Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 170 Planting another time bomb for the enemy
Considering Hipper's limited understanding, Lelouch could only start by teaching her the basics:
"Are you really ignorant or just pretending? If our army cannot penetrate deep into the Gulf of Bothnia and only patrols and intercepts ships at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, we can only stop those ships heading to Helsinki or St. Petersburg."

However, I suspect that the ports of entry currently used by the Russa people may extend far beyond Helsinki and its southeastern ports, possibly even including smaller ports west and north of Helsinki near the Gulf of Bothnia. These smaller ports could serve as Russa's import hubs if they met one condition: a railway connection to Helsinki.

Lelouch's words didn't have many key elements.

But one word quickly caught the attention of the Archduke of Baden and General Hipper, who were listening in the audience: Imported!
Hipper hadn't given it much thought, simply viewing the Gulf of Bothnia route as "a passage for the Lussa people to transport supplies from part of their northern territory to the south," precisely because he hadn't considered the issue of imports.

He felt that at most, northern Finland was rich in forest resources or certain mineral resources, but the region was cold and there were no railways in the north, so the products produced could not be transported out and had to be shipped to Helsinki or St. Petersburg by sea.

If it's just a small amount of goods, then whether or not to block them won't have a significant impact. This is because Lusa is already "vast and rich in resources," and blocking its mining and forestry resources wouldn't be very valuable. Even if the mining, forestry, and fishery resources in the Finnish region were destroyed, the Lusa Empire could compensate from other production areas.

But after Lelouch reminded them to pay attention to the word "imported," everything changed.

Hipper didn't understand the economic structures of other Nordic countries and hadn't paid attention to these issues, so he was somewhat bewildered and couldn't figure out how much of an impact this new threat would have.

However, the Grand Duke of Baden was very familiar with the economic structure of Sweden and other countries. He was originally in charge of some foreign affairs, and King Gustav V of Sweden was his brother-in-law. The Grand Duke of Baden had two older sisters. His eldest sister married the King of Sweden, and his second sister married the Duke of Anhalt.

So the Grand Duke of Baden almost blurted out: "You think... Sweden is violating neutrality by exporting iron ore to the Russa? That's impossible, although there are many people in Sweden who are pro-Brussels and are willing to help the Russa because of their pro-Brussels stance."

But Sweden is a neutral country, after all. They have oversight, and their king is absolutely pro-we! Their king is my brother-in-law; he would never tolerate such a thing happening! Besides, the Russo people aren't lacking in mineral resources. With such a vast territory, are they worried about not having enough minerals?"

Faced with the Grand Duke of Baden's eager defense, Lelouch calmly held up three fingers, responding to each point with composure:

"No, no, no, Minister Baden, you misunderstand. I never said that Sweden exported iron ore to Luzar. And as you said, Luzar does not lack iron ore; what they lack is industrial strength, not raw materials."

Furthermore, there's a problem with what you just said—while Sweden is indeed a neutral country, exporting iron ore doesn't violate international law. Relevant international treaties stipulate that neutral countries cannot sell weapons and other equipment that can be directly used for military purposes to belligerent countries during wartime. However, this does not include resources that can be used for civilian purposes, nor does it include food.

For over a year, the Britannians have been intercepting our merchant ships and obstructing our shipping, not on the grounds of international law, but on the pretext of acts of war. When they encounter ships flying neutral flags transporting iron ore and grain to our country, they dare not sink them; instead, they intercept them and forcibly purchase the goods at a lower, internationally recognized price, seizing them for themselves.

Many later readers have misunderstood the Bretonnians' maritime interception activities during the World Wars, believing that "Bratanian warships would sink any merchant ships transporting supplies to Demania." But this was not the case, and they certainly didn't dare to.

They can only sink ships flying the Demanian flag or the flags of other belligerent nations. However, if a ship from a neutral country is heading to Demania to sell goods, they can only request to board and inspect it. If it is found that the ship is selling weapons, ammunition, or other contraband, they can then sink it on the grounds that "this merchant ship has violated international law."

However, if the goods are found to be raw materials such as iron ore and grain, which cannot be defined as "direct military use" under international law, then the neutral country would not be considered to have broken the law. The only option left for Britannia would be to pay some money to force the purchase of the goods and require the merchant ship to divert them to a port in Britannia.

The Grand Duke of Baden spoke too hastily, which led to his slip of the tongue that "Sweden violated international law by exporting iron ore." But in reality, he certainly understands the treaty and knows that scrutinizing the terms is perfectly acceptable.

