Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Then another hail of bullets swept down the stairs. Downstairs, the sounds were either people shouting to take cover or groaning in pain from being shot. The sounds of their own assault rifles were barely audible anymore, as if everyone had their throats jammed by chainsaws, unable to shout.

"Okay, it's stopped!"

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"Hurry! Follow me!"

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The sergeant led the team of yellow vests and stretchers, rushing down the stairs in a short while, only to witness a tragedy with great reluctance.

The windowsill was filled with the whistling of bullets and dandelion-like dust and gravel. Some people had already fallen silently to the ground, their helmets flying off or their clothes torn by bullets and shrapnel, blood flowing from their wounds staining half of their expressionless faces.

It's impossible to count whether there are more people alive or dead...

Black and red, the two are indistinguishable...

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"All done, buddy?"

"Alright! Damn it, I didn't expect a faulty wire connection..."

On the highway bridge, Jonathan and the sapper buddy lay on the ground, pulling on a rope, and finally managed to pull their guy up from below.

"Alright, alright..." the sergeant said, catching his breath as he picked up his gun. "Keep your heads down, let's get back quickly..."

ah!--

"Oh, Frank!" The guy who had just been pulled up saw the afterimage of the bullet and the bloody flower flash before his eyes, and his partner who had just been pulling the rope with the sergeant was now lying on the ground.

"Damn it..." The two were so frightened that they quickly buried themselves in the ground, listening to the sound of bullets hitting the oil drums in front of them.

"Damn..." Jonathan was also a little panicked. He looked at his little brother lying on the ground. He was still alive and was clutching his left shoulder, where his uniform and the space between his fingers were stained with blood.

"They're firing at us! I hope someone can cover us! Sergeant!"

"His name is Frank. What's yours, engineer?"

“I…you can call me 'Nut'!”

“Okay, nut!” the sergeant said, handing Frank the submachine gun he had left aside.

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"Listen up! When I tell you to, run back and get in position near the detonator. Once I drag Frank back, I'll take care of this thing we're standing on, understand?"

"I... understand!"

At this moment, the men operating the M1919 machine gun in the building behind saw the sergeant on the bridge wave to them and seemed to understand immediately. Their ammunition belts were then moved to the building next to them, facing the holes in the bridge—the machine gunners had seen several dark figures lurking there suspiciously.

"GO! GO! GO!"

Jonathan pushed the nut aside, then quickly bent down, grabbed Frank's right armpit with his right hand and pulled him by the back of his collar with his left, and began to hurriedly back away.

The sapper's left shoulder wound had festered like a vicious crawling worm, tearing at the muscle beneath. The sergeant, meanwhile, could do nothing but continue dragging it out; all he could do was look down at the slowly receding bridge railing and the thin trails of blood on the ground, praying, amidst the menacing roar of gunfire, that bullets wouldn't reach their heads…

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Just then, some engine noises suddenly came from the opposite bank of the river.

"Hurry up! Get in position!" Captain Lancer stood behind the building guarded by the black-clad soldiers, personally directing an assault gun to park in a spot he had just found large enough to fit a tank.

"Stop! Prepare to fire!"

At a command, the tank commander had already returned his entire body, except for half of his head, to the turret, and the gun muzzle began to slowly rotate, aiming at a window on the opposite bank of the river where gunfire was flashing.

Suddenly, a muffled and deafening explosion came from the other end of the building, the sound of rocks shattering mixed with the sound of water splashing!

"What's wrong?!--"

The soldiers around them looked on in alarm and fear, exchanging glances.

"Squad leader!" A soldier ran up to the group from inside the room. "The bridge! The bridge has been blown up with explosives!"

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"This is bad..."

"What do we do, Captain?"

"Hmm..." He nodded thoughtfully. "Proceed according to plan! Infantry, hold your positions! Assault guns, prepare!"

"So what if we can't get through?" That thought crossed his mind. "You can't run that fast, right?"

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On the other side of the bridge, behind a pile of sandbags, Jonathan was sprinkling a small packet of sulfanilamide powder onto the slumped Frank's shoulder. Nut had already tossed aside the detonator and was helping the sergeant with the treatment. This yellow powder was used to help wounded soldiers prevent infection, and it was enough for a minor gunshot wound to the shoulder.

"Take a deep breath, take a deep breath, child, relax." The injured man's cries were a little quieter. Although he was still making faces, he still had the consciousness a living person should have, so he could still be saved.

"Watch out!" A loud bang startled the two, because it wasn't the sound of their own howitzer landing on the opposite side of the road, but the sound of some unknown artillery shell hitting a building next to them.

"sky……"

"Sergeant Campbell!" At that moment, Corporal Kenrose led a group of men out of the building where the MG42 machine guns were deployed. "Are you all ready? Let's get ready to evacuate!"

"Wait a moment!" Jonathan shouted back, watching as the paratroopers and the M1919 machine gun squad came out as well—no one was missing an arm or a leg.

"Is anyone injured?"

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"Three people are injured! The rest are fine!"

"Everyone! Load the wounded and heavy weapons onto the vehicles! Corporal! You go with them first! The rest of you provide cover!"

