Flower of Oarai

by DomWeasel

What if Erika had been involved in the accident and had gone with Miho to Oarai? An AU where Oarai benefits from Nishizumi and Itsumi experience.

15. Vincit qui se vincit

In Sensha-do, as in life, things rarely went according to plan. Her plan had been simple but brilliant. At least she thought so. It had in essence been a repeat of their strategy against Maginot. Using the Carro Veloces, they had drawn off some of Oarai's tanks, though not as many as she would have liked, and left them wondering if they were being drawn into an ambush or being divided as she hit their main force with two of the Semoventes. It seemed to have worked perfectly. Two of Oarai's fast movers had been in pursuit of the CVs and lured to the decoys which they had dutifully avoided. Her P40 and the other Semoventes had watched as the rest of Oarai had presented their flanks to them and then they had struck. One of the Semoventes had hit the enemy captain's tank and her gunner had landed a perfect hit on the flag tank. She had folded her arms and waited for the moment she could revel in her triumph.

It hadn't come. The 38(t) was clearly knocked out because she could see it on its side and smoking but there had been no announcement of her victory. Instead she had come under fire from the StuG and then the Panzer IV which was crippled but not knocked out. The other two Oarai tanks with their four guns had redoubled their fire on the forward Semoventes and then Pepperoni had started shrieking at her about being attacked by a green tank that had rammed one of her CVs and hamstrung it for the little Type 89 to eliminate.

Realising their ambush had been pulled off masterfully thanks to the rain, and also was a failure because of the rain obscuring the target, gave Anchovy a headache that she briefly considered was an actual blood clot in her brain. They could have won the match and instead they had only eliminated one tank. A weak tank she knew was operated by the most inexperienced members of the Oarai team. It was sheer, hair-tearing frustration and her one consolation was the damage to Panzer IV although that was also bad luck. They had crippled the enemy commander but not knocked them out.

Now with two high velocity 7.5cm guns firing their shells at her and obviously zeroing in, especially now that the rain was easing off, it was clearly time to make a smart withdrawal and reassess their position. She had seen the recording of Oarai-Saunders match and the finishing move of the Panzer IV's gunner nailing Saunder's moving flag tank from an elevated position. If they could pull off that shot, her stationary tank was in grave danger.

The Semoventes deployed smoke to cover their withdrawal while the P40 obstinately fired a smoke shell directly at the Oarai tanks. It was petty but Anchovy was seething. They had come so close! Now they had to run for cover, having only eliminated one light tank and having lost a tankette.

"Pepper! Are you retreating to the rendezvous point?"

"I'm doing my best, Big Sis! But did you ever see 101 Dalmatians?"

For a moment Anchovy was completely nonplussed. "What are you talking about?!" She hissed.

"The bit at the end where Cruella's chasing them in her car? That's happening to me right now!"

"… You're being chased by Cruella de Vill?" She had always thought Pepperoni was prone to flights of fantasy but this was certainly new.

"There's a little green tank with a crazed blonde sticking out of it after me!"

This did make sense to Anchovy as she remembered the girl in the grey cap with a baleful expression. She had seemed very calm though and certainly not crazed. It must have been the weather. "Can you make it or not?"

"We're doing our best!" Pepperoni responded. "The mud's very thick out here and they're not letting us go!" There was a loud crash over the air waves. "We'll try to keep them busy!"

The Captain of Anzio seethed to herself. With one 38(t) eliminated and two Oarai tanks occupied by the tankettes, that reduced their strength to five including their flag tank. Their flag tank would hang back, out of danger, but the four remaining tanks had six guns between them and all of them capable of eliminating a Semovente. Her own tank was only vulnerable from the front to the Panzer IV and StuG, but those two machines enjoyed a truly massive advantage in firepower over her. Now with visibility improving, their long reach loomed over her.

It would take time for them to repair the Panzer IV. Time enough for her to prepare a defensive position where perhaps she could once again lure them under Anzio's secret weapon's gun. At a thousand metres, she could eliminate any of their tanks with one hit. Just one. It just had to be a hit in the right place. And the Semoventes had already proven they could eliminate a B1 bis from the front; if they were lucky. And they didn't need luck to take out the other Oarai tanks. They could still win this.

But the distant dull booms told her that counting her tankettes and Oarai's fast movers out would be a mistake.

[][][][][][]

When they had fought St Gloriana, they had chased Rosehip's Crusader onto a golf course where she had slammed on the brakes so that Yukari could take a steady precise shot. There was no hope of that now. If they stopped, there was no telling if they could get moving again and so Yukari had to fire on the move. This already challenging task was made worse by the mud which led them to slip in all manner of unpredictable ways, with Nakajima forcing them back onto course. It was no different for the CVs they were chasing. They were lighter and so didn't sink as easily into the morass but they also had weaker engines and so also had to keep up speed to power through, lest they be sucked down.

Erika had abandoned her cap to her seat while she stood unbuttoned in the cupola, alternately gripping it and waving her fists at the nippy Italian machines that kept avoiding their fire, even if it was by mere inches that sprayed them with muck. The rain might have slackened off but it had left this part of the battlefield as one giant swamp filled with rocks that could cripple them if struck. The one positive was that hard as it was for them to chase the tankettes, it was impossible for them to manoeuvre. They could only flee when in dry conditions, they could have been swarming all over her.

Off to her right, she could hear Noriko in pursuit of the other two CVs. They fired more frequently, meaning Noriko was loading for Sasaki, though they had the same exact problems with accuracy. The little Italian tankettes were made for fighting in mountains, acting as mobile pillboxes and tackling gradients, and seemed determined to remain superior in their intended geography.

"Oh, fuck this!" Erika snapped into the rain as once again Yukari narrowly missed, the CV skipping out of the way at the last moment as if the driver was clairvoyant. She ducked down into the tank, securing the hatch and did her very best to retain her bad mood, even though her gunner's truly epic hair made that hard. She could only focus on her first intention; manning their machinegun. "8mm of rear armour, right?!"

"Right!" Yukari replied, taking the other machinegun.

"Short bursts!"

Next to the 45mm cannon, the two machineguns were barely visible unlike the more prominent weapons on a Panzer IV. The Soviet DT guns were also primitive compared to the MG34; being magazine rather than belt fed. Were they in a German tank, they could have buzzed away, watching the tracer rounds and being able to aim like they were directing a hosepipe. Not so with the sixty-three round magazine of the Soviet DT. Short bursts instead as they aimed carefully. Yukari fired first naturally, energised by firing the main gun and then Erika followed so that they found an alternating rhythm. Rat-atat. Rat-atat.

