Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 174 Archduke Armored Instructor
The following day, in Zankoy, the northeasternmost city on the Crimean Peninsula.

Last night, at the army group headquarters in Odessa, Lelouch went over the follow-up battle plans with Duke Rupprecht one last time, and then attended a welcome banquet and received everyone's congratulations on his promotion to brigadier general and chief of staff.

He didn't even have time to spend the night in Odessa before boarding the train again, enduring a bumpy overnight journey, and arriving this morning in the frontline city of Zankoy.

His combat troops had already been deployed here in advance and had undergone a period of acclimatization training.

A few days later, if the Kievan Rus' campaign were to commence as scheduled, they would advance north from here, traversing a narrow and treacherous passage connecting the Crimean Peninsula and the Kievan Rus' mainland, and strike directly behind the enemy's southern flank defenses.

However, he still needs to familiarize himself with his troops and understand the latest organizational structure and equipment changes. After all, the arsenals in the rear are producing new half-tracks, trucks, and armored vehicles every day.

For every day the battle dragged on, his troops might receive several new armored vehicles. This number was constantly changing and would not remain fixed even after the battle began.

"Sir, welcome back to the unit. The 'Grand Demania' armored training division is fully assembled and ready for your inspection at any time."

At nine o'clock in the morning, when Lelouch arrived at the division headquarters in the center of the city of Zankoy, his deputy commander, Colonel Erwin Rommel, had already prepared a list of the entire division's organization and asked Lelouch to review it.

If Lelouch needs it, he can go to the camp at any time to inspect all the equipment and see the soldiers' demeanor.

Lelouch picked up the list and report that Rommel handed him and glanced at it briefly.

The "Grandemania Division" was already an reinforced division with a total of 40,000 men, of whom about 7,000 were veterans of the Baria lineage and 33,000 were soldiers who surrendered from the Przemeshir fortress and were rescued during the Battle of Lviv.

Previously, Lelouch himself had at least 7,000 Baria veterans and 42,000 rescued prisoners of war.

But after a series of battles including the Battle of Lviv, the Battle of Dniester, the Battle of Odessa, and the Battle of Nikolayev…

More than six months of continuous bloody fighting resulted in nearly 10,000 casualties for this unit.

More than 1500 Barea veterans were lost, including more than 400 who died in battle and more than 1100 who were seriously wounded or disabled and retired.

In addition, 8000 prisoners of war were rescued from the Przemyshir fortress; the Lviv battle alone caused casualties equivalent to one-third of the total cumulative losses. To date, 2900 have been killed and 5200 wounded.

Combined, the two groups had suffered a total of 3500 casualties in the division over the past six months. But those who survived were the elite who had been tested by blood and fire.

The name "Grandemania Division" is based on the personnel composition of this unit.

This division symbolizes the unity of the entire Demandian nation, transcending national boundaries. It also symbolizes the solidarity and mutual support between Germany and Austria.

This division has plenty of combat personnel, but the supply of new weapons is completely inadequate.

To date, Skoda and Porsche have produced fewer than 400 armored vehicles.

Duke Rupprecht originally thought that Lelouch was the most knowledgeable about armored tactics and wanted to assign him most of the vehicles, which was also to win Lelouch over.

However, Lelouch was not a selfish person who would do anything for power. Considering the effectiveness of the armored combat capabilities, he ultimately declined the arrangement.

If he possessed the Mark I tank, the kind of tank that the Burkina Faso is developing for frontal assaults on trench and fortified terrain, it might be suitable for leading the charge while being deployed on the front lines to absorb damage.

However, Lulu built a highly mobile, lightly armored vehicle. To take advantage of mobile warfare, at least two "pincers" were needed for a "pincer breakthrough".

Therefore, Lelouch ultimately suggested that the Duke divide the existing armored forces into two groups, with Lelouch's "Greater Demania" armored instructors accounting for only half of the total armored forces.

Of the remaining half, 40% will be used to form another armored division, and the last 10% will be reserved as reserves or as armored vehicles attached to the command system.

……

"The entire Demania Division was allocated a total of 180 Panzer I vehicles, which were distributed to two Panzer regiments, with each regiment equipped with 80 Panzer I vehicles."

The remaining 20 armored vehicles were distributed as follows: two to the headquarters of each of the seven regiments in the division, and six to the division headquarters. These armored vehicles were specially designed command vehicles, which could carry one less combat personnel than ordinary armored vehicles, but were equipped with onboard radios.

全师另有400辆半履带运输/牵引车，800辆卡车，4200匹挽马和300辆重载马车（6马牵引）、1200辆普通马车（2马牵引）。”

"The entire division was organized into 2 armored regiments, 2 mechanized infantry regiments, 2 motorized infantry regiments, 1 motorized artillery regiment, and 2 reserve reinforced infantry regiments."

