Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 148 If Heaven had not created Lelouch, the world would have been plunged into eternal darkness.

The long-range bombardment from the Moltke, Goben, Wichelsbach, and Mecklenburg caused immense psychological panic among the defenders in Odessa.

With only 20 280mm cannons and 8 240mm cannons, it was certainly impossible to inflict much substantial damage on half an army group.

However, the emergence of German battlecruisers can indirectly confirm a serious problem: the Luza Black Sea Fleet has definitely lost control of the entire Black Sea!
This is an association that ordinary soldiers can easily make, and once this association begins to spread, it has a very destructive impact on the morale of the entire army.

"I've heard that the Demacian fleet has reached the harbor! The main force of the Black Sea Fleet has been annihilated by the Demacians!"

"My God, this is terrifying! Haven't our naval forces in the Black Sea always been able to crush our opponents? The enemy only has two strong battlecruisers; the rest of their ships are all outdated. Our two new battleships, two 'Saint-Yevstaffi-class' ships, and so many auxiliary vessels—how can we not defeat those few Demandian ships?"

"Who knows! It's because the Demacians' air raids a few days ago severely weakened our fleet's combat power. And I heard that the Demacians seem to have obtained our minefield deployment map through an insider, and know where our safe shipping lanes are, which is why they were able to infiltrate the port and launch a surprise attack on us!"

Otherwise, how could the enemy have infiltrated and landed at such a strategic location as the mouth of the Dniester River yesterday? It's because there were traitors within the navy, within the Black Sea Fleet. As you all know, those damned sailors in the navy are always the most anti-Tsar, prone to mutinies and disturbances. These traitors are definitely planning to defect to the enemy from within!"

Such panic quickly spread among the Lusa Army garrison in Odessa.

There was nothing they could do; they couldn't imagine that the enemy had invented a new type of mine-clearing weapon that was several times more efficient and reliable than the old mine-clearing ropes.

The Demanians also did an excellent job of keeping this new mine-clearing weapon secret.

Since they couldn't explain how the enemy broke through the minefield or how they launched a surprise attack on the Lusa Black Sea Fleet, outsiders naturally speculated that there was a traitor among the sailors.

The commanders within the Lusa Fleet all possessed their own minefield layout maps, knowing where mines were laid and where they weren't, as well as the safe passageways reserved for entering and leaving port. The fact that the enemy suddenly stormed in clearly indicates that someone had deliberately leaked the minefield maps to the enemy.

The remaining 6th Army of the Romanian Front, which remained in Odessa, quickly experienced a chain reaction of instability and was no longer able to launch an attack, move south to rescue, or pick up the three allied forces that were stuck in the original Romanian border defense zone.

Given the widespread panic among the Odessa garrison, it would be quite an achievement if they could hold the city.

The Demacians, of course, seized this opportunity to launch a fierce attack on the three armies that were partially surrounded in the south.

……

August 1st, just before nightfall.

That is, 20 hours after the complete annihilation of the Lusa Black Sea Fleet, and 9 hours after the port of Odessa was bombarded by the Demania Fleet.

An airship flew back from the Odessa front and landed at the German 6th Army's forward command post in Alziz.

The name Alziz is unlikely to be familiar to most readers. But it's enough to know that it's 70 kilometers from Borkelad, the previous base of the Demanian army, 70 kilometers from the mouth of the Dniester River, and 110 kilometers as the crow flies from Odessa.

In short, this is a point located exactly halfway between the launch point of the Demanian army's frontal offensive forces and the mouth of the Dniester River.

截止到8月1日天黑，正面进攻的德6集下属巴里亚第2军、第3军，已经打到深入敌境70公里远的地方了。

Just a day and a half ago, they had only advanced about 30 kilometers. In the past day and a half, their speed of advancement has doubled again. On the afternoon of the 31st, they advanced 9 kilometers, and on August 1st, they advanced 24 kilometers!

Traveling 24 kilometers a day is practically the same as marching. The enemy's resistance has been broken down, with only groups of soldiers constantly fleeing backward, unable to organize any decent defense.

Clearly, the three Lussa soldiers deployed in the front were also aware to some extent that the Demacian army had landed behind them. They were also afraid of the possibility of being surrounded, as well as other possible unfavorable situations, and had lost their will to fight, which is why they retreated so quickly.

Since Alziz City was only recently occupied, airships cannot dock there, as mooring towers have not yet been built.

Airships can only fly over cities, find an open space, and then have passengers parachute to safety. Alternatively, if the ground is open enough, rappelling is also an option.

Lelouch chose to parachute.

A parachute slowly unfolded in the air, then precisely controlled its direction before finally landing on the ground.

