Chapter 7: First Battle
The sky was a clear blue without a single cloud.
The sunlight beat down pleasantly against the skin, and the wind was as gentle as a baby’s hand.
It was truly the perfect day for a picnic.
“The weather is greaaat~! Pretty awesome, isn’t it, Lieutenant?”
“Yeah. It’s so nice I feel like I could die.”
Adam, that bastard, seems to have already forgotten that this is a battlefield.
While someone over here is trembling with anxiety, not knowing when enemy aircraft might appear.
My tank was racing across the French fields at a speed of 13 kilometers per hour.
Thirteen kilometers per hour is practically walking speed.
At this speed, damn it.
If a Stuka showed up, I wouldn’t even be able to run and would become nothing more than a burning coffin.
Sure, the thick armor and excellent defense are advantages, but I’d much rather have a lightly armored vehicle that’s fast instead.
If enemy aircraft appeared, at least I could run away quickly, but with this thing, I can’t even do that.
“Sigh, my fate… What sin did I commit in a past life to end up in a place like this….”
Even as I heaved deep sighs, I didn’t forget to look around.
Infantry were moving alongside the tank on both sides, but leaving the perimeter watch solely to them felt somehow unsettling.
Hadn’t the legendary German tank ace, Herr Otto Carius, said it’s important for the tank commander to stick his head out of the hatch and survey the surroundings?
So I had to do my best. At least if I wanted to save my own life.
“By the way, Lieutenant, are you all right?”
“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”
“I heard you got caught drinking on the train again….”
“Stop. That’s enough.”
Hearing those words made my wounds throb again.
Caught drinking from my canteen, I was literally beaten like a dog on boknal by Captain Harrison, who had lost his mind on the spot.
If the people in the same train car hadn’t stopped him, I would have been thrown straight out the window. He had actually tried to do just that.
I almost ended my life being thrown from the train before even reaching the battlefield.
Anyway, I barely survived, but my dignity had plummeted through the floor.
The bruises on my face and my swollen eyes were just a bonus.
Putting image recovery aside, I needed to be careful not to cause any more trouble for the time being.
At least if I didn’t want to die of shame.
…But no matter how careful I am, I get the feeling that something will happen somehow.
Could it be that I’m fated to be swept up in an Arthur-level chaos beyond my control?
Ha… No way, right?
It really makes all sorts of thoughts creep in…
Letting out another sigh at the frustrating feeling, a radio transmission came in.
—This is Stork 3. Stork 1, respond.
“Ah, this is Stork 1. Stork 3, what is it?”
—Unidentified objects spotted ahead. Distance approximately 300 meters. How should we han—
At that moment, an explosion was heard almost simultaneously with the radio cutting out.
Stork 3, which had been moving ahead of me, was suddenly engulfed in crimson flames and spewing black smoke.
“It’s an enemy attack!”
“Get down!”
It was a German ambush!
German soldiers hiding in bushes nearly blending with the horizon had seen us approaching and struck first.
As the battle began, the infantry escorting the tanks on both sides scattered in all directions.
A sound like frying beans rang out, and a soldier beside my tank was riddled with holes and fell. Hit by a German machine gun.
Seeing the allied infantryman collapse while staggering as if dancing, I reflexively ducked my head.
Sure enough, bullets whistled overhead as they flew past.
“We’re under enemy attack, Lieutenant!”
I know, damn it!
Adam had scraped at my already agitated nerves with his useless remark.
But instead of venting my complaints at him, I gave an order. Let’s survive first!
“Close the hatch, you bastard! You want to get shot?”
“Ah, yes sir!”
Normally, tanks move with the hatch open while the driver sticks his head out to survey the surroundings.
The Matilda I tank I was riding was no different from other tanks in that regard.
But if the hatch remained open during battle?
It would be no different from begging the enemy to kill me.
From what I could see, Stork 3 seemed to have been destroyed when a shell entered through its hatch.
Honestly, since it was an ambush, there probably hadn’t been any way to respond anyway.
—This is Nest. Stork and Owl, charge forward. Horned Owl, swing to the right and attack!
—This is Owl. Roger!
—Horned Owl, roger as well!
“Th-this is Stork. Understood!”
After hurriedly responding to Captain Harrison’s order, I relayed the company commander’s orders to the tanks under my command.
Even as I did so, bullets continued to fly.
“This is Stork 1. We advance in coordination with the infantry on both sides!”
—Acknowledged.
Having received acknowledgments from the platoon’s tanks, I decided to focus on dealing with the enemies before me.
Fortunately, the bullets fired by the enemy failed to penetrate the tank’s armor plate and ricocheted off.
The Matilda I might be somewhat lacking in firepower, but its armor was excellent. Mere infantry-caliber firepower couldn’t penetrate a Matilda I’s armor.
Listening to the sounds of ricocheting bullets, I fired the Vickers machine gun I had loaded in advance.
A heavy vibration traveled from my hands and arms throughout my body. Tracer rounds loaded one in every five shots made it easy to see which direction the bullets were going.
