Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 108 describes how half-track vehicles and airdrops are used in this situation.
Lelouch gritted his teeth, took on the task of devising solutions to these two key difficulties, and quickly organized his thoughts, speaking eloquently:

"Let's talk about the first question: You think that there might not be enough confidence in launching a counterattack on the Przemyhil fortress from Krakow through Gollitze. But I think the actual situation may not be as bad as you think."

If our counter-offensive occurs at the end of April or the beginning of May, I think the Russo people are very likely to relax their guard. As we all know, the entire Kievan Russo black soil plain, and even the North Carpathian plain between Lviv and Krakow, experiences a muddy season and frost-covered period every year from March to May.

The situation in the Carpathian Mountains at that time will be exactly the opposite of that in the plains, because the high altitude of the mountains means there is no muddy terrain like on the plains. Normally, the mountain roads are difficult to travel while the plains are easy to travel in other seasons, but in April and May, it may become 'the mountain roads are about as difficult as the plains'.

Therefore, if the Lussars breach the Przemysir fortress during the frost period, they will surely become complacent and try to take advantage of the final stage of the frost period to cross the Carpathian Mountains and achieve quick results in the Hungarian Basin!

Because they knew that the Carpathian Mountains blocked the spring rains and ice jams in the Hungarian Basin, and that there was no frost heave north of the mountains inside the basin! That would be the golden time for an attack inside the Hungarian Basin! The enemy couldn't possibly miss it!
During the mudslide season north of the mountains, the Russa army certainly wouldn't be on guard against our counter-offensive westward from Krakow. The Russa people know that during this period, our army, aside from advancing along the railway, will have little ability for field marches and resupply, especially since our heavy artillery cannot be deployed to the front lines and will simply be swallowed by the mud! This will make them cherish and seize this fleeting window of opportunity even more, and thus be more willing to take risks and act aggressively!

Marshal Leopold's brow furrowed even more: "Doesn't that make it even harder for us to ensure the success of our counter-offensive westward from Krakow? The enemy's thinking is quite correct. The frost will indeed pose a great obstacle to our offensive. Infantry and warhorses may be able to trek through the mud, but even if there are many horses, if the cannons are made of wood and have wheels, they will not be able to move on the muddy ground."

Lelouch was not worried about this. He believed that the Demacian army definitely had the fighting power. In Earth's history, Mackensen had also won this battle, and Marshal Leopold was no less capable than Mackensen.

More importantly, Lelouch suddenly realized that he seemed to have come up with an extra insurance for Marshal Leopold.

He suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said, "Speaking of which, it's also thanks to the Heavenly Empire! Two months ago, I discussed a half-track diesel-powered heavy artillery tractor project with Dr. Porsche from Skoda. At that time, Austria was eager to carry out this project because it was troubled by the artillery towing in mountainous and muddy areas, and it was determined to spend resources to solve this problem."

Mr. Porsche had already done a lot of work, but there were some key points he hadn't figured out. I gave him a hint at the time, and when I asked him again a couple of days ago, I learned that Mr. Porsche had already rushed to produce a prototype and was ready for small-batch trial production. The chassis was based on the old-fashioned truck chassis, with slight modifications. If the Empire is willing to urge Austria to give it the highest priority and accelerate mass production, perhaps they can gather a hundred or so half-track tractors before the 'Krakow Offensive' begins.

This half-track structure naturally overcomes the problem of trucks and mule carts getting stuck in mud, and it also makes traversing uphill and downhill terrain much smoother. Then, our heavy artillery will be able to move from Krakow to the Gorlitze front, and even appear outside the Przemysil fortress, in ways that exceed the imagination of General Russa…”

"There's such equipment?!" Marshal Leopold and Duke Rupprecht stood up abruptly upon hearing about this unheard-of new equipment, not even caring that their chairs had been knocked over.

This thing might not be very useful under normal circumstances, but in today's special battlefield environment, it is a perfect counter!

