Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 143

"Now that you mention it, I seem to recall something: when Lolo suddenly barged in, Lelouch looked at him with surprise, not the helpless look one gets when watching their own dog make a mistake... That's interesting, huh?"

"So I think we should both try to find an opportunity to get close to the Black Knights. Luckily, we still have a picture of Lolo. We can ask them if there has ever been a little boy who followed ZERO since the Black Knights have existed. If there has, it can prove that Lolo is our friend. If not, Lelouch has no reason to trust someone he had almost no relationship with before but now calls a brother. In that case, we'll have to point our guns at him."

"Alright! It's a pleasure doing business with you, sir! How about we just grab something to eat here? It'll be on me!"

……

The group of people ate and drank, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

“Sergeant Davis! Respond if you hear me! This is Sergeant Nagayama!” A radio call interrupted the relaxed atmosphere.

"Hey! It's me! What's up?"

"Where are you? We just received word that a group of people suspected to be members of the Black Knights have been spotted! I'm driving over to pick you up!"

"Wait a minute! Let me go out of the store and check the street sign!" Davis said, hanging up the phone. "Sorry, buddy, see you next time."

"Good luck, sir!"

Chapter 161, Section 224: The Hunt for the Black Knight (Part 1)

"Huh? What's going on? What happened?"

The tranquil Tokyo concession should have been a place where ordinary people could enjoy life, but the military jeep that ran a red light at an intersection and almost caused an elderly woman to stage an accident to extort money from her was clearly astonishing.

Sergeant Chizuru Nagayama was driving, with her friend Sergeant Genia in the passenger seat. The three soldiers they had picked up from the coffee shop were crammed into the passenger seat and the back seat, and nearly flew out of the car during the nimble turn.

"Alright, that's enough. There are a few guns in the trunk, take them and don't forget the spare magazines and grenades."

“Alright, but is it convenient for you to talk?” Davis watched as the two men next to him bent over behind the back seat to pull out their weapons. “What is our mission?”

“Listen up, you lot.” Jenny turned around and glared at them. “Recently, those numbered people from District 45G discovered a large truck during their patrol. It’s very likely that there are Black Knights members and items inside. The truck is now running a stop and heading south of the Tokyo Concession. Its likely destination is Fujisawa City.”

"Huh? The Germans found it again? Tsk tsk tsk..." Philip muttered, grimacing as he inspected the gun. "Damn it, we're just messing around in the river, they're serious about whaling in the sea..."

"Well, I won't say anything if you guys don't do a good job." Nagayama took a gun from Jania while continuing to turn the steering wheel. "We're just following orders. Just do a good job."

Jania gave Yongshan a strange look, then turned back to look at the soldiers' expressions. Seeing that they didn't seem too lax, she turned back with relief, stuck her head out of the car window, and watched a police helicopter fly over the street.

“But speaking of which, the Black Knights really pick their timing when they’re up to something,” Nagayama continued. “Today, a whole bunch of us at KMF were doing our routine maintenance, and damn it, this just happened at this crucial moment. We had no choice but to drive off with our guns.”

At that moment, the car's radio started ringing.

"Calling Sergeant Nagayama and Sergeant Genia! This is Lieutenant Colonel Caronville! Where are you now?"

"Report! We have just passed Awashima Shrine and are about to cross the river via the bridge to reach Kawasaki City to the south!"

"Good! Continue in this direction! Police Headquarters just sent me intelligence! The truck is on the highway a few blocks from you! Speed ​​up! Catch it!"

"Yes!--"

……

The walls of the Tokyo concession were clean, tidy, and well-arranged, while the old city outside the concession was dilapidated and devastated. The former was the territory of Britannia, the victor in the Ten Years' War, while the latter was an abandoned city of the defeated side, destroyed by war and no longer as prosperous as it once was.

This place became a "deep forest" where the people of District 11, who could not be second-class citizens, barely managed to survive, and also a breeding ground for a large number of resistance organizations. The Black Knights' source of nutrition largely came from here, from these people who were familiar with the old city's layout—who eventually put on their iconic black clothes with gray stripes.

"They should be arriving soon, should we wait a little longer?"

Right now, a group of people like this are gathered on both sides of an intersection in the dilapidated area near Fujisawa City. Two of them seem to be the leaders, one wearing an eye patch and the other with a cigarette in his mouth.

"I have a bad feeling, Hino..." the one with the cigarette in his mouth said.

"Relax. Since ZERO said this path is the safest, there's no need to worry unnecessarily. Well, unless you think you're more capable than ZERO, right?"

"Oh right... Look! They've arrived!"

As they were talking, they saw a large truck on the north road, and it was as excited as a hungry person seeing a food delivery driver. Although it was sandwiched between two police cars, the submachine guns and rocket launchers in their hands were more than enough to deal with the two accomplices.

"Alright! Help take out those Britannian bastards behind us!"

Gunshots rang out, and a torrential downpour descended on the road in an instant. A large truck sped past amidst the golden flashes of light, leaving only two police cars wrecked behind—one was blasted into the road like a rocket launcher setting off firecrackers, making it even darker, while the other swerved erratically and crashed into the bushes on the side.

