Strike Witches: Road to Berlin

Two months into her medical studies at the University of Lausanne in Helvetia, Yoshika Miyafuji receives a visit from Mio Sakamoto and Keisuke Hijikata in early November, 1945, though their reunion is quickly interrupted by news of a potential Neuroi attack on a Venezian battleship captained by the father of one of Yoshika's local friends. Flying from the Alps to the coast, Yoshika, and later the rest of the Strike Witches attempt to stop a Neuroi from crashing a massive iceberg into the port of Antwerpen in Belgica, however their efforts fail and the port facilities are destroyed.
With the loss of the deepwater port at Antwerpen, humanity's plans for a push on occupied Karlsland, with the goal of retaking Berlin, must be put on hold for several months until the port can be rebuilt. In the meantime, the 501st JFW is reassembled and stationed in Den Helder, Nederland. With Mio having aged out of her magic several months prior, the Imperial Fuso Navy now officially assigns a replacement, one Shizuka Hattori. With other members not far off aging out themselves, the Strike Witches must prepare for the upcoming operation to liberate Berlin, deep in the heart of Neuroi-occupied territory.
Strike Witches: Road to Berlin is a follow-up to Strike Witches: The Movie; it is the first story to be set after the events of The Movie since that film released in 2012.
For more in-depth explanations of the lore and setting of the World Witches universe, see the first season's page.
Warning: Some descriptions and images are notable spoilers for the series, read at your own risk.
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=Pistols=
==Browning M.25==
The Browning M.25 (the Dutch military designation for the FN Model 1922, in .380 ACP) is seen in the holsters of two officers at the Schelde Fort, a coastal artillery installation at the mouth of the river of the same name. The pistols themselves are not seen outside their holsters, however this was the standard sidearm of the Dutch military at the time.
==Colt M1873==
General Gerald S. Patton carries a custom Single Action Army revolver very similar to the one carried by the real George S. Patton. Patton's revolver is an engraved 4.75" Civilian model with ivory grips, though the World Witches depiction differs in being gold-plated rather than nickel. Charlotte Yeager also carries an M1873 Civilian (blued with wood grips) in a left-handed shoulder holster (presumably for easier access if her BAR is still in her right hand) which she lends to Gertrud Barkhorn as a lightweight backup weapon for a sortie against a particularly dangerous Neuroi.
For a photo of Gertrud's actress Mie Sonozaki posing with a Single Action Army, see the Talk Page.
=Submachine Guns=
==MP 40==
MP 40 submachine guns are carried by Karlsland troops and tank crews; one of them is taken by Yoshika Miyafuji and used in a last stand atop the Zoo Tower in Berlin. An MP 40 magazine is also seen among other clutter in Erica Hartmann's room.
=Rifles=
==Mosin Mod. 1891/30==
An Orussian soldier is briefly seen with a Mod. 1891/30 in Berlin. Though often colloquially called "Mosin-Nagant" in the West, this is a misnomer created by legal disputes over the rifle's design, and how those disputes were reported on in Western/English sources of the time period.
==Boys Mk I*==
Lynette Bishop continues to use a Boys Mk I* anti-tank rifle in her role as the 501st's designated marksman. She notably makes use of her Boys to put a stop to the shenanigans caused by an ancient clay fertility idol roaming around the Strike Witches' base.
=Machine Guns=
==Bren Mk 1 (M)==
In addition to continuing to be the standard weapon of Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann, a Bren Mk 1 (M) is also used by Yoshika Miyafuji while defending the Venezian battleship Doge. It is odd that a Venezian ship would have Britannian weapons onboard, though this is likely a matter of production simplicity; with Francesca Lucchini not using Romagnan/Venezian/Italian weapons, there wouldn't be reference material (including a 3D model) already available for use in what is ultimately a single episode appearance. This is supported by a Twitter post from series creator/artist Humikane Shimada, mentioning that he would have liked the Helvetian/Swiss Bf 109 flown by Yoshika in the first two episodes to be a D or E variant, but a new 3D model and other reference material would have been excessive for a single appearance (as such, Yoshika flies a Bf 109 F, likely an F-4).
thumb|none|400px|Bren Mk 1 (M) - .303 British
==Browning M1918A2==
The Browning Automatic Rifle returns as Charlotte Yeager's primary weapon, and is also used by Liberion tank crews, seen when they take refuge inside the Zoo Tower.
==Browning M1919A6==
As always, Francesca Lucchini uses a Browning M1919A6, fitted with a custom-mounted detachable ammo box.
