Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 31 What's suitable is the best.
When Lelouch returned to Blankenberg in the rear with his "Storm Commando Plan," which he had just written in the past few days, he was still a little uneasy.

Before his transmigration, he had read many transmigration novels and knew that many people who traveled back to World War I would immediately start by focusing on army technology, such as building tanks to dominate the battlefield.

After all, the advantages of tanks are obvious to everyone. Practicality is secondary; the key is that they can reduce the understanding cost for onlookers and make the battles look spectacular and impressive.

Lelouch had of course considered building tanks, but after careful consideration, he had to put it aside for the time being.

On the one hand, he didn't actually transmigrate into the body of an emperor or general, had access to vast military resources, or the ability to command his subordinates to do whatever he wanted.

He was just a corporal when he came here, although he won some promotions and the trust of Crown Prince Baria through strategic foresight and cunning.

However, since knowledge is acquired gradually and skills are specialized, this trust remains only at the strategic level.

As for the insight and reputation for "guiding the direction of weapons and military equipment research and development," they still need to be built up again.

He wasn't arrogant enough to think that he could just use a few pages of a plan to get the Crown Prince to come up with millions of marks and order the Balia Engine Plant to develop tanks.

So let's first develop some small things with low R&D barriers, short cycles, and quick results to prove ourselves.

That would also make it easier to better control the project when we actually want to develop tanks in the future, and avoid doing the work for someone else.

If the tank concept is introduced now, even if it succeeds, he won't have control over it; at most, he'll just get credit for "making a suggestion."

At the same time, there is an even more important reason, which is that tanks are really not needed in the current Battle of Ypres – because before the Billy King Army was destroyed, it desperately blew up the Ypres Canal dike, causing flooding and creating large areas of mud.

Historically, the four protracted battles between German and Burkina Faso forces in the Ypres salient over the next three years were all fought in muddy conditions. Even after the Burkina Faso army developed tanks, they were not put to use on this battlefield.

Fighting in such muddy, flooded areas requires only lightweight equipment that is easy to maneuver in complex terrain.

With the pitiful mobility of early tanks, they got bogged down in the quagmire as soon as they were deployed to the Ypres battlefield, becoming utterly useless.

So let's first make some minor improvements to the equipment needed for the assault team's tactics, and farm some credits and resources.

Tanks can wait until after this battle is over, or when we go to another battlefield.

Moreover, Lelouch knew very well that to win this war, he not only had to deal with external enemies, but also solve internal problems. Therefore, he also had to develop and strengthen his own power.

Otherwise, if they were to work for someone else's benefit, it would only strengthen the prestige and power of Wilhelm II or the warlords in the Junker officer corps who did not regard the people as human beings, and it would also increase the difficulty of internal purges in the future.

……

With these considerations in mind, Lelouch finally made up his mind, took his plan, and wanted to find an opportunity to meet with the army group commander.

Although he retreated to Blankenberg with the 12th Division, it was still quite difficult for him to find Crown Prince Rupprecht to report things in person.

Because the 6th Army's defense zone is quite large, Duke Rupprecht might be in Antwerp in the rear. Even if he's on the front lines, he'd likely be in Zeebrugge or Bruges.

So Lelouch first inquired with Major General Karl, the division commander, and roughly explained his intentions.

Major General Karl made a few phone calls for him, then said, "Go directly to the city's coastal defense command; the Duke is inspecting defenses there."

Lelouch quickly thanked them, and Major General Karl kindly arranged a car for him.

A dozen minutes later, Lelouch was taken to the coastal defense command post.

The entrance was heavily guarded, with several MG08 heavy machine guns mounted there; anyone who came would be stopped.

However, Lelouch was riding in Karl's car, and the company commander of the guards recognized the car as belonging to the Duke's younger brother. After checking his identification, he informed the commander.

A few minutes later, someone inside led Lelouch in.

The guard company commander couldn't help but glance at him: Just who is this captain? The commander had previously instructed that today's inspection was for a highly confidential mission, and that he was not to see anyone.

Lelouch made several turns and entered a solid underground tunnel area. He soon met Duke Rupprecht in a war room and was surprised to find that Rear Admiral Hipper, who had been trapped in Antwerp Port, was also there.

