"Please board."
Frederica sat perched atop the turret hatch and held out her hand.
I took it and climbed onto the turret of Vehicle 101. The cold texture of steel pressed into my palm.
"Excuse me."
I pushed myself down through the narrow hatch.
The interior was cramped. The air was a mixture of oil, gunpowder, and a strangely sweet scent of shampoo.
"Here, Lieutenant Colonel. You may sit in the loader’s seat."
Frederica showed me where to sit.
It was a seat that would ordinarily have been occupied by the regular loader, but the existing crewman had been made to disembark so I could ride along.
The inside of the tank was different from the crude exterior I had seen from outside.
Countless gauges and levers were arranged in perfect order, and the places frequently touched by hand were polished to a smooth shine. There wasn’t a speck of dust on the floor. I could feel, almost on my skin, just how dearly Frederica cherished this lump of iron.
"Is it not too cramped?"
Frederica’s voice came from above. When I raised my head, her legs, with her upper body sticking out of the hatch, were right beside my shoulder. The firm line of her thighs showed beneath her tight tanker’s trousers.
"It’s cozy. Nice, actually. I think it’s cleaner than the room I’m staying in."
"……I will take that as a compliment."
Embarrassed, she cleared her throat.
As I looked around the narrow interior, I spotted a small steel cabinet behind the gunner’s seat. Unlike the other equipment, it was particularly old, but it was fastened shut with a sturdy lock.
"What’s this? An ammunition locker?"
Just as I casually reached out to touch the cabinet—
"No!"
Frederica cried out in alarm. She reacted so urgently that she ducked straight down into the hatch and snatched my wrist.
"Huh…?"
Her face had come right up to mine. It was flushed red with a mixture of panic and shame.
‘Status analysis.’
[Name: Frederica von Kessel]
[Condition: Extreme panic, desperate defense]
[Emotion: Absolutely does not want anyone to discover the “child-rearing diary” she wrote while talking to the tank.]
‘…….’
A child-rearing diary. For this steel monster?
I barely managed to hold back my laughter.
"Ah, my apologies. It must be classified."
I let go, pretending not to know.
"Th-that is correct! It contains… extremely important… maintenance secrets of the battalion. No one may view it except the battalion commander."
Frederica made excuses while breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Classified, huh. Understood. I won’t touch it."
"Thank… you."
She sighed in relief and climbed back up onto the hatch. But she couldn’t hide how red the tips of her ears had become.
‘Cute.’
The chatter soon came to an end. I leaned back against the backrest and put on the tanker headset.
"All stations, intercom check."
Crackle. Frederica’s voice came through the headset.
"Driver, good."
"Gunner, good."
"Radio operator, good."
And I, crouched in the cramped right corner of the turret, tapped the microphone as well.
"Loader, good."
A strange silence passed over the intercom at my reply. It was only natural. The one who had just answered was not some ordinary soldier, but “Lieutenant Colonel Jaeger,” the supreme commander of this operation.
Rrrrrrrumble!
Soon, the twelve-cylinder tank engine roared and drove the forty-ton lump of iron forward.
How much time had passed like that?
"Enemy position confirmed!"
The enemy began to appear. Under cover of darkness, we launched a surprise attack.
"Eleven o’clock ahead! Enemy machine-gun position!"
Frederica shouted from atop the cupola. She tapped the gunner’s shoulder with her foot. It was a signal from the tank commander.
"Target confirmed!"
The sergeant in the gunner’s seat pressed his eye to the sight and turned the turret traverse wheel.
Whirrrrr!
With the sound of the electric motor, the turret rotated. Since I, the loader, Frederica, the tank commander, and the gunner were all on the same disc called the turret basket, we rotated together.
"High-explosive!"
Frederica’s order.
Now it was my turn.
"……."
But I had no idea how to play the role of a tank crewman. I was nothing more than a mere infantry officer.
"Um, Lieutenant Colonel…?"
‘Skill.’
Before the inside of the tank could be enveloped in an awkward silence, I opened my one and only saving grace: the skill window.
[Skill Points Possessed: 1]
I used the point without hesitation.
[Would you like to acquire the skill “Weapon Mastery”?]
‘Acquire.’
Ding!
[You have acquired the skill “Weapon Mastery (Lv.1)”!]
[The basic structure of the weapon you are in contact with (Imperial Army Panzer IV) and the role of the loader are imprinted in your mind.]
In an instant, I understood the role of a loader. It made sense now why Frederica had seated me there. It was a relatively simple job, as long as you had strength.
I deftly pulled a 75mm high-explosive shell from the wall rack.
Clack!
I shoved the heavy shell into the main gun’s breech. When I struck the breechblock with my fist, the massive steel piece closed, signaling that loading was complete.
