Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 210 Double Happiness, Both Dumplings Finished
Like a tidal wave, Britannian and Italian soldiers surged toward the Demanian lines.

They were shot dead in rows on the way, and not a single one of them was able to break through the defense line.

Having defeated the enemy behind him, Lelouch now has ample defensive depth to wage a war of attrition against the Burghers in a tiered defensive strategy, in order to avoid the Burghers' desperate artillery bombardment.

Whenever the Burmese army attempted to blast a path with their last heavy artillery barrage, Lelouch would generously order his troops to abandon one or two foxhole defenses to deplete the enemy's ammunition.

Anyway, Ian Hamilton was already surrounded and cut off from supplies. Every shell he fired was one less he had left. Lelouch was using shallow craters in the ground to deplete his ammunition, so it seemed like a win-win situation. In seven or eight days, the expeditionary force would be completely out of ammunition, and before that, they were destined to collapse and surrender.

Especially the Italians who survived to this day and were caught up in the expeditionary force, they had no will to fight to their deaths.

On December 28th and 29th, the Allied forces suffered over 12 dead each day, with even more wounded.

The field hospitals were simply not big enough to hold people, and there was not enough spare medicine. Thousands of seriously wounded soldiers were piled up there in advance like dead bodies, and no one cared about them.

If it weren't for the cold winter weather, the sheer number of corpses piled up like this would have caused a massive influx of flies and maggots, which would have immediately led to an outbreak of plague in the army.

What drove the Allied forces inside the encirclement to despair the most was that on the 29th, Lelouch sent people to airdrop leaflets and invented wireless telegraphs, bringing several pieces of bad news to the defenders inside the encirclement:
"Soldiers on the other side, stop serving this tyrant! The Kingdom of Bu was originally a nation with a sense of honor, but they'll stop at nothing to achieve their king's goals, even allying with tyrants."
Historically, they cooperated with the barbaric tyrant Alexander against the civilized Napoleon; now they cooperate with the barbaric tyrant Nicholas, as long as Nicholas shares a common enemy with him.

This despicable and base diplomatic value of "there are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests" is what has brought you divine retribution!

In fact, as early as five days ago, on Christmas Eve, the entire Southwestern Front of Russa, surrounding Kiev, under the command of its commander, General Pavel Plevey, surrendered to the Reich! This is enough to prove that it is divine retribution against you!
Just yesterday, the Empire's campaign in the Kievan Rus' Plains saw a new chapter of victory. My 6th Army's 4th and 5th Corps of Baria, along with the "Imperial" armored division, launched an attack from both Kharkiv and Sumy.

The troops from Kharkiv have marched north and captured Belgorod, while the troops from Sumy have marched east and captured Kursk. The three northeastern provinces bordering Kievan Rus' will fall under the Empire's control within the year!

You have no hope left! People should have faith in this world, but now you have stood against God, becoming disgraceful and blasphemous traitors. Repent now!

What Lelouch said in the flyer was actually true; he wasn't lying to win people over.

In fact, while he was launching this surprise attack, the battle in the Kiev direction, which had already been encircled since December 10, had already ended.

The massive meal, intended for millions of people, took Marshal Rupprecht two weeks to digest, which wasn't slow.

General Pavel Prevet, commander of the Southwestern Front of Lusa, ultimately surrendered to Marshal Rupprecht in person.

This marks the first time since the start of the war that a top-ranking military officer, such as a division commander from Lusa's side, has surrendered to the Demacian army. Previously, the highest-ranking officer to surrender was an army group commander.

By this point, the Lusa's war machine had crumbled to such an extent that the commanders of both main fleets, one in the south and one in the north, had surrendered, effectively amounting to the complete surrender of the navy. On the army side, one army commander had also surrendered.

Such devastating news might not be immediately believed by the Britannians upon seeing the leaflet, but they knew that the Russo people in Kiev were indeed surrounded, and their surrender was therefore quite reasonable.

The morale of the troops inside the encirclement plummeted, and they almost completely lost their offensive power.

General Ian Hamilton was unwilling to surrender directly; he was desperately trying to find other ways to save them, resorting to any means to boost morale and convince everyone that Edmund Allen of Greece had hundreds of thousands more than the general and could come to their rescue again from within.

