Girls Und Panzer: The World Tournament!
Chapter 18: Maginot Curves
Tank Field - Ōarai's Girls High School, Ōarai Carrier
As the command tank, Anglerfish did not have to worry much about reloading, the loss of Yukari was negligible. Miho had poor Saori to service the loading process of the 75 mm for the rest of the day. During the process when Hana practiced her marksmanship at distant targets, Saori was having a frustrated time of her life trying to manage a decent loading rate.
"C'mon Saori, you were much better just in yesterday's match…" Hana said as she waited patiently for Saori to pick up another round in the hull.
"That was a time of opportunity!" Saori said. "This is different! You can't expect me to be as good! I'm barely ever in the turret before this!"
Miho sympathized with Saori's difficulties as she rustled around the turret basket for a round.
"How does Yukari do this?!" She complained rhetorically.
It took practice and a small stature for such a task, a small briefing for Saori was needed next time they end up in such a situation.
Yukari, on the other hand and outside the tank, was having a completely different type of training. A distance from Anglerfish's Panzer IV, they were set up a distance to the rear of Anglerfish doing their thing.
"Hyup!" Yukari cried as she threw the British over her shoulders onto a padded mat acquired from the ninja club. Her victim could only brace herself as her full weight landed onto the mat.
"Gah!" Emma landed with a rather crunching WHAM onto the mat.
"Well done, Yukari," Isabelle said, teaching Yukari all sorts of ways to subdue another human being.
"Yeah… great job, ow," Emma moaned as she picked herself up.
"Alright, now get up, Emma," Isabelle extended an arm for her. "You have to help her learn how to tackle someone head-on now."
"I swear I'm gonna get clocked in the face one of these days…" Emma muttered.
"Miho! You there?!" Someone shouted for her through the radio.
"Ah! Yes?" Miho replied back. She needs to focus at the task at hand. "Uh, status report!"
Training proceeded quite normally even with Yukari out. Time slipped by their little fingers as the sky turned orange and the sun set on the horizon. Miho only noticed it as well after looking at the map inside the turret and saw the orange hue through the cupola vision blocks glare off the white parchment. "Saori, what time is it?" Miho asked.
"Uh," Saori opened her flip phone in the loader seat. Her bluish grey uniform was now greasy after servicing the gun a few times in the day. Compared to the radio and machine gun, the propellent smoke the gun gives off the comes back from the breech and the ammo had made a mess out of Saori. She was usually the cleanest girl of the tank next to Hana. "It's almost 6:00!"
"Time flies…" Miho said as she got back to her radio, "Okay, everyone. It's getting late now, pull back and get ready to stow the tanks away!"
Anglerfish's Panzer IV barely left the concrete area around the garages during the activity, staying put as Miho coordinated the team from a distance and only moving as far as the firing range. Thus, the Panzer IV only had to reverse back to its parking space in the garage. When the engine died down, Miho finished up and climbed out of her cupola onto the hull. The tank is a part of her, but it's still a wonderful feeling to be released from its constraints. "I'm going to find Yukari to help us out with preparing the Panzer IV for the night storage."
"Okay Miporin! Don't be too long!" Saori said from the loader's hatch.
"Yeah, cleaning the tracks is a pain…" Mako commented softly as Miho made her distance.
Outside the garage to the left of the incoming tanks that are coming in, the firing range was still active. The smaller one next to the one for tanks had Saunder students, with their Shermans parked to the side, firing away with Thompsons at the metal targets placed on the other end of the range, a large dirt pile behind them to ensure stray shots will only harmlessly land into the soft natural barrier.
To the right of the six or seven Saunder girls being instructed by Instructor Kyline was two girls seeming nagging on a certain fluff hair.
"You see this dust cover?" An accented voice said, pointing to the metal contraption in Yukari's hand.
"Y-yeah?"
"Open it." Yukari did so, and with a simple flip it was up. "Now you're killing. Close it up." Yukari did so, and with a simple flip it was down. "Now you ain't."
"What Emma is trying to say with what limited vocabulary she is spouting is that the dust cover is the safety mechanism for the M3 submachine gun." Isabelle explained in finer detail of the mechanism.
"Mind you, I was quoting a movie," Emma retorted.
"Yeah? Well you didn't make it clear. Here, Yukari," Isabelle handed Yukari a long rod of metal. Yukari took it and weighed it in her hand. "You know how magazines work, right? Jam it in there."
Yukari did so, the magazine locked in with a click that was drowned out by the other firing going on.
"Extend the stock, take up a firing position, and aim down at your target from here," Isabelle pointed and help guide Yukari through the machine. "That target is about fifty yards, peep sight is calibrated to a hundred. Fire in bursts and try to hit the target."
Yukari processed the information as she did what was said. The wire stock extended, she stood at a steady stance like she did when firing the MP40, and sighted in the gun. A few second of steadiness and she let loose a few rounds, the casing springing into the air on her right, a few casings dinged Emma on her head, which she reacted with mild annoyance. The bursts last only a second each before a mechanical chunkle sounded from the piece. Yukari looked up and saw the dust cover area blocked by the bolt.
"And you're out," Isabelle said, taking the submachine gun from Yukari's hand and cranking the bolt back before clicking the dust cover shut. "What do you think?"
"It's… like typewriter," Yukari recounted the experience. "It was easy to keep it on the target because that da da da feeling… That was awesome!"
"Glad to hear," Isabelle manipulated the Grease gun to point to the ground, "We'll continue this tomorrow. Oh, look, you're commander is here." Isabelle looked towards Miho at the distance, whom only meekly waved back.
"Nishizumi-dono! Did you see me?!"
"Yes, you were great Yukari!" Miho said back. "We're getting ready to end the day though, so we need your help getting the Panzer IV ready!"
"Okay!" Yukari said, "Just give me a moment!"
Miho nodded in acknowledgement as Yukari went back to the two cadets. Yukari hadn't been this excited ever since firing the Panzer IV's gun the first time. She was waving her arms excitingly as she oozed out her excitement, with the cadets only nodding along with her before Isabelle had to wave her away to other concerns. Waving goodbye, Yukari ran to Miho's location. "Sorry about that!"
"You had fun today?"
"Yes I did! Do you know how many time I choked out Emma today?" Yukari beamed at Miho.
