Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

The radio went silent, but his heart was in his throat.

……

……

At this moment, the Soviet fighter jet formation that had flown into the clouds encountered a problem.

"What's wrong, Lieutenant?" Ivan sat in the cockpit, watching the lead plane continue to climb, swaying precariously. The altitude was already sufficient, so why was the lieutenant continuing to ascend?

The radio? There was no sound from the lieutenant on the radio!

"Lieutenant, can you hear me?"

The lead aircraft's flight angle remained unchanged.

"You two stay put, I'll go take a look."

Ivan pushed the throttle to its maximum and flew to a distance level with the lieutenant, at which point the lead plane slowly leveled its nose.

"Can you see me?" Ivan patted the windshield, trying to see into the lieutenant's cockpit.

The lieutenant spotted him too, but the radio was still in silent mode, and Ivan could only watch him make a bunch of gestures through the two layers of glass and the air.

Ivan was unaware that the lieutenant was now facing more than just the danger of radio malfunction.

He was frantically pounding on the aircraft's instrument panel—the heading instrument at the top center, the altimeter at the bottom center, and the airspeed indicator slightly to the left of the bottom center. These instruments, which should have been functioning normally, were now swaying wildly like runaway windshield wipers.

The clouds around him weren't very thick, but he couldn't see the ground at all, so he didn't dare to dive or climb, let alone turn around.

……

Ivan was still staring at the lieutenant's plane, extremely anxious. He already knew that something serious had happened in the lead plane.

“Okay, comrades, listen to me.” He called out to the other two fighter jets, “Now keep formation with me and protect the lieutenant, he looks a bit bad.”

"I understand, but... Ivan, did you hear anything?"

At that moment, the four planes burst out of the clouds.

"Huh?" Ivan also sensed it; an ominous sound came from the ground.

"Ground! Searchlights are shining on us!"

"Oh no!" Ivan then realized it was the sound of an air raid siren!

"It seems we've flown into US airspace!"

The exclamation over the radio sent a chill down Ivan's spine. Having never been a wingman before, he had no idea how to handle the situation.

As darkness fell, the Yak-9 fighter jets had left their white bellies exposed to the American air defense troops on the ground. What was even more terrifying was that they now had every reason to switch their searchlights to anti-aircraft gun ammunition belts in the next second and fire at the fighter jets again.

"What should we do, Lieutenant!" The other two comrades couldn't sit still any longer, completely forgetting that the lieutenant was currently out of contact.

"Comrades, don't rush to move." Ivan looked at the sky ahead and suddenly saw several squadrons of American fighter jets appear.

"Stay calm and observe their actions."

Ivan glanced one last time in the direction of the lieutenant, gripped the control stick tightly, and watched as more than a dozen American planes approached...

A P-47 was the first to swoop down from high altitude, followed by three other aircraft, heading straight for the formation of Yak-9s. Just before crashing into their flight path, the P-47s pulled up and grazed the windshield above Ivan's head.

Immediately afterwards, two other squadrons of American fighter jets followed closely behind. One squadron swooped down directly below Ivan and his men, while the other squadron simply circled around and formed a tense eight-plane formation with them.

"Comrades, don't move! Don't move! I'll do it!"

Ivan nervously increased his speed, rushing to within a few dozen meters of the lead plane. He swayed left and right a few times, signaling to the lieutenant with the plane's wing.

He glanced silently at the time on the clock, 16:22 PM, took a deep breath, turned around and tried to look at the lieutenant, then looked at the American warplanes blocking his way.

What happened next made Ivan breathe a sigh of relief. The lieutenant's plane began to move slightly to the left, slowed down, and flew to the position that originally belonged to Ivan. The lieutenant understood his meaning, and now Ivan would lead the squadron away from here.

The US military did not appear to be planning to shoot him down.

"Listen up, comrades! Follow me now and escort the lieutenant out of here, quick!"

"it is good!"

Ivan turned his plane to the right, and the lieutenant slowly followed suit.

"Hey Ivan! Could you please take a slightly longer route around here?"

"What's going on? Petrenko?"

“I saw a convoy of American troops on the highway to the west.”

"A convoy? Does that mean the US military is sending a large number of troops to the border?"

"At least to me it looks like it, comrade! Although I don't wish it were like this."

"Alright, comrades, let's increase the turning radius a little and make good use of the next two laps!"

……

……

As dusk approached, the last rays of sunlight fell upon the gradually departing green fleet of aircraft.

Mustang and Thunder also rushed back to their nests, but the button to fire the machine gun in the hands of the American pilot was ultimately not pressed.

Chapter 72, Section 112: The Dust Settles Down

Now let's jump to the afternoon of November 1st, inside a building in a small town in the Soviet-occupied area.