The duke saw him and waved: "How did you find your way here? Is there something important to report?"

Lelouch quickly handed over his plan: "Based on my experience in the Ostend battle a few days ago, I have summarized some insights and ideas about how to improve the coordination between infantry and artillery."

Some of these ideas may involve improvements to new weapons, so I'd like to consult on them. I think these improvements will be useful for the upcoming Battle of Ypres.

"Really? You've only been in Ostend for a week and you've already come up with a new idea? Alright, I'll take a look when I have time, and you can explain it in detail then." The Duke glanced at it and tossed the document aside on the desk.

Lelouch thought the Duke had other confidential matters to attend to, and feeling slightly embarrassed, he wanted to leave.

The Duke noticed his hesitation and laughed heartily: "I am here today because I do have some secret matters to attend to, but I don't need to hide them from you—this matter is also related to Franz. He wants to take this opportunity to verify your conclusion last time that 'the naval radio code has been cracked by the Kingdom of Burkina Faso.'"

Lelouch suddenly realized why Hipper was here. He turned to Hipper curiously and asked, "Oh? How does the general intend to verify this?"

Hipper then gave a brief description of his plan: "I've been in Antwerp for the past week, and since I've got nothing else to do, those battlecruisers have all been hit by one or two large-caliber shells and are being secretly repaired in the dock."

I have already sent a telegram to headquarters in the rear, requesting the expansion of the Antwerp shipyard, saying that my warships are seriously damaged and the current shipyard lacks professional repair equipment, so the warships will not be able to move for at least half a year.

This would likely cause David Beatty's battlecruiser fleet and the Straits Fleet of the Republic of England to lower their guard further, thinking that our naval threat was not a concern.

Then, recently, the coastal defense heavy artillery in Blankenberg has been installed and tested, right? I thought of asking His Highness the Duke to deliberately send a few more urging telegrams to the rear, asking them to send more construction teams and transport capacity, just saying that these coastal defense heavy artillery pieces are not yet finished, but will be completed soon, and hoping that the rear will urgently send more manpower.

I think if this telegram is intercepted by the enemy, they will surely succumb to temptation and take advantage of the eve of the completion of the Blankenberg coastal fortress to bombard and sabotage it. This would delay our progress and allow their fleet to swagger around the coastal ports for another month or two.

Because if they don't come soon, once this place is completely completed, they'll be out of luck; they won't be able to win. After hearing my plan, the Duke also thought it was a very good idea. As long as the time difference isn't too severe, even if the enemy is outmaneuvered in the end, as long as the difference isn't too big—just two or three days—they'll think it's due to a delay in intelligence and won't suspect that 'we already know they know our radio code.'

On our side, we weren't initially 100% certain the enemy had cracked our code. But if they fall for it again this time, we'll be 100% certain it's been broken.

After hearing this, Lelouch finally understood.

That's not easy. It seems that cunning can be contagious.

He had led Hipper to set traps twice, and somehow he had corrupted Hipper as well. Now Hipper could even apply what he had learned to other situations!
Lelouch was very pleased to have trained such a treacherous disciple.

Lelouch was curious about the details, so he pressed on, "I wonder how long it will take for the coastal fortress here to be repaired, as you said in your fake telegram?"

Hipper smiled smugly: "The telegram says that if resources are allocated effectively, it can be repaired in a day or two. So if the enemy falls for it, they should be here today. They captured Ostend last night, and they can easily advance further east and bombard this place today."

We also deliberately sent another telegram as cover, requesting His Highness the Duke to reprimand his second brother for his poor performance in battle and failure to hold Ostend for the planned duration, resulting in the loss of Ostend before the coastal defenses on Blankenberg were even repaired.

Upon hearing this, Lelouch instinctively turned to look at Duke Rupprecht, his eyes filled with even greater admiration.

Even His Highness the Duke has been corrupted by me! What a sense of accomplishment! To make the scheme more realistic, the Duke even thought of pretending to scold his own younger brother by sending a telegram.

If Betty takes the bait this time, it won't be a bad thing.

