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Then, his body unfortunately became pierced by a protruding steel bar, which went in through his back and came out through his chest. Along with this, blood gushed out incessantly, staining most of his shirt red.
The general was speechless, because this was the child he had been searching for...
……
Turning around, the rumble of engines approached. Tristan and several KMFs had just come to a stop when the Duke and his entourage emerged.
Marendor turned back and glared at him with displeasure, and the Duke also gave a look of pity, but no one came over to comfort Eddie Hill, the officer whose good fortune had run out. They simply continued striding forward, concerned only with Tristan's wounds and the disheveled Third Knight of the Round Table who emerged looking disheveled.
“General…” The lieutenant colonel raised his hand with difficulty, as if he wanted to give some instructions.
"child……"
"Don't speak, Lieutenant Colonel." Kari stopped him. He knew that the steel bar had pierced his lung, and getting angry would only hasten his suicide.
Marendor simply reached out and grabbed Eddie Hill's wrist. The two could only communicate silently through Eddie Hill's trembling eyelids and the glint in his eyes.
……
After waiting a while, the chainsaw for cutting steel bars and the blanket to block the sparks arrived. In the instant after the bars were cut and the wires lay flat on the ground, Marendo and Carrie seemed to hear a series of desperate footsteps slowly running in...
"elder brother!--"
"Watch out! Ypel!"
The two men watched as a little girl, still dressed in a pilot's uniform, stumbled and knelt beside them, seemingly crying. They grabbed the lieutenant colonel's hand, which trembled, and placed it on his forehead.
"Brother! What's wrong with you! Why is this happening?!"
Ypel kept sobbing, and her brother could only move his lips slightly as he looked at him; his fingertips were already a little cold.
She broke down, shaking her head repeatedly, and breathing on the colonel's hand as she held it to her mouth.
"Don't die! Brother! Look at me! Look at me!" Ipel couldn't stop her tears. Eddie Hill's eyes were getting increasingly blurry, and she almost pushed her brother away. "I can't live without you! Mom and Dad are gone, why are you leaving me here alone too! Brother shouldn't be such a heartless person!"
Ipel hugged Eddie Hill's entire forearm, shaking her head uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face and soaking into the ground around her, mingling with the colonel's blood that had pooled on the ground.
At this moment, Angelina and Lilizia, who were traveling with her, arrived late and stood behind her, stunned and silent as they watched the bloody tragedy.
"Sister... sister..." The lieutenant colonel managed to squeeze out a word, his hand, which was being held by his sister, trembled uncontrollably.
"Brother?" Ypel stared wide-eyed with anticipation, then, holding her brother's wrist, she brought it to her cheek, just as she had guessed.
The lieutenant colonel was too weak to move, and his hand, which was touching his sister's cheek, trembled uncontrollably. He could only slowly move it toward the tip of her nose, helplessly painting a scarlet path to the underworld on her fair and obedient face.
Ypel sobbed uncontrollably. She eagerly brought her brother's fingertip to the bridge of her nose, pulling it firmly so that he could gently stroke her nose again, making that gesture that had made her happy countless times before...
……
Unfortunately, this time, that number will be frozen in time forever...
The lieutenant colonel's hand suddenly sank, slipping from Ypel's grasp and falling back to the ground like a toppled mop, mingling with his own blood...
"Brother?" Tears and blood had already smeared Ypel's face. This time, her eyelids could no longer hold back the torrent of tears behind her, which flowed straight down, carrying her brother's blood, and dripped onto her heart.
A group of medical personnel ran up behind them, but General Malendo turned around, waved his hand, and helplessly chased them away.
Everyone could only watch as the poor little girl collapsed in despair onto the increasingly cold body.
"Why...why is it still like this?!"
Before the barracks, water droplets mingled with those from the fire hoses, the girl's heart-wrenching sobs, and the still-burning flames, all buried the twilight sky...
……
As evening fell, nothing major happened at the command center.
“Bury this with the lieutenant colonel.” General Marendor found a piece of clothing and handed it to Colonel Carrie—unlike the ordinary dark gray, this clothing was almost identical to the colonel’s, a special uniform prepared by the general for his closest subordinate.
In the past, he had never been able to find a suitable owner for this garment.
Meanwhile, in another location, Duke Sassler awaited a familiar guest in front of a sub-portal.
"Caronville, I'm sorry to have called you here again... We've lost an excellent officer today..."
"So you'd like to hear some of my opinions?"
