novelnext Page 244
Page 244
Denya and Nagayama had three vehicles in total. As soon as they left the Tokyo Concession, they were escorted by KMFs and infantry fighting vehicles, with helicopters patrolling overhead. After arriving in Nagoya, they were free to travel the rest of the way on their own.
However, just one street before they arrived at the military base in Kobe, they witnessed a scene that should never have happened there.
"What are you doing!" Nagayama remained behind the steering wheel, while Genia led the way out of the car and walked towards the group of people arguing and pushing in the street.
What a magnificent sight! On one side were police officers from the Kobe Police Department, and on the other side were members of Princess Mariebell's Grinda Knights. Caught between the two groups was a Japanese man from Area 11 with a bloodied head. Some local soldiers had already arrived after hearing the news.
“This guy just stole a whole bunch of stuff from the supermarket,” the police explained. “We were handcuffing him and getting him back to the station when we ran into them, and they insisted on executing him right there in the street.”
He was a slightly sallow and thin young Japanese man, slumped on the ground, constantly swallowing his saliva. As for the stolen goods, they were some snacks.
A rope and a wooden plaque were around his neck that read, “My loyalty to Britannia has fled with ZERO”—the clothes of these Grinda Knights members were very new, so they must have just joined.
……
"Which bastard taught you to do this?!"
“Watch your mouth, little girl.” A woman with a red ponytail, who was the leader of the group, stepped forward. “Talking to us like that will get you punished.”
"Come on, you bastards of the Grinda Knights!" Genia retorted without backing down. "Oh, I see, it's that Schreiber that Princess Maribel has recently taken a liking to, isn't it? Of course, he's a scumbag reincarnated from a ghoul. Can the things he raised even understand human speech?"
"If you're not convinced, then pass the Knights' test and duel our instructors." The red-haired girl shrugged, knowing that her instructors weren't invincible in duels. "Tsk, a bunch of greenhorns, don't they know the consequences of letting these parasites from Area 11 run rampant?"
"It's just a common theft, do you really expect me to be sentenced to death?" Genia retorted. "Executions should be carried out according to Imperial criminal law. What are you doing? Using streetlights and the main street as an execution ground?"
"Oh? Getting excited?" The woman with the red ponytail cracked her knuckles, and the knights behind her were also preparing to fight Genia and the others again.
Just as they set up the area, a gunshot rang out from behind. Genia saw Nagayama get out of the car, raised her pistol to warn the sky, and then slowly approached, aiming at the red ponytail's forehead.
"Stop messing around, okay?" The knights drew their pistols and confronted each other. "Is it really necessary to kill someone over a lowly Japanese dog?"
"Oh? He's not?" Nagayama calmly gestured with his chin towards his compatriot, "Had he become obsessed with Mr. Schreiber's disregard for human life?"
"What? Honorary citizens are protecting their own people? Colluding with traitors is a serious crime!"
“In that case,” Yongshan said, turning his pistol around, gripping the barrel, and handing the gun to the other person. “Come on, good things come in pairs. You can toast each other with my blood and this brother’s blood to celebrate Princess Marybell’s business getting worse and worse.”
"What do you mean it's getting worse? What kind of ridiculous authority does that little bitch sergeant from Japan have?"
“As Princess Mariebell’s subordinate, you should understand why your commander, as the governor of District 24, stays in District 11.” Nagayama calmly met the eyes of the red ponytail. “Your Highness understands how poorly Governor Nunnally and Lord Suzaku have managed District 11, and you also understand that although the Aryan Special Forces are a good dog to punish traitors, unfortunately, these dogs are too bloodthirsty.”
"If the Governor's Office knew that the new recruits trained by the Aryan Special Forces, even those in the directly subordinate knightly orders, were all running wild, they would spare no effort to drive Princess Marybell away. You understand the consequences. Not only would your teacher Schreiber be unable to live out his old age peacefully after returning to District 24, but Princess Elizabeth would also be unable to spare the energy to get involved here. Wouldn't that mean that no one would have a chance to make Governor Nunnally and Lord Suzaku restrain their mercy? What would happen to District 11? It would only be worse than it is now."
"Whether you blindly follow the 'teacher's' teachings and ruin everything is your choice." After saying this, Yongshan raised his arm and handed the gun in his hand closer.
"We'll settle this another day, Eleven." The woman with the red ponytail slapped the gun out of her hand and slunk away with her men. Nagayama then directed Colonel Andreevich's car to the base—she had already arranged for someone to keep an eye on things when they got out of the car.
"Tch, just thinking about those black guys makes me want to vomit." Genia spat and patted Nagayama's shoulder with an admiring look. "You did a really good job today."
