Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

"Huh...huh?" The soldier stared at him blankly.

"Tell me." The sergeant held the gun barrel in his right hand and presented it to the salesman, pointing with his left hand to the extra grayish-white tube sleeve on the muzzle.

"Why did you forget to remove the grenade launcher? Don't you know that attaching it to the gun and firing bullets will damage it?"

"Ah, I... I found it too troublesome, so I didn't take it off..."

“Oh?” Jonathan shook his head and tossed the rifle to him. “Yeah, for a gold prospector like you, this thing doesn’t really need to be treated with much care, tch…”

But then, an ominous unease suddenly arose from outside the tarpaulin covering the truck bed…

……

……

"Lieutenant Colonel, we'll be there soon. Are Lieutenant Harlan and Lieutenant Wilson coming?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid the rest of the work will have to be done by the two of you."

"Well, hopefully these two unrepaired pieces of junk can be of some use."

……

Jonathan was still sitting in the truck when he heard a cacophony of mechanical and electrical noises, followed by a thunderous crash from the street!

He abruptly ripped open the tarpaulin covering the truck bed and looked out. On the street ahead, a blue-purple steel doll had somehow appeared beside the convoy. Immediately afterward, another similar humanoid monster jumped down from a building. These two menacing uninvited guests, like tigers, blocked the path of the green worms.

"Everyone, prepare for battle!"

……

"Reporting, Colonel! We have entered the attack phase!"

As Sunderland landed first, Lieutenant Aruger was describing the situation over the radio while aiming at the rear of the green convoy.

He decided to ignore the prey that had already escaped and turn his attention to the three somewhat bewildered trucks at the back of the convoy, which unfortunately came into his view.

"Jenia! Take care of the ones behind!" the lieutenant shouted to his partner as he opened fire.

After a burst of bullets, the cab of the truck at the very back of the column scattered like a vase smashed by a hammer. The sluggish, speeding truck overturned instantly due to resistance and inertia, and with screams from inside the truck and the screeching sound of steel scraping against the road, it slid sideways toward the lieutenant's horse.

Before the first green packhorse that had been shot down could even settle down, the lieutenant's partner leaped up, jumped over the first truck, and rushed to the second target.

"Try this trick!"

The girl named Genia twisted the control lever in the cockpit, and Sunderland's body spun clockwise under her hand, flashing to the right side of the truck. Then, she suddenly raised her leg, and her strong steel foot kicked the side of the truck bed with precision, like a crowbar. The right wheels of the truck were instantly lifted off the ground, and the entire truck body was suspended in mid-air!

"Watch out!" Jonathan and the group of soldiers who were still dividing the loot happened to be on this vehicle. The entire group of American soldiers were like sitting in the trebuchet belts of a running catapult, suddenly blasted into the air by this attack. Shouts and curses, along with medals, jewelry, and jewels that were also thrown into the air, echoed in the dark green space of less than 9 square meters.

In the blink of an eye, the trucks, soldiers, scattered guns and gadgets, like waves crashing against rocks, were all swept to the left side of the street and left motionless.

Chapter 26, Section 40: David, the Hound, Goliath

I do not know how long it has been.

Jonathan lay in the carriage, feeling dizzy and lightheaded...

"Damn it..." He got up in the shadow of the carriage cover and vaguely saw two giants approaching each other not far behind the carriage, as if they were talking about something.

They were indeed talking, but not directly through the air, but through radio waves that are inaudible to the human ear.

There was no time to watch the two puppets perform a silent film. Jonathan used the dim light to check on his unconscious brothers on the ground.

He began to search for any weapons he might need, and after scanning the area for a while, he finally discovered that the iron fist brought by the porters was hiding outside the cargo hold, under the body of a lifeless soldier.

"If we go out like this, we'll definitely be discovered," the sergeant thought to himself, devising a plan...

……

……

"Jenia, are you alright?"

“It’s nothing, Lieutenant. But…” Arugl noticed that his partner’s right leg seemed to be twisting irregularly.

"Damn it, it looks like it's not fully repaired. There's some misalignment below the knee, so I can't do any strenuous driving."

"Alright then, check your guns, let's go after them..."

As they were talking, the two knights noticed something rushing towards them from the direction the caravan had gone.

"Jenia, watch out!—"

A low growl of car engines and the screech of tires suddenly filled the street outside the cargo hold like a flock of birds. A crisp cannon shot rang out, and the sergeant hiding in the vehicle only saw a dazzling spark of electricity erupt and explode on a steel doll in the distance. The shell, incredibly, shattered the doll's machine gun!

