Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 149

"Your Highness Elizabeth, news from the southern front: Major Valar, who led a transport squadron to bomb the front lines, was wounded and separated from his group on the return journey. He has now made a successful emergency landing with the help of the Knights of Agincourt, and all on board survived."

"Ah, that's great. By the way, how effective was the bombing? And have the losses of the entire fleet been tallied?"

"The report stated that due to the obstruction of a large number of US military aircraft, the expected results were not achieved and some targets were not attacked. As for the aircraft, they can basically be repaired and launched again. Not many were completely destroyed, but no fewer than 8."

"Well, this isn't good. We've hit a huge wall in the south, and the bombing of Rügen Island and the Baltic Fleet in the north is... well, it's barely acceptable. Damn the Soviet Air Force and fleet anti-aircraft firepower, otherwise we could have sunk some destroyers or something."

“Oh right, I forgot to ask.” Elizabeth remembered something, “Major Valard, his crash landing location?”

"The troops that had already crossed the Elbe River were able to meet us in a small village near Magdeburg."

"Haha, you're very lucky. Come on, tell me, how did those troops proceed westward?"

"The troops advancing along the coast are currently stationed in Rostock, mainly along the Elbe River. The northern part will soon reach Wittenberg, and the next target is Garto. There are no major cities along the way."

"anything else?"

"The central front remains inactive for now, while the troops in the south have just set off for Helmstedt. The first major city on their route is Brunswick, and then they will advance toward Hanover."

"Great. Alright, let our bombardiers take a break. Before we meet any new guests, let's blow the Soviet troops who are trying to escape from Rügen Island unconscious."

The Holy Britannian Empire, 19 kilometers from the British-occupied zone.

Chapter 169, Section 232: The Torch of War on Rügen Island (Part 1)

On the island of Rügen lies a city called Bergen, which once housed approximately ten thousand German civilians. When the Nazi flag turned to ashes, the city simply awaited the arrival of the avengers, offering no defense, no resistance.

Now, civilians are left only to look out from the cracks in the city windows, watching Soviet soldiers pack up and walk through the streets. It's been a long time; by all accounts, they may be the last to leave.

Among them, a jeep was driving quite merrily. Amidst the island's dazzling artillery fire and the thunderous sparks, it did not follow a large contingent of infantry and trucks, along with the cannons towing them, heading east to the dock. Instead, it went north, the direction only a few comrades were heading.

“Ah, look.” Ekaterina sat in the back row with her sniper rifle on her back. “We’re finally leaving here. I wonder how Ilya is doing. She was sent to the ship first as a wounded soldier. I couldn’t go with her. Tch.”

"This is the arrangement, comrade. We all have our own missions." The co-pilot was a lieutenant who, along with the driver, picked her and another sniper up in the ride.

"Hey, you guys, and the thing you're sitting on, are forced to take a makeshift sampan from the small ferry crossing to the north because the docks are so busy?"

"It's nothing serious, Comrade Ekaterina. Cannons are more valuable than jeeps. We should make some sacrifices and be willing to give up our own interests."

"Well, let's see if those fascist bandits on the other side will give us any face."

……

No sooner had the words been spoken than the air raid siren swept across the entire island like a tidal wave.

"Damn it, the enemy bombers are coming again!" Looking up in the direction they came from, there was that flock of giant black crows, with some blurry humanoid figures wrapped around them, approaching from the sky above the continent opposite Rügen Island.

The weather improved, making it easier for the air force comrades to launch large-scale attacks, but it also gave those who wanted your lives more freedom to act. Clearly, the enemy had sent far more planes and flying puppets than the air force comrades had anticipated. The ammunition belts spread across the sky by those red-starred eagles did not cause the crows much trouble.

This is terrible! The crows are fine, but the comrades on the ground are in trouble.

"Blyat! Rockets, it's a rocket again!"

As they spoke, the large-caliber rockets inside those behemoths were ejected, transforming into comets with fiery trails as they hurtled towards Rügen Island. Instantly, in areas beyond the reach of land-based artillery fire on the opposite shore, a forest of flames several stories high was once again sown.

Well, it seems that the air force comrades and anti-aircraft gun comrades did their best, even at the cost of their lives. The rockets and bombs that passed over Rügen Island did not land on important positions and routes due to the interference of fighter jets. In fact, many comrades on the road did not bother to lie down or jump into the pits, and just walked along the roadside as if nothing had happened.

"Hey! You guys should at least say something before you add fuel to the engine!" As for the ride that Ekaterina was hitchhiking on, it bounced and hopped along the highway without saying a word, and almost fell off the vehicle when it lost its balance.

