Chapter 168: Audience With The Tsar, Promoted To Brigadier General
Half an hour later, inside the Königsberg palace.
Lelouch was led by an attendant of the palace to Emperor Wilhelm.
“Your Majesty, this is Lelouch von Ritteh Hunter, Deputy Director of the War Ministry Propaganda Bureau, requesting an audience.”
Emperor Wilhelm slowly raised his head, looked at him with an expression of curiosity and complexity, stood up, walked over, and paced around Lelouch a few times.
“The last time I saw you was during the Hungarian Campaign, wasn’t it? You’ve stirred up such a huge fuss again, truly a great surprise for the Empire. But why aren’t you staying with Marshal Rupprecht in Kievan Rus’ and instead coming here to join the fun?
You are indeed exceptionally intelligent and full of stratagems, but as an officer of the Empire, shouldn’t your primary focus be on your duties?”
As Emperor, even if Wilhelm recognized Lelouch’s strategies, he had to admonish the other party for their lack of discretion first.
As a soldier, not overstepping authority or acting on one’s own initiative is paramount. What is the point of winning if you’re always acting unilaterally!
The tendency for subordinates to act on their own initiative, defying their superiors, must never be encouraged!
And before Lelouch was summoned, he had already anticipated this. The Emperor would definitely ask this question first.
However, he had to pretend to be young and ignorant, feign a little panic, and then naturally offer an “unthinking” answer:
“I had no intention of leaving my post. Before leaving Odessa, I reported all my military affairs as a staff officer in the Black Sea Theater to Marshal Rupprecht in detail.
In that report, I also emphasized one point: that by using new mine-sweeping weapons to clear the enemy’s minefields, we could successfully organize landing operations or launch surprise attacks on enemy rear security ports.
But all of this, by chance, led to mutual suspicion between the enemy’s army and navy, and even caused the enemy’s high command to suspect a traitor within the navy. Such successful experiences might be replicable, so I applied the principle to the Baltic Sea, thinking that our allies there might also imitate this advanced experience to achieve greater results.
Marshal Rupprecht thought my extrapolation was excellent and privately communicated with Marshal Mackensen and General Hipper, intending to pass it on to them.
As a result, Marshal Mackensen and General Hipper both felt that time was pressing, and their own staff officers were not adept at these cunning stratagems, so they invited me to be temporarily seconded to teach them firsthand how to coordinate this series of psychological warfare and deceptions.
After all, the secret of the ‘new mooring mine-sweeping weapon’ cannot be kept for long. We must quickly exploit the suddenness and information gap brought about by this new weapon. Moreover, I am part of the War Ministry Propaganda Bureau, which I believe is also one of my responsibilities.”
Emperor Wilhelm was a man who craved glory and success. He was only afraid of his subordinates acting independently, which is why he had to admonish him first. But in reality, he was very happy internally, as the army had achieved such great military merit.
Hearing Lelouch speak so sincerely and providing him with a way out, Emperor Wilhelm did not dwell on it further.
Furthermore, at this point, he finally understood: it was no wonder that when Lelouch had entered to pay his respects earlier, he did not mention his “Army Colonel, Staff Officer of the 6th Army Group,” but insisted on identifying himself as “Deputy Director of the Imperial War Ministry Propaganda Bureau.”
The man held both military rank and position, as well as a civilian post. Lelouch’s civilian identity was perfectly suited for this task, and therefore, there was no issue of overstepping authority.
“You rascal…” Emperor Wilhelm knew the other party’s intricate thoughts but did not expose them, merely pointing his index finger at him repeatedly more than a dozen times. After a long period of speechlessness, he finally sighed,
“Fine, only you could achieve such a great feat for the Empire’s establishment. For this great victory of both the Baltic Sea and the Army and Navy, I know you were instrumental. Just now, I instructed the General Staff Headquarters to submit a recommendation, and I have already signed it—you are now promoted to Army Brigadier General and appointed Chief of Staff of the 6th Army Group! Return to Odessa and continue your good work!”
