Strike Witches:Afrika Chapter4
Oblt. Rall's words played across my mind as I walked, and before I knew it, I was on the outskirts of Tobruk Fortress. Oblt. Marseille and her squadron were not far now.
I looked across the desert, and saw a lone Witch alight from a car, and begin walking this way. She was wearing a Karlslander Luftwaffe uniform. Could she be a member of Marseille's squadron?
When I asked her, she told me that she was in fact Marseille's wingman. What a stroke of luck.
I most definitely wanted to talk to her.
I gathered my journalistic composure, ready to find out how the people around Marseille thought of her, and anything else I might find out, with the end goal of meeting Marseille herself.
The girl's name was Liesa Pöttgen, a leutnant. She was still a young and playful girl, recently graduated from Officer Cadet School by my guess.
"Tina? Yeah, it can be really hard to stay on her tail sometimes."
When I asked who Tina was, she told me it was Oblt. Marseille's pet name. Most likely because of the Tina in Justina.
"Tina doesn't fight the way the rest of us think is normal, you see. Normally, we go at full speed when we're flying. But she'll reduce her throttle almost to the point where the engine stalls, and she'll even lower her landing gear to increase air resistence, all in order to get the tightest turning radius possible."
Lt. Liesa showed me what she meant by imitating Marseille with her hands. It was much easier to see how Marseille flew with her practical example. It wasn't something that could be put into words.
"She doesn't try to hit-and-run, but instead outmaneuvers her target in a battle of position. She'll get close to her target, then lower her own altitude to aim at the Neuroi from behind and under it. After all, a lot of small Neuroi craft have their core around their abdomen."
She held her left hand up, representing the Neuroi in front, then twisted her right hand in a sharp turning dive ending up behind the left. Then, she hit her left hand with her right.
"That's how she always takes down those Neuroi with just one burst. After that, she'll push her throttle to the max again, and charge right through the enemy formation looking for her next prey. The way she fights makes her look like an air battle calculator or something."
Lt. Liesa explained the details of Marseille's tactics, a smile on her face the entire time. However, a wingman often had the tough job of confirming whether and where the Neuroi was shot down, all while following the lead pilot to drive off any approaching enemies, and keeping an eye on how the situation was developing. It probably was not a simple task to follow Marseille's lead, considering all the acrobatic maneuvering I was just told about.
Not to mention the sheer number of kills her wingman must have to confirm.
I asked what she thought about her own role as Marseille's wingman, and she beamed a wide smile.
"You have no idea how hard it is just to keep up with her. But you know, jobs as wonderful as flying with the world's top ace and protecting her back are really rare. And besides, I'm one of her fans. For all of us, everyone here in Africa, she's our idol, our star of hope. To be alone in the wide sky together with her, a position that wonderful is something anyone in the world would yearn for. Even if I were told that I could be relieved, I would definitely refuse."
I could see what she meant. It was a mission where the joys outweighed the hardships.
Even work as hard as being her wingman was enjoyable for her. I wanted to meet Oblt. Marseille more than ever now.
Saying she had to go take care of business to take care of in Tobruk, I took several photographs of Lt. Liesa, and continued heading towards the base. After having heard so many stories about Marseille, I wanted to meet her as soon as possible, and I naturally began walking faster.
The Witches' base was on a hill slightly removed from Tobruk. The barracks for the members seemed to be in a valley nearby. As I headed there, I saw several signposts dotted about the road. Every single one of them was mounted on the sparse vegetation around the base, nailed to trees, or hanging off of shrubs; they were attached in all sorts of ways, but every one of them pointed in one direction.
As I walked up to one of them to take a closer look, I saw a simple message written there. "The World's Best Fighter Squadron." That told me all I needed to know about the team's morale.
Then, I noticed one signpost that was especially large. A long pillar, with several arrow-shaped signposts pointing in every direction attached to it.
Tripoli - 200 km. Alexandria - 600 km. Berlin - 2400 km. London 3000 km... and the last sign, which I read out, unthinkingly.
"Tokyo - 10000 km."
I see, so other people from Fuso have been here as well. It might be 10000 km away in a straight line, but in actual fact it took many times that going by sea. It could have been a bit shorter if the Suez Canal could still be used, but that area was firmly under Neuroi control.
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