Hell On Tracks
Part 58
"Hammerhead, you're crazy." Naomi deadpanned, as I finished explaining my idea to the rest of the team.
"Crazy enough to make it work?" I asked, hope in my voice. Looking back, she was very correct. The plan was insane, but a dash of insanity might just be what we needed to win the day.
"Crazy enough to be at Jatkosota or Ooarai." I could hear the grin in Naomi's voice.
"I'll take it!" I cheered. "Speaking of, how did Ooarai do in their match yesterday?"
"Ooarai beat Anzio handily, but this really isn't the time." Arisa answered. "We can talk about their match after we win ours."
"Right, of course. Later, then." I agreed. I took a deep breath, and steadied myself. "Okay everyone, you know your roles. We head for Soissons as a group. Once we're there, Grizzly-Lead and I will split off to do our jobs. Kodiak, you have tactical command of the rest of Grizzly platoon."
"Yes ma'am!" Four voices answered me. Naomi and Arisa were in a well practiced unison, while Haruna and Grizzly-3 were staggered out just enough to make it sound weird. Almost as weird as it being directed at me.
"Now, there's only one more thing for you, Hammerhead." Arisa said cheerfully. "What are we naming this operation?"
I blinked, not expecting that. I immediately began racking my brain for something to use for the name. "Uhhh…. Gimme a minute… Let's call it… Operation Iceberg. More to the plan than is apparently visible."
"Works for me." Arisa replied.
Soissons was in the southern part of the map, where things opened up even more than they already were. The hill there would give Naomi excellent lines of sight, up to ranges where even she couldn't consistently land hits. It was a perfect sniping position, but Maginot had to know that. Naomi was a renowned sniper across the whole Japanese Sensha-do league, even more so than for her having a girl at every ship.
The challenge, then, would be baiting Maginot and the ARL into her gun. Step one for that was taking out the scouts. Cambrai was one of the drier, more deserty areas of the map, and with the constant pounding heat today, it would be even moreso. Perfect for throwing up a cloud of dust and catching all sorts of unwanted attention. Or in this case, laying bait.
"Tally, you're bleeding." April said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I blinked and looked over at her. She looked up at my forehead, and I gently touched it. My touch stung, and when I pulled it away, my finger had a fair amount of blood on it. When had I hit my head?
Oh right, during my aborted panic attack when we found Eclair in her ARL.
While I was discovering my injury, April had already pulled out a medical kit. "Come here so I can bandage that for you."
I complied with her order, and despite an ill-timed bump from Jane, my minor injury was cleaned up and bandaged easily. Excepting what had happened during the Ooarai match, I think this was my first actual injury during a Sensha-do match. Massive shells are always flying about, we have general access to machine guns like the co-ax, I'm constantly commanding from an unbuttoned position, and my worst injury comes from bonking my head.
That's Sensha-do for you.
It didn't take long for us to meet up with the rest of the team, and I unbuttoned to let the wind help cool me off a little bit as we set a course for Soissons.
"Grizzly Lead, how long do you think it'll take to get well entrenched?" I asked over radio, looking over at Naomi's tank. The Firefly was showing a few signs of battle damage, but it was also in good condition. At least the paint job wasn't nearly as scuffed up as the Stuart's was.
"Longer than we have." Naomi replied. "Even if we all get out and start digging, it's not something we're used to."
"Almost makes you wish we had one of those M2 dozer blades to stick on the front of one of our tanks." Arisa commented wistfully. She was also unbuttoned, and glanced over at me.
"We could always ask Kay..." I suggested with a slight shrug.
"Something tells me she would say no."
I laughed. "True. It's a bit of extra frontal armor, and being able to dig in that quick really doesn't fit our style of play."
"Still would be nice to have right about now…" Naomi grumped.
"All else fails, you should be able to go hull down and pop up only when we need your gun." I suggested.
Thankfully, Maginot didn't intercept us on our run down to Soissons. The last half mile or so, we threw up a lot of dirt as we sprinted across the open plains towards the hill, which for most teams would be a bad thing. In this case, every little bit helped.
