Girls Und Panzer: The World Tournament!
Chapter 16: Their Finest Hour
North-East Side of S-point - Quebec, Canada
"W-what the hell?!" James cried out as his Cromwell rocked violently, throwing him about. His crew had similar statements to the impact. His platoon was just snaking through the dense foliage of the forest before his encounter with… something.
He looked through his cupola periscopes, two in front of him facing a left and right angle to the front. The right side was the forest. Same ol' forest they've been in the last hour. He then looked on the other one. "Blimey! That's an enemy tank out there!"
"I see it!" His gunner yelled out as he traversed the Cromwell turret to the left.
The gun was about to point towards the tiny tank before it sped up. Traveling past the 75 mm gun on the turret. James' gunner fired a shot, but the tank was out of the trajectory.
"All tanks, focus fire on that blasted little one!" James' platoon commander shouted through the radio. The four other Cromwells in the platoon were already reacting, traversing their turrets to follow the tiny, brown tank that looked a lot like the Renault tank at Bovington.
Shots fired, rounds wheezing past each other as the tank danced among the hail fire. "Damn! That's a nimble tank!" James commented
"I don't think it's suppose to move that fast!" His gunner shouted as he worked on the turret's hydraulic traversing mechanism. The turret whirred constantly as he tried to keep the enemy on target. The rain was now hard enough that the impacts on the metal turret are producing a rhythm.
"Drive! Drive!" Noriko yelled out as rounds flew through the air.
"I'm trying!" Shinobu struggled with the controls as she hastily maneuvered the Type 89 around the close battlefield.
"Let me at it!" Akebi said as she slipped a 57 mm round into the Type 89's cannon, then attending to the fire-control system by hand-cranking the turret to an alignment.
As the Type 89 swerved through the gunfire of the five enemy tanks, the two armored cars the Type 89 had intended to attack first has shifted their attention away from the unorthodox medium tank in front of them to the pest on their left. Their 6-pounder guns in a turret slapped on top of armored cars sait out their high-velocity 57 mm rounds towards the Type 89, in a higher pitched tone than the 75 mm cannons on the Cromwells.
Shinobu quickly pulled on the left steering tiller. The now-moist terrain enhanced the Type 89's swerve out of the predetermined trajectory and the 6-pounder shot grazed the Type 89's turret. Shinobu turned the Type 89 back on track and the turret cannon alignment was pointed right at one of the cars.
"Spike it!"
"Kill!" Akebi made the fine adjustments before pulling the trigger. The Type 89's 57 mm round fired onto one of the cars. The car got blasted onto its side as the round hit high on the turret. The downed car emitted a white flag. The other AEC took note and fired at the incoming Type 89. The high-velocity 57 mm round planted itself onto the front hull of the Type 89, slamming it to a stop before a white flag came up on the roof.
The crossfire took a small tune of silence. The other AEC seemed safe, but then two shots fired out onto it and both shots slammed on the poor car on the body side, sending it tumbling over the side onto the ground.
The neglected Rabbit team in their M3 Lee, with its two smoking barrels, didn't have time to admire their handiwork.
"Reverse!" Azusa yelled out as she heard incoming cannon fire. Five rounds blasted the terrain as the M3 reversed around the bend. The loaders reloaded the two armaments while Azusa got into contact with Miho, "Miho! We've got five enemy tanks in front of us! Armored cars are down and so is Duck! I need reinforcements!"
"R-Roger that! I'll send what I can! Get out of there!" Miho ordered.
"Roger that!" Azusa said back. "Karina, keep reversing! Aya, Ayumi, watch out for those tanks!"
"Right!"
East side of S-point - Quebec, Canada
Miho pondered on the situation, rain falling through her open cupola onto her. The situation with Dandelion was unknown, possibly surrounded if not wiped out. There was also the presence of British tanks already across the river at the north, but the speed of their appearance didn't correlate if they fought past Dandelion. Was Dandelion simply bypassed? All that firepower in that group was going to be for nothing if they aren't linked up again. Another situation was at the south, but Jasmine were already moving to counter them.
"Miho-sha! The cadets are pushing up in the center!"
"What?!"
Katyusha felt a loud ricochet on her T-34-85's turret top. "They're being very aggressive! Their Churchills pushed out of the cover of the woods and is heading to the Tortoise!"
Fire concentrated on the tanks now out on the S-point. Exposed to all, the infantry tanks bravely took in fire from 85 mm and 17-pounder guns. They surrounded the Tortoise, both angling into a near arrow shape in front of the Tortoise. Fire from the Churchill's 75 mm cannons and 17-pounder shells from Comet's still in the woods on the other side continued battering Ōarai's side.
"What are they doing?" Rosehip asked when her Cromwell got a good angle on the three tanks in the river. "Ah, wait! Someone's getting out of the Tortoise!"
Katyusha raised her head higher to see the scene. Two camouflaged uniform people got out of the Tortoise and moved to the left side of the giant assault tank.
"They're… doing something to the tracks… or something," Rosehip relayed what she saw.
"Whoa! Did we actually hit it?!" The Tiger Porsche crew chimed up.
"The tracks are out?!" Katyusha shouted, "What are we waiting for then?! That Tortoise is a sitting duck!"
"Calm down Katyusha," Darjeeling said calmly. "That cannon is still operational, and the Tortoise is supported by at least seven tanks besides and behind it.
"I'm not going to let go of this prize! That Tortoise is the biggest threat right now, and it's disabled in front of us! Let's take it out before it can get moving again!"
"I concur," Nonna agreed with Katyusha, to which Katyusha felt more assertion in her argument.
"I need some of us to help bolster the north side, we've got enemy tanks coming in!" Miho said.
"Damn!" Katyusha loudly complained about this predicament.
"We'll go," the Leopon crew volunteered. "You all take care of this sector!"
"You can count on us!" Rosehip said as Katyusha heard the electric motors on the Tiger (P) run in reverse out of the sector.
"Okay…" Katyusha evaluated Sunflower's situation. "We still got ten tanks here, six of ours and four of St. Gloriana's…"
"Large caliber tanks, stick behind for support fire. Medium tanks, move in for the kill," Darjeeling said over the radio.
"I was about to say that!" Katyusha shouted with her authority. "Alright, KV-tan, Nonna! Stand back and support our assault! We're going to hit them hard and close!"
South east side of S-point
"Sir, I can't see anything." Ben said looking through his periscopic sight. "Rain's dripping down and blurring the glass."
"Is the telescopic sight still working?" Harvey said.
"Yes sir!"
"Look through that then," Harvey scanned the dense foliage. Passing the river was easy, but this side of the map was more dense in foliage than the other. The only visible sight in front was the dirt path, but if there was a tank waiting in the distance...
A point-blank shot struck the side of the second Sherman in the column, right behind Harvey's. The sudden, loud blast rustled the bushes, leaves, and trees in the area. The velocity seemed to burn the shell into the Sherman III side's, and the impact shook the tracks off the suspension.
"CHRIST!" A member in the group shouted.
"Where the hell are they?!"
Turrets traversed around as the machinery whirred. Machine gun fired out into the bushes, both 7.62 and 12.7 mm rubber rounds flew around in the forest, hoping to strike something showing something unnatural, but nothing emerged. The firing stopped when it was clear there were no opposing fire.
"Shit…" Harvey could only say to the damaged Sherman behind him. The disabled Sherman with its white-flag standing up blocked their path. "Push that Sherman off the road and follow-up with me. We can't delay and let them regroup."
"Yes sir!" The group replied as the third Sherman behind the second proceed to move around and push the downed Sherman off the dirt road.
The mischievous tank crew was using the chaos they caused to escape unnoticed. Hearing the vocal British crew shout in panic and confusion made them quite proud of their little feat.
"You know, I thought their spotting mechanism might've found us for sure…" Nekota said as Anteater's Type 3 Chi-Nu maneuvered low in the dense foliage.
"In a game, maybe!" Momonga shouted lively, "But this is real life!"
"Realistic mode, huh?" Piyotan said as she loaded a 75 mm round into the cannon's breech.
"More like Simulator…" Nekota muttered.
"Oi! Nice one!" The chipper voice of Pepperoni cracked through the radio complimenting their performance. Pepperoni and her tankette were moving along with Anteater out of the ambush point, though with a purpose to relocate to continue scouting the Shermans. "It was a miracle they never saw you!"
