Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 163 Just as Li Longji of old gifted Geshuhan, Nikolai of today gifted von Eisen.
With a muffled thud, Tsar Nicholas II threw several documents tucked inside a thick Bible onto the ground in front of him.

Admiral Nikolai Otovich von Essen, commander-in-chief of the Baltic Fleet, who had just been urgently summoned to the Summer Palace, was startled by the Tsar's rage but dared not utter a sound. He could only silently pick up the heavy, finely bound book that the Tsar had thrown away and turn out the few pages of telegrams tucked inside.

However, before he could even read the contents of the telegram, Nicholas II issued a decree:

"I order the navy to launch an immediate attack! Vice Admiral Basilev still has a remnant fleet trapped by the enemy in the Strait of Hiuma and the waters around Saarema. Several enemy Nassau-class battleships are blocking them at the northern entrance of the Strait of Hiuma, which is also the exit of the Gulf of Finland!"

I hereby order the navy to dispatch its main fleet to rescue them, and seize this opportunity to overwhelmingly defeat those few isolated Nassau-class battleships!

Admiral Ottovich von Essen was greatly surprised upon hearing this. He did not know when His Majesty had become so knowledgeable about the navy and would make such specific micro-management requests.

If we can seize the opportunity, fight with superior numbers, and take out a few of the enemy's "Nassau-class" tanks, that would certainly be a good thing.

But would the enemy be so foolish as to expose a flaw that even the Tsar could see? Could it be a trap?
As Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet, Admiral von Eisen certainly had a clearer and more thorough understanding of the situation at the front than the Tsar.
He also knew how difficult things were for his loyal subordinate, Lieutenant General Basilev, who was as miserable as a few rats trapped in a bellows.

They hid in several narrow, shallow waterways enclosed by the islands of Shiuma, Saarema, and the Estonian mainland. The three exits of these waterways were blocked by the enemy, so they dared not show themselves, for doing so would mean certain death.

They were only able to survive for a little longer because the enemy's large ships were too deep to sail into the waters enclosed by these small islands.

It's like a mouse hole with three exits, and a cat is lurking at each exit, but the cats are too big to fit into the mouse hole.

But no matter how dangerous the situation was for Lieutenant General Lev Brazil, the shrewd and experienced General von Essen always felt that something was wrong.

He had a sense of danger that "Lieutenant General Brazile is still alive because the enemy wants to play a cat-and-mouse game and deliberately left him alive to tease him."

Therefore, Admiral von Eisen carefully organized his words, intending to thoroughly explain his doubts, advise His Majesty not to interfere in naval affairs, and absolutely not to engage in micromanagement.

However, before he could even open his mouth, Nicholas II slapped another heavy accusation on him: "General Nicholas Ruzsky, commander of the Northwestern Front, has revealed that there is panic in Riga, with many soldiers saying that there is a traitor in the navy colluding with the Demanians!"

Your refusal to fight—are you perhaps a Demacian spy, intending to watch Riga fall and the Northwestern Front's reinforcements cut off? If the navy doesn't fight now, it proves that the spies are just a tiny minority. Once the Northwestern Front is completely thrown into panic, feeling like they've been stabbed in the back, how will the situation be salvaged?

"Have you colluded with the Demacians? Or perhaps with those rats secretly plotting trouble?"

General von Eisen was instantly plunged into an ice cave and could no longer utter a word.

He can't bear either of these two serious accusations!
Whether you're considered a Demacian spy or an internal traitor against the Tsar, you're doomed.

Large beads of cold sweat streamed down General von Essen's forehead. His mind was racing, and white steam was rising from his forehead. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he had practiced the Purple Cloud Divine Skill.

After a long while, his mind raced and he came up with a way out: why not... grit his teeth and go into battle once, which would be a way to prove himself? After all, His Majesty only asked him to go into battle, but did not ask how far the battle should go.
Find an opportunity to engage the enemy in a quick and decisive battle. If enemy reinforcements arrive, retreat immediately. By then, you will have achieved some results, suffered some casualties, and proven that everyone fought bravely and to the death. This will dispel His Majesty's suspicions of you being a "traitor" or "rebel."

"Since Your Majesty thinks so, I dare not disobey! I will fight to the death to defend our honor as soldiers!"

Admiral von Eisen gritted his teeth and made the decision to launch the attack, indicating that they could depart that very day, as he had already instructed the fleet to prepare for departure several days prior. While Vice Admiral Basilev was setting sail, his main fleet began heating its boilers in preparation for any eventuality.

