Girls Und Panzer: World Tournament!
Chapter 25: Iron Fist
West side of town, France
The tanks moved forward, riding along the road to make the most speed in their movement.
"As we planned," Miho said through the radio. "Dandelion, take to the bocage and cover that sector! Jasmine, watched the south road of the town! Sunflower and I will take the town!"
"Riiight!" Anzu replied.
"Oh-kay!" Kay said enthusiastically.
On the first intersection, the path for each company was set. Dandelion took the direction south to the bocage field. Jasmine, Sunflower, and Miho's headquarter group moved on to the town. Upon the next intersection, Jasmine company split off to the right path towards the southern border road curving the town's semi-circle perimeter, extending from the coast.
"Darjeeling, send Rosehip ahead to recon the town, see if the enemy is present." Miho said.
"Understood," Darjeeling said, taking in the order.
A moment later, the three Cromwell with Rosehip propelled themselves forwards ahead of the tanks, the meteor engine rumbling at a higher rate as the Cromwells sped towards the town on the road.
"You know, I bet my T-34s can make it at the same time!" Katyusha yelled through her radio, referring to the two T-34-85 currently in her command, the one she's riding and Klara's. Their tanks trailed in front of the IS-2 and KV-2.
"No Katyusha. We need to conserve your force. The T-34-85's guns are quite an asset to maintain now against Suvorov."
"Rrgghh… fine!" Katyusha said in a huff.
The Pravda platoon, a fragment of its usual self, was maintaining speed behind St. Gloriana's Black Prince and Churchill . Miho's headquarter group of the Panzer IV, M3 Lee, and the Type 89 was in the middle with Leopon's Tiger (P) in front leading the way. The turrets on each tank angled in various directions to watch all possible sectors while moving.
Soon, the vectors of attack shrink to forward and the rear. Entering the town, the buildings engulfed the surrounding from the south fields of hedgerow and the north seawall towards the coast into a restricted urban landscape. Buildings up to three stories cover their view of the distance, with only the roads showing the way through these man-made structures.
"Miho, Rosehip's platoon has made it to the town, they haven't found the enemy yet, but they'll stay posted until our arrival."
"Understood Darjeeling," Miho replied.
The road continued to crack under the tank's weight and metal tracks. The vibrations from this contact was mitigated by the rubber wheels on the tanks. This luxury was not enjoyed by the heavy tanks with their steel wheels. Duck team in the Type 89 also did not have this novel feature either.
As they drove down the buildings, they passed through intersections as the northern road branched into the town interiors.
"Katyusha," Miho started, skimming the map. "split off and head down to the right, meet up in the plaza. Stay in touch on the comms."
"Alright!" Katyusha replied and the last four tanks of the column broke off to the right. Rukuriri's Churchill turret traversed to watch towards her rear.
"Rosehip reported in, the town is clear," Darjeeling reported.
"Clear? No enemies at all around?" Miho asked for confirmation.
"No enemies sighted near or around the town," Darjeeling confirmed.
Miho was surprised by that news. The lack of any firefight at the moment confirmed this so far. She got back on the radio. "Jasmine, this is Miho. Anything on the south side there?"
"Oi Miho," Anzu replied. "Nothing here, everything's clean."
"Nothing? Alright then. What's your position?"
"We're partway through the halfway point at grid B3. Passing by an intersection soon."
"Roger that. Keep an eye out, Pravda is moving in the town roads inside. Don't confuse them with Suvorov tanks please!"
"Okay! We'll keep an eye out for their school symbol!"
"Keep in touch," Miho said, thinking about the information so far. "Nothing on our east or south side of the town yet…"
"That's good news, right?" Saori asked.
"Yeah… I hope," Miho said cautiously. She went to the radio again, "Kay, how is it for you?"
Kay took a moment to reply back, "Nothing so far! There's a whole lot of darn roads and stuff! We're trying to spread out to that souther- driver turn left here. Southern straight road to maximize our mobility through the bocage. Driver, turn right here."
"I understand. Let me know if there are any changes to your situation."
"Roger that!"
"Miho, we're approaching the town plaza." Satoko from Leopon stated through the radio. Miho looked ahead past Duck team in front to Leopon, who began to break through the surrounding structures to an open space.
The town plaza was a huge wide space in the core of the semi-circle town. As the hub of the town, the area stretched out, connecting the major roads in the town that then connected to the smaller streets like a spider web. The arena looked like a fine social area, with delicate garden and greenery meticulously placed around the area like that of a mall gathering area. The sight of a farmer's market busy at work with tents erected in the space could be envisioned, with parties and children running about. In the top center of the plaza was a large church, its wooden doors towards the south was wide enough to fit vehicles and astounding size and structure exhibiting more thought and investment put into it than a simple "mock-up."
This exciting atmosphere was trampled over the sound of the approaching tanks. This plaza was no longer and never was the social gathering it could become, but an arena between the two warring teams. Miho's convoy past the last edges of the building structure before hitting the open space.
"Mako, try not to destroy anything yet," Miho said, swerving the tanks around the delicate structures and pedestals showing off the greens. The team passed a white obelisk structure peaking at the north of the church, bordering along the northern main road that they traveled from the west
"Miho-sha, turning into the plaza now," Katyusha stated. Miho looked towards the southwest road and saw Katyusha's T-34-85 starting to turn towards the area, with her team trailing behind; Klara's T-34-85!pointed away out towards the exit route of the road.
"Wow! we can see everything from here!" Azusa shouted from her M3 Lee cupola. Indeed it must be for the case of the extra tall M3 Lee profile, she could get a better view than the other commanders.
"In that case, Azusa keep a look out from here," Miho said.
"Ah! There's Rosehip!" She soon exclaimed. Rosehip Cromwell platoon approached from the southeast direction by one of the main roads from in and out the town. The direct, wide road led straight to the first hedgerows of the bocage.
Rosehip approached recklessly fast. Though watching out for the larger gardens in the area, a few lone pedestal vases were knocked over by the Cromwells as they made the various turns towards Miho and co.
"Alls clear all-around!" Rosehip exclaimed. "No one's here!"
"Nothing around where we were either. Looks like we secured the town!" Katyusha shouted as her tank rolled up to Miho's. "We've got the initiative!"
"R-right," Miho agreed, but it didn't feel right. No signs of Suvorov anywhere? "Well, let's carry out the plan then. Darjeeling and Katyusha, set up those defensive strongholds."
The two school commanders replied with their understanding, then they were off. Pravda's four tanks went towards the southeast path while St. gloriana went to the northwest road. The two school's respective medium tanks sped off ahead of the heavies.
"Leopon, position yourself here in the center and support Pravda from the rear."
"Affirmative!" Satoko replied. The Tiger (P) inched forwards towards Pravda's side. She picked a strategic spot behind some shrubbery from a garden; ensuring that only the 88 mm gun was extending past towards the direction.
"What about us?" Taeko said from the Type 89.
"You and Rabbit stick with me. We'll stay in standby depending on Suvorov's next move. We'll ride it out from here."
South bocage fields, France
Kay looked closely at the map as the M4 Shermans maneuvered through the bocage. Like a corn maze, the bocage's height prevents the usage of landmarks for accurate positioning, leaving only Kay's map to see where they are in the huge mess, much to her frustration.
