Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 20 Battlecruiser Fleet, Sail!
Until today, Lelouch had not realized that many of the aviation reconnaissance spies of this era actually held the citizenship of neutral countries.

Because airplanes have only been around for ten years, countries are still exploring how to use them militarily.

Three months into the world war, the two sides at most conducted some air defense precautions on the front lines, while there was absolutely no awareness of air defense on the rear borders.

So the Bretonnians thought of identifying among the citizens of neutral countries like the Netherlands those who possessed flying skills and whose political stance leaned towards Bretonnia.

Then give them a lot of money to fly into Demacia airspace and take some photos.

Military strongholds like Port William are naturally frequent targets for them. They can sell photos showing which warships are still in port and which are no longer there for a good price.

However, they were unlucky enough to run into Immelmann today, and Immelmann had just been advised by Lelouch to carry weapons, so those two guys on the other side obviously couldn't expect to go back.

Immelmann slowly followed behind the other aircraft, gradually closing the distance. In the end, the two planes flew side by side at almost the same speed, with less than 30 meters between them.

Immelmann then pulled out a Mauser pistol, handed it to Lelouch, and then pulled out another one for himself. The two of them fired together.

The soft, crisp "snap" sounds echoed in the night sky, startling the enemy pilot and the photographer in the back seat, who swerved to try and escape.

"Captain! Focus your fire on the pilot in the front seat! If the pilot dies, the plane will inevitably crash! What's the point of killing the photographer!"

Lelouch was alarmed to see that Immelmann was prioritizing attacking the rear of the enemy plane, giving the enemy plane a chance to turn around and escape.

Pilots of this era considered themselves "air knights" and were expected to uphold chivalry. Therefore, when Immelmann fired his first shot today, his immediate thought was to target the spy taking the photograph.

Fortunately, Yin Maiman realized her mistake and corrected it, immediately biting back even more fiercely, as if she had learned it without being taught.

Lelouch stared intently at the pilot of the enemy plane to his side, gripped his Mauser 96 pistol in one hand, and, mimicking the posture of fighting Japanese soldiers in later generations, turned the gun to the side and fired repeatedly.

The Mauser 96's massive recoil makes it difficult to hold steadily with one hand, but when you turn the gun sideways, the upward recoil is converted into a horizontal recoil, naturally creating a small-range burst of fire.

More than a dozen shots were fired in quick succession, and two of the bullets actually penetrated the skin and seat, hitting the cockpit of the enemy aircraft.

The enemy pilot let out a miserable howl as a bullet pierced his seat, entered through his back and exited through his chest, spraying a large amount of blood directly onto the aircraft's rudder.

The enemy spy in the back seat panicked immediately, but since he couldn't switch positions and take over the plane in the air, he could only watch helplessly as the plane went out of control and continued its original course, crashing into the distant sea.

"That was awesome! So this is what air combat is like! I shot down the first plane in the history of human warfare! I'm going to report this when I get back and give an interview!" Captain Immelmann was so excited that he practically jumped for joy. If he weren't flying the plane, he would have jumped for joy.

Lelouch: "Don't rush! Are you so eager to immediately reveal that 'our pilots have figured out how to fight in the air'? Don't you want to make full preparations, equip our first batch of planes with machine guns, and then announce the results? Announcing it too early would just give the enemy time to react."

Upon hearing this, Yin Maiman couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He knew that Lelouch was right, but he didn't want to let the credit slip away.

The interests of the empire are important, but personal interests and honor are also important.

Fortunately, Lelouch quickly found a convincing angle: "You didn't shoot down this plane, did you? You only ever target the spy in the back seat. I killed the pilot!"
I'm not in a hurry to claim credit, so why are you? But if you're willing to be patient, I'll truthfully report your achievements to the Duke, and you'll be rewarded with multiple honors, guaranteeing a one-time promotion!

Immelmann thought for a moment: Although this guy is two years younger than me, he is indeed highly regarded by the generals of the Baria royal family, so his words should have some credibility...

Yin Maiman mumbled an agreement: "Okay, then remember to testify for me later—but what if the navy finds plane wreckage or bodies later? How will you explain that?"

Lelouch: "That's easy. Just have General Hipper say that he has recovered a neutral country's plane that crashed. As for whether the newspapers want to report it or not, that's up to them. Besides, it's very difficult to recover one anyway."

Immelmann still had some concerns: "But I'm only temporarily seconded to the 6th Army. I'm not a Barian. Will the Duke still have the authority to promote me?"

