Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 117 Parachute Landing in Lviv - Part 1

September 5, evening.

Captain Kurt Student landed his two-seater Albatross at Budapest Airport.

Lelouch, sitting in the back seat, didn't wait for airport staff to come and set up the gangway. He flipped over and jumped down, landing lightly and heading towards the crowd in the distance.

Albatross planes are not large to begin with, and the back seats are not high, so jumping out of the cabin is no challenge for young people.

As soon as Lelouch landed, Marshal Rupprecht, commander of the 6th Army, was waiting for him at the airport. The marshal and a group of officers behind him also came to greet him.

That feeling was somewhat reminiscent of Zhuge Liang having just borrowed the east wind from Zhou Yu and Lu Su, being picked up by Zhao Yun in a small boat and brought back to Xiakou, with Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei already gathering their troops and waiting for his command.

A truly outstanding person has to juggle both tasks; both the 10th Army Group and the 6th Army Group need him.

"I heard that Second Uncle's side is doing very well? The Dukra Pass has been completely blocked?" Upon seeing him, the Duke didn't even exchange pleasantries and went straight to the point about military affairs.

He even patted Lelouch on the shoulder, showing that he completely considered him one of his own.

Lelouch: "They really fought very well. Thanks to those half-tracks, they managed to drag the heavy artillery into terrain that was normally inaccessible, allowing them to directly fire from higher ground and block the mountain passes. However, both sides are currently facing logistical difficulties on the northern front."

Every shell used by those heavy artillery pieces was carried to the front lines by soldiers on long treks. If the 70-kilometer railway from Tarnov to Rzeszóv and then to Krosno could also be used, allowing our troops to unload shells transported from the rear at Krosno, reducing the soldiers' and mules' trek by 70 kilometers, the logistical pressure of the war of attrition at Dukla Pass would be greatly alleviated.

His Highness the Duke nodded slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing: "That is indeed the case—that's why we must do everything in our power to cooperate with Second Uncle and take back the Przemeshir Fortress as soon as possible. Once we take it back, the last 70 kilometers of railway will be usable."

Your airborne regiment is ready. Rommel has been helping you discipline your troops, intensify training, and maintain their readiness. I've also transferred several engineer battalions to suitable terrain at least 100 kilometers northeast of Budapest, where we hastily constructed several field airfields and leveled large areas for airship mooring.

I've once again swallowed my pride and begged for the Imperial Air Force's airship squadron to come. This time there are 56 airships in total, enough for you to airdrop an entire regiment at once. However, all the airships must be used for transporting personnel; don't expect to allocate a portion for bombing missions like you did at Dunkirk. The reconnaissance aircraft have also been working diligently these past few days, and have already obtained aerial photographs of the location of the POW camps that the enemy has moved to later.

"As long as you're prepared, the airdrop can be carried out early the day after tomorrow. However, I'm still a little worried. We've already done an airdrop behind enemy lines at Dunkirk; will the enemy be on guard this time?"

Lelouch was very satisfied with the preparations. The Duke was now completely obedient to him, much like Liu Bei mustering his troops in Xiakou, waiting for Zhuge Liang to return and command them.

In response to the Duke's concerns, Lelouch patiently explained the difference: "Don't worry, nothing will happen. We will still fly over the Carpathian Mountains at night and enter enemy-occupied airspace. The enemy will not be able to send out fighter reconnaissance planes to intercept us, nor will they be able to find us."

By the time the airship returned and landed, it was already daylight, and the airship was able to land smoothly. Our reconnaissance fighter jets could take off before dawn and arrive over the drop zone after dawn to help us control the situation.

Most importantly, in the last Dunkirk siege, we had to parachute directly over the enemy's heavily fortified position. If the enemy had been even slightly on guard, we would have been finished. But this time, I will avoid the enemy's densely defended areas and parachute in and assemble in a relatively undefended area behind enemy lines before engaging in battle.

The rear of the eastern front was very open, unlike the western front, where weaknesses could be found everywhere.

The Duke said nothing more, simply letting Lelouch work with his subordinates and prepare on his own.

Lelouch got a good night's rest, and the next morning he flew from Budapest to the Mikhailovce area, which was closer to the front lines. The exact location of Mikhailovce was actually quite unimportant; all that mattered was that it was a rather remote town northeast of Budapest, south of the Carpathian Mountains currently controlled by the Dmanians, the closest town to the northeastern front, and accessible by rail.

