Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

"Do you have a way to hold off the enemy on the other side of the river? We're still far from the riverbank; going directly into the artillery fire zone would be fatal!"

"Smoke screen, do you need a smoke screen, Major?" the leader of the reinforcements asked.

“Hmm! I have an idea, Mr. Taluvin,” Angelie suddenly interjected.

"Huh? What?"

“If all we need to do is stick that big wad of explosives to the bridge pier, then we can just have Lieutenant Griffin take the explosives and we’ll stay here and provide him with cover fire.”

"Hey! This is murder!" the lieutenant shouted from the side.

“I’m not finished yet,” Angelina continued. “Before the lieutenant rushes out, we need to set up the smoke screen. We’ll wait until it’s full before he sets off. In the meantime, I’ll go to another location and use a probe to indicate the target to the lieutenant. Mr. Griffin, you need to complete this operation with the fastest speed and the fastest awareness.”

"Uh, you just think I'm being annoying..." Griffin scratched his head in frustration. "But it's actually feasible, it's just... for such a short distance, the drive wheels alone won't be fast enough..."

"Then, shall I call a celestial warrior to provide you with some things?"

……

"Keep moving! Comrades! We must retake the bridgehead!"

Soviet soldiers on the railway bridge followed the exhaust fumes of an IS-2 tank, slowly advancing westward towards the bridgehead. Above them, artillery shells roared through the sky like thunder, inflicting a terrible gunpowder punishment on the enemy. The terrifying suppressive fire was what gave them the most reassurance; the tank's heavy armor might not necessarily be able to repel the firepower of the puppets, which was far superior to that of rifles and submachine guns.

However, at this moment, the comrades suddenly felt that something was wrong with the enemy.

"Huh?" A sergeant saw thick plumes of gray smoke rising from the enemy's group.

"Are they retreating, comrade? Or are they planning a counter-offensive?"

Under the cover of smoke, Griffin's aircraft, having just been fitted with a flight wing dismantled from a KMF aircraft, was now airborne, carrying explosives, and circling around. Due to weight restrictions, he could not carry any weaponry, including MVS and machine guns.

"Yeah!" With that, he shot out of the smoke screen like an arrow, carrying the speed he had been building up for a long time.

"Alright, stop fooling around." Meanwhile, Angelina had already sneaked to a small house nearby and transmitted the footage of the bridge piers captured by the camera to the lieutenant's monitor. "Can you receive this?"

"Hey! Target clear!" Griffin's laughter was full of confidence. "Watch me!"

He flew over the Oder River, and the Soviet anti-aircraft guns quickly spotted him. But just as they were rearranging their anti-aircraft ammunition, the lieutenant's plane suddenly climbed rapidly, then abruptly dove down in a conical spiral. The anti-aircraft guns' golden whips couldn't keep up with this reckless and audacious wild bee!

"Alright!" Angelie scolded him in dissatisfaction. At the same time, the Soviet soldiers on the bridge began to fire at them. The lieutenant's plane then sped toward the railway bridge pier in the middle of the river. Just a second before the enraged anti-aircraft guns were about to hit him, it disappeared under the bridge.

After circling the bridge pier a few times and gradually slowing down, it hovered in mid-air on the side of the pier facing away from the Soviet troops—now the anti-aircraft guns could only vaguely see the wingtips of Gloucester's flight pack.

"Phew! Exciting!" Griffin is safe now. He looks at the explosive installation instructions that someone just sent him on the electronic screen, and he slams the big thing he's been holding to his chest into the bridge pier. Once it finishes drilling its own holes, he can wait for it to detonate. Damn, he managed to hold a high explosive without getting hit by anti-aircraft guns and blown into fireworks. That's impressive!

"Okay! Let me think about how many seconds to set it for..."

Suddenly, a piece of debris from a bridge pier flew up from the side and landed right in front of him. Only then did he realize that the enemy had no intention of letting him go! The anti-aircraft guns and machine gun ammunition belts had blocked off both sides, and together with the bridge pier, they formed a perfect triangle, locking him in this spot! Gloucester couldn't dive, and the vertical space under the bridge and in the river was limited; forcing his way through would be certain death!

"Ugh!!!" He gritted his teeth in anger, "I'm trapped! Do you have any way to cover me?!"

"No! Lieutenant!" At that very second, the sound of a pipe organ, like an avalanche, filled the air above the railway bridge. One wave of piercing noise after another transformed into an explosive torrent that engulfed the western riverbank.

