Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 30: Planning the Establishment of the Storm Assault Team

There's not much to elaborate on regarding the final days of the defense of Ostend.

The Germans' original intention was simply to buy time, allowing the more fortified coastal defenses in places like Blankenberg and Zeebrugge to seize the opportunity to install 280mm or even 305mm coastal artillery emplacements, thus preventing the Britannian battleships from launching attacks on the shore.

Lelouch's reconnaissance cavalry company was not suited for holding out in a defensive battle, so they were mostly tasked with observing firepower, such as guiding artillery targets.

The real hard work of filling in the gaps and absorbing damage was still done by the various infantry regiments of the 12th Division in episode 6.

In the German army of 1914, it was relatively rare to have reconnaissance cavalry companies responsible for fire observation. This was mainly because artillery observation at that time was inherently primitive and rudimentary.

Only during positional warfare is there time to conduct sustained fire observation slowly. If the artillery misses its target in the first few rounds, the observation post will take good observations and photos, and then quickly send the message back to the rear so that the artillery can adjust its bombardment strategy.

The entire process could take several hours. Even radios were rarely used; the entire reconnaissance company of the division only had one low-powered radio, which had to be used to transmit very important intelligence, not to transmit trivial matters such as "whether the previous round of artillery fire hit too far or too close."

Moreover, this is already considered the army with the best communication modernization of this era. If it were the army of the Eastern Front Russo, not only would the divisional reconnaissance companies not have radios, but even the regimental and brigade headquarters would not have radios; only the division headquarters would have radios, with one per division.

Similarly, if artillery in this era encounters newly emerging long-range artillery positions from the enemy, it would take several hours to pinpoint the enemy's location, slowly adjust the coordinates, and then launch a counterattack.

Therefore, long-range artillery can remain stationary for three hours after opening fire without being countered. Only if they remain stationary for most of the day might they be subject to counter-shelling.

In other words, the "rapid fire correction and rapid countermeasures" that existed in later World War II and even more recently also existed in this era, only at a much slower pace.

What can be countered in 15 minutes in modern warfare might have taken one or two hours to counter in World War II, and half a day in the early stages of World War I.

However, with Lelouch's intervention, he combined the common sense he had learned as a military enthusiast in his previous life with the practical experience of working closely with frontline troops. He quickly devised some small methods to speed up the response and pace of various aspects of artillery operations, and made significant progress in just a few days.

All of this was thanks to a fortuitous opportunity that allowed him to expand his manpower—the reconnaissance companies of other divisions were often only equipped with one radio. Even if they wanted to conduct flexible reconnaissance, transmit intelligence detected from multiple points on the front line in real time, and command the divisional artillery regiments to adjust their artillery fire, it would have been impossible.

However, Lelouch had a former cavalry company and a former communications platoon combined, making him a professional communications unit with a relatively large number of radios and skilled personnel who knew how to send and receive communications.

In addition, Lelouch had a lot of influence, so he could borrow a radio from Colonel Lister of the 16th Regiment. As a result, his reconnaissance company was able to equip every artillery observation post with a radio, and the response speed was naturally several times faster.

During the defense of Ostend, Lelouch's command was flexible. He led the reconnaissance company to provide his own artillery with more real-time observation information and slightly improved the speed of counterattacks against enemy artillery positions.

The entire reconnaissance company received several commendations from their superiors as a result. And those subordinates who were initially somewhat disrespectful of Lelouch, after witnessing their commander's abilities firsthand, had no choice but to become completely convinced of his abilities.

After all, both the division commander and the division artillery regiment commander had praised the reconnaissance company once, and all the officers and soldiers in the reconnaissance company felt honored and their sense of collective honor was fully stimulated.

Lelouch has completely taken control of the cavalry reconnaissance company of over two hundred men.

Lelouch himself, combining some common sense from later generations with his current combat experience, wrote some notes and prepared to organize them after the battle was over.

……

The day was November 6th.

A week has passed since the previous naval battle, and the deadline for the 12th Division to hold Ostend has arrived.

After tonight, the troops should be able to retreat at any time. Of course, if the situation allows, they can hold out a little longer and bleed the enemy a little more.

