Girls Und Panzer: World Tournament
Chapter 11: Wrecked!
Carius Academy - Germany
"Heh, take a look at this Hans," Kraus said in his native language as sat in the lounging area of his Carius Academy Tankery head office, sipping coffee while watching the television set..
"She's as unpredictable as they say, huh?" Wittman replied in German as well, sitting alongside Kraus as he slowly twirled his personal League-approved sidearm in his right hand, circling it around as he balanced the piece's weight distribution with the flow.
"Hmm... yes, perhaps it was a good idea to take a look at her matches."
"I wouldn't want to fight her blindly," Wittman said. "If we can't predict her movements, the old doctrine wouldn't work at all."
"And that is why you drafted the new one," Kraus said. "But, you didn't do it specifically for this fight against Miho Nishizumi, did you?"
Wittman puts away his sidearm, a Single Action Army, back into his right belt holster. "Most countries have two doctrines of armored warfare, shaped by experiences and logistics. Most of these secondary doctrines had faded away in history once certain types became mainstream, but those that remember them are still around," Wittman said, engrossed into the conversation.
"Working for the contribution of Carius Academy? How noble of you." Kraus praised Wittman, though he did not react to these words.
"Always want to be flexible for scenarios like this," Wittman said. "Ms. Nishizumi is an unknown factor to this exhibition, so everyone's trying something to counter it now. Like America, it seemed your old friend Marshall is trying out the old, repressed artillery-focused armored warfare."
"It never did catch on," Kraus said. "Too immobile, allowed forces such as ours to easily gain the advantage by denying the artillery a chance to engage properly. That's why the U.S. had always focused on the old 'Iron Side' doctrine of the armored divisions of World War II. Then again, the old doctrine never called for usage of a siege gun like that Long Tom."
"Yes," Wittman said. "It was a surprise what the Americans brought up with the brief time the new rules were set up."
"Well Wittman," Kraus said. "Perhaps Miss 'Legend' here might make an impression this World Tournament, but its a shame you won't have to use your doctrine on her."
"Why's that?" Wittmann asked.
"Because she's not going to make it this far." Kraus insisted, "There's no way she'll be able to touch anywhere near the prestigious Carius Academy. If the Russians have a hard time themselves with us, certainly she has nothing close to our caliber in that department."
He got up from the sofa, "Ms. Nishizumi and her little band of… misfits. They'll be only a small blip to the impact of this world. Carius Academy will continue to prosper beyond her, and will continue to do so since its inception!"
"And if she… does make it this far?" Wittmann inquired once more.
Kraus glanced at Wittmann again, "Do not jest with such things Wittmann, we should concentrate our efforts against those Russians. They'll be more than enough a contest to deal with."
"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant," Wittman replied, right before he looked outside the window towards the harbor.
East Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
SGT Maurice Montana's platoon, or what's left of it, was not in a good position. With only two hellcats left in his side, his firepower is greatly diminished if the Japanese decided to strike head-on.
No reinforcements were coming either, everyone was too preoccupied with the other sectors. Two Hellcats covering against a large tank group. All they had was cover and stealth to use against the enemy. So there they were, hiding in the foliages, waiting for an unfortunate prey to show up.
So how bad could it be that a Japanese tank just shows up out of the blue zooming past their sector with no regards to their surrounding?
The Type 89 came out of nowhere, zooming past Maruice's Hellcat. He was startled by the sudden appearance and the cloud of dust following as it zoomed past. Coughing his lungs out of the dust, he ordered, "Gunner! Tank! 10 o'clock from turret front!"
"Roger!" The gunner screamed out. The M18 turned its turret towards the Type 89's movement, on its way towards some rocks. But then Maurice made out another engine noise, he looked back in front of the tank destroyer and saw another tank, a classic M3 Lee showed up.
"Oh shit! Another tank!" Maurice warned the crew.
"What? Where?!" The gunner broke his traversing to the new predicament.
The M3 Lee slowed down and Maurice could see the turret on top turning, a girl looking out of the cupola. She looked towards their direction. Soon she looked as if she was shouting in her tank. The small turret on the M3 Lee was now turning…
"Gunner! Prioritize that M3!" Maurice had to yell again. The gunner was now absolutely perplexed about this. Aim at this? Or aim at that?! Had he had the time, it would be easily to sort out, but the M3 Lee's presence caused a small panic status. Maurice then heard another engine, behind them. He looked back and saw a StuG III that managed to sneak up on them.
"Clever girls…"
Two simultaneous shots by a 37 mm by Rabbit in the front and a whopping 75 on the rear by Hippo rocked the M18 violently. Caesar watched the crew commander in his cupola ring get knocked around with the two impacts. When it became still again, a white flag rose from the hull. Caesar had the StuG III pull up next to the downed M18.
"You alright?" Caesar asked the dazed American commander.
"Errgh…" the commander shrugged off the impact, "Yeah, thanks…"
"Alright, if you don't mind, we're going to get your other hellcat," Caesar said bluntly.
