Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 61: The Enemy Army Was Blind and Deaf, But Our Army Was Not (Including Author's Note)

1915, April 1.

The perspective shifts back to the battlefield at Mount Kemer, located about 10 kilometers northeast of Bayole town.

This place has now become the biggest focal point of the entire Ypres-Dunkirk campaign. If the German army cannot capture this place, they will be unable to clear the railway line, and subsequent offensives will be hampered.

If supplies are cut off for too long and the infiltration troops become completely exhausted, then even the gains already made may be lost.

If the German army were to capture this place, it would not only be able to lift the enemy's blockade of the railway, but also use Hill 155 as a commanding position to deploy artillery to bombard the town of Poppelinge, and even the western half of Ypres' main city.

Therefore, both sides have put in their full strength: one is attacking desperately, determined to win; the other is defending to the death, refusing to retreat.

The main force of the Burkina Faso Expeditionary Force's 1st Corps had been drawn to the direction of Mount Kemer, fighting to the death. A portion of the ANZAC soldiers had also been brought there, continuously feeding the enemy with their lives.

The Burma Army even experimented with tunnel defense for the first time during this World War, digging tunnels on hillsides to hide troops and avoid artillery fire from the attacking side.

Throughout Earth's history, the Battle of Ypres lasted four years, making these areas prime locations for tunneling operations. The Burghers dug tunnels here for four years, and in terms of final defense, it was comparable to Iwo Jima.

Fortunately, it is only the first few months of the war. Although the Bu army has also started digging tunnels, they have not yet dug too many, and there is still a chance to break through.

……

That morning, Lelouch led some of his men to the front lines at Mount Kemer.

He had traveled back from the Northwest front the night before, taking one of the few vehicles available in the military.

Those who came with him were mainly officers and subordinates who had distinguished themselves in the military, such as Rommel, Model, and Klose.

These men had all distinguished themselves in the previous battles against the towns of Caselle, Arnek, and Volmu.

Lelouch himself, in particular, had too many things to worry about and was temporarily promoted to acting battalion commander, so he had less to manage front-line combat matters.

In this rapid advance spearheaded by the 3rd Assault Battalion, many of the tactical details and improvisational commands were the work of Captain Rommel, the battalion's training company commander.

He relieved Lelouch of a significant amount of tactical command pressure, and his understanding of the various combat tactics invented by Lelouch was also remarkably skillful, even surpassing Lelouch's own. Therefore, he made considerable contributions, as did the others.

Early this morning, at the front-line command post, the army group commander, Duke Rupprecht, personally inspected the site and promoted and awarded medals to Lelouch, Rommel, and others.

In previous promotions, Lelouch and others were always promoted by Major General Karl, the division commander, because those below the rank of captain were within the division commander's authority.

This promotion to major exceeds the duties of a division commander and can only be done by an army group commander.

"In recognition of Captain Lelouch Hunt's continued outstanding performance in operations at Baylor, Stenford, Arneke, and other locations, you are hereby promoted to Major and officially appointed as the commander of the 3rd Assault Battalion of the 6th Army. You are also awarded the Iron Cross First Class once again."

For the previous week, he had only temporarily served as acting battalion commander. Now that he has been promoted to major, he can rightfully remove the word "acting" from his title.

I traveled through time on October 25, 1914, and was promoted from corporal to sergeant major that same day. On October 28, I was promoted to lieutenant, and in November, I was promoted to captain. Now it is January 16, 1915, and I have finally reached the rank of major.

2个月零22天，也算是做到穿越之初那句“穿越3小时到军士长、3天到尉、3月到校”的神调侃。

It was achieved 8 days ahead of schedule.

Then, the Duke personally announced Rommel's promotion. Theoretically, the division commander could also announce the promotions of the lower-ranking officers. But since the Duke was there, he read them aloud as well.

"...Irwin Rommel was promoted to Army Major and appointed as Deputy Battalion Commander of the 3rd Assault Battalion of the 6th Army, and was awarded the Iron Cross First Class."

"...Otto Walter Model was promoted to Army Captain and appointed Company Commander of B Company, 3rd Assault Battalion, 6th Army, and awarded the Iron Cross First Class."

"...Schweinsteiger promoted to Army Lieutenant...Klose promoted to Army Lieutenant..."

After all the announcements were made, the Duke dismissed the group to allow everyone to relax, while he kept Lelouch behind, clearly to discuss some tactical issues with him privately.

