Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

“We are from the 26th Infantry Regiment, Sir.”

Where is he injured?

“Chest, broken ribs, sir.” The sergeant began to answer entirely for the private. “A shell blew through a section of the wall and hit him. He’s not speaking very well now.”

“Oh.” Patton nodded. “What is his rank, sergeant?”

"Sniper, sir. He's a great shot. He used a Springfield rifle to blind the searchlights of those Berlin bastards' aircraft. Uh, if I remember correctly, those things are called helicopters."

"Oh? That's fucking awesome!" The general's lips curled up, and he turned to look at the officers accompanying him. "You know, I asked another wounded kid, he was from the entire American division. They blew up the building, buried those sons of bitches in the bricks, and then peed on this pile of mud and stones one by one. Now, I guess it's been turned into a toilet."

The sergeant immediately burst out laughing, and the private also slightly curled his lips and nodded.

"Oh, right, Sergeant, you just mentioned helicopters?"

"Yes, sir. Those sons of bitches in Berlin accidentally let it slip."

General Patton suddenly fell silent, turned back to look at his officers with a thoughtful expression.

"Tell me, Sergeant," the general turned around, "what does this helicopter look like?"

"It was nighttime, so I couldn't see very clearly. What I remember most is that this thing looked like a fighter jet with two wings removed, and then they put the machine gun and searchlight under the nose. It didn't fly very fast, but it could hover in mid-air. It was so damn mysterious."

Patton seemed very interested.

"What's wrong, General?"

"Do you have the ability to shoot it down?"

"Yes, but not with a .30 machine gun. The guys from the entire US division used captured enemy tank cannons to take it down."

"So that means your bullets aren't very effective against it, right?"

"Yes, sir."

“That’s strange. I remember only the guys on the other side of the Pacific have ever used helicopters, but those damn ones are only big enough to hoist the wounded.” Patton looked up at the ceiling. “Did you guys try shooting at the propellers on top of it?”

"A propeller?" Jonathan was bewildered. "Oh, sorry, sir, I don't really know how that guy's helicopter got airborne, but this one in Berlin, it, it doesn't have a propeller..."

"What the hell?" This was quite a surprise. Not only Patton, but also a group of accompanying officers were stunned.

"Yes, sir, I didn't hear the sound of an airplane propeller coming from that thing, nor did I see any of those big fans. It does look a bit like..."

When the sergeant couldn't think of any adjectives, he demonstrated by blowing air out of his mouth in small sips.

"Jet? That's fucking..." The general seemed a little uneasy and turned to look to the side.

"Get the hell out of here and write this down."

……

"What else do you know about it, child?"

"The .30 rifle rounds can't damage its fuselage armor, and its firepower is at least on par with our .50 machine guns, that's all..."

"very good."

“Well, General, what about the other things?” Jonathan seemed to have something to say, “Like those bastards’ iron dolls and chariots? I know quite a bit about them.”

“No need, Sergeant.” The general’s eyes suddenly changed slightly. “I’ve already obtained the information on the dolls. As for the tanks, Ike and Monty should be watching them with great interest at the testing grounds…”

“Okay, kid, listen to me.” Barton swept away the disappointment in his eyes, placed one hand on Pat’s lap covered by the blanket, and the other on Jonathan’s shoulder.

"I'm so glad you came back alive, kids. I'm not your superior officer now, and I probably never will be..."

He paused.

"But I'm fucking proud of you, of our American soldiers. It's because of you that the name of America is on the streets of Berlin, in the cities of Germany. Your sacrifices are worthwhile."

"Every single soldier in this hall!" The general suddenly stood up and raised his voice, "Each and every one of you is a damn outstanding warrior, and every citizen will remember your contributions on the battlefield! I hope that in the not-too-distant future, each of you can face any difficulties and challenges that stand in your way with the same courage as before! Remember my words, children, we will always get out of this trough. You will, and so will I. We will all get out of this, one day!"

Patton surveyed the hall. Every soldier lying on the hospital bed had their face turned toward him—their eyes held not the annoyance of being woken up, but rather a burning expectation like the sun.

"Okay, that's all I wanted to say..."

The general sighed, waved his hand, and led his officers away from the sight of the sergeant and privates.

Section 111, Chapter 71: Lost in the Real Sky

By 4:40 PM in Germany, the sun had already slowly set in the west.

At Frankfurt Airport, ground crew are conducting a thorough maintenance check on a C-47 transport plane that has just been parked in the hangar.

"Well, look at this guy." Everyone chatted while working, "It's only been a few days, and he's already come and gone at least three times."

"Phew, I really hope Ike and the others didn't make a wasted trip."

……

Meanwhile, at headquarters, Eisenhower and Lieutenant General Clay, who had just returned from the Soviet-occupied zone, were sitting in a conference room with a large pile of documents on the table.

"So, according to the information these officers have gathered," Ike said, looking at a piece of paper, "that the unidentified armed forces in Berlin are very likely connected to Britain?"

“Yes, sir.” Clay nodded. “But to be specific, it’s not related to Britain, but to Britannia. Because these prisoners initially claimed to be from Britannia, but they didn’t deny the former claim.”

"Are there any other discoveries?"

"The prisoners of war uniformly claimed to belong to a combat unit of the '41st Army Group,' and said they came from Japan, saying there was a teleportation portal there that transported them here."

