Chapter 48: Saunders vs Pravda, part 3.

Katyusha, in the company of Nonna, was sitting in front of her T34 and eating borsch.

If my calculations are correct, the Saunders Shermans will meet our flag tank and chase it, straight into the trap… They will be surrounded and destroyed by my tanks.

She thought, satisfied, after chewing a bite.

"Do you know, Katyusha?" Her deputy asked.

"What?"

"I wonder how the match between Kuromorimine and St. Gloriana is going… If we pass the semifinals we should face one of the two."

Katyusha, self-confident, smiled defiantly.

"Who cares? One or the other makes no difference! We will win, and we will retain the title!"

Nonna shook her head.

"I wouldn't be so convinced... Last year we won due to a stroke of luck, which this year won't be repeated. There won't be a Miho to make it easier for us to win."

Annoyed, the blonde commander glared at her.

" I've already been scolded enough by Natalia for that!"

Nonna snorted.

"Sorry … But Maho is an outstanding commander, almost undefeated. I wouldn't take it lightly... And that's not all: I received a disturbing report from some of my social contacts at Kuromorimine."

Having calmed down, Katyusha looked at her curiously.

"Are you using your real profile?"

Nonna smiled mockingly.

"Use your brain… If that were the case I wouldn't be able to get a single syllable out of them. To them, I am Kaguya Sumeragi, a student of Chi-Ha-Tan."

"Ok… So, what did you find so scary?"

"It seems that Kuro has acquired a new tank, the Panzer VIII."

Katyusha didn't seem intimidated at all.

"And what is it? Explain yourself better!"

She ate another bite of borsch.

"It's more known as Maus."

That revelation was so shocking that Katyusha choked on the food she was chewing. She rolled her eyes, coughed a couple of times, then looked at her interlocutor with a mixture of fear and shock.

"Did you say Maus? That Maus?"

Nonna nodded.

"Yes."

Katyusha gasped, not knowing what to say. The Maus had been the first super-heavy tank created by the Third Reich. A steel monster 10 meters long, 3.67 wide, 3.71 high, weighed 188 tons. A formidable behemoth in both offense and defense, stronger than any tank Pravda could field.

If the Kuros line him up in the final we're screwed… Goodbye title! Not that the various Panzer IVs/Panthers/Tigers are any less fearsome…

The girl thought.

After a few moments a voice called her from the walkie talkie she was carrying.

"Here Badger Team! We have been eliminated!"

That news was, for Katyusha, like a bolt from the blue. She put her hand on the Walkie and said:

"Badger Team, Siberian Tiger here! I ask for confirmation of the elimination!"

She followed a brief interval of a few seconds, then her interlocutor replied:

"I confirm, we have been eliminated! A Hellcat got behind us!"

The Badger team was one of the teams that was supposed to surround the enemy tanks…

Katyusha had time to formulate that thought that another voice on the radio said:

"Here Moose Team, three Shermans knocked us out!"

But what the hell is going on?

The blonde wondered.

"This is not normal… It almost seems like they know the location of our tanks. Did they send some scouts forward?" Nonna guessed.

Katyusha thought, remembering that while she was looking at the Saunders tanks, she had noticed an M3 Lee, a dark green medium tank.

Yes, they used that… They spotted our tanks and now they are destroying them down one after another!

She thought, furious.

"Here Lynx Team, we are out of the game!" Another exclaimed voice on the radio.

Now Katyusha's concern turned into agitation. The Saunders had managed to identify her tanks stationed for the ambush, and at this rate they would have been eliminated to the last. So she ordered:

"All tanks, the enemy is upon you! Scatter!"

"DA, KOMANDIR!" Her tank crewmen chorused.

At the same time Kay, aboard her Sherman, was stationed near an old fort, dating back to the Pacific War.

Katyusha thought she had victory in her grasp… But now I've got the upper hand.

The blonde thought.

"Kay-dono?"

Yukari called her.

She turned to look at her.

"Tell me, Oddball!"

"Are you sure this plan will work?" Her gunner asked.

Kay nodded.

"Pravda tank girls are fearsome in the open field, but in the wooded terrain they become insecure and awkward. By exploiting the battlefield and carrying out a series of hit and run attacks, we will put them in serious difficulty!" She declared, with conviction.