Seeing Lelouch's easy and precise denial, the Grand Duke of Baden also became serious and solemn: "Then I'm curious, what else do you think the 'import' shipping route in the Gulf of Bothnia could import?"

Seeing that the other party had asked sincerely, Lelouch stopped beating around the bush and directly stated his core point: "I suspect that those pro-Britannia dogs in Norway are helping the Britannians transport weapons and other materials that violate neutrality laws to the Russa people!"
Of course, although Norway and the Finnish region of Lusa are directly adjacent by land, they are bordered by frozen fjords within the Arctic Circle. The coastal areas there are frozen and navigable, and there are no roads inland.

However, Narvik, Norway, is a rare ice-free port in the north during winter. It was originally an important port for Swedish iron ore exports. As early as 1903, a railway was built from Kiruna, Sweden's main iron ore producing area, to Narvik to enable the free export of Swedish iron ore throughout the year.

Meanwhile, the Swedes also built another branch railway on their own soil, which opened in 1906, from Kiruna, the main iron ore producing region, to Luleå, the northernmost port on the Baltic coast and the Gulf of Bothnia.

Luleå is also an important port for Swedish iron ore exports, but it has three disadvantages compared to Norway's Narvik:
First, Luleå's port is smaller and has a smaller cargo throughput.

Secondly, the Gulf of Bothnia has a shallower draft than the North Sea, so smaller ships are used to export Swedish iron ore via Luleå. It's difficult to transport ore using large ships with a deadweight tonnage of over 2 tons.

Finally, Luleå is not an ice-free port year-round. From the end of November to April each year, the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia freezes over, so the Luleå route can only be used during the warmer seven months. Although Luleå is at a lower latitude than Narvik, the Baltic Sea has a much lower salinity than the North Sea, and its freezing point is higher in winter. Furthermore, the North Sea is influenced by the North Atlantic Current, while the Baltic Sea has no such current…”

Lelouch thus gradually introduced some essential basic geography knowledge. Admiral Hipper was still somewhat confused, but the Grand Duke of Baden had gradually pieced together the information and finally knew how to answer the questions first.
"So...you mean, the Norwegians might be using this route in reverse! Originally, Narvik was a port for exporting iron ore to Sweden, but what if a Britannian fleet, on its way to Narvik to pick up iron ore, also transported some contraband, such as guns, ammunition, trucks, machine tools, etc., for the Russa people, and then unloaded the cargo in Narvik..."

These goods could then be transported back to the Kiruna mining area via the Swedish trains that had been unloaded in Narvik! From Kiruna, the mining area's railway hub, the goods would be transferred to the port of Luleola, and then via Luleola to Finnish ports along the Gulf of Bothnia that had rail access to the heart of Lusa. In this way, the Britannians could continuously supply the Lusa with weapons, ammunition, artillery, and machine tools smuggled by them!

Lelouch nodded firmly: "That's right, that's my guess."

Grand Duke Baden and Hipper couldn't help but gasp slightly.

Grand Duke Baden immediately pressed on, unwilling to give up: "How did you come up with this? Is this just your guess, or is there any evidence?" Lelouch firmly defended himself: "I have no evidence, so I need the Navy's help to find it—but logically speaking, the Lusa people's industry is so weak. They only have raw materials, but lack manufactured goods, weapons, and industrial equipment. The Britannians couldn't possibly just stand by and watch Lusa fall."

Don't you trust my judgment? Aren't you willing to carefully verify my bold guess?

Lelouch claimed he was just guessing, but in reality, he was definitely not.

Because a history book he had read before his time travel clearly stated how Bugou secretly violated international law and undermined the neutrality of neutral countries during various wars.

The point is, once something's been destroyed, it's destroyed; all's fair in war, and there's nothing wrong with that. But Bugou always likes to have his cake and eat it too; he's clearly doing the same thing, yet he insists on hypocritically covering it up.

Therefore, Lelouch's favorite way to counter this kind of enemy is to copy answers.

Throughout history, anyone who dared to commit a treacherous act and was caught by him would be met with an even more treacherous one. The most satisfying thing in the world would be to outwit and kill the second most treacherous enemy.

Lelouch's cunning can be considered to have its own principles. Although he is cunning, he won't use his cunning on harmless fools, because that would be neither challenging nor rewarding. He will only use his cunning on other cunning people.