Anteater crew snickered among themselves on their achievement. While the Type 3 Chi-Nu's interior looked just the same, the exterior has become a work of art in the forest. The new camo nets was plastered all over the turret and top hull of the Chi-Nu, with the addition of large branches of foliage and mosses that have been planted all over the flat surfaces of the Chi-Nu body. Their placement, along with the dark green paint coat on the armor, gave the Chi-Nu the looks of a small tree or fern with a large branch protruding out. A branch that can fire 75 mm cannon rounds out with fiery.
"A-are you all in place y-yet?" Nekota asked the rest of her squad further east.
"Yep!" the student council president of Ōarai said. "Get back over here!"
"R-roger!" Nekota nervously replied as Momoga continued driving their forest-decorated tank towards the rest of their team, ready to apply the lessons the Americans had taught them only a few days ago.
North-East Side of S-point - Quebec, Canada
Anglerfishes' Panzer IV rumbled towards the north with Leopon's Tiger (P) lumbering along a few meters back as it struggles to keep up with the medium tank. The rain sogged the ground and the whole place is now a muddy mess. There was enough traction that the Panzer IV was not sinking into the mud, but it was a new situation that required attention as mud had never been a tank's friend.
Miho stood up and looked at her surroundings from the cupola, vision was poor with the darkened clouds blocking the sunlight. As the rain came down, Miho donned an olive drab poncho to stay dry. The other girls inside were relatively dry, aside from the water dripping down the ventilator and hatches.
"Where's Rabbit team?" Miho asked herself constantly. Her question was answered by a salvo of cannon fire, nearly drowned out by the rain and thunder. "Reizei, continue forwards, full speed!"
"Roger that," Mako plainly complied as the Panzer IV throttled forwards. The passage on the mud was still rough with the varying elevation as she maneuvered the tank about. As Mako prepared to turn the Panzer on a corner, they could hear a small roar of an engine, growing louder. Over the corner, Miho could see the rear end of a gasoline-powered M3 chassis, heading right towards them.
"Mako! Reverse!" Miho quickly said. Mako's interaction was short, but brisk as she adjusted the necessary tillers and sent the Panzer IV out of the reverse path of Rabbit's M3 Lee. Their dual-cannons firing at an unseen enemy down the road.
"Rabbit team!" Miho said through the radio, hoping to get through.
"They're coming!" Azusa relayed her situation as quick as possible.
Miho looked at the path the tanks were coming down on. A one-way road towards their destination and woods surrounding them that prevented a clean path through.
"Rabbit team! Stay here and try to delay their advance! Leopon, try to get a good angle of the road at our sector!"
"Which sector?!" Satoko yelled out in confusion.
Miho looked back. Leopon had fallen behind during their advance. Nuts, Miho summarized her predicament. Currently, there were only two tanks available to react against the enemy now.
"Leopon, we're at coordinates…" Miho said her grid quadrant on the field map. "Try to get here ASAP! We're about to get busy!"
"Roger that! Sorry!"
"Rabbit team, follow as planned. Anglerfish, we're going to stop those tanks!"
The words were heavy in significance. Though having a command tank participate in battle is not out of ordinary, as done with the last match, now Anglerfish were putting the team's chances at risk to stop an exploiting enemy force. However, the situation has called for a drastic event and withdrawing wasn't really an option against British cruiser tanks. "Rabbit, what are we going against here?"
"Like, five medium tanks!"
Okay… Miho deduced it could range from Cromwells to Shermans to Fireflies. Now wasn't a good time to make the fine details so Miho focused at the tactical positions at hand. "Mako, move off the road into the woods. Try to get us a good angle at the road Rabbit came from."
"Roger…" Mako revved up the engine and the Panzer IV took a sharp turn to the left, propelling itself off the mud road into the even more soggy terrain of unadulterated land. It present a rougher ride as Mako maneuvered around the unforgiving bumps and Miho tried to avoid getting striked by a tree branch. The Panzer IV was also not doing well as the scraping foliage tore the Schürzen plates. Those side armor can be such a pain sometimes…
Soon, the Panzer IV found an adequate position that gave a decent view of the road. It wasn't perfect as the road's elevation was slightly higher than the Panzer IV's position so they don't have a view advantage. Not to mention there were blind spots created by the trees, presenting some form of cover to the incoming British tanks.
"Rabbit, we're in position, keep us update on their location."
"Roger that!"
Anglerfish waited what felt like hours as they kept an eye and ear out for anything, though the rain drowned out the small sounds.
"Here they come!" Azusa suddenly replied.
"Keep them distracted and concentrated on you!" Miho said. "But be careful!"
"Right!" Azusa said as the small 37 mm cannon on the M3 fired its round down the road. For what it was, the road presented a rather long, straight passage for roughly 75 meters, with little interruptions in the middle. As Rabbit team opened up, it was met with a volley of cannon fire in return.
Five shots… Miho counted in their rapid fire. At least five tank… unless they have a heavier tank waiting in the rear…
Rabbit team fired the 75 mm cannon now, before reversing across the corner. The British tanks continued firing down the road to where Rabbit was. One round flew high and over the target area.
So they're firing on the move… Miho also deduced, or that gunner's got some real problems with his scope… "Hana, are you ready?"
"I'm ready!" Hana gave her confirmation.
"Okay, hold fire until the first tank almost makes it to the corner Rabbit team is at. Yukari, I need you to load as fast as possible, just like the time in the nationals!"
"You got it, Nishizumi-dono!" Yukari gave her upbeat response as she prepared her hands for fast loads and double-checking the ready ammo rack.
Miho looked up back in her cupola vision ports as the 75 mm cannon on the Panzer IV elevated up at the road above them and traversed right to the area Miho called for. The British tanks should be appearing any moment…
Now!
The British cruiser tanks kept to their words on automotive performances and its tactical role. The first incoming British tank, a Cromwell, came rolling through the mud road like melted butter on a pan, the Christie suspension providing a relatively smooth ride across the rough terrain. Only a few seconds after the first appeared, the next one showed up, then another.
Just as Miho said, right before the first Cromwell made it around the turn that Rabbit was at… "Firing!" Hana yelled as she let loose the powerful cannon. The cannon's muzzle blast would kick up dust that blocked clear visibility for a while, but the wet, rainy conditions ensured that minimal dust got disturbed from the ground. The first Cromwell skidded to a halt as its referee equipment inside reacted to the hard hit from the shell, and the Cromwell came to a drastic halt with a shell imbedded on its hull side in the middle of the road, a white flag popped up.
The other Cromwells following it came to a quick halt, with the second one colliding with the deactivated hulk of the first tank.
"Hit the last tank!" Miho ordered quickly and Hana quickly traversed the gun to the tank on the very left, the last tank in the British column. As she did, Yukari effortlessly threw in another shell into the gun. "Up!" She said as the breech flew upwards to a firing position.
The turret came to an abrupt stop. Hana yelled out, and then the second round landed squarely onto the rectangular Cromwell tank. Miho could see a few tires of the Christie suspension get blown off, pieces scattering about as the tank got immobilized. No white flag flew up.
"Hit it again!" Miho yelled out as she witnessed this. The Cromwell was still in fighting condition. The British tankers were now reacting, scanning about in the woods on their opposers. Some of the commanders finding an epiphany to come out of the cupola to get a view of the landscape.
"Up!" Yukari yelled again as the breech went up.
"Firing!" Hana yelled once more as the 75 mm was sent and slammed itself on the turret of the Cromwell, sending a flag up.
Now blocked off from the front and back, the remaining Cromwells found themselves in quite a situation. In the midst, Rabbit team extended out once more and blasted at the Cromwells, the 37 mm painfully bouncing off but the 75 mm cracking the tracks of the second Cromwell in the line. The injured Cromwell, finding an enemy to kill, blasted squarely at the M3. A shell landed right on the flat front armor area where the driver's port was situated and caused the M3 to shake about violently. Unfortunately, the algorithm of the referee equipment determined that no miracle was to happen, and the M3 Lee ended in defeat as a white flag emerged.
"Up!" Yukari yelled once again. Her words carried a shortness of breath as she worked rapidly in the turret interior.
"Firing!" Hana yelled as well on the fourth Cromwell in the line-up. She finished it off with a round flat on the sides.
The last two Cromwells struggled as they were picked off one-by-one, their actions frantic. As Hana took out the fourth one, the third Cromwell in the line had tried to maneuver off the trap. Doing so, it went off the road and started careening down the slope towards the depression that Anglerfish were at. Miho saw the tank slide down the slippery slope and rest in an area of lower elevation of the Panzer IV's current position. She had a clear view of it, but that meant the enemy also could have a clear view of her. "Hana! Take out the tank that slid down! Hurry!"
