Chapter 7
In Which True North is Outnumbered
Katyusha glared down at them from atop Nonna's shoulders.
"So you call yourselves True North? Ha! Pravda is the real true north here! We are at least two degrees farther north than you mainlanders!"
She smiled haughtily. "However, Katyusha's generosity is as expansive as the steppes! You may have this match with us as we agreed… but you must fight both a T-34/76 and the KV-2!"
They knew all about Katyusha's personality, but that didn't make her any less grating. Up until this face-to-face meeting, negotiations had been done though Nonna, who, while not outgoing, had been professional and courteous. Ayako looked at the others. Hayley shrugged. It wasn't like they had much choice, and Ayako wanted this battle.
"Very well, we accept your… generous offer," sneered Ayako. "It will present an adequate challenge for a Nishizumi disciple, I suppose."
This caused a ripple of apprehension to cross Katyusha's visage. "You have studied under Mihosha!? Why was Katyusha not informed of this?"
"No, I am from Kuromorimine originally!" said Ayako angrily.
Katyusha relaxed. "A school both we and Ōarai have beaten! You seem to have forgotten to bring a heavy tank, though."
Ayako glared at her. "Can we get on with it?"
"Yes, yes, patience, pirozhki," said Katyusha. "Come on, Nonna."
"Do svidaniya," said Nonna as they left.
"Good luck… I guess?" said Hayley after them. They hadn't even shook hands.
Ayako, Hayley, Liza and Justine turned towards the Ram. It was fully repaired and sported a new coat of olive drab paint.
"Well, that's our original battle plan out the window. She really got you going there, eh?" observed Hayley as they took their positions.
Ayako frowned. "Yes, but that was at least partly deliberate. I firstly wanted her to know I'm fro- I was from Kuromorimine."
"So she'll know who beat her if we win?" asked Hayley.
"Yes. I also want her to think that I'm overconfident and easily provoked," replied Ayako.
"Oh yeah?"
"Once the match begins, we are going to get under cover and sit there."
Hayley nodded. "I get it. Pravda like to set ambushes for opponents who rush in."
"Indeed. They'll be expecting us to go on the attack, and my guess is that the more mobile T-34 will act as bait to try and lead us to the KV-2. My hope is that they will be beside themselves with impatience when we don't show up and will eventually come looking for us," said Ayako.
"And we'll ambush them."
"Precisely."
"Not bad, skipper. Let's hope it pans out your way."
Ayako still found it somewhat irksome to hide and wait for the enemy instead of hunting them down, but with neither quantity nor quality on their side she would just have to adapt to the reality of the situation. Her crew had put their trust in her, after all.
Once the flare and accompanying radio message informed them that the game had started, they drove to a copse of pine trees and parked within them. Hayley left the tank briefly and confirmed that they were well hidden. The battlefield was rolling, green hills and valleys with clumps of trees dotted about. A small, deserted village was located near the other end of the map.
And so they began the waiting game. Ayako had thought ahead this time, and they had plenty of water and snacks. There was some desultory chat, but they mostly sat at their positions in silence, concentrating on the view up the valley they were facing. Ayako found herself twiddling her thumbs, but the trip on the fishing boat had taught her the value of patience and she managed to hold off her boredom.
Still, nothing happened.
"Maybe they're on hold while Katyusha's takin' one of her naps," suggested Liza. "Lard tunderin', I hopes they shows up in the reckly."
Fifteen more minutes passed with no sign of the enemy.
"Ten more minutes, then we'll move out and take a look around," said Ayako. Drat, she thought. She would have to improvise from here on out, and that had not gone well before.
The sun was dipping lower in the sky. They had begun the match midafternoon, having travelled most of the day to meet with Pravda.
"Ready, driver?" asked Ayako after the time had elapsed. Liza replied in the affirmative. "All right, move out. Make your way to the top of the line of hills to the south."
They had just emerged from the trees when Justine shouted "Arrêtez, arrêtez, I see them!"
"Back up, back up!" cried Ayako. Liza reversed them back to their original position.
