Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 246 Double Happiness, Encirclement of Poland

The final cleanup work in the Battle of Baku is estimated to be completed by mid-May.
As for completely annihilating the remaining scattered Russa troops between the Greater and Lesser Caucasus Mountains, this task should take up the entire month of May for the three corps of the German 6th Army.

Of course, while these efforts were underway, the Georgians, Dagestans, and Circassians mobilized by the Demanian army would likely also spontaneously enter the area north of the Caucasus Mountains and engage in fierce battles with the local Dzungar army and even Dzungar civilians.

Those places were just relatively poor frontier settlements, with only agricultural and pastoral development value, and little military or mining value—except, of course, for the Grozny oil fields.

The Demacian army has neither the energy nor the inclination to immediately expand its gains in these directions; they have more important things to do.

But for the local peoples who were issued weapons such as the Mosin-Nagant and M1910, even if the Demanian army no longer fought for them, they would fight for themselves.

The sooner they conquer territory, the more capital they can use to build their own country in the future.

Meanwhile, the German army had annihilated a massive number of Russo troops over the past year and a half. The German 6th and 10th Armies alone had eliminated nearly 300 million Russo soldiers.

Even though the French army was poorly equipped, with only two men sharing one gun, and the equipment was damaged and consumed in the war, Germany still managed to capture more than 600,000 to 700,000 Mosin-Nagant rifles in six separate battles.

Apart from a small portion that had already been distributed to the frontline troops fighting the Franks on the western front, and to rearm prisoners of war willing to serve, the remainder was used.

The remaining force still numbered around 30 Mosin-Nagant rifles. Lelouch decided to distribute these to the local Caucasian militias, along with newly acquired weapons from the capture of Tbilisi and Baku, bringing the total to nearly 10 rifles. In total, 40 rifles were given to the various local militias.

The fact that 40 guns fell into the hands of local mountain people who have a deep-seated hatred for the Lu people is quite a big deal.

The North Caucasus region, spanning at least 400 kilometers east to west and 200 to 300 kilometers north to south, has been plunged into complete chaos.

In other words, the Demacians cannot control the situation for the time being, but neither can the Lussa.

The Lusa Empire, which has already lost most of its warm, grain-producing southern regions, will only face greater difficulties this year if it loses control of tens of thousands of square kilometers of agricultural and pastoral areas in the North Caucasus.

Especially since May is the season for winter wheat harvest, this incident means that Nicholas II will definitely not be able to eat the summer grain from Stavropol and areas south of Dagestan.

Lelouch himself didn't have time to stay in Baku and handle these tedious follow-up tasks. So he entrusted the cleanup operations to the three army commanders, as well as Colonel Rommel, who had just made a great contribution in capturing the oil fields.

Lelouch himself was summoned by the Emperor and embarked on his journey back to Berlin on May 5.

He was ordered to be transferred to the position of "Director of the Joint Operations Coordination Office of the Army and Navy," as well as other temporary appointments given to him by the emperor. He also took the opportunity to report on the latest developments and brilliant achievements in the Caucasus theater.

But he didn't know that his group wasn't the only one going to the capital to report their achievements to the emperor.

Throughout April and early May, the Demanian army achieved major victories on multiple fronts, not just in the Caucasus theater.

The Polish theater, which had performed poorly during the winter campaign, finally redeemed itself in the late spring offensive.

Therefore, some of the generals and officers who had distinguished themselves in the Polish campaign were recalled to Berlin and promoted and awarded medals.

The timing was coincidentally close to Lelouch's, which can be considered a lucky coincidence.

Meanwhile, Demania's enemies were not idle either. Seeing the Lussa being defeated so badly, both the Franks and the Britannia were organizing and preparing new offensive campaigns to relieve the pressure on the Lussa.

These matters are numerous and complex, and it is difficult to sort them out in a short time.

……

Let me talk about two things.