Emperor Wilhelm said, flicking a signed telegram paper. The telegram had just arrived from Berlin from the General Staff Headquarters, with General Falkenhayn, the Chief of Staff, nominating Lelouch as a Brigadier General.
Upon receiving the telegram, the Emperor had directly handwritten “Approved” on it and affixed his seal.
Lelouch respectfully accepted the telegram. Although it was not the formal appointment procedure, this telegram paper was certainly meant to be formally collected.
Emperor Wilhelm, seeing his excited demeanor, felt quite pleased with himself and took the opportunity to ask a follow-up question:
“Since your psychological warfare stratagem was so effective in successfully causing suspicion among the Lushans, can we delve deeper into that line of thinking? I suddenly have an idea: what if we reveal the truth now, letting all Lushans know that there were no traitors in their two great fleets?
It was all because their Tsar was incompetent, unable to distinguish loyalty from treachery, and listened to the slanders of false prophets and charlatans, thus persecuting loyal officials. Wouldn’t the number of people opposing the Tsar suddenly increase severalfold! If this could be achieved, perhaps the great empire of Rus’ could indeed be destroyed in one fell swoop!”
Upon hearing this, Lelouch couldn’t help but cast a slightly surprised glance at the Emperor.
He hadn’t expected the Emperor to have some insight, possessing this level of associative ability.
“Your Majesty is truly wise, to think of even this…” Lelouch couldn’t directly disregard the Emperor’s face, so he went along with him, and also pretended to be seriously contemplating it on the spot.
In reality, he already had an answer to this question, but he still needed to stall for time. After feigning contemplation for half a minute, he said with a sincere tone:
“Your Majesty’s supplementary strategy is indeed something that should be implemented in the future, but I believe it should not be now. It would be best to wait a little longer, within a month. And it doesn’t need to be spread intentionally quickly; let it circulate naturally and slowly.
Because the Empire’s offensive against Rus’ has just concluded, and by late September, new actions may be taken on both the Southern and Northern Fronts to expand our gains. When the new offensives begin, slowly spreading the news of the Tsar listening to traitors will be more conducive to coordinating with the front lines and accelerating the enemy’s collapse.
With a slower pace, the rumors will also sound more authentic. If we were to immediately reveal the secret of the mine-sweeping weapons just after Eberhard and General von Essen surrendered, it would seem too fake and make people think we are framing or slandering the Tsar.
Moreover, I believe that dealing with Rus’ requires patience. A centipede dies but doesn’t stiffen. We cannot assume they are finished just because they have lost most of their coastal territories. I hope Your Majesty can maintain the continuity of national policy; even if we don’t achieve results this year, we can still maintain pressure next year.”
What Lelouch meant by “maintaining pressure next year” was naturally “this year we’ve finally beaten Rus’ to a pulp, so next year we must continue to press hard.
Don’t think that because the Eastern Front is stable, we should again consider that ‘Frankish territory and population are much smaller than Rus’, so the Franks are definitely easier to defeat, and therefore let’s launch the Verdun Campaign.'”
The situation has developed to this point, we must pursue the vanquished without giving the Lushans a chance to breathe. If anyone in the future suggests changing course and launching the Verdun Campaign, that person will be a traitor to the nation!
However, there were some things that Lelouch, with his current identity and status, was not suitable to say, nor did he have the standing to offer unsolicited advice. He could only preface it casually.
Emperor Wilhelm indeed overlooked this reminder. He only heard Lelouch say “dealing with Rus’ requires patience,” which displeased him, and he immediately retorted:
“Then, in your opinion, how much longer will it take to collapse this empire, given that the people of Rus’ already know their Tsar is incompetent and listens to traitors?”
Lelouch thought for a moment: “I believe… at least the remaining time this year, plus the entire next year, and then dragging it past the spring famine of the year after, this would be the fastest and best-case scenario.
