Girls Und Panzer: World Tournament!
Chapter 24: Rendevous
Tank Garages, Ōarai Carrier
"Today's the day!" Anzu said to the team gathered at the garages. Right before 8 AM and the majority of the team was present, with the match expecting to start at 11 AM, good time can be made transporting the tanks to the French mainland. "Are we all ready for this?!"
The team cheered loudly. Excitement in the air as circulating with their voices. Everyone was adorned in their school's Sensha-dou uniform, which allowed for easy partitioning on who belonged to which school in the crowd.
"Wow, everyone's up and ready, aren't they?" Saori said, shouldering Mako on her left side, who was dozing in and out. "Well, almost everyone."
"Yeah, just look at this team! We're going to do great!"
"Everyone must be willing to strike back after what Suvorov did to us two nights ago.," Hana said. "Being down six tanks might give us the motivation we need."
"Could be…" Yukari could see what Hana meant. "What about you Nishizumi-dono?"
"..."
"Nishizumi-dono?"
"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I'm just thinking," Miho blankly said.
"You're not looking so good today, Miporin," Saori said. "Have you been getting your sleep like I told you too?"
"Ummm…"
"Miporin," Saori said like a stern mother.
"I know," Miho shook her head.
"You're not going to become Mako 2.0, are you?" Saori asked. "You need your full sleep!"
"It's too late to worry about this," Hana said. "What is important now is that Miho can conduct today's match in her fullest. Can you, Miho?"
"Yes! I'll give it my best!" Miho said loudly, overcompensating her usual enthusiasm.
Yukari looked at Miho's behavior with concern. She knows something is bothering her friend deep inside. The stakes are much higher than it ever had before. Ōarai shutting down was just a lost in asset, in community. Miho was dealing with something with her family now, a burden only she is burdened with.
"Hold up! Hold your fire!" Emma's voice shouted from atop of a Saunder's new M4 (76) tank. A strange tank combination as no 76 mm has ever been mounted on an original, radial-powered, welded M4 Sherman in known history. A quick reference to the League, however, and they got the necessary approvals for the tank. Afterall, the whole thing had no major advantages over the similar M4A1 (76).
But Emma wasn't talking about the new Sherman at all, but the Saunders forward guard, who were all aiming their Thompson submachine guns towards an approaching group of men. The uniformed Russian men approached the field, their weapons raised in the air with magazines visibly out. The group of Suvorov cadets were rounded up, their weapons carefully taken and placed in the pile, and the men escorted to the growing group of them in part of the cease-fire. All skirmishes outside of the match was to be halted by dawn of the match day.
So as the Suvorov group grew, the girls got curious on the size of the group that attacked them two nights ago was. With a roster of 80 students, reactions focused on two perspective: "that much" and "that's all?" Miho was surprised to see how much trouble these 80 cadets did to their school. She then thought about the current size of the cadets and saw looked still shy of the original 80. They were either still out there on the way back or were in the hospital with the other Ōarai team members.
As the 8:00 hour draw near, order was brought to the gathering. "Alright ladies, it's about time to go!" Anzu shouted out to the crowd. "But first! Any words from our commander?"
"Huh?" Miho looked up, and suddenly more than 300 eyes were on her. "Ummm…" She looked nervously from the sudden attention. Her eye caught on Hana, Saori, Mako, and Yukari. Their facial expressions egg her to go on. Miho took a breath and decided to speak out. "Well… it's been a hard journey for us so far. We've been through a lot of trial and error, encountering challenges that is greater than the last. However, sensha-dou is more than just finding these challenges; we will overcome these challenges with our tanks. So we will fight Suvorov today and we will win!"
"Oi!" The crowd cheered on Miho's last word.
"We have to win…" Miho smothered these words with effort, in a voice low enough only those nearby could hear her. Yukari's and the other of Yukari's keen ears caught it and knew despite her bright aura, it was wearing thin.
"Alrighty then, you heard her!" Momo yelled out with her megaphone. "Let's move out!"
"Right!" The crowd went, then the concrete rumbled as the girls all went to their positions.
"Well, let's go then Miho," Hana said.
"Oh, yeah," Miho belatedly replied. The excitement of the team contrasted heavily with the heavy feeling around Anglerfish. Girls were shouting excitedly as they clamored around their machines. Anglerfish just reached the Panzer IV as the first girls started to rev up their engines.
As Miho and Yukari climbed to the turret, Yukari poked Miho. "Nishizumi-dono?"
"Hmm?" Miho turned her head.
"You think… we should explain to everyone what is happening?" Yukari asked.
Yukari thought back at the time with the student council and the risk of the school's closure. Everyone, including her, were eager to enter Sensha-dou like an everyday club thing. But for the student council who knew everything, keeping it all bottled up inside, it sacrificed the awareness of the stakes. The charge at Pravda at the time, if they had known of the consequences of a loss, they wouldn't have risked it all like that.
It was the same situation now. Everyone is so eager to go out and play a round, but for Miho this situation was completely different from everyone else's.
"No," Miho said with a small smile. "Let's let everyone enjoy it. I don't want them all to worry for me like that."
"Nishizumi-dono…"
"It'll be fine, Yukari," Miho said.
"I'm know it will be," Yukari said back as the tanks in the garage roared likely. "I'm worried that you don't."
Miho did not say a word as she took position in her cupola. Yukari went through proper procedures as the tanks began rolling out. A metallic knocking sounded outside and the girls peered out.
"Yo," Isabelle saluted a greeting in a cadet dress uniform, its style evoking a World War II fashion with its dark olive-drab coloration, with the breast jacket and slacks for the wear. It was certainly one of the more formal wear that Isabelle has been seen in.
"Isabelle," Miho greeted her. "Uh, t-thank you for everything you did for us."
"Oh, the pleasure is mine. It's fun hanging around you girls, lots of interesting things is happening."
"Yeah… lots of 'interesting' things…"
"Mmhmm. Anyways, tanks take priority in your transport to the land, so you girls head on first. We humans are secondary to we'll land with the second wave. I'll coordinate with the Russian cadets here so they'll go back home, so don't worry about them. You hit the shore and start planning out your battle strategy for the match, mmkay?"