Further east and north from Mikhalovsze, you enter the Carpathian Mountains, where there is no railway access and the terrain is rugged and not very open.

Therefore, in order to serve as a large-scale airship mooring base, to be able to temporarily build field airfields, and to be as close as possible to the front line north of the mountains to shorten the flight distance for aircraft and airships flying over the Carpathian Mountains, this was the only option.

Because this place was chosen temporarily for the airborne operation behind enemy lines, when Lelouch arrived there, he saw a construction site that had just been completed.

The 6th Army must have mobilized countless engineer battalions to be able to quickly build so many field airfields and airship mooring towers.

As Lelouch disembarked from Student's plane, he was met by Lieutenant Colonel Erwin Rommel and several officers from the engineering corps, who came over to invite him to inspect, review, and accept the project.

Lelouch has been busy lately. As a colonel, he is mainly concerned with the military plans of the two army groups and has not paid much attention to the affairs of the airborne regiment he leads. He has relied on Rommel, the deputy commander, to take care of everything.

Fortunately, Rommel was conscientious and had a thorough understanding of the logistical support required for this special operation. Before Lelouch arrived, all the necessary inspections had already been completed, and the preparations were very comprehensive. Lelouch only needed to make a final, cursory inspection to check for any omissions or deficiencies.

"Well done. It's not easy to build such a large field airfield and airship mooring towers in such a short time." Lelouch sat in the car, looking at the rows of newly built facilities on both sides, feeling very gratified.

"Indeed, we encountered quite a few problems during the construction process, especially some geological issues, but fortunately the construction team worked hard to solve them. During my supervision, I also found that several engineering battalions and certain specific units performed exceptionally well."

For example, during the construction of airship mooring towers 21 to 23, geological subsidence almost occurred, but emergency grouting stabilized the foundation. They also conducted supplementary surveys and made minor adjustments to the locations of several airship mooring towers that had not yet been built.

The 14th Engineer Battalion of the Army Group performed best, especially its survey platoon, which discovered numerous geological hazards, recommended adjustments to the construction plan and some site selections, thus mitigating many losses and ensuring that the construction schedule was not delayed.

As Lelouch listened to Rommel's account, images of TikTok videos from his future life flashed through his mind.

In later years, videos on Douyin (TikTok) about building bridges or digging subway tunnels often had comments joking, "Before the bridge is closed, hang up all the surveyors' families. If it goes astray and can't be closed, then sacrifice the entire surveyor's family. If it's successfully closed, then treat them to good cigarettes, good wine, a good banquet, and call a bunch of young girls to serve them well."

This time, it seems the surveyor did a great job, ensuring the project's deadline was met; he deserves a generous reward.

Lelouch casually instructed Rommel, "Give me a list of officers who performed well during the rush to complete the project. I will put in a good word for them with His Highness."

Rommel was prepared and immediately handed over a document.

On the truck following behind, some officers from the engineering corps also had eager eyes when they saw Lieutenant Colonel Rommel hand over the list.

This caught the eye of one of the Crown Prince's favorites.

Lelouch glanced through it casually and was pleasantly surprised.

"Lieutenant Fritz Todt, the surveying platoon leader of the 14th Engineer Battalion? Born in 91, he had just finished his senior year in the Civil Engineering Department at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology when the war broke out? Hmm, not bad, he's quite a talent. He helped eliminate so many hidden dangers during the rush construction of the airship docking base, which is a great contribution to this operation. He should at least be promoted to company commander, and maybe even become a deputy battalion commander."

Many military enthusiasts may not recognize the name Fritz Thoth. But Lelouch is different; before his time travel, he was a hardcore Paradox Interactive player who had played Hearts of Iron IV to death.

In Hearts of Iron IV, the German national policy has a mechanism called the "Cabinet Core Circle," which allows players to select 3 out of 7 cabinet ministers to enter the core circle, jokingly referred to by players as the "Seven Warlords of the Sea."

The list of the "Seven Warlords of the Sea" consists of Fritz Thoth, Speer, Meyer, Simle, Gobert, Hess, and Bauman.

In his previous life, Lelouch played too many games and specifically researched the obscure character Fritz Thoth, only to discover that this person was the chief engineer who later helped Demania implement its four-year infrastructure project in the 1930s and planned the Demania highway project.

