The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Neunzehn-komma-drei: Tag des Jüngsten Gerichts!
Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Schneller als Blitz
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Everyone present at the drawing for the 62nd International Arts of Warfare Tournament in always-lovely Zürich, Switzerland knew that the French national program for the Arts of Warfare was absolutely screwed this year. The faces of the country's representative school that year, BC Liberté Lycée, showed that they all thought as much, too. Avenall, a tall, young man with very tame short light brown hair and hazel eyes filled with patience, and cohort Georgette, a pleasing maiden with her light brown pigtails reaching her upper back mixed with light blue eyes and a not as well-endowed chest area by comparison to other girls, both knew that as students of BC Liberté, this was the last year they could strive to bring back victory for all of France.
And the two French captains both also knew, from the way they could see the cold, calculating eyes of Michael Nishizumi and Isabel-Justina Hartmann of Schwarzwaldspitze Gymnasium light up with fire as they observed from their own seats as Germany's representative school, that they were absolutely fucked. Reason being: France was pinned up against Germany for the first round. And from past experience, the two French citizens knew that there was nothing that would be held back.
Fast as the wind
The invasion has begun
Every single school across Germany grew fired up learning that their centuries-long arch-rival was their first opponent of the year. It was proven by how quickly tanks started crossing over the border into Belgium, the so-called 'shortcut into France' as it was often referred to informally, and by how quickly fighters of both sides had started engaging each other in air battles that held no purpose besides the attempt to prove superiority over one another. Because this was all-out war being waged between the two countries. Even though the matches lent themselves to pitting one school against the other, before that time, the schools were basically like divisions in an overall army spanning the whole country.
Shaking the ground!
With the force of thousand guns!
The French tank force down below, mainly made up of the iron wall that was the Char B1bis and the more cavalry-oriented SOMUA S35, made their best effort to repel the German spearhead into French lands, fully aware that this was the Blitzkrieg raining down on them. But the German Panzers were considerably stronger this year than they were in past years. This was proven when Schwarzwaldspitze Panzers steamrolled through, taking on their role as point of the spearhead effortlessly. Their newly-acquired Panther Gs held all the advantages: quite fast and agile despite its weight, a fantastic gun that could cut through even the heaviest of armor, frontal armor that could take a ton of punishment, and almost entirely trouble-free with the Ausführung G's refinements. Besides that damn transmission's final drive.
First in the line of fire
But Schwarzwaldspitze's Panzerwaffe wasn't the only branch to get new toys. Their Jagdwaffe also had their fair share of new equipment to play with.
First into hostile land
Planes clearing the way
There was nothing but craters and white flags raised when the Schwarzwaldspitze Panthers made it to the first line of resistance. Thanks to Schwarzwaldspitze's new Fw 190Ds, of the D-13 variety to be specific, the enemy strongholds had already been bombed out, one SC 500 bomb at a time. No matter the variant, the 190 was always a highly capable fighter-bomber.
Of course, there were still great numbers of Bf 109s in their ranks, mainly of the G-14 variety and a few of the F-4 variety plus two of the G-6 variety specially decorated with black tulips on their noses. But excluding the two G-6 models, which were both flown by Isabel-Justina Hartmann and Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann, undoubtedly the two most highly-skilled pilots in the school, the 109s mostly took on the support role with providing top cover. The Focke-Wulfs were now the stars of the show for the most part, what with their abilities to do almost anything one could ask for.
Clearing the way!
Up above the skies of France was where the two 109s flown by the two Hartmann girls chose to remain, fully dedicated to achieving air superiority. D.520s, M.S.406s, VG.33s, and although rarer thanks to conversion to newer types, D.500s and D.510s as well, were all shot down mercilessly by various types of the Messer. The Doras got some aerial kills as well thanks to their flexibility, but their primary roles were that of interdiction and strike fighters.
It became exceedingly obvious that the French did not have anything to compete with the Germans in the air, which only hastened the arrival of complete German aerial supremacy. Though BC Liberté had some special equipment that normally wouldn't be seen in French hands with regards to armor and aviation, the French school chose not to send them out for fear they would get utterly mangled and taken out of commission for the upcoming official match.
