Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 119 Rescuing 80,000 Prisoners of War and Launching a Strong Attack on Lviv (A Long Chapter of 7,000 Words)

Colonel Osmanov attempted to withstand Lelouch's surprise attack, but his efforts were destined to be in vain.

His regiment had its heavy machine guns destroyed by the enemy as soon as it arrived, and the few field artillery positions it had left were also destroyed. It was then attacked by surprise.

When the Demacians stormed the camp walls and engaged in close combat with hordes of Russa soldiers wielding Mosin-Nagant rifles, the outcome of the battle was already a foregone conclusion.

In battles within the camp, the engagement distance generally does not exceed two hundred meters.

On such a battlefield, a soldier wielding an MP15 submachine gun would have an absolute advantage over a counterpart armed with a Mosin-Nagant.

Large numbers of Lusa soldiers fell dead in the chaotic gunfire. By the end, the Lusa soldiers had gone completely mad and no longer bothered to attack the raiding enemy. Instead, they turned their guns on the prisoners of war indiscriminately, trying to kill as many as possible before they died.

The prisoners of war were locked in the large communal barracks and couldn't break out. They had no choice but to lie down and find cover, firing wildly at the earthen walls, doors, and windows.

Fortunately, the Lussa soldiers were using Mosin-Nagant rifles, which lacked sufficient firepower density. It was quite difficult to kill a large number of prisoners of war who were already lying down inside the houses through the walls.

Finally, after killing thousands of prisoners of war, the Lusa guards were wiped out by the airborne regiment. Of the 1800 Lusa guards, several hundred broke through to the east and escaped, while the rest were killed in the camp.

"Brothers, do not be afraid! We are here to save you! Don't panic, we are all Demanians!"

To avoid causing misunderstandings, the paratroopers would repeatedly call out in German before opening the cell doors to confirm that the prisoners of war of their own ethnicity inside understood the situation before slowly opening the cell doors.

"Long live! Long live! We're saved!"

Tens of thousands of Demanian prisoners of war poured out of the camp.

More than 4 people were crammed into over a hundred simple, shared prefabricated houses.

Most of these prefabricated houses were built by the people themselves and were very simple. People usually crammed together on bunk beds, and even the aisles had to be used for sleeping. Several hundred people could be squeezed into one large prefabricated house.

Even that wasn't enough to sleep on, so some people had to sleep against the wall next to the temporary barn next to the camp. The main work these prisoners of war had done for the past week was harvesting wheat fields within a dozen kilometers under the watchful eyes of their guards. The harvested winter wheat hadn't been dried yet and couldn't be transported back to the rear, so they temporarily stored it in a designated area next to the camp.

Now, at least they have all regained their freedom.

Since Lelouch didn't have a megaphone, he had to use a wooden loudspeaker to shout at the top of his lungs to maintain order, and he also ordered his soldiers to identify the officers among the prisoners of war.

There were over 4 prisoners of war, including more than a thousand officers. Lelouch gathered the released officers together, gave them a brief address, and then sent them back to their units to discipline their soldiers.

"Listen up, everyone! I am Colonel Lelouch von Hunt, commander of the Demanian 6th Army's directly subordinate airborne regiment! You should all know Lieutenant Colonel Kesselring as well. He was captured with you and brought you the last supplies and final orders before you surrendered. He's the one who guided us here to rescue you today!"
Although we have captured this camp, the situation remains extremely dangerous. It's at least 70 or 80 kilometers from the front lines, and we're surrounded by enemy forces. We only have one regiment of soldiers and weapons. If everyone wants to survive and return home, the key is to take up enemy weapons and fight to the death! Only then is there any chance of breaking out!
Theoretically, we have three paths before us. One is to head directly west, attempting to cross 80 kilometers of enemy-occupied territory and return to Przemeshir to join forces with our comrades who are besieging Lusha's army there! I know many cowardly cowards tend to choose this path, but I also tell you that this is the most dangerous and the most difficult to traverse!

The second option is to divide our forces and head north to rescue the tens of thousands of brothers in the Bohemian prisoner-of-war camp, which is a dozen kilometers away, and then figure out another way.

