Chapter 13

Alisa screamed in anger. There were another two M4s shot down in an ambush. I told her to use those M4A2E3s or M4A6s! she thought. BANG! a cannon fired and a shell impacted near her tank."WHAT?! How?!" she cried out and looked out.

The girl paled almost immediately. The Tiger I was following her! "Warmama! I need backup! The Tiger is on my tail!" Alisa shouted into the comms. "Don't worry. Naomi and two others will rendezvous with you soon at point Charlie 40." Helmet-chan looked at her. "Charlie 40 is about a mile away from our current position."

Alisa gulped. "Get us here ASAP!" she commanded. "But, we're already at our max speed!" her driver protested. "Is our engine damaged or what?! That blasted thing can't be closing the distance like that!" Alisa shouted in frustration. "No. Our engine is fine, but the Tiger is faster than expected."

Suddenly, the chasing Tiger did a 45° turn and stopped for a few seconds. Now is my chance! she thought and fired from the 7,6 cm M1 cannon at the tank.

Traf smirked from the driver's seat as the M4A1 fired at the angled front armor of his Tiger. "They won't pen us." And as he said that, the shell just bounced off without causing any damage to the front armor. "Takashi, try to either slow them down or block their turret!" he commanded.

The driver nodded in response from the gunner's seat. "After you shoot, I'll continue the pursuit. I believe that the Firefly and at least one M4 would try to ambush us. Our final feat can be exposing those tanks and helping Miho to avoid them." Takashi nodded again and fired from the mighty 8,8 cm KwK 36 L/56.

Traf looked at the M4A1 and smirked, when the left track of the tank suddenly flew apart, alongside with a part of the nearest wheels to the impact. George wrote a quick message to Miho. "George, use that MG34 to destroy their periscopes and avoid them leaving the insides to start the repairs!" the radioman nodded and pulled the trigger of the MG34 in the hull.

Traf waited until Takashi confirmed that the flag tank was blind and started the engine afterwards. But before they drove away, Takashi fired a smoke round at the flag tank, marking its position.

Miho noticed the smoke coming from a bit to the Northwest. "They marked the flag tank's position! Hippo team and Rabbit team, go with us! Duck team, protect the flag tank!" she commanded and told Mako to drive towards the flag tank's position.

"Saori, are there any enemies nearby?" she asked the radiowoman. "They said that the Firefly and at least one M4 should be in about a one mile radius, waiting to ambush." Miho nodded. I expected as much. Get help to the flag tank, while also protecting the commander with the rest… she thought.

"We'll win this." Miho smiled. "Yes, we will."

Kay blinked several times. The Tiger only obliterated the tracks of the flag tank and… left?! The blonde felt the growing uneasiness slowly strangle the air by the second. "Naomi, hold position and fire at the Tiger. Avoid getting noticed and after that, help Alisa with repairs." The tall commander and gunner of the Firefly agreed with the plan.

"Help! It is here!" one of the remaining M4 Sherman radiomen shouted suddenly. "Where?!" Kay responded worriedly. "Near our... *static*" Kay cursed under her breath. "Naomi! From where did the shot come?!" she asked. "It was from the left, but the tank left after the shot. Permission to hunt the kitty down?" Naomi responded. Kay smirked at the. "Granted. I and the last remaining M4 will assist Alisa." And the two M4s started their engines.

Darjeeling smiled for about the tenth time today in less than 15 minutes. "They are really good. It seems that the Tiger is manned by experienced tankists instead of three green boys…" Pekoe finally said her own compliment to their skill. "And they switched their positions. Or at least the driver and commander did."

Marking the enemy flag tank after immobilizing it is not a bad idea… she thought and smiled. The boys teached her a new tactic (unknowingly of course).

Maho stared at the screen in confusion. The sudden stop and angling of the Tiger in one smooth move was something that the driver never managed to do. "They probably switched…" she muttered. "Yes, they did. The aim is deceiving, but the driving is different. It seems that the driver wanted to try shooting." Erika just made another uncohoneresible noise at that, probably meaning 'I hate them!'

"Miho brought the heaviest calibers from her group to take down the enemy flag tank, leaving the fast tanks behind. Just what is she planning?" her mother muttered for herself. Maho was thinking the same thing after she saw and heard her younger sister's decision. "It could be just an attempt to finish off the flag tank. But, why did she let the Tiger go on a lone rampage and yet forbid it from ending the match quickly?" she theorised.

