novelnext Page 217
Page 217
The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have gradually lost the EU's banner, and the Arctic Ocean seems poised to become an inland sea of Britannia—as evidenced by the armed helicopters taking off from Imperial Navy destroyers and brazenly sweeping over the coast of Greenland.
Black smoke rose from the sea. Surrounded by warships and fighter jets, a small cruise ship was forced to stop on a large reef and was slowly eroded by the waves.
Britannian soldiers had already rushed up in VTOLs and small boats. There weren't many people on the small boat, which was over a hundred meters long. The sailors who were in charge of driving and controlling the boat were unarmed and quickly surrendered. The soldiers then dragged out their target from a box in a small storeroom.
"Ah, Colonel Lütjens, long time no see." After this guy was brought onto the deck and placed in front of Wood, who was in charge of the operation—the latter would later become a general when he went to the 45th District, and was only a lieutenant colonel at the time.
"What a hassle for you to send out so many ships, ha." With a gun pointed at his lower back and kneeling on the ground, Lütjens revealed a disdainful expression.
"On August 14, 2009 (Imperial Calendar), he escaped from the Gulf of Alaska with several subordinates on a civilian ship, carrying multiple classified intelligence documents from the Imperial Navy." Wood recited Lütjens' crimes in a methodical manner. "Subsequently, in the battle between the Empire and the EU, he repeatedly assisted the latter, causing great trouble for the Imperial Navy in a short period of time. At the same time, after the fall of Japan, he assisted some former Japanese government officials in escaping to the Chinese Federation, and his actions of providing weapons to the Japanese Liberation Front made the security situation in Area 11 extremely unstable in the early days of its establishment."
"Now you know just how capable I am? Ha, you fool." Colonel Lütjens laughed. "Wood, I think you understand what you're doing. Out of consideration for our past relationship, I'll allow you to put in a good word for me, and I'll consider serving Britannia again. Of course, as for the EU, you can know as much as you want..."
“By order of the Supreme Military Court of the Empire,” Wood said, completely unconcerned about what he was saying, “Colonel Fisher Lütjens is found guilty of treason and is authorized to be executed on the spot by any Britannian military personnel who discover his whereabouts.”
……
"Let go of my father!"
The people on deck were startled to hear a fight coming from the upper cabin of the deck in front of them. They saw a girl with short white hair, holding a pistol, jump to the railing and stare intently at Lieutenant Colonel Wood's head.
"Lily!" Just as everyone was aiming at her and preparing to shoot, Colonel Lütjens suddenly looked up and shouted excitedly.
Seeing this, Wood seemed to understand something: she must be the colonel's daughter, right? It seems she couldn't resist coming out of hiding.
He sneered, and an armed helicopter was summoned, stopping in mid-air in front of Lilizia. Before the machine gun could even swing its neck a few times, the searchlight beams were already shining on the girl, forcing her to cover her face and lower her head.
"Put the gun down, Lily!"
The girl's eyes were hidden under her arms, which were crossed in front of her forehead, as she stared blankly at the deck below, unable to believe that the voice was coming from her father.
"I'll say it again! Put the gun down right now!"
Wood hesitated to give the order to fire, intending to cut the girl into shreds and bones with the machine gun. Seeing the colonel's unusually sincere reprimand, he patiently waited until Lilizia dropped her pistol and was subdued by the soldiers who crept up from behind.
Colonel Lütjens breathed a sigh of relief, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His pistol slid out of the window and landed on the deck as he pleaded.
"You betrayed your homeland and devised strategies for the enemy. The lives of tens of thousands of Britannians were lost because of your words. And your own daughter, on her deathbed, obeyed your orders with filial piety and loyalty, risking a mutilated corpse."
Wood picked up Lilizia's pistol, checked that it was undamaged, and then pulled the trigger at the colonel's forehead.
"This is the most shameful thing you've ever done as a traitor."
……
"I'm so lucky to have met you before the colonel died. Today I finally saw how beautiful his only daughter is."
"I'm sorry that you are his last relative in this world, but my apology is only for this reason, because you are 15 years old and you should understand why he died."
“I can see that you are a girl who does what she says, which is rare. At least your father wants you to live, and you have listened to him. It’s just that you may have misplaced this loyalty.”
