Strike Witches:Afrika Chapter3
As I left the logistics base to go look for Marseille's base, I remembered something I heard from a former Karlsländer Luftwaffe acquaintance of mine, Oberleutnant Gundula Rall, when I paid her a visit in hospital, shortly before I came here.
"In our Karlsländer Luftwaffe, we always have to write up our combat reports in the most excruciating detail. Who witnessed the attack, whether it was a fellow pilot, whether a unit on the ground confirmed it, and then details of how the attack progressed, the enemy unit's type, model number, number and type of shots fired, armament on hand... we had to write all of that down.
Oblt. Rall gestured animatedly with her hands as she told me about the details. From all the movement, I could tell exactly how much trouble it must have been to write those reports.
"So, if you read those reports, you'd find that Marseille only used an average of about 15 rounds to take down small Neuroi units. A normal magazine for the MG34 holds 50 rounds. Even a saddle-type magazine only holds 75 rounds. A normal witch might fire all of that in just one burst. Marseille, though, she could take down five of them with a saddle-type. One time she went out with a 250-round case of ammunition, and came back with the new record of shooting down ten Neuroi in one go."
Rall continued her story, waving an imaginary machine gun she couldn't see herself as she made flying motions. She was so into the illusion that she even changed magazines at one point. Not being able to fly after being injured must have been hard on her.
"Those are truly astounding results. Normally just finding the core takes quite a few rounds, and after finding it, slamming magic bullets into the core takes even more rounds. But Marseille would usually find and destroy the core, all in one attack. It almost makes you think that the Neuroi's core moves to where Marseille is shooting, you know."
Rall flashed a charming smile as she continued. There was no telling how hard it might be to find the core, but in rare cases some witches had special abilities that could locate a core. Marseille had no such ability, but with her sharp eyesight, she could still find a core just from one look at the enemy.
"At this point, I'll bet there isn't a single witch near Marseille's level. She's a magnificent Witch, both in operating a Striker unit, and in marksmanship. Especially the latter, there's no doubt she's the best in Karlsland, or no, even among the entire Allied Human Forces."
A grimace appeared on Rall's face as she finished, perhaps in pain because of her spine injury, or because she wanted to recover and return to the battlefield as soon as possible.
Wishing Oblt. Rall a speedy recovery, I headed towards Africa.
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