==MG 42==
The witch variant of the MG 42, fitted with Patronentrommel 34 drum mags, remains the standard weapon of Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke, Gertrud Barkhorn, Erica Hartmann, and Eila Juutilainen. In addition, Charlotte Yeager briefly borrows Minna's MG 42, after entering a battle unarmed. With Mio Sakamoto having officially left the unit, Gertrud has been promoted to the rank of Squadron Leader.
==Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai==
The fictional witch variant of the Type 99, the Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai, is used by Yoshika Miyafuji and Shizuka Hattori. With Shizuka joining the main cast and Yoshika having (mostly) regained her magic, the Type 99 gets considerably more time to shine than in Operation Victory Arrow or The Movie.
For the rather lengthy technical explanation of the witches' Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai variant, see its first season entry.
=Launchers & Other=
==Fliegerhammer==
Night witch Aleksandra Litvyak's weapon of choice remains the Fliegerhammer rocket launcher, inspired by the Fliegerfaust and designed by Erica's twin sister Ursula Hartmann.
For additional details, see its first season entry.
==helmet gun==
The genius and eccentric Ursula Hartmann returns with more of her inventions, this time including an incredibly obscure firearm design: A helmet-mounted gun. Specifically, this was a very real patent filed by an American inventor by the name of Albert Bacon Pratt in the 1910s.
==Panzerfaust 250==
The Panzerfaust 250 appears as another of Ursula's creations. The PzF 250 was to be a major evolution of the Panzerfaust series, introducing a reusable tube and a pistol grip assembly, but in our reality while the plans were completed, none were built before the war's end. The design was seized by the Russians, who used it to develop the RPG-2, which then became the ubiquitous RPG-7.
=506th Joint Fighter Wing, Noble Witches cameo=
The Noble Witches make another cameo, and as with Operation Victory Arrow it's again as a formation of contrails in the sky. Unlike their previous cameos, however, this time the entire 506th appears, making this the first animated appearance of B-unit. Based in Dijon, B-unit is comprised of four Liberion witches: Geena Preddy (.50 AN/M2), Marian Carl (M1919A6), Jennifer DeBlanc (HS.404), and Carla Luksic (M2).
=Vehicle-Mounted & Stationary Weapons=
==MG 17==
In the opening scenes of the season, during the fall of Karlsland in 1940, Bf 109 G-2 fighters are seen attempting to take down a Neuroi; the Bf 109s are armed with a pair of MG 17s above the engine.
==MG 151/20==
The Bf 109s are also equipped with a single MG 151/20, mounted through the propeller hub. The Neuroi invasion of Berlin is established as taking place on June 5, 1940. In the real world, this is the same date Germany initiated the second phase of its invasion of France, Fall Rot; this was two days after the end of the British evacuation at Dunkirk, and one day after Winston Churchill's famous "We shall fight on the beaches" speech. Within the World Witches universe, that evacuation would take place a year later in June, 1941, as seen in a flashback in the first season, as well as the Erica Hartmann 1941 manga.
==.50 AN/M2==
B-17G Flying Fortress bombers make recurring appearances throughout the season, most notably during a raid over Berlin, in which the Strike Witches deploy from the bomb bay of one of the B-17s. Bristling with defensive armament, B-17Gs are equipped with a total of thirteen .50 AN/M2 machine guns, five in flexible configuration and eight fixed in turrets.
The B-17s that take part in the raid on Wolf are also equipped with fuel-air bombs, to dissipate Wolf's protective cloud. In reality, fuel-air explosives were initially developed by Germany during WWII, under the project name Hexenkessel, which rather fittingly translates to "witch's cauldron". This type of weapon did not see notable combat use until being further developed by the United States during the Vietnam War, and the type of bomb seen here is modelled after the BLU-72, a type of American fuel-air bomb that dates to the late 1960s; while highly anachronistic in reality, it appears that within this universe the technology was developed much faster, likely as a result of collaboration between Karlsland and Liberion.
==Browning M1919A4==
Browning M1919A4 machine guns are mounted in M4A3 Sherman tanks, along with their M3 cannon. Each tank is equipped with an M1919A4 in a coaxial mount, another in a bow mount, and interestingly a "spare" Browning attached to the rear of the turret; many of the Shermans also feature a T34 Calliope rocket launcher. A Sherman fitted with a mine plow (repurposed as a farming tool) is prominently used by Perrine while she, Yoshika, and Shizuka visit the Dutch royal family at the Kasteel De Haar.
