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Page 279
"Yes, since eight years ago, countless Japanese people have been deprived of their rights, freedoms, and names, wandering in their own homes and even the world. The original intention of establishing the Japanese Special Zone was to return all of these things that have been taken from the Japanese people to their rightful owners."
"This is a shared wish of Princess Nunnally and mine: to help every ethnic group in distress in District 11 to heal the wounds and shadows left in their hearts by the past as much as possible. This is one of the reasons why I went to District 45 the day before yesterday."
"Her Highness Elizabeth, as the leader of the 45th District Expeditionary Force, told me personally that in our world, a world that, like ours, has seven continents and five oceans, two wars that affected all countries broke out in just half a century."
“There is a city in the 45th district that is also named Berlin. However, when the expeditionary force stepped into this city, they could not believe that everything in front of them was more dilapidated than the ruins outside the Tokyo Concession.”
"This is what I saw in District 45. Because of their wariness of others, they chose to arm themselves. Because of their wariness of the arrival of Britannia, they chose to wage war against us. This has become the misfortune of the people of District 45: every night before going to sleep, they must put a gun or a knife under their pillow to avoid sleepless nights."
"So this is a major reason why the people of District 45 cannot live in peace with us: we are too hostile towards them. We need to make them feel that District 11 should also be their warm home. Therefore, we need to give them back everything they are used to at home."
"Over the next two weeks, we will strive to make every settlement in District 11 a self-governed home by the people of District 45. The people of District 45 living in the settlements will have a week to nominate and vote for suitable candidates to serve as managers in their respective settlements. After identity verification, the Governor's Office of District 11 will follow everyone's choices and needs."
“Each settlement with autonomy will gain more autonomy than before, including, but not limited to, allowing administrators to provide residents with weapons for self-defense and to organize militia forces under the jurisdiction of the settlement to protect the security of the settlement. Applications for weapons will be submitted directly to the Governor’s Office for review and final provision.”
"Of course, during this period, we will not tolerate any militia members in settlements who violate the rules by using force. We will severely punish those responsible for any transgressions. Similarly, we will protect every Japanese settlement on this land and provide them with certain weapons."
"I hope that in the future we can put aside our differences and walk together towards the future on the land of Honshu..."
……
This is indeed a shocking bill: the terrorists who call themselves the messengers of Kōjin Amaterasu are still committing crimes and handing over hundreds or thousands of guns to people in District 45 and even District 11 is terrifying enough, but now they are allowing people in District 45 to form their own armed forces?
Everyone was condemning Suzaku, yet this young man appeared resolute in front of the camera. Why didn't Nanali stop him? Because after thinking for a long time, she couldn't come up with any other solution.
Whether you're in the Empire, the EU, or the Federation, you wouldn't believe that Suzaku actually personally approved each and every order for the militia forces.
Did a large-scale firefight break out between the people of Area 11 and the German People's Militia? However, a month passed, and apart from the occasional military vehicle being seized by the messengers of Katsuyuki, the big news that the reporters had been waiting for was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a letter from Germany appeared on Nunnally's desk. It was a letter from one of the administrators of the Koshigaya settlement, a man named Ernst Junger.
Nunnally was blind, so her assistant, Ms. Romer, read the letter aloud. To be honest, even holding the letter in her hand, she couldn't believe that this letter from someone in District 45 was serious—in Junger's own words, he not only expressed great gratitude to Nunnally and Suzaku for everything they had done for the Germans in District 11, but also, as the administrator of the settlement, he solemnly declared that he would train the militia and strictly regulate them.
Junger was a middle-aged writer who survived World War I. In his letter, he told Nunnally a lot about what he saw and heard when he was in the army. The meaning conveyed between the lines seemed to fit the idea of Suzaku's effective cure for the people of District 45.
Although Romer read out some passages that were clearly imbued with nationalistic sentiment, Nunnally seemed unconcerned. "I knew I could trust Suzaku; there must be a reason he did this... Both the Japanese Special Zone and Area 11 are getting better."
However, before she could finish speaking, a sudden explosion came from the ground outside Nanali's office window.
This was undoubtedly a bombshell dropped on the increasingly monotonous news in Japan: "A car bomb exploded in the parking lot of the Tokyo Concession City Hall. No injuries were reported. So far, no organization, including the Kuro Amaterasu Messenger and the Black Knights, has claimed responsibility for the incident..."
