Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 212 The Conferment of a Baronship, and Even Greater Benefits
"Your Highness, you look so valiant and handsome wearing this Great Iron Cross."

"Truly a model for the empire's generals."

One day in mid-January, at the headquarters of the German 6th Army in Kyiv.

As Duke Rupprecht appeared before his generals and staff wearing the third Grand Iron Cross in the entire empire, his subordinates sincerely congratulated him, making him a little embarrassed.

Lelouch was also present, but he was more principled and didn't utter such sycophantic compliments. He only offered a few polite words of praise and stopped there.

"It's all the result of everyone's hard work and struggle. How can I take credit for it all? The General Staff will announce everyone's rewards and promotions soon. Just be a little patient."

Duke Rupprecht gestured for everyone to remain calm and await good news, and then proceeded to host a grand banquet and distribute various gifts and rewards, which need not be mentioned.

The celebratory banquet was very lavish. After several rounds of drinks, Duke Rupprecht took the opportunity to pull Lelouch aside and first revealed the royal family of Barea's personal reward to him.

"In the two great victories in Kiev and Istanbul, nearly 280 million enemy troops were killed in the second half of last year, and an army group of both the Russo and the Burkina Faso were completely wiped out. Your planning was the greatest contribution, and you also personally served as the vanguard in the Istanbul campaign."

However, you are simply too young, and your noble status isn't strong enough. Promoting someone of commoner origin directly to a high-ranking military position would put too much pressure on you. Therefore, after discussions between the Emperor and the General Staff, it was decided that you could be promoted to Major General first, and then I would provide you with additional compensation in terms of title and other responsibilities. I guarantee you will be satisfied with both of these aspects.

You don't have any other opinions, do you? To be honest, if it were just a promotion in military rank, even skipping ranks to lieutenant general would be acceptable. But the Empire's system is rather rigid, and the officer corps is quite particular about factional purity, so I can only try to compensate you in other ways.

Lelouch answered quite frankly: "Military rank is meaningless. I have already proven myself, and Your Highness will naturally continue to value me and my strategies in the future. What does it matter whether I am a major general or a lieutenant general?"

Military rank is just a level of treatment, reputation, and honor. There are many people with low ranks who are in charge of important matters, so there's nothing to worry about.

Seeing his open-mindedness, the Duke spoke frankly: "That's good. Then I can announce a decision today: the investiture ceremony will be held tonight, granting you the title of Baron of the Kingdom of Baria."

Last year, in the first half of the year, you were granted the title of Knight's Knight by the rank of 'Fon,' and in the second half of the year, you were granted the title of Hereditary Knight's Knight by the rank of 'Ritter.' Now, you've been promoted to Baron, making you a legitimate hereditary noble. You are also the first person in the Empire to rise from commoner to Baron through military merit in this war.

It's already January 1916. It's impossible to be promoted twice in a year. The two promotions in 1915 were both knighthoods, only the second one was "hereditary," so the rank remained the same. Reaching baronial status this year is already quite good.

In the Earth dimension, General Hipper fought tooth and nail in the Battle of Jutland, only to receive the hereditary knighthood of "Ritter," failing to rise to the rank of baron. During World War I on Earth, no officer of commoner origin had ever been promoted to baron; Lelouch was already making history.

However, the title of baron is, after all, only the lowest rank among the five classes of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron. Above him are so many nobles who are born more noble than Lelouch. Lelouch doesn't really want to be part of that system and become someone else's foil.

Putting aside everything else, the air force officer Richthofen, whom Lelouch once commanded, held the title of baron, and he also liked to paint his fighter planes red, causing his enemies to call him the Red Baron.

Fortunately, Duke Rupprecht could tell from Lelouch's nonchalant expression that he was indifferent to the title. The Duke, already prepared, cleared his throat and told him an additional surprise:

"Don't underestimate the Baron just because he's the lowest rank among the regular hereditary nobles. It gives you an opportunity to enter the Imperial Noble Council. It's a threshold, a stepping stone. Once you become a Baron, you can do anything that dukes and marquises can do in politics, as long as you have the ability."

Lelouch was taken aback, unable to understand the Duke's meaning for the time being, because he was not very familiar with the current operation of the Empire's government.

The Duke then boasted smugly in a low voice: "For example, the Empire has two parliaments: the Federal Parliament, which has real power, and the Imperial Parliament, which has more people but can only question the budget and has no legislative authority. You must know that, right?"

Lelouch: "I know, the Imperial Diet is in charge of approving money, while the Federal Diet is in charge of enacting and amending laws."