"Did the fascists tell us when they dropped bombs on our heads?" the driver retorted, his temper still flaring. "Why didn't you sit still? What are you thinking? Stay calm."

Just as the enemy was building the firewall closer and closer, the car finally came to a stop at the ferry crossing at its destination.

"Get out!" The lieutenant's words left the driver alone at the steering wheel, maneuvering the jeep toward a spacious ferry at the dock.

"Come on, comrades, one by one, don't fall behind." There were many comrades waiting to board the ship. The lieutenant went to the side to direct and coordinate, while Ekaterina went to the back of the line according to the order of arrival, waiting to board the next batch. From this shallow ferry crossing, they would board small boats and ferries. The ferries would mostly take them directly to the Polish coast, while the small boats would take the comrades to deeper waters further from the shore, where the large ships were the small boats' destination.

"Ah, it's so good to be able to drive." Ekaterina watched as the jeep pulled up onto the special shuttle and drove away with the sputtering sound of its diesel engine.

"Comrade, how many wounded did you have on your way here?" The question came from a young comrade in front of her.

"Ah, it's nothing, everyone can walk, haha."

Looking back at the sky, the enemy planes that had dropped bombs had turned back, and the dust they raised on the island seemed to be less than the fog at sea.

"We're supposedly going to be on a Swedish ship," the young man continued, "I wonder what about their stuff might make us unhappy."

"Unpleasant? Hmm, I guess it's just that I can't understand their writing. But compared to that..." She suddenly noticed something faintly visible in the sea to the north, so she took the sniper rifle off her back and aimed the scope at it.

"The British are the ones who are truly uneasy now. Don't they know we almost had a falling out with them just a month ago?"

"Hmm, the Royal Navy, huh. It's quite surprising that they didn't fire at us when they came before."

"Alright, alright! We're boarding! Hurry up!"

……

The small boat drifted further and further from the shore, and the passenger ship anchored in the distance became clearer, along with a Red Navy destroyer nearby. The comrades on board, bathed in the warm winter sun, began to share their stories, speaking and singing.

Yes, if it weren't for the Nazis' rampage into our homeland four years ago, everyone might be living the wonderful life they imagined they would have in their hometown.

However, in an instant, the singing was suddenly interrupted by a series of anti-aircraft shots from a distant destroyer.

"Hey, what's going on?" All the comrades on the ship looked over. Oh no! The enemy hadn't finished bombing one wave of islands with their planes, and now another group was coming this way.

"Stay calm, comrades! Don't let the boat capsize!"

The fighter jets' pursuit was clearly insufficient, so a group of flying puppets landed on their heads and opened fire on the ferries, passenger ships, and warships that were moving along.

"Oh damn it!" The comrades on the boat ducked down, trying their best to avoid being hit by the machine guns of the puppets. Bullets and shells landed on the sea on both sides, and water spray landed on the ferry's hull and into the cabin, instantly extinguishing the previous enthusiastic atmosphere.

Watching the rockets dropped by the bombers land near the passenger ship and warship, what could one do but silently pray that the hope of life floating in front of them would not turn into flames?

"Hurry, hurry! Get on board!" Finally, they reached the side of the passenger ship. The comrades hurriedly left the cabin, grabbed the rope ladders thrown down from the passenger ship, and climbed up one after another.

"My God..." Ekaterina muttered to herself, "Damn, the enemy is going all out..."

The chatter and clattering on the rope ladder, mixed with the distant rumble of anti-aircraft guns from the destroyer and the fleeting glimpses of fighter jets overhead, made it seem as if the sea itself trembled with fear, and the passenger ship swayed like a newborn foal unable to stand firm amidst the rising and falling waves.

After finally getting onto the deck, the comrades began to run inside one by one, but just then, Ekaterina noticed something was wrong.

That's right, she seemed to remember that those bombers that had just passed by from high altitude were not heading towards the Baltic Fleet's location in the northeast of the island, but rather to the north!

In a flash, she pulled out the rifle scope and looked north. What she saw on the sights made her gasp in surprise.

Indeed, the British warships that had been patrolling north of Rügen Island were suddenly covered in anti-aircraft fire from bombers and dummy bombers, which ignited the black smoke and water that filled the horizon.

"Oh no..." He quickly called over a Red Navy soldier from the ship.

"Comrade! Look north, comrades! Use your lights to quickly inform the destroyer next to you of the situation there! Something's happened to the Royal Navy to the north!—"

Chapter 170, Section 233: The Torch of War on Rügen Island (Part 2)

Rewind 20 minutes, and a group of armed transport planes that had just taken off from a runway near Berlin had formed up and were flying north toward the sea. The KMFs escorting them also took off, flying together in the cold sky.

