Girls Und Panzer: Euro League
Chapter 13: The Warrior's Code Part 1 (Oarai High School and Kuromorimine vs. The Franco-German Schools)
The ways of the Japanese Sensha-Dou League are not the ways of the world. This was our time. All our battles have led to this. We will make our voices heard by the roar of our guns, and make our schools proud with our skill on the field. Some of the media covering this match have dubbed it 'The greatest match in the history of tankery'.
Our deans spoke to us with an AMX-56 Leclerc and a Leopard 2A7+ main battle tank, "You have all made it this far, ladies, we are all very proud of you and you have all done your schools proud, good luck out there," said General Von Moltke with translation provided by our dean. As our deans left us to our business, we looked at each other.
We gathered in for a prayer before battle with Commander Wolfe leading the prayer, "Heavenly Feather, we thank you for this glorious day, we ask for your strength and guidance as we take the field of battle, we know that is within your will that we made it from France and Germany here to Japan, we ask all this in your name, Amen,"
"Amen," we all said in unison, and then it was my turn with a nod from Commander Wolfe,
"Nothing is difficult!" I belted out to those gathered,
"Everything is a challenge," They all replied back in perfect unison
"Through adversity!" called out Gabrielle,
"To the battlefield," They all replied back,
"To the last tank, to the last gun, to the last shell, to the last crew member, to the bitter end, we fight!" I belted out,
"We fight! We fight! We fight! We fight! Huah!" They all blasted together to psyche each other up, and everyone on our teams raised a fist to the sky with pride. With our hearts in high spirits and got a kiss on the cheek from Gabby, we marched onto the field to meet with the leaders of the other teams. We bowed, and shook hands with them.
As we shook hands, I formulated a battle plan, "Good luck," said Miss Nishizumi, I smiled back and went back to my tank after the other commandants did the same. These crews from Oarai decorate their tanks the same way some Americans do their cars. I feel this is going to be an interesting match if our plan of attack will work against them.
"Did you see the paintwork on that StuG III? We could hit that a mile away," said Audrey.
"Be careful, that gun can hit us from that same distance," warned Esmeralda just as our ammunition came for the match. Our crews began loading them into our vehicles while our Katzchen remained on standby in case of repairs or injuries. Esmeralda fluffed back her wavy black hair, and turned to me, "What is our battle plan, Commandant?'
"I have talked it over with Commander Wolfe, we will set up an ambush," I explained to our crews,
"Here," I said pulling up a map of the battlefield where our match was to take place, "there is a narrow passage way here in a valley, we are going to have the tank destroyer units use the rocks for cover, and attack them as they go through the valley, be careful though, Oarai is said to be unpredictable, we must do the same." I explained to them.
"They will expect us to send scouts, they will know our ELCs have speed and firepower, but no armor," Sabaya pointed out, and she had a good point to make.
"And they have a Maus on the Kuromorimine Team, the biggest whopping target I have ever seen," said Commander Spear, "many European Armies would send there knights into battle first as it is traditional, if we set up an ambush, we should attack their heavies from the rear and take out their heavy fire support, they will be vulnerable,"
"If you want to take down a giant, you have to aim for the tendons, for the Maus, we must make every shot count, aim for the road wheels, the tracks, and the gun pivot," said Commander Ehrenreich, "King Tigers, Tigers, and Panthers, leave them to us, the problem is once we attack that passage way, there is no turning back," she warned us.
"True, we are making a gamble with this ambush," said Commander Wolfe, "we will have the tank destroyers fire the first shots, we have to cause confusion, and use our next shells in a five-pronged attack on the Maus to take out the support, once that Maus is out of the match, we can focus on the others, the point is to make them all panic,"
"Another thing we must do to make this work, we have to be accurate and fire on the run," Commander Wolfe explained with a smile and wink to me.
"And if all else fails," said Commandant Joffre, "we will call on 'Tarasque' for support," she joked, 'Tarasque' is the nickname for the Char 50t B, a formidable heavy tank,
"Then we get the Lowe, but we play by our rules, we are causing enough controversy with our tanks," said Commander Braun, our teammates chuckled at the thought of it. I watched as the tank destroyers got into positions as planned. The AMX-50 Foch was on the right, and the Jagermeister Panther was on the left using the boulders for cover.
The green color of our tanks provided us with enough cover to blend in with the surrounding bushes. The Germans painted their paints to match the boulders around them, setting up what they called the 'Meat Grinder' with five guns acting as the 'blades' to take out the Maus. I soon heard a rumble, and saw dust clouds from off in the distance.
We had planned everything from the amount of distance between the bushes and the guns to all our positions for the attack. I closed my eyes, and imagined the battle to come. We are gambling three light tanks, three medium tanks, and two tank destroyers, "It is Kuromorimine, they are coming in a 'V'-formation," whispered Commander Spear,
"We need to get them in the bottleneck," said Commander Ehrenreich in a hush from her radio, "alright, there...I see the Maus at the center,"
"Easy now, aim carefully, remember aim for the Achilles Heels," said Commander Wolfe, I was in communications with her channel to make sure this works.
I could hear Gabrielle keeping her breathing slow and relaxed with her foot on the accelerator, ready to attack when Oarai comes into play. I saw no sign of their tanks. The Germans were watching out for Kuromorimine. Our ladies were watching out for Oarai. There are two ways into this valley, one is on the open ground Kuromorimine is using.
The other is up on the hill going down into the valley. I suspect Oarai is going to try, and surprise us by attacking from the hill. "Wolfe, once the Maus is taken care of, I will lead the tank destroyers plus me and Commandant Rousseau will attack the hill, you go in, and we go up, I suspect a trap has been set on us too," I explained to Claramond.
"Alright, good to see you keeping your eyes open for us," said Claramond thankfully,
"Commander Wolfe, we have a target locked on the gun pivot," said Commander Ehrenreich,
"Same with us for the tracks," radioed Commander Spear
"We are locked on the road wheels," said Commandant Peneaux radioing Claramond and I from the two tank destroyer units. I gave a slow breath as I nodded to Gabrielle to be ready to move once the Germans start. I looked through the viewport of the turret, and it was just as I had suspected. I saw something small moving up on the valley hill.
I saw a small bit of a track and a road wheel as a rock fell from the hill. I did not want to give my position away just yet. The tension was palpable in the turret. With their targets locked and the Maus lumbering into the valley. We finally gave the order to our crews, and the final battle had begun with a single word to set off our ambush, "Fire!"