Nicholas II breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing the agreement: at least, the Commander-in-Chief of his Baltic Fleet wasn't a traitor. Even if there were traitors, they should only be one or a few mid-level officers…

If he manages to find out who the traitor is, he'll chop them to pieces!
……

Admiral von Essen left the summer palace with a bitter expression, and immediately drove back to the naval base on Kronstadt Island by car and ship.

Kronstadt Island is the maritime gateway to St. Petersburg, situated 20 kilometers west of the city's coastline in the Gulf of Finland. The entire island has been transformed into a large port, serving as the home port for the Baltic Fleet.

There are numerous deep-water berths here, enough to accommodate all the capital ships of the entire Baltic Fleet.

Upon returning to the island, Admiral von Essen immediately summoned his key generals and relayed the Tsar's decree, stating that His Majesty, in order to solidify the Northwestern Front's determination to hold Riga and the Courland Peninsula and to break the Demanians' declaration of blockading the sea supply routes in the Gulf of Riga, demanded that the Navy engage in battle.

As expected, when von Essen gave his order, it was met with opposition from many of his generals, who all suspected that the so-called warplane might be a trap.

"Commander-in-Chief! No way! This so-called fighter jet looks suspiciously like a trap!"

"The enemy is too despicable. Although I can't see exactly what's wrong with this, I have a feeling that something is amiss!"

However, these chaotic arguments were finally brought to an end by a bombshell dropped by von Essen: "His Majesty suspects that there is a traitor among our high-ranking Baltic generals! He believes that someone is working in concert to stab the Northwest Front in the back!"
That small group of people are either traitors or rebels! Traitors are colluding with the Demacians, and rebels are colluding with those elements! Whoever leads the proposal to refuse to fight today may be taken in for questioning by the military police! His Majesty has already dispatched an entire military police brigade to verify the situation!

The generals immediately fell silent, no longer daring to object.

Everyone had no choice but to split up and make arrangements, mobilizing and preparing for the attack.

However, none of them expected that the accident was only just beginning.

……

Half an hour later, a small-scale riot broke out in the port of Kronstadt.

Hundreds of junior officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers rushed into the streets, loudly denouncing the Tsar and the senior generals, arguing that they disregarded human life and sent the fleet into battle to their deaths without any certainty of victory.

This matter cannot really be blamed on von Essen's incompetence.

In October 1915, a similar incident occurred in Kronstadt where sailors disobeyed orders and refused to take their capital ships out to sea. In the end, to quell the unrest, von Essen promised to simply send a few high-speed cruisers to deal with the situation.

Even so, the incident ultimately resulted in the arrest of 26 officers and more than 100 soldiers, who were sentenced to life imprisonment in Xianbeili and forced labor.

This event, though occurring just over a month earlier than the same period in history, presents strikingly similar circumstances: ordinary soldiers feel that going to war is too dangerous, are unwilling to risk their lives, and thus rebel against the Tsar. Moreover, because the Tsar's offensive has intensified the oppressive atmosphere, the resistance has become even more fervent.

Once widespread bloodshed occurs, it won't be enough to stop it by simply exiling a few dozen officers for life.

Moreover, the Tsar's Guard in this dimension came to suppress the rebellion exceptionally quickly—Nicholas II had already sensed that there were traitors among the sailors. When von Essen arrived on the island, a Tsar's Guard brigade of military police followed him directly to the island.

So when the sailors rioted, they were immediately surrounded by the Tsar's Guard, who were equipped with heavy machine guns. In the end, a misfire occurred, and several hundred sailors were killed by M1910 heavy machine guns, nipping the whole thing in the bud.

They then immediately arrested people and reported the results of the purge of the rebels to Nicholas II.

Just three hours later, Nicholas II received a report from his close advisor in charge of the guards:

"Your Majesty! It has indeed been found that some officers in the Baltic Fleet colluded with rebels. After an emergency investigation, 95 officers and non-commissioned officers, 466 soldiers were executed. In addition, more than 200 people were shot and killed while dispersing the anti-commissioning forces. A total of more than 730 people suspected of being rebels have been executed!"
Admiral von Essen inquired whether the fleet should continue the campaign. He believed that the traitors within the navy had likely been purged.

Nicholas II was eating at the time and was so shocked by what he heard that he dropped his silver fork.

