ARC II chapter 30

I've got you now, thought Kafka as the enemy Panzer III Ausf L entered her sights, knowing full well that Itsumi was inside and so, she fired the loaded AP shell and took her out… only to hear something that she didn't want to after coming so far in the tournament.

"Gregor's Flag tank, Škoda T-25, disabled. KMM wins!"

"Better luck next time, velitelko. We can get better with more training, but 3rd place isn't so bad," Josef's voice stated and she nodded in agreement at that. After all, they almost did win against the most prestigious high school team in Japan. And if it wasn't for the fact that the enemy flag tank was the Maus, the match would've ended much quicker and not in favor of Itsumi.

And after that, she ordered her driver to take them to the garages, a small smile present on her lips, which didn't fade away, even when she saw that only her Hetzer and Josef's ST vz 39 weren't knocked out.

A few hours later

Traf sighed in relief, when the meeting finally ended. He knew that they'll need to seriously revamp their strategy against KMM, since Itsumi seemed to prefer the less armored, but more maneuverable, German MTs, but the number of the suggestions for a plan… It made his head almost explode from frustration, when he tried to keep track of them and find possible mistakes that the enemy will exploit.

"Well… They at least aren't like Molly Pitcher or that Soviet wannabe Russian school," he muttered and shivered, when he remembered what he had read about their arsenals and tactics, none of which gave him hope to find an effective counter against.

While Molly Pitcher relied more on money and carefully set surprise attacks, the Soviet wannabes relied on the infamous "Human wave" tactic with some of their heavies and T-44s of all things forming the tip of the spearhead, while the TDs were inside the formation.

But then he remembered that they wouldn't be facing Molly Pitcher in the Internationals, but some practically no-name school called Sherman High whose team had quite a few tanks of the same name. And Hellcats as well… he reminded himself and shuddered at the thought of facing against those fast TDs and he doubted that he'll be able to somehow score a lucky hit on a Hellcat moving at its top speed, unlike when he hit that BT-7 that Pravda brought to the Exhibition match.

And then he opened his phone and selected the correct group texting app the team used for chatting and selected Tsuneo's contact for a PM to get more information about the teams in the Internationals.

@Trafalgar_Jameson: Sorry for bothering you so late, but I want to know more about the teams confirmed to face us in the Internationals.

@Nishizumi_repairman: You're not bothering me, Traf. So, I know a bit about Sherman High and Renta's VIPs - Mojave Rose, thanks to living in the US for some time and my good friend at Patton Engineering informing me about the happenings there. About the rest… I know little, not counting those Russians.

@Trafalgar_Jameson: Tell me what you know then, please.

@Nishizumi_repairman: Let's start with the American ones then. Sherman High uses mainly M4 Shermans of the M4A3E8 variant and some M4A1s. They also have four M18 Hellcats, two T26E4 Super Pershings and a single T29. They'll be a tough nut to crack, but not as tough as Molly Pitcher would've been. They prefer setting traps and ambushes, usually with the heavies blocking a path and the Hellcats attacking from the sides or behind.

Mojave Rose is a recently restarted team that seems to be similar to your team in both tactics and diversity in their roster. Apparently, they have recently won a Panther II in a race with their SdKfz 234/2 and received several anonymous shipments of Tulip rockets and some upgrades for their tanks and even got a few new ones, but I don't know which. This team is one of the rare co-ed ones. They must've somehow impressed Renta to give them the VIP tickets and enlisted the help of a school ship to transport them.

@Trafalgar_Jameson: Thank you for this. I need to go to sleep, so I'll read up on the rest tomorrow.

@Nishizumi_repairman: Night, Trafalgar. And good luck. You'll need it.

The next day

To say that Takashi was worried would be an understatement of the year. After all, who wouldn't be after reading up on the possible tanks they'll face in the Internationals. But, no possible lineup scared him more than the Russian team's. They could form over 100 different lineups and yet… most would still be entirely made up of Tiger killers.

Not even the possibility of facing a handful Hellcats scared him as much as facing over a dozen Soviet heavies, while they had even less tanks that would be able to take care of them from a somewhat safe distance, which also translated to a very small chance of penetrating the enemy armor.

"I really hope that the Russians would lose in their first match…" he muttered to George and Traf as they climbed on their tank to get some training for the match with KMM, even going as far as to request Tsuneo to use remote controlled Panzer III and Maus in all their training sessions until the last match of this tournament.

"We can only hope, but I think that it won't happen," Traf answered as he opened the Commander's hatch and climbed inside, his features suddenly shifting into his "Commander mode" and Takashi knew that all talk, except the times, when he'll shout a command, was over for the next hour and half.

"Panzer vor!" Traf shouted and Takashi smiled as the Tiger rolled out from the garage and gradually gained speed without the transmission failing as was expected to happen.

Miho smiled, when she saw the entire team watch the Tiger I take on several remote controlled Panzer III and Panzer IV dummies like it was nothing, while dodging shells fired from the Maus dummy, managing to solo the course with only a few close calls and 3 bounced shots, one of which somehow took out the Maus after bouncing off a Panzer III Ausf. M's turret.

But then, she realized that it wasn't just luck. It was also Trafalgar's own skill and experience firing from the tank's gun. That's one way of cheering them up after hearing what we'll possibly face in the Internationals… she thought and shivered involuntarily at the thought of facing IS-3s, T-44/100s, M18 Hellcats, T26E4 Super Pershings, T29 and a few other tanks capable of dealing with every tank in their arsenal.

"All you can do is to train," her father's voice suddenly came from behind and everyone jumped at that unexpected jumpscare, but he gave no chance for them to reply as he continued, when they turned to him.

"Train, and given enough time, you'll get at their level," he finished and smiled, but his eyes never left the Tiger I, until it disappeared in the garages, its crew leaving from the building on foot in under a minute and chatting excitedly about something.

And after that, Miho decided to speak up and get everyone to train for a double period today, her mind occupied with trying to determine the best tactic for the upcoming match.

A/n:

Hey guys! I am not dead, I was only preoccupied with schoolwork and Author's Block struck again…

Anyway, the end of ARC II is drawing near and I hope that you're excited for the next ARC of the story, which will have longer chapters.

See ya later!