Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 120: Destroying the entire Southwestern Area Army's logistics base
A few hours later, in the town of Sukhovolya, west of Lviv, and the town of Bryukhovich, northwest of Lviv.

Lelouch's siege forces launched a sustained and fierce attack on the defenders of Lusa from both directions.

Light and heavy machine guns swept each other, Mosin-Nagant and Mauser 98 rifles went head-to-head, wave after wave of soldiers launched repeated charges, fighting endlessly on these two battlefields.

The artillery regiments of the Lussa people relentlessly bombarded the city, pinning down the attacking forces, who could only grit their teeth and hold on.

On the Demacian side, there were only nine 76mm field guns in total, which were not only few in number but also short-barreled cavalry guns. It was clearly extremely difficult for them to engage the defending artillery regiment, which possessed 122mm heavy howitzers.

Although there were still hundreds of grenade launchers, they were obviously of little use in this siege warfare, as their range was severely suppressed by the enemy.

By 3 p.m., the fierce fighting had left at least a thousand corpses on the outskirts of both towns. The Demacian army's casualties were more than double those of the Lusa army.

The only saving grace was that the main casualties were the newly rescued prisoners of war, rather than the elite troops, and the number of weapons lost by the attacking forces was kept to a minimum.

Most of the weapons left behind by the wounded and killed soldiers were salvaged by their comrades and used to continue the attack. They could even retrieve some Mosin-Nagant rifles from the hands of the enemy they had killed.

Lelouch had no other choice; when he deployed his offensive forces, he always arranged them with at least twice the number of weapons.

Of course, even when forced to over-allocate numbers, Lelouch didn't resort to the rudimentary tactics of the Lusa people, where "two soldiers charge, one is armed with a gun and the other with a club/machete."

He would at least give the soldiers following him an entrenching tool or a bayonet temporarily tied to a wooden stick, and he would also distribute some of the grenadiers' grenades to the soldiers without guns.

This way, the unarmed soldiers weren't completely without long-range attack capabilities. As long as they could get within 50 or 60 meters of the enemy, they could still throw grenades and pose a threat. Having grenades also gave the soldiers courage, making them feel less like cannon fodder to be sent to their deaths.

The enemy also had to divert their firepower to guard against these soldiers, indirectly relieving the firepower pressure on the attacking soldiers who were armed.

But even with so many optimizations, the slow progress of the offensive and the huge casualties remain undeniable facts.

As the overall commander of the battle, Lelouch, who was commanding such a large-scale army in actual combat for the first time, couldn't help but turn increasingly pale as the fighting progressed.

Before this battle, he was merely a figurehead, responsible for identifying and addressing shortcomings and offering advice. His direct command of troops on the front lines was limited to only two or three battalions.

This airdrop marked Lelouch's first time commanding an entire regiment in combat, but unexpectedly, it turned into a situation where he was commanding 90,000 soldiers, 10,000 of whom were armed and 80,000 were unarmed.

This sudden expansion exposed his shortcomings in command ability, and he soon found himself struggling to keep up.

In terms of numbers, this is equivalent to commanding two armies at once. Having someone with only regimental commander experience directly command an army-level unit creates a huge disconnect.

Although Lelouch's frontline command experience and lessons learned during this process were increasing dramatically, making it a rare opportunity for growth, all of this came at the cost of thousands of soldiers' lives, causing a tremendous shock to his conscience and nerves.

Fortunately, he had the capable and relatively tough-minded Rommel by his side, as well as Lieutenant General von Kusmanek, who had just been rescued from a prisoner-of-war camp, both of whom could help him fill in the gaps in his tactics.

Rommel had just experienced a tactical blunder in an ambush that morning and felt somewhat guilty, eager to prove himself with a victory. However, he also lacked experience commanding large armies and was frantically learning as he fought.

Lieutenant General Kusmanek had enough prestige to keep morale high when released prisoners of war were sent back to the battlefield, preventing them from wavering due to casualties.

The lieutenant general also repeatedly instructed his men to spread the message to the soldiers: our forces outnumber the Lviv garrison by more than five times (in reality, this was just an exaggeration to boost morale), and that once we captured the train station, we would have an inexhaustible supply of weapons, and everyone could arm themselves, ensuring victory in this battle.

Under such encouragement, the troops composed of prisoners of war were able to endure casualties and continue their offensive.

……

"I never imagined that the siege would be so difficult when the enemy had a heavy artillery advantage. It seems that our army has never fought such a tough battle where our artillery was completely inferior to the enemy's and we still had to take the initiative to attack the city."