After a brief moment of stunned disbelief, Nicholas II quickly descended into rage: "What? So many traitors have actually been uncovered? As expected! As expected! The intelligence gathered by the Northwestern Front was all correct! These ungrateful bastards, the more they read, the more wild their thoughts become!"
"The army soldiers are all uneducated; how loyal are they to the Empire? Those naval technicians, relying on a few years of schooling, just mess around all day! More than a year into the war, have the officers and men on those battleships made even the slightest contribution to the Empire, killed even a single enemy?"

Nicholas II's eyes turned bloodshot. He consulted with his favorites and charlatans, who all fawned over him, believing that it was indeed time to test those wavering men and see who in the navy was truly loyal.

Finally, Nicholas II felt somewhat relieved and, gritting his teeth, ordered: "Plan unchanged! Send Admiral von Eisen to launch a full-scale attack! Victory is imperative!"
Also, deploy two military police brigades to the ships! Before sortie, have all sailors surrender their light weapons; only the military police may carry guns. Send one company of armed military police to each battleship to maintain order, and one platoon of military police to each cruiser and destroyer.

The close advisors around him were somewhat surprised upon hearing this, worried that such behavior might reinforce the sailors' distrust. But the emperor was already so suspicious that no one could dissuade him.

Thus, a combat style that relied entirely on military force to suppress the enemy was formed in a bizarre way.

A few hours later, all the operational capital ships of the Baltic Fleet set sail under the threat of gunfire.

To preserve the dignity of senior officers, Admiral von Eisen and other generals were allowed to carry swords and pistols on board, but all officers below the rank of colonel were forbidden from carrying firearms.

Although the vast majority of sailors were not traitors, this disturbance caused them to become disloyal and dared not speak out.

Moreover, although the loss of more than 700 officers and sailors, spread across so many warships, was not very significant, the temporary filling of vacant positions with military police still led to problems with tactical and technical coordination.

These hidden dangers will not be hidden from us when war actually breaks out.

……

"Sigh, we've been stuck here all day and haven't gotten anything. Do we have to keep blocking the way today?"

"The nearby port of Partigsis and the anchorage at Cape Hanco on the north shore have also been bombarded with high-explosive shells. If we stay here any longer, the enemy will probably become suspicious, right?"

On September 7th, in the early morning, on the sea near the northern entrance of the Siuma Strait, the commander of the battleship HMS Nassau, Tarry,
Rear Admiral Hermann Nordmann, Vice Admiral Scheer's right-hand man and commander of the 1st Division of the 1st Battle Fleet of Demania, took another sip of coffee to perk himself up, while muttering to himself.

舍尔中将的第1战列舰队一共有2个分队，第1分队就是4艘“拿骚级”，第2分队则是4艘“赫尔戈兰级”。舍尔中将经常亲自指挥那4艘战斗力更强的新船，而把4艘相对老旧的“拿骚级”丢给赫尔曼少将指挥。

Of course, in order to make the plan to lure the enemy more successful in today's battle, Vice Admiral Scheer not only left him with 4 Nassau-class ships, but also equipped him with 3 older, slower, former dreadnought ships, the Frederick III-class ships, which had already been relegated to the second line.

This was partly to maximize combat effectiveness, and partly to provide an excuse for their supposed "ineffective escape" later, thus luring the enemy into a pursuit. Now, Major General Hermann was worried that he had overacted this time, making it too convincing, so that the enemy would never take the bait again. But his inner resentment and the orders from his superiors compelled him to continue the act.

It should be noted that Lieutenant General Lev Basilov entered the Gulf of Riga and pursued Major General Berdik on the afternoon of September 4th.

At dawn on September 5th, Vice Admiral Basilev found himself surrounded by Vice Admiral Scheer's battleships, which had entered the Gulf of Riga overnight. By evening of the 5th, after a full day of pursuit, the Lusa cruiser fleet had been almost completely wiped out, and then fled back to the Strait of Shiuma.

So, throughout the night of the 5th and the entire day of the 6th, Lieutenant General Basilev's six small boats remained hidden in the strait for a full 36 hours.

Major General Hermann Norman was blocked at the northern entrance of the Strait of Shiuma for a full 36 hours.

To make his behavior seem more normal, he had to improvise and find extra things to do during those 36 hours. This included shelling the port of Partigs on the south shore of the Gulf of Finland's entrance and the anchorage at Cape Hanko on the north shore of the Gulf of Finland's entrance.

These ports and anchorages were not large and had no valuable targets. They could only destroy a few dilapidated old civilian ships, some dock facilities and warehouses. The results were negligible, just to prove that they hadn't been idle.

