Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 112

……

"My God... has the Soviet army started attacking here again?"

"This is terrible, what should we do..."

At this moment, the atmosphere in the Capitol gradually shifted from calm to unease.

"General, what about the Soviet breakthrough on the southern front?"

"Yes, they started their attack from Stolko, the place where the 4th Newfoundland Brigade was fatally wounded. Now the Soviet army has penetrated nearly 20 kilometers into our southern region, and Elkna, which is 23 kilometers southeast of us, is almost lost. If we hadn't been constantly increasing our troops to desperately stop their advance, they might have already reached the outskirts of Berlin."

“It used to be the south, now it’s the north. Based on the current position of the enemy’s vanguard in the south, they are no more than 40 kilometers away from the Soviet troops in the north who may launch an attack… My God…” The Duke’s heart tightened.

"This is the worst-case scenario, Your Excellency."

"Hmm? Do you have any ideas, Lieutenant Colonel?" At this moment, the Duke and Lieutenant General Wood saw Marendor and Windsor enter. The one who spoke was one of the former's staff officers—the Duke already knew his name was Eddie Hill.

"Based on our previous experience in urban warfare, the Soviet army has always preferred to use multiple forces to attack and encircle our troops in the city in an attempt to annihilate them. Given this, I believe they will not abandon this practice when they are in the field."

"You mean, based on your experience, the Soviet army is doing this most likely to connect the north and south, and then..."

"Although it is 80 kilometers from Berlin to the Oder River, the Soviet army coordinated its north-south advance and we left our troops in the east of the city. If our offensive failed, it would be equivalent to sending the rear of our troops in the suburbs out."

“You’re absolutely right, Lieutenant Colonel. We can’t afford such a loss right now.” The Duke nodded.

"So we're going to have to give up the occupied territory in the east of the city right now?" General Windsor was getting anxious. "This, this place that we finally managed to capture..."

"If the Soviet army truly intends to take a large bite out of us, then a retreat is necessary. We cannot leave our troops behind; at the very least, we must ensure they can establish land contact with us. If we encounter new attacks from the Soviet army during the retreat, we can directly counterattack, turning the retreat into a counter-offensive or breakout operation. However, if we remain in place like a huddled turtle, we are simply handing over the initiative entirely to the enemy. In the end, we might fail to relieve the siege and instead suffer losses, rendering the previous airborne operation futile. Losing a small number of troops during the retreat to preserve the overall strength is far better than losing a large, well-organized unit."

"Good! Anyway, the new army groups and corps will be here soon." Sassler seemed very pleased. "Shall we begin now, Lieutenant Colonel?"

"Actually, I had been considering and preparing for this day to come, but... it seems to have come a little too soon..."

……

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Soviet army...

"Alright! Comrade Kuznetsov has also set off."

Zhukov was overjoyed when he received news in his command post that the Third Shock Army had also begun its attack. If this combined attack from the north and south could break the Berlin and Kostyan directions in two, then reorganizing the Berlin encirclement would be a piece of cake.

However, he still had some concerns.

"Ahem... General Chuikov reports that their offensive in Elkna has reached a stalemate due to the increasing strength of the enemy's counterattacks, and new troops must be deployed to break the deadlock."

"Is the 1st Guards Tank Army still not ready?"

"I'm very sorry, Comrade Marshal, we lost a lot of supplies that night. The fuel for the 1st Guards Tank Army will take several more days to be fully deployed, but the 2nd Guards Tank Army will be able to participate in the offensive very soon."

"Well...sigh..." Zhukov scratched his head. "What about the pontoon bridge?"

"The Polish side has reported that they have only found one location so far, and only have enough materials to build a pontoon bridge. The pontoon bridge will not be completed until around noon today."

"This makes the supply shortage along the Oder River a real headache... In that case, we definitely can't bring in any more troops from Poland, and the supply lines will surely be overloaded and collapse."

"So what should we do, Comrade Zhukov?"

"We can only send a telegram to Moscow now, requesting that they order more ships to be transferred from the Baltic Sea or the Northern Fleet to alleviate the pressure on land transport by sea. But the key is... the ports along the German and Polish coasts are still short of ships... Heaven, distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. We can only hope that the enemy pouring out of Berlin is within our capacity to bear."