The rear end of a CV was a convenient target with the engine housing being little more than a box with two flanking exhaust pipes and a bull's eye of a radiator. This was where they aimed and though the going was rough, Erika could see they were striking their target by the pattern of silver marks that appeared on the mud-spattered yellow paint. Yukari had been unable to land a hit with the main gun but the volume of fire they delivered with the two machineguns made it impossible for them not to make contact. She loaded a fresh magazine awkwardly and wished they had practiced more with the secondary armaments but machineguns weren't even considered secondary at Kuromorimine. They were less than that. Even in training sessions involving the Panzer IIs and 38(t)s, they rarely used the machineguns. Now she realised that against Anzio's tankettes they were a vital weapon and Oarai should have paid attention to them in their training. Well, hindsight was twenty-twenty.

"It's smoking!" Yukari squeaked excitedly.

"But it's still moving!" Erika snarled.

"Stop tickling them and finish them!" Nakajima called up.

"Get off my back woman, I'm shooting!"

The three of them laughed together and in very different ways. The T-50 splashed on through the Rasputitsa and one CV drew away as the other, now belching oily black smoke, fell back. Instinctively they abandoned steady fire as the range closed and simply emptied the magazines in a single furious spray. What were the bullets made of, Erika suddenly found herself wondering. They weren't true live rounds but they were still weights of metal propelled by fire. One of the more blatantly unsafe aspects of Sensha-do.

The smoking CV surrendered to its damage computer and the flag finally popped. It squelched to a less than dignified halt and settled in the muck which served to smother the fire in its engine.

"Do we go after the other?" Nakajima was ready to make them leap forward.

The other tankette had drawn away and she really wanted to finish it off and further deplete Anzio's forces but they had already been led far away from the others. It was time to regroup. It was also oddly quiet now.

"Noriko, what's your status?"

"We got them!" The reply came back loud enough to make the three of them all jump in their seats.

"Them?"

"We got them!"

Erika marshalled her brain which was still recoiling from the volleyballer's enthusiasm. "You got both tankettes?"

"YES!" The combined yell of the Ducks made Erika's brain decide to retreat further. It took some effort to coax it back, especially with Yukari matter-of-factly stating that this meant Anzio had only one CV remaining and a total of six tanks left in operation, and saying this completely oblivious to the fact that her hair made it impossible for her to give an official report and be taken seriously.

[][][][][][]

Suzuki fixed the radio in the Panzer IV. There was nothing truly wrong with it, just components shaken loose by the impact of the Semovente's shell. It happened from time to time but that hadn't made it any less nerve-racking being cut off from the others. Even after all their training sessions and their knock-out at the conclusion of the Saunders match, the ear-splitting crash of an impact on the hull was still terrifying. Even to a veteran like her.

Miho had been on edge since the start of the match. The storm that had blown up had been all too familiar. She was glad that Erika was in her own tank because she had done her best to hide her anxieties but knew she would see right through her. The long intermission as they waited for the rain to ease up had eased her nerves somewhat but it didn't change how familiar the scenario was to the finals of the 62nd National Tournament.

Everything had been going to plan. Just as she and Erika had discussed. The CVs had attacked as they had anticipated and Erika and Duck team had pursued. She had worried their two tanks were being drawn into an ambush and had been relieved when Erika had reported it as such. Then everything hadn't been going to according to plan.

She was so proud of her girls. They had recovered from the shock of the impact and Hana and Suzuki had been returning fire and then targeting the enemy flag tank within seconds. Mako had identified that their track was severed just by the feel of the controls. Saori had done her best to assess the situation and it wasn't her fault she didn't know how to repair electronics or that Suzuki did.

Miho had guessed that Erika had taken command of the rest of the team. They had acted swiftly to cover her and the flag tank and when she had signalled to them by hand, they had made it clear they were organised.

Anzio using mock ups wasn't something she had considered. Under normal circumstances they weren't particularly useful because it was difficult to construct a convincing fake in the time frame of a match. Whatever Anzio had used had worked in this dark, rain-swept arena to fool even Erika for long enough that they had been hit.

Tanuki team had been eliminated but as the target had been Turtle team, it was a blessing in disguise. They had lost a tank instead of the match and Anzio could not repeat the same trick twice.

"Captain, four CVs eliminated. One retreating. Re-joining main force now." Erika reported in her officious manner. The rest of Oarai never spoke this way, except while imitating her to tease her. Miho wondered if Erika was even aware that she was still channelling the language of Kuromorimine. Probably. These days Erika was self-aware to a painful degree. Talking with her was difficult sometimes because she seemed determined to dislike herself for her past actions that others, herself included, had either put aside or completely forgotten about. Miho had wanted to move on from Kuromorimine while Erika still seemed to live there, although the fact she was in a Panzer IV in a Sensha-do match meant she hadn't moved on that far herself.

She worried about Erika and she knew Erika worried about her. For her part, she knew she didn't keep her feelings hidden while Erika's state of mind was harder to gauge. Erika ran hot and cold and no one could really say what a temperate Erika was. It was why her breakdown had hit her hard. She felt awful for not knowing just what a bad place Erika had been in. But how could she when Erika kept things so close to her chest?

Miho knew that she was keeping something to herself. Something big. Something that meant she frequently couldn't meet her eye. She suspected it had something to do with Oarai's Sensha-do programme though what about it; she didn't know. Her suspicion was that she knew something about the Student Council, such as how they were funding the class or how they had gotten a JDF Captain to tutor them from time to time. Perhaps even it was why they had been do determined to recruit them both. At first she had been satisfied that it was because their experience was invaluable to bringing back Sensha-do to Oarai but then they had gotten more and more passionate about winning. When she had picked Saunders at the drawing, nobody reasonable would have expected their ramshackle side to win and yet the Student Council had all but demanded it of them. Then when against all the odds they had gained a victory, they hadn't treated it like a major accomplishment. Instead the response had pretty much been 'That's one. Let's make it two.'

Like Kuromorimine.

What worried her wasn't that no one had told her truth. What bothered her was knowing that all she had to do was ask. Yuzu seemed like she would always tell the truth, while Anzu came across as someone who would say 'Oh by the way, you're dying.' Softening the blow by making it sound utterly inconsequential. And Erika… She knew she would tell her if she asked. But she didn't want to be asked.

Erika and Nakajima joined her by the ruined wheels and severed track of the Panzer IV. She and Erika had the most experience with Panzers and so took the lead at the repairs.

"Why isn't Yukari here?"

"I told her to stay in the tank. She's still drying off."

"Drying off?"

"She decided to be our guide up the slope right when the storm hit." Anyone else would have thought Erika sounded furious but Miho could hear the note of admiration. "Besides, we've got enough to deal with without everyone trying to cope with her hair."