"Yeah sure, go, I can't do a damn thing to stop you now anyways." He said as he concedes defeat.
"Okay, well, you take care!" Caesar said as the StuG III picked up momentum past the Hellcat. "Weird guy."
Hippo team's StuG III met back up with Rabbit team's M3 Lee, Caesar giving Azusa a thumbs up as they passed each other. The tanks moved along, looking for the last concealed Hellcat in their area.
West Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
Rosehip's Cromwell platoon found the M24 Chaffee ordering the artillery in hiding all the way near the mountain center. It's camouflage made it blend in the surrounding very nicely from a distance, but when it saw Rosehip's Cromwells coming, they started moving, exposing themselves to the 75 mm fire on the Cromwells. The short chase ended with the M24 Chaffee crashing after taking a shot to the engine by a Cromwell 75 mm, but Cranberry's Cromwell was knocked out by a shot from the Chaffee.
"Ms. Darjeeling!" Rosehip radioed in. "We've managed to subdue the enemy light tank! That artillery should be less coordinated now!"
"That's good Rosehip," Darjeeling replied, "But I do not think it will change our situation by much."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Rosehip asked.
"We are being besieged by a large caliber field gun quite a distance from us. It is powerful enough to eliminate the rest of the heavy tanks but me."
"What can I do about that Ms. Darjeeling?!" Rosehip requested for orders.
"Rosehip…" Darjeeling said, "Are you prepared to run wild?"
"Huh?"
"You may remove the engine governors," Darjeeling stated.
"Whoa whoa whoa," Rosehip said, showing restraint, "why would I need that much power?"
"Harass the artillery group behind enemy lines. You'll need your speed to by pass the Shermans in front and avoid being hit by those guns."
Rosehip thought about this tall order. It was almost a suicide mission, but if it works… "Roger that Ms. Darjeeling!" Rosehip replied over the radio, "Out!"
She then turned to her crew, "All right girls! The kid's gloves are off!"
Center Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
Anglerfish fires another shot, taking out another M4 Sherman on the mountain road on the west side. The remaining two Shermans on the east mountain road reprioritize their threat and the turret swayed toward the distance. Nishi saw this and decided that now was Chi-Ha-Tan's chance to take the initiative.
"All tanks!" Nishi said on her radio. "Push up closer to those Shermans! Go! Go! Go!"
The two Type 97's and the lone 95's moved out of their areas and were pushing forwards to where the Shermans were covering. Firing their cannons, the tanks forced the Shermans to take notice of the approaching Japanese tanks.
"Fire!" Nishi yelled and the 57 mm cannon on her Type 97 fired. The 57 mm cannon had no chance at penetrating the Sherman anywhere except point blank at its side, but that wasn't the point of the attack. The Shermans now diverted to the threats in front of them. The guns laid on them a moment as they figure out if these tanks were as suicidal as their World War II counterparts. The distraction was all it needed to keep the Shermans from comfortably targeting Anglerfish's tank.
The second Sherman, across the mountain away from Nishi, was not as deterred. It smashed the Type 97 in the same road as it with a 75 mm shell straight at the front. Once done, it traversed the turret towards Nishi's direction.
"Gunner! Fire at that tank!" Nishi cried out. The 57 mm fired and bounced off the side armor of the Sherman across the mountain. The Sherman simply aimed and fired a round at Nishi's Type 97.
Nishi had her tank crash about as the round impacted the armor. When the shaking and swirling stop and the Type 97 came to a complete halt, her tank was done. Looking again at the Sherman, she noted it was smoking as well, a white flag on the turret.
She smiled. "It's all up to you now Miho."
"Side lines broken through! We need to push!" Kay heard Alisa through the comms.
"Alright! We're back in business!" Kay shouted gleefully. Finally, Dandelion is making some grounds. "Alisa! Naomi! Let's go!"
"Roger!" Their replies were as the Sherman trio began advancing. Their front hull were angled a bit to the side to avoid bounce any rounds coming at them, so they moved up the center area in a zig-zag pattern. The Jumbos fired back.
Naomi gets to the side and aims the 17-pounder in her Firefly. Scanning the four Jumbos there, she spotted one with a 76 mm cannon instead of the 75. She aimed specifically at the gun mantlet of that Jumbo. The mantlet presented a shot trap similar to that of Panthers, a small piece folding inwards that had a ricochet angle straight into the hull roof. Naomi spotted it with the optics of her 17-pounder, hand steadily on the trigger.
A shot came and rocked the Sherman Firefly. Naomi was knocked back a bit, but refocused her sights on the Jumbo as she jolts back into firing position. She fired the 17-pounder, the crack of the cannon recoiled back the tiny turret meant to hold the 75 mm gun, the tank rocked as it fired. Naomi witnessed the round hitting straight where she wanted and saw the tracer take a quick trip downwards after the impact. The Jumbo shuddered as it was affected, before a white flag came up signaling a clean kill.
