Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 85: Breaking into Ypres, Capturing French - Part 1

One day later, early in the morning of February 22nd.

Lelouch, with the two assault battalions he had brought back from the Dunkirk front, traveled by train back to the rear railway hub of Stenford, and then rode to the Kemer Hill position on the front line of Ypres.

The two assault battalions that participated in the Dunkirk siege suffered heavy casualties. After several days of fierce fighting, more than 400 men were killed and more than 300 were seriously wounded. Only about 1100 men remained who could move, including some lightly wounded.

Seriously wounded soldiers should be brought back to the rear for proper care and priority treatment.

The sulfonamide drug project that Lelouch discussed with Farben Chemicals when he returned to Frankfurt more than half a month ago is now close to producing the first batch of prototype drugs that can be used for human clinical trials.

That will be perfect for arranging food for severely injured patients who are seriously infected and cannot survive without it.

In the end, Lelouch selected only 900 soldiers in excellent condition who could continue fighting, to join Lieutenant Colonel Lundstätter's battalion, which remained at the front line of Mount Kemer, in the upcoming final battle against the Burgundian expeditionary force.

The 6th Army had previously formed three assault battalions, two of which participated in the Dunkirk operation, and the last battalion remained with Rundstedt (but the submachine gunners in the battalion were all transferred to paratrooper training, leaving only fire support personnel).
After all three battalions are merged, they can muster 1500 personnel who can be deployed to combat at any time.

At the outpost on Mount Kemer, Lelouch met Lundstätter, who was left behind, and the two exchanged a few pleasantries upon meeting.

Rundstedt also expressed some regret about not being able to participate in the Dunkirk offensive.

Lelouch, however, was good at comforting people: "Isn't it because your battalion suffered too many losses during the assault on Mount Kemer and needed more rest? The Commander is always fair. As for Dunkirk, let Bock fight with me. And for the final battle of Ypres, you will fight with me."

Lundstätter: "..."

So, the so-called "fair treatment" means that Bock and Rundstedt have the same number of performance opportunities, right?

But Lelouch, you're sure to succeed on both fronts, seizing every opportunity to shine.

Moreover, Rundstedt knew very well that even if he and von Bock had the same number of opportunities to perform, their final prominence on the merit list would be completely different. Bock had an uncle who was the Chief of the General Staff, so those merits, whether they counted or not, would be attributed to him.

After Dunkirk, they were all promoted to colonels.

On our side, after defeating Ypres, we definitely won't reach the colonel.

However, Lundstätter quickly calmed down: Bock had powerful connections and rose quickly, something to be envied. Lelouch was the soul of the entire army group's strategic planning; he orchestrated too many brilliant moves in the entire battle, so it wasn't surprising that the commander gave him opportunities whenever possible.

After calming down, Lundstätter mechanically asked, "So how should we fight this final battle? We can work out the tactical arrangements first."

Lelouch: "On a tactical level, I do have some new ideas. And after this battle, the Burghers will be sent to prisoner-of-war camps. Even if they see some new tactics, they won't be able to report them to their superiors or alert them. This is perfect for us to experiment with."

Lundstätter: "Tell me more about it."

Lelouch then introduced some new ideas and shared with Rundstedt some tactics that had just come up with a few days earlier during the Dunkirk campaign:
"For this offensive, I plan to use a small force for a surprise attack and a rapid advance. I don't even plan to do the usual two-hour preparation of firepower before the attack. I only plan to use a short 15-minute preparation of firepower to guide the assault troops forward step by step."

This tactic, which I call the "gradual advance barrage," is quite difficult to execute, but our troops have all been issued radios down to the platoon level, allowing for timely corrections, so it should be fine. After breaching the defenses, an additional division of friendly forces will follow up in stages to consolidate the position and cut off enemy reinforcements.

Furthermore, during the Dunkirk campaign, we developed a new tactic, which can be considered an improvement on flamethrower assaults: indiscriminately covering the enemy with smoke grenades in conjunction with flamethrower charges. This tactic can also be used in the attack on Ypres these past two days. As the town where the enemy command is located, Ypres will also involve urban warfare and a network of fortified positions in the final stages, where flamethrowers will be very useful.