"The enemy's firepower is too intense! We must continue to retreat!"

Hearing this despairing news and hearing the faint crackling of sparks from electricity, Griffin felt a chill run down his spine.

"Okay... I understand..."

Griffin hung up the call and frantically scratched his head, trying to figure out what to do next...

"never mind……"

Left with no other choice, he set the bomb to detonate at a 90-second mark, took a deep breath, glanced around the cockpit of his aircraft one last time, and slowly opened the hatch.

"See you again, buddy." He frowned and gently stroked the glass screen in front of him.

Then he jerked up and jumped out of the cockpit, and Gloucester, out of control, fell into the water one after the other.

The Iron Knight sank straight to the bottom of the river, but the lieutenant was still fighting for his last breath—what followed was a life-or-death race in the water, and now he had to swim to the riverbank at all costs!

Griffin lay about two meters below the surface, holding his breath and desperately paddling towards the riverbank. Even underwater, in the dim light, he could see enemy anti-aircraft shells and machine gun bullets landing on the opposite bank. He watched helplessly as they darted past him like fish, leaving trails of bubbles—bullets much larger than rifle calibers, even in the water, retained considerable kinetic energy over such a short distance, ensuring death or serious injury upon impact!

He didn't know how many times he slashed his arm or how long he listened to the powerful sounds of bullets and shells whizzing past his ears before he finally managed to reach a hard, solid spot in front of him.

We've reached the shore! The lieutenant quickly adjusted his posture, put his feet back on the ground, and, with his hair dripping wet and his pilot's uniform soaked through, scrambled ashore in a disheveled state.

"Oh God..."

He turned around, intending to check if there was anything unusual about the explosives, but the gunfire from the opposite bank almost made him forget to continue his escape! Luckily, a flare had just gone out, and the Soviet troops seemed to have turned their attention back to the main Britannian forces after seeing Gloucester fall into the water, so he was not targeted by the brutal barrage of ammunition belts as he turned around.

But just as he took a step, while crossing the bridge and passing directly above the bridge pier, Soviet soldiers spotted him!

"Halt!" The soldiers opened fire on him. The bullets fell around Griffin with the sound of blood-sucking bats, and he lost his footing instantly, staggering and almost falling over.

"Oh no no no no no..."

He didn't even have a pistol on him, let alone the ability to fight back. He could only stay as close to the bridge as possible, hiding in the soldiers' blind spot. Perhaps it was because he had been swimming too vigorously and his limbs were weak, or perhaps it was because he had been too frightened, but it took Griffin half a minute to walk the short 20 meters from the shore to the bridge approach!

A ton of explosives! The lieutenant ran up, not knowing where to hide from the flying debris after the explosion. Seeing the Soviet tank next to him that was almost completely burned, he fell off his body and, like a mare in labor, kicked his legs wildly in front of the bullets still being passed from the hands of Soviet soldiers on the bridge, crawled under the tank chassis.

"Ah...I..." He calculated the time in his mind. It seemed like the time had come, but nothing happened. Could it be that the explosives had malfunctioned?

Griffin lay motionless beneath the tank. Suddenly, he watched as the railway bridge, like a giant crocodile, abruptly twisted its heavy body amidst a deafening explosion in the center of the bridge, billowing flames and scattering steel and concrete. The Soviet soldiers on the bridge were instantly thrown to the ground, the tanks halted like startled goats, and the bridge deck began to tremble slowly with a mournful sound of steel snapping.

"Is it...successful?"

The lieutenant's eyes welled up with tears of excitement. Just seconds before, the soldiers who had been chasing him, and even the tank crew, had climbed out and started jumping into the river one by one.

……

Slowly, like an elephant struck by a tranquilizer dart, the bridge swayed and wobbled, finally ending with a deafening crash as steel bars snapped. With its piers utterly destroyed by a ton of explosives, its surface shattered by the shockwave, and the faded green armor of the IS-2 heavy tank, it gently sank into the embrace of the Oder River, disappearing from the horizon between Germany and Poland.

……

"I...I did it..."

Strangely, Griffin's eyes showed no ecstatic joy, but only a sense of relief...

The Soviet artillery fire seemed to have lessened considerably, and he, like a frightened bird, left the protection of the tank and slowly crawled westward, as if these weak steps were the only way to return and find his comrades.

But just as he passed the shattered Soviet bridgehead and a sandbag mound, a figure suddenly darted out!

"Hey!"

