Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 157 The Ghost on the Baltic Sea

"Excellent! Excellent! Our railway artillery and airship units have performed exceptionally well! They have sunk a total of five enemy battleships and more than ten cruisers!"

"William Keitel, Loeb, and Kesselring—these rising stars truly live up to Lelouch's recommendations; their performances are outstanding. They've single-handedly thwarted the Bretonnia's offensive for the Ottomans!"

On the same night that the Britannian Mediterranean Fleet suffered heavy losses and the five-nation coalition forces suffered a disastrous defeat in their assault on the Austrian Gallipoli Peninsula defenses.

When the good news reached Odessa and landed on the desk of Duke Rupprecht, commander of the German 6th Army, the Duke was so excited that he slammed his fist on the table and exclaimed "Good!" several times.

As the side that achieved the victory, he subconsciously referred to all the sunken targets as "battleships and cruisers," without caring about details such as "pre-dreadnoughts" or "outdated protected cruisers from the 1880s."

He couldn't help but get up and pace rapidly back and forth in the command room. He then instructed one of his staff officers:
"Perfect timing! Our army is almost ready for the next phase of the campaign on the Kievan Rus' plain. The artillery and fighter units previously loaned to the Ottomans should be brought back to Odessa and Kherson and redeployed."

Well, the railway guns and airships can be left to the Ottomans; after all, the Lussa's railway standards are different from ours, and the railway guns can't be deployed in time on this battlefield. We can also leave some naval warships to them to maintain pressure and harassment on the Bretonnia Mediterranean Fleet.

"The officers who have distinguished themselves, such as Keitel, Loeb, and Kesselring, have also been recalled to their units to participate in the subsequent operations on the Kievan Rus' plains. Before the war begins, I will apply for medals and promotions for them! Have them return immediately!"

The staff officer noted down the marshal's order and immediately went to send it out.

Those officers who had distinguished themselves did not dare to slack off and chose to return home that very day.

Fortunately, during the two weeks or so that they were getting to know the Ottomans, they also shared a lot of their own practical experience, lessons learned, and various real skills.

Even if Keitel returned, the Ottomans would know how to make good use of the fire support from those railway guns.

Even though Kesselring is gone, there will still be people who will lay mines on airships, so this secretive skill won't suddenly be lost.

When it was time to leave, General von Zanders and Brigadier General Kemmer were very reluctant to part with him and hosted a grand farewell banquet.

Brigadier General Kemmer repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Keitel and Kesselring, saying that he had learned a lot from them and that he really hoped to meet Commander Lelouch someday so that he could learn from him in the future.

During their private conversations over this period, he had learned more than once that many of the Demacian advisors' brilliant strategies were initially inspired by Commander Lelouch, and were gradually developed and refined. These strategies ranged from using train-mounted artillery hidden in tunnels to the stealthy deployment of mines by airships at low altitudes and speeds at night.

But after hearing his compliment, Kesselring corrected him in a serious tone: "Oh, Brigadier General Kessel, you can no longer call Commander Lelouch 'Commander'. You are now a Brigadier General in the Ottoman Army, while Commander Lelouch is still only a Colonel."

Kemmer fell silent for a moment before curiously asking, "But aren't you also a colonel, on the same level as Commander Lelouch? You still call him Commander. I've heard Brigadier General Keitel call him Commander in private too."

Kesselring smiled calmly: "That's different. He brought us up. If our superior hadn't discovered our talents and put us in positions where we could best utilize our abilities, we might still be slowly accumulating seniority. So he will always be our superior."

Kemer listened with growing fascination. What kind of person was this elusive and cunning strategist? He truly longed to meet him.

Although we have never met him, legends about him have already spread throughout the martial arts world, both on our side and on the enemy side.

From the ANZAC prisoners of war driven insane by fear to the horrific recollections circulating among the Britannian Expeditionary Force, everything speaks to the extraordinary nature of that mysterious entity.