Finally, there is another option: to join us in the counterattack against Lviv! Although Lviv has a cavalry division, and possibly even an infantry division, it is the main logistics base of the Southwestern Front of Russia. Their weapons, ammunition, rations, medicines, clothing, fuel, and all their stockpiles are stored in Lviv!
Although we have fewer weapons, we have more people. As long as we are willing to fight to the death, we may still have a fighting chance! I hope everyone will firmly follow this path and fight to the very end so that we can survive!

Lelouch loudly rallied the officers, though he had no choice but to go to such lengths, since these 40,000-plus people were prisoners of war, and from Austria, and were not nominally under his jurisdiction.

Even if he rescued them, there was no rule that they had to obey his orders. He still needed to discuss things properly and reason with them.

Fortunately, Lelouch's speech and analysis were very successful. Not long after he finished speaking, a large number of prisoner-of-war officers turned to look at an old man.

Lelouch immediately realized that this must be an important person.

Lieutenant Colonel Kesselring, who was standing next to Lelouch, recognized him and quickly whispered in his ear, "He is the former commander of the Przemeshir Fortress, Lieutenant General Kusmanek."

Lelouch nodded slightly, suddenly understanding.

It turns out he was the original commander of this unit; no wonder everyone was looking at him.

Lieutenant General Kusmanek also stepped forward with faltering steps, walked up to Lelouch, and shook his hand: "Lieutenant General Kusmanek of the Austrian Army, I am willing to temporarily follow your strategic command and carry out the strategic objectives you have set. However, I still hope to control the specific tactical arrangements of my troops. They are not yet armed, and I cannot let them die."

“Okay, you decide on the tactics.” Lelouch immediately backed down, reaching a deal with the other party, and then pointed to the captured weapons beside him.

"The weapons left behind by these Lusa people guarding the camp will be given to you first, but the quantity is too small at the moment, and it is estimated that they can only be given to the officers. General, you can figure out how to distribute them yourself. I only ask that when we are in battle, you can first pull out one or two thousand men to cooperate with me."

The annihilated Lusa garrison couldn't even provide each soldier with a Mosin-Nagant rifle, so the final captured rifles were barely enough for about a thousand men, along with five slightly damaged M1910 heavy machine guns and three 75mm field guns.

Originally, the battalion had a total of 8 heavy machine guns, but when it was attacked by grenade launchers, 3 of them were completely destroyed beyond repair, and the remaining 5 were also slightly damaged.

Some tripods collapsed from the explosion, and some water-cooling sleeves were punctured by shrapnel and leaked. But in such situations, you have to make do with what you can, and there's no way to be picky.

The only saving grace was that the camp had a sufficient ammunition reserve; a thousand guns could be fitted with more than a million rounds of ammunition.

However, the Lusa's rifles and machine guns are all 7.62 caliber, which is not compatible with the Demania's 7.92 caliber. Therefore, these bullets can only be used by soldiers who use captured guns, and cannot be used by the Mauser and MG15 light machine guns equipped by Lelouch's airborne regiment.

There are only 9mm pistol rounds, and tens of thousands of rounds are stored in the camp's warehouse. These are for the pistols of Lusa officers and sergeants, and they are compatible with the MP15 submachine gun.

Lelouch immediately adjusted the details of the combat tactics: the MG15 light machine guns should be used less in the subsequent battles, while the M1910 heavy machine guns should be used more freely, and the submachine gunners should replenish the pistol ammunition used up in the attack on the camp.

After packing up the weapons and provisions, Lelouch sent a telegram to Rommel using a portable radio, and then prepared to march east to join Rommel and plan their next move.

Just after landing, before rushing to the rescue, Lelouch and Kesselring had already discussed a plan: two battalions of soldiers would rush to attack the camp, while the remaining two battalions would ambush the main road from Lviv city to the Gorodok town prisoner-of-war camp, finding a wooded area by the roadside to surround the camp and prevent enemy reinforcements.

There is a slight difference of three or four kilometers between the two parts, and it takes about an hour to reach them by carrying equipment on foot.

……

At 7 a.m., more than an hour after the POW camp was attacked.

