Chapter 15

"The 8,8 cm KwK 36 L/56 allows you to make a bit more mistakes in aiming than any other cannon available in Sensha-Do. It is precise and its ammo can penetrate most targets we'll face…" Traf lectured Hoshino, who was the appointed gunner of the newly formed team. She nodded in response. It was a week since the Porsche Tiger was found and repairs of all repairable parts was completed. "You can't penetrate for example a Tiger II with it, when it's facing you with the front armor. The same goes with the Maus and several other heavy TDs of Kuromorimine."

"However, your tank has the advantage in thicker front armor and more ammo than my own Tiger. And soon, the speed will join the list too." The automotive club member grinned at him. "So, tell me… You are hiding in a bush and enemies are in a column. Your tank is also the last one, thus your enemy has also a numerical advantage 5 to 1. What will you do?" he tested her.

"I'll shoot at the tank in the middle!" she answered and Traf facepalmed in response. "Wrong answer. Your enemy will spot you easier after that. With a Tiger, you must always shoot the tank in front of the column. There's a big chance that it is either the flag tank or commander's vehicle." Hoshino pouted for a moment at that. "Don't worry! Everyone can make a mistake!" he tried to calm her down.

"Miho told me that you'll join the match after the one against Anzio. With that, you'll be our secret weapon until the match. Are you okay with it?" he whispered to her. The girl nodded in response. "Good. Miho also gave me the command over our Tiger squad, so expect George sending orders via his phone. It is our only precaution to avoid being revealed." Hoshino blinked at that.

"We are an independent unit, specializing in hit & run tactics. If our allies get surrounded, we'll wait and attack when the chances of success are best for us. But, if we angle our tanks in 45° with the front armor facing enemies, we can act as defence for the lighter tanks to escape." That was with the previous statement told loud enough for the five others to hear. "You can paint your tank in winter camouflage for now and repaint it after the fight with Pravda."

The automotive club nodded at that. "Also, you can choose your own number designation if you want. But remember this: never let the number disappear under the paint. If that happens, you'll have to scrub the paint off." George and Takashi smirked, when they heard that. They knew that he was thinking about the numbers like they were the personality of the tank, which was even more messed up than Yukari's own 'each tank has a unique personality' agenda, but at the same time more understandable.

"Anyway, instructor Chono has prepared a shooting range and obstacle course for you. Get into your tank. Schneller!" he ended the lecture and gave his crewmates a thumbs up. "You are like a drill sergeant right now…" Takashi stated. And the trio laughed after making several more jokes about drill sergeants. And they turned to watch the Porsche Tiger trying to finish the training with a lended engine from their Tiger.

Later that evening

Klara snuck on the Zuikaku earlier that day very easily with some supplies. Her mission was scouting the possible enemy for any useful information and sending it to Katyusha or Nonna. I must count their tanks and watch their training to help devise a counter strategy for anything they might try.

She was in a bush next to the garages, where there were eight people taking apart and putting together an engine next to a board with a strange Tiger drawn on it. That is Maybach HL 210?! The engine used on the Tiger I! she realized after a while. Klara moved a bit to hear what they were saying. "...Maho will send us the two Panthers with Oarai markings she found after the Tournament ends. And about the T-34/85 upgrade kit… We simply should let Tsuneo-san build a T-34/76 and we'll simply instal the kit or get it from either sponsors and/or Katyusha, if we impress her…"

Klara almost gave away her position after hearing that. There was no way that Katyusha-sama would ever give them a tank! And they also had already an agreement with the filth from Kuromorimine about getting two Panthers! Have they no shame?! "Heh… at least Yukari isn't allowed to go spying on Pravda. Your attempt on scouting Kuromorimine ended after four hours and I doubt that she'll manage to last about an hour in Pravda, let alone the other school." The speaker was a pink haired boy, which reminded her of Rosehip.

One of them… spied on Kuromorimine?! And lasted that long?! she thought and tried to sneak away, unknowingly snapping more than one branch. "You heard that?!" another boy asked. "Someone is in the bushes!" There were footsteps coming in her direction "Черт!" she shouted and stood up to run away.