Naomi breathe out her tension.
"C-Commander!" The driver of the Firefly said.
"What?" Naomi replied.
"T-The track's broke!"
It must've been from that Sherman shot earlier… Naomi thought. She contemplated on leaving the tank to fix it, but the machine gun bullets ricocheting off the front hull made her think otherwise.
"Kay, the Firefly's immobilized, you're going to have to go forwards on your own," Naomi said into the radio.
"Roger! See if you can support us from the rear!" Kay replied.
Firing and explosion continued to rage outside the Firefly as Naomi tried to service the next target from their position.
West Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
Six tanks against three is rather unfair to Katyusha.
"All's fair in love and war," Darjeeling said when Katyusha ranted about that.
"Damnit Darjeeling! Now isn't the time!" Katyusha cried out into her radio. The three tanks, two T-34-85s and the Black Prince, were isolated in the desert from the six tanks that were approaching. One of them was the flag tank, sure, but on the other side of the dune was also that scary cannon. It won't do them any good if another tank was knocked out.
Now, the remaining Shermans were approaching them, slowly inching up, popping up and firing, then retreating once the remnants of Sunflower pinpointed where it came from. To make matters worse, artillery was raining down still. Not accurately, but it was getting closer and closer as the opposing Shermans were getting braver and braver.
"Grrr, We're going to need some extra help here!" Katyusha yelled out.
Rosehip's and Vanilla's Cromwells were practically zipping across the West desert terrain. The new meteor engine of the Cromwells was superior to the Nuffield Liberty engines of her older Crusader cruiser tanks. The Liberty engine only pumped out 340 horsepower, giving the Crusader a horsepower-to-ton ratio of 17 hp/ton. The meteor engine gave out an impressive 600 horsepower, giving the heavier Cromwell a more impressive power ratio of 21 hp/ton. The Cromwell, deemed one of Britain's fastest World War II tanks, zoomed across the desert towards the South. Rosehip had a target in mind, and she would damage it even if it would end with her and her comrade's Cromwell beaten.
In a distance, she could see it. Six low vehicles with guns pointing towards the sky. They looked like miniature Karl-Gerät artillery vehicles. Very small miniatures.
"Ready to wreck havoc Vanilla?!" Rosehip radioed in her fellow tanker.
"Right Rosehip!" Vanilla called in.
"Forwards!" Rosehip ordered. The two Cromwells up against six surprised artillery vehicles. Rosehip could see the boys and girls crewing the vehicles started reacting. Coming up closer, she recognized the vehicles as M7's, though she first thought they were Sextons.
Suddenly, a large tracer shot to Rosehip's right. A fantastic crash of an impact sounded as Rosehip turned her head. She could see Vanilla's Cromwell spin like a top as the round impacted the tank at an angle. The tracks tore from the suspension as the friction with the sand ripped them apart. A familiar echo roared from Rosehip's front as she saw this.
Rosehip didn't bother to check if a white flag came up or not, she continued the charge, only to see the M7 have started orienting their guns towards her direction.
"Fire! Take at least one!" Rosehip shouted to her gunner. The gunner fired the 75 mm cannon on the Cromwell. Watching the shell miss, the gunner switched over to the Cromwell's Besa machine gun, firing towards the vehicles as the loaders took up the next shell. The exposed crew of the M7 Priests all ducked when they saw the machine gun firing. "C'mon! Get one!" Rosehip cried out, "Everyone's counting on us!"
Then a large shock wave hit her Cromwell's front.
Darjeeling heard the sound report of the 155 mm. "Katyusha, now would be our chance while they reload," She said over the radio.
"Roger that!" Katyusha said, acknowledging the sound as well. "Klara, let's go!"
"Roger!"
The two T-34-85's rushed the M4 Shermans on the right side of the dune they were hiding behind. After their constant pestering of the trio, the Shermans didn't expect the two T-34-85's to all of a sudden pop out and blow a Sherman away.
Darjeeling made her move on the left, slowly moving the Black Prince around. The M4A3E8 popping out suddenly saw the Black Prince and pulled back quickly. Darjeeling's tank could only crawl out as the Shermans took aim. Shots could be felt on the bottom of her tank, the Shermans attempting to fire at the belly armor when it crested the ridge, but to no avail as the Black Prince made it and fired at the Shermans.
It was an all-or-nothing attack. The 155 mm reloads take roughly a minute. The Black Prince took almost that long to get across the dune into another depression, hopefully out of that gun's sights.
"This is Rosehip!" Darjeeling heard her over-excited junior say, "We're done for! Negligible damage on the enemy!"
"You did enough," Darjeeling responded calmly. The fired gun allowed the remnants of Sunflower to conduct a limited counterattack. Miho, you better think of something quick.
East Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
Nekoya was helping Rabbit and Hippo look for the last remaining Hellcat. Turtle and the rest of Anzio have finally caught up behind the trio. Continuation's BT-42, however, could not be found anywhere they went. A worrisome problem.