"But they could do the same to us!" Yukari objected, not convinced.

The blonde shook her head.

"It's not Katyusha's style, trust me!"

At that moment a voice called to her on the radio, Alisa's voice.

"Do you hear me, Captain?"

"Loud and clear, Alisa."

"We have eliminated three enemy tanks, the others are fleeing or are fighting with ours!"

At that moment she heard an explosion.

"Correction, now there are four eliminated tanks!" Alisa said.

"Five… I just took out a T34!" Naomi intervened.

Kay smiled, satisfied.

"Nice work, girls. But remember that the priority target is the opposing flag tank! As long as it is active we cannot win the match!" She reminded them.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Her two deputies replied, almost in chorus.

Simultaneously, at the Sarugamori dunes, the Churchill VII carrying Darjeeling and her crew moved south, escorted by a pair of Matildas. Cannon shots were heard in the distance, a sign that a clash was in progress between their units and the opposing units. The captain of the "British" team was sipping a cup of Darjeeling, the tea from which he had borrowed her nickname.

"I see you rather relaxed, Commander." Orange Pekoe said.

The blonde put the cup of tea on the tray and smiled.

"Shouldn't I be, Orange?"

"No, since we have the strongest team in Japan as our opponent." Assam reminded her of.

Darjeeling, however, continued to maintain her demeanor of absolute calm, as if she were facing Anzio.

"They are strong, not unbeatable… If we play our cards right we'll emerge victorious." She declared.

"Am I right, Hana-san?" She asked to her gunner.

Hana nodded.

"Yes, my lady."

However, in her heart, Hana was nervous. Kuromorimine was not Yogurt, nor was BC Freedom. It was the quintessential sensha-do team, 9 times national champion. No team had ever managed to defeat her (except Pravda the year before, but in a treacherously way).

I wonder if even Miho would have been so confident in the face of such a formidable opponent.

She thought, then shook her head.

Needless to ask… Miho is dead. And Ooarai too.

Then, suddenly, she was reminded of an encounter that had taken place a few weeks ago.

Flashback start

Suijin Lake, Aokigahara Forest, June 9, 9:05am

The former remaining members of the now disbanded Anglerfish Team (Hana Isuzu, Saori Takebe, Yukari Akiyama, Mako Reizei) were gathered near the lake where Miho had drowned about a month earlier. Hana turned her back to the mirror of water, and stared with a serious look at her now former companions, who instead had a melancholy air. She studied their faces closely, then began to speak.

"We are gathered here today to commemorate Miho Nishizumi, our captain and great friend. A kind-hearted, kind-hearted girl. Thanks to her sympathy, her kindness, and her altruism, she had gained the friendship and trust of all of us. It is therefore with her broken heart that we stand here today, near Lake Suijin, where her life tragically ended last month."

The other girls listened in silence. Saori and Yukari's eyes were watery.

"Unfortunately, our attempts to save her proved to be in vain. And this guilt… The remorse for this unforgivable failure will haunt us forever."

She paused.

"However… She will always be here with us. We will never forget her, because she was a special friend. She will always remain in our hearts! She will live on in the memories of the good times we had together!"

With that she turned to the lake and bowed.

"Rest in peace, our unique and irreplaceable Miho!"

That sentence was a blow to Yukari's heart, who burst into tears. Immediately Saori hugged her, to comfort her.

"I fully understand your pain…" She told her.

Even Mako, who remained silent, was also sad. It was the second time she had lost a loved one, after the death of her parents, victims of an accident. Suddenly she perceived a presence and, turning around, she saw Maho, older sister of the deceased, and Erika, deputy of the aforementioned, approaching them.

"We have company, girls…"

Her friends turned too. Everyone was surprised, except Saori, who got angry seeing the newcomers. She immediately stood in front of them, glaring at them menacingly.

"How dare you show up here?" She asked.

"This is where my sister died, a month ago… And I came to pay her respects." Maho replied.

"Strange… The last time you met her you looked at her like she was a piece of trash." Mako stated.

"This is false!" Erika declared.

The former Panzer IV driver glared at her.

"I wasn't talking to you."

Hana, the most mature of the quartet, stepped forward, placing herself next to Saori.