But before she reached the forest, someone tackled her. "Got you. Wait a minute… You are the girl, who lit the fire at the ceremony!" The voice belonged to one of the boys. "Y'know, I was in the same situation on the Graf Zeppelin." She struggled to get from under his weight. "Позвольте мне уйти!" she shouted at him. "Nein. Not until you tell us, what you heard." Klara gulped. That boy seemed to be some kind of a drill sergeant or commander that can give extremely harsh punishments, if he wants.

"Take her to the steakhouse. I bet that she must be starving. We could get dinner anyway…" the boy continued as the footsteps stopped. The weight on her back suddenly disappeared, but two strong hands grabbed her shoulders. She looked up and saw a face. It was not a boy, but a battle-hardened man behind those steely-looking blue eyes. His entire appearance screamed that a male Nishizumi would look something like this, but with a stronger aura of determination and less emotions.

He made a hand gesture and those two hands pulled her forward. They walked on the asphalted road for about ten minutes, when she noticed a small wooden house with a banner on it. The older man, who came with the trio, turned to face her. "Ah, we're here. The owner is a good man and he makes the best steaks on this ship." And they entered the building.

Tsuneo led the Tiger crew and the spy from Pravda towards the bar in the back of the facility. "Oi, Tsuneo! Yer back for 'nother steak, ar ya?" a familiar voice asked. "Yes, I am. Make a steak for my companions too, please." The man smiled, when he noticed his companions. "For the Tigers 'n the girl from last year's champs?" he asked. "Yes. I'll pay for it. She was caught spying on us, but as far as I remember the daily menu of Pravda, I chose to take her here to give her some actual food and not air or extremely small Borsh portions…" Tsuneo answered with a bit of an angry expression on his face.

"Y'know, I ne'er 'eard 'bout 'dis. But, Five steaks?" Tsuneo nodded in answer. "Oh, and water too!" he called at him before he disappeared in the back of the facility behind the bar. "Well, this reminds me of some US-themed steakhouses, I was in…" Trafalgar sighed as a wave of nostalgia hit him.

"Care to tell us, who sent you to spy on us?" George turned to the girl. "Нет." Tsuneo hid a smile. The girl was really faithful in Katyusha after all. "I already know her name. It's either Katyusha or Nonna." Everyone looked at him. "That's simple to understand. They are the highest ranking students of Pravda and its Sensha-Do team. So, they'll send a spy to get some info before the match to prepare counter strategies for any strategy that we'll come with, thus robbing us of our only surprise we have."

"Ugh… I don't really want to be the bad cop in this but, tell us everything we ask about, or no steak und Wasser für dich!" Trafalgar stated after that. The rest was surprised at hearing the tone in his voice. "I watched way too many thrillers with detectives…" the boy defended himself. Tsuneo nodded slightly. He knew that the stomach of a Pravda girl will force her to betray even her superiors, if food is in question.

"Your name?"

"Klara"

"Why did Katyusha and/or Nonna send you here?"

"To observe you."

"Too vague for a satisfying answer."

"To count your tanks and watch closely for any means of a counter strategy. Also observe the Tiger I crew."

"As you could see, we have only six tanks and too much flexible doctrine to devise a proper counter strategy. Just give it up." The chef engineer of the team smiled for himself after that. The boy chose to hide the fact about Porsche Tiger's discovery and tell only a half-truth about everything.

"You can leave tomorrow morning before anyone else finds you out." And their interrogation was officially over as the steaks with water were delivered.

Katyusha stared daggers at Klara. The girl returned almost immediately in her opinion. Was she too scared? No. I'll send her to gulag for disobeying orders! she thought. "What did you find out?" Nonna broke the silence. "They have only six operating tanks right now and a T-34/85 upgrade kit. Also they have too flexible strategies to form any proper counter strategy…" she listed off the two main things she was tasked to find out.

Katyusha calmed down a bit after hearing that. "Also I heard them talk about a shipment of two Panthers from Kuromorimine that were discovered to be stolen from Oarai." That surprised her. What?! How is that possible?! Shiho Nishizumi would never willingly part with a Panther! "And the Tiger I crew?" Katyusha asked with an annoyed tone. "They are boys. Three of them, but surprisingly compatible."