The rugged terrain at the edge of the Carpathian Mountains means that even traveling along the highway requires constant ups and downs. Furthermore, the geography and climate north of the Carpathian Mountains are similar to the Kievan Rus's black soil plains, with muddy conditions during the frost season.

These two seemingly unsolvable problems were solved by the first half-track vehicle in human history, capable of transporting heavy artillery through mud and rugged terrain. How could the enemy possibly have anticipated that the Demacian artillery could overcome what seemed like insurmountable natural barriers?
The surprise of this attack will absolutely be off the charts!
"If we can really gather a hundred or so of these vehicles, and if their ability to climb hills and traverse muddy terrain is as you described, then I'm truly confident that we can launch a surprise attack and recapture the lost territory north of the mountain during the later stages of the frost heave, when the enemy is least prepared!"

Marshal Leopold became more and more excited as he thought about it, and couldn't help but rub his hands together in anticipation. At this point, even he was completely convinced by Lelouch, and the tactics and plans for the entire battle became clearer and clearer.

Truth does indeed become clearer through debate. Every time the Marshal questioned Lelouch, he made the staff plan more solid and perfect.

Marshal Leopold reviewed the issue again before earnestly stating, "Now, it seems only one difficulty remains: if the Przemeshir Fortress does ultimately surrender, how can we ensure, through intelligence gathering and other means, that we can promptly ascertain the location and movements of prisoners of war, and strive to rescue some of them after the counter-offensive begins?"
Furthermore, our army has already airdropped several batches of sulfonamide drugs into the fortress, hasn't it? These drugs have saved many wounded soldiers, which is why the defenders have been able to hold out until now. The Lusha army probably doesn't know that our army possesses such a miraculous drug as sulfonamide. However, if the defenders surrender before finishing their sulfonamide drugs, resulting in some of the supplies being captured by the enemy, this leak would be extremely serious and would have a significant impact on the overall situation.

These problems must be solved! Once this is resolved, I will fully support your plan. Even if someone later investigates whether you were slow to rescue friendly forces or deliberately negligent in your efforts, I will swallow my pride and defend you wholeheartedly!

After hearing the old general's question, Lelouch and Duke Rupprecht exchanged glances instinctively.

Fortunately, Lelouch, in this mutually inspiring intellectual environment, quickly came up with a new idea.

"We need to ensure that we know the location of our surrendered prisoners of war after the war, and also ensure that their condition after surrender is controllable and that they have taken sulfonamide drugs before surrendering... So why don't we organize one last airship airdrop to reinforce them and airdrop a small batch of sulfonamide drugs to them, so that they can take good care of all the infected and wounded before surrendering and adjust their condition before surrendering in a planned way?"

Moreover, during this airdrop of sulfonamide drugs, we can airdrop a supervising officer who has received secret orders from the two marshals, and have him convey to the commander of the Przemysir fortress that the commander of the Hungarian theater of operations allows them to surrender after taking the drugs, so that they can preserve their usefulness and avoid making unnecessary sacrifices.

In this way, as long as they are allowed to temporarily surrender under the instructions of their superiors, they will not have a great feeling of being abandoned by their allies after running out of ammunition and food. They will believe that their allies have done everything they can to rescue them.

The officers airdropped in could also be told about the efforts of friendly forces outside to rescue them, how many Austrian soldiers had been killed or wounded in the past six months to relieve the fortress—more than the number remaining inside. This might ensure that even after surrendering, they would remain loyal to their country and could be mobilized more quickly should future events occur.

Lelouch was already used to airdrops; he himself was the commander of an airborne regiment. He had previously used airships to airdrop medical supplies, so it was only natural for him to think of airdropping a staff officer in to consolidate morale and authorize an orderly surrender.

Moreover, Lelouch knew that sending a key figure in propaganda and purges into the army would greatly help the army's mentality after being captured.

With officers going in on missions, they could arrange communication methods in advance and even split up to hide some personal belongings. When they were taken to the POW camp, and Demacian planes came to conduct aerial reconnaissance, they could simply use the agreed-upon, relatively concealed coded signals to provide aerial location information.