Moreover, compared to the previous method of "launching smoke grenades with artillery fire", we have made some improvements and temporarily produced a batch of manually thrown smoke canisters. This makes it faster and more efficient to cover flamethrower soldiers when they approach buildings and cross streets with smoke, without having to wait for artillery from the rear.

The smoke coverage area of ​​the throwable smoke canisters is indeed much smaller, but it's sufficient in confined spaces. In the future, artillery will still be needed for smoke suppression in field battles, while throwable smoke canisters can be used for urban warfare. This is a good opportunity to conduct a final test in the environment of Ypres…”

Lelouch shared his latest experiences and insights from the Dunkirk battlefield with Lundstätter without reservation.

Although Rundstedt was 40 years old, his learning ability was quite good, and his attitude was very positive. As soon as he heard Lelouch's sharing, he knew that it was all valuable information, and he immediately began to study it eagerly.

……

While Lundstätter was learning how to integrate and train his troops, Lelouch himself spent a day orchestrating a propaganda and psychological warfare campaign against the Britannians.

A large number of pre-printed leaflets were airdropped into towns such as Ypres and Poppelinger during the day via several Zeppelins, publicizing the Demacian treatment of surrenderees and their policy on prisoners of war, emphasizing that only those who surrendered by laying down their arms were considered to have surrendered, otherwise they would only be considered to have been defeated and captured.

They also nitpicked and exaggerated the differential treatment, emphasizing the disastrous defeat of the Burkina Faso navy and exaggerating its losses.

Before the leaflets were airdropped, several other airships dropped a bunch of 50-kilogram bombs and several 2000-kilogram bombs as a show of force to intimidate the Burma army.

The Bu army did want to conduct an air interception, but the battle had progressed to this point, and they were already surrounded on all sides. Even though there were still hundreds of thousands of people in the encirclement, they simply couldn't muster any more planes.

Everything that could fly had been exhausted in the previous battles, shot down by the air force led by Immelmann.

Faced with the relentless bombing and the leaflets scattered afterward, the soldiers were filled with fear and their morale plummeted to rock bottom.

Most people had completely lost their will to fight and were just waiting for their superiors to initiate surrender negotiations.

The only problem is that there are still too many powerful nobles in the upper echelons of the army, and these people are too proud to admit their wrongdoing. This leaves the lesser nobles, small capitalists, and children of commoners with little say without any opportunity to speak out.

The leaflets dropped by the Demanians were quickly delivered to French, the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, in Ypres.

The Demandians' threatening telegrams in plaintext were also intercepted and recorded by French's confidential officers.

All of this forced French to handle the situation with caution.

That afternoon, he urgently summoned Lieutenant General Archibald, Chief of Staff of the Expeditionary Force, and the generals of the 2nd Corps to discuss the matter.

"We definitely can't continue fighting, but for the sake of the Empire, we can't leave enough supplies for an army of 200,000 to last a year or two to the Demagnesians. Let's discuss what to do." Marshal French was clearly unwilling to take the blame alone, so he passed the problem on to everyone.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, and Chief of Staff Archibald also offered a wry explanation:
"But if we destroy them now, it will definitely anger the enemy and lead to the tragic fate of hundreds of thousands of prisoners in the future. The Demacians will definitely be ruthless, especially since they have already sent leaflets and telegrams to openly make their demands. We are knowingly committing a violation."

"Are we going to disregard national interests for the sake of our treatment in future prisoner-of-war camps?" The commander of the 2nd Army couldn't help but unconsciously sing a few high-sounding lines.

Archibald's lips twitched as he was questioned like this, and he cursed inwardly: So even at this point, I have to play the villain and make you maintain your loyal and righteous persona?

But there's no way around it; in these kinds of situations, the military commander is usually not made to take the blame. The staff officers have to play the bad cop; it's an old practice.

Chief of Staff Archibald thought it over and over, and finally came up with only a compromise: "But we have so many shells in stockpile, we can't destroy them in a short time! Are we going to detonate them directly in the city and blow ourselves up? How many days would it take to transport them to an open area for detonation?"

"In my opinion, we should quickly seal off those underground warehouses, and simultaneously falsify the accounts so that the Demacians can't find them when they invade. That would be doing the Empire a favor! It would also sow the seeds of future trouble; who knows, it might accidentally explode someday during their occupation."