"Just to let them, and also to show you how a real Japanese person handles things." Just as the police were about to leave with the thief, Nagayama took out a chocolate and put it in the young man's pocket.
……
The Soviet colonel was kept under close surveillance in the car the whole way, which should have been foolproof, but Clark, who had infiltrated Kobe beforehand, still managed to sniff out his presence.
There was a lumber mill in front of the military base. The day after the colonel was sent to the base, he visited it again with one other person.
"Oh, Mr. Uncle Sam, you're here again so soon?"
"You said yesterday that the factory wanted to hire an apprentice. I meant well, you know. What do you think of him?"
"Let's talk, please wait a moment?"
Clark nodded and went up to the rooftop to wait—from there he could see almost all the buildings in the military base across the street.
From afar, he could see a large fleet of warships sailing from the sea and approaching the naval port. And in the bay beyond the naval port and between the buildings of the camp, he saw some "teleportation portals" similar to those in the Tokyo concession—that's what the Britannian officers and soldiers he had visited called them.
……
A few days later, the apprentice that Clark had sent to the factory boarded a train back to the Tokyo Concession on his day off. He returned to a corner of the concession, to a room filled with people just like him—each German civilian hiding a Stars and Stripes or a Union Jack under their "outer garment."
“Everything is going well, everyone,” the “apprentice” said. “I’ve made contact with Mr. ‘Atlantic,’ but he also used that name with the Black Knights, the resistance force from Area 11. Is that alright?”
“If he allows you to call him that, then it’s fine.” White and Sheldon, who were chairing the meeting, gestured for him to continue.
"Based on my observations over the past few days, the Britannian army has stockpiled a large amount of military supplies in the Kobe area and has more warships docked than in Tokyo Bay. At the same time, I can confirm that they are building more supply and manpower channels, just like those small tunnels they have connecting to Berlin."
"I understand. You mean those sub-portals in the Tokyo Concession that connect to the main portal of the City Hall via pipes, right? Can you be sure where they lead to on the other end?"
“All I know is that it’s probably not in Berlin, sir. I haven’t even found a route from Tokyo to Kobe.” The “apprentice” sounded a little nervous.
This terrified the agents present—it meant that Britannia was likely preparing to open a new portal behind the European front? This was absolutely a disaster.
"What's worse is yet to come, sir. I've confirmed that the VIP transferred from Tokyo to Kobe by the Britannian army is a Soviet colonel, reportedly the highest-ranking Soviet officer captured so far, though I don't yet know his name. I'd like to know if there's been any news of personnel transfers from the POW camps recently?"
Everyone shook their heads, but they were even more frightened: what if this colonel was a traitor who had defected to the enemy? Wouldn't that make things even worse?
……
“However, there are a few more points,” the “apprentice” added. “First, that Soviet colonel has been staying in the camp and has never left, nor has any high-ranking official from the Empire ever visited him; second, there is only a large stockpiling of supplies in the Kobe area, and apart from naval personnel, I see no signs of any large-scale troop mobilization.”
"Everyone, don't be nervous. There will always be a way and time." White stood up and clapped his hands to reassure everyone. "Let me first list our plans for the near future."
"First, we need to focus on the Tokyo area and pay attention to whether there are any large-scale troop movements between the various teleportation portals recently. At the same time, we also need to be aware of whether there has been a sudden increase in enemy troops stationed in Kobe. Oh, and of course, the investigation into the structure and vulnerabilities of the Tokyo Concession City Hall should continue as usual, since it is the core of the teleportation portal system."
"Second, keep a close eye on the movements of that Soviet colonel, and also watch for any signs of prisoner repatriation recently. As for whether there are any new teleportation portals in other parts of Honshu, leave that to Mr. 'Atlantic'. Also, we need to prepare to find an opportunity to take care of those German officers and soldiers who have defected."
"Thirdly, there's good news. We've successfully trapped an underground arms factory in Area 11. With nowhere else to turn, they've agreed to pay us protection money, so we no longer have a problem with light weapons for our operation. However, even so, I still need everyone to visit some more underground factories in Area 11 to find manufacturers of electronic equipment."
"The Soviet colonel is currently isolated in Kobe, but if he intends to cooperate with Britannia, it is entirely possible that he could use the base's electronic communication facilities to contact the enemy's high command. This is the most important aspect of the enemy that we understand the least. Once we have the opportunity to hand over the means of production for these things to the Pentagon, it could change the course of the war even more easily than directly destroying the Tokyo Concession."
