Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 75 The Demon in the Smoke, Severing the Throat of the Conscript
"How could the Royal Navy have fallen to this state... Hasn't the boiler pressure reached the minimum threshold required for departure?"

"Adjust the isolation valve to prioritize power supply to the hydraulic pumps! Each turret shall select its target, load armor-piercing rounds, and fire freely!"

Inside the port of Dunkirk, on the former dreadnought "London," a Formidable-class battleship, Rear Admiral Hubert Lynch stood resolutely in the command tower, holding binoculars and staring intently through the thick armored windows at the enemy-controlled gun emplacements on the south bank, issuing orders with a resigned expression.

Major General Lynch commanded this squadron, leading two pre-dreadnoughts and four shallow-draft gunboats to Dunkirk harbor to provide the army with sufficient close-range artillery firepower during the siege.

On the beach west of the city, because there was no deep-water anchorage, heavy warships normally had to be deployed 5 to 10 kilometers offshore. Therefore, the authorities specially towed all the newly built shallow-water heavy gunboats to Dunkirk port so that they could go around to provide support by shelling during the day.

On the east side of the city, since there was already a port area and a deep-water anchorage, the pre-dreadnoughts with large drafts could directly enter, allowing them to provide very close-range support.

But no one expected that such a day would come. Two pre-dreadnoughts and four shallow-draft gunboats were trapped in a cage within half an hour.

The two twin 305mm main gun turrets of the "London" were still spinning vigorously.

The steam boilers on board had only been pressurized for a little over half an hour, and were still insufficient to power the main engine.

However, with precise power management, by adjusting the isolation valve at the boiler outlet, the high-pressure steam originally destined for the main engine is preferentially sent to the hydraulic pump room, which at least allows the main turret to rotate.

When Major General Lynch issued this order, it meant that his two Formidable-class ships had realized the situation and given up on escaping the port.

Now they just want to unleash their firepower as much as possible before they die, and take someone down with them!

The two 152mm secondary guns and 76mm rapid-fire guns on the port and starboard sides of the pre-dreadnought were also firing at full power, simultaneously unleashing fierce fire on the enemy coastal defense fortresses in the north and south directions.

One after another, 152mm shells landed near the 140mm gun emplacement on the shore, occasionally taking down a small French cannon, but they were quickly overwhelmed by a much stronger retaliatory barrage.

The 305mm main gun turrets on the Formidable-class battleships didn't even have time to turn to the same target; they could only fire at whichever target they could get their hands on. The fore and aft main gun turrets fought independently, without unified fire control, nor did they need to. They simply engaged in direct fire, raising their guns slightly if the target was too low.

In close-quarters combat within 5 kilometers, fire control becomes meaningless; just go for it.

Such a scene hasn't been seen in the history of naval warfare for decades. Neither the Battle of Tsushima ten years ago nor the Battle of the Yalu River twenty years ago involved such close-quarters combat with enemy and friendly forces intertwined.

We have to go back to at least the Battle of Lissa in 1866, when human battleships were able to penetrate deep into enemy lines and allow the secondary guns on both sides to fire simultaneously.

Unexpectedly, that ancient, knightly scene has been reenacted today...

Just as Major General Lin Qi stared at the main gun turret of his flagship with a grim face, gradually aiming at a twin 340mm armored turret on the Ronan Battery on the south bank, a deafening roar came from several hundred meters away on his starboard side.

His lookout officer, his face covered in blood, slid down from the watchtower and reported, "General, the Indomitable has exploded! It's been hit by too many 340mm heavy guns!"

Major General Lynch glanced to his right. The Indomitable had been hit by concentrated fire earlier than the London, which he was on. It hadn't withstood many rounds before it exploded completely. It must have been repeatedly penetrated, and even the ammunition magazine couldn't withstand it. Before the Indomitable sank, it only took two 240mm guns and a few 140mm guns with it. It was a truly worthless death.

But he had no time to grieve for the "Unyielding" ship; he could only channel his grief and anger into strength:
"Aimed? Target the armored turret atop Ronan Fortress, fire!"

The four 305mm main guns of the "London" immediately opened fire from a distance of 4 kilometers on the armored turret atop Ronan Fort, which rotated 360 degrees and had the widest field of fire.

Although these armored turrets were designed for the Normandy-class battleships, they were theoretically capable of withstanding a frontal hit from the main guns of battleships of the same caliber.

However, such designs must also take into account the range and the velocity of the projectile upon impact.

At a close-range distance of 4 kilometers, even if the caliber is several levels smaller, it can still penetrate, resulting in a situation where both sides can be instantly killed.

The London missed its first salvo, but quickly adjusted and, after 40 seconds, fired its second salvo, finally destroying the armored turret.

But that's where it all ends.

During the destruction of that turret, HMS London was subjected to enemy fire from all sides and was hit directly by several 340mm armor-piercing shells.

The 228mm side armor was like paper; armor-piercing shells could penetrate the sides and smash into the engine room. Every shot ruptured countless steam pipes, and high-pressure steam gushed out from every breach.

