Hell On Tracks
Part 56
"Everyone, mount up!" Kay called with a cheerful grin. I exchanged a quick glance with Naomi, who shrugged, and I followed her up onto the M20. Kay wanted the whole leadership team to come ashore with her for something special, and we were skipping class today to do it. Completely above board, as a Sensha-do leadership thing, but it still felt odd. Another oddity was Kay bringing the M20 Command Car instead of bringing her usual Willys Jeep.
This wasn't the first time I'd come ashore on our trip to Australia, but I'd only managed a little bit of exploring Darwin with Jane and April yesterday before curfew was called and everyone had to return to the transport ship. Though it seemed like there would be even less exploration today, judging by the direction Kay was taking all of us.
"Uhh, Kay?" Hannah asked, her seat a little further back than mine. "What's with the laser rangefinding equipment?"
"The what?" I asked, blinking and turning to face her. Sure enough, Arisa had dug a tripod and what looked like a cross between a camera and binoculars.
"We're doing recon!" Kay answered cheerfully. "We have access to the field for a few hours, so I want us to explore it, get a feel for the land, and get some range readings in key locations."
"That's…" Naomi trailed off. "Is this one of Arisa's ideas?"
"Yup!" Arisa replied, a proud smile on her face.
It was a fairly quick drive down to where the match was going to be held tomorrow, and we met a judge from the Sensha-do Federation as we rolled up to the grandstands. Kay hopped out to greet her, and the rest of us filed out after her, standing over by the armored car.
"Saunders team captain Kay?"
"That's me!" Kay said. "Behind me are lieutenants Arisa, Naomi, Tally, and Hannah."
"Any equipment inside the vehicle?"
"Basic pioneer tools in case the M20 gets stuck, and a federation approved laser rangefinder."
"I see." The Federation judge said. "Maginot Girls' College's team has been informed of your visit. You have three hours to reconnoiter the field."
With that, we piled back into the car and set about exploring the field. Naomi and I shared the map as we drove around, trying to identify useful terrain, areas we might need to use the rangefinder, and locations where Maginot might turtle up.
It wasn't what I expected of Australia. I had expected flat, arid terrain, with mostly sand dunes and the like, what I envisioned the Outback to look like. What we got was probably a much more interesting field. While it was still fairly flat, there was very little true open ground, as there was either shrubs or trees providing cover basically wherever you looked. Combined with the fact that it was just hilly enough to occasionally block line of sight without there being many obvious sniping positions with good line of sight, my recon was going to be important.
Eventually, our time allotted ran out, and we had to leave the field. The intel we got from the recon was certainly useful, but it also raised some concerns.
The trip home was interrupted when Kay pulled us to the side of the road, and removed herself from the M20's driver's seat to join the rest of us in the back. "Recon, thoughts on the field?"
"There aren't many good options for long range shooting. No good vantage points, and the terrain is bouncy enough that it'll be really easy to hide from a sniper. I expect it'll mostly end up being close quarters brawling." I reported after a moment to gather my thoughts.
Kay nodded. "Makes sense. Intel?"
"Even with the loaner tanks we gave to Maginot, we have a materiel advantage. The M4A2 will be the primary threat, and we should look to eliminate it as soon as possible. The M22s are no slouch either, and while the 37s can't pen an M4 from the front except at close range, they're small and fast, perfect for lying in wait and getting at our flanks before we know what's coming." Arisa reported.
"Naomi and I also spotted something while we were helping Maginot set up their tanks." Hannah added. "When we unloaded the ammo for the 75, we were directed to put it next to a pile of larger caliber rounds."
"They were either 88s or 90s." Naomi added. "So we might be facing a heavy tank or tank destroyer."
"Either of which we can take out in close combat." Kay said, with a confident nod. "Okay, here's what I'm thinking. Two platoons of four, I have lead of one, Naomi the other. Tally, you're an independent scout, and Arisa, you're the flag tank again. Stay detached from either platoon, but close enough to contribute if we end up needing the 76. Any objections?"
I shook my head, as did everyone else.
"One quick recommendation." Arisa interjected. "The brush looked pretty tough at points. We should have some hedgerow cutters in storage, and I'd recommend mounting them, for ease of mobility."
