Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 226

Listening to the awkward conversation between the lovable soldier and the taciturn girl, Garcia desperately tried to suppress his laughter by making faces and grimaces.

"What are you laughing at?" Yongshan asked.

"I don't know either. Maybe we've finally found a Japanese person in the army who's willing to talk, haha."

However, unexpected situations can arise suddenly, like a mountain downpour.

"All vehicles, listen up! This is Lockhart of the Grindelwald Knights. There has been a sudden demonstration in Kofu City. Stop immediately!"

……

The news came from Schreiber, who was sitting in two unarmed police helicopters with several German soldiers from the special forces when he saw this scene on the street.

“Explain in more detail,” Karlstadt said, sitting in the passenger seat of Mariebell’s car and conveying the message to the princess in the back.

“Currently, there are at least 500 civilians on the highway leading into Kofu city, holding signs and banners and occupying the road. Kofu police officers told us that they were just in groups on the side of the road, and then suddenly it started.”

“More than five hundred people again?” Mariebell muttered to herself first. Karlstadt was a little puzzled. Did the princess have “experience in this area”?

"What did the police do?"

"Currently, the police chief has only deployed police forces to temporarily control the flow of people, saying that there are civilians from the Japanese Special District in the crowd, and His Excellency the Governor has ordered that the police are not allowed to arbitrarily kill people from the Special District, regardless of their origin."

Upon hearing this, both Karlstadt and Mariebell couldn't contain their excitement.

"What are your thoughts, Your Highness?"

"Tell the convoy to continue into the city, and all personnel to remain on alert and ready to fire."

……

No one understood why Mary Belle was doing this; at least when the convoy approached the parade site, the situation seemed rather inexplicable.

Look at what's written on the banners! These people from District 11 are demanding that the authorities immediately release their compatriots who were detained at the establishment ceremony of the Special Administrative Region. When the motorcade arrived, they even started to squeeze in this direction. Some people in the crowd were even shouting Mary Belle's name. It's hard not to believe that this was a premeditated act, and it's even possible that she was kidnapped to achieve the demands written on the banners.

"Oh, ungrateful bastards." Davis and his soldiers got out of the car to fill the police gaps. As for the special forces, in addition to picking up assault rifles, they also rummaged through their trunks and found rocket launchers. Two of them even set up MG42 machine guns—damn, these were definitely "hometown gifts" that Elizabeth and the others had secretly given them before they left.

In contrast to the two groups of "lackeys" from another world, the Knights of Grinda were experiencing a somewhat bewildered "internal strife" in the open KMF cockpit.

"Princess Maribel! Please order a retreat immediately! Kofu City is not safe; there's no point in forcing our way in!"

"You are a member of the Knights of Grinda, my bodyguard, Orpheus! All members of the Knights and the Special Forces are the same: not a step back! If any Area 11 member approaches the critical line, kill them without mercy!"

Mary Belle's orders, however, received a completely different response.

“We are soldiers of Britannia, Your Highness! We have the responsibility to protect Your Highness’s safety, but we also have the obligation to protect the safety of civilians within the Empire!”

"They have no weapons, they don't use force, aren't they 'civilians'? If we do that, how are we any different from barbarians!"

Chizuru Nagayama remained in the car, her hands on the steering wheel and gearshift, the engine of the off-road vehicle still running beneath her. She watched as the shadow of the KMF wavered between doubt and uncertainty, while the shadows of the German special forces and the group of Yankees continued to press forward into the crowd, forming a fully armed human cordon.

……

From the sky, Schreiber observed the situation on the ground while responding to the police.

"Shall we open fire, Mr. Schreiber?"

"Her Highness the Princess has not given the order yet. You should only act when you hear gunshots."

As they were talking, the people in the helicopter noticed several Asian faces holding binoculars standing motionless on the rooftop of a building in the distance, facing the direction of the convoy. They could also vaguely see a short antenna on them.

It was at this moment that the demonstrators, who had been advancing, began to retreat and converged under a pedestrian overpass. However, according to reports from the ground, it seemed that many people in the crowd were whispering and giving instructions.

It really was a coordinated crime. The apparent retreat and compromise were actually just a way to waste time with them.