……

An M8 armored vehicle, with its sleek body, darted past like a mouse. An M2 heavy machine gun on the roof roared in the hand of a soldier, firing sparks like drumbeats onto two mannequins.

"Great..." Without much hesitation, the sergeant rushed to the Panzerfaust anti-tank grenade, pried open the body, and picked up the yellowish-brown iron rod.

Out of the corner of his eye, a discordant image seemed to flash: a gleaming gold medal, like a shark's fang, deeply embedded in the unfortunate child's throat. Gushing blood, like the rising sun over the sea, reflected on his pale skin.

Jonathan ignored all that, and simply tucked his iron fist under his armpit, pulled up the makeshift sight on the launcher, and tried his best to aim at the damned enemy in the distance.

……

Let's turn our attention to the two KMFs that were just ambushed by armored vehicles.

"Are you alright?" the lieutenant asked with concern.

"I'm fine! Damn it!" Jenny's Sunderland threw the destroyed machine gun on the ground, while the armored vehicle continued to brandish its heavy machine gun and headed north along the street.

Next, we should deal with it, yes, that's right.

“Genia!” The lieutenant was about to give his partner some new orders.

"Watch out, sir!" Suddenly, Jania's car pounced on Sunderland!

Amidst the creaking of Sunderland's joints and the sizzling sound of oil frying meat patties, coming from the direction of the overturned trucks, two blue-purple dolls, caught in a burst of explosions, clung to each other and slammed together on the roadside.

……

The lieutenant had just recovered from the mech clash when he saw a figure frantically fleeing in the direction of the trucks, running haphazardly behind one of them. Behind him, on a small slope made of rubble and bricks, a yellowish-brown iron pipe was slid down, bobbing and wobbling.

Genia's vehicle struggled to its feet, a grappling hook shot out from its chest, flew a short distance away, and retrieved a piece of collapsed wall.

Just as the grappling hook brought the wall section to the two men, another sharp whistling sound came from the direction of the M8 armored vehicle, shattering the makeshift shield into pieces.

Yes, Jania's quick thinking and skillful maneuvering allowed her to use whatever was available to block the armored vehicle's shells, saving the two knights from harm—something that might seem unbelievable to most people, but she did it nonetheless.

The lieutenant immediately aimed the fallen machine gun at the playful little green car. Bullets flew through the air, creating gray splashes of water around the M8 armored vehicle as it continued to reverse.

After chasing the vicious dog away, Genia slowly rolled off the lieutenant's vehicle, but a pitiful and heart-wrenching sound of metal snapping mingled with the movement of the steel joints, and her Sunderland leg, broken off, remained on the ground.

Unfortunately, Jonathan's punch didn't hit Sunderland's most vulnerable spot, but the damage was still considerable.

"Can't you leave? Go back!" Arugel's voice was tinged with tension.

“Never mind me, sir. I still have some value, these enemy infantry…”

"Alright." The lieutenant's mount stood up and galloped north along the street. "I'll take care of that dog. You handle things here; wait for reinforcements!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, the M8 armored vehicle quickly started its engine at full throttle.

"Sergeant Campbell! Are you still alive? If you can hear me, breathe!" Mr. Harry was standing against the bulkhead on the turret of the armored vehicle.

"Are you all alright? I have many wounded here, and there's also an iron doll with a broken leg that wants to eat me!" Thank goodness, at least some sound came through.

On the other side, Jonathan was huddled in a corner, his hands cupping the walkie-talkie to his mouth as if they were full of water, asking questions cautiously.

"Just protect the children! I'll call for help right away! I have a little trouble! I'll take my leave now!"

The moment the walkie-talkie flew out of the man's hand, that familiar blue-purple giant suddenly burst out from the intersection where the armored vehicle had just passed!

"Don't even think about running!" Arugel, sitting inside the giant, fired first, bullets clashing against the ground as they haphazardly chased after the armored vehicle.

Whether it was due to the lieutenant's poor marksmanship or a lack of concentration, he had to simultaneously manipulate the direction of Sunderland's machine gun while controlling the movement of every joint in his vehicle. Moreover, the latter was even more necessary than the former.

So what was Mr. Harry doing, who had already shrunk into the turret—after all, he didn't want to be blown to pieces?