"Anteater! Do you see anything yet?" Hippo called out to Anteater.
"No… It's hard to see anything around here. Looks like a bunch of sand and cactuses…" Nekoya responded.
"Maybe it's got a high camo index?" Momonga replied.
"It's not a video game…" Piyotan said as she continued to scan the terrain through her gun's sights.
"Hmm…" Nekoya said, briefly adjusting her glasses and looked out her cupola's vision ports. "Maybe stealth camouflage?"
"That doesn't exist yet!"
As Piyotan said this, a shot was sounded at a distance. Nekoya looked forward and saw Duck Team's Type 89 scrambling back to their position. Machine gun bullet tracers were streaking behind them.
"They're over there!" Rabbit team cried out as Nekoya saw the M3 Lee's turret on top angled towards the other corner of the rock formation the Type 89 came from. "Hippo, Turtle! Go around and see if you can take them from behind! We'll try to keep their attention here!"
"Got it!" Erwin said.
"Roger!" Anzu replied.
"Anteater! Duck! Follow me!"
"Roger," Nekoya replied. The StuG III drove off towards the right area while Rabbit went left. Anteater's Type 3 followed them with the Duck's Type 89 right behind them.
As they follow down a path, a shot was heard from the other side of the rocks they were behind. A crash was heard and the crackling of metal followed. A series of gun fire continued on the other side, something Nekoya couldn't see. As Rabbit team cleared the corner of their cover, the M3 Lee fired its 37 towards the right. After the firing, the M3 Lee dashed across the open area towards the next cover.
Anteater edged their Type 3 out a bit and a shell impacted the rock nearby, sending rock shrapnels around the tank. Nekoya tried to see where the Hellcat was, but the vision ports didn't give her adequate vision.
"This is Turtle," the student council president was heard, "Hippo and I were knocked out by that Hellcat… Sorry!" Anzu finished.
"So it's us three against a tank destroyer…" Nekoya mentioned.
"Don't be reckless!" Azusa cried out. "Let's try to bait it out!"
"Alright, let's go!" Noriko shouted out. The Type 89's engine revved up.
"Huh?" Nekoya looked and saw the Type 89 suddenly run out into the area the M18 is suspected to be in.
"No! That's not what I meant!" Azusa frantically shouted.
"Too late!" Noriko replied. As she did, a shell fired, barely missing the Type 89 as it zipped by. As machine gun fire followed, aimed towards the Type 89, Anteater took this chance and poked out the tank more into the open looking for the source of fire.
"I see it!" Nekoya shouted to her crew. "Our 2 o'clock, Piyotan! In that bush!"
"Got it!" Piyotan said as she engaged the power traverse to the right. She pointed the gun towards an unusual clump of foliage next to a large rock formation. The object spewed up dust as it began moving away from the line of sight. "Firing!"
The 75 mm of the Type 3 fired out. Impacting squarely onto a rock formation next to the M18. It retreated safely for a moment, but then popped out, gun facing Anteater.
"Oh no!" Nekonya reacted as she saw the vehicle, but then a shot hit the the rear of the M18. A large cloud of smoke puffed with the small explosion, the commander and crew of the M18 jolted around their open crew compartment. The M18 was pushed forwards and slightly to the right with the force before coming to a halt with a white flag sticking up.
Behind the downed M18, Nekonya sees a familiar white colored tank.
"Mika!" Azusa shouted out in her radio when she saw the missing tank. "Where have you been?!"
"I lost the way."
Rabbit team paused before sending a radio transmission. "HQ, this is Rabbit. All targets on the east are taken out!" Azusa said.
"Roger that! Continue the advance!" Miho replied.
West Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"What do you mean Pete Company has been decimated?!" Daniel said into his radio.
"We're losing tanks on all grounds commander," Isabelle said through the radio. "All we've got now are two in Donald and three in Chip. Minnie and Mickey are the only ones without losses, but one of my units suffered some injuries."
"Damn it!" Daniel said, hammering fist down on the turret side. Ethan looked back at his commander.
He's usually not this fired up… Ethan thought on Daniel's attitude now. Normally, he'd take this thing cooly…
Daniel sighed. "All units, fall back and consolidate positions with Minnie. We have to hold them back."
"Roger that!" The replies came in.
"Hill, reverse!"
Center Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"They're falling back!" Alisa cried out in her radio to Kay.
"Excellent! Don't let them rest! Go!" Kay ordered. A retreating defender is in a more open state than an immobile one.
"Alright! Driver! Go forwards!" Alisa ordered as her M4A1 (76) W moved forwards. There were only two Shermans on the ground now with Naomi's Firefly in repairs, but the Panzer IV on the mountain road would help put pressure against the three Jumbos ahead. There was also one more Type 97 up top, but there wasn't much they could do.