Lelouch had not yet joined Rommel, who, with his two battalions under his direct command, quietly lay in ambush along the road leading to the prisoner-of-war camp.

He had been lying in ambush for an hour, during which the soldiers were allowed to rest briefly, but were strictly forbidden from moving around or making any noise that might reveal their position.

Demacian soldiers are generally well-disciplined, and these soldiers are all elite, so they are very composed.

It was nearing summer and the weather was a bit hot. Hidden in the woods, everyone was a mosquito magnet. After more than an hour, unable to move around, almost everyone had been bitten by mosquitoes and various insects at least a dozen times.

But everyone was gritting their teeth and holding on. Surviving and ambushing the enemy were the real priorities. Being bitten by mosquitoes for hours on end was nothing compared to that.

Rommel waited until 7:15, and just when he thought he had wasted his time, the sound of galloping hooves came from the direction of Lviv in the east.

"As expected, the enemy has dispatched its cavalry division stationed in Lviv to rescue the prisoner-of-war camp! Light machine gun teams, prepare! Grenade launchers, prepare to block both ends of the road, and adjust the firing range and elevation to the maximum."

After a while, the grenade launcher squad opened fire, blocking the main road 500 meters east of the easternmost end of the forest and 500 meters west of the westernmost end of the forest, preventing the enemy from quickly breaking out or retreating along the main roads.

"Raise all light machine guns slightly to avoid accidentally hitting comrades in the woods across the road. Before the order for the general assault is given, everyone should lie low, using the roadside and trees as cover."

Rommel and his officers added some fine-tuning instructions to avoid tactical blunders.

This is an east-west forest path. The path itself is not wide, with several tens of meters of open space on each side, followed by the forest.

Rommel's two battalions were positioned on the south and north sides of the road, respectively. Therefore, the machine gun muzzles had to be raised slightly, otherwise the machine guns on the south side would easily hit friendly forces on the north side, and vice versa.

Rommel had just made his final adjustments to the deployment when the 13th Cossack Cavalry Division rushed over in a flurry.

Because they were marching to provide relief in their own rear, this unit obviously did not deploy into a search formation, nor did they carefully search the woods on both sides of the road. They simply ran along in a long, single-file formation.

This cannot be blamed on the Cossack cavalry commander's lack of education and military strategy. Cossacks generally had a low level of education and relied more on instinct in combat. They did not understand anti-airborne operations or how to deal with elusive underground resistance enemies, and were still simply copying conventional frontline combat experience.

Falling into the trap is not unjust at all.

"Da da da~"

Shortly after the vanguard of the cavalry passed through the woods, the sound of light machine gun fire almost instantly filled the entire area, with crossfire blocking the entire forest road.

Dozens of grenades launched from grenade launchers also densely blocked the beginning and end of the road.

If it weren't for the fact that an entire cavalry division was too large and the troops weren't so long, Rommel would have liked to devour the whole thing.

Unfortunately, the enemy's forces outnumbered his by three to four times, and cavalry occupied a larger area and their marching formation was looser than that of infantry to prevent horses from colliding. Therefore, Rommel ultimately only managed to capture a small portion of the enemy's forces.

At least seven or eight cavalry companies had broken out of the encirclement, and there were more than a dozen cavalry companies behind them that hadn't had time to enter the encirclement. Only about twenty cavalry companies in the very center were just inside.

Two airborne battalions, with nearly 30 light machine guns firing in a crossfire, instantly wiped out large numbers of cavalrymen, including seven or eight cavalry companies that were completely annihilated without leaving a single survivor.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh" grenades were thrown wildly from both sides of the forest path. The distance between the roadside and the woods was not far, only sixty or seventy meters. Strong grenadiers could throw grenades that far by relying on their arm strength.

Even if it's not thrown far enough, it can still scare away the warhorses and prevent the cavalry from rushing into the woods on both sides of the road, giving the machine gun team more time to fire.

The Cossack cavalry were completely stunned, but the battlefield scene today was very different from the machine gun cavalry sweeps of the past—Rommel had fought several battles of machine gun cavalry sweeps in his life, mainly on the western front in Ypres.

