Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 14 Those who disobey me, even in death, will be utterly disgraced.

"Where is the king?!"

"Have all the kingdom's high-ranking officials fled? Abandoned us! Abandoned the people and run away?!"

"If you didn't run away, then let His Majesty the King come out! We want to see the King!"

"Are the interests of those scoundrels at the London Stock Exchange above the interests of the nation, the people, and the military? Give us an explanation!"

In Ostend, the last stronghold of the Belgian army, the remnants of the 1st, 4th and 6th Divisions were thrown into complete chaos after German leaflets were scattered everywhere.

Countless soldiers surged to the site of the former royal palace, demanding an explanation, and the chaos was uncontrollable.

Many people don't care about the truth; they just feel that their morale has plummeted to rock bottom due to a series of defeats, and they have nowhere to vent their frustrations, so they need an excuse to let it out.

At times like these, giving them an excuse is like throwing a lit match into a powder keg, tearing apart everything in their way.

Of the last three divisions of the Belgian army, the 1st Belgian Division was in the best condition. It still had some combat capability and had been used as cannon fodder for a relatively short period of time.

The 4th and 6th Divisions were basically destroyed, especially the 4th Division, which suffered the heaviest casualties and the most severe losses during the breakout.

The three division commanders gathered together, their expressions extremely solemn.

As high-ranking officers at the division commander level, their information network was naturally well-informed, and they had known in advance last night that the King had fled. Chief of the General Staff Felix had personally informed them privately, instructing them to keep it a secret, try to stabilize the situation, and promising that the Royal Navy of Great Britain would soon pick up everyone.

But none of the three expected that the news would leak so quickly, leading to a mutiny within the army.

Those despicable Demacians have resorted to their old tricks again, airdropping leaflets! When did that conservative enemy nation become so adept at propaganda warfare?

Now, they can only discuss emergency countermeasures on their own, but after talking for a long time, they still couldn't come up with a feasible way to suppress the troops.

Major General De Gizell, the commander of the 4th Division, who harbored the most resentment, even showed signs of wanting to surrender, but was sternly stopped by Lieutenant General Begham, who had the highest prestige and rank.

Compared to 6th Division Commander Viktor, he played the role of peacemaker because the extent of his division's losses and the accumulated resentment were at an average level.

After the first secret meeting ended in discord, Lieutenant General Begham had no choice but to go out alone to try to maintain order within the troops and prevent a mutiny. Fortunately, he still had some prestige, and by putting out fires everywhere and making reckless promises, he managed to keep the situation stable for a while.

Begham's main argument was nothing more than to deceive the other Belgian soldiers, saying that "the Royal Navy of Great Britain will not abandon everyone, everyone can be picked up by warships, and another batch of warships will be coming soon. As long as you line up in an orderly manner, you can board the ship," and so on.

This explanation temporarily fooled many people, and when they heard there was a chance to leave by boat, they were no longer in a hurry to surrender to the German army.

De Gizar, who had been reprimanded by Begham, pulled Viktor aside and the two had another private conversation. De Gizar really wanted Viktor to support him as well.

"Major General Viktor! Think about it, it's impossible for everyone to evacuate! There has to be troops covering the rear, otherwise no one will defend the city, and the German army can reach the port in an hour. Even if there are ships, we won't be able to evacuate! Bergham is a lackey of the high command. He's always been good at currying favor with the royal family, the Minister of Defense, and the General Staff. In the end, won't you and I be the ones being sent to our deaths to cover the rear?"

Viktor knew there was some truth to what he said, but he was still hesitant, which led to a stalemate.

“Even if someone is willing to cover the rear and die, it will definitely be your 4th Division that takes the lead, since you broke ties with him… As long as I don’t offend either side, I might be able to get a ticket to the ship…” Viktor naturally had this thought, which is also the most real and common face of all fence-sitters.

We're all foxes who've cultivated for a thousand years, we're all incredibly cunning, so let's not try to fool each other.