"Where?" demanded Ayako.
"Coming over the hill at eleven o'clock," replied Justine.
Ayako carefully poked her head out of the hatch and looked through her binoculars. A dark green blob had appeared on the northern ridgeline three kilometers away. Too far to take a shot, thought Ayako.
"It looks like the T-34, boss" said Justine.
"As we expected," said Ayako. "Let's hope they didn't spot us."
Looking ahead, they had trampled down the underbrush in front of their hiding place. Was the hole big enough for the other tank to see them?
The T-34 came down the slope diagonally, heading for the end of the valley where they lay in wait.
"Range two thousand meters," said Justine, looking at Ayako.
"They're still heading this way. Let them get closer," replied Ayako.
"Uh oh, b'y. The KV-2 just showed up," said Liza. "They's on overwatch up on the hill at ten o'clock."
Ayako grabbed the binoculars again. The KV-2 had emerged over the brow of the same ridgeline as the T-34. It rumbled slowly along the top, roughly paralleling the track of its compatriot.
The KV-2 would zero in on them if they attacked the T-34. Should they take a shot now? Keep lying low? Would Justine even be able to hit them?
Hayley saw the indecision on her face. "Skipper, the KV-2 is more of an artillery piece than a sniper. I reckon there'll be few near misses once we reveal ourselves, but we should be able to get away in time, eh?"
Ayako smiled gratefully. "All right. We'll stay put. Let the T-34 get as close as possible."
The T-34 began to sweep around the end of the valley, turret scanning. It approached their copse from the left. Ayako held her breath. The gun swiveled towards them. The head of the commander was just visible behind the upturned hatch cover.
"C'est tiguidou boss, for sure I got this," said Justine, tracking the turret around slowly. The other tank was crossing right through their field of fire. Its gun was still pointed their way. Ayako tried not to think about the fact that it could fire at any second.
The T-34 commander's head jerked suddenly and she gesticulated in their direction. They had been seen!
"Shoot!" cried Ayako.
Justine smiled grimly and pulled the trigger. The report was followed a moment later by the harsh crack of metal on metal. The enemy tank coasted to a halt in a cloud of smoke. The white flag popped into view and Justine pumped her fist.
"Driver, reverse! Get back!"
Liza sent them careening backwards. A few seconds later there was a high-pitched whine and the ground erupted in a blaze of fire near where they had been.
"Driver, head north and zig zag. I want to get to where we can deny them a good line of sight."
Every few minutes as they made their way up out of the valley another shell would scream in, but they remained unscathed. Ayako's hair and face were covered in dust from all the earth being flung up. Eventually, they had a hilltop in between them and the KV-2.
"Good shooting back there, gunner," said Ayako cheerfully. This was not shaping up to be the embarrassing defeat the last game had been.
"Bien sûr, boss," said Justine. To help her hit moving objects they had resorted to buying her an airsoft gun, attaching paper target boards to the sides of the Ram and then driving back and forth on their practice field while she shot at them. It appeared that it had been worth their while.
Hayley spoke up. "Skipper, I suggest we close in on them by driving along the slope of the ridgeline. I doubt they'll be able to aim at us with their lousy gun depression and if they move off the top of the hill where it's level they won't be able to traverse the turret."
Ayako nodded. "I agree."
Liza worked the Ram up to full speed and they hurtled across the incline that formed the northern boundary of the valley. Ayako was unbuttoned in the turret, looking out for the KV-2. She could now see the top of its oversized turret. As Hayley had forecast, it was having difficulty getting a firing solution. Next moment, it disappeared from view. It must have moved off the summit.
"I think they're retreating," said Ayako. "Driver, angle us up and over the top. We'll try and catch them on the opposite slope."
Cautiously, they edged over the crest. They need not have been so careful; the KV-2 was in headlong flight, running towards the village in the distance.
"Pursue them!" Ayako commanded.