It was too early to celebrate. Just as they were about to check if there were any survivors in the next police car, an infantry fighting vehicle rushed out from beside a two-story house.

"Oh no! Hino!" Inoue backed away, pointing towards the van and pickup truck not far away. "You guys go first! Leave the weapons behind! I'll take a few men and hold them off here!"

"All right!"

……

"Ah... the situation is really bad... our allies ahead have word that the Black Knights ambushed the police chasing the truck at the intersection, and now they're trapped there too..."

"Are you kidding me, Genia? Don't they have infantry fighting vehicles?"

"You mean that?"

Yongshan followed her pointing finger and looked in that direction. There he saw the dark, heavy metal box being set on fire by another rocket launcher, leaving the soldiers who came out of the vehicle helpless.

"My God, how many are left alive? Is there enough time?"

As they were talking, several bullets flew toward their car. She quickly rushed into a shed on the side of the street, finding a safe place to get off.

"Davis! You guys hurry up!"

The five got out of the car and hid to the side. Looking at the chaotic scene of the firefight, Nagayama and Genia began to discuss their options.

"Is it right here? I feel it's a bit risky for us to get too close, after all, they have heavy weapons..."

“I have an idea, sir,” Davis finally spoke up. “You two beauties stay here and draw their attention, while Taylor, Philip, and I will sneak into the nearby houses and attack from the flank. Once they consolidate their positions, you can advance, okay?”

"You...you mean..."

"Hehehe..." Nagayama shoved Genia's words back into his mouth. "Go do it, Sergeant, just don't forget to come back alive."

The three soldiers slipped out quietly, leaving the two young women huddled behind a concrete roadblock, firing a few shots here and there.

……

"Damn it, are we going too far..." Taylor complained as he ran after Davis, "Are we going to go toe-to-toe with a rocket launcher, boss?"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Davis said, sliding down in a tackle. "Don't forget, we're working in Britannia right now. The Black Knights aren't necessarily someone we can rely on, at least not right now."

“Hey, speaking of which,” Philip followed, “the Black Knights, I’m afraid they’re mostly made up of Japanese… oh no, I mean, people from Area 11, right?”

"Replacing 'most' with 'all' would be more appropriate, kid... no time for rambling, you go ahead, Taylor will come up later!"

Gradually, the three of them approached a suitable position. The Black Knights on the street were obviously too concerned about the soldiers next to the infantry fighting vehicles to notice where they had appeared.

"it's time!"

The soldiers retreated behind a cluster of furniture, leaned against the wall, and aimed at the black cats—let's call these troublesome people from Area 11 for now.

"It's really good that they're not Germans, right?!" The assault rifles in the hands of the three men fired long bursts, taking down the enemies on the street one by one and forcing them to retreat to the opposite side of the street.

"You guys seem to be doing a good job, Davis?" Genia asked with a haughty tone over the radio.

"You really think we're just there to make up the numbers, girl?" Taylor retorted. "You'd better not wait until all those Japanese run away in a panic."

"Little Japanese?" Before Jania could even process this newfound term, Davis and the other two seized the opportunity and began to charge forward.

……

"Stop calling them 'little Japanese' all the time. Haven't you gotten used to being called 'Area 11' people after all this time?"

"Anyway, they're all lowly Japanese bastards whose ancestral graves are on the west side of the Pacific! What's wrong with them being related?" Taylor said nonchalantly, interrupted by what was happening ahead—a group of black cats had taken refuge in a roadside supermarket and were firing back at them from behind the window.

"Well, the situation isn't too bad." Even if they fought back, it wouldn't change anything. Sergeant Nagayama and his men, along with the unfortunate soldiers behind the infantry fighting vehicle, followed and surrounded the supermarket.

"Hey, sir, they call them Japanese bastards, but this performance isn't good enough," Philip joked. "By Jesus, if our Showa-era scum saw these guys beating this badly, they'd probably commit seppuku, wouldn't they?"

"No, no, no, didn't I tell you last time? The tabloids from across the Pacific say: if you can't win, charge! Like just now, when we opened fire from across the street, they should have all charged at us! With their rifles and bayonets! We would all be dead!"

"Hehehe! Ahahaha!"

The two men fired at each other from behind cover, telling dark jokes, but Taylor remained motionless—he was cursing and fiddling with his gun, seemingly waiting for something.

"Davis!" Nagayama and Genia approached as they spoke. "Are you alright? We'll go around to the right, you... be careful!"

Suddenly, Yongshan saw a guy carrying a rocket launcher pop out of the supermarket and aim it right at them!

However, at that moment, Taylor charged forward with unusual ferocity.

"Damn it!" But what happened next was unexpected for the group that was supposed to be doomed. The guy carrying the rocket launcher was obviously scared by Taylor. He stared blankly as Taylor jumped in through the window and tackled him to the ground. His hand holding the launcher was pulled away and slammed into the ceiling.

“God…” Philip rushed into the dust-covered house. It was quiet inside, except for the sounds of vicious curses and stabbing. He vaguely saw a black cat lying on its back on the ground, its neck being strangled by one arm, while the other arm was rapidly stabbing back and forth into its heart.