==MG 34 Panzerlauf==
Alongside the Shermans, the allied tank force is also made up of Tiger Is, which are equipped with a pair of MG 34 Panzerlaufs, similarly in coaxial and bow positions, as well as an 8.8cm KwK 36 cannon. In addition to the Shermans and Tigers, the key to the whole operation is the ludicrously enormous Ratte, a 1000-ton tank classified as a Landkreuzer. The Ratte's turret is taken from a Scharnhorst-class battleship, with the centre gun removed; in service as tank-mounted weapons, these cannons would have been designated as the 28cm KwK 34. The Ratte also features a single 12.8cm KwK 44 (same as on the Jagdtiger and Maus) mounted in the forward hull, two Kugelblitz turrets each fitted with a pair of 3cm FlaK 103 cannons on the forward engine deck, two Coelian turrets with a 5.5cm FlaKZwilling 58 twin cannon each at the rear, and finally eight MG 34 Panzerlauf machine guns around the front and sides of the hull.
==Bofors 40mm L/60==
The Karlsland trio start off the season at the Saint-Trond airbase in Belgica, which as always is defended by large AA batteries that seem to be oversized twin-mounted Bofors guns; the base appears to have gained an additional four turrets since its previous appearance. Numerous AA guns also defend the Noble Witches' A-unit base in Sedan (where Pierrette and Lynette are staying), though the B-unit base in Dijon (being visited by Charlotte and Francesca) has no visible AA weapons. In addition to these bases, Aleksandra and Eila had been spending their time at a base in Libau, Orussia.
==Coastal Artillery==
The Schelde Fort, defending the waterway into Antwerpen, is equipped with numerous artillery installations which are put to use in an attempt to destroy the iceberg Neuroi. While no such fortress existed in our reality, given its location it could be considered a thematic reference to the allied amphibious assault that took place there in 1944. The 501st JFW base in Den Helder also features several coastal batteries. In much the same way as the Brave Witches' base in Petersburg is this universe's version of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Strike Witches' base in Den Helder is equivalent to Fort Erfprins, a fortress from the early 1800s that is still in use as a naval barracks.
==Rheinbote, on 8.8cm FlaK 41 mount==
A Rheinbote rocket is used as a target during a test of the Me 163 Komet striker; the rocket's launch platform is a modified mount for an 8.8cm FlaK 41 anti-aircraft gun. In reality, Rheinbote using repurposed gun mounts as launch platforms did happen, though photographs are scarce. The specific setup seen in Road to Berlin, down to its colour scheme is an exact match to a model kit, which likely served as the animators' reference material.
The 8.8cm FlaK 41 itself was an evolution of the 8.8cm FlaK 36 (or 8.8cm KwK 36 as the Tiger I's gun) with a longer barrel and cartridge, and was a direct competitor to the 8.8cm PaK 43 (or 8.8cm KwK 43 as the Tiger II's gun). The original FlaK 36 used an 88x571mmR shell, the PaK 43 used an 88x822mmR shell, while the FlaK 41 used an even longer 88x855mmR shell.
==12.8cm FlaKZwilling 40==
Four 12.8cm FlaKZwilling 40 twin anti-aircraft cannons are seen mounted on the roof of the Flakturm Tiergarten (Tiergarten flak tower), commonly nicknamed the Zoo Tower due to being constructed close to the Berlin Zoo. While the real Zoo Tower was constructed in 1941, and only reequipped with these cannons in 1943, within the World Witches universe it was constructed before the second Neuroi war in anticipation of their return.
==Naval Weapons==
The Littorio-class battleship Doge features prominently in the battle with the iceberg Neuroi in the first two episodes. While there was no ship of the class named Doge in reality, it is certainly the World Witches universe equivalent to the Vittorio Veneto, as its namesake battle in the Great War never took place due to the first Neuroi invasion. The Doge actually first appeared in the series ten years previous to Road to Berlin, named on a briefing map as part of the fleet assembled for Operation Mars in Strike Witches 2. While most of her armament is the same as listed on the second season page, due to having a new 3D model she does differ in a few ways. Notably, the aircraft catapult has been moved from the stern to the bow, requiring removal of the four Breda 37/54 Modello 1938 twin autocannons that previously occupied that position. In exchange, two additional 37mm Breda emplacements were added just forward of the rear main turret.
Category:Anime
Category:War
Category:Science-Fiction
Category:Japanese Produced/Filmed