They also said that the Mediterranean Fleet was capable of breaking into the Sea of ​​Marmara and transporting everyone away by sea, so that everyone could grit their teeth and hold on a little longer.

General Hamilton made no mention of Lieutenant General Hunter Weston, who had already betrayed them, because everyone knew that Hunter Weston was unreliable.

He only has a half-crippled 8th Army left, and he has already sold out his main force to cover his tracks and run away. How could he possibly come back?

Only the notoriously reckless Admiral Edmund Allenby remains as a hope.

At this moment, Allenby's recklessness has become a positive attribute, because his allies may still expect him to risk casualties and pay any price to save them.

If the general outside the encirclement had been calm and calculating, the troops inside would have long since given up hope.

Ian Hamilton's final hope certainly needs to be addressed in a timely manner.

Edmund Allenby knew that if he did nothing and just watched Hamilton die, he wouldn't have a good outcome when he returned. Even a quick rescue attempt was necessary; he had to give it a shot.

So he gritted his teeth and, after withdrawing his troops from Greece, launched another offensive eastward along the Greek-Austrian border.

Allenby's attack ran head-on into Kusmanek's Oreo 3rd Army, failing to penetrate at all. After a war of attrition, they suffered a loss of 20,000 to 30,000 men. Of course, the Oreo 3rd Army on the other side was not an elite force either, and in this war of attrition, they also lost nearly 10,000 men, about one-third of the enemy's strength.

Seeing that he couldn't break through, Allenby was about to retreat, but he was once again pursued and killed by Lelouch's tank division. In the end, he lost more than 20,000 men and had to hastily retreat back to Thessaloniki.

The Greek army ultimately lost another 4 troops, proving that a land rescue was impossible.

On the sea front, the Mediterranean Fleet has suffered many losses alongside the army.

Especially during the first month of the Gallipoli landings, the army forced him to penetrate deep into the fjords in the northern part of the peninsula to provide naval gun support from multiple angles. As a result, he was severely damaged by mines in the fjords, which had already been cleared of mines.

He realized something was wrong a long time ago, but he still hasn't been able to fully unravel the mystery.

Hamilton asked him to save the army again, and of course he dared not invest too much. The Mediterranean Fleet Commander was thinking about how many warships the Royal Navy lost in the Dunkirk siege to save the army. Although 4 soldiers were saved, they only accounted for 5% of the total number of the expeditionary force.

Such an inefficient rescue effort cost over a dozen old, large warships, including three battlecruisers and one Queen Elizabeth-class battleship. More than 15,000 sailors died in the battle. It was simply not worth it to lose 15,000 sailors to save 45,000 army soldiers.

Therefore, given the precedent of Dunkirk, it was absolutely impossible for the Royal Navy to risk everything to save the army from retreat.

The Mediterranean Fleet ultimately only sent a few pre-dreadnoughts and light ships as a last-ditch effort to enter the Sea of ​​Marmara through the Dardanelles. And they absolutely wouldn't send more; they needed these ships to return safely before making a second trip, and even then, only a small number of ships would be sent on the second trip.

However, it's worth noting that the Demagnesians didn't seem to be in a hurry to lay mines in the Dardanelles; the Mediterranean Fleet's ships actually did sail in at the beginning.

……

Lelouch was not unaware that the Mediterranean Fleet had sent warships to explore the Dardanelles Strait.

Therefore, he almost immediately discerned the other party's intentions.

"So cautious? Never mind then, I'll just take the bait. Judging from his behavior, even if he takes the bait back this time, he won't be willing to invest much next time. He's obviously stingy and scared."

"Pass on my order: once that small fleet enters the Sea of ​​Marmara, have the airships drop anchor mines across the Dardanelles Strait to completely block their retreat."

At Lelouch's command, the airship force was mobilized, ready to lay mines by air after the enemy's bait had fallen into their trap.

The Mediterranean Fleet used the last of the pre-Old Age-class dreadnoughts, the Albion, along with the Duncan-class destroyers Duncan and Albemarle, plus some old cruisers, several minesweepers and transport ships, to carry out this mission.

