Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 207

"What?" She could hardly believe the news. "Lieutenant Iska, could you describe the situation in detail?"

“Her Highness the Princess is currently in the air, being relentlessly pursued by two British fighter planes. They're incredibly fast, and she can't possibly escape their sight. I can't possibly hold off two enemy aircraft by myself!” Iska coughed violently, the Vincent Express accelerating at full speed, effectively choking her. “The only solution now is for you to intercept her from the opposite direction. Do you have any extra Flying Champions, General?”

“Send me His Highness’s coordinates, I’ll handle it.” Trosa glanced at the map, a chill running down her spine. “We can’t even catch up in Gloucester… Damn it, if the silver dove hadn’t suddenly returned to the airspace south of Berlin, I could have mobilized the Knights Agincourt… Never mind! Send up every KMF available!”

……

Meanwhile, as the aerial battle continued, Elizabeth managed to keep up with Meteor's fighting pace and gradually became more composed amidst the attacks of the two aircraft—well, perhaps she was a bit rusty from not flying for so long.

"I'll give you one more chance, Iska!" She repeated her evasive maneuvers in the air once more, intending to use herself as bait to lure the six-point meteor into Iska's firing range. However, this time the meteor saw through her plan. Iska shot a minor hole in its wing and continued flying north, blocking the princess's path in pursuit of the super air fortress.

"Ah... what's going on!" The reinforcements sent by General Trosa did arrive just in time, but their numbers were clearly not enough to stop these two mad birds. In the blink of an eye, they took down two KMFs and returned, just as Isca's team caught up. One of these unlucky guys was immediately stabbed down by the returning Meteor.

"Pfft!" Iska was caught off guard and almost got smashed to pieces by one of the Meteor bombers with the four Hispano guns on either side of its nose. "We're wasting time, Your Highness. Someone just told me that the American bombers have already left, and it will be very dangerous to chase them into the Baltic Sea."

"Cough, fine, then today one enemy has to not make it home!" Elizabeth glared angrily at the Barracudas still bombarding the distant coastline. "Follow my orders to come to Iska. Everyone else, immediately evacuate to the southern airspace and do not enter the battlefield!"

Elizabeth continued to lure the two meteors, plunging them into a small, wispy cloud in the distance in a relatively straight trajectory, while Iska, following from the left, also plunged into the cloud at a wide angle.

In that brief instant, Elizabeth swerved sharply to the right, and Iska made a daring right turn. After the two Meteors tore through the clouds, they followed Iska's aircraft, which was remarkably similar in appearance to Lancelot's—oh, and for better camouflage, the machine gun was slung over Vincent's right back.

"Finally, it's somewhat useful, huh." Elizabeth quickly climbed up once she was safe. "Fly to this location. I've sent you the coordinates."

The princess seized the opportunity, picked up the hadron cannon on her back, and waited for her prey to pass by in the blind spot directly above Isca and the two Meteors, while roughly calculating the flight path of the Barracuda formation in the distance.

As Iska sped away beneath her, Elizabeth took aim at a Meteor and immediately opened fire. Then, she swept her gaze across the distant sky, and the Meteor fighter, which had nearly cost her her life several times, finally exploded into scorching fragments scattered across the earth, along with the Barracuda flying over the distant town.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the other Meteor deliberately withdrew from the battle, grazing the edge of the hadron cannon's trajectory, and flew away to the west with bullet holes in its wings and black smoke.

"Has it left...?" the princess asked tremblingly over the radio.

"We're gone, Your Highness. There are no more enemy planes in the nearby skies. You..."

Iska sensed something was wrong. As she approached Lancelot, Elizabeth, who had been on edge, relaxed and slumped down, her head resting on the screen in front of the cockpit, panting heavily.

"No...no need for that, Your Highness." She tried to ease the pressure in the princess's heart. "Look, this is the first time we've encountered such a strange bird, and we even shot one down. It's much better than our first encounter with the Minotaur, where we were utterly defeated, isn't it?"

Elizabeth did not answer her, and Lancelot, the Judge, whose arm was tightly gripping the hadron cannon, slowly let it fall.

"Oh, so you feel resentful because all of this was accomplished by the Hadron Cannon? Oh dear, don't mind such a trivial detail of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. No matter how Your Highness kills it, it is still a phoenix. Not to mention a sledgehammer, even the Sword of Excalibur is worthy of killing it."