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Meanwhile, in an open area not far from the train station, three young soldiers were running away from the two 75mm howitzers and heading behind a low wall.

"Is it ready?" A head popped out from behind the low wall; it was the gunner who had called out to the two howitzer crews earlier.

"Okay!" The three of them crawled directly behind the gunner, and the rest of the young men were also there.

A soldier who had been waiting for a long time pressed down the T-shaped lever of the detonator, and a firecracker sounded from the direction from which the three people had run. Along with the smoke and dust that shot into the sky and the fragments that flew in all directions, a dark object flew over the low wall and landed on the ground in the distance in full view of everyone – it was a wheel of a howitzer.

Now that the mission is complete, the immediate task is to dispose of the cannons that cannot be taken away and the extra shells.

"OK! We're done. Let's get back on the train!"

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After saying that, the group ran to the two jeeps on the side, which they had used to tow the cannons. Unfortunately, these two unassuming little ponies were destined not to be on the train. More than ten people squeezed into the two vehicles, filling all the seats. The rest of the people either sat or lay on the hoods, completely blocking out the green body and the big white five-pointed star on the front of the vehicles.

"Hey! You guys!" Just as the car was about to start, a voice in American English and the roar of an engine with a different flavor came from the road next to it. It turned out to be about ten guys who had been guarding the bridge. They came here first in three Dodge Jeeps, carrying the wounded and a bunch of heavy weapons.

"Aren't you going to leave yet? Didn't the officer tell you this before?"

"Huh? What?"

"The officer told us to hurry! There's enemy activity to the southeast! They seem to be clearing the mines off that damn railway bridge! The train might have to leave right now!"

"Oh God!" The artillerymen's hearts tightened instantly—they had heard that most of the bridges over the river had been blown up, including the one they had just been covering with their artillery. But the only exception was the railway bridge to the northeast, which was sturdier, but because they didn't have enough explosives left, it was covered with mines and barbed wire laid by engineers.

"Come on, come on! Don't just stand there!"

Just as the convoy set off, a rumbling sound suddenly came from the other side of the railway bridge!

They were getting closer and closer to the train station when, just then, the steam-belching train emitted a whistle that made everyone even more nervous!

If you hesitate for even a few more seconds, you'll miss the evacuation train!

Section 47, Chapter 33: This is just the beginning.

"Captain Lancer, report your situation."

“We are heading east and will reach the railway bridge in about 8 minutes.”

"Continue onward. Report back to me after rendezvous with Lieutenant Wilson and Lieutenant Harlan. End of call."

Captain Lancer sat in the hatch of his assault gun, speeding along the riverbank road. Every available seat on the vehicle was occupied by his infantrymen.

Looking back at the bridge they had tried to capture, it had completely crumbled and fallen into the river. But that wasn't his biggest concern. Before they set off, the captain had to have a small group of uninjured soldiers carry the bodies of the dead and the seriously wounded, along with the injured female pilot, onto the medical vehicle back to base.

The number of dead and wounded totaled nearly twenty, and some people had to be assigned to care for the wounded and move the bodies.

"Are we in time, Captain?" a soldier in the vehicle suddenly asked him. "And it doesn't seem like there's any need to rush."

“The train station is a very important thing, son. The enemy on the other side of the river who are busy retreating have little left. If we have time, we can eliminate more of them. Even if we don’t have time, we can still go and take control of that area. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”

He looked back at the broken bridge and seemed to see the last few American soldiers covering the retreat, sitting in two vehicles and driving away.

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It's hard to say whether the captain actually saw it or was just hallucinating, but at that moment, there really were two jeeps, one in front of the other, speeding along the road from the highway bridge to the train station.

"Did you hear that, Sergeant?" The soldier in the passenger seat of the jeep behind shouted at Jonathan, who was driving.

"What?!" Immediately, amidst the long whistle of the train, everyone on board watched as the train carriages in the distance began to slowly move!

"Hey!" A sharp-eyed person in the back pointed into the distance and saw a purple steel giant that hadn't been seen for a long time rushing towards the train station from the direction of the railway bridge!

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" The guy in the passenger seat looked completely distraught. "Are they trying to dump us here and run away?!"

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"You guys!" Jonathan slapped the car hard with his left hand. "You all better hold on tight!"

"Wha...what?"

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With a flick of his right hand, the Jeep, like a roaring tiger, sped off towards the railway with its tense passengers in tow!

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Now, at the railway bridge where a few firecrackers had just gone off, a Sunderland soldier, arriving late and carrying a machine gun, landed behind a Gloucester soldier who was holding a spear and a machine gun.

"Oh, what a pity." Harlan's voice came from Sunderland. "The fact that he can never outrun Gloucester is really frustrating."

“Hey, it’s not my fault!” Wilson’s voice came from Gloucester.

"Ah, right! The lieutenant colonel should really give us a chance to award those scouts a medal, to thank them for mistaking the sound of the enemy planting landmines for the sound of them planting explosives, and for wasting so much of our time, hahaha!"

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"Hmph, now! I'm going to go play first!"

Gloucester ran further and further away towards the train that had just started moving. Harlan shook his head and watched as two small green cars suddenly sped out from beside the few small houses on the right side of the train.

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