The problems with the bocage field was not only that they restricted the tank's movement to the roads that the hedgerows grow out into, but that the huge hedgerow prevents an easy observation of the overall situation. A tank going down a road will only be able to see what's in front of them since the bocage on both sides leave only a focused view on the front. The dense hedgerows leave an inability to view the sides or even across intersections, creating a literal line-of-sight perspective.
Not to mention the roads were skinny. Some roads were small enough that a tank cannot turn, only reverse to withdraw. This was especially problematic with the M4 Sherman's turning radius due to its inability to neutral steer, prohibiting the same level of movement in any other terrain.
Sunflower company had split into platoons of four tanks to maneuver through the hedgerow; two Saunder platoon and one Chi-Ha-Tank Platoon. Kay couldn't see much use of the Chi-Ha-Tan tanks except for recon or even as meatshields, but she wasn't going to be blunt of their expendability. Besides, letting them work together would be better than forming mixed platoons from both school. Doctrines might contrast and it wouldn't end well for unit cohesion.
Kay had Chi-Ha-Tan move up north in the bocages closer to the town, where they could easily withdraw to if the worst was to come. The two Saunder platoons meanwhile maneuvered farther south.
Kay's platoon, made up of two M4A3E2 along with Alisa's and Naomi's tanks, were heading south on a turn around a hedgerow-bordered field. If we can cut through these fields, this would've been much easier… Kay griped, all the possible paths for the tank were being overridden by the hedgerows. It was frustrating, wasn't the tank suppose to go all over land? Yet they are stopped by five meter tall hedgerows.
"Left turn here, Alisa," Kay said as she looked at the map. The upcoming turn would put them on a road that was nearly a straight path cutting across the entire field to the east side, giving them a leverage over the enemy as a path to exploit from.
Alisa's M4A1 (76) W Sherman started its turn across the corner. Then the tank froze in place.
"What's wrong?" Kay asked before Alisa from her cupola frantically waved and scream.
"TURN BACK!" She shouted loud. Her M4A1 Sherman was reversing at full speed. Kay couldn't respond quick enough and her M4A1 crashed right into her M4A3E2.
"Agh!" The inertia threw Kay off-balance. "Alisa, what the fu-"
An indescribably deafening sound blasted in the air, but what Kay felt was a heavy shockwave coming into her face as a flash of light erupted meters from their position. When the light cleared, she found herself inside the M4A3E2 on the commander's seat. Her crew members were shouting at her face. No...were they shouting? Kay couldn't tell. Everything was ringing in her ears.
"hey…" Kay heard from the mouth of her loader to her left. The siren in her head started to die down. She shook her head, feeling the dizziness in her head shake out as she forced herself back up from the cupola. Outside, the green light singed with orange as she saw the damage that was done.
A large crater had formed alongside the bocage corner. It had a deep impression into the ground. The blast and shockwave of the caliber had even singe the green leaves of the nearby hedgerow. Kay looked at the M4A1 (76) W that was immobile in front of her.
"Alisa…" Kay could feel herself talking, though the hearing was still fuzzy. She drew in a breath. "Alisa!"
Silence for a few seconds before the M4A1 cupola opened, and a similarly dazed Alisa stumbled up.
"What was that?!" Kay asked towards Alisa, the only one who saw the horror that did this destruction. The
Alisa looked back at Kay's eyes and screamed out of her lungs, "ASSAULT GUN! THEY'VE GOT ONE OVERLOOKING THIS WHOLE ROAD HERE!"
Kay looked out and quickly made some hand motions. "He must be reloading! Advance quickly and make some distance there!"
"Roger!" Alisa, despite her shakiness, complied as she ordered her M4A1 (76) W forwards back into the fray. She made a similar distance past the corner, before her eyes widened again, and the M4A1 quickly reversed back into position. Then came a heavy super-sonic wave that passes through the same road that Alisa exposed her tank at. Unlike the previous shot, this shell cracked past the girls and tore through the bocage and across to the ground, landing with a heavy POOMF.
An armor-piercing shot? Kay thought, but shifted her attention to Alisa. "Alisa, what is it now?!"
"There's another one!" Alisa shouted. "They're alternating their shots as they reload!"
Kay looked back at the devastated corner they tried turning to. With two assault guns on the other side, there was no way she could take the platoon through this road without unacceptable casualties. She reached for her map, luckily still in its position after all the chaos, and glanced at her marked position for a second. "How far were they?"
Alisa took a quick moment to think, "About 800 meters or more!"
Kay estimated the distance on the map, then marked the area on where the assault guns were suspected to be at. That's all the way at the corners of the bocage… Kay looked at her assigned platoon, they were shaken up by this encounter. Even the thick armor of the M4A3E2 wouldn't stand up to the Russian assault guns. She then folded up the paper. "We'll find a detour around this section. Let the others know to watch out for long strips of roads. The Russians has set up heavy artillery on the other side!"
The tanks reversed out of that situation as Kay plotted a new path. Shots broke out on a fair distance away to their north, hidden due to the bocage. Kay estimated the area and grabbed her radio. "Hey, Carrie! What's your status?"
"We've encountered enemy light tanks! Tiny rascals! T-70 lights!"
"I can hear that, we'll try to get over to the south side and get around them!" Kay replied, doing hand signals to the rest of her platoon urging them forwards. "Driver, move forwards!" Kay's M4A3E2 moved forwards as the platoon followed. The firefight moved as the cannon fire sound sources kept relocating. "Nishi, you copy?"
"Oh! Kay!" Kinuyo Nishi spoke through.
"I need you to maneuver around and box off the enemy Carrie is engaging!"
"Roger that! We'll move in an-" Nishi was interrupted from a blast.
"What's going on?" Kay asked.
"We've encountered some enemy tanks! Heavy tanks! Agh! Excuse me, they're huge!"
Tanks up north? Kay thought as Nishi's situation went in."Try to hold them off and bring them towards us! We'll deal with thes-"
*WEOW-KLANG!*
A shot flew right onto Kay's tank glacis and bounced up. Kay quickly ducked and examined the source. "Contact here as as well! Ah, T-34 tanks! Fire at him!"
The 76 mm cannons in the platoon rang out as they hit the source in the distance. The T-34 had already reversed away before it was targeted.
Naomi was not hindered with the concealment in this environment however. "Excuse me, captain," she briefly said as she brought the Sherman Firefly's 17-pounder gun to bear. The muzzle brake traversed that it was next to another turret, aiming towards the hedgerow to the left. Kay quickly got to cover in her cupola.
*BOOM!*
The 17-pounder's muzzle blast was impressive as is, but more so right next to it with the six inch armor plate of the M4A3E2 turret side to cover from the blast waves. Naomi's round zipped into the hedgerows, the foliage unable to drastically hinder the 17 lb. shell from making its aimed trajectory to the target. It positively made a hit beyond the hedgerow, with a confirmed sight unneeded to determine a kill was made.
Kay cautiously came back up, feeling the heat on the turret from the blast as it laid traces of soot around the M4A3E2 left side. "Good shot," Kay praised, impressed as always with Naomi's skilled aims. "Enemy up front! Pursue them and keep up the pressure! This whole situation is a lot hairer here than I thought!"
"With due respect! We've all got long hair!" Nishi nonsensically said.
"That's not what I meant!"
Southeast side of town, outside perimeter, France
Three hundred meters was the drop-off point.