The Ram was faster than the KV-2, but it still managed to disappear into the jumble of buildings before they could engage it. They slowed down as they reached the first cross-street. The houses of the village were fairly primitive. They had cinderblock walls, tin roofs and none were more than two stories high. The layout was a simple grid or dirt roads with two main streets crossing at right angles in the middle.
Ayako leaned far out of the hatch, trying to catch a glimpse of their quarry through the gaps between the buildings. Justine was traversing the turret one way and then the other as they passed each intersection. They approached the east-west main street, identifiable by its greater width and a line of telephone poles running along it.
"Stop!" yelled Hayley, just as they came up to the crossroads. The Ram lurched to a halt, the nose just protruding past the building on the corner. There was a boom and Ayako felt the wind on her face as a 152 mm shell streaked past in front of them.
"Driver, reverse!" she cried. They backed up to safety. Her first reaction was to chastise Hayley, but then she stopped herself. Hayley had saved them again. "We need to find out exactly where they are," she said.
"I volunteer to do a reconnaissance on foot," said Hayley.
Ayako nodded. "All right. We'll wait here until you get back. Don't let them see you. Hurry!"
Hayley leaped down from the turret and sprinted into a gap between two houses. Ayako had Liza move them to cover the intersection and they settled down tensely to await her return. Ayako was getting impatient. They needed to finish this.
After ten minutes, Hayley appeared by the side of the tank and climbed in. "They're dug in at the end of this street," she said breathlessly, indicating the main thoroughfare in front of them. "And I mean really dug in. It must be the ambush position they chose at the start. There's a building covering their rear and flanks and they've excavated a hull-down position. They have fields of fire to the front and sides."
"So they're a pillbox now," said Ayako.
"For sure, eh?"
Ayako took a deep breath and tried to think calmly. A few moments later, she had made up her mind. "Driver, take us in a wide detour around the enemy position. I want you to come up behind the building protecting their rear."
"OK, b'y!"
More time went by as they circled around, moving in the open ground outside the village. They re-entered the town and drove up to the building directly behind the KV-2. It was a larger structure with wings on either end forming a C, tailor made for walling off a defensive position. As Ayako had hoped, however, it was no more substantially built than any of the other buildings in the town. She closed the turret hatch firmly.
"Driver, do you think you can break through that wall in front of us?"
"Yes b'y!"
Hayley looked worried. "I don't know, skipper. With the state these buildings are in, that might be pretty risky."
Ayako waved her down. "Do it! Ramming speed!"
"Brace yourselves!" yelled Liza as the Ram accelerated.
The wall of concrete blocks facing them virtually exploded as the weak mortar gave way on impact. Individual blocks were shot across the interior space, some smashing through windows on the opposite wall. The thin wooden floorboards were ground to splinters under their tracks. The next section of wall in front of them simply fell over on contact in a cloud of grey dust as if it was giving up in the face of their onslaught.
"Driver, halt!" shouted Ayako. The unmistakable silhouette of the KV-2 was visible through the haze, shockingly close. The face of its commander was turned towards them, eyes wide as saucers.
Ayako was just opening her mouth to give the order to shoot when the upper story of the building fell on them.
Author's Notes:
I reduced the cost of repairs in the last chapter to the equivalent of $450. In the absence of any figures for actual sensha-dō repair costs, I used auto repair costs as a basis, which would make costs in the range of $300 - $800 plausible. It is also likely that the shop that does the repairs is gouging Ayako & co., since they have a local monopoly. It is steep and True North is in a bad position. They don't have an automotive club to do the work, their school won't pay for it and they can't take advantage of any 'fleet maintenance' type programs with only a single tank. A school with a larger team would benefit from the economies of scale involved. Fortunately, Liza's family was willing to help out and even more luckily, they caught a blue marlin which is very valuable (the market value fluctuates, but searching online shows it can be $10/pound for a fish that averages between 200 and 400 pounds).
I updated the chapter descriptions for Chapters 5 and 6 to make them less spoiler-ish.
I can confirm that I was thinking of Admiral Chūichi Nagumo when I came up with Justine's real name.