Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 173 Return to the Southern Front, the Curtain Rises
1915 9 Month 17 Day.

After finishing his military-industrial technology cooperation projects with Škoda and Krupp in Prague, Lelouch continued his journey south by train.

In the Gulf of Bodenia in the Baltic Sea, thousands of miles to the north, Admiral Hipper has finally made some progress in the past two days.

Since the 12th, Hipper had ordered Vice Admiral Berdick of the reconnaissance cruiser fleet to send ships to the southern entrance of the Gulf of Bodenia to thoroughly clear the moored mines at the entrance of that sea area using the new bottom-scraping minesweeping chain.

He also instructed Lieutenant General Berdick to quickly sneak in and sweep through the waterway into the Gulf of Bodenia once it was cleared, to see if he could catch any enemy smuggling ships.

Lieutenant General Berdick originally estimated that the mine-clearing operation would take at least ten days to completely clear the shipping lanes.
Because the entrance to the Gulf of Bodnia is very narrow, the enemy could theoretically lay mines continuously over a great distance inland.

If you were to sail all the way, there would be dense mines along the way for dozens of nautical miles, and it would take a long time to clear them.

But in the end, Lieutenant General Berdik unexpectedly discovered that the enemy had only laid mines densely in the narrowest part of the Gulf of Bodenia, less than 20 nautical miles deep.

After passing through the narrowest 20-nautical-mile stretch, the mine density in the channel dropped sharply, making it much easier to clear, which is why it was cleared in just three days.

However, during the mine-clearing operation, Lieutenant General Berdick also discovered a small characteristic of the enemy's mine-laying operations—

Unlike their previous mine-laying operations at the entrance straits of the Gulf of Riga and the Gulf of Finland, the Lusaians this time did not leave a safe passage for their own people.

This time, the mine-laying operation completely blocked the entrance to the bay!

When Lieutenant General Berdick was sweeping, he discovered that at the narrowest point of the entire strait, there was a mine anchor every hundred meters or so, completely blocking any possibility of entering or leaving the Gulf of Bothnia with iron chains across the river.

In other words, this mine-laying operation was not only intended to block Demanian warships from entering the Gulf of Bodonia, but also to completely eliminate the possibility of the Lussaians entering or leaving the Gulf of Bodonia.

The conflict has escalated to the point where both sides are severely damaged; neither should continue.

But it was precisely because the Lussamen were so resolute and ruthless in their minefield deployment that they reduced the depth of the minefield. They weren't afraid of the enemy conducting trial-and-error mine-clearing based on intelligence. They figured that no matter how they tried, they'd trigger a mine; after a few tries, the Demacians would probably give up.

Little did they know that the Demacians possessed a new type of mine-sweeping artifact.

The new mine-clearing weapon is not afraid of densely packed minefields, but it is afraid of large areas with mines scattered everywhere. The Lushar people's decisive new deployment method played right into the enemy's hands.

On the morning of September 16, Vice Admiral Berdick's fleet, without any interference, cleared the first channel leading into the depths of the Gulf of Bothnia.

Subsequently, the light cruisers HMS Wiesbaden and HMS Frankfurt, along with several high-speed destroyers, were dispatched to search deep into the Gulf of Bodenia.

They were lucky; after just a day and a half of cruising, on the afternoon of September 17, the search fleet intercepted several transport ships flying the Swedish flag in a net about 200 nautical miles north of the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia.

At the time, Vice Admiral Berdick ordered his two light cruisers and three destroyers to cast a net northward at a distance of 15 nautical miles from each other, so that no ship could escape the search.

Vice Admiral Berdick's flagship, the "Frankfurt," was exceptionally lucky, colliding directly with the suspicious convoy.
So the lieutenant general immediately followed the method Lelouch and Hipper had taught him, skipping even the radio transmission. He directly ordered the signalmen to use light signals to warn the other side, forcing them to slow down, stop, and submit to inspection.

The Swedish-flagged cargo ship pretended not to see anything and even tried to feign innocence and speed away.

Lieutenant General Berdik didn't hold back and immediately ordered the 150mm main guns to fire.

The other party immediately backed down and obediently gave in.