"R-right!"
"Alright, Miho. Stay frosty out there," Isabelle extended a hand. Miho, delayed from surprise, reached out and shook on the gesture. Isabelle smiled and started to climb down the tank. "Oh, hey Yukari?"
"Hmm?" Yukari looked out her turret side hatch at the American.
"Keep a close eye on Miho, aight?"
"Uh, right!" Yukari nodded as Isabelle continued her descent. She hope that task wouldn't be too hard.
Shores, France
The loading procedure for the tanks onto the ferries to travel them to land was not easy. Eight Ōarai tanks would have been no big deal, but thirty-four was a series of calculation in weight, surface area, and order of load. Even so, the infrastructure on the carrier cannot accommodate for the loading of all the tanks in one go. Trips had to be made.
Anglerfish's Panzer IV, loaded together with five other medium tanks on the open-top vessel, was first to depart from the carrier. Hitting the open sea as the sun rose in the morning had a queasy feeling Miho had not been familiar with since their first landing in Britian. Another transport vessel besides Miho's had a KV-2 and three other medium tanks on it, the heavy weight of the KV-2 must've been troublesome to the loaders back in the carrier to make that work.
The girls had the time on the vessels doing their own deed, leaving their seats to stretch and wander about, many using the tank's armor surface as their seats. The boat rocked with the waves, with each tank's friction on the surface preventing them from quickly moving with the motion.
"These waves…" Mako murmured, her face looking green as she sat in the driver seat.
"Please don't do it on the tank…" Saori warily said to Mako as she sat on the hull roof, while glancing around if there was an impromptu container in case Mako's breakfast decides to come up the wrong way.
From the open-top, the girls could see the path the vessel is going. Unlike the last few locations where the tanks arrive on port facilities in the different countries, France was different. The transport was sending the tanks straight to the beaches. "Feels like an amphibious assault…" Yukari commented on the situation.
However, Miho was looking at a large piece of paper spread out on top of the Panzer IV turret. It was a physical map of Northern France, with no other focus other than displaying all the towns atop.
"So we're here…" Miho pointed as she talked to herself.
"What are you looking at Miho?" Hana supported herself from the turret hatch by the handle bars on top, curious on what Miho was looking at. "Where did you get the map?"
"Oh, I got it from the bookstore. They sell all sorts of maps." Miho said.
"Where are we, Nishizumi-dono?" Yukari peeked up also to look at the map.
"Right around here…" Miho drew a ring with her finger at the location. "I only know that we're somewhere west of Caen."
Yukari crawled up and got a closer look. "Over there… are we landing at Omaha?!"
"The beach?" Hana asked.
"No, I don't think so…" Miho pointed at a peninsula. "This is Point du Hoc, here to the east so… I think we're landing in the west so...Utah."
"Wasn't this Point du Hoc?"
"Hmm…" Miho looked. "Well either way, we're landing here on this beach, and…"
"What is it?"
"Well, the terrain here is what concerns me."
"How so?"
"Well, see all these little roads?" Miho pointed around the green areas with the large roads. Outside of these roads, like capillaries, were even smaller roads. Watching the geometry shows these roads cutting up the green square patches, like farm fields.
Yukari nodded, "Yeah, they're dividing the land up to… oh…"
"What's the matter girls?" Saori said, joining the conversation from an unknown time.
"The terrain around where we're landing," Miho explained pointing around the map. "Might not be favorable for tanks."
"What do you mean, Miporin?"
"Well, considering the French terrain and our location…" Miho surmised. "I'm worried if we would have to fight in the hedgerows."
"H-hedgerows…?" Saori's eyebrow raised questionably. Mako managed to regain some stability and raised herself out of the driver's hatch.
"It looks problematic…" Yukari analyzed. "We'll have to be careful with the long barrels on our tanks."
"Would these bits of bush really stop a rotating turret?" Saori looked up at the top. "I mean, yeah it's tall, but the tank can still go through!"
"Not these ones!" Yukari replied. "These bocages look like the same kinds as the ones back in 1944! The US engineers at the time needed to use two 24 pound explosive charge just to blow a hole for tanks through these! We'll need something like those 'Rhino' tanks to cut through these!"
"I'm sorry, Rhino?"
"It's a nickname for a piece of improvisation the US put on their Sherman tanks. You know the pitchfork? It was kind of like that. The tank with the 'Rhino' cutters would drive forwards and dig it into the thick hedges, then the the tank's crest of the hedgerow's small mounds underneath would uproot the section for the tanks to pass."
"Well, unlike the US First Army, we don't have the resources to start fitting our tanks with it…" Miho said.
"They also had a few nights to do it," Mako murmered. Her arms now resting on the turret roof as her half-open eyes maintain focus.
"But, the beach not having any other infrastructure outside from the roads…" Miho also noted as she traced the roads on the map. "There's no railways, ports, or even highways for us to use."
"How will we get our tanks around to the match zone?" Hana asked.
"The only answer is that this beach area here closed in by these farm patches," Miho stuck her finger into the piece. "This place is the match zone."
The girls looked at the zoomed out map as close as possible for other details before the horn on the boat bellowed, the combination of the nearby boats amplified their cacophony. Miho looked up from her map, her neck straining as the fatigue of the muscles kicked in, and saw the beach from only a distance away, the bar of yellow sands are now close enough that the wet, brown sediment particles.
"Get ready girls!" A crew member spoke out as he walked down the middle, his neon yellow jacket and clipboard standing out as a person managing this vessel's business. The girls on the tanks climbed back into the boat as it got closer to the beach. He checked various parts of the vessel outside of Miho's knowledge as he went back and made sure everyone was in place.
"You heard him girls, mount up!" Miho said and all the girls nodded before they returned to their positions in their tanks.
Moments later, the man said, "Start your engines!" like a racing referee. Nevertheless, the different engines on the boats pumped themselves alive within the minute of his announcement. He returned back to the bridge once they were all ready.
