth having.
The duo were now up close to Miho and the others gathered around her. Daniel was only staring Miho eye-to-eye while the lady, his second-in-command most likely, was like Nonna to her.
"I am Daniel Marshall, commander of the Armored Cadets of the American Cadet Alliance," Daniel said. "Pleasure to meet you, Miho Nishizumi." He said as he extends a hand.
"A- no! Pleasure is all mine!" Miho said taking it.
"Hmm…" Daniel seemed to be analyzing Miho. Then he made a smile and a small chuckle. "Sorry, when I heard about your… reputation… I guess I kind of went wild on what I expected."
"Oh, um, that's alright!" Miho said. Everyone's been doing that to me recently anyways.
"It's been a while Kay," Daniel said next.
"Yes, Daniel, it has," Kay said back.
"Didn't imagine you'd tag around with a group like this. I thought you would make Saunders come up as the contestant instead."
"Eh, well, things happened."
"Yeah, sure," Daniel said as if he heard that before. He then turns his attention to Miho. "Either way, I hope we have a good match against you and the rest of Ōarai and its… well… groups."
"I hope so too!" Miho replied.
Daniel laughed, "Good, at least I know I'm fighting against another sporty type around here. Everyone around here and Europe takes Tankery way too seriously." He then steps back. "Let's hope for a good fight!"
"Let's hope for a good fight!" Miho said back as he began to step away back to the vehicle. The duo was soon away and out of their hands. To Miho, they reminded her a lot of Katyusha and Nonna, if Katyusha had humility.
"Who was that girl?" Yukari asked from behind Miho.
"The tag says Isabelle Bradly," Kay answered. "She must be their second-in-command."
Quite a contrast between the two indeed… Miho thought before snapping herself back into the situation. "Okay everyone! Back to the tanks! The match is starting soon!"
"What do you think of them Isabelle?" Daniel asked as she drove the jeep across the rather bumpy terrain.
"Honestly sir? Kind of disappointed," She replied. "What about you sir? You admire her?"
"I think she's headstrong. She's got the guts, and in the matches she's got talents for sure."
"Hmmm…"
"Anyways, all the crew ready to go?"
"Yes sir. Everything's ready just as we practiced," Isabelle said with a small tinge of confidence. "I'm still surprised you got the approval."
"I'm surprised too, but after seeing some of their tanks, I'm glad I did. Make sure 'Minnie' gets to the position ASAP."
"Roger that commander," Isabelle said. "We'll follow your every command."
"To victory!" Daniel said while pumping his hand high.
During the wait, Miho took the time to gather the different group commanders for the operation planning. Kay used her M4 Sherman to set up a tarp for a makeshift tent. The shade provided greatly cooled down the small group of commanders underneath it.
"So what's the plan Miho?" Kay asked.
"The battlefield has distinctive areas of terrain," Miho said as she pointed at the map laid out in the center. "Two main sides of the map, East and West. These two sides are divided by this mountain side in the middle cutting across the whole way."
"Makes it easy to isolate the enemy group and destroy them!" Katyusha said.
"But the same can happen to us too Katyusha," Nonna pointed out.
"What's important I think," Miho said, "is the mountainous zone in the middle. If we can't hold that portion we lose a good amount of coordination between the group and, like Katyusha and Nonna said, we could be isolated and knocked out."
"So what do you propose commander?" Darjeeling asked her before taking a sip of her hot tea.
"So here's what I think…" Miho said. "Sunflower will be on the west side in the open since their heavy armor would make it able to survive the landscape if they come across hostiles," Miho said as she pointed to the map. "Dandelion should come up in the middle on this mountain road. However, I don't know how well this road is so this plan might change at that point."
"Fine by me," Kay said. "We're used to narrow fighting with Italy."
"Say what?" Anchovy perked up.
"Finally, the East side should be taken on by Jasmine," Miho said.
"What about you Miho?" Nishi asked. "Where will you station your HQ group?"
