Chapter 185: You Only Need To Consider Military Matters, But Chief Of Staff Lelouch Has Much More To Think About
Taking advantage of these few days while the troops were resting and recuperating, Duke Rupprecht inspected the large iron ore mine in Krivoy Rog,
and also inspected the steel mill nearby on the banks of the Dnieper River, around Nikopol City, which had originally been capable of producing 3 million tons of steel per year.
The enormous industrial value of the Kievan Rus’ region made the duke even more exhilarated and further solidified his determination to seize the entire Kievan Rus’ Great Plain as quickly as possible.
That very evening, he urged the army group staff to formulate the advance plan for the next phase, to expand the gains as soon as possible.
Just then, Army Group Chief of Staff Lelouch, and main staff officers such as Bock were all present, so this group of mid-level officers proceeded to roughly finalize the subsequent offensive plan.
……
October 11, night.
Inside Zaporozhye City.
Lelouch and Bock, Rundstedt, Rommel, and a few others were burning the midnight oil, discussing the subsequent breakthrough direction while referring to the map of the Kievan Rus’ Great Plain.
Lelouch was the chief of staff, so he naturally set the tone first, and he also took the opportunity to review the previous arrangements.
“According to the previous plan, after breaking through Zaporozhye, we should immediately continue north to Yekaterinoslav（Dnepropetrovsk）.
However, after our army actually broke into the city the day before yesterday, we sent reconnaissance troops further north from Zaporozhye along the river, and discovered quite a few problems. The Dnieper River in this area has significant elevation drops, with frequent sections of rapid currents, making it impossible for ships to navigate.
Moreover, the railway line from Zaporozhye to Yekaterinoslav is only on the east bank of the river. The west bank of the river not only lacks roads but is also full of marshes and small lakes. We are destined not to replicate the previous tactic of advancing on both east and west banks to encircle and strike Zaporozhye; we can only advance deep into enemy territory alone along the east bank of the Dnieper River.
I feel this approach is not suitable for the deployment of armored assault forces, because we can’t form pincer offensives. I’m not worried about taking Yekaterinoslav, but I’m afraid we won’t be able to fight an annihilation battle again; the enemy’s garrison troops will definitely break out upstream against the current at the critical moment in the end.”
The operational plan for the subsequent offensive on Yekaterinoslav had been envisioned once before the campaign began. So Lelouch didn’t need to explain in too much detail; he just needed to roughly describe the new changes and difficulties encountered after the campaign began based on the actual situation.
Bock and Rundstedt had just arrived here from far away, so they weren’t very familiar with the terrain and geography along the Dnieper River north of Zaporozhye. Hearing Lelouch say this, Bock confirmed somewhat regretfully:
“But why do you say ‘the enemy’s garrison troops will definitely be able to break out upstream against the current at the critical moment’? If the Dnieper River in this section has steep drops, and there are many marshes and small lakes on both banks, with poor shipping conditions, it should be equally disadvantageous for both sides.”
Lelouch pointed at the map a few times with the pointer: “The problem is right here. This river section with large, steep drops that make navigation difficult is only about 80 kilometers long, starting from Yekaterinoslav and ending at Zaporozhye.
Further downstream from Zaporozhye, navigation becomes easy, and upstream from Yekaterinoslav all the way to Kyiv, it’s also navigable. So the enemy regularly maintains inland river transport fleets upstream, while our ships downstream can’t get through and can’t be used, blocked by this natural barrier.”
As Lelouch spoke, his tone also carried some regret.
As a transmigrator, he actually knew that in later generations, after Lusha transformed into the USSR, through two five-year plans, they built the Dnieper River Hydroelectric Power Station between these two cities.
That hydroelectric power station was Europe’s largest when completed, an embodiment of the superiority of the five-year plans, and was even printed on Lushan currency.
And precisely because that hydroelectric power station was enormous, it greatly improved the shipping conditions between Yekaterinoslav and Zaporozhye.
For readers who don’t understand the principle, just think of the improvement in navigation conditions for the middle and upper Yangtze River after the Three Gorges project was completed.
Because the reservoir raised the water level, this 80-kilometer river section with a large drop became flat and open, requiring only ship locks for vertical lifting near Zaporozhye at the end, thus solving the problem of one-stop navigation along the entire Dnieper River.
In the era before that hydroelectric power station was built, Dnieper River shipping was segmented.
From Kyiv to Yekaterinoslav was the first segment; upon arrival here, cargo had to be unloaded from ships, loaded onto trains, transported 80 kilometers downstream to Zaporozhye, then unloaded from trains and reloaded onto ships, proceeding downstream to Kherson/Mykolaiv.