Miho stayed on the cupola as she watched the distance close in, the boat visibly slowing to brace for the land. The beach was now shoulder to shoulder with the boat. Then, the ramp in front that Miho's tank used to get on fell. The ramp landed before the bright dry sand, the tip digging itself into the clear water with a sploosh.
A green light lit on both ends of the boat's deck, then a megaphone-enhanced voice yelled "Forwards!"
Miho reached for her crew comms, "Mako, forwards!"
The Panzer IV Ausf. H clackle as it drove itself off the ship. Past the ramp, the Panzer's tracks crashed into the ocean before it carried itself up on the sand a few inches under. Miho held the cupola-mounted MG 34 machine gun in place as the tank rocked about. A few more meters forward and the Panzer IV found itself on the sunny beaches. A very strange place indeed for a tank unloading. In any other circumstances, this would be a nice vacation spot.
"What a nice big beach!" Saori exclaimed through the radio. "Can we stay here after the match?!"
"It is quite nice," Hana added.
"The sun's blinding here," Mako said plainly.
"It's definitely a nice beach," Yukari noted. For landing in poor weather, she thought to herself as she thought this could be the very area the 7th Corps landed on D-Day. "What do you think, Nishizumi-dono?"
Yukari looked up for Miho's response, only to see Miho not at all focused at the crew's comments. Her eyes concentrated for situational awareness as the Panzer IV continued forwards, then looked to the rear.
Behind the first unloading vessel, the other team member's boats also arrived with their ramps falling. As the tanks started to drive out, Miho looked around the beach. The beach was isolated to itself by the high sea cliffs, the high and fragile walls created by nature's erosion by wind and water. Only a steep sand ramp allowed the tanks to crest over to land, and it was there Miho noticed some referees approaching into view, then beckoned them.
Miho got onto the radio. "Everyone! This is Anglerfish! We have to get off the beach towards the south-west direction on a huge dune by the cliff side!"
The replies came in acknowledging the message. A series of "Roger!", "Ai!", "Affirmative!" came in and Miho switched over to crew comms.
"Mako, drive up that dune over to your right," Miho said.
"Roger that," Mako, as usual as she is, lurched the Panzer IV forwards as she approached the hill. "It's quite steep."
"This is going to be a problem with our heavier tanks…" Hana mentioned.
"Right, let's hope Katyusha can handle the KV-2 up."
"Hook the cables to KV!" Katyusha ordered as her and Klara's T-34-85 crew hooked on the steel cables onto the KV-2 for its journey up.
As she does, Kay's Sherman and Jumbo team passed by in a rather spectacular display. Three Jumbos, a M4A1, and three more M4 Shermans; all armed with the 76 mm cannon, plus the one 17-pounder on Naomi's Firefly. "You girls need a push?" Kay asked as her Jumbo tank braked close to Katyusha.
"We'll be fine, thanks! Now move one!" Katyusha brashly said.
"Oh kay then Katy~" Kay brushed her off and would've continued teasing until Alisa got behind her.
"Kay! Stop prattling and move up!" Alisa pointed forwards, chastising her commander. Kay childishly stuck a tongue whilst smiling and the Jumbo tank moved on forwards.
"Hooks tide, Ms. Katyusha!" Nina cried from the top of the KV-2.
"Right! Klara, prepare to move!" Katyusha said as she sat back down in her cupola. No reply came and Katyusha took a second glance towards Klara's tank. "Klara!"
"Oh!" Klara jolted. "Apologies, Ms. Katyusha."
Katyusha gave a silent nod as she returned back into the turret. Klara returned to her gut feeling as she glanced up the cliffs. Something about it seemed too… convenient. Especially knowing Suvorov, there was something nagging on her right now that something was-
"Klara!"
"Oh!"
As Klara returned to her duties, a small glint appeared on top of the sea cliffs, one reflecting off a monoscope.
The man above laid prone with a makeshift foliage suit from the local foliage. His body concealed, he held a detached scope in his left hand and a pencil in his right hand as he wrote down key information into his notebook. His reconnaissance has delivered the an ample information of the forces below:
T-34-85 = white-blonde lady (?Important)/ Another with a loud kid in it.
M4A3E2 = Blonde babe. Footnote: loud, leader co-loader?
M4A1 = Pigtails, pointing, commanding - important
Panzer IV = Commander.
The Panzer IV crested the beach first, the soft sand finally making way for the sturdier grass and dirt on top. With the tracks now able to get a grip, the tank finally moved normally, instead of the sensation of running on syrup.
Two referee members awaited Miho on top. They were young men, probably in their 20s, wearing polo shirts of white and navy blue color with khaki pants on both of them. They looked like college students trying to make the most of their fashion in a place like this. "Mako, stop about 15 meters away from them," Miho ordered.
"Yes," Mako simply said as the Panzer IV slowly approached the referees before stopping.
"Uh, hello!" Miho greeted the referees.
"Hello there, Ōarai!" The one with a white polo shirt spoke in with an English accent, his dark sunglasses hid any emotion from his eyes outside of the gleaming teeth with his sentence."Welcome to the match field!"
"M-match field? Oh, so we really are fighting here..." Miho said, stumped that she deduced the situation correctly just from the region map.
"Yep!" The same referee replied.
Miho looked around quickly. The large grassy plains, cut up by large hedges, also had a large town center a distance away in the south-east directionof her position. "But… isn't that a town there?" Miho pointed.
"Ah, not exactly. That's a reproduction of a...eh, 1940?" The referee asked his companion with the darker polo, who nodded. "A 1940-era town back in the days. It's all part of the staging. Don't worry, it's completely uninhabited." The man then reached for a large paper document, "This here is the map of the arena for the match."
The referee handed Miho a paper field map. She unfolded it and marveled at the amount of detail the terrain has compared to the previous one. It was a meticulously zoomed in map that showed each tiny road as its own, as well the individual buildings in the town. It was a perfect map for a commander to use on such a battlefield. As she studied, the other girls were peering out the tank for a view. The word "reproduction" ran in Miho's mind as she stared at some of the architecture present in that town. There was a watchtower, and...was that a church? She studied these detail and marked it on the map in the city center.
