"We'll maneuver to those trees over there. Make sure we aren't spotted." Taking position in the woods facing open ground, Jouko patiently waited for the Pravda tanks to start making their way through this "corridor", open field surrounded by trees on both sides. Her teammates were scattered everywhere else, though not too far from each other. She wasn't expecting Pravda to simply ride into her path, however. They weren't that dumb, especially now that they knew of her. The plan was to use Continuation's tanks to deal as much damage as possible while luring Pravda to Jouko's position where she would unleash hell. Frisell kept belting out the radio reports as Mika continued to update Jouko of the situation. So far, all was going according to plan. Three Pravda tanks had been immobilized within 20 minutes of the match starting, but 4 Continuation tanks were knocked out as well. But, they were getting close to Jouko's position. Patiently peering down the tank's visor, she watched as small dots in the distance grew bigger and bigger by the second. Placing her finger on the trigger, she waited as her teammates drove past, chased by the larger Pravda force. But, the flag tank was nowhere to be seen. 

This Katyusha is smart, but whatever, let's have some fun.

A burst was heard from the treeline to Pravda's left, and a moment later one of the tanks burst into flames as a white flag popped out of one of its hatches. Just before Pravda could muster a reaction, Löfström had already reloaded a second shell, and Jouko sent it straight into another tank. As Pravda began to turn their turrets to the source of those shells, Jouko let out another shot, immobilizing the tank right next to an IS-2. "Now, drive quickly!" Hannes slammed on the throttle, and the Sturmi appeared out of the forest, firing another shot into Pravda's tanks, taking out yet another, leaving Pravda with only 8, well, visible tanks. Several shells flew past as the Sturmi again drove into the middle of Pravda's formation, causing further confusion as Jouko fired wildly at any tank she saw while Hannes drifted this way and that, spinning around and outmaneuvering several incoming shells, resulting in Jouko immobilizing a further three tanks. "Quick, Hannes, back into the forests!" Circling around Pravda's formation, the Sturmi high-tailed it back to the cover of the forests, disappearing from sight of Pravda. As Jouko looked behind through the cupola, she could see one tank chasing her. Hannes worked hard to avoid obstacles, and had a much better time this time, losing the chasing T-34. Frisell continued to report on the team's status. So far, they were able to escape with no losses, and were taking positions for an ambush. Meanwhile, Jouko had made it to a small hill where her teammates were visible from where she was, and prepared herself to make several long distance shots to take care of the remaining tanks. There were only 5 left, so this wouldn't be too hard.

Unfortunately, they didn't take into account the fact this was just wave 1, save for Jouko.

To everyone's horror, 15 more Pravda tanks appeared out of nowhere, crossing by Jouko's previous killzone, no doubt demoralized by the amount of knocked out tanks there, but still pressing on. It was here that Jouko caught some suspicious movement in the corner of her eye. It was that same T-34 that had been chasing her through the forest earlier, moving to a different position, located to the Sturmi's right. It was around 400 meters away, further than the Pravda tanks in sight. Hannes turned the Sturmi to face the departing T-34, and with careful precision, Jouko fired a shot into the tank. A flash of orange and a column of smoke was all it took to notify her that the tank was immobilized. Expecting to be spotted, the Pravda tanks surprisingly pushed on, reinforced by the 5 remaining tanks of the first wave who had pulled back. Phew, the ambush is still happening. But, there's no flag tank. Is there going to be another wave?

Jouko watched as the 20 tanks of Pravda drove right into Continuation's trap. When in the perfect position, the remaining Continuation tanks opened fire with everything they had: the main guns, machine guns, whatever they had. Within minutes 8 more Pravda tanks were destroyed, at the expense of 2 Continuation tanks, however. Jouko decided to help out, and opened fire from her position as well. With that dead-accurate precision of hers, she was able to take out two Pravda tanks, with the rest withdrawing shortly afterwards, the second wave having lost all momentum and suffering heavy casualties. So far, things were going great for Continuation, with 18 tanks immobilized for Pravda against 6 tanks for Continuation. Well, not for long. A few minutes after the Pravda tanks withdrew, they reappeared again, with 20 more tanks, this time the flag tank among them. Where are they getting these from? No time for questions, this is going on long enough, I'm taking out that flag tank once I see it. As the Pravda tanks appeared in view again, they were taking a different route. This time, they were going to ambush Continuation. "Frisell, tell them what's going on, and tell them to fall back." Jouko watched with relief as Continuation fell back to more suitable positions, and by the time Pravda appeared, they were confused as to why there weren't any Continuation tanks in sight.

Suddenly, Continuation's tanks appeared from behind Pravda's positions, firing away again. Pravda was caught by surprise, losing 5 more tanks in the process, only killing one Continuation tank. Meanwhile, seeing the action unfolding in front of her, and knowing her team's flag tank was in danger, Jouko ordered Hannes to get closer to the action again. It took a few minutes to maneuver towards the ongoing battle, but with Pravda's tanks distracted, it was time for Jouko to deal the killing blow. Pravda, despite suffering heavy losses, was getting ever closer to taking out Continuation's flag tank. Only five Continuation tanks remained now, with the Continuation drivers trying to avoid as many incoming shells as possible. Unfortunately for Pravda, they weren't destroying fast enough, as a few moments later, the Sturmi, which had hidden itself after its strike against the first wave of tanks, made its appearance in great bravado, and appearing right in front of Pravda's flag tank, the Sturmi fired a powerful shell into the T-34/85's turret ring. Explosions and smoke shot out of the T-34, followed shortly after by a white flag. 