A kind-looking man in his fifties, dressed in a marshal's uniform and holding a marshal's scepter, approached from afar. He was none other than Marshal Rupprecht, the commander of the 6th Army and Crown Prince of Balia.

He casually patted Lelouch on the shoulder and back:
"Well done, the landing was a success. Now those three Lusa soldiers on our front are completely gripped by fear. I heard you did very well at sea too? Admiral Spee severely damaged the Lusa Black Sea Fleet?"
From now on, anyone can do this kind of good news reporting; you don't need to run back and forth personally, let alone parachute—that's too risky. Just stay at the landing zone and wait for us to finish the attack and rendezvous.”

The Duke's words were filled with the joy of victory in the first half, but the tone naturally shifted in the second half as he began to care about Lelouch's safety.

Lelouch is now the Empire's most precious treasure; we can't afford to lose him.

His mind is worth several army groups, or even several fleets.

However, there must be a reason why Lelouch was in such a hurry to return to the rear only 10 hours after the fleet returned and was bombarded.

In those short 10 hours, he devised another treacherous plan to further accelerate the enemy's defeat and expand their gains.

The tool he needed for the plan was in the metal box hanging on his chest—he had a flat metal box strapped to his belt when he parachuted.

He opened the lid of the tin box, took out one of the loosely sealed brown paper bags, and handed it to the Duke:

"I rushed back this time because I discovered some brilliant strategies to defeat the enemy and I'm eager to implement them. These are photos that were just developed on the warship last night, taken by a naval photographer."

This includes photographs of the sinking of the 'Empress Maria,' 'Catherine the Great,' and 'Saint Yevstabie.' Printing more of these three photographs, adding accompanying text, and distributing them to the positions of the armies currently engaged in a stalemate with us, as well as to the defense zone of the Odessa garrison, will certainly deal a significant blow to enemy morale.”

Duke Rupprecht's eyes lit up again, and he laughed and scolded, "You rascal! How many times has this happened? It's the same trick again! But I like it. It doesn't matter if the trick is old or not, as long as it works and can damage the enemy's morale and fighting spirit!"
"From now on, you should have a dedicated photographer for every battle you go on, and publish every single photo in the Berliner Zeitung!"

Lelouch didn't mince words this time, readily admitting it without hesitation: "Of course, I am, after all, the deputy director of the propaganda bureau of the Imperial War Department, in charge of external propaganda. Spreading photos to demoralize the enemy is just my job. I have that much professional awareness."

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter, which made the Duke impulsively want to propose to the other as his son-in-law.

After Lelouch finished speaking, he took out another tightly sealed small bag from the tin box. Inside was the film that had just been treated with fixer but had not yet been printed.

He pointed to the film bag and said, "These are the scenes of my fleet shelling Odessa this morning. They are the heroic images of the Moltke and Goben firing their guns, taken from the Wichelsbach, as well as the scene of the Odessa port barracks being razed to the ground in a raging fire."

These few photos are enough to prove that the Black Sea Fleet is completely unable to resist us, and also prove that our warships have already entered the waters near Odessa.

The Duke looked at the undeveloped film rolls, lost in thought: "This is certainly inspiring, but there were already photos showing that three of the enemy's main battleships were sunk, which also indirectly proves that the Black Sea Fleet is finished, right? This is just icing on the cake?"

Lelouch immediately pointed out, "No, no, no, this is completely different! Your Highness, think about it. The key point of these photos is not that the Black Sea Fleet is powerless to fight back, but that 'our warships can sail directly to the port of Odessa.' What does this mean? It means that our minesweeping work has been done very well, and that the enemy's proud mine blockade zone has failed!"
Just this afternoon, while I was still on the 'Goben', I received a message from Colonel Rommel, the deputy commander of the Dniester Estuary theater on the shore. He said that in the battle with the enemy defending Ovidiopoli south of Odessa, he had annihilated several enemy regiments and captured the town, and the enemy's morale was very low.

During an emergency interrogation of captured enemy officers, he stumbled upon a piece of information: many of the garrison troops in Ovidiopo were spreading rumors that there was a traitor within the Black Sea Fleet, that sailors were easily swayed by anti-Tsarist sentiments, and that someone must have betrayed the country and sold secrets, which was why our army had broken through the mine blockade!

It's not surprising that the defenders at Ovidiopoli would have such thoughts, given that they witnessed our successful landing at the mouth of the Dniester River and later heard about the shelling of Odessa and the close-range shelling of their own coastal positions by our former dreadnoughts.

They had enough time to slowly ponder and understand the underlying reasoning—even though the reasoning was wrong.

