Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 153 The Meat Grinder Has Just Begun
Lelouch received approval from his superior, Duke Rupprecht, to request a two-week leave of absence, temporarily transferred to the Baltic Sea theater to assist Vice Admiral Hipper in deploying a counter-espionage plan against the Lusa Baltic Fleet.

However, the journey is long, and the Polish region is still controlled by the Russo army. This trip requires a long detour, first returning to Lviv from Nikolaev, then passing through Krakow and Poznan, before turning north, passing through Danzig and Königsberg, to reach the Baltic front.

The entire journey was 2,000 kilometers long. Given the train speeds and road conditions during World War I, it would take three full days of train transfers to reach Königsberg on the 28th.

But the war wouldn't stop and wait for him. On Lelouch's way north, a bloody meat grinder had already begun on the Gallipoli Peninsula battlefield to the south.

Especially as the Demacian army achieved more and more victories in the Black Sea region, Bretonnian naval minister Walton Spencer, eager to reinforce the Lussa, became increasingly desperate and sought every possible remedy.

He forced his fleet and landing forces to intensify their offensive and also deployed more and more reserves ashore, surging wave after wave towards the Ottoman garrison led by General Zanders, the Chief of Staff of Demania.

……

Gallipoli Peninsula, north shore of the Dardanelles Strait, August 26, 1915.

Day 12 of the landing operation.

The Allied forces that landed totaled 170,000 men, including one Britannia Homeland Division responsible for overseeing and supporting the battle, an ANZAC Corps of 80,000 men, and two Kanna Corps (four full-strength divisions).

However, "cumulative landing" and "cumulative survival" are clearly two different sets of statistical data.

Of the 17 who have reached the shore, only 13 remain alive and capable of sustained combat. In the past 11 days, more than 4 have been killed or wounded.

Fortunately, the Britannians were not discouraged by their casualties, as they had also achieved some real results.

The Gallipoli Peninsula is quite long and narrow, covering a considerable area. It controls the northern shore of the Dardanelles Strait, stretching 80 kilometers from east to west and nearly 20 kilometers from north to south at its widest point, with a total area of ​​approximately 1300 square kilometers.

For the first 11 days after landing, the Bretonnian forces advanced relatively smoothly. From the southwestern tip of the peninsula, the troops had advanced 18 kilometers, averaging more than 1.5 kilometers per day. They were now almost at Kilitbahir (see image below).

Kilitbashir is a key high ground at the southwestern tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Taking it would, at the very least, allow for a breakthrough at the narrowest point of the Dardanelles Strait.

The Dardanelles Strait is only 1.3 kilometers wide between Kilitbashir and Canakale on the opposite shore. Even heavy machine guns mounted on Kilitbashir Hill on the west shore can fire across the strait. Therefore, without capturing this area, no warship can pass through the Dardanelles Strait.

Of course, even if you capture this spot and successfully pass through this narrowest point, it doesn't mean you can cross the Dardanelles Strait. The strait's width throughout is generally between 4 and 6 kilometers, and there are still many obstacles ahead.

Regardless, the fact that the Burgh army was able to approach Kilit Bashir was already a significant achievement. This speed of advance would have been unparalleled on the western front.

In the current Frankish battlefield, whether it's Calais, Champagne, or Artois, no matter what means are used, if they can push to this point at a speed of one-third, they should be extremely grateful.

Therefore, as of this moment, Britannia's First Lord of the Navy, Walton Spencer, is still in high spirits.

He would only blame his fellow Rosa contemporaries for being too cowardly and for losing too quickly in the Black Sea, to the point that the great Bretanyan Expeditionary Force had to clean up their mess.

But we would never blame the Britannian Warriors for not being bold enough in their attack; the lads did a great job.

The Britannian navy has also paid a heavy price in the past 11 days of fighting, but it has all been worth it.

As early as the first day of the battle, August 15th.

During the pre-landing fire preparation phase, HMS Nelson, the Royal Navy's most powerful pre-dreadnought, Nelson-class destroyer, was severely damaged by Ottoman artillery ambushing it from the heights of Cape Alcitepe at the tip of the peninsula while the opposing side was being bombarded.

Subsequently, three more old-fashioned protected cruisers (equivalent to light cruisers, but old ships built in the late 19th century) were also sunk by continuous shore artillery fire.

Upon learning of the losses, Admiral Sackville Carden, commander of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet in charge of the battle, was greatly alarmed and immediately launched a swift counterattack.