"Her hair?" Miho frowned.

"You'll see. In fact, you'll have to see to believe it."

The Type 89 slewed up beside them and Noriko was clutching the cupola and obviously still fired up from her team's three victories. "Captain, should we go scout for Anzio?"

Miho glanced at Erika who nodded. "Be careful out there." She said and the Type 89 immediately raced off. Duck team could not be expected to stay still for long.

That left them to repair the Panzer IV and to watch the Tanuki being recovered. Miho wished she had some stirring words for their newest team after their brutal elimination but the mud and rain made it hard to think of any. Besides, they seemed to be in good spirits. Their first real life experience of tank battles.

"They've got to figure things out for themselves." Erika said, having read her mind. "No point telling them they did a good job when all they've done is drive about in the rain and then get hit."

"We were lucky it was them and not Kaba team."

"It wasn't luck. It was what we planned. We knew that using one of our duplicate tanks for the flag would confuse them. And it did. And they got us by making me think I was being led into an ambush and so smart for figuring it out." Erika wrenched the broken wheel out in an alarming display of strength.

"They were decoys, Eririn. They were meant to fool you."

"They were two-dimensional!" Erika's hands contracted into claws the way they did when she was mad. "I should have seen that!" She insisted. "But I didn't because they're Anzio. Because we never thought of Anzio as a serious threat. Or even a threat. That was how it was at Kuromorimine. That was how we thought. But we're not Kuromorimine anymore and we're not superior to Anzio." Erika tapped her skull, far harder than necessary. "But up here? I'm still looking down on everyone. I didn't even think it was possible for Anzio to outfox us. Because they're Anzio."

"Historically, Anzio hasn't-"

"Oh fuck that, Miho!" Erika snapped. "Oarai hasn't had a history in Sensha-do for decades and we still beat Saunders! I mean, take a look around!" She waved her arms. "Look at us!" Her hand came perilously close to slapping Suzuki. "This is not a side that inspires terror in their opponents! So why should I think we're better than anyone? Anzio's no different from us and what we can do; they can do!"

"No one's blaming you."

"I'm blaming me!"

"Why?"

"Because you won't!"

Miho caught Nakajima's eye, and her expression seemed to say 'She's your crazy friend. I just fix things.' She and Suzuki removed the other broken wheel in silence. Erika certainly had a point about how different the way Oarai did things was; Captain and Vice-Captain were performing repairs rather than delegating.

The four of them knew how to repair a Panzer IV's tracks and even though they hadn't worked together to do it before, they could do it now without talking. The two Automotive girls were too embarrassed to speak while Erika was brooding furiously. Miho didn't know what to say or even if there was anything she could say that would placate her. Perhaps it was better to let Erika seethe and let her wear herself out here on the field. Or maybe she would just become overly aggressive and get herself eliminated and she would have a different kind of angry Erika to cope with.

When they had finally repaired the Panzer IV, Erika joined her inside to Saori's alarm. She had been snug and dry inside throughout the match and the sight of them mud-spattered and windswept was an alarming reminder to her that Sensha-do was not the glamorous pursuit she had been led to believe. Erika was oblivious to Saori however and looked around the roomy interior of the Panzer with fondness.

"I'd forgotten what a comfortable tank looks like." She remarked and then smirked. "Maybe a little too comfortable."

Mako was asleep which wasn't unusual but the oversized pillow she was using to cushion her head against the side of the tank was certainly incongruous. Miho could not say she had given the homely interior of her tank much thought but she knew that Saori's influence meant the Panzer IV was the most cosy of Oarai's vehicles.

"Did she sleep through the ambush?" Erika asked.

"She slept through the rain." Hana informed her. "But when she realised our track was out, she did immediately pull out her pillow to take a nap."

"Well, actual soldiers do grab whatever sleep they can whenever they can." Erika mused and then looked at Miho's map.

They had driven into the centre of the arena, beyond the crossroads which formed the centre, and Anzio had retreated to the north. Between the woodland and the rim of the arena, that didn't leave much room for manoeuvre. They both knew what Anzio would do now that they had lost their mobile units; they would find a place with limited access and force them to attack into the teeth of their guns. It was effectively the only strategy left to them. They couldn't repeat their ambush.

Noriko reported then and confirmed as much. They were digging in.

"Do you mean actually digging?" Erika asked.

"Doesn't look like it." Noriko replied. "But they're cutting logs. With axes?"

"Axes?!" Miho couldn't help but squeak.

"They came prepared." Erika said. "Decoys, axes, they probably do have plenty of shovels to dig in if it wasn't so wet." She shook her head.

"Are they building bulwarks?" Miho asked and then clarified. "Are they building log piles?"

"Yes, Captain." Noriko reported dutifully. "I can't see all of them though."

"No… You wouldn't. Thank you. Keep watching and report anything else you see."

"They'll bed down a couple of the Semoventes behind the terrain and the logs. Camouflage the rest. They'll let us push on like before behind the B1 bis and then try to eliminate key units with their first strike. Just like before." Erika summed it up neatly.

"It could work. If Noriko-san can't see them already…"

"She doesn't know what to look for." Erika wasn't tactful but she was correct. Duck team didn't have the experience that they did of spotting camouflaged tanks, or of actually camouflaging them. While Kuromorimine didn't use ambush tactics despite their fine array of heavy tank destroyers, they did train to counter them; particularly Pravda. As such she and Erika both had experience of concealing StuGs, Jagdpanzers and Jagdpanthers. They knew how to use even a limited amount of foliage to break up the distinct shape of a vehicle.

"They'll cover up their paint with mud." Miho spoke for the benefit of Hana and Saori who were listening. Suzuki was still with Nakajima and she wondered what they were saying about their respective commanders. "And use boughs on the roof."

"And the P40 blends in enough anyway."

Miho stared at the fresh mark on the map. If the woods there were as thick as they were here, any attempts to flank them would be slow and clumsy as even the small T-50 and Type 89 would struggle to negotiate the trees. At long range against an enemy in cover, they could waste significant ammunition before landing a hit. If they scored a hit. Meanwhile they would be returning fire and Anzio had already proven a Semovente could eliminate a B1 bis with a little luck.

"If they want to take cover, we let them." Erika spoke quietly.

"You mean, wait them out? They won't attack us."

"No. I mean if they want to hide under the trees, we let them. And we use that." Erika's eyes narrowed to icy slits and not for the first time Miho thought that her friend could look really terrifying even when she didn't intend to. "We've got plenty of high explosive shells. We use them. We bring the woods down around them. On them. I don't know how thick a Semovente's roof armour is, I'll ask Fluffy, but it can't be that thick and if a tree lands on top of them, that should be enough to eliminate them. And even if it isn't, we'll see how long their nerves stand up when their world's fire and splinters."