However, we can capitalize on this enemy's reasoning and expand its application. Not every unit of the Luza Romanian Front personally experienced a landing raid and two close-to-the-shore artillery bombardments. Those who didn't experience them wouldn't imagine that 'there's a traitor in the navy who would rather betray his country and defect to the enemy to purge the Tsar.'

Therefore, what we need to do is to spread as much of the information that a very small number of enemy soldiers have imagined as possible, so that as many enemy soldiers as possible will also have such thoughts.

Once such a situation arises, how much morale will the enemy have left to fight to the bitter end? Their first thought will be that the army has been betrayed by the navy! At that point, the collapse of these three corps will be imminent. After our army encircles these three corps and joins forces, we will launch a thunderous attack on Odessa. With the morale of the people in Odessa in a state of panic, the enemy simply cannot hold their ground.”

The more Lelouch spoke, the brighter Duke Rupprecht's eyes became, his pupils widened, and his breathing gradually became heavy.

He could fully imagine how devastating the blow to morale would be if the army soldiers of the Romanian Front truly believed that they had been betrayed by the navy and that a large number of their own men had defected to the enemy in opposition to the Tsar!

This is equivalent to being stabbed in the back by one's own people while still fighting a desperate battle on the front lines! It would be a miracle if morale didn't completely collapse.

And all of this... is simply because Lelouch invented a new mine-clearing tool!

Duke Rupprecht stared in disbelief, muttering to himself, "I was so stupid... really, I just thought this heavy mine-clearing chain with its scraping mechanism was a new weapon that was many times more efficient at clearing mines."

How could I not have thought of that? If the mine-clearing chain is used effectively, combined with secrecy, it will keep the enemy guessing how our army broke through the minefield, and might even mislead them into thinking there's a traitor within the navy! This is a brilliant strategy combining a frontal breakthrough with sowing discord! So insidious!
If Lelouch hadn't been born, the world would have been plunged into eternal darkness!

This is truly a veiled attack, so subtle that even the dead wouldn't doubt it.

"Immediately! Right now, develop these photos and mimeograph them as much as possible! Also, add a written description on the back, clearly telling the enemy that a high-ranking officer in the Lusa Black Sea Fleet has surrendered to us, so tell the Lusa army not to die in vain! They can't win!"

The Duke issued a swift and decisive order, instructing the propaganda soldiers to print as many photos and accompanying texts as possible throughout the night, and to send airships to scatter them in enemy territory after dawn.

……

The following day, early in the morning of August 2nd, over the airspace of the three corps of the Luza army located between the city of Alziz and the mouth of the Dniester River.

Commander Denikin, with his unshaven beard and listless eyes, stared at the sky, lost in thought.

His military headquarters was hastily set up in a field, consisting of only a few tents and little else. Inside the tents were nothing more than a drafting table and a wireless telegraph machine.

To dispel his frustration, Commander Denikin, unusually, smoked a precious Cuban cigar, inhaling deeply with each puff. His usual loose-leaf cigarettes were no longer enough for him.

He had been retreating for several days. The original plan was simply to wear down the enemy and lure them deeper into the territory. Once the enemy's logistics supplies could not keep up, the army would naturally be able to stabilize the defensive line and even seize the opportunity to counterattack.

But how did things turn out this way? The enemy landed behind our side, seized the docks and the mouth of the Dniester River, and can now resupply by sea via the Black Sea. Our tactic of "lengthening the enemy's land supply line" is no longer effective, because the enemy doesn't need to travel by land at all.

They only needed to travel the short stretch of road from the ports and docks along the Black Sea coast inland. As for the roads connecting the inland towns, no matter how badly they were damaged, the enemy simply wouldn't use them.

What's the point of destroying your own scorched earth and digging holes all the way during each retreat?
Wouldn't that just be destroying the living facilities of the people living on this land?

Denikin was deeply shaken.

Just then, the guard next to him rushed towards him and shouted a warning, pulling him out of his reverie:

"Commander, watch out! Get to cover! The enemy airships are coming!"

The guards yelled and dragged General Denikin into a makeshift air-raid shelter dug into the side wall of a trench.

Denikin's knee slammed hard against the corner of the trench while he was being dragged, making him wince in pain.

"Are we going to be attacked by airships again?" This thought vaguely popped into Denikin's mind.

Everyone waited anxiously for the bomb to fall, but after a long time, until the faint sound of the airship's engine gradually faded away and disappeared, they still didn't hear the whistling sound of the bomb falling and the explosion.

"what happened?"

"The Demacians aren't bombing us! They're just scattering photos! And there's captioning them!"

Soon, some brave soldiers peeked out to check the situation and noticed the mimeographed photos falling from the sky.