Ultimately, the Ottoman coastal defenses were no match for the Demacians. The coastal guns deployed at the very forefront of the peninsula were merely old-fashioned 240mm rapid-fire cannons, lacking the firepower to directly sink battleships.

After sinking a total of 3 patrol ships, several destroyers, severely damaging one of the strongest pre-dreadnoughts, and lightly damaging two ordinary pre-dreadnoughts, all the coastal defense guns at Cape Alcitepe were removed.

Admiral Sackville Carden breathed a sigh of relief and then boldly urged the navy to continue shelling to cover the landing, and a landing site was successfully established that same day.

But the good times didn't last long. As the battle intensified, new changes soon occurred.

Just three days after landing, on August 18th, the fleet was caught off guard in the early morning by a passing Demanian submarine, U21, due to complacency.

HMS Majestic, the oldest and most outdated pre-dreadnought in the Royal Navy, was hit by two torpedoes, resulting in a massive explosion and its immediate sinking. With this, all nine ships of the Majestic class were finally destroyed in this World War.

However, compared to the original history of Earth, the Bretonnia's losses this time were relatively smaller. After all, in the early stages of the Gallipoli Campaign, without the intervention of Lelouch, the time traveler, both sides fought with genuine skill and real combat.

Walton Spencer was forced to delay the Gallipoli campaign from the end of April to mid-August, which inadvertently gave him an additional butterfly effect advantage—in the height of summer in August, the waters near the Dardanelles Strait were completely free of fog, even at dawn.

Therefore, even the most inconspicuous small high-speed torpedo boats of the Ottoman Navy could not find an opportunity to approach and ambush large Burkina Faso warships under the cover of dense fog.

Historically, the "Old Man Star" pre-dreadnought "Goliath" of the Kingdom of Burma should have been destroyed by torpedo boats in this plane, but it survived in this plane and even intercepted and killed several Austrian torpedo boats that attempted to attack, making the Ottomans afraid to send torpedo boats to their deaths again.

The former Duncan-class dreadnought USS Albemarle, which should have sunk here due to a storm, survived because the season and weather had changed and there were no major storms in the area.

However, the butterfly effect had its limits. Apart from the Goliath and Albemarle surviving, the other two ships, the Ocean (of the Old Man class) and the Indomitable (of the Formidable class), which should have perished in the Dardanelles Strait, were still sunk by the inertia of history in this dimension.

The two ships sank because they struck mines; while recklessly operating near the strait, they ran into German-style anchor mines laid by the Ottomans.

Mines are completely unaffected by weather; since moored mines are deployed underwater, they are completely invisible. Even if the seasons change, ships destined to perish from mines will ultimately perish.

Moreover, it was precisely because Lelouch's side and the Demanian fleet broke through the minefield of the Rusa Black Sea Fleet so easily that their counterparts in the Burkina Faso became complacent, thinking that the old-fashioned anchor mines posed little threat. They were so confident that they had cleared the minefield with a quick sweep that they advanced with great arrogance, ultimately resulting in the sinking of two of their former Dreadnoughts.

From this perspective, the fact that they were taught a lesson after only having two pre-dreadnoughts sunk by mines already shows they have a strong learning ability. Compared to its home fleet, the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet is inherently less well-equipped and more abstract in its weaponry.

In short, the reckless advance over several days resulted in shelling, mine strikes, and submarine attacks, costing the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet a total of 14 warships: 3 pre-dreadnoughts, 4 patrol boats, and 7 destroyers.

This doesn't even include the dozen or so other transport ships and troop carriers that were either sunk by artillery fire or attacked by submarines, all of which perished at sea.

This was the total loss of the Britannian Navy in the theater of operations before the arrival of reinforcements from the German 6th Army on August 26.

By this day, the Royal Navy's remaining pre-dreadnought total had decreased to 11 ships (including those damaged, but excluding the three "older" class ships given to the Italians).
It was under these circumstances that the Ottoman defenders received reinforcements from Duke Rupprecht, commander of the German 6th Army.

The reinforcements were few in number, but their technical weaponry was more than sufficient. They consisted of aircraft, airships, warships, and artillery, providing extremely fierce firepower.

……

That afternoon, in Eceabat, a small mountain town located 5 kilometers north of the frontier high ground of Kilitbashir.

Mustafa Kemer, a 35-year-old Ottoman colonel in charge of defending the high ground, rushed to this relatively remote town to welcome the commander-in-chief's inspection and to report the latest situation to the Demanian reinforcements.

"Field Marshal Rupprecht, commander of the German 6th Army, has sent us a full six artillery regiments and two heavy artillery regiments as reinforcements. Normally, these cannons would be enough to equip two corps. You need to explain the situation to the friendly artillery commanders in a moment; they will assist you in the subsequent defensive battles."