"I'd rather not, and hope you won't use it on me," Miho slugged along with Yukari's trend as a T-34-85 roll by the girls. Despite the large concrete space, the traffic caused by the large team has made the space a concerning automotive hazard.
"I won't!" Yukari said back, "besides, something tells me that you have, like, five other ways to beat up anyone who tries!"
"Hmm…" Miho thought back. Yes, Kuromormine did have the martial arts program. She hasn't practiced it in a long while, yet it remained so fresh she walloped Yukari the other day. A method of teaching done right? "Yeah, maybe…" She didn't really know. It could all just be in instinct reserve waiting to be unleashed.
"You know, Nishizumi-dono, you should teach me a few stuff as well!"
"Oh, no, no, no!" Miho vehemently denied, waving both her hands in refusal. "I can't do that. I was never that great in it!"
"Really? You have such skill in it though!"
"Maybe, but you should ask someone better, like my sister, she…" Miho paused mid-sentence, "... she's way more talented in that field."
"Miho…" Yukari could feel the small pain in Miho's head. "I'm sure you're sister's fine out there. If something truly bad happened, we'd know by now, wouldn't we?"
"Yeah… but still… I can't help that something is really wrong here," Miho shuddered.
Yukari patted Miho on the back, akin to Kay's five-star, but softly and with reassurance. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, okay? C'mon! Everyone's waiting!"
"Oh, right!"
The two girls made it back amidst the tank traffic that was intensifying. The garage was beginning to fill up as tanks came in. The tanks that were parked already were being tended to by their crew. Anglerfish were already at work on the Panzer IV. A long pry bar resting alongside the hull indicate that the girls had checked the track tensioning to make sure it won't walk the track off the next time they take it out. Working on the engine was more complicated but made easier with Leopon team and some stray maintenance girls from Saunders helping out. Focus was made on the engine fluids such as the oil and coolant, two often-neglected components on an engine's running cycle. Hana and Saori were working together on it, checking the oil storage with the dipstick for suitability.
"How's she doing, Saori?" Yukari asked.
"Pretty good! The panzer will roll like a charm!" Saori said as she held onto the dipstick.
Mako was up front checking the transmission through the panels on the front glacis, a graceful addition to whoever added it in the design for ease of maintenance. Compared to machines like the Panther with only a flat sloped glacis with no panels to access the transmission, the Panzer IV was quite a friendly vehicle to take care of.
"Anything out of the ordinary, Mako?" Miho asked as she looked down at where Mako was looking at.
"No. We didn't run it much today, so it is still well-lubricated."
"When did you learn how to take care of the transmission anyways?" Saori asked from the engine deck.
"I read about it."
"I wish I had your skills…" Saori grumbled before rambling on about calculus.
Still, their work was quite tame compared to everyone else who was out running their tanks on the playing field. With everyone willing to take care of their vehicle to a certain extent, Leopon has had their work cut out for them. The biggest pain in the maintenance department for Ōarai was the Tiger (P). Its complex power drive had made it unforgiving to all but the most knowledgeable of automotive performances, namely Leopon. Within about half an hour since the last tank made its parking, everyone had done their most basic tank servicing.
"Alright girls!" Instructor Ami said out of her lungs to the large group of school girls gathered back outside the garage on the concrete gathering area. "Great work out there, today! Everyone gave their 120% effort, right?!"
"Yes ma'am!" Some of the more military-affiliated girls replied back compared to the simple "Yes!"
"Alrighty then! Now, before you are dismissed, the student council of Ōarai have this to say to you!"
Instructor Ami stepped aside as Anzu took center stage on the attention by simply moving forwards. "Okay! We just got our bearings for our next match location!"
The girls in the crowd was now excited with conversations. Where would they be? What wondrous location will they be in now? Will it be a nasty place where tank movement will be a nightmare like the last match? Or will it be perfect tank country on the large rolling fields?
"Quiet down! We're just getting to it!" Momo shouted on the top of her lungs to the crowd. Her voice was drowned out in the commotion, but as diligent girls hushed each other, the talking died down.
Anzu cleared her throat again, "We'll be fighting in France!"
"What?" Miho reacted in wonder. The "Western Front" of the 20th century was about to become their next battlefield?
"How interesting!" Saori exclaimed. "First Britain, then America, then Canada, and now France? It's like a world tour!"
The other girls in the crowd were all ecstatic at this prospect. France was just one more interesting location for the girls to be in.
"Quiet down now!" Momo shouted out loud and seconds passed before tranquility in the sunset returned. "The location may be interesting! I agree as well, and we'll be there within two days at our current speed! However! Our opponents is nothing to sneer at when we arrive! We will be fighting the Russians of Suvorov Military School!"
Murmers return.
"What?" A girl absent-mindedly spouted
"I saw them on TV!" Another girl exclaimed.
"Oh no!" Another despaired.
Momo called for attention with her stance and body language, "I expect us all to fight as hard as possible! We fought the Americans and the British already, if we take the lessons from those two battles, we'll have a chance against them! Is that clear?!"
"Yeah!"
The commotion was again chaotic as the mood among the girls range from anxiety to enthusiasm.
"It's nice to see everyone in such high spirits," Hana commented loud enough for the Anglerfish girls to hear among the ambience.
"Yeah…" Saori agreed. "The Russians? Huh, I'd figured we would be going to France to fight Dianne."
"Who?" Miho asked.
"Dianne? The French girl?" Saori focused the question in a penetrating move towards Miho's thoughts. "We saw her at the selection, remember?"
Miho thought back a few chapters in her head.
Saori sighed, "You slammed face-first into her breasts."
"Oh yes, her!" Miho recalls. "That's right, she's in this tournament… Would be curious to end up fighting her on her home country."
Next Day - Rolling Plains, Ireland
The girl in her faded blue uniform let out a chipmunk sneeze while sitting on the open hatch on her turret rear.
"À tes souhaits," the radio operator, Katy, down below the turret in the hull said towards her tank commander.
"Merci," Dianne sniffed as she readjusted her helmet, a color of between faded green and blue, that was knocked about from her head movement. She looked over the cupola from her hatch on the rear, as she did the top of her breasts hit the hatch edge harshly. "Merde…" Dianne cursed silently. Physical constraints on the tank had been harsh to her physique and she still struggled despite the familiarity with the tank.
