To the Northeast lay Transcendence and opposite them lay St. Gloriana in the Southwest. Between them lay a moderately dispersed jungle spanning kilometers. The terrain was bordering mountainous with the southeast having sharper rises in elevation and the northwest leveling out into rolling hills with less dense vegetation.
In the Southeast was a lake that played tributary to a lower reservoir northwest and lower in elevation. Further to the West, Northwest were two prominent hills creating two passes. The first was insurmountable by vehicle due to its steep inclines and between Gloriana and the lower tributary. This created a narrow pass between it and the steep slopes leading to the upper tributary.
The second hill was larger and lower in elevation, with a view overlooking much of the area's northern hills. With its close proximity to Gloriana's start, it was a valuable position just as Transcendence was gifted the lower tributary's field of view near their start.
On Transcendence half the steep and narrow paths dictated limited maneuverability whereas Gloriana had freedom of movement yet with longer exposure to distant fire without cover or concealment as well as a longer distance to the bodies of water.
Understanding their terrain and vehicle capabilities, both teams set about dispersing their forces in an unorthodox manner. For Gloriana, their team of twenty-five would be separated into seven separate strike groups.
The first of which was Two Centurion tanks commanded by Darjeeling and Alice. These two would direct their team with their maneuverable mounts and deliver harsh blows as a quick reaction force.
Then there was the "Base Fire Support" as it was called. Consisting of an unusual pairing of two Bishop self-propelled guns and three Cromwells. The two large guns would provide indirect fire while guarded by its medium tank retinue.
Next was the hunter Killer team comprising of three Achille's tank destroyers. These seventeen-pound gun-carrying vehicles were tasked with solely hunting down priority targets and uncontained variables.
The next three teams made the primary task force and body of Gloriana's assault. A scouting party of one Comet and four Matildas, a heavy assault platoon with two Churchills and one Black Prince, and finally the Heavy reinforcements with two Comets and a Tortoise super heavy tank.
The scouts would advance, dig in, and hold till the heavy platoon would arrive. There the heavies would assist in fire and maneuver until a break was made or casualties were sustained. Thereafter the reinforcements would plug up any losses or gaps and use the tortoise to break through. Infallible logic that relied on one specific aspect of the battle. Sufficient reconnaissance and delay tactics.
Here was the final team, the first and most likely to be met. Consisting of four crusaders, was a detachment led by the jubilant Rosehip.
"Or so the intel I gathered tells. This formation is their latest and most proven of the season, hard to believe the rigid structure of Gloriana will deviate from it in the finals, let alone their pride despite knowing I took it" explained Kaiser.
"As opposed to us" grimaced Laura, resting her head on her hand and tugging on her blouse collar within the muggy interior of the Tiger.
"True our formation isn't as fanciful but we know our strengths" agreed Kaiser. "Sokolov will have Anna's Puma attached for scouting and hopefully be able to gain the flank on Gloriana through the lowlands. Knight meanwhile will hold the second pass and prevent a breakthrough of our center. Meanwhile, Virtanen and I will occupy the tributary's heights, utilizing the narrow pass and elevation to bog down Gloriana.
"That depends if O'Diveley can scout properly and find their main force without getting blown up" commented Westhoffen skeptically. "Isn't he supposed to check the river flowing between tributaries before running northwest and seeing the situation at both passes? Sounds like a lot to expect from our wildcard."
Katya laughed lightly at his cynicism as Kaiser hummed in thought. "I'm sure Divs will do his job just as we will, I imagine our biggest worry will be the hunter-killers."
Belle looked over her shoulder quizzically. "The Achille's? Wouldn't they focus our flag tank?"
"Normally, but it seems I've luckily gained the interest of Gloriana's leaders. Darjeeling herself even kindly declared that all debts would be paid in kind."
"Yeah, lucky us" commented Westhoffen with a roll of his eyes.
Laura sighed as she seemingly concurred with his exasperation. Katya would be the one to comment on his infamous people skills "I'm not sure how you act outside of our team but you definitely have a way of getting people's attention, sir."
"Don't I?" asked Kaiser sarcastically. He gestured to Belle and declared his confidence. "You should all be accustomed to being targeted by now, I dont think there was a single match where our enemy wasn't out for our blood. Besides our gunner here is just as good a shot as any of the best in the sport."
He received another roll of eyes from Laura and Westhoffen at his words as Katya applauded the reassurance and Belle flustered at the expectations. They showed the reactions he had come to expect of his crewmates.
