Chapter 150: Satan Tattoos Lelouch On Himself
Facing Duke Rupprecht’s habitual request for advice, Lelouch thought leisurely for a moment:
“How about we further exploit the enemy’s land-sea conflict, luring them into greater mutual suspicion and profiting from it? As long as the tactic works, no need to fear repetition; in fact, we should strike while the iron is hot.
We’ll spread rumors as much as possible, saying the Romanian Front Army’s disastrous defeat was all due to traitors in the Black Sea Fleet sabotaging it. The Black Sea Fleet is riddled with traitors from top to bottom, all opposing the Tsar.
At that point, even if there are still people loyal to the Tsar in the Navy, they’ll be caught between a rock and a hard place. Moreover, when Admiral Spee annihilated the Black Sea Fleet, he salvaged quite a few enemy lifeboats, and their fleet commander Admiral Eberhardt was captured by us.
I’ve checked his background; his full name is Andrei August Eberhardt. As everyone knows, Eberhardt is a Germanian surname—of course, Eberhardt himself never lived in Germania; he was born in Sweden to German descent.
When the Lushans were building up their Navy in the early days, their foundation was too weak and they started too late, so they absorbed a large number of German-descended talents. The Baltic Fleet’s top ranks have similar cases, like Admiral Nicholas Ottovich von Essen—he’s even more thorough than this Admiral Eberhardt, with ‘von’ in his name, and he’s said to be related by marriage to the Tsarina Fyodorovna’s family, belonging to the Volgadamnian people.
If we can stoke the Lusha leadership’s further distrust of the Navy and of German-descended people, we can completely try to win some over. Even if we can’t win them, we can ensure the truly die-hard loyalists aren’t reused, leaving the Lushans facing even more severe pre-war infighting!”
The “Volgadamnian people” mentioned by Lelouch are a rather special group in Lusha, actually Germans brought to Lusha soil through intermarriages between feudal emperors in previous generations.
The most straightforward example is the current Tsarina Fyodorovna; her family is Germanian, and strictly speaking, the current German Emperor and the Tsar are cousins.
The earliest large-scale Volga Germans were actually the family members brought by Catherine the Great 150 years ago—though Catherine the Great was a female Tsar, she was originally the Empress, with Germanian blood.
Her rise to power was somewhat similar to Eastern Wu Zetian, but even more ruthless. Wu Zetian at least didn’t kill Li Zhi, but Catherine the Great directly murdered her husband Peter III to take power. Fearing resistance from native Lushans, she brought in a large number of Germanian family members to assist in rule or form the Imperial Guard.
Over the next 150 years, there were many similar examples. But gradually, the Lushans began to reject the widespread presence of German-descended people in their country, so to avoid friction, the Tsar organized migrations, gathering the Germanian immigrant descendants within the borders to the Volga River downstream and Caspian Sea coast. That is, later Tsaritsyn to Astrakhan.
This ethnic group didn’t suffer much during the Tsarist period, after all, they were the Empress’s own kin. But when the USSR era came, they had a bad end; once the USSR and later Germania went to war, these people were all locked in camps for hard labor.
Today, most of those generals in the Lusha Navy with Germanian surnames are actually Volgadamnian people.
Lelouch felt it was entirely possible to exploit this ethnic group before the enemy grew suspicious of them—this wasn’t framing, but rather doing a good deed. Because if history followed its original course, these people would inevitably suffer from suspicion of “those not of our kin whose hearts must differ.” Lelouch was just reminding them early to see the problem a few years ahead.
“Hiss… what exactly are you going to do?” The Duke had another bad premonition; whenever Lelouch spun such grand narratives, he always felt a bit worried.
The Duke was always so conflicted; usually hoping Lelouch would offer more ideas. But when it got serious, sometimes he hoped Lelouch would hold back a bit, not be too devious.
Lelouch: “Currently, Admiral Spee’s fleet hasn’t docked yet; these past few days it’s been drifting while carrying out fire support tasks on the opposite shore. So, no one knows yet whether we actually rescued any Black Sea Fleet officers from the water, nor is there evidence.
I just need you to authorize me to handle those captives fully. If they’re too stubborn and completely uncooperative, we can pretend we never salvaged them in the first place—rest assured, I absolutely won’t drown them; I’ll just send them back to the original spot and release them, and give them their lifeboats too, letting them row back to Sevastopol themselves.”
The Duke sighed: “Don’t go overboard.”
……
The next day, the siege of Odessa’s frontal battlefield fully commenced.
The Germania Army conducted fierce fire preparation against the Lusha Army’s defense line outside the city, with heavy bombardment for a time. The fleet on the sea surface was still occasionally shelling the Lusha Army’s defense line, thoroughly removing the fortified positions.
Romanian Front Army Commander General Evert didn’t expect to hold with urban warfare either; instead, he set the defense line in the suburban outskirts, digging trenches layer by layer.
Perhaps he also knew Odessa was the Black Sea Coast’s largest commercial port, with too many civilians, businessmen, and wealth in the city; he didn’t want to fight to mutual destruction. If soldiers could resolve it in the suburbs, that would be best.