My bullets flew over the bushes. Meanwhile, the German bullets came from below the bushes.
It seemed I needed to lower my aim.
At that moment, the tank shook violently.
I reflexively let go of the trigger I had been holding down.
“Uwah!”
Adam too cried out, perhaps bewildered by the sudden impact.
“What happened?”
“…Th-they seem to have fired a cannon.”
I immediately checked the tank’s interior.
Fortunately, nothing was damaged or out of order.
It seemed the shell had actually hit the tank but had ricocheted off.
The PaK 36 (37mm anti-tank gun) possessed by the Germans had such pathetic penetration that it could barely scratch the front of a Matilda.
But that didn’t mean I could stay still.
“Don’t panic! The tank is fine! Did you see where the shell came from?”
“I-I don’t know!”
“Just keep moving! If you stop, you become the enemy’s target!”
“Y-yes! Understood!”
While Adam got the tank moving again, I resumed firing.
This time, I lowered my aim slightly.
It was a hit.
Firing toward the flashes intermittently visible below the bushes, I saw a human figure slump down through the gunsight lens.
The thought that I had killed a person and the thought that I had taken down an enemy for the first time combined to create a strange feeling.
But there was no time to lose my wits.
The battle was raging, and the enemy’s bullets were steadily taking the lives of allied soldiers. There was no time to hesitate.
I swiveled the turret to the right and poured bullets at the enemies on the right. Then, the German fire slackened somewhat.
In that time, three allied infantrymen who had been lying prone on the ground sprang up and took cover behind my tank.
The soldiers hiding behind the tank stuck fast to its rear and advanced while firing, just like the Americans in the movie
Then another shell flew in and struck the tank.
Thud!
Once again, the shell failed to penetrate the armor and ricocheted off.
I was a bit startled by the impact, but there was no problem with the tank’s exterior.
However, the real problem was inside.
The Matilda I’s poor armament compared to its armor and its sluggish speed were problems, but the biggest issue was that the ventilation didn’t work properly.
When firing, gunpowder smoke didn’t escape outside but remained inside the tank, tormenting the crew.
Water poured from my eyes, nose, and mouth as if I had entered a gas chamber.
The smoke was so acrid that I couldn’t even open my eyes, let alone shoot.
“Damn it, I can’t stand this!”
Unable to bear it any longer, I opened the hatch and stuck my face outside.
Inhaling fresh air, my throbbing head seemed to improve a little.
From now on, I’ll have to keep the hatch open even while shooting. Unless I want to die of asphyxiation.
Once my condition improved somewhat, I re-entered the turret and resumed firing.
Thanks to moving continuously without stopping, I was now right in front of the German defensive line.
Now the enemies were visible to the naked eye.
The enemy attacks concentrated on my tank.
Bullets rained down so fiercely that I couldn’t even stick my head out recklessly anymore.
Worried that an enemy grenade might fall through the hatch, I fired at the enemies before me mechanically.
The German soldiers riddled with 7.7mm bullets became pincushions and rolled across the ground.
With the anti-tank gun ineffective, the Germans resorted to grenades as a last measure.
“Grenades, throw grenades!”
“Aim for the tracks!”
They threw grenades at the tank’s tracks. The tank bounced with successive explosions.
But miraculously, the tracks didn’t break, and my tank could keep moving.
The infantry joined the fight as well, pouring bullets at the Germans from point-blank range and throwing grenades.
Curses and shouts flew back and forth, and shrapnel and blood droplets splattered everywhere.
As the situation turned unfavorable, the Germans finally began breaking off combat and retreating.
But our side had no intention of letting the enemy who picked a fight go peacefully.
British infantry relentlessly poured bullets into the backs of the fleeing enemies.
Everywhere, German soldiers were seen collapsing with bullets in their backs as they ran.
“Taste this, you bastards!”
“Running away like dogs! Aren’t you ashamed!”
The infantry cheered as they shot at the fleeing enemies, looking just like hunters at a rabbit hunt.
Five minutes later, the battle was completely concluded with our victory.
The Germans retreated, leaving behind over thirty dead and an equal number of prisoners.
The company halted for the moment and radioed headquarters.
Headquarters was startled to hear our report and ordered us to wait in place until new orders were issued.
“Phew~ Now I can finally breathe.”
Only after the battle was completely over could I finally get out of the tank.
Wiping my face thoughtlessly with my sleeve, black fine particles smeared onto it.
“Lieutenant, we won!”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
After roughly answering the excited Adam, I looked around the battlefield.
Around me lay the bodies of fallen German and British soldiers.
There were relatively intact bodies if you ignored the bullet holes, and bodies crushed beneath tank treads to the point of being unrecognizable—all sorts.
There were more enemy bodies than allied ones, but it was by no means a pleasant sight.
The air was filled with a mixture of acrid gunpowder and fishy blood, creating a terrible stench.
It was a smell I would be smelling often from now on.
Thinking so, the reality of my situation hit me all the harder.