Valkaria Chronicles #4

I'm enjoying Valkyria Chronicles, an anime set in a fictional 1930s era Europe. The backdrop for the story is the invasion of Gallia by the Empire. Even though the places are fictitious, the weaponry seems accurate for the period. There is a prototype tank that looks remarkably like a Panzer III. The Empire use tanks that resembles a French design and the Gallian regular army has a tank similar to the British Matilda.

The two main characters Welkin Gunther and Alicia Melchiott first meet during the early days of the invasion when they have to escape from their home town using the prototype tank. Alicia has had military training in the town militia and is not very impressed with Welkin, who is more interested in studying the local fauna. Alicia joins the Gallian militia and, much to her dismay, discovers Welkin is now a lieutenant and has become her commanding officer. However, Welkin turns out to be a surprisingly good officer and leader, and gradually wins the trust of Alicia and his squad.

The tank battles are exciting to watch but they do stretch my credulity. In the two engagements so far, the single prototype tank defeated a more numerous force without sustaining any serious damage. Superior numbers will always have the advantage, even if the force has inferior equipment or lacks leadership. Being outnumbered in a tank battle, or any battle, is rarely going to end well.

While it also seems unrealistic that the Gallian regular army would let the militia use the prototype tank, I get the impression that the regular army leadership is not very professional, based on the one General I've seen so far. In that context, it seems very reasonable that the army leaders would easily dimiss the new tank as something not very important.