In the Demacian Empire, there is both a "Federal Council" and an "Imperial Council." Judging from the names alone, it might seem that the Imperial Council is more powerful, but that is not actually the case.

The "Imperial Parliament" is roughly equivalent to the House of Representatives of the United States or the Lower House of the United Kingdom. It requires any legal citizen over the age of 25 to be elected; if someone is willing to vote for you, you can be elected in your district—there are no other requirements.

The "Federal Parliament" is equivalent to the Senate of the United States or the Upper House of the United Kingdom; it is a house of nobles. The reason it is called "Federal" is because its seats are not divided according to population or electoral status, but rather according to the fundamental law following the Franco-Prussian War, which allocated seats to each state.

This is very similar to the US Senate, where the Senate gives each state two seats regardless of its population, resulting in 100 seats for 50 states.

However, Demania's federal council is not divided equally among the states; it has a typical number of seats for large and small states as stipulated by law.

The entire empire has a total of 58 federal seats. The largest kingdom, Prosen, holds 17 seats, the second largest, Baria, holds 6 seats, and the other three of the four southern states—Liwürttemberg, Baden, and Hesse—each hold 3 seats. Saxony also holds 4 seats, and Mecklenburg and Brunswick each hold 2 seats, for a total of 41 seats for these eight states.

There are 17 small states, free cities, and provinces left, each with only one seat, totaling 58 seats. All the laws of the empire are voted on by these 58 people.

Demania's fundamental law stipulates that amending it requires a majority of 75% of the seats in parliament, meaning that opposition cannot exceed 25%, or 14 out of 58 seats. The Prosen family holds 17 seats, so as long as the Prosen family doesn't engage in internal strife, they can ensure that any attempt to amend the fundamental law is vetoed.

The main reason why countries like the U.S. and the United States have been attacking Demania for its "rubber stamp" problem is this.

Duke Rupprecht, seeing that Lelouch had grasped the Empire's workings in this regard, offered a huge reward:

"Therefore, although I can only bestow upon you the title of Baron this time, once you become a Baron, you will be qualified to serve as a 'Federal Representative' of the Empire. And I can guarantee that when the Federal Assembly elects this year, I will submit you as an additional representative from my Kingdom of Balia. The Empire's Federal Assembly has remained unchanged at 58 seats since the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. But now, with the prospect of territorial expansion, the Emperor believes that the newly annexed territory of the Kingdom of Prosen in Lithuania, which Marshal Mackensen acquired, should also be entitled to an additional seat, so he hopes to increase Prosen's seats to 18. To maintain balance and to demonstrate the Emperor's fairness, His Majesty spoke with me privately a few days ago and is willing to add a seat to Balia as well, since we have also contributed to the Empire's territorial expansion."

This is just a test. In the future, Prosen will have 18 seats, while my Baria will have 7, increasing the total number of seats in the Federal Parliament to 60. And the 1 seat that all the southern states will gain in total, I plan to give you! I will then appoint you as the State Secretary of the Armaments Department of the Kingdom of Baria, and as one of the 7 members of the Kingdom of Baria to participate in the Federal Parliament, specifically responsible for my kingdom's proposals for military development to the Federation.

"From now on, if you have any suggestions for the Empire to increase the research and development of new military technologies or the production of new military equipment, you can submit them through this channel. Just directly apply for legislation."

Having said all that, Lelouch finally couldn't help but be startled.

The Duke's offer to win him over was an incredibly valuable bargaining chip.

To be given one of only 60 seats in the entire country is equivalent to the treatment of a vice minister in the empire.

Just like in the United States, if a governor is at the level of a full state/minister, then a senator is at least at the level of a deputy state/minister.

Lelouch hadn't looked into this issue in depth before, and he subconsciously brought the situation in the Ugly Kingdom into mind, so he couldn't help but ask for confirmation: "Will serving as one of the 60 seats in the Federation affect my ability to hold other positions in the military or other departments?"

Duke Rupprecht: "Of course it doesn't matter! The Imperial system has never had any circumvention in this regard. How did you learn the law? The Empire is not like the Kingdom of Burma or the Kingdom of the Ugly. Only those countries would impose restrictions!"

In the Empire, the Prime Minister naturally and automatically served as the Speaker of the Federal Assembly. Prime Minister Bismarck served as Speaker for many years, and the other two of the three founding fathers, Chief of the General Staff Moltke the Elder and Minister of Armaments Count Albrecht Ron, also served as Honorary Speakers.