"Marshal, do you mean...?"

"We need to be prepared to abandon Germany while ensuring the integrity of the Soviet troops stationed there..."

Section 173, Chapter 115: Why We Live, Why We Die

"How much longer will it take for our reinforcements to arrive?!"

A village has been completely encased in flames and smoke from the surrounding countryside, and the sounds of explosions and drums rise and fall. Hellhounds are gnawing at dilapidated houses and decaying farmland with the fangs of cannons. Life is nothing more than a handful of dust and dirt, which dissipates in the wind after being stirred up by the fiery roses.

A deafening explosion came from beneath a advancing T-34 tank, the incoming shell scattering dazzling fireballs. With a snapping sound of a tread breaking, the tank came to a halt, falling behind its formation. The Soviet infantry following behind either stopped to use it as cover or circled around it and continued their advance. Further away on either side, another tank, accompanied by infantrymen engaged in fierce fighting, continued their advance, firing into the village as they went.

What's left in the village? Only a few KMFs are still using the ruins of houses as cover, putting up some resistance against the approaching iron torrent. On the left and right flanks, you can see two Sunderlands and one infantry fighting vehicle each, while in the middle, besides a blue-purple Sunderland, there are three colorful Gloucesters.

"Everyone abandon the outer defensive line! Do not expose yourselves to the enemy's line of sight any longer!"

The paint schemes of the three Iron Knights in the middle look familiar, right? The cyan one must be Angelie's, and the black and green ones? Lilizia and Ipel's mobile suits have fired the last round of their recoilless cannons and have retreated helplessly.

As they spoke, Soviet mortar shells mixed with a few scattered howitzer shells rained down on the village. The two Sunderland tanks on the left flank were completely engulfed by this mixed bombardment, further fueled by a T-34 tank shell, and sent to their newly prepared craters. The village was like a small tree in a flood, and Angelina and her companions clung to their meager remaining ammunition, clinging to this small tree in hopes of not being swept away by the current.

They could not retreat any further. According to orders, if this place fell into the hands of the Soviet army, it would bring an even worse battlefield disadvantage to the entire corps.

"what!--"

"What happened!" Angelie exclaimed in shock, just as she discovered that Ipel's plane had been hit by a near-miss tank shell, with a piece of armor torn off by shrapnel, and Gloucester's waist joint had suddenly become stuck.

"I'm fine! But this Gloucester..."

"...Could it be...that this place...is really..."

……

Lilizia and Ipel stepped aside to inspect the malfunction, while the young man accompanying her watched her. In the distance, the infantry fighting vehicle was also stuck. Angelie could no longer speak; despair had inevitably spread...

Just then, a clear, sharp whistle rang out from the sky...

……

"what?"

Indeed, what flew over their heads were armed helicopters, three Britannian armed helicopters in formation—high in the sky, amidst the aerial combat between the KMF and fighter jets, they took advantage of the chaos to rush over to them.

"All crews! Prepare to fire!"

The helicopter flew directly towards the Soviet troops about to storm the village. In a flash, the rocket pods mounted on both sides of the fuselage unleashed a torrent of bright flames, blasting the T-34 tanks head-on with a high-pressure water jet of rockets. The unstoppable armored Bison was finally brought to a halt by this thunderous bombardment. Watching the remaining tanks being ignited and explode one after another, the Soviet infantry could only retreat in the direction their troops had come from, enduring the overwhelming machine gun fire of the helicopters, leaving behind carnage that stained the ground red.

“Lieutenant Angelie Vorian, we have completed our support mission. The enemy attacking force has been suppressed and retreated. You can prepare to withdraw on your own. The ground troops behind you will be arriving soon.”

"Oh... okay, I understand..."

Angelie's answer didn't bring any relief; instead, it felt like a lump of cotton stuck in her throat. Ignoring the two other girls still inspecting the damage and the dazed young man, she folded up the car's drive wheels and slowly strolled out of the village.

"Is this the price...?"

……

On this vast land, this KMF, which is three people tall, is really too small...