"This boy has always made a great contribution to the success of our defensive operations and has always been a supporter of our defensive strategy. Now that he's gone..."
"Your Excellency, have you ever considered why the sky has always been so difficult for us to control?"
"why?"
"Because we've kept ourselves locked up for too long, we can only wait for the enemy to come. So, when we're fully prepared, we need to step out and go as far as possible, even to the enemy's airfield."
"what do you mean?"
"Listen to me, Your Excellency. The arrival of reinforcements, today's encounter, and the enemy's difficulty in advancing in the east of the city all indicate that we are no longer suited to hiding. No war can be won by simply defending."
"Then I'll wait and see when you come up with another unconventional plan."
……
The Berlin landscape at night is as silent as the underworld.
Ypel sat on a patch of withered grass, head down, hands clasped tightly to her knees, her hair, ruffled by the wind, swaying wildly in front of her pale face.
Behind me, a limping figure slowly approached.
"May I sit here for a while?"
"Huh? Lieutenant Griffin?" Before she could say a few words, the lieutenant had already given up.
"Ahem... Did you need something from me?" The girl asked, puzzled, as he remained silent.
“That’s the question I should be asking you,” Griffin grinned mischievously. “In the past, weren’t you the one responsible for bringing joy to the other three of us?”
“Ah, yes…” Ypel was about to say something, but then lowered her head again, “But…”
"I know that one of your dearest family members has passed away."
Ipel didn't speak, but just huddled even tighter, as if she had a lot to say.
"Can you tell me something, Corporal?" The lieutenant leaned closer. "You must have been a rather weak girl when you were little, right?"
"Yes... my brother often helps me when I'm in trouble, and he's taught me a lot..."
"So, what do you think a girl who isn't strong can rely on to maintain the posture of a front-line soldier on a battlefield where killing is as ruthless as killing chickens?"
"I……"
"It's definitely growth, right? After all, in my opinion, for a young girl to achieve results that surpass many young men, it certainly didn't happen overnight. The path you've walked is a path of constantly overcoming yourself, isn't it?"
"Lieutenant?"
"Well, I don't really have any empathy for such a close family relationship, so I'll ask if I may ask why your brother holds such an important place in your heart?"
“My brother has always been very gentle with me and often cares about me. No matter where I am, as long as he is there, I feel like home is very close to me…”
"So, what do you think?" Suddenly, Griffin reached out and pulled Ipel into his arms.
"Hey?!"
"Do you think our knightly squad feels like home? At least I dare say that besides your brother, no other boy has ever hugged you like this, right? Hahahaha!"
"Lieutenant, please don't do this..."
“That’s right!” Ypel and Griffin turned around together, and Angelie was walking slowly over with her hands on her hips.
“You didn’t stay in your warm and safe home forever, and you never dwelled on your past failures.” She slowly walked up to the two of them and squatted down. “So, as time goes by, your lovely face will always have those warm dimples, right?”
“But…” Ypel pursed her lips, “without my brother, I…”
“We’re all your family! Silly girl!” Griffin suddenly put his hands under her, and just sitting there, he pulled Ipel over and made her sit sideways on his lap.
"what!"
"Huh? What's wrong, sir?" Ypel was startled.
"Ah...it's nothing, the wound probably didn't reopen, hehe..."
"It doesn't have to be like this, I'm a little embarrassed..."
"What a fool you are! Ha!" Griffin chuckled mischievously as he pinched the girl's forehead. "What do you take us for! We're willing to endure a little hardship to give you a place even warmer than home! Just tell us if you're unhappy about anything. We're willing to take responsibility for anything your brother can't do!"
"Lieutenant?"
Ypel opened her big, watery eyes wide with excitement, and Angelie squatted down and gently patted her cute little head.
Finally, the three of them smiled together under the night sky.
……
Under a tree nearby, Lilizia had leaned against it at some point, watching them from afar.
No one knew why she was unwilling to approach the past. Her icy face was almost unreadable, and her eyes were somewhat downcast, as if it were a shyness that was hard to express, or a sadness hidden in her heart.
She could only look up in the rising breeze, her gaze eventually settling on the vastness and unknown of the sky.
