Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 127

"Huh? What's this?" She picked it up and looked it over from all angles.

“Lilizia! Come here!” Griffin called out as he turned around.

Only then did the three of them turn their attention back to the girl in black with white hair—she had been coldly watching what was happening before her eyes, her head down, lacking the positive and energetic spirit that a young girl should have.

"stand at attention!"

"Yes!--"

As he spoke, Griffin had Angelie hold the box, from which he took out an exquisite black headband.

"Happy birthday to you!--"

"Huh?" The girl's eyes widened suddenly, a mixture of delight and surprise. "Sir... how... how did you know... I definitely never said that..."

"First, tell me, do you accept this gift?"

"Ah, of course, of course..."

“Come on, Ypel, help me.” Griffin handed the headband to the bouncy girl, letting her slip behind Lilizia, carefully parting her hair and fastening it behind her head.

Meanwhile, Griffin took out two more letters and two glittering gold objects that looked like medals from the box.

"These are letters personally written by Duke Sassler, Commander of the Expeditionary Force, and the Third Knight of the Round Table! The recipient is you!"

Griffin picked up the Duke's letter first.

"Sergeant Lilizia Lütjens, during the Oder River airborne operation, disregarded her own safety and ventured alone into an area under heavy enemy fire to rescue Lieutenant Griffin Zark, who was critically wounded and on the verge of death. Upon the recommendation of the lieutenant himself, it has been decided to award her a commendation, promoting her rank from Master Sergeant to Warrant Officer Second Class, and awarding her the Cross of Courage!"

Then the second letter ends with the signature of the Knight of the Round Table, Wienberg.

"Sergeant Lilizia Lütjens fought valiantly during a guerrilla operation in Sector 45 alongside the Third Knight of the Round Table, and single-handedly dispersed several pursuing enemy aircraft despite Tristan being severely damaged. This act of bravery deserves special commendation, and at the suggestion of the Knight of the Round Table himself, she is hereby awarded the Order of Britannia."

"Hahaha! Did you hear that? It's yours!"

Ypel leaned on her shoulder and whispered his congratulations, but the girl was completely stunned. Her wide, blank eyes were not prepared to welcome the captain approaching with his medals in hand.

"Oh my, it seems this day has been a little too significant for you!" The captain bent down, staring into those adorable eyes. "Well, these two medals probably stand out to you way more than mine, right? Well then, let them stand out even more!"

As he spoke, the captain did not place the medal on the girl's chest, but instead raised his arm and embedded it into the headband that Lilizia had just put on, making it as dazzling as a legendary gem set in the center of a crown.

"Wow! He's so handsome!" Ypel grabbed a mirror from the side and placed it in front of him.

“It suddenly occurred to me when I was recommending you for the medal,” Griffin said, patting her head. “I had them check your birthdate in your file, haha! How about that! Surprised?”

“Captain…” Lilizia looked up and surprisingly showed a smile that she hadn’t seen in a long time.

"Haha! You look beautiful when you smile!" Angelina complimented, slowly approaching. "All of this was arranged on purpose. Remember, it's impossible for the whole world to be indifferent to you. No matter what, you have something special about you, and everyone will remember you. We all love you, don't we?"

“Yes!” Lilizia nodded vigorously several times. “So…”

"Go back to the Knights' headquarters! Your victory celebration and birthday party have only just begun!"

The other two girls linked arms with her and affectionately pushed her back to camp.

Now, tears of gratitude welled up in her eyes, which were hidden beneath her white hair, and could no longer be held back.

"thank you all……"

Chapter 135, Section 198: Life is the foundation of revolution, comrades.

"Hurry! Bring the regimental commander here!"

"Where's the doctor? Are the bandages ready?!"

In a dark room, surrounded by the sounds of explosions, Lieutenant Anton and his guards squeezed together, watching as several soldiers led a man into the inner room—the man's feet had left a deep red mark on the floor.

"Ah...tsk." The lieutenant took off his helmet, took a deep breath, and calmed himself down.

"Comrade Vasilyev? Can you hear me?"

"I'm here!" He took the walkie-talkie out of his jacket pocket. "Lieutenant Petrovsky, how are things? The defenses around the town?"

"The enemy seems to be pursuing us quite closely! Although there aren't many, they're scattered in all directions! We just hope we won't be ambushed during our retreat..." The sound of a PPSh submachine gun running out of ammunition came through the radio. "What's the situation with the regimental commander?"

"His calf was ripped open by shrapnel! He's lost a lot of blood! He needs to be bandaged now! Otherwise, even if we rush him to the rear, he won't be able to hold on!" Anton wiped the sweat from his brow. "Calm down, Lieutenant! I just saw some of the frontline comrades retreat behind us! Things aren't completely hopeless yet!"

"You said it! Comrade!" A loud cough came over the radio. "I hope the bullets you send out of the building will still be enough to die with me in the trenches!"