When Major General Dejzel saw him making excuses, he naturally realized what he was thinking. The two became estranged, maintaining a facade of brotherhood for the time being while each sought their own way out.

Major General De Gizell returned to his post and immediately ordered his men to turn on the division's radio, preparing to communicate with the German troops on the other side, secretly discuss surrender terms, and get a sense of the situation.

After Major General Viktor returned to camp, he immediately took the radio to talk about their own situations, and everyone began to look for a way out.

……

Meanwhile, in London.

First Secretary of the Navy Walton's phone was quickly ringing off the hook.

It was a call from King Albert I of Billykin, who had just retreated to Ypres, demanding that he be sent back.

"Minister Walton! Didn't you say everything would be kept secret? And that my troops would be brought out within two or three days after I left? Why was it leaked so quickly? There must be a traitor in your Admiralty! A Demacian spy!"

It turned out that the king had just received a message from Lieutenant General Begham that a mutiny had occurred in Ostend, which was surrounded by enemy troops!
The king, in a state of extreme anxiety, naturally sought help, complained, and vented his grievances to the Minister of the Navy of Burkina Faso. A torrent of emotions erupted, catching Minister Walton somewhat off guard.

"That's impossible! There are absolutely no spies in the Royal Navy's high command! And all the ships involved in the operation maintained absolute radio silence! King Albert, could the problem lie with you?"

Then came a round of mutual accusations, and finally, Minister Wharton, barely suppressing his anger, pointed out that everyone should look forward and solve the problem first.

He then assured King Albert, “Rest assured, the Royal Navy is the most responsible. We will dispatch high-speed destroyers to Ostend as quickly as possible, and we will pick up as many as we can. Other fleets will also set sail to provide support as soon as possible! Now is not the time to investigate who leaked the intelligence; let’s solve the problem first! I guarantee that high-speed destroyers will arrive in Ostend within five hours!”

After hanging up the phone, Minister Walton quickly made some more moves, even breaking radio silence to have the destroyers of the Channel Fleet patrolling near Billy King go there first, and then the rest of the fleet also accelerated to prepare to set sail.

Unfortunately, those pre-dreadnought ships built in the 90s were too slow to start up; the preheating coal boilers could take half a day to burn. So, the relatively new cruisers had to take on the main task of the evacuation mission.

After hanging up the phone in a fit of rage, Minister Wharton slammed his massive frame into the sofa, his mind racing with thoughts of where such a capable person could have come from among the enemy.

"This is definitely not the kind of wisdom the Demacians should have! They couldn't possibly have found out about this. Could it be that they just stumbled upon this by chance and made up some random rumor to swindle us?"

If someone had a god-like perspective right now, they would probably marvel: Minister Wharton truly lives up to his reputation as the former number one schemer in the Western Hemisphere; his predictions were surprisingly accurate.

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, "Why did Heaven create both Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang?" Lelouch has transmigrated, and his title as the number one schemer in the Western Hemisphere has to be relinquished.

……

Three flowers bloom, each showing its own beauty.

At the same time, at the headquarters of the 16th Regiment in Neoport town.

Sergeant Lelouch, along with several trusted technical and cryptographic experts, had been stationed in the communications room since early this morning, constantly sending telegrams to the Belgian people across the street, urging them to surrender.

They used plaintext, and low-power shortwave radios, the kind that could only transmit for a dozen kilometers, ensuring that only officers of rank above legion within Ostend could receive the signal, while the enemy further back remained unaware.

Of course, considering that radio waves propagate in a circular pattern in all directions without discrimination, theoretically, Dunkirk, which was controlled by the French army a dozen kilometers to the west, could also receive these telegrams, but the French army might not have bothered to listen in.