This was the instruction that Kemmer had heard from the Commander-in-Chief on the internal phone early that morning. He took it very seriously and spent the whole morning preparing materials on the enemy and our own situation, waiting for the inspection and report.

At this moment, in a cellar in Ejaabad, they finally met in person.

"Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, Mustafa Kemer, commander of the newly formed 19th Division, reports for duty!" Kemer stood ramrod straight and saluted General Zanders.

General Liemann von Zanders is exactly 60 years old this year and is a typical old-school general. Although he is very resolute and has excellent micromanagement skills, he was able to lead a garrison of only 85,000 men to withstand an attack from an enemy several times their size.

However, there are still many debatable issues regarding the details. For example, in the counter-landing operation, he was overly fixated on annihilating the enemy on the beachhead and refused to yield an inch of land.

In recent days, Kemer has performed well, leading the 19th Division to defend the Kilitbashir Heights and inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy, which has made him very satisfied.

"Colonel Kemmer, you've done an excellent job. If you hold out, you deserve a promotion to brigadier general." General Zanders praised him before turning to the other new officers beside him.
"Brigadier General Keitel, Colonel Loeb, Colonel Kesselring, Colonel Polk, if you have any questions, just ask Kemmer. His division is currently at the forefront and knows the details best."

It turns out that those who rushed to the front line today to assist the Ottoman army in defense were mainly artillery officers William Keitel and William Loeb under Duke Rupprecht, as well as Albert Kesselring, who was in charge of the airship unit, and Oswald Polk, who was in charge of the fighter unit.

General Zanders needs to discuss with these people how to make better use of the limited reinforcements provided by Duke Rupprecht to fight this defensive battle.

Although these men were not high-ranking, they were, after all, Field Marshal Rupprecht's men, and not under Zanders's direct command, so Zanders treated them with great courtesy. In response, the men became less polite; Brigadier General William Keitel, the highest-ranking officer, was the first to frown and ask a few questions:
"Colonel Kemer, have you dug any reverse-slope tunnels on the Kilitbashir Heights? Are there any observation posts leading to the front of the hill? Although the hill is treacherous, and I've heard you've killed quite a few enemies these past few days, the front of that area is exposed to direct fire from the enemy's large-caliber naval guns. Isn't it a waste of soldiers' lives not to dig reverse-slope tunnels?"

Keitel was an artilleryman by training and had extensive experience in artillery fire and defense. In addition, he had fought in the Battle of Dunkirk and the Battle of Calais, twice engaging enemy battleships in a firefight with shore guns.

It can be said that in this world today, his practical experience in how to defend against battleship fire is so rich that it is beyond compare, even richer than that of his old leader, Colonel Lelouch.

Lelouch himself only orchestrated the Dunkirk campaign, but in the later Calais bombardment, he merely gave Keitel some pointers and didn't have time to participate personally.

Therefore, Keitel, drawing on his fresh experience from two bloody battles on the Western Front, immediately pointed out some flaws in Kemmer's defense.

Kemer felt a slight chill. An expert can see the details. In just a few words, he realized that the artillery brigadier general opposite him was very knowledgeable.

"Your guidance is truly invaluable. Indeed, the main reason we didn't dig reverse slope tunnels on the Kilit Bashir Heights was due to insufficient preparation. We didn't have time to dig them, and we didn't know which landing point the enemy would choose before the battle, so it was impossible to gather manpower in advance to dig everywhere."

When enemy battleships bombarded the hilltop, we could only retreat to the reverse slope via the surface trenches. Only after the enemy shelling ceased and ground troops launched their assault could we hastily send our infantry back to the front of the hill via the trenches. Throughout this process, there were indeed some casualties. Alternatively, the slow redeployment gave the enemy more time to advance and engage in close combat.

What Kemmer said was true.

The preparations for the Gallipoli campaign were extremely unprofessional. Admiral Sackville Carden, commander of the Burkina Faso Mediterranean Fleet, and General Ian Standish Montes Hamilton, commander of the landing forces, did not even formulate a specific plan for the selection of the landing site before the battle.

In other words, until the day the actual battle began, the highest-ranking commanders of the attacking army and navy did not know which landing zone their troops would land on!

General Hamilton's instruction was to "allow the front-line landing forces to choose their own landing sites based on weather and terrain conditions, as well as reconnaissance feedback on the strength of enemy defenses."

Such a ridiculous order is astonishing to later generations; no wonder the landing operation turned out to be such a mess.