Gunner Locke, under his command, began to point the gun barrel toward the rear of the vehicle. While keeping one hand on the light machine gun to the right of the main gun, the radio once again occupied his other hand.

"Yes, sir, I will pass on the message." The man had barely finished speaking when he began calling out to another group of people.

"Bulldog Number One calling Rabbit Number Two, how much longer do you have?"

"Give us at most ten minutes! We'll set up the ambush area right away!"

"Understood, let's not contact each other for now!" Just as I tossed the walkie-talkie aside, I heard a crisp scraping sound, like a sharp blade scraping against the armored vehicle's exterior, and felt a stinging sensation in my ear.

"I see him, sir!"

"it is good!"

Mr. Harry grabbed the trigger of the M1919 machine gun, and a roar of the engine instantly drowned out all the gunfire. The speeding M8 armored vehicle, like a raging wolf, roared with the machine gun and boomed with the main cannon, leaping up from a sudden street!

……

……

……

Now, back on Sunderland with the broken leg, what is Genia doing?

The sound of the accelerator was almost inaudible. Apart from keeping an eye on the activity on her communication interface, she focused almost all her attention on the overturned trucks in front of her.

On the ground, it appeared that an American soldier was moving slightly.

"I see you." Sunderland knelt on the ground, like a big eater sitting at a dinner table, watching a long-awaited dish being served in front of him.

Those who are still hoping to go home, you'll be the first to be shattered!

Hmm, what would it look like to have a black, mechanical, metallic fist covered in blood and bits of flesh?

The sergeant was both expectant and happy, after all, this was something she had wanted to try for a long time.

"Clang!" A strange bell sound came from Sunderland's right shoulder, startling him so much that he looked nervously to his right.

"Hey! You son of a bitch!" The soldier who had previously damaged her car's calf with a yellow pipe was now aiming a pistol at Sunderland's head, peeking out from behind a truck while spewing a torrent of profanities into Genia's ears like pouring excrement.

"Hey! You little bastard! Over here!" The soldier put down his gun, raised his other hand high towards Sunderland, and extended his middle finger.

"Want to fight, kid!" He thrust his hips forward and patted his crotch like he was drumming. "Come here! Daddy loves you!"

Hey, doesn't it hurt to slap like that? Ah, maybe only he knows the answer, haha.

After saying that, the pistol in the soldier's hand rang out with a series of clattering sounds, like pebbles being thrown, sending up playful sparks near Sunderland's head. The last bullet left the barrel, and the soldier scrambled off into a building on the side of the street.

How was Genia feeling at that moment?

"You, you, you..." The resentment was like a bucket of dishwater falling from the sky, drenching her from head to toe.

……

With clenched teeth, wide eyes, and a heart full of humiliated rage, she roared as she pulled the lever!

"Stop right there!" Sunderland charged like a cougar leaping out of the bushes, lunging menacingly in the direction the soldiers were fleeing, kicking up a cloud of dust that stretched across half the street as he landed!

Now, Sunderland had transformed into a somewhat comical four-legged beast, glaring menacingly at the window of the house in front of her—the little brat who had just been standing there watching her.

"Hey, hey, hey! Did someone bite your asshole, kid?" The soldier chatted jokingly while leaning against the windowsill, then casually fired a few more shots into Sunderland's head. "So what if I found you a good old man? Why such a big reaction? Hahaha!"

"Shut up!" Sunderland's arm burned with rage. He raised it, gripped a heavy fist, and slammed it against the window!

“How does it feel to be one with the ruins? Ah!” She turned on Sunderland’s loudspeaker and started cursing at the building.

"That was awesome!" Hearing the sound, he looked to the side and saw that the soldier had emerged unharmed from another window!

"Come on! Today, Dad will teach you how to play hide-and-seek!"

The moment the soldier got up to flee, the mechanical arm whirred like a shark smelling blood, and Sunderland's fist swept across like a scythe, smashing everything in the room into rubble.

The soldier seemed frightened; he hurriedly turned and ran upstairs to the second floor.

"Hello! Mr. Harry!" He pulled out the walkie-talkie again as he ran. "Is it a convenient time to talk?"

“Sergeant Campbell! Rabbit One calling! Can you hear me?” There was a faint reply on the radio, though it wasn’t from the person he was looking for.

"I'm here! What are you doing here?"

"We know you have a big dog biting people! Stay calm! Distract it! We'll be there soon!"