Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 168 Presenting an audience with the Emperor, Promotion to Brigadier General

Half an hour later, inside the Königsberg Palace.

Lelouch was led by palace servants to Emperor William.

"Your Majesty, Lelouch von Ritter Hunt, Deputy Director of the Propaganda Bureau of the Imperial War Department, requests an audience."

Emperor William slowly raised his head, looking at him with a curious yet complicated expression. He then stood up and walked over, circling Lelouch a few times.

"The last time I saw you was during the Hungarian Campaign, wasn't it? You've caused such a commotion again, quite a surprise for the Empire. But why aren't you staying with Marshal Rupprecht in Kievan Rus'? What are you doing here causing trouble?"
You are indeed exceptionally intelligent and resourceful, but as an officer of the Empire, shouldn't your primary responsibility be your duties?

As emperor, even if William greatly admired Lelouch's strategies, he still had to first reprimand the other for being out of touch with reality.

As a soldier, the most important thing is not to overstep one's authority or abuse one's power. What good is winning a battle if you always act on your own?
The practice of subordinates defying their superiors and acting arbitrarily must never be allowed to continue!
Lelouch had actually anticipated this before he was summoned. The emperor would definitely ask this question first.

However, he still had to pretend to be young and naive, show a little panic first, and then naturally give an answer without thinking:

"I had no intention of abandoning my post. Before leaving Odessa, I gave Marshal Rupprecht a detailed report on my military affairs in the Black Sea theater."

In my report at the time, I also emphasized that we used new mine-clearing weapons to break through the enemy's minefields and successfully organize landing operations or surprise attacks on safe ports behind enemy lines.

But all of this, by sheer coincidence, led to mutual distrust between the enemy's land and navy, and even caused the enemy's high command to suspect that there was a traitor within the navy. This successful experience might be replicable, so I thought of applying it to other situations, and wondered if our allies on the Baltic side could also emulate this advanced experience and achieve even greater results.

Field Marshal Rupprecht thought my ability to apply what I learned to other situations was excellent, so he privately communicated with Field Marshal Mackensen and General Hipper, wanting to pass it on to them.

As a result, Field Marshal Mackensen and General Hipper both felt that time was of the essence and that their own staff was not good at these tricks and schemes, so they invited me to be temporarily transferred over to teach them how to coordinate this series of psychological warfare and deception tactics.

After all, the secret of the 'new type of mine-clearing weapon' couldn't be kept for long. We had to exploit the surprise and information gap created by this new weapon as quickly as possible. Besides, I am, after all, a member of the Propaganda Bureau of the War Department, and I believe this is one of my duties.”

Emperor William was an ambitious man, and he only needed to give his subordinates a warning to prevent them from acting independently. But in reality, he was very happy, after all, the army had achieved such great military exploits.

Hearing Lelouch's sincere words and the generous offer of a way out, Emperor William decided not to pursue the matter further.

Moreover, upon hearing this, he finally realized something: no wonder when Lelouch came in to pay his respects earlier, he didn't introduce himself as "Army Colonel, Staff Officer of the 6th Army," but instead insisted on identifying himself as "Deputy Director of the Propaganda Bureau of the Imperial War Department."

They hold both military rank and civilian positions. Lelouch's civilian status is perfectly suited for this task, thus eliminating any possibility of him rebelling against his superiors.

"You little rascal..." Emperor William knew what was going on in the other man's mind, but he didn't expose him. He simply pointed at him repeatedly with his index finger a dozen times, remained speechless for a long time, and then let out a long sigh.
"Very well, only you could achieve such extraordinary feats for the Empire. This time, the Baltic and naval forces achieved great victories, and I know your contributions are indispensable. Just now, I had the General Staff submit a report, and I signed it—you are hereby promoted to Brigadier General and appointed Chief of Staff of the 6th Army! After returning to Odessa, continue to do a good job!"

As he spoke, Emperor Wilhelm tossed out a signed telegram. It was from the General Staff, just sent from Berlin, nominating Lelouch as Brigadier General from Chief of the General Staff General Falkenhayn.

Upon receiving the telegram, the emperor simply wrote "Approved" on it by hand and affixed his seal.

Lelouch accepted the telegram respectfully. Although it wasn't a formal appointment, he was determined to keep the telegram properly.

Seeing his excited expression, Emperor William felt quite pleased with himself and seized the opportunity to ask, drawing inferences from the previous example:
"Since your psychological warfare strategy worked so well, successfully making the Russo people suspicious of each other, can we dig deeper along that line of thought? I suddenly have an idea. What if we reveal the truth now, so that the Russo people know that there are actually no traitors in their two fleets?"

"It's all because their Tsar is incompetent, unable to distinguish between loyalty and treachery, and listens to the slander of sycophants and charlatans, that he has persecuted loyal officials. Won't the number of people opposing the Tsar suddenly increase several times over? If that really happens, perhaps the entire great empire of Russo could truly be destroyed in one fell swoop!"

Upon hearing this, Lelouch couldn't help but cast a slightly surprised glance at the emperor.

Surprisingly, even the emperor has some brains; he possesses this level of associative ability.

"Your Majesty is truly wise, to have even thought of this..." Lelouch couldn't very well refuse to give the other person face, so he went along with it for now, while also pretending to be genuinely thinking things through seriously.
In reality, he already knew the answer to this question, but he still had to buy time. He pretended to mumble and stammer for half a minute before speaking sincerely:

"Your Majesty's supplementary plan should indeed be implemented in the future, but I think it shouldn't be now. It's best to wait a little longer, within a month. Moreover, there's no need to spread it quickly; just let it circulate naturally and slowly."