Necessary firepower cannot be spared, otherwise it will be impossible to suppress the Ottoman artillery on the south bank of the Dardanelles. Now the north bank of the Dardanelles is completely under the control of the Burghers, but the south bank is not yet under their control, so the Burghers are not too afraid of the Demanians using railway guns again.

For railway artillery to be used safely and effectively in anti-ship warfare, the availability of mountainous terrain and railway tunnels is crucial.

The Britannians learned this lesson the hard way after being attacked so many times. Railway guns are very vulnerable. Without tunnels for them to fire for a while and then retreat into their bunkers, it would be suicidal for a railway gun to engage a warship in open ground.

Thanks to the firepower of these warships, their route into the Sea of ​​Marmara was quite safe. In fact, Lelouch even managed to get tens of thousands of evacuated army soldiers safely transported to the port of Tekildah.

When the Mediterranean fleet docked in Tekildah, the previously despairing Burkina Faso soldiers on shore erupted in jubilation. Infighting even broke out between the Burkina Faso and the Italians, with clashes erupting as they fought over who would be allowed to leave first, escalating into a shootout with submachine guns.

The incident resulted in hundreds of casualties among Burkina Faso and Italian soldiers, nearly sparking a large-scale mutiny. Ultimately, Admiral Ian Hamilton personally intervened, promising a 70/30 split of evacuation transport capacity between Burkina Faso and Italians, leaving the ANZAC and Indian soldiers to wait for further developments. In the end, the three pre-Dreadnought ships were crammed full, almost overloaded. Originally carrying fewer than 800 crew members, the number of soldiers transported was crammed into 5000, making room for supplies, fuel, and other miscellaneous goods, resulting in a scene resembling sardine cans.

3艘前无畏就塞了1万5千人，还有10艘1880年代末期造的老式防护巡洋舰，每艘也塞了平均2000人，连驱逐舰都塞了1000人、扫雷舰塞300~400人。

There were a total of 23 warships of various sizes, crammed with 47,000 people, plus some accompanying transport ships, which also carried more than 15,000 people, for a total of 63,000.

It seems that this sea-based evacuation is actually feasible.

In their despair, Bu Jun unexpectedly felt a glimmer of hope.

Unfortunately, that hope has come to an end.

On the way back after loading the crew, the accident occurred on the night of December 30 and in the early morning of December 31.

When they came, the Dardanelles Strait was fine, but when they left, it was riddled with mines.

The former dreadnought "Albion" and two protected cruisers from the late 1880s struck mines on the spot and sank in explosion.

The other ships didn't even consider rescuing people, because there was no way to do so; all the ships were packed to capacity.

The only solution now is to slowly clear the mines out, allowing other large ships to retreat back to the Sea of ​​Marmara and avoid blocking the Dardanelles Strait. Simultaneously, minesweepers outside the strait's exit should also clear mines inwards, moving in both directions.

But soon, just a few hours later, the people of Burkina Faso discovered in despair that the Demanians were not giving them a chance to slowly clear the mines.

The reaction of the Burgundians had been anticipated by Commander Lelouch, who had already notified his Black Sea Fleet to prepare several days in advance.

So when dawn broke on December 31, the Burkina Faso evacuation fleet retreated from the Dardanelles Strait back to the Sea of ​​Marmara.

While hesitating whether to return to Tekilda or linger at the strait entrance and wait.

The Demacians made the choice for them: no need to hesitate, just go to the bottom of the sea and wait.

"Oh no! It's the Demacian battlecruiser 'Mooch' and 'Goben'! When did they enter the Sea of ​​Marmara from the Bosphorus Strait?"

Is there anything worth asking? The Bosphorus Strait was controlled by the Ottomans, so the Moltke-class battlecruiser could come and go as it pleased.

How could we possibly give the Burkina Faso people a chance to slowly clear the mines!
"Boom boom boom!"

The 280mm naval guns unleashed a devastating bombardment on the former dreadnoughts and old-fashioned protected cruisers.

In desperation, the Burkina Faso's probing fleet could only launch a counterattack against the enemy, carrying several thousand men, or attempt to escape.

In the chaos of battle, some Burkina Faso warships even raised white flags, wanting to surrender, because there were simply too many people on board. One pre-dreadnought was crammed with 5000 people, like sardines in a can. How could they possibly fight? Even if a single shell didn't penetrate the main armor, it would still kill at least several hundred people.