Still, she had a view of the landscape, giving her a better view than the one forward vision block available gave her, which was slightly hampered by the foliage camouflage they had strewn about on the tank hull as the tank took up position.
Their tank were placed on a hill overwatching a large grassy plain in front. On the plains, three knocked out tanks were present, idle since their white flag popped out. The crew were already evacuated, but as the place was still a battlefield, the tanks were left as is.
The competition was unpredictable with their competitor. After defeating Madrid Armored University of Spain in their bracket, De Gaulle Tank School had moved on to face the contestant on the other bracket. In that bracket, Nankai High School of China faced against Phalanx Academy of Greece.
And now, they were against the Chinese on the plains of Ireland. Vast rolling plains of simply grass and rocks, the only things breaking the landscape are the thick swatches of trees and bushes scattered about. Almost perfect tank country.
"Capitaine!" Katy cried from inside the tank. "Report from our Panhards. Enemies are making their move on sector Duff."
"Affirmative," Katy said, dropping back down into the turret. She bumped about as the turret interior reminded how her bust made the conditions cramped, "Tell everyone to hold their positions and wait for my command," Diane told and Katy returned to her duty. "Driver, shift right a bit. Target the 75 towards that swatch of bushes at our 1 o' clock."
"Roger that," the driver, Adele, said as she shifted the lumbering 28 ton Char B1 bis into the orientation. Meanwhile, the loader, Selena, checked her inventory of 75 mm shells once more.
The command Char B1 bis platoon had planted themselves on a part of the field. Due to the large size of the field, the 35 tank team had to be split up to seven platoons of five to manage the arena. Two platoons are held in reserve as a "fire brigade", leaving only five on the front to keep an eye out for the enemy. Small skirmishes have occurred on three of the platoon's front by recon groups, hence the hulks of battered tanks scattered in front of Dianne's Char B1 bis and her four other medium tanks.
However, the last skirmish happened almost 20 minutes ago. It's just been a long wait now. A phony war?
Dianne sighed as she picked at her canteen on her blazoned brown belt. Unscrewing the lid, she held it up and drank.
"Capitaine!" Adele suddenly cried.
Dianne coughed up her drink in surprise, her helmet hitting the various components on top of her and her mid-body on the turret gear. "What?!" She said while gagging.
"Smoke! In front!"
After reorienting herself, Dianne looked through the front vision port on the cupola, one of the three vision sights available on the cupola, the other two on the left of her cupola and the rear. None for the right side. Though the sky was cloudy in a dark grey tone, the smoke in front of her was bright white, newly formed from whatever machines the Chinese have.
"Katy! Get the other's status reports! What's going on out there?!" Dianne ordered as she kept her eye on the distance. Katy hastily called away on her radio to the other platoons. Adele had her right hand hovering over the 75 mm's gun, ready to service it onto any targets. Selena had a 75 mm ammo in her hand, ready for the loading.
Dianne, inside her one-man turret, checked the 47 mm gun that had made residency with her. She looked back through the front vision port onto the horizon for any movement. The smoke stirred, something was inside it.
"Damn it, Katy, what's going on?!"
Katy looked back up at Dianne. "All other fronts report no movement."
Dianne looked back up into the smoke cloud. It was way darker than how it was now, even darker than the grey clouds on top. It no longer spelled out a simple cloud of smoke, but something more menacing, like the mechanization of an entire fleet behind it, with enough exhaust to cover the background.
"Merde… Battle stations!" Dianne barked out, "Katy! Get our fire brigade up here, now! Anyone available, get them here ASAP!"
"Yes, capitaine!" Katy went back to her radio, abuzz from the commotion.
The first break from the smoke came, like curtains unveiling to the audience the main performance. Panzer Is came out of their concealment, same ones the Chinese used for their earlier skirmishes, spraying their machine gun armament downrange at the hills. Their shots scattered wildly, but a few rattled onto Dianne's Char B1 bis like a drum.
Dianne snapped out of any thoughts she had and operated the traverse gear on her turret, ready to aim onto the target. "Tell everyone to fire at will!" Dianne cried out into the tank. Katy proceeded to get on the radio on the platoon's frequency.
Dianne aimed through her telescopic scope, adjusting the gun on elevation based on the gradients on the right side. As she lined up an incoming Panzer I, about 600 meters from their position, into the sight; the tank suddenly lurched, turning left. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What?! Driver, halt!"
"What?!" Adele screamed out! "I'm trying to aim the 75 at this tank here!"
"Yeah? Don't interfere with my aiming! Just shoot them as they come into your sight!"
"Yes, capitaine!"
Dianne returned back to her sights. What she saw was no longer a platoon of Panzer I, but an army of a collection of vehicles. CV-33 tankettes, BT cavalry tanks, and T-26 light tanks had emerged from the smoke. Behind those are Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks rumbling forwards with their old circular turret. Their exhaust fumes had created its own smoke screen as the tanks advanced. Suddenly, the five Char B1 tanks Dianne had felt very inadequate.
"Damn! That's the entire enemy force!" Adele cried out.
"Engage at will! They're focusing their attack on a single front for a breakthrough, don't let them get any closer!" Dianne shouted out while Katy relayed the command towards the others. "And make sure the flag tank stays with the reserve!"
The enemy tanks closed in, charging wildly. The 45 mm guns on the BT and T-26 fired on the move, the stray rounds flew in and threw up dust and dirt at their impact.
"Focus on those Russian tanks!" Dianne shouted as she aligned the sights to the first target, a BT-5 in the second-lines. Katy kept at it on the radio, trying to relay and digest the information coming in and out.
Dianne looked through her sights once more. She adjusted the distance… 450 meters now. The gradients on the right showed small indents for the distances, but the trajectory was nearly flat at that range. The enemies were at 400 meters before they fired. The 47 mm shell flew and struck a tank. The friendly units to her sides fired as well. The 47 mm fired with a KLUNG followed by the brass shell clattering around. After each shot, Dianne must get down to the ammo racks and manually load the gun. How much it would kill for a loader!