Naomi stared into the periscope attached to the Ordnance QF 17-pounder cannon of her Sherman Firefly as it slowly advanced hidden in the forest. There were no enemies in sight, but she knew that not paying attention to her surroundings can lead to being ambushed by the Tiger like the four unfortunate M4s.

Soon, she was greeted by the sight of the flag tank with destroyed left tracks and some wheels shattered by the force of impact. That couldn't be the standard APCBC Panzergranate 39. It is not powerful like that… she thought and saw even some marks left from machine gun fire. Using the MG34 to scare off the crew from leaving the relative safety of the tank… Alisa and her crew will have trauma for several days thanks to it.

Suddenly, she noticed that the marks were fired to make letters. Not the kanji ones, but rather the latin ones. I can read only a few of these, but I can try to read it. "Hmm... " she hummed and concentrated on the letters to read them. "Don't use dirty tricks. Signed: Tiger-kun?!" She managed to read after 20 seconds. "Alisa, care to tell me about what are those mentioned dirty tricks?" Naomi demanded to know through the comms. "W-what?! Dirty tricks? I didn't use them!" Alisa responded with unease in her voice. "So, you want me to tell this to Kay?" The girl on the other side yelped. "NO! Okay, I used that balloon to get into their comms and…" Naomi couldn't hold her anger anymore.

"You did WHAT?!" she screamed. "I'm sorry! It was for Takashi to notice me!" the girl responded with fear and defeat in her voice. After that, Naomi ended her chat with Alisa and told everything to Kay, who told Alisa to get prepared for the promised court, if she uses any dirty tactics and gets caught.

Erwin noticed the three last M4s advancing at their position. "There are three M4s heading our way!" she warned Miho. "Thanks for the warning. Can you tell me more?" she asked back. "Their commander seems to be angrier than any US tank army general I heard of and is screaming something at the flag tank."

"Any idea why?" Miho's voice came back. "I think that it's about the tactic she used on our comms." But, there still was the 1 000 000＄question. "How did they find it out?" Miho asked the exact question. "Ask Knispel about it. I have a feeling that he knows the reason." Saemonza smirked as she heard that. "It's not a feeling. It's your sixth sense!" she called out.

"Exactly!" Erwin responded with her own smirk. "Do you have a guaranteed shot at the flag tank, Hippo team?" Erwin looked through the periscope. "I think so, but those two other M4s are too close to it!" she answered. "They just wrote an advice for you: 'Do, or do not. There's no 'try''. I don't know who the quoted person is." That was Saori. Hmm… Quoting Yoda are we? Erwin thought.

Erwin quickly wrote a response to George. "Saemonza, fire at the flag tank, when the M4s move!" she commanded. The gunner nodded and resumed aiming at the flag tank. "Target locked!" she called after a few seconds of minor adjustments. The same was heard from Miho's and Asuza's tanks. "Feuer frei!" Erwin replied and a four shell barrage flew towards the enemy flag tank.

Kay stared in disbelief at the now visible trio of the Oarai hard hitters. They all managed to get a clear penetration on three different tanks: the flag tank, an unlucky M4 and her own. Suddenly, the Tiger emerged from the forest on the other side than the Firefly was hidden. And as the match was announced to be ended, the commander's hatch opened. And for a few seconds, nothing happened.

Suddenly, a head emerged from the hatch. It was one of the maintenance boys. He had a large smile on his face. "That dirty tactic was almost immediately found out, after you surrounded them in the forest. Our counter: phones and false information." Kay nodded in approval to that. "It seems that my driver did a bit too much good shot at the tracks, but a welding torch can fix it."

The boy knocked on the radioman's hatch. It opened and he made some hand signs. "Okay, we'll use the ropes to transport your tanks." And she noticed that he grabbed one of the ropes and attached it to his and the disabled M4A1. He repeated the same with her own tank and quickly hid in the Tiger.

Kay noticed that the commander of the Oarai team did the same with the unfortunate M4. "Naomi! Find one of our disabled tanks and do the same thing as this 'Tiger-kun' and his crew." The tall girl nodded and drove away with her Firefly. And after that, the engine of the Tiger started revving, signaling the beginning of the long journey back to the garages.