Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 159 Seizing the throat of the enemy forces in Courland
Several days later, on September 2, 1915.

It was also the fifth day after Lelouch arrived in Königsberg.

After hasty preparations and reconnaissance, the troops heading to the small islands of Shiuma and Saarema in the northern Gulf of Riga to carry out the landing operation were finally fully prepared.
They set sail from Memel the day before, heading north and then east, covering a total distance of 240 nautical miles, and finally arrived at the entrance to the strait at the northwest corner of Shiuma Island at midnight on September 2.

Moreover, in the days leading up to the arrival of the transport convoy, the Demacian Navy's minesweeping fleet had already quickly and discreetly cleared the anchored mines from the shipping lanes using heavy bottom-scraping minesweeping chains. All minesweeping operations were carried out secretly at night, while during the day, only airships were used for low-altitude patrols and to detonate mines that had drifted to the sea surface.

All of this ensured a smooth landing tonight.

It was a full moon night, and the transport fleet could navigate the seas relatively safely without the aid of lights.

On Earth, in early October 1917, the "Moonlight Landing" operation against Shiuma Island also took place on a full moon night. Taking advantage of the fact that the Lusa people had no idea about the nighttime attack from the sea, the Lusa people on the island were caught completely off guard.

But now, everything is just a replica of another time and space.

"How come the Lusa people on the island are so lax in their vigilance? We're almost ashore, and they haven't noticed us at all? Aren't there any patrol teams patrolling the beach at night?"

Captain Nicholas von Falkenhorst quickly led his company to the coast of Shiuma Island and landed on the pebble beach.

Feeling the solid yet smooth texture beneath his feet, Captain Falkenhorst's confidence in the operation grew stronger. His trust in the staff officers planning the operation from the rear also finally returned.

Yesterday, while they were adrift at sea, he and his men were cursing the army group's staff for being unreliable. They said those guys sitting in their offices making decisions on a whim were all unrealistic and delusional.

Who knew the enemy would be so careless? Everything had been anticipated by the General Staff.

In particular, Captain Nicholas von Falkenhorst was originally just an ordinary company commander in an assault battalion of a division of the 11th Army. Before that, Field Marshal Mackensen planned to carry out a landing directly on the coast east of Riga Port and gave these assault battalions some training to adapt them to amphibious landing operations.

Unexpectedly, just a few days ago, when the plans were being changed, the army group's staff suddenly made some minor adjustments, assigning Captain Falkenhorst's battalion to lead the attack. At the time, Falkenhorst thought that he or his battalion commander had offended someone higher up and were being targeted.

Looking back now, could it be that someone above appreciated him and gave him more responsibilities to see if he had the potential to make great contributions?
Unfortunately, Falkenhorst couldn't have a god's-eye view, so he could only guess.

Only Lelouch knew what had really happened: that day, when he was looking through the list of officers for the assault battalion to be deployed in the first wave of landing operations, as drawn up by Marshal Mackensen, he saw the name "Nicholas von Falkenhorst".

Lelouch, who was well-versed in military history, immediately recognized him—wasn't this the same person who organized the landing in Narvik during the Norwegian campaign more than twenty years later?
It turns out that this man was a Polish officer born in Prosen who fought on the Lithuanian front during World War I and was now under the command of Field Marshal Mackensen.

Since that's the case, let's take advantage of any good opportunities to train them and explore their amphibious landing talents.

Sometimes Lelouch himself wondered if his luck was always pretty good. When he needed to fight a breakthrough battle, he would encounter colleagues like von Bock or Rommel and recruit them to his side; when he needed to fight a defensive battle or a mountain battle, he would encounter Model or Dieter.

And all of this requires no special skills or connections to poach talent. Take Captain Falkenhorst, for example. He was originally a Polish-German officer fighting in the Lithuanian theater, and he was already working under Mackensen. He didn't need to be seconded.

……

Captain Falkenhorst led his company ashore quietly, consolidated a large area of ​​beachhead, and then helped an entire assault battalion land.

Since Lelouch piloted the “Assault Battalion” formation at the end of last year, this unit, equipped with submachine guns, grenade launchers, and a large number of hand grenades, has spread throughout the Demacian army.