"Wait, so we can blow that place up?" Yukari asked the men.
"Yeah, pretty much," the referees nodded. Yukari whistled in an "impressed" way. Meanwhile, the other tanks behind Anglerfish started to get up the hill too, some of them visibly slowing down as they saw the view in front.
"Wait, where do we start then?" Miho looked for a reference on her starting position.
"Right here, actually," the referee pointed at their position.
"Wow, so we're dealing with a context of...having complete an amphibious landing and conducting inland breakthrough operations against the enemy?!" Yukari shouted gleefully.
"Uh...yeah."
Yukari did giggity squirm. "Just like D-Day!"
"T-thanks for this," Miho told the referees.
"The pleasure is ours, get your team ready, the match will start at 11 o' clock," the referee said with a parting wave.
Miho didn't watch them leave as she looked around, watching the team gather. She looked at the time, "Well, we still got time until the match. Once everyone gets together, we'll make a game plan for the match. Until then, take it easy girls."
"Don't worry, Miporin! We'll be in tip-top shape!" Saori replied back.
Yukari also felt pumped, but then she looked at Miho and wondered about her psyche. Miho sighed, in it mixed a feeling of relief and strain.
The time passed as the Ōarai compound team continued to climb the dune. The rallying point at a field, Miho had Mako back the Panzer IV under the shade of a grove of trees, where the green leaves provided a sprint of coolness and fresh air. As the girls relaxed with their hatches open, Miho continued to study the map, closely examining each location, memorizing each twist and turns.
Yukari saw Miho continue to stand from her cupola, not a hint of retreating back inside. She climbed out of her hatch and saw her situation. Yukari stared as she tried to find a way to talk with Miho. On one hand, Miho's mindset for her needed victory has taken over.
Win in the match tomorrow. That was the deal according to Loza.
However, this behavior was completely off tangent from Miho's usual self. Has she changed so much with this at stake, or had Miho simply shed a facade she wore at Ōarai? Yukari thought about it, and shuddered that maybe, she might not have known Miho as much as she thought she knew. Miho could be a very different person in her own normal life. "N-nishizumi-dono?" Yukari asked.
"Hmm?" Miho turned, her focused facial expression did not waver even as Yukari put on her best face that showed her concern for Miho's well being.
"You okay?"
"Ah, yeah… yeah I am," Miho unconvincingly answered.
"I know there's a lot of pressure on us now," Yukari said, trying not to explicitly mention the deal with Suvorov. "But, you need to take it easy. If you stay worked up like this, something might happen."
"Nothing is going to happen in the match," Miho reassured Yukari. "I'll make sure we get the best from our team."
"I'm not talking about the team Nishizumi-dono, I'm talking about you."
Miho paused as she rustled her map. "I'll be fine."
Yukari sighed, wondering what she could do. There was still time before the match. If she tried, maybe Yukari could try and get the usual Miho Nishizumi back early. Like what was the saying?
"An early bird gets the worm?"
"Yeah…wait-ag!" Yukari jolted as she realized that voice from above was not her own. She slipped from her loader's hatch handle bar and fell, only to be caught from behind. Helped up, she caught her grip and looked back to see the familiar brown and yellow hair color mixture that dangled from this girl's head.
"Slacking off, are we all?"
"Emma, where did you come from? What are you doing here?" Yukari asked her on the right side of the Panzer IV. The "Puma" had returned to her stalking grounds. She wore a camouflaged uniform, the same coloration as the the British cadet's utility uniform. Given she had no other spare clothes with her visit, it must be the same one she wore at Canada.
"Ah, I unloaded with all the other people on the beaches. Isabelle is still down there filling paperwork for the cadets."
"Paper work?" Hana asked.
"Mostly waivers for all the international business going on between the Tankery raid thing."
"Oh!" Miho sprung up. "Uh, I probably should go help out as wel-"
"Oh no! Don't worry about that!" Emma insisted.
"Really?" Miho asked.
"Yeah! I have more pressing issues with you!"
"Uhh…" Miho wondered what exactly it was.
"Can you vouch for me for Montgomery?"
"...what?" The dumbfounded voice echoed from the turret and driving compartment of the Panzer IV.
"Well, you know. I kinda went AWOL for what happened last time," Emma said as a shade approached her from behind. Emma continued, not hearing the approaching boot steps on the dirt and grass.
"Uh...Emma?"
"-and I kinda need someone to back me up when I see Montgomery again"
"When you see me again...hmm?"
Time froze for Emma. For all the energy that she seems to portray, they were all sapped out by the presence of her commander. Her neck seems to creak as the individual spine bones rotate to align her head straight to him.
"H-hi Montgomery…" She cautiously said.
Montgomery showed no mercy as his two fists came onto Emma's head. The knuckles started grinding in a noogie as Emma screamed out "OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!"
"IT'S SIR TO YOU, CADET BROOKE!" Montgomery shouted into her, right from behind. The noise was loud enough to slightly deafen Anglerfish. He continued his noogie as he brought Emma down to her knees, their matching uniforms blending together as Emma seemed like her blood was pumping out of her brain. Without breaking his stride, he simply looked up and had his default face. "Hello Nishizumi, how are you?"
"Uh…" Miho conversed as Montgomery continued his torment of his second in command. "I'm doing great…"
"Really? That's good to hear," Montgomery said. "Was Cadet Brooke here any trouble for you all?"
"Oh no, no. She was fine!" Miho said. Yukari recalled Emma's time antagonizing the girls on the first day, but kept it to herself.
"Good...good…" Montgomery said, ignoring Emma's erratic cries below him.
"You'd leave a cripple to do your own deeds?" A voice shouted from behind Montgomery, towards the rear of the Panzer IV. He looked back without releasing his grips as two men in cadet uniforms approached, their uniforms in the same color as Isabelle's back on the carrier. One was supporting another, who had a cast on his left arm, and was walking with a crutch under his right arm. The injury locations matched to a certain individual along with the voice, which Miho couldn't forget ever since the hospital back in America.