“You may have sworn to obey your father, but what about after he dies? He won’t come back to life, he will make mistakes, and he is not like a great empire that will last forever. He betrayed his eternal vow for his own selfish interests.”
"I think if you are living to serve something, you should think very carefully. First, is your path right? Second, is it something you need to fight for your whole life?"
……
Wood quickly rose to the rank of general for this achievement, and a lord, who was a close friend of his, reluctantly accepted the white-haired girl and kept her at his manor.
No one knew why General Wood forgave the daughter of a traitor. Various speculations spread among the servants of the manor after Lilizia changed into a maid's outfit, and her background naturally became common knowledge.
Such a bizarre and mysterious experience was unsettling, and the military aura she inherited from her father had already taken root in her; anyone who met her eyes felt like they were being interrogated. As the head maid, she certainly wouldn't allow any of her subordinates to have a stronger presence than her.
As for Lilizia herself, being suddenly in an unfamiliar environment was already quite bad. For the past ten years or so, she had been hiding from the world with her father, and her heart had long been closed off and she was incredibly lonely. How could she possibly have the mood to compete with other young ladies?
Naturally, she became isolated. Although no one dared to make things difficult for her openly, she was constantly being tripped up in private. She couldn't even borrow a few storybooks for girls her age from the study during her breaks. Helplessly, those few knight novels and hero biographies that had gathered dust became her favorite things to do by her bedside.
As for his daily work, it was even more so. His Excellency's estate had a large stable, located in the farthest part from the central residence. Among the horses kept there was a prized horse that had been with the Viscount since his coming-of-age ceremony.
Besides the guards, there were very few men working in the manor, so there was a unique scene every now and then: the head maids would lead the young ladies in a fancy lottery, and whoever was unlucky would go to the place furthest from the fragrance of flowers and closest to the stench and filth to help the only stable boy in the stable.
Lilizia naturally became the maid's designated target for persecution. Before long, the game that everyone was extremely unwilling to play turned into a much-anticipated persecution session. The only stable boy in the stable quickly got to know this taciturn girl.
However, a new rumor suddenly spread throughout the manor: sometimes, on their days off, they would see Lilizia alone, holding a wooden stick, looking at a book in her hand, and swinging it back and forth like a sword.
And later, every time she went to clean the horse pen, she could hear the distant sounds of galloping and neighing horses.
……
One night, the head maid ran into the mansion and found the viscount playing the piano.
"My horse has been stolen?!" He immediately ordered everyone to check the area, but when the viscount went to the stables himself, he found that another horse was missing, and a set of horse tack was also gone.
“I just checked the servants who were in place, and I found that Lilizia is also missing,” the head maid said softly. “The groom is also not at his post, and if I remember correctly, these two are usually quite close.”
"You little brat, I handed you the horse, and you pull this on me?!" The viscount was furious, looking at the uncle who was speechless, as if his crime of stealing the horse with the girl was already confirmed.
Soon the news came from the nearby police, and the viscount ordered the guards to arrest the coachman, while he went to investigate with the head maid and a few others.
Upon arrival, several men in their thirties were found tied to a tree. Some had bruises on their faces from being beaten with sticks, while others had stab wounds on their torsos and limbs. There were also hoof prints on the ground nearby, indicating that two horses had run by.
“I think I’ve seen these guys before?” The head maid pushed up her glasses. “The week before last, didn’t the coachman have some friends from his hometown? If I remember correctly, one of them was a greasy fat guy. This is the guy, isn’t he? Looks like this is an inside job.”
"Damn it!" The viscount, enraged, snatched the pistol from the policeman beside him and forced it under the fat man's tongue. "Speak up! Where's the girl who was with you?!"
"A girl? We didn't have a girl in our original plan!"
No one understood what these idiots were saying. Just as the Viscount was about to fire his gun, two horses slowly emerged from the nearby grove.
The horse in the back was the Viscount's beloved horse, its bare back covered in mud, and it was limping slightly; while the one in front was the one that had been found missing before the maid outfit was made. In addition to being equipped with horse tack, an exhausted Lilizia was also on it, her battered arms weakly clinging to the horse's neck.
