Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 144

“Well, I’ll stay here with Jania and the other guys. Davis! Philip! You guys go with them. We’ll take care of Taylor; he has some minor injuries.”

"yes sir!"

……

Once they reached the road heading south, Davis began talking with the leader of the Russian troops.

"Let them drive infantry fighting vehicles? That's strange, I didn't ask them to teach that."

"You need to understand their native language, Sergeant. There are more terms to master in the KMF than in any other tank. If you're not careful, you might confuse the meaning of different buttons. We haven't set up panels in other languages, and we can't just stick Russian labels all over the cockpit."

"That makes sense... By the way, where are we going now?"

"We've confirmed that the Black Knights drove the truck to a small pier on the south coast, near Enoshima. The police helicopter said there was a large boat there, and they seemed to be loading things onto it."

"Is that so? Then I think it's safer for us to get off here and walk along the sides of the road with the cars..."

"No need. A group of Germans from your 45th district have already arrived near the docks and are being held back by the Black Knights deployed on the road. There's no danger on the road. We just need to wait for the cars to stop, then line up and meet up with them."

“A German?” Davis muttered, glancing up to see Ivanov sitting across from him looking at him.

"Nazi beasts? Yes." The two exchanged a unified answer in broken English and with their eyes.

The sounds of gunfire outside gradually rose in tandem with the engine's solo.

……

"Holy shit!"

However, as soon as they got off the bus, a human corpse, lying against the wall and riddled with bullet holes, was placed beside them.

Such execution scenes are not uncommon in Area 11, where rebellions are frequent. But the question is, why are there several people wearing their own students' school uniforms in this one?!

"Hey! Where are they?!" He rushed forward and saw the German soldiers huddled in a nearby street corner, looking out at the street not far away. The sergeant in charge of these German soldiers was lying next to a road sign, pressing on the gunshot wound in his leg.

“Tell me, what’s going on?!” Davis asked along with the man who got out of the car. “Why are even our Britannian citizens being shot? Do you know what this means?”

"I'm sorry, I failed in my duty, but I didn't give the order!" The sergeant's voice trembled. "I was injured at the beginning, and then these soldiers in Sector 45G just randomly and blindly searched the civilians passing by, not even caring what they were wearing or what they were saying. Anyone who didn't comply after being told to raise their hands was shot! I couldn't stop them at all!"

"We've already done it!" a German soldier nearby responded, seemingly Schreiber. "Reducing unnecessary casualties is something we must do! Those who died disobeying orders should be held accountable for their foolish actions!"

"Bullshit! Do you know what you've done? Do you know the rules of Britannia?!"

"Here, our guns are the rule!" Schreiber arrogantly uttered the last syllable before retreating to change the magazine, without glancing at the wounded sergeant the entire time.

Davis and Stasevich, one on the ground and the other on the cabin door, looked at each other, somewhat incredulous at the reply—as they had heard it from the translator.

……

"Alright! I think we should deal with the current situation." At this moment, Karlstadt, who was leading the battle from the front, slipped over. "Friendly troops, the enemy has some concentrated fire over there, and there's also a robot called KMF, all black, wielding a machine gun. So, we need some heavy weapons to take it out."

“Hey, are you a soldier from the Soviet Union? Haha!” He pointed at Stasevich, then said to his superior, “Have their infantry fighting vehicles advance down this street. As long as that thing gets close enough to the KMF, it won’t cause any unpleasant noise.”

After the leaders in black relayed the message to the American and Soviet soldiers, things didn't start as he had imagined.

“Let’s pause for a moment,” Davis spoke first. “Let the armored vehicles push straight through? The houses on both sides aren’t tall, but they’re not glass bottles where you can see everything inside. I just want to say that this German gentleman’s thinking is utter nonsense.”

"Uh, wait a minute." The officers in black were bewildered. "Whose orders are we supposed to follow?"

"Gentlemen, don't hesitate, let me explain." Davis continued to use his language advantage to speed things up. "As you may know, these Germans were defeated by the United States and the Soviet Union back then. So, do you think their war strategy was more brilliant than ours?"

Seeing everyone's understanding and agreement, Davis gradually turned his mocking laughter to Karlstadt and Schreiber's faces—he actually knew very well that these German soldiers were saying this on purpose, intending to send them to their deaths so that he could stay behind.

“Alright, let’s do this.” Stasevich patted the vehicle body. “You guys hold the enemy back here, and we’ll take the infantry fighting vehicles and find a way out from the side.”

……

Davis and Philip, along with several soldiers, sneaked into a house on the left flank, while the Germans went to the right flank, to the house opposite.

"Oh, damn it." Philip climbed onto the roof, observed the enemy's movements, and then looked towards the Germans.