"M-marshall?" Miho recalled, surprised to see him in this condition so far from a hospital. She climbed out of her Panzer IV cupola.
"Heya Legend," Marshall gleamed as he smiled. His and his associate's dress uniform for the US Cadets, complete with a visor cap, looked stunning and formal next to Montgomery's and Emma's utility camouflage uniforms. Montgomery simply scoffed at Marshall's display as he continued with Emma.
Miho leaped off her tank as Montgomery struggled with his victim. "Well, you two have a lot of catching up to you. I'm gonna go over there and DEAL, with this DESERTER!" He lurched Emma up with his hands unmoved from her head.
"Noo! Wait-OW! Monty! I didn't do wrong! Agh! You were gonna give me to them any-wOW! OW! OW!"
The two made their distance as the men and women present stared.
"He's always wanted to do that…" Marshall spoke.
"What are you doing out here, Daniel? Don't you have to be in a hospital for your-," Miho gestured towards his casts, though aware she was indirectly responsible for them. "-your injuries?"
"Pssh, the doctor had the same recommendation," Marshall scoffed. "I can move just fine with help. When I heard you made it to the semi-finals against Suvorov, I just couldn't miss this!"
"Wow, traveling all the way over for that, dedicated!" Saori cried out before whispering. "You think he does long-distance?" Mako shook her head.
"Yeah, might do the same thing if you make it through to your finals, so the doctors are gonna wish you're gonna lose so they get me back!"
Lose… Miho felt a bitter taste on that word. "Don't worry Daniel. I remember your promise. I'm gonna beat this tournament for the US cadets!"
"That's the spirit, Miho Nishizumi," Marshall smirked. "You'll be going down in Tankery history in more ways than one, Legend!"
Miho tried to hide her discomfort with that name still.
"C-captain?" Isabelle's voice said as she approached, a clipboard in her left hand while she quickly saluted with her right. Miho looked to the front of the Panzer IV where she came from. From there, Miho could see the majority of the Ōarai team has made it up to the rallying point, some tanks still moving about as they got into company formations.
Marshall rested his crutch as he returned the salute, "Hello cadet sergeant. I see you brought your dress uniform."
"Ah, yes! It's..." Emma looked down at her uniform, seeing if anything was unkempt and out of standards. "hard to leave home without..."
"How have you been?"
"I'm good sir, but… what are you doing here?"
"I came to watch the 'Legend' do her deed against Suvorov."
"Well okay, but don't you have to be the hospital?"
"I got you taking care of me now, don't I?" Daniel gestured, his nearby attendant rolled his eyes.
Isabelle sighed, "You really should take care of your health more, sir."
"I do what I want, Isabelle. Anyways, the spectator area for the match is down at the amphitheater nearby, but I'll drop off the cargo with the transports like you requested."
"Roger that, sir!"
"Cargo?" Miho asked.
"More care packages," Isabelle explained to Miho, who just accepted the answer with a slight "oh".
"Anyways, you girls have fun around here. Don't mess up against Suvorov, aight Miho? They're nasty folks to Carius Academy, don't think they won't be nasty to you."
"Uh, okay…" Miho nodded, wondering what was Daniel's standards of "nasty." Before she could ask, he was already walking off.
"Wow, its nice to see everyone again," Hana said. "Its great to know that they're still ready to support you, isn't it Miho?"
"Yeah, I guess it is," Miho said. Her mind refocused to the task at hand.
"Miho-ho~!"
That's a new one… Miho thought as she and everyone turned to the luxurious voice approaching them.
"Bienvenue en France! S'il vous plait, c'est la fête!"
"Bonjour Dianne," Isabelle replied. "Comment allez-vous aujourd'hui?"
The two traded French gestures between each other in a friendly manner while Miho looked on, watching Dianne's hip-hop attitude soar as she conversed with Isabelle.
"Oh, excusez moi," Dianne directed to Miho. "I did not mean to leave you out, 'Legend'."
"Please, call me Miho," she said, finally finding irritance to that title.
"Ah, pardon. It is so good to see you make it all the way up here to the semi-finals. No one really expected your team to do so well."
"I'm quite surprised too," Miho said. And I have to make it to the finals now!
"Perhaps you can surprise us again with your match against Suvorov. Don't think you'll get out of this one easily now! The Russians likes to pummel the new kids," Dianne then smashed a fist right hand into her open left hand, "hard."
If everyone is saying so, these Suvorov people are quite 'nasty', Miho thought. "How will they do it?"
"They're really military focused! New teams like yours usually come in with attitudes that this is a game tournament or something like that. They are very aggressive and guile, so be careful in what you see," Dianne said, pulling in Miho with her warning.
"Alright… I'll do my best," Miho assured Dianne.
"You better légende. If you make it past the Soviets, we can meet the in the finals! It will be legendary!"
"That sounds interesting," Miho thought.
"Well, I got to go now, Nishizumi. I'll be watching from the big screen down there! I surely do hope we see each other again with opposing gun barrels! Tootles you girls!" Dianne waved off as she walked off around the Panzer IV.
Her attitude was really foreign for Miho, even in comparison to those she knew in Japan. She only had experience fighting Maginot Girls' Academy against French designs, fighting Dianne and her team would be an interesting experience.
Then Miho remembered which team Dianne was against in her bracket. "She's not going to make it, is she?"
"No, she's not," Isabelle said bluntly. Miho sighed in incredulity to Dianne's optimism.
The school captains all gathered around in a propped up tent, a simple foldable round table used to hold the field map Miho was given.
"Interesting formation of buildings," Anzu looked near Miho as she chewed her sweet potato, over the tune in the air from Mika's instrument.
"Yeah," Miho's focus shifted to the buildings in the "reproduction" town. The paved road into the town transitioned the terrain from dirt roads surrounded by the farm patches into an urban area.
