Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

……

Behind several piles of debris on the street, a group of men in black were crammed together.

In the distance, the building that had been previously overwhelmed by Sunderland suddenly had a bright star leap into the sky, followed by a terrifying barrage of gunfire, like a swarm of poisonous bees!

A young man peered out in terror and saw soldiers in green helmets and uniforms roaring and running, raising their guns and charging toward them!

"Kill them!—"

"Charge!—"

The roaring waves transformed into a golden storm of bullets, piercing the bodies of the men in black and snapping the heartstrings of each of them!

……

……

Now, the few remaining soldiers are watching in despair as bullets engulf their comrades. They can no longer contact their teammates inside the house, and there's no point in trying anymore.

"Ah!" Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from the side, and several soldiers in black fell to the ground. A soldier in a green uniform had somehow rushed up to them!

Run!

One of them, driven mad with fear, let out a scream. The remaining three or four cowards who had escaped the disaster dropped their weapons, turned around, and ran away as fast as they could!

"Haha! Run!" Jonathan wiped his mouth and whistled crisply.

"Stand still, you bastard! Don't even think about leaving here alive!"

On the battlefield, exposing one's back to the enemy is always a suicidal act. Bullets, accompanied by deafening battle cries, rained down like a storm on every fleeing man in black, crimson petals blooming on their bodies, wails and terror echoing between their flailing arms. Behind them, the green-helmeted madman, and further still, more madmen, like demons pulling corpses, shattered their bodies and reaped their souls.

No!……

……

Gradually, the only lucky one ran further and further away, and at this moment, the gun in Jonathan's hand stopped yelling with a straightforward click.

But the sergeant, still not satisfied, was not about to give up!

He slammed the gun down in front of him, pulled out his pistol (which he hadn't had time to change the magazine for), spread his arms, and shouted loudly into the distance.

"Tell your commander! You have been defeated by the First Red Division!"

Section 18, Chapter 11: People from All Over

COOL! ——

Yes, after enduring a huge wave of pressure, it feels so good to suddenly release it!

"Cough cough cough cough!" Hmm, it seems Jonathan used too much force and snapped something.

I took a deep breath, and my chest felt much better, but why is one side of my body so hot...?

He lazily tilted his head, as if recalling what he had just seen: the large iron box on the back of the steel doll lay in a raging inferno, scorching the sergeant's dusty uniform. The flowing molten iron heated the earth.

Suddenly, the smell of burning made me feel a little nauseous, but for a veteran like me, it was something I was already used to.

Upon closer inspection, there was something on the metal box that looked like a hatch, resembling the slightly open mouth of a hippopotamus with a dislocated jaw. A slender, white hand—even obscured by the flames—like a long, thin tongue, was protruding from it.

"So... you're their commander?" The sergeant picked up a long wooden stick and carefully reached inside, trying to pry open the hatch.

Suddenly, the hatch collapsed with a loud crash, startling Jonathan.

"Pfft! Pfft!" The sergeant stood still, exhaling as he brushed away the wisps of sparks that flew up in front of him. A corpse, emitting a faint smell of burning, lay before him.

"Oh, damn it..."

Before me lay a woman with short brown hair in the flickering fire—it was only by chance that I could still tell she was a woman: below her neck, she was either charred black by the fire demon or her skin had been torn open by the fire demon, revealing her still-unburnt organs...

Complete skin? Almost gone.

Clothes? You mean those scraps of cloth that either float in the air or stick to your body?

……

In an instant, several images flashed before his eyes—burning Sherman tanks, American tank crewmen engulfed in flames…

……

Wow! Jojo! You seem to have grown taller again! ...

…………

Merry Christmas, Sergeant! ...

…………

Tomorrow we'll smother those Germans with cans of luncheon meat! Hehe! ...

……

Like a locomotive suddenly speeding past him, a string of mocking ghosts involuntarily surfaced in his mind, piercing his heart like a scorpion's tail, causing him great distress.

……

……

"Sergeant?"

Jonathan turned around in a daze and saw Carl holding several guns, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

In the distance, a group of unfamiliar soldiers were surrounding the building from which they had rushed out earlier, warily pointing their guns inside. One by one, they rushed in, accompanied by sporadic gunshots.

"Huh? Are you all alright?" The sergeant's brow relaxed a little.

"We're all fine, except for a few scratches." Karl smiled slightly, turned around and pointed behind him, "Look, the officers of these guys are calling you, didn't you hear them?"

"Oh, then you go and help get the wounded out first."

The sergeant packed up his belongings. Not far away, a U.S. military officer who looked somewhat mature, but whose uniform was much more handsome than the sergeant's, was walking towards him, accompanied by another soldier in an equally handsome uniform.

"Sergeant Jonathan Campbell, 26th Infantry Regiment." The sergeant saluted, introduced himself, and extended his hand.

The officer smiled faintly, returned the salute, and then introduced himself.

"Colonel Ruben Tucker, 504th Parachute Regiment!" A strong hand slammed into the sergeant's palm!

"What!" Jonathan could hardly believe his ears. His eyes widened as he looked back and forth between the two people in front of him like an innocent child.

"Oh my God!" The sergeant was overjoyed, his mouth agape. "Brothers from all over America?"

"That's right! It's us!" The soldier next to the colonel laughed heartily. A cigarette had somehow appeared in his mouth, and he reached into his breast pocket with his left hand, revealing the dazzling arm patch on his left arm.