"The second batch of instruments you ordered from DWM Aachen Arsenal arrived the day before yesterday, but we haven't been able to get the weather you wanted. Would you like to go and take a look?"
The instructions on how to use those instruments have already been explained to Major Rundstedt of the 2nd Assault Battalion; his battalion will be responsible for fire observation during the mountain assault. If you have any further details to add, please discuss them with him now.”

"Yes, Commander!" Lelouch saluted and accepted the order.

He was then taken to a secret warehouse near the front-line command post, where the Duke personally ordered several sheets to be lifted, revealing the equipment underneath.

Lelouch recognized it at a glance as the very thing he had ordered from DWM, even though it looked slightly different from the one in the history book.

These are some of the most primitive artillery acoustic sounding instruments.

In principle, it consists of two sound receiving panels shaped like radar domes or satellite dishes. Through simple sound-focusing and amplifying structures, it amplifies faint sounds from a distance in a general direction many times over, making them audible to the listener. (See the image above)
The direction in which the two microphones on the instrument are pointed determines how clearly the sound will be heard and amplified.

This thing can be made purely mechanically, without needing any advanced electronic signal amplification technology. It was indeed developed during World War I in Earth's history.

Lelouch didn't know the specifics of how to build it, but he knew how to make his demands. Plus, the technical difficulty wasn't high, so the engineers at DWM figured it out on their own.

As for why Lelouch thought of developing this device ahead of schedule during the Battle of Kemer Hill, it's related to some details of the 6th Army's recent failure to capture the mountain.

Lelouch only came up with a solution after listening to the Duke's complaints.

Lelouch briefly inspected and tested the machine, and only after confirming that it worked was he relieved: "No problem, just have Major Lundstätter operate it according to the instruction manual."

……

Meanwhile, at the forefront of the Kemer Mountains.

Rundstedt's 2nd Assault Battalion was scattered in the anti-artillery bunkers of the trenches, waiting for the opportunity to attack.

At this moment, the snow is not heavy enough; there are only scattered light snowflakes.

The enemy artillery observation post on the mountaintop still had a clear view.

The reconnaissance aircraft of both air forces were still able to take off, land, and fly, albeit with difficulty.

Lundstätter took a big gulp of cool water to moisten his throat and heard a faint humming of an engine overhead.

He knew it was Major Immelmann again, leading a German reconnaissance squadron, conducting reconnaissance and pursuing French and Burgundian reconnaissance planes.

Major Lundstätter knew very well that it was the valiant efforts of the airborne knights that had caused great losses to the enemy's artillery observation aircraft and reduced the effectiveness of the enemy's heavy artillery groups set up on the mountaintop by several percent. He was very grateful to his allies in the air.

Unfortunately, even if the air force could suppress enemy reconnaissance aircraft, it couldn't suppress enemy ground artillery observation posts. Therefore, the PLA's heavy artillery groups, positioned on higher ground, could at most suffer a slight reduction in combat efficiency, but could not be completely rendered ineffective.

About 20 days ago, Captain Immelmann of the air force obtained enough airborne light machine guns from the rear, reportedly thanks to Lelouch. He also had a mechanic help him install the machine guns onto the Pigeon reconnaissance aircraft.

Subsequently, Captain Immelmann spent a few days giving his most trusted pilots a cursory training session, teaching them how to operate a light machine gun that could rotate while flying the plane, and how to fire to the side or slightly forward (the firing coordinator had not yet been built, so they could not fire directly forward for the time being).
After completing their training, around the beginning of January, the first batch of pilots knew how to fight in real combat. Finally, on January 8, they launched the world's first large-scale air battle.

Of course, since it was the first battle, the enemy did not offer any organized resistance.

French and Burkina Faso pilots only carried pistols or other weapons, such as shotguns, when they took to the air; there was no standardized equipment.

After all, there had never been any formal, large-scale air battles before; any occasional skirmishes were just individual actions by the pilots.

This time, the entire German squadron, consisting of 16 Dove reconnaissance aircraft, was equipped with fixed-mount air-cooled light machine guns, and each aircraft carried a belt of approximately 1200 rounds of ammunition, so their firepower was naturally overwhelming.

On January 8, a total of 14 reconnaissance aircraft belonging to the Burkina Faso and French armies were unilaterally shot down in the airspace near Ypres-Lille.

After being stunned by the first wave of attacks, the air forces of the Burgundian and French armies calmed down and did not dare to take off for two consecutive days, probably because they were urgently trying to find suitable firearms to carry in the aircraft.