"Fuck you! Motherfucker! You son of a bitch! You bastard!" The voice coming from beneath him was Taylor's...

"Get out!" Black Cat was pushed away, and Taylor, before he could even get up, continued yelling, "Damn Japanese! Get the hell out here!"

Seeing the soldier acting so recklessly, the others quickly went up and pulled him back—his shoulder had just been burned by the flames of the rocket launcher, leaving a large black scar.

"Hey, this is ridiculous!" Genia snapped, "Do you want to die?"

Taylor didn't even turn his head, and rushed inside again.

“Cover him up, we can’t stop him.” Davis smiled and shook his head. “Just think of it as his ancestral grave being dug up by a distant relative of someone from District 11.”

……

"Down in the mine! A madman has rushed in... Ah!"

The Black Knights inside panicked, thinking a wild lion had broken in. Taylor, gripping his gun, sprayed bullets wildly through the room, swearing profusely. When he ran out of bullets, he grabbed another from the floor and kept firing. Even the Britannian soldiers outside were unexpectedly bold enough to approach. The Black Cats, helpless and disoriented, were knocked down along with the broken shelves in the supermarket. The hundred-square-meter supermarket was filled with dust, debris, and the blood of these Japanese soldiers.

"You like it? Huh?!" With no guns left to pick up, he pulled out his pistol and fired wildly. "Listen up! You little Japanese devils! Either dig your own parents out of their graves, or die! No! Your grandfathers! Your ancestors! Your ancestors' ancestors! Drag them all into the furnace! Turn your mothers into dust, they won't even be worthy of being fed to rats!"

A wounded black cat lay nearby. Taylor dropped his empty pistol, grabbed a dagger, and stabbed at it—no, the dagger strike was as violent as a brick! It was clearly smashing! It was smashing the poor creature's face, neck, and chest with the blade! This wasn't murder; it was using this man's body like soil in a flowerpot to loosen it…

"You, you, you..." He looked up and saw the last survivor in the room slowly approaching. Seeing the soldier's furious face, he couldn't help but tremble all over.

"Come here! Huh?!" Taylor yelled at him, "Does this Showa-era bastard have the right to mingle in this dog skin?!"

Without giving the other party a chance to explain, the soldier jumped up and pinned him down again, grabbing his neck and unleashing a furious rage that sounded like a banshee's howl.

"Do you like this feeling? Tell me!" Suddenly, he felt something on the waist of the person beneath him.

It was a grenade, two unopened grenades. The soldier swiftly snatched a piece of metal and stabbed it through the black cat's elbows before finally taking the grenades from his waist.

"Come on, watch this!" Tyler shoved the grenade in front of the man and let out a loud, grotesque laugh. "You Japanese really like grenades, don't you! You really like them! Aren't you excited!"

Not content with shoving a grenade into his mouth, he grabbed a rock and, like hammering nails, drove the grenade deeper and deeper into the man's broken teeth. Only then did he pull the pin with great pleasure and run away.

……

“Taylor…”

With the head shattered into a bloody mess by a grenade, Davis and his team stepped into the supermarket, watching as the soldier staggered out, leaning against the wall for support.

"Hey." Jania was the first to rush over to help him up, her eyes filled with disbelief. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Taylor stared blankly and didn't speak. After a long time, his legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground, pounding the ground and burying his head in his hands, crying loudly.

"What's wrong with him?" Genia and Nagayama had no idea what to do and could only watch as Philip went over and hugged him, muttering things like "God" to himself.

“Well, his cousin…” Davis wanted to say something, but then shut up and walked away, shaking his head.

“So, Genia,” Nagayama seemed to notice something, “why are you suddenly so concerned about this jerk?”

"Shut up... I didn't..."

Chapter 162, Section 225: The Pursuit of the Black Knight (Part 2)

"The streets are clean, and there are no enemy survivors."

After Davis and his group finished checking everything that needed to be checked, the second infantry fighting vehicle arrived and stopped in front of them.

But the two men in the driver's and passenger's seats who stuck their heads out to drive drew surprised stares from the soldiers.

“Hey! American friend! What a nice day!” Stasevich said in English with a trilled "r" in the passenger seat, while Chicherin popped up in the driver’s seat—how could it be them?

Immediately afterwards, the hatch behind opened, and Ivanov followed a soldier in black clothes out, whose arm was bandaged and slinged across his chest.

"Sergeant Nagayama! Your troubles?"

"It's resolved! But I'd like to know, although you were in charge of these three Soviet prisoners of war, why..."

"Oh, I forgot to let you know. These three have already started training to operate the infantry fighting vehicle. Since I'm injured, they'll be driving it." After saying that, the soldier turned back and said something to Stasevich in Russian, signaling them to go back into the vehicle.

"Sergeant, leave a few men to take care of the wounded and stand by. You can use your military vehicles or take those junks that the Black Knights didn't have time to drive away. Those who are okay can get on the tanks. I heard there are still a lot of thugs waiting for us to deal with up ahead."