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Page 85
“I huddled in the cave, clutching my wound while watching outside. Then, slowly, the fire on the elephant grew bigger and bigger. Seeing this, the Germans nearby began to prepare to retreat. I used my submachine gun to shoot these fascist bandits in the buttocks until they were far away.”
"End?"
"Yes, it's over, everything is over..." Lemilia's face suddenly turned pale.
"And then what?"
"Finally, I happily crawled out of the burrow, ignoring my injuries, and was about to run to give Chernov a hug... when I realized that he was huddled in the burrow like a calf, and there was a hole in his helmet lying next to him."
“Uh…” The private suddenly didn’t know how to respond.
"That night...it was me and another comrade who were responsible for burying Chernov and the others..."
"Alright, alright, I won't say anymore." The lieutenant took a deep breath, took out his flask, and took a big gulp.
"Um……"
“Sigh, Chernov was pretty much like you back then,” Lemilia sighed, looking up at the sky. “I was chatting with him at the camp, talking about our future plans, and this is what he said…”
"He said... he wanted to avenge his parents who were killed by the Germans, and after the war ended, he would return to his hometown to find his beloved Marenta, work hard, strive for success, and have many children with her..."
"He's thought it all out. He'll have as many children as he can watch the Katyusha rocket launchers roar across the battlefield. As for their names, the boys will share the same name as their hero father, and the girls will be named Katyusha, Katyushana, Katyushatana..."
"Ah, this...this..." The private chuckled as he turned toward the direction where the lieutenant was hiding. "Are you crazy? Is this a pig...?"
"Lieutenant, this..."
The private turned around and saw that the lieutenant had already closed his eyes, mumbling softly as he breathed heavily, and had drifted off to sleep.
……
"Katyusha...Katyusha..." the lieutenant mumbled incoherently, not a single note matching any song melody, "Chernov...my beloved Katyusha...Chernov...I'm going to marry Marenta..."
……
Seeing Lemilia's somewhat unwell sleeping face, the private stopped himself from asking any more questions.
"Are you really asleep, Lieutenant?" he muttered to himself, moving closer to the lieutenant and reaching his hands up to his shirt.
The blanket fell off him, and his clothes were unbuttoned. The private easily found what was inside the lieutenant's chest pocket—the whole company knew that the lieutenant kept his flask there, never leaving it, so stealing his flask was quite difficult.
"Sorry, comrade..." The private carefully pulled out the flask, shook it in his hand, as if there was nothing inside.
……
Then, through the faint light of the fire outside the window, the soldier could vaguely see a few small characters engraved on the wine pot, characters that were hard to notice without careful observation.
……
……
……
"To avenge Chernov, and his Katyusha..."
Section 123, Chapter 76, District 11: Taking the First Step
Berlin was once again engulfed in the flames of war, watching the sun slowly rise in the east.
On the other side of the portal, in the Tokyo Concession, on the same timeline, they slowly waited for the coldness of the earth to be dispelled by the rising sun.
In a small neighborhood quite far from the city hall, there is a fenced iron gate guarded by soldiers. Outsiders are not allowed to enter, but looking at the wall standing next to the gate and the watchtowers at the corners of the wall, anyone who isn't stupid can guess what this place is probably used for.
This is a military camp, and unlike the elite troops responsible for the crown nobles within the city hall, which are stationed closer to the city center, it must be a half-baked military outpost.
The soldiers were still conducting various training exercises on the training ground. In the distance, at a relatively quiet and deserted small building, a female soldier with a calm expression had just walked out of the gate.
"Congratulations on your successful recovery, Sergeant." The medical staff at the door smiled and nodded at her.
The female soldier nodded, straightened her uniform and long blonde hair, and slowly walked towards the training ground. She quietly observed the various figures on the field: infantrymen running in formation, and greenhorns speeding around in infantry fighting vehicles.
However, she preferred to look at the largest and most eye-catching part of the area: several Sunderland mechs walked around there like lively children, each hoping to be the next elite pilot.
As she stood there, admiring the growth of the steel knights, someone called her from behind.
"Hey! Over there! Is that you, you?"
The girl turned around and saw an officer walking towards her.