Charging the lines with the force of a furious storm
Down on the ground, it was simply the German Panzers sweeping across the land tucked in behind their spearhead, Schwarzwaldspitze. The elite German school was stacked with not only their Panthers, but also plenty of the always-reliable Panzer IV Js as the second backbone and to support the Panthers, a handful of Panzer III J1s for scouting purposes, and two of the utterly terrifying Tiger H1s crewed by their best.
Fast as their fighters, Panthers swarm!
Though the other tanks that made up the Panzerwaffe did not see much of the Panthers, because the Panthers seemed to be in a race against the Jagdwaffe's fighters to see who could cover more territory quicker. The organized lines of resistance were often used as the checkpoints, and the race was quite close: the Panthers continually arrived just mere seconds after the Doras from above blew the lines to smithereens with their payloads. While never quite being able to beat them to destroying the lines, the Panthers definitely showed off their fantastic speed and agility with being able to keep up. They could simply go around an enemy strongpoint and leave them in their dust, which made the sight of the rampant-running Panthers ever the more panicking for those further behind the frontlines.
Two-hundred miles at nightfall
About halfway to their destination, the location where the official match was to be held, the lightning fast attacks were brought to a halt with the onset of night. Because everyone needed rest at some point.
Taken within a day, being a great bane
Earning all fame
After the first day, Schwarzwaldspitze had managed to cover half the distance to the location of their official match. They were the exemplars of the Blitzkrieg, showing up everywhere the French had least expected and catching them with their pants down.
Of course, in the air, it was not so different. All of Schwarzwaldspitze's pilots had gotten kills added to their count that day, including the night fighter pilots flying their He 219s up into the skies by the time the sun set. Some put more scratch marks on their fighters as marks of those kills, but of note, some had great difficulty doing such due to the sheer number of kills they already had. One such case was Hanna Jochen, who, despite flying an earlier Bf 109 F-4, already had the tailfin littered with scratch marks. And then there were the two Hartmann girls, who literally had so many marks that it was simply impossible to record them all on their Gustavs. The two 109s would've simply looked like they were wearing a new camouflage scheme if all of their kills were recorded on them.
They are the Panzer elite!
Born to compete!
Never retreat!
(Schwarzwaldspitze)
Already up and at it the next day, Schwarzwaldspitze's relatively few number of Panzer IIIs with the longer 50 mm KwK 39 found themselves engaging several enemy Renault R35s they had spotted on their scouting run through the bocages.
Foes all marked red!
Always ahead!
Fed by their dread!
Seeing that they had nothing better to do due to a lack of aerial opposition, many of the fighters of Schwarzwaldspitze joined in the ground pounding. Whether it be simple scouting of enemy positions, coordinating in live time with the Panzers, or physical contribution with strafing and dive bombing, most of the 109s available took up roles alongside the Fw 190Ds.
There were still those, however, that stuck to the air supremacy agenda. Among those were the two Bf 109 G-6s flown by Isabel and Erika, plus all of the Bf 109 F-4s, which was often dubbed the ace's mount by its pilots due to its perfect harmony in flight, and therefore its ease of being able to outperform an enemy fighter. It made sense in that light as to why they were not part of the ground pounding that sucked in the Bf 109 G-14s.
Always ahead
As the Blitzkrieg rages on
The achievements of the fighters dedicated to air superiority were marked with flying deep into enemy territory and sweeping the air clear of any and all enemies. They were never caught off-guard or surprised, because they were always in control of the situation. Their fighters' superior performance enabled that, as did their extensive training.
Breaking morale!
With the sounds of falling bombs!
Not to be outdone, the fighters assigned to ground pounding chose to spice things up a bit the next time they loaded up their payloads and started using whistles on their bombs. Because while they could just as easily flush out the French positions normally, it wasn't nearly as much fun as watching them grow terrified upon hearing the whistling of a falling bomb. It was not a question of 'why,' but a question of 'why not.'