Just as Lelouch launched the Caucasus campaign in mid-April, the Demanian army, which had previously suffered setbacks and remained dormant for two and a half months, also launched a new offensive in Poland.

The offensive posture remained largely the same as during the winter offensive, with Field Marshal Hindenburg's 8th Army advancing south from the Kaunas area of ​​Lithuania on the northern front, and Field Marshal Leopold's 10th Army advancing north from the Lviv area on the southern front.

Of course, the previous winter offensive had already achieved some results, although it was ultimately pushed back somewhat by the renowned French general Brusilov due to the tanks freezing. In reality, the starting point for the northern offensive was nearly 100 kilometers south of Kaunas, originating from a small town called Rachiki. The starting point for the southern offensive was also nearly 100 kilometers north of Bilvov, originating from a small town called Khaim.

However, these details are not important. In short, when the winter offensive began, the base of the Russa's Polish salient was about 500 kilometers wide. By the time of this spring offensive, the base of the salient had narrowed to about 350 kilometers.

In other words, as long as the Demanian army quickly cuts through and severs this 350-kilometer route home, it can encircle the main force of the enemy's Western Front in Poland and once again achieve the feat of annihilating more than 100 million of the main force of the Russa Army!

After the setback in the winter campaign, the Demanian army retreated step by step and widened the gap to 350 kilometers. This was also to lure the enemy to redeploy more troops in Poland, so as not to scare the enemy away and abandon the campaign out of despair.

After all, during the most dangerous period of the winter campaign, the base of the salient had been narrowed to less than 200 kilometers by Demacian tank assaults. If the iron pincers were left exposed to the enemy, they would be afraid and might run away.

Retreating slightly further, extending the distance to 350 kilometers, would give the enemy some sense of security and prevent them from fleeing directly.

His Highness Archduke Nikolaevich, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front of the Russian Army and the Tsar's uncle, also concluded after thorough assessment that Poland still held its value. Especially given the Empire's current predicament, with its ammunition and food supplies dwindling, the winter wheat harvest in Poland's grain-producing regions was crucial; they had to hold out until the winter wheat was harvested and transported back to the rear.

The 350-kilometer-thickness of the salient base also made Grand Prince Nikolayevich feel relatively safe. In the event of any disturbance or if the defending forces could not hold out, there would be enough time for the main force to retreat, and for troops from other directions to be deployed as reserves.

If the base of the protrusion narrows to 200 kilometers or even more than 100 kilometers, then you really need to run fast.

On the other hand, it was also because after entering April, Grand Duke Nikolayevich heard that fierce battles were taking place in the southern Caucasus war zone and Tsaritsyn, and that the main force of the Demanian army should have been transferred south. The Demanians would not launch two large-scale battles at the same time; there should be a time gap.

Since the Demanians are preventing him from harvesting the summer grain from the Caucasus, he should be able to harvest the summer grain from Poland. The Demanians don't have the capability to do so, thus blocking both sides.

Given these dire circumstances and unavoidable circumstances, Archduke Nikolayevich ultimately chose to hold his ground in the Polish theater, wearing down the Demanians' lives and resources as much as possible.

Meanwhile, in order to defend against tank assaults, Nikolayevich had dug as many anti-tank trenches as possible in the defensive zone at the base of the salient on both the north and south sides, and had also prepared a large number of reserves. Once the tanks broke through, they could also use the reserves to cut off the tank forces' rear and cut off the enemy's follow-up forces in time.

The task of leading the army's general reserve to counterattack and cut off enemy advances was also entrusted by Nikolayevich to the renowned general Brusilov.

From this perspective, Lusa's army has learned its lesson and is fully capable of fighting back.

The Lusa army remained in this stalemate until mid-April. With the Polish region turning muddy and the spring frost approaching, the Lusa people gradually lowered their guard.
As mentioned earlier, if it were on the Kievan Rus' Plain further south, the mud season would actually begin in March, with April being the peak of the mud, and the mud would gradually end in early May.

