Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 127 Northern Lu Deng, Southern Lu Xiu

Lelouch's analysis ultimately convinced Duke Rupprecht.

The Duke decided to use the influence of the Baria faction to persuade the General Staff and the Emperor to adjust the plan and no longer adopt Marshal Hindenburg's strategic plan of "advancing from the north and south in the next stage to cut off the Polish salient".

Instead, it was changed to "taking advantage of Demacia's local naval superiority over Lusa, flying along the coastline on both flanks to further expand the gains."

Of course, this strategy does not mean that we will stop fighting in Poland. Rather, there are priorities. Since the enemy has predicted that our army will focus on attacking Poland in the next stage and has begun to garrison troops in Poland to defend it, our army does not need to go head-to-head with them.

In the next phase, we could attack other areas first, targeting the weak points in the enemy's deployment with a fierce assault, leaving them devastated and disoriented. If the enemy realizes their mistake and redeploys some troops from Poland to defend other areas, we could then take advantage of this diversionary tactic to strike at Poland.

In short, it means to analyze each situation specifically, attack where the enemy is weak, and focus on adaptability.

Of course, this plan would require at least half a month of preparation before it could be executed. The previous battle had just ended, and the troops were still quite tired and needed some rest. The supplies needed for the new offensive also needed time to be deployed.

During the past two weeks, I have been simultaneously persuading the higher-ups and refining the advisory plan.

Meanwhile, after Lelouch offered his strategy, the Duke granted him a two-week leave, allowing him freedom of movement—especially since the Duke knew that to leverage the Empire's naval superiority in the Baltic Sea, the enemy's mine-clearing problem had to be solved. The navy's existing mine-clearing weapons, it seemed, were not very effective and needed improvement.

Lelouch has ideas and insights on this, so let him give it a try. Besides, he has a very close relationship with Lieutenant General Hipper and Admiral Spee, and is one of the few in the Demacian Army who has a good relationship with the Navy and has a lot of experience in coordinating land and sea operations.

In battles requiring coordinated land and sea operations, Lelouch naturally needs to communicate with the navy. All the Duke can do is grant him full authorization and endorsement.

……

After the Duke and Lelouch roughly divided the tasks, the Duke himself took a train back to Berlin to promote his strategic plan.

This strategic plan also received the support of the Duke's second uncle, Field Marshal Leopold, commander of the 10th Army, as well as the support of the Archduke of Württemberg, commander of the 4th Army. Therefore, the plan was sufficient to represent the attitude of the entire South German military bloc.

After being sent to the General Staff, Chief of the General Staff Falkenhayn carefully considered and weighed the proposal, concluding that it was indeed reasonable. Compared to the proposal previously submitted by Field Marshal Hindenburg, it was at least no worse.

The only uncertainty in the new plan lies in the feasibility of "land-sea coordination"—whether the Empire's navy can control the sea lanes supplying the Baltic and Black Sea coasts after operating in tandem. If this can be ensured, the new plan will completely surpass Marshal Hindenburg's old plan.

After writing his own comments, Falkenham submitted the document to the emperor for final decision.

After reading it, Emperor William frowned slightly. As emperor, he had many things to consider, not only military matters but also the balance of power among factions.

The three army group commanders from the four southern German states, two of whom were field marshals, all strongly supported the plan, which made Emperor Wilhelm feel disgusted by the factionalism.

Although Demacia has never experienced military rebellions or insubordination in its history, and there is no need to worry about the army's loyalty to the country, the emperor always hopes that his trusted subordinates, whom he has used for many years, can keep things under control.

After much deliberation, Emperor Wilhelm hesitated to make a decision and relayed the opinions from the General Staff and other sources to Hindenburg at the front. He hoped Hindenburg would respond to the strategic proposals put forward by Leopold and Rupprecht, identify any flaws in the new plans, and also learn from their strengths.

……

"Leopold and Rupprecht actually criticized our strategic plan in front of the Emperor! Are they afraid just because Nikolaevich has amassed more and more troops in Poland? Are they afraid to attack Poland directly? Are they still hoping for naval support and a two-pronged attack?"

