Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 51: Make some money off the war, and keep up the good work.

When Lelouch's soldiers stormed into the town of Baylor, almost all of them were on horseback, moving swiftly like the wind.

They were originally reorganized from the cavalry reconnaissance company directly under the 12th Division, and they had excellent horsemanship skills.

Yesterday morning, after ambushing and annihilating the 2nd Cavalry Division of the Bu Army and severely damaging the 3rd Cavalry Division, although more than half of the warhorses were killed by machine gun fire and could only be used to butcher the horses, a small number of the ownerless warhorses were still captured alive.

The army suffered at least five thousand cavalrymen killed in battle, so it was more than enough to gather two thousand good horses to distribute among the soldiers of the two assault battalions.

The town of Bayole was small and most of its buildings were dilapidated, but after Lelouch led his team into the town, they quickly discovered an extremely rich harvest!

The company marched into town along the railway. They hadn't gone far when they saw a large amount of unsold supplies piled haphazardly beside the train platform—presumably the cargo unloaded from the train Model had bombed on its return journey the previous day. Because the situation had changed so rapidly, the enemy hadn't even had time to store the supplies before fleeing.

However, several warehouses not far from the station appeared to have been set on fire by the retreating Bu troops.

Upon seeing this, Lelouch immediately ordered the fire to be put out. Fortunately, the fire hoses at the train station were not damaged. A hundred or so assault team members frantically grabbed water and sprayed it everywhere, finally managing to extinguish the fire.

It's likely that the morale of the soldiers who set the fire was too low, so they ran away as soon as they lit it.

It was fortunate that Lelouch arrived on horseback; otherwise, if he hadn't captured enough warhorses and had to walk, they probably would have burned them all.

After putting out the fire, Lelouch quickly took stock of the spoils.

The ammunition in the warehouse was not set on fire, probably because the Bu army didn't dare to, fearing that the destructive power of the ammunition would be difficult to control and could kill them.

Lelouch captured at least tens of millions of 7.7mm bullets and nearly 20 cannon shells—but the vast majority of them were two-pounder cannons, which are 40mm in caliber.

Less than 5 rounds were fired from 70mm and above, and only a little over 1 from 105mm and above.

Most of these munitions are incompatible with German-made ammunition and can only be handed over. Perhaps they can be used to form an enemy-equipped division when more enemy weapons are captured in the future.

Besides ammunition, more than half of the warehouse's contents were grain and canned cured meat.

There are also flannel blankets, wool coats, locally produced whiskey from Burkina Faso, Indian black tea, and coffee, cigars, and chocolates imported from the New World—all of these can be sold to generate cash.

The only thing that could be considered a military strategic material was a warehouse full of rubber tires.

There were also a bunch of cannons that couldn't be moved in time, but the Burghers stuffed grenades into the barrels during their retreat to ensure the barrels were destroyed. After the Germans captured them, they could only check if the parts other than the barrels had any salvage value.

"Damn, those dogs are living the good life. They really do control the navy, able to continuously transport supplies from all over the world to their homeland. Unlike the Empire, they have to smuggle things in secretly, and they can't even import their hobbies anymore." Lelouch's subordinates all sighed indignantly.

Just as Lelouch finished his rough inventory, Major Bock arrived with Rommel, Lister, and a few others.

Klose, his trusted informant, immediately reported: "The battalion commander and the others are here! Sir, how should we report the situation here?"

Lelouch didn't have time to think and decisively ordered, "Report damage. The Burmese army set fires during their retreat. Everything was burned except for tin cans and glass bottles of whiskey. Cover everything with a damp cloth and say it was poured on to put out the fire."

I'll discuss the specifics with the battalion commander. We'll seal off all the warehouses at the train station and let them make their fortune elsewhere—there are other places in town where they can make money.

Lelouch only managed to seize the most lucrative warehouse left behind by the retreating Bu army. There were still some leftover soup and water, which he couldn't take with his small force, so he left them to his allies.

Their two assault battalions fought so fiercely, risking their lives, that they contributed to the total collapse of the enemy's 3rd Army.

We finally won the battle, so what's wrong with taking some spoils of war?

Burke, Rommel, and others quickly found him, and Lelouch was very generous: he shared the whiskey with everyone, giving each of the two assault battalions a bottle, a box of New World cigars (five cigars in a box), and all the canned meat was distributed.

The soldiers in two battalions certainly couldn't finish all that whiskey and canned meat; the extra portion could be shared among the officers of all ranks.

All the food, ammunition, and tires were reported, as a token of appreciation to the higher-ups.

As for coffee, black tea, and chocolate, along with the remaining cigars, flannel, wool, and leather goods, Lelouch kept them all.

Major Bock, the battalion commander, was promised a small share of the profits in the future. After all, he was the commander-in-chief and had an uncle who was the Chief of the General Staff, so he couldn't afford to offend him. For the others, this small benefit was enough for now. Lelouch wasn't greedy; rather, he was thinking that after this battle ended and he returned to the rear, he would definitely want to find a way to do more in the military industry.