At this moment, U.S. Army Lieutenant General Clay was sitting with his officers at one side of a table, while on the opposite side of the table was Soviet Marshal Zhukov's deputy, General Sokolovsky, and his deputy officers.

The U.S. Army lieutenant colonel sitting to Clay's left was standing up a stack of papers and tapping them on the table to align them—copies of U.S. military telegrams regarding troop deployment to the border that had just been shown to General Sokolovsky.

Right now, Klay is looking through the sheets of paper stapled together that the Soviets had given him, which contain statements from the Soviet air force pilots involved in the incident.

The last paragraph asks about the lieutenant:

Q: Was there any incident before the aircraft's instruments failed and radio communication was lost?

"A: When my plane climbed into the clouds, at about 3000 meters, I felt the whole plane shake a few times, probably due to strong air currents. At this point, because I had deviated from the planned course, I made a correction with a relatively large wing swing. Immediately afterwards, I vaguely heard strange noises coming from the instrument panel, and then the needles started swinging wildly, and the radio stopped working."

Flipping through these notes revealed some diagnostic information about the malfunctioning aircraft, along with a hand-drawn diagram describing the location of the fault. Although Klay wasn't familiar with the aircraft's instruments and wasn't a trained aircraft mechanic, he managed to glean a general understanding from the translator's explanation. In short, the Soviet lead aircraft's instruments and communication circuits had suffered a short circuit due to external force, causing a radio outage and the malfunction of some instruments.

"So, your aircraft's passage was indeed an accident, Admiral?" Clay asked.

“It’s all written very clearly above, sir,” Sokolovsky replied calmly. “So, may we now begin to examine our telegram?”

The lieutenant general nodded, and then a Soviet officer handed over the stack of photocopies of the telegrams.

Clay looked at the first telegram, and the colonel translated it for him in his ear.

"October 28, 1945, 8:35 AM, Sender: Headquarters of the Soviet Army in Germany; Receiver: Headquarters of the 10rd Shock Army."

"We have just received news from the Eighth Guards Army's garrison in Berlin that a large number of unidentified armed personnel have launched an attack on Soviet troops, and this is very likely related to the unexplained loud noises in Berlin on September 26 and October 25. Therefore, we hereby order your unit to immediately enter a state of combat readiness, construct defenses near Berlin, and be prepared to respond to any contingencies. Furthermore, without our orders, you are not permitted to launch a preemptive attack on troops from the United States, Britain, France, or other countries."

The following telegrams were sent one after another, with essentially the same content, differing only in the units they were addressed to—some were from the 5th Assault Army, some from the 47th Army, and two from the Guards Tank Armies. Each telegram had a mark at the bottom indicating that it had indeed been sent.

……

Setting the stack of telegrams aside, Clay picked up the next one.

"October 29, 1945, 22:58, Sender: Supreme Soviet; Receiver: Headquarters of the Soviet Army in Germany."

The content was roughly an order for the Soviet troops stationed in Germany to be on full combat readiness. It only mentioned preparing to clear out the black-clad scum in Berlin, without mentioning any intention to attack American or British troops.

……

Next one.

"October 30, 1945, 8:27, Sender: Headquarters of the Fifth Shock Army; Receiver: Headquarters of the Soviet Army in Germany."

"Intelligence from the Ludwigsfeld garrison indicates that the last American military train has arrived at the local train station, confirming that all Allied forces have withdrawn from Berlin. Furthermore, reliable information from the station garrison indicates that the train is carrying unidentified armed vehicles, highly consistent with the armored vehicles used by the unidentified forces encountered in Berlin. Please provide further instructions."

……

Next one.

"October 30, 1945, 9:41 AM, Sender: Headquarters of the Soviet Army in Germany; Receiver: Headquarters of the 10th Shock Army."

"Intelligence from the Ludwigsfeld garrison indicates that the last American military train has departed Berlin. Reliable sources from the station garrison indicate that the train carried unidentified armed vehicles, highly consistent with the armored vehicles used by the unidentified forces encountered in Berlin. All troops stationed at railway stations along the Berlin-Leipzig-Frankfurt line are ordered to prepare for immediate inspection of these unidentified items should an American military train be spotted stopping at any station. Furthermore, without the use of force by the Americans, no force is permitted to be used to forcibly detain the train or American personnel."

……

Clay rubbed his eyes, rested for ten seconds, and then picked up the next one.

"October 30, 1945, 14:32, Sender: Headquarters of the Fifth Shock Army; Receiver: Headquarters of the Soviet Army in Germany."