After receiving the Emperor's decree, Field Marshal Hindenburg was quite unwilling and immediately showed it to his Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Rodendorff, and another key staff officer, Major General Mark Hoffman.

"The Emperor seems to be worried that as the enemy continues to strengthen its forces, our army will not be able to take down the enemy in the Polish salient. He hopes to continue to encircle the enemy from both flanks into the interior—what do you think?" The staff officers read the explanation, and Marshal Hindenburg explained from the side.

Mark Hoffman offered no comment on this; his role in the 8th Army and the entire central sector of the Eastern Front was primarily tactical deployment. The strategic ideas of Field Marshal Hindenburg and Lieutenant General Rodendorff, when translated into specific troop deployments, were detailed by Major General Hoffman. However, Hoffman rarely spoke on grand strategy.

Lieutenant General Rodendorff was very unwilling. After reading it, he immediately said angrily, "Marshal Leopold could come up with such a plan? I don't believe it! I don't mean to disrespect that old marshal, but he was a general back in the Franco-Prussian War. How could a senior who became a general more than 40 years ago know what sea-land coordination is? How could he know the difficulty involved?"
In my opinion, the Barians' strategic suggestion was merely put forward by Duke Rupprecht. The reason Marshal Leopold was placed first on the list of signatories was simply to leverage his prestige—perhaps the real proposer of this plan was none other than that Corporal Lelouch Hunt!

“Ahem… Erich, watch your words. If you’re going to address someone by their full name, you should call them Lelouch von Ritter Hunt, or just Lelouch. You wouldn’t want people calling you by your full name without the 'von,' would you?” Marshal Hindenburg, still concerned with aristocratic decorum, subtly reminded his chief of staff.

Rodendorff was slightly discouraged after being corrected, and subconsciously sighed, no longer caring about the matter.

He himself only became a nobleman this year—specifically, on March 22, 1915, he was knighted by Emperor Wilhelm, and from then on his name was suffixed with Gavon.

Before that day, his name was Erich Rodendorff; after that day, he was called Erich von Rodendorff.

The reason for the knighthood was, of course, the two battles of Tannenberg and Masurian Lake last year, in which more than 40 of Lusa's troops were annihilated.

Rodendorff had always resented not being a nobleman in his early years, which had delayed his chances of gaining merit and promotion. It wasn't that he cared about being a nobleman; rather, he felt that if he had been a nobleman at the start of the war, his rank might have been promoted by another level, and he would have had the opportunity to participate in the Battle of Tannenberg as the commander of an army and achieve great military exploits.

Instead of resorting to the current practice of using someone else's shell and serving as Marshal Hindenburg's chief of staff to indirectly lead troops.

It was precisely because of this background that Lieutenant General Rodendorff was very sensitive to the story of Colonel Lelouch, who rose to prominence on the Western and Southern Fronts. When he first heard about Lelouch, Rodendorff keenly felt that the man was too similar to himself in his youth—both came from humble beginnings but climbed the ranks quickly through strategy.

That kid was just much luckier than me—I was already 50 years old, and when I was 49, the war broke out, and I was promoted from colonel to lieutenant general within a year.

The other side was only 25 years old! He was 24 when the war started, and he was promoted from corporal to colonel in just one year after joining the army!
What a guy, born for war! Everything's in order.

In Demand's current staff circles, two rising stars are well-known: Ruden in the North and Rushu in the South.

Lieutenant General Rodendorff was Marshal Hindenburg's strategist, while Lelouch was clearly Duke Rupprecht's strategist.

Lelouch does not yet consider Lieutenant General Rodindorf as his rival. He feels that he is still young and inexperienced and needs to wait and see. For now, he regards the other party as a senior figure and may consider this issue in another year or two.

But Rodendorff had already sensed that "this kid is not to be underestimated," and began to feel competitive and wary, wanting to ensure he could run faster. In this situation, Rodendorff became even more determined to prove his strategy was the best, and was unwilling to simply listen to advice and give up.

