Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 202

"The enemy was right under their ambush window. He wanted us to fire the first shot and then quickly turn north, as the enemy had follow-up troops coming from the landing beach."

……

Traps, booby traps, and landmines have quietly proven to Colonel Kojelevsky that they, along with trench fortifications, are one of the keys to defending the island. Therefore, deploying minefields outside the range of enemy artillery fire has become an important task.

However, plans can't keep up with changes, and the enemy's landing speed was somewhat unexpected. Before that, the Soviet army would have to spend another day to complete the deployment of the outermost minefield.

Their task then became to slightly delay the Britannian attacking forces in Samtens.

I can't stop you from entering the city, but at least I can stop you from taking afternoon naps and cooking dinner in the city.

The lieutenant and his men waited until the sound of machine guns and cannons filled the sky, and then the red-starred fighter jets appeared – Soviet air support had arrived, and they no longer needed to worry about the attack helicopters.

"Action!" In an instant, the desolate town was filled with gunfire, like hot water gushing out of a broken bathtub in a bathroom, leaving the Britannian soldiers who had just stepped out onto the street completely bewildered.

"Take cover! Seize the high ground!" They quickly regained their footing and hid behind nearby low walls, bomb craters, or piles of rubble. Of course, Ekaterina soon heard someone going upstairs behind her.

"Let me handle this. You get out of that house as soon as possible," Ilya said over the radio. A gunshot rang out from the house across the street, and a rapidly spinning bullet skewered two people around the neck.

"Thank you." Taking advantage of the chaos in the street, Ekaterina quickly crawled out of the rubble, climbed to the roof, picked up an enemy grenade, and threw it down the stairs at the enemies who had heard the commotion.

……

"Go, hurry up..." Ilya watched her climb onto the roof, and then, taking advantage of the enemy's inattention, jump onto another house to get away from the enemy's position. Only then did he feel relieved and retreat from the shadows.

Downstairs from Ilya was Lieutenant Zilinkov, the highest-ranking commander of Samtens' diversionary force, and his ambush point. They split into two groups, each centered around an RPD machine gun. The PPSh-41 focused on dealing with the guys in the houses in front of them, ready for close-quarters combat at any moment, while the SKS-41 turned towards the city hall to suppress any enemy troops attempting to approach from a distance.

"Aim at that wall!" After driving the enemy into the house, which looks like a cooking pot, you have to put the lid on and light the fire. The person in charge of this is an RPG-1.

"Well done!" But the battle did not end with the billowing smoke from the house. Before the lieutenant could give any more orders, the enemy fired two rocket launchers from other places.

"Blyat!" The room erupted into chaos. The lieutenant and Ilya, their eyebrows singed and covered in soot, cried out, "Who saw it? Who saw where the enemy came from?"

“You’d better get out of there quickly, Lieutenant!” Ekaterina shouted into the walkie-talkie. “The building might collapse. The enemy is breaking up their forces into smaller groups; they’re probably trying to surround us.”

At the same time, comrades near the city hall also sent a message that the enemy infantry intended to infiltrate their defenses.

"Everyone retreat! Sergeant Ekaterina, cover us!"

Of course, she wasn't the only one providing cover; the lieutenant assigned a volunteer machine gunner to suppress the advancing enemy with an RPD right next to the building. Unfortunately, the rocket launcher also found its way to him.

"You clever bastard, do you hate machine guns more than snipers?" Ekaterina watched as a rocket exploded against the wall next to the machine gunner, knocking him to the ground. His legs, bleeding profusely, were numb, but he still gritted his teeth and grabbed the RPD back, face up, and spread his legs apart with his hands, continuing to suppress the enemy's advance by feel.

"Looks like the scope will have to teach you a lesson, won't it?" The smoke from the rockets gave them away, and Ekaterina quickly spotted a black arm holding an iron pipe next to a wooden crate in a chicken coop.

"First, pay attention to the sniper's position. Second, don't use a wooden plank as cover." Just as the rocket launcher was about to fire again, a bullet that had left the barrel, along with fragments that had hit the wooden crate, embedded itself in the rocket launcher soldier's elbow.

The chicken coop instantly erupted in smoke and dust, as if struck by a mortar shell—the young man, before he died, didn't know that his last breath was aimed at the roof of the coop, and those around him also perished.

……

"General Trosa, Samtens' advance team reports that they were ambushed by Soviet infantry in the town. They did not find any weapons such as artillery or heavy machine guns. A squadron of infantry that arrived later has already airdropped nearby, relieving our numerical disadvantage."

"Have the other ground troops hold off on approaching the town for now." The general sensed something was amiss. "Get me in touch with the squadron officers."