Upon seeing this, the police rushed forward and lifted her down. Only then did they realize that her maid outfit was covered in dirt, mud, and bloodstains. What they didn't expect was that she had a broom handle tucked into her waistband and was tightly gripping a pitchfork in her other hand, as if she were holding a lance. Both of these items were stained with some blood.
As soon as she stepped down, Lilizia pushed away the police officers who were helping her, drew a broom handle from her waist, and knelt on one knee with her sword raised, just like a knight bowing to his lord.
"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, please punish me as you see fit..."
At this moment, Lilizia opened her palm, and the Viscount saw clearly that in her palm lay one of his beloved horse's deformed horseshoes.
……
"This groom used to be a swordsmanship instructor in the army. It wasn't until that day that everyone found out that Lily, who was obsessed with chivalric novels, had found common ground with the equally neglected groom since she started working in the stables. The groom had secretly taught her some swordsmanship, horsemanship, how to assemble horse tack, and... Hey, are you listening?"
Caronville was completely absorbed in the conversation, his expression blank. Angelina poked him a few times when she saw this.
"This...this story sounds a bit far-fetched to me...in every aspect."
Of course, if this is considered outrageous, then the rest of the story is even less believable.
The bandits were indeed from the same hometown as the groom, but they didn't recognize Lilizia. A sense of unease prevented the viscount from immediately executing the two servants in private. The groom was handed over to the police for questioning, and Lilizia was not handed over to the head maid as usual. Instead, she was given to the manor guards and thrown into the basement, where she was chained, whipped, and tortured for several days.
The police then gave the Viscount an unexpected answer: it turned out that when Lilizia dismounted, she secretly told an officer that she had hidden something in the saddle, which she had found on the horse bandits, and that he should never give it to the Viscount in front of the head maid.
Following the clues, the police discovered that the groom's fellow villagers had been tricked into doing the work by a horse smuggler who offered them a high price. With the smuggler caught red-handed, the police presented the smuggler and the letter that Lilizia had previously hidden in the saddle to the Viscount.
It turned out that the arrogant head maid had long wanted the groom who was close to the Viscount to get rid of him. So when the groom's fellow villagers came to visit, she took them in for a tour, and even showed them the stables. Afterwards, she contacted smugglers, saying that they would steal the Viscount's horse together, and split the loot 50/50.
The smuggler naturally needed to find someone who had been to the manor to take the fall for him and the maid. The person he found was naturally the groom's fellow villager. After the deal was struck, the head maid provided a map showing the location of the breach in the wall and the key to the manor gate. On the night of the horse theft, she managed to get the gate guards away.
As for Lilizia, she naturally developed a fondness for horses over time due to her daily interactions with them. That night, she intended to chat with the horses again, but she saw a group of thieves dig a hole in the wall and come in. She quietly hid by the haystack and watched them lead the Viscount's beloved horse away through the gate. Then she saw the head maid come to the stable, glance at it calmly, and slowly walk away.
Sensing something amiss, Lilizia fastened her horse tack, grabbed the pitchfork and broom from the stable, mounted another horse, and gave chase.
……
"As for how the Viscount dealt with the head maid in the end, that was rather bloody. The coachman was eventually dismissed by the Viscount, but he was given the old horse that Lilizia had ridden." Xixi'an added to the ending of the story, "General Wood also learned about this, and then she personally took Lili, who was almost an adult, and sent her to an internal guard unit."
"Hmm, after he and several other generals established the Knights of Agincourt, they considered that there were too few female members, so..." Angelie smiled slightly as she said this, "Lily passed the test, and a voice came from the stands, 'Griffin, this young lady is yours,' at that time I hadn't even joined yet."
And so, the three of them stood quietly by the glass window of the ward, watching the white-haired girl and a fellow member of the Knights play with a silly-looking Corgi.
"Her life was pretty cruel, wasn't it?" Caronville couldn't help but sigh. "She didn't even get to have a few pleasant conversations with people. All her resentment could only be vented on her self-cultivation."
"Whether it's a horse or a pet dog, she's probably had more face-to-face contact with anyone else than anyone else, right? Oh, maybe only her traitorous father. It's really hard to describe."