The diesel-powered T-34 tanks of 76 and 85 mm caliber rolled through the dirt road towards the town. Their movement followed with a distinctive noise from the tracks; the bumper on the rear slapping the roller pins back into the tracks. Each "slap" as a rod comes across the bumper creates a clacking noise that comes signature with the T-34 tank. A noisy feature, but a necessity to keep the track pin's for the T-34's wide tracks on the Christie suspension in place.
These T-34s were a tad special. Their green paint and construction made them indistinguishable from the usual tanks, but the markings signified their new "special purpose" role. The cryptic mark was only that of a blue diamond painted on the turret sides. To conceal their special nature, they were still referred to as the 3rd company, though anyone looking at unit composition would find its homogeneous structure of T-34 tanks strange compared to the other combined-arms companies.
As the T-34 drove closer, the T-34s drove more cautiously, at a slower rate to reduce the noise profile. Each platoon within the company had a designated deployment area for their packages. Finally, Platoon A was given the halt order from their commander, and the three tanks stopped on a dirt road, with a large hedgerow separating them from a line-of-sight to the town. T-34 number 322, a T-34/76 mod. 1943 tank, halted as the driver, Mel, lurched up the brakes as hard as he could, then set the gear to parking. He then turned over to his bow machine gun passenger, Vist.
"Well, I suppose this is your stop," He said to his comrade.
"Indeed," Vist said, "now if you'll excuse me."
Mel looked forward and opened up the front driver hatch on the hull. After locking it in place, he then rolled out of the front hatch head first as part of the training. As soon as Mel left the hull, Vist followed through the larger and more manageable driver's hatch, especially compared to his only other escape method through the belly hatch. He climbed out relatively quickly after a lot of banging and hits on the other components of the T-34, something never ironed out despite all the training here. Mel laughed as she nearly slipped out of the hatch.
"Ha ha, very funny," Vist said as he walked over to the left hull of the T-34 tank. There was a few curious note on the hull side, notwithstanding the large tool box on the front part of the fenders. There was also the horn that the driver could use and the sheath for a large saw the crew could use to cut down timber if needed. Large handles line up the T-34 side for use by desant troops, a vestigial feature from the wartime blueprints of the tank. On the rear laid external fuel tanks for the T-34, greatly improving the operational range. Spare track links were laid out in scattered fashion on the fender.
However, an additional luggage of a large metallic tube was strapped onto the side fender with leather belts. It was a very simple design by the looks of it, one that could be mistaken as a pipe to an untrained eye, or maybe it would if it wasn't for the stock and pistol grip. Vist unstrapped this device from the tank and lifted it.
"Man, you're amazing y'know?" Mel watched as Vist set it up. As Vist did, the other crew members on the other T-34 were doing the same outside the tank. "I couldn't carry that thing as far as you did."
"Well, it's not fun, so you're not missing much," Vist said. He then added his finishing touch to the device, a metal bolt that he slips right into the hollow chamber. The piece fit like a puzzle, which he ensured by racking it once. Mel grabbed him a box of ammunition from the tool box, giving 20 rounds for this weapon. Vist quickly grabbed one of the large rounds and slipped it into the device, closing the bolt in and activating the safety. As he finished, so did the others, and they prepared to leave for their special missions.
"Hey, take care alright?" Mel said to Vist. "I don't wanna hear you got ran over by a tank later."
"Don't worry about it," Vist said as he hoisted the large weapon to rest from his palm against his shoulder. "Any tank try to do that, I'll shoot the bitch."
Vist gave a grin and he walked off on the dirt path towards the west, their destination unknown to all except themselves.
"Hey Mel! Get back in the tank!" His tank commander Pavel cried out.
"Yes sir!" Mel quickly dived back into the tank.
Across the eastern side, two other platoons of T-34 distributed their troops out into the wilderness, carrying their special weapons from the T-34.
One T-34 from the first platoon of the special company had a different package from the rest though.
"We're here sir," Kirill, driver of T-34-85 tank number 311 said as he looked at his passenger. He stirred from his seat as he checked his weapon, a suppressed Nagant revolver, in his hand. Following the procedure, Kirill climbed out first before this man followed.
"Here Yashin," Kirill took out the 7.62x54mmR ammunition clips from the toolbox. Yashin picked them up as he walked around to a weapon strapped to the side of the T-34-85. A Mosin-Nagant M91/30 rifle with a curved bolt. Taking it, Yashin took a scope out of his pocket and slipped it on the rifle, the PU scope and rifle mated together like butter and bread. Yashin loaded the 7.62 mm rounds individually into the rifle, then locked it bolt shut. To complete his armory, Yashin picked up a PPSh-41 submachine gun that was placed next to the Mosin. Clacking the bolt open, he was ready faster than the others in preparing for their missions.
"Wish me luck," Yashin said to Kirill. Kirill only nodded as Yashin made a dash to his destination.
Eleven men total were delivered from the ten T-34 tanks in the special company. The company commander got on to the radio once the drop off was complete. "All tanks, prepare to advance!"
Southeast side of town, inside perimeter, France
The southeast path in the town remained quiet as Katyusha pointed the 85 mm ZiS-S-53 gun downrange. Katyusha's T-34-85 peeked out of a right branching road alongside the main one, letting the building provide cover for the majority of her tank hull. All that was exposed was the front hull angled in a diagonal fashion and with the turret aligned out for a good angle of fire down the road. Klara's tank waited on the other side, slightly behind Katyusha's position, the two tanks able to cover each other and their blind spots.
Behind the two medium tanks laid the IS-2 and KV-2, in a similar position as Katyusha and Klara in the intersections leading to the town's smaller roads. They pointed their large caliber weapons down range. Finally, covering Pravda's entire rear was Leopon with their 88 mm.
So far, no enemy has been in sight, a curious situation. Were the enemies preferring the bocage fighting? That was the only other area possible in this landscape, right into Dandelion's force. Though individually they seemed small, Jasmine company was down there ready to support if necessary.
Katyusha tapped her finger along the T-34's cupola as the gunner kept her eyes through the periscope on the zone. Katyusha looked across the street at Klara, also looking down the street. The whole situation has become more tense since that so-called deal between Miho and Suvorov. No, it was more than about the situation of Kuromorimine, it was about her big sister. For such an emotional stake, Suvorov was having a field day tugging that string like a game. She doesn't know much about this "Erik Katukov", but he must have such a welcoming and charming personality to stoop like that. What was he getting out of this, some kicks?
Nevertheless, the effect this has on Miho was astounding. Miho almost felt like a different person. She was...assertive. Katyusha didn't think she was bad-mouthing Miho though, she always seemed to lack a spine. But she was quite pushy in her methods, as well as her emphasis for victory. All these different methods, did it translate to her combat thoughts? What is she thinking right now? Katyusha knows Miho wants to win, but if she's blinded by that desire…
"Ms. Katyusha! Movement in front!" Her comms came alive.
"Ah?!" Katyusha snapped out of her though, jerking her head back. She looked at the road and saw a sliver of green metal emerge from the left side of the road, briefly showing its unit marking of a blue diamond. The angular turret of a T-34/76 turned and pointed the gun barrel down range. The ensuing blast crashed into the building past Klara, sending dust everywhere with the crash.
"Contact up front!" Katyusha said through her platoon. Klara's tank quickly reacted with this and the 85 mm fired vigorously. Katyusha traced the shot and saw the enemy tank reversed from the situation while another zoomed past the open.
As Katyusha quickly switch the comms towards Miho, the same tank emerged on the right side for a shot. "Miho! We've got contact on our side!" She quickly shouted. More firing noises spawned in towards her left. Their sector was getting lively.
