Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 15 I don't want any lieutenant, I just want to go to the docks and get some fries.
October 27, 1914, night.

More than 50 hours have passed since Lelouch traveled to this world.

In Ostend, the former temporary palace of King Albert I of Billykin has been hastily renovated and divided into several areas, which have been converted into the headquarters of several divisions of the Demacian 6th Army.

The traces of Billy King's army's existence were also hastily erased.

Shortly after nightfall, Major General Karl Luitpold, commander of the 12th Division, arrived, weary from his journey.

There were no mobile phones in this era, so Colonel Lister couldn't keep track of his superior's schedule until Major General Carl's car stopped downstairs. He then hurriedly went out to greet him: "Commander! The 16th Regiment has lived up to its mission, holding Neoport and assisting the main force in annihilating the Billy King Army! We captured more than 20,000 prisoners!"

Karl nodded approvingly and patted Lister on the shoulder: "You are a great hero. With such a glorious victory, you will soon become a general and then a division commander. You held off five divisions with just one regiment. Why can't you be a division commander!"

However, since General Sheng had to report to the Emperor for a decision, Karl just made a casual remark first.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Karl quickly turned the conversation to the others: "I'm curious about what kind of person could have so astutely predicted that the Billygins would breach the dikes to block our army, foresaw that the Britannians would try to take Albert I away, and even come up with the wicked plan to 'ruin the resistance fighters' and completely dismantle the Billygin army."

Colonel Lister immediately glanced around and realized that Lelouch hadn't arrived yet. He quickly asked the person next to him, "Where's Lelouch?"

"Sir, someone has already gone to call him. He's probably still half asleep. He should be on his way." A regimental officer whispered, trying to smooth things over.

Fearing his superior's wrath, Lister quickly put in a good word for him: "He's probably just been overworking his brain these past few days. But don't worry, he'll be here soon. Would you like a cup of coffee to perk yourself up?"

Major General Karl, however, was in a rare good mood and didn't mind: "It's alright, just lead the way. I'll go and see for myself what kind of prodigy he is."

Lister was also taken aback by his teacher's respectful attitude towards scholars. He knew that his teacher was also of royal lineage, the second son of Ludwig III, the current king of the Kingdom of Balia.

Although he is not the eldest son and will not inherit the throne, the fact that a prince major general would take the initiative to meet a sergeant major who has just graduated from university shows that he attaches great importance to him.

A short while later, the group turned through several corridors and arrived at a row of rooms temporarily used as officers' dormitories.

Then, just then, one of the room doors suddenly opened, and a disheveled young man rushed out, adjusting his military cap as he walked. It was Lelouch.

Lelouch rubbed his sleepy eyes and saw Colonel Lister walking towards him, with a general beside him. He quickly stood at attention and saluted.

"You're Lelouch... Sergeant Major? You're so young. Lister just told me about your deeds."

Major General Karl's first reaction upon seeing Lelouch was to first check his collar, then lift his arm to check his armband to confirm his rank, feeling quite wistful.

"I'm sorry, sir, I must have been sleeping too soundly," Lelouch explained politely, without saying anything more, appearing neither humble nor arrogant.

“You can imagine how much brainpower it must have taken to come up with so many ingenious plans.” Major General Karl nodded, a slightly amused smile on his face. “You’ve done such a great service for the Empire, have you thought about what reward you’d like?”

Lelouch scratched his head: "I just woke up, I haven't decided yet..."

Major General Karl: "Didn't you think about this issue when you were fighting before?"

Lelouch spoke frankly and without any attempt to hide his true feelings: "Please don't laugh, but I was just fighting for survival. I knew that if we didn't wipe out all the Billy Kings, then it would be our Neoport garrison's turn to be wiped out."

At that moment, I only had one thought: to survive by any means necessary. After the fight, I didn't have time to think about anything else; I just wanted to get a good night's sleep—I only managed to sleep on the night of the 25th, and from the 26th onwards, I couldn't sleep at all.

These past two days I've witnessed too many horrific scenes of fallen comrades. Whenever I close my eyes, I feel that while my brain is dormant and unable to strategize, countless comrades are risking their lives to buy time for my brain to cool down.

Lelouch's tone and expression were very honest, like a seagull who didn't want any reward, only wanted to wait until everything was over so he could quickly go to the dock and get some fries.

Major General Karl looked into his eyes and became even more astonished. He could tell that the young man was not lying.

This is the detachment of a true doer, driven by the most primal will to survive.

“Very good, the Empire needs focused people like you. Lister just said that you are acting as the communications battalion's wiring platoon leader with the rank of sergeant major, right? Then I am now officially promoting you to lieutenant.”

