Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Did you take it apart?

"Not yet. The way it's secured is unusual; it's not screws, and pliers and wrenches won't work. We're left with only the option of brute force disassembly, but we don't plan to do that until we can test it on the road."

"Putting the engine aside for now, what new discoveries have you made regarding its weaponry?"

"Oh God, we really wish this machine gun would kill me, General!" The engineer's expression was already a bit broken. "I want to talk about how it works first. I can't believe that this machine gun isn't operated by a person sitting on it, but by remote control via circuitry."

“Electric drive? Isn’t that strange?” Montgomery asked. “Isn’t that how the machine gun turrets on bombers work?”

"Alright, Marshal, I'm a tank mechanic, not an airplane mechanic. Let me share my thoughts first! I'm not sure if the self-defense gunners on airplanes have to sit with the machine gunners, but I've really seen very few armored vehicles! To give you an example, a Sherman tank has a heavy machine gun on its turret, right? To fire it, someone has to stand behind the machine gun, right? That's how tanks are. The most I've ever seen is a rare German contraption called the Jagdpanzer, where the roof-mounted machine gun can be remotely controlled, but only the elevation and depression angles can be changed. But this armored vehicle can make someone sit inside and, with a flick of their wrist, make that thing fire in all directions! Note that it's omnidirectional; you can twist it however you want!"

“That’s not even the most infuriating thing, my dear general.” The engineer took a deep breath and looked up at the blue sky. “Can you believe it? The machine gun’s control device is on the co-driver’s seat of the armored vehicle, but we have absolutely no idea what to do with it! We thought we would find a lot of vacuum tubes, but all we found were these metal plates with strange patterns.”

A person next to me handed me this bright green object.

"Its green surface is entirely made of silicon, and it's really unclear what those strange little cylinders and cubes on it are all about. There's something like a video recorder on the machine gun, and something like a screen on the co-pilot's seat. It's these silicon-filled boards that actually allow the live feed from the video recorder, which moves with the machine gun, to be displayed on the screen!"

"What really makes me question my existence is this!" the engineer exclaimed, almost crying with excitement, "These boards can actually calculate the distance between the machine gun and the target, and then display it on the screen! And the error is minimal! I'm even sure this thing is more powerful than any of our artillery observers!"

Section 98, Chapter Sixty: Ammunition, Belts, Cartridge Cases, and Bullets

Automatic ranging? And with high accuracy?

This caused an uproar not only within the officer corps, but also on the foreheads of both Eisenhower and Montgomery, whose brows were furrowed by the swirling cloud of smoke.

It's easy to imagine the turmoil that would sway a general who believed "the telescope in his hand is more reliable than a vague scout" upon learning of something even more loyal and intelligent than a hunting dog.

At this moment, a British officer raised his voice and spoke up.

“Well, excuse me, sir.” He wasn’t addressing the two generals, but rather the engineer, “You mentioned a ‘screen’ that displays the distance between the image and the target. I’d like to know, have you seen the projector for this ‘screen’? If not, I suspect the real name of this ‘screen’ is probably something else entirely.”

"what?"

"I think what you mean by 'screen' is actually a television screen, right?"

"Oh God!" the engineer exclaimed, his eyes widening instantly. He then raised his right hand and shouted at the other engineer beside him.

"Tony!—"

*Slap!* The two of them shouted and slapped each other like madmen.

"Thank you, sir!" the engineer said, extending his right hand towards the British officer. "I will remember your great kindness in enlightening me!"

“That’s right, General.” Now he turned his gaze back to Monty and Ike. “Let me correct my previous description. To be specific, it was the camera on that machine gun that transmitted the captured live footage to that television set, and then immediately displayed the footage and range data on the television screen. That’s all.”

Ike gave a faint hum and exchanged a glance with Montgomery.

"Alright, since that's the case, let's move on to the next step," he continued. "How much ammunition has the 1st Infantry Division provided for your armored vehicles and machine guns?"

"Ammunition? We only have one and a half full ammunition belts. We can't conduct firing tests until we find the right ammunition type. But General, could we demonstrate how this machine gun works?"

"bring it on."

"Tony! Carry it up!" The engineer told his colleague to pick up the heavy energy box from the ground—let's call it that for now—and prepare to put it on the roof of the vehicle.

“Wait a moment, gentlemen,” Montgomery suddenly interrupted. “I’d like to know if you’ve found any written descriptions on this large metal box.”

“Text? We searched for a long time, and the only place we found was here. It was probably a trace of a sticker that had been torn off.”

Montgomery nodded, signaling the engineers to continue.