After hearing his analysis, General Hipper and the Grand Duke of Baden mostly believed that this was indeed true.

After all, Lelouch has made so many predictions. Those in the Navy who follow him can make great contributions. Who would dare to turn down a credit?

Admiral Hipper quickly made a decision: "I will try to find a way in the next few days to send cruisers deep into the Gulf of Bothnia to clear mines and try to patrol and catch any illegal convoys..."

However, if you were caught, what would you do? Make a big fuss? Besides, this illegal transit route—first by sea to Narvik, then by land to Luleå—shouldn't it involve both Norway and Sweden?

After Admiral Hipper expressed his concerns, the Archduke of Baden immediately echoed them:
"Yes, yes, I think this matter must be handled carefully. Those Norwegian bastards are easy to deal with; they were originally the dogs of the British. As long as the Empire catches the evidence, they can punish them to death! They were only separated from Sweden a few years before the war, with the support of the British."

My brother-in-law's father, too, was driven to desperation by the Norwegians and finally relinquished his rule over Norway. He was further harassed by the Norwegians and died a little over a year later, consumed by resentment. My brother-in-law and the Norwegians have an indirect blood feud. When the war broke out in 1914, he went to Parliament to appeal to the Norwegians, trying to mobilize the army and navy to stand on our side.

Therefore, I think we really can't act rashly on this matter. Even if we find out that someone in Sweden colluded with Norway to undermine neutrality, we should still find out which faction is responsible. If it's one of my brother-in-law's confidants, then we should handle it discreetly. I'll send my brother-in-law a secret report privately, telling him to manage his subordinates and clean house so that the Prime Minister and Parliament don't find any fault with him.

But if it can be confirmed that pro-Bolshevik officials within Sweden were responsible for this act of undermining neutrality... then we can take this opportunity to escalate the situation and help my brother-in-law get rid of some pro-Bolshevik figures in the country!

After hearing the Duke of Baden's idea, Lelouch couldn't help but laugh: "Great minds think alike. Actually, that's what I think too. Moreover, I think even if this matter is verified immediately, it's really not advisable to alert the enemy right away."

Because the Luleå port route is only available from April to November each year, and it's already mid-September, if we 'accidentally' destroy a convoy, the enemy's next convoy certainly won't arrive until October. They'll definitely need to analyze the reasons for the failure first and won't dare to continue delivering immediately. Therefore, before the route is suspended in mid-to-late November, they won't be able to deliver many shipments.

Why don't we take advantage of this time to slowly gather evidence and solidify this case? After the suspension in November, you can visit your brother-in-law, the King of Sweden, and then, after a few months of scheming and maneuvering, we can build an ironclad case.

If His Majesty Gustav V wants to seize power and declare that "the Pro-Bruce cabinet has violated the country's permanent neutrality since the Napoleonic era, betrayed the constitution, and betrayed the country and the people, so he is going to quell the rebellion," then we can take advantage of these winter months to get him some mercenaries.

Once the ice melts in early April next year and those guys resume smuggling, His Majesty Gustav V might even be able to declare a 'defense against the rebellion'. Then, he could use the excuse that Norway violated Sweden's permanent neutrality and betrayed the promise made when the two countries were partitioned in 1905.

When his late king allowed Norway to be partitioned, one of the clauses stipulated that Norway, like Sweden, must maintain permanent neutrality and not bring external wars into Scandinavia. Since the Norwegians broke the treaty, it's only natural that he wants to reclaim the territory ceded by his late king, isn't it?
In any case, once it's done, the Empire won't need to pursue Sweden joining us. They can continue to maintain true permanent neutrality, as long as they eliminate that Britannian dog, Norway, and prevent the Nordic countries from becoming loopholes for the Norse dogs to break through our blockade of Lussa.

According to international law, selling timber, iron ore, and fish to belligerent nations during wartime does not violate international law or neutrality. The Empire's needs from Northern Europe are limited to these legal raw materials, so Northern Europe's neutrality is sufficient for us.

Nordic neutrality is not enough for Lusa, because Lusa's industrial structure dictates that it must import things that violate neutrality laws.

However, Nordic neutrality is more than sufficient for Demacia, because its industrial base is already very strong. Demacia doesn't need to import any weapons, ammunition, or manufactured goods; it only needs to import raw materials.

Importing raw materials does not violate Chinese law.

Therefore, the Demanians don't need to commit any fraud on this issue; they can keep the Swedes genuinely neutral forever, only doing legitimate business.

(End of this chapter)