Miho caught Saori's eye and her friend shook her head ever so slightly. Now wasn't the time to question Erika's attitude or language choices. "It could work…" She said.

"Take Hoshino out of the 38(t) and put her in the B1 bis." Erika advised. "She can help load their howitzer."

"You really want to hit them hard." Hana said, just a little reprovingly.

"We have the advantage in firepower." Erika replied. "We should use it. Unless you have a better plan, Captain?"

"No. It's a good plan. It's just a little…"

"Brutal." Erika sighed.

[][][][][][]

Yukari informed her that the roof of a Semovente casemate was 15mm thick. She didn't know if a tree trunk slamming down onto it would be enough to knock one out but it had to be possible. The inner carbon shell would stop them from being crushed if a heavy enough bough or trunk fell on them. A small comfort for the remaining Carro Veloce.

A T-50 carried over a hundred shells. A quarter of them were high explosive and though they couldn't deliver much of a payload with their 45mm gun, they could still do damage. Enough for her intention. Hitting specific trees at long range would be challenging, so they would just saturate the target area.

"This feels weird." Nakajima remarked.

"Why?"

"We were the ones on the defensive against Saunders. Now we're launching an actual assault."

"We sprung an ambush on Saunders. All of us against two tanks."

"Now it's all of us against all of them." Erika pointed out.

"But we're the stronger side."

Erika laughed aloud. Their side had a Type 89, T-50 and an M3. A tank meant for supporting infantry, a failed design and a stop-gap model built out of desperate necessity. Meanwhile the B1 bis was a clumsy pre-war design that couldn't stand up to a workhorse like their long-barrelled Panzer IV. The 38(t) was a good light tank, but extremely fragile. Their two strongest machines, the Panzer IV and StuG were good, reliable machines… But grossly outclassed by later models.

Yet, Nakajima was correct. In this battle, they were the stronger side. Ludicrous as that sounded.

"This feels like a trap." Yukari declared.

"It is a trap. That's the point."

"What if they're waiting for us again?"

"I doubt it. It's too risky for them to split their forces now."

"But they could."

"So keep your eyes open." Erika said. "And your hair out of your face."

Yukari blushed and pulled some of her hair across her lips to hide her features. The immensity of her hair had passed the humorous and transcended into actual surreal territory.

There was nothing to see. She was sure of that. Anzio wanted to draw them in, force them into a gauntlet and trust that their cover and concealment would be the deciding factor over Oarai's firepower. It was what she would have done. The four CVs they had eliminated with Duck team had stripped Anzio of their mobility because if they were still around, she would have used them to make a run for their flag tank. But they didn't have them. It was her one consolation for not recognising the fakes for what they were.

The first Anzio shell came from long range and if Duck team hadn't seen them preparing, they wouldn't have known where it had come from. Instead they knew they were directly ahead and so they drew up into a well-spaced firing line. Turtle team hung well back, shielded by Rabbit team whose high profile eclipsed them.

"We didn't train for this." Nakajima remarked pointedly.

"We haven't trained for a lot of things." Erika replied. Given how little time had passed since they had first put the team together, what Oarai hadn't trained for was still significantly more than what they had. "We've done enough gunnery sessions. We're just not going to be aiming for tanks this time."

This time Anzio fired with all four Semoventes and they were aiming for the Panzer IV. For the Captain. She would have gone for the Type 89, the weakest available target and a much more likely kill. Something to sting them into attacking, closing the range and making them more vulnerable.

"Commence Operation Warm Embrace!"

Erika groaned and bent forward, tucking her head between her legs as the full horror of another Nishizumi Miho operation name struck her. Sometimes it was hard to believe she came from the same line as Maho and Shiho. She waved a hand in the air and Yukari took it as a signal to fire.

She came up so that she could load for Yukari and so she could watch the fall of shot on the trees. The different muzzle velocities of their guns meant they landed separately so that the woods cracked apart in a succession of smoke and flame and then the first guns were reloaded and firing again. Their 45mm fired once more and she tried to discern which detonation was theirs. It was impossible. Through the haze of rain and smoke, all she could see was the explosions and then Anzio firing in return. There was a loud crash and the T-50 rocked ever so slightly.

"Forward glacis." Nakajima remarked dryly.

"Sloped Soviet armour!" Yukari gushed happily and then Erika put a new shell in place and she fired again.

The sound of the explosions was thunderous even from a kilometre distant and Erika knew just how loud it would be among them. The explosions were coming constantly as their eight guns fired in their own time. Sometimes as many as six shells exploded together in a single thunderous report while sometimes they detonated one after the other so that the noise was continuous.

They were aiming for the Anzio tanks but as the smoke thickened, their aim became wilder and their shells slammed into the trees as Erika had intended. The high explosive rounds bit into thick trunks and shrapnel shredded branches and though it was hard to see, she knew that those woods would be a hell of falling debris.

For Anzio, it was now impossible to fire back accurately. Every so often one of the other tanks fired a smoke shell to add to the violence of the barrage. The smoke bank grew and more shells crashed home to thicken it. She listened and heard the distinctive sound of a tree falling.

"Is this actually doing anything besides making a lot of noise?" Nakajima asked.

"Would you want to be on the receiving end?" Erika asked pointedly and the driver visibly paled as she imagined being in that smoking, fire-blasted hellscape. "I want to know where the P40 is."

"Probably in there." Yukari said. "Trying to figure out what they can do."

"I'd be trying to get out and flank us."

"But all that smoke and the trees mean it'll be slow going."

"Yes…" But not impossible. Part of this plan was to eliminate the Semoventes as a threat but also to flush out the P40. To provoke rash action.

"Do you think we've gotten any of them?" Yukari asked.

"No idea." The spectators would know but the announcements wouldn't reach them out here amidst the thunder of guns. "But they'll have lost most of their cover by now." And plenty of that cover would have crashed down on their heads. They would be extremely rattled and if they emerged now, their gunnery would be a shambles.

"I think the others are slowing down."

"They don't have as many shells as us." That was the main issue with performing a bombardment like this. Even dedicated self-propelled guns could only carry so many shells. That was why they had support vehicles for resupply, but there was no resupply in high school Sensha-do. Professional tournaments often had supply dumps for each side to claim or deny the opposition.

She watched some more lances of flame in the fog bank of smoke and considered the boom of the B1 bis' howitzer. Their main armament lobbed their high explosive shells down onto the enemy position while the rest of Oarai's guns had a flat trajectory. They could score a kill on the roof of their opponents. Easily. Their tank was made for this. She wondered if Sodoko knew that and took pride in the fact that her machine would be the one doing the most damage. Perhaps she could let her know, though she couldn't think of a way to do so that wouldn't offend the prickly officious girl.