The tank then sounded a WHUMP as the 75 mm howitzer fired out of the hull. The fixed gun, only able to freely traverse vertically with its extremely limited horizontal traverse, blew out the round and then Selena readied it for the next shot. Dianne couldn't even tell if the 75 mm hit or not as she was busy servicing her own gun.
Dianne finally threw a round into the gun and looked through the cupola's port to examine the situation. The tanks were now closing in, though with five more tanks knocked out. However, the closest tank, a Panzer I, was now 300 meters. What a machine gun only tank is doing here is beyond her, but its machine gun was striking higher on the tank. One round created a DING as it struck the top part of the cupola just above Dianne's head. Concerned, she reached back and closed the large rear turret hatch she was sitting on moments earlier to prevent stray rounds from ricocheting in. The cramped turret teased with her body, but she stopped caring.
Still, the problem was the T-26 and BT tanks. Their guns could do damages if they get close enough or to the sides. Dianne looked back to her scope and fired off another 47 mm. The round flew and bounced off the glacis of one of the Christie tanks. "Merde!" She cursed as she went back down to grab another 47 mm.
The field was still with explosions on both sides as the shells fly, hit or miss. Five tanks against twenty or so in the opposition. However, the centralized condition in the Char B1 meant that the commander could not observe the battlefield when firing, and if they were observing they could not fire. Dianne came back up to her vision port and saw the first tank only 200 meters away now. Even as her team whittled away at the enemy, they were still incoming en masse. Their large formation broke up any discernible efforts to count the individual tanks. They couldn't, they were busy firing as is.
Still, at least their 47 mm could actually do damages, the thin armor on the light tanks and tankettes were easy targets for the guns. Dianne aimed up her sight once more and aimed for another target.
A loud, sickening CLANG rang throughout the Char B1 bis. The vibrations deafened the crew momentarily.
"Merde! What was that?!" Selena cried, clutching her right ear.
"That ain't no 45!" Adele shouted, unsure what to do with her hands. Continue servicing the gun, or prepare to move? "It came from the right!"
Dianne looked through her three cupola ports and saw nothing. She cursed and reached back and opened the rear hatch, as she did a rubber rifle round struck the the side of the turret. After flinching, she brought out with complications on the opening that seemed to be tightening on her upper body and peered out to the tank's right. In the distance, she could see the figure of a formidable tank. "Holy f… Shermans! Four of them! Our 2 o'clock!" She shouted down her tank while keeping her eye on the tanks. A plume of smoke appeared on the turret of one of the M4 Shermans, and another rattling CLUNG slammed into the tank armor.
"All tanks, reverse!" Dianne yelled, followed by Katy desperately tried to keep the message sending on the radio. Adele moved a few gears on the transmission and the tank moved back, slowly with its one reverse setting. While looking out, Dianne saw to her right, one Char B1 had already been knocked out, smoke emerging from the impact of the enemy shell and a white flag on top. How did I not see that? Dianne thought. Why do we have to use these pre-war tanks anyways?! Just for that stupid grant?! It's a nice sum, but give me an ARL-44, please!
Dianne fell back into her turret, hitting something once more, then looked around the cupola as they reversed. Dianne and her platoon mates retreated from the hill they occupied to the next defensive line. "Katy, where the hell is everyone?!"
"Unknown, capitaine!"
"Know it! This line is about to fold!" Dianne shouted as she viewed through her front cupola vision port. She kept her hands on the gun to service it on any tanks ready to crest the hill. The large wave was still incoming. The Char B1 platoon reversed pitifully out of their situation. A tank soon showed up on the hill top. Three 47 mm rounds took it out, revealing itself as a Panzer I as it rolled down, disabled. More came up as the tank commanders were reloading, and then another, then another. Panzer I, CV-33 tankettes, and soon the BT tanks made their appearance, rolling down onto the Char B1s. Suddenly, fire coming above the Char B1 rained down on a few of these tanks, disabling them. Dianne looked back and saw reinforcements. Five SOMUA S35 tanks at the distance firing towards the enemy wave.
"Capitaine! Reinforcement with fire brigade A has arrived!" Katy belatedly said.
"I can see that!" Dianne said to Katy's face as she picked another 47 mm shell. The enemy tanks were still closing in. The machine gun rattling continued, bumping off the Char B1 armor like a very, very annoying bell. A screeching, scraping noise sounded on the right side of their Char B1.
"I just painted that!" Adele shouted towards their close aggressor. Followed the scraping was the continuous Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud of the machine gun armament trying to drill into the metal plating.
First of all, good luck with that, Dianne thought as she tried to translate her thoughts in all the noise. Second of all, stop it.
But the Char B1 can not depress its gun at the Panzer I at its side. Then a crash happened right in front of the Char B1, pushing it slightly to the rear.
"Salaud!" Adele cried out, followed by a 75 mm shell being blasted out of the howitzer. Whatever was in front of the Char B1 was no longer a problem.
Was everyone else experiencing the same issue? Dianne couldn't tell, she was preoccupied, and the continuous machine gun fire isn't helping! She traversed her turret around, getting the cupola's vision ports on the angles to get a full situational awareness inside the tank.
She caught something on the corner of her eye. "Shermans, on the tank's 3 o'clock!"
The Shermans were cresting a small hill to the far right from Dianne. On the side hull on one Sherman, she could see the large red, rectangular shape of a Chinese flag. The Shermans aligned their turrets, firing at the distance towards the reserves tank. Rounds impacting the Shermans only bounced off with ill effect. The Sherman, with great impunity, fired away with their 75 mm onto the pre-war French infantry tanks. The SOMUA and their heavily sloped armor couldn't resist the Sherman's 75 mm rounds. After a few volleys, Dianne made the evaluation that the five SOMUA that supported her were probably all demolished. She stared at the Shermans as the closest one activated its hydraulic traverse to rotate its turret onto her Char B1. "Enemy fire, 3 o' clock!"
The crew barely responded before an explosion rang from the Sherman, but
nothing happened to their tank. Dianne traversed her turret so the front faced towards the Sherman. She viewed through the front vision port and saw a white flag flying on the Sherman turret, some smoke coming from behind the profile on the left hull side. Beyond the Sherman, Dianne could see tanks from her neighboring platoon, Renault R35 infantry tanks.
"Platoon D has arrived, capitaine!" Katy said.