In those places, the Bretonnian cavalry would form loose formations from a distance and charge towards the assault battalion positions in a single direction, giving the machine guns ample range to fire.

Today, in an attempt to encircle more enemies, Rommel fought too aggressively, choosing to let the enemy into the encirclement before opening fire.

While this inflicted massive casualties on the enemy in the first instant, it also gave the enemy an opportunity to get closer.

When the machine gun squads opened fire, many cavalrymen were less than 200 meters away from the Demacian soldiers, and 30 machine guns were not enough to completely block every part of the road.

After suffering four-figure casualties in an instant, the remaining Cossacks charged forward with incredible ferocity, showing no signs of collapse despite losing at least 20-30% of their comrades in a short period of time.

"Are these Cossacks so fearless?" Rommel was also greatly shocked when he saw this scene.

We underestimated the enemy's willpower!
This is a distance where even a hand grenade could be thrown directly; if cavalry wanted to launch a charge, they would be right in front of them in less than ten seconds.

"Rat-a-tat-tat~" The paratroopers unleashed a hail of bullets from their submachine guns, mowing down swarms of Cossacks. But the enemy's starting distance was ultimately too close; countless wounded warhorses charged forward by inertia, still knocking down some paratroopers.

The cavalrymen, on horseback, gripped their sabers in one hand, seizing the opportunity for hand-to-hand combat, while holding M95 revolvers in the other, firing six rounds of pistol before dying in battle.

In close-quarters combat, the disadvantages of pistols in terms of range and lethality are negligible.

A revolver's six-round burst could be fired in roughly the time it takes a submachine gun to empty a 30-round magazine. In other words, each Cossack cavalryman could deliver at least 20% of the firepower of a submachine gunner.

The combined power of one or two thousand Cossack cavalrymen fighting for their lives is at least equivalent to the explosive force of three or four hundred musketeers.

The shortest and most brutal battle since the outbreak of this world war is unfolding right now, in this place.

A unit with automatic firepower and another unit with semi-automatic firepower suddenly engage in full-scale firefight at a distance of 200 meters or even 100 meters.

Thousands of lives were lost every minute, and a battle with thousands of casualties was over in just a few minutes.

Hundreds of paratroopers were killed or wounded by sabers and charging horses, and many more were killed or wounded by close-range revolver fire.

But the total casualties suffered by the Cossacks on the other side were more than five or even ten times that of Rommel. Along the battlefield, stretching for one or two kilometers, lay dead and abandoned warhorses everywhere.

However, just as the fierce battle reached its climax, reinforcements finally arrived from the west.

Lelouch's reinforcements had not yet arrived at the battlefield. As they rushed off in a frantic rush, they heard and saw the distant roar and machine gun fire.

Lelouch had no choice but to immediately order the machine gun crew to provide long-range strafing support, while the grenade launchers didn't even have time to get into range.

Dozens of MG15 light machine guns from Lelouch were urgently deployed far to the west of the road, about one or two kilometers from the battlefield. They simply aimed at the road and fired at it from a distance, without any aiming, to ensure that they would keep firing as long as there were people on the road.

The covering fire from Lelouch finally annihilated the Cossack cavalry company that had overextended. The rear guard of the cavalry division, which had not yet broken into the encirclement, saw that the situation was hopeless, and with enemy reinforcements arriving, and with almost all of their comrades at the front wiped out, they were finally forced to retreat back towards Lviv.

Rommel breathed a sigh of relief, still somewhat dazed, and quickly ordered his men to clean up the battlefield. There were also heavily wounded cavalrymen lying on the ground groaning in pain; they couldn't afford to treat them then, and could only use their bayonets to end the enemy's suffering.

"It was too tragic! In less than 10 minutes, more than 4,000 people were killed! Nearly 200 of our soldiers were killed by sabers or trampled by warhorses! Another 300 or 400 were killed or wounded by revolvers. Two paratrooper battalions suffered nearly 30% casualties! It was too tragic!"

The young Rommel, who had previously enjoyed a smooth and successful career, was now beginning to question his life. Since meeting Commander Lelouch, he had risen through the ranks with merit and was full of vigor. He originally thought that today's ambush was perfectly executed, but who knew that the enemy's resistance would be so resolute. Even after more than a thousand people were shot dead in the first instance, they were still able to organize a desperate fight.