There were only two such battalions last December, but by the end of the Battle of Ypres this February, they had expanded to six battalions.

By May, when the Gorlice Breakthrough-Hungarian Campaign took place, each division of the 6th Army was equipped with an assault battalion, and more than half of the divisions of the 10th Army were also equipped with assault battalions.

Now it is early September, and the 6th and 10th Army Groups on the southern front have each division equipped with an assault battalion, while the 4th Army Group in the northernmost section of the western front has also been equipped with each division with an assault battalion.

Further extending to Field Marshal Mackensen's 11th episode, there were also several divisions with assault battalions.

Even the troops of Hindenburg and Rodendorff in the Polish theater were provided with assault battalions thanks to the Emperor's directly controlled arsenal producing and supplying them with copies of the MP15 submachine gun and MG15 light machine gun.

Even Italians can now produce more than 10,000 submachine guns in three months, with the latest production capacity in September being about 6000.

As the birthplace of the submachine gun, Demania now has a production capacity of 2 submachine guns per month, thanks to the Bergman company. The Emperor's own arsenal, licensed to copy Bergman's submachine guns, will also be able to expand its production capacity to 1 per month by the end of this year.

In total, the Empire's total production of submachine guns in 1915 could reach 20, and in the following year or two, it may continue to climb to 30 or even 40.

Currently, the Imperial Army has a total stockpile of approximately 12 submachine guns, enough to equip 200 assault battalions if all of them were deployed. In reality, the Empire doesn't just equip assault battalions with submachine guns; in the 1st and 2nd Armies, units that the Emperor values ​​highly, at least tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers have also been re-equipped with them.

Therefore, the elite troops participating in the landing operation today are almost all equipped with submachine guns, with only 3 men in each squad equipped with Mauser G98 rifles for long-range combat. These Mauser riflemen are also specially equipped with scopes, which is completely different from the iron-sight riflemen of the past.

This is also because visibility is poor and engagement distances are relatively short at night, so bringing too many riflemen would be useless.

Moreover, precisely because of the poor field of view, it is difficult to see distant enemies with iron sights, so rifles have to be equipped with the Carl Zeiss 1904 3x optical sight at a cost.

After the entire assault battalion landed, they were still not discovered by the Lusa people's patrols, which may be because the Lusa people did not arrange patrols at night.

After observing the situation, Battalion Commander Major Walstadt decided to temporarily change the plan and fight more aggressively.

"Captain Falkenhorst, you take your company and D Company and head south to raid the coastal defense batteries on the northeast corner of Shiuma Island. I will personally lead the remaining A and B Companies to capture the dock to the north as planned! We will then provide cover for the main force to land!"

"Yes, sir!" Captain Falkenhorst immediately accepted the order.

He knew that, according to the original plan, after landing, the entire battalion would rush to the dock to seize berths so that large ships could dock and allow more friendly troops to land.

Then it was the turn of the troops to move south along the east coast of the island and eliminate the coastal defense artillery groups at the northeast and southeast corners of the island one by one.

However, this original plan also had a drawback: seizing the dock would definitely cause a great commotion, and the enemy on the entire island would react immediately and be able to organize a more tenacious defense.

Those shore guns with calibers of 203 mm and smaller could also adjust their firing angles to bombard the dock area or the attacking forces. If they try to launch a strong attack later, the casualties will definitely be greater.

Major Walstadt now judged that the enemy's defenses were lax and that the mission could be accomplished with fewer troops, so he decisively divided his forces.

Moreover, the troops that landed in these wilderness beaches were not just their battalion. Even if they didn't capture the dock, more reinforcements would come later. However, the speed of landing from the beach area would be slower, and they would have to rely on small boats for ferry crossings.

Captain Falkenhorst, soon after taking command of Company C and as deputy battalion commander, led two companies in a night raid south along the coastline.

He walked for a good seven or eight minutes, covering almost a kilometer, before he finally saw lights flickering in a small fishing village ahead. Not far behind the village, according to the map, was the coastal defense artillery group.

According to intelligence gathered from pre-war reconnaissance and aerial photography, there would be four single-mounted 203mm coastal guns and four 150mm coastal guns stationed there, along with a mixed battalion consisting of two militia companies and two artillery companies.

