Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 100: After winning over the Duke, I head to Berlin to report for duty.
"Your Highness, I am sorry, but when I was in Vienna, I was stopped by Count Stephen Briand, the Austrian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He asked me to pass on a message to you regarding Austria's further request for assistance from my country, Balia."

I had a preliminary discussion with him, but I haven't dared to make any decisions yet. I've only drafted a memorandum, and I would be grateful if you could take the time to review it.

That afternoon, in the Duke's study at Neuschwanstein Castle, Lelouch respectfully reported to Duke Rupprecht on his observations and gains from his trip to Vienna.

The Duke trusted him greatly. Upon examining the transactions, he found that the most he would receive was two extra regiments of weapons and two divisions of reinforcements, all conditional. These conditions would only be fully fulfilled once the Italians actually launched an attack on Austria.

If the conditions are not met, then it's just an empty promise.

In contrast, Austria is willing to share some of Skoda's military technologies and even borrow a military R&D team, which is a good deal.

Moreover, in the final memorandum Lelouch drafted, he specifically emphasized several key points: the technology obtained from the Porsche team in Austria would not be directly shared with Lelouch's side, but would first be shared with BMW, a company controlled by the Barea royal family.

This ensures that the Duke himself can control the benefits obtained in the exchange, while Lelouch only receives a sub-license from BMW and other companies controlled by the Barea royal family, which are resources that have slipped through someone else's fingers.

This is perfectly reasonable, because sending reinforcements and providing equipment to allies are things that the Baria side should provide in terms of money and manpower. Naturally, the Baria faction should also be the ones to collect the benefits, and they should not go into Lelouch's personal pocket. This is the most basic requirement.

“No problem, I can officially approve it. Before approving it, you only need to answer one question for me seriously and analyze it clearly.” After quickly glancing through it, the Duke closed the memo and gave his opinion directly, even looking up at Lelouch with a questioning expression.

"I will answer everything I know," Lelouch said earnestly.

Duke: "Do you really think the Italians would risk everything at this critical juncture? You even mentioned in your private notes that, by analogy, we need to be wary of the Britannians' various underhanded tactics in Southeast Europe, and prevent smaller countries like Greece and Romania from also getting restless towards Austria and Austria... Do you really think so?"
The Empire achieved such a great victory against the Britannians on the western front, annihilating 20 expeditionary troops. How dare these countries on the southeastern front make a move?
Especially regarding Romania, which you mentioned, although the current King Ferdinand I is not friendly to Demania, his father and brothers were originally on our side. I remember that the former King of Romania, Carol I, only passed away last October after the outbreak of war, right?
Carol I was Ferdinand I's uncle. After his death, his younger brother and eldest nephew, both pro-Demania, were ostracized by the pro-Brussels faction within their own countries and did not succeed to the throne. Ultimately, Ferdinand I, that spineless second nephew, was chosen to succeed him, but I doubt he would dare to attack Demania.

As for the Greek question, it's equally unbelievable. Their King Constantine I is also closely related to our royal family. Although the democratically elected Prime Minister Venizelos is pro-Bolshevik, according to the Greek constitutional provisions on the separation of powers, the King has the power to decide on neutrality and refuse to declare war, as well as the power to command the army and act as the supreme commander. The Greek Prime Minister has absolutely no authority to decide on war or peace; his pro-Bolshevik stance is useless.”

After hearing the Duke's doubts, Lelouch felt a pang of sadness.

What the Duke said was indeed in accordance with the laws of the relevant countries.

According to the constitution implemented in Greece in 1915 (last revised in 1911), although Greece is a constitutional monarchy, its elected prime minister does not have the power to decide on war or peace, nor the power to command the military. Theoretically, they cannot drag the country into war.