This kind of bloody frontal meat grinder wasn’t Lelouch’s specialty, so he had already transferred via a light warship back to the Goeben.
Seeing him return, Admiral Spee welcomed him warmly but couldn’t help teasing: “You’re always the busiest one, able to offer guidance on sea, land, and air. Just three days away, and the Army main force advanced from Altziitz city to Odessa suburbs—80 km in 3 days, what a feat—by the way, how many enemies did you wipe out?”
Admiral Spee was Navy, not too familiar with land situations, and hadn’t asked before.
“120,000 or so.” Lelouch yawned, looking overtired and listless.
Admiral Spee was stunned: “120,000 isn’t enough to perk you up. Now I believe you really annihilated 1.7 million enemies total in the Hungarian Campaign.”
Lelouch: “Actually not that many; in Hungary, excluding militia, at most 1.3 million. Never mind that—the Duke wants me to interrogate Admiral Eberhardt and the other captured core generals and officers—hand them over to me, no problem?”
Admiral Spee was a pure soldier; he had no interest in interfering in politics or matters outside the battlefield.
So hearing this request, he just instinctively confirmed: “You won’t use violence to coerce them, right?”
Lelouch: “I always only use psychological warfare, never those crude methods.”
Admiral Spee nodded, then had the guards lead him to a quiet cabin; soon after, the captured Admiral Eberhardt was brought in.
Eberhardt hadn’t seen Germania Fleet leadership these past few days since capture, so he didn’t recognize Spee or General Sun Shun who sank him.
Seeing his interrogator was an improbably young colonel officer, he was somewhat unconvinced.
Lelouch didn’t care about such details, cutting straight to the point: “Do you think I’m too young and unworthy to interrogate you?”
Eberhardt didn’t answer.
Lelouch stood up, paced casually two steps, flicked a cigar over, and placed a lighter on the table, spinning it toward him. Scornfully muttering to himself:
“I can guess even if you don’t say; I’ve seen this scene too many times. Half a year ago, when I captured Britannia Expeditionary Force Commander-in-Chief Marshal French, he was just as arrogant. A mere admiral—what’s that?”
Eberhardt’s pupils finally contracted sharply: “You’re that Lelouch von Hunt? Marshal French fell victim to your schemes too?!”
Lelouch grinned oppressively:
“That was just one fairly standard merit in my life—if you’re interested, I can also tell you how former Southwestern Front Commander General Yudovich died, how Serbia was destroyed, what ploy killed Serbian Army Commander-in-Chief Marshal Putnik—and who the hell are you!”
Even though Eberhardt held admiral rank and was Black Sea Fleet commander, before this enemy colonel, he felt so powerless, inexplicably breaking into a cold sweat, his spirit thoroughly suppressed.
Lelouch immediately struck while the iron was hot: “Want to know why our Germania Army advanced so fast from the Romania border all the way to Odessa, reclaiming the entire Bessarabia Region?
Our Army launched the offensive on July 29; now it’s August 6—just about a week. In one week, reclaiming all land from the Romania border to the Dniester River（larger than current Moldova’s full territory）, and starting the siege of Odessa.
Could normal human army generals achieve this speed? If the Lusha Army wasn’t completely collapsed, would 3 corps nearly 200,000 men collapse in days? You can look at these two photos—your 6th Army Group’s two corps commanders; I believe you’ve met them.”
That day, the 3 corps originally deployed on the Romania border and routed by the Germania Army had only one corps commander Denikin escaping on horseback with cavalry; the other two nameless corps commanders were unfortunately captured.
Lelouch was very good at propaganda work, so he always photographed major victories for potential psychological warfare use. When von Bock brought the captives back, Lelouch immediately had photos taken and developed.
Admiral Eberhardt knew these land army generals stationed in Odessa, at least familiar faces from peacetime banquets. So just glancing at the photos, he admitted they hadn’t grabbed the wrong people.
“We broke the border garrison’s morale so fast because they believed many in the Navy had betrayed the country! They gave our army the Black Sea mine deployment map, so our warships could bypass danger zones, take safe routes to land at the Dniester River Estuary, and directly approach Odessa city for bombardment!
But actually, I had other ways to do it. At least for months, the Lushans won’t figure it out. They’ll only be induced to associate and blame everything on the Navy to shirk the Army’s defeat responsibility—especially on generals like you with Germanian surnames!
Did you think immigrating to Lusha meant the Lushans would truly trust you? There’s an Eastern ancient saying: those not of our kin whose hearts must differ. Now Lusha still has the Tsar, so you can still count on upper connections to maintain face.
But in this war, I won’t say Lusha must perish, but at least the Tsar is definitely done for! For Lusha to survive, it will be righteous people dissatisfied with the Tsar who take him down, then representatives supported by the people will negotiate with my Germania!
Once Lusha becomes a new nation coalesced not by monarchy but by national consciousness, you people with Germanian surnames will only meet bad ends!”
Lelouch’s accusatory rhetoric at this moment was seven or eight parts like later Easterners’ humiliation tactics on captured Ugly Country high Huas, but with slightly different details.