Before the main guns of HMS London could even target the next target, it was bombarded into pieces by a barrage of 10 direct-fire shells every 20 seconds.

Major General Lin Qi and more than 800 officers and soldiers were blown up into the sky along with the warship.

The violent explosion even affected four adjacent Frankish civilian ships moored on either side of the "London" berth, which were sunk by the force of the ammunition detonation.

The sinking of the HMS London also meant that this Burkina Faso squadron had completely lost its ability to resist.

The last two remaining shallow-water heavy gunboats were such trash that they couldn't even find the right angle to fire; they could only tickle the coastal fortress with their two 76mm cannons at the stern.

At this point, Rommel and Model could even use precise micromanagement, without having to use the 340 or 240 heavy artillery, and just let the 140 small guns slowly penetrate.

"Stop using secondary explosions! It's such a waste. It'll be a hassle for the battalion commander to find someone to salvage the ugly 14-inch turrets as evidence. Besides, secondary explosions could accidentally damage the nearby Frankish civilian ships! Just slowly pierce them with 140mm small pipes and sink them!"

This kind of play is simply insulting. It's like dribbling past the goalkeeper in a soccer game, then stopping the ball in front of the goal, adjusting the angle, posture, and power, before finally sinking it in one shot.

The USS Farragut and the USS Stonewall Jackson were thus slowly and precisely dissected into two "specimens" that were left to sag, using 140-millimeter tubes as if by a scalpel.

The body was very well preserved, which facilitated police evidence collection after the war.

It's been many years since a warship has been destroyed so gracefully.

……

"All-out attack! The enemy's coastal defense batteries and close air support ships have been destroyed by the airborne troops! The enemy has lost its most important artillery support! We must break through Dunkirk today and join forces with the airborne troops!"

Twenty minutes later, at approximately 7:15 AM, two corps of the 6th Army launched another all-out attack on the German assault positions south of Dunkirk.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Bock and Major Lelouch, along with the remaining troops of the assault battalions, launched a resolute infiltration assault in coordination with friendly forces to support their comrades in the rear.

As mentioned earlier, when Lelouch was forming the airborne troops, he transferred almost all the submachine gunners from three assault battalions. However, because the light machine gun and grenade launcher teams were useless in close-quarters combat during airborne operations, these men were left behind in the rear.

Now it was time for the final assault. Thousands of infantrymen, carrying G98 rifles and shotguns, bravely advanced along the city streets. The machine gun teams under Bock and Lelouch were not to be outdone. They temporarily adjusted their tactics to provide close-range fire support for their allies.

More than 100 MG15 light machine guns from three assault battalions were dispersed across several city blocks to assist friendly forces in their rapid advance and establishment of forward fire support points.

The fierce and agile suppressive fire kept the Burgh troops inside the city pinned down. Even with the cover of buildings and Vickers heavy machine guns, they were no match for the Germans. The Germans were riding high, because every ordinary soldier knew that they had a mysterious commando unit that had miraculously captured the enemy's most important coastal fortress and destroyed their heavy artillery support.

The morale of the opposing army was low, for the same reason.

Australian and New Zealand soldiers, Indian soldiers, and various other miscellaneous units were constantly thrown into chaos and retreat during the fierce fighting. These soldiers from the colonies simply lacked the willpower to continue holding the line after the sudden change in circumstances.

Within an hour, the German army had breached two city blocks.

The Bu army's defensive forces were eventually held up by heavy machine gun positions everywhere.

If it weren't for the occasional heavy machine gun emplacement that could suddenly appear from the buildings and ruins along the street, greatly limiting the German advance, the Germans would likely have broken through the city and joined forces with the airborne troops in the port area before nightfall tonight.

"The enemy's heavy machine gun positions are too tricky to handle. Quickly get the flamethrower team up!" On Lieutenant Colonel Bock's side, seeing the enemy's heavy machine guns blocking the streets, he repeatedly imitated the flamethrower tactics invented by Lelouch, trying to clear the area with flames.

Flamethrower teams moved through the streets, trying to find advantageous positions to set fires.

However, the situation in a large city like Dunkirk was very different from that in the smaller towns that the German army had previously captured.

The streets here are very wide and grand, especially the roads leading to the port area, where a wide railway runs through the city.

Even with Lelouch's enhancements, which increased the flamethrower's range to 30 to 40 meters, it still couldn't cover a wide area of ​​buildings across the street in a battlefield like Dunkirk.

Many flamethrower soldiers were intercepted by heavy machine guns before they could set fires, and the fuel canisters on their bodies burst into flames, turning them into burning figures.

After losing seven or eight flamethrower squads, the offensive momentum slowed down slightly.

On the other side of the main battlefield, Major Lelouch also led at least several dozen light machine gun squads and flamethrower squads.

As the battle progressed, he gradually realized that this tactic was becoming less effective. The closer they got to the port, the sparser the buildings became and the wider the streets. This battlefield rhythm was too disadvantageous for the flamethrower teams to approach the enemy.