"Keep an eye on the general." At that moment, another engineer stood on the roof, taking the heavy energy box. There was an open cover on the roof beneath his feet. "I took this from here!"

"It has to be put in for the weapon system to activate, right?"

"That's right! That TV isn't a battery-powered device!"

“Looks like this thing can power all sorts of odds and ends, can’t it?” Montgomery tilted his head and said to Ike. “I have a feeling that this thing is a battery.”

"No way?" Ike's expression grew increasingly puzzled. "A battery can make an armored vehicle that might weigh over 10 tons run? Shouldn't it be used to power tank lights and aircraft instrument panels?"

"Well, unless that TV isn't powered by electricity but by fuel, then it's just like I said."

……

"General! I'll go in now and get the machine gun moving. You all watch."

Immediately following, a crackling sound rang out, and the twin-gun turret on the front of the armored vehicle sprang to life like a bird waking from a deep sleep, pointing its cannons toward the sky.

The turret wobbled and began to rotate counterclockwise, its barrel swinging up and down as it did so. After a few rotations, it stopped and began rotating clockwise, the barrel continuing to sway. The entire dark brown turret resembled a drunkard standing atop the tank, spewing incoherent, alcohol-laden ramblings through the static of an electric generator.

……

……

"Okay, stop!" Ike called to the engineer. "When the time comes, try to take it apart intact and demonstrate how to operate it to us. Now, show us the cannon's shells."

At this moment, another engineer emerged from beside the car, holding an object of different sizes in each of his hands.

"Here you are, General, this is our Browning heavy machine gun."

The engineer handed out the bullet in his right hand first. Indeed, compared to the Springfield rounds of the Garand rifles in the hands of the infantrymen, the .50 BMG was much larger. But you can see that it was like a cigar in the engineer's hand. He only needed to take out his thumb and forefinger to hold it.

But what about the machine gun shells on the engineer's left hand, which is the black armored vehicle?

"And then, this is what this big guy behind me uses..."

Eisenhower and Montgomery looked at the huge object in the engineer's hand. It was so big that it had to be held with all five fingers. If a cannonball were placed next to it, it would be almost as wide as a telescope.

"To be honest, General, I've only ever seen something this big on anti-aircraft positions. Right now, all we have are 40mm ammunition for Bofors anti-aircraft guns..."

At the same time, someone next to him handed him an even longer and thicker one—it was Bofors' 40×311mm shell, thicker than the machine gun shell in his left hand, but twice as long, and bigger than a Coca-Cola bottle in his hand.

"I don't know where I can get anything more suitable, I just hope it's not on our warship."

Eisenhower glanced at it, then turned and asked Montgomery.

"Marshal, I may have forgotten to ask you to bring a few Spitfire cannon shells."

"Well...how about I take some back with me, sir?"

“Sure, but we’ll do it last,” Ike continued. “Let’s skip the firing test for now. As for this vehicle, can you get it running right now?”

“Uh, this might be a bit difficult, General…” The engineer scratched his head. “This car doesn’t seem to be started by an ignition switch. There’s a button under the steering wheel that’s used to start it. After starting, there’s a small screen under the dashboard. Just now, when we tried to move the car, the icons on that screen turned red, and then there was a ‘low power’ message flashing on and off like a neon light over that rectangle.”

“This is troublesome…” Ike pursed his lips. “You guys don’t understand its engine properly yet, do you?”

"Yes, so we're still figuring out what that energy box is all about. I don't see where you can put gasoline in there."

“Well then, gentlemen,” Montgomery interrupted, “I have a rather unprofessional idea. Go back and try looking on this box for something like the terminals of a battery, and then try to give it some power. I believe that way, the screen might stop turning red.”

"Um... let's give it a try..."

"Alright, now get ready for the defense test, Colonel Tucker! Have your kids who just got back from Berlin get the machine guns ready, now it's your turn to introduce this thing."

……

"Confirmed! A total of 20 hits! Five shots failed to penetrate! Fifteen shots penetrated!"

At the same time that the soldiers operating the Browning heavy machine guns opened fire, several hundred kilometers to the east, several Soviet soldiers had just released the trigger of a DShK heavy machine gun.

Looking at the shell casings scattered on the ground under the machine gun, it seems they had just finished a test. So what were they shooting at?

About a hundred meters away from them, there were the legs and arms of a steel giant, as well as a steel torso. Scattered on their bodies were bullet holes and bright white scratches, as well as the residual heat of the bullets that had passed through them.