"Hmmm…" Miho thought. She'd hope for a height advantage, but the conflict for the center area is unknown and its visibility would still be limited to only one side of the map due to the vast space of the area. "Okay, I'll position HQ along with Dandelion."
"Don't worry we'll keep you safe!" Kay said as she put Miho in an elbow hold.
"We kind of have to anyways commander…" Alisa said. "She's our flag tank..."
She took herself off of Kay's hold. "Remember to stay in communication. Stay together, don't stray off alone. We may have an estimated account on what tanks they may field, but it could be different."
"Yes ma'am!" Kay said playfully.
"This better not end up like last time Miho!" Katyusha said.
"Wasn't last time caused by you?" Mika said as she still strung her Kantele.
"What's that suppose to mean?!"
"Girls! Please!" Miho said to the rising tones. "We need to focus at the situation at hand."
The two school girls settled their differences aside as they turned their attention back to Miho.
"With the open space on the west, Sunflower will most likely get the brunt of the enemy forces. They will be supported by Dandelion once they can secure the middle. But, we won't know the enemy's movements until the heat of combat, so I want Dandelion to keep on the alert in case the enemy appear in the east against Jasmine."
"Fine by me," Darjeeling said. "Our new tanks should be able to be independent of support for longer than usual."
"Is everyone else okay with this plan?" Miho asked the group.
Nishi raised her hand.
"Nishi?"
"What other possible vehicles do you think they can field?"
"Huh?"
"You're making these thoughts on 'most likely M4 Shermans and Stuarts' from your assumptions the other day, but what else can you expect?"
"What else?" Miho was at a small lost. She did think of some possible contenders they could be fighting if they did not go with a true battalion structure. "Maybe some tank destroyers? If I remember the rules correctly, they can bring in the M10 tank destroyers or even the M36. Maybe even the T28…"
"We won't have a bridge to lodge ourselves under if we see another of that though," Darjeeling enthusiastically added.
"But I can't make any assurance until we actually meet on the battlefield," Miho finished.
"Understood commander!" Nishi said, satisfied with the answer.
"Anything else?" Miho asked again.
A long pause before Darjeeling raised her hand, "What do you want to call this operation?"
"Eh? Ummm…" Miho thought. This was something she didn't think of.
"Three cheese pizza!"
"No! Tri-Tip Steak!"
"Takoyaki!"
"How about 'Zipper'?" Mika mentioned.
"Huh? Zipper?" The commanders asked.
"The map is like two sides separated in the middle. Sending a team to close it up through the middle," she said with a sharp note on the instrument. "...like a zipper."
A pause before Katyusha first reacted. "What kind of name is-"
"I'll take it!" Miho said.
"Eh?" Katyusha said surprised at this predicament. "Ergh, fine!"
"So this plan is 'Operation: Zipper'! Please everyone, do your best!" Miho pleaded.
"Heh, Miho. Don't worry!" Kay said patting her back. "Because we're going to go out there and kick some butt!"
"Yeah!"
"Alright, Operation: Zipper! Begin!"
South side of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"So what's the plan Cap'n?" CPL Ethan asked not only his tank commander, but commander of the entire Armored Cadet present. Technically, Daniel was a Cadet Sergeant Major of the Armored Cadets, but the rest of the team had become accustomed to calling him 'captain' because he was the, well, captain of the team. Ethan said this as he laid down a card on the hot metal of a Sherman turret.
"Standard movements," SGM Daniel Marshall said as he followed up with another card.
"Bullshit" PVT Conner said.
"No, I really am."
"No, bullshit. You ain't got a 7 Cap'n." PVT Conner said, gesturing to the card pile.
Daniel smirked and sighed as he collected the entire card pile, "Got me again private."
"Heh, you may outmatch me in sports, but you can't lie your way out of this."
"Fair enough private."
"Captain," PVT Noah said, "Mind filling us in on your plan?"
"Very well private," Daniel said as he unfolded a map onto the turret where they were playing cards. "I believe they will focus their forces here on the west side of the map."
"So all the heavy hitters there?" CPL Ethan asked.