“Please remember, gentlemen.” White didn’t smile. He picked up a CD the size of a persimmon from the side of his hand with a serious expression. “This thing contains all the documents and files from the Pentagon and MI6.”
Chapter 335, Section 428: The Real "Contagion No. 45"
The straight-line distance between Brazzaville, the capital of Congo, and Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, is 1600 kilometers, requiring 24 hours of continuous driving to reach the destination—this line of text was forged over the past two weeks by the 38th Army on the front lines in Africa against the EU.
Of course, it wasn't solely due to this one unit; we also have to thank the allied forces advancing from the north and south, as well as the EU, which, as always, trembled at the mere mention of their name.
Seeing that it could not stop this "Black Death army," the EU immediately retreated from Congo and East African countries such as Tanzania and Mozambique at a speed a hundred times faster than its offensive. If the other imperial armies that were attacking from both sides had not been so "swift as the wind and fierce as fire," it might have been a more terrible catastrophe than the encirclement and annihilation in Brazzaville.
For this reason, General Gabriel and Marshal Auchindoun are now on the Congolese border, across a lake in Rwanda, and have no choice but to let their soldiers abandon the unusable Portman and personally go into the water to lay nets and catch fish.
The saying "an army marches on its stomach" applies here. At the beginning of the war in District 45, due to the changing battle lines, troop movements, and enemy raids, Elizabeth and her generals were constantly worried about supplying the front lines and discussed this matter every day.
In fact, without this new logistical plan, neither Count Hohenzollern nor General Trossa would have dared to carry out the strategic order to "advance to the Kiel Canal in one month."
The Marshal and General were so focused on Prince Kylier's words, "Make a name for yourself like you did in Sector 45," that they forgot about their brothers and sisters who weren't in Sector 45, and that they were about to march into Rwanda, but supplies were simply not keeping up.
It's not entirely their fault. Let alone the EU's fools, even the Imperial allies who were cooperating with them had only just begun climbing the cliffs separated by these rigid square formations and assault groups, not to mention resupply.
The most brutal frontline battles were described like this: We fought for enough macaroni and pasta to fill our stomachs at the food trucks on the front lines, while those who came later could only fill their stomachs with self-heating food; we fought our way through the battles in the afternoon, and by evening we were crying as we counted how many sets of plates and cutlery were going to be emptied from the food trucks, while trying to remind ourselves how delicious the food in our mouths was.
It was described as "the most brutal battlefield," but the day passed just like that, leaving a lasting impression on the memories of many survivors.
It wasn't until those months of fierce fighting against the US and Soviet armies that I realized how much more luxurious it was to find some biscuits on the bodies of fallen comrades an hour after the usual mealtime, when the shelling had subsided. It was more than just a good meal; it was a luxury that someone might even find your skull when the sun went down.
“It seems that it wasn’t the corpses of the people of District 45 that brought back the ‘Infectious Disease No. 45,’ but us, the soldiers of the Empire.” Gabriel and Marshal Auchindoun shared a shriveled pancake, pondering how to overcome the hunger and supply shortage that was even more infuriating than the EU’s, before the supply trucks arrived at a snail’s pace.
Throughout their journey through Africa, the Marshal kept Karlstadt, whom he had escorted from the Tokyo concession, with him, and the latter shared their dry rations with them.
"That was five years ago, when the Führer's soldiers, wrapped in thin clothes, emerged from snow-covered tanks outside Moscow, using precious gasoline to start fires for warmth, gazing at the distant Soviet capital, praying they wouldn't freeze to death before the evacuation," Karlstadt replied when asked if the German army had faced a similar situation back then.
……
According to Elizabeth's original plan, the assimilation of German civilians in the future would require someone who was worldly-wise and had at least served as a mid-level officer, and Karlstadt was the highest-ranking officer in the Aryan Special Forces he had joined.
At that time, the princess was unaware of the concentration camps and still believed that the followers of Nazi Germany were still pure and innocent. So she chose this man, who had been an SS major, to hand over to the Field Marshal, intending to cultivate a leader of an assimilated German.
However, today, the supplies for the 38th Army failed to arrive, and Elizabeth's urgent handwritten letter was delivered to her.
"Your Excellency Marshal, Your Excellency General, Her Highness the Princess orders you to immediately send Lieutenant Colonel Heinhard Karlstadt back to District 11, and that he shall not be taken out of the island without her or Her Highness Kelly's orders, or he shall be severely punished."
After seeing him off, the two marshals and generals, still feeling somewhat bewildered, quietly accepted the documents brought by the messenger regarding Nazi concentration camps and visits to German civilians, and then suddenly realized what was going on. Meanwhile, Karlstadt was quite dejected on the way back to Tokyo by plane.