"The experience of this campaign has taught us many times that afterward, we had to make good in blood what we had neglected through omission of an exertion" recited Kaiser drawing curious looks from all but West who focused on following the tank ahead of them.
"A quote from a German Field Marshall named Gneisenau" he explained. We're experienced and through our past battles we have only grown, no matter the outcome we will fight till the end."
"But why the quote?" asked Belle.
Kaiser smirked. "I'm practicing for when we win. A total victory includes embarrassing your enemy not only in a fight but also in their existence."
A chill took the interior of their vehicle at his sinister words. An experience they bore familiarity with and only Laura could ever break out of. Rustling her raven hair out of frustration with the muggy temperature, she sighed. "As incorrigible as ever. You never cease to amaze us in both good and bad ways."
Kaiser smirked at her statement. "That hurts, do I have to break another limb to get some sympathy from you girls? At this rate, I may have to resort to West."
Laura and Belle turned and shoved him playfully, the former embarrassed at ever having shown concern and the latter upset he would mock the sincerity they had shown then. Seeing Kaiser snicker as he calmed them, Katya watched from her seat as she glanced to see even a gentle smile on West's face as he drove.
On the other side of the field and rapidly approaching through the lowlands, four crusaders tore through the soft loamy soil between hills just as Kaiser had detailed they would. With a bright head of red hair peeking out the lead tank, Gloriana's recon had taken the initiative and was already approaching. Unknown to them it would be Sokolov's detachment, not O'Diveley's light tanks as expected.
The four Crusaders, now painted stripes of yellow, green, and black tore through the lowlands as they hastily scouted for their opponent. In Rosehips mind, finding the enemy would be quickest by catching them as close to their starting point as she could.
It was with this rushed march that she was caught first. Unbeknownst to her squad, Sokolov's detachment had seen the tail end of her column passing through a break in the hills. Reporting the incident, he was instructed to proceed forward with attention to his south in case the girls swung north to flank him.
With this inadvertent slip-up, Rosehip's squad would see their first opponent not by chance but by Virtanen's order. Radioing O'Diveley's team, Transcendence's scouts set a hasty ambush using their Chaffee as bait.
With the morning fog dissipating into the sweltering, humid air, Visibility cleared slightly as The column of Crusaders slowed their approach. At a bend in the trail ahead, they caught sight of the Chaffee and halted.
Its hues of green paint hid its appearance well but the silhouette stood out against the treeline behind it. The girls waited silently as Rosehip radioed her command. The occupants of the Chaffee meanwhile wiped their brows. As their tank faced away from their foes, feigning ignorance, they watched from viewports as their steel-encased opponents idled in the distance.
The Chaffee's commander gulped as she radioed O'Diveley. "What now? Aren't you gonna shoot them?" she asked, her tone bordering on pleading.
"Hang on lass" answered O'Diveley. "How many do you see?"
She swallowed another nervous gulp and looked around. "One saw another but they backed away out of sight."
"I've got my eyes on it and our Achilles has sight on another trying to bypass you. Might be trying to scout without being noticed."
"What are we waiting for? Then? She asked impatiently."
O'Diveley gave the same obnoxious laugh that grated everyone's nerves, a self-assured sign that all but he was feeling pressured. "Kaiser's intel said there'd be four Crusaders and we see three. I doubt they've been reassigned. I imagine that they're with the one bypassing you if not moving behind."
"So what do we do? Reposition?" asked the Chaffee commander hoping she could pull back from her intentionally exposed position.
"Bingo" answered O'Diveley. Before she could sigh in relief and her driver started the engine once more, he continued. "You're gonna pull forward and lure their fire. Get 'em to expose themselves."
The girl could barely formulate a swear at him before he defended himself. "Have I ever steered ya wrong?" Again she wanted to rebuttal but was cut off. "When it mattered that is? Those times when it was for a good laugh don't count."The girl and her crew shared uneasy looks as they prepared themselves.
From the Crusader's view as they were shifting into an L-shaped ambush to begin their harassment campaign, their target suddenly jolted. Fearing they would lose an easy target, the unexpected happened. The Chaffe began slowly creeping forward in first gear as it showed its full side to Cranberry and Vanilla as Peach and Rosehip were repositioning.
Despite Rosehip's order to await her command to fire, the bait was too sweet for girls and their crews as they excitedly broke from their concealing brush forward and fired their 57mm cannons.
The cannons fired in succession impacting the Chaffee's side of the turret mantlet and the driver's side of the chassis. The Chaffee was rocked violently but taking the blows remained miraculously unscathed.
