Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 196 Desperate Measures: The Bretons Raise Their Bargaining Strategy

December 1st, a rest day after capturing Poltava and Kharkiv.

After a brief one-day rest in Poltava, the "Grande Dmania" Panzer Training Division is about to rejoin the final assault and encirclement of Kiev.

Lelouch was physically exhausted, but mentally he was extremely excited, feeling a sense of pride in making history. He was very tired, but he couldn't fall asleep.

Field Marshal Rupprecht, commander of the 6th Army, also visited the front lines in Poltava and briefly met with Lelouch.

His intention was to reassure Lelouch not to worry and to get some rest; he didn't want to say anything too encouraging.

But after seeing Lelouch's excited yet exhausted state, he felt relieved: this young man in front of him, although talented and gifted, was still not 25 years old and his mental fortitude was still a bit immature.

Marshal Rupprecht had some bad news from other battlefields, but he had been keeping it from Lelouch for the past few days, fearing it would affect Lelouch's performance in the armored assault and distract him.

Seeing that he wasn't getting enough rest anyway, they decided to speak frankly and try a different approach to motivate him.

So, at noon that day, when the Marshal asked Lelouch to have lunch with him, the Marshal leisurely revealed:

"Since you've been having trouble sleeping anyway, I won't hide anything from you—in fact, on November 27th, just ten days after our army besieged Kharkiv, and the day after our army first besieged Poltava, a new enemy emerged on the southern battlefield."

They must have been utterly shocked by the upheaval in Kharkiv and were determined to accelerate their offensive by any means necessary to save the Russa people. Therefore, you bear a heavy responsibility.

We and Uncle Leopold must quickly encircle and eliminate the enemy within this anticipated large encirclement north of Kiev before we can split our forces south to wipe out the forces rescuing the Russa people! Push them back into the sea!

Lelouch was putting beef spaghetti into his mouth with a fork when he heard the news, and he paused for a moment before realizing what had happened:

"You mean the Britannians in Gallipoli have launched another operation to rescue the Lusa allies?"

Lelouch vaguely recalled that the Britannians of this plane launched the Gallipoli Campaign in mid-August of this year, establishing a landing site on that narrow peninsula on the north shore of the Dardanelles Strait.

The battle was delayed for four or five months, obviously because Lelouch had almost annihilated the Britannian expeditionary force at the Ypres-Dunkirk salient, causing a devastating blow to the Britannian army and forcing them to spend another four or five months recovering before restoring their army structure.

From the time the Bretanians landed in mid-August until around September 20, before the Battle of Zaporizhia in the northern Kievan Rus' theater, the Bretanians relentlessly attacked, suffering over 100,000 casualties.

At that time, the German 6th Army also sent a fire support force, mainly composed of long-range cannons, railway guns and airships, to Gallipoli to support the Ottomans and help them build a complete defensive system.

They also used railway guns and airships to lay mines, causing serious damage to the Burkina Faso Mediterranean Fleet and temporarily halting their various tactics.

But then, from September 20 to November 20, nothing new happened on the Gallipoli Peninsula; it was just a matter of life and death being sacrificed.

During this process, the Ottomans were likely forced to retreat gradually and adopt flexible defenses, using space to buy time and taking advantage of the gradual loss of each position to reap the lives of the Bretonnian allied forces.

Now, the Britannians must have been terrified to see that the Russa had suffered another collapse in the Kievan Rus's war zone, and that the Dmanians had even used "tanks," which were more advanced than armored vehicles, so they decided to further speed up the rescue of the Russa.

I wonder what kind of mess that First Lord of the Navy, Walton Spencer, has gotten himself into this time.

Marshal Rupprecht, seeing that Lelouch was indeed very curious about the matter, explained the whole story to him in detail.

Here's the thing.

……

As early as November 18, a week after the start of the Kievan Rus' campaign and the day after the German 6th Army encircled Kharkov.

The Demacians' new weapons and tactics once again shocked the world, even more so than the initial attack by armored vehicle swarms.

"Within a week of the start of the operation, we will break through 150-200 kilometers of forward defensive perimeter and complete the encirclement of Kharkiv, trapping Rusa's 9th Army."

