Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 98: Building Good Relationships and Returning Home with a Bountiful Harvest
Seeing Lelouch's incredibly "mercenary" face, he even had to negotiate conditions to support his own country.

Undersecretary Stephen Briand was also helpless, but he could only patiently and anxiously confirm:

"So what exactly are your conditions? I'm afraid I can't agree to too many things within my authority. Moreover, it also depends on how much support you can persuade the Duke to provide."

Lelouch did not answer the question immediately, but thought about it carefully.

Although he was a military enthusiast in his previous life, his memory wasn't strong enough to accurately remember the exact date, such as "the Italians officially declared war on Austria on March 28, 1915".

But he at least vaguely remembered that Italians were slow to react and procrastinate, a conclusion that was unlikely to be wrong.

In fact, after the Italians declared war on March 28, they did not launch a real offensive until late May—that is, it took almost two months from the diplomatic falling out to the actual punch being thrown!

It has to be said that, from any perspective, this approach is extremely idiotic.

It's fair to say that Italy's entire national apparatus, from top to bottom, is a cobbled-together mess. It's a makeshift organization where the brains don't direct the actions, and the hands and legs can't coordinate effectively.

The diplomatic, military, and economic logistics departments were in disarray and bickered with each other, making it impossible for them to operate efficiently even during wartime.

Since Lelouch knew this, he naturally tried to take advantage of it when making promises to maximize his own interests.

After careful consideration, he said sincerely, "If... I can persuade His Highness Duke Rupprecht to provide your country with the observation troops of two mountain battalions and the weapons and equipment of two mountain regiments before Italy goes to war with Austria."

If the Italian army launches a large-scale offensive, my Balja faction will allocate two more divisions to your army for defensive purposes. Isn't that a generous level of support?

When Deputy Chief of Staff Brian heard the first part of the sentence, his face immediately fell: Two battalions of support troops? What good are they!

However, the second half of the statement is quite impressive. Two divisions, totaling 36,000 men, even if only one-tenth the strength of the Italian army, the fighting quality of the Demandian army was clearly superior to that of the Italian army. Coupled with the Austrian army's own defensive capabilities, they could hold out for a long time.

After thinking for a moment, Vice Minister Brian quickly understood what Lelouch was planning. He couldn't help but ask, "Are you betting that the Italians are slow to act and won't attack immediately even if you declare war? Wouldn't that be a waste of time? They're not that stupid."

Lelouch: "Never mind whether it's that serious or not. Anyway, if I can't convince the Duke, my subsequent requests can be nullified."

Brian nodded: "Then tell me your requirements."

Lelouch: "If I can make this happen, I hope your country will allow me to second Mr. Ferdinand Porsche as a technical advisor for one of our soon-to-be-established vehicle companies."

Of course, if Daimler Vienna subsidiary or Škoda has projects that require the use of Mr. Porsche in the future, our new vehicle company can also collaborate with Škoda on research and development and share some of the results.

Furthermore, we would like to share our existing experience and data on high-power vehicle design with Škoda.

Brian wasn't very familiar with the Porsche owner's technical skills, but he figured that trading a technical expert for two observation battalions, two regiments of equipment, and two divisions of rapid reaction troops was definitely a good deal.

The only issue to consider here is the sharing of Skoda's existing technology—according to the other party, this is only a one-sided sharing, that is, Skoda shares with BMW or other companies in the Barea group, while the other party does not share with Skoda.

But then he reconsidered. Skoda is best known for its artillery, and it seems they don't have much technological accumulation in heavy, high-powered vehicles. Nowadays, Skoda mainly does OEM truck manufacturing for others and doesn't have its own car brand. Sharing Skoda's accumulated technology in this field with Porsche seems like a viable option.

Deputy Minister Brian: "I will apply for this, and I hope you can explain it clearly to His Highness Duke Rupprecht. If there are no unforeseen circumstances on your end, I have no problem with that either. But you'd better discuss the specific cooperation model with Mr. Porsche yourself, as we also need to consider his opinion."

Lelouch: "I was planning to visit Mr. Porsche today anyway. Since Your Excellency is willing to make it happen, why don't we go to Daimler Vienna together later?"

Deputy Minister Brian: "Yes, let's take it as a demonstration of our country's sincerity."

Both of them were very straightforward, so they stopped wasting words. Lelouch immediately led Brian downstairs to the parking lot, while Lelouch himself stepped on the gas and headed to Porsche's office.

Along the way, Lelouch thought of another detail and, in a notification tone, requested, "I have one more thing. I hope that the weapons and equipment our army provides to your country can be used by the troops cooperating with our reinforcements, and that they will be under the unified command of our reinforcements..."

