Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 56

It was already past two o'clock, and he still hadn't seen the familiar face at the stairwell.

Then another officer arrived with a telegram, ready to open Ike's office door.

"Hey kid!" Barton called out to him, "What do you need Ike to see now?"

“A telegram from the Berlin garrison on the train, General,” the officer replied.

"What content?"

"They were searched by Soviet troops at the Erfurt train station, but no one..."

"What! Let me see this!" Patton grabbed the telegram and read the words on it incredulously.

"Elfford, Elford..." The general handed the telegram back to the officer. "Good buddy, thanks for telling me this son of a bitch such great news..."

After saying that, Barton hurriedly left the office door and ran downstairs.

"You damn Russians, you better not make me put a bullet in your groin..."

Chapter 41, Section 67: Luring the Snake Out of its Hole

Now, let's rewind to 2:30 p.m. in Rüdesdorf.

"Do you understand now, Marshal?" Eisenhower stared at Zhukov as he read the telegram.

……

"I understand what you mean, General."

"My opinion is that since we are both aware that something is amiss, and judging from the telegram just now, this border conflict is definitely not a problem on one side. Marshal Zhukov, can we give each other some time and space?"

……

"Alright, that's enough for today." The marshal stretched his hand towards the door, his meaning quite clear: he wanted to personally see Ike off.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Eisenhower turned around and saluted Zhukov.

"I'm sorry, Marshal," Zhukov said, returning the salute as he listened to his final words. "I hope that next time I come, I will leave this place in a different atmosphere."

“I understand, none of us want to break the agreement, right?”

Eisenhower, accompanied by his adjutants, got into the car and drove away towards the airport, leaving Zhukov and his men standing in front of the building, listening to the jeep's engine grow fainter and fainter.

"Is there anything we need to do now, Marshal?"

"Everyone! Come in with me!" Zhukov suddenly became serious.

The marshal led everyone into a room with a map of Germany hanging on the wall. He looked at it quietly, seemingly deep in thought.

"Alright, comrades." The Marshal turned to face everyone. "I'm not sure if the telegram that just came in about the troop buildup is wrong, but I must remind you that the crisis on the US-Soviet border has escalated, and I must make some arrangements here now."

"Order the 1st Guards Tank Army, except for units tasked with supporting the 8th Guards Army, to immediately proceed to Plauen and stand by. Then order the 47th Army to deploy five infantry divisions to the border area between the US and Soviet occupied zones. Instruct all units to strengthen reconnaissance of US forces' movements and report any major incidents to me immediately. Furthermore, without my order, no unit is permitted to launch a preemptive attack on US forces!"

"Yes!--"

……

By 5 p.m., it was almost completely dark in Germany—in high-latitude regions, the sun sets very early in the winter, so early that you might still be waiting to get off work or school.

At Bad Nauheim train station near Frankfurt, the last military train finally arrived.

As the weapons and vehicles were unloaded from the wagons, the soldiers began to file out of the boxcars in an orderly fashion.

After getting off the vehicle, one of the soldiers went straight to a military policeman standing guard nearby.

Yes, it was Jonathan, and he seemed to have something he was eager to know.

"Hey buddy, do you know where those wounded soldiers who got off those trains earlier were taken?"

"Most of them were sent to hospitals in the south of the city, while a smaller number were sent to hospitals in the north of the city."

"Okay, thank you very much."

……

Much time passed, and the sky had long since turned into a thick, charcoal black, with only Berlin, under the bombardment of artillery fire, reflecting patches of crimson blood into the sky.

It's past eight o'clock in the evening. After six hours of artillery preparation, the artillery positions outside the city have vented their fury. Those dark cannon muzzles are no longer so noisy; now they resemble the thunder and lightning before a storm, with a clap of thunder here and a series of claps there.

……

The artillery's current task has temporarily shifted from providing fire coverage to extended firing, gradually softening and breaking down the enemy positions within the city. The aim is to provide cover for the Soviet Red Army troops who, just minutes earlier, charged out of their positions at the sound of a whistle and began their assault on Berlin.

Eight T-34 tanks, each carrying a full load of Soviet infantrymen, were slowly approaching the city ahead.

Several IS-2 tanks followed behind a convoy of T-34s that were advancing with their lights on, followed by trucks and half-tracks. The roaring engines of these tracked behemoths and wheeled monsters created ominous marks on the land outside Berlin.

