Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 84 unfolds the final battle against the expeditionary force.

David Beatty and Horace Hood's Royal Navy was finally driven out completely.

As David Beatty hastily retreated, on the mudflats of the northern coast, 6 kilometers north of Neoport and de Panne, two sunken Demanian dreadnoughts, the Brunswick-class "Alsace" and "Hessen," continued to relentlessly bombard the town on shore.

As dawn broke, on the morning of April 19, the wreckage of these two old battleships used the two twin-mounted 280mm/L40 main guns on their decks, along with seven or eight 170mm secondary guns, to directly destroy all the docks, piers, and even the barracks next to the docks in the two small towns in front of them, leaving nothing behind.

Without the protection of the navy, the Britannian Expeditionary Force could only watch helplessly from afar, unable to do anything about it.

Occasionally, some reckless artillerymen would fire at the wreckage of sunken warships in an attempt to stop further destruction. But without exception, they were met with ten times more ferocious retaliatory fire.

After two 60-pounder cannon batteries and several 18-pounder field gun batteries were destroyed by the warships' counterattack, all resistance against the warships subsided, and the Burmese army fell into the deepest despair.

Even more critically, the German 4th Army, which had been engaged in a war of attrition, a protracted war, and a war of containment against the Burkina Faso army, also showed a rare display of strength.

In the past month or so of fierce fighting, the majority of the Demanian army's main offensive progress has been achieved by the 6th Army on the western front.

After all, the 6th Army, being an army composed of Barians, was inherently slightly stronger than the 4th Army, which was a coalition of the other three southern German states.

Moreover, now, in episode 6, there's a new character, Lelouch, who helps Commander Rupprecht repeatedly pull off miracles, leading from one miracle to another.

The combat power in episode 4 was basically unaffected by Lelouch's butterfly effect. At most, it just had a few more 280mm train guns than in the same period in history, plus some air superiority.

But all of this finally changed dramatically with the collapse of morale in the Britannian Expeditionary Force.

In episode 4, which was not much stronger than in the same period in history, Germany finally launched a decisive and fierce attack, penetrating from Ostend straight into Neoport.

In a single day and night, they advanced more than ten kilometers and captured Neoport on the morning of the 20th—a time when Betty led his defeated battlecruiser fleet to Dover.

On the 20th, Deportivo continued its triumphant advance in the fourth round, attacking Depane from Neoport.

Finally, at noon on the 21st, episodes 4 and 6 successfully met in De Panne.

Throughout the entire process, the two pre-dreadnoughts that the Demacian navy sank played a crucial role. Their massive cannons at least deterred the Burghers in those two towns from holding out, causing them to collapse almost immediately upon contact.

The coastline, which was originally 35 kilometers long and controlled by the Bu army, was finally completely closed off by the Demacian army at this moment.

The Burkina Faso expeditionary force no longer controlled even an inch of coastline, and sealed off the last shred of theoretical possibility of retreating by sea.

The only thing General French, the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, needed to consider afterward was "whether to die gloriously in battle, surrender humbly, or destroy weapons and supplies before surrendering and being thrown into a prisoner-of-war camp for hard labor."

During the process of the Demacian Army gaining complete control of this coastline, the soldiers who were evacuated from the six dreadnoughts of the Navy's desperate assault ships were also properly received by the Army.

Anyone who made it ashore in a lifeboat was immediately taken to the rear for accommodation.

The soldiers who continued to fire on the "Alsace" and "Hessen" were welcomed ashore by their army comrades after the coastline was completely captured and received the highest honors.

Lieutenant General Spee personally oversaw the battle aboard the USS Alsace, continuing to direct the fighting until the battle was completely over, at which point he directed the crew to disembark in lifeboats.

The photo of Lieutenant General Spee waving as he landed in a small boat was repeatedly taken by military reporters and quickly appeared in major newspapers across Demania.

"Naval warships bravely stormed the coast of Neoport, cutting off the retreat route of the Burmese army. They fought to the death until they sank, and continued to fire and fight for two more days until the target was captured by the army."