The Jumbos were still reversing slowly. The Panzer IV was a distance behind along with the Tiger (P). The two Saunder Shermans were in the forefront of the combat zone in the center area. Until the rest of Dandelion catches up, they have to put pressure onto the enemy!
"Go!" Alisa said as 75 mm cannon fire came towards them. The Jumbos couldn't afford any tanks flanking them now. As Alisa and Kay tried going past the position they once held.
That was when they became consumed by the artillery fire.
South Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"Final Protective Fire" was ordered moments ago by Chip. The two M7 Priest group in Minnie were busy at work unloading the payloads onto the designated grid zone. The situation must be deteriorating for us if they can send tanks as far enough to get us… Benningham thought about the Cromwells that approached earlier. One was taken out courtesy of a 155 mm cannon, the other was taken out with a HEAT round from one of the 105 mm carriages. It was a HEAT round in name only though, it was schematically an AP round with a "HEAT" label on it for Tankery purposes, safety purposes.
Benningham winced in pain as he gripped his right shoulder. Some of the crew in Benningham's group were injured when that Cromwell group of the opposing team started firing their machine guns. The rubber bullets riddled some of the exposed crew, even Benningham, but he only took one to the shoulder while some got four or five shots to their torso. Though lowering the vehicle's overall efficiency, the Priest continued pumping out shells to their target. All six delivered all they could onto one location.
The west was still under constant bombardment by the M40 carriage. What worried Benningham was what happened on the east with Pete destroyed. He wanted to order the other group to focus their guns there against incoming tanks, but they had orders and it must be carried out.
"Keep it up! We have to cover their retreat!" Benningham shouted to his crew. Fire after fire, the 105 didn't let up. He wouldn't stop it until he got the order to cease.
Center Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"Poor Saunders…" Saori said as she looked down the center road. The mass of artillery barrage at the one area Saunders were in didn't leave them in good shape. Both Shermans were white-flagged and heavily damaged.
With nothing now in their front to shoot at, the Jumbos had focused on the tanks on the mountain road. Miho's Panzer IV took cover as the 75 mm fire on them concentrated. The Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha on the other side was not taken into consideration at all, which the commander found insulting.
"Both teams are heavily damaged Nishizumi-dono," Yukari said. "This might be the decisive moment!"
"Right!" Miho agreed. It was now 13 to 14, rounding it down that is.
Then the 155 mm cannon fired again, noticeably by the echo it made down the mountain range. At first, Miho thought the shell may have been heading down to the Tiger Porsche, but noted that if it did, the Tiger would've been knocked out before she heard the sound.
"Black Prince is down!" Katyusha radioed in.
12 to 14 now… Miho corrected.
"Hey Miho," Hana called.
"What?"
"There are lots of open spaces looking at the western side from this mountain road…" Hana pointed out.
Miho looked. There were indeed many areas on the road they were on overlooking the western side of the map. There were also many peaks that provided them the cover that they've had from the west side the whole time.
"If the flag tank is on the west side, maybe I can get a vantage point from here towards them." Hana said.
Miho looked at it, 75 mm shells missing the tank as she did. She then looked at the field map provided. "Yes, but it will only be at a certain angle…"
"It's worth a shot I think!" Saori said. "If we take out the flag tank! We can win!"
"We've lost many of our heavy hitters," Yukari pointed out. "The toughest vehicle we have right now is the Porsche Tiger..."
Miho thought about it. A fast way to end the match? Sounds like an effort worth taking. "Okay, we'll go forward a bit and see if we can see the opposing side from here. If we can, we'll go ahead and target them specifically."
"Okay!"
East Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
The seven tanks of Jasmine charged forwards, stopping when they saw in front of them was an open desert area with no cover standing between the artillery position and the rocky terrain of the east. Azusa was well aware of the artillery force, the 155 mm gun could make mincemeat of any of their tanks, plus the other six vehicles they have were capable of direct fire so they were still a threat.
Should they just go out regardless with the intent of taking out as many as they could? Sounded more suicidal than the Hellcat encounter.
Some scouting needs to be done.
"Pepperoni!"
"Yeah?!"
"Can you scout ahead and see what's up?!"
"Will do!" Pepperoni replied as her tankette then sped out of cover into the field, trying to get to the next dune depression for cover. As she did, Azusa sees shell impacts explode in the path zone of the tankette.
The L3 made it safely behind a dune cover. Azusa looked up from her cupola with binoculars. In a distance, she could see the artillery vehicles. They were pointed towards her direction. Seems like they didn't like what Mika did to their friends.
"It's like we'll all be decimated if we go out there!" Aya said inside the M3.
"You're right, it's too open from here on out. Continuation was only able to get here because no one thought they'd be here."
"So now what?"
"We can't just leave Pepperoni out there!" Yuuki called out.'
Azusa thought over the situation. What would Miho do?
West Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
The match was starting to turn against the cadets, but it wasn't over yet. Not by a large margin.