Meanwhile, on a small viewing platform nearby, Marshal Zhukov was intently watching the various test results. The unidentified armed men in Berlin actually possessed a large number of these puppets capable of fighting the Soviet army.

It was quite interesting. Last night, after he ordered his soldiers to collect more complete dolls, reports came in one after another from various units saying they had found items that met their requirements. The Marshal himself was a little surprised and ordered his troops to explain how these dolls had been captured. When he saw the reports, Zhukov couldn't help but chuckle.

Here are a few interesting ones for you to see: some fell from rooftops and were unconscious; some rammed into tanks with spears and ended up like dislocated dolls; some were buried alive by collapsing building walls; some were tripped while moving at high speed and fell, rendering them unable to fight...

We've seen plenty of Panthers stuck in mud and Tigers with mechanical malfunctions during World War II, but tanks damaged by falling buildings are a rare sight. As for tanks tripped over? They're probably just wooden models that could be carried by a donkey, aren't they?

……

……

……

"Marshal!" At this moment, a Soviet engineer walked over, holding a stack of papers in his hand.

"These are summaries of the DShK machine gun firing at different areas of the armor of these dolls."

“It seems unreliable.” Zhukov looked at it and shook his head. “At first I thought that even anti-tank guns could barely deal with them, but I think I overestimated them.”

“However, given these puppets’ decent speed and terrain adaptability, the anti-tank rifles should take a backseat.” Zhukov put down the paper in his hand. “Alright, now go and pass on the order I planned earlier.”

"Take out all the spare DShK machine guns from the stockpile and distribute them to the front-line infantry to deal with these big guys, right?"

"Exactly! Alright, comrades, let's get ready for the next testing ground!"

Section 99, Chapter Sixty-One: Bearing the brunt

"General... please calm down..."

……

The dense green aircraft formations that once filled the skies above downtown Berlin have mostly flown away, leaving only a few geese and flying figures lingering below the clouds.

The instant the radio operator relayed the news that "the air force commander-in-chief has been killed in action," General Malendo angrily raised his teacup and smashed it to the ground.

"Lynn! Give me back the sword that was given to you!"

The general once boasted to him, "This sky will soon become your reward board."

Now, the general's boast over the radio waves has been exposed, and the lieutenant colonel, in the final minutes of his life, was met with an even more spectacular display of aerial fireworks by a fighter pilot.

……

The command center continued its work quietly, everyone familiar with the general's temperament—although he had tempered his personality somewhat in the face of the helpless battle situation over the past 24 hours.

Eddie Hill was no exception; he knew that he was better off keeping quiet than trying to persuade the other officers.

At that moment, an officer who had been listening to the enemy's speech recording again came over and whispered to him with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Hey, Lieutenant Colonel Groen, I've noticed some strange words in the enemy's vocabulary. Could I tell the general about it?"

"Anyway, don't make me go in your place."

“I know, so I’d like to say something interesting.”

"what?"

The two officers turned their heads in fright at the sound, and the general had already turned half his face toward them.

"Ah, is that so, General..." The officer smiled obsequiously and slowly walked towards the major general's position. "His Excellency asked me to listen to the unclear parts of the recording again. In the latter half, where it was blurry, I noticed a word mentioned in the enemy's speech that sounded like a racial name, and this..."

"Just tell me! What's his name?"

"It sounds surprisingly similar to the English word 'Jap an'..."

"What did you say!"

"Ah, yes, this Russian word, they pronounce it something like 'Agonsky'. My Russian isn't very good, please forgive me, General..."

[Author's note: The suspicious Russian word the officer heard was actually "японский," which is roughly pronounced "Japonsky," and translates to "Japa nese" (Japanese for "Japanese person") in English.]

"'Agonsky', 'Jap an', what's wrong with you, you idiot?"

"General, don't you really think so?"

“'Agonsky,' hmm…” Marendor pondered his Russian vocabulary, “Why can’t I remember it…”

"Forget it! We'll talk about this later! Now get me connected to the front lines! Have they encountered the Soviet ground forces yet?"

……

Meanwhile, in Berlin's eastern district, the group of black-clad soldiers who had just survived the barrage of artillery fire began to slowly crawl out of the bunkers used to protect them from the shelling.

"Alright, it seems my foot is better now."

Roses and Allen sat by a wall, watching the friendly soldiers running back and forth inside the room, and listening to the terrifying roar of artillery fire outside. The enemy was definitely on their way to attack.

……

"Hurry up! Get to your positions!" Captain Igor, who had been yelling at them earlier, walked over.

"Oh, it's you two again, isn't it? Still can't find your own squadron?"

"Yes."