ARC II chapter 20

Traf blinked in surprise, when he watched Chi-Ha-Tan change tactics so suddenly as they did against Koala Forest. "They have beaten their enemy quite easily only thanks to a surprise attack," he summarized for himself as the replay ended and sighed. But, that still wasn't the bad part about their next match. It was something else.

From what he heard from Tsuneo, their next match would be played in an environment that would give their enemy an advantage and he knew that his Tiger would face a huge chance of getting stuck in mud, thanks to the interleaved suspension. And just thinking that made him shiver. Being surrounded by Type 95s and 97s, while stuck in mud...

Stop it! He berated himself in his mind and sighed. What good will it do? None at all, at least at the moment. I should rather think about how to beat them than let fear cloud my judgment, Traf thought and wrote down a few strategies, suited against tactics similar to those of Winged hussars from WW2, being reminded of them, thanks to the video before heading to bed with a heavy sigh escaping his lips.

Three days later, somewhere on Hokkaido island, 9 a.m.

Anchovy was smirking and she had a good reason for it. While her enemy wasn't Bonple, like she hoped, Gregor with its AH-IV tankettes, Panzer 35 (t)s and Panzer 38 (t)s was easier to beat, only if they didn't have the Hetzer, which was likely going to be the enemy flag tank, thanks to its better armor and firepower.

And yet, the smirk was slowly disappearing, when all CV-33s reported seeing no tanks at the marked positions. And that was very strange in her opinion. Until…

"Tank spotted! A 38 (t)!" Pepperoni reported and Anchovy gave the order to engage with the light tank. But then, the unexpected happened right after she gave the order.

"It has too thick armor!" Pepperoni shouted in surprise, before she was cut off as her CV-33 was taken out. Too thick armor?! It can be the F variant then, Anchovy thought as four more CVs were taken out. Had she listened to what their crews reported, she would've realized that her enemy possessed at least one tank with an autoloader and changed tactics before it was too late.

And because of her distraction, she only now noticed that she has only three Semoventes and one CV-33 left. Only for the supposed 38 (t) to come out from the left with the Hetzer, two 35 (t)s and a tank she had never seen before behind it, soon followed by two other 38 (t)s, one 35 (t) and another one of the mysterious tanks coming from the right.

Anchovy took a deep breath to give the order to fire… only for the two unknown tanks to spew out two shells in less than 4 seconds. Autoloader! She realized a bit too late, but it was still enough for the Hetzer to deliver the last kill of the battle and Anchovy's face and hands suddenly met the outer roof armor of her P26/40's turret. But, she still saw that the road wheels were different to those of 38 (t), the tank as a whole longer and wider and that the gun was a bit bigger.

It isn't 38 (t)! she realized and set her mind on finding any information about the other mysterious tank.

Darjeeling smiled a bit, when she saw Gregor win. Not that she knew they would, but Assam wasn't able to get even the slightest sliver of information about those three new tanks. She had already guessed that her next opponents' strategy was heavily drawing from Blitzkrieg. And that fact made her planning a lot easier.

Even if it meant using cruiser tanks was a must, in order to catch the fast duo of tanks with autoloaders and stop them before they clear the way for their Hetzer to disable her own tank and win the match. Or do it themselves. To be honest, she didn't like autoloaders and autocannons, because of their rate of fire, but she hated cruiser tanks more, just from the fact that they reminded her of her.

No! I shouldn't think about it! she thought and tried to mask her distress. It was successful as she noticed that Assam didn't see how she paled for a second. "I'd like to chase those speedsters!" Rosehip suddenly exclaimed and Darjeeling sighed. "They seem to be more dangerous than this. Blitzkrieg has a very big chance of beating us, after all," Assam added and she nodded in agreement.

And after that, Darjeeling stood up and walked away, excusing herself in a way that won't scream "I'm going on a date with Kay," even if it was the truth, because she still wasn't comfortable enough with telling others about it.

Takashi quickly wrote down the report on the Anzio vs Gregor match on his phone and went towards the waiting Sd Kfz 9 FAMO. "Did it end already?" asked Tsuneo amusedly, both of them aware that he knew it. "Yes. Gregor used those new tanks as expected. The rest is in the report," Takashi answered as he sat down and strapped himself.

"And what about new members? Have you scouted any as replacement crews after the Third year members leave?" Tsuneo continued asking and George just shook his head. "Not yet. But, Boris and his crew are diligent in their search," Takashi stated and sighed. It was really hard to find new members for the team, even with the rise in popularity.

"I have a bad feeling about the upcoming match with Chi-Ha-Tan," he muttered, remembering the replay two days ago. "You're not alone. This new tactic makes them seem more like cavalry with AT rifles, rather than cavalry with sabers," Tsuneo sighed and the duo then spent the rest of the ride in silence, thinking about what the future might hold for them, unaware of the fact that Assam monitored them from above with a drone.

Meanwhile, SN Советская Россия, 15 miles northeast of Vladivostok

Dmitri Solovev looked over the team of Север Boys High School and sneered a bit. If that damned squad of StuG IIIs, we would be winners! he ranted in his mind yet again for what might be the 1000th time since the lost battle against the Germans. But we made it into the International tournament at least, he remembered and calmed down a bit as he took a swig from a bottle that he held in his left hand.

"We'll bring Сталин 2s and Сталин 3s as heavies, T-44/100s as mediums and ИСУ-152s as TDs. No LTs or KVs this time," he said aloud and his second-in-command, one Fedir Kozlov nodded and wrote it down from atop his IS-3. "With this, not even that T-4 and T-6 of that small Japanese school and their pet Nishizumi would know what hit them," he said and Dmitri nodded.

"Да. We'll win the tournament with this lineup," Dmitri agreed and took a swig from the bottle again. And it wasn't filled with vodka or any other alcoholic beverage, contrary to the popular belief of many others who saw him either in battle, or outside it.

A/n:

Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, but school caught up to me and had a few problems with Docs Google. Anyway… See ya later!