Town center, inside perimeter, France
"Roger that!" Miho shouted as she received the message. The Panzer IV adjusted itself as its front armor went towards the southeast, in case of any stray rounds.
"We've received contact on the east," Darjeeling reported from her position. "Several T-34 has shown themselves."
Miho was tracing enemy's movement on the map with her pencil, small thrusts of arrow to show the enemy's movement into the town. "They'll probably try to put pressure on this front here," Miho used the pencil and traced the the perimeter road between the east main ones. "And Kay has been encountering enemy tanks as well down there."
"Are they trying to sweep a broad front?" Yukari pondered.
"I don't know…" Miho said looking at the map. "It's very possible, but the bocage fighting won't be in our favor… with their guns and armor they can try to force Dandelion out."
"Miho, this is Kay!" Kay's shouts came through. "We're encountering heavy resistance down here. Mediums and heavies!"
"And there's that…" Miho said as she reached for her radio throat mic, "Kay, do you think you can fight them back?"
"It's tough to say! We can take care of the smaller fries, but the IS-2 and assault guns are gonna be the real issue!"
"I'll see if there's anyone I can send. Hey Anzu, are you there?" Miho quickly asked/
"Yep!" Anzu said.
"It's chaotic around here, what's going on?!" Momo shouted during Anzu's transmission.
"Russians in the bocages!" Kay shouted in.
"Sunflower is here in the town fighting their push on our east. Anyone coming down south towards you?"
"It's all normal here, Miho! Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Right then, I need you to send a detachment down towards Dandelion as support. I'll send a few over as well!"
"Okay then. Hey, Anchovy! Mallard! Anteater! New assignments!"
Miho looked out towards Rabbit and Duck team idling by. "Hey Azusa, Taeko, I'm sending you down to Kay in the bocage."
"Us?" The two teams asked in unison.
"Yes, their predicament is currently worse than ours, and we need them to be able to resist the attack and force them towards the town. Help them out in whatever ways you can!"
"R-right!" The two girls replied and so the two tanks headed back towards the southwest road towards the destination..
"We'll hold our positions here," Miho said adamantly as the Panzer IV stood firm.
"It seems strange," Saori commented. "For 40 tanks, Suvorov doesn't seem they're making the most of their numbers now, are they?"
"Yeah… instead it looks like they splitted up to attack both fronts…" Yukari eyed the map closely.
"They probably think they could try to breakthrough against us," Miho thought. "We can hold the town here, but Kay will need a lot of tactical flexibility to out-maneuver them down there."
"Can we really win like this in a battle of attrition?" Hana asked.
"Until we find out where their command tank is, this is all we can do until he decides to show himself."
East side of town, inside perimeter, France
five tanks traded shots with the T-34 tanks on the northeast end. Suvorov's T-34 played conservatively, only exposing itself for a few seconds to fire before withdrawing. A few of their shots hit, or were even aimed, but St. Gloriana 75 mm in the Cromwell and Churchill lacked the general firepower needed. The only saving grace was the 17-pounder in the Black Prince, but even that couldn't hit 100%.
"Hit! But it didn't go through…" Cranberry said in her Cromwell across the street from Rosehip, the 75 mm making contact with the T-34, but sliding off the front glacis.
"We just have to get closer!" Vanilla said behind Rosehip's Cromwell.
Rosehip held her tea cup as steady as she could as the two sides fired at each other. A round blasted through the building meters above the Cromwell's turret, breaking right through and scattering debris around.
"How dusty…" Rosehip said as she saw the particles scatter around in her vision periscope.
"We'll just be wasting our ammunition if we stay here," Cranberry said.
"What should we do, Rosehip?" Vanilla asked. Rosehip looked through her periscope and saw the same T-34 pop out on the right building corner, fired a shot, then retreated before the shot landed.
"They're not even bothering to aim…" Rosehip curiously noted. "It's only about 200 meters from here to there…" The fired round landed directly on a second floor of a nearby building, sending debris tumbling to the ground. "Let's gamble!" She said into her radio.
"Again?!" Her teammates cried out on Rosehip's usual strategy. Her tank crew also had the same expression as they look at Rosehip.
"Rushing ahead of ourselves again, Rosehip?" Darjeeling reported from behind, listening to Rosehip's chatter.
"Yeah, we haven't done this in a while!" Rosehip affirmed her status. "Plus, we've got a bigger gun to play with! Requesting permission, Ms. Darjeeling!"
"Hmm… fortune favors the bold. Alright, move along on your own risk."
Rosehip had a giddy squee. "Cranberry, Vanilla, follow me on my go! Driver, forwards after the next shot!"
Rosehip could feel her driver manage the clutch, anticipation rose in the interior with the heart beats. A cunning grin sprouted on their faces as they brought back their Crusader spirits into their new mount.
The T-34 brought itself out and fired another haphazard shot.
"Now!"
The Cromwell's Meteor engine roared as rotating rumble vibrated inside. The tank sped forwards at speeds greater than the Crusader as Rosehip made her advance. The enemy didn't even see Rosehip's movement as it already went back to cover.
The distance closed in, hundreds became tens as she closed in for the kill. The T-34 popped out again and hesitated, as though expressing the crew's reaction to this madness. The turret frantically adjusted towards Rosehip's Cromwell.
"Evasive manoeuvres!" Rosehip shouted. The driver lurched on a brake stick lightly and the Cromwell barreled into that direction. The T-34 fired, with the round grazing on the Cromwell's turret. After the shot, the Cromwell continued forward with little impunity. "Turn right!" Rosehip finally said as they closed the intersection. The driver pulled hard on the right stick, braking the right tracks. On the concrete floor, the Cromwell drifted sideways around the corner. The gunner quickly adjusted the turret to the front-right side as the tank slid abruptly. As the kinetic energy was lost, the Christie suspension stabilized itself and the gunner got a clean sight.
"On target!" She shouted.
"Fire!" Rosehip simultaneously shouted and kicked the gunner, while also wiping some spilled tea off her uniform. The 75 mm rocked back and the noise outside signified a solid hit on the T-34. Rosehip looked out and saw the 75 mm shell embedded on the side hull of the T-34. The hexagonal turret had a white flag popped up. She also saw two other T-34 waiting right behind it.
Stunned silence between the two. Rosehip realizing the scenario and the other two T-34, perhaps recovering from the ludicrous scenario Rosehip just presented, started turning their turrets. Rosehip could see one was the same model type as the one she took out, but the other had the larger one holding the 85 mm.
Cranberry and Vanilla came to her rescue as the two skidded out in the open. Cranberry's tank fired as it skidded, the round blasted the building right next to a T-34, letting the rubble and dust coming down onto the turret. Vanilla continued onwards in the chaos. The 85 mm turret swung and shot towards Vanilla's tank. The round hit low and shredded apart Vanilla's suspension, taking off two front wheels and most of the tracks. Vanilla's velocity let the hull traveled far, right past the offending T-34-85 as it screeched to a halt. The power still on and still in the game, Vanilla's turret traversed against the T-34's. Her short gun barrel was brought to bear and shot right into the T-34-85's turret sides. A white flag emerged off the top.
The last remaining T-34 rode out of the dusty environment it was exposed to, only for Cranberry to finish it off with a shot to the side.
The firefight lasted less than a minute, and Rosehip got to the radio when silence resumed. "You ladies alright?"