After the farewell banquet, the advisory group and the heavy artillery unit quickly took a train from Gallipoli to Odessa via Bucharest. The train journey of more than 800 kilometers took them to their destination the next day.

As soon as the advisory group got off the train, they went to report to the army group commander, Duke Rupprecht.

The Duke received everyone in a very good mood, and said that he had already consulted with the government via telegram and secured medals for them. As for the promotion procedures, however, they would have to wait a little longer.

"Colonel Albert Kesselring! In the Gallipoli Fjord campaign, you created new minefields out of thin air by laying mines at low altitudes at night using airships, at the most unexpected time and place for the Britannians."

By luring the Burkina Faso Mediterranean Fleet into an ambush, resulting in the sinking of five battleships and a large number of auxiliary vessels, this can truly be described as a rare and ingenious scheme in recent years. His Majesty the Emperor has approved and awarded you the Blue Mark, and I believe it won't be long before you are promoted to Brigadier General!

Of these officers, only William Keitel is currently a brigadier general, thanks to his merit in the Calais Battle, where he sank two dreadnoughts and two pre-dreadnoughts of the British Straits Fleet. Ultimately, naval achievements are the easiest to quantify and the most direct, making them the most useful tool for helping a colonel "break through to higher levels."

Kesselring's contribution this time was truly solid.

But Kesselring immediately declined: "How could I accept such an honor? The medal is an affirmation of my honor, but the promotion... I am truly unworthy of it at the moment. I only mentioned it in a few casual conversations with Commander Lelouch before he went north to the Baltic Sea, about how to counter the enemy fleet in the Dardanelles Strait."

He talked to me about many ingenious strategies and the application of new tactics. I was just lucky enough to successfully implement one of these tactics and make a small contribution. But Commander Lelouch is still only a colonel; how could I dare to accept a promotion! Please, Commander, put in a good word for me with the General Staff; we cannot let Commander Lelouch's contributions go unnoticed.”

Duke Rupprecht thought about it and realized that there was no need to rush the promotion.

The main issue is that this rising star is indeed quite young. Kesselring was born in 85 and has just turned 30; there's definitely an age barrier to his promotion to commodore. Perhaps he could help Lelouch advance to that position later.

This is different from other junior talents who were promoted before.

Of those who had been promoted before, William Loeb was already 39 years old and still a colonel. As long as he had enough merit, there would be no age barrier to his promotion to general.

Lundstätter is already 40 years old. When he was transferred to the Eastern Front, he was only a lieutenant colonel. Now, after fighting for half a year, he is just about to be promoted to colonel, and he is already a little behind.

Federer von Bock and William Keitel are both 35 years old. Keitel has already been promoted to brigadier general thanks to the Battle of Calais.

Bock was a colonel when he came to the Eastern Front, and later he made a name for himself in the Battle of Gorlice by being the first to break through the Rusa defenses and outflank Tarnuv. In this pursuit along the Romanian border, he led a mobile infiltration force of several hundred half-track vehicles, assisting the main force in capturing a total of 11 Rusa prisoners of war—although his tactical plans were devised by Lelouch, and he was merely the executor.

Based on these two achievements, and given that Bock's uncle is the Chief of the General Staff, his promotion to brigadier general is already in the process of being approved, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, it should be approved in the fourth quarter.

On the surface, Keitel's promotion to brigadier general had little to do with Lelouch. However, the promotions of Kesselring and von Burke this time both had Lelouch's involvement in orchestrating them. So, all these achievements combined are enough for Lelouch, whose official age is only 25, to take another step forward.

If Lelouch himself performs well enough recently, then taking this step is practically a done deal.

"I wonder how Lelouch has been doing these past two weeks in the Baltic Sea. It's a pity that for the sake of secrecy, I can't contact the fleet that set sail. I can only wait for them to return..." Duke Rupprecht became more and more uneasy as he thought about it, and he really wanted to know how Lelouch was doing right away.