In a field command bunker west of Sukhovoria, Lelouch hid and used his artillery scope to observe the enemy situation and the battle. The fierce fighting made him sigh.

After making a couple of remarks, he seemed a little forgetful, or perhaps he was too nervous, and asked the guard company commander Klose beside him again:
"Could you take another look at the map for me? How far is it from here to the city center and the train station?"

Sukhovolya is located directly west of Lviv, on the railway line from Lviv to Przemyshir-Krakow.

Klose glanced at the map and immediately reported: "It's 6 kilometers from the edge of Lviv city and 11 kilometers from Lviv station—of course, these are straight-line distances on the map. The railway isn't straight, so if we strictly follow the railway, the actual total distance might be 13 kilometers."

Lelouch murmured to himself, "13 kilometers... That means after we get into the city, we still need to advance another 5 kilometers within the city to reach the train station. It won't be easy—by the way, where is Rommel?"

On the other side, communications company commander Schweinsteiger, upon hearing his superior's inquiry, immediately reported: "I just received a reply from Deputy Regiment Commander Rommel. He's about to take the town of Bryukhović. It's 12 kilometers from the train station, but only 6 kilometers from Hill 385, the highest point in the northwest of the town."

"If we can capture the high ground, our cavalry field guns should be able to bombard the train station. Although his side has also suffered heavy casualties, he is confident of completing the mission and will definitely take Hill 385 tonight."

Lelouch nodded, offering no further comment.

The route through the town of Bryukhovich in the northwest of the city wasn't really the main offensive; it was more of a diversionary tactic. Reaching the train station from that route was unrealistic and much more difficult than advancing along the railway from the west of the city.

However, Lelouch's decision to divide his forces was not inherently problematic. He had considered several aspects at the time:
Firstly, his army was too large, nearly 90,000 men, all attacking from the west of Lviv, making it difficult for the troops to spread out.

The real world isn't a video game; it's about "battlefield width"—how many troops you can deploy. Stacking them up together is meaningless.

On the other hand, it was also because the last Bohemian prisoner-of-war camp to be rescued before the siege was located in the northwest of the city. Therefore, Rommel, who was going to rescue those Bohemian prisoners, was to take his rescued men and turn west to join the siege, saving them the extra trouble of traveling back and forth. This flanking force could threaten Hill 385, which was closest to the core city and the highest point in Lviv, as well as the mountain that penetrated deep into the city.

Even if they ultimately fail to reach the train station, simply establishing a foothold there and deploying artillery from the high ground will greatly draw enemy forces away. The defending enemy will certainly become restless and launch a counterattack, engaging Rommel in a war of attrition, thus increasing Lelouch's chances of victory in the main offensive.

(Note: The above image is a map of the Lviv campaign, including a diagram of the previous paratrooper prisoner rescue operation.)
After understanding the situation, Lelouch instructed all parties to continue advancing according to plan, without letting up until nightfall.

Some of his subordinates asked whether they should continue the attack after dark, and Lelouch gave a very decisive answer:
"Of course we must continue the attack! We have plenty of manpower, so we must keep the guns firing until the soldiers rest. After dark, exhausted troops can be withdrawn in batches, and their guns can be handed over to comrades who are resting and sleeping during the day, so that the energetic soldiers can continue the attack!"

His subordinates agreed, saying that a force with many men but few guns should indeed do this.

They could even further divide the attacking forces into two shifts, one for the first five hours of the night and the other for the second five hours, and have them take turns at midnight, thus creating a three-shift attack.

The relentless offensive will surely cause immense suffering to the Lusha defenders, who have no one to rotate with.

……

Thanks to Lelouch's gritted teeth and perseverance, the bloody battle finally continued until evening.

Before nightfall, the last two small towns on the outskirts of the main city, Sukhovorya and Bryukhović, were also captured by the Demanian army. From 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., they advanced another one to two kilometers, which was no easy feat.

After dark, the situation improved, and the offensive became more aggressive.

Lelouch himself was initially surprised, but later realized that this was partly due to the fact that the Demacian army had enough men to rotate, and the fresh, energetic troops who had just picked up their guns after dark were very strong in their attacks.

On the other hand, darkness makes the enemy's artillery advantage less obvious, because the efficiency of nighttime artillery observation is greatly reduced.

Lelouch and Lieutenant General Kusmanek discussed the matter, and the Lieutenant General, based on his experience, estimated that they might be able to push past the field positions outside the city and reach the edge of the core urban area before dawn tomorrow. That is, to the point where they would be only 5 kilometers away from the train station.

But further on, it will turn into urban warfare, where the Demacian army's grenade launchers will prove invaluable.

