A Veteran's Affair

Chapter 4 - Kuromorimine Pt 3

It was now 21:50 and House was relaxing in his chair. He had just recently made a cup of fresh ginger tea mixed with honey. It was habit now to drink at least one cup of fresh ginger tea before going to sleep. House had just finished his cup and got up to pour himself another cup from the pot. He made a large batch and that would last him for the whole week. He walked over to the small section of the kitchen and poured himself a cup. Suddenly, he heard the doorbell ring. House wasn't expecting any late-night guests, so he approached the door cautiously. It was instinct for him to reach for his firearm holstered in a hidden compartment of his leather jacket, but he resisted the feeling. He reached for the doorknob and turned it slowly. The door opened to reveal Maho. "What are you doing here?" I asked her. She was still wearing her uniform and she had a small smile on her face.

"May I come in?" She asked. House then moved out of the way for her to enter the room. Once she entered. House closed it and turned around to face Maho. "I know who you are, and I thank you for your service to your country," Maho stated. She just dropped a bombshell on House whose primary objective was to keep his past hidden at all costs. House's expression changed from a surprised manner to a shocked expression.

"How could you possibly know?" House quickly asked.

"I'm sorry but I eavesdropped on your conversation with the staff member from the supermarket,"

"Shit," House said back.

"Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret," Maho reassured him. "I would like to stay for a bit, is that possible?"

"Yeah sure, just grab a chair or something," House answered. He calmed down knowing his secret was safe, but he was still uneasy. "Do you want some tea I just made? It's fresh ginger tea mixed with honey,"

"That sounds nice," Maho replied. House then grabbed a spare mug from the closet and poured the tea into the mug. Maho got a chair from the kitchen and placed it in front of House's chair, which was next to his desk. House grabbed both cups of tea and he then handed one of them to Maho. "Thank you," she replied. House then sat down in his chair and he placed this cup on the desk.

"What would you like to know?" House asked her.

"Well, everything really," Maho replied back with a smile. House responded with a small chuckle. The pair had talked for an hour or so now. Maho got to know House's past and his skill and experience in tanks. Maho and Erika were suspicious of House's performance in the field but now Maho knew the true extent of his skill and prowess on the battlefield. After all, he is a war veteran with over a decade of service in the military as a tank commander under his belt. "Well, it's getting late, I should go now," she said. She then got up from the chair and extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Captain House," House then returned the handshake. Maho now exited the room and walked back to her apartment. House then brushed his teeth and took off his clothes and changed into suitable sleeping clothes. He was to wake up again at 04:30 for his morning jog.

000

It was already Friday, today was the mock match. Wednesday and Thursday were uneventful. He was briefed on Thursday's meeting. The school was split into 2 teams, Red team and blue team. Erika was the commander of red team meanwhile Maho was supposed to be the commander of Blue team, but last-minute changes were made, and House was ushered in as the commander of blue team to the dismay of many. It was currently 06:15 and House finished his jog, his breakfast and his morning routine. He was now studying a viable strategy to beat Erika. His team consisted half the tank forces of Kuromorimine with a few expectations. He had 1 Tiger E (The flag tank), 3 Panther Gs, 3 Jagdpanzer IV/70s, the Panzer 3 J, an Elefant and a Jagdpanther. Meanwhile, Red team had 2 King Tigers (Erika's was the flag tank), 3 panther Gs, 3 Jadgpanzer IV/70s the Maus and the Jadgtiger. The area was the large training ground at the back of the carrier. House had studied the map and picked out serval points of interest as he called him. He marked it with a highlighter. Other points he marked where the starting locations of both teams and natural obstacles such as a forest or a hill. He marked those out with different coloured highlighters. The terrain consisted of a forest with a few openings here and there. But there was a big patch of featureless land towards the north. There was a dirt path that connected the 2 spawn. After about 20 minutes of thinking, he devised his plan. Red team had the advantage by having more heavy tanks like the King Tiger, Maus and the Jadgtiger but his tanks were more mobile which he took full advantage of. He knew that if Blue team was to destroy their formation, it would leave Red team's tanks extremely vulnerable but the caveat to this was that all of the tankers trained in the Nishizumi style, which extremely restricted the individual commander. He promoted fast independent and adaptive thinking but he always emphasised communication and intelligence. It was no good if you a masterful tactician but didn't tell the rest of the company on what the hell you were doing. He planned to exploit the Red team using the shortcomings of Nishizumi style to the fullest. That said, House didn't think that the Nishizumi style doctrine was bad, he thought of it as a good shock tactic and it proved itself when they won 9 championships in a row. House concluded that Red team will rush through the dirt path and try to destroy Blue team as fast as they can with a frontal assault. It will be likely that they will use a V formation and they would most certainly put their most armoured tanks in front. Thus, he would leave the bait in the form of the Elefant and 2 Jagdpanzer IV/70s. They would be ordered to dig in and try to stall their frontal assault as much as they can. Meanwhile, the rest of Blue team would retreat and drive through the forest, trying to outflank Red team. Then the Panzer 3 would detach and perform recon. If the plan is successful, Red team would get steamrolled from the rear, a move they won't expect. He packed his map of the plan in his leather jacket and got up from the seat. He closed the lights, grabbed his backpack and headed off. This was the final day on staying in Kuromorimine before he would go to his next school, Pravda.