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As expected, over the course of November, you received Di Scurostrada’s Lieutenant commission, and she advanced to Captain, to take command of 3rd Company after 4th Company’s leadership was assumed by the patron of its new vehicles, Di Portaltramanto. Your paperwork increased substantially- as did the duties of minding after the platoon officially, and handling training. The new officers, after all, knew the tanks that had been shipped with them, and were unpleasantly surprised to learn that they would be instead taking command of the C2s left over. You thought it not so bad as they assumed- the C2 was a good vehicle. They could have found themselves in C1s, or in captured Reich tanks that were even less familiar.
The new tanks were called the <span class="mu-i">Armatura D’Assalto tipo Titano</span>, or “Titans.” They were definitely bigger than their fellow Vitelian tanks, more resembling the Reich heavy vehicles with the forward cannon, though they were not as long and the cannon was not as big, being a 6.5-centimeter mountain gun. It was also situated in the side of the hull rather than the center, giving the vehicle an asymmetrical oddness to its face not helped by the off-center driver’s compartment that stuck out the front like a nose that had wandered over to a cheek. Atop the big steel bunkers was a rotating turret with a machine gun- though the blind spot of the cannon was already defended by machine guns fitted both to the flanks, the other side of the front, and on each corner of the rear. The claim of it bearing as many weapons as an entire platoon of lesser tanks was accurate, though you had to wonder if the <span class="mu-i">Titano</span>’s colossal weight would hinder it so much that it might not make it…though, the Reich tanks managed to move well enough in spite of their mass, so perhaps they were an edge that you didn’t know you needed.
You did question why the powerful cannon couldn’t have been placed atop the vehicle in the turret like the C2- Julio, ecstatic of your curiosity, said that had indeed been the original intention, but the delays caused with working that out were unacceptable. Such an improvement would have to wait until the next model.
The tanks were not called up to the front for the whole of that month- and the next. Instead, the Special Weapons Battalion committed to training, mechanical upkeep, and drills so that the new platoon could be properly integrated into operations. While the Titans were not perfect, you had to admit that they exceeded expectations when you saw what they had, and what they could do. They were swifter than one might expect, and broke down only somewhat more often than the C2s, though they did have trouble with inclines. They were also apparently quieter on the inside and had ventilation systems for the crew space- enviable, considering that even in winter it got dreadfully hot inside the C2, and the engine was ever so loud that it was impossible to speak.