"General?" The answer came from a second lieutenant with a hoarse voice.

"Describe the battlefield situation in detail."

"The Soviet infantry have all retreated to the north of the town, but they have not completely withdrawn. They are still using the houses as cover to block us, and their attack is quite all-out. It should not be a feint. I am quite certain that this is a new and elite Soviet unit."

"how to say?"

"I can't find a single bolt-action rifle like the Mosin-Nagant on their positions, General. Their firepower is much stronger than before, and there's a machine gun here that we've never seen before. It has Russian writing on it, so it couldn't have been cobbled together from German equipment... Do you have any instructions?"

"Have your men maintain their current occupied areas; absolutely do not launch a full-scale attack."

"Do you want me to hold out and wait for reinforcements, General?" The lieutenant didn't get a reply before the communication was cut off.

"What are your thoughts?" the officer next to Trosa asked. "Samtens is very important; you should send a large force to capture it as soon as possible."

"I believe that your words have been repeated many times by Soviet commanders."

Trosa gave the bewildered officer a knowing look, and then inquired about the current air situation on Rügen Island—it seemed to be going well; the landing craft and ground troops on the island had not encountered much resistance, only the helicopter units and the soldiers at the southern ferry had suffered considerable bloodshed at the hands of Soviet warplanes.

What's even more bizarre is that, apart from the large number of anti-aircraft guns that have already been discovered at the field airfield, there has been no trace of any Soviet large-caliber direct-fire or indirect-fire weapons to date.

"Pass on my order: all ground troops that are able to move toward Samtens immediately. Note that they should remain dispersed around the outskirts of the town as much as possible and move back and forth. Under no circumstances should they enter the town. Also, if the Soviet army is found to be retreating, they must not pursue it to the north."

"Contact air power and be ready to launch an air strike at any time."

……

As the first night fell, it was difficult to find any firelight on the island.

The field airfield on Rügen Island had long been damaged by air raids, rendering it unusable for parking aircraft and serving entirely as a foothold in ground warfare.

Colonel Kojelevsky was on his way back by car. He had just finished a tour of the front lines, checking the situation in front of each position and the completion of the minefields. Now he had to get here quickly to call and notify all his artillery units.

"All units, return to camouflage and cover."

He was somewhat surprised that the Britannian troops hadn't managed to leave him any openings today.

Today's Samtens is actually his first game with General Trossa. The town had just changed hands not long ago. Although he achieved his goal of delaying the enemy, the cost to the enemy was far too low.

He anticipated that if the enemy encountered strong enough resistance in the town, they would send a large number of troops to advance here, and then his artillery and air force could take over the entire town.

The risk of doing this was that the artillery's positions would likely be completely exposed, and General Trosa seemed to understand this—she took a gamble, scattering the main force in scattered locations outside the town as a feint. Yes, the target was not small, but with such a dispersed deployment, how fast could the island's artillery possibly be to wipe them all out before their positions were locked? And how many cannons would survive the air raids that were originally intended to take off?

"The longer you fight the enemy, the more transparent your military strategies become to them... Indeed, it's been too long..."

Section 340, Chapter 259: Box-Anchor

The beach opposite Stralsund was bustling with activity. Forward troops were cautiously moving between small flags, which marked out danger zones filled with the engines of armored vehicles, the creaking of wheels, and the occasional rumble of thunder from the ground. The safe zone on the beach was slowly expanding, and there was little Soviet artillery or air raids to disturb it.

General Trossa could now confidently hand over the front line to her subordinates, and then, with a few belongings, headed to Berlin.

“Your Highness Elizabeth, there are some things I need to report to you in person regarding the battle on Rügen Island.”

During this period, the princess summoned Colonel Karonville to arrange plans to drive all Soviet troops out of Germany on the southern front and to capture Szczecin, without paying much attention to Rügen Island, a relatively minor battlefield.

"We have not encountered any obvious resistance on the island so far, and we do not know their exact strength for the time being. As for the weapons used by the Soviet army, I think we need to pay attention to them."

"You mean that box?" Elizabeth glanced at the several large boxes brought by the general's entourage. Coincidentally, the Marquis of Louis-Seine, who was visiting the command center, was also there, and he immediately went over to them. "The Soviet troops on the island wouldn't have brought some ancient gold-inlaid diamond sword to cut you down, would they? Look at him, he's like he's smelled treasure."

"Of course not, Your Highness, the box contains enemy landmines."

"Landmines?!" The Marquis was so startled that he shouted and jumped back a big step. This pretty boy, who had come to take charge of administrative affairs on the orders of the Second Prince, was just drinking tea and strolling around in the command center a minute ago.