"Then let's play along." Schreiber simply had the helicopter land over the street and turned on the loudspeaker.

"All civilians on the street! Continue to retreat to the intersection behind you! Anyone who crosses the stop line at the intersection in 20 seconds will be shot dead immediately!"

Chapter 302, Section 390: The Real Violent Mechanism (Part 1 & 2)

The order from the helicopter had barely finished when the soldiers on the highway and the German special forces began clashing weapons. The military off-road vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles gradually caught up, while only the Knights' KMF remained stationary, guns raised, circling Marybell's car.

Davis didn't know when it was the last time he stood shoulder to shoulder with the Nazis. All he could say to his buddies was, "Don't arouse the suspicion of these aliens, and don't lose your presence to the Nazis."

"Ten seconds left!" The loudspeaker announced, followed by the sounds of gun bolts being pulled back. The people in District 11 on the street realized that the soldiers in front of them were serious. What was once a fairly orderly formation began to wriggle haphazardly behind the parking line like a block of jelly.

“Make sure your men leave a wide enough gap, Mr. Davis.” Nagayama, behind her, gripped the steering wheel and followed, peering through binoculars at the clothing of the demonstrators and checking nearby buildings for any open doors—as a native Japanese, she was well aware of the traditional rioting tactics of her compatriots.

At this moment, Schreiber was already counting down 3, 2, 1 on the helicopter. Among the retreating crowd, an old woman was pushed over and fell less than half a meter from the stop line.

No one helped her up, and there was nothing unusual about her, but without warning, a gunshot from above nearly made Yongshan drop his binoculars. The old woman was already lying amidst bullet holes and pools of blood, followed by another burst of gunfire overhead—she was killed just like that?!

"Is this... really necessary?" Yongshan was somewhat confused, while the soldiers outside the car window remained remarkably calm.

The demonstrators instantly became like gasoline that could be ignited, with taunts and curses erupting one after another, and stones began to fly out of the crowd.

A middle-aged man suddenly darted out, and the instant he crossed the parking line, he ripped off his coat, revealing a body covered in square and round metallic objects—he was immediately killed.

"Take cover!" Suicide bombers strapped with explosives are quite common, but when the soldiers jumped back and lay prone on the ground, instead of a towering burst of flames, a white wall of mist, like a burst dam, separated them from the rioting crowd.

……

"We've fallen into a trap! Retreat! Retreat!"

It was all premeditated. Before the special forces and American soldiers could recover from the chaos of the smoke bombs, more District 11 residents rushed out of the smoke wall, some running on foot, others riding bicycles. This time, they were carrying real explosives.

"All guards, listen to my orders! Open fire at will!" Seeing this from behind, Maribel snatched the walkie-talkie from Karlstadt's hand and shouted the order, somewhat losing her composure.

Chaos reigned in the streets. Special forces and American soldiers retreated while firing their guns, protecting each other's arms and legs. Amid the successive explosions, driveways, sidewalks, lampposts, and street walls were stained with the bloody limbs and burn marks of District 11 people.

Tom, whose body was pierced by German tank guns, and Hans, whose limbs were blown apart by American warplanes, were both from different worlds, yet their bodies were shattered in the flames and thunder—a common sight indeed.

Assault rifles were more than enough, and the MG42 machine gun did even less. In addition to tearing every thug who showed up with its ammunition belts apart, it also focused its attention on the dangerous and unknown smoke wall behind them.

"Sir, stop!" The last terrorist in sight collapsed and exploded. Garcia raised his hand—not out of discomfort. "Why is the street so quiet?"

Schreiber sensed something was wrong from the air and quickly ordered the helicopters to swoop down and remove the smoke barrier. Only then did everyone realize that, apart from a few bodies covered with placards that were taken out by stray bullets, most of the civilians had already fled.

"Rocket launcher!" Gunshots rang out from not far away, and the explosion landed next to the MG42 machine gun team—it was that building, the one Schreiber had seen those guys with radios on their backs lying on the roof.

"Mr. Karlsstadt, there are partisans here. Have the ground troops surround this area, and we'll attack from the roof!"