"Damn, Vincent isn't exhausted, but my back is going to break..." Griffin and his group were also there, though two of the six were missing. "They're escorting transport planes every day, and suddenly I envy Angelina and Lily for being able to help the princess with her little tasks on the ground. Why did I have to be so talkative back then..."

"Haha, it's a pity the generals and marshals didn't send you a Mordred, Captain." Xi Xi'an laughed. "Our firepower is limited. The enemy positions on Rügen Island and the Baltic Fleet at sea are not things we can defeat alone, no matter what method we use."

"Well, there should still be a way. Let me think..."

"Perhaps you're thinking of that time in Europe when the Knights of St. Michael attacked the EU's W-0 unit's base. To deal with the absolute protective wall they built outside the base's castle, they didn't even think of multiple Canterbury tanks firing simultaneously. So they just had one Gloucester tank carry a huge amount of ammunition... risking his life to blow it up? Of course, whether it succeeded is another matter."

"Hmm... I have thought about it, but still... cough, I think it's good to be alive, hehehe."

“Yes, Captain, we can only see this scene if you and we are both alive.” Xixi’an pointed the camera of his landline at a distance, where a ship at sea was billowing thick black smoke, darkening the sky. “It looks like the first wave of attacks today has already damaged a Soviet warship and forced it to evacuate. If a few more attacks come, life on Rügen Island will be even worse.”

"That's true. Alright, alright, the first wave of attacks is coming back. Let's see what they have to say to us?"

……

As the aerial swarm trailing black and white plumes of smoke drew near, Griffin was about to speak first.

"Second wave of attack! Respond immediately! It's urgent!"

"Huh? Huh? Huh?" The captain was bewildered. "What's going on, everyone? Did you steal all the credit and then try to make fun of me?"

"Don't be ridiculous! Let me tell you, a large fleet of unidentified warships has appeared in the northern part of Rügen Island, and they seem to be heading towards the mainland!"

"What the hell?!" Griffin coughed loudly in shock. "Are you kidding me? Where did the Soviets get so many ships? What are the brave warriors who are going to land supposed to do with this?!"

"Wait a minute, I have a question," Xixi'an said, as if she had just thought of something, "Is this fleet newly appeared? Was there any prior intelligence about it?"

"No! The fog at sea has been quite thick lately, and we haven't spotted any ships at all."

"So, could this be another fleet that the Soviets called for, and because of the heavy fog at sea, it was supposed to arrive at Rügen Island at the same time as the first fleet that had just participated in the bombardment of the shore, but was delayed as a result?"

"This is definitely not good news, damn it..."

Just then, the leader of the transport planes they were escorting spoke up.

"Captain Griffin, I just received news from Berlin that the generals are aware of the second fleet. The mission is being changed: I'm allocating several transport planes; you and a squadron of KMFs will protect them and engage the newly arrived fleet in disruptive attacks, damaging as many ships and formations as possible to delay their potential rendezvous with the Soviet fleet east of Rügen Island. The rest of you will continue with your original missions. Understand?"

"Okay, then I..."

"Captain, I have an idea." Shisian said, flying away from Griffin. "We'll split up to lead the jamming mission. You take advantage of Vincent's high speed to check these warships as much as possible and make sure you can record their information. Ipe, Juliet, and I will go and observe whether the eastern fleet intends to join them. Keep in touch, okay?"

"Ah, okay, no problem. Speaking of which, these new ships probably don't have air escort, right?" As soon as he finished speaking, several Sunderlanders followed Vincent and parted ways with Shisian and his group.

……

"Ah, you must be joking..." They could already see what those mysterious warships looked like, and at the same time, the ships began to be covered in bright, glittering flames.

"Alright everyone, be careful, they're firing... Holy crap!" Before he could finish the sentence, a black mushroom exploded right in front of Vincent, startling Griffin so much that he yanked the control stick hard and quickly climbed up.

"No way, are you kidding me? The anti-aircraft firepower of these warships is that terrifying?" The leader of the transport plane squadron couldn't believe it. "This is completely different from the Soviet Baltic Fleet."

"So, shouldn't you head back right away?" Griffin stuck out his tongue. "I can already see a hole in your wing."

"Cough, it's alright, we'll be at rocket launch range soon, it'll be over in a little while. Why don't you KMF try to disrupt their firepower?"