That morning, everything went smoothly. The reconnaissance company's fire observation groups, which had been trained by Lelouch for several days, were all operating well and provided significant support to the friendly artillery.

At noon, another wave of enemy attacks was repelled, and hundreds more corpses in tawny uniforms lay scattered across the battlefield—yes, the enemy corpses in front of the battlefield had now changed from French soldiers in blue uniforms and red trousers to cloth soldiers in tawny uniforms.

A week ago, when the enemy launched a counterattack on Neoport, the main force of the army was the French army, but now the attack on Ostend has been launched by the Boulogne army.

This was also because the French army had already suffered too many casualties in the "Run to the Sea" campaign and was no longer able to fight—in Earth's history, the French army lost 20 men during the entire "Run to the Sea" campaign. In this world, with Lelouch's influence, Billy King's three divisions in the Neoport region were completely wiped out, and the French army was bled dry several times over.

Therefore, it is said that the number of French soldiers killed in the entire battle has exceeded 230,000, with at least 20,000 more dying due to Lelouch's actions (including the losses from Dunkirk and Neoport being bombarded by German naval guns).

So after the French army captured Neoport with their last breath, they were completely exhausted when they reached the outskirts of Ostend. The subsequent offensive operations were handed over to the Boulogne army.

In the last three or four days, the enemies fighting against Lelouch's unit have all been replaced by the Burmese army.

Even the port of Dunkirk, which served as a rear base for the Burkina Faso army, was transferred to the Burkina Faso army for defense, despite being Frankish territory. Burkina Faso dispatched naval ground crew to manage the port's operations and transport military supplies to the front-line combat troops.

As the midday offensive receded, both sides' soldiers needed to eat and rest, and the German side also took the opportunity to catch their breath.

Lelouch's company headquarters was located on a high ground in the southeast of the city, in a hastily dug and reinforced fortification, alongside the division's artillery regiment's positions. This was so that after receiving radio observation intelligence from the front lines, he could promptly relay it to the artillery regiment and launch a rapid response.

Seeing that the enemy had temporarily retreated, Lelouch instructed the officers on duty to take turns eating, just so as not to delay things.

However, just as he left the underground fortifications to get food, an acquaintance happened to pass by and called out to him:

"Captain Lelouch! I've managed to get some extra supplies, want to have a snack together? Thanks to your men these past few days, their observation efficiency has been so high, and our battalion's counterattack effectiveness has improved considerably."

Lelouch turned his head and saw that it was Major William Gustav Keitel, the battalion commander of the artillery battalion of the division's artillery regiment.

Over the past few days, Lelouch has become familiar with the members of the artillery regiment, including the regimental commander, Colonel Dulles, and the battalion commander, Major.

The artillery officers all liked him, after all, Lelouch could improve their combat efficiency, especially the cannon battalion tasked with counter-battery operations—in the German divisional artillery regiments, howitzer battalions were generally responsible for shelling infantry targets. Cannons, on the other hand, had a long range but low power, and were specifically designed to counter enemy artillery due to their range advantage.

Therefore, this artillery battalion commander was the one in the entire regiment who had the best relationship with him.

Lelouch was also happy to befriend Major Keitel: "Then I'll gladly accept your offer."

After saying that, Major Celt handed him two bottles of champagne and several pieces of grilled steak wrapped in oil paper, all made from aged beef. Lelouch didn't eat alone; he took the food and drinks back to his bunker and ate with his trusted subordinates, including Barak and Schweinsteiger.

Major Keitel also saw that Lelouch had a bright future, so he ate with him.

To avoid suspicion, the major wrapped the oil paper package he was given in an extra layer of newspaper with writing on it. After everyone was seated, Lelouch took out the oil paper package and handed it to Klose, asking him to cut the steaks for everyone. He casually glanced at the newspaper outside and saw a big news story.

"How could it be The Times? Isn't that the enemy's newspaper? Where did it come from? The date is from five days ago."

Major Keitel violently popped open a bottle of champagne, muttering through his teeth while holding the cork in his mouth, "I heard the division commander had it brought in, and distributed several copies to each regiment to boost morale. The faces of the Burkina Faso people in the newspapers are truly laughable."