Katyusha played another surprised stare. "And?" Klara gulped. "Their commander is like a drill sergeant and also third-in-command of the Oarai Sensha-Do team." Nonna remained emotionless and silent, but Katyusha knew that her friend was more than surprised behind the facade. "And their chef engineer is Tsuneo Nishizumi. The same man, who built and sent the SU-85 to us."

"So, they should have the T-34 soon finished…" Katyusha muttered and planted her fist on the unfortunate table. "No. They think that you'll be kind enough to send them the tank after impressing you." Katyusha laughed at that. They were really foolish to think that she will send them a tank for free! "Are they a second Mika or what?" Nonna added her own question.

Ah yes, Mika the thief. She asked us for five T-34s and never gave them back after the match she needed them in. I can still hear her annoying BT-42 and kantele in my head! Katyusha growled and shook her head. "Don't mention her." The tall girl nodded in response. "I heard that Kuromorimine defeated her with fielding only two Tiger Is and a Tiger II…" Klara muttered. "A perfectly laid ambush that was seen earlier with the Oarai's Tiger I… It seems that the traditionalistic Maho Nishizumi can still learn a trick or two."

"And who is their captain, Klara?" Katyusha asked after a while. "Miho Nishizumi. You defeated her last year." The loli suddenly burst out laughing. "Really? And how did she manage to not lose a single tank against Saunders?" Katyusha waited for a response from Klara. She knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from someone else. "Thanks to the Tiger ambushing Saunders and acting as a recon of sorts for them?" the taller blonde guessed.

Katyusha only nodded at hearing that. "Correct. If we take down the Tiger, she'll end up defenceless and our forces would roll over her." Nonna stared yet again at Klara. "Anything else to say?" she asked. "I think that they'll end up with another Tiger soon. I saw the boys and Tsuneo Nishizumi instructing four girls how to dismantle and put together a Maybach HL 210 and they also had a board with a drawing of a strange Tiger on it."

"A strange Tiger you say? What did it look like?" Klara shifted a bit. "It had the turret more in front than the normal Tiger." This time, Katyusha laughed again at hearing that. "A faulty Porsche Tiger?! It will fail before they manage to pass a mile with it!" Yet no one of them knew that Katyusha underestimated her enemies and will pay for it.

Takashi looked at the list of possible tanks that Anzio will field. There was a Carro Veloce 33 tankette with its double machine guns. "That should be dangerous for our Type 89B, right?" he asked. Trafalgar nodded in response. "I think that we'll definitely face at least five of these." The driver noted down 'at least 5 CV-33 tankettes' and looked at the paper again.

"A Semovente tank destroyer? That thing would be dangerous even for our Tiger." This time, it was George who answered him. "There should be 2-3 of them. I watched some Anzio matches and there was always this number of them." Takashi noted the TDs on the list of 'definitely will face' tanks. "And the last 1-2 tanks?" he asked. "Neither of us knows this, so Yukari would go spying on Anzio to get the info."

"Guys?" Trafalgar suddenly said. "Yes, commander?" they responded. "I have a suspicion that it could be a MT or a HT." Takashi gulped. Italy wasn't well known for tanks, but he could list at least two of them. "It can't be that Fiat one. So, it could be a P26/40." The commander nodded in response. "And that tank would pose a problem to us, if it gets behind our line of defence. Just like those Semovente TDs."

"But, we don't know for sure that the unknown tank is P26/40. It could be another Semovente or CV33." Takashi looked with surprise in his eyes at the speaker. It was Tsuneo. "He is right. Only Yukari would tell what it is." George nodded at that statement. "And as far as I remember, Anzio always uses ambushes with decoys, if they face an opponent with less or more tanks than they can field."

"What do you think about the spy from Pravda?" Trafalgar changed the subject. "I bet that she also saw the Porsche Tiger drawing on the board and told Katyusha about it…" Takashi answered. "Yeah, but that means that she'll be ready for a disabled tank that couldn't bear the terrain and its engine gave up." Tsuneo sighed at that. "Katyusha hardly ever underestimates her enemies."

And after that, they all discussed possible strategies and went back to the garages to help Tsuneo with recreating the Maybach HL 210 TRM P45 for the Porsche Tiger, because his contacts sent him only parts of it.