"To the soldiers of Billy King on the other side: Think carefully about your future. You have no way out. Your king has betrayed you. Surrender now, and you will not leave a shameful mark on history books. The people will understand you. This is the best time to surrender..." Messages like these were sent repeatedly, bombarding the nerves of the cipher clerks on the other side. Unless they shut down their radios and abandoned communication, they were easy to receive. And to ensure they received it, Lelouch would often broadcast for a while and then switch to a different frequency.

However, before receiving a reply, everyone was uneasy. No one knew how effective the psychological warfare and persuasion would be, or whether the enemy's mentality would collapse.

Apart from Lelouch's most loyal confidant, Klose, all the other radio operators glanced at their superior from time to time, seemingly hoping to gain encouragement from his eyes.

After broadcasting for an unknown period of time, Klose and Schweinsteiger, who were standing by the receiver, suddenly reported:
"Sir! We've intercepted a reply from the enemy! The reply claims to be from Major General Dejizel's division headquarters in the 4th Division. They want to negotiate with us! They also mentioned that Lieutenant General Begham of the 1st Division is stubbornly refusing to surrender, and Major General Viktor of the 6th Division is wavering. He hopes to receive our assistance when he surrenders!"

Lelouch, who had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, rhythmically tapping his knuckles on the armrest, immediately opened his eyes wide and stood up abruptly upon hearing this:
"Finally a reply? Excellent! The enemy's mutiny is finally out of control! The first to want to surrender is Degizel of the 4th Division... Hmm, let me think, his division did suffer the heaviest casualties during the breakout, while the 6th Division is still on the fence... How dare someone like him be on the fence? I've got it! I know how to deal with him, immediately send the message as I said."

Lelouch paced back and forth for only seven steps, roughly the same pace as Cao Zhi composing a poem, when a new, insidious plan—one that could be devised on the fly and countered any move—emerged in his mind.

"To Major General Victor, Commander of the 6th Division: It is understood that King Albert announced to the public yesterday that the so-called breaching of the Isel River levee and flood discharge was not a decision made by the royal family and cabinet, but rather an impromptu action by the frontline generals."

It's laughable that the general, oblivious to the impending doom, remained blindly loyal to the foolish and incompetent king! Imagine, now that King Albert has abandoned his people and the army has retreated, he will surely make inflammatory remarks to the international community, shifting the blame onto the dead. In times like these, even if it's for the sake of military honor and loyalty to the country, survival is the only chance to be remembered in history!
Otherwise, if the king were to shift all the blame onto the dead, the general would not only face execution but also be unjustly accused, ultimately ending up disgraced and ruined...

Furthermore, the Demacian army will also bear witness that anyone who refuses to surrender will have all the evidence of the Isel Canal breach pinned on the die-hards. General, you personally participated in the breach; if you don't surrender to Demania, can you ever clear your name from posterity?

Lelouch had far too many persuasive arguments like these in his head.

Given his thorough knowledge of the Twenty-Four Histories before his time travel, he could easily cite relevant cases.

For example, after Zhang Han suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Julu against Xiang Yu, Chen Yu wrote a letter to Zhang Han advising him, "Being a Qin general means you will die whether you win or lose. Bai Qi and Meng Tian had great merits but could not be fully rewarded. How much more so for you, General, who cannot even win and will become a scapegoat for Zhao Gao to appease the Qin court's questioning."

Lelouch, with a mindset of plagiarism, slightly combined and modified the cases he could think of, and still managed to outwit those Billy Kings?

For Western civilization to try to compete with Eastern civilization in terms of historical accumulation of intrigue and cunning is simply like trying to teach an expert to teach a fish to swim.

After this series of targeted telegrams aimed at the dark corners of the enemy's heart were sent out, the mutiny in the army in Ostend on the other side indeed reached a new climax.

A single telegram can be worth ten thousand soldiers.

……

Just half an hour later, at the headquarters of the 6th Division in Ostend.

Major General Viktor looked at the German telegram that Major General De Gizel had brought him, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat, as if he had been pulled out of the water.

"Despicable! Despicable! So vicious!"