This question was like a pillow being offered to someone who was sleepy. Lelouch was secretly delighted and quickly reassured the other party: "What's so difficult about that? You can just request to be transferred to the 6th Army. I remember you said you were a Saxon, right?"

Immelmann was born in Dresden, a major city in Saxony. Saxony is located between Baria and Prosen, and the local beliefs and customs are in a transitional state between the two.

Among the major air force heroes of the German Army during World War I, Immelmann's background was relatively the most southern German. The others, Polk and Richthofen, were typical Prosenians.

Moreover, these people are all very young, all born in the 90s. Immelmann was born in 90, Polk in 91, and Richthofen and Lelouch are the same age, born in 92.

Lelouch took this opportunity to recruit another key member of the Air Force into his own interest group. Wasn't that wonderful?

Yin Maiman didn't say anything more, but simply nodded to indicate that the deal was done, and the two reached an understanding.

Immelmann knew very well that Lelouch had his own agenda. He was making himself endure for the time being in order to prepare more fully and to make a much greater contribution in the future.

Given this, Immelmann would naturally choose "delayed gratification".

……

Half an hour later, Lelouch, who had landed safely, met Rear Admiral Hipper in the attack squadron's operations room in Wilhelmshaven.

He had Duke Rupprecht's personal secret letters and other tokens, so naturally his access was unimpeded.

Major General Hipper had served as the Duke's adjutant in his youth and always gave the Duke's men the green light to meet them immediately.

The major general's full name was Franz von Hippel. He was actually five years older than the Duke, and was already fifty years old this year. However, he came from a relatively humble background, and even though his name contained the character "von," he was only a major general at the age of fifty.

Lelouch didn't have time for much talk. After a brief self-introduction, he recounted all the intelligence issues, battle plans, and enemy speculations that he had repeatedly discussed before.

Of course, Major General Hipper dismissed everyone else so the two could speak privately.

Hipper, however, clearly felt the pain more deeply than the Duke and Karl. Several times when Lelouch mentioned that "the Britannians, under the cover of the neutral Netherlands, have infiltrated our communications department; wired telegrams may have been intercepted at signal relay stations, or our radio codes may have been leaked and broken," Major General Hipper would slap his thigh and say bitterly:

"I knew it! I'd had a feeling something was off for a while! Only three months into the war, the Empire's several raids on enemy ports along the coast had to be abruptly halted each time! Because the enemy would inexplicably strengthen their defenses! So that's where the problem lies!"

Lelouch was taken aback by how easily the other party was persuaded, and was momentarily stunned: "You... you completely believe my speculation?"

Hipper: "Because I already had this suspicion, and your statement just confirms my suspicion, not to mention you also have His Highness the Duke's secret letter."

Lelouch was overjoyed: "Then... you also agree to the Duke's plan and are willing to set a trap for the Britannians to verify these suspicions? If the verification results are correct, we will have a chance to earn some military merits, but you will need to temporarily bear the infamy of disobeying orders..."

Hipper waved his hand generously: "It's alright. I'm used to disobeying orders and going my own way in the military. Every time the Navy asks me to choose my own target to carry out a coastal artillery raid, I don't strictly follow their requirements. I always change the time or the location."

Looking back now, I'm so glad I did it! Otherwise, my soldiers would have been killed by those idiots who leaked the secret!

General Hipper's decisiveness left Lelouch, who had prepared a long list of persuasive arguments, somewhat at a loss.

All that preparation of words was for nothing.

Lelouch was stunned for a long while before he sighed, "You should be the Commander-in-Chief of the High Seas Fleet! That stupid old bastard Scheer is not worthy at all!"

Major General Hipper felt a little nervous after being praised like that, and instinctively retorted, "Don't say such things! Lieutenant General Scheer is also a highly respected and meticulous senior!"

Lelouch immediately knew when to stop, adopting an attitude of "I was young and ignorant, and spoke impulsively," and offered a token apology.

But after apologizing, Lelouch still stubbornly insisted, "I've always felt that a temporary rank doesn't mean anything. With years of fighting, there are plenty of opportunities to earn merit."

He's a lieutenant general now, and you're a major general, but you might be promoted to general much faster in the future!

Hipper laughed and scolded him for talking nonsense, but secretly he couldn't help but feel pleased: This kid understands me! He knows I'm capable!
The two seemed to hit it off immediately and discussed many details of the deployment.

