Skirmish No.3!
Flanders Girls High School(PoV)
vs
Chi-Ha Tan Academy
Flanders Lineup:
1x B1 ter Heavy Tank
2x B1 bis Heavy Tanks
2x FCM 36 Light Tanks
2x H39 Light Tanks
2x H35 Light Tanks
Chi-Ha Tan Lineup:
8x Chi-Ha Shinhoto Medium Tanks
8x Chi-Ha Medium Tanks
"Formation steady!" Nine tanks, painted green and accented with black, raced down a dirt road at the highest speed they can. They maintained a well organized column formation, led by a B1 ter. Their commander sat high atop the tank, holding the receiver to her mouth.
"Right wing here, we are checked and ready to go." A commander of a nearby B1 bis reported.
"Left wing is also ready and prepped." The B1 bis next to the latter also reported.
"All tanks are ready, your orders Celeste?" The Gunner operated for the B1 ter looked towards the front of the tank.
"The plan is we win, Chi-Ha Tan will obviously use Chi-Ha medium tanks, we have to use our heavy armor to our advantage." She swept her blonde hair sticking out from under her beret and cleared her throat. "Just keep our formation and we'll be fine for now, keep your sides and rears under check as well."
"This is a textbook match." Audrey, at the head of Team Iris and a B1 bis relaxed herself.
"I agree with Audrey, what will a bunch of small caliber guns going to do to us?" Elise of Team Lily and the other B1 moved her consent forward.
"Don't let it fool you, they're faster than us, just don't let them flank you is all." Celeste stared off into the horizon. "Don't let them blitz us too hard...that's the last thing we want." There was heavily wooded area they were approaching.
"This seems sketchy…" Their driver, Helen expressed her concern. She was right, a forest was an ample place for an ambush, especially for infantry tanks. Considering the fact they wouldn't be able to act as quickly as standard role tanks.
"We'll be fine, just as long as we can shoot straight." The gunner, Jeannette relaxed in her seat, much to the dismay of her loader, Claire.
"Don't relax! This is no time to do that.!"
"Quiet down, something seems wrong, we haven't been fired on yet." Celeste watched the trees very carefully as they neared it. She then picked up the receiver to give orders. "All tanks, tighten to one column."
With her command, the tanks straightened up into one single line just as they passed through the entrance. "Stay alert...we're in the belly of the beast." Audrey started to traverse the turret of their tank around. They were moving cautiously, checking their flanks constantly.
"It's too quiet here…" Simone, commander of Team Rosemary, a FCM 36 just behind Team Lily, paid careful attention to their surroundings. "Make sure we can get get out of here correctly Pauline."
"You make it seem like I can't drive." The driver tightened her grip. "Not like it matters, we're in the woods." The line of tanks advanced down the road with little resistance, almost scarily so.
"Careful...we can't be caught with our pants down…." Valerie's Team Saleya took up the rear with their H35. They weren't well trained, leading to their rather frantic thoughts.
"We'll...we'll be fine...just have to keep our cool." The driver, Aurore scratched her head as she adjusted their speed. Suddenly, a shell slammed into the side of Team Gerbera, just right behind Rosemary in the formation.
"Hit received, they're firing HE at us." Renee, the commander started to traverse the turret to check where the shot came from. Following the first shot, a barrage of rounds started to come upon them. They were taking shelling from both flanks
"It's time we get out of here." Zoe, the driver, switched to a higher gear.
"Okay, let's get out of here, maximum speed through!" Celeste went back into her turret to prepare return fire. "All tanks are cleared to fire back." She tossed the receiver aside and looked down below. "Claire, hand me AP shells."
Claire went back into the rear and started to raise up 47mm shells up to Celeste to load. She had to load and fire the gun indepently, flaws of their tank. Traversing the turret, she found quite the sight. Multiple Chi-Ha medium tanks were pursuing them via the woods.
"Estimate of fifteen minutes until we exit the forest." Helen tossed the map over her head and it drifted back to the back of the tank. "Won't be long, let's just hold on until then." She shifted to a higher gear as Celeste aimed a shot.