Hana quickly traversed the turret right on the power as her hands manipulated the elevation gear to point the gun barrel from up to down. Yukari picked up another round, her arms starting to feel like they were burning from strain. As the two worked, Miho saw the Cromwell's turret start to swing towards them.
"He's aiming right for us!" Saori yelled out as she could see the situation unfolding through the vision port of her MG34 machine gun. She let loose a few bursts in a futile effort to drive off the enemy. Mako looked on through her vision port, waiting for any last second orders to get the Panzer IV away from the firing line.
The Cromwell's traverse turned as if time slowed down. The mechanical details of each cog and gear finely moving alongside each other. That was how Hana felt as each degree she turned the elevation, the individual teeth of the gear made a distinctive click sound to indicate its function. But the gun's elevation was still above the Cromwell, yet the opposer was about to get on target. She saw as by each degree the Panzer's gun depressed, the Cromwell gun came closer to alignment. Going against time, the two tanks raced for an on-target shot.
At last, Hana saw the triangles that made up her Panzer IV's optic reticle land on the Cromwell, and she could see the dark hole down the Cromwell's own 75 mm cannon. In the chaos, she never heard an "up" sound, and she didn't care. She pulled the trigger expecting, and she got it. The Panzer IV won the quick draw, and the Cromwell suddenly crumbled under the force. Hana saw the shell tracer lead up to the top of the Cromwell's turret front, and that was enough for a white flag to emerge on top.
Yukari let off a sigh of relief from that, but Hana quickly shouted upon hearing that. "Load, Akiyama! There's still one more!"
Yukari instantly shot up remembering, her aching arms suddenly warding off the feelings in a quick shot of adrenaline. In the chaos, Miho also forgot about the last Cromwell, the second in the column that got track-shot by Rabbit. Hana quickly traversed the turret, but Miho saw the Cromwell has got the gun mostly on the Panzer IV now.
"Forwards!" Miho loudly shouted.
Without hesitation, Mako pushed the Panzer IV forwards. On the position it was at, the forward movement sent it down depression the previous Cromwell was at. The Cromwell still up on the road fired. It aimed high, high enough to hit the turret face of the Panzer. Instead, the quick movement of the Panzer IV by Mako had the shell hit at an angle that, despite the thin turret armor, bounced the shell off to the distance. Anglerfishes' Panzer IV went down and skidded to the side, maneuvering around. Soon a very high-pitched whistle following by a metallic KLANG sounded that seemed to echo through the woods. Miho looked up at the road, where the noise of the white flag on the Cromwell came up. Miho looked at the direction away from the Cromwell deep in the woods and saw Leopon team with their 88 mm gun smoking from spent propellent.
"That was a close one…" Yukari muttered.
Miho sighed a breath of relief. "Thanks Leopon!"
"No problem!"
Miho got a bearing of the situation once more. "Now, let's go find out what happened to Dandelion…"
Center of S-point - Quebec, Canada
Katyusha, Klara, and the two other Pravda T-34-85s along with Rosehip and her two Cromwells propped up behind cover in depressions of the terrain, waiting for the right moment as the rain gets stronger by the minute. Looking out the commander's cupola, she saw Darjeeling's Black Prince maneuver around while the Churchill attracted incoming fire while it stayed put. Nonna's IS-2 and KV-tan were also examining over their hatch, not for where they are maneuvering, but watching as each muzzle flash of the 17-pounder blast away at any exposed tanks it sees, watching for a pattern or any area a certain flash exist at.
"Sunflower, are you all ready?" Darjeeling's voice spoke through the radio.
"Let's stop wasting around! I'm ready!" Katyusha said.
"Yeah! Ready to rumble!" Rosehip shouted enthusiastically as always.
Katyusha steeled herself as she waited for the right moment to attack.
"Go!" The order came, but not for the medium tanks.
The three heavy tanks hiding until now rumbled out of their cover and took their shots. The Black Prince and IS-2 fired across the river, striking at their targets, though the obscurity of the forests made it hard to confirm kills. The KV-2 took aim at the three tanks at the center. Finally, the 152 mm howitzer roared its payload. The 152 mm shell careened towards the right Churchill of the two protecting the immobile Tortoise. Despite the 152 mm armor plating present on the Churchill models, anything hit by a six-inch round typically had the referee equipment go haywire from the massive calculations it must make.
Basically, the crew were not about to have a good day.
The impacting bulk of mass seemed to send the Churchill front upwards upon impact, physics be damned. The poor Churchill sputtered as something inside overloaded, and in a surprising form of miscalculation, five white flags emerged on the top and sides of the infantry tank.
"Go!" Katyusha screamed out to her crew and into her radio. The blasting howitzer was the key they were listening for. It didn't matter if the 152 mm hit anything or not, anyone down range would be stunned by the sound report. Soon, seven medium tanks made charge down out of their little hill into the conflicting S-point. The two heavy vehicles resting about the center, seeing the charging Japanese school tanks, were frantically firing away. The crews attempting to repair the Tortoise tracks panicked and returned into the shell of their assault gun. The 75 mm of the Churchill simply bounced off the front glacis of the T-34-85, but the 32-pounder 94 mm gun of the Tortoise made its mark on a Cromwell, sending it spinning like a top on impact before skidding to a halt and with a white flag.
Six more medium tanks closed the gap between the two stranded British. The Ōarai tanks moved nearly unhindered from the water resistance due to the low water levels and soon they were not more than 50 meters from the enemy tanks. The Churchill, loaded up with another 75, took another ineffective shot on the assailing tanks. Klara's T-34-85 responded to this by driving around the Churchill to its left side. The Churchill attempted to turn to respond to the flanker, but Klara's T-34 shot an 85 mm shell into the side plates on the suspension. The metallic crack of the shell meeting the armor echoed past the gun blast and engine sound into the tank, and the crew did not hear the white flag come up as they fired one more round into the already-disabled tank.
Katyusha's T-34-85 made its way to the right side of the Tortoise. The heavy assault gun, immobile and surrounded by the enemy, was a sitting duck as Katyusha's T-34 aligned its gun to a perpendicular angle onto the hull side armour. She fired, the shell dug into the armor with a loud impact, but no white flag popped up.
"Okay now, what the heck?" Katyusha said in disbelief.
"That armor is as tough as a honey badger!" Rosehip yelled out, witnessing this debacle.
"Hit the rear! That's the only reasonable weak point!" Someone from St. Gloriana cried out in the radio, probably one of the Cromwell driver.
"I know where to hit it!" Katyusha barked out as the T-34 started moving towards the rear of the Tortoise. Suddenly, a volley of fire rained from the other side of the river, focused on the six tanks in the center of S-point. Unable to advance, the tanks took cover behind the hulk of immobile or knocked out tanks to take the shots, to the chagrin of the crew still inside the British tanks. Ironically, the largest, heaviest armored tanks of the British provided adequate cover for Ōarai. Shots came a lot more slowly as they hit the tanks hiding behind the Tortoise.
As the six medium tanks huddled next to the Tortoise and Churchills, the Tortoise started to turn on it single working left track, its gun seemingly aiming or whacking away at the close-quarter tanks.
"Klara! Knock out that remaining track!" Katyusha ordered as the Tortoise's bulk dragged the T-34s with its movement. A blast of high-explosive round and soon the clatter of metallic links signified the mobility kill of the Tortoise.
17-pounder shells from a multitude of Comets continued to fall on the girls. As the Black Prince and IS-2 attempted to track each muzzle flash, the damage was done. Two other T-34-85 were knocked out from the enemy attack and only four remained.
"Damn it!" Katyusha exasperated, "of all places to be pinned down at!"
South Side of S-point - Quebec, Canada
Cannon fire blasted through the woods, echoing through the dense foliage.
"Here they come, get ready!" Erwin said, as she looked through the binocular scope available to her, leaves in the way as the foliage camouflage and camo net swayed in the wind.
Hippo team were not the only one present. They've set up a cross-fire with Turtle team's Hetzer. A first line of defense has been constructed against the intruding enemy. The mountain that Jasmine occupied prior was now empty to deal with the threat. Jasmine has been placed on the defensive against the incoming Shermans, the question remaining on how the two will meet.
The first vehicle revealed itself on the road. Pepperoni's L3/33 tankette sped down the mud, floating over with its light weight design. Hippo and Turtle held their fire as the L3/33 whizzed past them.
"We took a few pot shots! Not sure if they took the bait though!" Pepperoni cried through the radio.
From then on, it was up to the enemy's decision making process.
The roads from the river towards the rest of the area split into two parts around the halfway mark. One went up the mountain Jasmine had occupied, the other went down around the base. Both led to the southern flank of the rest of Ōarai's forces.
