Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 146

"No, she's a member of a knightly order. They have special uniforms that represent their unique status, unlike our blue uniforms. And look at the insignia on her sleeve; ordinary troops wouldn't have that."

"The Knights?"

"Ah, the Knights are where the elite of Britannia gather. Generally speaking, their combat strength is much stronger than us blue-skinned people. They have good treatment and strong backing. In short, they are people we can't afford to offend, both in words and in fights."

"Then, this girl must be very capable."

"Just got back from the bloodbath in District 45, equipped with a more powerful KMF, and even fought a life-or-death battle against a bunch of old hands from the Black Knights alone. What do you think?" Nagayama paused. "But I feel like this girl named Lütjens is a bit mentally unstable..."

"Abnormal? What do you mean?"

“Who cares if it’s normal or not!” Taylor yelled. “Anyway, we can always pull her up and have sex with her. Ah, although this girl’s breasts aren’t big enough and she’s a bit short, well, Jania’s figure feels better to the touch.”

"Alright, alright, never mind! We've arrived at my barracks." Yongshan waved goodbye to the three and walked away.

……

"You've gotten too arrogant, you brat. Back in the military camp, you were about to be dragged into solitary confinement by the military police... Holy crap..."

"Damn it, these damn bastards, they arrested our men, made them work for them, and now they won't even let us sleep with their women?"

"Fine, fine, you're the best. Go ahead and sleep with that girl from the Knights. I'd like to see how she'll tear you to pieces in bed."

"Hey, is it really that weird? It's just..."

Taylor gradually stopped talking because Davis's expression was really serious.

"I've thought it through, everyone. Britannia has now deployed its elite knightly orders to fight alongside us and the Soviet Union. It seems..."

"Going all out, they must be aiming to take over Europe, right?" Philip guessed.

“They’ve underestimated us. Why wouldn’t they want our whole world? And they certainly have the means to do so.” Davis sighed. “Now even the Nazi lackeys are willing to collude with these aliens. God, we probably don’t have much time left to play this game…”

"Clark, it's up to you what you want to do..."

Chapter 165, Section 228: Guarding the Sea

The sun is a giant torch that illuminates every dark corner of the earth the moment it rises.

But when the sun rises, it is discovered that the smoke signals, woven by humans themselves, have already illuminated the earth red, creating a nightmarish scene.

Stralsund, a small coastal town of 10,000 people in northern Germany, once served as a training base for the Nazi German Navy. After being bombed by Allied warplanes and swallowed up by the Soviet Red Army, it unfortunately met with the moment when the flames of war were ignited once again.

Rügen Island, held by the Soviet Red Army, stands silently across a shallow channel a little over two kilometers wide to its east, watching the daytime sky become stained with the smoke of gunpowder.

……

"I am coming!"

In the city, a small building was easily blasted open by a KMF, and the gunfire that had surrounded the area was instantly extinguished.

"Yes, very accurate, Ypel!"

Griffin and his men braved the flying embers and Soviet bullets as they moved through the city, working alongside allied forces to eliminate every last Soviet stronghold. They were less than 700 meters from the bridge that the Soviets would have to cross to retreat to Rügen Island.

"Damn it! Back off! Back off!" Juliet shouted, and in a moment of carelessness, she looked up and saw another pile of shells flying from the island across the sea landing between the houses, splashing up a row of scattered walls of fire. The debris and shards that swept across the area forced the KMFs to retreat and hide like sheep.

"Well, we're really lucky."

“Yeah, yeah,” Griffin replied to Angelie, “If only we hadn’t spotted the shells coming…”

“Ahem, that’s not my point, sir.” Angelie sighed. “If the waters between here and Rügen Island weren’t so shallow, the Soviets could easily have brought their fleet to the port area and bombarded us with artillery…”

“That’s right. At that time, with more heavy warships and artillery, and a higher density of artillery fire, we might need to think twice before we even enter the city…” Xixi’an continued.

"Ugh! This is such a headache!" Griffin scratched his head, looked at the map, and said, "Forget it! Let's go this way!"

"OK, buddy, don't be in such a hurry, we're on our way!"

Vincent, leading four men, Gloucester, arrived in front of a building where the allies seemed to be facing a tough challenge.

"Attention everyone! Same as usual, double pressure, triple advance! Let's go!"

The five who had just arrived took out all their weapons. Shishian and Ipel crouched on the roof of the back building to provide suppressive fire, while the remaining three took machine guns and went to break through the windows.

Juliet's shield still managed to deflect a Molotov cocktail for the captain at a crucial moment. As Angelina climbed upstairs, she somehow acquired a machine gun. Griffin, as always, fired a few shots before wielding his MVS sword and slashing at the brick wall.