"Most likely," Daniel responded. "But I'm only committing half of ours there."
"What? Where'd the other half go?" PVT Noah asked.
"Sending them onto the middle. It's a prime area to send extra forces through for flanking and isolation of the other two regions."
"What about us Cap'n?" CPL Ethan asked.
"We're going with the forces on the west, whole HQ and all."
"Front line command post?" PVT Conner asked.
"400 meter distance between front line tanks and us. Don't worry, as long as we standoff a distance, we won't get into any fire."
"Yeah, as long as our own team don't shoot us first," PVT Conner said.
"Firstly, they better not, we're the flag tank. Secondly, that won't happen, none of the enemy's tanks look anything like ours. Besides, I-"
"Umm, Sarge?" CPL Hill said as he sticked his head out of the commander's cupola of the turret.
"What?" Daniel said, turning his head to his official rank.
"Um, it's Sergeant Isabelle sir. She's, well, pissed you aren't at ready position…" CPL Hill said as though he was shaken up by whatever was on the other side of the radio transmission.
"Tell her I'll be ready in a gist and am currently on standby."
Hill paused as he gawked at Daniel's statement before returning to his radio with a "uh… He's on standby at the moment."
"WHAT?!" The returning transmission could be heard out to Daniel's ears.
Daniel sighed, "Well kiddos, back to our posts or she'll have my neck for this."
The crew of Hatin' Love groaned as PVT Noah packed up his cards. PVT Conner headed to the oval loader's hatch on the left side of the turret while CPL Hill got out of the commander's position which he temporarily inherited. CPL Ethan got in the turret first and took the gunner's position before SGM Daniel got in. CPL Hill in turn went to the driver's position on the front left of the Sherman's hull and PVT Noah went to the bow gunner's position on the right.
CPL Ethan made his routine check on the gun while PVT Conner reached down into the hull and opened a container. Inside were rows of 76 mm ammunition for the gun. He reached down and picked one of the 24 pound M61 APC rounds and slammed it into the gun breech, closing as soon as the round fully seated itself.
"Up!" Conner yelled through the turret before putting on his M1938 US tanker helmet. The Ford GAA V8 engine was started up as Hill triggered the ignition.
In the commander's position, Daniel reached for the radio piece that he's been neglectful of for the past few minutes.
"Hello there."
"What took you?!" Isabelle's voice could be heard. "Y'know what? I don't even care anymore. We're starting soon."
"Right, hold steady and ready," Daniel said before he started changing the radio channel to the entire battalion. "All tanks, this is 'Mickey'. Start them up. Match is starting in just a few. Remember the plan and think about it one step forward. Let's get some kills boys." Daniel said before ending his transmission.
North side of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
The announcement system rung a siren through the last minute before the match started. Once the minute was up, a flare went up from the referee area, signaling the start of the match.
"Panzer Vor!" Miho shouted into her mic. Soon all the tanks were in motion towards their objective.
Sunflower formed up in a line as they marched south towards the enemy on the west side. On the east, Jasmine took up a staggered column as they made their way down south, maneuvering around the various large rock formations and foliage in the way. Dandelion took the middle. A single road lead in between the mountains that Saunders' tank patrolled down in a column, while Chi-Ha-Tan's tanks took the mountain roads on the west and east side of the main road. Miho and her other accompanying tanks, the M3 Lee and Type 89, were following behind the Chi-Ha-Tan tanks on the west side of the road up on the mountainside. They were about 100 meters higher than Saunders at the moment.
"Mako, drive carefully, keep your eyes on the road," Miho called in the intercom.
"Right," Mako replied in her usual monotone voice.
"It's almost as if you become invisible unless you talk…" Saori said.
"Well, you won't have to worry about becoming invisible then Saori," Hana said.
"Uh, what?"
"Saori, keep focused," Miho said into her mic as she looked out in the horizon.