……

Now, let's rewind the timeline by half a month and return to the Baltic Sea and the port of Königsberg at the end of August.

Lelouch arrived at the port of Königsberg on August 28th by train, and as usual, his old friend Vice Admiral Hipper personally greeted him upon disembarking.

Upon meeting, the two shook hands tacitly without any unnecessary formalities.

Lieutenant General Hipper, knowing him well, relayed some good news: "I heard that the Ottomans, with the support of our advisors, just won a victory in Gallipoli. The ANZACs made a desperate attack on the Kilit-Bashir Heights, only to be routed, with corpses strewn across the battlefield—the Ottomans were equipped with submachine guns, those were the things you suggested Duke Rupprecht supply to the Ottomans, weren't they?"

What Lieutenant General Hipper said could not possibly have been written in the newspapers; it could only have come from internal military channels, transmitted via the wired telegraph network, hence the rapid speed.

The Ottomans won a victory that day, and the high command back home knew about it. Hipper knew Lelouch would be interested in this, so she immediately informed him.

People who travel by train are often out of touch with the world, and these past few days on the road have been like being disconnected from the internet.

"You're really perceptive; you can even tell that I gave you some pointers?" Lelouch couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

Hipper was able to discern Lelouch's involvement from the inside information that "the Ottomans, under the guidance of advisors to the 6th Army, have won another great victory," demonstrating his profound understanding of Lelouch. Hipper made no secret of this: "Of course. If your influence can reach Calais on the western front, and the Baltic Sea on my side, wouldn't it be easy to imagine extending it to the Ottomans? They're much closer to Odessa than Königsberg."

Lelouch: "Let's not talk about that anymore and get straight to the point. The main reason I came here this time was inspired by the successful experience of the Black Sea campaign. I thought that after our army broke through the enemy's mine blockade with new mine-clearing weapons, we might be able to take advantage of the situation to use a counter-espionage strategy to make the enemy suspicious of each other, thinking that there was a traitor or spy within our ranks who had sold out the mine deployment map."

This way, we can kill two birds with one stone, causing the enemy to become increasingly weakened and live in constant fear. However, I can only be responsible for spreading rumors and counter-espionage; the actual naval operations are up to you. As an outsider, I won't interfere.

Before Lelouch arrived, he did not reveal his specific purpose, which was to maximize secrecy and ensure the surprise of his subsequent plans.

Therefore, even Lieutenant General Hipper only learned about the specific plan when he spoke with Lelouch face to face at this moment.

Upon hearing this, he couldn't help but gasp slightly.

That kid is really vicious...

"...So, the rumor that there are traitors in the high command of the Lusa's Black Sea Fleet is actually false, right? I should have thought of that sooner. You can use your new bottom-sweeping minesweeping chain to reliably and efficiently clear moored mines. You don't need traitors in the enemy's high command to break through the mine blockade."

Hipper had initially thought it might all be a coincidence, or even a bonus, but now he realized that there was no bonus at all; it was all his little brother's slander.

As the two chatted, they walked out of the train station, where a fleet car was waiting to take them directly to a joint command post at the Königsberg naval port.

On the way, Lelouch also changed the subject, asking about the combat preparations on the Baltic coast:

"Let's talk about your own affairs. How is the pre-battle mine clearance operation going? How many warships will the navy send to operate in the Baltic Sea? Are they all under your command? Have you communicated with the army about the preparations for the subsequent landing operation?"

Hipper also took the opportunity during the car ride to summarize the general situation: "The mine-clearing operation has been secretly underway for almost a week, but in order to ensure surprise, we use old cruisers to tow the mine-clearing chains at night and withdraw during the day."

During the day, only small minesweepers and torpedo boats were used for follow-up firing, using small-caliber rapid-fire cannons to detonate floating mines. Torpedo boats, when performing these tasks, were generally not equipped with torpedoes, saving tonnage to carry more small-caliber shells.

Lelouch: "Didn't you use airships to sweep and fire at the mines that floated up? They've been doing that over in the Black Sea for a while now."