"In that case, it's an honor to watch this spectacle with you first." Lelouch didn't want to spoil his superior's fun, so he decided to postpone reporting his own plan and instead accompany his leader to witness the enemy's miserable state.

……

The group chatted idly for an hour or two in the underground fortifications of the coastal defense, discussing pleasant topics such as friendships and gossip.

Around 4 PM, enemy battleships actually appeared on the sea! They were there to bombard the coastal fortress of Blankenberg.

The Duke and his men certainly wouldn't go up into the gun emplacement to observe; that would be too dangerous, in case they were hit while exchanging fire with the enemy.

So they hid in underground bunkers and waited for the results, relying on internal telephone lines to keep track of the situation in real time.

"Report! Enemy battlecruiser fleet spotted, along with several old pre-dreadnoughts!"

The lookout post immediately reported the situation.

"Calculate the enemy ship's location coordinates, and tell the 280mm and larger guns not to fire yet, let the enemy get closer before firing! The 210mm guns should fire first, deliberately showing weakness!" The coastal defense guns were also under the command of Admiral Hipper, so Hipper gave the order directly.

Today's battle is different from usual; it's about taking advantage of information asymmetry to launch a surprise attack on the enemy. Of course, we can't fire the cannons prematurely and scare the enemy away.

It's better to let the enemy fire first, allowing them to bombard the area for a while until they feel safe and move closer to the shore. This way, even if they eventually realize something is wrong, their escape will be much slower. The 210mm coastal defense guns were already in place, but they couldn't threaten battleships; they could only engage cruisers, and their range was much shorter than that of battleship main guns. Firing from these guns could actually have a luring effect.

……

Hipper ordered the 210mm guns to fire first as a show of weakness, shortly after

On the open sea off Blankenberg, David Beatty of the Burkina Faso battlecruiser fleet and Rear Admiral Horace Hood, the newly appointed commander of the Channel Fleet, did indeed underestimate this coastal fortress.

"As expected, we only have the original 210mm guns for now; the larger cannons haven't arrived and been installed yet. All ships, press forward, push them beyond the maximum range of the 210mm guns, and bombard them mercilessly!"

If the German 210mm guns hadn't fired, Beatty and Hood wouldn't have dared to be so arrogant. They would have definitely suspected a conspiracy, just like a tiger wouldn't dare to act rashly when it first sees a donkey.

But once the donkey kicked out, the tiger realized its true strength and abilities were "nothing special," so it boldly devoured the meat.

Several battlecruisers and pre-dreadnoughts closed in to within 12-15 kilometers, and then began to gradually adjust their fire, with the main gun shells of the warships landing closer and closer to the coastal defense turrets.

But at that moment, the 280mm and 305mm caliber coastal defense guns also opened fire.

"Boom boom boom~" Huge shells began to fall around the warship, which was sailing at low speed and carrying out a bombardment mission.

To improve their shelling accuracy, Beatty and Hood had deliberately reduced their speed, thinking they wouldn't be countered by the enemy anyway.

This sudden attack startled Betty and Hood, who shouted orders: "Speed ​​up! Turn around! Get out of the enemy's coastal artillery range!"

But it was too late. The accuracy of the coastal artillery was far superior to that of the naval guns. After only a few rounds, the coastal artillerymen, who were calibrating against the ballistic charts, gradually got the hang of it and soon hit the bow of the Bu army's warships.

The power of coastal artillery is astonishing. During World War II, the Norwegians used a single 280mm Krupp coastal artillery gun from World War I to destroy a German Hipper-class heavy cruiser, rendering it severely damaged, flooded, and completely powerless.

Moreover, we are now using World War I coastal defense guns to fight World War I warships, or even pre-dreadnoughts.

Soon, David Beatty's flagship battlecruiser HMS Lion was hit by a 280mm shell, and within minutes it was hit by three or four more shells. The superstructure was severely damaged, a large section of the secondary gun deck was blown off, and the secondary guns on one side of the ship were almost completely destroyed.

The chimney was also blown away, causing the boiler pressure to drop and the ship's speed to decrease.

It finally managed to turn around, but because its speed had slowed down, it was caught and fired at the rear several times before it could escape the range of the coastal defense guns.