Relying on occupying Rus’ territory to make this country collapse is impossible; Napoleon failed in this endeavor back then.
Only a combination of military offense, blockade, starvation, and eroding the people’s trust in the Tsar can lead to a decisive victory.
And for the blockade and starvation to take effect, the time required is measured in years. The Empire needs to ensure its own people do not go hungry and its economy does not collapse. By occupying Rus’ resource zones, we can compensate for the blockade of overseas resource trade imposed by the Britannians, and only then will we be able to laugh to the end.
To end the war, we must make the Britannians see that ‘no matter how many resources they block from flowing into us, we can recover them from the Lushans. Therefore, we are merely a blocked intermediary, and every ship of supplies blocked by Britannia ultimately results in their allies going hungry and saving.’ Only then can the war possibly end!”
Lelouch had not fully grasped this issue before. At this very moment, being pressed by Emperor Wilhelm, and combining it with the latest developments, he only came to this realization through impromptu deliberation.
This feeling was akin to Britannia being a sinister villain who enjoyed using poison, similar to Ding Chunqiu. And Germania, empowered by Lelouch, was akin to Murong Fu.
To completely sever Ding Chunqiu’s intention of poisoning Murong Fu with the Great Technique of Dissolving Power from its roots, one must employ the technique of Shifting Stars (Dou Zhuan Xing Yi) and turn the Great Technique of Dissolving Power back upon the other disciples of the Xingxiu Sect.
Only when Ding Chunqiu realizes that no matter how many times he uses the Great Technique of Dissolving Power, it is his own disciples who die, will he desist from using it again.
Lelouch had been setting up this situation for a long time, completely cutting off all sea import routes for the Lushans and attempting to occupy their resource zones, all for this day.
No matter how much grain, oil, or iron ore the Britannians block, he would seize it all back from the Lushans.
And then they would compete on who could endure hunger longer.
Emperor Wilhelm seemed to gain some understanding from Lelouch’s previous insights on the war of attrition, but not entirely.
Fortunately, the Emperor did not expect to comprehend such a grand proposition immediately. After pondering for a while, he soon became too lazy to think further and simply encouraged his subordinate to take things one step at a time:
“Since you believe this is a war of attrition that pits resources against each other, then proceed according to your own ideas for now.
I heard Marshal Rupprecht is about to organize a new offensive? When you return to the Southern Front, help him secure the vast black soil plains and granaries of Kievan Rus’; the Empire needs those resources for the war of attrition.
For the Northern Front, if you have any good suggestions, you can also leave final instructions for Marshal Mackensen and Hipper. However, in the future, cross-departmental cooperation in military matters must be applied for first; no unauthorized actions!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Lelouch respectfully responded, stating that he would certainly leave a follow-up plan for Mackensen and Hipper before leaving Königsberg, regarding how to fully capitalize on the fruits of the Baltic Sea campaign.
The Emperor simply nodded, asked no further details on the matter, and intended to let him go.
However, as he was about to leave, the Emperor seemed to suddenly remember something and called him back to ask a few technical questions.
These were mainly to understand the situation of the two enemy generals Lelouch had recently persuaded to surrender, and whether Lelouch had any suggestions on “how to resettle the Germanic tribes within Rus’ in the future.”
Lelouch also sincerely shared his thoughts, providing some resettlement area suggestions for the Baltic Germans （, primarily in southern Latvia and northern Lithuania, and for the Volga Germans ）.
These were very preliminary and wild suggestions, still immature, so the Emperor merely listened casually for reference.
After answering, Lelouch finally bid his farewell and departed.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw the surrendered general, Otto von Essen, already waiting outside the door. It was clear that the Emperor’s summons today had another layer of purpose: before summoning the surrendered general, he wanted to ask Lelouch, the persuader, for good ideas on how to grant titles and make promises.
If the promises were good enough, our own people within the enemy’s territory could also be better united.