"Your Excellency Marshal! I still believe that our own plan is the best! Although Nikolayevich has recently strengthened the Polish direction, the Russo people, though numerous, are not particularly brave."

Their Northwestern Front had just lost 500,000 men to us, and their Southwestern Front was almost completely wiped out. Even if Brusilov escaped with five divisions of veteran soldiers and was given some new troops, could he change the situation?

Instead, we should manufacture fighter jets and search for a weak point in the Lusa people's defenses along the East Prosen and southern Lithuania in the coming days. Then, under the pretext that the Lusa people are attempting to launch an offensive to the north, our army can repel their attack and launch a counterattack to the south.

If we can capture towns and strongholds such as Suwałki and Augustustuff under these circumstances, and carve a small opening at the northern root of the Russa's Polish promontory to create a bridgehead to Białystok, then the imperial high command will naturally take our plan seriously.

Even if the strategic objectives cannot be perfectly achieved, such a probing offensive, if well-prepared, will certainly yield a good exchange ratio. Eliminating some of the Lushad troops along the way would further enhance our military's prestige. Moreover, this offensive can be conveniently described as an 'aftermath of the Lithuanian campaign,' indicating that the defensive lines were not yet secure after the previous advance, and both sides needed to engage in some skirmishes.

Marshal Hindenburg listened carefully. He was initially worried that Rodendorff might be eager to make a name for himself and might disobey orders and leave on his own.

But as he listened further, he became convinced that the other party had not been blinded by competitiveness, that everything was still understandable, and that they had prepared their explanation and escape route.

While the Empire was fighting the Hungarian campaign on the southeastern front, it was also fighting the Lithuanian campaign on the northeastern front. However, the Lithuanian campaign ended more than a month earlier than the Hungarian campaign, and the troops have now had some time to rest.

However, it is normal for a new reshuffle to occur after a month-long battle. It is just the "aftermath" of the previous battles. As long as the result is good, it is still a military achievement that benefits the country, the army, and the individual.

Ultimately, Hindenburg approved Rodendorff's plan, which was seen as an attempt to expand the gains of the Lithuanian campaign.

After a brief period of preparation and adjustment, on July 8, Rodendorff finally organized a part of the Demanian 9th Army to launch a small, probing offensive southward from the two small cities of Marijanpone and Calvaria, which were on the former border of East Prosen and Lithuania.

The battle lasted for almost a week. Ultimately, thanks to the strength of the Demanian army and the unfavorable factors such as the Lussa people having just suffered two major defeats, wavering morale, and lack of ammunition and guns, Rodendorff made a breakthrough and captured Suvauki, a city north of the Bosnian-Belgian border swamp.

However, when Rodendorff's forces attempted to cross the swampy area again to attack Augustus, they quickly encountered setbacks. The Demanian army's logistical support began to falter, and the casualty exchange ratio was no longer as favorable as it had been initially.

The Lussa quickly reinforced their defenses, and General Brusilov, who had just retreated from the southern front to Poland, arrived with two corps to provide reinforcements.

What the Demanians didn't expect was that the Russa changed their previous distrust of the Poles and temporarily conscripted a large number of Poles to defend the place to the death. Although they had very few weapons, and two people could not even share a gun, the efficiency of this mobilization was terrifying. They could easily conjure up hundreds of thousands of troops to be sacrificed and worn down.

After a desperate attempt to plug the leaks, regardless of casualties, Brusilov managed to drive Rodendorf back, but ultimately failed to capture Augustuv.

Marshal Hindenburg and Lieutenant General Rodendorff only realized after this encounter that their enemy was not simple—General Brusilov had been fighting in the Carpathian and Hungarian fronts and had always been under the command of the Southwestern Front of Russia. He had never been to the Northwestern Front and had never fought against Hindenburg/Rodendorff before.

Hindenburg originally thought that all the Lusa generals were useless, like General Samsonov, the commander of the Lusa 2nd Army, whom he had killed in Tannenberg the previous year.

Only now did he realize that there were some capable people among General Rusha's men. The previous massacre of Samsonov was merely due to their good luck in encountering a foolish and easy target. But good luck didn't last; they eventually met their match.