So upstream from Yekaterinoslav, the defenders have long maintained a fleet; at that time, it would be the Lushans exclusively enjoying the advantage of water transport, while the Germanians would be completely unable to utilize water transport, suffering much greater disadvantages in logistics and encirclement compared to the first phase.
Even if we surround the enemy’s city from land on one side, the enemy can still escape via water routes, and the attackers can only watch helplessly without any means.
Although Lelouch had studied the relevant history before transmigrating, precisely because that hydroelectric power station had existed for so long in later generations, the maps he saw before transmigrating were all post-hydroelectric power station maps, where the middle section of the Dnieper River was simply a large reservoir and lake area. Lelouch wouldn’t have specifically checked “maps from before the 1930s, prior to the hydroelectric power station construction.”
This led to Lelouch not being very familiar with the geographical environment of this section of the Dnieper River in 1915, and only after coming to inspect it in person did he discover a bunch of problems.
Still, the same old saying: there’s no war without surprises; just solve the new problems when they arise.
After the many staff officers discussed it, they unanimously agreed that “hoping to encircle and annihilate the Yekaterinoslav garrison is impossible,”
so just push flat along the railway line, seeking to capture the city but not to annihilate the enemy.
Rommel on the side roughly calculated his troops’ rest situation and first suggested:
“My troops should be the first to finish resting, because they had already rested for a few days before Zaporozhye fell. If you assign the spearhead assault task to me, I can resume the offensive on the 12th and guarantee arrival outside Yekaterinoslav by the 15th!
I’ll advance along the railway; this road won’t be affected by mud. The advance distance isn’t too far either, so no need to worry about Cossack cavalry cutting off the rear.”
The other staff personnel exchanged glances and also felt Rommel’s proposal was feasible.
However, staff planning certainly couldn’t only look that short-term; after discussing how to seize Yekaterinoslav, they definitely had to further discuss the subsequent advance direction.
Among the group, Bock, who most liked discussing grand strategy, raised a key question:
“After taking it, our army still won’t have water transport advantage and can only advance along the railway line. Moreover, in this season, the mud on both banks of the Dnieper River will arrive earlier and more severely than in the deeper great plains.
Our original plan was to end the first phase of combat in 1 month; after the muddy season arrives, put light tanks into the line, utilizing the advantage of tanks’ superior cross-country performance over wheeled armored cars, then launch an encirclement offensive on Kyiv.
Now the first phase of combat might end more than ten days ahead of schedule; this timing is a bit awkward—the mud has already started, but the tanks aren’t equipped yet. Should we advance on Kyiv early?
If we advance early but the infiltration isn’t in place or fierce enough, resulting in failure at the last step, might it instead give the enemy Southwestern Front a chance to escape?”
Rundstedt and Rommel didn’t answer this question but looked toward Chief of Staff Lelouch.
Lelouch pondered for a moment: “When finally pouncing on Kyiv, we must indeed ensure the whole army’s assault forces are sufficiently swift, not giving the enemy time to react and retreat north. After the muddy season begins and our army has tanks, such encirclement and annihilation will be more assured.
In muddy conditions, the enemy can only break out with cavalry; heavy vehicles will move very slowly, and carts with hard wheels won’t move either. Even if they realize they can’t win and want to retreat, they can only abandon equipment and retreat on foot lightly.
And our tanks are light tanks, with power and track structures sufficient to handle this degree of mud; their push-forward performance will be far better than wheeled vehicles—
So from technical and tactical analysis, attacking Kyiv at the original planned time, or even slightly delaying, is no problem. The key is whether there will be other adverse effects from political and economic perspectives.”
Attacking Kyiv in November poses no military problem. But are there political and economic issues?
After Lelouch raised this hypothesis, everyone looked at each other, unable to give an immediate answer.
Finally, Lelouch pondered himself and offered a few ideas: “How about thinking about this issue from another angle? If after taking Yekaterinoslav, we fear the temporary mud and tanks not being in place yet, and don’t advance upstream against the current to pounce on Kyiv.
Then, in this window period of perhaps only about half a month, what other directions can we attack? We can’t waste time, right? Then, we can see which target is more urgent.”
Inspired by Lelouch, Bock immediately threw out an alternative plan: “If after taking Yekaterinoslav we don’t immediately advance upstream against the current to hit Kyiv, then we should turn east, along the railway near Yekaterinoslav, head to the Donbas coal mines, and seize the coal field area as the duke hopes.
It’s 150 kilometers east of Yekaterinoslav, and the eastern great plains have much less mud than the western Dnieper River banks, also convenient for armored cars to roam freely. The enemy’s defenses there are also very weak, favorable for us to quickly expand gains.
Because the main force of the enemy Southwestern Front is between Kyiv and Yekaterinoslav, west at most to between Vinnytsia-Lviv, while directly east of us now is very empty, probably only some Cossack cavalry divisions and locally temporarily conscripted reserve troops.