"Good luck, Kodiak, Grizzly." I said into my radio, before giving Jane the order to split off.
"I feel like you'll need it more." Naomi replied.
"Probably."
With the amount of dust already in the air, I buttoned myself back up, though making sure that I could open the hatch quickly. Cambrai wasn't too far from Soissons, though the landmarks were somewhat difficult to spot at the best of times. This field was far too plain for my liking. It made figuring out where you were even harder than usual.
I scanned the area through my periscopes as we drove around, occasionally giving orders to Jane for where to drive. Nothing was coming here. Had Maginot seen through the plan to bait them in with the dust cloud? After what felt like forever, and was definitely plenty of time for Maginot to get here even with a slowed down ARL, I finally gave the order I hadn't wanted to.
"Driver, turn us around." There was a tinge of defeat in my voice, and I felt awful for it.
"Understood." Jane acknowledged, and after a moment of continuing forwards, she pulled us into a slow turn.
A shot bounced off our frontal armor. I didn't need to issue orders before Jane stepped on the gas pedal and we were off like the devil was behind us. It was getting hard enough to see through the dust cloud through my periscope that I had to unbutton if I wanted to have a good look at the tactical situation. I pulled on a pair of protective goggles, grabbed my binoculars, and immediately began scanning for our assailant.
I nearly missed her. With the dust cloud obscuring vision, the M22's bush-shaped camouflage was enough to make it very hard to tell from the background. If it hadn't been moving, I never would have seen it. "Locust, bearing 015. Estimate 700 yards. She's moving east, and fast."
"Tracking." April said, and the turret began to rotate towards where I'd seen the M22 before it slipped out of sight.
"Driver, take us in." I said, and Jane's wild driving smoothed out. Over the intercom, I could hear her quietly begging the Stuart for as much speed as it could give her. If that was how she wanted to do this, I wasn't going to stop her being weird in the middle of a match. Everyone has their own good luck charms.
With the two light tanks both throwing up lots of dust, and the wind in the area beginning to pick up, the dust cloud was only going to get worse. I was going to have to stay outside if I wanted to see anything, though.
"Tank left!" I called, spotting the M22 closing on us. Jane pulled the Stuart hard over, and for a moment I felt the rightside track leave the ground. Thankfully only a moment, and we were steady as Jane charged us towards the Locust.
April only needed a moment to get on target as the M22 appeared to us through the dust cloud. The other tank's TC must have had a similar idea to me, and if neither of us changed course, we were gonna crash head on.
"On the way!" April called calmly, and two 37mm guns barked in rapid succession. Only one scored a hit, and the white flag on the Locust popped up with a small 'thwip!' Jane pulled us into a hard maneuver to avoid crashing into the now disabled tank, and I gave a cheerful wave as we passed them by.
"Good game!" I called.
And then we were gone. I dropped back into my seat and immediately grabbed my radio once more.
"Kodiak, Hammerhead. One M22 disabled, no sign of the other." I reported.
"Good work, Hammerhead." Arisa replied. "Visibility is getting worse, I recommend you come back and we regroup."
I frowned, but understood where she was coming from. "Understood. Hammerhead returning to the team." I switched back to the intercom. "Driver, take us east, back to where the others are setting up."
"Aye aye!" Jane cheered. After a moment, though, she whispered something that her mic barely picked up. "Are you sure?"
"Jane?" I asked.
"It's nothing!" Jane quickly replied, and pulled us into a turn. I sighed softly at her weirdness, but didn't make any further comment.
As we drove, I thought back to my plan. Keeping Naomi's position safe and concealed was one of our goals, and a loose scout tank put her at risk. A sneaky 37mm shot into the side at close-ish range would be enough to knock her out. At the same time, Maginot had to know we were down here now, so delaying engaging them while hunting down the second Locust would be difficult.
I didn't let myself become too distracted by my thoughts, and kept one eye focused on my periscope at all times while we drove. The dust cloud was still obscuring visibility, but we were getting close to the edge, and it was reducing in intensity. Though I was keeping an eye out, I hadn't expected to see the other M22 driving almost directly in front of us, on the same bearing as us.