Marshal French and the two corps commanders, who had previously been at a loss for what to do, finally felt relieved upon hearing this.

This way, we can avoid actually aiding the enemy while still being completely true to the empire in name and in fact.

Marshal French finally made the decision: "Then it's settled. Everyone, hold on for a few more days. Once all the underground warehouses are sealed off and disguised, and the fake accounts are ready, surrender when the Demacians attack again. Let's not sacrifice soldiers' lives unnecessarily."

As for the supplies in the ground warehouses, we won't destroy them. Leaving some for the enemy will convince them that's all we have left; destroying everything would only scare them away. And if the Empire wins the war and we're released, we can say that a very small amount of supplies couldn't be destroyed in time. This won't damage our future reputation in history books.”

The generals breathed a sigh of relief; finally, a marshal had spoken, and they wouldn't have to take the blame.

Everyone immediately went back to prepare to falsify the accounts and bulldoze the cellar warehouse.

However, by the time Marshal French finished his meeting, it was already dark. He could only work on a few falsified accounts that night; other construction work would have to wait until dawn the next day. ...

Meanwhile, at 6 p.m. on the 22nd.

The front lines at Poppelinge and Kemer Hill.

Poppellinger is located about 20 kilometers west of Ypres and is the only transit station on the Stenford-Ypres railway line.

In previous battles, the Demacian army had already reached the west of Popelinge. It was only because the 6th Army changed its tactics and focused on flanking maneuvers that it stopped its attack on Popelinge; otherwise, it would have captured it long ago.

But tonight, the Demacian army, contrary to its usual practice, launched a renewed attack on the city.

Starting at 6 a.m., a fierce artillery barrage rained down on the small town for a full two hours. After the artillery preparation, a division of the 6th Army launched a methodical, conventional attack.

All of this forced the Burkina Faso expeditionary force, which was busy falsifying accounts, to divert troops to block the breach.

Everyone was secretly cursing the Demacians for their lack of martial spirit; they had hinted in the morning that they could negotiate, so why did they suddenly attack after dark?

But there's no point in reasoning about this kind of thing. The two sides hadn't formally started negotiations before; they had only expressed an intention or made some kind of publicity.

In the rush, the generals of the Burgundian army around Ypres assumed that the enemy would definitely attack from west to east along the flat road of the railway line, and naturally reduced their vigilance to the minimum in other directions.

For example, the ridge south of Ypres and the eastern section of Kemer Mountain had already been taken over by the Demanians. It was originally closer to Ypres, less than 10 kilometers away, located directly south of Ypres.

However, the defense forces in the Ypres region have once again been drawn away and diverted to the railway route to the west of the city, leaving the defenses to the south of the city even more vulnerable.

Lelouch and Lundstätter launched their offensive under these circumstances.

At 8 p.m., shortly after a division on the west side of the city finished its fire preparations and began a full-scale attack.

Several Demania 210mm siege howitzer positions, along with more 150mm cannon positions, which were positioned on the northern slope of the Kemer Ridge, launched a brief 15-minute barrage against the southern defenses of Ypres.

The entire defensive line was instantly engulfed in artillery fire. The line, which was covered by artillery fire, was about 3 to 4 kilometers wide from east to west and about 1 kilometer deep.

The Bu army soldiers who remained on guard duty within the defensive line were caught off guard and were all blown to pieces, with limbs and flesh flying everywhere.

However, because the attack from the west of the city was more intense, the high command of the Bu army could not immediately determine whether it was a main attack or a feint. They thought it was just a Demacian ruse and did not send any reinforcements to the south of the city.

Fifteen minutes later, the shelling stopped for a while, about two or three minutes. Some of the high command of the Bu army learned of this and were relieved that "the south of the city was indeed a feint, a diversionary tactic to prevent our army from fully supporting the west of the city," so they paid even less attention to the south of the city.

Fortunately, those frontline regimental commanders still had some sense of responsibility.

For example, Colonel Jackson was the commander of the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Division, and at that moment he was in charge of the southern defense line of the city.