"Let's see…" One of the Chi-Ha tanks, armed with a short 57mm gun, fired at her. The round hit under the turret, puffing up quite a bit of smoke to block her sight. "That's just rude." Once the smoke cleared, he aimed for them, just in front of the tank.
While the tanks behind her suppressively fired, she was aiming for a knockout, compensating so that it would just near the drivers hatch. "Perfect aim, I think so." She fired the round just at the right time. It actually hit target, shockin the Chi-Ha driver and forcing her to swerve into the tank next to her.
"Uh...nice shot." Helen saw the event happen just out of the corner of her eye.
"No problem...how much longer until we reach the open?"
"Just about…" Suddenly, the trees started to transition to forest, and Flanders raced out into the open. "Now actually."
"Perfect, create Maginot line turns towards them on my mark." He ordered over the radio. They started to form a rank as they were speeding over the grass. Celeste poked out of the B1 turret and watched behind them. Chi-Ha Tan had not caught up yet.
"When do we do it?" Naomi, from Team Rose commented as she loaded a round into her gun. Celeste watched carefully for any Chi-Ha to exit. Suddenly, a wave of Chi-Ha tanks armed with the 57mm Support Gun rushed them.
"Now!" The French tanks turned in practical perfect timing as they spun to meet the oncoming wave. They formed a heavy defensive wall as the gunners started to aim. "Fire on my mark." Celeste waited for the distance to close and for her gunners to get their marks.
"All rounds loaded." The statuses came over the radio as she watched through her gunner's sight. Now was the perfect moment, they had closed the distance between their formations. "Fire now! All the rounds you can!"
The tanks started to fire upon the advancing Japanese tanks. It was more of a suppressive barrage, but with the intent of destroying. 37mm, 47mm and 76mm guns fired at rapid paces. "Keep loading!" Valentine, the gunner for Team Iris looked back to her loader, Lucy.
"I'm loading as fast as I can here!" She rammed another 75mm HE shell into the gun and cleared it. "Just keep firing!" She yelled as she went back to fetch another round to load. Their opponents were unfazed, they kept moving, even when they were losing tanks.
The formation was originally just six, but was not reduced to three as the remainders made a left wing turn to avoid fire. "Something is wrong here…" Celeste whispers to herself. The tanks were too easy to take out, they never left formation, never dodged.
Something was up with this, was it a ruse, perhaps Chi-Ha Tan was just that bad. However, her fears were realized just as she heard the rumbling the engines far louder than hers. "What in the world?" Suddenly, the hill behind them was crawling with Chi-Ha tanks, Shinhoto or not. "Traverse hulls!"
Their tanks started to turn to face Chi-Ha Tan, but they were advanced on. The French and Japanese tanks went into a close knit battle. A scenario that their infantry tanks were not created to handle. "Track is shot!" Corinne, the driver for Team Lily yelled out.
"We fight to the end, no backing out now!" Elle started to fire back with the turret gun, as the hull gun was useless if they could not traverse the hull.
"Shoot at anything in front of us if you can." The Loader, Julie, looked at Nicole as she loading into a HE round.
"I got…" In turn, Nicole looked through the hull sights. Their positions were swarmed, the first casualty occurred when Team Rose's H39 tank took one too many hits. " We can't hold this together!" The Driver Isabel said moments before their knockout.
"Darned, this is Team Rose, we've been knocked out!" Anastasia slammed down on the gun breech in anger. Celeste watched the white flag wave from the H39 and started to tend to her gun, loading it and firing it.
The battle was an absolute mess, Chi-Ha hulls knocked out with their white flags waving. Despite their superior tactics, they were losing to Flanders, as they pinged off armor as they fired their guns.
However, this was not without its costs, Team Iris had taken one too many hits, they were already vulnerable with their broken track. One Chi-Ha took a point blank shot with APCR at the rear of the turret, causing a knockout. "Team Iris! We've been knocked out!" Audrey reported.
Celeste was panicking, they were causing heavy casualties but their numbers had taken a major hit with two tanks out. Chi-Ha Tan's tanks, or rather, what was left of them, started to slink in the confusion. They managed to escape with a sizable force leftover.