Two side-by-side A's, almost forming a sphere, lie inside a circle, radiating boundless courage!

"Come on, kid!" Colonel Tucker smiled and waved to Jonathan. "Let the paratroopers thank you properly!"

"Sir! It's all taken care of inside!" A paratrooper with a gun at the ready fanned away the dust in front of him, stepped out of the building, and saluted the colonel.

"OK, well done, guys!" The colonel waved, calling his men over. "Come on, this is the guy who saved your lives, the buddy from the First Red Division!"

Hey! You're awesome, bro!

"You're the real number one! Haha!—"

Paratroopers walked past Jonathan, raising their hands to give him high-fives one after another. The sleeves of the paratroopers brushed past the sleeves of the ordinary infantrymen, creating a series of cheerful drumbeats that echoed on the muddy but heartfelt smiles of every soldier.

"This is the first time I've been this close to you guys. The 'best honor guard' that old bastard Patton talked about, it's just fucking awesome!"

"Ha ha ha!" The colonel laughed like a playful old man. "That's the truth! And don't forget, 'Guardians of the Honor of America,' that's what he called him too! Remember that, kid! Those who only care about parades are just for show, we're all about the real thing! Ha ha!"

"Also," the colonel said, reaching out to pat the sergeant's arm patch—the red Arabic numeral "1" lying in a dark frame, which for some reason seemed somewhat dim.

"Would you be interested in skydiving from the Sky Train sometime?"

"Well, I haven't thought about that yet." The sergeant wiped his mouth—the C-47 transport plane, the paratroopers' vehicle, though they usually called it by other names.

"But I think I probably wouldn't be able to stay comfortably inside a bird's belly, because if what's outside the window isn't fields but clouds, I wouldn't be able to sit still, haha..."

"Okay, whatever you want."

……

……

As they were talking, a burst of noise, like that of kindergarten children, seemed to suddenly interrupt Colonel Tucker and the sergeant's interest.

"Hey! What are you doing!" The colonel's face immediately brightened and then darkened as he walked towards a spot not far away.

The sergeant glanced over and saw two somewhat familiar paratroopers, shouting and cursing at each other while grabbing each other by the neck, engaging in a "friendly" exchange in front of the black armored vehicle.

Under the colonel's reprimand, the two slowly released each other's hands and stood in front like children who had made a mistake.

"Sir! This idiot has driven the vehicle into the foxhole and can't get it out!"

"Shut the fuck up!" the colonel roared angrily. "Get this car out of here first! After that, you can roll in whichever latrine you want, I won't care if you beat me all night!"

"Fuck you..." The colonel turned around and walked with Jonathan again, whispering in the latter's ear.

"Hey, don't tell the 'Big Red Number One' brothers about this..."

"Cough, it's nothing, this is just our daily life... and we're often exposed by the supporting characters..."

"Pfft...whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

"Hey." The colonel suddenly stopped. "Where are your men, sergeant?"

"Ah..." The sergeant turned his head and saw Carl, Bill, Tommy, and other familiar faces, along with a limping wounded soldier and a swaying stretcher, slowly walking out of the collapsed building, surrounded by paratroopers.

……

The sergeant was about to say something.

"Colonel! New orders!"

"Excuse me, I'll be right back..." Before he could finish speaking, Colonel Tucker hopped towards the building from which the paratroopers had rushed out. Jonathan hesitated for a moment, then took off running to catch up.

……

They rushed into the building's basement, where the colonel was leaning against a table with the paratroopers' radios on it.

"All Allied forces stationed in Berlin! Upon hearing this order, immediately withdraw to the Berlin Botanical Garden for concentrated defense! Repeat! All Allied forces stationed in Berlin! Immediately withdraw to the Berlin Botanical Garden for concentrated defense!"

"Alright, new work..." The colonel slammed his hand on the table, as if he had already anticipated Jonathan's arrival. "Go on up, Sergeant, we have something to discuss!"

Back on the ground, standing in front of the building, Colonel Tucker clapped his hands and shouted to the large group of soldiers on the street.

……

"Hey! Everyone, listen up!" the colonel shouted. "We're ordered to move to the next location for defense! Now! Clean up the battlefield immediately! Deploy obstacles and mines! Assemble here in 20 minutes! Understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Hey! Luke!" he called to a soldier beside him, "Go! Get my precious thing out here!"

……

……

……

Just then, two soldiers carrying a stretcher walked up to the sergeant.

"Sir! Pat is still lying down. When are we leaving?"

Just as he was about to answer, the colonel patted him on the shoulder, signaling him to come over.

The colonel stopped beside a large hole in the building. In front of him, several soldiers were throwing away the planks and cloths covering the hole. Then, they pulled a rope, and a dusty Willys Jeep was pulled out of it, its tires rolling.

“Sergeant Campbell!” The colonel turned to Jonathan.

"I owe you a favor, so use my car now and get him to where you need to go. We'll be there shortly."

"thank you, sir."

"Oh, right!" The colonel turned back suddenly as he was about to leave. "Sergeant! Live well! I hope to see you again someday! You're a true hero!"

As he spoke, the colonel deftly raised his hand and gave a thumbs-up.

“No!” Jonathan shook his head, gave a thumbs-up, and waved it back and forth in front of himself and the colonel.

"We are the true heroes!"