Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 132 Forces the Bretons to Sell Their Lives to the Enemy
Lelouch was a man of his word. After reaching a tacit understanding with Gustav Krupp, he quickly called Duke Rupprecht and asked him for a batch of prisoners of war from the Eastern Front, saying that they could be used for heavy labor infrastructure construction in the country.

Of course, Lelouch wouldn't tell the Duke directly, "He initiated all of this himself."

On the phone, he would only say, "This project was suggested by Mr. Gustav of Krupp, and the Grand Duke of Baden of the Prisoners of War Affairs also felt that this approach was beneficial to the country and its people."

The general principle is that wherever they go, they bring up the names of other collaborators to take the lead. Lelouch himself is not greedy for credit, nor does he need these empty titles.

It's like saying you're Bill Gates' son-in-law when having dinner with the president of the World Bank, or saying you're the vice president of the World Bank when having dinner with Bill Gates.

In the end, it's possible to get the identities of both sides without any investment.

Besides, Lelouch is genuinely capable. He didn't get something for nothing; he simply provided emotional value to those who helped him, making them feel more involved in the decision-making process.

Duke Rupprecht readily agreed: "Since Minister Baden of the Ministry of Prisoners of War Affairs can approve it, I certainly won't have any problem. Of the 70 prisoners captured this time, tens of thousands are Romanians. Romania has now reformed, and the prisoners have all been released back to serve in the army."

Regarding the remaining Serbian and Russo-Chinese prisoners of war, if you wish, I suggest prioritizing the allocation of some Serbian prisoners for labor. Since you didn't ask me for people before, I've already made temporary arrangements for Serbian prisoners to participate in the reconstruction of war-damaged facilities in the Hungarian region.

As you suggested before, have them build an oil pipeline from the Ploiești oil field in Romania to Belgrade-Budapest-Vienna, and then connect it to domestic pipelines in Prague.

"If you want, I can initially allocate 10 Serbian prisoners of war to work. Later, once the post-war facilities in Hungary have been largely repaired, I can gradually provide you with another 5 to 10. What do you think?"

Lelouch quickly expressed his gratitude: "10 people is already very good! Krupp didn't need 10 laborers to build the new steel mill, power plant and railway in the early stages. However, aren't those Rusa prisoners of war going to be used for work? Is there another plan from above?"

Duke Rupprecht: "I was just about to tell you this. A few days ago, the General Staff approached Minister Baden, hoping that the Prisoner of War Affairs Department and the Propaganda Bureau of the War Department could work together to consider the reformation of the prisoners of war in Lusa."

It's also your fault for being too clever. When the Battle of Ypres ended, you came up with a set of arguments criticizing free-market capitalists who were giving raises to the rear, which made tens of thousands of Burkina Faso prisoners of war hate their country's free speculators and willing to surrender to our country.

Currently, approximately three divisions of prisoners of war from various Burkina Faso countries have been organized and deployed to the Polish theater to provide defensive support and wear down the Lussars, with fairly good results. You were recently praised for this by your superiors.

So the General Staff and the War Department got a little addicted to taking advantage of these small things, and wanted to see if the more than 100 million Russa prisoners of war in the Empire's hands could be used to fill gaps with the Franks on the Western Front, besides doing manual labor—it was definitely impossible to get these guys to fight tough offensive battles.

However, in a war where the front lines are firmly established, involving only defending existing positions, digging trenches, and waging engineer tunnel warfare, these Russa prisoners of war should still be usable, provided they are paired with better-equipped Imperial elites to supervise the battle from the second line. The only question is how to get those Russa people to willingly serve the Empire.

Lelouch thought about it and realized there was a way to do it. Although the success rate wasn't high, it was cost-free and involved a large number of people. Besides, he was the deputy director of the propaganda bureau of the Imperial War Department (in charge of external propaganda), and helping his colleagues in the prisoner-of-war affairs department recruit defectors was part of his job.

"I do have a plan for this. I'll write a detailed plan to persuade them to surrender later. It's not something that can be done overnight. I think the first thing to do is to screen those prisoners of war and see if they hate the Tsar. In Russo, there have been quite a few people who oppose the tyrant for more than twenty years, and their numbers are still growing."

If prisoners of war are identified as opposing the Tsar, then a separate camp is set up and they are gradually told that as long as they serve the Empire and defend against the Franks, they will be released to return to Lussa when the time is right to oppose the tyrant.