"Victory for Continuation High School!"

They'd just done the impossible, beating a school that probably outnumbered them 10-to-1. Mika had asked for no limit on the tanks fielded, which the referee, rather confused, agreed to. Meeting Jouko after the battle, Katyusha had nothing but awe to shower at this tank ace's feet. "You-you must be the daughter of that Finnish sniper... how are you so good?!" All Jouko could reply was: "Practice makes perfect." Nonna, almost as tall as Jouko extended her hand to her as well, but said something in Russian, a language Jouko had little knowledge in. Fortunately, Katyusha didn't either. "Nonna, how many times must I tell you, speak in Japanese!!" Nonna rolled her eyes at this. "Well, good game, madam. It was a great pleasure fighting you." Jouko bowed her head in appreciation. "And you too." As Pravda left, Jouko could hear Katyusha saying something about "Some new tactics to implement now."

As Continuation celebrated their victory, Mikko brought up some news that she knew would be of interest to Jouko. "So about that Miho girl that left Kuromorimine," Jouko raised her head, giving Mikko her undivided attention. "Her new school, Ooarai, just reopened tankery as an elective, and she was apparently forced into it!" Jouko couldn't believe her ears. Didn't Miho leave Kuromorimine to avoid this exact sport? "That's what I've been hearing, don't take me for granted." Aki carried on, "And it seems that they participated in a mock battle of their own yesterday, against St. Gloriana Girls' College. St. Gloriana won, that's not too surprising, but what is surprising is the fact Ooarai did manage to take down several tanks, despite a relatively inexperienced team." Jouko immersed herself deep in thought. Was Miho making a comeback to Sensha-do? She wanted to face her soon if this was the case, she was a good commander in her Kuromorimine days. However, that wasn't important now. The 63rd Championships were going to take place in a few days, and they needed to be ready for it.

"Tomorrow I'll go back to practicing, I want to make sure we make it past the Quarterfinals this time. If anyone wants to join me, feel free to." Jouko was determined to see her team go to the semifinals for once, and given their recent win against Pravda spirits were running high. The next few days were dedicated to practice, hard practice, as Mika continued to work on refining Continuation's skills in hit-and-run guerrilla tactics for the tournament. Löfström practiced her loading, Frisell her radio operating, and Hannes more maneuvering. Jouko practiced hard at hitting long-range targets and close range whilst the tank was moving at high speeds. All like before, thorough with dealing with flaws in their respective fields.

The time finally came to draw for the 63rd Tournament, and after arriving at the stadium, Jouko searched desperately for Miho. After anxious searching, she stumbled upon Ooarai's students, who looked at her with puzzled faces. Mustering the courage to speak, she asked to speak to Miho Nishizumi, who greeted her accordingly while her fellow students looked on, curious at Jouko's rather tall height. "Miss Nishizumi, it's an honor to meet you. I'm Jouko, a native from Finland. It's great I can meet you at last." Miho gave Jouko a rather embarrassed look, "Well.. I.. am glad to see you too!" and allowed her to continue. "I'm very sorry about Kuromorimine, I understand how you value the lives of compatriots over winning a tournament at their expense. I hope here you will be able to see more success." Miho was stunned. This was probably the first person she met who actually supported her decision to save Koume and her crew. "I.. well.. thank you. I better get back now, I have to draw for the tournament soon." As both girls walked back to their seats, both had a profound sense of respect for each other. Miho had heard of Jouko's skills commanding a tank at Continuation, and felt inspired by her tactics. Jouko, on the other hand, was deeply honored to have finally met Miho, and express her support for her decision. She watched as Miho drew her number for the first match, and was stunned.

"Ooarai Girls' Academy draws number eight!"

They were facing Saunders for their first battle. The stadium erupted in chatter, and laughter could be heard from several sections. How could this amateur school that just started tankery possibly hope to win against the richest school in Japan? There was simply no way. Mika was last to step up to the podium, and her draw meant that Continuation was paired up against Blue Division High School for their first match.

The time spent between the draws and the first match was spent practicing, but the day before the match, fate intervened to smite Continuation again, this time with the biggest hit yet.

The day before the first match was scheduled to begin,

Jouko suffered a fever that left her bedridden.

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(AN: Well, there's Pravda vs. Continuation, and Jouko manages to meet Miho finally. I added a couple Winter War references in, and I'd say my depiction of the mock battle was... decent. Not the best, but I did what I could. Now, with Jouko ill, Continuation is at a major disadvantage, and will simply have to rely on their drivers for a chance at victory. Expect the next chapter in 12-15 hours from this being published as I have to sleep, its late at night as of this publishing.)