On a side note, the place called "Hanko Cape" in the Finnish province on the north coast was the site of a major naval battle in 1714, known as the "Battle of Hanko Cape".

The two sides in the conflict were the Lusa Fleet and the Swedish Fleet. Ultimately, the Lusa Fleet, under the personal command of Peter the Great, achieved a great victory. That Northern War also ultimately led to the Swedish recapture of the Finnish region, which became Lusa territory.

Therefore, the Battle of Cape Hanco holds a very high place in Rosa's naval history, equivalent to the founding battle of the navy. The current name of Rosa's main dreadnought class destroyers, the Gangut-class, actually comes from that naval battle.

The word "Gangut" is actually a transliteration of the Lush language of the place name "Hanko".

Exactly 200 years later, Major General Hermann is blocking people at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland between Cape Hanko and the Siuma Strait today, perhaps it can be considered a kind of historical destiny.

Two hundred years ago, the Lusa people won a naval battle here, which also won them Finland and Estonia.

Two hundred years later, if they lose the naval battle here, they may also lose Finland and Estonia.

……

Just as Major General Hermann was waiting anxiously, Colonel Lelouch's plan finally did not disappoint his colleagues.

As dawn broke, a vast fleet finally appeared on the horizon in the Gulf of Finland to the east.

In the air, Lusa reconnaissance planes began to appear, presumably to provide the fleet with target acquisition and fire correction services.

The battleground was only about 40 kilometers from the land, so the aircraft's range was certainly sufficient to reach the scene and provide support.

The entire entrance to the Gulf of Finland, from south to north, is only 90 kilometers long. Rear Admiral Hermann's fleet is currently located only 40 kilometers from the island of Siuma on the south coast and 50 kilometers from Cape Hanko on the north coast, right in the middle of the main shipping lane.

(Note: The naval battle map is shown below.)

Fortunately, the Demacians were also prepared.

The moment he saw the enemy ships appear on the horizon, Rear Admiral Hermann broke his radio silence (in reality, being so close to the coast, it wouldn't have mattered anyway), and immediately sent a telegram to Vice Admiral Hipper, who was now in the strait between Shiuma and Saarema.

He requested that Vice Admiral Hipper immediately lead his three Derfflinger-class battlecruisers to detour to the waters between Cape Hanco and the Strait of Hiuma to assist in the battle.

Upon receiving the telegram, Lieutenant General Hipper would naturally rush to the scene immediately. However, considering the 160-kilometer distance between the two locations, equivalent to over 90 nautical miles, even traveling at a top speed of 27 knots, it would still take Lieutenant General Hipper three and a half hours to reach the battlefield. If Major General Hermann were to immediately turn back and flee towards Hipper, the journey could be shortened to two and a half hours.

Then, Major General Hermann sent a second telegram requesting that shore-based aircraft take off to provide the fleet with aerial reconnaissance and fire correction, as well as to attack enemy reconnaissance aircraft.

On Shiuma Island, about 50 kilometers to his south, dozens of Demania reconnaissance and fighter planes took off one after another from several hastily constructed field airfield runways that had only been built in the last three days, heading towards the battlefield.

The Demacian army landed on Shiuma Island on the night of September 2nd, and has yet to fully control the entire island. A group of enemies is still trapped on the westernmost cape of the island, and the Demacians do not have enough manpower to eliminate them.

The urgent construction of a field airfield on the island was also Lelouch's suggestion. Lelouch had realized that the other Demacian territories occupied by the army were far too far from this potential battlefield where a naval war might break out.

Field Marshal Mackensen's 11th Army hadn't even reached the area around Riga. The Demanian army's proper rear airfields were only accessible by retreating all the way to Memel, and flying from Memel to the entrance of the Gulf of Finland required a distance of 400 kilometers, exceeding the range of fighter jets of that era.

Previously, when they were sent to the Gulf of Riga to scout the battles between the cruiser fleets, at least the voyage was kept to around 200 kilometers, which was barely manageable. But if they were to go further north to the Gulf of Finland, they definitely wouldn't be able to hold out.

But Lelouch's brilliant suggestion to repair the airfield reduced the distance for his own aircraft to reach the battlefield from 400 kilometers to 50 kilometers. His suggestion was immediately approved by all the generals, who praised his thoughtfulness.

Only Lelouch himself did not take credit at the time, and even recounted a story from the past with emotion:
"To my shame, this move wasn't my original idea. I just learned a lot from Marshal Rupprecht after following him for so long."