If prisoners of war are identified as supporting the Tsar, they are placed in a separate camp and told that as long as they help the Empire defend against the Franks, they can smoke and drink vodka for the next few years. In the future, after the Empire forces the tyrant to cease hostilities, they can be released to clean up the mess.

The specific wording is certainly not that simple; I will gradually organize it and consult with my colleagues in the external publicity department. But this is the general idea.

There is certainly no one else in this world who knows how to utilize different factions of the Russa people, those who oppose the tyrant, and those who support the tyrant, to accomplish their respective tasks, just like Lelouch.

After all, there is no one else who can predict that the tyrant will be killed by his own people a few years from now.

However, this matter is not easy to discuss in detail. Lelouch himself knows what he's doing, and he'll gradually develop a written script for persuading Lelouch to surrender.

He didn't expect this kind of screening and targeted persuasion to win over many people. However, considering the Lusa people's indifferent attitude towards life and death, as long as they were given some benefits to enjoy life in the moment, or offered a promise of overthrowing the tyrant, the probability of cooperation should still be slightly higher than that of the Bu people.

The Empire has already captured over a million Russa prisoners of war, with around 300,000 captured on the southern front alone in this campaign. Even if only 20-30% can be identified as willing to help fill in the gaps, it would still save 300,000 lives of Demacian natives.

As for the weapons used by these line-filling troops, they can use the weapons and ammunition captured from Lusha earlier, without having to consume Demania's resources to produce them, which is the best of both worlds.

The remaining nearly one million people, if they ultimately refuse to cooperate, will be reassigned to either hard labor farming or railway construction, steel mills, thermal power plants, or electrical machinery factories. If all else fails, they will be put to dig trenches or engage in transportation.

The Duke, finding his explanation logical and well-reasoned, entrusted the task to him with peace of mind.

Lelouch accepted the task, only giving a wry smile: "At the beginning of the year, I did a good job in persuading the Burgundians to surrender, so there was still some hope. Now this task is even bigger, but even if I do it well, there's not much hope. The higher-ups have already put pressure on my seniority and experience; I'm still too young, and being too sharp will only attract jealousy."

The Duke, of course, understood what he meant. It was clear that the Duke felt he was only 25 years old and was being restricted from promotion due to his age. Whether it was the rank of colonel in the military or the position of deputy director in the administration, he had hit a ceiling for the time being.

Although the title was granted to a hereditary knight of the Kingdom of Barea, it was unlikely to be changed anytime soon. Unfortunately, Lelouch's pace of achieving merit was too rapid; he kept finding new ways to earn titles, so no matter how much he did, he couldn't be promoted.

Fortunately, the Duke trusted him completely and even devised a fourth and fifth avenue for rewarding him, in addition to military rank, administrative position, and peerage:
"Look at you, so narrow-minded, only concerned with rank and grade! Sometimes, rank and grade are just empty titles, power is what matters. I know your abilities. Even if you're just a colonel, within our 6th Army Group, as long as you perform well, what's wrong with me giving you extra real power?"
I've been thinking about something lately. During the Lviv campaign, didn't you rescue over 8 Allied prisoners of war? More than 4 Demanians, and another 4 Bohemians and other ethnic groups. Later, after defeating the Southwestern Front of Russia, we rescued over 2 Hungarian prisoners of war. Adding that all together, and even after deducting the casualties from the Lviv campaign, we still had nearly 10.

The airborne regiment you originally led was a great benefactor in rescuing these 10 people. I don't want to return these prisoners of war to the Austrians; I want to detain them and put them under our command. Considering the special relationship between my country, Balia, and Austria, this can be done. After all, we are fighting against the same enemy country, and the Austrian army was originally willing to accept our command.

Therefore, I plan to organize these 10 men into an independent, unorganized army. While nominally not under the direct command of my 6th Army, they will actually continue to cooperate with my 6th Army in combat, and their necessary supplies and equipment will be borne by the Kingdom of Baria. This way, if the Empire ever wants to redeploy some troops from the 6th Army to other theaters of war, at least these 10 men will remain.

The commander of the new Independent Army will be Lieutenant General Karl Lyudpot, the former commander of the 2nd Army Group. Your former superior, Major General Lister, will also be transferred to the Independent Army to serve as the commander of the Bohemian Division.

Considering that future opportunities for airborne operations will become increasingly scarce and that the enemy will become more wary of paratroopers, your airborne regiment will have few opportunities to distinguish itself in the future. It's best to gradually convert it into another unit. In name, I can give you the title of 'Training Airborne Division,' but in reality, it can only have two regiments, equivalent to a brigade in other countries.

