Summoning Japan: Flights of the Fancy

Chapter 17 - Fire, Smoke, and Magic Bullets

Irnetia Island

For a moment, Bernie couldn't believe his eyes. He had witnessed a new tank, not the Hound. It was smaller than the Hound, and instead of a tank gun protruding from the turret, it had a thin rod. If a knowledgeable Japanese person had seen it, they would have noticed that the vehicle closely resembled the old Imperial Japanese Army's Type 95 Ha-Go light tank.

As the new vehicle approached a defensive position partially collapsed by shell explosions, it started spraying flames from its turret, scorching the inside of the trench. Soldiers inside couldn't bear it and jumped out. Many soldiers were engulfed in flames before the Gra Valkan tanks mercilessly gutted the fleeing soldiers with machine gun fire. There were even Hounds firing shells at the group of fleeing soldiers.

On Earth, tanks were invented and evolved as weapons to breach defensive positions like trenches. The same was the case on Yggdra, and the Gra Valkans had prepared weapons and tactics for trench warfare. Despite the 501st Platoon building defensive positions to guard against aerial attacks, they never imagined a weapon like the lookalike of a Ha-Go equipped with a flamethrower, and their meticulously fortified position was torn apart. While they knew that the Parpaldia Empire utilized the lindwurm, the Mirishial Army scorned it as barbarian tactics and had not researched the usefulness of flamethrower attacks.

Upon calm reflection, there were few who could answer which was a crueler way to be killed – being chased and shot while engulfed in flames by a tank or having the tank's armor penetrated, leading to an explosive death. However, witnessing the scene unfolding before him, Bernie's anger boiled.

"This is 2, I'm going in!"

"1 to 2, stay put. Follow your orders."

"You're leaving our men to die!?"

"Wait for air support."

"When is that coming!?"

"I'm checking on that right now."

Bernie barely swallowed the "Fuck you" he was about to spit out. It wasn't just Bernie feeling this way. Fortunately, before someone exploded, more information continued from the manacomm.

"The Navy will send an attack plane immediately."

Bernie's anger meter went up further. It didn't seem very fortunate.

Another voice from the manacomm. "This is the 42nd Squadron, 501st Platoon, respond."

What kind of squadron is just one plane? Bernie thought, but Hanry responded calmly.

"This is the 501st Platoon leader. We are under enemy attack. Hurry up and come to our aid."

"Where is your location?"

Hanry read out the coordinates used for requesting artillery support on the ground, but was interrupted.

"That tells me nothing. Are there any landmarks visible from the sky?"

Hanry fell silent. The 501st Platoon's front line was in open land, with no noticeable terrain or buildings nearby. Disgusted by the poor coordination between the Army and Navy and Hanry's lack of resourcefulness, Bernie threw a lifeline.

"This is 501st Platoon Unit 2. The enemy is attacking with fire. Use the fire as a marker."

Bernie thought he had a brilliant idea, but his confidence was quickly shattered.

"There are fires all over the place."

Bernie cursed his own carelessness. There was no reason they would be receiving special treatment from the enemy.