Tiger from the North

Chapter 3

The next day, the carriers have docked on land for the upcoming practice match. Wispy clouds floated across the clear, blue sky. It was quite chilly for summer, but that was because they were still far up north.

The commander of the Hanley school, Eilee or Lee for short, stared at William. They both presented a blank poker face. Their vice commanders stood next to them, unmoving.

Eilee was of around the same height as William. He had dark brown hair and grey eyes. Like William, he was quite pale.

"Shake hands." The Judge said.

The two boys walked up to meet each other with a firm handshake.

The judge's whistle blew and the match began.

Ahti fired the first shot. The young and energetic commander of the BT-42 had raced ahead on the right flank of the main group as per William's order. He was quickly trailed by A Stridsvagn m/40 K. Seeing a group of  three Chaffeus, no doubt the vanguard of Hanley's forces, he drew first blood. The howitzer cannon of his Finnish light tank fired straight into the lead tank, eliminating the gray Chaffee.

A hail of fire came in reply from the group of vanguards as the BT-42 and Stridsvagn m/40 made their escape back into the wooded forest, dodging and turning all the way.

Dust and smoke flew into the air as more shots from the light tanks landed into the ground or hit the trees. But on the fringe of the forest, the Chaffees stopped giving chase and grounded to a halt.

"Permission to follow?" Suart, the commander of the vanguard contingent asked.

"Negative, return to the main formation at once." Lee responded.

"Right."

The remaining two tanks began to around and head back into the open roads again.

The two Swedish light tanks had regrouped with the main Swedish force.

"We knocked out one of their chaffees. Their lights won't be doing anything risky any time soon!" Ahti proudly exclaimed,

"Good, good." William said, "Go take Herman's Stridsvagn 42 with you and flank them in the rear." Turning around to the remainder of his tanks, he ordered the 5 Stridsvagn 42s to follow him and the tank hunters to follow Charles. He would lead Pansar Group A and Charles would lead Pansar Group B. "Charles, go take position over there in that small hill between that river. Make sure no tanks get past and intercept our flank. Order your destroyers to rain hell on our enemies"

"Got it." Charles nodded,

"Advance." William ordered, closing down the hatch of his Tiger. The engines of the 6 tanks revved as the tracks moved forwards. The Swedish formation rolled towards the vast, open fields, eager to engage the Dixie.

As they moved forwards, William felt something was off. Why would Eilee allow the Swedes to engage if they had the low ground. He was notorious for not fighting the enemy unless he felt confident he had the advantage.

He shook his head, he would just have to make sure to watch out for Lee's tricks.

The tanks were about to roll over the hill. What laid beyond it would decide the fate of the battle. So far, Ahti has not reported any enemies on the right flank.

The Stalochkrut tanks maintained a loose formation around the Tiger I. William had ordered three Stridvagns in front and two besides the heavy tank.

"Halt." William ordered. The formation was stopped mid climb up the hill. The Swedish commander hopped out of his Tiger and ran up the hill, where he laid on the grass and raised his binoculars to look into the clearing beneath him. Sure enough, the bulk of Lee's force was parked in the middle of it. 6

"Why on earth did Lee choose to fight me here, he is not only out numbered but has the lower ground." He asked himself. "Even their flag tank is here." Lee's own Experimental T Pershing. It was incredibly powerful and deadly with an experienced crew and brilliant commander to boot

"Charles, what's your situation." Willam asked through his mic.

"No enemies here." Charles replied.

"Be on the lookout. Position your destroyers tanks on the defensive. Expect an attack." William said.

"Right."

William furrowed his brows in frustration. Should he attack? He had half a mind about telling Charles just to pull back with his destroyers and form a defensive circle. Plus that Stridsvagn 74 would be valuable in taking out the experimental T. But he decided against it, the position they held was too valuable.

"Ahti, report."

"We are sneaking along a dirt road on the right. I don't see anyone."

William sighed, his force had gone to far into the plan to pull back now. He ran back to his Tiger and hopped back in.

"Very well." The blond commander turned around to face the tanks he had with him. "Advance!"

The Tiger lurched forwards and so did the five Stridsvagns escorting it. At the apex of the hill, William gave out the stop order. Now the tanks of both Hanley and Stalokrut were in full view of each other. The Swedish tanks formed a orderly line around the Tiger, three on the right and two on the left.

"Fire!" William shouted. The six Swedish tanks roared in unison as their guns unleashed a flurry of fire, raining steel on their enemies. The Hanley tanks answered back, several shells landed upon the foot of the grass hill, one struck the front armor of a Stridsvagn but no major damage was done.

Through the first exchange, no tanks were eliminated. William expect the Hanley tanks to flee now, and lure him into a trap. But Lee was already positioning his tanks ready to fire again.

Damn, if only Ahti and his accursed light detachment would arrive to surround the whole enemy force in the clearing. Where is he? William thought. Nevertheless, if Lee wanted to fight here, more the better for him.

"Gustav! Aim for Lee's tank. Hit the roof." If this shot landed, it would certainly win the match.

"On the way!" The shell flew from the muzzle of the 8.8cm gun unto the roof of the Experimental T.

Lee was knocked back into the seat as the shell landed. He didn't think William's Tiger would be able to hit him on the roof from that angle. Thankfully the shell only glanced off and no white flags were raised. That was too close.

"Back up! Quickly now!" Eilee ordered. The slow and heavy tank reversed gears and traversed backwards. Two M6A1s rushed to fill the gap in front of Lee's Experimental T, providing cover fire against the Swedish Bombardment.

Another shell from the Tiger struck the Lee's heavy tank but it didn't penetrate through the heavy front armor. Lee slowly backed up, and was soon out of range of the Tiger.

William clenched his fist and thought 'damn it'