"Help, help! We need help!" But then a cry for help came over the radio, and Iska felt a chill run down her spine.

Elizabeth's hadron cannon had a long charging time, which increased its effective range. In other words, not only that group of barracudas, but also the land outside Stralsund was within the attack range!

……

"Can anyone hear me? We need medical help here! General Trosa is dying! Send an ambulance immediately!"

Chapter 269, Section 350: Revenge on Rügen Island

This 900-square-kilometer area of ​​land briefly lost the roar of the battlefield, standing motionless before the billowing smoke on the distant land, and silent before the numerous damaged boats floating on the sea.

After a long time, a hammer and sickle flag was slowly raised above the silent trenches and positions, followed by a second and a third, forming a red ribbon.

"Soldiers of the Soviet Red Army, heroes who defend Rügen Island, raise your heads!" Colonel Kodelevsky emerged from the underground bunker of the Rügen Island airfield after a long absence and called out to all the soldiers guarding the island via radio.

There was no need to worry about the sky for the time being, the enemy ships at sea had already been swallowed by the sea, Stralsund on the opposite side of the island had been turned into a sea of ​​fire, and even the bridge connecting the land and the island had been destroyed in the attack of the Royal Navy - this was the moment the colonel had been waiting for, the moment of counterattack.

"Our perseverance and determination over the past few months will never waver because of a temporary setback. Our comrades are everywhere on Rügen Island, our blood is spilled, and our guns are firmly held in our hands. Our trenches are our shields, our flesh and blood are our passion, and the enemy will eventually turn into corpses covering the mountains and fields, filling the wounds of our wounds."

……

The colonel's encouragement was transmitted via radio and loudspeakers to every Soviet position on Rügen Island. Lieutenant Zilinkov, who had also put on his helmet, patted the group of comrades around him who were armed with RPD light machine guns and PPSh submachine guns. They were all wearing body armor, either made in their homeland or taken from the enemy—they would soon be heading to the front with the assault team.

Of course, whether it was the colonel's statement or the actual situation, they were not just spearheads made of flesh and blood—before the battle on the island began, the colonel did everything he could to get some not-so-useful tanks for the island's garrison.

Besides the T-34/85 and SU-85 tanks left behind when the Third Shock Army initially withdrew from the island, Polish transport ships took advantage of the gaps on board to deliver the replaced T-34/76 tanks, as well as some Matilda II and Valentine infantry tanks provided by the Western Allies during World War II—their performance data was already outdated, so there was no need to worry about the financial loss if they were abandoned.

But among them stood out, both in terms of its origin and size: it was the largest and heaviest Soviet armored vehicle on the island, and also the longest-serving armored vehicle in the Soviet Red Army. This behemoth was positioned behind the lieutenant, who had no idea why this 45-ton KV-1 tank, long abandoned by the Soviet army, had been sent to the island, or for what purpose.

Throughout this series of battles, it served as a support role, albeit with limited firepower. The 76mm main gun that had accompanied it through the Kursk battlefield sat atop the turret like an old comrade smoking a cigarette: "Hey comrade-in-arms, are we going to Berlin? Take me with you. I may not be good at aiming, but I can still carry the Red Flag!"

……

"We stand with the battlefield, we stand with glory, we are the unyielding beacon in blood and fire, our support comes from all directions. We fight here at the command of our motherland, not only because we are soldiers of the Soviet Union, but also to ensure that our motherland is never again invaded, and to ensure that the fascist madmen who attempt to invade our motherland perish in their foolish acts!"

"Today, all our sacrifices have paid off! Now, send every invader down to the Baltic Sea!"

"Hurrah!—"

The Soviet defenses that held off the Britannian offensive were like a dam; when attacked from the front, it was impregnable; but when the dam's gates opened, tens of thousands of tons of red water rushed down from the rear, shaking the entire valley.

Tank tracks rolled over trenches, Soviet soldiers' footsteps pounded the crimson soil, and the numerous artillery pieces scattered across the island, like five fingers on a hand, clenched into a powerful fist at the colonel's command. Several Katyusha rocket launchers, previously hidden away, were also brought out with confidence. The duet of rifled drums and pipe organs began, and the melody of the hammer and sickle flag resounded throughout Rügen Island.