This news naturally reached the eyes of White and Sheldon's team of agents, since it was their doing. "Damn it, didn't Suzaku go out today? Didn't he leave in this car?"
[022 Friendly Reminder: The following text can be enjoyed in conjunction with the theme song "The Moon" from the theatrical anime film "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion," sung by Fujiwara Sakura.]
So where was Suzaku a few hours before all of this happened?
Near the place where Mr. Junger currently lives, at an intersection not far from the Koshigaya neighborhood in the 45th arrondissement, he borrowed a shop assistant's uniform, put on a baseball cap and sunglasses to cover his face, and greeted a little German girl wearing a mask in English.
“I…I’m Sandra Muller, and I’m four years old.” The girl looked at Suzaku’s face with her big, questioning eyes and stammered as she answered, “My mom and I live here in Koshigaya.”
"Wow, what a coincidence! I'm just here to deliver some delicious food and fun toys to the uncles and aunties in Yuegu." Zhuque smiled. "So, are there many children around your house? Do you often play with them?"
"Yes, yes! When Mom goes to work, we play hide-and-seek and hopscotch with Hannah, Mila, Hans, and Frank. At noon, Mila's aunt cooks for us."
"Is Mom okay with you playing with them?"
“I’m not afraid. Hans told me that last week Uncle Junger gave his brother a gun so that if any monsters come from across the street, he’ll come right over to protect us.”
"A monster?" Suzaku's heart suddenly tightened upon hearing this.
"The monsters living across the street try to steal the cake my mom bought me, and they also come to the place where we play games to steal our toys. Now that we have guns, we're not afraid of them anymore."
"Across the street? Isn't the Saitama neighborhood where the Japanese live right across from the Koshigaya neighborhood?" So, like Sandra's mother, the Germans in the neighborhood probably cursed "little Japanese" to their children quite a bit!
While she was distracted, a ladybug fell off her head and slid down the side of Sandra's nose into her mask.
"Chotte!" In the instant Suzaku helped the girl remove her mask, he was caught off guard and meant to say "wait." But as soon as he uttered his native language, Sandra's eyes widened and she quickly took more than ten steps back.
"What's wrong, darling?" At this moment, Sandra's mother came out of the shop next door and was terrified when she saw her daughter's appearance. Do you remember a long time ago, there was a German factory worker named Mattina who worked in a clothing mall? How many people remember that first armed conflict between German civilians and people from Area 11?
Zhuque stood there, stunned. He was about to help the girl pick up her mask from the ground when Sandra started crying loudly in fright. There was a long wound on the corner of her mouth that tore into her originally round and lovely cheek, wrapped with the stitches left by the doctor.
She also has a scar on her nose, which is why her mother makes her wear a mask when she goes out.
Disheartened, Suzaku ran without looking back to a small truck plastered with advertisements, one of the props he had borrowed for his incognito visit. He glanced furtively at Ms. Mattina, who was holding her daughter in her arms and comforting her in the distance, then started the car and drove onto the main road separating the Koshigaya and Saitama settlements.
He didn't specifically stick his head out to look around—having been to the battlefields of Poland, based on a tiny bit of memory, Suzaku almost instantly sensed the difference between the Japanese and Germans among the buildings on the outskirts of the settlement.
To the left of the street was Saitama, a predominantly Japanese-populated area. The walls and windows, riddled with holes, remained almost untouched. Looking up slightly from the car, one could see Japanese flags and various calligraphy characters written in kanji and hiragana hanging on the exterior walls. Residents, with red suns and white headbands tied around their heads and carrying guns, either paced back and forth on rooftops or sat on stools in rooms behind holes in the walls, occasionally shouting insults at passing German civilians. This was a day in the life of the "Japanese militia."
To the right of the street is Koshigaya, a German-populated area, quite different from the surrounding area. So, on the side of the building facing Saitama, most of the holes have been filled with bricks and cement over the past month. Only in certain places, and in some holes larger than a wardrobe, are sandbags piled up to cover everything behind them.
Zhuque searched with wide eyes, but couldn't find any trace of anyone in the gaps between the buildings—the truth was that the mobilized German civilians were either hiding in the shadows of bricks and tiles a few meters behind sandbags, holding machine guns and rifled shotguns with scopes, pointing their guns at the threat on the other side of the street, or they were gathered in a large room during their rest time, happily playing cards, watching TV, and chatting.