"Colonel Caronville, His Highness the Prince requests your presence at the command center." The happy times were short-lived; he had to go to a meeting again.
"Alright, looks like I have a mission to fulfill too. I'll head out now... Oh, by the way, who's Griffin?"
Chapter 287, Section 370: Twenty-six million six hundred thousand drops of blood (Part 1)
"I need to confirm your orders, Your Highness Kelly. You've actually committed most of the forces that drove out the Soviets on the southern front to the west, leaving us only three army groups?"
Caronville and several generals were in the command center, raising questions for the prince.
General Morrison and his 39th Army, which are now attacking American-occupied territory, are in a disastrous situation: American and British forces have destroyed the bridges connecting the two banks of the Elbe River, leaving three of the army's divisions stranded on the east bank and the remaining four cut off from retreat by the Americans.
General Morrison's only options now were to break out to the north and join forces with the Black Prince's Army, which was attacking the British forces. However, despite his haste, he was too late. Now, two divisions, including the general himself, were surrounded by American troops and were in imminent danger.
"If we can't rescue them, we'll be giving that bastard a boost in morale! Understand?" Kelly was furious, as if Patton's earlier verbal sparring with his sister on the radio was burning him up. "We've never lost a final round of a duel to those damn Americans. If General Morrison doesn't come back, you're all fired!"
"But Your Highness also understands that there are only so many passages across the Elbe River, and it will take time to repair all the destroyed bridges."
"Then let's use that time to make the American troops sit on pins and needles every single day!" Kelly waved his arm and stormed off. "I want every American soldier to hold their broken rifle and pray that the Britannian flag doesn't strangle them! Even if we just put those army groups and corps on the banks of the Elbe, their trenches and foxholes where they huddle up must collapse under the earthquake of anti-aircraft fire and long-range artillery bombardment!"
……
"The commander of the expeditionary force should prioritize the overall situation; every decision concerns the lives of so many soldiers. How can Her Highness Elizabeth entrust the command of the expeditionary force to her still-growing brother just because of a few mocking remarks about her sister?"
Leaning against the feet of their respective planes, Xixi'an kept complaining to Angeli about the things Colonel Caronville had just told them.
“So, in that case…” Angelie drew a few circles on her tablet and did some calculations, “our next operations to capture Leipzig and Dresden, while not significantly affecting our main attacking force, will lack sufficient reserves to handle unforeseen circumstances.”
“Yes, Princess Kelly is not Princess Elizabeth, but the Soviet army now is not the same as it was five months ago.” These words came from two sergeants who flashed over from beside KMF. Angelie looked closely and felt like she had seen them somewhere before.
“Do you remember me, Lieutenant? I am Corporal Sindra, and this is Sergeant Major Kan Hu. You helped us on Rügen Island.”
“Oh, I remember.” Angelie nodded, smiling as she shook hands with them. “Did your 33rd Army withdraw?”
“General Trosa is currently unable to command, and the army group’s logistics on Rügen Island have been greatly affected. Although the Soviet army is unable to fully recapture the island, at least some of us have to leave there.” Syndra smoothed her hair. “I can tell that Rügen Island may not be in such a hurry to be taken, so they have temporarily transferred us to the south to drive out the Soviet army and fill the gaps on the battlefield.”
“Then it seems I need to write a will.” Angelie nodded while continuing to smile. “If Sisian and I were to die someday, please make sure you are sent to the Knights of Agincourt to serve as a liaison officer.”
"Isn't this just war, ladies?" Kan Hu calmly revealed the truth. "Sector 45 is like a pot of boiling water poured down from above, giving us the same challenges and lessons. The cups that are filled with boiling water under this flow will eventually be raised to the same level. It's just that the color of each blood-red cup is slightly different."
At this point, the faces of all four—Angelica, Cishian, Syndra, and Kan Hu—darkened slightly. Yes, their battlefield experience was now more than enough to fill a basket, but who didn't have just as many names around them that no one would answer when they called them out?
……
“Alright, let me repeat to you all the details of our joint offensive operation this time.” Shishian swept away the awkwardness first. “According to the plan, we will use three army groups, as well as the forces of several knightly orders including Agincourt, to completely sever the connection between Leipzig, Dresden and the Oder River, so that the Soviet ground forces will completely disappear from German soil.”