However, due to the climate differences between the north and south, it gets colder the further north you go, and the thawing time of the swamp permafrost zone is also later in winter.

For example, even within the same Kievan Rus' territory, the southern areas near the Black Sea coast might thaw by the end of February, while the northern areas of Kiev and Kharkiv might not thaw until the end of March.

The southernmost part of Poland will not thaw until early April, while the northernmost part will not thaw until late April.

Unexpectedly, the late spring offensive was launched precisely under these circumstances and at this critical juncture.

……

On April 12, the late spring offensive was launched almost simultaneously on both the northern and southern fronts.

The Lusa army was completely unprepared for the Demanians' delayed attack, which came at a crucial moment when the Muddy Season was just around the corner, and was caught off guard.

In the first wave of the offensive, the Demacians deployed a massive artillery barrage and assault battalions. Without relying on tanks, they used artillery and infiltration squad tactics to tear apart the outer defenses of the Lusa army.

It wasn't until they launched their attack on the second and third lines of defense of the Lussa that the Demacians brought out their prized Panzer I tanks and made a deep breakthrough.

The previous winter offensive had resulted in the loss of some tanks, so the Arrowhead Force still consisted of three tank regiments for this offensive, two on the south side and one on the north side.

Lusa's army also put up a desperate fight, with many soldiers on the front lines being equipped with explosive packs, cluster grenades, and improvised Molotov cocktails.

All field guns had their shields and limiting mechanisms removed to ensure that the muzzles could be laid completely flat and used as anti-tank guns for direct fire.

These anti-tank weapons also posed a threat to the Demacians' precious and scarce armored forces, hindering their breakthrough.

But soon, Russa's army realized that the situation was not what they had expected at all. Brusilov had always thought that the enemy's northern assault group, and the armored forces that served as its spearhead, were the most powerful and the most dangerous.

Therefore, Brusilov's reserve team and main force were also focused on defense on the northern side.

It's understandable that Brusilov thought this way, because he knew that the enemy he faced on the northern front was Marshal Hindenburg, a staunch and unwavering marshal who was determined to attack Poland.

Field Marshal Leopold, on the southern front, was already old and the second-in-command of the Barea faction. Although he was the first field marshal to receive the Grand Iron Cross in this World War, that was only because of his age and seniority; he was already over seventy. In fact, Field Marshal Leopold's limelight had now been overshadowed by his nephew, Field Marshal Rupprecht.

Brusilov believed that the Baria faction had limited influence and resources to allocate. With Marshal Rupprecht launching a fierce offensive in the Caucasus and Tsaritsyn, the Baria faction certainly couldn't spare any more resources to fully support Marshal Leopold.

Therefore, the Prosen faction will undoubtedly play the "hammer" role in the Polish campaign, taking the lead in the attack. The Baria faction can only play the "anvil" role, providing support.

But the result was wrong. When the battle finally began, Marshal Hindenburg's 8th Army had only one tank regiment, which was commanded by a major named Manstein, who was above his rank. It was said that Marshal Hindenburg was Manstein's uncle, so he specially promoted his younger relative, a young officer with talent in armored warfare.

Meanwhile, Marshal Leopold's assault force on the southern front consisted of two tank regiments, both under the command of the "Das Reich" Panzer Division. Brigadier General von Bock, the division commander, personally led one regiment, while Colonel Rundstedt, the deputy division commander, also led one regiment.

Manstein's feigned attack on the northern front drew away most of Brusilov's reserves, resulting in a devastating attack from the southern rear by the Demacians, which caused a complete collapse.

But when Brusilov realized what was happening and hastily prepared reserves to turn south and block the breach, something even more horrifying occurred—

He was astonished to discover that the Demacian offensive organized on the southern front was perfectly coordinated with the timing and terrain.

As mentioned earlier, on the Kievan Rus' Plain and in the Polish-Belarusian border swamps to its north, the spring thawing and muddy conditions progress gradually from south to north, with a time lag.