The sandy mountain and the tall cactuses brush past the tank as they move, with Miho staying alert for low-hanging trees on the mountains hanging onto the road. In some places along the drive, she could see the west side desert, full of large sand dunes and with only minimal plant life. No cover except the dunes for Sunflower, thus a reliance on their heavy armor like the IS-2 and Black Prince is a must.
About ten minutes into the match, Miho got the status reports.
"HQ, this is Jasmine 1. Nothing to report here."
"HQ, this is Dandelion 1. Nothing yet!"
"HQ, this is Sunflower 1. Nothing to report."
"This is HQ, roger that! Keep the pace!" Miho replied to each one. They were about a third down the map now. It was a big arena, fitting for a 30 vs. 30 tank battle. Things could get chaotic if they were restricted to a single area.
"It's just endless desert…" Saori commented on the surrounding.
"The Mojave desert spans between three states. California, Nevada, and Arizona."
"What if we got lost in the middle of here?!" Saori frantically asked.
"Don't worry," Yukari said. "Mojave Desert is an active area for the U.S. Military. They've got bases like Fort Irwing here meant for training."
"That's not really the answer I'm hoping for…" Saori muttered.
Just as she said that, her radio came to life. "HQ, this is Sunflower 1, we've spotted the enemy. 800 meters south of our position. Over."
"Sunflower, this is HQ! Acknowledged!" Saori responds to the radio set to her left. She then looked up to Miho. "Miho! Sunflower got contact with the enemy 800 meters south of their position!"
"Tell them to hold steady and be ready to engage!" Miho said. "All units, Sunflower has made contact with the enemy! Prepare for contact!"
East side of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
The L3/33 bumped along with the small terrain changes on the right, swerving and turning to avoid the large rock formations scattered around. As the scout, the L3 was in front of the rest of the crowd alongside the BT-42.
Pepperoni hit another small bump and had her head crash into the tankette's roof. Thankfully, she was wearing her helmet. "Oi, I'm gonna feel this one the next day…" she muttered.
"C-Commander! Over there!" Her gunner yelled out as Pepperoni focused back to her front.
Pepperoni yelped as she swerved the tankette hard to the right into the cover of a rock formation tiny enough to protect them before rounds came in an impacted where they were just at. Pepperoni picked up her radio. "Duce! Come in! This is Pepperoni! We got contact with the enemy!"
"How many?!" Anchovy's voice came through.
"Uh, I dunno!" Pepperoni honestly answered.
"Then check it!" Anchovy came in again.
Not wanting to risk the entire tankette again, Pepperoni opened the hatch on top for her and climbed out. Going as far as standing over the rock cover she was behind was already exposing herself, but without thinking she went ahead. The other side delivered a full salvo of machine gun fire for her trouble.
As she fell back down into the L3/33 tankette, she grabbed the radio. "A lot!"
"Fine! That'll do! Get back here!" Anchovy screamed.
"No need to tell me twice!" Pepperoni said as the L3/33 began speeding away from the cover and making a hasty withdrawal. The tanks began to fire.
Meanwhile at the BT-42, Mika observed more clearly what is going on. "Jasmine 1, this is Jasmine 2," She said clearly and calmly into her radio piece. "We've come across enemy tanks. Looks like… four tank destroyers. Hellcats. Over." She finished.
"Roger that Jasmine 2! Get back here and regroup!" Anzu's voice came through.
"Will do," Mika replied before closing the transmission. "Mikko! Let's go!"
"Right!" Mikko said grinning as she revved up the BT-42's engine.
Center Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"Now Jasmine's got contact with the enemy!" Saori screamed to Miho.
"Alright, all groups, be aware of-" Miho was about to order before a shell shot screamed out to her left. She saw down that Saunders was in contact with an enemy down range of the center hill. Machine gun tracers were also in the fray along with distinctive white streaking tracers of shells being fired.
"HQ! HQ! Dandelion is under fire from unknown enemy!" Miho heard Kay's voice come through.
Miho could see a dust cloud down range and took out a binocular to look down. She could see a platoon of Shermans rolling down the center area. She then looked at the mountain side, sure enough there were also Shermans posted up high.