The two Crusaders didn't have time to reload before they received O'Diveely's counterfire in their now exposed positions. The 76mm guns of the M18 and Achilles caused a sudden fright for the two light tanks as their high-velocity shells ripped through the moist air leaving behind whisping trails of vapor behind them.
Explosions rocked the two vehicles who prominently reversed in a hurry and relayed their exposure to Rosehip. "Huh?! What happened? How did they find you?" she shouted into her mic with worry.
Vanilla would be the one calm and collected to answer, albeit omitting their error. "It was an ambush from the start! They were waiting for us, Miss!"
Thinking fast Rosehip changed her orders. "Fall back and keep out of sight, rejoin us and we'll pull back to our lines the same way we came. We'll drag them along and slow their advance."
"Yes Ma'am!" responded Vanilla.
This retreat was expected as O'Diveley knew he had thoroughly spooked his opponent and caught them off guard. Pressing his advantage his M18 and Achilles pressed forward as he kindly allowed the Chaffe to pull the rear guard.
As his tank destroyer passed the Chaffee, he gave thanks. "Always lovely to have devoted teammates," he said waving out his hatch.
The female tank commander returned a none-too-kind gesture as he passed and the Achilles radioed him. "How far are we going to pursue them? I imagine with their history of speeding, they're quite far from any reinforcements."
"You may be right Ms. Phillips" contemplated O'Diveley with a humm. "We'll ride this as far as we can. We've already scouted the passes and found no trace of those prisses. May as well blind them and pinch their scouts between us and Sokolov's task force. Just be sure to keep suppressing them with the occasional shell so they don't outrun us."
"I'll do just that" responded Alice calmly. "By the way, shouldn't you be relaying this to the commanders?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll relay it to our dear commanders" O'Diveley snidely confirmed. Alice intentionally responded with only a sigh over the comms showing her tired attitude towards his antics. Despite his childish teasings, he was relieved she had reminded him. He had almost been lost in the thrill of a chase and wouldn't that have been a mess to explain after the match?
Meanwhile, within the four Crusaders dodging taking short bursts across the open paths as they retreated while avoiding the occasional shell blindly sent through the treeline from Alices Achilles or the M18 that incessantly stalked them, Rosehip was relaying the situation in the North to Darjeeling.
"Sorry ma'am! They were waiting for us and are currently pursuing us west! We're tying up their recon element but have no visual on the main body!" Rosehip suffered a sudden jolt spilling trace amounts of tea out of her cup which she even had left half empty to prevent such a thing.
"All is fine, Rosehip dear" assured Darjeeling as she sipped her own warm tea. Darjeeling looked around outside her hatch where she watched from a small hilltop south as her heavy assault platoon drove past the slightly inclined slope. To the rear, the sound of the Bishop's guns began firing their IDF to soften Transcendence's defensive position on the heights.
Slowly approaching from her SPG's position were the heavy reinforcements and by now the forward scout platoon was engaging their enemy's main force near the tributaries. As she glanced to her side to see the small frame of Alice Shimada poking out of her Centurion and sipping on her hot tea before sticking her tongue out, Darjeeling smiled.
"You have done your duty. The enemy failed to detect our scouting party near the passes and would be caught by surprise. Do what you can and prevent any flanking maneuvers from the north if at all possible. I can redirect reinforcements if need be."
With glimmering hope and relief at the unexpected praise in her voice, Rosehip accepted her orders with glee. "Yes Ma'am! Thank you, Ma'am!"
As the line went silent, Darjeeling nodded to Alice. The younger girl carefully balanced her tea in both hands as she carefully descended into her tank, garnering another parental smile from Darjeeling before she followed. The two Centurions then departed to patrol the center of the combat area before turning their focus east.
As the pieces of armor moved across their chessboard of terrain, the two reconnaissance teams continued to harass each other with fire in their chase of cat and mouse. It almost seemed a playful game of tag to the spectators as not a single vehicle had taken damage aside from scraps to their paint.
This came to an abrupt end as the Crusader column, in a diamond wedge formation, surmounted a hill in their retreat. Finally, they came into the sights of Sokolov's rearguard placed atop a dense patch of vegetation atop a steep descent.
Vanilla's crusader was the first to crest the hilltop and just as before, missed Sokolov's team in the distance. It wasn't a lack of training or awareness, but competent maneuvering and camouflage on Sokolov's part. Anna's Puma utilized a primitive distance finder and measured their visual confirmation against their topographical map. With the range relayed, the Su-100 under Sokolov's charge, with its large cannon and high explosive 100mm shell, fired upon the Cruiser.