The aft bridge was completely destroyed, and the crane and lifeboats at the stern were blown away. Several large holes were blown through the unarmored parts of the stern, allowing thousands of tons of seawater to flood in.

This damage is definitely more severe than the damage the HMS Lion sustained in the Battle of Dogger Sandbar in the original timeline. In the original history, during the Battle of Dogger Sandbar in January 1915, the HMS Lion was also hit by more than five 280mm shells from German ships, and it took more than half a year to repair.

The injury is so severe that it will probably take a year to recover.

The "Lion-class" is the latest and most advanced battlecruiser in the Brigadier Generals' fleet. It uses 13.5-inch main guns and has strong armor, which is why it was able to maintain a speed of about 15 knots under such heavy fire and escape the range to slowly climb back.

However, the former Dreadnought Bombardment Fleet of Rear Admiral Hood, which was also bombarded at the same time, was not so lucky.

Those pre-dreadnoughts had worse protection than the new battlecruisers. They were all assigned to the Strait Fleet by First Lord of the Navy Walton just over a week ago. Some of them had even been repainted, in an effort to quickly make up for the four pre-dreadnoughts that were destroyed and sunk by Hipper.

Before the paint had even dried, two more "Majestic-class" battleships were destroyed.

The Hannibal was hit by five 305mm shells, causing thousands of tons of water to take in at both ends, almost completely losing its power and drifting there like a dead fish, waiting to die.

The "Vitality" was hit by more 305mm shells, but luckily its propulsion system wasn't completely destroyed, allowing it to barely manage to climb back up. However, it was certainly beyond repair and would ultimately have to be scrapped and decommissioned.

Ships built 16 to 18 years ago are now impossible to repair; the parts and turrets are nowhere to be found, and they would have to be rebuilt. It would be better to scrap them and save the resources to build new ships.

So the difference between this ship and a direct sinking was simply that the crew could return alive. In addition, the Royal Navy could save face by not having to admit to a battle sinking, but instead "self-scrapping".

In the end, the "Vitality" barely made it back, while the "Hannibal" was finished off by German destroyers that Hipper had laid an ambush in the port of Zeebrugge not far behind.

While delivering the finishing blow, Hipper calmly revealed the truth to Lelouch:

"Ten days ago, on the day we safely returned to Antwerp, at the welcome banquet His Highness hosted for us, you talked to me about the topic of 'the precision strike capability of torpedoes will become weaker and weaker in the future, while their role in long-range strikes and finishing blows will become more and more obvious.'"
They also suggested I make a request to the military equipment department to develop torpedoes with lower speeds and longer ranges for finishing off weakened targets. We haven't been idle these past few days; by making simple modifications to the speedometers of existing torpedoes, we've commissioned a batch of slow-moving torpedoes for testing.

这些调过参数的慢速鱼雷，航速可以从30节进一步下降到24节或18节，但最大射程也从5公里增加到了10公里甚至14公里。今天正好拿来实战测试一下，能不能在十几公里外对几乎失去动力的前无畏舰补刀。

If the outcome is good, I'll have more confidence to make demands on the Armaments Department, since it will have been tested in actual combat.

Lelouch, upon hearing this, also praised Hipper's efficiency. Without the support of a rear arsenal, he relied on the shipyard's craftsmen to temporarily modify the parameters of a batch of torpedoes, and managed to complete the modifications within just ten days.

Although this is not a formal R&D of a new product, but just parameter tuning, it is still remarkable and shows a strong scientific spirit.

Meanwhile, Duke Rupprecht, who had been watching the spectacle from the sidelines, cast an even more approving glance at Lelouch: "After I left that day, you still gave Franz such valuable advice? It seems you really do have some insight into military matters."

"Alright, let's make a bet then—you're going to suggest some improved weapons and tactics later, right? If your suggestion that Franz's slow-firing, long-range torpedoes perform well works, then I'll try my best to adopt your suggestions in this plan."

Duke Rupprecht was initially worried that Lelouch was unprofessional in military matters and did not intend to fully accept his advice and plans.