Starting January 12th, French aircraft still didn't dare to provoke German aircraft in the Lille area. However, some Burgundian aircraft took off, albeit reluctantly, in order to expand their reconnaissance range and optimize artillery fire correction. They tried their best to avoid German aircraft. Occasionally, when they couldn't escape in time or were intercepted mid-flight, Burgundian aircraft could only use Colt M1911s, temporarily equipped with extended magazines, to counterattack German light machine gun reconnaissance aircraft.

It's not easy to equip an aircraft with a fixed machine gun in such a short time.

Even if they are equipped, the soldiers have no training or theoretical foundation, and it will be impossible for them to form combat capability within ten days to half a month.

Therefore, during the Battle of Ypres, the German forces had already secured absolute air superiority. Captain Immelmann was promoted to major and awarded a Blue Mark medal on the spot after leading his team to shoot down more than a dozen enemy aircraft on January 8.

Today marks the eighth day that German fighter reconnaissance planes have been airborne in combat.

The Germans maintained firm control over the airspace from Lille to Ypres, ensuring that the enemy had no aerial reconnaissance capabilities to reach key areas at critical moments.

All of this provided a safeguard for the German army's subsequent actions.

……

Major Rundstedt's battalion remained in low-intensity slumber at the front until the afternoon, when the snow finally began to fall more heavily.

Both sides' planes had disappeared from the air, and no one could take off again.

Meanwhile, the numerous artillery observation posts of the Bu army high in the Kemer Mountains were completely obscured by the heavy snow, and nothing could be seen beyond two or three kilometers.

"It's time. Visibility of the mountaintop has been confirmed lost. There are no wires to notify the rear that our 210mm heavy howitzers can proceed." Major Lundstätter gave this order after repeatedly observing through his binoculars.

The howitzers he was calling were there to carry out counter-battery missions, specifically to deal with the enemy's heavy artillery positions positioned on the edge of the hill's reverse slope, overlooking the terrain.

The most crucial aspect of artillery used for counter-battery missions is its long range. The prototype of the German K16 150mm cannon was quite good, with a very long range that could exceed that of the artillery on the hilltop.

Unfortunately, the enemy had very cunningly deployed their heavy artillery on the reverse slope slightly behind the summit, and had also constructed a very long reserve position. The cannons had a relatively straighter trajectory, making it difficult to hit the enemy artillery on the reverse slope of the summit.

Only howitzers with a relatively high trajectory angle can hit (but not as high as mortars/mortars, because the enemy also uses howitzers, and if the reverse slope is too steep, the enemy's own howitzers will not be able to hit it).

The German offensive had failed for several days because enemy artillery observation posts could spot and precisely target German heavy howitzers as they entered their positions from a high vantage point. Once the German heavy artillery entered their positions, it was immediately counter-attacked by the enemy artillery from its superior position.

Even with their aerial reconnaissance advantage, the Germans couldn't solve this problem—because aerial reconnaissance couldn't neutralize enemy hilltop observation posts. At best, they could achieve "two-way transparency," meaning both sides could instantly discover each other's coordinates.

However, the enemy artillery on the reverse slope of the mountaintop had the advantage of being in a superior position, which meant that the German artillery would need a lot of time to advance, enter the counterattack position, and deploy. They would have to endure many rounds of shelling and often died before they could even fire.

This problem remained a huge dilemma that the mountain-climbing side had to face for decades to come.

Just like the siege of Sevastopol in later years, if the attacking side hadn't first taken out the observation posts of the 305mm turrets of the Maxim Battery, the Gustav's giant cannons wouldn't have dared to approach the deployment position and then open fire.

The situation today is similar.

After losing some heavy artillery, the German army had no choice but to wait for a series of bad days.

Ideally, there would be heavy snow and darkness, alternating to blind both sides in the battle, thus negating the visual advantage of the side with the higher ground. For several days in a row, no one could see anyone else, which would be fair.

(Note: Some may still question why we need to wait for snow, and why we can't just rely on darkness to neutralize the enemy's and our own vision. This is because, on the one hand, without heavy snow, there is only one night's window of opportunity. The deployment of heavy artillery in 1915 was very slow; it might take half a day to complete. The remaining half night might not be enough to resolve the battle, and by dawn, it would all be over.)

On the other hand, without heavy snow obscuring visibility, even in the darkness, the enemy on the mountaintop could still pinpoint the location of the artillery fire with relatively precise accuracy, albeit not as accurately as during the day. Therefore, waiting for snowfall was the safest option.
When neither side can see, the side with better hearing gains a huge advantage.