"I can see that, Katy! Get on the radio and get everyone else here! The whole goddamn enemy team is in our sector!"
"What?!" Katy cried back in the middle of the machine gun fire, still going Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud. Dianne did not hear her. Katy tugged on Dianne's pants. "WHAT?!"
"Get. Our. Team. Here!" Dianne said to Katy's face. Noise still sounded on the tanks as machine gun fire continue to rattle the tank, numbing their senses and disorienting them inside the tank.
Katy went back to her perilous and intensive work as Dianne went back to her cupola. The three remaining Shermans shifted their attention from the Char B1 to the new threat on their side. They seemed sluggish, while powerful the Chinese were too focused on specific targets rather than dividing the workload.
Though their attention on the R35 is a threat. The R35 only had 40 mm of armor in the front along with a pitiful 37 mm gun, not the same power as the early German anti-tank gun, but the same 37 mm the French used on the FT tanks in the first World War. Outdated crap that was useful only on armor thickness of interwar tanks around 30 mm, but may as well be a peashooter to the Sherman's front armor.
Dianne watched another R35 get blown away by a 75 mm shot. She prepared to fire another shot at the Sherman when a shot clanged from the front left side off her turret. She looked towards her left cupola port and saw a T-26 just coming down the hill. Her attention towards the hill had been deficient and much had transpired just from taking attention to the Shermans. Disabled tanks now decorated the downhill slope of the hill. The ones close by were scattered CV-33 tankettes and Panzer Is with flags up, their crew still inside to avoid being hit in the crossfire. The sight of a Panzer I made Dianne rather nauseated as her hearing got together and she realized that her atmosphere was still covered with the impacts of machine gun bullets. A small impact on her tank side and she realized that the machine gun-armed tank was still on her sides, annoying the ever-loving hell of the crew!
The tanks closed in as the 75 mm continue spouting out shells directly at its front, the tank traversed slightly to the left and right to deal with incoming threats. Dianne's 47 mm was focused onto the sides of one of the Shermans. At this distance, the one and a half inch of armor on the side is still vulnerable against the 47 mm. She fired a round and the shot landed on an angle on the Sherman cast armor side, deflecting off into the ground. The Sherman seemed to have taken attention as its turret and hull was suddenly turning to its aggressor. The 75 mm bore size of the gun was a lot bigger when that dark hole was looking straight at its target, and the front armor is angled straight at them, no shots available for even a glance at the side armor.
Putain de merde
Then an intruding shell landed straight onto the Sherman's front armor. The surprising part was the Sherman sputtered from that hit, and a white flag emerged from a port on the front hull. No 47 mm gun could do that.
"Capitaine!" Katy cried out. "Fire Brigade B and Platoon B has arrived on our 9 o'clock!"
Dianne finally found it inside her to crack a smile. Platoon B was their "breakthrough" unit, and thus they were armed with the most intimidating vehicle in De Gaulle Tank School's inventory.
Armed with a 75 mm M1897 gun on a turret on the front with a crew of twelve, the lumbering beast made the Char B1 look like a duckling. Its armor was nothing to write home about, only 45 mm at the front, but with its height of 4 meters, width of 3 meters, and length of 10.3 meters, combined with its statistical weight of 69 tons, one can be forgiven for thinking the Char 2C was a "super" tank.
The three Char 2C making up Platoon B were supported by five SOMUA S35 by fire brigade B. They charged towards Dianne's sector, firing away at the enemy tanks still charging. The remaining two Sherman and its crew, in a state of panic, fired their rounds at the gigantic Char 2C, but the rounds only hit haphazardly around the Char 2C on the ground. The Char 2C's M1897 gun, of which the Sherman's own 75 mm M3 gun ammunition were from, fired rounds into the Sherman. One more hit and another Sherman was knocked out.
A close round landed with authority outside the tank on her right side and made a large metallic CRUNCH. Moments later, Dianne felt light-headed, but euphoric. The machine gun rattling had ended!
As she traversed the turret, she shouted out. "All tanks, push forward with the attack! Maneuver and annihilate each and every one of them!"
Katy relayed the order via radio with enthusiasm, the tide changing. The remaining Nankai tanks in front of them seem reluctant to continue. They were cut down under 37 and 47 mm fire, and some unfortunate ones with the 75 mm. Dianne loaded up her 47 mm and took a shot at the last remaining Sherman on the side. This round hit squarely on the Sherman as it was turning to face the Char 2C, disabling it once and for all. Disabled hulks of BT-7, BT-5, T-26, Panzer I, CV-33, and Shermans littered the field now, once serene and now a battlefield.
But their job wasn't over with. "Keep moving! We have to find their flag tank!" Dianne ordered, which Katy relayed. Dianne got up over her cupola, her delicates hitting the cupola edge once more with great annoyance, and she used her hands to signal the nearby tanks to charge forwards. Her platoon, now only three Char B1 with one more lost in the crossfire, beginning to lurch forward back over the hill they momentarily retreated from. We win this round, we'll be one round closer to fighting the Legend!
Tank Field - Ōarai's Girls High School, Ōarai Carrier
Miho's sneeze came out and echoed inside the Panzer IV.
"Gesundheit," Hana said, still keeping her eye in the Panzer IV's gun optics.
"Thanks…" Miho replied in the loader's position, giving Saori the break she needed. Hana fired another round downrange at targets in the distance. Long distance fighting was the training of the hour, with moving targets at the distance to practice leading. Miho loaded the next round, but not until after she watched the shell land squarely onto the moving target's center mass.
"Nice shot, Hana! Just as always!" Saori commented, viewing through the MG 34 optic at her position. Hana silently smirked as the gun breech closed up with a round chambered, and Hana fired again.
"Hey, Captain!" Someone on the radio reported straight to the Panzer IV. The tone of voice implied a Pravda student.
Before Miho could answer, Saori got it first. "This is Anglerfish, who is this?"
"Rotation is up for you bunch, next group of us are to take the range now."
Miho climbed back into the commander's position when Saori replied, "Roger that, make room for us. Out!"
Miho connected herself back to the crew comms as she got comfortable. "Okay Mako, reverse now."
"Roger," Mako boredly complied as the Panzer IV engine revved up and reversed out. Miho saw behind the tanks were a couple Eastern tanks. some T-34-85s from Pravda and the KV-1 from Continuation along with the BT-42. Mika was on top of her BT-42 playing her kantele. What goes on in that girl's mind is quite a mystery.