Deputy Minister Brian readily agreed: "This is standard practice, no need to explain, it's definitely possible."

The detail they mentioned was indeed standard practice when the Demacian army aided its allies. Because other allied nations knew that the Demacian army was in a league of its own, a Demacian general could often coordinate and command several times the size of their allies' forces whenever reinforcements arrived.

A Demacian battalion commander who went abroad was not only able to command his own battalion, but also to command a regiment of an allied force at a higher level.

When a Demacian regimental commander goes abroad, he can at least coordinate and command an additional allied division.

This is the treatment the Demanian reinforcements received in Oreo. If they went to the even weaker Ottoman Empire, a Demanian regimental commander could even serve as the chief of staff of an Ottoman army group and effectively influence the operational actions of an Ottoman army group.

Lelouch reiterated this requirement to ensure that the reinforcements he would persuade the Duke to send to the Italian front would have full autonomy and not be dragged down by incompetent allies.

Lelouch had already made up his mind. The Isonzo River battlefield was close to the Alps and had complex terrain. He had persuaded them to send two observation battalions there in the early stages, and he would let Model and Dieter lead the teams.

Model has already demonstrated a certain talent for defensive warfare. In the previous defense of Dunkirk, he held off two divisions of the Burgundy army for an entire day while defending Ronan Battery. He even let the enemy into the tunnels to fight in close combat when his side only had submachine guns, and dared to let friendly forces shell the surface of the position he was holding.

The various ingenious tactics are enough to show that Model has "awakened" many defensive skills. If he were to play on the Isonzo River, he might be able to "evolve" even further.

As for Dieter, his previous performance wasn't particularly outstanding, but he was skilled in the use of machine guns and later became a master of mountain warfare, famous for leading the Alpine Mountain Division. Sending him to a weaker enemy to gain experience and rack up some kills is a good thing.

Dieter's rank is currently only captain, which is not enough to command a battalion, but Lelouch can find a way to give him special treatment and put in a good word for him.

With Model and Dieter leading two battalions to observe the Alps-Isonzo River line, plus two German-equipped regiments under their command—ideally elite regiments composed of Oreo's Alpine mountain troops—they could definitely make a significant impact on the Italian defenses. ...

After the two sides agreed on the terms, Lelouch visited Daimler Vienna again.

This time, he didn't need to hand out his business card; he simply had the staff notify Mr. Porsche to come and pick him up.

When the people from Daimler Vienna saw that their country's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Briand, had arrived, they immediately served tea and water, and soon had the person in charge come down to greet them personally.

Mr. Porsche was also very surprised. Yesterday, the other party was just going to the Daimler showroom to buy a car. How come today he was chatting and laughing with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and discussing such high-level cooperation?

Brian was only there to help make connections and endorse the idea. After briefly explaining his purpose, he handed over the initiative in the conversation to Lelouch and Porsche.

Mr. Porsche said with some difficulty, "However, the high-powered heavy artillery tractor project that I am currently entrusted with is only half completed. If I am seconded, the project progress will be affected, and others will have to repeat a lot of the work from scratch."

Lelouch immediately reassured him, "Don't worry, the specific negotiations on the German-Austrian cooperation will take a few more days. Besides, I don't require you to be seconded immediately. You can finish the project you're currently working on before you leave."

"That's something we can consider." Porsche was less resistant at this point.

Lelouch waited until the other party calmed down and accepted the situation before discussing specific technical issues with him, which was also a way of showing his sincerity and foresight.
"Mr. Porsche, I've heard you've been worrying about the heavy artillery tractor for a few months now. I'd like to know, what exactly are you stuck on?"

Porsche glanced at Brian, and seeing that the Vice Minister Brian did not object, he simply answered in detail: "The Empire's heavy artillery often weighs more than ten tons. To tow such heavy artillery, the currently available engines are generally not suitable. I have considered electric motor drive. The torque output adjustment range of electric motors is very large, which can eliminate the need for complex gear reduction gearboxes..."

However, the Empire's needs were particularly complex; the military also wanted tractors with some mountain climbing ability.

Unfortunately, the empire's infrastructure was rather poor, whether it was the Alpine border region with Italy, the southern front against Serbia, or the Carpathian border defense line between Hungary and Russa in the east. The roads in all three regions were extremely bad, and the soil was loose. Even the most powerful vehicles couldn't climb hills with a slight incline.

Lelouch nodded: "Why do you only choose between gasoline engines and electric motors when it comes to the problem of insufficient power? I know you started out making electric cars. Seven years ago, you won the Prince Henry Cup race with your electric car. I think your car reached a top speed of 140 kilometers per hour, right?"
But one cannot remain stuck in the past forever; one must learn from others' strengths. Why not consider diesel engines? Doesn't the Empire have suitable diesel engines to choose from? Moreover, Austria is different from Demacia. At least Demacia has to consider converting gasoline-powered vehicles into gas-powered vehicles when there is a shortage of imported oil.