This is similar to when Eisenhower was organizing the Normandy landings; he himself didn't know whether the landings would ultimately take place in Normandy, Calais, or the Netherlands.

But since this was supposed to be the first large-scale amphibious landing operation in human history, and no one had any experience, it's not surprising that they fought haphazardly.

However, the unprofessionalism of the Burkina Faso army once caused trouble for the enemy.

Before the landing began, the Ottomans had already realized that the Kingdom of Burkina Faso was definitely planning a landing and had sent spies to gather intelligence, but in the end, they found nothing. The defenders could only lay out their defenses evenly along the entire possible front line, like sprinkling salt on a floured surface.

It's not that the Ottoman spies were ineffective; they simply had nothing to spy on, so what was the point of spying?

Even if you could read memories directly like Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception, you'd only find empty memories.

……

After understanding the situation, Brigadier General William Keitel did not criticize the allied forces too harshly.

After careful consideration, he offered only a remedial suggestion: "Although we didn't have time to build tunnel fortifications in advance, it's not too late now. I think your army could consider putting up a little more resistance on the Kilitbashir Heights, and then gradually and systematically retreat to the next position with mountainous terrain to rely on."

Then, during this time, we will first construct reverse-slope tunnels and connecting tunnels to the outposts on the second line of mountain defense.

Keitel's words immediately won the approval of the other officers who had also been selected by Lelouch to provide reinforcements. These men had all been influenced by Lelouch's advanced military thought and tactical concepts, and they understood the correct use of flexible defense tactics in the new era.

But this opinion surprised both the old-fashioned General Zanders and Division Commander Kemmer.

Division Commander Kemer quickly explained, "What? You're suggesting that our army hold out for a while and then abandon the Kilitbashir Heights? This is the highest point within a 10-kilometer radius. If we abandon it, we won't be able to hold out in the small town of Ejaabad, where we are currently based. This is a relatively low-lying valley between two mountains. We need to retreat at least 10 kilometers north to reach the next mountain defense line."

But Keitel, Loeb, and Kesselring unanimously supported this: "Then be prepared to retreat 10 kilometers in one go!"

凯特尔还指着地图补充道：“退10公里又如何？整个加里波利半岛，纵深一共有80多公里长，现在敌人才推进了不到20公里、还剩60多公里纵深。就算再退10公里，也还有50多公里纵深。

Furthermore, you see, retreating 7 kilometers north from Kilit Bashir leads to a relatively narrow section of the western peninsula, where the peninsula is only 7 kilometers wide from north to south, whereas the peninsula near Kilit Bashir is a full 11 kilometers wide. After retreating past that narrowest section, and relying on the mountains behind it, it will be much easier to defend.

Furthermore, south of Kilitbashir, the Dardanelles Strait's outlet is funnel-shaped, with Kilitbashir being the narrowest point of the strait. If we hold this position, enemy naval guns positioned to the south can fire at maximum range, covering the entire hilltop. The reason you have recently suffered considerable losses despite this defensive terrain is because you haven't left the range of enemy naval guns to the south!
If we retreat 10 kilometers to the north, the enemy's naval guns can theoretically still reach us, but they would have to get very close to the coastline. We can deploy long-range heavy artillery in the southern defense zone across the strait to try to counter the enemy's battleships, and then deploy reconnaissance fighters to further prevent the enemy from detecting the positions of our artillery groups from the air, and also to provide fire correction for our heavy artillery.

From any perspective, retreating to defend at the appropriate time is a worthwhile strategy, as it can disable the enemy's most threatening naval guns!

Keitel's words were partly based on advice Lelouch had given him before his arrival, but a significant portion was also derived from his own observations and summaries during the battles of Dunkirk and Calais. These principles could actually be grasped after a few anti-landing operations.

However, there were not many anti-landing operations or "anti-fleet support for army evacuation operations" available for practice in the world before.

The only two battles in which the Burgundians attempted to use the sea to control the land but were ultimately defeated were both fought under Lelouch's guidance, and Keitel witnessed both.

Everyone was reasonable, so even the rigid General Zanders finally wavered a little.

Without Lelouch's butterfly effect, and without Keitel being sent, given Zanders's usual style, he would definitely have fought to the death and tried to annihilate the enemy on the beachhead.

“Alright, I admit you have a point. However, an orderly retreat and defense isn't perfect; it can introduce new problems.” General Zanders, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Ottoman army, raised one of his concerns.
"As you just said, if we retreat 10 kilometers to the north, the width of the peninsula will only be 7 kilometers. After retreating there, it will be difficult for enemy ships to penetrate and exert their firepower on the southern side of the peninsula, the side facing the strait."