The Panzer IV backed out to the usual gathering of tanks on the pavement that were on breaks. Mechanics were busy at work to maintain the tanks, especially tracks. Tracks were the main trait of the tanks, and they all have small mileage before needing replaced. The Panzer IV parked itself next to Rabbit team's M3 Lee.
"Hi Miho!" They waved at Miho when they saw their commander stick out of the cupola. Miho waved back with courtesy as she exited the Panzer IV and stretched out her limbs. Spend a few minutes hustled down in the loader's position throwing 25 pound rounds into the gun breech does things to the muscle.
"I'm going to go check on Yukari now, okay?" Miho told her crew.
"Be careful," Hana said back. "Look both ways before walking onto the markings!"
"I know!" Miho said as she went off. The issue of traffic has been mitigated by having painted markers and orange cones placed on the concrete. Now tanks were restricted to certain areas as to not be allowed to run nilly-willy. It may congest traffic, but it made a pedestrian life in front of the tank garages safer.
Another addition was the large concrete road blocks placed at the same time as the markers. Added in a parallel to the opening of the garage and perpendicular to the direction towards the tank field, they lined up layered in two sets in front of the garages, forming a rather large L shape from the air and with gaps in the center of each stroke for tanks to enter and exit their garages.
It was done on the recommendation of Emma. "Provides cover," she says, At 42 inches, it was certainly a tall piece of concrete to have. A girl could take cover behind it if she needed to. All these changes to the field were done by the Ōarai carrier's transport committee, the material on "lease" until otherwise. The student council were reluctant on adding such surplus items with their funding, but it was done.
"Hello Miho!" Anzu mentioned for her while on top of the Jagdpanzer 38(t)'s gun mantlet. On the roof of the tank destroyer, Momo and Yuzu had laptops opened as they seemed to be doing their administrative businesses.
"Prez!" Miho went closer to the Jagdpanzer 38(t). "How are you all?"
"We're doing great!" Anzu said as she threw in another sweet potato into her mouth, "and you?"
"Just taking a small stroll," Miho said over a diesel engine as a T-34-85 rattled past her.
"Good, good. Hey, you know we just passed Greenland on the longitude measurement a while ago?"
"No?" Miho hasn't been keeping up with the school carrier positioning on Earth.
"It's alright, we're just a day away from entering the mouth of the English Channel… again."
"That means we still have three days after we reached the destination…" Miho thought.
"Maybe we'll finally have some free time to finally do some sight-seeing?" Miho pondered.
"Maybe!" Anzu waved about a sweet potato. "Just prepare for the upcoming match! You wouldn't be slacking off, right?"
"N-no!" Miho insisted.
"Fight on!"
"Prez… can you please help us?" Yuzu pleaded their president.
"Okay, okay," Anzu said, "after this."
Miho moved on as Anzu continued chewing on a sweet potato.
On the good ol' dirt firing range for the small arms, the girls are adjusting to the addition of a concrete barrier, the same kind lined up in front of the garages, for practice on their usage in combat. Indeed, some of the American instructors are teaching some Pravda students how to effectively use cover and engage.
"You can't just spray bullets all over from behind cover," Kyline said to the girls. "If you don't end up hitting the damn thing, well… it makes you look like an ass. You've got to pick your targets by deliberately aiming down your sights."
Kyline then got low under the concrete barrier, taking a Thompson into her hand. "When you're down here, try not to fire at the enemy from over the barrier." She got up over the barrier with a knee stance, showing her Thompson barrel over the barrier. "See this? I'm exposing most of my upper body over the barrier." She got back down under. "Now, if I come out over the side of the barrier…" Kyline then pushed out over the sides, trying not to get higher than the barrier. Her Thompson barrel rested on the side of the concrete. "See? Like this, my whole front is still protected, and I can engage targets effectively still. Keep that in mind when you practice today, either way works, but it comes to your preference on how fast you want a bullet between your eye."
Kyline got back up. "Also, normally in terms of ballistic, we'd worry about light cover like bullets punching through wood. Unfortunately with these rubber bullets, penetration is out of the question. Think of it like… airsoft. Any of you played airsoft?" Kyline asked and some girls raised their hands. "Okay, so don't try to shoot enemy hiding behind some planks like in a videogame, our rubber bullet won't do much so always try to aim at their exposed parts. Alright, you try now."
Kyline handed the Thompson back to an unarmed girl. Miho looked at the range and still saw girls firing away, trying too. After hours of being cooped up inside a tank, a nice practice with their own marksmanship without the expense of a Sensha-dou tank shell can be quite cathartic. However, two figure on the prone position were quite distinctive. Both had woodland camouflage, though one had darker and larger brown splotches while the other was smaller and more blended in a lighter tone. Their firearms also stood out, both held the M1 Garand.
BLAM, BLAM, BLAM, BLAM-PING!
The firing of the American rifles followed by the ejection of the metal clip came as the girls fired at their white, square, paper targets. Their rounds made distinctive PIQ noises as it tore through the paper. The girl on the left with the lighter camouflage, Isabelle, held her rifle at a rest while the girl in the darker camouflage was still aiming. She wasn't done. Firing two more rounds, the metal clip came out.
"Took you long enough," Isabelle said amidst the noise.
"Go to hell."
Isabelle didn't and she pulled out a binocular towards her target. Emma also did so.
"Looks like I won this contest," Isabelle said to Emma, putting down her binocular. Emma just stared back at the American with a stare of contempt. "Hey, don't look at me like that, you wanted this."
"Yeah, but I literally just touched this rifle yesterday," Emma pointed to her Garand, still pointed down range for safety. "Give me an Enfield and I'll show you a 'mad-minute'!"
"Yeah? Well if you think familiarization with a gun is a translation of a skill, look at that girl." Isabelle pointed to Naomi on their right, who have made residence on the ground with them. She chewed her gum as she aimed down the scope on a M1903A4 Springfield rifle, a specialized rifle taken from Saunders inventory under their stacks and stacks of Thompsons and carbines. She fired a shot, the .30-06 round flew downrange to a paper target on her lane. She calmly cycled the bolt as the brass case rested alongside two other casing on the ground near Naomi. Three shots, and Isabelle looked down the range with her binoculars.