Fast into lines of fire
And not to be outdone themselves, the Schwarzwaldspitze Panzerabteilung put on another very quick pace for themselves. Because if the German Panzers had proved one thing, it's that tanks were far from the slow crawling fortresses most people believed them to be.
Fast into hostile land
Tanks leading the way
Once more, the Panthers charged ahead with their impressive agility straight into the enemy's line of fire. If it was too much for them, like if they ran into one of the 155 mm field guns the French had laying around, one of the rare FCM F1 super heavy tanks, or the equally rare ARL 44 heavy tank, then they simply booked it to either meet back with the main force or to bypass the opposing force. Oh, the Panthers definitely had the firepower to take them down. It was just an unwillingness to lose one of their own that kept them from attacking those greater foes.
The long-barreled Panzer IVs were not as sprightly in their mobility as the Panthers were, but they performed admirably as support for them. While everyone was focused on the Panthers, that left the Panzer IVs free to wreak havoc while they weren't being focused on.
And of course, the small number of Panzer IIIs were no liabilities. Their armor and firepower was sufficient to deal with most French armor, even though that was not their main task. They were used mostly as scouts. Leave it to the Germans to use a full-fledged battle tank as a scout tank.
Leading the way!
And then there was the other role that the Panzer IIIs were used in: as escorts for the two monstrous Tiger H1s. Each had a Nishizumi as their commander, with Michael taking Tiger number 212 and the slightly younger Manfred commandeering Tiger number 217.
Let it not go unsaid that there was not much use for them in the initial parts of the invasion. The Panthers had already taken down all resistance before the two slower heavy tanks could make contact with them. But the deeper Schwarzwaldspitze advanced to their objective, the more stubborn the French resistance got, and the Tigers had been needed to assist.
Leaving a trail of destruction through a foreign land
(Waging war!
With conviction!)
The bocages had a notable impact on the speed of the German offensive, as they were not at all friendly to the more capable tanks like the Panther and the Tiger. Which was why, whenever possible, the Schwarzwaldspitze spearhead advanced in open terrain.
Massive assault
Live to be the ones so grand!
(Deutschland's pride!
Best in nation!)
The ground offensive came down on the next enemy holdout faster than a crack of lightning, and harder than the boom of thunder. The two Tigers led the charge, taking any and all punishment as if it was nothing with their sheer amount of armor. If that's not enough, add to that the angling used by them to increase the relative armor thickness even more. Also include the massive 88 mm KwK 36s that destroyed anything and everything they shot at, whether it was enemy armor or soft targets. The Acht-Acht made to take down all.
Communications broken
Though Michael Nishizumi could not care less about how fearsome his and his brother's Tigers were at the moment, because he was rendered busy trying to make contact with Isabel over the radio. He let out a noncommittal 'Hmm' when he found himself unable to establish contact with her or any of her fighters.
Fighters too far away, and being such pains
Earning all fame
Schwarzwaldspitze's Jagdwaffe was simply so far ahead of their Panzerwaffe that they had gotten out of range to communicate with them. They were too busy shooting down anything that dared to take off and get airborne, and when they ran out of enemy aircraft, they busied themselves with strafing columns. Interdiction was the day's main entree, and the German fighters were enjoying serving it as they left the French columns in a swath of destruction and disrepair.
They are the Panzer elite!
Born to compete!
Never retreat!
(Schwarzwaldspitze)
So Michael sent out the Panzer IIIs to serve as scouts from then on, since the Jagdwaffe wasn't doing it apparently. That was okay, he figured, considering they were nearly upon their destination. There really wasn't a need for air support at that point when they could simply storm the last shred of resistance to the town and then set up camp. Perhaps he could convince his brother, Isabel, and Erika to take a side-trip with him to Paris to pass the time while waiting for the official fight's scheduled date to approach.
Foes all marked red!
Always ahead!
Fed by their dread!