If it weren't for the fact that the paratrooper battalion had a very high proportion of submachine guns, making them completely unafraid of close combat against enemies several times their size, they might have met their end here today.

"Erwin! You're too ambitious! You think you can wipe out an entire cavalry division with just two paratrooper battalions? The enemy outnumbers you three to one, what were you thinking? You dared to let so many enemies get within 200 meters before engaging? Why didn't you open fire when they were at 800 meters!"

After Lelouch had a general understanding of the battle situation, he couldn't help but complain to him a few times.

He knew that Rommel's career path had been altered by him; the guy had risen too quickly and smoothly, becoming a bit arrogant and overconfident, thinking he was a tactical genius.

Although the results were indeed remarkable, with more than four thousand enemies killed directly, and considering the serious injuries from the earlier finishing blows, the total number of people killed was estimated to be five or six thousand.

In terms of casualty ratio, it was indeed ten to one. But this was an ambush, and the paratroopers lying in ambush were the elite of the elite. Even though one was worth ten Cossack cavalrymen, Lelouch didn't feel like he had gained anything.

Rommel nodded repeatedly in shame, indicating that he would definitely learn from the lesson and would not dare to claim credit for this battle. However, now was not the time to talk about such things; they needed to quickly adjust their mindset and prepare for the next step.

Seeing that his attitude was sincere, Lelouch didn't press the matter further and told everyone to hurry up and get ready to move on.

Soon, Lieutenant General Kusmanek, who was in charge of commanding the prisoners of war, arrived at the battlefield with his more than a thousand soldiers, followed by a large group of released prisoners of war.

After Lieutenant General Kusmanek roughly understood the situation, he also defended Rommel: "Colonel Lelouch, I think you shouldn't be too harsh. The battlefield is ever-changing. Battalion Commander Rommel was just trying to achieve a decisive victory as soon as possible. It was a bit risky."

The most important thing now is to quickly capture horses and weapons and arm ourselves.

Lelouch understood this principle. After thinking for a moment, he pointed to the more than three hundred unclaimed submachine guns that had just been collected: "Lieutenant General Kusmanek, give one of these three hundred submachine guns to each of the officers of lieutenant rank and above among your prisoners of war. These were left behind by our comrades who just died in battle."

The pistols, rifles, sabers, and these few abandoned cavalry cannons left behind by the cavalry are all for your men. Pick some skilled riders to join the submachine gun and grenade launcher squads I've selected, gather a thousand or two men, and ride off to attack the Bohemian prisoner-of-war camp and rescue the people there.

We now have nearly 10,000 men armed...maybe we can attack Lviv! Then we can hold Lviv and wait for reinforcements! Lviv is the main logistical base for the enemy's entire Southwestern Front. With its granaries and armories, we have 90,000 men, enough to hold out until the enemy collapses first!

Lieutenant General Kusmanek, Rommel, and Kesselring all supported the decision.

Everything seemed to be getting out of hand, but it seemed like this was the choice that was destined to be made.

……

Of the weapons of the six thousand fallen cavalrymen, only four or five thousand were ultimately salvageable. A dozen or so undeployed M1910 water-cooled heavy machine guns and six cavalry cannons were also left behind on the battlefield.

These weapons were quickly collected, handed over to the prisoners of war, and used to arm two infantry regiments.

On the other side, Lelouch allowed Rommel to redeem himself by leading two battalions in good condition, along with a group of prisoners of war who had just been issued guns, on horseback to the Bohemian prisoner-of-war camp.

The battle over there was not much suspense and was resolved within half an hour. More than a thousand Lusa soldiers were killed, and about 40,000 Bohemian and other ethnic prisoners of war were rescued.

However, at the Bohemian POW camp, the guards at Lusa, having had more time to prepare, were aware of the friendly forces' predicament and remained vigilant, failing to find any opportunity for a surprise attack.