"Lan, Captain Lancer?"
"It really is you, Sergeant Genia Triller. You've recovered?"
"Hmm..." The girl nodded, gesturing to the side, "Can we sit down and talk, Captain?"
"Come on, what do you want to know, child?"
"Um, I've been lying in the medical station for a few days now?"
“Ah, let me do the math.” The captain counted on his fingers. “If we start counting from the first day when Lieutenant Colonel Caronville led us back through the portal to Area 11, it’s been four days. Has no one come to visit you during this time?”
The girl shook her head, her eyes filled with doubt, worry, and disappointment.
"Lieutenant Arugel, Sinell, are they all...?"
"Ummm, the lieutenant unfortunately sacrificed his life. We don't know about the others. He might have been transferred to a higher-level unit and didn't have time to tell you, right?"
Jania didn't speak, she just looked down at the ground.
"You seem eager to get back into the mech?" the captain changed the subject. "The doctor said you could still be a pilot?"
"Hmm, that's no problem. But I'd like to know, didn't I remember our vanguard suffered heavy losses? How come there seem to be more people here?"
“Oh, you really don’t know? The lieutenant colonel told us that we are now existing as the Tokyo Concession Armed Security Corps. On the one hand, we are the armed police force of the 11th District, not the front-line army; on the other hand, it seems that the lieutenant colonel’s operation in the other world, oh no, I should call the 45th District, was quite impressive, and the higher-ups sent a lot of reserve personnel to us. There are a lot of raw recruits among them, so they still need to get some experience in the barracks.”
"And, you might not believe it, but that's not all." The captain paused. "Do you remember when we arrested a lot of civilians from the 45th district in Berlin? The lieutenant colonel has now been ordered to lead more than a thousand men to drive these people from the 45th district out to the area outside the concession, to carve out a piece of land for them to settle down in."
"Huh?" Jania was a little confused, "Taking over part of the slums in Area 11?"
"Yes, but don't worry about them mixing with the people from District 11. The area has been sealed off with concrete walls and barbed wire, and there are guards watching over it. Most importantly, those refugees are like that, unfamiliar with the place. Where could they run to? They don't even speak the language."
"I see... So what will they be like in the future?"
"Like the laborers in District 11 who didn't become second-class citizens, they just wait to work, what else can they do? Oh, of course, if their English is good and they haven't committed any crimes, that's another story."
“Oh…but, Captain.” At that moment, Genia noticed five people sitting on the open ground in the distance, whispering to each other and glancing in their direction. Unlike the infantrymen’s sky-blue service uniforms and black combat uniforms, their clothes were bright white with blue trim and a gold six-pointed star on their chests.
"Where did those people dressed like laundry sacks come from?"
"Ah, them," the captain chuckled. "Do you remember who you fought against in Berlin?"
"I heard the lieutenant mention him, is he called an American?"
"Yes, didn't we arrest five American soldiers before? They were willing to follow our orders. The lieutenant colonel gave me orders to familiarize them with our passwords and such over the next couple of days, and then they can go and add some free manpower to the police station."
"Then theirs..."
……
At that moment, what were those five soldiers in unusual clothes whispering about?
"Hey, Captain, look at that girl, look how big her breasts are!"
"Tsk tsk, only about twenty years old, this physique is making me hungry..."
"Alright, Taylor, this isn't Paris, and it's not Italy. Take your drool off, you shameful piece of trash. And Garcia! You too!"
"So, Captain Davis, shall we begin like this?"
“That’s right, Philip, we all do this. Also, don’t call me Captain anymore.” The captain sighed and looked around.
“However, I am more concerned about this.” Philip pointed to the yellow six-pointed star on the chest of his clothes—all five soldiers had it on their clothes. “Why did they make our identification tags like this?”
"And it's so hard, it hurts so much." He tapped it with his finger, making a metallic sound.
"Never mind these aliens' schemes for now, Private," the captain said seriously. "Just stay here and integrate into their lives. When the time is right, that's when we'll break free of our cages."
"No... the key point is this six-pointed star, it's a Jewish thing... my cross was confiscated, I can't exactly hold this six-pointed star while I pray, that would be a sin against God..."