Lieutenant General Berdick dispatched several small boats carrying soldiers armed with MP15 submachine guns to board and inspect the vessel. Twenty minutes later, he had achieved his objective:

“长官！检查后在1号可疑船的下层船舱内发现了1500部无线电台！在2号、3号可疑船内，分别发现了300台电动车床和300台铣床！
The upper deck was concealed by goods such as pickled fish and timber. They also claimed their destination was Stockholm…

Lieutenant General Berdick was taken aback, then somewhat relieved: "No weapons were found?"

Radio stations and lathes, strictly speaking, are also considered materials that are restricted from being transported by neutral countries to belligerent countries during wartime, but ultimately they are not as irrefutable as finding weapons.

However, on the other hand, when you want to play the long game and catch a big fish, the lack of irrefutable evidence makes it easier to settle things privately.

Lieutenant General Berdick recalled the improvisational tactics that Brigadier General Lelouch had taught Commander Hipper a few days earlier, and immediately picked one that would neither alert the enemy nor prevent him from lining his own pocket.

Lieutenant General Berdick then instructed his subordinate officer in charge of boarding and inspection: "You go out and give those guys a good scare. Tell them that these goods are also in violation of international law, and that handling things officially on shore is enough to get them shot! The Empire has already seized the ship and the cargo! Give them a speedboat and let the crew go back on their own!"

Of course, during the inspection, you should definitely take photos secretly, especially the other party's customs declaration documents and other relevant documents. You should keep all the evidence that you can secretly preserve.

After a series of actions, all three cargo ships were seized, and the crew members were left behind in a small boat and driven back to Sweden on the west coast.

The location where the boat was detained is 60 nautical miles from the Swedish coastline, and the small boat can easily return.

And all of this, if nothing unexpected happens, will be interpreted in the future as "there was a double-cross among the Demacian naval officers".

Such things occasionally happened even during world wars. Theoretically, military laws in all countries strictly prohibit this behavior, as it is tantamount to piracy.

However, in reality, the phenomenon of navies temporarily turning into pirates when encountering enemy merchant ships has never been completely eradicated throughout history.

Especially when the captured goods are easy to sell, and the officers involved are usually good at controlling and uniting their soldiers, ensuring that the spoils are distributed fairly so that everyone is satisfied and won't betray their superiors or comrades, then the officers are more likely to risk becoming pirates.

When the Demanians seized the cargo ship and sailed away, the Swedish crew members left on the small boat, along with a few Norwegians and Lusa escorts and receivers disguised as Swedish crew members, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

A Swedish-speaking intelligence officer from Lusa glared venomously at the German ship: "Fortunately, this time we encountered a greedy double-crosser; we only lost the cargo."

This route is temporarily blocked. We need to report to our superiors and thoroughly investigate how the Demanian warships were able to enter the Gulf of Bodenia!

This can no longer be explained away by a leaked minefield map—there wasn't a single safe passage at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia! Even our own ships can't get in; we have to unload our cargo in Turku and have it transported by train to Helsinki and St. Petersburg. How did they get in?!

Beside them stood a manager from a Norwegian foreign trade company, who was in charge of escorting the goods. He asked the intelligence officer, "Major Vasily, will this shipment implicate our entire operation? Will the heat die down?"

Officer Lusa said bitterly, "We can't take this route for now. There will definitely be warships lying in wait in this area frequently these days."

Fortunately, the Demacian naval leadership might not find out so quickly, since radios and machine tools can be sold on the civilian market.

Given his behavior, he might not truthfully report his military achievements, since our ship also flies the Swedish flag, and he's afraid of causing a diplomatic incident without solid evidence. He's just after money; would someone who wants to line his own pocket dare report his embezzlement to his superiors?

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and slowly sailed back to the Swedish coast in the small boat to report the bad news.

……

However, what they didn't expect was that just when this group thought the German ship's commander, who was essentially double-crossing them, wouldn't report it,
Just two days later, on the morning of the 19th, Lieutenant General Berdick's ship returned to Memel Harbor, and as soon as he landed, he gave Hipper a detailed report on the situation.

"You bastard, you actually swindled 1500 radios and 600 machine tools? Here's what we'll do: you keep one-third of them and sell them on the black market to make money."

The remaining two-thirds were handled by Lelouch, the Baden Grand Guild, and myself. This is all 'evidence,' and also the fee we paid to clear your name.

Lieutenant General Berdick could only sigh, like Li Yunlong receiving a call from his brigade commander, "Rank has an edge."