None of the artillery pieces had armored turrets; instead, they were simply built as concrete fortresses, with the cannons hidden inside. The firing angles were adjusted using the carriages of the towed artillery.

The front of the concrete fortress has an open area of ​​about 200 degrees, allowing the gun barrels to extend out, so the maximum range of the firing arc is 200 degrees.

Attacking from the rear of the fortress would prevent the enemy's artillery from turning around. The only option would be to drag the cannons out of the concrete fortress and fire them from the open ground, but that would undoubtedly take a long time. Without heavy tractors or a large number of mules, it's generally impossible to move a 203mm cannon by manpower alone.

"There will be a battalion at the coastal defense artillery position, and one or two companies in this fishing village. Their combined strength is about three times ours, but we don't have time to take a detour. The more we take a detour, the more likely we are to be exposed. Let's just launch a direct attack!"

After assessing the enemy situation, Captain Falkenhorst decisively ordered a surprise attack.

With the garrison in the fishing village still making no move, Falkenhorst ordered two submachine gun squads to sneak up. At the same time, he had four MG15 light machine guns set up at the entrance to the village and the watchtower, and then had four 40mm grenade launchers rapidly fire grenades at the approximate location of the enemy watchtower.

With soft "bang, bang, bang," grenades flew hundreds of meters from the darkness, crashing down near the watchtower and collapsing two militia houses. The village was immediately thrown into chaos.

The Lusa people had very low awareness; none of them even considered the possibility of an attack. Many of them came out looking bewildered with harpoons in hand, assuming it was an accidental explosion of their own ammunition. Only a few were carrying Mosin-Nagant rifles.

"Da da da~" The submachine gun swept along the main road that ran through the fishing village, blowing up all the Lusa people who peeked out.

The assault battalion soldiers didn't have time to clear each house one by one, and they were also worried about any militia that might have escaped. So they could only throw Molotov cocktails at the wooden houses, setting the entire fishing village on fire and eliminating the threat to their attack route.

However, as long as those who escape immediately raise their hands and do not take out their weapons, the assault soldiers will not shoot them, but will simply gather them together and guard them as prisoners of war.

In just a few minutes, they wiped out a militia company and more than 30 Lusa regular infantrymen in the fishing village. After killing the regulars, they captured all the militiamen. Captain Falkenhorst quickly led about 400 soldiers to continue the attack on the nearby coastal artillery positions.

A battalion of Lusa soldiers had heard the commotion and began to move into position, but they hadn't had time to turn the cannons around yet, so the entire defensive firepower consisted of only two M1910 heavy machine guns and more than 200 Mosin-Nagant rifles.

Because of poor visibility at night and a very short effective engagement range, the M1910 heavy machine gun could only blindly fire indiscriminately towards the noisiest directions, firing wherever the sound was loudest. The Demanja assault troops initially failed to grasp this pattern and launched several hasty charges, resulting in dozens of casualties.

Fortunately, Captain Falkenhorst quickly observed and concluded that the enemy was fighting blindly, so he immediately ordered his men to change tactics.

Several MG15 light machine guns exchanged fire with the enemy's heavy machine guns, while nearby soldiers took cover behind makeshift bunkers, making a lot of noise and throwing grenades indiscriminately. Several grenade launcher teams also took cover on one side, rapidly firing three rounds before lying down and moving to another location.

The Lusa people's heavy machine gun fire was quickly drawn to these threats.

In another direction, a raiding party took advantage of the enemy's distraction and, under the cover of darkness, quickly crawled forward.

All soldiers adopted the standard sideways crawling posture, pushing off with one elbow and one knee, while holding a gun in the other hand. They advanced while observing, ready to fire back immediately if spotted.

The assault team quickly reached grenade throwing range, and the Lusa people spotted them, but it was too late. The assault team threw volleys of grenades, and the dense explosions silenced the heavy machine gun position.

Then they rushed in and started spraying bullets with MP15s, mowing down enemies wielding Mosin-Nagants in droves. Even three times their number couldn't withstand the Demacian assault.

"Quickly destroy the cannon! Stuff grenades into the barrel!"

Seeing that they could not hold the line, the Lusa people were afraid that the enemy would seize the shore guns, so some of them hurriedly stuffed grenades with the fuses pulled into the barrels of the 150mm cannons.