Each armored regiment has 3000 men, each mechanized infantry regiment and motorized infantry regiment has 4000 men, each ordinary reinforced infantry regiment has 8000 men, and each artillery regiment has 2600 men, for a total of 40600 men.

The armored regiment is equipped with 80 armored vehicles, 80 half-track vehicles, and 80 trucks, ensuring sufficient transport for all personnel, weapons, and necessary supplies, and can advance at a road speed of over 25 kilometers per hour or an off-road speed of over 12 kilometers per hour.

The mechanized infantry regiment is equipped with 80 half-track vehicles and 160 trucks, which also ensures the transport capacity for the rapid movement of the entire regiment, but it lacks armored assault capabilities.

摩托化步兵团每团配备160辆卡车，30辆重载马车，200辆普通马车。以及1个团属105炮连、含4门炮，2个77毫米炮连、含18门炮。

普通步兵团每团配备30辆重载马车、400辆普通马车。团属火炮为4门105毫米炮和24门80毫米迫击炮。

炮兵团配属80辆半履带车，180辆重载马车。拥有12门150毫米加农炮、12门150毫米榴弹炮。48门105毫米榴弹炮。”

Lelouch roughly reviewed his direct subordinate forces and understood the scale of combat missions he could undertake in the future.

Because his division had too many men, it actually had two over-strength reinforced infantry regiments that could not keep up with the rapid advance of the mobile forces. They could only follow behind to fill in the gaps and reinforce the flanks of the newly formed defensive lines after the vanguard forces broke through.

The actual number of troops that can be deployed for mobile operations is approximately 24,000.

Meanwhile, the remaining batch of armored vehicles and half-tracks of the entire 6th Army were gathered together to form another armored division, temporarily named the "2nd Armored Division - Reich Division", and the division commander was Federer von Bock, who had just been promoted to brigadier general.

This division has a full strength of 21,000 men, which is smaller than Lelouch's division. The supply of armored vehicles and half-tracks is only 70% to 80% of that on Lelouch's side. Trucks, horse-drawn carriages, and artillery, however, can be provided equally.

最终这个“帝国师”实际编有2个装甲团合计130辆装甲车，1个机械化步兵团、2个摩托化步兵团、1个摩托化炮兵团，总计6个团合编为1个师。

After being promoted to colonel, Bock distinguished himself on numerous occasions, including the decisive breakthrough at Gollitze during the Hungarian campaign, the encirclement and suppression of Tarnuv, and the pursuit during the later Romanian border campaign.

Von Bock was only a step away from being promoted to brigadier general. During the two weeks that Lelouch was transferred to the northern front, Von Bock's troops carried out some more sieges and conquests on the Crimean Peninsula, squeezing the Rusa army on the peninsula back to the last two cities, Sevastopol and Kerch.

In other words, as the wheels of history turned into late September, the Russo army was left with only two isolated cities on the Crimean Peninsula, with two corps and one corps besieged in each city. They did not surrender only because these areas were important military bases with ample supplies; the besieged troops had no shortage of weapons, ammunition, or rations.

Originally, von Bock's uncle, Chief of the General Staff Falkenhayn, planned to recommend his nephew for promotion to brigadier general after the city of Sevastopol had been captured.

However, because Lelouch was granted special permission by the Emperor to be promoted to brigadier general, setting a precedent, the pressure on Falkenhayn was greatly reduced. In the end, he secretly gave the green light and turned a blind eye, finally managing to get his nephew promoted.

Therefore, prior to the start of this battle, the personnel appointments of the core officer corps recruited and appropriately transferred by Lelouch are as follows:

Lelouch von Ritter Hunt, Brigadier General, served as Chief of Staff of the 6th Army and Commander of the "Grande de Mania" Panzer Training Division under the 7th Army of Baria. (The 7th Army was reorganized from the original "Independent Army," mainly composed of 9 surrendered Austrian soldiers from the Przemysir Fortress rescued during the Battle of Lviv, and later joined by 2 Hungarian prisoners of war rescued in succession.)

Federer von Bock, a brigadier general in the army, served as a staff officer of the 6th Army and was the commander of the "Reich" armored division under the 2nd Corps of Baria.

William Keitel, a brigadier general in the artillery, served as deputy chief of staff of the 6th Army Artillery Corps and commander of the army's heavy artillery brigade.

William Loeb, an artillery colonel, served as the commander of the motorized artillery regiment of the "Grande Demania" armored division.

Albert Kesselring, Air Force Colonel, served as Deputy Commander of the 6th Army's attached air wing and Commander of the airship platoon. Erwin Rommel, Army Colonel, served as Deputy Commander of the "Gross Demania" Panzer Division and Commander of the 1st Panzer Regiment.