Seeing that the Demacian shelling had ceased, he immediately ordered: "Have the garrison on the second line of defense immediately reinforce the front line! Re-establish defenses on the first line; the Demacians might charge in!"

So groups of listless soldiers, heads drooping and dragging heavy steps, reluctantly crossed the trenches to reinforce the front line from the second line.

"At this point, what's the point of fighting?" Countless soldiers cursed inwardly, yet dared not disobey orders.

However, they quickly regretted their decision the next moment.

"Boom boom boom!" The continuous sound of artillery fire rang out again, and the position they were about to enter was quickly covered by artillery fire again. Even their own attack position was covered along with it.

In the previous 15 minutes, Bu Jun thought he had figured out the enemy's artillery range, just like before, so he waited at the edge of the enemy's artillery zone, just waiting for the artillery to stop so he could move forward.

Who knew that the enemy had no sense of martial ethics; shortly after ceasing fire, when they opened fire again, the area of ​​coverage actually extended forward!

This also included the soldiers who were hiding at the edge of the coverage area and waiting to go up!
Empiricism is deadly! Who told them to presuppose the extent and boundaries of the enemy's artillery fire? They were killed by this very idea.

A truly effective artillery barrage should prevent the enemy from figuring out a pattern.

……

"It seems to be working well. After a short 15-minute bombardment, we extended the bombardment 500 yards forward, which allowed us to easily enter the 500-yard southern position that had just been covered. The enemy located between 500 and 1500 yards will be covered again and will not be able to reinforce their positions."

Even if a few soldiers survived the bombing in the trenches, they were no match for us. Charge immediately!

After observing the effects of the first-ever "slow-moving barrage" in human history through his telescope, Lelouch decisively gave the order to charge.

The 1500 assault team members dispersed and charged forward in squads and platoons.

The troops quickly entered the trench network area, and sure enough, there were still a small number of PLA soldiers inside the trenches who hadn't been killed by the bombs, but their numbers were less than 30% of the original quota. With such sparse forces, breaking through would be effortless.

The sound of submachine gun fire, "rat-a-tat-tat~", echoed as the guns surged forward relentlessly.

The surviving Burma infantrymen carrying Lee-Enfield rifles were either riddled with bullets, their heads and torsos pierced, or blown apart by grenades.

The 500-yard position was quickly captured, in less than 15 minutes.

Even if the progress exceeds expectations, the commando team still has to rest on the spot for a few minutes and wait for the full 15 minutes.

The pre-battle plan was to extend the artillery fire every 15 minutes. If you rushed too fast, you would end up in your own artillery's range and die needlessly.

Although the assault battalion was equipped with many more radios than other regular units, allowing them to request adjustments to artillery support duration in real time via telegram, sending a telegram also took time, and not every assault team advanced at the same pace. Therefore, with only a few minutes left, there was no need to go through the trouble.

The 15-minute deadline finally arrived, and the artillery group once again extended forward by 500 yards. After observing and confirming this, Lelouch's troops launched another assault, easily capturing another piece of territory.

"What kind of tactics is this? How can the enemy's attack be so smooth? This is not scientific!" Regiment Commander Jackson, who was in charge of the defense, and Regiment Commander B, who was in charge of another regiment, were dumbfounded by the Demacian offensive.

Before they could even react, the shells had already reached the position where their regimental headquarters was located.

Although the regimental headquarters was very fortified and had some underground pits dug for protection against artillery fire, Commander Jackson and his men were still unable to raise their heads or move due to the intense artillery fire.

When the shelling stopped after another 15 minutes, they were bewildered and tried to retreat, only to find that the Demacians were already charging up behind the barrage of fire.

"How could their infantry possibly follow the artillery line so closely? Won't they get hit by friendly fire?"

Commander Jackson, still pondering this unsolvable question, was taken down by a hail of MP15 submachine gun bullets from the charging enemy.

He clutched his chest and collapsed in despair, his eyes filled with confusion as he died.

Lelouch, however, paid no heed to these petty targets and was unaware that his commando unit had killed a colonel in the shadows. His only goal was to break through the city's outer defenses as quickly as possible, storm into Ypres, engage in street fighting, and capture Marshal French, the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force.

Nothing else matters.

(End of this chapter)