Lelouch's face turned ashen as several flamethrower squads were killed; he knew he absolutely could not let his soldiers take any more risks.

Although the absolute number of deaths from this tactic was not high, the gruesome sight of each flamethrower soldier dying with flames streaming down their face was a heavy blow to the morale of those who followed. If this continued, no flamethrower soldier would be willing to charge anymore.

Lelouch valued the lives of his soldiers far more than other German officers of the same period.

"Stop the attack! We can't keep charging blindly and recklessly!" Lelouch gave the timely order, temporarily halting his men's desperate charge.

Some officers still didn't understand. Captain William Lister, who had been temporarily transferred back to his unit as a company commander, couldn't help but remind them: "Battalion Commander! The higher-ups have ordered us to break through as soon as possible to support the airborne troops in the port area! If we're afraid to die here, our brothers in the port area might suffer an even longer siege!"

Lelouch said sternly, "Sharpening your axe won't delay your work! Thinking isn't a waste of time! We must be responsible for the lives of our soldiers! We must be aware of even the slightest changes in the battlefield situation!"

The closer we get to the port area, the wider the field of vision and the more open the terrain, and the more solid the buildings become. We can no longer rely on the old method of using flamethrowers to eliminate the machine gun crews inside the buildings!

Captain Lister: "Then what do we do?"

Lelouch's eyes darted around, his brain racing. A few minutes later, another brilliant idea struck him: "I've got it! Have the radio call the artillery in the rear to unleash a barrage of smoke grenades! Make sure our soldiers wear smoke masks before charging! The smoke doesn't need to last too long, just enough for the flamethrowers to clear the streets and get close to the enemy's firing positions!"

Smoke grenades already exist in this era, but they are all in the form of artillery shells. In a few years, there will be smoke grenades in the form of aerial bombs.

However, the smoke-generating agents used in World War I were inefficient, so individual smoke grenades the size of hand grenades had not yet appeared. Such small-capacity smoke-generating agents simply could not produce much smoke.

Because smoke grenades require artillery fire, there had never been a case of frontline troops calling for precise smoke bombardment before. Only special units like assault battalions, which had radios attached to platoon levels, possessed this calling capability.

Calling in smoke shells for artillery fire has two additional advantages over calling in high-explosive shells for coverage. First, you don't have to worry about bombarding ruins in vain—artillery pieces smaller than 105mm have little effect on collapsed concrete buildings, and machine gun crews hiding inside may not be able to destroy them.

Secondly, calling in smoke grenades allows for a greater margin of error than calling in artillery fire.

Calling for artillery fire was something no one dared to do when facing a target 100 or 200 meters in front of them. The margin of error for artillery fire in that era was very large; being even 200 meters too short would have killed the caller.

But smoke grenades don't matter. Even if they cover your own people's heads, it's just smoke and no one will die.

The German army had already equipped every soldier with smoke masks to protect them from tear gas, so they could just put them on.

William Lister was astonished by the brilliant idea the battalion commander had come up with on the spot, and then his admiration turned to even greater respect.

He immediately ordered his communications officer to call for smoke support from the rear, and soon a few smoke grenades were fired.

Each shell creates at least a smoke wall or "smoke cloud" on the battlefield with a diameter of 30 to 50 meters and a height of 5 to 10 meters.

In an instant, all the forward heavy machine gun positions of the Burma Army lost sight of each other. Out of fear, the machine gunners continued to fire relentlessly.

If the German troops on the other side dared to launch a large-scale attack, they would still suffer huge casualties under such blind sweeping.

The problem was that the German troops did not immediately launch an attack.

These smoke grenades were only meant to cover the flamethrower teams, preventing them from receiving extra attention, being targeted, or being focused on by the enemy.

Wearing smoke masks, M15 helmets, work boots, and dark oil-stained camouflage uniforms, flamethrower soldiers carrying over 20 kilograms of equipment crouched in the smoke, struggling to cross streets, railways, and dockyards outside the port area, closing in to within 30 or 40 meters of the Bujun heavy machine gun team.

"Whoosh—" The viscous oil columns were instantly ignited, like fire dragons, rushing straight towards the buildings where the Bu army was still resisting.

Within seconds, fire would burst from every window, and then the machine gunners would leap out of the windows with screams of agony, flailing their arms and legs before finally collapsing to their deaths.

"These people are demons in the smoke! The Demacians are absolutely devils! How could they come up with such a tactic to cover the flamethrower advance!"

"Damn it! How are we supposed to fight city battles from now on?"

The officers and soldiers of the Burma Army originally thought they had adapted to the enemy's flamethrower tactics.

Unexpectedly, the enemy added a smoke screen tactic to their flamethrower tactics today, which is absolutely vicious!
At this rate of advance, the Burkina Faso army will definitely not last until tomorrow; the city of Dunkirk will be overrun.

Little did they know that Lelouch's tactic of using smoke grenades in conjunction with short-range weapons was simply one of the basic maneuvers he had accumulated from playing PUBG for thousands of hours in his previous life.

(End of this chapter)