As such, it was important to stop them at one of the roads. As Saemonza sighted down the road, only a mere 150 meters range from their camouflaged position in the woods. Despite the rain, the creaks and roar of the running tanks could be heard.
A tank was visible, a Sherman. Saemonza aimed the triangular reticle onto the target. "Hold on Saemonza, not yet," Caesar called out to her. "Wait for my signal."
Indeed, the Sherman seemed to move sluggishly in the distance. Saemonza is certain that a shot could tear through the foliage and hit the Sherman square on, but she abided by the Caesar. The Shermans soon moved faster, down the road towards them.
A Sherman now made its full view on the road towards the history fanatic girls. Saemonza could make out the welded hull in the front, with the crew hatches in front protruding. She focused the sights on following those protrusions. It was certainly getting closer as Saemonza kept her bead on it. The enemy tank was not more than 100 meters before Caesar gave the word. Despite this distance, the Sherman made no sign that it spotted the StuG or Hetzer waiting, an indication on just how usefulness the applied camouflage was with everything they placed on it.
"Fire!" Caesar yelled out, and so did the StuG. It spat out a fiery shell onto the Sherman's front armor. At this range, even the sloped front glacis would not save it. The round signaled the Sherman's destruction and after a dramatic show of energy transmission, a white flag emerged from the Sherman.
In rapid order, the Hetzer also fired off a round. An echo sounded of another Sherman knocked out. Hippo could not tell how many tanks were in the Sherman column in front of them, only that they knocked out the lead tank. They could hear shouting coming from the British side as they remained calm and their respective loaders put another round into the gun.
"Prez! How many are there?" Erwin said into the radio.
"I can't tell! 4 or 5! Top total! We took out another one, aiming for an-" The radio transmission was interrupted with a loud blast outside. "We're being blasted here!"
"We're on it!" Anteater came in. Still traveling from its initial ambush position, the Chi-Nu stalked the Shermans and approached it from Ōarai's left.
Nekota could see the column of Shermans halted from the encounter. The Chi-Nu fired at a Sherman with its turret facing away from it since it was aiming at the Hetzer, assumingly. Three down, and there was one more, all the way in the rear. Decimated, the lone survivor was reversing away from the predicament.
"One more, Momoga go after it," Nekota said with a hint of lethargy.
"Momoga!" Momoga yelled out her battle cry as she lurched the tiller to turn the Chi-Nu towards the Sherman's direction. It traveled along the road, in concealment of the woods. Piyotan traversed the turret to the tank's 3 o' clock, waiting for the Sherman to come into view.
"Piyo, there's a clearing up ahead, be ready."
"Right!" Piyotan confirmed as she steadied her hands.
The Type 3 Chi-Nu moved as fast as possible out in the open. It was a clear view on the road, and the Sherman on it. Piyotan saw it through her scope, but also saw the barrel end of the Sherman looking right at them.
"Oh s-" Piyo slipped out as she hastily pressed the fire button. In the muzzle flash that followed, she could also see one emerge from the Sherman's 75 mm. Then the Type 3 took a heavy lurch, like it was thrown around. The tanks made a small twirl before settling and letting a white flag emerge.
"Ah man!" Momoga said, irked by the circumstance.
Nekota recovered from the small encounter with inertia as she looked through the cupola view ports at the Sherman. The body was still fine, but the damage was done. A bogie on the suspension was blown off, the wheels rolled off from the explosive force as the suspension failed to keep the Sherman afloat. The Sherman turret seemed to be looking around frantically, panicked by its immobility.
Down the road where the Sherman reversed from, Nekota could see a vehicle pop out from the roadside onto the road facing directly at the immobile Sherman. Hippo's StuG III came like a moving bush; vines, leaves, and all sorts of foliage had been planted on the armour, even dirt itself. As the StuG III came to a halt, the dangling vines swinging about, it didn't spare a moment to aim and destroy the remaining Sherman in the column.
"Sorry about that. We're out… Sorry" Nekota said through her radio.
"No problem! You did great!" The encouraging words from the student council president lifted Nekota's spirit slightly. "We'll handle it from here!"
Center of the S-point - Quebec, Canada
"Cheeky little bastards, aren't they?" Monty's hull machine gunner said through the crew comms, with the situation unfolding before them.
"Like a bunch of angry rabbits…" Montgomery muttered out loud inside his Comet I. He grabbed the radio, "Talk to me boys, what's going on out there?"
"Duck here! Suffered heavy casualties! Down to three units!"
"Mercury here! We're decimated!"
"What?!" Montgomery yelled in surprise. "Okay, okay… Queen, where are you?"
"Northern flank," Emma's voice came in. "Sweeping up with the stragglers here. We took out an entire battle group."
"Well that's music to my ears," Montgomery said in relief. "You're the only one up north now. The operation is still in play, put tension on their flanks. They are extending themselves right now on the river against our little turtle."
"Roger that," Emma said before snickering. "I'll destroy them."
"Don't get over yourself just yet, out." Montgomery finalized before changing his channels from team to his group. "Alright you buggers. They're sticking their hand into a snapping turtle. Let's bite them off."
South Side of S-point - Quebec, Canada
North of the road that the encounter between four Shermans and Jasmine took place, the road going around the base of the hill on the south was occupied by the rest of Jasmine. Anchovy took a reconnaissance lead on a higher elevation than the rest of her teammates. She looked with binoculars around for the incoming Shermans, if any. An engine rumble was heard to her left and for a second she worried it was the enemy before recognizing the distinctive tankette noises.
"Duce!"
"What, Pepperoni?!" Anchovy yelled above the ambient noises between two tanks and the rain.
"I led a few tanks towards the south into the guns, but there are some still heading this way!"
"Well go up and check then!" Anchovy ordered.
"Okay!" Pepperoni said before the tankette sped off again in a recon duty.
Anchovy relayed the message to her little team. "Alright, they're probably coming now girls. I sent a scout to confirm that, but get ready." Phrases of affirmatives came in as she tended to her tank. Surely the P40 is good enough against the incoming Shermans? After all, the P40 was the best Italian tank there is! It was Anzio's secret weapon! Right?
"Duce! The British are coming! The Bri- Gah!" An explosion blast interrupted the transmission from the frantic scout.
"Pepperoni? You okay?!" Anchovy asked for assurance.
A pause. "I'm okay, but we're out! Sorry Duce!"
"You did your job, now let us do ours!" Anchovy said. "Alright girls, here they come!"
To the girls in their various firing positions, the heard the blast and already deduced that they were coming from the enemy. It was quite an assortment of vehicle available at hand. Mallard team's Char B1 bis and Continuation's two vehicles were present on the road side waiting for the vehicles to appear while Anzio's Semovente and P40 waited at a road bend, putting them in front of where they would be face-to-face with the Shermans. They waited with anticipation for the large lumbering medium tanks to appear.
They seemed to crawl out cautiously on the mud road. The first Sherman drove out in front of Anzio tanks, out barely 150 meters away in front of them. Anchovy gulped on seeing the tank, suddenly feeling very excited for the fight to break out. The Shermans traveled forward omnimously. The gunner ranged the target at around 100 meters now… then 90… then 75.
"Okay, here we go! Fire!" Anchovy gave the signal, then the tank gave the first shot in the engagement. In a quick succession, Carpaccio had the Semovente fire its 75 mm round as well. The P40's 75 mm flew confidently at its target, not as powerful as the Sherman's or Panzer IV's, but enough power enough for damage. Unfortunately, the slope angle on the Sherman's hull caused the shell to glance off. The Semovente's 75 mm was even weaker than the P40's, but the slow muzzle velocity proved to be a shining sword when using HEAT ammunition. The HEAT-statistics in the shell was enough to blast itself on the Sherman. It made its mark and the lead Sherman brought out a white flag.
The others did their work, concentrating their fire at another tank, knocking it out when the shells blasted the side armour. However, the last tank in the column charged rather than withdraw. It drove off the road into the opposite road side the three ambushing tanks were at.
"Gah, they dropped out of view!" Sodoko cried out, unaware she is also reacting by kicking poor Moyoko on the shoulders.
"I'll get them!" Janne yelled out loud enough to be heard without the radio and her KV-1 crew suddenly drove up and over the road to the runaway Sherman.
The Sherman drove forwards in the woods, going past its broken down teammates. Unaware, the Anzio crew wondered what was up with the frantic radio transmission.
"What do you mean 'one got away'?"
"Damnit Anzios, they're heading right for you!"