Major General Viktor felt a sudden wave of dizziness, his vision went black, and he almost collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, his orderly reacted quickly and caught him on either side.

"General, wake up! General, are you alright?"

Finally, it took a series of emergency procedures, including pinching his philtrum, splashing cold water, and massaging his chest and lungs, to bring Major General Viktor back to his senses.

That's incredibly vicious! The reason these generals refused to surrender, at best, was largely due to their sense of honor as noble officers.

When the fighting began in 1914, there were still many old-fashioned nobles on both sides. Many of them cared about their reputation and did not want to leave a bad name in history books.

As for loyalty to the king... well, that only accounts for a small part. Everyone knows who else; it's mainly about reputation.

But Lelouch's deduction revealed to him the most terrifying thing in the world: anyone who does not cooperate will not only die, but will also be disgraced after death!

Is this a slap in the face?
Major General Viktor's soul was finally broken, and he became completely corrupted.

Viktor: "Brother, I'll do it with you. Let's surrender to the Germans together and let them in. If Bergham dares to stop us, we'll join forces and lead the way to kill him! He's a confidant of the King and the General Staff!"
"Then we'll say it was one of his special operations teams that bombed the dike, and it has nothing to do with our 6th Division! We'll pin all the crimes against our compatriots on him—if you promise me that, I'll work for you!"

Degizel: "Deal!"

An hour later, the Demacian army surged into Ostend from both the east and west.

The 4th and 6th Divisions announced their defection on the battlefield, vowing to punish the tyrant and bring peace to the people.

The city of Ostend descended into a brief but intense civil war.

The 4th/6th Division led the German troops all the way to the former royal palace.

Lieutenant General Begham, commander of the 1st Division, was killed in the chaos before he could even figure out what was happening. Most of the soldiers in the 1st Division who were absolutely loyal to the King were also killed.

Only a very small number realized something was wrong, and disregarding the rough seas, they hurriedly boarded any small fishing boats, sampans, or sailboats they could find at the docks and fled, drifting with the current, hoping that the Britannian warships would come to pick them up as soon as possible.

However, these are merely minor ailments and not worth mentioning.

The news of the victory immediately reached the headquarters of the 12th Division, which was still isolated to the south by the flood, as well as the headquarters of the 6th Army Group, and finally the General Staff, and even the Emperor's ears. The Empire's propaganda department was also shaken by this epic and legendary victory.

Major General Karl was extremely excited to learn that his Lister Regiment was the first to launch a counterattack and break into Ostend.

With just one regiment, they withstood the siege of three Belgian divisions to the east and two French divisions to the west for three days and three nights, remaining as solid as a rock and preventing the enemy from breaking through!

More importantly, it also inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy, killing three enemy divisions!

Annihilate the Billy King Army!
According to post-war statistics, the battle resulted in the surrender of over 1.7 enemy troops and the capture of over 4 lightly wounded soldiers, bringing the total number of enemy troops received to 2.2.

According to pre-war full-strength statistics, each Belgian division had roughly the same number of men as the German divisions, ranging from 16,000 to 18,000. The three divisions at full strength should have had more than 50,000 men.

However, considering that these three strategists were originally defeated and withdrawn from the Battle of Antwerp, their total number was already less than 4 when they left Antwerp. After fighting and fleeing in subsequent battles, they accumulated more than 1 casualties and desertions.

The majority of these casualties were lost in the defense of Ostend and the breakout from Neoport. Several thousand more were lost in the infighting before the final surrender.

In any case, the German army accepted the surrender and captured 2.2 people, and annihilated nearly 4 enemy soldiers in total.

What incredible martial arts skills!
A hefty reward must be given swiftly and decisively! This must be reported to the General Staff as a model case of a great victory!
The major general immediately ordered his men to drive at breakneck speed to Ostend, taking a long detour, so that he could personally meet with Colonel Lister and the meritorious soldiers who had just created such a miraculous feat.

(End of this chapter)