Upon hearing this, Lelouch took a closer look and discovered that the newspaper, published in London five days earlier, claimed that the Burgh army had already captured Neoport and Ostend. This was an overstatement of the situation before the actual captures were even complete—Ostend was still in the hands of the 12th Infantry Division, and theoretically, retreat was only permitted after nightfall.

They exploited the time difference again, prematurely announcing the expected great victory.

"How shameless! And they even wrote that 'the Royal Navy only lost four obsolete ships that were going to be scrapped anyway,' but they didn't mention the many auxiliary ships they sank and the many people who died!"

Lelouch carefully read through all the enemy's battle reports, including the earlier naval battle report, which only mentioned the loss of a few outdated junk ships.

When the division commander distributed these newspapers mocking the enemy's face, he also had the division staff mark our battle results in red pen next to them:
击沉敌前无畏舰4艘、击沉轻巡洋舰6艘、驱逐舰11艘，击伤敌战巡2艘、轻巡1艘、驱逐舰3艘。

At least 8500 enemy sailors were killed or captured, of whom more than 1500 were recovered from the water; the rest died in battle or drowned.

This number is clearly plausible, as it is calculated based on the standard configuration for enemy naval operations. Battleships require a large number of personnel; even the worst pre-dreadnought, the HMS Hood, required a standard crew of 880 when only carrying out shore bombardment missions. The other three sunken pre-dreadnoughts each had at least a thousand men.

A light cruiser would require an average of three to four hundred men, and a destroyer would need at least one hundred and fifty to two hundred men. With so many dead, and the enemy not controlling the coastline at the time, they could only swim back. It was winter and the weather was cold, so it's easy to say that the combined casualty and capture rate was over 80%, and possibly even 90%.

Battleships that sank in the open ocean during World War I had an average survival rate of only 2% unless friendly forces controlled the battlefield and were able to return to salvage them. The rest either died or were salvaged by the enemy.

Even if a ship sinks near the coast, the land on shore is not under our control, so the survival rate is still very low. The only higher rate of capture is the 1500 Burkina Faso sailors captured that night. Most of them swam or came ashore in lifeboats and were then captured by the German army.

However, The Times made no mention of the losses of auxiliary ships, the deaths, drownings, and captures of more than 8500 people, and simply glossed over them.

However, this newspaper wasn't just full of boasting; it also revealed some valuable information.

Lelouch saw the message: "The Royal Navy has been enraged and has reactivated a batch of previously mothballed pre-dreadnoughts, which are larger, more advanced, and more heavily armed than those previously sunk, and in greater numbers. In just a few months, the Channel Fleet will be stronger than ever before!"

The report also included a list of second-line warships to be quickly converted and deployed in combat, in an effort to boost morale in Burkina Faso.
It mentions a whole bunch of "Majestic-class" pre-dreadnought ships built between 96 and 98 at the end of the last century, a total of 8 ships!
They said they would use these eight ships to replace the four that were previously sunk. For every ship the Demacians sank, the Royal Navy would return two! They're getting stronger with each battle!
This includes HMS Magnificent, HMS Prince George, HMS Victory, HMS Jupiter, HMS Hannibal, HMS Mars, HMS Caesar, and HMS Vitality. Only nine ships of this class were built in total, so apart from HMS Majesty, the lead ship of the class, which has always been in the front line, the other eight ships, which were previously in a second-line position, are now being mobilized to the front line.

To achieve combat readiness in such a short time, the so-called "modernization" would likely consist of nothing more than removing rust and repainting; nothing else could be changed. As for the personnel shortage, it's estimated that at least 10,000 sailors would need to be transferred from the current main fleet, along with recruits of new soldiers or reserve sailors from both sides, using experienced sailors to mentor new ones.

However, it's foreseeable that the combat units that have had their elite veterans removed, as well as the newly formed units, will have poor combat capabilities for at least a year and a half. The navy is a highly specialized branch of the military; without long-term training and integration, how can it possibly unleash its full combat potential?

Lelouch had to admire their shamelessness:

"The fact that they dared to write such a report shows how determined they are to take Ostend. They've already bragged about it all. If they fail to do it in the end, at least one or two ministers will have to resign to take responsibility!"