"Dandelion! This is HQ!" Miho yelled into her own radio. "Contact with the enemy. Direction: South! Range: 1000 meters!"
"Miho! Update from Jasmine! They're not engaging tanks! They are tank destroyers!"
Miho was surprised by that news. "What kind?"
"M18 Hellcats!" Saori shouted.
"M18's?!" Miho didn't expect that. Surely she expected some form of upgunning, but she'd imagine something along the lines of a M10. "Tell Jasmine to stay cautious and watch for ambush points! Those M18s will rely on hitting them as they move forwards!"
"Okay!" Saori said as she got to the radio work.
"Leopon, this is HQ. Prepare your 88 mm cannon. Fire at the Shermans down on the ground level!"
"Roger that!" Miho heard Leopon team say from their Tiger Porsche. The Tiger Porsche was stationed on the mountain roads, but farther behind to make greater use of the gun depression to hit far away targets on the bottom center road. Leopon got back onto the radio once ready, "We're ready! On the way!" They screamed.
Miho saw the distinctive tracer of the 88 mm before she heard the gun sound report. She watched the 88 mm tracer zip from an area behind her down the center mountain road right into one of the four Shermans lined up.
However, when the 88 mm made contact, Miho saw the tracer light move, not disappear. It moved in an angle as it went from a straight hit to upwards. A ricochet.
"Hmm?" Miho looked with disbelief. Even at that range, the angle the shot hit was a direct hit. It would've taken out any Sherman, and Miho saw a fired 88 mm enough time to know when it would and when it wouldn't.
"HQ, this is Sunflower 1. Our 17-pounder shots are bouncing off these Shermans. Pekoe! Switch to sabot! Over." Miho heard Darjeeling said over the radio.
"Wait a second…" Miho said as she picked up her binoculars again. She looked at the Sherman which the 88 mm bounced off from. It didn't look any different from a normal Sherman aside from its full welded front hull armor. But that turret… that gun mantlet… Miho came to a conclusion very quickly as she picked up her radio.
"All units come in!" Miho cried out. "Those are not Shermans! Those are Jumbos!"
"What the hell?!" Kay screamed as she received that. These wasn't in any of their inventory before!
Her gunner fired another round of the 75 mm round from the Sherman. But if Miho was right, there wasn't much point. The frontal armor of the 101 mm thick with the modified armor, and that's without taking sloping into consideration. With the 47 degree sloping, it was a mighty tough 150 mm thick in effectiveness.
The cycle continued as the loader chugged in another 75 mm round. But the interior of the turret was nearly deafening between the firing and the changing situation. She could see her loader's mouth move as she looked towards her, but felt nothing else. Did she seriously screw up the expectations?
"I said, what the hell are we supposed to do now, ma'am?!" Kay's loader screamed louder.
Kay took a deep breath. Whoa there… calm down girl. She mentally processed. "Naomi! Alisa! Move up closer to their position!"
"They've got 76 mm shells raining on us from the mountain sides!" Alisa's voice come in.
"Any moment more we stay here is as another stationary target!" Kay replied through the radio. "You stay here, you're a dead tank!"
"God damn it!" Alisa cried out as her M4A1 (76) W Sherman began moving again. The whole situation was chaotic, but technically it was still winnable.
"Gotta hope Miho's got something up her sleeves…" Kay muttered to herself.
East side of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"Whoop!" Anchovy yelped as her P40 tank came to an abrupt halt as a shell streaked and ricochet off the frontal armor. "Right there! Fire!" The 75 mm cannon of the tank fired, but the M18 had already retreated away from its firing location by the time the gunner got it in its crosshair. "Carpaccio! There's a tank destroyer there! Go get it!"
"Roger that Duce!" Carpaccio said and her Semovente 75/18 followed suit.
The driver of the P40 also wanted to follow…
"No wait, pull back!" Anchovy said too late as the driver went forwards. Soon a loud crack was heard on the left side of her tank before the tank began swerving left. The distinctive sound of the tracks breaking followed.