The only thing we need to worry about is whether logistics supplies can keep up if we push too deep east. Our current railway line is from rear Kherson via Melitopol north to Zaporozhye, then north to Yekaterinoslav.
If advancing further to Donbas, it would be east from Yekaterinoslav; from Kherson, the railway would be over 600 kilometers total, and zigzagging in a Z-shape.
We also don’t have enough troops to protect logistics along the long railway line. The enemy’s Cossack cavalry units are no match for our armored troops head-on, but if they harass and sabotage the over 400 kilometers of railway from Melitopol to Donbas, it would absolutely be a major threat.”
Lelouch listened to Bock’s analysis, inwardly still pondering the economic value of the Donbas region, thinking “whether seizing this year’s grain harvest in western Ukraine one or two months early is more important, or seizing eastern Ukraine’s coal one or two months early; whether cutting off grain first or coal first hurts Lusha’s rule more.”
So Lelouch temporarily had no time to think about military tactical details.
Rommel and others on the side originally wanted to wait for Chief of Staff Lelouch to speak first, not to steal his thunder. Seeing the chief of staff silent in thought, they mustered courage to voice their opinions and throw out ideas.
Rommel immediately said: “The railway line issue, I think the impact isn’t big. If we really decide to advance east first and hit Kyiv after tanks arrive, we can completely form another large encirclement to the east—
As mentioned before, Melitopol, which we previously captured, is originally the intersection hub of two crisscrossing railway lines.
In Melitopol, there is a north-south railway from Sevastopol north to Melitopol then to Zaporozhye, Yekaterinoslav.
And an east-west railway from Kherson to Melitopol then west via Mariupol to Rostov. And Mariupol on the Sea of Azov actually has a railway branching north to the Donbas coal fields.
So, after we advance east from Yekaterinoslav to Donbas, we can also split off a force from Melitopol, advance along the coastline to Mariupol. As for Rostov further east at the Don River mouth, we can ignore it for now.
Then, we can control a quadrilateral railway-covered area of Melitopol-Yekaterinoslav-Donbas-Mariupol. With the rapid mobility of railways and a small number of line-filling infantry troops along the way, Cossack cavalry won’t be able to infiltrate into this hinterland.
This will be another occupied area in the shape of a trapezoid, 180 kilometers east-west, 100 kilometers north-south on the east side and 200 kilometers on the west side, total area around 24,000 square kilometers, covering the entire major coal field area.
Moreover, I estimate this operation can also be completed in more than half a month, not affecting continuing north to Kyiv after tanks arrive.”（As shown in the figure below）
Lelouch’s mind had just been weighing economic issues; seeing his subordinates had served the meal right to his mouth, he followed this line of thinking and pondered a bit, finding it militarily feasible, so he encouragingly nodded.
Encouraged by the army group chief of staff, everyone became even more forthcoming. Colonel Rundstedt, who had been relatively silent at first, also hurried to offer advice and supplement a few points:
“Since the chief of staff thinks Rommel’s plan is feasible, I can add two points. I think during our army’s advance from Melitopol to Mariupol along the coastline, we can coordinate with sea route logistics support.
Mariupol is still a port city on the Sea of Azov. Our army previously had more than one army’s troops tied down on the Crimean Peninsula, besieging Sevastopol and Kerch respectively.
At that time, our army wasn’t eager to take Sevastopol, precisely to lull the enemy into thinking we didn’t dare fight on two fronts north-south, and would first advance south to thoroughly purge the peninsula before going north.
So the enemy didn’t guard against us breaking through the narrow double-peninsula plus cross-sea bridge natural barrier between Dzhankoy and Troitske; even then the enemy troops on the Dzhankoy front line were in offensive deployment, posturing as if ready to head south to support Sevastopol at any time, all of which contributed to the success of our sneak attack then.
But now 20 days have passed since the Dzhankoy sneak attack breakthrough battle; the enemy troops in Sevastopol and Kerch are increasingly running out of ammunition and food, with morale shaken. I think our army can accelerate wrapping up on the southern front and take both cities.
This way, we can free up more than one army’s siege troops to fill the gaps on the eastern front. Also, after taking Kerch, our Black Sea Fleet transport ships can enter the Sea of Azov, shipping supplies to Mariupol or even future Rostov.
Thus, we won’t need to ensure the railway between Yekaterinoslav and Donbas north is always open; as long as the backup north-south railway between Mariupol and Donbas is open, the enemy can’t make waves. And Mariupol port supplies can be directly supplemented via Black Sea-Sea of Azov sea transport, without railways, reducing costs several times over.”