The loss of the eastern side was not too serious considering the vehicle composition of the enemy team there. On the west, the 155 mm provided them enough cover on one side, the T-34-85's can't pop out without the risk of being nailed. The remains of Chip can hold their line in the center with three Jumbos against a Tiger, Panzer IV, and a pitiful Type 97.
"Isabelle!" Daniel shouted in his radio.
"Yes commander?!" Isabelle replied.
"Focus fire on the east region now," He said, "we can take it from here."
"Affirmative!"
Daniel looked at the situation in front of him. He's got five tanks on the left side, all Shermans, but the enemy only has two T-34-85s here. He'll take down the two T-34s here, move on to assist the east side, then finally eliminate the opposition at the center.
A gamble, he grinned at the prospect. It excited him, gave him the thrills of combat, the possibility of a complete turn around that can lead his team to victory.
He found that prospect three years ago during Patton high school when his commander left his company for dead in the nationals. The odds against him, he turned the whole situation around and snatched victory and credit for himself, shaming his commander for such a sacrificial tactic and rising in the ranks.
But he had always envisioned doing that again, a total turn around in a bad situation makes for good drama. It looks like he just might against not only any tank school, but from 'The Legend'. It was all very exciting to him.
"Mickies and Donald," he ordered in his radio. "Final countdown. Let's take care of those T-34s."
West Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"Mihosha! They're coming for us!" Katyusha cried into his radio.
"Where?" Miho voice came back.
"On the west side damn it!" Katyusha pointed out the obvious.
"Do you have grid coordinates?"
"I don't have the time!" Katyusha cried out as the gunner fired the 85 mm gun.
"Ah!" Miho seemed surprised.
"What?!"
"No-nothing! I'll assist right away!"
"Wait, how?!" Katyusha cried out, but another Sherman popped up in front of her while the gun was reloading. The 76 mm taking aim. "Oh come on!"
The 76 mm vibrated the entire T-34-85 violently. A white flag popped up and the Sherman moved on to the last remaining T-34-85.
East Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"I'm out!" Azusa heard Katyusha's voice cry out as her T-34-85 was hit.
"We've got to do something fast Azusa!" Yuuki said.
"Wait…" Azusa looked at the situation. Large open space with no cover, that would mean they need some concealment so they don't get instantly targeted as they move. A form of concealment… "Ayumi!"
"Yeah?!"
"Did we have any of those special shells we were given earlier this week?!"
"Umm…" Ayumi checked the 75 mm shell stowage. "Da da da… Ah! Here's one! We've got a few!"
"Load them!"
"A moment!" Ayumi cried out as clattering of shells happened in the tank.
"Oh I see!" Aya cried out.
"So we can all move together!" Karina said.
"Loaded!" Ayumi cried out.
"Hit the ground between us and them!" Azusa said. She then took the radio, "All Jasmine, wait for my command! Move out there and find some cover!"
"Whoa whoa wait! What?! There's nothing out there!" Anchovy called in.
"Trust me!" Azusa said. "Ayumi, fire!"
Ayumi fired the 75 mm M2 gun on the M3 Lee's sponson. The shell went out flying a distance past Pepperoni's position with the L3/33 and impacting the ground. The moment it did, white phosphorus content in the shell burst, exposing phosphorus to the oxygen in the air, forming diphosphorus pentaoxide, which then reacts with the moisture in the air and holds the water molecules, growing larger and larger to form the disruption in the air as smoke.
"Go!" Azusa cried out as the M3 Lee started moving. Anchovy, Carpaccio, the Type 89, BT-42, and Type 3 followed.
South Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"Sarge! Smoke!" Henderson called out what he saw to Isabelle. She looked at the emitting smoke in the distance.
"Damnit!" Isabelle shouted. "We can't waste ammo at targets we can't see." She got onto the radio. "All Minnie, this is Minnie 1, focus fire into that smoke. High-explosives! Dispel that cloud"
"Roger that!" The orders came in.
"Aimer, get ready for when they arrive. I want them suppressed until Mickey gets here!"
"Roger that sarge!" Henderson cried out, keeping his eye through the vehicle's scope.
Center Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
75 mm shells landed nearby as Hana adjusted the Panzer IV's sights to the west. The shells landing closer by each impact.
"C'mon… hurry!" Saori said nervously. The Panzer IV's front armor may be enough to resist the 75 mm shell, but if one hit the turret side…
"Hana, can you get it?" Miho asked calmly.
"I think I see them," Hana said as she viewed through her scope. The T-34-85's gun sound report was distinctive enough for them to identify their location. Now they just have to look at the relative direction and hope the target appears.
Anglerfish parked the Panzer IV in a rather exposed area. The mountain road area they are at now is not particularly surrounded by the rock formations covering them. The Jumbos could see them and were trying to hammer them. If they really wanted to, artillery strikes could hit the place as well. However, it was one of the few places they've come across giving them a good view of the whole desert area on the west.
"I see Klara…" Hana stated. The lone T-34-85 was now against the incoming M4 Shermans of the American cadets. But only one of the bunch is the flag tank, and Hana would have one chance to get them before they are aware of what is happening.