After sending the telegram, Major Rundstedt waited for about one or two hours before finally receiving a reply from the rear, saying that their 210mm heavy howitzers had entered their positions and would be deployed in another two hours.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ordered: "Each company shall proceed according to plan, carry out infiltration and breakthrough operations at the front line, strive to seize some better positions, and establish forward listening points. Company D shall guide our rear decoy artillery to fire, and then assist friendly forces in feigning a charge to lure the enemy's heavy artillery on the mountaintop to fire. Be careful not to actually charge too aggressively."

The soldiers of the 2nd Assault Battalion of the 6th Army Group soon began to infiltrate and attack the mountain under the command of their battalion commander.

This is partly to seize better outpost listening positions, partly to lure the enemy, and partly to capture some positions along the way.

The assault troops' attack was very realistic; they even brought flamethrower soldiers to deal with the enemy tunnels that had been discovered just a few days earlier.

The two sides quickly engaged in fierce fighting on the front lines. The German army did not prepare its firepower in advance, in order to take advantage of the poor visibility and the chaotic weather to fish in troubled waters.

Because the engagement distance has been shortened, the battles have become increasingly brutal, often closing in to the effective range of submachine guns, and even leading to hand-to-hand combat in some trenches.

In situations where effective visibility was only a few hundred meters, the German commando's grenade launchers became quite useful.

Since everyone only has a limited direct field of view, a longer range wouldn't be of much use.

The grenade launcher is actually lightweight and flexible, allowing for real-time deployment; you can even carry it up a mountain without any problem.

Rundstedt's assault battalion used grenade launchers to take down one or two layers of heavy machine gun bunkers near the halfway point of the mountain.

The assault team then crept up, and after a struggle involving entrenching tools and bayonets, as well as exchanges of fire between submachine guns and shotguns, they finally reached the entrance to the first tunnel.

"We've suppressed the tunnel entrance and thrown in a few grenades, but the tunnel is very winding, and there are definitely still many enemies hiding inside!"

"Don't panic, just keep them under control and prevent them from breaking out! Send in the flamethrower soldiers!"

On the battlefield, a cacophony of curses and piercing screams filled the air.

Finally, several flamethrower soldiers reached the tunnel entrance and sprayed thickened fuel into the tunnel, instantly roasting all the Bretonnians hiding in the winding corners.

It felt like pouring molten aluminum into a termite mound.

After clearing one tunnel, the assault team immediately signaled to their teammates to follow.

"This position is excellent! It's ours now! Quickly bring up the artillery sonic logging equipment! Drag it into the tunnel, assemble it, and get ready to listen in!"

Similar scenes were playing out in many places along the forward position that stretched for several kilometers. Soon, several instruments were dragged into the newly captured outer tunnels and deployed.

With the loss of the outer tunnels, the troops on the mountaintop finally couldn't hold back any longer. Regardless of whether they had a field of vision or could see the enemy, the heavy artillery on the mountaintop opened fire one after another.

"Stop observing the enemy's position! If any position is out of contact or suspected of being infiltrated and captured by the enemy, then open fire on the lost position!"
"What? You're saying there might still be some of our men who survived and remain on those positions? Forget about them! They should be loyal to the Empire and call in the artillery to fire on them!"

In a command post somewhere on the mountaintop, Lieutenant General Douglas Haig, commander of the 1st Army of the Burkina Faso Expeditionary Force, gave this order.

The artillery of the Bu army began to fire wildly and indiscriminately, even though they could not see the enemy. They just wanted to bolster their courage by bombarding the lost positions.

"Finally, they've fallen for the trap! Excellent, the enemy's hilltop artillery positions should have been exposed. Prepare for a counterattack! Have the forward monitoring team begin listening! Be ready to fire at the locations reported by the monitoring group at any time!"

At the foot of the mountain, on the German artillery positions, the two artillery battalions under Major Keitel and Major Leb finally stirred. They were among the main players carrying out the artillery counter-attack mission today, and the group of newly transferred M10 210mm heavy howitzers were temporarily placed under their command.

The reason is that these two artillery battalions had previously cooperated closely with the assault battalion, and the two sides had already worked together very well in calling for precision artillery support.

-

PS: The next update will be available for purchase. Before it goes on sale, I gave everyone over 5,000 words for free today, which is equivalent to a day's worth of updates for someone else during their free period.

This is also part of today's bonus update.

There will be an update around 12:30 after it's released.

Please, everyone, support this! It wasn't promoted by Sanjiang or any other platform; it was just released directly.

I thought about it later and realized that there are advantages to not including it in the Three Rivers Awards. This subject matter is not suitable for the general public to see. Those who like it can watch it themselves. It's just something for everyone in a small circle to enjoy, and we shouldn't let it go beyond that circle.

(End of this chapter)