However, due to the chaos and poor visibility at dawn, the few ships waving white flags went unnoticed, and the German ships continued to fire wildly amidst the confusion.

The USS Duncan and USS Albemarle were hit by more than ten 280mm armor-piercing shells in total. Each shot would first create a shower of flesh and blood before penetrating the armor.
These former dreadnoughts are now like tanks sold with tickets hanging on them, having gone from being iron-clad to being flesh-clad.

Soon, the two former Dreadnoughts were sent to the bottom of the sea by the Moltke-class battlecruiser amidst a violent explosion, with almost all of the 5000 crew members on each ship wiped out.

最终，战斗在上午9点前就彻底结束了，清点损失，布国总计损失3艘前无畏、10艘老式防巡、4艘驱逐舰、7艘扫雷舰，总计24艘作战舰艇。还有6艘5千吨级的运输船。

布国海军官兵、民船水手总计战死、溺毙5500余人，随船炸死、溺毙撤退陆军6万3千余人，总计6万8千人在一个上午之内葬身鱼腹。

The remaining main force of the Mediterranean Fleet outside the straits also completely ceased operations after learning of the disastrous state of the reconnaissance fleet.

However, their only gain this time was that they had completely grasped one of the enemy's military technological intelligence: it was 100% confirmed that the Demacians could airdrop mines using airships, and that they were not drifting mines but anchored mines.

In addition, previous intelligence indicated that the Demacians' new technology could clear moored mines with high efficiency and stability.

After these two factors combined, the Burkinabe navy will return from this battle with a desperate scientific research effort to replicate the Demacian mine-clearing tools.

The goal is to reduce both sides' mines to scrap metal in the shortest possible time, thereby leveling the technological gap between them once again.

Considering that the bottom-scraping mine-clearing chain technology developed by Lelouch is not particularly difficult, and given the Burkina Faso people's willingness to suffer losses and persevere in their desperate efforts, they should be able to crack it soon.

The effectiveness of mine warfare will temporarily decline, and the mine threat from both sides will decrease. This is unless both sides invent new mine fuses, such as acoustically detonated mines or magnetically detonated mines.

In short, with the advancement of technology, the future of naval mine warfare will undoubtedly be dominated by non-contact fuses. Mineworks that require direct impact to detonate are ultimately products of the old era.

……

The competition and progress between mine-clearing and mine-mining technologies is another story.

Now let's return to the main battlefield in Istanbul.

On the morning of December 31, after the Burkina Faso evacuation fleet was trapped in the Sea of ​​Marmara by the battlecruisers "Mooch" and "Goben" and unilaterally slaughtered them with zero casualties, the remaining Burkina Faso troops still in the encirclement finally suffered a complete collapse in morale.

At first, General Ian Hamilton wanted to keep the news under wraps and prevent ordinary officers and soldiers from knowing the tragic state of the retreating allies.

But this lockdown attempt failed completely by the afternoon of that day.

At 2 p.m., the battlecruisers USS Moltke and USS Goben appeared in the Sea of ​​Marmara, south of Tekilda, and stopped about 16 to 18 kilometers from the coastline. They then began shelling the port area and the assembly point of the troops waiting to be withdrawn.

When the Demania battlecruiser's 280mm high-explosive shells landed on the port, the Burma army's morale finally collapsed completely.

Countless soldiers fled in panic, like headless flies gone mad.

"That damned king! That damned prime minister! That damned ministers! Those idiots are just sending us to our deaths!"

"To save Britannia, we must kill all those dog kings, prime ministers, and ministers!"

Amidst the resentment of countless mutinous soldiers, General Ian Hamilton, the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, was actually killed by the mutineers.

In the end, the mutinous soldiers actually supported the Italian general and made him their representative to surrender to the Demanians.

The Italian general, trembling with fear, reluctantly surrendered to Lelouch.

When Lelouch heard about it, he didn't feel anything else, but he felt a little regretful that he hadn't completed all the achievements.

"Damn it, we could have received the surrender of the expeditionary force commander-in-chief one more time, but he was killed by our own soldiers."

Isn't this stealing my military merits and lives?! I wonder how the General Staff and the Emperor specifically calculate military merits.

(End of this chapter)