Another 75 mm shrieked in the air and impacted the rock. Their aim were getting better.
Then a distinctive firing noise down in the mountain road occurred, an 88 mm cannon. The sound of the shell scrunching and not affecting the front armor of the Jumbo followed.
"We'll cover you the best we can! Take your time with the aiming!" Leopon team said as they advanced closer to the Jumbos. The Jumbos seemed to have taken attention as the 75 mm shells close to the Panzer IV slowed down as two of the Jumbos diverted their turrets towards the approaching Tiger.
The Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha, the last survivor of Chi-Ha-Tan, was also giving all its got. In a moment of insanity, the Type 97 charged down the mountain road, down the rocky steep-sloped cliff, down to the Jumbos below. The Jumbo commanders barely registered until it crashed down to the ground, still in good shape. The side hull armor was tough enough to withstand the 47 mm of this Chi-Ha, but the lower side hull where the suspension bogies are were never uparmored…
At point-blank range, the Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha sent a 47 mm shell into that weaker side armor. The Jumbo it hit sputtered smoke and then a white flag, the remaining Jumbo taking its attention on the Panzer IV swerved its turret to engage the small tank.
As the tight combat occurred, Hana kept looking at the Shermans for the right target. Like a sniper stalking their high-valued target, Hana was determined to make sure her one shot will lead to one kill.
South-East Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"Fire!" Azusa shouted again as Ayumi fired another 75 mm smoke shell in the distance. As they made concealment, Jasmine team closed the distance with the artillery, they will take the range advantage that big gun away and bombard them in closer ranges.
The white phosphorus smoke was quite arid, not like the smoke generators they used during the nationals. When the M3 Lee drove through the first smoke screen, the smoke stung her lungs and eyes. Coughing out the irritant, she made a mental note to tell Miho Nishizumi about the shell's side effect. None of the movies she watched had the heros be affected by the smoke so she was very surprised at this untold detail. When they cleared the smoke, Azusa felt the air come back cleanly and clearly.
"*cough* Uh, Azusa, maybe we should fire the smoke as cover and just go around it next time…" Yuuki told Azusa a while ago after passing through the first one.
"Yeah… *cough* I agree." Azusa replied. The second smoke shell was fired on the distance, far enough that Jasmine wouldn't cross it soon and still provide adequate concealment.
Then an artillery barrage started coming in. The shells landed around the area the first smoke shell was placed, but Jasmine was long past there. Ausa looked back at the barrage area and noticed the explosion blowing away the smoke created by the shell, also like the time in the nationals when Kuromorimine fired high-explosives into their smoke screen when they climbed the hill.
As they moved in, they were now only about 500 meters away from the artillery vehicles. At this distance, they can engage them adequately.
"Engage those targets!" Azusa radioed in to Jasmine.
"Alright! Let's go!" Anchovy said as the Anzio trio vehicles started moving towards their desired areas. The P40 maneuvered around the dune, finding an advantageous position as the smoke still hid them. The BT-42 started off towards the left behind the dunes.
"Got target!" Aya shouted from inside the 37 mm turret.
"Me too!" Ayumi shouted with her 75 mm cannon.
"Fire!" Azusa shouted.
South Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
The collapsing defense line in the east side had been in the worry of the artillery crew. Benningham's platoon was sent to focus direct-fire on the east. The 105 mm, settled down to facing forward, fired upon the vehicles incoming. They only had to hold them off until the captain finished their business on the west and then reinforce them. Plus, they still had a 155 mm cannon overlooking the area, as long as the Shermans and the "Long Tom" was still alive, the cadets still have a chance.
"Fire when ready!" Benningham said as the gunner aimed the gun down range. The 105 mm emitted a loud BANG with every shot. The breech operator and loader were hard at work supplying enough ammo to keep the other end saturated with fire.
Suddenly, the vehicle to his left had a large explosion happen outside their vehicle with a loud KRABOOM. The personnel in the M7 Priest were jolted around or outright thrown off the vehicle with the explosion.
A catastrophic failure? Benningham first thought, but soon the same type of explosion occurred on his own Priest. The explosion rattled everything. Benningham himself was thrown from the blasted Priest and found himself a few feet away from it, his crew also shaken about, some were crying out in pain.
"Wha- damnit! A flanker!?" Benningham deduced. He tried to get up, but one of his arms felt limp and he fell down, in pain. He looked up and saw the two Priest hit by this mysterious assailant were now flagged, and it wouldn't be long before the rest of the company was wiped out.
Aki loaded the propellant charge of the 4.5-inch howitzer in the BT-42. The 114 mm howitzer had fired two rounds towards the American's artillery group. Two had been hit and are out of the match. The other four were frantically searching the enemy who had done this to their fellow cadets.