Historically, however, after Greek Prime Minister Venizelos legally requested the king to declare war, which was rejected, Venizelos resigned and left Athens. He then went to Thessaloniki, where, as former prime minister, he rallied the military and civilians, requesting that the Prussian army land in Thessaloniki. With the help of Prussian troops, he killed the Athenian king and his newly appointed cabinet. He then declared that he was reorganizing the Greek ruling group and joining the Prussian camp.

Legally speaking, Venizelos's rebellion was an armed insurgency, specifically a rebellion that used foreign troops to overthrow his own king and succeeding cabinet. However, he succeeded, and later encyclopedic entries generally refer to him as Venizelos.

As the war progresses, we will gradually become accustomed to these things. Clinging to the laws and principles of separation of powers of individual small countries now will only lead to complacency.

Lelouch sighed and said, “Your Highness, I think you are too fixated on the law. The world has been torn apart by this war. Even the small, neutral countries that rely on the law to determine right and wrong will soon pass.”

Whether it was the Italians, the Romanians, or the Greeks who might rebel, they didn't really care about legal principles or treaties. They might not even understand the gains and losses of the Empire's war against Britannia.

What they truly care about is profit. Whether they will join the war depends on their assessment of the "situation," on how much profit Burkina Faso will offer them. If the promised benefits are substantial enough, they will waver, and this wavering will likely be a united effort.

For example, if I were the ambassador of the Republic of Burkina Faso, when I went to persuade the Italians, I would say, "We are not only willing to cede the island of Malta to Italy in exchange for Italy's immediate accession to the treaty, but also to cede a portion of Egypt's western colonies, excluding the Suez Canal Zone, to Italy."
'Furthermore, we are willing to cede Cyprus entirely to Greece in exchange for Greece's participation in the war.'
'We are also willing to give Bulgaria and Transylvania to Romania in exchange for Romania's participation in the war.'

These small countries might not dare to act rashly individually, but if they band together and launch a joint attack, it's quite possible. It's like a group of bandits, intimidated by a peerless knight, hesitant to duel him. But if a leader persuades all three bandits to attack together, they might embolden themselves. At that point, it depends on how much benefit the leader is willing to offer.

Lelouch knew that, historically, the Italians had joined the war very quickly that year. And Romania and Greece, in fact, followed suit in the six months to a year that followed.

Historically, what prompted these countries to join the war was not how favorable the situation was, but rather that they were all caught up in the "momentum" created by the Bretons. In the game of bullish and bearish sentiment, they unanimously identified Bretons as the "bullish" side.

Moreover, the people of Burkina Faso have promised a great deal of benefits, such as many colonial interests and territories of hostile countries, all in the name of entrusting them with empty promises.

Although the military situation in the Kingdom of Burkina Faso is now worse, given Lelouch's understanding of the Burkina Faso people's troublemaking nature, he firmly believes that the pro-Russian faction will be even more willing to spend heavily to win over neutral countries.

The reason is simple: the current Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Asquith, and the First Secretary of the Navy, Walton, belong to the same faction.

Lelouch knew the Wharton faction's style all too well.

Later, during World War II, they were capable of exchanging a bunch of islands for destroyers from the United States, which shows that they were easily tempted to sell off land when things got heated.

During World War I, Burkina Faso had more colonies and more to sell. If it were to resort to any means to win and frantically sell colonies to win over neutral countries, many neutral countries would indeed be blinded by greed.

The Duke was greatly surprised upon hearing this.

He really hadn't thought of this aspect before.

Let alone him, almost none of the higher-ups in Demacia could have imagined this.

Currently, perhaps only Lelouch can truly understand how crazy and willing to gamble within the entire Demand system is.

"You mean... in order to bring Italy on board, the country might even cede Malta? Cease Cyprus? And use the territory of other countries in our camp as bargaining chips to lure neutral countries into taking advantage of their misfortune? That... is impossible. If they did that, wouldn't they be selling themselves out?" The Duke couldn't accept it for a long time.

