The next day Shino decided to use the quiet nature of the clubroom to finish off some of the tasks given by self learning kits she received yesterday.
It was a breeze since she is not getting distracted by the chit chat of her classmates and she could enjoy her music without increasing the audio volume too much.
Afterall she never actually know what is the plan for this tankery club and so she decided to use her time for other things.
---
While studying she heard a knock on the entrance door.
"Coming!"
She closed her book and stood up walking towards the door and opening it greeting the person.
"Ah, Mr.Principal is there something you need?"
"Yes, i would like to ask the opinion of our Tankery Commander"
Shino grinned a little while replying to the comment.
"I dont even have tanks yet i am now called a tank commander"
The Principal chuckles
"That's why i am here"
"What do you mean by that?"
Shino raised her brows.
"Can i atleast go in first?"
"Ah, i forgot, welcome to the clubroom mr.principal"
The Principal and Shino walked alongside towards the desk.
"So you like this room?"
"It was quite spacious and i cant believe such a large area needed for this sport, and i like the quiet atmosphere"
"I'm glad you liked it"
Shino sat on her chair while the principal sat in front of her on another chair.
"So, what tank are you looking for?" The Principal asked.
"I did some research yesterday and i found American tanks to be a good choice in our start." Shino told in a serious tone.
"Huh, so you want those shermans huh?"
"Well not really i liked their Tank destroyers more..."
"The M36?"
"The M18 Hellcat, also what tank is that?"
Shino replied
"It's an American Tank Destroyer my favorite one anyway in that case Shino-Chan, ill begin processing the documents and get the tanks you deserved as a commander"
"Wait really? Thank you, Mr.Principal"
"You're welcome and to be honest i should be thanking you for being the first to accept this sport and volunteering yourself as the commander."
"Well, i dont really know what made me accept it but deep inside me makes me get riled up for driving and commanding some tanks, even though i have no knowledge to begin with"
The Principal Chuckled
"I see, very well then before i leave what tankery uniform you want?"
Shino thought for a while.
"Just a shade of green while wearing helmets for safety"
The Principal nodded and stood up.
"Very well then Shino-chan, ill take my leave"
Shino up and replied.
"Have a great day sir!"
The Principal left the clubroom while Shino was waving goodbye and after the door closed Shino revealed a heavy sigh of relief.
"Man, that was intense but knowing that i would get tanks and its american, i guess i need to just study american tank tactics"
---
After taking a few preparations Shino began diving again in online tank forums.
What she needs now is how these tanks are used in battle.
And she began searching up the battles in the European theater of the war where these tanks are actually used in military combat.
Treading through the myths and misinterpretation she got distracted and read some online arguments about tank tactics and tanks in general.
What she found is not really helpful and helpful at the same time.
So to start off
Shino learned that most american tanks are infantry support and most of the time they're not intended to fight German tanks, the real main tank killer of the United States in the war are its Close Air Support Aircraft.
Based on these many forum posts many german tank losses are either from american air assets hunting them down while on the move or stationary in their bases or being abandoned in battle after having no supplies to repair their tanks.
There are indeed some notable mentions of american tanks taking down german tanks however the main tank battles where most of the tanks produced by germany are sent is in the eastern front.
As Shino stepped foot into these forums threads she already saw long arguments about the T-34-85 tanks being the savior of europe and a superior tank to all known tanks of the war or being a piece of tin can that can be taken down by a small panzer 3 because of the brittle steel armor and faulty welding made by inexperienced russian factory workers cutting out many features of the tank to pump more out.
Shino also concluded that these tank forums are a mess filled with people being biased where she also learned the term Commieboo and Wehraboo after seeing two people argue that the tiger can take down t-34 after t-34 in the Battle of Kursk while other claimed that the t-34 are so numerous that they could just swarm the tiger and its so called superior engineering.
Insults are thrown and after midway reading it, Shino decided not to dive deeper and went to other forum thread posts.
After spending more hours she finally found an American tank destroyer tactics being discussed in the forum thread post and she got into it immediately and also started noting things down to effectively use these machines.
First and foremost, these tank destroyers are still used as infantry support tanks just like their sherman counterpart however they are light and maneuverable unlike the sherman and they still have the features found on the sherman such as the gun stabilizer fire support gyroscope meaning while being on the move the gunner only need to do some math and prediction to hit its target not worrying about the sudden bumps the tank may receive and unaligned its aim.
Shino also found out that they tank destroyers still have a large profile like the sherman except for the m18 and its because of their aircraft radial engine Shino thought it wont matter as they're fast enough to avoid shells and she also learned that american tank destroyers are ambush tanks and so they could be well hidden while wait for their enemy to come in front of them.
Finishing the thread she yawned and stretching her arms and legs.
Ending her tank study, Shino backed off from the computer and concluded that she still has a lot of information to digest but with the recent announcement she is now getting more and more excited now that she is getting a tank she could use.