“The 41st Army, the British…” Eisenhower scratched his head. “I don’t recall the British having so many armies that they could be numbered up to 41. They did have a 41st Infantry Division during World War I, but it was disbanded not long after the war ended and was never reassembled…”

"Could it be a fake code name? Or perhaps a special unit's identification number?"

“Memorize this number first, then let’s talk about the one concerning Japan.” Ike moved on to the next question, “How could there be a large-scale British army in Japan? When did the War Department and Parliament agree to send a large number of British troops to the Far East?”

"Is President Truman and his team conducting some secret experiments they're keeping from us?" Clay wondered, frowning. "To keep it a secret, is it inconvenient for them to tell us?"

"That would be terrible. How many children have disappeared in Berlin, neither alive nor dead? How can we explain the loss of so many lives to their families? Also, we've almost reached a point of rapprochement with the Soviet Union. Wouldn't this cause everything to collapse with one blow? I don't believe the President is a Showa-era madman."

“That makes sense.” Clay rubbed his forehead, his expression still tense.

"And what about the other things?" Eisenhower then changed the subject, "There'll figure those out eventually."

"Ah...yes, sir, our efforts over the past half day have finally reconstructed the events surrounding the Soviet fighter jets crossing the border."

……

……

Let's go back to October 30th, at 4:05 PM.

Four brand-new Yak-9 fighter jets had just taken off from an airport near Erfurt and were slowly climbing into the sky.

"Check the condition of the aircraft, comrades," the team leader announced over the radio.

"Everything is normal, Lieutenant!"

"Very good, listen up, comrades. We are the last team responsible for surveillance. Pay attention to the surroundings and make sure nothing goes wrong."

"understand!"

"Of course, everyone, don't forget the task the lieutenant colonel assigned to us..."

"Yes, I will definitely complete it!"

"Phew, has anyone flown over this area before?"

"No, are you also number one, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Ivan, this place is quite unfamiliar to me as well."

"I was worried about getting lost, so I did draw a simple little map, but..."

"but what?"

"I only realized I forgot to bring it on board when we just took off..."

"Tsk..." The lieutenant clicked his tongue. "Could you please learn from this, Ivan?"

"Ah, yes, it's my fault, comrade..."

"Alright, alright." Looking at the four American warplanes that were faintly visible in the sky ahead, and the American military train that was moving westward between the hills below—their mission's surveillance targets.

"We need to rise to cloud level. Our mission is somewhat special. We must not let the US military detect us."

"Yes!"

……

……

Meanwhile, dozens of kilometers to the west, on a small hill near the town of Wildek, on the border between the US and Soviet occupied territories, a basic-complete air defense position of the US 54th Air Defense Artillery Brigade was being built.

"Come on, guys! Is the circuitry of this damn thing really that hard to work with?"

A group of soldiers were busy working around a searchlight, with other soldiers all around them in their positions.

"Cheer up!" the sergeant next to him shouted. "The last train is coming back, and that old bastard Patton just loves to cause trouble, doesn't he?"

"Yes, yes, yes..."

"Let me check the time, 16:15 PM, you guys..."

"Hey! Sergeant!"

Looking over, I saw the guy next to me holding binoculars and looking up at the sky.

"What the hell is going on, Pyle?"

"Did the leaders say that this last military train carries something important that warrants us sending two groups of planes to escort it?"

"What?" The sergeant walked up to him with a surprised look.

“You’d better look over there!” Pyle handed over the binoculars and pointed them in a certain direction in the sky.

"Let me see... Oh..."

What did the sergeant see?

First, they spotted the "guardian angels" that had been circling in the sky—four Mustang fighter planes from the Army Air Corps. Needless to say, the train would soon be entering the American-occupied zone.

Then, glancing in another direction through the binoculars, I spotted four more planes in neat formation, following closely behind the Mustang formation, heading towards the air defense positions and disappearing into the clouds at a higher altitude.

"Is that our plane, sir?" Pyle asked.

"Do the Russians have any plans to fly over here for a visit?" the sergeant asked loudly to the person next to him without turning his head, without putting down his binoculars.

"NO! Sir!"

"What the hell? Russian planes? I thought it was another fleet of Mustangs!" Pyle exclaimed.

"Well, listen up, lads: be prepared for anything that might happen, and immediately telegraph our superiors: we're in trouble!"

……

After the Mustang formation had been flying back to the American-occupied area for a short while, the lead pilot started reporting to the airport tower.

"Polly 1 calling tower! We have completed our mission and are now preparing to descend into the landing phase. Please respond."

There was no response on the radio.

"What's going on..." The team leader felt uneasy.

"Polly One calling tower, please respond! Repeat, please respond!"

There was still no sound from the other end of the radio.

"Don't slow down yet, something might be wrong..." he began to instruct his companion.

At that moment, the radio finally crackled to life.

"Tower calling Poli 1"

"Polly One received. Any instructions?"

How much fuel do you have left?

……

"It can hold for at least another hour, sir!"

"OK, Poli One, this is an emergency mission. Immediately return along the original route. There may be foreign aircraft illegally entering the border. Proceed immediately to prepare for a response! Repeat! Proceed immediately to prepare for the incident!"

"Ummm..." The team leader took a deep breath. "Polly One received! We're departing immediately. Communication over!"