Lelouch then told Hipper about how he had come with Immelmann before dawn and shot down the Bretonnian reconnaissance plane that the Bretonnians had sent under the guise of a neutral country.

Hipper immediately dispatched a destroyer to search for the wooden enemy aircraft that had fallen into the water in the direction Lelouch had mentioned.

Aircraft of that era were mostly made of wood or even covered with canvas, and many were lighter than water, so they could float for a long time after crashing into the sea.

While Hipper was retrieving the plane, Lelouch analyzed the possible symbolic meaning of the incident again: "The fact that the Britannians sent planes to scout Wilhelmshaven at this time shows that they care a lot about the situation in the port, which can also indirectly confirm that the Britannians will have a major operation soon."

I think there's a 70-80% chance they're going to use the Channel Fleet to bombard Neoport and Ostend. If you send a strong enough force on a long-range raid, you could potentially achieve great success. Even if the enemy doesn't come, you can turn the tables and bombard the French forces attacking Neoport, then use the high speed of your battlecruisers to retreat immediately and avoid lingering. No matter how you look at it, our army will benefit.”

Hipper nodded and smiled smugly: "No problem, I'll arrange for the two telegrams you mentioned to be sent immediately. And I'm not afraid to tell you that you've come at the right time—I originally planned to bombard Yarmouth Harbor on the east coast of Britannia in early November to destroy the local docks, shipyards, and berthed fleets."

Therefore, my battlecruiser fleet is fully prepared for attack and can set sail at any time. Moreover, I don't even need to devise a deception plan; I can use an existing one—I will simply modify the Yarmouth bombardment plan that I originally intended to actually carry out, fabricate some difficulties, and request instructions from my superiors via radio.

If the enemy could truly intercept and decipher my telegrams, then even if their high-speed warships sailed south from Scotland in the north to ambush me, they wouldn't go as far as the Billy King coast; they might just stop near Yarmouth.

Lelouch was overjoyed upon hearing General Hipper's account.

What a coincidence!

In fact, historically, on November 3, 1914, General Hipper was supposed to lead his two battlecruisers and one armored cruiser to bombard Yarmouth Harbor in Britannia. This was the third such mission he had undertaken since the start of the war.

Now it is October 28th, only five or six days since that historical shelling.

Considering that fleet sorties often need to play a "feint" game before heading straight for the real target, and won't go straight to the real target as soon as they leave port, a five or six-day time difference is actually not that long—because it's impossible to hide the fleet leaving port from the enemy; the enemy's spies will find out sooner or later.

Because in the first two or three days after discovering that the enemy fleet has left port, their vigilance is usually at its highest. They will only gradually relax their guard after the fleet has disappeared for a while.

Just like the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," you have to hear it several times to become desensitized and thus become complacent.

In this way, Hipper was able to deceive the enemy using a real battle plan.

The meticulous details in every aspect are extremely realistic, resulting in outstanding effects.

Moreover, the fleet's preparations for the attack could be streamlined to the extreme. Normally, a battlecruiser fleet would need several days for resupply and maintenance before launching an attack, but now it could be moved directly. This is because everything had already been prepared in advance for the mission to bombard Yarmouth. Even the boilers had been preheated under light load.

After dealing with the radio deception, Rear Admiral Hipper finally boarded his flagship, the battlecruiser HMS Derfflinger, and prepared to set sail.

Before setting off, he kindly invited Lelouch: "So, do you plan to fly back to the front lines again, or go back with my battlecruiser? If you trust my capabilities, then go back to the front lines on the Derfflinger. It's the Empire's newest and most advanced battlecruiser, with absolutely formidable armor and a speed sufficient to escape any enemy pursuit."

Lelouch only pondered for a few seconds before deciding to travel by battlecruiser. Even if they were to go to the battlefield, these things would be safer than the dilapidated airplanes of this era.

The key issue is that the Britannians currently have neither dreadnoughts nor battlecruisers in the Straits theater.

The Britannians' Queen Elizabeth-class battleships had not yet entered service, so as long as they didn't encounter the King George V-class (the class from 1911, not the class from 40 years later) and the Iron Duke-class, they had nothing to worry about.

Even if they encountered the Iron Duke, that thing only had a 21-knot speed. The Derfflinger could easily run away if it couldn't win at 27 knots.

"Then I'll gladly accept your invitation. Thank you for your invitation."

Lieutenant Lelouch readily boarded the ship and was invited by Hipper to the command tower on the bridge. The massive warship soon set sail, cutting through the waves and speeding westward.

(End of this chapter)