The P40 swerved and when Anchovy recovered, she could see a fired M18 Hellcat still aiming at them. Taking its time reloading to take out the stationary medium tank.
"Ack! Gunner! Machine gun! Go! Go! Go!" Anchovy stamped out. The P40 fired the Breda 38 machine guns it had towards the M18. Though mostly covered, the crew was still exposed and Anchovy saw them sticking their heads down as far as possible when the bullets started flying.
The M18 fired again, but the streaking shell went too far to the left. The panicked crew had misaligned their 76 mm gun while loading.
"Loaded Duce!" Anchovy heard her loader cry out.
"Fire at that sod!" Anchovy screamed out as the P40 shot the 75 mm cannon. The shell traveled and hit the M18 square on the front hull. The M18 spun around due to its lightweight before settling down with a white flag sitting up.
"Yes!" Anchovy pumped her fist, "first strike!"
The crew did a mini-celebration in the tank. When it died down, Anchovy sent out a rather interesting question.
"Soo… uh, who wants to fix the tracks?"
West side of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
Darjeeling wondered if this was the type of frustration her opponents had to face when they struggled to penetrate through her old Churchill tank. Shots after shots from even the new 17-pounder gun proved rather ineffective against the Jumbo's frontal armor. She's resorted to the limited amount of sabot rounds for the gun, but sometimes even that wasn't a reliable penetration. If that wasn't enough, she saw some of the crew members of the Shermans manning the machine guns. The bullets riddled the tank from top and bottom. Not only was each shot annoying, but the repair prices increase for every damage done, and the .50 caliber rounds can put quite a dent.
The only two tank in Sunflower able to reliably destroy the Jumbos at any range was Nonna's IS-2 and the KV-2. Unfortunately, the two tanks were a tad troublesome to reload.
"Rosehip, hold back," Darjeeling radioed in again as she looked out her cupola and saw Rosehip's Cromwell platoon peeking out again. Keeping Rosehip in line was also a challenge now that she had her old platoon again. What good was a scout if it was dead?
"Roger that Ms. Darjeeling!" Rosehip replied heartily. "There's a M4A3 towards our 3 o'clock!"
"Understood Rosehip, we'll focus fire there," Darjeeling replied. Rosehip's close proximity has helped them find out that not all the tanks were Jumbos, some were regular Shermans that could be knocked out by normal guns like the 85 mm on Pravda's T-34-85s.
The 17-pounder was also quite a good job at that against the regular Shemans. The 17-pounder gave St. Gloriana a very appreciable firepower boost. Though there were still some stuff required to getting used to. "Pekoe, is something wrong?" Darjeeling asked.
"No Ms. Darjeeling," Pekoe responded. "It's the rounds. They're a lot…" She said as she lifted a large shell for the 17-pounder. "...heavier than the old 75…"
"Well, you'll need to get used to it, this is our new tank after all."
"Understood Ms. Darjeeling!" Pekoe said as she gasped for air.
Darjeeling looked out her cupola and looked at the Shermans at the distance. The Shermans were all still firing at them, while Sunflower returned the favor. At a distance of 400 meters, the firing just flashed, impacted, and whizzed as it failed to penetrate.
However, Darjeeling also noted something. Why are they just standing there? The Shermans there were not particularly active, especially the Jumbos. Sure they moved occasionally to shake off targeting, but if they wanted a chance, they should get closer so their 75 or 76 mm guns are more effective. But… They're just standing there…
Center of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"Miporin! They've got one kill over at Jasmine and Sunflower's managing to hold!" Saori relayed the message to Miho.
"That's great!" Miho said. And we haven't lost one tank yet! Well, one damaged... but still in play!
"It's a bit odd though…" Yukari said.
"What do you mean?" Miho asked.
"Well, shouldn't they be more offensive-oriented? The M4 Shermans, even the upgraded ones, were more cavalry-oriented, not like doctrinal heavy tanks. That's why even the heavily armored ones are called 'assault', not 'heavy'. Yet, these guys are just standing far off firing at us…"
"Maybe they just feel more comfortable the farther away they are from us?" Mako called out.