In the midst of this hellish dreamscape, the collapsed hut she had just used for cover was utterly insignificant...

Inside and outside the village, bomb craters, like the footprints of zebras trampling across the grassland, have densely covered every corner of this land. Houses have been turned into lonely tombstones, and the land has been dug up indiscriminately for burial pits, creating a scene reminiscent of a butcher's backyard in a hellish setting.

The shattered KMFs, the fallen Soviet soldiers, and the warplanes that had been falling from the sky for a long time—whether steel or flesh and blood—were nothing more than the entrails and intestines removed by the butcher. They were cleaved in two whole, their fragments casually tossed onto the earth. The black assault guns and infantry fighting vehicles, the green T-34 tanks, were used by the butcher as iron boxes to hold the blood of the dead. He pried them open, poured in oil and fire, and they became altars for the dead.

She could no longer feel the chill, nor see the coldness. Angelie, weary, sat in the plane, silently gazing at the boundary between reality and the underworld. As the sparks and billowing smoke rose into the sky, she slowly raised her eyes, watching it all silently ascend to heaven…

……

"This battle was absolutely outrageous... The enemy attacked relentlessly for over twenty hours, wave after wave. There was nowhere in the village that could completely escape the artillery fire. They practically whittled down an entire brigade plus our two squadrons of knights to dust, not to mention the squadrons in the sky... It was terrible..."

Angelie and her group—or rather, the survivors—had returned to their rear positions. Now she sat in a chair in a hospital room, elbows propped on her thighs, cupping her nearly paralyzed face in her hands, listlessly muttering to herself.

"Come here." She looked at the person sitting on the hospital bed when she heard the voice—Lieutenant Griffin was already able to sit up, and quietly poured her a glass of water while she was pouring out her grievances.

"This might be a trial, I suppose." The lieutenant pursed his lips. "To be battered and bruised here in the name of Britannia is the only way to become the ultimate victor. If we survive and the attacking enemy is defeated, then we should be proud of ourselves for still standing on the defensive line."

“Is that so?” Angelie’s eyes held a hint of helplessness. “When we were airdropped here on the first day of the operation, that’s what we told ourselves. Now, we may have gradually adapted to this battlefield, but…”

“A fierce battle and a nightmare are the same thing.” Griffin shook his head. “We should calm ourselves down after experiencing it. If you are stuck in a rut after today’s battle and can’t get out of it, then I guess I can’t say anything now…”

"Ok?"

“You guys haven’t known these past few days, but the doctors have been having a headache because I can’t sleep well…” The lieutenant looked at the ceiling. “I still can’t forget that one-armed soldier who almost killed me with a shovel. Last night I dreamt again that he was chasing me around the house with a shovel… When they changed my dressing in the early morning, they saw me having such a nightmare that my whole body looked like I was going crazy…”

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore." Griffin gently took Angelie's hand. "Even though I often act nonchalant, I'll never give you a long face, so can you smile at me properly?"

Just as Angelie glanced shyly to the side and was about to turn her back to him and stand up, there was a slight sound of a door opening outside the ward, and a girl with short white hair walked in carrying a box in her arms.

"Hmm? Lilizia?" Griffin's face lit up with a smile. "You finally have time to come see me?"

“Ah, I just…” Lilizia took a slow breath, averting her gaze from the direction of the lieutenant, “There were people handing out cookies and snacks outside, I just took some for myself…”

“Hey, cover up the note first.” Angelie stared at a tag with a red cross on the box, which seemed to have Griffin’s name on it. “This is probably a dessert for some patients in recovery.”

"Huh?!" Griffin's eyes widened in surprise, but he wasn't craving snacks. Instead, he gently pushed Angelie, who was standing by the bed, away and looked out the window.

"Wow! The sun must have risen in the west today! Lilizia is actually thinking of me!"

“I don’t have any.” Lilizia frowned and put the box down.

"Admit it, no matter what I say, you're always the same, with a straight face. Being too serious isn't a good thing for girls."

"What can I do about being born this way? Am I supposed to chew up the enemy with disgusting and nauseatingly sentimental words?"