This man had indeed joined the army shortly after graduating from the Civil Engineering Department of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in the Duchy of Baden during the early stages of World War I, becoming an officer in the 14th Engineer Battalion directly under the 6th Army of the Baria Army. Unexpectedly, Lelouch's urgent need to build an airborne base allowed this guy to stand out from a group of veteran civil engineers.

Lelouch immediately made up his mind and ordered, "I want to see these meritorious officers and reward them well. Have this Fritz Thoth come to see me immediately."

Rommel immediately went to greet them, and soon a group of civil engineering guys were brought to Lelouch.

"Everyone has worked hard. If we win this battle, you will all be heroes of the empire, and His Highness the Crown Prince will not treat you unfairly."

As Lelouch spoke, he also personally gave each of the meritorious officers and soldiers a small gift as a reward.

After finishing the distribution, Lelouch left Fritz Thoth alone with him, who was currently only a lieutenant platoon leader.

Lelouch, beaming, spoke with a friendly and courteous tone: "Lieutenant Thoth, born at the end of '91? That's about the same age as me. I was born in early '92, so we were in the same class. When the war broke out, I had just finished my fourth year of architecture at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, while you had finished your fourth year of civil engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. We were practically colleagues. I joined the army last August, what about you?"

Fritz Toth, still a young man of twenty-five or twenty-six, was quite moved by his superior's approachable questions about trivial matters, and his words became somewhat slurred:

"That's quite a coincidence. I also joined the army last August. Sir, you're truly omnipotent. In just nine months, you've already become a colonel."

Lelouch patted the other man on the shoulder: "It's quite a coincidence. When I first joined the army, I was assigned to the communications battalion directly under the army group, while you were assigned to the engineering battalion directly under the army group. Unfortunately, my major was not relevant to the job. Demania's enlistment management does not recognize foreign academic qualifications. Otherwise, I would have been a second lieutenant at the very least, or at least a sergeant major. They only gave me the rank of corporal."

Lelouch's casual remark only made Fritz Thoth feel more ashamed: he had enlisted last year as a sergeant major, and after completing simple training and intensively improving his military skills, he was promoted to second lieutenant in a few months, and then to first lieutenant this year.

In this era, science and engineering college students are valuable. Even without any military training, as long as the skills they learn are useful to the military, such as architecture, civil engineering, and communications, they can at least become sergeants and follow the path of technical sergeants.

Lelouch's initial position as a corporal was purely due to a communication blunder. But looking back now, it's all legendary. He rose from corporal to colonel in just nine months—who can say that wasn't inspiring?

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lelouch chatted briefly with Thoth. He also mentioned that once the battle was over, he would speak to his superiors and at least promote Thoth to captain, engineer company commander, and deputy battalion commander.

Upon hearing this, Thoth was extremely grateful to Lelouch and expressed his intention to follow Lelouch's lead from now on.

Lelouch replied casually, "I studied architecture, and you studied civil engineering. If this war hadn't broken out, I would have gone to a design institute, and you would have gone to a construction company."

"When the war is over, or when the occupied territories on the eastern front need economic recovery and military buildup, we might even be able to work together. If I ever want to design a project in my spare time, you can help me with the construction."

"This is truly the honor of my life!" Fritz Toth was extremely grateful. He never imagined in his life that he, a civil engineer, would be recruited into the engineering corps and would be able to return to his old profession and do so many things he wanted to do.

Lelouch had long regarded it as a crucial asset in realizing his economic plans for the occupied territories on the Eastern Front. After acquiring territory on the Eastern Front, the key to ending the world war lay in achieving a self-sufficient economic cycle.

The agricultural products, mineral resources, and hydroelectric power resources of the Black Soil Plains must all be utilized. Demacia's original governance system was far too inefficient at coordinating resources in the occupied territories.

Given his close relationship with Baden, the Minister of the Department of Prisoners of War and Occupation Affairs, he would definitely cultivate more confidants and place more economic commissioners in the Department of Occupation Affairs.

……

Fritz Tóth and the commendation of the engineering corps were merely minor incidents before the airborne operation began.

While dealing with these matters, Lelouch also finished all the preparations for his parachute landing.

After lunch that day, Lelouch listened to Rommel's latest report on the enemy situation for the last time, in order to fill in any gaps and synchronize information.