What an astonishing speed!

Therefore, when this battle report was sent to the Frankish Army Ministry, the Prime Minister of Britannia, and the military headquarters of both armies, the Franco-Britan allies, including Roussauds, were all shocked.

A few days later, even the United States, which was not yet involved in the war, was completely shocked.

However, even if the Frankish and American nations were alarmed, there was nothing they could do. They currently lacked the foundation to build tanks, especially the American nation, which hadn't even had time to conduct the relevant basic research.

(Note: Historically, the Franks independently initiated a tank research project, around February 1916. After seven months of research, their allies, the Bolsheviks, deployed tanks in combat on the Somme, prompting the Franks to accelerate their efforts and deploy them in combat in 1917. In this world, the Franks urgently initiated their own tank project after seeing the Demacian armored vehicles, which was in October 1915.)
But the Britannians had already initiated the tank project and spent several months drawing up blueprints long before they saw the Demania armored vehicles in actual combat in September.

After witnessing the power of German armored vehicles in September, the Burkina Faso Navy Ministry produced the blueprints and worked with the Army Ministry to expedite the production of prototypes, even though they were not yet perfect.

In October, the Bretonnia officially began trial production of the first prototype, "Little Willie," a prototype that could not yet be equipped with cannons and only had machine guns. Moreover, it was smaller in size than the "Mark I" which later saw its first combat deployment, and its trench-crossing ability was also somewhat reduced.

By November, "Little Willie" was finally pieced together and built, two and a half months ahead of Earth's timeline—clearly a butterfly effect caused by the enemy's actions.

Without the Demacians' provocation, the Britannians would likely have been dissatisfied with "Little Willie's" performance and would have spent another six months to three months slowly improving it, further enhancing its trench-crossing width, before deploying it to the battlefield.

But now the enemy has already taken the lead in deploying tanks and using them in actual combat. The Britannians no longer have the need for secrecy to achieve surprise, so "Little Willie" was used directly, and they wanted to build several more to test in actual combat.

At this critical juncture, news came back that Demania tanks had approached the city of Kharkiv in three days and completed the encirclement in a week.

Spurred by the situation in Kharkiv, Prime Minister Asquith convened another emergency meeting at 10 Downing Street that night, bringing together the Ministers of the Army and Navy and the Minister of Munitions to discuss countermeasures.

……

"Walton! How's it going on your end? The Gallipoli landings have been going on for almost three months now. The first month was tough, but at least we made some progress. But in the last two months, it's turned into a bloodbath and a war of attrition!"
The Dmanians have launched a new, deadly offensive on the eastern front. They've built tanks before us and are using them to attack the Kievan Rus' region! Kharkiv is already surrounded; if we hesitate any longer, we won't be able to rescue the Russa!

Prime Minister Asquith looked extremely anxious and agitated, with pimples around his mouth, which was unlike any ailment one would expect from an old man like him.

First Lord of the Navy Walton Spencer sincerely admitted his mistake: "We have worked together to fight the enemy, and over the past two months, we have made steady progress on the Gallipoli Peninsula. In the first 40 days of the campaign, from mid-August to the end of September, we advanced nearly 30 kilometers and captured the entire westernmost high ground of the peninsula."

Over the next 40 days, we advanced another 40 kilometers, even capturing Boraiel, the most crucial railway town on the Gallipoli Peninsula, a full 70 kilometers from our initial landing point at the westernmost tip of the peninsula.

That was the narrowest point on the entire Gallipoli peninsula, less than 5 kilometers wide from north to south. The enemy had fortified and dug layers of defensive positions there beforehand, slowing our advance, which is why it was so slow. But the Imperial landing forces were making progress every day, advancing 70 kilometers in three months, an average of 800 meters per day. You can't say the soldiers weren't risking their lives.

(Note: The current front lines and previous stages of the Gallipoli campaign are shown in the following diagram.)

Prime Minister Asquith was speechless at this answer. Indeed, compared to the previous disastrous defeats at Ypres and Dunkirk, the Gallipoli campaign could only be described as suffering heavy casualties, but at least it was a victory so far.