"What are the odds?" I murmured to myself, before raising my voice. "Tank, direct front, 200 yards!"
April wasn't as surprised by this as I was, and reacted immediately. The turret slewed over from its currently leftward orientation, and as soon as it was on, April fired. Her shot went wide, and slammed into the dirt maybe a hundred yards ahead of the Locust.
Credit where credit was due, the Locust reacted immediately. They pulled into a sharp turn and drew a bead on us in the time it took me to load the next round and for April to fire again. Both shots missed, but April's was a lot closer. Her third shot didn't miss, and slammed right into the M22's front plate.
The smaller light tank bucked with the impact before coming to a halt and popping the white flag.
I blinked. That had not been how I envisioned getting the second Locust would go. At least we didn't need to hunt it down in this awful visibility.
"Kodiak, Hammerhead." I called into my radio again. "Found and eliminated the second M22. We are returning to the main group now."
"Excellent job, Hammerhead!" Arisa said cheerfully. "Proceed to step two?"
"Proceed to step two." I replied.
Now that Maginot definitely knew we were here, and they had lost their scouts, they would have to commit their forces. With the two Locusts down, we had the numbers advantage for the moment, but since the Stuart wasn't all that useful in a straight up fight like what we were planning, it was still going to be a tough fight. Haruna and Grizzly-3 would need to take the brunt of it to protect Arisa, and we needed to turn it into a running battle to get Naomi into range.
Or Naomi would need to come to us.
Probably a mix of both.
"All callsigns, this is Hammerhead." I quietly called through the radio. On the other side of the bush the Stuart was hidden behind, Maginot's forces were pushing south. "I have eyes on. They're currently maybe 500 yards from my position."
"Copy that." Arisa replied. "Grizzly Platoon is in position and ready to engage. We're ready when you are."
"Driver, get ready." I said into my intercom, keeping the radio line open. "Gunner, target the M4A2. Fire when on."
Next to me, April nodded, and adjusted her aim to hit the M4. Maginot's Sherman was at the front of their line, with the two more classic French early-war tanks following behind it, and the ARL at the rear of the line.
"On the way." April announced calmly, and the 37mm fired. Her shot was on target, but the 37 just lacked the punch to hurt the M4A2 at this range. And then she fired the co-ax at them for good measure.
While the 37 got their attention, I'm fairly certain that the burst from the co-ax was actually what got Maginot's eyes on our pretty well concealed position.
"Driver, go go go!" I called out, as four turrets tracked over to our position. Jane didn't need to be told twice, and we very quickly accelerated up to speed. I ducked back down into the turret as the Maginot tanks opened fire, and their shots all just barely missed. The 90mm hit the ground next to us, and the whole tank shook from the near miss.
As we fled, April slewed our own turret over to keep firing at and agitating the Maginot tanks. I was impressed at how well their forces worked together as they pursued us. Never once did the medium tanks allow themselves to be baited away from the slower heavies. Another lesson I'd helped Maginot learn and that was immediately being used against me.
Dang it Eclair! I'm happy you learned from your mistakes with my help, but why did we have to immediately turn around and fight each other?!
"Grizzlies, we're coming in hot!" I called over the radio as we zipped towards Arisa's prepared position. There was a lot of open ground between us and them, and if we tried to cross that open field without any cover, the Stuart was going to get knocked out incredibly quickly. Thankfully, we had cover.
M4 Shermans come equipped with these handy little smoke grenade launchers attached to the turret. They aren't quite as good as a straight 75mm smoke shell, but when three tanks are launching three grenades in rapid succession, it's a rather useful smokescreen nonetheless.
Jane took us straight into the smoke screen, and as soon as we were through and could see Arisa's entrenched line, we veered off to one side and aimed for the low ground. Now, all we had to do was harass the flanks and take potshots at the readily available targets. Arisa had the hard part.