Without money, one cannot realize their ideas, let alone expand production. The same amount of money, in the hands of a time traveler like him, would be worth at least several times more than in the hands of others.

Once he has achieved some success in the military industry, he can use some of his earnings to give back to his comrades-in-arms, providing extra compensation and subsidies to those who died or were wounded in battle. This would be a virtuous cycle.

Major Bock also vaguely knew that Lelouch had done something slightly, but he couldn't be bothered to delve into the details.

After accepting half a trainload of liquor, Major Bock declared that he could handle all the connections at the top. He even gave Lelouch some pointers:

Don't report those rubber tires directly to the division or army headquarters; report them to the logistics and transportation department, including the military's railway dispatch department. This way, they can discreetly add enough extra wagons to help everyone get their supplies back.

Lelouch immediately understood, so he crossed all the rubber products off the report list and asked Major Bock to handle them. Then he slightly modified the description of the fire damage in the report.

That same day, several military trains carrying goods arrived from the rear. Two of them had an extra five wagons attached to them, secretly transporting Lelouch's belongings to a designated location in the rear.

……

After capturing the town of Bayole and taking over the abandoned supplies of an entire enemy army, the German army recovered a significant amount of its strength and gained much more confidence to carry out subsequent campaign objectives.

However, a balance between work and rest is always necessary. The assault battalion was exhausted after a series of bloody battles.

After capturing the town, the frontline combat missions had to be handed over to other friendly forces. The soldiers of the assault battalion occupied the best hotel in town and ate and drank their fill for two days straight.

Fortunately, the enemy's defensive depth was not very deep to begin with, and Bayole's position was breached so quickly that the enemy's rear positions did not have time to be reconstructed and reinforced.

Therefore, the open field between Bayole and the next important stronghold, Stenford, was breached, occupied, and absorbed by the German regular forces in just two days.

By the morning of December 24, the German vanguard had advanced to a position about two kilometers southeast of Stenford, having advanced nearly ten kilometers in two days.

Only the last two kilometers before entering the city were stopped by the newly constructed defensive positions of the German army. Theoretically, the German army could have advanced even faster, but it was already December 24th. Most Westerners have the custom of celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so the soldiers on both sides were not very enthusiastic about fighting.

In Earth's history, there have been tacit ceasefires on Christmas Eve of the first year of war. But in this world, with the Battle of Ypres at its most intense, a complete temporary ceasefire is clearly impossible.

It is estimated that a ceasefire will take place on Christmas Eve along the southern front between the German and French armies. This suggests that the animosity between Germany and Brunei may be subtly shifting towards surpassing the animosity between Germany and France.

Meanwhile, during the same two days, the opposing army also made many adjustments to its defensive deployments and did not sit idly by and wait for its doom.

As early as the night Bayole was lost, the highest command of the Burkina Faso expeditionary force knew that the troops they had on hand would not be able to hold the line.

Therefore, Field Marshal John French, Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force, personally telegraphed London for help: "The front is in dire need of assistance. We request that the 7th and 8th Divisions of Lahore, which are still undergoing emergency training in Dover, be immediately transferred to the front!"

Less than two hours after Field Marshal French requested assistance, London responded, personally by War Secretary Kitchener.

Kitchener was the top figure in the Burkina Faso army, holding the rank of Marshal and the title of Earl. In his reply, he stated that the rabble from South Asia was poorly trained, their combat effectiveness far below previous expectations, and they were utterly incapable of being deployed in battle.

But Field Marshal French remained undeterred: "The front is in dire straits! The 3rd Corps was utterly decimated after only two days of fighting, and the cavalry corps has lost more than half its men! I desperately need any able-bodied men to fill the gaps! The quality of the soldiers is not important!"

Despite French's strong words, Minister Kitchener ultimately approved the departure. The 24,000 reinforcements then set sail from Dover, arrived at Dunkirk the following day, and were subsequently transferred by train to Stenford.

Therefore, when the German army reached the outskirts of Stenford, the enemy they faced consisted mainly of the following units: the 1st and 2nd Garrison Divisions from Cannavaro, and the 7th and 8th Lahore Divisions from South Asia.

On the German side, the 6th and 12th Bariah Divisions, which had been the main force in the attack on Bayol, were exhausted and had suffered losses from continuous fighting, so they needed to rest and recuperate. Therefore, the 6th Army transferred the 2nd and 3rd Divisions of the most senior Bariah 2nd Corps to take on the front-line offensive mission, while the other four divisions served as reserves.

It appeared that at Stenford, a crucial railway hub, the German frontline forces consisted of only two divisions facing the defense of four Burkina Faso divisions. However, the Germans, from top to bottom, were highly confident, knowing that these colonial troops were far superior in quality to the Burkina Faso native army.

Meanwhile, the main elite forces of the Burkina Faso army, the Burkina Faso 1st and 2nd Corps, were tied down by German 4th Corps allies on the front of the Ypres salient and in the coastal direction, and they were also unable to break away to reinforce Stenford.

When Lelouch, Major Burke, Major Lundstätter, and others had rested and were ready to rejoin the battle, this was the situation they faced.

(End of this chapter)