Gerd von Rundstedt, an army colonel, served as deputy commander of the "Das Reich" Panzer Division and commander of the 1st Panzer Regiment.

William Lister, a lieutenant colonel in the Army, served as the commander of the motorized infantry regiment of the "Greater Demania" armored division.

Walter Model, an army lieutenant colonel, is still serving as the commander of the 1st Demagne Mountain Infantry Regiment on the Isonzo River front in the Italian-Austrian theater, and also concurrently commands the 18th Austrian Alpine Infantry Division.

He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel by relentlessly racking up kills on the Italians, and there was a clear trend toward further advancement. After learning about his current situation, Lelouch assessed that even without any new decisive achievements, Model should be able to advance to colonel by the end of the year by simply wearing down the enemy through this protracted war.

In addition, there is Lieutenant Colonel Edward Dieter, who also has the talent of a mountain warfare master, and is now a regimental commander in the Italian-Austrian battlefield, and also in charge of an Austrian mountain division.

However, there are differences in the "level" of a lieutenant colonel. Dieter has only been promoted to lieutenant colonel for a short time, and it is unlikely that he will be able to advance further within half a year. He can only wait for the opportunity to make a great contribution.

Besides Lelouch's close associates, there have also been many personnel changes among his superiors and colleagues recently.

Lelouch's new superior, the commander of the 7th Army, has been replaced by Major General Lister, who was Lelouch's old commander when he first transmigrated. Being a major general as an army commander is clearly a high-ranking position, but he has obviously benefited from being Lelouch's superior for so long, reaping the rewards in the process. If they achieve another major victory this time, he should have a chance to be promoted to lieutenant general.

Lieutenant General Karl Lyudpot, who had served as commander of the "Independent Army" during the Odessa campaign and was also the younger brother of Duke Rupprecht, had just been transferred to another post in the country.

Lieutenant General Karl was transferred to the State Railways Corporation, where he served as a deputy in the highest leadership position. He became the head of the State Railways Corporation in charge of the planning and construction of new railways, and was also responsible for the bidding and production procurement of simplified locomotives and wagons during wartime.

Major Fritz Todt, who had previously been valued by Lelouch and belonged to the army group's direct engineering corps, was also recommended by Lelouch and taken away by Lieutenant General Karl to work together in the railway planning and wartime train production department to give full play to his expertise.

In Demand, the national railway company is a behemoth, responsible for the construction and operation of the national railway network, and in wartime, it bears the heavy responsibility of transporting large quantities of supplies to the military. Therefore, its top leader is at least equivalent to a minister in a national ministry. For someone from the military to be transferred there to be the top leader, they would need to be at least a general, and a senior one at that.

Even a deputy position in the National Railway Administration is equivalent to a deputy minister, and it would be a great deal for a lieutenant general to be transferred to that position.

Finally, as Lelouch, von Bock, and others were promoted to brigadier general and appointed as division commanders of elite units, they gained more say in personnel management. They could recruit capable individuals, or even those with connections, into their units as mid-level officers.

Lelouch had previously set his sights on Major Kurt Student, an ace pilot in the air force, during the Battle of Lviv and the Romanian campaign.

When I first met Student during the Battle of Lviv, he was just a lieutenant. He rose to the rank of major entirely through his hard work, shooting down enemy planes and leading a squadron to achieve numerous victories.

This time, Lelouch took advantage of the formation of a new unit to consult with the Duke and borrow manpower from Colonel Oswald Polk, the air force commander assigned to the 6th Army, and finally got Student to serve as the battalion commander of a directly subordinate battalion in his division.

This special forces battalion is responsible for various pontoon bridge or airdrop missions, covering a wide range of tasks. However, Lelouch believes that this is the position where Student can best utilize his strengths. This future paratrooper leader will surely find a more suitable way of working in his new role.

Meanwhile, von Burke's "Imperial Division," like Lelouch's, poached a bunch of people with connections.

Two of them were Paul Hausser and Günther von Kluge. The main reason von Bock brought them in was that they were all of similar age and had been classmates at the Potsdam Military Academy.

Neither Paul Hausser nor Günther Kluge were Barians; they were traditional Prosenian officers, with Kluge even born in Poznan, which later became part of Poland. However, Paul Hausser had previously served in the 6th Army, while Kluge had served in the Saxon 21st Army.

von Bock didn't have to put in much effort to transfer Paul Hausser; they were both from the 6th Army, and all he had to do was ask Field Marshal Rupprecht for permission.

Günther Kluge was a bit more complicated; he was poached from the Central Army, specifically from Marshal Hindenburg's command in the Polish theater. For this, von Bock even had to ask his uncle, the Chief of the General Staff, for help. Finally, after Falkenhahn made a call, Kluge was transferred.