In a close contest, the brave prevail. There was not much difference in frontline troop strength between the two sides on the island. The moment when the comrades charged forward with unwavering determination while the wounded Red Navy sailed away behind them, and the moment when the Britannian flag fluttered forlornly in the lonely sea breeze, the situation on the battlefield had already shifted dramatically in an instant.

“Calling Lieutenant Colonel, this is Sergeant Sindra!” On the chaotic streets of Putbus, the sergeant’s infantry fighting vehicle was hidden behind a cattle pen. “The Soviet army is launching a large-scale counterattack against us, requesting support!”

From the moment they landed on the island, they remained on the front lines, searching for landmines and traps, enduring artillery barrages. Even Sergeant Kan Hu's infantry dared to engage in close-quarters battles in the trenches with Soviet soldiers who refused to back down, using bones as blades and fists as shields, stepping over the corpses of their own men or the enemy.

They are still holding on, but the lieutenant colonel on the radio ordered them to immediately shrink their defensive line and retreat to Samtens for concentrated defense—this order was given to the entire army on the island, but something was strange, the lieutenant colonel did not emphasize that this order was given by General Trossa… Looking at the city with thick smoke billowing behind them, could it be…?

"Follow orders." Sergeant Kan Hu carried the wounded company commander into the vehicle. The infantry clung to the vehicle, or to other vehicles that were still operational, leaving behind the shattered and burning KMFs and tanks on the street, and hurriedly left.

Before long, the silhouettes of T-34s appeared on the distant hillside. The KV-1s that were slowly approaching had finally won the race against Matilda and Valentine, crushing a small, dilapidated hut containing a hospital bed and medicine cabinet as a symbol of the race's finish line.

……

"Comrade, I have now received orders that there are still enemies putting up a stubborn resistance on Hill 66 next to us. Please wait for the follow-up infantry to enter the central district of Putbus."

Lieutenant Zilinkov led his assault team up to the high ground amidst the roar of the KV tank's cannons and machine guns. The trenches and positions that the comrades had dug earlier had not been recaptured after being lost, to the point that the enemy had even repaired some of the trenches for their own use.

He could see Britannian soldiers firing back with assault rifles from the trenches, along with several completely disabled KMFs and assault guns, and what appeared to be enemy anti-personnel machine guns still operational. On the high ground, a squad of infantry armed with SKS rifles was pinned down; they didn't seem to have machine guns.

So what? This might be the place where Catherine and Ilya sacrificed themselves. Even if the high ground is defended by German heavy armored battalions, this revenge must be taken.

"This is Lieutenant Zilinkov. I'm on your right. Can anyone hear me?" The lieutenant called out to the tank formation while firing his flare into the air. "There are some remaining firing positions on Hill 66. Please provide precise direct fire support."

Three Matilda and Valentine tanks moved over, used their main cannons to penetrate the KMF's fuselage, and used machine guns to mow down the soldiers clinging to the top of the assault gun turrets. Zilinkov quickly seized the opportunity to lead his comrades to take over a location.

"Check the barrel temperature! Set up the bipod! Obey my orders!"

"Ready, Lieutenant!"

"Fire!—"

In an instant, the dozen or so RPD machine guns set up on and around the position—the lieutenant's best ammunition—were like a windmill with a blast radius, hurling bullets like soybeans into the trenches where the Britannian infantry were stationed. Then, Soviet infantry, under machine gun cover, fired RPGs, and for a moment, the trenches and surrounding areas were like a sandstorm, filled with bullets, sand, and gravel. The men in black, who had just survived the shelling, were now experiencing the smell of gray smoke.

"Show no mercy, comrades!" Zilinkov personally carried an RPD rifle and, together with the infantrymen armed with PPSh-41s, searched the trenches for survivors. "Anyone still carrying a gun is the enemy. Anyone who dares to fight back will be killed on sight!"

The dark hillside instantly turned red. As blood-stained black uniforms fell into the trenches and vehicles with English writing on them were completely transformed into sparks, the vanguard of the assault team got closer and closer to the summit.

