Rune Troopers: Self-Defense Forces Adventure - Chapter 4: In the Midst of War (Part 6)
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- Rune Troopers: Self-Defense Forces Adventure
- Chapter 4: In the Midst of War (Part 6)
A grenade projectile attached to the muzzle of a Type 89 rifle was fired at the enemy, who was holding up his shield and trying to get close to him.
This was a rifle grenade called Type-06 rifle pellet. By simply attaching the warhead to the muzzle, a grenade round could be fired from a rifle. Although the accuracy was not that high, the grenade had a greater range than a hand grenade, and was deployed in the regular army units as a heavy weapon that could be used easily.
The grenades exploded, shattering shields and disintegrating enemy formations.
What was happening before our eyes now was an armed clash between the Self-Defense Forces and the Filborg Succession Imperial Forces.
The other side was approaching us with a clear intent to kill. Even though they were equipped with modern equipment, there were only 32 of us. We needed to hit them thoroughly so that we would not lose the initiative.
We also hoped that by demonstrating our overwhelming firepower, the enemy would lose their will to fight and retreat. Since the enemy did not know that we had limited ammunition, there was no need for us to be generous with our firepower.
However, this plan was not successful.
“Damn! They’re stepping over the corpses of their allies!”
“Shit, they’re crazy!”
“Recoilless guns forward!”
At Kuze’s order, the men carrying the 84 mm mobile recoilless gun took aim at a group of heavily-armed Infantrymen.
The loader accompanying the shooter pushed an anti-tank grenade into the barrel from the rear and sealed it tightly. He then checked to make sure his teammates were not behind him in case of a backfire.
The loader signaled “ready to fire” by lightly tapping the shooter’s helmet.
The shooter pulled the trigger, and with a loud, booming, ear-splitting explosion, the enemy soldiers and their shields were blown to pieces.
But that did not stop the enemy’s momentum.
While hundreds of corpses lay on the ground, the Imperial Army continued to charge toward the barrage and anti-tank guns with primitive weapons such as spears and swords, screaming with rage.
The sight of these soldiers seemed like being possessed by madness to the SDF members.
Moreover, the momentum of the Imperial forces seemed to be increasing rather than waning.
“Hail the Emperor of Fliborg Succession Empire!”
“Death to the enemies of the Succession Empire!”
A few minutes into the battle. Surprisingly, the enemy was closing the distance through reckless assaults with no regard for casualties.
The enemy had closed the distance. Thinking this, Kuze gave Ichinose new instructions.
“Ichinose, get up on that tower and cover me!”
Ichinose received the order and rushed toward the tower indicated by Hisayo’s finger.
“Leave it to me, I’ll lead the way.”
Lalona said as she ran with Ichinose.
Ichinose’s face grew grim with the tension of the battlefield, but he felt somewhat reassured by Lalona’s presence.
“Let’s go!”
The two headed for one of the castle’s four spires.
Ichinose, who had been physically exerting himself all morning, really wanted to collapse. But seeing Lalona, a girl younger than herself and not much older than her sister, standing firm, he could not utter such a whine.
Run. Run.
On the way, he was exposed to the gazes of evacuated civilians everywhere.
They all looked at Ichinose, and were all aghast.
Then, they turned to Lalona, whom they recognized as a soldier, and asked her a series of questions.
“How far did the enemy break through?”
“What was that noise we’ve been hearing since a moment ago?”
Lalona forced a confident expression on her face and answered them.
“Don’t worry, we’ll hold them off!”
Her words were filled with the will to do everything they could.
Ichinose realized that she was one of the “them” in the group. Lalona now recognized herself as a warrior.
As she ran up the spiral staircase of the steeple, she realized that he was elated beyond anything she had ever experienced.
She was recognized, her miserable self was recognized as a warrior named Lalona.
That made her happy.
“Here! From here I can look down on the whole courtyard!”
Lalona looked down from the window at the top of the spire.
A fierce battle was going on in the courtyard. Traces bullets were being spat out at the enemy, leaving a sharp light trail. Occasionally, the sound of exploding grenades would echo through the air.
Considering the intensity of the machine gun fire, it was likely that they would run out of ammunition before too long. The enemy must quickly lose their command to be defeated.
Ichinose held his sniper rifle out the window. However, he could not spot the enemy commander’s location.
“There he is! There’s a squaddie holding a military flag. The cloaked man next to him might be the Knight Commander!”
As Ichinose grew impatient, Lalona quickly found the soldier in charge of command and control of the enemy.
“How can you see him from up here? You must have grown up in the mountains!”
Ichinose put the target indicated by Lalona in the reticle of his scope before aiming for three seconds, and pulled the trigger.
A shot rang out, and a flag fell 400 meters in front of him. The squire holding it was shot.
Astonishment was etched on Lalona’s face. She had not expected to finish him off with a single shot.
“I’m a semi-expert shooter, after all.”
Ichinose pulled the sniper rifle’s kong – the handle on the gun – to eject an empty shell casing and load the next round.
There were five levels of shooters in the Self-Defense Forces. Beginner, intermediate, advanced, semi-expert, and expert.
Ichinose was in the second level from the top, the semi-expert grade. He was so skilled that he could thread a needle in the dark of night.
“Ichinose, where did you hone your skills?”
Lalona imagined that he must have studied under a famous archer. But Ichinose chuckled and answered.
“The arcade I used to stop by after school!”
And with that he took aim at the Commander, who was wearing a fancy cloak.
The enemy Commander, who had been wielding a command sword and yelling at his men, was shot in the buttocks and sprawled on the ground.
Ichinose thought this was the end, but it was not to be. The wounded Commander was sent back by his men, and the flag was picked up and held up again by his followers.
“What did they pick up the flag for?”
It was an easy target, so I took it down to mark it, but it looked like they were treating it with as much care as the Commander.
“The flag is the symbol of the unit. A flag would fall when a unit was wiped out. It seems that this is especially true in the Empire.”
Ichinose muttered, “I see.”
And then–
“Let’s shut them up!”
Ichinose once again aimed at the soldier holding the military flag. He exhaled a little, then stopped and squeezed the trigger.