"Not quite the same as a platoon of Sturmpanzers." Erika remarked. "But close enough."

"I had my photo taken with a genuine Sturmpanzer once!" Yukari gushed. "It's in one of my albums!"

"I've got to know." Nakajima asked. "Is there anything else you care about as much as tanks?"

Yukari fired another shot and let their ringing ears clear before speaking. "Friends." She said. "Isn't the best part of working on engines doing it with your friends?"

"… Well, yeah…" Yukari's response had obviously embarrassed the driver and Erika grinned to herself as she loaded another shell.

"All tanks, cease fire!" Saori's command came over the radio.

"Understood, over." Erika replied.

"What's she doing?" Yukari asked, meaning Miho.

"Giving us a chance to assess. Letting the smoke clear."

"And if we haven't knocked them out?" Nakajima asked pointedly.

"We keep firing until we're out of high explosive shells, and then we attack what's left of them." Erika explained. "Even if all their tanks are intact and all we've done is given them pounding headaches."

"Seems brutal."

"Effective though." Erika said. "Like this respite. They'll think their ordeal is over and they'll be relieved… Until we start firing again."

"Do you ever get a chill?" The driver asked.

"A chill?"

"From the ice in your veins."

Erika smiled grimly. "Sensha-do can't always be fun. It is a martial art after all."

"The way you describe it-"

"The more tanks each side fields, the more noise and destruction you get. The more noise and violence you have; the more frightening the sport becomes. Especially when you have heavy tanks on the field. After a certain point, it really does become like war."

With the smoke clearing she was able to see the results of their bombardment and they confirmed what she had just said. The explosions had shredded the woods to an uncanny resemblance to a World War battlefield with a whole area of trees entirely devoid of leaves and viciously mangled. Most of the trees were still standing but many were now little more than blackened spikes; all their limbs had been ripped off.

The first Semovente she saw was still in action though it was buried in debris. So much in fact that Erika was pretty sure it was effectively if not officially immobilised. The second machine she spotted was knocked out, its flapping flag drawing her eye from beneath the trunk it was buried under. She guessed that either the Panzer IV or StuG had struck that tree, judging by the way it had been cleanly severed.

She picked out the remaining two Semoventes and they were in no better condition than the first. One of their shells had taken a bite out of one's protective glacis of logs with the scar on the wood being fresh and bright even in the continuing rain and from the considerable distance. Both tanks were buried under branches and leaves and seemed just as compromised as the first she had spotted.

"Recommence firing!" Miho commanded.

Yukari obeyed immediately, making the air shimmer with the violence of the firing after the peace they had just enjoyed. The other Oarai tanks weren't as quick off the mark as their most devout practitioner and so her shot was followed by a ragged volley that once again filled the distant woods with smoke and flame.

"Get up here and load." Erika commanded Nakajima. "I need to keep watch." She unbuttoned and felt Nakajima obediently take her place.

The P40 and remaining CV were still unaccounted for and Miho was aware of this as she was also perched in her cupola and scanning their perimeter. Their eyes met and they shrugged at each other. There wasn't really anything to say. Nothing at all actually. They had committed to a course of action and now they had to wait for it to play out. This was the hard part of commanding; staying the course. It was easy to second-guess yourself and try to anticipate every little possible course of events rather than stick to our conviction that you were dictating those events. They were bombarding Anzio. Anzio would attempt to counterattack and expose themselves. That was the plan. That was their will.

The bombardment continued unabated. Only the B1 bis and Type 89 were made for this kind of work while the rest of them had to make do with aiming for the trees. Many of their shells had under or overshot and the mud soaked up much of their explosive force. She supposed that this was true of most artillery bombardments; a huge expenditure of ammunition for relatively little gain. During the First World War, they had fired off over a billion shells and the war had only killed ten million soldiers. For what they had fired, one tank knocked out was a good price.

But what was Anzio's response? They couldn't just be sitting and waiting to be knocked out. Perhaps though they realised that they were trying to be drawn out and were weathering the storm as best as they could. Waiting until Oarai ran out of high explosive shells and were forced to draw closer to close the range.

Or maybe they didn't know what to do and were just enduring the bombardment with no idea how to respond.

They didn't know what Anzio was thinking. They could only be ready to respond to whatever action they did take. Personally she hoped they were sitting tight and waiting for Oarai to advance. It was possible they might knock out another Semovente before they ran out of shells and then they would be attacking with six tanks, their flag tank staying back, and eight guns against just two. The moment the P40 revealed itself, the StuG, Panzer IV and M3 would turn on it. Within five hundred metres, the M3's 75mm had good penetration even against the P40's sloping armour although it would be the 7.5cm guns that would score the kill. But it would be four guns against one. Enough to frighten any commander not within a heavy tank.

She looked back toward the bombardment but there was nothing to see there but stabs of fire within the cloud of smoke. It was one good aspect of the rain; had it been dry like the Saunders match the air would have been full of dust too. Instead earth and sawdust was brought down by the rain. She barely noticed it now after the earlier storm. It was unpleasant but far from the Fluffy-incapacitating horror it had been.

It was a tiny movement. From a tiny vehicle. It was the sole remaining CV. The little tankette was once again on their right flank and moving carefully along the treeline and Erika guessed immediately that they wanted to be seen but not to be seen to be wanting to be seen. Well, they had failed.

"Captain. Two o'clock." She glanced to see Miho look and saw her sharp commander's eyes immediately sight the movement.

"A decoy." It wasn't a question and it also wasn't an explanation. She knew that Erika knew what she knew. "So the P40 is on our left." Erika found herself smiling, musing that Maho would never voice her thoughts. No one considered the possibility that Maho might be working things out. Her silence followed by her clear crisp orders made it seem like always knew what to do without thinking about it. She glanced again and saw Miho scanning the treeline to their right. Unless their opponent was looking right at her through binoculars of their own, it was unlikely they could make out Miho's tiny form on top of the Panzer IV; let alone which direction she was looking.

The Anzio tankette was obviously struggling with the terrain as it kept its speed down. She guessed it would have bogged down in the open going that slowly but the firmer ground around the roots of the trees gave it enough traction. The driver must have been grating with it. Their charge against Maginot had been on a lovely sunny day and they had swept onto and away from the French tanks in a glorious cloud of thundering dust. Their charge earlier today had been decidedly squelchy and then they had been routed by two tanks not much superior to them. Worse, most of the damage had been inflicted by the Type 89. Erika considered that. Three kills for Duck team. Their only kills outside of practice matches which had always been the Tanuki or the Turtle. They would be proud. She felt a little annoyed that she had only claimed one of the tankettes, and using the machineguns as well. But that was because of the mud.