At this point, all the military details didn’t need Lelouch to consider; the army group’s other mid-level young staff officers had collectively made the entire plan very solid.
Lelouch also readily nodded: “I acknowledge this improved plan is militarily feasible, but you still need to nail down every time node. Ensure the required troops can arrive on time, without delaying their arrival at the next phase campaign strike locations.
Now only one last issue remains: does anyone know the grain collection season in the Kievan Rus’ Great Plain region, and the Lusha government’s past collection and transport efficiency?
Coal can be mined any season it’s left in the ground. But grain can only be harvested once a year for the main crop. In the Kievan Rus’ Great Plain, except for small corn planting areas, no worry about the enemy harvesting and transporting north. The biggest key is the winter wheat harvested in July~August; if we delay the offensive to November, is it possible it’s already been transported north to Lusha hinterland?
Does anyone here understand agriculture? From what I know, after grain harvest, it generally needs more than a month for pre-processing and drying, at minimum, before storage and transport. Otherwise, grain with too high moisture content will quickly mold.
So theoretically, the winter wheat in farmers’ hands won’t be dry enough for storage until late September at earliest; it’s only been half a month since drying. But I don’t know the Lusha government’s tax collection efficiency, how long it takes to collect this wheat, concentrate transport to big cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv, then north by railway.
If we can ensure ‘when attacking Kyiv in November, the enemy still won’t have time to transport north the Kievan Rus’ Great Plain’s winter wheat harvest sown last winter,’ then I fully support your newly adjusted offensive plan from earlier.
But if this leads to the enemy getting this year’s late summer harvested Kievan Rus’ Great Plain winter wheat, that is completely unacceptable.”
Lelouch’s question left everyone at a loss.
They were all military generals; how would they know about farming?
They only needed to consider how to fight, while Chief of Staff Lelouch had much more to consider.
Brigadier General Bock stroked his stubble and mused: “This issue… can only consult professionals. How about finding some surrendered civilian officials in Zaporozhye City—fiscal officers, tax officers, and those handling transportation—and interrogate them?”
Rommel was even more imaginative: “Or, we can think of another way, two-pronged approach. On one hand, check with surrendered civilian officials on past grain collection progress; on the other, we can remotely strike and destroy Lushan railway transport!
As is well known, the entire Kievan Rus’ Great Plain’s railways connecting north have only two hubs. One is western Kyiv, the other eastern Kharkiv. Other cities along the railway must first converge to these two hubs before north transport.
If you’re worried about this, Chief of Staff, we can use airships in the next month for occasional long-range bombing sneak attacks on rear Kyiv railways and Kharkiv railways.
Although the enemy now has upward-firing fighter jet heavy machine guns and white phosphorus shells, which can threaten our airships. But if airships maintain maximum altitude throughout for infiltration, given the vast openness of the Kievan Rus’ Great Plain, the enemy may not detect our airships and dispatch fighters to intercept.
Moreover, this time our bombing targets aren’t big cities or military fortresses; the enemy can’t deploy anti-aircraft guns, nor have field airports nearby with fighters deployed. We’ll bypass big cities, specifically targeting undefended spots along the railway, and only descend for precise bombing when dropping bombs, then immediately climb and escape; by the time the enemy reacts, we’ll have climbed high and returned.”
Hearing Rommel’s suggestion, Lelouch’s eyes lit up.
This really squeezed out the last remaining value of the airships!
As mentioned before, with enemy fighter jet and anti-aircraft gun technology improvements, plus white phosphorus shells, now sending airships to bomb heavily defended war zones or even rear cities is tantamount to suicide.
But if avoiding cities to bomb transport lines—railways so long, the enemy can’t defend everywhere. Especially on the eastern front battlefield, vast and sparsely populated, completely unlike the western front battlefield—Kievan Rus’ Great Plain’s population density can’t compare to Britannia across the strait on the western front.
Kievan Rus’ 660,000 square kilometers has only 20 million people, while the western front’s few small islands, 200,000+ square kilometers, have 50 million, density 8 times different, defense tightness even more so.
Now using airships to bomb London is suicide, no return trip. But bombing railways north of Kyiv and Kharkiv is totally doable.
Lelouch finally made the decision: “Very good! I think this plan is good; implement it this way! But navigation still has some issues; if cumulative deviation error is too large, still need to roughly assess after dawn whether deviated east or west, then descend and search in the opposite direction for the railway line; once found, drop the bombs.
If deviation too far, prolonged low-altitude visual search time still risks the airship. As for north-south deviation, no issue, even tens or hundreds of kilometers off doesn’t matter; as long as we find railway it’s fine, doesn’t matter which segment we bomb.
You discuss the specific details further; I’ll go find captured collection civilian officials to check their past grain storage and transport times and efficiency. Meeting adjourned!”