Kay rubbed her chin as she considered the idea. "As useful as that sounds, I have to say no. It would be an unfair advantage if we can easily cut through the dense foliage while Maginot needs to go around. Our tanks give us enough of an advantage as is."
Arisa frowned. "Okay."
Kay patted Arisa on the shoulder. "Remember, we aren't here to win, we're here to have a good match." She turned to face the rest of us, making sure we all got the message. "Sensha-do isn't war. A close fought defeat is a much better match than a quickly won curbstomp, and we can learn more from it. Against teams like Maginot, where we have a clear technological advantage with our Shermans, we don't need anything to increase our capabilities. But at the same time I won't willingly cripple our own team to even the scales, as that would be unfair to us. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am!" Four voices said in unison.
"Good." Kay smiled. "Now, is there anywhere in Darwin you wanted to visit while we have the time?"
The day of the match, we had the whole day off from school. Even though Darwin was a pretty common spot to have the desert themed matches for Japanese Sensha-do, according to the Chieftain, the people of Darwin always put on a festival to celebrate the match and our visit. One of the big Australian tank museums even shipped some of their tanks over for the festivities.
Kay had convinced me to take the first ferry of the morning ashore so we could explore the festival before things heated up. I hadn't expected so many people to be up and about this early, but the locals were having a blast.
The two of us wandered the fairgrounds for a while, just browsing through the various stalls, looking at the food I wasn't willing to spend any of my money on, and talking to each other. A couple of the stalls had clothing that caught my eye, stuff like legit Sensha-do gear or team gear for all of the high school teams in the Japanese circuit plus a couple of Australian teams that I didn't recognize, as well as smaller souvenirs.
With Kay's prodding, I ended up buying four very small die cast tanks, each only a couple of inches long. I got a Stuart for myself, a Churchill for Rach, and a Sherman for either of my sisters. Kay bought a few souvenirs for her mom and sister at a different stall, and we finally moved on to what I was really excited to look at. The field that was being used by the Australian tank museum to showcase a bunch of their tanks.
Naturally, the first tank we saw was the AC1 Sentinel. The museum owned one of the few remaining original Sentinels, though with the help of Sensha-do and the market for reproduction tanks, they had a few extras which could be shipped off to events like this one.
There were a bunch more tanks in the field, and Kay and I walked around each one, reading the plaques that had been brought along by the museum, and just talking about what we saw. Stuff like the M3 medium being a Grant instead of a Lee, or how the mortar on the back of the Matilda would work in Sensha-do (it wouldn't).
I blinked and came to a stop as we moved from the Tiger replica towards the next tank in line, a SOMUA S35, painted up in Maginot colors.
"Tally?" Kay asked, looking over at me.
"Isn't that Spade Bleu?" I asked, gesturing over to the large blue spades symbol painted onto the turret. At Kay's unasked question, I added "It's Eclair's tank."
Kay shrugged. "Could be. The Aussie Armor & Artillery museum asked us to provide two tanks for the display, so they probably asked Maginot as well." She gestured past the SOMUA, where a Char B1, M4 Sherman, and M6 heavy were all lined up, painted in their school's respective colors.
"Oh." I oh'd. "How did I miss that?"
"They were setting up yesterday while we were out scouting the field. The Chief handled it."
"I see…" I said, before catching sight of a familiar face. Eclair noticed me a few moments later, and waved the two of us over. I jogged over to her, with Kay right behind me. "Good morning Eclair."
She blinked at me for a moment before replying in Japanese. "Good morning, Tally-san, Kay-san. I'm sorry, my English isn't very good."
"Of course." I replied, switching back to Japanese. Since Australia is an English-speaking country, and Kay and I are both fluent, we had been speaking English. It was easy to swap back to Japanese for Eclair's sake. "Is that your tank on display?"
"It is." Eclair said with a nod. "Spade Bleu, and Diamond Bleu next to it are two of the tanks we will be using in today's match. Even with the generous gift you have loaned us, we don't have enough tanks like the SOMUA or B1 to display while not using them in the match. While we could have displayed some FTs or R35s and had enough to field, they aren't the same as showing our best."