Vanilla was rocked violently as her Crusader took the blow just under their left track, wedging itself between the gears and chassis. The impact and explosion sent them spinning sideways downhill with smoke billowing from the impact before a white flag popped open from her turret.
As Sokolov's team watched this successful shot, he gave short praise as his squad held their fire. Rosehip and Cranberry's vehicles had just crested the hill as well and barely caught a glimpse of the sudden erasure of their teammate. Before Rosehip finished her order to adjust course and evade, Peach had followed behind them, her turret facing rearward and avoiding a shell from O'Diveley's M18 at range.
With a visual confirmation on the three remainders, Sokolov gave the order to all vehicles. "Fire" His Dicker Max, Stug IV, and the Puma let out simultaneous blasts as the Su-100 reloaded.
Rosehip's words hadn't left her mouth as she witnessed the three burning shells fly at them from seemingly nowhere in the dense jungle. Instinct took over the drivers as they pulled harsh drifts to avoid the oncoming shots.
The Puma's 50mm was the first to make contact with its faster velocity. Under special training with Sokolov's squad, they had trained in sniping to aid his squad and the results showed as the once shaky crew landed their shot on Peach's Crusader at the rear. The small shell unfortunately glanced off the multi-sloped plates atop the turret.
Next came the Dicker Max's 128mm shell, large yet fast, the thick air held surprisingly large effects in causing drag for the round at range. The shell landed just below Rosehip's Crusader. Splashing mud and jostling the nerves of her crew as they peeled out with a new paint job splattered over their vehicle.
Lastly, the Stug IV's 75mm cannon arrived slowest with the same additional atmospheric effects. Its round scraped by the chassis of Cranberries vehicle as it serpentined haphazardly downhill, avoiding Vanilla's wreckage and following after Roship with Peach in tow.
The three vehicles escaped with a following shot from the SU-100 narrowly missing and disappearing in a thicket of brush as it flew between the fleeing vehicles while the rest of Sokolv's vehicles reloaded.
"One 'Knight' is down, three evading south southeast. May break west to rejoin their front lines," advised Sokolov to O'Diveley.
"Roger! Us 'hunting dogs' will wear 'em down, thanks for the help, and good luck on your job. I know Kaiser demands the world from ya." laughed O'Diveley over comms as Sokolov watched his squad follow in the tracks of the Crusaders.
Sokolov snickered at his friend's exaggerated claims, something he happily played along with. "Me and my boys are the only ones who can deliver."
"Is that a jab at me and my gang?!" demanded O'Diveley.
"I'll leave that up to you" quipped Sokolov.
"You cheeky little-" laughed O'Diveley. "Best get on with it then!" he finished cheerily before dropping the line. Having assisted in drawing first blood, Sokolov's team continued their advance. His only worry was that the surviving Crusaders would report their advance and cause him more trouble. In spite of this concern, He held firm in his confidence in his squad and used a valuable technique Kaiser taught him. Procrastination, he'd deal with it if it came.
The Crusaders in question meanwhile were being relentlessly hounded by O'Diveley. Cranberry's vehicles had fallen to the rear, she and her team's inexperience compared to Rosehip and Peaches driving led to her trailing behind as they began scaling uphill once more. As the elevation began rising as they neared the passes, O'Diveley and his Chaffe were neck and neck like two hunting dogs bounding for prey.
Cranberry received two punishing blows with little chance to retaliate as her vehicle lost speed and slowly began reversing downhill without any power. Maintaining their momentum, O'Diveley hadn't thought the remaining two Crusaders would fight back.
Yet as they passed the defeated tank, The road ahead widened and there the two Crusaders pulled sudden drifts, crossing each other's paths with such force in tight turns that one track raised off the ground as the other strained to support and move itself through the mud.
The four vehicles quickly exchanged fire, 57mm and 76mm shells whizzed by each other as the speedy tanks crisscrossed and attempted to outmaneuver the other while being mindful to not lose speed and avoid crashing into each other.
Unfortunately for O'Diveley, the Achilles were just now ascending behind them and would remain afar as their fight dragged them further away. As the 360 spins, drifts, and serpentine maneuvers dragged them further it became clear that the Gloriana tanks were familiar with this hectic type of battle. Soon neither he nor the Chaffee could keep pace or their guns locked on target.