Neoport, the small town of Billy King, has once again become a household name in Demania.

Four months ago, the Billy Kings army was annihilated and surrendered because Colonel Lister and Lieutenant Lelouch held out here and were unable to break through. Now the Britannian Expeditionary Force is about to be surrounded and annihilated in the same area.

……

While some are sad, others are happy.

With the encirclement of De Panne completely closed, the final step of annihilating or forcing the surrender of the Britannian Expeditionary Force has been put on the agenda.

On the afternoon of February 21, at the Malolaiban fortress north of Dunkirk.

The assault battalion, which had just finished fighting two days prior, was still in a period of rest and reorganization.

The soldiers slept soundly for two long nights and were served plenty of meat and wine at every meal.

These troops were already exhausted, so they did not participate in the last two days of coastal trespassing operations; those favorable battles could be handled by the regular troops.

These next two days, the troops only need to relax.

The victory in the battle also brought a huge amount of spoils, giving Lelouch and Burke plenty of resources to reward the soldiers and compensate the wounded and the injured.

Moreover, all of these seizures are completely legal and legitimate; no one can say anything if a batch is confiscated, and there's no need to hand them all over.

Lelouch didn't plunder the innocent Franks in Dunkirk. He only needed to seal off the port and seize all the transport ships flying the Breton flag at the berths as "supplies for the Breton expeditionary force," which would be enough to feed him.

Dunkirk, as the third largest commercial port in Frankfurt and the largest port in the northern region, has an annual throughput of tens of millions of tons and a total berth capacity of over one million tons.

On the day the port's coastal defenses were attacked and the outbound shipping lanes were blocked by sunken shallow-draft heavy gunboats, there were still more than 120 million tons of ships trapped inside the port, of which more than 90 tons were not flying the Frankish flag.

Strictly speaking, these ships were either Britannian military transport vessels or violated neutral laws.

For example, if a merchant ship flying the U.S. flag were to appear in Dunkirk, you'd either have to be able to avoid being discovered and apprehended by the Dmanians, who are the opposing side in the conflict. Once they have the evidence, the U.S. would definitely have to admit defeat, as they themselves violated the Neutrality Act first.

Theoretically, most of the supplies captured from the Burkina Faso ships should be handed over to the army group for proper accounting.

But Lelouch, Burke, and the others could dispose of those ships with ugly flags on their own without even having to report them.

The Ukrainian ship owners were happy to settle the matter privately, giving all the cargo to the army that raided and occupied the port, as if nothing had happened. After all, these ships that had just arrived at the port hadn't even completed the customs procedures yet, and the Frankish customs didn't even know what goods they were carrying.

Even if someone were to ask the American ship owners, "Did you lose any cargo this time?", they would all answer, "Nothing was lost. We just came here for tourism with an empty ship." Everyone understands that, regardless of whether it's done officially or privately, the cargo would be lost.

If they insist on going public, it will only lead to them spending more months or even years behind bars in certain powerful institutions. Why bother?

(Note: Some goods could be transported to war ports without violating neutral laws, but most ships would smuggle contraband. So after being captured, ship owners were afraid of being discovered or framed, and generally accepted the loss of cargo. Transporting goods to war ports near the front lines was inherently risky, and the freight and insurance costs were also very high.)
So Lelouch seized all the cargo on the flag-bearing ship, registered most of it, and reported a small portion as sunk and lost.

Goods bearing the Ugly flag and other flags of countries that violate neutrality laws were all confiscated.

A rough estimate suggests that the seized supplies included approximately 10 tons of various grains, 6 tons of various fuels, 3 tons of white sugar, over 2 tons of cured meat and canned goods, 2 tons of cloth, over 1 tons of various tobacco, alcohol, tea, and coffee consumables, 1 tons of cables, 7 tons of rubber, as well as other military supplies, chemical raw materials, and weapons and ammunition.