The town was amazing for a reproduction. If it was a construction of the League's, their capabilities still impress the girls. Two main roads running west to east goes in a half-circle path in the south sides. The buildings line on these roads to create a strict narrow path for automobiles. Though a normal road map implies restriction in travel as one has to go around the buildings through the smaller intersections, for the tanks and their destruction, it gives the girls freedom in their actions in this isolated town.
"Look like some good landmarks are present too," Darjeeling pointed her saucer plate over to the main areas.
On the map, they stood out in the town. A church rose from the large plaza in the center of the town, a watchtower lied a few hundred meters to its south-west on the edge of the village. An obelisk structure was also present to the north of the church, with a fountain at its base. The obelisk stood by the shore cliff, presenting the furthest north edge of the match, a natural barrier keeping the team in line.
"Interesting layout, isn't it Miho?" Kay said as she butted in. "Though I'd much rather go to an actual French town today though."
"It's a very interesting place," Miho said without raising her head from the map. She was studying it very closely.
"Right," Momo said. "Miho, here is the list for the company compositions."
"Ah! Thank you," Miho took the clipboard from Momo and saw the four columns indicating the composition of the different companies in the Ōarai team.
Headquarters still consists of Anglerfish, Duck, and Rabbit team. Dandelion had been bolstered with 12 tanks, though more than just an extra tank from the last match. Due to losses from the Suvorov raid, two Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks were removed for three more M4 Sherman tanks, for a total composition of eight Saunders tanks and four Chi-Ha-Tan tanks. Sunflower has been weakened to 10 tanks, a decrease of two due to losses among Pravda, losing two of their T-34-85. Sunflower now had four Pravda tanks, five St. Gloriana tanks, and Leopon team. Jasmine team has been mostly untouched with Anzio, Continuation, and the rest of Ōarai. In vehicles not lost, there were still single personnel loss, such as Taekeko from Hippo and Noriko from Duck. Miho hoped that crew was still alright, Noriko had been the driving brain behind the Type 89's operation...outside of shouting "guts."
"So here's the current companies," Miho said, relaying the information to the captains.
"It's mostly unchanged, we should be able to work fine!" Kay shouted.
"You think we can do our best?" Miho asked the team.
"Of course!"
"Definitely."
"Hai!"
"Alright then," Miho leaned in on the table. "Here's the current plan. The whole zone outside of this town here is bocage territory."
Bocage, a troublesome terrain for tanks to operate in. Without specialized foliage cutters, the tanks would be restricted by the natural barriers to stick onto the dirt roads. The map shows this, with access to the center of each bocage patch rare. If they had full scale access in and around the bocage, a full exploitation of the tank's mobility on the open fields would be possible.
Miho poked at the center town. "So we're going to aim straight for the town. Both ways, if we can maintain the positions, we will be the defenders. We will force Suvorov to attack while we pick them off. Sunflower, Jasmine, and I will get into the town and set up fortifications. Sunflower, use your heavy armor to attract the enemy towards the center area while Jasmine take up positions in the town and support Sunflower in annihilating the enemy."
Darjeeling put down her tea. "Understood Miho."
"Alriiight!" Anzu swayed left and right on her seat.
"Dandelion, use your speed and occupy the bocage."
"Whoa, wait what? I thought you said it was bocage territory. We're meant to be an exploitation group here," Kay protested.
"I know, but we'll need to have a defensive action in order to have any chance here," Miho said. "Use Dandelion's mobility to get as far into the bocage here. I need you to act as a barrier against Suvorov from making a maneuver on our South flank. If they can't go through, they'll have to go straight through the town into Sunflower and Jasmine. Think you can do that?" Miho gestured to Kay, awaiting a response.
Kay clicked her tongue. "I dunno Miho. I mean, we're the biggest tank group now, but our firepower is still 76 mm level. Plus and, no offense Nishi, we still have the 1930 tank designs in our group, they're cheese to these tanks we're expected to go against."
"If Anzu with a 37 mm can knock out two T-34 tanks at night, I think Nishi and you can make it work, Kay," Miho said. "I need you to do your best, you're the only group that can."
Kay looked at Miho, then back at map. She sighed as she hanged her arms behind her head with a grin. "Alright then, you can count on me!"
Miho took a look on the other captains. Darjeeling, Katyusha, Anchovy, Nishi, and Mika. "We all can do our best right?" Miho asked. "We're going to win this round, is that right?"
The captains looked at each other strangely. "I don't see how we're not. There's nothing stopping us from giving our all in the match," Mika said as she performed staccato on her kantele.
"Yeah, nothing stopping us from giving our all towards the enemy!"
"No charging please!" Katyusha told the excited Nishi. Who looked at her bashfully.
"Pasta!"
"Please girls, I-" Miho wanted to plead more, but she worried it would give too much away. "Let's just do our best now, alright? This battle is not too unlike the ones Ōarai had to do against you in the nationals. We might be outnumbered by six tanks, but we can still win this match. We do that, we can enter the finals! Are we all in?"
"Aye!"
"Alright then," Miho felt a little better with this reassurance. "Mount up in the tanks, relay this information with the team, and I'll see you at the finish line!"
The team captains soon got up, Miho handing the clipboard to Momo as she left and Miho folded the field map into its small rectangle and fitted it in her pocket. Mika stayed as the girls left, continuing to play like a street musician now.
"Miho, a word?" Miho turned and found Darjeeling behind her.
"Hmm? What is it, Darjeeling?" Miho asked.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
"Huh? No, I'm fine…"
"Excuse me then, but you seem...ill today. You don't seem yourself."
"Oh? No, I'm quite alright Darjeeling…"
"A single troubled mind can ruin the cohesion of a colony," Mika said as she finished up with a clear pluck. "Usually ants"
"...Huh?" Miho asked, but Mika was already packing up.
"Did you know this, Miho?" Darjeeling asked as she readjusted her attention. Darjeeling was dipping her tea bag in her cup on the saucer. "How to make the perfect cup of tea?"