"Huh? Where?" Anchovy demanded an answer.
"Duce! To our r-!" Carpaccio's voice briefly interrupted before a blast and a shell impact blast echoed near Anchovy, who nearly threw her radio piece into the air in surprise. The Italian self-propelled gun was blasted in an unknown direction. Anchovy looked around frantically, until she saw the stalking Sherman to her right.
"Traverse right!" Anchovy insisted and the tank's power traverse brought the P40's turret around, but the Sherman fired again and the P40 got blasted head-on with the Sherman's shell. As Anchovy got herself steadied from the shock, a hatch in front of her opened and a white flag popped into her head.
As Anchovy slumped from the impact, the Sherman was about to continue forwards when a rude shell blasted its rear. The KV-1, catching up, had shot a 76.2 mm shell into the Sherman's hull rear. The Sherman's engine stopped immediately, a response from the referee machine to an impact. Though a loss in mobility, the Sherman was still legitimately in the fight.
"Aatami! Load the round!" Janne ordered her crew. "Matti, get us on their side. We're going to blow it sky high!"
"I put this thing to a stop and now you want to move it forwards?!" Matti openly complained about the woe of a KV-1 driver while manipulating the gear and tillers with her trusty hammer. "Make up your damn mind!" She whacked the gear shift with the last syllable and the KV-1 rumbled forwards once more.
The Sherman crew, on the other hand, were desperately fighting for their life now against the mechanics of the Sherman. Out of power, the power traverse did not work, so the gunner inside was rapidly rotating the manual gears to move the turret. The Sherman's manual was relatively fast for the time and the KV crew could see the turret turn towards their direction as they sped closer to it. "C'mon Matti, faster!"
"It's going as fast as it can on first gear!"
As the KV-1 closed in at the Sherman's 7 o' clock, the turret was facing the 9 o' clock from the hull. Before the girls knew it, the turret was facing at them and it fired. The 75 mm shell bounced off the front hull of the KV-1, not that the girls cared as a combat-active tank was still shooting at them.
"Aatami! Load, goddamn it!"
"I'm trying!" Aatami said as she was down on the turret floor grabbing another 76.2 mm shell. With all the gadgets in the way, it was a miracle she hasn't tripped over any one of them in the match so far. She got a firm grasp on a shell by the casing, lifted it up, and sent it into the breech. "Up!"
"Petri, fire when ready!"
"Got it!" Petri said as the KV-1 nearly passed by the 9 o' clock position of the Sherman. The turret traversed a bit with the gun depressing a few degrees. "Firing!" The 76.2 mm shell fired, but instead of a firm concrete slam of armour, an explosion bursted right on the armour. Janne could feel the blast shock wave come over the turret to where she was on the cupola.
"Aatami, you idiot! Load AP!"
"Alright, alright, alright. Give me another moment!" Aatami went back to work down in the depths of the KV-1.
The Sherman, readjusting its turret towards the KV-1, became an even deadlier target at this range. At near point-blank range both tanks were capable of knocking each other out. "Matti, turn right!" Janne quickly ordered so the KV-1 orbited the immobile Sherman.
"Gah!" Matti pulled a tiller and the KV-1 made a slow, sluggish turn to the right. The Sherman crew having a heck of a time keeping up with the KV-1 with their manual traverse.
The KV-1 made for one more pass when Aatami finally got a round, confirmed AP, into the gun. "Up!" Aatami screamed.
"Firing!" Petri also yelled as the KV-1's muzzle swept the Sherman's side. The KV-1's shell finally made its mark and eliminated the last remaining Sherman.
The engagement over, Jasmine had suppressed the threat in the south. Their losses being all of Anzio and Anteater's Chi-Nu.
"Quite a shoot-out…" Someone said in the radio.
North-East Side of S-point - Quebec, Canada
"Is an-ne, o-t there? -ello?! Hello?! Re-ond! Hello?!"
These messages came in as the Panzer IV traveled on the mud road towards the north alongside a steep slope downwards to a ravine on their left and upwards to a hill on their right. "Miporin! The radio's picking up some garbled message!" Saori relayed what she heard to Miho.
"Who is it?" Miho asked.
"I'm not sure, there's a lot of interference… But it's the same frequency as Dandelion!"
Miho switched over to the same frequency, the Panzer IV and Leopon halting as they recalibrated the transmissions.
"An-ne there? -ck! Can't anyone hear me?!" The voice suddenly became clear as Miho adjusted the channel frequency and the antenna.
"Kay?! Is that you?" Miho relayed.
"Miho?! Is that you?!" Kay's voice frantically tried to make the connection.
"Yes, Kay. It's Miho. What's going on?! How's Dandelion?!"
"We've bought the farm!"
"Huh?" Miho didn't make sense of that phrase.
"They're coming from the north, large numbers! They've chewed us up to the last tank!"
"So Dandelion… is gone?" Saori reached the conclusion.
"Watch out Miho, they've already bypassed us and at this point they're probably already on their way to your location!"
As the message came through, something in the horizon seemed to move. Miho looked up and came a dreadful surprise. There was a Sherman, a Sherman Firefly with its elongated cannon barrel and its spherical muzzle brake.
"Hana, in front!" Miho yelled out. Hana got into the sight as fast as possible. Before the two tanks could react, Leopon took its first shot with its 88 mm onto the Sherman and blasted it apart with a hit near the suspension, white flag popping up. "We're fighting with the northern flank force!"
Another Firefly appeared behind the knocked out Sherman, its cannon traversing towards their direction. It blasted a round out, missing the two tanks present there. Leopon and Anglerfish fired back, hitting the knocked out Sherman instead.
"Miho! On the right hill!" Satoko cried out as Miho looked back at the Tiger (P). The Tiger (P) was traversing its turret up the crude hill to their right. On the top of the hill were three Achilles tank destroyers coming down onto them. Miho spotted one, one she remembered from the first match at Britain with its distinctive red and blue decorations that made it stand out among the others. Another point making it stand out was a long flag rod extending to the air.
The flag tank?! Miho saw it. It was a chance, but the flag tank of Ōarai was about to be surrounded as well. As the three M10 Achilles mauled the Tiger to bits with their guns, Anglerfish found themselves very alone now.
"AAH! What do we do?!" Saori panicked under the situation. Miho looked at it again, three tank destroyers to her rear, several medium tanks in front. Right side was blocked by the rocky side of the hill. The only escape was to the left down the slope…
"Mako, turn left! Now!" Miho quickly said only seconds after Leopon's white flag emerged.
The Panzer IV quickly turned to the left, shells flying as the British cadets excitingly tried to nail the flag tank of the opposing team. In a manner that seemed to defy their expectations, the Panzer IV drove itself off the road to their left.
Miho had a glimpse over the side before the Panzer IV tipped off. Suddenly, she felt an attack pounce on her. She saw herself two years ago in the nationals, watching the Panzer III slip off the mountain side into the roaring river. The rain clouding everything as Miho saw something flash before her, and gasped strongly for air.
Miho quickly fell into her cupola, and locked the hatches shut. "Brace yourselves!"
"Are they daft?!" Was the common reaction to this spectacle. The Panzer IV rolled down the slope like a rock as the Achilles and Fireflies closed in. The crew inside were sticking their heads out to make sure this incredulous event was not battle stress, or maybe it was the product of one.
Even Emma, almost jumping out of her commander's position in her Achilles, became concerned on the crew's safety. She determined there was only one way to find out from her position. "Is the match still on?" She said to Montgomery.
A pause followed before Montgomery got back. "King here. Yes, the match is still ongoing. Why?"
"Well we've got a visual on their flag tank, but… we lost visual." Emma oversimplified the scenario.
"Find them then," Montgomery laid out the obvious path.
"Affirmative. Queen out," Emma finished the transmission. She took out a map and looked at the terrain. She also had her turret crew take a look for confirmation. "She fell down here…" pointing to the contour area near the road that the column was on. "So...the only way we can get a direct view of them would be going around here…"
The area Miho fell down at was a large depression in the forest. According to the map, there was barely any accessible methods to that area via tanks. A very careful travel was needed to maneuver around the slopes and hills to get down there in one piece, an action the Panzer IV had forgo on survival instincts. Emma sighed out in frustration on how victory was snatched from her maw. "Alright boys, let's get this blasted match over with…"
Center of the S-point - Quebec, Canada
The Tortoise continued to be persistent by firing its cannon on the heavy tanks still residing on the east side of S-point. The four medium tanks in the middle, 50-50 mixture between St. Gloriana and Pravda, were caught there as the cross fire between the two sides intensified. The medium tanks found it hard to emerge itself without being shot at. Already twice the tanks had and were met with rapid ricochets and impacts.