Lelouch provided the soldiers who participated in the fortress battle with plenty of food, drink, and supplies, and they could take as much clothing as they could carry.

The soldiers guarding the port and fortress together numbered enough to form a division. Even if each soldier freely spent dozens of kilograms of these inexpensive items, it would only amount to a little over 1 tons of grain, meat, tobacco, alcohol, and cloth.

"The spoils of this operation are probably worth tens of millions of marks. It's a pity that I can't keep them all to myself. A large portion of the spoils must be shared among all the soldiers and their families. We also need to provide comfort to the wounded and compensation to our fallen comrades. In particular, we need to give special consideration to those flamethrower soldiers who were burned to death, as well as to those who showed outstanding bravery."

"Well, that's all for later. We can talk about it when we have time. Right now, let's find a few Frankish merchants, cash out a little, complete the paperwork, and buy some warehouses and real estate in the port area cheaply. We can hide the goods and sell them slowly after the battle is completely over."

Lelouch closed the ledger and roughly planned out the next steps in his mind. After this battle, with more capital on a larger scale, his industrial plans should be further expanded. After the battle, there should be a period of leisure and vacation. Perhaps before being transferred to the Eastern Front, he could find some agents, or even bring back his last remaining relatives from the Oreo Empire to help with some work.

Being alone makes it difficult to manage both the front and the back, and one doesn't have that much energy.

Lelouch recalled the memories of the original owner of this body. The father of this body had passed away more than ten years ago, and the mother had also passed away seven or eight years before the outbreak of the war.

In this world, he has only one half-sister, who is married and born to his father and his first wife, and one full sister, who lives in Vienna and Salzburg respectively.

The original owner of this body was able to graduate from the architecture department of the Oreo Royal Academy of Fine Arts before the war thanks to his brother-in-law's financial support for part of his tuition and living expenses. When he returns, these relatives can also practice nepotism. Regardless of their business acumen, they can at least help him monitor the business, allowing him to focus his energy on military and diplomatic affairs.

As Lelouch was lost in thought in his office at the fortress command post, his trusted bodyguard platoon leader, Lieutenant Crozier, suddenly pushed open the door and brought him two pieces of news:

"Sir, the engineering corps has just reopened the tunnel entrance that was destroyed by enemy naval artillery two days ago and replaced the damaged rails and sleepers. The four 'Big Mark' railway guns and the remaining 280mm railway guns have been pulled out of the tunnel. Would you like to go and take a look? There is still some equipment that was damaged by the tunnel collapse."

After the train guns retreated into the tunnels, the fortress continued to suffer a very prolonged and intense bombardment from the enemy, resulting in localized collapses that were unavoidable. These additional equipment losses were to be expected.

Lelouch was in a good mood, so he immediately got up to inspect the site: "It's good that they've dug them up. These railway guns are considered assets of the army group, so we can report back to the commander."

Klose followed him outside, saying, "This message has also been relayed back to the army group headquarters. His Highness the Duke will personally come to inspect and review the area this afternoon, and then other units will hand over the defense zone to the assault battalion."

Lelouch thought for a moment and nodded, "That's normal. They probably know we performed well and want to give us some credit at the end, so they can let us participate in the final battle to force Marshal French to land."

After two days of rest, the troops have mostly recovered their strength. However, before handing over the defense zone to friendly forces, remember to find local merchants to cash out a batch of cigarettes, alcohol, and tea, and exchange them for some port real estate and warehouses to store the remaining spoils of war.

Lelouch had no choice; his subordinates were all officers, and he lacked commercial talent who accompanied the army. He could only entrust these matters to his earliest and most trusted confidants.

Sometimes he felt that Klose's role by his side was somewhat like that of a money-grubbing henchman next to a station chief or inspector general in spy movies.

Hopefully, we can find professionals to do professional work as soon as possible.

……

Lelouch left the matter of selling the stolen goods to his subordinates and went to inspect the newly unearthed train cannon. Duke Rupprecht was also about to arrive.