"Uhh," Miho wondered where this was going. "Not really, honestly…"
"You need to give the tea oxygen, so it can draw out its flavor," Darjeeling held her cup as she wafed it in the air. Then she mimicked the pouring of a teapot, "Get water not too hot or too cold to draw out the most flavor from the tea." Finally, she started dipping the tea bag up and down from the water, "When the tea starts infusing with the water, you need it in the right concentration, the equilibrium. Too little, and the tea would be too little to have any real effect on the water. Too much, and your tea would be bitter; you can't get the pure taste of the leaves into your lips."
Miho listened, "Uh, I see. But…"
"Of course, if it is too bitter…" Darjeeling said as her left hand reached for a pocket in her blouse. She pulled out a small packet of sugar, the kind from a coffee shop, "You can use sugar to mask the taste. But… even if it alleviates the bitterness the tea, you can always taste that something is off, impure from the original template stained from the extra concentration."
"That's...interesting," Miho confessed. "But… what are you trying to say?"
"Well Miho, when you have a lot of your plate," Darjeeling gestured to her saucer with the tea cup, then placed the sugar packet on it. "You might start finding yourself working to the bone. You can't come back from a ruined cup of tea, you have to start anew."
Miho tried to interpret Darjeeling's cryptic analogy. "I, I think I see what you're saying, Darjeeling."
"I see. Do you wish to talk about it?" Darjeeling asked as she leaned onto the round table.
Miho wondered if she should… but what could Darjeeling do about it? It would just burden her with a business outside of her involvement. "No, I'm fine."
Darjeeling lightly adjusted the cup on her saucer. "I see… well remember Miho Nishizumi. You can have a light tea and have an unpleasant experience, but a heavy tea would only leave a terrible aftertaste." Darjeeling said as she passed Miho out of the tent. "By the way, we never decided on a operation name. I suppose you have any idea?"
"No, I didn't think about it..." Miho quickly said.
"Funny, you always seem to have names for these," Darjeeling said as she lingered at the exit. "I hope you have your priorities straight."
She then left the tent. Miho, left alone, gripped her hands into a fist. "I just have to win…"
Match theater, France
"Here's a good seat," Daniel said, pointing to the row of bleachers. The huge rows of seats outside faced a large Tankery screen. To beat the sun, a large cover has been erected over most of the top.
"I suppose," Isabelle commented as Daniel made his way inside on his own power, broken leg be damned.
"C'mon chap, you got it," John said as Daniel scooted in. Emma was behind him, still massaging her head around the temple area.
"Ah, there we go! Perfect view!" Daniel said.
"Yes, right there. Now c'mon, you now Isabelle," John beckoned Isabelle. Wouldn't want me to block you from sitting next to your beloved. That would be rude of me."
"I'm sorry, did you just-?" Isabelle said as John quickly gestured and got around her.
"Good, absolutely good. Top notch," John finished as he got between Emma and Isabelle. "Not you, we still got stuff to talk." Emma eyes grew with concern.
"I'm amazed at the amount of space, usually they'd be crowded," Isabelle said as she scooted next to Daniel.
"There's probably be more from the locals, but Dianne is still in the game so she's probably still with her team training for her upcoming match," Daniel said.
"She shouldn't bother, to be honest…" A deep voice, accented English, said as someone new sat next to the American. Isabelle's caution grew as Daniel turned to meet his new neighbors. "I see you're still on crutches, Daniel; after such a defeat from those girls, it must be humiliating trying to walk around like that."
"Hello Alex," Daniel said back, meeting his eyes as Isabelle's glare towards him grew and grew. "A whole year and I still see you're still an ass."
Alex Kraus smiled. He was wearing a black uniform not too unlike that he wore in Canada, albeit the removal of the greatcoat for the cold weather. Free from that winter coat, it revealed a rather formal-looking utility uniform underneath, distinctively made of wool and the jacket folded in a double-breast configuration. The large collars stuck out forwards, with the large area pinned with the logo of Carius Academy. The logo was a depiction of a Tiger I tank rolling over what appears to be rubble, but the background rectangle was that of the German national flag of black, red, and gold. His trousers followed the same black coloration with tapered legs, giving it a bloused shape. Underneath his jacket was a simple grey-colored shirt. A black leather belt strapped across the trouser, with a small, brown leather holster for whatever he holds in it. This was topped off with his black-banded Schirmmütze peaked cap on the academy's uniform to give him the status of the commander of Carius Academy. The dark colors throughout his body seemed to blend everything together like a black spot, only his skin provided a vibrant color to contrast against the dimmed aura.
Hans Wittman sat down next to Kraus. Hans had a similar uniform, with an exception of a black M43 field cap instead of Kraus' more fancier one. Unlike Kraus' brunette hair, Wittman's cream white hair greatly contrasted against the black uniform, each strand visible flowing under the black cap. As he sat down, a loud clunk on the metal seats was heard from his belt. On adjusting it, he reveals a larger leather holster set-up as a cross-draw on his left side, extending from that was a rather intimidating pistol grip that had a near 90 degree bend as it came from the main body to the end. Once fully seated, he took off his cap, which has the Carius logo adorned in the front center, and rested it on his lap. He then stared silently towards the recipient of Kraus' snark.
"What brings you and your...friend, to this viewing?" Daniel asked. "Surely, you're so confident you don't need this don't you?"
"Hmph, Dianne is predictable. As long as she continue to field those outdated tanks, she is no match for me. Our little… 'friend' here, Miho Nishizumi, she has proven quite remarkable for us. Having her deal with our nemesis would be a great way to gauge her skills with ours for our final bout."
"Hmm…" Daniel said. "Well then, from what you can see on the current scoreboard, what would you say?"
"I like to keep my opinions to myself," Alex coldly spoke. Daniel rolled his eyes on that note. "But… I do say that she will lose from a glance of this."
"Yeah…" Daniel said honestly. "Isabelle, dear? Would you like to give your input?"
"Daniel I-...grrr. Fine, uh. Miho and her team against Suvorov…" Isabelle did some mental calculating in her head, her lips contorted as she went through her thoughts. She then shrugged. "I-I… I dunno. Looking at it here and what I've seen… I'm gonna be perfectly honest, I don't think Miho can carry the day this time."