Just then, Dashi, who had reached the highest point first, was about to pull down the Britannian flag from the mountaintop when he realized something was wrong. There was no enemy ambush on the other side of the mountain, but suddenly a bare-handed KMF (Korean Militia) appeared and charged towards them recklessly.

"Cover!" The sergeant shouted for everyone to lie down as soon as he saw KMF covered in shells. Lieutenant Zilinkov was still climbing up the hill when he looked up and saw a huge firework explode in front of him. The violent shockwave storm, mixed with sand and debris, swept over everyone on the hillside like a mudslide.

One after another, shells exploded from the KMF, landing beside the trenches they had just captured, falling along with shattered uniforms and green helmets, enveloping the entire hill in scorching gray smoke.

……

At that moment, one of the KMF's mechanical arms was blown off and stuck in the ground. A disheveled young woman, dressed in the pilot uniform of the Knights of Agincourt, crawled out from the side.

“Alexandra, I remember you were hit by the exploding shell, right?” Her left arm was injured and could only hang down naturally, holding two grenades. Her right hand, which could barely move freely, threw away the remote control that sent her KMF to self-destruct—no one knew when she had modified this kind of equipment that only guards needed to be equipped with.

She picked up a pistol engraved with her name: Anastasia, with a pendant on the grip bearing a picture of herself and Alexandra. She limped across a cellar that had been destroyed by naval gunfire, preparing to crouch under a ledge to ambush the approaching Soviet soldiers.

A secret thrill crept into his heart. All he could hear from the mountaintop were the voices of the Soviet male soldiers, who seemed reluctant to come forward. Were they all scared? It seemed his rearguard mission was destined for a great victory.

However, she only heard the sound of sand and gravel beneath her feet. Before she could even look down, a gray hand suddenly emerged from the ground and plunged a rifle bayonet into her calf.

"what!--"

The grenade flew from her hand, and in unbearable pain, she rolled over and knelt on the ground, screaming. But then she noticed that the sand from which her hand had just emerged was slowly collapsing, revealing a Soviet soldier covered in dust, looking like a fossil.

"Damn it!" she cried out in terror. Before she could even aim, an uninvited guest, who slithered out like a lizard, pounced on her and pinned her arm down, sending the pistol flying. Only then did Anastasia realize that the face, which resembled that of a sand demon, was actually that of a girl!

The female soldier pulled the bayonet out of her calf, pinned her right wrist to the ground, then staggered around and dragged another blonde female soldier out of the cellar.

"Slow down... Ilya..."

The two spoke in very soft and weak voices, like elderly people who were seriously ill in bed. Anastasia was certain that they had been buried there for a long time, but she could hardly believe that they had actually dug an escape tunnel with that bayonet.

Ekaterina and Ilya had not eaten or drunk anything for days. Their voices smelled like rotting garbage. Their eyes and limbs were dazed and unsteady. Their uniforms were tattered and torn, and the bandages could barely cover the festering wounds on their bodies that had not been disinfected.

It took a lot of effort to drag Ilya out, and together they began searching for something.

"Hey! What are you doing!" Anastasia yelled. "Can't you kill someone if you can't find a gun? Or are you looking for a rope? I'll strangle you all!"

A short while later, just as Catherine crawled back to Anastasia's side, Ilya returned, holding a broken water jug. He and Catherine faced each other, shaking their heads at one another.

Then, they both looked at Anastasia, who was lying on the ground, and her bleeding leg, and nodded to each other in unison.

"You...what are you going to do?"

Catherine withdrew the bayonet, leaned slightly forward from behind to embrace her, and tightly covered her mouth and nose. Then Ilya pushed a black helmet out of nowhere and placed it in front of her.

"No...no!...Let me go! You devil! No!"

Anastasia was terrified. Her half-crippled arm and wildly flailing legs were no longer enough to save her. Ekaterina plunged the bayonet tightly into Anastasia's heart, and a stream of crimson blood gushed from the deep wound and into her helmet.

"So this place... really is a cannibalistic hell..."

……

"Ilya? Catherine? How could this be?"

When Lieutenant Zilinkov arrived, only two Soviet female soldiers were kneeling on the ground, clutching helmets and slowly swallowing the blood inside to quench their thirst. Their hands and mouths were covered in glaring crimson blood, resembling blood-drinking demons from hell.