There's nothing we can do about it. He was originally "ordered to be a pirate." After handing over two-thirds, the remaining one-third can be cleared out and will receive official endorsement in the future, which is already quite good.

The relevant photographic evidence was also developed, analyzed, and then handed over to the Grand Duke of Baden for evaluation.

Many of these photos were taken secretly, with the subjects unaware they were being filmed. This encourages their侥幸心理 (a sense of侥幸, or a belief that they can get away with it), and they might return to their old ways once the heat dies down. Little do they know, the Demanians have already begun a full-scale investigation. In the future, they might even utilize the internal channels of the Swedish royal family to conduct a thorough investigation of these pro-Brazil traitors.

Finally, after quickly completing the formalities, Admiral Hipper made a few phone calls to Lelouch to privately report on the latest developments and the progress of the investigation.

He made phone calls to Porsche in Prague and the headquarters of the 6th Army in Odessa.

The first phone call informed me that Lelouch had already left Prague and headed south to Odessa, while the second call told me that he hadn't arrived yet and was probably still on the train.

Admiral Hipper had no choice but to leave a message instructing Lelouch to call Memel back once he arrived in Odessa.

Hipper received a reply from Lelouch that evening.

After exchanging pleasantries on the phone, Lelouch explained that he had just arrived in Odessa that afternoon and had many urgent matters to attend to, which was why he had time to call back now.

Admiral Hipper reported on the capture of the enemy's transport fleet smuggling machine tools and radios, the evidence gathered, and the current handling of the situation, asking Lelouch to fill in any gaps.

Lelouch: "What good luck? You intercepted the fleet so quickly. You handled it very well. Don't alert them yet. The Gulf of Bodenia's navigation season is almost over. If you can intercept them, do so. It's okay if they slip through the net occasionally."

If we completely block them every time, they'll never dare to use this route again, and it'll be completely useless. In short, be careful with the scale. Have the captains in charge of this mission act like pirates, playing the double-crossing game, to lull the enemy into a false sense of security. While the Grand Duke of Baden slowly contacts the pro-German faction in the Swedish high command to gather evidence, just do this and that…”

A large net has been slowly drawn, and it seems harmless at the moment, but once the Baltic Sea freezes over next year, its fangs will be fully revealed.

……

"You've really got a lot going on, kid. You're back in Odessa and you still have so much to deal with in the Baltic Sea theater!"

Inside the city of Odessa, at the headquarters of the 6th Army.

After Lelouch hung up the phone with Admiral Hipper in front of Duke Rupprecht, the Marshal made a seemingly dissatisfied remark.

The campaign in the Kievan Rus' plains on the southern front is about to begin. Lelouch has only just returned, yet he still has to spare energy for other matters; it's no wonder the Marshal is dissatisfied.

Lelouch: "Mainly because recently, Hindenburg and Rodendorff had their underling Mark Hoffman jump out and point fingers at the results and strategic significance of the Baltic Sea battle."

I didn't want Rodendorff to ruin our overall strategy of "flying along the coastline on both flanks," so I had to offer some more advice.

As you know, on the issue of suppressing Hindenburg and Rodendorff, these 'Central Breakthroughists,' our interests are aligned with those of Field Marshal Mackensen and the Grand Duke of Baden; we must unite all forces that can be united.

Moreover, my guidance to General Hipper to continue investigating the enemy's shipping routes in the Gulf of Bodenia yielded some other results—while clearing mines, General Hipper's men accidentally discovered that after the enemy's main naval force was destroyed, they had chosen to 'completely seal off the entrance and exit to the Gulf of Bodenia' and lay mines indiscriminately and densely!
What does this mean? It means that our fleet was still able to enter the Gulf of Bothnia under such circumstances, which is definitely not because someone in the enemy's naval leadership leaked the mine deployment map, but only because our army possessed a completely new and extremely efficient mine-sweeping weapon.

In this way, the enemy will soon realize that the Tsar's previous coercion and purge of the navy was actually a mistake in killing innocent people! This will make the Tsar's reputation for incompetence and self-harm against loyal officials even more infamous.

We are precisely at this juncture to launch a full-scale offensive against the southern front of Lusa. Do you think that if the Tsar's infamy were to fester at this critical moment, wouldn't that further demoralize the enemy and erode their will to fight?