"Ms. Katyusha, they're coming at you!" Nonna's voice warned Katyusha.
"What do you mean?!"
"They are coming down the hill towards you!"
"What?!" Katyusha's T-34-85 emerged itself as if looked aside a wall, which the Tortoise is serving perfectly at, and saw Comets approaching. They had left their hiding places in the woods on the west side and were now on the shore side of the river, getting closer to the tanks. "Closing in on us, huh? Everyone fire at them!"
The clash became chaotic as the two sides fought out the engagement. The Comets closed in, their frontal armour was tough enough against the 75 mm guns on the Cromwell and Churchill, relying on Pravda to do the majority of the damage. However, their guns can only fire so fast in the time span before the Comets entered point-blank range between the medium tanks. As they did, the exposing tanks were blasted by the Tortoise's 32-pounder cannon. After the KV-2 shot out a howitzer round at the Comets, the Tortoise landed a shot onto the KV and that was the end of it.
The tanks traded blows. The long barrels of Katyusha's T-34-85 soon contacted the barrel on a Comet, jousting about with the barrels unable to align onto each other's armour. A Cromwell tried to get on the conflicting Comet's side to hit it, but the Cromwell earned a shell to the turret face and was deactivated. In exchange, another Comet came to the side and caught with Katyusha's T-34 instead. Before anything could be made, the Comet fired a shell into Katyusha's T-34-85 and its resistance was over.
"Ms. Katyusha!" Nonna cried out as Katyusha's T-34-85 is left as an immobile metal bunker. The IS-2 thrusted out again for another shot with the 122 mm field gun. Without caring of her own vulnerabilities, Nonna aimed through optics on one of the Comets that attacked Katyusha's T-34. She blasted one away with a 122 mm, but soon she felt a very strong impact on the turret front. She could hear the metal friction between the force and the gear inside the turret as the kinetic energy transferred. The impact stunned Nonna for a moment. As she shook off the disorientation, she went straight back to her gun sights. Aligning the reticle to the Tortoise, she aimed at its armour and initiated the firing mechanism, but nothing happened.
"Loader, load round!" Nonna ordered the crew.
"There's no point, Ms. Nonna!" The crew told her.
"What do you mean?!" Nonna looked at the disobedient loader, who yelped back in fear.
"W-we're out…" The girl meekly said. "Like, as in out of the game…"
"Huh?" Nonna said as she started to climb out of her position to the cupola, the girl sitting there observing pushed aside as Nonna got a view of the outside world from the cupola. But there it was, a white flag on the top of the IS-2 turret. Nonna could feel her emotions suddenly empty out with her inability to do anything now.
Darjeeling saw this and knew their situation was not longer tenable. "We seem to be in a sticky situation now…"
"That would be an understatement…" Orange Pekoe calmly said as she held onto a 17-pounder shell.
As Klara's T-34 and the last remaining Cromwell succumbed to the British wave, Darjeeling requested reinforcement. "Jasmine team, how are you?"
"We dealt with the Shermans down here, all clear!" Anzu replied.
"Good, we need you here, now. Our situation is going a bit sour…"
"Sour?"
"The enemy is pushing across the river. I and my Churchill are the only ones left here."
"That's bad… We're on our way now!" Anzu's voice became rushed as she also realized the gravity of the situation. Indeed, there was now only seven tanks on the center and south of S-point. "Hey! Where's Miho?!"
"She went to the North… I'm not sure what had become of her. But if we're still in play, she's holding out."
North-East Side of S-point - Quebec, Canada
"Ugh…" Everything was woozy, and blurry. Darkness surrounded the girls in their new location.
"Miho, are you okay?!" She heard a voice calling out.
Miho got her mind set straight, shaking off the blur and numbness. She opened her eyes again and saw Yukari in front of her. "Yukari…" Miho mumbled out before she remembered what had happened. "Is everyone alright?!"
"Yes we are!" Saori called out. "What about you Miporin?!"
Miho checked herself for any pain. "I'm fine, I think I'm good."
"That's a relief…" a concerned Hana said.
"Where are we?" Mako asked.
Miho unlocked the cupola split hatch on top of her, and peered out. It looked as if they were in the middle of nowhere, teleported right out of their zone to a new mystical land. The forest and foliage consumed their location, lost to nature and to the sunlight under the dense leafy roof they are under. Even the rain seemed to disappear as it was caught by all the tree branches above them.
Miho looked back at the slope that they fell from. They had slid down into a depression near the hill. The Panzer IV was in relatively good condition, though the Schürzen plates on the hull have all been shaken off. "Mako, how's the tank's power?"
"Engines are running fine…" Mako said, "But I think we threw the tracks…"
Miho got up and out the Panzer IV and found herself outside in the forest again. As several stray drips of rain water dropped on her poncho, Miho got off the Panzer IV onto the ground, with the muddy ground squishing higher than the soles of her boots. She took a look at the tracks, "Yep, the right track is all torn up." She walked over to the other side. The left tracks had been walked off, but the track links were still surprisingly intact.
Miho got back into the Panzer IV's cupola. "Tracks are in bad condition, but we can fix it up with time…" She said and looked around. "We have to get ourselves out of this little trap here. Hana, what can you aim at from here?"
Hana looked through the gun optic and power traversed the turret around a bit to check her angles. "I can aim just above the rim of this depression there," Hana gestured towards the rim of the shallow depression they are in. "But I can't get a good luck due to the foliage."
"Alright…" Miho noted the tactical situation. So technically speaking, they were in a perfect hull-down position. However, the foliage covering the rim made it nigh impossible for a clean aim at a distance. Despite all the trees, the land past the depression was relatively flat with little elevation and depression. "Try fixing the tracks, I'm going get into contact with the team about our situation."
"Okay," Anglerfish crew said as hatches open and they climbed out to do their work. Miho messed around the radio. "Sunflower, this is HQ. Do you copy, over?"
Silence.
"Sunflower, are you there?" Miho asked again with no reply. "Dandelion, can you hear me?" Again, no reception on the company and team channels. Miho checked the antenna, which had no damage. Desperately, she hit the radio a few times with her fist. After receiving nothing but static and interference, she threw the receiver aside and climbed out of the cupola with her map and binoculars.
"Something wrong, Nishizumi-dono?" Yukari saw the exasperated Miho when she climbed out.
"Radio's useless now, we're on our own…"
"Isolated…" Mako summed it up.
"What now?" Saori asked nervously.
"Continue with the tracks. As long as we're alive, Ōarai still has a chance." Miho said, giving orders to keep the girls busy and not worrying about their predicament.
"What about you Miho?" Hana asked.
"I'm going to take a look around, check our surroundings. Be ready to get back in the Panzer just in case."
"Be careful Miporin!" Saori said as Miho walked off from the tank, looking back a few time to see them working on the tracks.
Miho smiled as the bond between them extended beyond just school friendship, but with the tank they've crewed for more than a year now. She kept that in her mind as she walked about the woods, making sure her actions now will benefit them as a whole. Also as a payment to the stupid action she did on that road, driving the Panzer IV off like that, almost as if she had no respect of her loved machinery.
She noted the area they have access in. Making mental notes on the large ravine they are trapped in. The distances the Panzer IV could fire at, the width of the area, the density of the foliage, and other landmarks like trenches and hills present that stuck out like a sore thumb in the flat land. All this in relative to the Panzer IV's position, making sure that it could have a good firing view if needed. While at it, she also looked for an exit out of the ravine.
She walked for minutes, the place being larger than she could imagine. She used the silence and ambience to think. Some hopeful like the condition of the rest of the team, some horrible like thinking how she's abandoned her team by going off alone, and now trapped in this situation where no one may ever find them. Amidst the thundering in the air, she believed a few of those were actually cannon fire blasting in the air. What had happened with the rest of the team? Sunflower and Jasmine? Were they doing okay?
She noted a disruption in a slope side a distance away in the darkness, and saw with her binocular what seemed like a ramp that could carry them out of this predicament. Miho sighed in relief, "Oh good, there's a way out." As if her words cleared her mind for a second, she heard a new sound in the air. Engines were rumbling in the dark woods and the low lighting did not hinder the fact that something was moving at the place she noted. Miho looked through her binoculars again and saw it. A Firefly came down rumbling off the ramp, then another…
Miho didn't stay around to find out if more was coming before running back to her friends and her tank.
The brief scouting already gave Miho a good idea on where the Panzer IV was. She ran through the woods, maneuvering over the terrain like a rabbit. Her team members were surprised to see her come back out of breath.