However, they were not equipped with flamethrowers for this operation. Without that powerful tool that had been used to clear out defensive fortifications on the western front, clearing out enemy strongpoints became a little more difficult and still cost lives.

After careful consideration, Lelouch quickly discovered a few shortcomings: "It seems that the situation is a bit troublesome. I have been too trusting of my experience in the previous battle for Dunkirk, but the duration and intensity of that battle were not as great as today's battle."

If we want to fight in urban warfare and clear houses one by one, we won't have enough grenades. Urban warfare requires breaching walls to attack; we can't go through doors, as that makes us vulnerable to ambushes by the enemy. But demolition requires a large number of cluster grenades.

Furthermore, while we have plenty of grenade launchers, we lack hand grenades. Having launchers without ammunition is just scrap metal… Are we really going to expect another airship sortie tomorrow morning to bring us supplies? If we're going to rely on airdrops for another supply, we need to send a message to the rear now so they have time to prepare in the middle of the night.”

After Lelouch clearly identified the problems, he didn't shy away from addressing them and directly suggested another airdrop to obtain supplies, asking everyone to consider it.

Lieutenant General Kusmanek also agreed to the resupply, while Lieutenant Colonel Kesselring, standing nearby, had a sudden inspiration and proposed an even more radical idea:

"If airdrops are possible, could we call in some of the airships and, like during the Dunkirk campaign, directly carry out bombing missions? We currently do not have heavy artillery, nor is it possible to airdrop heavy artillery. Instead of relying on airdropping grenades and having soldiers use grenade launchers and manpower to break through houses, it would be better to coordinate with some bombing to open up the path of attack."

Lelouch frowned slightly: "Direct bombing? That might be effective, but only high-altitude bombing can avoid interception by enemy fighter reconnaissance aircraft, making it difficult to ensure strike accuracy. If we want to attack key targets, we have to lower the altitude, which compromises safety."

Kesselring thought for a moment, then reminded him of an important piece of information: "But I think this risk is entirely worthwhile. Many of the prisoners of war we rescued were forced to work as stevedores at the train station by Lusa's guards."

I just asked a few of them individually, and some of them could remember the terrain and roughly knew the locations of the various warehouses near the Lviv train station. For example, some prisoners of war had previously loaded and unloaded ammunition for the enemy and transported it to ammunition depots near the train station. I heard that some of the ammunition depots there had stockpiles of up to 100,000 artillery shells.

The train station's ammunition depot is a very sturdy building, reportedly with reinforced concrete walls over half a meter high, designed to withstand bombardment from 150mm caliber artillery. However, it's still possible for a super-heavy aerial bomb to penetrate it.

Moreover, when we were making the siege plan at noon, we briefly discussed the topic of "how to prevent the enemy from systematically destroying the warehouses in the train station warehouse area and thus preventing us from seizing supplies." We didn't have any good ideas at the time.

Now it suddenly occurred to me, if we could blow up the enemy's ammunition depot and kill all the enemy in the train station area, and then launch a fierce attack, we might be able to capture other warehouses. Even if we couldn't seize the ammunition stockpile, we might still be able to salvage the weapons, clothing, and rations from the ruins.”

When an ammunition depot explodes, there will definitely be no cargo left within a radius of several hundred meters. The human body cannot withstand such a massive explosion, but cargo may be safe.

Textiles and clothing, as long as they are not affected by the fire, will not be damaged by the shockwave and shrapnel from the explosion. Steel weapons will be fine as long as they are not hit by falling objects and are kept at a distance. As for military rations, as long as there is no fire, they can be collected and still be eaten.

As for ammunition, there's little chance of capturing it anyway—if the Demacians actually reach the train station ammunition depot, the enemy is very likely to have installed timers to delay the detonation. In that case, the Demacian soldiers rushing in to capture it might end up being killed in large numbers.

In that case, we might as well help the enemy detonate it in advance.

The temptation was strong enough that it finally convinced Lelouch:

"Lieutenant Colonel Kesselring's suggestion is excellent! We'll draft a request immediately and send it to the rear under cover of night. As for concerns about enemy alert and interception, I think we can still use the previous method of 'taking off at dawn, arriving at the battlefield at sunrise and bombing' to create a time difference and minimize the risk."

"We'll have the airships take off from the rear at 3 a.m., arrive in Lviv at 5:30 a.m., then, with ground guidance, correct the course error, relocate the target, and drop the bombs. That should be achievable."

With his superior's approval, Kesselring immediately began to formulate a detailed plan, after which Schweinsteiger personally sent a telegram requesting air support from the rear.

(End of this chapter)