"That's a real shame!" Griffin looked at Lilycia with a mischievous grin, "There aren't many cute girls in our Knights Order to begin with, and now we're missing one more."

“So…cute…” Lilizia turned her head and took a step back, biting her lip and stammering, “You…you stop teasing me…I have no interest in anything other than fighting and KMF…”

"Oh? Then you can just talk to me about KMF or something, right? Hmm?"

"I... have nothing to say... I still need to improve before I can compete with the lieutenant."

"Promotion? Lieutenant Angelie just told me that you destroyed almost all the Soviet tanks in this operation. That's enough for some people to brag about until they retire."

"And then we just watch helplessly as empty magazines are emptied, as endless waves of enemies are about to engulf us?" Lilizia's eyes were full of indignation. "Why can't I repel the enemy even after doing so much! Why! And Lieutenant, why do you always selectively forget your own achievements! Why do you always try to comfort me like this? I don't need this!"

Looking at that angry face, Griffin didn't know what to say, but Angelie chimed in.

"Answer me one question: What would you have gained if you had sacrificed yourself in front of us?"

"I...I may only have a coffin and some posthumous honors, but..."

"Then answer me again, what would have happened to us if the lieutenant hadn't stepped forward to blow up the bridge during the airborne operation a few days ago?"

"...The enemy army on the other side of the river will likely break through, and then we will fight even more fiercely..."

"Remember this: life is the most precious thing you have. Only when your life can truly save hundreds or thousands of people is it worth risking your life. Otherwise, your so-called death for honor is just a few unglamorous words on your epitaph. If the enemy is defeated and you survive, you are the victor. The longer you live and the more enemies you kill, the better that is for the fallen warriors, and the best consolation for the enemy."

“Come here, Lilizia,” the lieutenant suddenly said, grabbing the girl’s arm.

"Hey?"

"And, you seem to still hold a grudge about what happened to me?" Griffin smiled slightly. "Don't forget, when I was on the verge of death, you were the one who single-handedly rescued me, instead of waiting for someone else to put my tombstone in front of an empty coffin later."

"Empty, coffin?"

"Alright, I need to get up and walk around." Griffin composed himself, and Angelina gently helped him up. "Here, it's your turn. Would you like to stay with me a little longer?"

No one knew what Lilizia was thinking with that complaining face. Just as the lieutenant was about to reach out and help Angelie out, she gently pushed him away just as he put his arm in hers—not out of anger, but out of a girl's shyness.

"I'm tired, I'm going out to rest by myself." And with that, she turned and left.

"Sigh, this girl is still the same." Griffin chuckled, exasperated. "Hey Angelie, wasn't there another one? Where did she go?"

"Yipel? Why don't you take a guess?"

……

At the same time, in Berlin.

"Lieutenant Colonel! A supply train from District 11 is about to arrive through the portal. Quickly clear this convoy!"

"Wait a moment, these are the KMFs who have come to do repairs, we can't rush them."

Eddie Hill stood at an intersection directing traffic, quietly waiting for the wrecked vehicles in front of him to be carried, pulled, and pushed by other KMFs past him, numbly treating these steel wounded soldiers like workers on an assembly line.

"Rest in peace, warrior... Alas, rest in peace, warrior..."

He lost count of how many vehicles had passed by, and just as he was feeling bored and lost, he seemed to hear someone calling him!

"elder brother!--"

The sound came from a truck carrying Gloucester behind them. A girl in a green military uniform jumped down from the cargo hold and ran towards him, full of energy!

"elder brother!--"

"I, Ipel!" Eddie Hill couldn't believe his eyes as he watched the long-haired girl run closer and closer, almost forgetting to reach out and hug her.

"Oh my god! You're alright! That's wonderful!" Ypel rubbed her head against his chest, her tears of excitement soaking the front of the lieutenant colonel's uniform.

"Alright, alright! Stop crying!" Eddie Hill cupped his sister's face and gently pinched her nose. "Have you forgotten what I told you?"

"Yes! Yes! I remember!" Ypel swallowed several times excitedly. "As long as my brother is watching me, I can't cry."

"uh-huh."