“Either you’re trapped here to die, or we drive you out with our offensive, right?” Syndra smiled slightly. “But given this route of advance, I believe the person who devised the plan is more inclined to strive for the first outcome.”
“So this will be a very big challenge.” Angelie took off her glasses. “If we can’t break through the Soviet defenses in a short time, encirclement and annihilation will be impossible, especially…”
At this point, she noticed that the two sergeants, dressed in ordinary black military uniforms, showed no fear.
"That's strange. Didn't everyone used to be most afraid of confronting the Soviet army and worried about their sudden attack?"
As soon as Angelie finished speaking, they heard two Canterbury helicopters slowly raise their barrels not far from them, and under the formation of aircraft flying overhead that blocked out the rising sun in the east, they launched an attack on the hammer and sickle flag, which was the same color as the rising sun.
“I can answer you, Lieutenant.” Kan Hu raised his hand and clapped it twice. “If the Soviet Union were still as unstoppable and awe-inspiring as ever, they would be 20 kilometers away from Berlin right now. But right now, that number is the distance we are to Leipzig.”
……
"Recipient: Provisional Headquarters of the Soviet Army in Leipzig."
From sunrise to noon, Marshal Zhukov was constantly looking at the map in the city, receiving urgent telegrams from all directions.
"The 5th Assault Army reports that Britannia has launched a two-army offensive against the Leipzig-Dresden line. The enemy is currently at Allenburg, 16 kilometers northeast of Leipzig, and intends to continue their southward advance towards Grimald."
"The 69th Army reports that Meissen, 20 kilometers northwest of Dresden, has been besieged by Britannian forces, and the enemy has dismantled its strongholds south of the city. Currently, all roads from Leipzig to Dresden have been captured, and the enemy has at least four divisions preparing to continue their southward advance. At the same time, we have received reliable information that enemy ground troops have appeared 30 kilometers north of Chemnitz."
The two telegrams meant that the Soviet troops stationed in Germany were being divided into two halves along the meridian, the white star insignia and the red and blue concentric circles were helpless against their own limitations, and the red flag was swaying over the German land like an ailing bird, almost like an autumn leaf.
"Is the enemy really getting stronger? No, it's that we're becoming increasingly isolated and vulnerable." After issuing the order for defense and counterattack, the marshal kept rubbing his forehead in his seat.
Yes, just as the enemy thought, if he could really raise the Soviet red flag back at the Brandenburg Gate, why would he be here looking so gloomy? He had the lives of hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers in his hands, and millions of German civilians being evacuated in an orderly manner, being resettled in Poland and Czechoslovakia according to another plan.
"Marshal, urgent report from the 2nd Guards Tank Army!" At that moment, another officer stumbled in. "Their counterattack against the enemy's offensive forces on the highway connecting the Oder River Bridge, east of Dresden, has been thwarted. The entire army is now in a situation where multiple units are fighting independently. General Chuikov is leading a portion of the 8th Guards Army to help relieve the siege."
I sat there stunned for a long time, just as I was about to pick up the phone receiver, the long-awaited ring finally came.
“Oh, Marshal Rokossovsky, I have been waiting for a long time, and now I…”
“I know what you’re going through, my dear comrade.” Marshal Luo on the other end could almost feel the beads of sweat on Zhukov’s forehead. “So, I have some news for you, although it may not be good news for the future.”
"Speak."
"Tomorrow at noon, Comrade Stalin and Marshal Vasilevsky will arrive in Warsaw by plane. Comrades Konev and Bagramyan will also be there. Your presence will be even more important..."
“But the fall of Leipzig and Dresden is almost a foregone conclusion, my comrade.” Zhukov clearly understood what he meant, but he was anxious. “I cannot leave Germany now if I do not receive definite news.”
"You are waiting for definite news, but Comrade Stalin is also waiting for concrete facts, one of which is that we must dare to face him and point out the truth." Rokossovsky's tone was like comforting a young man who had lost a football game. "Believe me, comrade, the Soviet Red Army soldiers have been with you through four years of the Great Patriotic War. They are not afraid of sacrifice. After all, they believe that the great leader will lead them to final victory, right?"