Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

“Look into the windows of those houses…”

However, at that moment, a barrage of bullets, mixed with gunfire, came flying from a small building ahead, like a blizzard!

"careful!--"

The soldiers didn't have time to escape far before they were picked off one by one by bullets and fell on the street. The rest either rushed to the piles of stones and sand on the side of the street or stuck themselves to the back of the trucks.

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And the truck driver? He was the unluckiest one; the first bullet was aimed at his forehead.

The black-clad infantrymen could do nothing but hide behind cover, call for support, and fire a few token shots in response.

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What's inside the building?

"Keep firing! Keep them under control!" Lieutenant Lemilia called to his comrades as he aimed his PPSh-45 out the window and pulled the trigger.

Just two windows away from the lieutenant, a rather unique weapon was sticking out on its bipod on the windowsill. It was about the same length as the rifles carried by infantrymen, but it had a distinctive round magazine in front of its front sight. Whenever the trigger was pulled and a bullet was fired, the magazine would rotate clockwise.

The Degtyarev light machine gun, with such ferocity, was pressed against the chest of a soldier, whipping any enemy who dared to make a move.

However, the rate of fire of this rotary machine gun was really not good enough. If it weren't for the fact that the Soviet troops had more men and were better hidden, the Britannian soldiers probably would have dared to take a few assault rifles and fight back against the DP.

So what's a way to force the enemy out from behind the truck?

Down on the first floor, two comrades guarding an anti-tank rifle had been lying prone behind a crack for quite some time.

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The gunman's finger rubbed against the trigger, then, following his gaze, pointed to the air vent on the front of the truck. A muffled thud followed, and the anti-tank rifle shook so violently that a large chunk of sand and gravel fell from the wall, landing on the gunman's sleeve.

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"Hey! Are we just going to be stuck here like this?" The men in black behind the truck started arguing.

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Everyone was devastated. Staying here meant waiting to die, while running towards the street amidst a hail of bullets was tantamount to courting death.

Just then, one of them got a radio call.

"Calling, this is the squadron coming to your rescue! Please be careful not to accidentally shoot us!"

Turning around in surprise, they saw several KMFs, infantry fighting vehicles, and a large group of infantrymen appear on the street behind them.

"Great! Prepare for a counterattack!"

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"Oh no! Comrades!" Now everyone in the room couldn't stay still any longer; the familiar puppets stirred up the Soviet soldiers.

"Their reinforcements are here! Prepare to retreat!" As soon as the heavy firepower opened, several soldiers lay down behind the wall that had been breached.

"Hey! Lieutenant!" The communications officer poked his head out from the room behind Lemilia and called out, "Can you hold on a little longer? Our tanks are almost here!"

"Really? How long?"

The communications soldier picked up his headset and listened.

Five seconds!

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"Hey! Watch out ahead! Enemy artillery!" What did the Sunderlanders, who had just come to meet the truck, see?

On the distant street, a figure resembling a tank gradually became clearer.

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The Sunderlanders began to grab their machine guns and hurl all sorts of ammunition at the direction the tanks appeared, like bags full of soybeans and broad beans. The bullets trailed through the air and struck the tanks, decorating their green coats with tulip-like patterns.

The tank ignored these insignificant hits and fired another shot. Sunderland, who was firing at the front, was instantly turned into a fiery red tablecloth, scattering flames and sparks onto the ground behind him.

"How could this be?"

They could only watch helplessly as the tank drew closer and closer, with more infantrymen following closely behind, pointing their guns at them. The tank, in turn, turned its cannon towards its next target!

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"Keep fighting! These bandits cannot escape!"

Before the Sunderlanders could even get their wheels moving, Lemilia was emboldened by the gratifying explosions.

The anti-tank riflemen went all out, pushing their muzzles against the wall and firing three 14.5mm bullets like firecrackers. Sunderland, barely able to move a few steps, had his power source pierced by the fiery rivets, instantly turning him into a burning steel candle on the street. The remaining two knights weren't so lucky either; having just set off, they were left behind by the tank cannon, another one with a broken leg lying rotting on the roadside.

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This is just the beginning...

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A series of hammering sounds mixed with the storm came from a street on the flank. A larger shell flew at full speed across the empty street and hit the infantry fighting vehicle at the rear of the column. Like a cardboard box cut open by a blade, it spewed out scorching flames and dyed the street red.

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"Retreat! Retreat! There are enemy tanks on our flank! We can't handle them!"

Now, the infantrymen who had just been rescued experienced a rollercoaster ride. They began to scream in despair and run wildly away from the way the monsters had come from.

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"They can't hold on any longer! Comrades! For victory! Charge!—"

At the lieutenant's command, hundreds of Red Army soldiers surged into the streets like a spilled vat of blood, firing and shouting fervent slogans at the enemy as they ran. This further spurred the reinforcements behind them. Looking back, they saw the T-34 tank that had just saved them, also surrounded by its accompanying soldiers. The impassioned roars reached them, and they responded with equal fervor.

"Hurrah!—"

This was not the end! The lieutenant charged towards the enemy with everyone, and he could already see the second reinforcements in the flank of the street—another invincible force, following behind an IS-2 heavy tank, with a DSHK heavy machine gun roaring from the roof.