Lelouch: "However, no matter how much effort the Kingdom of Burma puts in or how many countries it can win over, we must prepare for the worst. And one thing is certain—even if the Kingdom of Burma cannot win over all the potential neutral countries, they will at least be able to win over one or two of them. That is inevitable."

Therefore, the empire needs to increase its support for Austria and Austria, because only after the first country to abandon neutrality is severely punished will the other countries that are still observing think twice and dare not step forward again.

This is a very obvious principle. It's like when you're in a group fight. If the leader of the opposing group attracts a large group of people to help by throwing money around, you have to beat the first person who takes the money and rushes in to death. Only then will the remaining underlings who took the money realize the reality and understand that this money is not so easy to earn.

To put it bluntly, it's about striking once to avoid being struck a hundred times.

Upon hearing this, the Duke finally understood completely: "Indeed... If that's the case, once Italy or Romania is the first to defect, we must annihilate one of them with lightning speed, and let them see clearly the consequences of taking money and colonies from the people of Romania."

This insight is very important! I will try to submit a memorial to His Majesty through appropriate channels to request that the Empire increase its support. I will also ask my colleagues in the diplomatic corps to try to find out more about just how much effort the people of Burkina Faso are putting into winning over those smaller countries.

In short, we'll maintain a relaxed exterior but a tight interior, always prepared—I'll immediately allocate the two observation battalions and the equipment for the two regiments you requested, and send them to the Italian-Austrian border to train with the local Alpine troops. The specific officers are also up to you; you can transfer personnel from your existing assault battalion system.”

Lelouch: "Then I will request that Major Model and Captain Dieter each lead an observation battalion, and that the two Austrian mountain infantry regiments equipped with our new gear be placed under their command."

The Duke waved his hand and officially approved the transfer order, immediately dispatching two battalions to reinforce and guard the area.

As an aside, during the Battle of Ypres and for more than half a month after it ended, the Bergmann company in Thuringia continued to mass-produce light machine guns and submachine guns. Helmet manufacturers were operating at full capacity.

By mid-December of last year, Bergman had enough submachine guns to equip two assault battalions, and by the end of the year, it would be able to equip three.

It's now mid-March, and after two and a half months of production and a period of adjustment, we've added more production lines.

Bergman can now produce 3000 submachine guns per month, enough to equip at least six assault battalions.

As of now, the total production is enough to equip 15 assault battalions. The 6th Army originally had 12 divisions, so each division can be equipped with one assault battalion.

The newly formed nine assault battalions all relied on the original three assault battalions to train the new recruits with experienced members, and to practice again during the rest period to get them in good working order.

Any extra weapons and equipment were reserved for the airborne regiment and the newly formed mountain troops.

For example, the Model and Dieter observation battalions were transferred to the Italian-Austrian border; they were no longer considered assault battalions, but rather elite units capable of independent operations. The 12 divisions remaining in the rear still each had their own directly subordinate assault battalion.

Once the production of submachine guns and light machine guns increases further, these weapons can be distributed to friendly forces such as the 8th and 10th Armies, which are also part of the South German faction on the Eastern Front. Alternatively, they can be equipped to elite Austrian friendly forces directly under the command of German officers, in order to further win over hearts and minds and hone combat capabilities.

Of course, they could only use submachine guns in elite assault units; they were not widely deployed.

These demands are estimated to be met by autumn 1915. Later, in the latter half of 1915, submachine guns can be sold to other friendly forces for replacement, provided sufficient funds are provided. Due to insufficient production capacity, there will always be a ramp-up process, and a first-come, first-served principle must be followed.

It's not that we're not providing Prossen-type troops with submachine guns, it's just that there's not enough time to produce them yet.

……

With a stroke of his pen, the Duke approved the allocation of reinforcements and equipment, as well as personnel transfer orders.

This straightforwardness finally put Lelouch at ease. He had been worried that his efforts in Vienna might be scrapped and wasted.

In retrospect, the Duke's trust in him was truly profound, a testament to his recognition and patronage.