"Good here!" Cranberry said.
"My suspension is totaled!" Vanilla said.
"Can you fix it?" Rosehip asked.
A pause came as what seemed like Vanilla evaluating her damages. "Yeah, sure. Why not."
"We'll help out…" Rosehip said meekly, surmising a hard task ahead.
South bocage fields, France
"It's not the same without Noriko…" Akebi said as she steadied the 57 mm gun.
"She'll be fine. The doctor said it was light concussion, she should be up in a few days!" Shinobu cheered them up, driving the tank forwards on the dirt into the bocage environment, leading the Jasmine detachment down towards Kay's location. Behind them was Rabbit, Anteater, Anchovy, Pepperoni, and Mallard in that order.
"Even so… the enemies are pretty tough aren't they? I recognized some of them from Pravda…" Taeko, on the cupola, said as she pulled double duty in Noriko's place.
"Hey girls, c'mon," Shinobu tried to raise their spirits. "Noriko wouldn't have left us hanging like this. You'd know what she'd say with these odds?"
The girls looked at each other with a unified expression, understanding their pathos like a club they long to be. "Guts…" Taeko replied.
"That's right!" Shinobu kept it up. "We always go gusto in with the plan!"
"And right now, our Chi-Ha-Tan allies are in trouble!" Akebi shouted, "We altogether manage to fight University to the last tank! We can do it again here!"
"Right!" They said in unison.
"So let's go, and in Noriko words…" Taeko swelled her lungs and Shinobu pumped power into the tank's engine.
"Guts!"
*CWACK-PANG!*
A rattling of metal vibrated throughout the Type 89's interior. The abrupt noise punched through like a hit, but the Type 89 was not thrown about like how a normal tank shell would do to them.
Yet Duck's tank came to a very abrupt stop, the tracks locked shut and the tank was immobile. A very familiar sound of a hatch opened on top, but Duck team was still in chaos.
"What was that?!" Akebi shouted.
"That's a new one!" Shinobu said, confusingly trying to work the power. "Did we throw a track?! A wheel?!"
"I don't know!" Taeko said as she opened the cupola on top. Nothing around them seems out of the ordinary except that they've been stopped. Taeko looked back and saw the problem. The white flag was up.
"Wha-what?!"
"What is it, Taeko?" Akebi asked.
"W-we're out!"
"Huh?!"
"I don't know!" Taeko looked around frantically. A tank? A small tank destroyer? Nothing was around their flanks. There was nothing around, they were surrounded by the tall and dense hedgerows.
The tanks behind had noticed this disruption. Rabbit team right behind saw the popped up white flag and was also desperately watching for enemies, the vision ports on the hull sides opened for a better view. "Oi! What's going on up there?" Pepperoni's voice cried from the radio and down the convoy.
*CWACK-PANG! CWACK-PANG!*
The same sound rang out all around, in two stages. The first was a very familiar crack of a rifle shot, same as the one she remembered back on the carrier against Suvorov. The second… it had an unusual cacophony, but it reminded her of… of a tank shell hitting armor.
As each rifle fire sounded, a spark lit up on the side of the tanks. Taeko saw a spark emerge on Anteater's Chi-Nu tank behind Rabbit. The tank shook a bit, then sputtered. A white flag emerged on top.
Taeko didn't know exactly what was causing the damage, but they were in a danger zone. She brought up the radio voice box, "A-Am-ambush! We got enemies around us and- uh?!" Taeko saw a man running behind the hedgerows, holding something in his arm. Taeko watched the hedgerow area he disappeared into. Another POOWW single shot, and Taeko spotted a large puff of smoke pop out of the sides of the hedgerow on the ground. A closer look, she could see a muzzle brake of a gun, a tiny one.
"Akebi! Traverse left!" Taeko cried out.
"B-but we're out!" Akebi said as she tugged on the manual traverse, but it was disconnected by the referee system.
Taeko got down to the ball machine gun on the Type 89's turret rear. The ball mount allowed her to swing the rear Type 97 machine gun onto the smoked hedges. She fired a burst, the tracers flew downrange and she saw a man got up, picked up his piece on the ground, and run off behind the hedgerows. She tried to trace his path, but the machine gun wouldn't traverse any farther.
"What's going on?!" Shinobu asked Taeko. But Taeko was too busy getting onto the radio.
"How m-many are still in the match?" Taeko asked to her little team.
"Rabbit, Anchovy, and I!" Sodoko cried from the Char B1 bis on the rear of the column. "Everyone else is out! What's going one?!"
"We...we were ambushed! By men with rifles!"
"That's impossible! Gun fire shouldn't take out tanks!"
"I know! wait. Fall back to the towm! It's too dangerous to go now!"
As the remnants of Duck's ad-hoc team, one of the men who ran from the ambush took a knee in a safe location in the fields between the bocage. Hidden from the fighting, he operated his weapon.
A PTRD-41 anti-tank rifle, a 38 pound rifle firing a 14.5 mm round that could penetrate up to 40 mm from 100 meters away with a perpendicular shot. The rifle was simple and had no magazine, instead it could hold only one round that had to be reloaded for every shot. Vist racked the bolt and ejected the huge brass case, pocketing it in a special brass pouch for future round reloads. He then took a new round and stuck that into the rifle. While less convenient than the semi-automatic PTRS-41 anti-tank rifle that had a five-round magazine, the PTRS was heavier by eight pounds. For the long travels that he and his other special-purpose troops have to do, he opted for the sleeker and lighter PTRD-41.
Loading the next round in, he racked the bolt back in.
"Hey, Vist!" Another Suvorov cadet ran in with the PTRD rested on his shoulders.
"Sergei, you got the tankette?"
"Yeah, thing popped up like a jack-in-a-box." Sergei cheerfully said as he knelt down, bringing down his own PTRD onto the ground.
"I got the Type 89…" Vist said as he contemplated his shot. "That was about... 20 meters?"
"It was close…" Sergei nodded along.
"Our other troops are moving to the west, let's go disrupt movements in the south," Vist urged Sergei along.
"Right!"
Town center, inside perimeter, France
"Huh? You were decimated?!" Miho reacted to the news. "What's the enemy force?"
"Men with rifles!" Taeko's voice replied.
"Rifles, what? What do you mean?!"
"I don't know!" Taeko shouted. "But it happened! There were no tanks! Just guys waiting in the bushes with guns! Guns strong enough to knock out Anteater and the tankette!"
"Rifles that could take those tanks out…?"
"Could it be anti-tank rifles?" Yukari suggested to Miho.
"Why would anyone use those?" Saori asked. "We saw those in America, remember? They were heavy and all that."
"But… they were available as options though, no one said you couldn't use it…" Yukari thought. "And their still effective as they could penetrate a lot of side armor… Plus you only need one man to use each one."
"Is this another one of those loopholes?" Hana asked. "Just like how you can't use radio-intercepting aircraft but can use balloons, they're trying to use as many men as possible with these rifles?"
"No, you can only have as many team members as how many crew positions in tanks," Mako explained. "Five Panzer IV can only have 25 team players for example."
"That means their willingly reducing some tank's effectiveness by men leaving the tank's protection to destroy other tanks…" Hana deduced. "How resolute…"
"That means this has been a core part of their plan too," Yukari said.
"We'll have to warn everyone about them," Miho concluded. "Even the M4 Shermans in Saunders could be penetrated by those rifles in close range. Saori, tell everyone that!"