"And even so, the tanks reported on both sides. Four hellcats, eight tanks on left, eight tanks in center. That's only 20 tanks. Where's the rest of them?!"
Miho thought about that. It's true. Only 20 of the enemy tanks have been reported so far.
"Maybe they just forgot to bring them!" Saori said with optimism.
"Doubt it," Hana strictly replied.
"Reserves maybe?" Miho wondered. "But there's no need for reserves even in a Sensha-Dou match… What are they up to?"
"Kay! You getting this?!" Alisa cried out.
"Alisa? What do you want?" Kay replied. "Gunner, fire!"
"Kay, I'm picking up some heavy radio traffic coming down range!"
"Heavy- Are you intercepting transmissions again?!" Kay yelled in.
"N-no! Never!"
"Then how can you tell?" Kay asked.
"It's the receiving! Didn't you notice our transmissions are getting less clear or fast as usual?"
Kay held off a bit before answering. "Now that you mention it… But what does this mean?"
"Well, why would the American Cadet Alliance need more radio traffic than us?!"
"Well, you need radio for a lot of things! Status reports, position checks, attack coordination, information gathering, arti-" Kay stopped. She looked out her cupola at the tanks down range. "No way… they wouldn't… why would they need that?!"
"We ARE sitting ducks!" Alisa cried out. "We have to get out of here!"
How can they change so quickly?!
West side of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
The IS-2 fired again, but the 122 mm unfortunately failed to penetrate the Jumbo as it angled sideways. They have already fired 10 rounds, meaning about 18 more shots to go.
"Damn!" Katyusha said as she watched the shots fly. "I want to see that thing go up!"
"Apologies Katyusha," Nonna said nonchalantly.
"Grr…" Katyusha gritted as she looked at the battlefield with her binoculars. The Jumbos were standing off far and with only partially exposing their front armor and turret, using the dunes to cover up the rest. It was a rather annoying play style, Katyusha wanted to charge! But maybe it was all a trap to make them move closer. Katyusha would hate to fall into traps, she wanted to make them instead!
KV-tan was also having bad luck, it suffered almost a fifty shots so far to the turret. They all bounced, but the crew inside were all miserable from the concussions. Not to mention loading the 88 pound shells and casings was not an easy job to do even on the firing range.
"What are we going to do now?" Katyusha radioed in.
"Keep calm and carry on," Darjeeling said back.
"Okay, stay put and die then…" Katyusha said.
"All units, all units! This is HQ!" Katyusha heard her old rival's voice cry through the radio, which she listened in. "Be advised! The enemy team has…"
That was all Katyusha heard before everything around her went deafening loud.
I'm back! Thanksgiving break was fun!
Finally, some action eh? This chapter actually took up some work as I had to research Mojave a bit. The result? Turns out I know next to nothing of SoCal whilst living in NorCal. Shame too, because I've been to the Mojave before and messed up a good bit of detail when I did my first draft of this. Enough of geographies.
I'm honestly glad we're back to some tank action. It's fun to write about combat situations than the other plot, even if I know the other plot is going to be the driving force of the rest of the story. But that's for another time. I think the worst part about writing stories like this is the same thing in warfare: Logistics. How does X get Y to this point? How can I make that make sense? How can I explain it without breaching three different regulations in transportation firms of Z country? You get the gist. Just another fun thing to write about I suppose.
Also some bad news. I'm sure you would understand though. COLLEGE FINALS. They're next week, so no updates next week! I'll use the extra time to make sure things go right in the future story!
Thanks for all the support, especially those who've been with me since the start! If you want to see what happened to poor Katyusha, feel free to Follow and Favorite the story! What sort of slapstick humor will I go through with these boys and girls next?! FIND OUT NEXT TIME (DBZ tune out).
*Edit:* Agh, I messed up on Cadet rankings (no officers apparently). Fixed.