"Ahiru-san team. Okami-san team. Please advance to the right following the line of our formation." Miho commanded.

Erika glanced at her again and then dropped down. They hadn't mentioned dividing their force again but with the bombardment blinding the three Semoventes, it meant only the P40 and CV could have eyes on them. If they saw the two tanks moving off in response to the CV they would assume their decoy was working and Oarai planned to eliminate the tankette and then attack Anzio's left flank. Thus distracted, they wouldn't see the P40 on their own left flank until it fired and this time; hit the correct 38(t). That was one possibly ploy. There was another.

"Are we attacking?" Nakajima asked, sliding back into her driver's seat.

"Yes." They would do what Anzio wanted. "The P40's either on our left and hoping to draw us away and leave the flag tank vulnerable. Or they're waiting on our right so when we go after the CV, they'll take us out as we cross the field and then melt back into the woods." Reducing Oarai's strength to five tanks and leaving them with only one highly mobile unit that wasn't the flag tank.

"Can they do that? Take us out?"

"We have 40mm of frontal armour." Yukari supplied readily. "And a P40 can penetrate 60mm at a thousand metres. So even the angled plate won't help!" She said cheerfully.

"How can you make us being knocked out sound exciting?" Nakajima demanded.

"It's all part of the fun!" Yukari gushed, meaning every word.

She really did, Erika thought. Yukari wouldn't mind being knocked out if the team still won in the end. She never got upset when they were eliminated in practice matches. It was all part of the 'experience'. She felt a deep shame as she considered her tantrums whenever her team had been eliminated during a Kuromorimine practice match, even though the odds were stacked heavily against First Years as a matter of course.

They left the others behind, moving parallel with the Anzio tankette and she felt keenly vulnerable. They were presenting their flank to the woods and if the P40 was out there and the gunner was even decently skilled, they could eliminate them. They would be the target too. They would want to use the element of surprise to eliminate the stronger T-50 and then pick off the Type 89 at their leisure.

"Funny, isn't it?" She said to Yukari. "Here we are in the light tank, and we're the bigger threat than the medium tank."

Yukari grinned appreciatively. "Don't let Ahiru team hear you say that."

"I've had my fill of wrestling with big strong athletic girls." Erika declared, remembering the one-sided tussle with Akebi. "Don't you say anything." She placed a warning foot on Nakajima's shoulder and she could hear the gearhead's grin.

"Whatever would I say, Commander?" Nakajima asked innocently and then giggled as Erika pressed her with her foot.

"Ahiru, Okami; attack now!"

Nakajima heard the command and obeyed and immediately slewed them around and opened the throttle. Their mulish engine protested with a few harsh noises but Nakajima spoke a few soothing words that seemed to mollify it and its 'song' became harmonious once again. The T-50 sped through the mud and Erika saw the Type 89 had been a little slower to manoeuvre and were a little behind but they were keeping pace, despite everything she knew on paper about Type 89 saying that was impossible.

"What do you feed that thing?" She asked, meaning the Japanese tank.

"Love." Nakajima replied. "Just like our boy."

Yukari made a cooing noise and Erika had to fight not to roll her eyes at the sentimentality. She focused on the CV that had been startled out of its slow drive and was now fleeing into the woods.

"If they are in there…" She let it hang. The chance of her spotting the dark green tank in the shadow of the trees, even without the rain, was low.

"Pray to your tank god, Yukari." Nakajima advised and Erika had no idea if she was serious although the set of Yukari's jaw made her worry.

The two Oarai machines tore through the wet ground, leaving a fine slick behind them and the Type 89 fired after the CV. Yukari looked at her and Erika shook her head. They had no chance of hitting anything and if an ambush was waiting, their shot wouldn't spring it early. With the bombardment still ongoing, a couple more shots wouldn't startle a gunner into a panic fire.

For a moment, the space of the open ground and the treeline seemed to stretch into an infinite flat plane. Her mind pictured every possible outcome of the P40 shell hitting them square in the front, from simply stopping them dead in their tracks to giving the three of them a bloody nose as they were thrown forward by the sudden deceleration. But then infinity became reality and they were under the trees and slowing to avoid a collision with the dense trunks.

"I don't see the CV." Noriko reported.

"No. They're long gone." Or possibly hoping for a chance to use their puny machinegun where it might be effective; the rear of her turret or the more inviting target of the engine compartment of the Type 89. "We'll proceed to-"

"Kame team! Move! Move now!" Miho's command struck her hard. "Usagi team, cover them!"

"What are they doing?!" Nakajima hissed.

"The P40 is making its move." Erika knew it. Oarai's bombardment had abruptly ceased and that could only mean the flag tank was under attack.

"So what do we do?"

"What you always do when you're in doubt. Attack."

Nakajima seemed to shrug. Yukari clutched a shell determinedly. They advanced as all hell broke loose to their left and all the Oarai guns seemed to fire at once. Miho was giving commands but Erika could barely follow them as they came at the rate of an MG34. Whatever was happening was either unanticipated by both of them or Anzio was executing far better than they had prepared for.

There was a burst of machinegun fire to her right and she glanced about to see the remaining CV come lunging out of the trees and slam bodily into the Type 89. Before she could tell Nakajima to turn back, they were already too far away and the Ducks would have to fend for themselves. She didn't doubt them one bit. She knew it was her imagination but she could have sworn she heard their cry of 'GUTS!' even from here.

"What are they doing over there?" Nakajima thought aloud, referring to the thunder of the Oarai's guns which was no longer accompanied by the throaty detonations of high explosive shells. They had to be firing on a tank directly. But where? If the P40 was firing, its report was lost amidst the pounding of Oarai's canons.

"'ware!" Yukari screeched without warning and the piercing sound served to demonstrate how numbed her hearing was by the bombardments. They were suddenly in that terrible zone of destruction and Nakajima hit the brakes and on the slick ground the firing of their gun seemed to do more to brake them. Yukari's shell went exactly where she intended it; straight into the casemate of a Semovente struggling to pull itself out of the dirt.

Another sound assaulted her hearing. A terrific crash on their right flank that meant only one thing. The engine died and the turret ring locked up as the mocking little flag popped out of their turret. They were immobilised. She looked to her right out of the cupola and saw a second Semovente, spattered with mud and entangled in fallen greenery. Its stubby gun hissed as the rain fell on the barrel and then suddenly it was punched backward and an instant later, a double blast sounded to her left.