Griffin was shoved and rolled more than two meters away. When he lay on the ground and looked back, he saw that it was an enemy soldier! The most terrifying thing was that one of his hands was holding a shovel, but his other arm was gone!

"Oh, Your Majesty!"

The one-armed soldier staggered over again, but the lieutenant suddenly couldn't stand up either! He quickly rolled to the side, fearfully dodging the shovels the soldiers swung down, but in no time, the soldiers caught up with him and chopped his thigh with the entrenching tool!

"Ah!" he screamed in terror, only to find that the soldier had raised the shovel again, this time definitely aimed at his head!

With a swift grab, his hands became entangled with the soldier's single arm, while the shovel's blade had just made a small cut in the lieutenant's stomach.

"I...I...I can't die yet!"

He mustered his last bit of strength and finally managed to push the one-armed soldier aside. He quickly grabbed the entrenching tool and began hacking wildly at the soldier.

"Drink! Ha! Ya! WUA!!!"

The one-armed soldier was finally dead. Griffin stared at the lifeless body in front of him, then looked around at the Soviet soldiers who had fallen to the ground and were still staring blankly at the dead. His eyes widened in shock and despair.

"Ah, oh no..." Suddenly, he felt an excruciating pain in his thigh and fell back to the ground, clutching the wound he had been slashed at. Blood had already stained one of his trouser legs and his hands red.

The Soviet artillery fire continued relentlessly, coldly sweeping across the sky above, landing between him and the Britannian-occupied territory to the west.

"No...no..." Tears welled up, and his will to survive drove him forward: one hand covered the bleeding wound on his leg, the other hand braced against the ground, and so, with a bright red mark on his hand, he slowly crawled towards the western darkness...

“Angelina…” A shell exploded on the left.

"Lilizia..." Another shell exploded in front of us.

“I, Ipel…”

In my ears, besides my own panting, there was only the sound of gunfire relentlessly proclaiming the road closure notices...

……

"Marshal Zhukov, the unfortunate news is that ten minutes ago, the enemy destroyed all two railway bridges and three road bridges across the Oder River between Kostyan and Frankfurt..."

"Degree of destruction?"

"Frontline officers say that not even the bridge piers remain..."

"Okay... I understand..."

"Oh, also, the 96th Guards Infantry Corps stationed west of Berlin has sent a message that they spotted an enemy plane flying westward..."

Section 152, Chapter 97: Let's Do the Books

"Alright everyone, now let's raise our glasses! Cheers to the successful completion of our operation!"

Cheers! To Britannia!

The massive air assault aircraft had once again flown back to Area 11 through the portal in the sky. The morning sun shone on the dying city of Berlin, and the rays of light still stirred the dust that had not yet settled in the air. The rubble and stones, which should have been cold, still retained the heat of the night battle's artillery fire.

Britannian soldiers in black uniforms walked everywhere in the streets. Occasionally, a KMF would slowly stroll by with its drive wheels folded up. There were also infantry fighting vehicles or assault guns parked on the side of the road, with the crew sitting in them, lighting cigarettes, and chatting, trying to dispel the fatigue, anxiety, and unease about the war ahead by turning it into a wisp of hair in their mouths.

Are there still people working hard? Certainly, not in the life-or-death firefights on the front lines, but among the soldiers responsible for cleaning up the battlefield. They separate their fallen comrades from the killed Soviet soldiers; their own fallen comrades are put into trucks carrying the bodies, while the Soviet tactical casualties are thrown into a nearby pit and buried. As for equipment, the recovery and capture of enemy and friendly forces is certainly no small task. Look over there on that street, several trucks and KMF mechs are still surrounding a destroyed Soviet tank, slowly pushing it towards the central camp.

Hmm, that's really strange. In the past, in places like the EU, tanks could either be towed away by a single heavy truck, or if the suspension wasn't damaged, two or three KMFs could push them from behind. But this one in front of them took two heavy trucks to move. They seemed to understand why they had been ordered to pay more attention to capturing enemy tanks, regardless of whether they could continue fighting. These were such solid iron turtles, not only were there many of them, but they had also given the KMFs such a hard time; no one could sit still.

But now that the rumble of Soviet artillery fire can no longer be heard in Berlin, and no more Soviet shells will be thrown into the city, it's time to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet that comes with the turn of events.

Inside the Reichstag building in Germany, four generals were gathered in a large hall, raising their glasses in a toast to each other.