However, the enemy's fire support could be much stronger in the vast waters on the western side of the peninsula, directly facing the Aegean Sea. How do you plan to solve this problem?

(Note: The image below shows Keitel's proposed defense plan.)

Keitel, Loeb, and Kesselring discussed the matter and quickly concluded: "No need to resolve this! We can continue to retreat, or construct railway gun emplacements to counter any enemy ships that dare to approach the western coast, or even continue mine-laying operations to make it difficult for enemy ships to get close to the coast."

The sea area on the northwest side of the peninsula is also not wide, with the widest part being less than 30 kilometers, while the peninsula is 80 kilometers long in total. If enemy ships dare to venture into a narrow channel that is only 20 kilometers wide but 80 kilometers long, mines will surely teach them a lesson with precision.

It's important to understand that a strait over 20 kilometers wide doesn't mean the main channel is that wide. Several kilometers of the sea along both the north and south shores have very shallow drafts, making it impossible for large enemy warships to navigate. They also had to consider avoiding the ubiquitous shore-based artillery; being able to navigate in the less than 10-kilometer-wide area in the very center of the channel was already quite an achievement.

Blocking a vast expanse of sea with mines might be very difficult. But blocking a narrow waterway less than 10 kilometers wide is easy and highly efficient. Without naval gun cover, the enemy will be left with only land artillery and infantry to hold off our heavily fortified mountain defenses. What is there to fear? They can fight for months as they please, and they can lose hundreds of thousands of people here as they wish.”

This deduction ultimately convinced General Zanders and Division Commander Kemmer.

"We can follow this plan and retreat in an orderly manner while implementing flexible defense. However, our mine-laying squadron may not be enough—the enemy fleet is huge and has repeatedly swept through all our naval presence in the Aegean Sea before the war began."

The minelayers we managed to save are all hiding inside the strait, deep in the waters south of the peninsula. The enemy ships have blocked the strait's exit, and our minelayers deployed on the south side of the peninsula can't go around to the shipping lanes on the north side to lay mines. This problem seems unsolvable.

Faced with the Ottomans' last concerns, William Keitel had no solution but to do whatever the cook had.

But at that moment, Colonel Albert Kesselring, who had been silent all along and was in charge of the airship unit, suddenly spoke up:

"I don't think the blockade of the mine-laying boat team is a big problem. Mine-laying missions don't necessarily have to be carried out by mine-laying boats. When Commander Lelouch was studying mine-clearing weapons before, he conducted a comprehensive and detailed study of the offensive and defensive methods of moored mines. Before coming here, when I consulted Commander Lelouch, he mentioned to me some opportunities for combining mine-laying and airship units."

He said he had tested it, and the difference in impact force between the Empire's mines thrown into the water from a height of less than 20 meters and those pushed directly into the water from the stern of a surface ship was not significant, and the mines would not explode the moment they hit the water.

Therefore, theoretically, it is possible to carry out mine-laying missions using airships that fly at low altitudes, but the carrying capacity is relatively small. A fully loaded airship can only lay a maximum of 8 to 12 mines because mines are very heavy, and there are also anchoring weights that are tied together by chains, all of which need to be dropped by the airship. As for airplanes, the current carrying capacity of airplanes is not even enough to lay a single mine.

If the mine could be encased in a shock-absorbing airbag that bursts upon impact with water, the flight altitude could be increased further, perhaps dropping it from a height of over 30 meters. But any higher would be unacceptable, as it would explode upon impact.

Can airships be used to lay mines in sea areas inaccessible to warships?!
This shocking news finally convinced General Zanders completely.

In that case, slowly retreating to wear down the enemy becomes a completely advantageous strategy.

General Zanders finally gave the formal order: "Commander Kemer, I request that you hold the Kilitbashir Heights for about another week, and then slowly delay for another three or four days during the retreat to the north, to buy time for the construction of the second line of defense in the northeast, so that we can dig the reverse slope tunnels on the second line of defense."

Then, your troops can formally withdraw to the second line of defense by September 10th, abandoning the Kilitbashir Heights and the town of Ejaabad.

Kemer: "Yes, Commander-in-Chief! I am confident that I can hold off the enemy for another ten days!"

In any case, the conditions in this life are much better than before.

At least Lelouch sent them heavy artillery, railway guns, airships, fighter jets, and even new mine-laying technology.

Even though the enemy's forces were more than half again as large as before, Kemer was still very confident that he could hold out.

(End of this chapter)