Ministers of various ministries, as long as they are nobles of barony or above, often concurrently serve as federal parliamentarians and can directly propose motions. I was one of the original six parliamentarians of the Kingdom of Balia, and the Grand Dukes of Baden and Württemberg were also representatives of their respective states in the federal parliament.

Also, you're quite familiar with Admiral Tirpitz, the First Lord of the Admiralty, aren't you? He was one of the original 58 seats, so he could personally propose the draft Naval Law, repeatedly demanding its passage, and then approve funding for the construction of battleships.”

After listening to the explanation, Lelouch finally understood. It turned out that in Demanian politics, these roles didn't conflict. He had probably watched too many political dramas from his previous life, always thinking that ministers were expected to be questioned by members of parliament; it turned out that in Demania, these roles could be held concurrently.

Although the position the Duke granted him was not the one to propose military equipment for the entire empire, considering that the Kingdom of Balia had its own military traditions, it was also entitled to propose military equipment and weapons development to the Federal Council on its own, which gave it considerable authority.

In addition, in Demania, the main difference between a "minister" and a "secretary of state" is that a minister is in charge of the day-to-day work of a department in a certain field, while a secretary of state in charge of a department is only responsible for submitting bills to parliament for that department, and is not responsible for anything else.

Therefore, Lelouch will no longer need to manage the daily operations of the Baria Armaments Department; he can focus solely on proposals. In the future, he can also, like Marshal Tirpitz, go on stage during meetings to explain his spending plans and what the money will be used for.

If the rank of general is roughly equivalent to the position and benefits of a minister, then a lieutenant general is roughly equivalent to a vice minister. Although the Empire couldn't promote Lelouch to lieutenant general this time, it gave him a position as one of the 60 seats in the Federal Council, which is equivalent to the benefits of a lieutenant general/vice minister, and that's quite good enough.

Another point to note is that this status as one of the 60 seats will not take effect until the official meeting this year, 1916.

Prior to this, the Duke had only nominated him as a candidate. So there was still at least a few months to go.

Lelouch will be able to be officially called "Councilor Lelouch" this summer.

"It's alright, it's only a few months, this is a normal process, we should wait all along." Lelouch quickly stated that he was not in a hurry at all and would obey the organization's arrangements.

The Duke, seizing the opportunity, added one last piece of information: "It's good that you're not in a hurry. Since that's the case, there's something else I need to tell you: your promotion to major general won't be approved immediately."

Those Junker officers cannot tolerate someone who has not received formal military academy training serving as a general in the Empire. Therefore, some suggested that His Majesty send you to the Potsdam Military Academy for a three-month crash course. But don't worry, it's not about starting from the basics. It's just to get you a gilded diploma and get you into an advanced strategic training program to complete a strategic thesis.

Many people are now attacking you, saying you've only won some battles, started from the bottom, but haven't received systematic training, so you're only good at tactics but lack strategic knowledge. They're telling you to go there for three months, complete a project, shut everyone up, and you can officially be promoted to major general. If you can get promoted later, you won't need to go through this trouble.”

Lelouch understood this tactic immediately. It was just like how successful entrepreneurs in later generations would attend a short-term MBA program at a prestigious university for several months to gain prestige and build connections.

In the TV series "Bright Sword," Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and their group all became generals. Since they hadn't attended military academy, they needed to go back to school to "gild" themselves. In the end, Ding Wei produced a thesis with outstanding strategic vision, and naturally, he was also rewarded.

The Junker officer corps was somewhat narrow-minded in this regard, not wanting outsiders to become generals. If they insisted on promoting foreigners to general, they would first bring them into their circle and train them.

“Of course that’s no problem, but I really need to waste three months in Berlin, and I can’t go anywhere to concentrate on my classes?” Lelouch first expressed his gratitude, and then asked to confirm the situation.

Duke Rupprecht: "That's not necessary. You'd better not leave Berlin too often before the end of March. Occasional business trips are fine. But what you do in Berlin is none of your business. Just show up at the Potsdam Military Academy at least a few times a week, and finish your thesis after three months. Even if you hire someone to ghostwrite for you, I won't care."

Lelouch thought about it. From now until the end of March, there would indeed be fewer military operations during the winter. Besides, he had been fighting for so long, and there were indeed many things to take care of at home. He figured he could leave the front lines for three months.

Working on research papers doesn't actually take up much energy, and you can use the remaining time to do other things in the background.

However, before leaving, I still need to discuss with the Duke the matter of how to deal with the spoils of war in the Kievan Rus' region.

(End of this chapter)