Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 132

“Um…” Griffin scratched his head. “It’s up to you. Oh, just a reminder, without Angelina and Ypel, if you’re living there alone or with strangers, don’t, don’t do that again.”

"Yes, sir!"

"Well, hopefully nothing bad will happen in Area 11..."

Chapter 144, Section 207: The Tokyo Concession – Another Dark Wave Rises

"With the Emperor above, is this really that exciting...?"

In the military camp in the Tokyo concession, it was the same familiar office, and the same familiar lieutenant colonel was holding a report whose contents were too new and unfamiliar.

“It seems things have gotten a bit too abrupt, hasn’t it, Lieutenant Colonel Caronville?” Lefel shook his head. “If His Excellency the Duke’s photographs are correct, then according to those American soldiers, the new planes are bearing their country’s insignia.”

"White Star, hmm... it seems the US and the Soviet Union have reached an agreement? To join forces against us?"

"Yes, what are you thinking?"

"When we first asked the American and Soviet soldiers, didn't they all say they initially thought it was the other side attacking? Sigh, I was thinking that if I could sit with His Excellency the Duke in District 45, I could offer some suggestions to keep those two countries misunderstanding each other, so we could... But now, no, that's no longer possible. The maps we got during the Oder River parachute operation showed that the area around Berlin was completely Russian territory. We didn't have a single clue where the Americans were lurking..."

"War never goes according to plan; we can only adapt to the situation. There's no other way. You, on the other hand, can now think about how to help the Duke deal with those birds that are covered in white stars."

"Pay more attention to routine patrols of aerial units, and focus more of our efforts in pursuing Soviet troops on anti-aircraft fire... That's all we can do for now."

"Oh well, never mind, I'll deal with this first before worrying about other things." The lieutenant colonel tossed aside the paper and looked at the things on the table with a headache.

"what?"

"Governor Carares's order is for my security force to..."

……

"Fuck your mother, are we just going to spend the day here?"

At that moment, on an overpass in the Tokyo concession, the shouts of those American soldiers started up again.

"Watch your behavior, will you? Didn't you all have to obey orders in your own armies?"

The female voice came from Sunderland on the right. Taylor, Philip, and Garcia were gathered around a military vehicle, each carrying a police submachine gun, while on the left was Glasgow, marked with police markings. Davis almost forgot to turn on his walkie-talkie.

"Relax, guys, let's hear what Miss Nagayama has to say again."

"Well, the mission is to stand guard here until 14 PM today, to guard against any possible malicious incidents. Governor Carares is meeting with guests at the Chinese Federation's embassy today, so you know what that means."

"Hmm, Philip the watchdog, still a few hours until lunchtime, huh?"

The soldiers on the ground were chatting and laughing, and Chizuru Nagayama didn't bother to care. After all, this was a common occurrence, and as long as there was no fighting, it was fine.

As they chatted, the soldiers quietly turned off their radios.

"Hey, what did Clark say to us during the rendezvous yesterday?"

"I heard he's hooking up with some big shot among these dogs? Anyway, it's like Garcia, the ones you've paired with are going to sell well, and quite a lot."

"Damn it, this is so unfair. We're stuck here eating and sleeping in the open, while he's living like a tycoon. Why is that?"

"They have the guts to earn a truckload of US dollars, and you? You might have enough to fill a train car with your mouth, but that's true."

"Hey, what are you talking about? Why did you turn off the radio?" The female pilot's voice came from the loudspeaker.

“I think they might have something to talk about behind your back,” Davis said, trying to smooth things over. “After all, if a bunch of guys were to talk about something lewd in front of a girl like you, they’d probably get kicked off the bridge by your doll.”

"Ah... oh right, right! Boss is right! We weren't talking about how incredibly beautiful Miss Nagayama is, right?"

"Exactly! And look how amazing this bridge is for enjoying the scenery! You can see skyscrapers everywhere you look, isn't that wonderful?"

Qianhe didn't want to use vulgar language and wanted to chat with these second-rate bastards, but he was too lazy to talk.

"Oh, right, Sergeant, could you tell us if that's your country's airship?"

“Oh? Ah, yes, it’s used for advertising and promotion.” Chizuru looked up at the sky and saw an orange-red object, like an aerial bomb, passing by them from the direction of Tokyo Bay, approaching the nearby skyscraper called the Tower of Babel.