Although tens of thousands of people died in each of the two phases, the total number of troops killed was roughly the same as the total number of troops annihilated in the previous Battle of Ypres.

But Ypres wiped out nearly 30 people, gained nothing, and was driven back.

The Gallipoli campaign has so far resulted in nearly 30 casualties, but at least it has pushed the enemy forward by 70 kilometers.

The front lines don't lie.

Prime Minister Asquith calmed himself before pressing further: "I didn't say that the 70-kilometer victory achieved by the soldiers wasn't valuable, but even if you take Bolayel, how far is it from Istanbul?"

"There are still 200 kilometers to go..." Walton Spencer couldn't evade the question and had to be blunt.

"..." Prime Minister Asquith took a deep breath. "You pushed 70 kilometers in 3 months, and there are still 200 kilometers left. Are you planning to push it for 9 months? So, you plan to fight the entire Black Sea Strait campaign and the campaign to capture the Ottoman capital for a whole year?"

Do you think, given the current situation of the Rus' people, the Tsar will still be on the throne in nine months? They've been brutally beaten and utterly crushed by the Dmanians. If we don't do something, I don't even want to think about whether the Tsar will still be alive in nine months! At the very least, the Kievan Rus' plains and the entire southern agricultural and mining areas of Rus' will definitely be completely lost!

After venting his frustrations, the Prime Minister quieted down again and signaled to everyone to think of other ways to speed things up, even if they were too radical and hadn't been dared to use before, but now they had to consider them.

After some deliberation, Minister Wharton, who was full of wicked ideas, actually prepared a scheme in advance.

Thus, a plan to further drag others into the conflict and escalate the war came to light.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, why don't we implement a radical plan and drag Greece into this prematurely? Then we can join forces with the Greek army and attack Istanbul directly eastward from the Greek-Ottoman border on the mainland."

Moreover, considering that our landing forces on the Gallipoli Peninsula have already advanced 70 kilometers, and that the Austrian army has been severely depleted over the past three months, the Ottoman casualties must also be considerable. They are now at their most exhausted.

If we were to launch a surprise attack from the border of Sio, a little north of the Gallipoli Peninsula, the main Ottoman army currently blocking the base of the peninsula would likely be surrounded and attacked from both sides! At that point, we could launch a pincer attack and annihilate the entire Ottoman main force!

If the Ottoman main force could be annihilated quickly and then Istanbul could be seized to open up the Black Sea straits, the Imperial Navy, which held an absolute advantage, could swarm into the Black Sea.

At that time, the Demacians' two battlecruisers and several old-fashioned pre-dreadnoughts in the Black Sea will be no match for us! We will be the victors who will completely control the Black Sea.

The reason why the Empire and its allies have not fared well over the past six months is that the Empire's invincible naval advantage has not been fully utilized! Although the Empire has cut off the Demacians' maritime trade routes on the ocean, it is unable to enter the Baltic and Black Seas.

This resulted in the complete annihilation of the Lusa navy by the Demanians in these two geographically isolated marginal seas, giving the Demanians an invincible coastal shipping and logistical advantage in their war against Lusa. As long as they flew along the Baltic and Black Sea coastlines from both sides, they could launch a fierce attack deep into the interior.

But as long as this situation is reversed, as long as the Royal Navy can enter the Black Sea, we can cut off the Demanians' maritime logistics for their long-distance expedition, and cause fires to break out everywhere along their coastline.

Even if the Demagnesians can still rely on the railway's logistics, the fighting spirit within Russa will surely be ignited by our cooperation. Countless people will spontaneously rise up to sabotage the railways in the rear, and the Demagnesians will inevitably be swallowed up by the vast ocean of resistance from two hundred million Russa people!

Minister Wharton laid out all of the above considerations in one breath.

Prime Minister Asquith was certainly aware of the benefits and advantages involved, and in fact, he was well aware of them all along.

But as Prime Minister, Asquith has many more issues to consider.

The most obvious issues are those of diplomacy and justice.

In the Earth-based world, the Kingdom of Burkina Faso finally managed to drag Greece into the war in 1916 through a combination of enticement and exaggeration of the Ottoman threat. Even then, Greece's entry into the war was riddled with serious legal flaws.