The smoke screen was clearing, but the dust cloud was getting worse again with the numerous shell impacts and tanks driving around at high speeds, limiting general visibility. While it would make skirmishing easier, diving into their backline for cheeky shots, Naomi wasn't going to be able to snipe with all this in the way.
As Jane pulled us to a stop in the low ground, I once again unbuttoned and went as high as was necessary to watch the ongoing battle. Maginot's M4 led the way through the rapidly dissipating smokescreen, followed closely by the SOMUA and B1. Directly across the open field from them was a rather well entrenched Arisa, Haruna, and Grizzly-3.
In an ironic turn of events, Saunders was the team turtling up, while Maginot stayed mobile and attempted to encircle or otherwise break our defensive line.
Arisa and the Grizzlies exchanged fire with Maginot's forces as they pushed through the smoke, and it very rapidly turned into a rapid fire, long range gunnery duel with limited visibility. A good situation for nobody. But one player on either side had yet to enter the field. For us it was Naomi and her Firefly, while for Maginot, it was Eclair in her ARL-44.
The heaviest tank on the field announced its entry into the duel with what felt like a resounding thunderclap compared to the relatively smaller 75mm and 47mm guns of the fighting forces. It felt like the world slowed down as I watched the 90mm shell race from one end of my vision to the other, where it slammed directly into the bow of Grizzly-3.
"Driver, get us in there. We need to keep Eclair busy so that Arisa and Grizzly-2 can take care of their fight." I ordered quickly. Jane immediately complied and we roared out of the ditch and back onto the battlefield. "Gunner, ARL-44, direct front, 400 yards. Hit them with both the 37 and the co-ax."
"I see her." April replied calmly.
"Fire!" I called. Moments later, the 37 barked, and was followed up by a short burst from the caliber .30 co-ax. The heavy tank's turret slewed over towards us, away from the battle.
Good. The distraction was working.
"AP up!" I called, immediately grabbing the next round in the ready rack.
"On the way!" April responded, firing the gun once more. This shot also pinged off of the ARL's armor, but I expected that every shot we fired would. The 37mm just lacked the punch to get a knockout blow on an ARL. We weren't even going to try.
"Driver, take us to the right, around her side. Let's try and keep her attention away from the battle." I ordered. "Kodiak, Grizzlies, I'm keeping the flag tank distracted, and will do so as long as possible. May your aim be true, and your fights be swift."
"That was oddly poetic of you, Hammerhead." Naomi snarked. "Best of luck to you too."
"That's the M4A2 knocked out!" Arisa called out.
"They're getting awfully close. We should start falling back towards Grizzly-Lead." Haruna suggested. I half tuned into the radio chatter, but was mostly focused on loading the gun for April and keeping Eclair distracted.
The 90mm roared again, and the Stuart rocked as the round ripped past us. A burst from the co-ax responded to the miss, and the machine gun bounced off of the heavy's armor to zero effect. It probably made a heck of a racket inside, though.
"Char B1, knocked out!" Haruna cheered over the radio, before immediately getting cut off.
"Grizzly-2 just get knocked out?" Naomi asked.
"Affirmative." Arisa replied.
"Keep running, I'm headed your way."
"Oh, don't worry about me, I'm just busy brawling with a tank three times as heavy as mine at close ranges." I snarked into my radio as I slammed another shell into the breach.
"You're doing wonderfully, Hammerhead." Arisa said. "We'd have lost already if not for you."
"Thanks." I nodded, though she couldn't see it. April fired at the heavy, once again to no effect, and I began scanning the area. No tanks appeared to me besides the ARL and Stuart. "Driver, get us moving towards Grizzly's position."
"Right!" Jane said, and immediately pulled us into a turn that both dodged another 90mm shell and gave us an escape vector. I slammed another shell into the breach, and kept an eye on the ARL until it faded away into the dust.
As soon as we were clear, I buttoned up, and removed my goggles, letting them hang on my neck. They were great protection, but absolutely awful for anything else, and my forehead was positively dripping with sweat.
"The SOMUA is right on our tail! Any day now Grizzly!" Arisa worried into the radio.