The designated arena for the official fight between BC Liberté and Schwarzwaldspitze was a small town with plenty of fields surrounding it. At first glance, the town seemed unintriguing, but it bore a very familiar name that haunted unaware tank commanders with the horrors of a rampant Tiger slaying everything in its path: Villers-Bocage.
And come the day of battle, BC Liberté's captain of the armored forces chose to err on the side of caution. Avonell knew he couldn't simply take on Schwarzwaldspitze in a heads-up fight. That would've been equivalent to a suicide charge. He chose to have his forces set up shop in the town itself. It would be easier to repel armored thrusts in urban areas, and it made it more difficult for his tanks to be detected from the air and crushed by fighter-bombers.
The same could be said of Georgette's mindset for her aerial forces. It was simply better to stick together and let the enemy come to them rather than try to seek out an enemy with superior training and superior equipment.
Most of the French school's equipment was antiquated and outdated, though a great percentage of it was not of French origin, strangely enough. The only French equipment used by BC Liberté was a number of the Hotchkiss H39 cavalry tanks, the Char B1bis heavy tank, a number of the Dewoitine D.373 parasol-winged monoplane fighters, and the Dewoitine D.520, a highly respectable fighter of French origin.
Besides that, most of their lineup was American in origin. The tanks of American origin included the M4A2, the main export variant of the Sherman using a diesel engine; the M10, a Sherman-based tank destroyer with a highly revised layout to adhere to the American tank destroyer doctrine; and a good number of M5 Stuart light tanks. The fighters of American design included a number of P-40Fs, a P-38G twin-engine fighter, and a P-39N, unique for its engine being behind the pilot and its massive 37 mm cannon.
And there was one last special surprise that was relegated to utmost secrecy and isolation during Germany's pre-battle blitz, as these weapons were the most powerful in BC Liberté's arsenal, yet they were also German in origin. Avonell's steed on the ground was a Panther G, painted in a distinctly different woodland camouflage using yellow, green, and brown plus the emblem of the school on the turret sides. Georgette had herself the other weapon of interest, an Fw 190 D-13 wearing the markings of BC Liberté. Their markings were distinguished enough from the Iron Cross markings used by Schwarzwaldspitze to make the French-flown Dora distinct enough from any German-flown Doras.
Suffice to say it was morale-dropping to hear that the French Dora was taken down relatively quickly. It was the job of Erika and Hanna to eliminate their big guns first. While the other German fighters chose to begin the ground pounding game down low, Erika and Hanna were left to face down the entirety of the enemy's aerial might, and they pulled it off amazingly enough. It ended up turning into a competition after Erika swatted the enemy Fw 190D aside, eliminating the biggest threat to them. White tracers seemingly spewed out in every direction from the two 109s and crippled everything else in their vicinity.
Much to Hanna's frustration, however, Erika ended up nabbing more kills than she did after all was said and done.
Down on the ground, the town of Villers-Bocage was visibly crippled by the German airstrikes, and BC Liberté had to keep shifting their positions in the town to avoid not only the airstrikes, but also the rampant Panthers that seemed to always appear out of nowhere. Further back behind them were the Panzer IVs always keeping the enemy on their toes with their direct fire support, plus the Panzer IIIs and one of the two Tigers, number 212. None of them got directly involved in the action, though, as the Panthers were simply too quick to keep up with.
The other Tiger, number 217, entered the town from a different direction all alone. Manfred was insistent to Michael that the enemy would not have a reason to stay in the town if Schwarzwaldspitze attacked with all its might, which was why the other Panzers held back behind the Panthers. So the younger of the Nishizumi brothers took it a bit further and entered the town with his own Tiger, aiming to keep the enemy on their toes with trying to find out where the other Tiger went. Michael thought it was a dumb idea, but Manfred dismissed that, saying that time was of the essence. If he didn't do this, then the fight would be dragged out for much longer, which nobody wanted.
So great the shock was on the faces of BC Liberté's tankers when they found their Panther get mauled by an enemy from behind them, and the shock quickly turned to fear when they found they were all trapped between the destroyed Panther and the other enemy Tiger on a narrow street. After confirming the enemy Panther was destroyed, the commander of said Tiger made a mental note to emphasize to the Panther crews on his own team to always remain on the move. He also made sure to praise his gunner on the impeccable accuracy he showed with taking down the Panther.