However, Austria simply lacks the industrial capacity and plans to massively modify gas-powered vehicles. As long as there is a lack of natural oil supply, both gasoline and diesel vehicles will be grounded in Austria.

It would be better to develop a diesel-powered artillery tractor for special periods and environments. We don't need it to be used to tow heavy artillery around in peacetime, but at least it should be able to climb hills and allow heavy artillery to be deployed to locations that were previously inaccessible. That would be a qualitative leap.

Limiting manufacturing scale and mileage shouldn't consume much diesel fuel. The diesel imported from Romania should be enough to sustain operations for quite some time.

Furthermore, if you're not considering using this vehicle for long-distance artillery transport, but only for short-distance towing uphill deployments, you could also consider imitating a tractor and changing the rear drive wheels to tracked ones. This way, with traditional tire-type front guide wheels providing steering and a small amount of power, while the main propulsion comes from the tracks, the climbing ability would be significantly improved…”

Drawing on his experience with the development of tractor-trailers in later generations, Lelouch casually described a few application scenarios.
It painted a picture of the future of half-track and high-power diesel engine tractors.

Ferdinand Porsche, whose thinking had been somewhat limited by experience, finally had a moment of clarity after hearing these words.

He hadn't considered diesel engines before, partly because "diesel engines can't be converted into gas-powered vehicles when they run out of fuel."

Because diesel engines are compression ignition type, they do not have spark plugs in the combustion chamber, while gasoline engines do have spark plugs.

To convert a diesel locomotive into a gas locomotive, spark plugs are required for ignition, because gas cannot be ignited by compression.

Both Germany and Austria-Hungary were oil-poor countries that relied on importing natural oil. In wartime, if they couldn't buy natural oil, diesel locomotives wouldn't even be worth modifying and would simply break down. Gasoline locomotives, on the other hand, could at least be modified.

But since Austria isn't planning on using this car frequently or for long distances, and won't be producing it in large quantities, these concerns are irrelevant.

"I didn't expect Colonel Lelouch to have such a profound understanding of military equipment. He was able to analyze so much useful information from the perspectives of usage scenarios and frequency of use, as well as the scale of fuel consumption. I was thinking too rigidly before. I'll go back and change my approach to see if I can make a breakthrough."

After thoroughly understanding the situation, Porsche readily admitted its shortcomings.

Stephen Briand, the deputy minister who had been observing from the sidelines and knew nothing about the technology, was increasingly impressed by Lelouch's profound discussion, which had convinced this technical expert.

He could tell that Lelouch wasn't very knowledgeable about technological research and development, but his vision for strategy and military development was absolutely far-sighted.

Undersecretary Briand exclaimed sincerely, "Colonel Lelouch is truly a rare polymath. No wonder His Highness Rupprecht and Grand Duke Baden have such faith in your judgment."

"You flatter me. I just have a more comprehensive view of things," Lelouch said modestly.

In reality, he had other ideas, but it wasn't convenient for him to confront Porsche about them right now.

If you want to develop tanks, have Porsche first develop a half-track diesel engine tractor based on their experience with tracked tractors. This can be considered as accumulating R&D experience for tanks.

On the other hand, Germany and Austria are currently short of oil imports, but this problem can be solved in the future—Britannia has gone to great lengths to support Luza's offensive against Austria on the eastern front and has even enlisted the Italians to join in declaring war.

Is it possible that they might also invest heavily to bring Romania into the ASEAN ahead of schedule?
If the Burkina Faso government actually succeeds in making its promises, then we need to find a way to quickly overtake Romania and seize its oil fields.

In Earth's history, Romania's entry into the war seems to have been somewhat late, and after overestimating its own capabilities, it was quickly overtaken by Germany and Austria-Hungary. Unfortunately, there was a Romanian advisory group within Romanian territory who controlled the Romanian oil fields. Upon realizing that Romania could not hold out, they destroyed the oil fields, which Germany and Austria-Hungary never managed to restore until the end of the war.

This time, if Romania is really drawn into the alliance, or even drawn into it ahead of schedule, Lelouch must find a way to remotely and precisely eliminate the Romanian advisory group within Romanian territory! He must not give them the opportunity to systematically cause sabotage!
Furthermore, Lelouch will be searching for new oil sources for the Allied nations on the Eastern Front in the future, so Porsche can confidently and boldly design diesel-powered armored vehicles! Lelouch will take care of the diesel problem!

(End of this chapter)