"Comrade Petrovsky! Don't you think the engine noise is too loud!"

On the side of a T-34 tank, a soldier crouched down and asked the lieutenant next to him at the top of his lungs.

"You'll get used to it, Malinov! The louder the engine, the quieter the shells will explode when they hit us!"

"Ah! I hope so!"

……

"From 8 p.m. on the 30th to 4 a.m. on the 31st, launch a feint attack on the eastern part of Berlin to ascertain the enemy's firepower configuration and draw the enemy to Machsdorf," this was the order received by the lieutenant's unit.

That's right, tonight's goal is simply to keep the damned enemy from sleeping, and incidentally, to capture as many unfortunate prisoners as possible. That's all.

The tanks are about to enter the city of Machsdorf, which is 16 kilometers east of the Brandenburg Gate.

If this feint attack gains enough momentum, not only will the enemy from the entire East District come over, but if things get desperate, the bandits from all over Berlin might want to drive them out of Machsdorf.

What needs to be done next? The lieutenant knew the answer in his heart.

……

The tank stopped, and Petrovsky led the way by jumping off the vehicle and running forward with the infantry.

They had secured the building and were waiting for the communications officer beside them to put on his headset and prepare to contact the rear.

……

"Lieutenant! Our comrades are coming from the front!"

"Ahead? Oh, I see!"

Before the main force of the feint attack set off, the regimental commander had already sent some assault team members responsible for reconnaissance here to keep an eye on any potential enemy and provide support for the comrades in the rear.

Before the assault team member arrived, the lieutenant took the radio walkie-talkie that the communications soldier had set up.

“Calling headquarters! Calling headquarters! This is Lieutenant Lemilia Petrovsky! We have arrived around Makhsdorf! Repeat! We have arrived at Makhsdorf!”

"Comrade!" The unfamiliar commando had already run in, looking very flustered.

"Is there anything unusual?"

"We haven't seen any signs of the enemy coming this way yet, but we can clearly hear a sound like wheels slipping!"

"Okay, I'll report to the regimental headquarters right away! Um..." The lieutenant was about to say something when he suddenly stopped and looked around.

……

So what is it like inside the Reichstag building in downtown Berlin?

General Malen stood in the center of the command room, his face somewhat pale.

In the past six hours, piles of casualty reports nearly crushed the command center's frame.

Since the beginning of its conquest of the world, the Britannian Empire had never incapacitated ten thousand warriors in a single six hours—the dead, the wounded, the deafened by the explosions, and even those driven insane by witnessing rows of walls of fire shattering everything in their path.

That's terrifying. No weapon could do that. His 100,000-strong expeditionary force must be facing an enemy many times their size. That must be it.

"General!"

"Ok?"

"The enemy's artillery fire has decreased. When should the order be given?"

"The time has come, hasn't it?"

……

"Immediately order the 18th Siberian Brigade to launch a night assault on the east side of the city! Drive those artillery beasts who have been bombarding us for hours out of their bunkers!" The general's words were full of accusation, as if he wanted to use his spittle to create bombs and destroy the enemy blocking his way. "I want to pile up their gun barrel wreckage like firewood, make a bonfire, and then throw it into their capital!"

"Yes! General!"

"Leave the north to the 9th Alaskan Regiment! And the south..."

……

The main street of Machsdorf is becoming a no-man's-land.

"Lieutenant! Enemy forces are coming!"

……

Lemilia huddled in a building, and through his binoculars, he saw a group of dark, armored vehicle silhouettes slowly approaching from the west. Of course, there was also a whole host of strange puppet-like weapons, each standing about twice the height of the tanks.

He raised his eyelids and smiled as he glanced at a T-34 tank that was aiming at something on the street next to him.

"Prepare……"

……

And what are those black-clad troops still marching doing?

"Hey...hey! Gilech!" The pilot in the lead Sunderland mech asked his comrade in a trembling voice.

Are you calling me? I can't quite hear you!

"Ah! Don't joke around! I—" the pilot screamed frantically, "Can you come in front of me?! I'm a little scared!"

……

"Hey! Wait! Turn on the mech's cameras!" Gilech suddenly yelled. "I see something on the street ahead!"

"Don't be so startled! Can you turn your microphone volume down a bit?"

Its round head glowed like tiny red stars in the darkness, and a green halo brushed across the lens like swaying willow branches.

"what is that?"