Moreover, in order to save face and intimidate us, they went so far as to proactively disclose so much military intelligence in the newspapers, allowing us to better understand their strengths and weaknesses!
However, we really don't need to risk the lives of our entire division to fight them to the death for their sake, especially since we've almost completely destroyed all of our coastal defenses, haven't we?"

Major Keitel filled a tin lunchbox with champagne: "Indeed, the enemy warships destroyed all the 210mm coastal defense guns last night. The few remaining 150mm fortress guns will surely be destroyed today as well."

Those gun mounts are fixed to the gun emplacements, making them inconvenient to disassemble during battle. They certainly can't be taken with us when we retreat. It's better to fight until they are all destroyed by the enemy before retreating.

Moreover, according to the division commander, the group of 'Solemn-class' pre-dreadnoughts mentioned in the enemy newspapers will also be put into artillery operations after a simple paint job.

Betty's battlecruiser will provide cover for them, preventing General Hipper's battlecruiser, hiding in Antwerp, from picking on the enemy's easy targets like the Fearless. With the enemy so well-prepared, Ostend is doomed to fail.

Fortunately, I have some good news—the coastal artillery fortifications in Blankenberg and Zeebrugge are fully deployed, the 305mm coastal guns are all in place, and several key observation and aiming technicians have been transferred from our battalion. We can withdraw tonight!

Lelouch finished the champagne Major Keitel poured for him, and thought for a moment: "After returning to Zeebrugge, our defensive phase of the operation will be complete, right? The next step should be to contribute ideas and efforts to prepare for the counterattack on the Ypres salient."

Major Keitel: "Absolutely! Once we retreat to Zeebrugge, the enemy will find it difficult to advance any further! With the protection of the 305mm coastal defense guns, enemy warships will be unable to provide fire support to the shore. At that time, a small number of friendly troops will be able to hold the line by rotating shifts. We should take a rest, and our manpower will definitely be replenished."

Lelouch suddenly thought of something and suggested, "Major, I have an idea. Would you like to co-sign it with me? I've also come up with some new tactics from the reconnaissance company-counter-battery battalion's joint operations over the past few days."

I would like to suggest to the army group leadership that, in future counter-offensive operations, we should draw on some of the new experiences we have gained in infantry-artillery coordination and establish an assault team that can call for artillery support more efficiently and timely in offensive operations.

The more agile infantry-artillery coordination experience we've summarized over the past few days is only applicable to defensive warfare. To make it suitable for offensive warfare, we need to do a lot more work, and that requires your cooperation.

Major Keitel had long recognized Lelouch's potential and was overjoyed. Ignoring the fact that Lelouch's rank was lower than his own, he quickly declared, "It's only right. You've improved our battalion's combat efficiency so much. If you could share this with our allies, it would be such a great contribution to the Empire. How could I keep it to myself?"

……

After reaching an agreement with Major Keitel, there's not much to say about the battle that afternoon.

The Burkina Faso army's offensive once again encountered fierce resistance from the German army, which relentlessly wore them down by trading space for time and manpower.

In the latter half of the night, after confirming that enemy naval guns could not block the coastal retreat route east of Ostend, the German troops withdrew in batches to Blankenberg further along the coast and to the neighboring large inland city of Bruges.

The entire withdrawal went very smoothly, with no significant obstacles encountered during the troop transfer.

When Ostend was abandoned, it was put to good use. Almost everything was destroyed by the gunboats of the Burmese battleships, and as usual, the Burmese army only occupied a pile of ruins.

The only thing the Burmese army could be thankful for was that they finally occupied the place that their own newspaper, The Times, had claimed to have occupied five days earlier, thus making up for their lie.

However, the cost of this lie was too high. After entering Ostend, the entire Bruegel army was exhausted and unable to advance any further. They were only hanging on by their last breath, barely holding on until this point.

After Lelouch retreated to Blankenberg with the main force, he immediately summarized some of his experiences from the joint operations of the reconnaissance company and the counter-battery battalion over the past few days.

He combined this with some organizational ideas about the German "Stormtrooper" tactics he had learned in his later years, and prepared to report to the division commander and the army group's high command.

It was hoped that this would bring about some changes in the subsequent Battle of Ypres.

(End of this chapter)