"You remained silent when your mother scolded her for saving her companions. When she disowned her you did nothing to change her mind."

Nervous, Maho spat on the floor.

"She wouldn't have listened to me!"

"You could try! If I changed her mind now Miho would be alive!" Saori stated, pointing her index finger at her.

"You are co-responsible for her death!" She added.

Furious, Maho grabbed her by the collar of her uniform, glaring at her with hatred. SaorI, intimidated, began to sweat cold.

"Don't touch her!" Yukari intimated.

"Take your hands off her!" Hana gave her support.

"We won't let you hurt a our friend!" Mako warned her, flanking her companions.

"Please, commander! We are not here to start a fight!" Erika begged, alarmed.

Also because we are two against four…

Maho ignored them, still holding Saori and glaring at her.

"Who are you to accuse me? Who are you, to point the finger at me? Who are you to judge my actions?" She asked her, raising her voice.

Saori, awed, remained silent, so Maho continued.

"Did you think you were close to her just because you spent a month together? She was my sister, we grew up together, we struggled together, sharing joys, worries, fears… Everything!"

She let go, stepping back a few steps. Saori and the other girls stared at her in surprise. Her eyes watered.

"And now she… She…"

She suddenly she burst into tears. Her tears, copious, streamed down her cheeks.

"But why? Why did this have to happen to her? She was a kind, selfless, good-hearted girl… And she had her whole life ahead of her!"

Hana shook her head.

"No, since your mother disinherited her. She would not be welcome, either at Kuromorimine or at her home. She had nowhere to go back to after Ooarai closed. That's why commit suicide." She said.

Displeased, Erika stepped forward, glaring at the former Ooarai.

"And you, then? Why didn't you give her hospitality, since you loved her so much?" She asked accusingly.

"We would have… But she left for Aokigahara the morning after they announced the closure of the school!" Yukari replied, lowering her gaze.

Kuso, Nishizumi-dono… You could have stayed with my parents, or with Saori's parents! Why did you want to commit suicide?

She thought.

Maho, for her part, shook her head.

"I… I… I tried… I tried to save her… For days my companions and I scoured this cursed forest!"

She clenched her fists.

"If only we had moved in time now she would still be alive..."

"And what about being disowned?" Mako asked her.

"We would have found a solution… Together! Like we did in the past… I wouldn't have abandoned her!" She retorted, with conviction.

I misjudged her… I thought that, like their mother, she despised Miho. Instead she loved her.

Saori thought, feeling guilty about how she had treated her earlier.

Even her friends were of the same thought. What had appeared at their first meeting as a cold and haughty girl, who looked down on her younger sister, was now in tears over her departure.

"Sometimes… Sometimes I dream about her, you know? By this lake, while the bears eat her alive. She is lying on the ground, in a pool of blood and screams in pain while those damn beasts tear shreds of flesh from her body… she asks Me for help but…"

She covered her face with both hands.

"… But I can't move… I'm like her paralyzed… And I stand by and watch… I stand by and watch as she is dismembered and eaten…"

After a few moments she began to cry again, making a noise that broke the hearts of the other girls present.

Flashback end

"Hana-san!" Assam called her.

Hana, roused by her memories, turned to face the blonde.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Everything OK? I called you a couple of times, but you didn't answer." Her partner answered.

Hana, forcing a smile, said:

"I was… lost in my thoughts."

Darjeeling watched her silently, then asked:

"You were thinking about Miho, right?"

Hearing her captain's name pronounced, Hana grew sad.

"Yes, Lady Darjeeling." She answered.

If I tell her no, she'll ask me what I was thinking, and I don't feel like explaining it to her.

She thought.

The blonde sighed.

"Hana… I understand your pain, I know how fond you were of her. But it's been three months, and the time has come to leave the past behind (however tragic) and move on. Miho would have wanted you to do that."

Hana just nodded.

"Also… We are in the middle of a match, against a formidable opponent such as Kuromorimine. You are a formidable gunner, and I need you focused and relaxed. Otherwise, if you get distracted or nervous your performance will suffer." The commander-in-chief of the St. Gloriana t eam added sympathetically.

In response, the dark-haired girl snapped to attention, exclaiming:

"Yes, my lady!"