With a different leader, given the hierarchical and oppressive atmosphere of Demand, it would be an absolute overreach for someone to privately discuss a draft memorandum with the Deputy Foreign Minister of an ally and then seek authorization from the leader. Such an act could even result in punishment.

It's not that what they did was wrong, but rather that their decision-making process was flawed and showed a complete lack of respect for their elders.

"Your Highness truly trusts those you employ. I will certainly serve the country well with such confidence." Lelouch felt genuinely grateful as he received the memorandum signed by the Duke.

"It's nothing. It was indeed a bit reckless in terms of procedure, but you helped the Empire annihilate the Burkina Faso expeditionary force and capture the enemy's commander-in-chief alive. This is the trust you deserve, the trust you have earned through your previous achievements."

The Duke remained amiable, and after finishing speaking, he personally invited Lelouch to a banquet, saying, "Now that we've finished discussing business, let's have a family dinner together. You specifically chose to come in the afternoon to give your report, were you afraid of interrupting two of our meals?"

Lelouch quickly replied modestly, "I hadn't thought that much about it..."

The Duke patted him on the shoulder and went out first, with Lelouch following behind like his adjutant.

The two quickly arrived at the banquet hall and saw two little girls playing in the rest area next door. They were Princess Ilmingarde, the Duke's daughter, and Nunnally, Lelouch's sister.

Nanali was a little nervous beforehand. She came from an ordinary family of civil servants, and her father had passed away at a young age, which made her live a very simple life since childhood.

Although she had received a few days of intensive training in high-society etiquette from her sister and changed into very appropriate and beautiful clothes, Nanali was still afraid of making mistakes.

However, at this moment, she seemed to have gotten used to the daily furnishings in the castle and was no longer so timid.

Princess Irmingard was very polite to her. Before drinking tea, having snacks, and playing games, she would subtly demonstrate each activity so that Nanali could secretly observe and learn from her.

Nanali was very grateful to the other party and thanked her repeatedly. Princess Ilmingard kindly said, "Don't always call me Princess Ilmingard. Just call me Cecilia, or even just Sera."

Nanali felt that it was still too much to ask, and in the end she only dared to call her "Miss Cecilia".

When Lelouch entered, he saw how polite Princess Ilmingarde was to his sister, and out of courtesy, he naturally had to express his gratitude as well.
“Princess Ilmingard, thank you so much for taking care of my sister. Your humility is truly impressive.”

Princess Ilmingarde naturally extended her hand as well. Lelouch paused for a moment, then politely touched the back of her hand with his lips.

“Sir Lelouch, your sister calls me Cecilia. You’re a nobleman, so there’s no need to be so formal.”

After capturing Marshal John French last month, the Duke added "von" to Lelouch's name. Theoretically, he now carries the lowest rank of lifelong knighthood (meaning it is not hereditary; it can only be inherited after one more rank).
It's perfectly acceptable for them to call him "Knight Lelouch." However, no one had ever called him that before; they always addressed him as Colonel. Generally speaking, a colonel's rank does indeed hold a higher social status than a knight.

Lelouch: "Alright, it's an honor to have the princess's appreciation. From now on, I'll call you Miss Cecilia."

Seeing that her brother hadn't seen through the princess's little trick, Nanali couldn't help but chuckle and cover her mouth, saying bluntly, "Brother, I've heard that princesses and queens in ancient times all had guardian knights. Miss Cecilia called you Knight Lelouch, and you just accepted it. Are you planning to work as a guardian knight?"

Lelouch was slightly embarrassed, but Cecilia quickly came to his rescue: "Sister Nunnally, there's no need to tease you. Knight Lelouch is a knight who protects the empire. How could he waste his talents protecting a royal woman?"

He has a heavy burden on his shoulders. His father always instructed us that whenever Knight Lelouch came, he should take him directly to his study to discuss state affairs, so as not to waste his precious time.