Once their location is determined, there will be much more room for maneuver, whether it's to coordinate a rescue or launch a ground offensive.

Moreover, Lelouch has a unique advantage that no one else has: he holds the only airborne regiment in this era and on this planet.

He didn't want to replicate the airborne assault on the fortified stronghold that had happened at Dunkirk, because the enemy would definitely be on guard after the Dunkirk example.

If an airborne landing occurs in an area with dense enemy forces, the enemy can easily lie in wait on the ground, ready to strike. Even if their air defense weapons are insufficient, the airborne troops will not be able to withstand the attack once they land.

However, what if the airdrop is aimed at the enemy's rear, in an undefended area far from the front lines? That would be a completely different tactic.

This tactic might not work on the Western Front, because the front lines were too dense, with enemies lurking everywhere, leaving no openings to exploit.

However, on the vast Eastern Front, it would be quite an achievement if both sides could fill the front lines; the rear was riddled with gaps. The possibilities were vast: a regiment could be airdropped undetected into an undefended location, then regrouped to infiltrate and sabotage behind enemy lines, or even rescue prisoners of war… the scope for maneuver was immense. However, these things required improvisation, and there was no need to discuss them with Field Marshal Leopold at this moment, lest expectations be too high or secrets be leaked.

We'll see how things go and adapt accordingly.

Marshal Leopold was already quite shocked after hearing only the first part of Lelouch's plan.

"...Airdropping an officer in with orders to allow the fortress garrison to surrender in an orderly manner, and organizing the looting during the surrender, is indeed a good idea. However, you don't want to go yourself, do you? This mission is very dangerous. Find a reliable staff officer from the army group, promote him before he goes, and promise preferential treatment to his family regardless of success or failure. It would be best to find someone who already knows how to parachute. As long as this can be done, I fully support your plan."

Marshal Leopold ultimately made this promise.

Duke Rupprecht, standing nearby, immediately chimed in, “Alright, I’ll find officers from the 6th Army’s staff to airdrop into the encirclement, organize an orderly surrender, and maintain liaison behind enemy lines. At worst, I’ll find someone who’s been an artillery observer—early artillery observers were all hot air balloon pilots, so they’ve already learned to parachute. That’ll be easier and less likely to cause accidents. We also won’t have to risk finding elite combat officers in the airborne regiment. Those combat officers know how to fight, but they may not know how to conduct propaganda and boost morale, or how to organize.”

The two sides reached an agreement and finalized the battle plan.

……

Duke Rupprecht, with Lelouch, quickly returned to Budapest and began searching for a suitable candidate among the staff officers of the 6th Army.

However, there weren't any particularly suitable candidates at the beginning, mainly because the army group staff couldn't find any officers with artillery observer backgrounds who were particularly skilled at parachuting.

Finally, the Duke had to broaden the search slightly, allowing one of the staff officers from each of his armies to be temporarily promoted one rank and transferred to the army group staff, and then let him carry out this dangerous mission.

After expanding the recruitment scope, a suitable person was quickly found—the Duke's second brother, Lieutenant General Karl Lyudpot, had a captain named Albert Kesselring as a staff officer in the headquarters of the 2nd Army of Balia.

This man happened to be a former artillery observation officer. Before the war, in 1912, he served as a second lieutenant hot air balloon pilot and observer, and at that time he had already passed the hot air balloon pilot's parachute escape training. He had just been promoted to lieutenant before the start of the war, and recently became a captain. Moreover, he had previous combat experience of "successfully parachuting to safety after his hot air balloon ruptured and leaked air".

In situations where staff officers are needed to be airdropped into the encirclement and organize the orderly surrender of troops, rather than combat officers, this person is the best option.

When the Duke heard that his second brother had a suitable candidate in the army, he saw that the man had been serving as a captain for almost half a year and had performed well. He was expected to be promoted in another six months. So, the Duke decided to promote the man ahead of schedule and leave the rest to Lelouch to negotiate with him.