"What the hell?!" Her vision to the left was suddenly filled with metal; the huge billed shape of the B1 bis. Its 47mm fired again at the Semovente they had already taken out, unaware of their victory and then there two distinct crashes ahead of them; the remaining Semovente and also the StuG. Somewhere in Miho's jumbled commands, she had sent her heavy tank and tank destroyer into the woods. Which left only the P40 facing Miho, Rabbit team and the flag tank. "What the hell is going on?!" She demanded of the universe whose only reply was a helpless shrug from a Yukari who literally looked sheepish.

"Oarai Girls' Academy; wins!" The announcement came over the radio.

"… What?" Erika managed before her world became nothing but a shattering embrace of thick fluff.

[][][][][][]

The match concluded with not a single remaining operational Anzio vehicle. Duck team had claimed four CVs including the last one that had failed to defeat them despite ramming them, Wolf team had the fifth CV and a Semovente to their credit while Mallard team had eliminated two Semoventes; one at range with their howitzer during the initial bombardment and the other at close range. The fourth Semovente had been taken out by the StuG, which it had eliminated in turn as the two machines had charged one another like jousting knights before firing straight into each other's faces.

Hana had eliminated the P40 and Erika greatly looked forward to seeing the recording of the match so she could make sense of the final minutes. The others were too excited at winning to explain it to her over the radio and so they sat in their tank as they were recovered and Erika tried to make sense of that victory.

The rain, at long, long last, finally stopped.

Of eight Oarai tanks that had begun the match, only five were still operational. The Tanuki, Wolf and Hippo had all been eliminated in what had become a messy fight in every sense. It was grating to have been taken out in the last seconds, particularly from the side at point blank but they had charged into a mess of smoke. It had still been her idea to wildly attack so it was her fault they had been eliminated. Not that it mattered. The real battle had been won by Anglerfish and Rabbit teams.

When they were brought back to the assembly area, that battle and victory seemed as much a surprise to Miho as anyone else.

"They circled around." She explained. "While we were bombarding them, they went all the way around behind us, all by themselves." She meant the P40. "They were going to strike us in the rear while we deafened ourselves attacking the Semoventes and you went after the CV. Except…" Miho blushed suddenly and abruptly stopped talking.

"Except for that Nishizumi Panzer Sense." Regardless of etiquette and proof that Yukari was leading her into bad habits, she glomped Miho with a suddenness that made the Captain squeak with shock. She heard Hana and Saori giggle but she didn't care. The sixth sense that guided the Nishizumi family had saved them from defeat and everything that would come with it. Miho didn't even know what she had done for all of them today. "Sorry." She said, releasing Miho who looked even more alarmed than when she had been embraced by the Saunders Captain after that match. She giggled nervously and patted Erika's arm.

"Where is your team?" Miho tried to talk past the awkwardness. "Oh!" She gasped.

Like a great woolly cork, Yukari had popped out of the turret of the T-50 and everyone stared in silent awe at the sight of her immense cloud of hair that seemed to grow larger as they gazed upon it. Their reactions were a great relief to Erika who had started to worry she was simply imagining just how big that floof had become.

"I thought we had this." A loud voice declared and they turned to see the Duce of Anzio approaching them. She had her arms spread wide, trying to look magnanimous but Erika could see the strain she was under. They had come so close to victory. Twice in fact. That was a bitter pill to swallow for anyone. "But it was a great match!" She said with complete sincerity because no one could deny that it hadn't been an interesting contest. She seized Miho's hand with both of hers and while the exuberance alarmed her, Erika guessed Miho was relieved not to receive another crushing embrace. Anchovy settled for shaking her hand and placing her other hand on Miho's shoulder.

"I learned a lot today!" Miho declared with warmth. She may have regretted it as Anchovy slipped her hand off her shoulder and around her waist and proceeded to kiss her on the cheeks, Italian style. Right, left, right again, leaving Miho very pink.

"Go and make it to the finals!" Anchovy showed no such embarrassment. "We'll be cheering you on all the way!" Still holding Miho's hand, she turned back to the rest of her team. "Right, girls?" She waved to them.

The Anzio girls, more than half of whom obviously had the Oarai bombardment still ringing in their ears, cheered nonetheless and Erika was astonished. She couldn't believe anyone could be so happy in defeat.

More astonishing though was what they were doing. They had a small fleet of lorries and Erika had assumed they were Sensha-do supplies but now they unpacked them to reveal it was in fact catering equipment. Lots of it. In no time at all, they had built a field kitchen that put the festival erected by the other clubs and schools across the field to utter shame.

"Girls!" Anchovy swept her arms up which made her immense twin tails flap back impressively. "Sensha-do isn't only about the match!" She declared and Erika felt herself folding her arms sceptically. She hastily dropped them to her sides, annoyed with the response. "After the battle, we reward ALL the players, and the staff!" Anchovy flapped her arms again and her hair once again rose and fell like pennants in the wind. "This is the Anzio-style!"

She had witnessed many astonishing sights in Sensha-do. She had seen a BT-7 perform a flying leap over an impassable river. She had seen a Tiger crippled and its gun disabled by a Panzer II. She had watched a flag tank fleeing with the majority of her team in pursuit, likewise being chased by the opposing team. But now she watched as the girls of Anzio produced an actual banquet and not of crude field rations but instead food people would pay a fortune for in a restaurant.

Anchovy revelled in the dumbfounded response of the Oarai girls. "We'll do everything when it comes to our school's cuisine!" She announced and then seemed to literally deflate; her twin tails drooping. "Though I'd really like it if the girls put more of that spirit into the match…" Without thinking Erika put a hand on her back. For a moment, the Duce's auburn eyes met hers and then she straightened up and Erika dropped her hand. "Oh well! Time to get the celebration started!"

No one had ever invited Kuromorimine to dinner. The alumni of the Big Four might have a meal together to exchange pleasantries, commiserations and gloat but no one had ever put out a vast spread for the players. After the official end of the match and the ceremonies, they had simply gone their separate ways. Not so now. Now the Anzio girls mingled happily with their vanquishers and piled food and drink upon them. Three of them came to her and between them they were able to tame Yukari's hair into something manageable although no one had ever seen quite so many braids on a single person who didn't have dreadlocks. It meant Yukari could eat though and she did so eagerly. Even under the great pavilions raised by Anzio, the day was still cold and wet and so the warm plates and hot food was very welcome.

Erika was used to eating German food at Kuromorimine and far fancier Japanese cuisine at home. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the unfamiliar Italian fare at first but suddenly the blonde girl Caesar knew was there and she made her a plate of what she judged would appeal to her and as it turned out the Anzio girl was spot on in prediction. Erika could not even offer words of thanks, only appreciative grunts through her mouthful, which it seemed was the greatest compliment of all at Anzio because the green-eyed blonde girl just lit up like a sunrise.