Anastasia's body lay haphazardly to one side, like clothes drying in the sun, utterly unworthy of attention. Her lifeless eyes were filled with the agony of blood loss and suffocation in her final moments, making her resemble a lamb that had been tortured to death.

……

"Trenches and positions are our shields, flesh and blood are our passion, and the enemy will eventually turn into corpses covering the mountains and fields, healing our wounds."

Perhaps this sentence was meant to be such an unbelievable scene.

Chapter 270, Section 351: Sweet dreams, Europe; good fortune, the world.

"It's easier to shake a mountain than to shake District 45. Ever since I realized that conquering District 45 requires extreme patience and ability, I have been trying to find ways to save every unnecessary sacrifice of the expeditionary force soldiers while fighting the enemy..."

"I personally drove American warplanes out of the skies over Berlin. I ruthlessly eliminated all the burdens that were draining the Expeditionary Force. I even risked falling out with my brother and a large number of powerful figures. All I wanted was for every soldier who set foot on the 45th district to no longer live in constant fear of the enemy's strength..."

“I was wrong, utterly wrong. I was a useless commander of the expeditionary force. I even accidentally killed my most reliable general. My brother Schneizel started this war, but I am the executioner of this expeditionary force…”

……

The moment Elizabeth was taken back to Berlin, she fainted while muttering resentfully to herself.

Kelly leaned over the door to his sister's bedside, anxiously and concernedly gazing at the face on the bed, which was covered in cold sweat and filled with worry. Even after learning the truth from the generals, he couldn't believe that his sister had made such a grave mistake, but thankfully, things weren't completely hopeless yet.

"How is General Trosa doing?"

"Your Highness, the general is currently undergoing emergency treatment in the underground medical center. Although he still has a heartbeat and pulse, his vital signs are extremely weak..."

With a loud shout, Kylier rushed out of the corridor. Duke Sasler and Admiral Windsor quickly followed. They saw the prince pounding his fists against the wall, slowly gripping the cracks in the wall and trembling uncontrollably.

"What exactly happened? Can someone tell me why my sister is like this?" Kelly suddenly turned her head and loudly questioned the two of them.

"Please calm down, Your Highness, and let me explain in detail." The Duke took out a report. "First of all, Her Highness Elizabeth knows the location of General Trossa's headquarters in Stralsund. This can be found on the map in her phone, and there are even several of her reserve command posts in the city."

"However, after the city was bombed, all locations, including the main command post, became unusable. General Trossa was forced to move her command post to an unmarked windmill outside the city. Moreover, given the urgent situation on Rügen Island and Stralsund at the time, she did not give prior notice. In other words, Her Highness Elizabeth was completely unaware that the general was located in the path of her hadron cannons."

“That shouldn’t be the case!” Kelly refused to believe it. “Don’t our battle maps mark important targets? Silver Dove and the American and British heavy bomber formations all do, and my sister’s plane does too. General Trosa should be able to see them!”

“Your Highness, you’ve forgotten something,” General Windsor reminded him. “Didn’t Her Highness Elizabeth order the KMF engineers to remove her special markings because the 45th District army had captured our PDAs, in order to prevent the enemy from seeing her markings and attacking?”

"This...this makes sense?" The prince was still unconvinced. "How did those two new British fighter planes find my sister?"

"I can only say that it is truly a coincidence, Your Highness."

"Coincidence? What do you mean by coincidence?!"

"British air power always seems to have a stroke of unexpected luck, as captured British pilots have told us." The general took a deep breath. "You know, the Germans, who were fighting against the British and American forces, not only had their dams destroyed by British warplanes with uncanny speed, but there was also a German field marshal who almost died at the hands of the Royal Air Force by sheer luck."

What the general may not know is that the marshal he mentioned once led the German army in Africa, causing headaches for both Britain and the United States. He could be considered to have made outstanding contributions. However, in the end, the marshal died by the "decree of death" from his own leader. Compared with General Trossa, who commanded well during the attack on Rügen Island but almost died in her own country, there seems to be a certain similarity.

"Fine, fine, the enemy is so tough, right?" Kelly snatched the report and looked at it again. "Then let me ask you, didn't those technicians say they were going to improve the encryption system? What time is it now? Do you think you're doing justice to your sister's orders?"

……