Just like the fate of this Holy Britannian Empire…
Chapter 190, Part Three: The Second Battle of Berlin - Part 1
The Second Battle of Berlin (known as the "Berlin Breakthrough" by the Britannian side), distinct from the First Battle of Berlin fought between the Soviet Union and Germany in April and May 1945 during World War II, was a large-scale battle fought in late 1945 between the Soviet Union and the Holy Britannian Empire, an invading force from another world, within the Soviet-German occupied zone centered on Berlin. It also marked the first formal military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union against Britannia. This two-month-long battle, due to a confluence of circumstances, ultimately led to a rather unexpected outcome (which will not be elaborated upon here), indirectly shaping the subsequent world order in a delicate direction.
On October 28, 1945, the Berlin Incident occurred, and Britannia officially began its trans-global invasion. By October 30, the third day after the incident, the Soviet Union, having completed negotiations with the United States, completely dispelled its concerns and deployed fully armed Soviet troops to the outskirts of Berlin. Following a feint attack that day, the Second Battle of Berlin officially commenced the following morning. [This information is from Chapters 35 and 36, and Chapters 41-56 of the text.]
From the outset, the Soviet Union gained a significant advantage. Facing the Britannian 41st Army, the Soviets deployed an army each to the east, south, and north of Berlin for frontline operations. This overwhelming superiority in manpower, terrain familiarity, air superiority, and artillery coverage completely pinned down the Britannian forces in every corner of Berlin, inflicting heavy casualties and equipment losses, and causing widespread panic throughout the city. [Content from chapters 57, 58, 61, 62, 69, 74, and 80 of the text]
By the fifth day of the battle, the Britannian forces had gained some insight into the Soviet army's weakness in night-fighting equipment and their lack of long-range anti-armor weapons for individual soldiers and squads. Compared to the heavily armored and well-equipped Soviet tanks, they were at a significant disadvantage against the KMF, whose armor was sufficient to protect against any small arms fire. Therefore, they adopted a tactic of "daytime defense, nighttime raids, and encirclement." This involved maintaining a tight defense during the day and launching surprise attacks at night. Simultaneously, they piled up rubble, vehicle debris, and other obstacles in key streets, severely hindering the advance of combat vehicles and even towed artillery in coordination with infantry. This forced the Soviet army to spend a significant amount of time clearing obstacles with engineers and heavy artillery, gradually slowing their offensive and making the fighting in Berlin increasingly protracted. [Content from Chapters 85 and 86 of the text]
[Author's Note: Actually, the reason why this part was so much shorter than the section about the Soviet army's brutal attacks is... well, I admit there was a major mistake in planning the plot for this second volume. Trying to cram too much content into such a short timeframe resulted in a very slow pacing, which is a major point of contention for many readers. I'm currently working hard to speed things up, and I promise everyone that the pacing will be less of a nightmare in the future.]
Then, something even more dramatic happened. On the tenth day of the battle, November 8th, during testing of the Aizu-Wakamatsu teleportation portal, a new experiment in Britannia's world, accidentally projected it onto a Soviet military camp near Stolko, 45 kilometers southeast of Berlin, on the Soviet side. This resulted in the loss of some personnel and equipment at the testing site, and Soviet soldiers who mistakenly entered the site were killed. [Chapter 87]
This accidental failure, while drawing criticism from research departments, inadvertently saved the Britannian 41st Army in Berlin. The initial Britannian operational plan aimed to use this army to consolidate the entire Berlin bridgehead, buying time for other armies and corps to assemble.
As the war intensified and the landing site became increasingly precarious, the expedition plan, which should have proceeded as planned, had to be restarted from scratch. However, the chain reaction caused by the portal led the Soviet army to mistakenly believe that Britannia's objective was to use the new portal to directly attack the rear of the besieging Soviet forces.
Furthermore, the Soviet Union's misconception that Britannia belonged to Great Britain further escalated tensions along the Anglo-Soviet supply lines. To avoid a pincer attack on the Soviet army, Marshal Zhukov, Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet forces in Germany, immediately ordered most of the troops in the city to cease their siege operations and instead deploy to the outskirts of Berlin as a precaution.
Thus, Britannia was unaware that the portal had opened in Stolko, and the Soviet Union was also unclear about the identity of the enemy forces in the city. In this way, both sides inadvertently "saved" the war and allowed it to continue.
At midnight on November 12, 1945, after meticulous planning, Britannia launched a large-scale nighttime airborne operation, deploying its three newly arrived army groups and corps, to eastern Berlin, firing the signal for seizing the initiative on the battlefield. [Chapters 91-96]
In this operation, a Britannian army group was responsible for a feint attack on the west side of the city, while two corps were responsible for the east side. One corps was responsible for airdropping deep into the area from Berlin to the west bank of the Oder River, and the other was responsible for a ground assault from the city of Berlin eastward. While the two sides were pressing the Soviet siege line and forcing them to loosen their siege trap, they were also responsible for completely destroying all the road and railway bridges located between Koschen and Frankfurt am Oder, thereby paralyzing the Soviet supply lines.