"Right!" Saori said as she worked her magic on the radio.
Miho looked at her map, but was perplexed with the scenario. Was Suvorov planning an armored thrust? Where is all their power? Are they keeping it bottled up? Was this all an ongoing probe to test Ōarai's forces?
Miho felt her plan was sound, but was it? What was she doing wrong?
"Miho, this is Darjeeling. Rosehip said she was able to destroy the three T-34 tanks on the east side."
"That's good to hear."
"Southeast side is becoming heavily contested!" Katyusha's voice cried out. "There's a lot of enemy tanks here on my side!"
"D-Darjeeling! Can you assist?"
"I'll see to the situation," Darjeeling said. "Rukuriri, stand firm here." The rumble of the Churchill tanks sounded in the background.
"This could be the thrust…" Miho thought, the commitment of the attack on that corner was a sign. Miho juggled the information, but more and more were coming in. The situation now was drastically different than what it was five minutes ago, and yet Suvorov has yet to lay out all of its cards on the table.
South bocage fields, France
Kay's tanks were constantly on the move, trying to move through the hedgerow maze and out gambit their opponents.
"Carrie's been hit!" A cry through the radio sounded. The platoon leader's M4A3E2 was totaled. "They've got assault guns planted at grid D9!"
Crap, that and these pesky infantry? "Damn it! Get back at it!" Kay shouted, but she couldn't figure out the situation and maneuver so quickly. "Let's see… Alisa and Maria, keep forwards here! Naomi with me! Driver, turn right here!"
The platoon split as Kay's M4A3E2 turned on the intersection, Naomi in the very rear followed closely behind her. The straight line of path presented by the hedgerow made each turn a stressful event. Unable to see what lies in the turn, each turn could be a simple or a incoming round to the glacis. As Kay traveled down this straight section of the bocage, an enemy light tank crossed in front of her.
The gunner, using the stabilized 76 mm gun, fired off a shot while the Jumbo was on the move. The round smacked right into the T-70's right side and it spun with the momentum before it rested with a white-flag up.
"Ha! Got 'em!" Her gunner shouted proudly.
"Good, one less to worry about," Kay said.
"This is Kinuyo Nishi! We're approaching with the heavy tanks on our tails! Coming in hot!"
"Where from?" Kay asked as the Jumbo approached the intersection the T-70 failed to cross.
"Up north from Grid D...6!"
Kay looked at the grid as the driver approached the road. "Driver turn left. Nishi, I don't see the corresponding path in this map!"
"Ha? Uh…" *BLAM* A terrible noise emitted from the background of the radio. The same sound was heard to Kay's 11 o'clock.
"I got you now." Kay looked and correlated with the map. "Continue heading on south, we'll try to receive them."
"R-roger that!"
"Hey, Alisa. Where you at?"
"D8!"
"Right. Meet up at the intersection at D7, right around the area with the two corner turns and that path going south."
"...What?! Where!?"
Kay led out an exasperated sigh. "It's at the-"
"Contact front!" Kay's gunner cried. Kay was alerted up to see several tanks pointing downrange near the end of this road strip in the hedgerow. The rounds came in, *WO-PANG! KRACK! PANG!* The rounds blasted right onto the M4A3E2 front, one smacking right into the flat gun mantlet.
"Gah!" Kay instinctively ducked down as the rounds and sparks started flying.
"Nevermind, I got you!" Alisa said, getting a bead from the combat.
"Hurry!" Kay shouted as the gunner started engaging. Looking through her cupola vision ports, she could see three T-34 tanks emplaced in the end. The gunner aligned her reticle with the 76 mm and fired at the rightmost tank, the 76 mm round cracked at the T-34-85's turret, ricocheting off towards the sky. Naomi's Firefly behind the Jumbo inched up to a small firing angle and shot off a round, the shot tearing apart at the center T-34's suspensions.
"Load-up! HVAP!" Kay announced as the loader reached to the special reservoir for the high-velocity armor-piercing ammunition. She slugged in the hyped round as the gunner reaimed the gun.
"Clear!" The loader shouted.
The gunner started "On the w-"
Suddenly, new tanks dashed through the intersection in between the two side's altercation. First glance gave the rather strange brown camouflage on the tanks, followed by their splotches of green and the yellow stripes. "H-hold it! Friendly tanks in front!"
"What the hell?" Naomi reported in as she examined the scene in front of them. "Wait… aren't they being pursued by a heavy tank…?"
Kay took in that information and the gunner kept the gun trained as Chi-Ha-Tan tanks passed by. The scene was almost comical, like a train crossing cutting off two side's from having that interaction they needed. The Suvorov tanks on the other side seemed almost as confused, as they had halted their firing as well.
As the Chi-Ha-Tan tanks were tailed by a scurrying Type 95 Ha-Go light tank, the monstrosity that is the IS-2 appeared behind, approaching to run over the light tank.
"Now!" Kay yelled and the gunner fired a shot. Naomi as well and the two high velocity shells traveled into the side hull at the suspension. The IS-2 halted its incessant pursuit of the tiny Japanese tanks and sputtered, the white flag shot up. Another IS-2 behind it briefly showed itself as it carried forwards with its momentum before quickly reversing from this ambush, leaving its fallen brethren behind.
"T-thank you very much!" Nishi cried out in gratitude over the radio.
"Still got enemies on the other side of that tank! Driver, forwards!" Kay shouted, the driver moved forward for the gunner to get a view over the engine deck towards the other side.
The matter was already done however. Sometime during the fighting, the remaining two T-34 tanks were knocked out with the white-flag popped out and waving about.
"Got two of them!" Alisa shouted over the radio, her tank crawling into view between two knocked out T-34 tanks.
"Good shots," Kay said as she sighed a breath of relief. As the fighting around her area died down, she noticed an absence of movements from the north. She picked up the radio and exasperatedly shouted, "Miho! We have anything our way?!"
Miho came back in a jiffy. "Negative! The detachment I sent was crippled on the way! Suvorov has-"
*CWACK-PANG!* The sound plastered right onto M4A3E2 sides.
"What the heck?!" Kay jerked her attention to this new threat "What's that so-"
*CWACK-PANG!* A second blast came in, the waves of a ricochet came up.
"Suvorov has anti-tank riflemen out there!" Miho finished.
"Anti-tank ri-" Kay quickly scanned around the ground. The next crack in the air followed with a muzzle blast erupting from the bushes. "HEY! THAT GUY IS IN THE BUSH! REVERSE! GET HIM OUT!"
The M4A3E2 reversed as the turret swayed around, the coaxial M1919 machine gun blasting away. The heavy turret of the Jumbo tank was sluggish, and as it came over to the side with the last known position of the shooter, Kay noticed a disturbance on the other side in the hedgerows. Acting fast, the idle pintle mount on the rear of the turret swung attractively as Kay grabbed the dual grip on the M2 Browning machine gun. From her cupola, she fired towards the opposite side of the turret's front, spraying the area the disturbance was spotted. Letting out a few heavy rounds, with the clattering of the brass casing rocking on the roof of the tank, Kay felt a stunned solace within her after the rapid concussive waves of the .50 cal muzzle blast. Wow...that felt good. She thought as the heavy barrel emitted smoke from the firing. There wasn't any sign past the foliage that she hit anything, but it surely scared off anyone sane.