There was someone else watching him, and the two of them were staring at each other. Philip felt that something was missing—yes, a year ago, they were dressed in olive green and black uniforms, and their eyes held deep hatred; today, they were dressed in the same uniform, but the atmosphere between them was no less eerie than that of any battlefield.

"Shouldn't you have quietly pointed your gun at me, Hans?" Philip sneered.

But at that moment, he saw Russian tanks appear on a small hill covered with the ruins of houses not far away.

"Sir?"

Davis was called over, and the moment he picked up the walkie-talkie, he noticed some drinking sounds coming from inside, along with hiccups.

"Hey! Mr. Stasevich! What are you doing! This is dangerous!"

But the infantry fighting vehicle showed no sign of retreating; instead, its engine revved even higher. Davis then noticed that directly below the hill was the area occupied by the Black Knights.

"Dangerous? Hiccup...This is Russia!"

"What what what what?" Everyone was terrified. They watched as the infantry fighting vehicle revved its engine and charged straight down the hill, smashing through dead branches and rotten twigs, kicking over sheds and pots, and finally shoving down a tin shack before plunging into the Black Knights' ranks like a reckless crocodile.

Damn, that was so exciting! A soldier clearly saw that the infantry fighting vehicle didn't just randomly crash into the building. Right at the street corner, the KMF was caught and pinned down by the vehicle. The entire four-meter-tall body was like a tombstone, smashed to pieces by the Russian's charge, cursing his entire family underground.

"Uh, so?" Good heavens, it doesn't stop there. After the infantry fighting vehicles finished off that bunch, they started moving around the streets again, and the twin-mounted cannons were like vodka in Chicherin's hand, scattering bullets all over the street.

"Tell them to stop making trouble, we'll go clear the area."

……

The American soldiers and Germans charged forward with their officers, amidst the gunfights that raged through the streets. At that moment, the same police helicopter flew overhead.

"Cough, looks like they're in pretty much trouble," the two men in the helicopter muttered to themselves.

"No, it should be said that the Black Knights have learned their lesson this time. Why did they deploy so many obstacles?"

"Yes, they definitely won't make it now." As he spoke, the large boat at the dock had already sped away.

"It's alright, it's alright. Tell the sergeants below that their support is on its way. After clearing the streets and checking the dock for anything of value, we can retreat."

"Hey! But look!" The two suddenly spotted a huge cargo ship on the distant sea. "I remember this ship was one of the ships that left port today. It should have already reached Sanyuan Mountain by now..."

"My God, could the Black Knights' plan be...? We need to inform that warrant officer immediately!"

……

In the blink of an eye, the large boat that had departed from the dock was already not far from the cargo ship.

"Hurry up, Hino!" A group of people ran out of the cargo ship and shouted at the large vessel, "Where's Inoshita? What's he doing?"

"There's no time to feel sorry for him! We need to hurry, the ship..."

Just then, the group of people on the cargo ship noticed something flying over from the sky.

"Oh no! KMF! It's Britannia's KMF!"

"Only one?"

"Go and tell General Todo immediately!"

Gradually, the black figure rushed into the sunlight, aiming the cannon barrel at the heads on the deck. There was no time to escape; the shell, followed by a whistling sound, rained down from the sky, landing between the containers on the deck. Falling sheet metal, rising sparks, and the blast wave swept across most of the deck.

……

"You are……"

He struggled to his feet, only to find that Vincent had rushed onto the deck, thrown away the recoilless rifle in his hand, and drawn two long guns from his back. The blade of the MVS activated and turned red with a nimble sound.

"Stop it! Kill it!"

At this moment, several black KMFs on the ship, scoundrels known as the Black Knights, surrounded him with machine guns and cannons, trying to kill him. But Vincent was no match for them. He twirled two long spears in his hands a few times, then charged at one of the scoundrels like lightning.

"Run!" No one could stop the onslaught of this fierce ghost, nor could anyone keep up with its nimble movements. Its rogue metal shell was either sliced ​​open like rotten fruit or ripped apart from the inside out by the swift strokes of the spear and grappling hook.

There was only one scoundrel left, retreating while firing. How could he possibly survive? Vincent rushed forward at full speed, leaped up, and chopped down with all his might the other long gun he was still holding. Sparks flew, and the scoundrel's aircraft was nothing more than a pile of scrap metal burning on the deck.

"Try this!"

Suddenly, looking up, a gray-green KMF appeared, wielding something resembling a samurai sword and slashing down—clearly a member of the Black Knights. The attack was far too fierce; Vincent couldn't withstand it and was pushed forward, crashing into a container in the center of the ship before coming to a stop.