But unexpectedly, the opportunity to witness the "practical test of the military improvement proposals of Lelouch" was right before my eyes. What a coincidence!
Hearing the Duke's words, Lelouch's heart also warmed.

Unexpectedly, Hipper returned the favor today, giving himself an assist.

"Hopefully these torpedoes will perform well..." Lelouch secretly prayed for Hipper.

Soon, several German high-speed destroyers approached the Hannibal, which was already floating like a dead fish on the sea. The ship's speed had dropped to only 5-6 knots, and it was almost motionless.

Most of the ship's secondary guns were also destroyed, but a few were still usable. The small-caliber rapid-fire guns were relatively well preserved. If a German destroyer rushed into the range of the rapid-fire guns and launched torpedoes, it was very likely that it would be taught a lesson by the rapid-fire guns.

This time, however, Hipper's men did not need to get so close. Two ships, at a distance of 12 to 13 kilometers, launched some torpedoes in a fan-shaped pattern from a distance, and then continued to patrol at a distance, both to observe the enemy ships and to attract the enemy's attention.

Two other ships approached within 10 kilometers, quickly launched their torpedoes, and turned away. They were testing medium-speed torpedoes at 24 knots. The Hannibal's rapid-fire guns also fired several rounds at them, as if to see them off, but due to the great distance and low accuracy, they missed.

More than 15 minutes passed, and Duke Rupprecht was getting impatient, thinking that Hipper and Lelouch had failed.

In the distance, the Hannibal finally began to spew large columns of water from its side with a "bang! bang!"

"Two torpedoes hit! Others missed! The enemy ship is sinking rapidly!"

Everyone was overjoyed to hear the report from the observation post.

"Great! This proves that the idea is correct! We should develop some long-range, slow-firing torpedoes for finishing blows. Maybe after a battleship exchange, the enemy ship's superstructure will be destroyed and it won't be able to fight back, but it will be too waterproof to sink. We can use these torpedoes to finish off the enemy at an ultra-long range, beyond the range of the enemy's secondary guns!"

Hipper commented with great enthusiasm, his thoughts becoming increasingly clear.

The battle ultimately severely damaged one of the enemy's newest battlecruisers, rendering it unable to participate in combat for at least six months. It also sank and destroyed one enemy pre-dreadnought, effectively depriving the enemy of two pre-dreadnought battleships permanently.

After verifying the results, Hipper, as if he had learned from his experience, quickly ordered the fabrication of a fake commendation telegram, mainly thanking the engineering corps for creating a miracle, using innovative construction techniques and tireless day and night efforts to deploy the coastal artillery of Blankenberg ahead of schedule. Without this telegram to plug the leak, the enemy would not be able to understand "why the coastal artillery fortress, which was said to be too late to be repaired yesterday, was suddenly repaired today."

In order to make the performance convincing, some officers in the engineering corps might even need to be promoted without merit.

Meanwhile, Duke Rupprecht looked at Hipper, then at Lelouch, and finally picked up Lelouch's proposal, his eyes filled with even more eagerness.

"Tell me your plan thoroughly! Be as detailed as possible about how to adjust tactics, which equipment to improve, and what tactical effects to achieve! I will definitely cooperate in any way I can!"

Lelouch quickly pressed on: "The core idea of ​​my plan is to strengthen communication between the frontline assault troops and the rear, shorten the response time, and further delegate the authority to call for precision artillery support, so as to enhance our army's combat effectiveness in sustained offensive operations."

Meanwhile, in order to achieve this goal, our army needs to make the following optimizations in terms of equipment: First, we need to lighten the existing heavy machine guns and develop a light machine gun that can move with the infantry squad to enhance the direct support firepower of the assault troops.

Secondly, we need to equip the troops with a large number of hand grenades and grenade launchers, and further lightweight and modularize radios for easier transport, allowing them to be deployed to lower-level combat units. We also need some new weapons…”

Lelouch spoke eloquently, taking advantage of the Duke's overwhelming trust to slip out a whole bunch of his own ideas.

-

PS: This chapter is over 6,000 words... I really can't stop writing it, so it's actually equivalent to two updates of 3,000 words each, I just had to pile it all out at once.

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(End of this chapter)