“OK, girls, it seems like the problem is solved.” Griffin placed Vincent’s hand on the building and, once again, saw what he was looking for with his special eyes. “Just a heads-up to our allies, there are a few living enemies in an inner room on the third floor. Tell their infantry to be careful when they go in.”

……

"OK, let's wait here for the ammunition delivery team to arrive."

The city withered like an autumn apple tree in late December 1945. The fruits formed from artillery shells fell all around, and the withered and ferocious fiery fountains, like a plague, deterred those who wanted to pick them up.

"Hey, is there anything amiss here, huh?" Griffin turned around and jokingly chimed in.

"No, look at those helicopters clearing the way."

"Huh? Are you alright today, Angelina? Isn't that ours?"

No sooner had they spoken than they heard the strange sound of another engine approaching from the horizon. As they turned their heads, they saw a helicopter staggering down from the sky, its belly ripped open and oozing sparks, crashing into the bushes like a drumbeat.

"Look, it's not ours anymore." She sighed, watching the street before her filled with smoke and sparks once again.

Looking up at the sky again, those long-lost green crosses reappeared in groups in the airspace where helicopters and aviation KMFs roamed.

The ground was a mass of blood-red foam, bursting open and splattering people with filth; the sky was another tangled mess of steel, with the black smoke trailing behind the hit and burning aircraft binding the throat of Stralsund.

"Ah, right, you reminded me..."

“Winter has brought an untimely improvement in the weather, allowing us to launch large-scale air operations, but the same goes for the Soviet forces.” Angeli looked quietly at the sky. “It seems that even the simplest objective, ‘driving them into the sea,’ which is so close at hand, is proving to be quite a headache.”

“From the moment the sky cleared, it was already highly unrealistic to quickly seize the city and begin suppressing Rügen Island.” Xixi’an chimed in, “What a disappointment. From now on, we can only fight cautiously.”

"Hey, I feel like you two are really working in tandem, I don't even get a chance to speak!" Griffin said, a little annoyed. "Are you two trying to be my strategists? Huh?"

"Stop your ridiculous 'misery loves company' thoughts, Mr. Griffin..."

……

"Calling Griffin Squadron! Respond if you hear me!"

"Ah! Received!" Vincent Terry's radio crackled to life. "Is there anything I can help you with, Brigadier General?"

"Captain, our advance inside the city is currently being hampered by heavy enemy artillery and air support, so we..."

"Hey, watch out, I'll wipe you clean!"

Suddenly, a squadron of attack planes swooped down right in front of everyone. In the blink of an eye, Griffin and his men quickly dodged to the sides of the street to avoid being killed by the strafing and bombing that ran across the street.

"Cough! Cough cough cough cough! My God! Are the other air force KMF units all out of bed? Is there no cover left?!"

"Captain! I heard the reply, Captain! Report the situation!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Brigade Commander, we just got a nose-drenched by enemy planes, but we're still operational. What's the matter?"

"Your squadron, retreat! We don't need to rush to the shore now; what we need is to set up suppressive fire on the other side of the sea! You now rendezvous with our brigade's Canterbury C Squadron! Once the air support disperses the Soviet aircraft, you'll move out with them to cover their attack on the retreating Soviet troops on the bridge! Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am! Alright, my dear girls! Follow me!"

……

……

Behind a wall of fire built by aerial bombs and artillery shells, the bridge leading to Rügen Island still stands.

"Hurry, hurry, comrades! Let's get onto the bridge!"

Catherine and Ilya, along with a group of comrades, held their ground at the bridgehead on this side of the city. Among the soldiers who had just passed by was a handcart with several wounded comrades on it, being pushed across by others.

"They're coming! They're coming! Oh my God!" Ekaterina muttered incessantly, clutching her sniper rifle. "Comrades! It looks like we can't escape the moment when we'll sacrifice ourselves for our country!"

“Hmm…” Ilya remained silent, her gaze drifting towards the sea behind her…

There was an unusually chaotic scene on and off the bridge. Comrades on the road were running along the roadbed towards the other side of the bridge, while small boats were being used by the bridge piers to carry soldiers to the island. Propellers and oars became essential tools for their escape.

Many small boats, after smuggling in a wave of people, turned back to wait for more comrades to emerge from the city and reach the shore, stepping onto this life-saving stretch of water. Wounded soldiers, comrades-in-arms, officers, and soldiers—everyone on this ship belonging to the Soviet Red Army had the right to evacuate.