"Oh, by the way, thank you for your hard work over the past ten days, General Marendor." Duke Sasler smiled, seemingly politely looking into the major general's eyes.

"Ah, umm..." The major general pursed his lips, still keeping a straight face, and didn't say anything more.

"The fighting tonight was truly eye-opening, gentlemen," Lieutenant General Wood continued the conversation.

“That’s right, Lieutenant General. In one night, for about seven hours, three corps and army groups fought so fiercely around a city. This is unprecedented.”

"Ha, I only hope that this battle will be recorded in history. Gentlemen, if the statistics show that we have inflicted enough damage on the enemy, and if this is reported back to Area 11 and back to the capital, it will probably be more dazzling than the bronze statue that General Marendor gave to Prince Schneizel."

"Could you use fewer mocking words, gentlemen?" Marendor's voice carried a hint of displeasure. "These past few days, I have shed the blood of many warriors for your expeditions and for the Empire's campaigns. Therefore, I hope that in the next few days, you will do as they would have done."

"Then, what is the number here, General?" the Duke asked.

"Hmm..." The major general took a deep breath, "Just over forty thousand men, including those killed in action, wounded, and those who suffered mental breakdowns and visual and auditory impairments due to the intense fighting during this period... Those Soviet artillery and aircraft have never stopped firing..."

The three looked at the general's face, unsure whether it was from disbelief or a touch of sympathy.

"If possible, this unit can be put back into battle after a long period of rest and reorganization. But can you imagine what it's like to sleep under enemy fire for ten days? It's a pity you couldn't experience it with me, and I don't think anyone else has ever experienced it."

"We understand your thinking. After all, our loss is just as worth remembering as this glass of wine."

The Duke paused.

“You must understand, Major General, even during my 45th Army’s feint attack on the west side of the city today, facing the direction where the Soviet forces were deployed the weakest according to intelligence, I still suffered about 900 casualties. And then… let me think, it should be 140 KMF mechs and armored vehicles.”

"Alright, then Lieutenant General Wood and Admiral Windsor, is it convenient for you two to speak up in this setting?"

“Ha, then I’ll tell you!” Windsor chuckled softly. “I now understand why the vanguard and General Marendor were getting so badly beaten by the Soviets from the east of the city. The enemies inside the city were either tough opponents or hard nuts to crack, and to make matters worse, they had artillery support from outside the city, with more shells than we had hairs on our heads.”

"Anyway, the total casualties are close to 2000 soldiers dead and wounded to varying degrees. Of course, this is because most of the KMF was allocated to Lieutenant General Wood's airborne forces, and the ratio of armored vehicles to infantry was too high. Roughly speaking, there are at least 180 infantry fighting vehicles and assault guns that either have to be scrapped or need to be repaired. If it weren't for Mordred's hadron gun support, I think the casualties would probably be more than half again."

"Ah, are your losses really that bad too..." Lieutenant General Wood couldn't help but interject.

"Oh? As the most crucial element of this operation, what were the casualties of your Black Prince Legion, General?"

"Although we also only suffered about a thousand casualties, we had no infantry, while the KMF had one person per aircraft and the transport plane had six people per aircraft. I can tell you that you absolutely won't believe the extent of our equipment losses. It has been confirmed that 23 transport planes were destroyed and 77 were damaged to varying degrees. The KMFs alone have more than 500 units totaled in total, including those that were scrapped and damaged. Ah, Your Majesty, if we don't take a good rest, we can build a castle out of the shells we salvaged from the scrapped vehicles."

"My God..." The Duke and Windsor stared at each other in disbelief.

"Oh, right, I just remembered something..."

Meanwhile, in the command center inside the Capitol Building, a man dressed as a pilot walked in.

"Hello, are you Lieutenant Colonel Eddie Hill Groen of the 41st Army?"

"Huh? Yes, it's me."

"Ah, hello, this is Captain Haino from the Black Prince Legion. I'm under orders from command to inform your unit of an incident requiring your assistance in the investigation. At dawn this morning, as our paratrooper group was returning to the portal, one transport plane, due to operational malfunction, was forced to fly off alone west of Berlin to find a safe landing site. Therefore, I would like to ask the lieutenant colonel if your radio operators could check if you received any identification signals from a similar location during this period?"

Are there any important items on board?

"Ah, does it count if the entire excellent crew is made up of rare, beautiful girls?"

“Pfft…” Eddie Hill chuckled and shrugged. “…Come with me.”

"Soldiers, have you received any unidentified radio signals from west of Berlin recently?"