This brings us to why they were so eager to curry favor with this alien, even though they themselves didn't believe they could succeed. Since Britannia was so keen on hating the people of Area 11, they would first use their traditional skills to become one with them, and then they could win over supporters just like the Führer initially created the Nazi Party. Finally, they would drain Britannia dry, recreate the Führer's dream in another world, and even take revenge on the Soviet Union and the Allies.
But Henrik was the only staunch supporter of this utopian idea, and now he was guarding a prison on the peninsula across the Tsushima Strait; Schreiber was just a sadistic henchman, and Gunther and his ilk were only concerned with having a good environment so they could return to Germany alive in the future; who ruled Germany was not important to them.
Very few civilians sought refuge with them, and the special forces they had painstakingly built were dismantled by them. What could they do now?
……
Karlstadt planned to go to Mariebell first, and then to the city hall to hear Kylier's message, but as soon as he stepped into Princess Mariebell's residence, he almost got beaten up because of his black detachment uniform.
Half an hour before he arrived, several former members of the Grinda Knights, led by Aldrin and Sukia, came to see their former masters after a long absence and the Kofu massacre.
Unexpectedly, upon entering, they were interrogated for a long time by the unfriendly special forces. When they finally started talking to Marybell, they were completely terrified by the drastically changed princess and the knights after only a few words.
"How could you associate with these people from District 45... no, these evil spirits captured from another world, Your Highness?"
"Watch your words, Aldrin. I have the power and mindset to control hell and wipe out the chaos caused by the people of Area 11, not you, a guest who has long since betrayed your oath of loyalty!"
This couldn't even be described as an unpleasant ending. Maribel directly ordered the German special forces soldiers to kick them out. As a result, during the shoving, Aldrin's nose was hit by a black-clad dog with the butt of his rifle, drawing blood and completely igniting the conflict between the two groups.
Most people didn't recognize the two leaders, nor did they know their abilities—Aldrin and her Lancelot were basically capable of taking down Princess Cornelia back then, and Sukia wasn't much different, managing to fight the surrounding German soldiers to a standstill.
Maribel maintained maximum restraint, forbidding the special forces from firing, but she had to shout several times to stop the fight. Otherwise, in a few seconds, the bayonet that Aldrin had taken from the German soldier would most likely have been thrown back at Karlstadt.
After a final, heated exchange, Aldrin led her men away angrily. As she stepped out the door, she saw the lieutenant colonel rank on the Karlsstadt special forces armband and collar insignia and guessed that he was a high-ranking officer among the Germans. She then nudged him aside with her shoulder, clearly not wanting to cause any trouble.
I had originally wanted to exchange a few words with Marybell, but seeing His Highness's face filled with disappointment and anger as she went back to her room alone, I had no choice but to give up and head to the city hall.
"Lieutenant Colonel, from this moment forward, you will serve as Princess Marybell's accompanying officer, working with the Aryan Special Forces to ensure her safety and are not permitted to leave her residence."
In the city hall, Kylier summoned Count Rosenberg, one of the original supporters of him and the special forces, briefly stated the order which was clearly a form of house arrest, and then sent the former away.
"You're being a bit ridiculous, Your Highness." Leaving the Earl alone to complain, "Are you really willing to turn those skilled soldiers in the Special Forces from potential beneficiaries into mere laborers?"
"Shut up! Nobody in the entire District 11 understands Germans better than my sister and me!" Kylie roared, grabbing the count's collar in a fit of rage. "Yes, we need talent, but not the kind of talent that chops people off on assembly lines!"
At this moment, an officer ran up to the prince and reported that Nunnally and Suzaku were summoning him and Mariebell—the reason was simple, of course, that the news of the Grinda Knights nearly hanging someone in the street in Kobe had spread like wildfire.
"Get out!" Kelly kicked the officer away and continued to berate Rosenberg. "Yes, I know what you want to say, but let me tell you now, even if my sister is busy with the war in District 45, I would rather personally go down to the German countryside to select future obedient leaders—a thankless and arduous task—than I will absolutely not allow the promotion of the Black-Clad Soldiers! I will not allow such ruthless devils who disregard human life to become citizens of the Britannian Empire in the future!"
"So Your Highness allows those very few defecting American and Soviet officers and soldiers, those potential rebel machines, to take over the duties of the special operations force?" The count sneered. "No wonder you personally supervised the taking of that Soviet colonel to Kobe."