In total, only four tanks were taken out from their side. While Flanders only had seven tanks leftover, most of them on the verge of being actually knocked out. Even Celeste's Team Poppy was heavily damaged. "What do we do now!?" Celine, from Team Sunflower, frantically responded.
"We have to dig in somewhere we can defend, we're in no shape to hunt down tanks with greater mobility than us." Celeste came out of the turret and looked around the horizon. There, it was a large hill, not too steep, but could provide them advantage.
"So where do we go?" Alice, Celine's driver, also pitched in with the question.
"Hmm...all able tanks, follow me, we're going to take a height advantage, no formation needed." The B1 ter started to make it way across the plain, trailed behind by the other tanks behind it. They started onto a dirt road to maximize their speed, a rather risky move.
It increased the chance of engine failure, most the tanks received hits to the rear as a chance to penetrate. This in turn hit the engine, possibly damaged. This and the fact that at the speed they traveled, track breaking was also possible. This was shown when Team Gerbera's track broke.
Renee sighed, "We've lost our track, what do we do?" The entire group of tanks stopped to reach a decision. The situation was worsened when Team Saleya's engine started to blow dark smoke.
"Okay, Audrey, you have to to lead the other to the hill, dig in once you're there, my tank will stay here." Celeste decided for them.
"But-"
"No buts, this is an order, for the good of the team, you have to dig in on that hill, we'll be fine." Audrey gave up and agreed to the terms, her B1 bis started off with the other tanks for the hill, there were only four there.
"Get your engine and tracks repaired as soon as you can, we can't stay here for long." The repairing process was taking long, there was only one qualified mechanic for each tank, lengthening the process. "I can't contact Audrey, they're out of range…" Celeste mumbled to herself.
Suddenly, just as she put the radio away, a 47mm APCR round slammed into the rear of Gerbera, knocking them out. "This is Gerbera, we're knocked out." Renee sarcastically reported.
"What in the world?" Celeste couldn't see where the shot came from, it was practically open land out where they were. Then she noticed the small patch of trees and bushes next to herself. "Man I'm blind, don't worry, I'll handle this with the 47mm."
While Team Saleya was repairing the engine just in front of them, a round ricocheted off the mantlet of Poppy's 47mm gun. Slightly annoying Celeste, who was searching with pinpoint accuracy. Just then, she panned over a shape broken out of the others.
"There you are…" She whispered for no apparent reason just the Chi-Ha fired around at her. The round pinked off near the sight and freaked out Celeste before she fired. This allowed the Chi-Ha to escape, but she wasn't going to give up just yet.
Tracking the tank and leading her shot, she fired a round, which managed the hit the frontal section of the track, force the tank to a sudden spin. Once another round was loaded, she fired again to finish it off, just another annoying sniper. "Okay, engine is up!" Aurore conveniently reported.
"Just perfect, let's link up with the others now." With the engine repairs finished, the B1 took the lead and guided the H35. It may have taken a while to get there, but they started to traverse woods about a few dozen meters away from them.
"Team Rosemary, we've been knocked out!" The voice of Simone met them upon their arrival, it was obvious that Chi-Ha Tan had found them and was engaging them. In fact, the hull of Team Iris's B1 bis was found, it had its tracks destroyed and knocked out by being rammed into large rocks.
"We have to save what's left of them!" Celeste's B1 popped out through the the foliage and she found that only Team Sunflower and Gourdon were the only ones left. They were having a hard time facing off against the rest of Chi-Ha Tan.
"I see you've made it! Now can you help us out!?" Naomi, Team Gourdon's commander frantically fired at the Chi-Ha coming upon them.
"Got it...Saleya, do what you what, just don't get yourself shot up." The B1 ter left the H35 to fire flanking shots on the Chi-Ha. Celeste and her tank decided to hunt down the command tank and end it. This would win them the match, it was a flag hunt after all
It may had been a bad idea, but they were running out options, outnumbered at least. "Jeannette, Claire, get ready, we're in for a definite fight this time."