"When God wants to punish you, throw this thing at those iron puppets. They'll be struck by lightning and killed in droves. You might even get a medal of honor."
"Wow! That's awesome!" Philip laughed with satisfaction.
"Alright, alright, Taylor, when that officer leads us in training again, watch your mouth! And look at you, you look like you just came out of a brothel, do you think you can fool him?"
“Ah, yes, yes…”
“Finally, Clark, you.” Davis looked at the young man with the prosthetic leg, “Is that toy leg any good?”
"It's alright, sir..." Clark's expression didn't seem too good.
"Then why do you look like you ate a face full of shit?"
"Ahem, well... when I sat down cross-legged just now, this toy leg kicked my dick..."
"Ummm...so this is what it is?"
"Never mind, as long as I can attach a stick to my leg and free up my hand to use as a crutch, everything will be fine."
“But I’m curious,” the captain muttered to himself, “weren’t there some Russians who were captured with us? Where are they?”
"I think I heard them say that they were going to teach English to these Russians, and they couldn't be released for a while."
"Hey! Boss? What about us here..."
"Hey! You guys!" At this moment, a soldier standing guard with a gun next to the five men shouted, "Keep your voice down!"
"Yes, you're right!"
……
"Alright, Genia, now I have something to give you."
Captain Lancer took a small photograph out of his bag and handed it to the girl.
"After you were lifted onto the ambulance in Berlin, I found a photo that looked like it had fallen off you. Now, it's back to its rightful owner."
Genia looked at the photo, speechless.
Inside were herself, her beloved Lieutenant Arugel, and of course, her fellow pilot sisters who had participated in KMF training with her, all happily huddled together.
The photo is cut in the middle by a glaring bloodstain that can't be erased.
“Don’t dwell too much on the past, child.” The captain patted her shoulder. “Look ahead. Remember the lieutenant and your sisters, still watching over you from the sky. If you want to remain an excellent pilot, life and death are things you should take lightly.”
"Alright, let's not talk about such depressing things." The captain stood up and dusted off his pants. "I don't know if you've always been this introverted, huh? You'd better see if there are any people you know in the barracks and relax with them while we don't need to go to the battlefield anymore."
"Um, um, thank you for saving me, Captain..." Jania also stood up, turned her back to the captain and walked away. As she left, the captain saw her raise her hand and wipe her face a few times.
"Alright, soldiers!" the captain called out, turning to the five American soldiers. "Continue!"
……
By midday, the training grounds were quieting down, and Captain Lancer left with five soldiers. However, they didn't intend to go to the mess hall; instead, they headed towards a watchtower at the edge of the camp.
"Hmm, it seems you've completed your mission ahead of schedule today," the captain said with satisfaction. "Then, as agreed, I'll allow you to go up to the watchtower and look outside."
"Thanks, bro!" Taylor's voice was still quite unserious.
"You should address others as 'commander'!"
Once the six of them reached the top of the tower, they each found a spot on the edge of the tower to lie down on and looked around casually.
"Ok?"
To the lower right of the watchtower was a T-junction, and Taylor spotted a sidecar motorcycle driving from the vertical part of the T-junction toward the intersection.
At the same time, a military off-road vehicle that had just driven out of the camp gate also drove out and drove along the horizontal line of the T-junction.
There are no traffic lights at the intersection. Right now, the sidecar motorcycles are running at full speed, and the military vehicles show no sign of slowing down!
"Watch out, you idiot!—"
Taylor's loud shout not only drew the attention of the entire watchtower, but also startled the boy on the motorcycle, who slammed on his brakes and veered into the intersection. The military vehicle, seeing this, also braked, and the two vehicles bumped lightly into each other, ending up stuck in the middle of the intersection. A person was still sitting in the sidecar of the motorcycle, carrying a large pile of belongings, which all spilled onto the road.
"Phew! I'm a qualified courier." Taylor chuckled dismissively.
The military vehicle driver got out and started yelling at the blue-haired motorcyclist.
"How could you drive like that, kid? Are you out of your mind?"
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry!"
"Look at your school uniform... Ashfred Academy, right? Believe me or not..."