"In the name of Comrade Stalin! You must all live! Comrade! This is the last thing I want you to understand!" Anton turned off the radio and stood up abruptly.

"Listen up! We are now..."

"Cannonball!—"

……

"What happened! Is anyone hurt?!"

"Get up, comrade!"

After the thunderclap, amidst the unease and shouts of those around him, Anton, lying on the ground, reopened his eyes. He brushed the sand and splinters of wood from the explosion that had kicked up the house from his body and stood up again. Inside and outside the house, chaos reigned.

"Company Commander!" Sheva ran in from outside, panting heavily.

"Slow down! Slow down! Explain yourself!"

"Enemies are sneaking in from the west! They're heading towards the town center!"

Anton didn't say anything, but simply pulled his right hand, which was gripping the muzzle of the gun, upwards, spread his hands, and firmly held the SVT-40 rifle.

"Follow me! Comrades! Split up! Take everything useful!"

His comrades followed him to the two small buildings on the west side, leaned against the wall, and observed the steel puppets that were slowly approaching from the outskirts of the city.

Have all the comrades at the front withdrawn?

"We're here! Comrade Vasilyev!"

"You guys go to the building on the right here! Cover the flanking maneuver of the northern outpost! I'll assign you a few more squads!" Anton explained his battle plan. "This enemy force is definitely trying to infiltrate through a tactical flanking maneuver! We can't let them threaten Petrovsky and his men! Pull the triggers as far as you can! Force them to take another flanking route into the town! The rest of you, stay here in the building and wait for orders! Don't fire without my instructions!"

"Yes!"

……

Anton ducked behind a corner. The comrades responsible for covering the northern position had already opened fire, but he could still hear clearly that there was a series of gravel sounds from the enemy's side, as well as intermittent, muffled whistling of cannons. It seemed that the puppets that came were carrying both machine guns and cannons.

As for where the comrades should stand, it was obvious they couldn't hide inside buildings to fire—even the damage inflicted by a German Panzer III tank firing a 50mm shell through one or two brick walls was horrific. This was a lesson learned three years ago on the banks of the Volga River, with the blood of comrades…

It seems that these four- or five-meter-tall humanoid weapons were indeed frightened by the Soviet army in urban warfare, and they were unwilling to approach any people. Anton could already hear the sound of the wheels on the dolls' feet rubbing against the ground getting louder and louder, and they were approaching this quiet trap.

"We're ready, Lieutenant." With a group of soldiers behind him carrying rocket launchers and a whole bunch of soldiers around him already in position, he lay down on the ground, poked his forehead out from the wall, looked at everything outside, and raised his hand to his comrades behind him.

A doll was about to rush into the intersection where he was. He slapped his hand on the wall next to him and then covered the back of his head with both hands.

And the comrade operating the rocket launcher? He immediately understood, feeling as if he were setting up a movie scene. He watched the dummy rush towards him, then suddenly braked, the mechanical arm holding the gun twitched, and the rocket in the comrade's hand was shoved into its face.

KMF transformed into a firework flowerpot with two legs, and jets of flame and metal fragments scattered like sand towards the lieutenant and his men, who then jumped into the house to escape the heat.

At that moment, the second and third puppets also rushed into the ambush between the houses. One was quite clever, gracefully dodging a turn and hiding behind a house; the other was rather flustered, running towards the other side as soon as the soldiers opened fire, and fleeing to the side as soon as the soldiers on the other side reappeared. In the end, for some unknown reason, he shrank into the space between two houses and couldn't get out—perhaps because there just happened to be no windows between the houses?

This gave Sheva and his men an opportunity. They found an anti-tank grenade, crawled up to it using the doll's blind spot, pulled the pin, and threw it up.

Boom! Another bunch of foul-smelling electronic components were burning crammed into the fireplace surrounded by two rooms.

"That's done!" Sheva waved to his comrades behind him. "Go and drag the other one out! Let's go!"

……

Then, we went to Anton and the rocket launcher team.

"Okay, now we..."

"Huh? What's that sound?"

The people inside felt the familiar rhythm of the electric robotic arm outside catch up, and it shot up onto the roof, accompanied by the sound of steel cables tightening.

"Wow!" they exclaimed as they saw another new doll jump in front of them—it was definitely the one that had just appeared! It had been hiding behind the house and then jumped out from the roof!

There wasn't enough time to reload the rocket launcher, so the dummy, carrying the large tube on its shoulder, fired a single shot forward and then suddenly left the building behind it—the building where Anton and the others were. Then, it abruptly turned 180 degrees and aimed the cannon at them.

"Blyat!—"

The lieutenant had no chance to escape with the two men. The moment he shrank into the closet, the sand and gravel on the exterior wall of the house turned into a cloud of ignited black gunpowder, which poured down onto the furniture and floor throughout the room.

It's over. Both comrades, along with their rocket launchers, are buried inside. Whether they're dead or alive, there's no way to save them now. What's worse, the lieutenant has run out of supplies.