She found the three members of the erstwhile Tanuki team. The energy and exuberance of the Anzio girls was obviously a bit too much for them to handle what with their social interactions being conducted from behind a computer screen. Mallard team was also suffering some culture shock, with Sodoko visibly struggling to contain her impulse to tell them to show some decorum but not wanting to be a rude guest. Gomoyo and Pazomi showed no such qualms and as they ate, Erika thought she had never seen them look so happy. Momoga, Nekonya and Piyotan were likewise enjoying the food but shied away from the overly familiar Anzio girls. They seemed delighted to see Yukari out-extroverting them by grabbing an Anzio girl's jacket and gushing over its detailing, much to the opposing girl's shock and her friends amusement.

"How was your first match?" She asked.

"Wet." Piyotan replied.

"Loud." Momoga supplied.

"Painful." There was a large bruise on Nekonya's cheek.

"Amazing." The three of them toned together in a way that didn't sound enthusiastic to an outsider but Erika had been around them just enough time to know it was.

"If they had picked the right 38(t), we would have lost today." Erika told them.

"We made good bait." Nekonya said and made that strange mewing noise of hers.

"Yes, you did. And hopefully, next match you'll be in the Type 3 and you'll be able to do some real damage."

"Will it be ready?" Momoga pressed, or at least as much as she was capable of pressing.

"I'll put the fear of the Gods into the Automotive Club to get it ready." It was an empty threat. At this point, those four girls didn't take her seriously at all. "We'll need it."

"This is nice." Piyotan declared of the party and it struck Erika that this was probably the first such gathering the three of them of had ever attended. She didn't know what to say to that.

It was a merry gathering. Mako was awake, alert, and sampling every dessert available. Hana was sat beside her while two Anzio girls seemed to be entertaining themselves by seeing just how much food the elegant noirette could put away. Based on their expressions, she had already amazed them with her bottomless stomach. Duck team seemed to have drawn in the crews of the CVs who seemed incredulous that the towering Akebi, Shinobu and Taeko were the operators of the little Japanese tank; and that the petite Noriko was their commander. Anzu was holding court and her red twin tails, while much smaller than the Duce's, were treated as a badge of respect and honour by Anzio. Beside her Yuzu seemed trapped in an endless fit of giggles that didn't stop even as she ate and Momo seemed to have adopted a Sodoko like disapproval of the proceedings. Either she didn't like the fraternisation or she was peeved that Oarai had nothing to offer in return. That was a point. Saunders had brought a small town with them during their match and the impoverished Anzio had brought all this. Oarai had nothing. A mark of just how poor the school really was.

Erika shook off this thought. Not now. Not while everyone was enjoying themselves. She distracted herself by looking at Rabbit team who had joined with the youngest members of the Anzio side and now they were all taking photos and selfies together, swapping jackets and posing with the knives all the Anzio girls carried. Even Saki was a part of it though she resembled a barrel caught in a storm.

"No." Saori caught her as she made to sit by herself. "Come on!" She put her arm around her waist and pressed her back into the thickest press of the gathering. The thicket around Miho and Anchovy who had it seemed made it her personal mission to ensure that a smile never left the Oarai Captain's face.

(10,566)

Author's Notes;

I took a week off after the last chapter. I spent that time writing something else, a world combining elements of the original Fallout, Mad Max and Kenshi. 14,000 words later I had it out of my system. After that, I did some editing and produced 1300 words to extend the Chi-ha-tan vs Kuromorimine segment in an earlier chapter. That was necessary for Koume's development and because I really did want to write that match to defend Chi-ha-tan's much maligned honour, and to showcase the sheer power of Kuromorimine. Only then did I start writing this chapter.

Then of course I was mentally ill, physically ill and then I had to work a week of 12 hour shifts which always leaves me drained. March was not a good month for me. In the past I would write on paper during my breaks on those shifts but that's not possible with this. Too much technical information to consult. I can hardly carry around notes about all tanks.

I've also gotten awful with distractions. I have a dual setup with my laptop next to my main computer. Typically I would write on the laptop while watching something on the other. Unfortunately, what would tend to happen instead would be me procrastinating by checking social media and Reddit. Not to mention endlessly reading pages on TVTropes.

I've written this chapter by sitting in bed. Away from the Internet. My laptop has no net connection, and after all these years, connecting it would probably give it a stroke. Writing this way is distraction free unless I put a film on the TV but still far more productive than if I had access to the Internet. I do have to get up and consult sources for tank information from time to time, but my room is so cold that I'm not lingering before jumping back into bed to write. It's been good. I not only wrote this in the past week, I also produced 2000 words for another story I've been writing on and off for years. Now the only challenge I have is breaking away from my computer and setting this up in bed. Reminds me of when I worked in Germany. First summer, I wrote 50,000 words in 19 days. Second summer, even more spread over two months. I lived in a barracks with no Internet. No distractions. Just writing.

This match has only one thing in common with the canon and that's the mutual kill of the Carpaccio's Semovente and the StuG. Perhaps also the dogged pursuit of the CVs by Duck team although I hope I've conveyed how the mud makes it very different chase. I also hope that in these two chapters, I've demonstrated that machineguns can be effective anti-tank weapons in Sensha-do against light tanks. Perhaps I should have had the tankettes eliminate one of Oarai's tanks to drive that point home instead of having Erika and Yukari defeat a CV with their machineguns instead. People often question the point of them but I said back during the Saunders match that the 38(t) and Type 89 would be vulnerable to heavy machineguns. Even light machineguns firing onto the same section of armour of less than 2cm thickness would eventually penetrate it and given the computerised nature of the damage sensors in Sensha-do, I think that would register as a kill.

I gave considerable prominence to the B1 bis in this match. In canon, it doesn't have much to do. It acts as a shield in the Pravda match and gets blown away by the Maus. In the film, it also does very little. It's only against BC Freedom it finally gets a little glory. I introduced it early and naturally it was overwhelmed by the faster and more advanced Shermans. In this match though, it was the heaviest tank on the field and the best armoured. So it leads the initial assault on Anzio in the first chapter and then kills a Semovente with its howitzer during the bombardment before eliminating a second when it advances at the end.

The bombardment might be contentious but I wanted to use the B1 bis' main gun in its intended role and show that Erika and Miho are still of Kuromorimine. While the canon match dissolved into a chaotic melee, there was still some finesse while this alternate universe sees it conclude with a similar chaos after a brute force approach. There's no finesse at all; just chaos amidst the fog of war.

In canon, almost no time at all seems to pass between the Anzio and Pravda matches. Not so with this. There's a lot that needs to happen between now and that next match. I posted a little idea on Reddit awhile back and that'll certainly play a part. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this.