Several 203mm guns had such thick walls that even grenades couldn't destroy them. In their haste, some artillerymen ran away and fired their Mosin-Nagant guns at the several shells piled up next to the cannons.

Usually, there are 2 to 3 shells stored next to the cannon for quick firing.

However, the artillerymen who fired clearly underestimated the power of the 203mm shells. Some fired after retreating only 30 meters, and the exploding shells killed the nearby Rusa artillerymen who hadn't had time to get far enough away. It has to be said that these people were incredibly reckless in their panic.

"Quickly set up a radio and notify the battalion commander that the fort has been captured! Our unit will continue south along the coastline to raid the next fort! Moreover, it seems that the enemy doesn't have a radio station at this position! The other enemy forces probably don't know exactly what's happening here yet!"

After Captain Falkenhorst finished fighting, he immediately ordered his own radio station to set up an antenna on the fire-scorched position and make contact with friendly forces.

At this point, the disparity became apparent again: the Demanian assault battalion was equipped with radios at the platoon level, while the Lusa were only equipped at the division level.

The Lusa troops in other parts of the island only know that fighting has broken out in this direction, but they still don't know how the fighting is going or where the enemy came from, unless a soldier who lost his defenses escapes and reports back in person.

But at this position, there was clearly no one who could deliver a message quickly in person—Falkenhorst couldn't guarantee that no enemy had scattered, but he could guarantee that no enemy on horseback had escaped alive.

Just now, two artillery officers tried to break through on horseback to report a message, but they were both targeted and killed by MG15 light machine guns. In this kind of battlefield, relying on cavalry signalmen to deliver messages is really unreliable.

……

The Lusa people's reaction speed was indeed very slow, and Falkenhorst took advantage of this characteristic of the enemy, launching a fierce and aggressive attack to expand the gains.

An hour and a half later, they attacked another coastal artillery position on the southeast corner of the island. It was also a position consisting of four 203mm guns and four 150mm guns, and was also defended by a battalion of soldiers.

Lusa's artillery was completely unable to withstand his attack, and most of the cannons were destroyed by themselves, but a few were captured.

Meanwhile, his battalion commander, Major Walstadt, also successfully seized the dock, allowing his large ships to dock directly and unload a large number of troops.

The battle lasted from midnight until 3 a.m., by which time the eastern coast of the island had been largely cleared.

With more than two regiments landing on the island, they were more than enough to overwhelm the remaining defenders.

The island has a regular army of one infantry regiment and three artillery battalions of Lusa people, as well as nearly 20,000 militiamen, but in total they only have a little over 6000 rifles.

After the Demagnesians gained a foothold, controlled the docks, and swept away the cannons on one side, the outcome of the battle was essentially over.

7000 elite Demacian soldiers launched a positional attack on 23000 Lussaians and annihilated several thousand of them.

By daybreak, only 16000 Lusa people remained, huddled on the western side of the island and a few capes.

After all, Hiuma Island is an island that is over 30 kilometers long and wide, with a total area of ​​over 700 square kilometers. It is unrealistic to expect to conquer and completely occupy all the land in a single day.

The same situation was unfolding simultaneously on the island of Saarema, further south. Saarema was actually larger than Shiuma, but had far fewer troops stationed there.

The Lusa people believed that the island was even less likely to be attacked. The southern part of the island was riddled with mines, and the shipping route from the north required first breaching Shiuma Island before reaching Saarema Island. Therefore, the garrison on Saarema Island consisted almost entirely of low-ranking, unproductive troops, with some having connections and bribing their superiors to transfer them there.

As a result, in a place they thought was impossible to attack, they were soundly beaten by the Demacians.

……

"Report to the Marshal! The landing operations on Shiuma and Saarema islands went very smoothly! Our forces have forced the enemy on both islands to the western part of the islands, and we will soon be able to occupy the entire territory of the two islands, covering more than 2000 square kilometers, and completely open up the Shiuma Strait, the northern shipping route into the Gulf of Riga!"

Our initial estimate of total casualties is only over 900, while we have annihilated over 11000 enemy troops. Another 20,000 enemy soldiers are surrounded on the Baltic coast.