The sound of diesel engines rumble past a few hedgerows away. Seems the commotion has attracted the few pests around the area.
"Kay, I- I can try to send more units down south!" Miho yelled.
Kay shot back sternly, "No, no! Keep the heavy units there! If the bocage folds, the town's the only chance we have at a stronghold! You need to keep it held!"
"R-right!"
Kay put down her radio receiver. I just ordered a Nishizumi… She wallowed in her actions. Miho's must've lost her touch… She wasn't like this at all with the Americans… Kay dwelled briefly as a 122 mm round, a high-explosive shot, blasted on the dirt road, creating a crater in the middle of the bocage.
Crap, they might restrict our passages if they resort to road demolition. Kay thought, the M4A3E2's heavier weight made for more careful handling than the regular ones. Craters could potentially overtax the suspension. "Hey, Nishi. You there?"
Around the corner from Kay's position, Chi-Ha-Tan kept their rounds in the hedgerow as they reoriented themselves from the danger they've been through. "Yes, Nishi responding!" Kinuyo Nishi responded while standing out of the her Type 97 Chi-Ha cupola.
"You still good?"
"Yes! We're ready for our next assignment, ma'am!"
"Right, we've got Suvorov still trying to bite our ass here. See if you can get around them as well!"
"R-right! Yes, ma'am!" Nishi responded as diligently as ever.
"We're going back in there?" Fukuda in her Type 95 Ha-Go looked at the menacing sound with dread, with the reflected sunlight on her spectacles blinding a clear look in her eyes.
"Are you chickening out?!" Tamada cried out from the sole Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha in the team. "The Chi-Ha-Tan tradition will carry us through the day!"
"Yes, but we're with Ōarai now…" Hosomi brought up.
"She's right," Nishi agreed. "We'll fight our way, but we'll do it for the benefit of Ms. Nishizumi. Besides, we've dealt with way worse before!"
East side of town, perimeter border, France
The mechanical jack supported Vanilla's Cromwell as the girls moved about to fix the suspension. Cranberry and Rosehip's Cromwell stood at ready for enemy.
Rosehip, out of her Cromwell, rolled a spare road wheel towards the girl as they fixed up the shredded track.
"Here ya go!" Rosehip said as she passed it along to them, receiving thanks as replies. Towards the south, she can hear the commotion of the fighting. She went back to her Cromwell and climbed to the turret, reaching into the cupola for the radio. "What's going on out there? It's quite lively."
"Suvorov has focused their efforts on the southeast side." Darjeeling explained to Rosehip. "I am heading over to assist Katyusha."
"Alright, don't take too long. Don't leave us hanging here," Rosehip said as she put the radio down. Despite the commotion down south, there was no sign of enemy vehicles coming on her side, which was strange as she was the closest to the enemy start point in this whole map.
Rosehip couldn't do much though except wait for Vanilla to fix up their Cromwell so they can roll back into the town. As she took a rest, the only sound around was the crew working about on tank, and the coastal wind rustling the bushes, their tall height absorbed the force and rustled about.
A branch cracked, cutting through even the loud swooshes of the leaves and taking Rosehip's attention. Cranberry took note of Rosehip's renewed attention.
"What's wron-"
*CWOACK!*A piercing strike emerged from the hedgerows, the leaves parted from the muzzle blast. A *PWAK!*noise sparked out of the side hull of the Cromwell, sparks flying and the girls reacting.
"Gaahh! Hot!" One of Vanilla's crew member screamed as she recoiled from the bright yellow flashes in the air. As she did, the mechanic noise of a hatch opening occurred atop Vanilla's Cromwell.
A second *CWOACK!* tore through the hedges, this one striking the turret face of Rosehip's own Cromwell. The sparks flew up, as well as the piercing sonic boom of the ricocheting round zipping by Rosehip. The boom vibrated her ear drum heavily, feeling the force vibrate into her skull. Rosehip instinctively ducked down to cover behind the flat faced turret of the Cromwell.
"What was that?!" A girl screamed out, looking around the surrounding.
"That's anti-tank fire!" Vanilla screamed out, pointing to the hedges right on their east. "They're right over the-!"
*POW POW POW!* More fire came from the hedgerow, the soft sound of a pistol round. Vanilla 's body vibrated as two rounds hit her, then she crumpled to the ground. Other passing rounds zipped by and ricocheted off the metal cover the Cromwell provided.
"Gunner! MG that position!" Rosehip yelled to her crew. The turret traversed accordingly and the Cromwell's BESA machine gun sprayed German 7.92 mm rounds into the hedges. It raked back and forth a few times before it paused, whether by fire discipline or exhausting the ammunition. "Hand me my weapon!"
Rosehip extended a hand over the cupola as a girl passed a STEN submachine gun from within the Cromwell. Rosehip peeked up with her submachine gun ready as she walked towards Vanilla. She laid in the ground in pain, clutching her chest where she was hit. Rosehip dragged her behind her Cromwell and laid her there with her crew members.
"Is she alright?!" One of them said.
"It's not that bad, it definitely wasn't the same weapon they used on the tank," Rosehip said thankfully. "Think you can fix up the tank still?"
"Uh… actually," They pointed up to the turret. Rosehip looked and saw their efforts ending with a white-flagged Cromwell tank. She went up and walked to the other side, making sure the hedges were no longer hostile. Inspecting the side hull of the now knocked-out Cromwell, she found a speck lodged into the hull, right between the first and second Christie spring sockets. Sticking a finger for a feel, the flat hull had been interrupted by something lodged into it like a tank shell. This was enough for the Cromwell to be considered out of commission.
Rosehip sighed as she returned to the other side. "Well, I guess you girls are out then. Get Vanilla to safety inside the Cromwell before the ARV's get here, we'll continue the match here."
"R-right. Sorry Rosehip," The girls said as they apologize for the heavy inconvenience.
Rosehip went back to her own Cromwell. "Girls, get prepared to move back to the town. Cranberry! Back in!" Rosehip shouted as she made the motions with her hand, telling her to withdraw. Rosehip's Cromwell came back alive as it neutral steered around and headed back towards the town, passing by the T-34 husks that they've knocked out.
...huh?
The hatches are open…
Southeast side of town, inside perimeter, France
"Another T-34 on the approach!"
"Firing," Nonna stoically replied as the 122 mm fired its cannon down the road.
The battle on this road raged heavily, shots flew back and forth, creating a no-tank's land in that section of the town. Suvorov's T-34 tanks fought from outside the perimeter, fighting exposed from the buildings or from the bocage fields in the back. Ōarai shot from inside, all going out to the individual targets. The high-caliber rounds tore the landscape apart with the concrete road now littered with craters before a tank had driven cleanly over it.
The IS-2 stayed back sniping at the various targets with confidence in the armor at this distance. The low number of ammunition, 28 rounds, had Nonna make each round count. Her fire was supplemented with the Klara's and Katyusha's T-34-85. The KV-2 remained in the back as a form of intimidation factor. Farther in the back, the fire of the 88 mm from Leopon's Tiger (P) and the 17-pounder in Darjeeling's Black Prince gave much needed support.
"Just how many are they committing here?" Katyusha shouted as Nonna's loader loaded the next set of the two-piece 122 mm ammunition. Nonna kept the sight adjusted towards road.
*Klang bang*
A metal knocking was heard around the tank. All the girls in the turret were alerted to silence, curious to this. The noise then appeared atop the turret.