"Three shots, one hole," Isabelle commented, meaning all the rounds landed close enough to have the punctured holes close enough to constitute one large hole. "Quite an accuracy for someone who just picked up the rifle yesterday."
Naomi did not make any comment to her attention, only popping her gum balloon before focusing back to the target.
Still, all that bantering, contesting, and comparing didn't give Miho the answer she needed. "Hello Isabelle,"
"Hmm?" Isabelle looked back at the Legend. "Oh, hello Miho."
"Where is Yukari?" Miho noted Yukari was nowhere near these two cadets.
"She's hiking about in the tank field with Hawkins."
"What? Why?" Miho asked.
"Practicing outdoor skills for scouting," Isabelle said. She stood up, checking her M1 Garand. "Gonna need it when you're not in an installation."
Miho looked out onto the tank field. With everyone practicing and everything, Yukari was out there?
"Doesn't seem like anyone noticed us," Hawkins said as she got out of her prone position onto her knee. She was in a gear akin to that of a paratrooper, wearing a reproduction M1942 paratrooper uniform of US, the large pockets on her uniform front making it most distinctive even through the load-bearing gear she was wearing.
Yukari, just by her side, got out with a gasp as if she was underwater. Her suit was nothing similar to Hawkins'. "Are you sure we should be doing this?"
"Why not?" Hawkins stood up, looking out of the collection of trees they were under at the field. "It's a good practice on how to travel across open plains with enemy patrolling all over."
"But with everyone shooting their cannon shells…" Yukari was heavily concerned about that part.
"The tank commanders have to deal with that problem ever since someone thought sticking their heads out of the cupola gave the best vision. This is not too different," Hawkins came down to Yukari. Her webbed helmet was covered with branches of tree leaves and grasses that she nearly blended into the ground. Yukari and Hawkins both have painted face to hide their relatively bright skin on the ground.
Yukari looked around, concerned of incoming tanks that might blow them to kingdom come. Hawkins grabbed Yukari by the chin. "C'mon girl, you're a scout now! You'll be fine. You need to get used to that suit before the day anyways, best way to practice is to use it."
Yukari felt her suit again. It was better than the Mark I at Britain, it was camouflaged in a similar pattern to Isabelle's standard uniform instead of just black, it fitted with her skin more comfortably, and in all respect felt like it was in a better quality than the previous one. The rubber padding was also rather comfortable and confidently diminishing the sound of her footsteps. Then there were the other gears in Yukari's belt that she hasn't used yet, but have been briefed on already.
"Okay, looks clear," Hawkins said, after looking out once more. "We'll be moving from here to that set of trees over there."
"What?" Yukari looked out at the tree Hawkins is pointing. It was a modest form of concealment, the problem is that the distance was about 300 meters apart, and they were traveling on foot.
"Remember, don't be seen by the others. They're out practicing and we're in a rather unused area, just be careful."
"What if I get run over?!" Yukari exclaimed.
"Live a little!" Hawkins grinned. Yukari couldn't rebut before she ran out into the open, staying low before getting rather low on the plain. Yukari thought it was unfair before running out, following Hawkins. By all means, sticking close to an instructor would serve better than going solo for now.
Yukari crawled, keeping up with Hawkins as she gave advices. How to move while crawling, how to do so to conceal movement, and more other stuff Yukari took in almost mind-absently.
"Are you listening, Yukari?" Hawkins asked.
"Okay."
Hawkins paused and kicked up dirt at Yukari's direction. "You listening?"
"Oh! Sorry…"
"Don't lose attention, you need to keep situational awareness. There could be a sniper for all you know."
"Right…" Yukari said as Hawkins continued crawling. Yukari followed, moving closer to their destination. "Hey, uh, Hawkins?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you flying us to Suvorov again?"
"No," Hawkins responded bluntly. "You'll be taking a commercial plane to your destination."
"Huh?" Yukari asked. "How are we going to do that?"
"I dunno, ask Isabelle. She planned the whole thing out," Hawkins continued crawling. "It's just more convenient than to fly a military helicopter onto their airspace… and probably safer."
Yukari couldn't help but think of the complications on getting all the necessary gear for the scouting into Russia for the scouting in a military school. She decided to leave that thinking to the experts.
"Hey Hawkins?" Yukari started again, "if you're so good, why don't you help me with the scouting procedure? I think we could work together well, don't you think?"
Hawkins paused and looked back at Yukari, "I appreciate the thought, Yukari. Imay look good doing this stuff, but I'm no good in scouting."
"Why not?" Yukari asked.
"Let's just say no one and the Chinese were happy when they found little ol' me in the middle of their school," Hawkins said dryly. "I'm just not cut out like you. You managed to successfully sneak into a military installation and get out without much of a scratch. I got caught in a situation and got dropped from the armored unit of the cadets."
"Oh…" Yukari didn't expect to hear that. She tried to boost the mood, "You can always have another chance…"
"I wish, Yukari, but being a cadet has more restrictions than a schoolgirl. The flexibility you're experiencing now is going to be quite limited and unforgiving when you grow up." Hawkins got back to a crawl, "Trust me on that, you'll end up more sane that way."
"Yes ma'am."
Hawkins made a small huff of amusement, "Just call me Hawkins. I don't need that from you. C'mon, keep moving."
"Okay!" Yukari said as the two continued scattering across the entire tank field.
The sun was setting before Yukari left the tank field. Hawkins and Yukari walked out of the dirt onto the concrete together. The whole team had already cleaned up their deed, all the tanks packed away. All that was left were the six people still standing on the field.
"Uh oh, looks like we're late," Hawkins meekly made note of the empty status of the garage area.
Yukari thought so too. She spent so much time out there she lost track of time. She mentally beat down herself for not figuring those tanks they saw earlier were definitely moving out of the field.
They approached the waiting figure in the shade and made them out. The two senior cadet instructors and Anglerfish.
"Hey sarge," Hawkins said as the two got closer to the figure.
"You had fun out there?" Isabelle said dryly, "Hope you actually were teaching her."
"Well… that's something that only she'll be able to tell."
"Hmm," Isabelle seemed skeptic. "Well Yukari? Did you learn?"