"I know what you mean." Kay said with a smile. She gestured over to the two Saunders tanks. "While Saunders is known for our M4s, sending out two of them, even different variants, wouldn't have been good. With the museum already bringing their Grant and Stuart, the M6 is really the only tank we can send that isn't a copy of something already here."
"Will you be using it in today's match?" Eclair asked, looking over at the heavy tank. I took her look as an example and led the group over to it.
Kay shook her head. "No, it's just a display piece today. We were testing it in our last skirmish, and it didn't perform as well as we would have liked."
"Thank god for that." I grumbled under my breath. While the M5A1 was just as cramped for me, and I was also acting as a loader, being a commander was a much better role than being the assistant loader. For one, I could actually see outside the vehicle.
Kay must have overheard me, since she patted my shoulder gently. As we began to walk around the heavy tank, she changed the subject. "How have our loaner tanks worked out for you, Eclair?"
"The M22s are wonderful!" Eclair said cheerfully. "Crewing everything was challenging, though we managed to get enough new recruits that we will not be fielding any understrength vehicles today."
"Recruitment problems?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I would have thought that getting enough people would be the least of your problems."
Eclair flinched slightly, and I regretted asking the question. "We… When I took command at the end of last year, a lot of veterans dropped the program. But everything is better now, and we have crews for everything." The blue haired commander took a moment to recompose herself. "Anyways, as I was saying, the M22s are wonderful. Their speed and firepower are much greater than the FTs and R35s that they replaced, and their commanders adore not having to worry about a gun as well as all of their other issues. The M4A2 is just as good if not better for our team. Fondue almost convinced me to move Spade Bleu from my SOMUA to the Sherman, just so I could focus on commanding alone. And then there's..."
"So the name is attached to the commander rather than the tank?" Kay asked, completely ignoring the way Eclair trailed off.
"Not always. Spade Bleu is the commander's tank, and the rest of the tanks are usually divided by suits. Diamonds are for the heavy tanks, spades for the mediums, and while clubs and hearts are our light tanks." Eclair explained, before she stopped to examine a detail in the running gear on the M6.
"Should you be telling us this?" I asked, uncertainty lacing my voice. "After the radio interception trick Arisa pulled against Ooarai, that could be critical information."
"Is that what that balloon was?" Eclair asked, turning away from the tank to face me. "And you didn't get in trouble for it?"
"Well, it lost us the match." Kay shrugged. "Arisa made sure it was within the rules, but it isn't something we'll be doing again. It isn't sportsmanlike."
"Saunders has always been known for your sense of fair play." Eclair said with a nod. Before anybody could say more, her phone beeped. "Fondue needs me for something. I should go."
"The needs of the team never cease." Kay said sagely. "You should come by our camp before the match. We'll be making lunch for everybody who wants it."
"I'll consider it if I have the time." Eclair nodded, before running off to deal with whatever fire needed putting out.
"So, what do you think she was about to mention when she trailed off?" I asked after Eclair was out of earshot.
Kay shrugged, switching back to English. "Something new, probably a heavy tank going by the caliber of shell that Naomi found. Probably either a Tiger or an ARL 44."
"An ARL?" I asked. "Weren't those only introduced in '49?"
Kay nodded. "They're legal through the 'built with materials available before VJ Day' clause. Though from what I've heard they aren't great. Between their rarity and their unreliability, most teams are often just better getting the cheaper Tiger."
"Huh. So we should expect at least one late-war heavy tank of some sort?"
"Wouldn't be a bad idea. Hopefully you'll be able to find them before they become a problem, and either Arisa or Naomi will be able to deal with it." Kay said. Before I could say anything else, she grabbed my wrist and took off at a brisk walk towards another part of the fairgrounds, dragging me along behind her. "Now come on, there's still a lot of time before the match, and a lot more of the festival to see!"
The worst part of Australia wasn't the wildlife, even if Haruna had tried to scare me about "drop bears," it was the heat. Washington was always mild, and being on the open sea you didn't feel the heat as often, with the winds constantly flowing over the school ship's deck. Japan was just as wet as home, and about as humid, though it was often warmer. But Darwin was just hot.