Hipper nodded: "We tried it later, but the weather in the north is not as good as in the south. On some days the wind was too strong and not suitable for airship operations. So, we used airships intermittently for two or three days. It was all done very secretly and was not discovered by enemy reconnaissance planes or patrol fleets."

After a week of sweeping, the results are quite good. We have now secretly discovered a safe waterway that allows our main warships to pass through the Irbe Strait and enter the depths of the Gulf of Riga! And it's quite wide, ensuring that at least the waterway about 10 kilometers wide in the middle of the strait is safe! The moored mines there have been completely cleared away.

Our investigation of the waters inside the Gulf of Riga suggests that there are no mines laid. Moreover, the Russa people's own short-haul transport ships frequently navigate these waters, so as long as they block the entrances and exits to the area, they have no reason to lay mines in the heart of the Gulf.

Furthermore, we know that the narrow strait between Shiuma Island, directly north of the Gulf of Riga, and Estonia is also navigable for some small vessels, but the Lusa Navy does not appear to be laying mines in that strait. Espionage and aerial reconnaissance can confirm that they are freely navigating this channel using 'Bayan-class' armored cruisers and other shallower-draft vessels.

Meanwhile, they had shore-based artillery deployed on both Shiuma Island and the Estonian mainland, facing the strait, so they believed it wasn't worth blocking that section of the channel with mines. Any small boat capable of passing through the strait couldn't even withstand a 203mm cannon. Ships capable of withstanding a 203mm cannon wouldn't have the draft to pass through that strait.

Hipper described the results of their fleet's secret mine-clearing efforts before Lelouch's arrival, and Lelouch listened with frequent nods of approval:
"That's not bad. At least the mine-clearing operation is progressing quite quickly and discreetly. It's time to execute our next plan. By the way, you haven't mentioned the deployment of the proposed fleet. How many warships can the High Seas Fleet deploy this time to deal with the Russo? Are you in command of all of them?"

Hipper's expression darkened slightly at the question, but he quickly recovered: "As for the fleet, I can currently use the two newest battlecruisers, the 'Defflinger' and the 'Lützow,' and the 'Sedlitz' can also be repaired soon."

However, considering that the Lussars' Baltic Fleet has four Gangut-class battleships and several pre-dreadnoughts, I certainly couldn't defeat them on my own. This necessitates the participation of the High Seas Fleet's main battleships. I applied to the Admiralty leadership through proper channels, but I didn't mention the new minesweeping weapons in any of the telegrams.

I simply stated, "Our forces will attempt to clear mines and then enter the Gulf of Riga to threaten enemy rear areas and force the enemy fleet to engage." Ultimately, Admiral Hugo von Pohl, commander of the High Seas Fleet, decided to have Reinhard Scheer of the battleship squadron assist me in the battle.

He would lead the first battleship squadron, consisting of four Nassau-class battleships and four Heligoland-class battleships, to undertake any potential frontal attacks, while my two or three battlecruisers would be responsible for flanking or pursuit. This would ensure an absolute crushing of all enemy battleships.

In addition, Commander-in-Chief Bohr was also considering deploying the Frederick III-class pre-dreadnought battleships later to provide close-range fire support for shore bombardment—if we were to subsequently cooperate with General Mackensen's 11th Army in a amphibious landing operation near Riga.

Lelouch frowned slightly upon hearing this.

As expected, Vice Admiral Hipper's combat record was still not outstanding enough, and his rank and position were not high enough. The Navy Department and the Commander-in-Chief of the High Seas Fleet still only trusted him to command the combat patrol units.

Ultimately, they had no choice but to bring in Lieutenant General Reinhard Scheer as a competitor and work with him.

Of course, Reinhard Scheer was indeed much more senior than Hipper. He had already been promoted to lieutenant general in 1913, before the outbreak of the war, and had a good relationship with Admiral Tirpitz, the First Lord of the Navy. He was one of the Admiral's protégés and had served as the Director of the Naval General Affairs Bureau.