"What are you worried about?" Elizabeth gave him a disdainful look, then got up and opened the box herself. "Cheer up, Your Excellency Marquis. You're hardly worthy of using this thing for assassination. Uh... but..."

Elizabeth was stunned when she opened the chest, for inside were rough wooden boxes—though they were still worth more than the Marquis's worthless life.

“They are indeed landmines, Your Highness.” With the fuses and explosives removed, Trosa could calmly take them out. “Now I can answer your question about whether electronic devices coming to this world will be affected.”

"In the past, when we entered Soviet-occupied areas, didn't we always encounter the problem of mines not being detected by mine detectors, resulting in casualties? This time, the truth has come out. The Soviets had been waiting for us with a lot of mines mixed with wooden shells. We had to find these in the box from various places at first."

“Once activated, it can be detonated when subjected to force, right?” Elizabeth looked intently at Trosa’s gesture. “What are your thoughts, General?”

"At least there is some good news: First, these wooden mines are prone to failure if they get wet from rain; second, we haven't found any anti-tank mines made of wood yet, and the ones in the boxes are not as effective as metal ones in killing soldiers. All we need to do is send more psychologists to take care of the demining engineers' emotions; they have too much resentment in their hearts."

"Are you saying they've been deceived by their feelings and can't even trust a wooden box?"

“If it were just these, it wouldn’t be so bad.” Trosa pursed her lips and had the soldier open another box. “Now, the infantry lads can’t help but clench their legs at the mere mention of a minefield, all thanks to it.”

"Yes, I've heard about it, but this is the first time I've seen it with my own eyes." Elizabeth took the cylindrical black canister from the general, which had a small antenna-like device stuck in it—the S-shaped landmine that terrified and hated all Allied soldiers. For a girl to be hit by one of these would probably be more painful than childbirth, and as for men, let's not even mention it.

For some reason, Princess Trosa stared at the landmine for a long time, examining it from all angles. She even had her subordinates take out some of the steel balls used for killing from the landmine and play with them in their hands.

"I suddenly have a bold idea... By the way, the colonel in charge of the destroyer fleet in Rostock is coming over today, and I really want to ask him if there have been many cases of rape and indecent assault in Japan lately."

"Your Highness... are you planning to send them to risk their lives to clear the mines? Or...?" Trosa suddenly thought of a certain part of her body, and her face turned pale.

Looking again at the Marquis Louis-Sébastien, the timid man had long since moved far away from the mine crates, his hands flailing helplessly over his groin and buttocks, momentarily forgetting which direction he had entered the room from.

……

This is the second night, and the sea on Rügen Island remains calm. On the tranquil sea, the blue flag with a yellow cross—the ensign of the Swedish Royal Navy—seems to be flying amidst the dark tides.

The patrol boat is situated right in the middle of mainland Europe and Zealand, Denmark's largest and most densely populated island, which is also home to Copenhagen, Denmark's capital.

The area, which was almost entirely under the control of the Western Allies, had very little maritime security. Perhaps they were trying to protect the safety of other Danish civilians who wanted to go to sea, but no one was seen accompanying the cross flag.

And that is precisely the significance of this patrol boat's presence here.

The captain ordered the engines to be shut down, and he saw some bright reflections of moonlight on the sea to the south.

Four massive warships, flying flags that did not belong to the Baltic Sea, or even to this world, were sailing slowly in a column in this bay.

When will we see the St. George's Banner again, which has quietly departed?

Chapter 260, Section 341: The Pentagon Sea

Today, the sunlight in Washington, D.C., was extremely dim, casting a dark and silent light on Arlington National Cemetery.

Surrounded by military police, President Truman and Bradley accompanied General Marshall, who had just returned to his post as Army Chief of Staff, to a brand-new tombstone.

A month earlier, on February 3, 1946, General John Pershing died at Walter Reed General Hospital due to a sudden deterioration in his condition. The whole of North America seemed to have entered late autumn on the day before spring, with everything desolate, like a forest of withered trees devoid of greenery.

On this very day, the war situation in Germany took a sharp turn for the worse, like a renewed winter. Berlin became a distant dot on the map, unreachable by the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. General Pershing, who had endured years of illness to witness the end of World War II, was now helplessly facing a new predicament.

Marshall, who had just returned from Asia, was unfortunately unable to see his teacher one last time before he passed away.

As he and Bradley accompanied General Pershing's coffin through the streets of Washington, the once-bright late winter sun vanished in an instant, replaced by dark clouds, and the world seemed like a blind child, unable to see any light.

……

Marshall took off his hat, held it to his chest, and stood silently before General Pershing's tombstone, without saying a word.