Mika, with no change in her usual demeanor, ordered, "Fire again!" as Aki fired the howitzer at the next target, the BT-42 on top of a dune far towards the south from where the rest of Jasmine were. Downrange, the last of the Priest group got shaken about as the howitzer's high-explosive round impacted the side of the hull. Aki saw the crew being thrown about from the explosion, some of them attempting to regroup at the downed vehicles. it was discomforting seeing the crews being affected by the shots like that. Aki thought maybe the others would have second thoughts, but no one seemed to object. Was she the only one seeing this?
"Jasmine, this is Mika," Mika said in her radio. "We've dealt with the artillery group aiming their guns at you. Proceed."
"Alright! Thanks! All tanks, let's go!" Anchovy's voice came back. Mika just smiled as in the distance, she saw Jasmine starting to move up.
Mika returned her focus to the battered south group of the cadets. A large vehicle was moving behind the dunes. The long protrusion made Mika decide they shouldn't stay there for long. "Mikko! Forward down the dune!"
"Right!" Mikko said as the BT-42 went down, seemingly surfing alongside the dune slope.
Aki huffed a breath of relief. Open-topped SPGs huh? She thought, glad that Continuation currently did not own any of that sort of equipment.
West Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
"Commander, the east side is about to fold!" Isabelle said into the radio.
Hill swerved the M4A3E8 down the dune as Ethan looked through the 76 mm optics at the lone T-34-85 remaining. Another Sherman had crossed the other dune and the T-34-85 took notice of that instead, letting Hatin' Love cross over and take aim of the enemy tank. While the Sherman slood down the dune, Ethan pressed his foot down on the pedal for the gun, firing the 76 mm into the back turret of the T-34-85, knocking it out.
"Copy that Isabelle, we're on our way," Daniel radioed in while looking out the cupola. "West side is secured."
Now all that's left was the center and east. "Hill, turn right."
The Sherman started turning towards the south side of the map again. East side is mostly filled with inferior tanks, they had a tankette for heaven's sakes, as soon as the Shermans arrive, they could withstand all of their shells and annihilate them from the distance.
He saw the loving 155 mm fire its payload again from the distance before he heard the noise. He thought of the poor bastard who was on the other end of that thing. Daniel thought about the situation. Mickey, still consisting of its original three tanks, will head back and reinforce the the area with the Jumbos and artillery. If they could consolidate their position, they still had a chance to win. He looked at the distance with his binoculars.
A large kinetic crash blasted the right side of his turret. He was jolted towards the left, slamming his body onto the Sherman turret top. The cupola swung around with the force and came down on him, crushing him under its weight.
Then the tank started tilting…
Center Area of the Mojave Staging Area - California, U.S.A.
Hana exhaled as she saw the round travel the distance to the group of Shermans that showed itself to her, starting to turn right in an attempt to head back. She saw one of them, one farthest from the rest, with the flag. Following it for a few seconds, adjusting for speed, distance, and wind, she determined the shot was valid.
The 75 mm shell traveled at about 790 meters per second, meaning at this distance, the shell will take a whole second, a little more or less, to get to the target. Making a small prayer to her skills and handiness, she allowed the shell to fly true. Watching the white beam fall into the distance, and nailing not just the side of the tank, but the turret top on the right. The impact sent the Sherman tilting, before falling onto its side.
Now, Hana couldn't see if a white flag came up from this distance, but that was a pretty clear sign that…
Ōarai might have won.
"Target down," Hana said calmly without taking her eye off the scope.
Miho and Yukari exhaled. Before looking at each other and smiling.
"We did it Nishizumi-dono!" Yukari said joyfully as she was holding an AP round.
"Yes… we did!" Miho said.
"Great job everyone!" Saori said in the Panzer IV's radio set.
Miho looked from on top of the Panzer IV's turret at the distance. The Shermans looked like small specks from here with her natural eye sight. It was perhaps a new record for Hana's longest kill. Not only just any tank kill, but one that was moving as well.
The announcer sounded as the firing died down as they realized what happened. Anglerfish team waited for those words to hear. That they won.
Instead, very loud siren sounded with these words.
"MAN DOWN, ALL CONTESTANTS CEASE FIRING, WE HAVE A MAN DOWN!"
"H-huh?"
Okay, I lied.
I'm a terrible student.
If you finished this chapter, you might think I'm a terrible person too. Leaving y'all hanging on the cliff like that. But the plot must progress! Even the battles in the anime didn't last too long to keep the audience fresh!
After breaking my statement of "no updates" twice in two weeks, I'm a bit iffy on saying I "won't update" despite this month being busy again with my family (Christmas, am I right? :D). I guess the best way to find out when the story WILL update is by Following and Favoriting the story! You'll get an email notification after all!
Once again, thank you all for reading through my work! If you want to help me improve, feel free to critique my writing with a review! I plan to go over my last 10 chapters some time and do some much-needed grammar corrections at some parts. Your viewership inspires me to continue and I hope you will continue to support me! You all rock!
*EDIT*: Grammar correction. Thank you to the one pointing it out to me!