As soon as the Duke got off the carriage, he went straight to Lelouch's place to inspect the work, and also brought the officers who were handing over the defense zone with him.

The details of the handover need not be mentioned, but afterwards the Duke, in a good mood, asked Lelouch for his thoughts on the final stages of the battle:
"French is now completely trapped, but there are still plenty of supplies in places like Ypres. His 100,000-plus men can still hold out if he wants to. I'm also worried that if we push him too hard, even if he eventually has to surrender, he might have his troops in various locations destroy the strategic reserves first—do you have any good ideas?"

Lelouch thought for a moment: "It's probably impossible to make him surrender right now, right? We might have to fight another battle. But whether we fight this battle or not, the enemy's fighting strength will definitely be greatly reduced."

As long as we keep proclaiming that the coastline is completely encircled and the navy is severely damaged, those desperate soldiers won't fight to the death. I hope our assault battalions can participate in the final breakthrough, storm Ypres, and capture French alive.

The Duke nodded slightly, neither confirming nor denying: "The final battle is of great symbolic significance and merit, so everyone wants to fight it."

To be frank, you did a great job this time, coordinating the army and navy and doing a lot of work. But Hipper and Spee's credits are not officially yours, and your suggestions and communications were overstepping your authority and cannot be made public.

You're certainly not qualified to advance further and be promoted to colonel yet, unless you participate in the final battle. But I hope you can devise a way to force the enemy to surrender while preserving enough supplies to sustain the Expeditionary Force for one or two years. If that happens, I'll leave the final glory to you.”

The Duke has made it very clear: the final blow is an absolutely lucrative opportunity. The enemy's resistance is futile; anyone can win.

As the army group commander, it would be a favor to give this opportunity to anyone at this time. Lelouch has done so much for everyone, so he is certainly willing to do Lelouch a favor in return, but he also hopes that Lelouch can help him come up with a more appropriate plan for handling the aftermath.

This was no problem for Lelouch at all. He said directly, "Why don't we send out leaflets to threaten those soldiers first? If they surrender and hand over their supplies, we'll exempt them from forced labor while they are prisoners of war, and they can eat well, drink well, and dress warmly."

If they dare to destroy their supplies before surrendering, they'll be sent to the worst labor camps and won't be eligible for prisoner-of-war treatment. Furthermore, we can negotiate and fight simultaneously, maintaining continuous pressure on them.

The duke, being of noble birth, also carried some moral and international law baggage: "Is this in accordance with international law?"

Lelouch: "Of course it complies with international law. International law states that prisoners of war must 'disarm and surrender,' not 'destroy their weapons and surrender.' As for what constitutes 'weapons,' we can be a bit more assertive and interpret it more broadly, which is within the reasonable scope of international law."

Moreover, even if we don't actually care about international law, we should still proclaim it during negotiations. This will make us appear more serious and sincere, and it will also convince the enemy that we truly mean what we say, and that if they dare to destroy our weapons, they can forget about having a good life for the rest of their lives.

Because someone who doesn't intend to abide by the terms won't haggle over the wording. The more meticulous we are in our bargaining, the more the enemy will assume we're serious about fulfilling our obligations, thus becoming complacent.

The Duke had heard far too many schemes and plots from Lelouch, so these childish tricks didn't surprise him at all; in fact, he thought they were just a simple appetizer.

"Alright, you're still quick-witted as ever, coming up with these little tricks so easily. As for the propaganda, you can handle it casually. Who needs to cooperate and what resources are needed, I'll approve the requests. Also, if it's finally decided to take action, you can report how many troops are needed, and I'll see which units to get to cooperate."

I have only one request: in this final battle, if it's unavoidable, it must be swift and decisive. Our only goal is to destroy the Britannians' command center, force them to admit defeat, and give them a way out.

Lelouch: "I know what to do. Let's do this: spread rumors that we want to talk to lull the enemy into a false sense of security, and then we'll march straight into Ypres from Mount Kemer. Once we deal with French, the others will have a way out."

(End of this chapter)