Back in late May, when we were fighting the Lviv campaign on the southern front, I led my airborne regiment hundreds of miles behind enemy lines to launch a surprise airdrop attack on Lviv. Airships could fly that far, but airplanes couldn't.

After landing, I fought a fierce battle to rescue 9 of my allies who had been captured at the Przemeshir Fortress, and then attacked Klivov, destroying the entire Southwestern Front's logistics base.

At that time, my troops were being suppressed by enemy air harassment and were unable to airdrop supplies at low altitude. Fortunately, Duke Rupprecht thought that my 9 prisoners of war who had just been rescued were idle and had no weapons, so he ordered them to build a simple field runway overnight.

Later, airships dropped weapons and supplies at low altitude, allowing our fighter jets to provide full escort—after the escort, they landed directly at the newly built airfield on the front lines, instead of flying back. If it weren't for the Duke's wise decision at the time, how could I have captured Lviv?

Mackensen, Hipper, and Scheer all had a better impression of Lelouch after hearing him recount this story.

Especially Field Marshal Mackensen and Lieutenant General Scheer, who had little interaction with him before, this was their first time working together.

But after hearing this, Field Marshal Mackensen immediately judged: This kid is too damn good at dealing with people! As a staff officer, he doesn't take any credit!
He would never take credit for even the slightest useful idea that his leader had come up with. Even if he later used it by improvisation, he would still diligently cite the "references" to give credit to the leader who originally created the idea.

Who wouldn't like an advisor like that!

Marshal Mackensen would be laughing in his sleep if he had such an advisor.

Just look at Lieutenant General Rodendorff beside Field Marshal Hindenburg, and you'll know what kind of people those "talented but unruly staff officers" really are.

Lieutenant General Rodendorff was indeed exceptionally talented, but he also showed no respect for his superiors. In an interview, he even told the reporter, "This is the place where Marshal Hindenburg fought before, during, and after the Battle of Tannenberg."

This wasn't just a hint; it was a direct message to the reporter: the Battle of Tannenberg and the Battle of Masurian Lakes were both my doing! Field Marshal Hindenburg was just a guy who stamped my battle plans!

Compared to Lelouch, who always needs to cite "references" even after achieving something, which professor wouldn't want to take on a good student like Lelouch?
……

Enough of the digression. In short, it was thanks to Lelouch's suggestion to "make the most of these two or three days to secretly build an airport on Shiuma Island."

In this morning's decisive fleet battle, Demacia was finally able to turn the tide from an absolute disadvantage in air superiority to an advantage.

Currently, only Demania and Britannia's aircraft manufacturers have developed a "fire coordinator" that allows machine guns to fire forward from the aircraft's centerline through the propeller.

Even the Franks are slightly behind, and widespread adoption is expected by the fourth quarter of this year. The Lussa people, with their even weaker industrial base, are estimated to be able to equip themselves with these systems by early next year.

Although the Lusa people have many airports and a large number of aircraft in this area, in terms of air combat strength, they are still crushed by the Demanian fighters, which have a technological advantage.

The fierce battle in the sky had already begun when the two battleships were still at least 25 kilometers apart.

A large formation of over 40 Demania aircraft swept across the skies above the Lusa fleet.

The number of Lusa people's planes that arrived over the battlefield immediately was not large, because they obviously did not expect an air battle to break out.

Their aircraft configuration was based on the principle of "small numbers, multiple times," ensuring that a fixed number of reconnaissance aircraft were always over the battlefield.

Therefore, at the outset, the Lusa only had 24 reconnaissance aircraft, which was only about 60% of the enemy's number and was also inferior in quality.

Almost in the blink of an eye, all 24 Lusa planes were shot down, either disintegrating in mid-air or crashing into the sea trailing thick black smoke.

The Lusa fleet immediately began frantically sending messages, requesting additional aerial reconnaissance reinforcements.

Airports in the surrounding area hurriedly began to gather aircraft, attempting to form a large fleet before launching an attack, as they had been terrified by the Demacians' attack efficiency.

Regardless, the fact that they lost 24 aircraft right from the start demonstrates the weakness of the Lusa Air Force, which has greatly diminished their numerical advantage.

Even if the Demacians only managed to assemble 70 aircraft on Shiuma Island, it would be enough to cope with the changes that followed.

Soon, the main fleets of both sides closed to within 20 kilometers and 18 kilometers, while the distance between the guard ships became even closer.

The main guns of both battleships finally began to test each other with tentative firing, and armor-piercing shells of 280mm and 305mm caliber flew through the air toward each other, instantly making the scene intense.

(End of this chapter)