"Ahem... let's give it a try." Well, before the words were even out of his mouth, several Sunderlanders had already charged down—whether they understood each other perfectly or were frightened by the anti-aircraft fire was unclear.

"Well, this is no different from those Knights of St. Michael who stormed the EU castle and self-destructed!"

It was unbelievable. Those ammunition belts, those anti-aircraft shells flying out of the warships, were like a bunch of burning paper ash suddenly placed in front of a super-powerful electric fan. Before they could even catch their breath, the sparks came crashing down on the approaching KMFs like a hydra emerging from the sea, whistling with gunpowder as they lunged at them.

"Ah!" It's indescribable how that group of Sunderland aircraft was set ablaze, turning into a giant torch, and then landed in a chaotic mess more than a kilometer away from the warships. The transport planes finally managed to launch their rockets, which landed sporadically around the warships, but the splashes of water did little to harm these floating behemoths.

"Something's wrong!" the transport plane leader suddenly shouted. Griffin turned around and it seemed that a large-caliber anti-aircraft gun had hit the plane directly, blowing off its tail.

"Oh dear..." He had no choice but to tell Vincent to quickly fly up and catch up with the falling bird. "OK, sir, can you hear me?"

"The plane is out of control! We're trying to get out... Holy crap, the cabin door is stuck!"

"I'll help you!" He made Vincent fly to the side of the plane, and with a few punches, he smashed open the cabin door. "Come on! Jump on!"

"No need! We have parachutes! The anti-aircraft fire here is too dense, you'd better leave quickly! We just saw several more warships approaching from the northeast of this fleet, we don't know where they came from! Send this message back quickly!"

"What?!" Griffin had no choice but to leave the plane and jump away, but he did not follow them back to base. At this moment, Sunderland, who was chasing after the transport planes, was ignited into fragments by a shell. He hesitated for a moment, then snatched the recoilless cannon from Sunderland's hand and flew towards a nearby warship.

"Well, it flew fast enough. Thank goodness it's a seventh-generation fighter." After narrowly escaping the barrage of fire, he twisted around, took aim again, and swarmed all the remaining shells from his recoilless rifle onto the bridge of the warship before finally fleeing back in a sorry state.

"OK, Griffin... I'll just assume you're trying to kill yourself again this time. Next time, no matter who tells you to charge through this kind of air defense net, keep your mouth shut."

……

A few hours later, at an airport near Leipzig in the south, a transport plane painted with the Royal Air Force's red dot and white and blue circle insignia, along with a Soviet Red Star Eagle, was parked on the side of the runway.

Now, these people who got off the plane went to a nearby room and sat at a table. Opposite them were Marshal Zhukov and a group of Soviet generals.

"I can hardly believe what we've heard, Marshal. But I still want you to know that I'm not lying." The passenger on the plane was led by Admiral Brian Robinson, the Deputy Military Governor of the British Forces in Germany. "We received news from the Royal Navy's Baltic Task Force that they have been attacked by inland air forces. Before our plane took off, the information we gathered indicated that two warships had been damaged to varying degrees, and even the bridge of a destroyer had been hit. The command structure is in complete chaos."

“I understand what you mean, sir, but I think there are some things you need to clarify.” Zhukov paused. “Some of the demands we made to you, Britain and France, a month ago may prove that we couldn’t get anything, but that shouldn’t be a reason for you to accuse us, the Soviet Union, of retaliating in kind. I’m sure you understand this telegram from our Baltic Fleet.”

“Recipient: Soviet Command in Germany.” Admiral Robinson listened to the officer translating for him, “We have detected an attack by enemy air force from the inland, 4 nautical miles northeast of Rügen Island, on the Royal Navy fleet located about 30 nautical miles northwest of us. The enemy has destroyed about one bomber and several man-made weapons, and damaged one British warship.”

"If you think there's a flaw in this precise timing, we have another one here. The Baltic Fleet received a message from a nearby Swedish warship, asking what happened to us." The Marshal said, taking out another telegram, his face slightly angry. "This time it could absolutely not have been an attack by our Soviet forces on the Royal Navy. After all, your telegram specifically mentioned that bomber, which is basically the same as the one that crashed in your British-occupied territory a month ago."

"Yes, we can't fight ourselves." The admiral chuckled softly. "So, Marshal Zhukov, what is the current deployment status of your Baltic Fleet? We're quite curious, after all, our special plane took off from Hanover and made a stop in Frankfurt, and it's not just because the original airspace was unsafe. You see, the Americans who got off the plane with us are definitely determined to sort out this mess in Germany that has dragged on for two months."

"Alright, but..."