And what about the doll? It must have thought the house was completely clean. Ignoring the bullet pressure from the surrounding Soviet soldiers, it used the remaining ammunition from the cannon to bombard the nearby houses, picked up the destroyed KMF machine gun next to it, and began firing on the spot.

Besides himself, no other comrade could withstand that level of fire and get close enough to throw a grenade. Waiting for it to finish firing? That's too conservative, and what if it escapes again?

It seems only in the distance are Sheva and his group there, holding anti-tank rifles, but the puppets look like they're aimed at them. Risking their lives by setting up guns? That's not going to happen.

Damn it, I can't take it anymore! Anton quickly climbed onto the roof and looked at the puppet firing below. He simply took off his belt and even removed the pistol and bayonet from their sheaths.

He unbuttoned his clothes, his belt wrapped around his hands in a large ball, and after taking one last look at the doll, he immediately leaped towards what he remembered as a weakness!

……

"Oh my god!"

Sheva saw it clearly from across the street, and even the entire town's guard company was stunned—the lieutenant actually jumped directly onto the doll's swaying arm, almost falling off again. Just as the doll was about to stop firing and throw him away, he stepped on its shoulder and shrank right next to its head.

"Yes! The lieutenant seems to remember!"

Immediately afterward, as the doll's neck continued to thrash about, Anton squeezed into the "seat" between the back of its head and the cockpit, like a bull rider or a bear tamer, managing to hold back its wild thrashing and flailing arms. He huddled there, pulled his military uniform over its head, and then tied the belt around its head from front to back, completely covering the ugly metal face.

Well, they're completely blind! The operator inside the puppet immediately panicked and started running around wildly with the lieutenant.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way, comrades!"

If the infantry can't get rid of this tactic that tank crews find annoying, how can they even talk about killing the enemy? The dummy can't run on wheels, it can't walk on its feet, it can't jump, it can't shake its head, it just can't get the lieutenant off—it's practically nailed there!

Finally, the doll crashed headfirst into the wall of a house, completely stunned. Sheva quickly grabbed the anti-tank rifle and set it up.

"Lieutenant!—"

"Sheva!—"

In an instant, Anton jumped off the doll, the roar of the anti-tank gun reverberating between the bricks and tiles, finally pinning the raging humanoid beast to death with a single needle, and blinding electric sparks began to engulf its entire body.

As for the other KMF hiding in the distance? His pilot was too busy hiding in the cockpit to connect with the suffering one. By the time he finished watching the unusually strong Soviet soldier "tear Sunderland apart," another enemy had already appeared before him—carrying a glass bottle that was spitting out large flames.

……

"Hey! Don't let him get away!"

Shocking! The pilot of the doll that Anton "torn apart" actually jumped out alive.

The comrades were obviously thinking of wounding or killing him, but just as they raised their guns, the lieutenant stood up like a resurrected zombie rising from the ground...

"what!--"

A gunshot rang out, and the man fell. The lieutenant, who had somehow acquired a weapon, sent the man to his death with a sharp crack.

“You’re too green, fascist…” Anton muttered, “You didn’t even realize you’d dropped your pistol when you jumped out…”

"Lieutenant!" As Sheva ran forward, Anton staggered and fell down again.

Are you alright? Where are you hurt?

"It's nothing... cough cough, I just overdid it..." He waved his hand quietly, looking at the soldiers who had gathered around him.

"Help me up, oh, and my clothes too."

The doll was burning very brightly, and it had made a hole the size of half a head in the lieutenant's clothes.

"Comrade, this..."

"Give it to me." He calmly put it on. "Thank you to this 'giant comrade' for warming my clothes. By the way, with such a big 'medal,' which marshal do you think should give it a commendation?"

“Hahahahahahaha!—”

"Has the commander's bleeding stopped? Let's go, comrades. We can't let my fatigue delay the retreat."

……

"Here is news of Lieutenant General Chuikov, Comrade Marshal."

In the headquarters of the Soviet forces stationed in Germany, far from here, General Sokolovsky walked to Zhukov's desk with a telegram he had just received.

"The enemy's offensive momentum shows no signs of stopping. We are now completely unable to withstand it. The endurance of the 8th Guards Army has reached its limit. The 39th Guards Infantry Division is unable to get timely support from artillery and air force. Although the actual losses are not very large, the entire army's defensive line has been broken into a diagonal line running from southeast to northwest."

“I understand what you mean, General.” Zhukov shook his head. “The south is alright, but the north… the Third Shock Army previously claimed that, along with other units that were cut off and relocated to the north by the enemy, there are only two army groups left at most. Although the Polish air force and artillery can strike the enemy along the Oder River and to a certain depth, this doesn’t change the fact that they are constantly being compressed into their occupied territories. In some front-line battles, they are even less than 100 kilometers from the coastline… And what they have to hold is an area of ​​18,000 square kilometers. If they are still content with just keeping an eye on the movements of the British forces in the west, that would be suicide…”