During the rescue operation, Rommel suffered another three or four hundred casualties, but fortunately, they were not all elite paratroopers. Rommel had taken some of the recently rescued prisoners of war with him, and he would have these friendly troops share some of the more difficult and deadly tasks.

Moreover, because the guards at Lusa were alert in advance, when they encountered the cavalry attack, they knew they couldn't hold out and began machine-firing the prisoners of war. In the end, they killed as many as three or four thousand Bohemians before their camp was breached.

The surviving prisoners of war and the guards held by the French army thus formed a lasting grudge.

These Bohemians were generally less loyal to Austria than their native Demandian prisoners of war.

Even before the war, some Bohemians who had immigrated from Slovakia to Kievan Rus' had been recruited into the army and the "Czech Legion" was formed.

But this barrage of gunfire has completely slapped them in the face.

After Rommel stormed into the POW camp and rescued the prisoners, he realized the scene might be useful. He ordered those with cameras to take as many photos as possible, especially of the piles of bodies of four thousand Bohemian prisoners of war killed by guards with heavy machine guns.

If we take it back to Austria, it might reduce the Bohemians' illusions about the enemy.

The battle at the Bohemian prisoner-of-war camp provided Rommel with several heavy machine guns, thousands of Mosin-Nagant rifles, and a large quantity of 7.62mm ammunition.

Rommel had no immediate intention of issuing weapons to Bohemian prisoners of war; he only issued rifles to some of the officers, while the rest of the guns were to be taken back and prioritized for arming Demanian prisoners of war.

However, the guards allowed the prisoners of war to eat and drink a little, but they were not allowed to eat and drink without restraint—this was what Lelouch had instructed him to do, just as he had done when he rescued his own tribe's prisoner-of-war camp.

People who have been starving for too long are very likely to die if they suddenly start eating and drinking freely, as they will suffer from electrolyte imbalance and metabolic disorders. This is common medical knowledge in later generations, but many people in this era may not have known it.

After a series of events, by the afternoon of that day, approximately 10,000 armed Demanian troops, along with more than 70,000 unarmed prisoners, had assembled west of Lviv.

Meanwhile, the Lusha garrison in Lviv, consisting of a full infantry division and 11 cavalry companies that had escaped, was on high alert, ready to defend Lviv to the death, and had requested reinforcements from nearby friendly forces.

To prevent enemy reinforcements from arriving immediately, Lelouch also blew up the railways connecting Lviv to the west and north. However, he couldn't reach the railways south and east of Lviv, so he had to leave them in use.

After Lieutenant General Kusmanek and Kesselring learned a little about the situation, they told Lelouch some bad news:

"If we can capture Lviv within 36 hours, then everything will be fine. If we can't, then the enemy's reinforcements urgently dispatched from all directions in the rear will be able to reach Lviv. The garrison troops left in places like the Przemyshir fortress in Brusilov can also return to reinforce here."

Lelouch looked at the map, his expression becoming slightly serious: "36 hours? That's roughly this afternoon and tonight, plus the whole day tomorrow."

If we can't break through by midnight tomorrow, and drag it out until dawn the day after tomorrow, enemy reinforcements will arrive in droves..."

But it doesn't matter, Lelouch believes that his army will only grow stronger with each battle.

He had over 80,000 men, but only 10,000 guns.

At worst, given today's special circumstances, he would allow his troops to "charge ahead while the soldiers behind wait to pick up their weapons before engaging in battle."

In terms of sheer numbers, a full division and its cavalry companies in Lviv are no match for ours; we have a four-fold numerical advantage.

But in terms of firepower, the enemy still outnumbered him by two to one. Moreover, the enemy was on the defensive and held the advantage of terrain.

He decided to focus on attacking the city along the railway first, and then fight his way to Lviv train station.

Intelligence indicated that the area near Lviv train station was the logistics depot for the entire Southwestern Army of Lusa, including an armory.

Once we capture Lviv train station, we'll have everything.

This is a target worth risking everything for, at any cost.

-

P.S.: 12,000 words today, please vote with your monthly tickets. Those planning to double their votes at the end of the month, please don't hold back, vote now! I'm not aiming for the final September monthly ticket ranking because I know I don't have the ability.

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(End of this chapter)