"N-Nishizumi-dono? What's wrong?" Yukari asked as she handed her a canteen of water.
Miho took a quick sip before saying, "They're coming…"
"Who?"
"The ones who attacked us earlier, they've come to finish us off."
"Oh no! What do we do?!" Saori said with distress.
"She's right, our tracks are still busted. The Panzer is not moving anywhere for quite some time…" Hana said.
"Well, it's not like we should just surrender, right?" Yukari laid out to the crew.
"Even then, if they get us first. We'll really only have one shot before we're overwhelmed…" Mako explained. "We're outnumbered five to one."
Miho was thinking as well as the four talked amongst each other. "What do you think, Miho?" Hana asked Miho, snapping her out of her little world.
Miho looked about the girls and the terrain. "We haven't given up before, I don't see why we should be now."
The girls smiled at her response. "That's the type of response I expect from Miporin," Saori said happily while sporting quite a mischievous grin she hasn't shown since laying out to the girls of a plan to snare a boy for herself.
"What's your plan?" Hana asked Miho. Miho's mind raced again.
"The land over the rim is flat. On a good angle, the 75 mm can shoot all the way from one end to another. The distance from here to where the enemy is coming from is almost 400 meters."
"I see. But the foliage covers the entire view from our perspective down here in the hole, and we can't move for a better angle. If I can see a clean shot, I might take it, but not like this..." Hana said, not one to exaggerate her skills. Miho understood, the foliage out there was indeed thick and the Panzer IV's gun optic was just about the same perspective as crawling on waist-high grass field. Not to mention long-distance view is inhibited by the low-lighting.
Miho thought about it. She hurriedly climbed into the Panzer IV in the commander's position and grabbed two red signal flags from a reserve box. While she was at it, she also grabbed an MP40 submachine gun that rested on the turret wall. "You can see above the foliage though, right?" Miho asked Hana.
"Yes!"
"Okay, here's how we're going to do it. You all get into the Panzer IV and prepare it for firing. I'll go out there and spot the tanks for you. I'll wave this flag," Miho showed the bright red flag, "to show their general location. Just look for the bright red flag for the enemy's location!"
"Miho! That's crazy!" Saori cried out loud. Indeed, this was quite a reckless tactic. "Just spot for them from the tank!"
"It's the only way I can give Hana a clean shot at them!" Miho said. "It's too dark here for spotting from one place. The flag will help with target acquisition!"
"Well, if you're going to do it, give me the other flag! I'll do it with you!" Yukari said.
"Yukari?! I need you to load the gun!" Miho insisted.
"I'll load it!" Saori shouted. "Don't you dare do this alone, Miporin!"
"I'll look up on the commander's cupola for the flag as well…" Mako said in her usual tone. "The status of the tracks makes the driving position redundant at the moment."
"Yeah, you also got the best eyesight among us. Spot the red flag for Hana, okay?" Miho ordered.
"Right."
Miho looked at Anglerfish. All of them looked around confidently. Not thinking, but knowing that they've got a solid idea that just might work. "Alright then… Let's do our best, okay?"
"Right!"
Miho gave Yukari the other signal flag, as well as the submachine gun. "I've still got my pistol," Miho reassured as Yukari took it and slung it on her shoulders. "Alright girls… Panzer Vor!"
"Hmm, it's been awhile since I was here… Saori said inside the Panzer IV turret. ""You think this is going to work?"
"It's a bit late to be asking now, Saori…" Mako said as she stood in the commander's position, her head peering out of the cupola like a crab.
"You know where the shells are, Saori?" Hana asked.
"Yep, there's one here… and another compartment here…"
"Just keep five at the ready," Hana said. "That's all we'll need hopefully."
"This is crazy… almost as bad as fighting the Maus." Saori reiterated the situation.
"But the Maus, we had our friends helping too…" Hana recalled.
"You two speak as if we don't fight alongside friend this whole time…" Mako said.
"We're not just friends," Saori said. "We're practically family now…"
Smiles grew on the girl's faces then. "Quite a way to put it Saori. Get ready, we can't let Miho and Yukari down now with our bantering."
Out there in the field. Miho and Yukari maneuvered in the foliage with their flags under their OD ponchos. Awaiting the incoming enemies, Miho helped Yukari get a crash-course lesson on the terrain.
"Yukari, are you ready for this?" Miho asked her companion.
"Hell, no," Yukari answered honestly. "This plan is still insane no matter how I think about it… and I'm the one who had to sneak into a British base by myself!"
"Just mark their locations. Don't be a hero," Miho said. "And don't stand between the Panzer IV and the British tanks."
"Alright… don't do those stupid things yourself, Nishizumi-dono."
"As long as Hana can knock them out faster than they can realize, we just might be able to survive."
Yukari nodded before a loud snap of wood went through the air. The tanks were coming.
Yukari took a deep breath. "Phew… okay then…"
"Spread out," Miho ordered. "And good luck!"
Miho then left to her own direction while Yukari stuck around. She waited for a tank to come by. In the darkness, it almost was like it popped out of nowhere if not for the automotive noises. A Sherman Firefly, way more intimidating now that it was moving compared to when she saw it in the hangar a few days ago, rolled about on the land, its turret facing away from her as it looked for its target.
"Okay…" Yukari steeled herself. She looked back and saw the area where the Panzer IV was. The Sherman passed by, unnoticing of Yukari laying low on the floor. When it passed by her, she ran closer from its rear, staying low in case of another vehicle in the back watching for any infantry movement.
As the tank moved slowly across the terrain, it leveled out as the hull barely bounced around when the suspension no longer sprung about with the ground.
Here goes nothing… Yukari resolved and ran to its side. She stuck her arm up and waved the red flag in the air above the foliage.
Back in the Panzer IV, the girls were reacting to this.
"I see something red moving in the distance, towards the 1 o' clock direction," Mako said.
Hana looked down the optics. The foliage taking up about 90% of the view with only a bit of the scenery on the very top. 1 o' clock… Hana thought as she traverse the turret slightly. "I think I got it." Hana concentrated her sights. "I see the flag! Alright, got a bead!" Hana went towards the trigger and fired a round. The round flew out with a CLANG as the breech recoiled. Saori got to work on grabbing a shell while Mako took a look at the effect on target. "Nice, the white flag came up."
"Alright!" Saori cheered as she took up a 75 mm round. "Gah, these are heavy!"
Downrange, when the shell came in, Yukari almost had a heart attack when the round abruptly slashed the air and took out the Firefly. Wow… that's was something… Yukari thought of the experience so far.
On the other side of the ravine, Miho stayed low. The cannon blast just now with the reassuring metallic impact meant that one tank was down. So far so good…
Miho heard a creak of metal bending nearby and she peeked over a log to see a Firefly reacting to the scenario, the tank was turning towards the direction of Yukari and the blasted tank. Turning away from Miho's path, she ran up closer to it. Crouching by its 7 o' clock location while the Firefly rolled across the terrain, she raised the red flag over the foliage and hoped for the best. About 10 seconds in, a shell blasted that Firefly to deactivation.
"Yes!" Miho temporarily celebrated that before she heard something ripping through the air with a WHIZ WHIZ and a rapid sound of gunfire a distance away towards her direction. She got as low as possible, like a snake, and rolled a distance away from her position. Miho got up slightly and looked at the direction the noise came from. Three M10 Achilles in front of her traveling in an inverted V-formation. The key vehicle in that formation inside was the one in the middle, with a proud flag flying on top of it.
"Jackpot…" Miho said to herself as she maneuvered around the terrain to get a good position to strike from.
"There's only one enemy tank here, what are you guys doing?!" Emma yelled out into her radio while on the engine deck of her Achilles. So a Panzer IV manage to ambush two Fireflies without any attempt of return fire?!
"It came out of nowhere! They're tracking us like a-"
"Shaddup! You're out! Nothing you can do anyways!" Emma yelled out in her radio before hanging it up. "Watch out for stragglers, I thought I saw someone next to Bernard's Firefly."
"Roger that, Sarge." Her crew shouted out, a benefit of the open-top that allowed for clear communication with the outside. Plus, they had a greater visibility of their terrain, without having to look through vision ports or limited hatches.
Emma took to the top and mounted on the M2 heavy machine gun on the rear of the turrets. If there were infantry out there, they wouldn't want to be on the business end of her personal weapon.