Captain Kesselring was quickly taken to the army headquarters, where he met Colonel Lelouch von Hunt, the army's most important staff officer. (However, he was not the chief of staff; Lelouch was too young and of lower rank. It was simply that the Duke trusted him the most, and in fact, his suggestions were more likely to be adopted by the Duke than those of the chief of staff.)
"Captain Albert Kesselring, staff officer of the 2nd Army, reporting for duty! Requesting instructions from Colonel Lelouch!"

The newcomer was 30 years old, six or seven years older than Lelouch, and three levels lower in rank. But no one ever complained, because Lelouch was simply too overpowered.

Lelouch looked him up and down for a moment, then cut to the chase and instructed, "Here is a promotion order, just signed by His Highness the Commander, promoting you to major. However, this promotion comes with conditions. You must accept this extremely dangerous mission and ensure its secrecy. Moreover, if you complete the mission well and return alive, the Commander promises to promote you another rank, directly to lieutenant colonel!"

Kesselring's eyes widened instantly. He'd been a soldier for so long, fighting all this time, and only reached the rank of captain. Now, there was a mission that would get him promoted immediately, and if he survived, he'd be promoted again! Where else could he find such a good deal? Commander Lelouch was practically handing him a reward!

"I am willing to accept the mission! I am not afraid of danger. As an officer of the Empire, I am ready to sacrifice myself at any time!" Captain Kesselring immediately stood at attention and saluted.

"Very good. Take this secret order with you. Tomorrow, a batch of supplies will be airdropped into Fort Przemeshir. You will parachute into the fortress with the supplies and then hand the secret order to the fortress commander. Here is also an appointment order, which His Highness the Commander obtained from General Linsingen of the Southern Army Group."

In his order of appointment, General Linsingen wrote that Lieutenant General Hermann Kusmanek von Burgnøystadt, the supreme commander of the Przemechil fortress, should follow the orders of Field Marshal Rupprecht, which you are relaying. Your task is to authorize Lieutenant General Kusmanek to legally surrender to the enemy if necessary, but to ensure that no ammunition or medicine is left behind to supply the enemy.

As for military rations, if there are any left over, it is permissible to leave some to the enemy, either to lull them into a false sense of security or to reduce their urgency to withdraw you to the rear as quickly as possible. In short, the most crucial thing is to ensure that the sulfa drugs are finished before surrendering. You will be in charge of the military hospital within the fortress and will thoroughly investigate all accounts.

Later, I will provide you with some contact methods, but you may not need them. If you have the opportunity, after entering the POW camp, when you encounter Imperial reconnaissance planes coming to investigate behind enemy lines, try to secretly report your location to them—do you understand?

Major Albert Kesselring had worked as a hot air balloon artillery reconnaissance officer and had also rudimentarily learned to fly, so he knew the basic methods of air-to-ground communication. Therefore, after briefly learning the communication techniques that Lelouch taught him, he quickly mastered them.

Kesselring was extremely nervous, but he knew the mission was important, and in such a rush, only an officer like him, who had actual parachute survival experience and was familiar with air-to-ground communications, could carry out this mission. Moreover, he had served as a corps-level staff officer and knew a bit about personnel and organization, and knew how to communicate with an allied lieutenant general once inside the fortress.

After forcing himself to calm down, he saluted again: "I know what to do! Once we're in the POW camp, I'll do my best to help stabilize morale and wait for the Empire's counterattack and rescue! And this matter will remain buried in my heart until the very last moment! I believe Commander Lelouch will come to save us!"

This kind of belief requires immense courage. If Lelouch hadn't saved them, they would have had to go to Siberia to farm.

It is precisely because of such high risk that there is such high reward; you can be promoted one level when you go there, and you can be promoted another level when you come back alive.

-

P.S.: I originally planned to write 7,000 words today, but after finishing, I realized it's still 9,000 words.

That's it. A plan can't be left unfinished and interrupted; that would be too unrefined.

(End of this chapter)