Upon hearing this anticipated potential benefit, the Duke's eyes lit up, and he was quite satisfied. He didn't say anything more, only letting out a final, somewhat reluctant sigh:
"Well, it's all for the country. I even prepared a welcome banquet for you, and had the army group headquarters come to celebrate your promotion to brigadier general. But it seems you've had your fill of victory celebrations while you're on the northern front."

“…” Lelouch could clearly hear the deep resentment in those words, the fear that his strategist would be poached by his colleagues.

To appease the Marshal, Lelouch quickly said, "No, Minister Mark von Baden wanted me to do more things, but I refused them all. I rushed back to the southern front for fear of delaying important matters."

The Duke then put aside his resentment and turned to curiosity: "What does that old bastard Baden want you to do this time?"

Lelouch: "He hopes to delve into the pro-Bolshevik problem among the Swedes and then use international pressure to wipe out those parasites."

In order to contact His Majesty Gustav V himself without anyone noticing, Minister Baden suggested that I pretend to be Miss Loretta's fiancé from the Anhalt family, and under the guise of visiting my aunt and uncle, secretly request an audience with His Majesty Gustav V..."

"This old bastard is going too far!" The Duke felt a sense of crisis, but he didn't say it aloud. He just cursed Minister Mark von Baden in his heart.

Has the digging for the foundation of this wall gone this far?
No, we have to speed things up... The Duke was already imagining that after the Battle of the Kievan Rus' Plains, he would find a way to give Lelouch a refresher course by the end of this year.

Then, if this kid can achieve some other merits or find some other excuse, I can promote him to a higher rank and make him a hereditary baron of the Kingdom of Balia.

There won't be as many obstacles when we talk about him and Cecilia later.

Moreover, once the year is over, Cecilia will theoretically be eighteen years old (by Chinese reckoning), whereas when Cecilia first met Lelouch, she was only sixteen (by Chinese reckoning).

In just two short years, Cecilia has grown old enough, and Lelouch has gone from captain to general, so everything seems quite reasonable...

Mark von Baden, you old codger, don't even think about poaching us! What resources does a mere Minister of Prisoners of War and Occupied Territories Affairs have to poach us?
……

Because of the little incident where Minister Baden tried to poach Lelouch, the Duke's slight dissatisfaction with Lelouch's multitasking completely vanished, and he said nothing more.

The welcome dinner that evening was the same as usual, and everyone had a great time.

The next morning, the Duke told Lelouch to hurry back to the army for a final rehearsal.

As for the overall army group's operational plan, it had already been formulated long ago and did not require any last-minute adjustments—or rather, this army group-level operational plan was originally created by Lelouch and his other staff officers before he left. It's just that at that time he had not yet been promoted to brigadier general and could not be officially named the army group's "chief of staff."

The division directly under Lelouch's command consisted of the same old soldiers, so there was no problem of "the general not knowing the soldiers, and the soldiers not knowing the general."

The core personnel came from the earliest elite assault battalions and later the airborne regiments.

Anyway, there aren't that many airdrop missions in this era, and airships are also countered by recently emerging weapons such as white phosphorus bombs, making it difficult to use airships for airdrops in the future.

Therefore, it's not a waste to send soldiers who have received basic parachute training back to ground combat on the front lines.

Besides the assault battalion and airborne regiment, the subsequent reinforcements were mainly Demanians from the Austrian prisoners of war rescued from the Przemeshir Fortress during the Lviv campaign.

These Demanians are of the same ethnicity as the majority of the Demanian army, so there is absolutely no problem with their cohesion and loyalty.

They had endured the brutal six-month siege of the Przemehill Fortress, and Lelouch had even saved their lives. Furthermore, Lelouch himself was an Austrian who had gone to Demania to serve in the military.

With so many morale boosts stacked up, this unit's morale is already that of an absolute iron army. After six months of combat training, they can be described as disciplined and fearless in the face of death.

The only thing that Lelouch needed to get used to was the new weapons that the troops had just been issued.

He also needs to familiarize his soldiers with the coordinated use of armored vehicles and half-track tractors, and how to use these new weapons to develop new tactics.

He doesn't need much time; give him two or three days to get everything sorted out, and he can get into battle.

-

PS: My train back to Hangzhou is tomorrow at noon, so I might have to update in the afternoon.

Updates will resume in the morning on the 5th.

(End of this chapter)