Then, incorporate this division into the Independent Army, making it the initial core of that 10-strong force. Since the vast majority of those 10 prisoners of war were rescued, and you also led them in the Battle of Lviv, incorporating your regiment into this Independent Army would better ensure the loyalty of the Independent Army.

Furthermore, I've already spoken with Lieutenant General Kusmanek, whom you rescued. He's also disillusioned with the Austrian army system and is willing to fight alongside the Empire. After all, his name also contains the character "von," and he's a Demanian nobleman. Therefore, I plan to temporarily appoint him as the deputy commander of the Independent Army.

I believe in his abilities and loyalty, but others may not. Let Karl be the corps commander for a few months, then transfer him, and let Kusmanek continue as his independent corps commander. Then, promote Lister to deputy corps commander, and you might actually be commanding a full-strength division—provided you perform well enough in the subsequent autumn offensive.”

Duke Rupprecht painted a very rosy picture of Lelouch's future military career.

Military rank, position, and title cannot be mentioned, but real power can. Even if he is still a colonel, as long as he works under the Duke, the Duke can actually make him lead a brigade if he wants, or a division if he wants.

The increase in real power is far less sensitive than a direct promotion in rank; in urgent situations, it's perfectly acceptable to over-allocate one or two ranks. Hearing this promise, Lelouch became even more energized, vowing to work hard and give it his all in the subsequent battles.

I will also take other non-military work seriously.

……

For the next ten days or so, Lelouch was busy with the tasks assigned by the Duke, as well as cooperating with Gustave Krupp and Minister Baden to build a large-scale, low-cost, low-quality steel plant and a "Volkswagen" train car factory in the Ruhr region, as well as a new thermal power plant and an electric arc furnace steel plant.

Lacking generator sets, they sought deeper cooperation with Siemens, hoping Siemens would expand its generator plant to include a large-capacity generator.

Lacking laborers, they used hundreds of thousands of newly captured Serbian prisoners of war from the eastern front to perform hard labor.

I'm busy every day, but the results are remarkable. I heard that the new factory construction site in the Ruhr area is changing every day, progressing rapidly.

The prisoners of war laborers had to work 16 hours a day, or 12-hour shifts, working hard all day long.

Time flew by and it was already late July. On this day, good news finally came from the Naval Equipment Research Institute in Port Wilhelmshaven: after half a month of emergency trial production and test exercises, the "bottom-scraping" mine-clearing chain was successfully put into trial production and passed the rigorous moored mine-clearing test!

Lieutenant General Hipper and Admiral Spee had been eagerly awaiting news of the technology's progress. Once it was confirmed to be usable, they immediately informed Lelouch, sharing their joy.

Lelouch breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that the Naval Equipment Research Institute had finally achieved a breakthrough and verified the results.

He had a final in-depth discussion with Hipper and Spee, briefly outlining the future battle situation on both the Baltic and Black Sea sides, naval operational plans, and key points to note, before departing from Wilhelmshaven.

On his return journey, Lelouch might pass through Essen in the Ruhr region for a final inspection of the construction progress of his latest industry. He might also take some time to visit Dunkirk on the western front, chat with his sister and brother-in-law about the subsequent technical optimization of the three-phase electric arc furnace steel plant, and perhaps do something else on the side.

However, in general, Lelouch will definitely return to the southern flank of the eastern front and the Black Sea theater before the end of July to begin his next operation.

……

While Lelouch was busy filling in the gaps and tinkering with military equipment,

The Britannians across the Channel have also been causing trouble lately.

Since the end of June, when the Southeast European theater completely collapsed and the Allied forces lost a massive 1.7 million men, the Bretonnians have been in a state of panic, fearing that their ally Russa would not be able to hold on.

Therefore, even though the Burkina Faso expeditionary force was almost completely annihilated by Duke Rupprecht's 6th Army at the end of February in the first half of the year, the size of the country's standing army veterans shrank from nearly 300,000 to 50,000.

The Britannians were forced to take another risk and prepare for a major operation in the eastern Mediterranean to support the Lucia and open up the Dardanelles Strait.

"The Demanians are very likely to take action in the Black Sea region. After Romania sided with the enemy, the enemy gained more than a dozen destroyers and large torpedo boats, while our army lost more than a dozen ships. The balance of power of the light torpedo shield fleet has tilted slightly in favor of the Demanians."