Although the Greek Prime Minister Venizelos claimed to have helped Greece seize some land from the Ottomans and Bulgarians, thus contributing to territorial expansion.

However, his participation in the war was sternly rejected by King Constantine I of Greece. Previous Greek law clearly stipulated that the prime minister could only manage domestic affairs, while the king had the power to declare war and was the commander-in-chief of the army.

It was only 1915, and the Britannians, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation of the war around the Black Sea and in the Kievan Rus' region, and the slow progress of the Gallipoli campaign in breaking through the Black Sea straits, were forced to shamelessly drag Greece into the conflict ahead of schedule. There was no time left to do much superficial work to embellish the international situation.

Earlier in the first half of the year, the Britannians had already negotiated with King Constantine I of Greece through formal but secret diplomatic channels, hoping that he would change his mind, abandon neutrality, and declare war on the Ottomans.

But Constantine I made it clear that he wanted to ensure the peace of his country and did not want to get involved in a world war.

These issues are all thorny obstacles facing Prime Minister Asquith.

“I understand what you’re saying, but King Constantine I of Greece is unyielding and refuses to join the war. He insists on remaining neutral. What can you do?” Asquith threw this crucial question back to Minister Wharton.

Walton gritted his teeth: "Then get rid of him! I suggest we encourage the Greek Prime Minister to declare that he represents the will of the people, that he was elected by the Greek people, and that Greek law, such as the right to declare war and the right to command the military, belongs to the King—let him clean up his mess! A prime minister elected by the people should have unlimited power."

We can arrange a date with Prime Minister Venizelos so that he will leave Athens and flee to Thessaloniki, where anti-Austrian sentiment is strong, pro-my country forces are relatively powerful, and Venizelos himself has a relatively strong control over the area.

Then, he raised an army in Thessaloniki in the name of the Greek people, overthrowing the neutral, traitorous tyrant. Then, our reserves in Samothrace and other places could land in Thessaloniki nearby, and then, "at the invitation of the Greek Prime Minister and the people," fight back to Athens and kill the traitorous tyrant!
If we can control the situation in Greece in a very short time, we can then turn around and attack the border between Greece and Austria by land, reach the rear of the Ottoman garrison on the Gallipoli Peninsula, and join forces with our troops on the peninsula to launch a pincer attack, annihilate the main Ottoman force, and march on Istanbul, thus completely breaking the current deadlock!

Hopefully, our actions are swift enough, and news of our successful breach of the Black Sea straits reaches the Demacians' southwestern front before they despair. This will give them the confidence to continue fighting to the death, because they know that once the Royal Navy's invincible Mediterranean fleet enters the Black Sea, the Demacians' retreat will be complete!

Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Asquith couldn't help but gasp.

"But by doing this, aren't you supporting a Greek rebellion? You're openly trampling on Greek law..."

Minister Wharton: "How can you call it trampling? It's because the laws they enacted when they founded the country were wrong. How could they authorize the king with military command and the power to declare war? We were invited by the Greek people to help them overthrow the traitorous tyrant."

Moreover, we can urgently transport all five 'Little Willie' prototype vehicles we have accumulated, as well as all the Rolls-Royce armored vehicles in the army's inventory, to the south of France by rail, and then transport them to the Gallipoli front day and night.

"Once the time comes to act, we'll land armored vehicles in Thessaloniki and help the Greek people kill their king. Then we'll deploy all our tank prototypes to the Gallipoli front and strive for a breakthrough as quickly as possible."

Prime Minister Asquith was reluctant to bear the infamy of instigating a rebellion in another country, but given the circumstances, he seemed to have no other choice for the sake of the bigger picture.

So what if we have a bad reputation in history? If we hadn't done this, we might have lost this world war. So what if we have a bad reputation?

"Alright... I'll take this gamble. If we lost the Gallipoli campaign, only you would be the one to leave. But if we succeed in instigating a Greek rebellion this time and it still doesn't work, then we're both finished."

Because of the increased betting, losing would not only result in the dismissal of the Navy Minister, but would also lead to the Prime Minister being held accountable and dismissed.

This is a huge matter; Asquith has staked his entire future on it.

(End of this chapter)