Naomi answered her with the sound of bubblegum popping. Moments later, the very distinctive roar of the 17-pdr echoed over the plains. The sniper put on her absolute worst fake Australian accent as she pulled her Bond one-liner. "Boom, headshot."
"Really? There's a whole world of witty one-liners out there, and you go with Meet the Sniper?" Arisa asked. She sounded rather disappointed. "Sometime in the near future, we are all having a Bond movie night. Kay, I know you're listening in, so don't think you can get out of this just because you got knocked out early."
"Can we take this a little more seriously?" I asked, as Jane pulled another wild maneuver to dodge a blind shot from the ARL behind us.
"As you wish." Naomi replied. "The dust cloud is making visibility awful. I could only see the SOMUA when it chased Kodiak out of the cloud, so I don't think sniping will work."
"Getting close enough to see it is a bad idea. Eclair will be able to react, and might be able to get a shot off first." I replied.
"She knows the dust is cover against Grizzly's long range, so she'll retreat and stay in it as long as possible." Arisa observed.
I frowned, and scanned the interior of my turret for anything that might spark an idea. How could we let Naomi see where we were? If I could get her onto me, I could lead her shot right to Eclair. My eyes zeroed in on an odd pistol grip with a cable wiring it into the tank. The handle for the spotlight.
"April, do we have a spotlight anywhere?" I asked as I grabbed the grip. I couldn't remember whether or not we had one, but if we did it might just be the piece of equipment that won us the match.
"Right side of the turret, mounted under the machine gun protective cover." April replied quickly. Trusting her with handling supplies around the tank had been the right move.
"Okay, rotate the turret 90 degrees to the right, I need to get at that spotlight." I said. I pulled my goggles back on, and as soon as I could, I clambered out of the turret and stood on the back deck of our rapidly moving tank. Despite the dust flying around everywhere, being upright while moving this fast was just an amazing feeling. I put that aside though, and removed the spotlight from its customized mounting.
Spotlight met pistol grip, and I tested it to make sure the light was functional. It was, and judging by how bright it was, that was an LED bulb instead of the traditional WW2 era light. Good. I'd need all the power I could get out of this if my plan was to work.
I grabbed my radio as I climbed back into the turret, and began shining the spotlight directly forward. "Grizzly, can you see my spotlight?"
"I think so. Wave it around a little." Naomi responded, and I quickly complied with her request. "Yes, I have eyes on. I can kind of see the source, too."
"Good. I'm going to keep shining this your way, and we're gonna turn around and charge the ARL. Track my position, and when I give the word, fire." I ordered.
I could hear the bafflement in Naomi's voice as she spoke. "Affirmative. Hammerhead, you're crazy."
"Crazy enough to make this work." I countered confidently.
"We'll see."
I cut my radio for the moment, and turned to the intercom. "Driver, take us back in. Turn a full 180 and go maximum speed towards Eclair's last known location."
"Yes ma'am!" Jane replied, and we drifted into a sharp turn to fully come around.
"We're coming in behind you, Hammerhead." Arisa said, and I acknowledged, focusing on keeping the spotlight pointed in their direction. It almost looked like the spotlight grew even more intense, but it was probably just the light reflecting off of some dust and into my protective goggles.
"Tank direct front!" April called.
"Naomi, do you have eyes on my light?" I asked, dispensing with the codenames.
"I do."
As soon as she said that, I turned off the spotlight. "Driver, hard left!"
The ARL reacted to our presence, and slowed to slew its turret over after the wildly maneuvering Stuart. Perfect.
"Fire!"
One shot was all Naomi got, and it was all she needed. Two guns roared in unison. Her shot was blind, but well guided. I had a moment to notice the APCBC round from the 17-pdr scream past me, before the ARL's shot slammed into the side of the Stuart. The light tank went spinning, and when we finally came to a stop, the ARL was just as dead in the water as we were. Two white flags popped up in quick succession with tiny 'thwips!' The Stuart was out, but so was the ARL.
We had won. It had been incredibly close, and required some crazy plans, but despite that, we had won.
Now to stop my head from spinning…