These mobs seemed to lack KMF (Knight's Force), and despite the ineffective attacks from submachine guns and indiscriminate fire from rocket launchers, the special operations team members on the two helicopters quickly ascended to the rooftop and advanced up and down, leaving Schreiber alone with the pilots, hovering over the buildings.

On the ground, following behind the belatedly arriving infantry fighting vehicles, the Knights of Grinda finally opened fire.

……

"Captain! We're in trouble! On the 15th floor!"

Due to space constraints, the airborne team was trapped in the stairwell by the automatic firepower of the District 11 personnel, who even seemed poised to force them back upstairs. The response they received from Schreiber was to draw fire and remain in place.

None of the thugs dared to release the trigger—they all knew what would happen if they were caught by the Aryan Special Forces. The smoking, hot barrels of their guns were followed by haphazard reloading.

Chaos erupted. No one was paying attention to what was happening outside the window. Suddenly, a rappelling rope came hurtling down from the helicopter, and a dark shadow crashed through the window and rushed in.

Everyone in the hallway knew what was going to happen next—a string of Japanese curses starting with "kuso," followed by a flurry of gunfire and explosions. They then fired a few more shots in, and finally, the floor was quiet.

"You can go down now. Call me if you need anything."

At that moment, Schreiber grabbed a survivor, held him by the collar, and suspended half of the survivor's body in front of the burst elevator door. Then, he elegantly pressed the elevator's up button, and the Arabic numeral 1 on the electronic screen began to rise little by little.

"Come on, give me a reason for your violence?"

"I...we..." The surviving girl was terrified and incoherent.

"Are you trying to stall me for time? Are you resisting for even a second so you can hear how your companions downstairs are dying?"

“I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you… We want to kidnap Princess Marybell and then use that as leverage to force the authorities to release those prisoners… you know those people wearing ZERO suits!”

"Who told you when and in what direction we were to enter Kofu City?"

"How our leader found out... I really don't know!"

"Where is the leader? And where have all the civilians you mobilized gone?"

"Downstairs! Some civilians are also in the basement of this building! Some people ran towards the shopping mall over there! But many got scattered, and as soon as they saw you open fire..."

"Very well, so one last question: where did you get your weapons?"

“Japanese special zone! There are many gun smugglers in the special zone. I’m in charge of contacting them, although it’s only by phone…” As she spoke, she pulled out a booklet. “I can help you find them all. Can I do this in exchange for my life? Please!”

"Of course, I guarantee you won't die from the fall."

Schreiber took the booklet and released it with his five fingers. Just as the girl who was falling backward was about to exclaim that she had survived a disaster, the rising elevator car lifted her buttocks and, like lifting a small dog, squeezed her into the gap at the elevator entrance.

"Ah!...No! Stop!"

Schreiber parted his two slightly twitching legs, which were dangling in the air, and calmly pressed the button for the top floor inside the elevator.

"I only guaranteed you wouldn't fall to your death." He stepped out of the elevator and headed for the stairs, leaving behind only the cold car, a scene of carnage, blood, and screams grinding together in the elevator shaft.

……

"Please respond, Sergeant Nagayama. Some of the rioters have run towards the shopping mall to the west. Detain them."

“We are on our way, Mr. Karlstadt.”

After the fierce battle, Nagayama and his American soldiers, having noticed some clues, immediately began their pursuit, following the mess and footprints in the streets.

"I see them, sir, oh no..." the soldier in another vehicle called out to Davis over the radio, "There's a car on the next street heading towards the Germans!"

"Tell me the exact location of that car! Tell me quickly!" Yongshan's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he immediately slammed on the brakes. "Please get out of the car, all three of you! I'll be right back!"

Garcia and Philip looked puzzled and worried, but seeing that Davis had taken the lead in opening the door, they didn't hesitate much. They watched as Yongshan drove the military off-road vehicle towards the other end of the block, while continuing to rush towards the shopping center.

Meanwhile, the Aryan special forces had cleared out all resistance on the first floor of the building and were now blasting open the main water pipes to flood the basement. The water, mixed with gravel, poured in through a broken opening, revealing a chaotic scene of chaos and the swearing of the Japanese from Area 11.