If the Empire doesn't open the Dardanelles Strait and allow its overwhelmingly superior fleet to enter the Black Sea, the Lusa Fleet in the Black Sea might not be able to withstand the enemy's struggle for naval control! Therefore, regardless of whether our army has recovered or not, the Empire must launch the Dardanelles landing operation in July, or at the latest August. We absolutely cannot wait any longer!

At a closed-door meeting at Buckingham Palace on July 10, First Lord of the Navy Walton passionately delivered his call to action.

Right in front of Prime Minister Asquith, without any attempt to conceal it.

Many people felt that Wharton's proposal was inappropriate.

The first to voice opposition was Lloyd George, Secretary of War and Secretary of the Army and Quartermaster General:

"Too reckless! The Imperial Army suffered a devastating blow at the end of February and has not yet been fully rebuilt. How can we risk these precious seed troops again! Lord Walton, do you know how many veterans the Army has left?"
In early March, there were only 50,000 veteran soldiers! Then, at a ratio of one battalion to one regiment, 150,000 newly trained soldiers were injected, and the veterans trained the new recruits for three months. In early June, they mobilized 600,000 soldiers again at the same ratio of one battalion to one regiment, expanding the army to 800,000!
也就是说，帝国只有5万人有1年以上训练时长和实战经验，如果8月初要动手的话，还有15万人有5个月训练时长、60万人只有2个月训练时长！

Moreover, the newly mobilized 60 troops aren't even fully armed. During training, two people share a single gun, and they only have half the allotted artillery and machine guns. Even if all the stockpiles are distributed, plus the production capacity from July and August, the armament rate can only reach 70-80%. The Empire lost too much at Yprin!

Lloyd George presented very real difficulties, after all, this was a country that had wiped out its army at the end of February, and it couldn't withstand another major war.

Prime Minister Asquith, exasperated by the two arguing, turned to Walton and asked, "Tell me, how many army troops do you plan to use?"

Walton was also stubborn. Even after his colleagues complained, he still refused to compromise and bluntly said, "Originally, I estimated that to break through the Ottomans' strait defenses, we would need to deploy at least 20 men initially, and with reinforcements coming in, the total continuous investment could reach 50! However, these men don't necessarily have to come from our Great Britannia. The colonies of Canterbury, Australia, New Zealand, and India should share more than half of the cost!"

Asquith turned to Lloyd George: "If you were asked to pull together 25 men, not all of them veterans, could you do it?"

Lloyd George immediately frowned: "That's just wasting the lives of new recruits. I refuse such a deployment! The War Department can only send 5 veterans with six months of service and 10 new recruits with two months of service at most."

Asquith was having a bit of a headache, but he didn't expect Walton on the other side to be so uncooperative, instead raising the price again: "Your Excellency! I wasn't finished yet. I said I needed 500,000 men, but that was based on the assumption before June. But now, the Russo people and Serbia and Romania have suffered a combined total of 1.7 million casualties. We can't even provide another 500,000, we might need 600,000, or even 800,000!"
Moreover, if this drags on any longer and the Russo people suffer further heavy losses, the number of troops we need to support will only increase. Therefore, it is better to aid Russo sooner rather than later!

Prime Minister Asquith was truly exasperated.

The army keeps complaining, while the navy keeps making exorbitant demands. How can this conflict be reconciled?

"Walton! Don't spout nonsense! Do you know that 60 or 80 is absolutely impossible! Even the Empire plus its colonies couldn't muster that many troops." The Prime Minister couldn't help but get angry.

However, Walton did not back down. He seemed to have prepared a backup plan and immediately reassured the Prime Minister:
"Please be patient, Your Excellency Prime Minister. I know the Empire cannot provide that many troops, so I have another idea. Could we ask the Franks or Italians to send troops to assist in this operation? The Empire can provide naval cover, weapons, equipment, and ammunition, and will cover some of their combat supplies. We only need them to provide manpower."

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PS: Another two-part update of 12,000 words today. Please vote for me! I just dropped to 4th place in the military category, just one vote behind the person in front of me.

I know I definitely won't be able to beat them in the final results at the end of the month, so I'm just hoping to stay in the top 3 of the military category for the first half of the month. Also, there's a small recommendation slot on the 13th that lasts until the 15th, so I hope I can at least stay in the top 3 of the military category during that period. Thank you so much! Please check if there are any more votes available.

(End of this chapter)