*POOF*
"What's that?" Nonna asked the observer in the cupola.
"S-smoke! Yellow smoke rising from our turret top!" The girl looked around frantically. "There's a smoke grenade?!"
"Hey Nonna, you're emitting some strange color over there, what's wrong?"
"Проклятие…" Nonna muttered as the smoke started to fill the area, some parts interfering with the sight picture. "Clear that out of us!"
"Roger that!" The observer said as she opened the hatch, the smoke started to waft into the crew compartment.
*PWING*
"Gah!" The girl outside screamed. Something struck the tank to the left, a small high-velocity shot that seemingly dented the area. She quickly removed the grenade and chucked it off into the road before quickly climbing back down. "They're shooting me out there!"
"Where?" Nonna asked."
"I don't know!" The girl cried as she looked from the safety of the IS tank. "Ah! They're running on the end of this street there!"
What are they doing outside their tank? Nonna thought. Were they just chucking smoke grenades? "Keep watch, be wary if they try coming back. They could just be trying to divert our attention, there's nothing they can do to us."
"R-roger that!"
Nonna reached for her radio, "Everyone, keep an eye out. Dismounted Suvorov members are running amok in the town. They tried to obscure my sights with a smoke grenade."
"Ha? Is that what that's about? They've got some creative sense with yellow then!" Satoko said from the Tiger (P).
Southwest side of town, France
Under the intense firefights, Yashin crawled behind the bocage cover towards his location. Amidst the flying shells, no one noticed a single man going over to what was currently enemy territory. Crossing over three fields and through the dense hedgerows, he arrived at the watchtower at the southwest part of the town.
The watchtower was in a state of disrepair, with parts of the walls ripped out and the lookout section incomplete. Nevertheless, Yashin moved in when the area was clear. The wooden door, unlocked, creaked open as he entered and he brought his PPS-43 to aim. He carefully walked up the staircase, testing each step for integrity, lest it falls apart while he's on it. Slowly, while making sure his presence was still covert from Ōarai's forces.
Finally, he was on top, still testing the structure as he walked. Safe, he placed his PPS-43 submachine gun onto the ground, still in arms reach, and then unslung his Mosin-nagant. He sat down behind the lookout's wall, right by the open observation windows.
He brought out his notebook, opening it to the latest page. He read the contents once more.
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 last one was a specific note. He peeked out the tower towards the town center. Tanks were present at that location. He took a closer look with his binocular, seeing the vehicles present there. Some British Churchill infantry tanks present, then a T-IV medium tank. He saw the girl on top with her bright brunette hair. She was frantically trying to maintain the rising situation in front of her as the other companies made their move.
Now it was time to make his move.
Taking his eyes out of his binoculars, he picked up his Mosin-nagant. Keeping the rifle barrel inside the building, he rested the barrel tip on the sill as he rested the stock on his shoulder. Adjusting the barrel direction towards the town square, he then peered through the PU scope.
The PU scope provided a 3.5 times magnification, with an obelisk reticle emerging from the bottom to the center, two horizontal lines came out from the left and right side of the scope. He adjusted the distance gently with the knob on top. Assessing the scope image, he waited for the lenses to clearly display his sight.
The black reticle lied on the girl's most distinctive feature in this distance, her brown hair. He controlled his breath, pacing his inhale and exhales, calming the small motions in his body from interfering with the shot. As the scope movement became less erratic, he slowly exhaled, slowly lowering the reticle from the girl's hair onto her uniform extending from the cupola.
She seemed to be reacting to something the direction opposite of her, turning over her back facing towards him.
He rested a finger on the trigger.
Town center, inside perimeter, France
"What? Infantry?!" Miho reacted to the news appropriately.
"Yeah!" Katyusha yelled through. "They were trying to mess up with Nonna's vision with a smoke grenade. So she says, but that's why there was yellow smoke rising."
"In that case, take extra caution in preventing them from doing so. Try to be careful as well."
"We'll try! As far as we can at least!"
"Men attacking again?" Azusa said from her cupola towards Miho.
"Yeah, it seems Suvorov really likes to give the initiative to the man." Miho said.
"But why?" Saori said. "Wouldn't the tank be a much safer place to be?"
"Yes, but the tank has always been the mercy of the infantry, especially if they're on the blindspots. That's why today tanks still fight in a combined-arms to prevent that."
"Yeah, but-"
*PLING* A round hit right on the sides of the Panzer IV turret schürzen plates. Miho quickly ducked down.
"Sniper! Our 7 o'clock!" Miho cried as she peeked out towards the northeast side. A man stood by the corner of a building, a short carbine at hand as he racked the bolt.
It would take too long for the Panzer IV turret to traverse all the way, so Miho reached for the cupola-mounted MG 34 on top and swung it around.
"Miho!" The turret crew cried inside in response, unable to help from the commotion as Miho took the initiative. The man finished racking his rifle as Miho aligned the MG 34 and let out a burst. BTATATATATA The MG 34 blasted out the 7.92 mm rounds in the belt. The aggressor took cover behind the building as Miho fired off.
As she fired off, a figure emerged from one of the foliage and structures of the plaza. He showed up quick and charged, something in his hand.
Oh no! Miho looked. He was closing in a blind spot. The side schürzen plates on the hull and turret prevented anyone from inside looking out that direction. "Enemy infantry at 10 o'clock!" Miho cried as she swung the MG 34 around, but the figure was already pulling a pin out of the object.
The figure wore the distinctive Suvorov uniform that Miho and the others had gotten familiar with from the last few days. The yellow-tan color of the gymnastyorka uniform blended the body color together. The only thing unfamiliar about this man's uniform was the black padded tanker helmet on his head, rather than the bold green SSh-39 combat helmet.
These features became clearer as he heaved the object. Miho struggled with slewing the MG 34 over and quickly reached down for her pistol holster with the Walther P-38.
*RATATATATATA* A fire noise erupted from behind the Panzer IV. The slow steady machine gun fire raked the area and hit the man. He was sent sprawling down on impact and as the object he threw landed on the Panzer IV turret top, it rested by the front ventilator.
*POOF*
The smoke grenade went off, spewing out a royal blue smoke that grew in density.
Miho took a breath of relief as she assesed the situation. "Thanks Rabbit," Miho said towards their M3 Lee. The small machine gun cupola on the turret seemed to wobble back enthusiastically as a response. Miho glanced at the smoke grenade, which continued spewing out blue smoke into the air, the cloud was becoming large. The man that fell was crawling away before he got back to his feet and started running away, having done his job.
Was there a point in the colors? Miho pondered as the prominent color spread. She grabbed it and chucked it away somewhere in the plaza towards the turret front, still pointed towards the south end. She took a breath outside the cupola as the smoke cleared.
*KYUUI-THU!*
A sickening thud cracked on top from the turret crew, followed by a CRACK in the air. Yukari could only look in shock as Miho's body jerked forward from the energy, slamming onto the cupola's edge. Her body then slid down the cupola with the gravity and fell back into the turret.
"GAAAAAHHH!" She screamed, clutching onto her abdomen's side. Her radio was still alive from the recipients, questioning the situation on the commander's side. But Yukari, Hana, Mako, and Saori felt their bone chills hearing Miho's cry of pain. Yukari let out a coarse cry:
"MIHO!"
Edit (10/1): Changed the impact location of the sniper's round on Miho from head to body amidst medical concerns.
Edit (11/20): Overhauled the chapter. REBOOT!