Before my eyes, I saw the last words the general spoke to those around him before his death.

"The people will not allow to see defeat, the United States will not allow to see defeat, and this free and peaceful new world will not allow to see defeat... And our enemies, America's enemies, the world's enemies, must see their own defeat..."

Immediately after his death, General Patton, thousands of miles away, also received the news. Marshall clearly remembered how Eisenhower described how "Old Man Blood" had been acting strangely during those days: unwilling to talk to others, indifferent to the war at the front, as if there was a superior officer he admired constantly flashing before his eyes, and in his spare time, he would clean his leather shoes with shoe polish and a shoe-shining cloth like a madman.

Whether under a clear sky, amidst continuous rain, or in the howling wind, this general, whom American soldiers will never forget, stands beside rows of parked American tanks in the cleanest and neatest uniform in the entire U.S. military, giving a wooden salute towards Washington, thousands of miles away.

There were also his various incomprehensible scribbles and drawings, and the trash cans were full of waste paper. No one knew what Patton was thinking at that time. It wasn't until yesterday that Marshall received this belated envelope, buried it in front of General Pershing's tombstone, and walked heavily with President Truman to the Pentagon.

……

After taking office, President Truman had been working to integrate the Army, Navy, and Air Force, which was only one step away from independence, to establish the U.S. Department of Defense. The Pentagon was the perfect platform to implement this – the premise of integrating the various departments was that they all worked together in one office.

Today, the Pentagon is no longer solely dominated by the War Department, which commands the Army; the Navy Department has also moved in.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was somewhat somber. President Truman sat at the head of the table, with War Secretary Paterson, Bradley, and Marshall on his right, and Atlantic Fleet Commander Ingram and Admiral Chester Nimitz, who had only recently taken office as Secretary of the Navy, on his left.

"Gentlemen, I must now emphasize the Baltic situation," the President said gravely. "Just this morning, the Secretary of State received a letter from the Swedish Prime Minister, and the British received the same letter..."

"...Now the Baltic Sea will soon become a garden pond for extraterrestrial visitors, and we are helpless, while among the powerful who represent justice, there are still those who remain indifferent." Truman read the Prime Minister's original words from the letter, "If the United States and Great Britain do not send forces to defend the German coast soon, the Swedish people will use all their naval and air power to support the Soviet Red Navy in the Baltic Sea, at all costs..."

"I believe it won't be long before Denmark and Norway send similar messages." The president adjusted his glasses, his expression full of unspoken difficulties—indeed, if things continued this way, the prestige of the Western Allies among the Nordic countries would inevitably plummet. Although the Soviet Union was an ally, it had also been an adversary at some point, and the Stars and Stripes would certainly not allow the Baltic Sea to become entirely under the red flag.

"Most of the naval vessels on the East Coast have completed their major overhauls and relocations, Mr. President," Nimitz began. "However, it will still take some time for the ships on the East Coast to reach European waters, and the British are still assisting us in arranging anchorages in Europe."

"I understand that the end of the World War has had a very significant impact on the navy," Truman said, still very concerned. "But General, you must understand what Europe needs."

"We currently have a new and capable aircraft carrier in the Atlantic that we can deploy, which can get to Britain first. And I believe the Royal Navy is not so incapable of reaching even the coast of Denmark, and..."

Nimitz paused, then handed the documents in front of him to Truman.

"I have a plan. The U.S. Navy will immediately use all its mothballed ships, except for the front-line combat forces it needs, to transport ground troops and aircraft from the U.S. mainland and the Pacific Ocean to Europe. This includes old battleships and idle small aircraft carriers."

"You mean ships like the USS Maryland and the USS Long Island?" Truman glanced at a few ship names on the documents—the plan was indeed fine; they were second-line ships that had previously provided support across the Pacific and conducted anti-submarine warfare in the Atlantic, and were not needed in the carrier strike group.

“If you’re still worried, General Ingram has a list of all the main warships on the East Coast that can be deployed, the kind that can’t be squeezed into the Baltic Sea.” Nimitz was a little flustered for some reason.

……

"General, I understand what you mean... but what I'm concerned about is..."

Truman hesitated for a moment under the tense gazes of the crowd before slowly taking off his glasses.

"I intend to solve the problems of Europe in the same way as Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Although this statement carried great weight, it did not cause much of a stir among the people present. Both Nimitz and Marshall seemed to have expected it.

"Could you describe it in more detail?" The Minister of War was the first to ask.

"Britannia's greatest advantage at present is their large army and the impregnable Berlin as a fulcrum of the war. Our atomic bombs can be used to launch a deadly counterattack against them if our land and air forces cannot cope with it."