"This Brusilov is quite capable. I heard that the Southwestern Front was completely annihilated by my sixth and tenth episodes. I thought the generals there were all useless... Since he has this ability, and Marshal Leopold was able to easily beat him down, doesn't that mean that Marshal Leopold's abilities are far superior to yours and mine?"

For the first time, Field Marshal Hindenburg and Lieutenant General Rodendorff had this thought from the bottom of their hearts.

The feeling is like the story of Tian Ji's horse race, where he sends out his best, middle, and worst horses in rotation. He initially believes he's facing the enemy's best horse, only to realize after the opponents have switched that he was merely fighting the enemy's worst horse, making the victory seem somewhat dishonorable.

Ultimately, the offensive lasted until July 20th, when it was abruptly halted. The Demanian army, relying entirely on its superior strength, achieved a 1:6 exchange ratio, annihilating 50,000 Rusza troops and killing 90,000 newly mobilized Polish soldiers, while Rodendorff himself suffered 22,000 casualties.

Fortunately, Demacia now possesses its own sulfonamide drug. With this anti-infective wound medicine, more than 5,000 of the more than 10,000 wounded were saved, so the final permanent casualties of the Demacia army were reduced to 17,000.

Exchanging 1.7 men for 14 enemy soldiers is tactically a good result. However, only 5 of the Lusza regular army were killed or wounded; the remaining 9 were Polish soldiers hastily conscripted and whose lives were considered cheap. Therefore, the trade wasn't very profitable. Furthermore, the 5000 rescued soldiers wouldn't recover immediately and would be out of action for at least a year. Also, the high command didn't know so many would be rescued immediately after the battle.

More importantly, the strategic outcome that Hindenburg and Rodendorff were hoping for was not so easy to achieve. They couldn't even conquer Augustus on their own, let alone Bialystok.

According to previous assessments, the Northern Route Army needed to be capable of taking Białystok on its own to mean that "a combined attack from the north and south could hopefully encircle them in Brest-Litovsk."

If the encirclement cannot be completed, the battle will turn into a war of attrition rather than a war of annihilation. Even with a casualty exchange ratio of several times, such a hard-fought war of attrition is not worth fighting.

All of this ultimately forced Hindenburg to yield to the Emperor, suggesting that "the strategies of Marshal Leopold and Marshal Rupprecht be adopted."

Emperor Wilhelm, showing leniency to Hindenburg, spared further investigation into whether Hindenburg had attempted a solo mission, considering that Hindenburg had exchanged 22,000 men for 50,000 men in Lusza and 90,000 new Polish recruits. He treated Hindenburg as if nothing had happened, as if this was merely an aftermath of the Lithuanian campaign, a case of neither merit nor demerit.

The emperor also consulted the General Staff on this matter, and the Chief of the General Staff, General Pharkinhan, offered the emperor some words of comfort, hoping he would think positively.
"Your Majesty, I believe that slowing down the attack on Poland is absolutely beneficial to the Empire. The Russo people are now resorting to any means necessary to protect Poland. Their conscription of local Polish people as cannon fodder will inevitably lead to resistance from the Polish people."

But there are no signs of open resistance, which means the Russo people are using an even more oppressive iron fist. Perhaps those Polish people who are quick-thinking and have a change of heart are being targeted and suppressed.

In the long run, this is beneficial to the country that will eventually rule the Polish region. However, the Russo people's exploitative practices may not allow them to hold onto Poland indefinitely, and they might very well end up benefiting the empire. Why doesn't Your Majesty show them more patience and allow the Russo people to grow increasingly resentful and angered in the region?

Emperor William had to admit that this was indeed the case; the Lussa people's desperate defense came at the cost of damaging their long-term competitiveness in the region.

Since that's the case, why not give him a few more months or even half a year?

“That’s right. Let’s follow Marshal Leopold’s strategy completely and put Marshal Hindenburg’s plan on hold.”

Demania's war machine finally began to operate around the strategy that Lelouch had devised through Duke Rupprecht and Marshal Leopold.

(End of this chapter)