On this street, you can only see German militiamen standing guard with guns at the gate of the settlement. And what about those quiet buildings? Are machine guns or shotgun snipers lurking behind the sandbag bunkers? Or are there no people hiding there at all, just a disguised firing point? And behind those small holes in the unrepaired outer walls, are militiamen keeping watch day and night with guns at their backs?
The wheels of the small truck rolled down the street, crushing over Zhuque's cold heart like a millstone.
The Japanese have suffered the pain of national subjugation for eight years, but now all they do is plaster the streets with venting their anger and slogans.
The people of District 45 have been at odds with them for less than a year, and now they have already scattered the ashes of the still-burning European war inside and outside their own homes, and onto the faces of Suzaku and Nunnally.
"Is it truly impossible for people to understand each other in the end...?"
……
On the way back, Suzaku received news of an explosion in the city hall parking lot. "Yeah, we've done so much for District 11, but we still haven't dealt with these elusive terrorists."
Exhausted from working until nightfall, Zhuque wanted to rummage through her room for something, but she saw several workers packing up a pile of garbage made of foam paper, broken planks and slag at the door.
"Sir, have you forgotten about our portrait framing today?"
The workers left, and Suzaku went into the room by himself, pulling back the curtain of the oil painting—he remembered that it was a full-body portrait of Euphemia that he had ordered several months ago.
……
"Suzaku, how did the ceremony at the Japanese special zone go? Are the Japanese people happy? Did I do a good job?"
In a daze, Suzaku seemed to hear Euphemia's voice again. Startled, Suzaku staggered and fell into a chair. The words "very successful" that he had once said to Euphemia were now stuck in his throat.
This was a wish that Euphemia still cherished, which he and Nunnally inherited, and which was fulfilled after Nunnally became governor.
But is everything she's seen so far what she wanted? From Elizabeth's military intervention at the ceremony, to the Kofu riots instigated by Maribel, and now to the fact that half of the streets dividing the residential area have become no-man's-land—"Are you all really happy?"
Who turned Euphemia's wish into this state?
Was it Her Highness Elizabeth? But she didn't stop the establishment of the special zone. With a sentence like "How dare he call himself the son of Genbu Kururugi?", she was actually the one among the millions of ordinary people who understood his weaknesses the most and was disappointed in him.
Is it Lelouch? But the Black Knights left Area 11 long ago, and the German civilians have never shouted the name ZERO.
Is it Princess Mariebell? But she was only dissatisfied with the Japanese special zone; she didn't obstruct any of the favors bestowed upon the Germans.
Were they German civilians? But they were just unarmed ordinary people; they too needed help.
So, is Euphemia herself at fault? If so, wouldn't she and Nunnally, who inherited her last wish, be making one mistake after another?
So, is Euphemia herself at fault? If so, wouldn't she and Nunnally, who inherited her last wish, be making one mistake after another?
Area 11, passed down through Clovis and Cornelia, is now in his and Nunnally's hands. Is it inevitable that all their efforts will ultimately push this land into the abyss? Why has fate played such a cruel joke on Euphemia, Nunnally, and him?
"If you're still alive, Euphemia, what will become of everything in Area 11? Please, tell me!"
The overwhelming sense of loss and despair finally broke down, and Suzaku Kururugi fainted from repeated sobs. His sobs echoed in the silent night and the empty room. He wanted to touch Euphemia, frozen in a painting—after the departure of his beloved princess, no one could give him a pure, kind, and warm embrace when he shed tears.
Chapter 397 Homeland and Foreign Lands (Part 2) (Section 503)
Elizabeth and Her Highness Kelly personally went to Northern Europe to witness the opening of the new naval portal, without requesting that General Trosa accompany them—this was clearly a silent encouragement.
Fortunately, before Elizabeth returned to Berlin, her soldiers finally found General Amatulla, who had been adrift at sea all day, on a reef on Bornholm Island. The pilot who rescued her, Portman, was also carried back for emergency treatment, barely alive, along with the KMF, which had run out of power. "Trosa finally managed to save her job," of course, that's what Louises and his men said.
Having confirmed that Amatullah was out of danger, the lieutenant general breathed a sigh of relief and rushed to the Karlsruhe naval base to check on the wounded Swedish soldiers who had finally surrendered.
It was only a day late in taking control of the heart of the Swedish navy, but it felt like a heavy slap in the face.