An unexpected turn of events? Not only that, but when I looked down, the deck turned red, and then the black giant disappeared into a drifting, rising cloud of fire and into the large crater that had just appeared on the deck.

……

"Hmm, this opponent is no ordinary one..."

As the smoke and dust gradually dissipated, Vincent had somehow jumped aside and, together with the gray-green KMF model named Moonlit, which had sent him to the trap, watched as a bright red KMF crawled out of the pit, with a huge steel claw on its right hand.

"Damn it..." Another group of red and black giants charged in, sending debris flying all over the deck. "Karen! Watch out! This guy is no pushover!"

"I know! Mr. Todo!"

Several more Black Knights' Moonlight and Rogue units surrounded the deck, squeezing the two combatants into the middle.

"Senha! Asahina! Get in position!"

But what happened next was somewhat unexpected by Toudou. Vincent's flight wing was knocked off, but it surprisingly tore off one of the fingers of Crimson Claw, forcing Karen to break free and watch the unsettling black creature from afar.

"This guy... is too unexpected..."

The Black Riders surrounded it, wondering what it would do next.

"Hey! Britannian!" Karen turned on the loudspeaker, trying to speak to Vincent's pilot, "Do you know what you're doing?"

“If your Black Knights want to disembark alive, then try.” Vincent Terry spoke in a surprisingly girlish voice, “If you want me dead, then ask me if I'll allow it!”

"Damn it..." Karen took a deep breath to calm herself down. "You don't seem like a useless person. Can I see what you look like and what your name is?"

Immediately, a communication screen appeared in Karen's KMF cockpit.

"You must be Miss Karen of the Black Knights? It's an honor to meet you."

Appeared, a pretty girl with short white hair, her eyes glaring fiercely at her as if burning with anger, a headband studded with medals tied around her forehead, Vincent in her hands, arms outstretched as if ready to fight, and two long guns.

"The Knights of Agincourt, Warrant Officer Lilizia Lütjens is here! The Black Knights, you must die here!"

Chapter 163, Section 226: The Hunt for the Black Knight (Part 2)

There was a fairly large weapons testing range in the Tokyo Concession. There weren't many KMFs gathered there, but basically none of them were exactly alike—the paint schemes were different, the weapons were different, and even the badges on their chests indicating which noble person or unit they belonged to were different.

Inside, there was a black Vincent, with two long guns strapped to its back, standing silently. Not far away, on a small table, a white-haired girl in a pilot's uniform was fast asleep, slumped over.

Beside her, several people dressed as engineers fiddled with the things in front of them while secretly glancing at the girl and whispering among themselves.

"Warrant Lieutenant Lütjens has been acting a bit strange lately, Mr. Gam?"

"Yes, she told me herself that she was under too much psychological pressure and that she kept thinking about what happened in Zone 45 when she went on the plane recently."

"District 45? Is it that scary?"

"Now she feels nervous and anxious every time she sits in the cockpit, or even when she's not in the KMF. This not only makes it impossible for her to fully concentrate on the test, but it also makes her sleep poorly."

"Sleep quality...Sir, how do you know so much? She didn't tell us herself, did she?"

"I like to wander around when I get up to use the bathroom at night, and lately when I pass by Lütjens' dormitory, I always hear the sound of banging on the walls and beds. This noise late at night is definitely not a good thing."

"Your strange hobby... well, never mind, I'd like to know if you have a solution?"

"Of course, it's in the medicine box."

……

When I wake up and get up from the table, I always feel a strange, indescribable dizziness and lightheadedness.

But if you find your hands locked at this moment, you'd probably panic and try to break free, forgetting all discomfort.

Where am I? What happened? Who did this?

"Lieutenant Lütjens, you're awake?"

“Mr. Gam?” she looked at the man approaching beside her. “What’s going on? Who…”

"Hey, hey, hey, there's no need to be so scared. This is still the testing ground. You're just asleep. As for the handcuffs, I made them."

"You!" Lilizia was furious and wanted to break the handcuffs that were chained to the table leg.

"Calm down! Calm down! Hehe! I was just playing a prank, there's no need to be like this, is there? This is a bit unlike you."

"What else is there to discuss besides the test data? Let me go!"

"So, if I could help you return to KMF with boundless energy and without any pressure, would you agree to communicate with me?"

"Hmm?" Mr. Gam said, placing a syringe and a vial of medicine on the table.

“You said you’re anxious about life on the battlefield, right? But you don’t seem to be able to relieve it, right? So, I want to offer you some help. If you agree, I promise that fatigue and fear will be a thing of the past for you.”

The man walked behind Lilizia, placed his hand on her shoulder, and stroked her arm several times, making her blush. After she calmed down, he took the syringe from her hand.