Since the Soviets had largely followed their plan to intercept the teleportation portals appearing on the ground, this airborne operation was quite unexpected. What surprised the Soviets even more was that the paratroopers weren't just ordinary paratroopers with small arms and knives, but hundreds or even thousands of humanoid weapons that appeared in Berlin, possessing combat capabilities comparable to any armored vehicle at the time. The sheer scale and high individual combat effectiveness put immense pressure on the infantry defending the rear. Coupled with the various inconveniences of nighttime, this made it virtually impossible for the Soviets to mount any effective counter-offensive or encirclement in the Britannia airborne operation.
Due to repeated requests from the commander of the army group involved, Marshal Zhukov was forced to abandon the massive salient of approximately 100 kilometers between Berlin and the east bank of the Oder River to avoid heavy losses for the Soviet forces, resulting in the loss of a large amount of supplies. Reinforcements from Poland also failed to arrive in time, and the bridges between Kostyan and Frankfurt am Oder were completely destroyed. This airborne operation ultimately ended in victory for Britannia, despite suffering even worse casualties.
Additionally, according to statistics compiled by the Burkina Faso side, a major reason for such losses was the soldiers' inability to adapt to the combat environment of Zone 45, which led to unstable morale. Secondary reasons included some tactical and equipment issues.
After the salient was formed, Britannia, eager to expand its gains, decided to press its advantage and immediately launched another offensive into Soviet territory. Although the Soviet army had suffered a defeat the previous night, its main army groups had largely maintained their organizational structure and quickly organized defensive forces to resist the Britannian offensive. While experiencing some setbacks, the overall defenses did not show any signs of collapse. [Chapters 98, 103, and 104 of the text]
At this time, bad news arrived for the Soviet army and all of Europe: a Britannian transport plane that had participated in the airborne operation on the 12th had lost control due to damage and crashed near the border between the British-occupied and Soviet-occupied zones. The Soviet Union, already suspicious of Britain, now completely regarded Britannia as part of Britain and identified it as a suspect in the Berlin Incident.
While the US, Soviet Union, and Great Britain debated at the table, the Soviet army did not leave its battlefield resources idle. On November 14th, three days after the loss of Kostin, the Soviet 11th Guards Army, in conjunction with a small force of the 3st Guards Tank Army, launched an offensive from the southern front of the Berlin salient, breaking through Britannia's multiple defenses and forming a salient approximately 16 kilometers deep and 10 kilometers wide. Britannia's defensive counterattacks failed, and it could only rely on sheer numbers and equipment to halt the Soviet advance. [Chapters 107, 108, 114, 115]
This was merely the appetizer for the Soviet counterattack. Soon, the 3rd Shock Army and the 2nd Guards Tank Army were also deployed, forming the northern salient of the encirclement. Although Britannia was somewhat prepared for this plan, it ultimately paid a heavy price during its retreat and breakout. The Soviet army recovered more than half of the occupied area of the salient, inflicting 40,000 to 50,000 combat casualties on Britannia with nearly twice its own losses. During this period, Britannia also witnessed its first organized surrender led by commanders of regimental level or above on the 45th sector battlefield. [Chapters 113, 114, 117, 120]
The loss of the salient did not signify a complete defeat for Britannia, nor did it mean that the Soviet Union had once again encircled Berlin. Because the supply lines between Kostyan and Frankfurt am Oder could not be repaired quickly, supply problems were slowly escalating. The hammer and sickle flag was still an increasingly difficult 20 to 30 kilometers from the eastern edge of Berlin, requiring the breaking through of thousands of Britannian defenses to advance.
Now, a new Britannian army group has arrived, and more forces have begun to create another salient 30 kilometers deep in the west of Berlin. They have also deployed the Knights of the Round Table to continuously sabotage the Soviet army's logistics along the road and rail lines, which has undoubtedly made the latter's situation even worse.
Now, the balance of power on the battlefield is no longer stable. Who knows when Britannia will gain the upper hand and what will become of Germany?
The Holy Britannian Empire was 135 kilometers from the border of the British-occupied zone.
The compilation: Part 1 of the Second Battle of Berlin, now concluded.