Brigadier General von Bock's assault happened to coincide with this time difference in weather! They launched their attack in the last two or three days before the ground thawed and became muddy, and shortly after their troops passed through, the ground, which had been hard, turned into mud!
As a result, they passed through smoothly, and the following troops were able to catch up with minimal difficulty. However, when the Lusa army wanted to counterattack and cut off the Demacian army's advance, the counterattack forces became bogged down in the mud!

If Lelouch were to witness this scene, he would definitely exclaim: Holy crap! Isn't this exactly the "muddy time difference tactic from south to north" that Marshal Manstein of the Earth dimension used in the Kharkov counterattack in February 1943?

The essence of this tactic is to "seize the last bus before the mud," and "block the door when you get on the bus, and remove the ladder when you get on the roof." After we have used up the last wave of dry terrain, the enemy will chase after us to counterattack, only to find themselves stuck in the mud.

Because the mud gradually becomes muddy from south to north, if the attacking forces also switch their main attack direction from south to north, as long as they keep the timing right, they can achieve the following: "When our troops rush through this section of the road, it is still easy to walk. But just two days after our troops have passed through, the mud comes, and it becomes difficult for the enemy to launch a counterattack."

Of course, this tactic also has a drawback: it will make the follow-up logistics of the attacking troops difficult. Although the vanguard may manage to get through the mud at a critical moment, if the war becomes protracted, the logistics for the next ten days or so will not be able to be delivered, as they will have to endure the mud.

But ironically, the Demanian army solved this problem perfectly this time as well. Manstein's advice to von Bock and Rundstedt was to break through as quickly as possible, join forces with the troops on the northern front, and then directly take over the logistical supplies of the northern front troops.

This assault force, moving from south to north, only ate its own rations when it set out, and then ate the rations of friendly forces after it joined up with the enemy, thus minimizing the impact of mud on its own logistics.

This exquisite coordination resulted in the fact that, in the end, when the 350-kilometer-wide width of the Polish salient was severed, the armored assault force on the northern front, led by Manstein, actually only penetrated 110 kilometers in a week.

Meanwhile, the division led by von Bock and Lundstätter on the southern front advanced a full 240 kilometers!

Finally, the North and South armies met at a place called Białystok, 150 kilometers northeast of Warsaw.

The Polish salient was ultimately cut off entirely by the Demandian army! (See image below)

Before the Demanian army could complete its encirclement, General Brusilov, who was in charge of the general reserve, realized that something was wrong and ordered the army group under his command, which was the general reserve, to retreat immediately.

The entire campaign, from its commencement to the completion of the encirclement, lasted less than ten days, a very short timeframe. Ultimately, only one and a half army groups of the Russa Western Front withdrew from the encirclement, while two full-strength army groups and some scattered units remained trapped in Poland.

The Polish theater originally had a total force of about 115 million, but about 35 were eventually withdrawn.

The remaining 80 troops were either surrounded and annihilated or killed in battle.

Of course, because the dumpling filling was too big, and at least 60 people were still alive, it would take at least half a month to completely annihilate and eliminate this army.

波兰战役从4月中旬发动、到4月25日完成合围，至少要5月10日之后，才能全灭被围的西方面军。

However, none of that matters anymore; the battle has entered its garbage time phase.

In early May, the emperor also approved a series of promotions and allowed some meritorious officers from the Polish theater to return to the capital to receive their rewards.

Brigadier General von Bock, Colonel Rundstedt, and Major Manstein were among them.

……

"Congratulations! You should be promoted to major general this time!"

“Brother Lundstätter should be able to become a brigadier general by now! The Polish campaign has once again encircled so many enemies, and the spoils are two or three times more than what I achieved in the Caucasus! I only annihilated two or three hundred thousand men.”