This isn't a final promotion decision; it's just to match the rank. The paperwork will be completed shortly. As long as you perform well, you'll have many more opportunities for rapid promotion in the future.” Lelouch: “Yes, General! I will continue to work hard!”

With Major General Karl's division-level authority, he could theoretically promote someone to the rank of captain.

However, Major General Karl couldn't directly adjust Lelouch's position because he belonged to the army group's direct communications battalion, not the 12th Division. Therefore, promoting him to lieutenant was sufficient for Lelouch's rank.

Since that's the case, Major General Karl decided to keep the captain as a bargaining chip for now and not throw him away in a hurry. Perhaps after talking to Lelouch in person today, this young man could give him even more surprises.

Moreover, Lelouch's advancement was too rapid.

He had only been in this world for three hours when he was promoted from corporal to sergeant major.

Having transmigrated to this world for only three days, he was promoted from sergeant major to lieutenant—at this rate, wouldn't he be promoted to field officer in three months and become a general within three years? That's too exaggerated; how could a non-aristocratic officer become a general so young?

The seniority system within the Demacian army is very serious, and rapid promotions can easily attract hatred, especially since Lelouch is a foreigner. These are all obstacles that will require overcoming additional resistance to resolve in the future.

……

After dealing with the promotion issue, Major General Karl was in high spirits and wanted to talk to Lelouch about his outlook on the upcoming battle.

Lelouch knew very well that he had just received a benefit and now was the time to earn some gold coins to prove his worth, so he answered almost every question.

He thought for a moment, and then, based on his understanding of the enemy, offered some suggestions to fill in the gaps:

"Commander, I believe that although the Belgian forces in Ostend have been completely annihilated, this battle is not yet over. There are still some seemingly insignificant cleanup tasks that need to be taken seriously."

For example, I believe our troops should withdraw from Neoport as soon as possible and proactively, allowing the remaining local garrison to move towards Ostend, in order to avoid greater losses.

Upon hearing this suggestion, Major General Karl immediately turned to Colonel Lister beside him: "How many men did you leave in Neoport?"

Lister responded and reported: "When I learned at noon that the Billygins intended to surrender, I dispatched two relatively well-organized and mobile battalions to Ostend to take them over. The remaining two battalions, which were more exhausted and had suffered greater losses, were left in Neoport to hold off the French forces in the west for a while longer."

However… sir, I believe that as long as we want to hold out, even with just those two battalions and with sufficient reinforcements and supplies, we can hold off the French for a few more days! So what if the French commit two divisions, or even three divisions, to attack?
That area is currently very cramped, with a flood-prone area to the south and the sea to the north, making the front for attack extremely narrow. Our army has now secured a rear route, and long-range heavy artillery of 150mm and above will soon be able to continuously reinforce the area.

The French army daring to launch a full-scale attack on a mere few hundred meters wide, flat coastal road is simply courting death! I can guarantee that on this twenty-kilometer stretch of road from Neoport to Ostend, the enemy will shed the blood of tens of thousands of men every single kilometer!

Major General Karl nodded noncommittally, agreeing that Lister's view was correct in principle.

After more than three months of bloody fighting, both sides in this world war have vaguely realized a truth: in positional warfare, the attacking side suffers much more losses, while the defending side gains a huge advantage.

If the attacking side wants to avoid losses, it must rely on mobile warfare, flanking maneuvers, to find the defender's weak points, and then surround and cut off the defender's strong points.

However, if there is no room for flanking maneuvers and only a head-on assault is possible, the attacking side will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

The current Dunkirk-de-Panne-Nioport-Ostend line is a classic example of a situation where "whoever attacks suffers a great loss," because due to flooding and the obstruction of the North Sea, there is only one road for a full forty kilometers, leaving absolutely no room for maneuver.

With such a favorable battlefield, even if an orderly retreat is to be carried out, shouldn't the Franks at least leave 10 lives behind?
"Lieutenant Lelouch, what's your take on this? Do you still insist that our army should abandon Neoport outright?"

Major General Karl felt it was a good opportunity to test Lelouch's abilities, so he didn't rush to reject his suggestion and gave him a chance to elaborate on his views.

Lelouch had anticipated this would happen—his previous brilliant strategies had all been demonstrated before Colonel Lister. General Karl, having not witnessed them firsthand, would inevitably harbor some suspicions.

Of course, we should take this opportunity to showcase our valuable insights to the general and impress him.

Only in this way can we obtain a more stable development environment in the future.

Lelouch calmly organized his thoughts and spoke eloquently: "Utilizing terrain that cannot be outflanked to inflict heavy casualties on an enemy forced into a full-scale assault is certainly a sound military strategy. However, this idea may have overlooked one crucial factor..."

(End of this chapter)