"Interesting…" Alex said, smiling as he believe in his assessment.
"I think she'll win!" Emma screamed across the people towards the conversation. She then quickly got up, then walked across the upper seats towards the space between Alex and Daniel, with their eyes looking at her. "She's gonna beat Suvorov here and there. I'm sure of it."
"Oh…'Puma'..." Alex said in a condescending voice. "Never change, you optimistic girl."
Having made her message, Emma huffed and returned back to her seat near John.
"I simply cannot see that as of now. Ms. Nishizumi simply does not have the experience to deal with Suvorov."
"Right…" Daniel said, begrudgingly agreeing with the German commander. "We all got our tactics refined over the years to be the kinds that we are. "Me, exploitation with fire-and-maneuver. John, speed and power. You, Alex, hard and raw long-range power."
Alex finished up, "And Suvorov...combined arms."
Match zone, France
The sun now raised high in the sky, the high-point of the morning hours as it closed in to noon. At the predestined time, 15 minutes before match time, the signal went out.
"Ready up, girls!"
Some girls went. The peaceful shore of the French farmlands in this region was rudely awakened by grumbles of 34 tank engines in Ōarai Compound Team. The companies arranged to their prime directions from the start zone, they prepared their tanks for movement.
Miho's own Panzer IV was no exception. Mako started up the Maybach engine and the Panzer IV rumbled in a whirr, the vibrations rattling the girls and amplifying the noise through the disturbed ears.
"Yukari, load AP," Miho said through the crew comms. Yukari quickly complied as she reached for a rack and pumped in a long 75 mm round.
Miho switched to the radio. "Mic check company, this is Anglerfish, do you read?"
"R-rabbit here! Loud and clear!" Azusa said through her radio.
Silence came from Duck team.
Miho reached out again, "Duck team? You there?"
A noise soon came, sounding like someone fumbling with a mic, before Taeko's voice sounded. "Ah! Yes! Here! Sorry! We didn't receive earlier!"
"Right, stay in touch," Miho said. They must be down without Noriko… She thought as she switched the comms channel to the entire team. "Company leaders, this is HQ. Comms check, over!"
She let go of her mic and let the responses come in.
"Dandelion here, check!"
"Sunflower here, comms clear."
"Jasmine here, ready to roll!"
Miho sighed in relief. Everyone was good. If everyone followed the plan against Suvorov's tanks, they should be good.
Now they just have to wait for the referee signal for the match.
Miho stared out to the horizon. She could see the start of the bocages on her right. They rose like a corn maze, high enough to block any view once tanks enter the dirt road. On her left, a clearer road presents itself that is relatively uninterrupted in its travel towards the town. The control of the town now came to whoever can control it first.
On the other side of these terrain, Miho was sure her opposer was there. Erik Katukov, what sort of man was he? Yukari's description as their commander did not give him much detail to explain what he expects from his own troops. Actually, now that she thought about it, the man did not take the time to even come over for her, unlike the other team members. Why was that? A sign of snobbiness? There was too much around for her to know about one thing except for one: she has to win.
Miho's leg shaked as she waited for the battle. Yukari and Hana, inside the turret, saw Miho's leg fidget as her knees went up and down. They looked at each other, with a mutual understanding that something was off in Miho's mind. But Miho was the commander of the team, they can only hope that whatever was in her mind, it wasn't inhibiting and she doesn't loser her head over it.
Finally, as the minute hand clicks closer to its mark. Miho watched for the signal. A BOOMF sounded and a single flare flew over the match zone, its sparks bright enough to be seen in the daylight with an accompanying SHRIEEEK so that it couldn't be missed even if it was invisible. Then it went off like a firework...POOFM.
Miho gripped her mic, "Panzer vor!"
*Cue readers going "Finally! Suvorov battle!"*
Yep, got this done before my finals week too (Summer classes).
With the new GuP animated films coming out, my initial goal was to see if I can finish this story before the first film comes out so my canonicity does not get totally derailed, like for example the future student council. My goal still stands, but my time is running shorter and shorter so if I don't make it, oh well. The story definitely has been going a lot longer and detailed than what I was thinking about last year, although I'm glad that the whole foundation has been mostly unaltered with small adjustments in physical characteristics and relationships.
For example, Emma originally had coffee-brown hair in the first draft and she was to act in a secretary-like personality of dedicated seriousness, but with timidity. However, I also had Isabelle, who was not the typical genki American girl like Kay, instead was brunette and had a serious personality. I found these two girl's personality too similar, but want to twist things from the American stereotype, so I made Emma the genki, aggressive one and gave her a hair color with codominance expression with her blend of blonde and brown hair.
Also, originally the battle between Montgomery and Miho in the tournament was on a Pacific island. However, it didn't make sense geographically, especially since the final battles would take place in Europe, and the Pacific was nearly on the other side of the world with a whole bunch of landmasses in the way. This is why I picked Canada's east coast so it was in the path to Europe, yet not too far for a trip back.
Finally, originally Erik Katukov's name was Komanov (just a randomly picked name) before I read about Mikhail Katukov and realized the last names had similar syllables, but an added bonus is that I can make some semblance to a legacy in Russia to emphasize their dedication to the sport, kind of like the Nishizumi's legacy in the ages to their dedication to their sports.
Anyways, been doing more research on tanks still, hanging around reddit, etc. I'm just glad I have this story as a creative output for my knowledge, because only Girls Und Panzer can provide a complete focus on tanks with a tinge of drama.
Also I don't claim to be a tea expert. :D
Thanks for reading this far! We've hit combat now, so if you want to stay updated on the start of the fighting, Follow and Favorite this story so the FFN algorithms can send you the notification once I'm done! I'll see you all next time!
Update (9/12): Forgot to mention operation name! Twisted that into a plot point!
Update (9/14): Added some description of uniforms because I had the time and felt like I really need to give Carius Academy a solid tanker uniform template before I divert again.