The author begins this chapter with a note saying that he'll be cutting back on his fanfiction to focus on his original works, which is understandable, and that updates will be more infrequent as a result. Infrequent updates are to be expected for fanfiction- I've often gone a fair amount of time without updating mine- and none of the gaps between updates until this point have been long enough to make us wonder if the author will ever continue.
The author talks a little bit about his original work, which he's published on Kindle Direct Publishing.
The author's note also points out that Miho will be at a disadvantage against Anzio, which has the benefit of the terrain. While this seems to be difficult terrain to fight on, I had thought that Anchovy had the benefit of the terrain in the match against Oarai in the manga, and lost nevertheless. The OVA was even more one-sided, and in that case, Anzio seemed to know its way around better than Oarai did.
The narration points out that practice continues, and Miho formed the team into three "Zugs" with Duck Team having the "thankless" job of scouting. Forming the remaining nine teams into groups of three is a difficult task, especially considering Anteater, Alligator and Shark's inexperience, but she forms them as follows
- Anglerfish, Anteater and Shark, with Miho in command.
- Turtle, Hippo and Alligator, with Momo in charge.
- Leopon, Mallard and Rabbit, with Azusa in charge. Incidentally, Azusa seems to be the best candidate for vice-captain of the team, since Momo will be graduating and Erwin is in the same year as Miho, and thus cannot succeed her as commander.
Miho's conversation with Akio's mother also results in her getting the idea to space out her forces more- 50 meters at minimum outside of urban and forest environments- and plans for a German conversion of the KV-1S that they don't have time to install before the match.
Miho holds a strategy meeting to discuss Anzio's tanks, some of which are weak enough that even Duck Team can take them out, but is nervous about Anzio's home terrain advantage. Several paragraphs follow detailing Anzio's arsenal. It's generally easier for an anime to introduce a school's lineup, since it's possible do a few wide shots showing us their tanks, and perhaps writers are better off introducing the tanks as they show up.
Miho and Anchovy meet again, and Anchovy promises to win this time. This might have been a nice time to revisit Anchovy's comments after the match, in which Anchovy said that victory is a commander's responsibility to her subordinates. Given that Miho, in the next match, learned that her school's existence- which affects all Oarai students, in or outside of the team- is on the line, perhaps she understands. And perhaps Anchovy has more respect for Miho after seeing her persist and win against worse odds than the ones she faced against Anzio. In any case, it might be interesting to see how Miho winning the tournament affected everyone's perception of her, as opposed to the simple, "Oarai's the champion now and we want to fight the champion."
Anchovy lets off her battle cry- "Ferrea mole, ferreo cuore!", and Miho decides to officially make "Panzer Vor!" Oarai's motto.
The battle begins, with Rebecca watching the match from home, reminded of the classic rules she once fought under, although she clearly dreads how the match will go once Anzio's tanks use natural camouflage and prepare to face Oarai's teams. It's good to see that the author increased the difficulty of the second battle of this fic, although one would have to imagine that Anzio and Saunders would have worked well switching places. Tournament arcs have the issues of tournament bracket placement and seeding, so it's possible for the heroes to face a strong opponent early on, or a mediocre one to get far by having several lucky match-ups, but here, it's easier for the author to choose the order for the matches.
Anchovy's pleased with how things are going, and orders Parme not to fire until her targets are within 100 meters of her. On Carpaccio's suggestion, Anzio plans on detracking Oarai before they reach the intersection in the road.
Oarai proceeds forward, and so far doesn't see any sign of the enemy. The scene doesn't serve much purpose apart from reminding us of what the name of Rabbit Team's commander is.
As Oarai gets into position, Parme opens fire with a Solothurn anti-tank rifle; her section targets Rabbit Team, the other targets Mallard Team, and both aim for the engine decks. Some of the rounds bounce off, but they realize that even the Porsche Tiger is vulnerable in its engine compartment.
Oarai returns fire, although Mallard is detracked by the rifle and taken out by a satchel charge as Leopon springs into action, and Rabbit Team is also taken out. Leopon Team manages to catch up to and defeat one of the tankettes accompanying Parme, much to Anchovy's surprise, as the Porsche Tiger is supposed to be slow, and tells the others to take it out of the fight regardless of what it takes. Anchovy expresses her surprise with a "Nani!", and the Gratuitous Japanese isn't quite so bizarre for Manga!Anchovy (OVA!Anchovy is more enthusiastic about her Italian theme). In response, Salami gets an idea.
The other two Zugs head over to help Leopon Team, but Zug I encounters some tanks on the way over, which succeed in taking out Anteater Team, but Anglerfish and Shark return fire, defeating some of their attackers. If you think about it, you can see which teams have the author's favor- Anglerfish, Shark and Leopon- and which do not- Anteater, Alligator and Rabbit.
Leopon Team ends up with a tankette on top of their tank, and Tsubasa manages to defeat it with his tank's machine gun, causing the tank to get dislodged.
Anchovy, upon hearing the news, says she expected more of Parme, but is glad that Leopon's turret is disabled, and sends Parme's platoon to reinforce Cacciatora, who's hard pressed.So is Miho, who's under fire from the Semoventes, hears that Leopon's turret has jammed and learns that Momo's Zug is heavily engaged.
Anchovy takes out Alligator Team, which has yet to make a meaningful contribution to any battle, but fails to take out the StuG, loses an M15/42 and a Semovente, and is unable to prevent the enemy from advancing to the intersection.
Shark Team's unable to take the enemies behind it, so it heads in front of Anglerfish Team, which is doing well at picking off the enemies in this battle. When Shark Team gets detracked, Miho stays behind to cover it while ordering the other two Zugs to the intersection.
Anchovy, frustrated with how things haven't gone according to plan, orders her troops to form up near the intersection and finish their enemy off.
The chapter ends with Zugs 2 and 3 forming up on the intersection, Leopon Team repairing its turret, and everyone wondering what they'll do without Zug 1.
There wasn't all that much to write about this time, since it didn't seem as though the battle moved the plot forward. While the author seems relatively good at writing tank battle scenes, many seem extraneous to the overarching plot. Of course, this time, that changes in the next chapter.
What I liked
- Anzio is putting up more of a fight than Saunders did in this fic.
What I didn't like
- Anzio seems oddly better at fighting Oarai than Saunders was despite how their skills compare to each other in canon.
- The chapter ends somewhat abruptly; it's typically better to end with a twist or a cliffhanger.
- The tank battles' connection to the plot is not readily apparent.
- The author favors Anglerfish, Shark, Leopon and Hippo over Rabbit, Anteater and Alligator