Yukari, with her face paint-covered with her suit dirty from all the crawling around with mother nature, sported a grin that had her white teeth shone past the grittiness of her look. "I did! It was great!"
Isabelle analyzed Yukari, Emma gave a funny look as well. Yukari was just trying to get out of this interrogation towards her friends.
"Well, frankly. The only way we'd tell is on how you'll perform in your scouting adventure, so stay ready for that," Isabelle finally said.
"R-right!" Yukari replied.
"Alright fluffball, dismissed," Isabelle finally said before walking off to deal with Hawkins.
Yukari now faced her team. "Eh, sorry I couldn't help a lot today girls…"
"Oh no, no, Yukari. That's okay," Miho clarified their stance here. "Are you alright though? We heard you were out there on the tank field, and you were out there for a long time."
"Hmm? Oh! I'm okay, Nishizumi-dono!" Yukari was bright when she smiled quite brightly at them.
"Will you be alright when you go out on your mission?" Miho asked. "I don't want you to be too tired before you set off, do you even know when you're going?!"
"No worries, Nishizumi-dono!" Yukari eased her. "I'm all ready for it, a quick dose in the baths will clean me up real good!"
"You know, Yukari," Saori said to her right. "You should take it easy before you go regardless. I don't want you getting hurt on the way to your next destination!"
"But I'm fine, really," Yukari insisted.
"Don't work yourself too hard," Hana said. "Even in flower arrangement, it is common practice to not spend too much time on one tedious task."
"It's nice to nap once in awhile," Mako threw in her lot.
"Thanks Mako, Hana, Saori, Nishizumi-dono," Yukari addressed each of Anglerfish team, "but I'm really feeling alright and excited! I'm ready to do what I've been doing the last few days all over again!
"Okay…" Miho said in concern, but if Yukari said she was good. Well, sometimes a person is the best judge of their own condition. "Just make sure you get a good night's sleep, okay?"
"I will!" Yukari excitingly said, "but… I would kill for a bath now…" Yukari muttered eagerly.
"With everything you've been through," Saori said. "I'm scared that you could actually kill."
"What? Nah, I can't possibly completely incapacitate someone," Yukari passed off the remark.
"Just saying… no other schoolgirls are like you two."
"Hmm? Me too?" Miho gestured towards herself.
"Well, it's mostly because of you two that we're all even where we are, don't you think?" Saori said. "We all have our part, but you Miho, nothing in all this could've happened without you."
Miho thought about it, "Yeah… sometimes life just happens when we try to live normally."
"I think so too!" Yukari said, "but I think you should have more credit Nishizumi-dono! All my knowledge on tanks are nothing without your guidance and inspiration!"
"Heh, I'm glad I could be of help," Miho said, trying to downplay it though, "but you should all be proud of your own achievements. Whether I am here or not, all of our efforts will helped us win our past battles, and can help us win this tournament!"
Yukari and the other girls brightened up on that note. It's nice to be appreciated.
"Speaking of tournament…" Saori cut in, "Did you hear about today's match, Yukari?"
"Uh, who was it again?" Yukari asked, forgetting that the tournament had a match on this day. It was a very busy day.
"It was De Gaulle Tank Shool against Nankai High School. The match was quite chaotic on both sides, but De Gaulle managed to win. Though, the commentary seemed to talk a lot about the organizational difficulty the French team had."
"Yeah… those French tanks can be quite a pain inside," Miho reminiscence.
"How? They're armor is quite tough for their time!" Saori questioned.
"But they only have a one-man turret! The commander has to command and fire at the same time, it's almost impossible to manage all that efficiently!" Yukari answered.
"Well, that makes our Panzer IV look even better, doesn't it?" Saori asked. "Man, there were so many weird designs back then!"
"Tell me about it," Miho said, almost rolling her eyes at some certain designs of the past.
"We can talk about it in the baths!" Yukari shouted. "C'mon! We're only a few blocks away from the baths!"
Miho couldn't help but giddy. A bath was something they all could use now. "All in favor?" Miho asked.
"Yeah!" Saori and Hana unanimously agreed, with Mako going with an "oi".
Well that was a short Hiatus :P
I wanted to get straight into the next bit of my story, but I realized that with the days Ōarai has to get to their destination, I didn't really want to waste those days to simple text boxes explaining what happened like "First day passed, nothing out of the ordinary happened". Thus I composed this chapter for it as a "prelude" to the main event.
French tanks are chaotic and you have to pity the commander who has to observe, fire gun, and load gun. At least he/she didn't have to manage the radio as well… on most designs. I really debated if I should add the ARL-44 for the French, but the prototype model was cutting so close to the end of the war, and thus the end date for acceptable vehicles in Sensha-dou, and I didn't want to risk including an "illegal" vehicle in the match. Besides, why NOT a Char 2C?
One big thing that affected the story writing was that I used the Char B1 wikipedia page (bear with me) for initial research, it had an image of a Char B1 with a split-hatch cupola on top, so I wrote it in the story. Then I picked up Zaloga's book on Char B1 vs. Panzer IV and I saw that the cupola had no hatches! I was like "WTF?" so I researched it and yes, ordinary Char B1 bis had no hatches on the cupola! The top picture on wikipedia for the Char B1 bis is one for a CAPTURED Char B1 that's been upgraded by the GERMANS. And this is what happens when you rely too much on one thing without checking it! And I realize this is my most stupid mistake yet because MALLARD TEAM HAS A CHAR B1 bis THAT IS CORRECTLY MODELED. #!% (Pardon my French) Anyways, it took a while to rewrite that.
Chinese tanks are due to importation they had in World War II. Axis Panzer I and CV-33 at the beginning, Russian BT and T-26 around then too, then with American Stuarts and Shermans toward the end. They also captured a bunch of Japanese tanks, so I added that as well. It's a mix.
As always, thanks for reading my story and my new chapter! Feel free to Follow and Favorite the story if you enjoy my story (or I put it into an unofficial and extra-short hiatus)! Don't be afraid to drop a review as well!
Also, if you want to see the chapter I put up for April Fools, its in my story forum.
I hope I see you all next time!
Trivia: In China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan, for instance, there is a superstition that if talking behind someone's back causes the person being talked about to sneeze.