Just as they were busy with the next step, the car that the Yang guys had spotted suddenly appeared from the intersection in the distance. Upon closer inspection, they saw that the front of the car was covered with clumps of things—wasn't that a car bomb?!

Just as everyone was preparing to retaliate, Yongshan's SUV arrived, drifted and crashed into the side of the other car. The sedan rolled sideways like a carelessly thrown shoe, finally coming to a stop after its roof crashed into a pedestrian overpass.

"Don't panic! This was triggered by the impact!" With that, Nagayama grabbed an assault rifle from the back seat, lay down under the chassis of the military off-road vehicle, and aimed at the car, shouting in Japanese, "Give up resistance! Suicide is pointless!"

Well, it was just a side story for the special operations team. They didn't even bother to watch as Yongshan cautiously stepped forward and dragged the unconscious driver out.

They have now blown open the building's main water pipes, and water mixed with gravel is flowing into the basement through a large gap in the floor.

Schreiber had already run downstairs. From afar, he could hear the words being slurred out by the people from District 11 in exchange for their lives. As for the German soldiers around him, they just smiled slightly, coldly watching the struggling crowd below, and taking notes on the confessions.

“The information you provided is excellent, sir.” He crouched down at the cave entrance and peered down. “Are there any elderly, women, or children down there?”

"Have!"

"Everyone hold on tight!" Schreiber grabbed a steel cable and threw it down. "Try to squeeze into the middle! I want to make sure everyone can reach the rope!"

He then said nothing more and let the people of District 11 scramble to squeeze in below—this was completely unlike the professional ethics of a rescuer, but did any of them say that they were there to rescue people?

Several German soldiers nearby were busy pouring flamethrower fuel onto the ground. The fuel floated on the water, emitting a strange "fragrance," and flowed down the steel cable onto the unsuspecting people in Area 11.

“SALOME? Salome? Did you kill her? Hahahaha.” Schreiber took a lighter, as if it were a big Japanese brand. “You asked yourselves, so I’ll gladly oblige.”

With a casual toss, he watched with satisfaction as the steel cable transformed into the spine of a fiery dragon, carrying the sudden sea of ​​fire from the basement and more than twenty wailing lives, as it drifted towards the underworld.

……

As for the Knights of Grinda, they have remained on the outskirts of the area for as long as the incident has been unfolding, leading the controlled mob into prison vans.

A few girls, unable to bear the brutality of the special forces, left to find Davis and his group—who had already detained a bunch of District 11 people in the square.

“Hey, it’s all about dealing with the Japanese, let’s find an expert.” Philip called over the soldier named Harrington from another car—uh, right, the pilot who had cursed Suzaku at City Hall before. “Buddy, you show us what those Marines did.”

"Ah? Alright, since you want to broaden your horizons." Harrington nodded, and then ordered all the women in the crowd to step back and be guarded by the girls of the Grinda Knights. Among the men who remained were also young children.

"I heard you're Japanese?" He called Nagayama, who had already returned, aside to act as his Japanese interpreter.

"Now, everyone squat down where you are. Within 20 seconds, put all your personal belongings from your pockets and any jewelry you are wearing on the ground! Once you're done, spread your fingers and raise your arms above your head!"

Everyone complied, displaying wallets, necklaces, and earrings. However, one elderly man appeared to have an injured finger, as he couldn't remove his ring.

"Five seconds left!" Everyone was watching the unfortunate old man as Harrington raised his pistol.

"Two! One!" A gunshot rang out, and a life was lost. A sense of panic, accompanied by tense trembling and rapid breathing, enveloped everyone.

"Next, everyone pass their things to the person in front of them, and pass all the items to the front row. No one is allowed to stand up or whisper to each other. Anyone who disobeys this order will be punished like the person in front of them."

The initial surprise at having their bags searched has now turned into timid fear; no one dares to make a mistake.

"What are you doing, you little brat?" Harrington caught a little boy this time; he had secretly put a glass marble toy in his mouth.

"Sir, please let him go! He's just..."

However, before the man who looked like his father could say anything more, Harrington flicked his wrist. Oh, this time it seems like some elementary school graduation ceremony will be missing one person.