"We can do this, don't worry." Claire looked at her.
"Right-" Suddenly, a Chi-Ha blindsided them. Nearly slamming into them at high speeds. It was the command tank, and it had just sped off deeper into the forest. "After them!" Their tank picked up speed and started to pursue the Chi-Ha.
Despite their best effort, Poppy was gaining right on them. But the Chi-Ha was able to pick up much more speed than this. Something was definitely wrong, and something was, they were led right into an ambush. "Traverse hull!"
The B1 quickly turned its hull as three Chi-Ha closed on them. While the hull turned one way, Celeste turned the other. They blasted two tanks while they simply plinked off the frontal armor. "Keep on them!" Despite the last one's attempt to keep them at bay, it was simple knocked out and pushed aside.
The chase led into open terrain as it turned into a wide open clearing. The Chi-Ha made a few impressive maneuvers, throwing Jeannette off her aim with the howitzer. But it was clear that that crew wasn't going to give up any time sooner. "They're going to flank us!" Helen shouted as it made a sharp turn around them.
"Drift it!" Helen pulled back on the brake while turning, bring the tank towards them. Jeannette fired but missed by mere centimeters. "Darned!" She looked back at Claire, loading another round into the gun.
"We aren't catching them anytime soon." Out of nowhere, a lone Chi-Ha burst out from the bushes behind them, putting Flanders on the defensive now. As they were being chased, the Chi-Ha bounced off at least three shots on the turret, as it turned to meet them. "Where're the others!?"
"Did you call for help!?" Sylvia, the driver for Gourdon yelled as Teams Gourdon, Saleya and Sunflower rushed through the bushes. However, Team Sunflower was immediately taken out as two Chi-Ha came behind the formation.
"Team Sunflower...we've been knocked out…" Celine sighed while her driver Alicia started to rest. They were tired from the match today, being attacked and nearly knocked out multiple times and all.
"Sorry, we kind of brought company." Naomi spoke as a shell whizzed right over their tank.
"No problems, I have a plan, just keep going after the tank behind me will you?" The B1 suddenly made a complete turn towards Gourdon and Saleya, who were hot on the tail of Poppy's pursuer. Meanwhile, Poppy had sped towards the Chi-Ha behind the other two.
Their tank slammed into one in a direction that prevented the other from firing, instantly knocking it out. They then reversed to allow Jeannette to score a hit with the 75mm. At point blank, it was a overkill sort of knockout. No chance a Chi-Ha could survive that round. "Now after the others!"
Celeste's tank turned to find out that the lead Chi-Ha had rammed into Team Saleya and fired multiple times into them. "Team Saleya! Knocked out!" The other Chi-Ha was eventually hit with a shell by Gourdon and too knocked out. Now it was down to one tank as the lead took a speeding run after the B1.
Celeste was thinking that the Chi-Ha was suicidal by charging straight at them. But then their full extent was revealed, once the distance had closed, the Chi-Ha made a quick movement. Actually drifting to the side of the B1 and catch them at their side.
"What? No!" Celeste frantically started to traverse to turret to meet their flanker. But it was too late, the Chi-Ha fired a round about a few away at their side armor. At that range, it would slice through the armor.
"Not so fast!" However, in the nick of time, Team Gourdon's H35 sped straight into the path of the round. Taking it for Poppy just before their ultimate defeat. Before Valerie could even report their knocking out. Celeste took her move on the Chi-Ha.
Their B1 had fully traversed and moved for them. They actually knocked the hull of the tank aside before they could fire. Leaving the gun to shoot straight off into the distance. With this, Claire loaded a 75mm HE round into the breech of the gun.
Then Jeannette, who was wildly grinning, slammed down on the firing mechanism. The howitzer pumped the shell straight into the side of the Chi-Ha. An instant knockout, especially at that range. This left Celeste in tears, they had just barely won this one.
This match belonged to Flanders Girls High School, who with their French Armor was nearly defeated by Chi-Ha Tan. But in the nick of time and though lucky streaks and shots. They had taken victory, straight out of the jaws of defeat.