At 8 a.m. that day, when the staff officer of the 11th Army came to report the night's battle results to Field Marshal Mackensen, his voice trembled with excitement. They had not expected that the enemy's defenses were so lax and their combat strength so weak.

When they reported their results, they said that they had killed more than 1 enemy soldiers and surrounded more than 2. This number definitely included the militia. In fact, it included all the adult male fishermen on the two islands, so it looks terrifying and could achieve an exchange ratio of dozens of times.

When Field Marshal Mackensen heard about this result, he was fully aware of it, but he was unwilling to point it out.

My men braved wind and rain, taking great risks, to fight the first landing operation in the Baltic Sea theater and achieve a great victory. What's wrong with them exaggerating their achievements and military exploits when they report on their results? Who says that a militia composed of fishermen can't be considered an enemy?

"Excellent! All the soldiers who participated in the battle deserve commendation! Their victory is of great significance because from now on, the shipping route from the north to the Gulf of Riga has been transferred from the enemy's hands to ours! This is of great strategic importance!"

All units that are among the first to land on the island, consolidate the landing zone, and breach the enemy's coastal artillery positions will be heavily rewarded, and officers and soldiers who demonstrate outstanding performance will be given priority for promotion!

Field Marshal Mackensen set the tone for this victory and subsequently used his authority as army group commander to expedite the promotions of some officers below the rank of colonel, setting a few examples.

Of course, you'll need to go through the procedures and complete the formalities afterward.

Regardless, Captain Nicholas von Falkenhorst, who was the first to land on the island and breach two enemy artillery positions, was promoted directly to major and battalion commander.

The main reason is that he had only been a captain and company commander for a short time, having just been promoted in June or July, and now in early September he has been promoted directly to major, which can be considered a rapid promotion.

……

After the army finished the landing and capture of the two islands, it immediately reported the results to the navy.

Upon receiving the news, Vice Admiral Hipper immediately ordered one of his cruiser squadrons to act as a "decoy fleet," entering the Gulf of Riga from the north through the newly controlled Shiuma Strait, preparing to annihilate the Lusa transport fleet and the near-port defense fleet trapped in the bay.

The light cruisers "Munich", "Stuttgart", "Hamburg", "Bremen", "Lübeck" and "Regensburg", along with 12 large torpedo boats, formed a powerful reconnaissance formation and entered the Gulf of Riga at high speed from north to south.

They were quite lucky; on their way to Riga, they caught up with a convoy that had just entered the Gulf of Riga the day before, delivering ammunition and reinforcements to the Riga garrison.

There are a total of more than 10 transport ships, most of which are under 3000 tons, with 4 of them barely reaching 5000 tons, carrying a total of about 6 tons of people and cargo.

Hipper's reconnaissance cruiser squadron, of course, did not hold back. They went straight up and unleashed a barrage of 150mm naval gunfire, sinking all 15 ships. 6000 reinforcements and a large amount of military rations, weapons, and ammunition were sunk into the sea.

The news quickly reached Riga, where the commander of the 12th Army Corps was furious and immediately made a phone call to the Baltic Rapid Fleet Command in Helsinki.

The navy was urged to quickly deal with the Demanian warships that had slipped into the Gulf of Riga.

"Although Riga has a railway, the railway line to the south has long been cut off by Mackensen's German 11th Army's attacking forces! Our army is holding the area around Riga and relies entirely on sea transport for supplies! Now, Demanian warships have appeared directly in the Gulf and have completely annihilated a vital convoy transporting supplies to our army. If the navy doesn't solve this problem, the coast of the Gulf of Riga will be impossible to defend! The entire responsibility will fall on the navy!"

The Helsinki squadron dared not act on its own and reported the matter up the chain of command to the Baltic Fleet headquarters in St. Petersburg.

Upon hearing the devastating news, Admiral Nikolai Otovich von Essen, Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet, felt a sharp, agonizing pain and, after a great deal of effort, managed to compose himself and hastily made arrangements.

"Let the Rurik-class and Bayan-class armored cruisers form the main force, and organize a squadron with a draft sufficient to pass through the Strait of Shiuma to enter the Gulf of Riga and pursue the Demanian raiding cruiser fleet!"

(End of this chapter)