The ink roller print was very blurry, but it was enough to make out the general idea. Many people immediately recognized that the ship sinking in the photo was indeed the "Queen Maria" class battleship, and the scene of being shelled was indeed the port of Odessa.

The headquarters of the Romanian Front was in Odessa, and there were so many officers and soldiers that they knew the scene there very well.

When Commander Denikin heard the soldiers whispering, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Oh no! Don't look at any pictures of the Demacians! Confiscate them all!"

But it was too late. By the time Denikin tried to control the situation, rumors had already spread at an alarming rate through the already demoralized army.

The enemy's psychological warfare tactics were as vicious as when they broke the morale of the last three divisions of Biligin at Ostend, and also when they broke the morale of the Burkina Faso expeditionary force at Ypres.

This is already the third time.

When it comes to manipulating the enemy's mindset, Lelouch is the most professional.

Since he was telling the truth, Lusa Navy's minefield indeed failed to stop the Demacian fleet. Lelouch simply embellished the reasoning slightly.

The most devastating rumors are those where the facts are completely accurate, but the motivational explanation is only one-tenth true.

That morning, when the German 6th Army's 2nd and 3rd Corps launched another frontal attack, Denikin's corps, along with the two adjacent corps, simply couldn't hold out and retreated even faster than before.

In despair, Denikin had no choice but to abandon the plan to hold out and discuss a retreat plan with his colleagues.

"Given the current morale and situation, it's almost impossible to force a breakthrough through the Dniester River defenses and return to Odessa. We should break out to the north and head upstream on the Dniester River."

The Demandian landing forces deployed at the mouth of the Dniester River can't keep going upstream indefinitely, can they? If we run fast enough, we can definitely get around to a position the enemy hasn't reached yet and break out of the encirclement.”

Denikin made this suggestion to his colleagues.

The other two minor army commanders, who were not worthy of being recorded in history, listened to this and, after a brief discussion, also felt that Denikin's words made some sense.

However, they still had some doubts, worrying: "The road conditions in the Bessarabia region are already poor. If we retreat directly to Odessa, at least there will be main roads for the army to travel on."

If we detour upstream along the Dniester River, we'll have to move quickly, and we won't be able to take a lot of heavy equipment with us. Are we just going to let the enemy capture our cannons? Should we destroy them ourselves?

Furthermore, if pursued by the enemy in that terrain, the troops would certainly scatter even faster, unable to stop their advance.

Denikin gritted his teeth and finally urged, "We definitely can't take the heavy artillery and other supplies with us. If we want to break through and outrun the landing forces behind us, we must travel light! But we really can't let the artillery fall into enemy hands. Let's stuff them all into the barrels with hand grenades and destroy them."

As for pursuit, I don't think we need to worry too much. The terrain is bad for both sides. Our troops are retreating lightly equipped on foot; the enemy might even be moving slower than us, so we won't be able to catch up!

Upon hearing this, the two supporting actors realized it made perfect sense and began to follow Denikin's lead without question.

Late that night, the three Lusa armies, which were partially surrounded by the 2nd and 3rd Armies of Baria and the Dniester River landing forces, attempted to escape by blowing up their own artillery and carrying light equipment.

……

The next morning, Duke Rupprecht had just gotten up and washed and tidied himself up.

He wanted to ask Lieutenant General Richter, commander of the 2nd Army under his command, about the progress of the offensive early that morning.

When Commander Richter entered, the Duke was still spreading butter on a slice of bread, and a soldier was adding milk to his coffee and stirring it slowly.

Sitting next to the Duke was a young colonel, so young and handsome it was almost unbelievable.

After the Duke spread butter on the bread, he saw his subordinate enter. Instead of eating it himself, he handed it to Lelouch first, and then leisurely asked:

"Tell me, is today's offensive expected to go more smoothly than yesterday's?"

Commander Richter took a deep breath and said excitedly, "Your Highness, if you are interested, you can go and see for yourself. The enemy has all fled, and the front lines are empty! Yesterday's propaganda campaign was extremely effective! The enemy's morale must have completely collapsed, so they are only thinking about breaking out."

"What?" The Duke abruptly stood up and quickly turned to look at Lelouch. He had expected the blow to the enemy's morale to be very effective, but he never imagined it would be this good.

Lelouch, however, remained completely calm, continuing to stuff buttered bread into his mouth. The Duke, seeing this, was furious.

"Eat, eat, eat! All you know is how to eat! The enemy has all fled, so why don't you hurry up and think of ways to expand our gains and better pursue the enemy! Try to capture as many prisoners as possible!"

(End of this chapter)