When she arrived at the naval port, the warships that had recently joined the expeditionary fleet in the Baltic Sea were already lined up outside, but she couldn't feel happy at all. It had been more than a month since they had launched their attack on Sweden, and the mines and artificial reefs planted around Karlsruhe had all been cleared away. According to the plan, today Trossa should have been here to oversee the handling of the sunken Swedish warships and to welcome the new warships into berth.
Unexpectedly, the Red Navy revived; unexpectedly, Swedish officers and soldiers fled for their lives; unexpectedly, the "British troops" further north were Canadians; and even more unexpectedly, Australia, far away in the Pacific Ocean, was a "fake" lackey of the British Empire.
"Why do you sound so sorrowful, Your Excellency? Isn't General Amatullah still alive?"
"I'm becoming more and more like a child trying to raid a sparrow's nest in a tree. I severely injured the mother sparrow in the nest, but I never expected that all the sparrows in the forest would come to stop me. What's even more terrifying is that the eagle and the python, who are usually the ones catching sparrows, also blocked my way..."
……
Seafighter biplanes, painted with the insignia of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, circled on the main road leading out of Stockholm in the northwest, using loudspeakers to direct the large number of civilians hurrying to the border between the two countries.
A month after the devastating bombing, the Swedish capital, apart from more refugees sleeping on the tents where the dead slept during the bombing, has yet to regain the vitality it had before July 7th.
On the walls of Stockholm Cathedral, workers are painting away the last black spots left by the fires of the bombing. In the square in front of the cathedral, there is still a large bomb crater surrounded by railings and cordon lines, guarded by soldiers and police among the haggard-looking civilians coming and going.
Right next to the river that runs through the city is a cemetery. Today is the second day since Lundgren was discharged from the hospital. Dressed in his naval uniform, he accompanied his aunt, who lives here, to visit his father's final resting place. Accompanying them is Lundgren's younger brother's girlfriend. She had initially come to the capital with the refugees. The night before the bombing, she followed a note left by her brother to find her aunt's place and luckily hid with her aunt in a nearby wine cellar.
Fortunately, they randomly chose this location, which was a bit far from the city center, so Britannian bombers didn't drop their bombs there; otherwise, the father's gravestone and coffin might never have been found. Could this be considered a stroke of luck for a family living during wartime?
"Burialing Father here is probably the greatest favor Greta and her family have done for us, isn't it?" Lundgren sneered, as if he had thought of something. "By the way, do you still have any news about them?"
“I haven’t seen the three of them since the day they were buried,” the aunt recalled. “I heard from her parents’ teachers that when the bombing started, they couldn’t squeeze into the air-raid shelter, so they took refuge on a sailboat. I think the boat was either destroyed by the bomb or rammed and sunk by an out-of-control warship. Anyway, they have never been seen alive or dead.”
"Brother!" Suddenly hearing a voice that sounded strangely familiar, Captain Lunger was startled and took off his naval cap, only to find that it was his younger brother standing on the path leading into the cemetery.
"Thank God, Alice, you're alive!" The younger brother, dressed in a sergeant's uniform, excitedly took off his helmet and ran over to hug his long-lost lover.
"You too, darling. Shouldn't you be over in Jönköping?"
"I was ordered to come back and take the new recruits to the front lines. I saw you when the truck drove up to that intersection!"
"It's good that everyone is safe and sound." Auntie came up and gently hugged the sergeant. "Also, are you going back today?"
"Yes, Colonel Jodman told me that now Canadians and Australians are coming here, and the extraterrestrials from across the sea will soon be attacking northwards in a frenzy... Karlsruhe fell yesterday."
"Um, what time is it now? Shouldn't we be leaving?" Seeing that her brother Longger's expression had changed, Auntie quickly chimed in and patted the two brothers on the shoulder.
"Uh, yes, that's about right." The captain tidied his face slightly and asked Alice, "Are you sure you're going with my aunt and not to Norway to find your parents?"
Seeing the girl nod, the captain understood and picked up his younger brother, patting him hard on the back. "Our family and Alice's family will be alright. Remember to come back alive."
……
[022 Friendly Reminder: The following text can be enjoyed in conjunction with the Call of Duty: WWII soundtrack, "A Brotherhood of Heroes"]
The sergeant got back into the truck, while the older brother took his aunt and sister-in-law to a small dock near the cemetery, where a small boat was waiting for him.
The small boat's propeller gently carved a white line towards the northeast amidst the rolling water and the numerous civilian boats on the river. Various colored cross flags fluttered on the masts of these boats: some with a blue background and a golden cross, others with a white background and a dark blue cross.