Hipper was only a major general when the war started, and he wouldn't have risen so quickly if Lelouch hadn't helped him achieve two great feats.

Lelouch's help to him in Ostend allowed him to be promoted to vice admiral ahead of schedule.

Later, the Dunkirk campaign helped Hipper accumulate a lot of merit. Although he did not get promoted to general, it made his "level" as a lieutenant general more solid, moving him from "newly promoted lieutenant general" to "the ultimate lieutenant general".

It seems that this time, Lelouch needs to find a way to make Hipper's performance far superior to his colleagues, so that he can get his close friend, whom he can control, into the highest ranks of the Navy, and also make it easier for him to carry out a larger deception operation plan in the future.

Lelouch estimated that if he could successfully block Hipper's promotion this time, his chances of making a comeback and surpassing him in the High Seas Fleet next year would be quite high.

The current commander of the High Seas Fleet, Hugo von Pohl, is a very conservative and mediocre man. His only consideration is to be cautious and preserve the warships. He is very unwilling to take any risks that might lead to being outnumbered.

At the outbreak of the war, the first commander of the High Seas Fleet was Admiral Friedrich von Ingenauer. However, due to misjudgments in the early stages of the war and his lack of knowledge that his own radio communications had been leaked, Admiral Ingenauer was originally dismissed after the defeat at the Battle of Dogger Shoals.

In this world, General Ingnauer was dismissed by Emperor Wilhelm after the battles of Ostend and Dunkirk, and replaced by Hugo von Pohl—and the reason the emperor dismissed him was rather fateful.

It was because "many of Ingnor's orders, after Hipper disobeyed and went his own way, that it was ultimately proven that Hipper was right to disobey and go his own way. Fortunately, he disobeyed and went his own way, otherwise the fleet would not have been ambushed by the Britannians. If Ingnor's orders had been carried out, the Imperial battlecruiser fleet might have fallen into the enemy's trap and been destroyed long ago."

In other words, historically Hipper followed Ingnauer's orders very well, but due to an intelligence leak, he lost the battle, and Ingnauer was also dismissed.

In this life, Hipper disobeyed orders after being warned by Lelouch, and Ingnor's intelligence was indeed leaked. The Burgundians deployed according to the false intelligence they had disobeyed, and were deceived, allowing Hipper to win. However, after reviewing the situation, it was confirmed that Ingnor's command was indeed a blunder, so they withdrew as well.

However, this withdrawal will be delayed by a few months to half a year, and a different excuse will be used to preserve the dignity of the Navy and the High Seas Fleet.

However, this replacement also led to a problem: some people within the Navy were unwilling to accept it and wanted to make things difficult for Hipper in secret, because they felt that Hipper's insubordination and independent behavior had harmed his superiors, and this trend should not be allowed to continue.

The new commander-in-chief who succeeded Ingerno, Hugo von Pohl, was somewhat at odds with Hipper, which is why Scheer was put in charge to check Hipper's power, thus dividing the military command and ensuring that neither was under the other's command.

Hugo von Bohr, having learned from the experience of Ingenauer's dismissal, adopted an even more conservative command style after taking over. Unless he was certain that he could take down an easy target, he would avoid fighting altogether, leaving his entire fleet to languish in port.

However, as a time traveler, Lelouch knew that Hugo von Bohr wouldn't live much longer. If the inertia of history continued, this guy should die of illness early next year.

Moreover, there are now many rumors circulating that the Commander-in-Chief of the High Seas Fleet is in poor health, and that Paul is frequently hospitalized.

Therefore, Lelouch was too lazy to think of ways to deal with the old-fashioned Paul. He only thought about how to give Hipper a push before Paul died of old age and illness, so that his military merits and seniority would be placed before Scheer's.

If, once Bohr dies, Hipper can overtake him and take over, then great things will be accomplished.

(End of this chapter)