"Have you gone mad from staying in Area 11 for so long?" Kelly was so angry that she couldn't sit still and slammed her fist on the table. "The number of American and Soviet officers and soldiers who surrendered has always been controlled. The total number of both has never exceeded 40. Moreover, several times when we tried to recruit from tens of thousands of prisoners of war, we were met with disdain and returned empty-handed. And look at the Special Operations Unit, it was almost 400 people before it was split up. In the end, who the hell is in the wrong?"
"And why did I isolate Colonel Andreyavich so far away from Tokyo?" The prince angrily emptied his cup and slammed it on the table. "Let me tell you, while we're talking, some soldiers of the expeditionary force have already been shot dead by German civilians in the rear, not to mention those highly cooperative officers and soldiers."
"As a colonel, if we allow Andreevich to remain in the Tokyo concession and have close contact with the vast number of Soviet prisoners of war, wouldn't that be waiting for him to lead an armed uprising in the entire POW camp? At that time, none of us would be able to keep our heads, understand? Not only him, but I will also drag any high-ranking American or British officials to Hokkaido or Kyushu to live in single rooms!"
"Understood, understood. I'll go find Princess Marybell right away and convey your message."
"You dare! If we break ties with her now, how will my sister's reinforcements get through... Damn it, you've made me lose my mind!" Kelly slapped her head and grabbed the count by the back of his collar as they went out together.
"Either you go to Kobe to help with the naval reinforcements, or you go to Tokyo Bay to help dismantle the old naval portal. Otherwise, I'll kick you to the 8th District and let you spend the rest of your life with the albatrosses on the Falkland Islands!"
Chapter 336, Section 429: The Tragedy of the Three Crowns
"I am here on behalf of the Swedish people to seek refuge at the air force base on the coast, not at the airport for transporting people and goods!"
Vice Admiral Störnbeck of the Swedish Navy left these words with a heavy heart, and boarded his special plane to leave Germany with a face full of disappointment.
At the previous NATO meeting, Sweden gained some good things—a number of new fighter jets and vehicles, including a batch of Stuart tanks that the US military had replaced.
All of the above could be transported via ferry crossings on either side of the Øresund Strait between Denmark and Sweden, but the five US escort destroyers that were acquired could only travel by sea to Karlsruhe in the east.
This is the heart of the Swedish Royal Navy and also the best-preserved and oldest naval base in Europe. It currently serves as a distribution center for supplies to the Swedish and Danish military and civilians on Bornholm Island. Simply put, these five escort destroyers, now under Swedish command, will inevitably have to pass through the dangerous naval and air battleground of Bornholm.
The lieutenant general's trip was intended to contact the US and British forces for escort support. He thought he would receive generous assistance, but instead, he was given a cold shoulder.
Field Admiral Cunningham, who commanded the British aircraft carriers, quickly expressed his negative attitude towards the plan: the Seafire fighters had a maximum combat radius of only 400 kilometers, while the carriers concentrated in the Kattegat Strait were at least 200 kilometers from Bornholm Island. Even if external fuel tanks could be used to solve the problem, the destroyers' range would be at least 3 hours, which would be a great test of the pilots' physical strength.
The US Navy was even more disappointing to the vice admiral. Some of the Essex-class destroyers concentrated in the North Sea were more than 500 kilometers away from Bornholm Island—a distance that was more than twice that of the US task force when the first wave of Japanese carrier-based aircraft took off during the Battle of the Philippine Sea two years earlier.
Not long ago, in order to make way for the Royal Navy's newly arrived HMS Illustrious and HMS Victory, the two Midway-class ships were also moved to the waters west of Denmark, and there are currently no US capital ships in the Kattegat Strait.
In other words, the Swedes could only receive effective assistance from no more than ninety Seafire fighters from the four Illustrious-class ships that were the main force of the British forces during the entire escort operation. The rest of the operation had to be carried out by themselves and the Danish land-based air force. How could they possibly withstand the gaping maw of the Britannian air power?
……
The Swedish army soldiers guarding the island were filled with anxiety. Colonel Jodman, the garrison commander, and a young Danish man named Bohr, who was the colonel's local guide, returned to the command post looking exhausted, intending to take a nap.
A month has passed since May 5th, and the Britannian army has gone from being cautious to recklessly using the island as a missile firing range. From docks and warehouses to houses and grain depots, and even supply ships that have been caught red-handed, enemy missiles launched from destroyers are attacking everything on the island.
What's even more terrifying is that the missiles, which initially often crashed into the sea out of control, are now hitting their targets almost precisely. Even Swedish soldiers hiding in the woods in the center of the island cannot escape the fires caused by the explosions, not to mention the fire positions and radar stations.