"According to the garrison at Erfurt train station, we have successfully identified the unidentified vehicles carried by the US military train inside the station. One is a humanoid steel combat weapon, and the other is an armored vehicle carrying twin machine guns. After inspection and photo comparison, the weapons are completely consistent with those possessed by unidentified armed forces in Berlin. The humanoid weapon is in pieces and almost unusable, with numerous bullet holes and wear and tear. The armored vehicle, although it has a few bullet holes, is relatively intact, and there are no items bearing US markings inside or outside the vehicle."

"In summary, it can be roughly confirmed that these two items were captured by the US military, rather than by US-owned combat units. In addition, during the inspection of the US military train at the train station, our soldiers were physically obstructed by US soldiers, resulting in one of our soldiers sustaining minor injuries."

After reading the telegram, Clay slowly put it down and fell into thought.

"This differs somewhat from Colonel Tucker's account, General," the colonel whispered in his ear. "The colonel clearly stated that the Soviet troops boarded the train without permission..."

"It's better to let it go for now." The lieutenant general shared his thoughts with the colonel. "They just read the contents of our telegram. Since they didn't directly mention our actions at the train station, they're either planning to strike later, or they're trying to smooth things over because they think they're in the wrong. Let's pretend we don't care for now."

While the lieutenant general and the colonel were whispering to each other, General Sokolovsky kept his eyes fixed on the two men, slightly pursing his lips. He knew exactly what they were doing.

……

"Alright! Next one!" After muttering to himself, Clay raised his voice and picked up the paper again.

"October 30, 1945, 16:30, Sender: Headquarters of the 16th Air Army; Receiver: Headquarters of the Soviet Army in Germany."

"Reliable intelligence from our reconnaissance aircraft indicates that the United States is deploying more military forces along the US-Soviet border near Wildek, and a large number of US convoys are also heading towards the border area along the road. Please provide instructions."

The next two telegrams are...

"October 30, 1945, 16:39, Sender: Headquarters of the Soviet Army in Germany; Receiver: 10st Guards Tank Army."

"According to intelligence from our reconnaissance aircraft, the US military is currently deploying a large number of troops to the US-Soviet border, and the border crisis seems to be escalating irreversibly. You are hereby ordered to immediately proceed to Plauen and stand by, except for the units assigned to support the Eighth Guards Army. At the same time, you are not allowed to launch any preemptive attacks against US forces without orders from headquarters."

……

"October 30, 1945, 16:42, Sender: Headquarters of the Soviet Army in Germany; Receiver: 47th Army."

"According to intelligence from our reconnaissance aircraft, the US military is currently deploying a large number of troops to the US-Soviet border, and the border crisis seems to be escalating irreversibly. You are hereby ordered to transfer five infantry divisions from the eastern Berlin defense zone to establish outposts and positions at the border between the US and Soviet occupied zones, strengthen reconnaissance of US military movements, and report any major incidents immediately. At the same time, you are not allowed to launch any preemptive attacks against US forces without orders from headquarters."

As Clay put down the last two telegrams, he broke out in a cold sweat.

"Good heavens, if the officer hadn't stopped the Patton affair, a fight would have broken out..."

The lieutenant general took a deep breath and glanced at the ceiling.

"So, is the matter clear now, General Klay?" Sokolovsky spoke first. "I think both sides are quite clear by now that there is no longer any dispute about whether it is our side sending troops to the border, your side stationing troops along the border, or the matter of our warplanes crossing the border."

“No, sir.” Clay nodded. “Then, regarding the border, can we reach a peaceful arrangement?”

"of course."

……

The lieutenant general smiled slightly. He understood that both the issue of General Patton's previous rough arrangements and the incident at the train station could be glossed over.

Sokolovsky also understood that they could now cover up their plan to conduct reconnaissance of the US-occupied border under the guise of monitoring US military trains.

……

After a long discussion, the two generals sat down at a table and signed their names on a document.

The United States-Soviet Union Agreement on a Solution to the Border Standoff in East and West Germany

Chapter 73, Section 113: The Commander-in-Chief and the Loving Father, See You Another Day

Now let's turn the time and camera back to the conference room where Eisenhower and Clay were sitting together.

“Yes, is that so…” Ike nodded after listening to Clay’s description. “With that, everything has calmed down regarding our relationship with the Soviet army.”

"Yes, General, perhaps this is good luck... Everything happened at just the right time. A month earlier, you might still be on home soil, chatting and laughing with all sorts of political bigwigs, enjoying the end of the war. A month later... I remember there was someone who was supposed to temporarily take over your post, it was... it was Patton, Patton..."

“It’s okay, you can say it, I understand what words you want to use.” Ike’s eyes were very friendly.

"Hey! That old bastard Patton, he's here to temporarily take over your job!"

“Hmm, well said, very satisfying!” Ike nodded, pursing his lips. “If it really happened like he did on the 30th, and all the American troops stationed in Germany were deployed… oh no, President Truman won’t be able to avoid attacking the Soviet Union…”