His destroyer, the Joaquin, lay grime-black on the distant shore, destined for repairs. Where were his crew now? His former first mate was piloting the small boat for him and his family, while the rest of the crew waited for him on a larger warship.
"We agree to accept refugees from Sweden and will do everything we can to help this country." This was the warmest message from Basikkivi, who took over the presidency of Finland from Marshal Mannerheim, to all Swedes a month after the bombing of Stockholm.
Today, when Lunger's small boat followed the large fleet of civilian ships to the estuary, it was already crowded with Swedes' own vessels and cargo ships from Finland. Several Swedish naval defense ships, cruisers, and destroyers left in the Baltic Sea were also there. Countless displaced people would board warships and civilian boats to cross the Baltic Sea and settle down on another peaceful land, awaiting the victory and end of the war.
The small boat stopped in front of a coastal defense ship that was also close to the shore and receiving civilians onto its deck. The four people boarded the ship. The aunt and her younger siblings were specially taken to their cabin by the sailors on board. Lunger took the first mate to the bridge.
"Finally here, Captain, I'm so happy to see you." The captain, a lieutenant, showed him around the ship's interior. "From today onwards, you will be my first mate, and your first mate will be her air defense fire control officer. It is a great honor for all 400-plus of us on board the Dauntless to serve alongside the heroes who protected Stockholm."
The captain personally led him to the helm, and with a long blast of the ship's horn, the 3400-ton steel behemoth began to slowly move away from the coast, carrying a full ship of officers, soldiers, and civilians who had left their homes, and circled around the southern jungle of ships.
This 50-year-old coastal defense ship has long since removed its old main guns, secondary guns, and torpedo launchers, becoming a seaplane supply ship that defends itself with anti-aircraft guns. On her aft deck, three OS2U Kingfishers, recently delivered by the US military, are quietly sitting on the catapults, carrying depth charges and sonar.
The Dauntless slowly tore through the waves of the Baltic Sea, leaving the Swedish navy busy bringing civilians onto the deck. Among the fleet of ships, only two masts with golden crosses in the distance left without looking back, because their ships were already loaded with more than five hundred mines to be deployed in the southern waters.
Suddenly, the sound of airplane propellers filled the sky. Looking up, I saw that they were coming from high above the blue cross mast of Haidong.
A sky full of Blenheim bombers painted with blue and white concentric circles, accompanied by more than ten Do 17s and nearly a hundred MS406, Hurricane, Buffalo and BF-109 fighters, flew toward the field airfield in the Scandinavian forest with the full force of the Finnish Air Force.
The roar of the propellers climbed over the blue cross flag on the mast of the Vinamoynen—the only Finnish naval defense ship that could rival the size of the Fearless, alongside a group of gunboats and transport ships that also flew the blue cross.
With their backs to the thousands of Swedish civilians leaving the shore, KV-1 tankers painted with a bluish-gray base and blue and white crosses, and T-34 tanks with their narrow-topped, wide-bottomed concrete turrets and 76mm gun barrels, along with hundreds of Finnish soldiers carrying Mosin-Nagant and Suomi submachine guns, waded onto Swedish soil from the transport ships and were lowered onto the shallows by ropes.
As night fell in Northern Europe, the skies over Stockholm were illuminated by searchlights and anti-aircraft guns. King Gustav V approached the microphone prepared for him, holding a simplified and revised translation of President Roosevelt's speech from the Normandy landings two years prior.
"From this day forward, we will fight with all our might to end human suffering. On this land, whether born in the Baltic Sea, in Britain, in the Americas, or in the distant continent of Australia, we are all children of all mankind, and we are all the pride of all mankind."
"This war has transcended the boundaries and barriers between any nations in previous world wars. Our path is long and arduous, and our souls tremble because of the brutality and ruthlessness of war. Justice and loyalty will guide our way on the battlefield."
"God will witness our heroic and glorious history, from the taiga of Sweden to St. Steve's Cathedral in Vienna, from Warsaw on the Vistula to Frankfurt on the Main. The shadow of war that has shrouded the European continent and even the whole world will eventually vanish before the sun formed by the hearts of thousands who seek peace."
"For the sake of the spark of human civilization, we must overcome all difficulties and achieve victory! For the sake of the truth of freedom and peace, with one heart and one mind, we will surely win!"
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