The roars of the soldiers mingled with the sounds of gunfire, transforming into a crimson plague of steel that slowly enveloped the black uniforms.

This is a devastating plague! This is a plague that leaves no trace of the dead!

Tear them apart! All you can do is wait for the iron fist to crush you on the streets of Berlin!

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"We did it! Hurrah!—"

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Lemilia and his soldiers patiently waited for the reinforcements to stop in front of them as they swept up the debris on the ground.

"Are you all alright, comrades?" The IS-2 commander jumped down and shook hands with the lieutenant.

"No problem at all. By the way, aren't you a little late?" The lieutenant smiled, seemingly not angry.

"What does it matter? Whether you arrive a step earlier or a step later, the result is the same, isn't it?" The train conductor raised his eyebrows and smiled with satisfaction.

"Hey! Get out of there! Coward!" At this moment, the two men turned around and saw several comrades surrounding the back of a mannequin, banging on the cockpit with the butts of their rifles.

"Your methods are wrong! Comrade! Come on! Someone give me a cocktail!"

The lieutenant took a Molotov cocktail from the handout, lit it, told everyone to leave, and then threw it at the dummy.

"Ah! Ah!" Strange noises came from inside shortly after the Molotov cocktail shattered. Finally, the hatch opened, and a man covered in wounds, with one of his sleeves still burning, jumped to the ground.

"Hold him down! Don't let him get away!"

"Hey! Commander!" At that moment, another person popped out of the IS-2's turret. "New information! Our enemy has a plan!"

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Now we need to look back inside the Capitol Building.

"Ah, very good." Maren smiled for the first time in a long time. "Look! I didn't expect that their troops responsible for the pincer attack from the north and south would be driven back like this! Now it's their turn to retreat."

“Yes, that’s right.” The officer beside him was also looking at the map. The north-south front line in the east of the city was beginning to shift, while the Soviet troops in the center of the city had become a wedge stuck there.

"Aren't you going to run? Ha! Order the troops! Advance to the center immediately! Annihilate the Soviet army!"

"Yes!"

"Wait, wait a minute, General." The officer's eyes were filled with tension. "I feel something's wrong!"

"What's wrong?" It was a miracle that the general didn't say "Shut up, you idiot."

"The Soviet troops on both flanks are retreating at an unusually rapid pace! We must halt our advance immediately!"

"Hmm?" Marendo was displeased. "Do you want me to squander this opportunity?"

"No, this is absolutely not our chance! If the general still refuses to heed my advice, please do not blame me if anything goes wrong..."

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"Alright, comrades! Let's get out of here!"

Lemilia and a group of soldiers sat behind the turret of the IS-2 tank, watching from afar as the hard-won prisoners of war were led away, leaving only a small group of people and two tanks to slowly retreat, warily watching the road to the west.

"Hopefully our comrades won't be late," said a soldier standing next to the lieutenant.

"I think so too."

Gradually, strange noises came from the distant streets. The lieutenant could clearly see a large group of steel giants rushing towards them from a distance—it was a new wave of enemy troops.

The IS-2's 122mm main gun was lowered slightly, and the lieutenant climbed onto the top of the turret.

Is the hunting competition next? Of course, but it's not for the lieutenant and his men.

All that could be heard was a series of locomotive whistles outside the city, and then, in the air behind them, came a chilling sound, like the screeching of thousands of falcons!

Looking up, they saw rows of Katyusha rocket launchers already flying overhead.

"Perfect!"

In an instant, a barrage of rockets rained down on the ground hundreds of meters in front of them, smashing walls of crimson fire into the streets and onto the buildings. The entire city trembled! The flames of the explosions, like a paper shredder, crushed the charging thugs into the fiery maw.

Now that the rocket artillery has blocked their path, they can leave with peace of mind.

"Huh?" But just as the IS-2 tank was about to turn around, something strange rushed out from the wall of fire.

It turned out to be a steel giant covered in flames, still charging forward, wielding a spear.

However, the lieutenant readily lay down in front of the machine gun on the roof of the tank, pulled the trigger, and alerted the people inside the tank with the sound of gunfire and tracer rounds.

As expected of a reliable comrade, the IS-2, which was about to turn, immediately stopped as if it understood, then turned its turret and aimed at the little fish that had slipped through the net of fire.

Once again, that pleasant sound of the hammer striking caused the tank to shudder slightly. After a flash of light, the ungrateful little thing could no longer be put back together.

"Cheers! Comrade!" Lemilia lay comfortably on the turret, disappearing eastward into the night along with the tank and his comrades.

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"General! The troops on the eastern front are under enemy artillery fire! Colonel Darwin of the 18th Siberian Brigade has ordered a full retreat! Lieutenant Colonel Barak of the 23rd Hokkaido Regiment is out of contact! The 24th Hokkaido Regiment is also in chaos!"

Marendor just stared blankly at the map, without responding to the communications officer.

"Make them withdraw immediately! There's no need for any more pointless casualties!" Seeing this, the officer decisively helped the major general complete the task.

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"What's your name, kid?" he asked the officer after a long while.