Yukari saw the incoming tank destroyers, but became fearful when she saw Emma on the M2 Browning gun. She felt the sting of the rubber bullets from a revolver, how would a .50 caliber feel like? Yukari didn't want to think about. Given Emma's stance and confidence on her platform, it wasn't the first time she used the Ma Deuce against soft targets like people.
Yukari gripped her MP40 submachine gun, a pitiful weapon in comparison to the .50, but at least she could move it about easily. She watched the Achilles lumbered about towards the Panzer IV's direction.
She proceeded carefully, watching for any wary eyes peering over the top of the open turrets. Crouching on the ground, she got a bit closer to the tank destroyers, hoping her OD poncho was good enough for camouflage.
Miho had done the same as she warily slipped through logs and bushes to get ahead of the tank destroyers. She looked at the angle between her location, the Panzer IV, and the three Achilles. Confident on her position, she took the chance and raised her red flag.
"Hana, our 2 o' clock," Mako said. The turret soon traversed towards that general direction, the cannon barrel brushing aside the foliage on the rim. Hana looked down the optic closely for the targets.
Miho, still downrange, kept the flag up until she heard shouting behind her. She instinctively ducked before her position was saturated with incoming rounds. Loud cracks ripped the air apart as bullets punctured the forest. Hitting logs and brushes, the rounds send bits of splinters all over her. The fragments rained on her as dust and particles as she crawled out of there.
The Ma Deuce came alive as Emma fired the machine gun at the offending target. She unloaded the rounds onto the area freely.
Yukari saw Emma firing the gun to the other direction. It only took her firing direction to know who Emma was trying to shoot at. Miho!
Dashed out of her cover while unfolding her MP40's stock, Yukari ran a distance to the side of the M10s and aligned her sights to the active target. She fired a burst for about a second. Yukari looked out the sight to saw the figure arming the machien gun starting to slump. Still out of cover, she looked around and could see the depression the Panzer IV was at. She then stuck out her red signal flag randomly.
"Hey, what the hell is she doing?!"
"Shoot her!"
Crap! Yukari ditched the flag and dived as bullets came toward her area. Not the intimidating .50 cal, but sub-calibers like the submachine gun she has. She crawled frantically away as the cadets fired their rubber ammunition at her last known position. Hyped up in their adrenaline, some of the crew were even climbing out of the Achilles to hunt her down. Yukari crawled to the nearest ditch she could find and waited.
With the covering fire off her back, Miho raised her red flag once more.
A short while later, a shell whistled its way onto the left Achilles in the formation. The round cracked on magnificently and, without a question, the M10 Achilles was disabled. The crew on the other two started to react and the turrets were traversing about.
Miho kept the flag raised, higher to make sure the girls didn't miss their mark. Then she felt a sudden, painful sting on her back, the shock coming from her right side near her kidney. The pain came with such a force that Miho could feel her breath pushed right out of her, like she was punched by a brick. She crumbled, the excruciating pain started to overwhelm her.
Yukari heard more firing, and knew that the Panzer IV was doing its work on the Achilles. She heard the crack of branches and leaves as the foot step of the dismounted crew get closer. The steps came closer and closer before Yukari sprung up and mowed the area in the direction of the sound. The two cadets not more than 10 meters from her fell as dust on their clothes flew from where the rounds impacted on them. One screamed while the other only gasped as the kinetic transfer punched the wind out of him.
Yukari got up confident she was safe once more to hear more firing. Not on her, but the slumping figure if Emma had gotten up and was firing a side arm towards the direction Miho was.
Persistent Puma! Yukari internally screamed as she ran to another position, spraying the MP40 as she did. The shooter suddenly took note of the new source of fire and shifted her aim towards Yukari. The MP40 ran dry at that moment, with the bolt clicking shut and Emma fired her Webley at Yukari. Yukari felt a rather familiar punch on her body and was knocked down. She heard another loud metallic clang on another M10 before she fell to the ground.
The last remaining M10 in the formation was idle between its two disable comrades.
"Hana, you're loaded!" Saori yelled out as she shoved a 75 mm into the gun, out of breath and tired as Hana serviced to the next target.
"There were three, where's the last one, Mako?" Hana asked.
"In between the two you busted," Mako said and Hana focused the gun towards the disabled Achilles. "It's out of our line of sight though…"
"I can see that," Hana said as she took a careful, calculated aim through the foliage and darkness.
Back on the lone Achilles, the crew were reorienting their situation.
"Sarge, are you okay?" Edwards said peeking out the turret rear at his commander staggering on the engine deck.
"Took a few shots…" Emma said as she lifted herself on the counterweights. "But I got those bastards."
"That tank is still out there chewing us up…" Edwards explained, looking cautiously at his surroundings.
"It'll be hard now. We got their spotters, no way they'll be able to trace our loca-"
Suddenly a shell bounced by. At their angle, the Panzer IV has no clean shot towards Emma's Achilles. However, the shell tracer marked its unique path to the target.
The 75 mm shell was aimed at the Achilles to the right of the flag tank. The shot was not aimed at the hull, but at the strange curvature on the underside of the M10 turret. A freak combination of luck, probability, chance, and angling was relied on for this decisive shot. The shell did not imbed itself into the armour, instead bouncing off as it ricocheted to its intended target.
The near 30 degree ricocheting angle of the shell had denied the flag Achilles the cover it wanted between the two disabled Achilles. The round blew right into the right hull side of Emma's Achilles, forcing it slightly to the left. The force threw Emma off her feet and any of the turret crew that were standing. As they tried to regain their balance, it was all over.
Grabbing the turret rear counterweights to hoist herself up, Emma could hear the whir of a small circular hatch opening, and she only watched helplessly as a tiny white flag popped up like a cruel joke.
Stunned silence followed on the battlefield.
East Side of S-point - Quebec, Canada
As a Comet swung to the side of the Black Prince, gun ready to fire, a siren sounded throughout the battlefield. Darjeeling, surprised by the referee interference, came out of her cupola for better awareness, holding her empty tea cup. She also noticed that the Comet that swung by had also paused and its commander, John Montgomery, came out as well.
"That's the 'match over' siren," Darjeeling recognized the sound.
"Well, I wonder which flag tank got taken out?" Montgomery said curiously.
Darjeeling can't help but feel anxious as well. Miho and her Panzer IV were missing in the second-half of the battle and no one ever identified Monty's flag tank. Like a truce signal, all conflict stopped as the commanders of their tank pop out for the final word of the match. Comets came to idling halt, the Tortoise crew stopped repairing their monster, and Jasmine company stopped midway to their path to assist Sunflower.
A whine of a sound interference from a speaker first sounded, then the announcement.
"MATCH OVER, MATCH OVER. THE WINNER OF THE SECOND ROUNDS IN THE FIRST BRACKET OF THE 26th WORLD TOURNAMENT EXHIBITION MATCHES IS ŌARAI COMPOUND TEAM FROM JAPAN. CEASE COMBAT. ALL UNITS, CEASE COMBAT IMMEDIATELY."
This was a very troublesome chapter for me. Because for most of a month I had no idea where to go with it.
You know how Anzio's match was skipped in the original anime? I feel like I understand why (although it might be wrong reason), I just couldn't think of a good enough match play between Ōarai and the British cadets to make a concrete chapter.
I was almost tempted to just skip the whole thing as is, but 1) I already started the bloody thing last chapter and 2) It's a disservice to the tanks in British inventory if I did. I mean, the anime and movie only ever showed four British tanks (Churchill, Matilda, Crusader, Centurion) and I'm here laying out around seven! (Archer, Achilles, AEC , Black Prince, DD tank, Tortoise, Comet, Cromwell). So I slugged through it, finding out a good scenario to play this thing out. I think I did pretty good for what amounted for lots of improvisation. The last bit with the Panzer against the five tanks? That really just came up in my mind as I was writing it. Although, that battle scenario I really can't take too much credit for because I was inspired from a scene in the webcomic "Katusha - Girl Soldier of the Great Patriotic War" (check it out, it's pretty interesting so far).
But really, I also wanted to get this whole thing over with so I can get along with the plot! I've been wanting to do the Russians for a long time and I've had lots of time planning for it. Because of that, hopefully the next chapter won't have as much issues as this one.
If there's one thing I did get from the long wait between chapter is that I get a good show of how much support I get from you fantastic readers. I was surprised that this story has gotten itself quite an attentive audience. Seriously, where y'all fine readers coming from?
To finish it up, thank you everyone for all the support! If you want to see what will carry on from here on out, feel free to Follow and Favorite the story! I hope I continue to entertain both you new and old readers!
(And Miho and Yukari are fine btw. Rubber bullets)
Edit 1: Ending was clarified a bit.