"Hey, this thing looks familiar, it has a bit of a hometown feel to it."

"What? You Americans also had airships?"

"Yes, but it's a luxury sky bag for ocean travel."

As Garcia was speaking, Philip told him to turn off the radio.

"Hey bro, you know what I'm thinking? Didn't those Nazi pigs build something similar to this over there?"

"Now that you mention it, I do remember that thing that appeared in the newspaper?"

"The Hindenburg, isn't it! Look at that old photo, the airship and the iron frame, and look here, how similar it is."

"Yay!" Garcia burst out laughing—the airship had a new paint job, and the iron frame had been replaced with the Tower of Babel. Hmm, it would be perfect if it just exploded.

"So, Miss Nagayama, I'd like to ask, are all the airship pilots in your Britannia somewhat unqualified?"

"How?"

"Normally, we keep our airships as far apart as possible from tall objects in both the horizontal and vertical directions, but why is this airship... is it going to land on the rooftop?"

“I find it strange too. Although the Tower of Babel is a high-end place for the wealthy and noble to play, it is understandable that they would have some extravagant vehicles, but... the paint job on this airship is too ordinary. It doesn’t look like something they would show off or ride in.”

"So? Is this airship for squatting to pee or poop?"

……

A car sped past, and suddenly, the five people felt as if time had stood still, and they fell into silence.

But then, the sky began to tremble.

……

"What the hell?"

In an instant, amidst a thunderous explosion, the Tower of Babel beneath the airship was enveloped in billowing smoke and dust, like a factory chimney, with rubble and glass cascading down from the sky.

"Are you kidding me? This is really going to explode?"

"Philip! You three!" Chizuru Nagayama immediately turned the landline horizontally, facing the Tower of Babel. "Set up roadblocks! Block traffic!"

……

"Lieutenant Colonel Caronville! Something's happened! The Tower of Babel has been suspected of being attacked by terrorists! They parachuted in using airships!"

"Roger that! Sergeant Nagayama! Have your squad stop passing vehicles and control traffic on the bridge! Police will be coming to relieve you shortly! After the handover, immediately lead your team to the Tower of Babel to assist in the evacuation of civilians!"

"Yes!"

Panic erupted in the lieutenant colonel's command center.

"My God, could it be that the Black Knights are back...?"

"How should we launch our attack, Lieutenant Colonel!"

"Ground units should surround the Babel Tower's external traffic from all intersections. Helicopters and air force KMFs should remain on standby in the rear and not approach the building! Have you informed Governor Carares? Have the other troops stationed in Tokyo been mobilized?"

……

"OK! OK! Relax! Ladies and gentlemen!"

The main hall behind the Tower of Babel's gate was magnificent, but now it was as chaotic as a meat cannery's assembly line—indeed, the panicked guests and employees were like live meat crammed into this narrow passage, jewelry, handbags, and high heels were like foreign objects peeled off from these meat pieces in the chaos.

Davis and Yongshan each drove their KMFs to either side of the gate, leaving the task of directing the crowd entirely to the three men on foot. They had a tough time; not only did many civilians ignore their directions and rush in recklessly, but some even mistook the KMFs for terrorist weapons and turned back.

"Damn it! Are you crazy?!" The three soldiers were more exhausted and panicked than if they were fighting a war.

"We can't just sit here and count heads, can we, sir?!"

As they were talking, more soldiers and police rushed onto the road outside the gate.

"OK? Is that easier now?"

I hope so!

"Listen up, soldiers!" Nagayama spoke up. "Listen carefully. I just received orders: the three of you on foot will stay here, while Davis and I will proceed to the upper-level area assigned to us by our superiors. Davis, I'm sending you the area's location now. Can you receive it?"

"No problem, sir. But could you tell me what we're going there to do?"

"Well... cough, please don't ask any more questions."

"Please? I know what I'm supposed to do, right? Am I supposed to be fighting chicks or just doing nothing?"

"Listen carefully. Now that the rear troops have arrived and it's confirmed that the terrorists possess KMF, and given our capabilities... well, you're certainly not qualified, the higher-ups have ordered us to go to the designated target route and clear out the escaped 'property'..."

"Property? What the hell?"

"To put it bluntly... it's those people from Area 11 who want to escape from the cells where they're being held..."