It was as the M18 and Chaffe nearly rammed each other face first that O'Diveleys M18 swerved left and the Chaffee's driver stomped on their brakes. This sudden halt left them exposed as Peach's tank crossed their flank and fired a shell, busting into their engine bay as black smoke began billowing. Before the driver could downshift his gears to turn, Rosehip followed suit delivering another rounds mere inches away from the first strike and finishing off the Chaffee.
Losing his ally, O'Diveley sought revenge and hurled a shell at Peach's tank. Remarkably the shell landed between the turret and chassis embedding itself between as it dug into the chassis at an awkwardly thick angle and jamming up the turret's traverse.
The Achilles soon had made up the lost ground and fired a shell to scatter their opponents and give time for O'Diveley to get to safety. The shell worked as Rosehip and Peach took flight but it was their last act as two shells struck from the West. In support of Rosehip and the flank, Darjeeling had dispatched the Hunter-Killer team to dispose of Transcendence's northwestern detachments.
As Alice Phillips announced her arrival to O'Diveley over Radio, he heard the sudden shriek of surprise and sight of the Achilles disabled. Rosehips chase hadn't been a desperate dash but instead, a counter lure to snag him in another ambush. Having to cease his pursuit and flee as fast as his treads could take him, O'Diveley skirted the enemy Achilles' positions on three separate elevated positions as he radioed another favor from his friend.
While the northwest had been filled with the hit and runs of both team's recons and snipers, the lower tributary was seized by Knights squad first. Circling counterclockwise, they positioned themselves with the body of water to their east and faced southwest. Their objective was to hold this key position and prevent any foes from breaking the center, therefore bypassing Sokolov and O'Diveley's forces and rolling uphill on the main body's flank.
The preparatory work was easy as they had found a lucky window of time unknowingly. Following the all clear from O'Diveely and arriving as he intercepted Rosehip, KNight's three medium tanks then began settling in. With the tiger-striped greens and blacks the Firefly, Panzer IV, and T-34-85 nestled within the thick brush of the treeline to their immediate northwest along the road they had approached from.
Angled and with their rears facing the road should they need to displace as the jungle next to them was too dense, they had a sufficient escape route. Knight himself even left his vehicle temporarily to ensure their camouflage was effective before running back to his own tank and moving tree limbs to further conceal his vehicle's squared silhouette.
The tense moments of waiting then came for them as they heard a mixture of light and heavy cannon fire erupt to the west. Small reports came from O'Diveley highlighting the situation as Kaiser and Virtanen switched between each other to fill in the tank commanders of the ongoing situations.
It was as he listened to a report from Katya, Kaiser's Radio operator of the ongoing eastern defense, that he glanced out his viewport and heard Diana shout in his ear. "Alex! Two enemy tanks ahead!"
The imprecise callout was unusual but not unwarranted as Knight saw what she was detailing. Ahead two Battle-worn Crusaders were already halfway past their sights as they ran the road intersecting their ambush position. Knight's squad kept their guns still, not wanting to expose themselves from the sudden movement but seeing their opponents rush it was apparent they wouldn't even have time to.
Knight made an immediate judgment. "Fire!"
The three vehicles shifted their guns left, following the Crusaders in the last moment of peace before they were once again set upon. Damian Frost's Firefly was the first to fire. The round struck Peach's Crusader as it trailed behind Rosehip and began to rapidly lose speed.
Feeling the sudden impact and looking left, the unusually sharp pink-haired girl somehow identified all three vehicles at a distance with a glance. Unable to fire from the turret damage and losing power, she gave a short order to her crew followed by a farewell to Rosehip.
"Driver, shift left and cover Rosehip." Understanding her commander's unusual personality the driver complied, obstructing their opponent's line of fire. "Lady Rosehip, Don't get caught too easily."
Before Rosehip could look back in confusion, Knight fired striking the Peach's tank and disabling it. As Diana's gunner her aim, the now out-of-commission tank slowly rolled to a halt and continued to impede their shot until Rosehip was long gone.
Peaches tank would slowly come to a halt at the edge of the tributary's water, leaving herself and her crew satisfied at the small success as they cleaned up their cups of spilled tea.
Knight's squad meanwhile discussed their next step when a low rumbling emerged from their southwest. Slightly out of place they scrambled back as the sight of two Churchills and a Black Prince tank came into view with all three guns at the ready. Gloriana's Heavy assault platoon was moving to reinforce the already embattled scouting column at the passes.
-Chapter End-