Manfred knew what he was doing and had his Tiger angled to increase its relative armor thickness. It paid off well when he found his tank get impacted by a flurry of desperate return fire that was completely absorbed by the thick armor. Calmly, he ordered his gunner to take down the M10 next. One 88 mm shell later and the American tank destroyer was history. After that, it was like shooting fish in a barrel, as there was nothing else that the enemy had that even stood a chance at penetrating a Tiger.
Pushing the frontline forth with a tremendous force
(Close to ground!
Strafes resistance!)
One by one, each of the BC Liberté tanks raised their French war flags, otherwise known as the white surrender flag. It was so clear that victory was achieved that many of the fighters started to mindlessly strafe the street, now jokingly known over comms as Tigerstraße after Manfred's absolute ownership over everything down that way. Every BC Liberté tank that started the fight was now within that street, destroyed in a terrible way.
Breaching the way for Panzerkorps!
(Show no fear!
Self-subsistent!)
Being the extremely humble youngster he is, though, Manfred refused to take the credit for victory that day, instead trying to place the credit in the hands of the Jagdwaffe. By his reasoning, if it wasn't for them, then BC Liberté would've likely held out for a much longer time and dwindled away Schwarzwaldspitze's numbers.
Silenced the line of fire
Then to his luck, or unluckiness depending on how one saw it, Erika arrived and, with an amused smile, bluntly told him to just shut up and take the praise. Manfred had no way to counter his best friend's words, so he remained silent and hesitantly accepted her insistence that he did great.
Cleared out all hostile land
Cleaning up their rain
Claiming their fame
Despite getting utterly humiliated by the Germans, Avonell and Georgette showed great sportsmanship after the fight. Neither one was spiteful or vengeful. Instead, after congratulating Michael and Isabel on their victory, they both went to the ones that took them down and praised them for their abilities. Erika found herself highly amused when Manfred flushed under Avonell's praise. She herself thanked Georgette for her kind words before trying to get her light brunette friend to at least say something in response.
They are the Panzer elite!
Born to compete!
Never retreat!
(Schwarzwaldspitze)
That night was full of celebration for the students of Schwarzwaldspitze. The German school was considered the best in the nation in the Arts of Warfare, and they proved it once again with a quick, crushing victory over the French. They held fast through both the pre-battle blitz and the official fight itself.
Foes all marked red!
Always ahead!
Fed by their dread!
Since their fight was one of the first to occur, Schwarzwaldspitze found itself with plenty of time to prepare for the next round. But, as Erika was quick to say, that can be done later. For now, it was party time, as the heavy number of beer glasses consumed that night indicated.
Panzer elite!
Born to compete!
Never retreat!
(Schwarzwaldspitze)
Somehow, the partying reached the point where those of the Panzerwaffe started drunkenly singing some of the older marching songs. It was a mystery how that occurred, but everyone else joined in eventually, as well. The only exception was when they reached the song Erika, whereupon a few people grew spiteful looks aimed at Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann. Hanna Jochen seethed in rage in how Erika got all the praise from everyone else, even though she herself had contributed, too. Erik Ignatz just plainly didn't like Erika after she had defended her friend from him.
Foes all marked red!
Always ahead!
Fed by their dread!
Erika didn't see such looks, however, as she and Isabel were busy raising up another toast with another glass of beer. Both had flushed faces from the amount they had drunk so far, but they didn't appear to care. "Ad victoriam!" Isabel led off her favorite motto with her glass raised.
"Ex machina!" was the overwhelming response as a wave of glasses and mugs raised to meet the toast. If there was one thing that absolutely everyone in Schwarzwaldspitze could agree on, it was that they were the best not just in their nation, but in the world.
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Part of Projekt Erika.
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The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to Actas. The music belongs to Sabaton. Any references made belong to their respective owners.
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