"WTF?"

"Did I hear that right, ma'am?" Taylor exclaimed in surprise over the walkie-talkie. "Are you going to squeeze your own bloodline brothers and sisters back into carrot juice?"

"Anyway..." Nagayama slammed his fist on the bulkhead in anger, "Execute orders! Executing orders is the right thing to do! Don't doubt the orders your superiors give you! Do you understand!"

"Okay, miss, so where do you want me to go now?"

"Follow me!" Davis looked up and saw that Yongshan had already launched the grappling hook of his aircraft to a higher floor and was preparing to climb up.

"OK!"

Davis did as he was told, leaving behind a crowd of people and soldiers and police officers bustling around.

"Come on! You're risking your life for money!" Philip grabbed a wealthy woman who was still busy picking up her gold earrings and threw her behind him. "Okay, guys, we should be able to survive until this building collapses, right?"

"Shut your filthy mouth! You bastard!" Taylor jumped back abruptly, and a huge billboard landed next to him. "We're finished! We're all dead! Holy crap!"

"Hey! Up there!"

A gasp escaped as Davis was still climbing the wall. Yongshan's plane was struck hard by a piece of steel bar, followed by more large rocks falling down, causing Sunderland's steel cable to snap and detach from the plane with a series of cracking sounds.

"Watch out!" The doll fell heavily to the ground, landing right in front of the three of them.

"Hurry up and check if the sergeant is still alive! You lot!" Davis continued climbing.

"I...I'm fine...I think I'm just a little...cough...Davis! Continue the mission!"

"it is good!"

……

Outside, Caronville and his group of officers had reached a point a kilometer away from the Tower of Babel, on the only bridge leading into the tower. Looking at the tower shrouded in black smoke, they were filled with doubt.

"Lieutenant Colonel, our advance troops have sent word that there are KMFs with black and gray-green paint schemes inside the building. The former has been confirmed to be the Rogue Type developed by the Japanese Liberation Front. It can be confirmed that the visitors are very likely from the Black Knights."

"How's the battle going?"

"KMF forces are climbing into the building from the outer wall. The helicopter units cannot determine the location of the target due to the enemy's smoke screen. The terrorists have completely taken control of all floors from the middle upwards. At present, there are no hostage or extortion messages from them."

"That can't be right... Could it be that they're looking for someone? Cough, right now only those helicopters are under my command, our ground troops are there."

"So, us?"

"First, have all our men, both on the ground and in the air, provide suppressive fire outside the building to speed up the evacuation of civilians. Next, we'll wait for the governor and his men to arrive, then I'll try to contact the other units and tell them not to rush into the building to attack..."

“But… most of the KMF members are from His Majesty the Emperor’s secret intelligence agency… Lieutenant Colonel, you probably can’t get them to cooperate…”

……

"Oh God, this is really uncomfortable..."

At this moment, Davis's plane had already entered a section of the passage, and he was worried about the rubble scattered all over the ground after he had just emptied his magazine.

In the past, they did kill people other than soldiers, but these were nothing more than kids carrying Panzerfaust grenades and wearing SS uniforms, or, in their excessive nervousness, a boy and a girl who were trembling behind the corpse of a dead Wehrmacht soldier while clutching a rifle—yes, they could be called soldiers, but they could also be called civilians.

However, things might be different in the Pacific Ocean on the other side of the world, though he, as a former captain, had never experienced it.

"Following the rules, huh?" He chuckled softly and continued to urge the robot beneath him to step inside.

The corridor was pitch black; the lighting system must have been broken. And since he was all alone, as was the habit of a veteran, he naturally proceeded cautiously. He had to turn off the lights and use that thing called a night vision device to check his surroundings. He had to put the drive wheels in the lowest gear, and he had to hide the movement of the wheels or the sound of brakes if needed.

At that moment, a civilian's heart-wrenching scream came from ahead, which was abruptly cut off by a few gunshots.

"Okay, Davis, here comes the trouble... This time, even if you die, you won't get any Medals of Honor..."

Slowly, they stopped in front of a collapsed floor gap. One end of the floor slab had fallen down, forming a slope. There was a fresh purple glow on it. So, was this the place where the incident occurred?

……

"Before you execute me, please answer one question."

The moment he drove up the slope, Davis heard voices very clearly.