"Loaded!"
The moment I shouted, Frederica cried out.
"Fire!"
Boom!!
The main gun spat fire.
For an instant, the cramped interior of the turret seemed to expand and contract like a vacuum. With a tremendous roar, the main gun recoiled backward, then sprang forward again.
Clang!
The breech opened automatically, and the scorching shell casing bounced out onto the floor. Acrid gunpowder smoke filled the space in an instant.
"Hit! Next target!"
Frederica issued orders without pause.
"Driver! Full speed ahead! Don’t stop!"
"Gunner! Infantry dispersing at two o’clock right!"
"Commence coaxial machine-gun fire!"
Dududududu!
As the gunner raked the enemy with the coaxial machine gun, the sound of spent casings spilling out rang beside my ears in a constant metallic clatter.
It was impossible to stay composed.
The gunner’s field of vision was narrow because he only looked through the sight, and the driver only stared ahead as he drove. The radio operator was busy covering his ears and forcing the communications through.
Only Frederica, up on the cupola, grasped the full 360 degrees of the battlefield and acted as the brain of this steel monster.
‘She’s good.’
There was nothing in particular to fault with Frederica’s command. Thanks to that, we were able to approach the enemy’s main force quickly.
On the [Minimap], the outskirts factory district was swarming with red dots. The armored battalion was approaching head-on.
"We’re going to ram through at full speed! Brace for impact! We’re breaking through the wall!"
Kwaaaang!
The massive tank tore through the factory’s old brick wall like paper and charged forward. Into the battlefield of flying dust and debris, we plunged without hesitation.
Thud! Crash!
The factory courtyard was pandemonium. The Resistance bastards, caught off guard, began to be pushed back in an instant. In the end, the enemy began their final struggle.
Their firepower concentrated on the lead tank.
"Turn it! If they break through, we’re dead!"
"Driver! Hard right!"
Rrrrrumble!
The tracks screamed as they ground into the asphalt. The forty-ton lump of iron shook violently.
Boom! Kwaaang!
The shock of an unexpectedly detonated bomb rocked Vehicle 101.
"Battalion Commander! Driver speaking! The periscope is shattered! I can’t see ahead!"
"The radio is dead! Only the engine is barely alive!"
From beyond the partition on the hull side, the driver and radio operator delivered the bad news. Fortunately, the tank itself was intact, but the situation was far from easy.
And then—
Crash! Thud!
"Infantry are swarming us!"
The Republic’s special operations unit had launched a suicidal human-wave assault.
"Major! Get down! Close the hatch!"
Reflexively, I grabbed Frederica by the ankle of her military boot and yanked her downward.
"Kyaaah!"
She slid into the turret. I reached out and slammed the hatch shut.
Tadadadadak!
The sound of bullets pouring onto the closed hatch rang out like rain. If we had been one second late, Frederica’s head would have had a hole in it.
"U-ugh…!"
Frederica had collapsed against my chest. In the cramped turret, the two of us, man and woman, ended up tangled together on the floor.
"L-Lieutenant Colonel…! I apologize! I just—!"
Frederica panicked.
"Calm down! If you flail around, it’ll be even more dangerous."
I pressed firmly on her shoulders and restrained her. If she blundered around inside the turret now, the rotating main gun breech could slice her arm right off.
"Come here."
Then, without hesitation, I hooked an arm around Frederica’s waist and pulled her onto my lap.
"Kyaah?!"
Her firm backside settled onto my thighs.
"W-what are you doing?!"
"Stay still! If you’re on the floor, the traverse gears will grind you up. My lap is the safest place."
"B-but…!"
‘Touch of Attunement.’
[Skill “Touch of Attunement (Lv.2)” has been activated.]
[Forcibly stabilizing the target’s disrupted biological rhythm.]
Through my palm, a warm energy flowed into her through her shoulder. Her resisting body grew calm as if it had been a lie.
"Huuuh…."
I looked at the [Minimap] and began to identify the positions of the red dots.
"Gunner! Two o’clock! Traverse the turret!"
At my shout, the panicked gunner sergeant reacted in confusion.
"B-but I can’t see anything!"
"I’ll turn it."
This was frustrating. Still holding Frederica, I leaned my upper body forward. My chest pressed down against her back, and the back of her head sank into my shoulder.
I reached my arms through the space under her armpits and seized the turret traverse wheel beside the gunner’s seat myself.
"Hngh…!"
My arm brushed past the side of her chest. In that narrow space, our two bodies meshed together like gears.
[Skill “Weapon Mastery (Lv.1)” is active.]
[Correcting the Panzer IV’s turret traverse speed and aiming error.]