There was very little shade in Saunders' staging area for the match today, and the sun was beating down on me. The lines for the food trucks were bad enough normally, but this was getting to nearly unbearable levels, even with as few layers on as possible.
"Hey Tally!" Trips said cheerfully as I finally reached the front of the food line. "What'cha want?"
"Chicken breast, potato salad, and an ice cold water bottle."
"Coming right up!" She said cheerfully, before stepping back into the stall to grab my food.
"Evans, heads up!" Someone called from inside the stall, and it took me a moment to recognize the voice as Hadley's. Almost as soon as I recognized her voice, a water bottle came sailing out of the stall towards me, and I easily caught it.
"Hadley, what have I said about throwing things at people!" Trips scolded, before she returned with my food. The blonde shook her head gently. "I'm really sorry about her. She likes to make sure people are attentive at random times, usually by throwing something at you."
"Oh? How often does she hit people versus them catching whatever it is that she threw?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I gathered up my food.
"Nikki, Bannie, and I are good at catching it, it's a tossup for everyone else."
"I see." I deadpanned. "Thanks for the food, Trips."
"No problem! Have a good match!"
I nodded at Trips as I left, searching for somewhere with a bit of shade. Kay waved me over to the leadership tent, and I hurried over to her. Hannah was sprawled out over three of the folding chairs, and she looked like she was handling the heat about as well as I was. Which was to say, not great.
At least the tent provided some shade, and Kay had a fan hooked up, blowing the hot air outside and away from us.
"You don't like the heat either?" Kay asked as I sat down to eat.
"Nope." I said, shaking my head. "Home was nice and mild, even with the humidity. This is less humid and even hotter."
"It looks like today is going to be extra hot, too. Not the kinds of temperatures you expect for a place that's in mid autumn."
"Do we have cold boxes with water bottles in all of the tanks?" I asked, as I cracked open my water bottle. "It'll help everyone fend off the heat."
Kay considered it. "I don't know if we have enough cold boxes for all of the tanks. I'll get Naomi to look into it." She pulled out her cell phone and started texting, before pausing. "Oh, and the cinematography club was wondering if they could put a camera in the Stuart, get some action shots of the crew for the highlights reel."
"Uh…" I uh'd, thinking over the request. "Why me? They do know what happened to me at the Ooarai match, right?"
"No, actually." Kay answered. Hannah interrupted her with a tired groan, but when the ginger failed to do anything else, she continued. "Nobody outside of the team and people who pay close attention actually knows that you're the TC of the Stuart, and what exactly happened last match. Cinematography was just interested because we basically don't use non-Shermans. That usually means we have someone with the capabilities to earn a special tank."
I crossed my arms and leaned back in my seat. "I dunno…"
"I'll tell them no, then. You can always change your mind, and even if you don't, there will probably be exterior shots of you in the highlights reel, since they have permission to use camera drones."
"Thanks." I said with a nod. "It still surprises me how involved the rest of the school can be in Sensha-do. With sports back home, it was the team, the cheer squad, and maybe the band. But here, in addition to the team, you've got the auto club helping with repairs, a whole array of planes at your disposal for transport from the Airlift Division, heaps of culinary crews coming to every match, and now the cinematography club filming us and putting cameras in the tanks for action shots?"
"Those may be more of a Saunders thing." Kay said with a shrug, finishing her text. "Most schools don't have this much food at their matches, or planes to get us everywhere. But it is pretty involved. Tanks are expensive."
"True, true." I agreed, turning back to my lunch.
"I'm gonna go get some lunch and see if anybody needs help. Feel free to camp out in here until the match starts. I'll have Arisa make sure to grab you and Hannah if you happen to miss the five minute warning." Kay said, throwing a thumb over her shoulder and out the tent's door.
"Thanks. I'll see you later, then." I said, but she was already out the door, moving at a jog. With Hannah still sprawled out on her three chairs, there wasn't anyone here to socialize with. An odd occurrence at a Sensha-do event, but not altogether unwelcome. It meant I could eat my lunch in peace.