Lelouch's heart stirred slightly. He glanced at Duke Rupprecht to his side out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that the other party did not show any intention of stopping or objecting, Lelouch understood immediately.

He quickly recalled his recent experiences and soon remembered the time when the Duke came to promote him to colonel and knight him. Before the Duke entered, he had been having a normal conversation with Charlotte Lorinta, the niece of the Grand Duke of Baden, and Miss Lorinta had been very fond of him. The Duke, however, became wary upon seeing her.

It seems the Duke is afraid of being poached by the Grand Duke of Baden. This wouldn't be a problem, as Lelouch doesn't like political marriages or being used as a bargaining chip to maintain his career.

However, what the Duke thought was not important. What was important was that Princess Ilmingard in front of him did not seem to dislike him. Moreover, they had met several times already, and her attitude had remained consistent, without changing because of the changes in her father's attitude.

Lelouch prefers relatively pure interpersonal relationships and tries not to let them change because of changes in status.

Having figured this out, Lelouch responded to the other party's kindness with grace and composure: "Times have changed. How much energy can a guardian knight waste these days? Since Princess Ilmingard thinks highly of me, I'll 'part-time' be your guardian knight. However, I must say this upfront: I may not have much time to stay in Munich to fulfill my duties."

Cecilia smiled and said, "Alright, the guards at Neuschwanstein Castle are good enough. You don't really need to be on duty every day."

After saying that, she turned to Duke Rupprecht and said, "Father, I have my own guardian knight now. I chose him myself. Father doesn't have any objections, does he?"

The Duke smiled indulgently yet helplessly: "What era are we living in? This is just child's play. Do whatever you want."

His daughter was only sixteen or seventeen, not yet of marriageable age. The Duke thought to himself that winning her over like this was a good idea, since Lelouch would be going to the battlefield frequently anyway, and some things didn't need to be rushed.

Another family dinner at Neuschwanstein Castle was spent in this relaxed and harmonious atmosphere, and everyone had a great time chatting.

No one even noticed that the eldest of the Duke's living sons, Heir Albrecht, the younger brother of the Princess of Ilmingard, did not attend the family dinner—he had gone on a trip with his mother beforehand.

The situation tonight was entirely orchestrated by the Duke.

At the family dinner, the Duke even let Lelouch have a few more drinks, and then arranged a private room for him to stay overnight at Neuschwanstein Castle, giving him the full royal treatment.

Nunnally, on the other hand, was pulled along by Cecilia and spent the night with her.

Nanali slept in the princess's bedroom, so nervous that she couldn't sleep for the first half of the night. Even with the lights off, she stayed awake, her eyes glued to the various luxurious decorations. Finally, she couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep in the latter half of the night.

Cecilia was very polite and attentive to her. When she noticed that Cecilia wasn't asleep, she would occasionally chat with her to keep her entertained.

Nunnally told Cecilia many stories about her difficult childhood, and Cecilia listened with great curiosity. She even managed to extract all the details about her brother's childhood that Nunnally had mentioned.

"Could there really be such amazing geniuses in this world? You're saying that Lelouch studied architecture at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts for four years and then joined the army after graduation? He didn't study anything else before that?" Cecilia found it hard to understand.

Nanali: "It's all true. My brother only studied architecture for four years and didn't study any other majors."

Cecilia: "He's really amazing... I've heard my father say that so many times."

……

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Lelouch received some diplomatic advice documents written by the Duke overnight, concerning the Empire's relations with Italy, Romania, and Greece. He was asked to take them to Berlin on his way.

These suggestions stemmed from two main reasons: firstly, a genuine desire to make changes and prevent future problems; and secondly, a desire to curry favor. If anything were to happen in the future, Duke Rupprecht's "prophetic" predictions would grant him more influence within the imperial hierarchy and solidify his reputation.

Lelouch solemnly accepted the Duke's document, promising to deliver it during his duty report and to help explain it if necessary.

(End of this chapter)