Since the Empire's offensive against Lusa has just ended, new operations are likely to be launched on both the northern and southern fronts by late September to expand the gains. Once the new offensive begins, spreading rumors that the Tsar has been misled by treacherous officials will be beneficial for coordinating with the front lines and accelerating the enemy's collapse.

With the pace slowing down, the rumors will sound more believable. If we were to immediately reveal the secrets of our mine-clearing weapons right after Eberhardt and General von Essen surrendered, it would seem too fake and could easily make the world think we were plotting against and slandering the Tsar.

Furthermore, I believe that dealing with Rusa requires patience. Even a centipede with a hundred legs doesn't die easily; we can't assume they're finished just because they've lost most of their coastal lands. I hope Your Majesty can maintain the continuity of national policy, so that even if we don't achieve results this year, we can continue to exert pressure next year.” Lelouch's idea of ​​“continuing to exert pressure next year” obviously refers to “having finally brought Rusa to the brink of collapse this year, we must continue to redouble our efforts next year.”

Don't think that just because the Eastern Front is secured, you can assume that 'the Franks on the Western Front have so much less land and population than Rosa, so they're definitely easier to conquer. Let's launch the Battle of Verdun.'

The situation has developed to this point; we must relentlessly pursue the fleeing enemy and not give them a chance to regroup. Anyone who suggests changing course and launching the Battle of Verdun in the future will be a traitor to the nation!
However, there are some things that Lelouch's current status and position are not suitable to say, nor does he have the right to "encourage himself if he has no other choice." He can only casually mention them as a prelude.

Emperor Wilhelm, as expected, ignored this reminder. He only heard Lelouch say that "patience is needed to deal with Rusa," and felt somewhat displeased. He immediately retorted:
"So, given that the people of Lusa already know that the Tsar is incompetent and listens to treacherous officials, how long do you think it will still take to bring down this empire?"

Lelouch thought for a moment: "I think... at least the rest of this year, plus the whole year of next year, and then extending into the spring famine the year after, this is the fastest and best-case scenario."

It is impossible to expect to bring down the country by occupying Lusa's territory; Napoleon had already failed in that regard.

Only by employing a three-pronged approach—military offensive and blockade, starvation, and sowing distrust of the Tsar among the people—could a final, decisive victory be achieved.

For the blockade and famine to take effect, the time required is measured in years. The Empire needs to ensure that its people do not starve and its economy does not collapse. It must compensate for the Britannians' blockade of the Empire's overseas resource trade by occupying the Lusha resource region. Only in this way can it ultimately prevail.

To end the war, the Bretonnia must see that 'no matter how many resources they blockade from flowing into us, we can make up for it by taking them from the Lussars. So we are merely intermediaries in this blockade; every ship of supplies blocked by Bretonnia is ultimately saved by their allies through starvation.' Only then can the war possibly end!

Lelouch hadn't fully figured out the problem before, but at this moment, he was pressed by Emperor William for an answer, and after considering the latest developments, he finally understood it.

This feeling is that Britannia is like a treacherous villain who likes to use poison, similar to Ding Chunqiu. And Demania, empowered by Lelouch, is similar to Murong Fu.

To completely thwart Ding Chunqiu's plan to poison Murong Fu with the Huagong Dafa, it is necessary to use the Douzhuan Xingyi technique to redirect the Huagong Dafa back at other Xingxiu Sect disciples.

He needed to make Ding Chunqiu realize that no matter how many times he used the Dissolving Power Technique, it would only kill his own disciples. Only then would Ding Chunqiu stop and dare not use the Dissolving Power Technique again.

Lelouch had been laying the groundwork for so long, completely cutting off all of the Lusa people's sea routes and attempting to seize their resource zones, all for this day.

No matter how much food, oil, and iron ore the Britannians blockaded him from, he was determined to take it all back from the Lussa.

Then we'll see who can endure hunger longer.

After listening to Lelouch's insights on the protracted war, Emperor Wilhelm seemed to have some understanding, but not quite a thorough one.

Fortunately, the emperor didn't expect to figure out such a grand topic immediately. After pondering for a while, he quickly gave up and simply encouraged his ministers to take it one step at a time.
"Since you think this is a protracted battle of resources, then just do it your way first."

I heard that Marshal Rupprecht is about to launch a new offensive? After you return to the southern front, make sure you get your hands on the black soil plains and granaries of Kievan Rus'. The Empire needs the resources there to wage a protracted war.

Regarding the northern front, any good suggestions can be given to Field Marshal Mackensen and Hipper as a final briefing. However, any future inter-departmental military cooperation must be approved first; no unauthorized actions are permitted!

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Lelouch replied respectfully, indicating that he would definitely leave Mackensen and Hipper a follow-up plan before leaving Königsberg, regarding how to further exploit the spoils of the Baltic campaign.

The emperor simply nodded, without asking any further questions about the details, and decided to let him go.

However, just before leaving, the emperor seemed to suddenly remember something and called him back to ask a few technical questions.
The main purpose was to find out about the two enemy generals that Lelouch had recently persuaded to surrender, and whether Lelouch had any suggestions on how to settle the Demanians in Lusa.

Lelouch also sincerely shared his thoughts, offering suggestions for resettlement areas for the Baltic Manians (mainly from southern Latvia and northern Lithuania) and the Volga Manians.

These were all very preliminary and imaginative suggestions, still quite immature, so the emperor just listened to them casually, using them as a reference for now.

After answering, Lelouch was finally able to take his leave.

As soon as he stepped outside, he saw the surrendered general Ottovich von Essen already waiting there. Clearly, the emperor had another purpose in summoning him today: before meeting the surrendered general, he wanted to ask Lelouch, the persuader, if he had any good ideas for offering official positions and empty promises.

If the promise is made well enough, our people in enemy territory can be better united.

(End of this chapter)