Moreover, the ripples left behind as they swam towards the other side were not left for the onrushing enemy to fire upon. The howitzers on Rügen Island were constantly pouring fire into the city. As for the anti-aircraft guns and heavy machine guns? They were not idle either. Together with the Soviet Air Force eagles in the sky, they used ammunition belts to draw hunting nets, driving away the flying puppets that approached the ships, or they simply fired rows and rows of bullets across the sea, scaring the houses and shores on the opposite side with their thick and sturdy shells.

All the efforts were finally coming to an end, and the group finally heard the order to retreat from the telephone next to the DShK machine gun.

"Blyat!" Suddenly, a loud bang was heard, and a shell appeared out of nowhere, exploding in front of the warriors. Ilya also fell down along with the flying sand.

"Oh! No!"

Ekaterina panicked. Was she really going to leave alone like this?

No, thankfully, although Deshka and several of his bodies were pulverized, Ilya was able to catch her breath and sprawl out on the ground.

"Ah, are you alright?! Are you alright?!" Seeing that his comrade was alright, he quickly pulled her up. "Quick! Enemy tanks are catching up behind us! Let's go!"

……

Catherine and Ilya ran wildly across the bridge leading to the other side of victory, leaving only the two of them.

Behind them, on the main road of the city, came those hostile black figures, some flesh, some steel. Bullets flying from their hands cut the ground beneath their feet like plowshares, and artillery fire from them ripped stones off the bridge with a whistling sound, or fell from the side of the bridge, smashing into a giant dandelion beside the bridge pier.

The two women couldn't hear where the gunfire came from or where it landed. In a daze, it seemed that everything flying in front of and behind them merged into one.

Meanwhile, in the distance directly opposite the bridge, a four-legged mechanical behemoth began to move, slightly raising the massive cannon barrel it carried towards the sky.

"Canterbury, prepare! Firing at 320mm! Cluster munitions ready! Cannons charged! Fire!"

……

"This, this is?"

The two people on the bridge slowed down in surprise and looked at the shooting star that flew from behind and rushed into the sky above the bridge.

Soon, like a burst of luck, the meteor transformed into a spectacular meteor shower, blooming in all directions from that point—carrying surprise, and carrying death.

"what!--"

Oh no! A drop of rain fell beside Ilya, and she suddenly stumbled and tumbled off the edge of the bridge.

Continue running for your life? Or...?

Catherine gritted her teeth and jumped down after Ilya.

……

The Baltic Sea in winter is so cold it chills you to the bone. When you mix it with the water, all that remains is darkness, and even the sun can hardly bring any light to the sea.

“Ilia…Ilia, you can’t die…”

He fumbled around in the dark for a while before finally grabbing her arm.

The icy seawater pierced every nerve cell like needles, and the sniper rifle sling inexplicably wrapped around her neck. Ekaterina teetered desperately on the edge of life and death, no longer able to distinguish where the vast sea ended and where the light began...

Ilya's hand could no longer grip it; it slowly slid down, the weight of life remaining in her hand growing heavier and heavier...

……

The sun gives you light, but it is not the only thing that gives you light.

Just when all hope seemed lost, a thunderous sound, accompanied by dazzling flames, illuminated the sea.

A dark shadow gradually approached the two who were still struggling.

"Huh?" Ekaterina suddenly felt as if her upward-moving hand was being pulled back by something, pulling her out of the darkness.

When the seawater receded below her neck, she discovered it was a small rowboat, and a comrade wearing a black hat and a black military uniform was looking at her surprised face, which was covered with water droplets.

"Huh? Who are you?"

"You're guarding the bridgehead, you won't abandon any of your comrades," said the two naval infantrymen in the small boat. "We're here, and we won't let any of our motherland's children be unable to return home!"

"Ah! That's great! Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Ekaterina quickly pushed Ilya, who was in her arms, onto the ship, and then climbed in herself. The naval infantry comrades even helped her untie her gun sling.

"Here! Put this on!" One of them took off his coat and covered the two female soldiers with it. "Don't get cold!"

"Grab the oars! Let's go!"

……

The small rowboat cut through the waves on the swaying sea, growing smaller and smaller as it moved away from Stralsund.

The booming sound of cannons pierced the air and sea between the city and Rügen Island, finally settling into the streets and alleys, igniting the last vestige of tranquility.

Catherine checked Ilya's pulse and found nothing seriously wrong.

Her body, soaked with seawater, felt surprisingly warm inside the navy infantryman's black overcoat. She felt a warm sensation somewhere—was it in the pocket? She pulled out a medal—the Medal of Patriotic War, a red five-pointed star with a hammer and sickle emblem.