Rommel reported in great detail: "In the past few days, our reconnaissance planes have repeatedly conducted as deep and thorough reconnaissance missions as possible behind enemy lines north of the mountains. The enemy has not become alerted by this, and at first they also tried to send fighter reconnaissance planes to intercept our aircraft."

However, our army conducts reconnaissance in four-aircraft formations, and counterattacks in the air when encountering the enemy. Even if the enemy sends out several times more aircraft, they cannot destroy our reconnaissance squadrons, and will be counter-killed by our fighter jets equipped with fire coordinators and coaxial machine guns in the nose.

Therefore, in terms of aerial intelligence, our military currently holds an absolute advantage, and the situation behind enemy lines is already one-way transparent.

Major Albert Kesselring, whom you previously dispatched to Fort Przemeshir, performed his mission exceptionally well. The Lussars' management of prisoners of war is quite lax; a small number of Austrian soldiers escaped during the transfer process.

Major Kesselring was among those who escaped. He's now running several small squads of about a hundred men behind enemy lines, though he's struggling to acquire weapons. However, he's managed to contact our aerial reconnaissance aircraft using the communication tools you gave him earlier, mainly multicolored smoke canisters, and even provided target designation for our aerial reconnaissance yesterday.

Based on all the information gathered so far, the enemy likely left 40,000 of the 130,000 prisoners of war, including Hungarians, on the front lines to work as laborers transporting artillery shells and building roads.

The remaining 4 Demanian soldiers, along with 4 Bohemian and other ethnic soldiers, were temporarily imprisoned in two prisoner-of-war camps located 60 to 70 kilometers east of the Przemeshir fortress. They were likely assigned to perform maintenance and transportation work.

Those two POW camps are located 10 to 20 kilometers east of Lviv, the main supply hub for the Russa people. In other words, these POW camps are located on the western outskirts of Lviv, and about 60 to 70 kilometers from Przemyshir.

The camp was not heavily guarded, likely between battalion and regimental level, given the enemy's limited manpower. Although the number of prisoners of war outnumbered the guards by several dozen times, the prisoners were unarmed, so the French troops weren't worried about them causing any trouble.

Lelouch was very satisfied with the reconnaissance results: "Indeed, Brusilov only has 13 divisions in the entire war zone north of the Carpathians. After Marshal Leopold annihilated 4 enemy divisions along the Gorlitse-Tarnov line, the enemy only has 9 divisions left."

They have to defend the fortresses of Rzeszóv, Krosno, and Przemeshir, as well as key points like Lviv. How many men can they spare to guard the two large suburban POW camps? Battalion to regimental level would be reasonable; even if each battalion leaves 1-2 men to guard 4 POWs, that should be sufficient. Our airborne regiment, after landing and a brief regrouping, can easily take over the POW camps with a surprise attack.”

Lelouch made the final decision, allowing the troops to eat and drink their fill, then take a nap in the afternoon until midnight before regrouping and preparing. They ate another meal, then boarded the airship at 1:30 a.m. and took off promptly at 2:30 a.m.

The target, naturally, was the prisoner-of-war camp on the western outskirts of Lviv, 180 kilometers northeast of Mikhailovsev.

The airship can travel 180 kilometers in less than two hours, and can parachute down and assemble at 4:2 a.m. before launching a surprise attack before dawn.

Without precise navigation at night, and with the flight distance being 180 kilometers, twice as far as Dunkirk, it was possible that the airship would deviate slightly from its course. (During the Dunkirk campaign, the airship did not deviate because it relied on nighttime artillery bombardment from ground railways and the creation of fires on the fortresses with incendiary bombs to indicate the target to the airship.)
But it doesn't matter. This small error will only result in a deviation of two or three kilometers at most, and with good luck, it might even be within one kilometer. As long as everyone lands together, we can determine the coordinates and the direction of march and attack after reaching the ground. A few kilometers of error doesn't matter; we can just walk there.

Airship parachuting has one advantage over airplane parachuting: all soldiers land in a more concentrated area. Airplanes are much faster; by the time the first person jumps and the last person jumps, the plane may have already flown several kilometers away.

On the same airship, from the first person to the last, the airship may not have even flown two hundred meters.

These are advantages unique to airship deployment, but unfortunately, they can only be used in an era when the enemy has not yet established an air defense network and fighter interception system.

By next year at the latest, airship landings will inevitably be phased out.

Let's take advantage of the current opportunities to make some money and try to squeeze out as much as we can.

(End of this chapter)