On the evening of May 8th, at the hotel designated by the General Staff in Berlin,
Lelouch, who had just returned from the Caucasus on the southern flank of the Eastern Front, met von Bock and Lundstätter, who had arrived in Berlin two days earlier than him.

Upon meeting his old friends, Lelouch immediately offered his congratulations.

Meanwhile, von Burke brought along a new friend, whom he introduced to Lelouch.

All that could be heard was von Bock defending Manstein, saying:
"This Major Manstein, don't let his low rank fool you, he's got a real talent for commanding armored warfare. Originally, Field Marshal Hindenburg wanted to take credit for the mission, so he put the northern armored vanguard in the role of the main attack 'Hammer,' while the southern front would play the role of the 'Anvil.'"

However, Major Manstein, acting commander of the northern armored regiment, overruled objections and proposed a revised attack plan, generously assigning our "Imperial Division" as the "Hammer" and himself as the "Anvil."

They also claimed this would maximize the use of the advantageous terrain and weather conditions of the swampy area between Poland and Belarus, where the mud gradually thaws from south to north in late spring. They would launch their attack just before the mud begins to form, and the swamp would become muddy within two or three days of the vanguard's advance. The enemy would then be unable to cut off the gap between our armored vanguard and the following reinforcements. They would also be unable to break out from behind us.

If it weren't for his brilliant move, I estimate that more than half of the enemy might have escaped during this Polish campaign, and the number annihilated would have been at most five or six hundred thousand. How could we have achieved such a feat as annihilating eight hundred thousand in one fell swoop! Although I made the greatest contribution, I still feel ashamed. This time back, I'll take the opportunity to introduce such a genius as Major Manstein to the Chief of the General Staff.”

Both von Bock and Manstein were clearly third-generation generals; von Bock's uncle was the Chief of the General Staff, and Manstein's uncle was Field Marshal Hindenburg.

Clearly, the fact that Manstein and his supporter, Field Marshal Hindenburg, gave von Bock a prominent opportunity to shine suggests there was some behind-the-scenes influence involved.

Manstein gave his opportunity to shine to the Chief of the General Staff's nephew, and the Chief of the General Staff naturally promoted him faster.

Unexpectedly, I met Manstein under these circumstances; it just goes to show that gold shines on its own.

Lelouch never interacted with the other side because of factionalism, but the other side was able to come up with a brilliant idea like "using the time difference of muddy conditions from south to north to fight tank battles," which just goes to show how powerful the inertia of history is.

The brilliant idea that was originally conceived more than 20 years later during the Kharkov counterattack was used by the same person in the Polish campaign of 1916.

A person with a sharp mind may always be sharp; they're just waiting for an opportunity to demonstrate and showcase their abilities.

"Major Manstein is truly a genius in armored warfare. I admire you. It's a pleasure to meet you. Congratulations on your promotion." Lelouch extended his hand in a friendly gesture.

Although he disliked the Hindenburg and Rodendorff factions, he still respected truly talented generals. Since they were already acquainted, he figured he might as well establish a good relationship; what happened next was up to fate.

Manstein quickly bowed and thanked him, saying, "Not at all, Major General Lelouch, you are the inventor of the tank and the originator of assault battalion tactics and armored breakthrough tactics. I am just standing on the shoulders of giants, studying your achievements every day, and have gained some minor insights."

Lelouch smiled and said, "I've just gotten back and I'm quite busy. We can discuss armored tactics when I have time after I meet with the Emperor tomorrow."

Manstein: "Of course, of course, it would be an honor."

-

PS: Another 1 words! Today's total is 3 words.

Because this is a butterfly effect scenario, and not a battle in which the main characters personally participated, the course of the Polish campaign is briefly described in 6 words. The focus is on the natural strategic and creative abilities of the other generals, without elaboration.

A bonus chapter will follow this one, featuring the latest battlefront map (the previous chapter didn't include a map because it was updated all at once after the Caucasus and Poland had been conquered one after the other).
(End of this chapter)