When the World War first broke out, the three classmates were not far apart in their starting positions. Bock and Hausel were both majors, and Kruger was a little lower, but still a captain.

But after 15 months of war, Bock, a major, had been promoted to brigadier general, while Hausser had only just been promoted from major to lieutenant colonel. Kruger was still only a major.

That's why it's so important to have the right boss. If you're placed in a key position and make significant contributions, your promotion will skyrocket. If you don't have the right boss, you'll just stay where you are.

When the three old classmates met again, von Bock was already the commander of an elite division, Hausser could only barely hold the position of deputy regimental commander and battalion commander of a main force battalion under his command, and Kluge could only serve as an ordinary battalion commander.

……

Lelouch spent an entire day sorting out the latest organizational structure, personnel, equipment, and training progress of the troops.

During this period, he not only relied on reading reports, but also had in-depth conversations with Rommel to understand various details.

By the time Lelouch finished all this, it was almost dark, but not wanting to waste any more time, he asked Rommel to take him to the training grounds near the base so he could finally see for himself how the soldiers operated the new armored vehicles.

Rommel made an internal phone call to prepare briefly, after which his division commander was driven by a driver from the division headquarters to observe the proceedings.

They arrived at the location quickly, and Lelouch saw rows of brand-new armored vehicles parked neatly on the training ground, arranged in groups of 14 vehicles per row.

As Rommel led the division commander on a tour, he casually explained: "Currently, each armored regiment has 80 armored vehicles, plus 4 command vehicles, for a total of 84 vehicles. They are divided into two battalions, each equipped with 42 armored vehicles. Each battalion is further divided into 3 armored vehicle companies, each with 14 vehicles."

Each vehicle has three crew members, including a driver, a commander, and a gunner. The commander also operates a machine gun, and the gunner also operates a machine gun and is responsible for carrying and connecting ammunition belts.

In addition, the rear half of the vehicle can also carry 6 infantrymen, which is much weaker than that of a half-track vehicle.

Half-track vehicles can carry an entire infantry squad from the original assault battalion, including an 8-man assault team and a 6-man fire support team. Armored vehicles cannot carry fire support teams; each squad only has 9 men, with the squad leader also serving as the vehicle commander. The machine gunner also remains on the vehicle, and only 6 assault team members can dismount to fight.

However, the advantages of armored vehicles are also obvious. The hull is armored with 20mm frontal plates and 10mm side and rear plates, significantly enhancing protection compared to half-track vehicles, even though it carries six fewer people.

Current half-track vehicles are not bulletproof; all their power is used for load capacity and terrain mobility. This is a limitation of the current technology, and this is the best that can be done. In the next few years, with better engines that have greater power-to-weight ratio, we will be able to build new half-track vehicles that balance protection and carrying capacity.

As Rommel explained, the soldiers of the armored battalion demonstrated driving around a few times.

Lelouch quickly assessed the situation and concluded that the soldiers' driving skills were decent; they were likely converted from traditional truck drivers. Wheeled armored vehicles can steer using their front wheels, and their operation is similar to trucks, making them easy to master.

If we're driving tanks in the future, and the tank tracks can't be partially steered, then we'll have to operate them like excavators, using a joystick to make the left and right tracks move at different speeds or even reverse to steer. That would require extra training and practice, and we can't rush it.

In terms of weaponry, although all the armored vehicles are called "Type I armored vehicles," there are actually subtle differences. Of the 14 vehicles in each company, two are equipped with a 57mm 16-caliber short-barreled gun, the same type as the "Panzer II," which Krupp had just developed.

The remaining 12 vehicles were equipped with the standard two heavy machine guns each.

An armored vehicle equipped with a cannon would have one less heavy machine gun than a machine gun vehicle, and the fire operator would be converted into a gunner, plus an additional loader.

Finally, because the vehicle equipped with a cannon has a more complex structure and is more prone to malfunctions, a versatile mechanic is needed to operate it. This way, the vehicle can carry a total of five crew members, eliminating the need for infantry.

They sacrificed four personnel to gain more weight and operating space for the 57mm gun. Moreover, the gun was not mounted directly at the front of the vehicle, but on the roof, with the barrel extending diagonally forward and upward, similar to the open-top self-propelled guns of later times.

If you can't picture its appearance, you can think of the "Hu Feng" self-propelled gun, which was later modified from the chassis of the Panzer II tank. It didn't have a turret, but instead had an open-top indirect fire cannon on top of the hull.

-

PS: I was on the train this morning, just got back to Hangzhou. Hangzhou East Station was too crowded. I'll resume two updates a day tomorrow.

The first update tomorrow morning will be a normal war scene.

There are many things to take stock of before the battle, so this 6,000-word article is a bit rambling. I apologize and thank you for your patience.

(End of this chapter)