Those who don’t get it, just substitute later stereotypes of Ugly registry Asians. It’s an “assimilation effect”; in later Ugly Country leadership, the most eager to prove loyalty to Ugly Country were often Asians.
Eberhardt in the Lusha Navy internal circles had always been “eager to prove to Lusha masters he’s harsher on Germania than native Lushans.”
But the two differed.
Ugly Country could at least claim to be a nation without ethnicity, a melting pot, which could deceive many assimilators. Assimilators often took a long time to realize Ugly Country still had its own ethnicity, and foreign assimilators still hit a “glass ceiling” in careers.
Lusha couldn’t claim to be a nation without ethnicity. Currently, Lushans tolerated foreign assimilators because Lusha was still a backward nation with thick traditional aristocratic politics. In a country with strong monarchical power, anyone could be reused; ethnicity wasn’t important.
But once Lusha collapses and the Tsar’s aristocratic politics turns into a future national consciousness state, its Germanian people would absolutely have no good end.
By then, even wanting to be assimilators would be impossible—
This wasn’t Lelouch making it up; he was just describing events that would happen on Earth twenty-some years later ahead of time, so the deduction was vivid and realistic.
Admiral Eberhardt was indeed made to break into a slight cold sweat.
These Volgadamnian people ultimately weren’t exactly like later Ugly Country high Huas; they didn’t reject their own bloodline and could still be reasoned with to some extent.
If Lelouch scared him saying because Lusha was beaten so badly, Germania could completely destroy Lusha, Eberhardt definitely wouldn’t believe it—could the current misery match a hundred years ago in Napoleon’s era?
And now the enemies Germania provoked weren’t fewer than in Napoleon’s era.
But Lelouch was realistic; he didn’t say they could destroy Lusha, only that they could take down the Tsar and end aristocratic politics. This possibility plunged Eberhardt into deep turmoil.
Germania had already won too many victories on the Eastern Front, now holding the mine-sweeping divine tool to time-difference and completely destroy the Lusha Navy.
As Eberhardt imagined this, Lelouch struck while hot:
“I know you’re confident in Lusha’s depth and resilience, but if we just want to destroy the Lusha Navy, then completely blockade Lusha’s foreign trade, and after occupying Lusha’s southern grain areas, fight a war of attrition waiting for it to self-destruct? At that point, do you think the Tsar still has a chance? It was the Tsar who first turned this bilateral war into a multilateral one!”
“Stop!” Admiral Eberhardt was already trembling all over; he felt this young man was a devil returned from the abyss of hell. Gasping heavily, he said with difficulty, “What exactly do you want me to do? Confess, or…”
Lelouch: “First offer a pledge of allegiance—you can hand over the Black Sea Fleet’s full mine deployment map, letting us know the safe routes to Mykolaiv, Yevpatoria, Sevastopol, Strait of Kerch.
As long as you give us this, we can trust you; the rest can be discussed slowly later. Don’t think of stalling with tricks, because we have technological means you can’t comprehend to clear all these mines.
You providing the blueprint now just saves us ten days or half a month, making our follow-up actions more sudden. Even without it, we can handle it slowly.”
Eberhardt swallowed, still probing the consequences: “What if I don’t?”
Lelouch shrugged nonchalantly: “No big deal then, but at that time, I’ll have ways to let Romanian Front Army Commander Evert know you, a Germanian tribesman, secretly defected to us. You’ll be ruined, and your kin in Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan will be liquidated.
If you really defect to us, Lusha leadership won’t know you did, instead thinking it was another actually die-hard who refused us—after all, we hold the Tsar’s incomprehensible secret weapon for rapid mine clearing.
With the Tsar’s imagination, he’ll definitely conjure a betrayer to take the blame. If you truly betray, no need to take blame; if not, I’ll make you take it.
I’ll tell you, last year at Ostend, with this ploy, a few words made two of Belgian Army’s last three divisions turncoat on the spot. Finally, the two surviving division commanders pinned the King’s order to blow the Yser Canal dike and flood their own people—the historical crime—on the division commander who didn’t defect to us.
I have plenty of ways to make someone not only have their whole family wiped out, but be reviled after death! I’m giving you this chance because you’re Germanian tribesman. If you’re not smart, I believe there are subordinates in the fleet who don’t get along with you. If he grabs first, you’ll have no chance, bearing infamy in future history books, dying in vain!”
These last words completely shattered Admiral Eberhardt’s psychological defenses.
This was history’s most terrifying “verifiable achievement”—Lelouch really, over half a year ago, personally forced the last few Belgian Army divisions to surrender with just a few words.
Completing the final blow to annihilate the Belgian Army with a few words!
One tongue can defeat 100,000 soldiers!
Eberhardt read newspapers and international news. He knew current Belgian new history books had pinned the “Yser Canal dike breach flooding own people” historical crime on Lieutenant General Berghgham who refused to cooperate with Germanian then!
This was countless times more potent than a regular prisoner’s dilemma, plus prior padding of “post-Tsar non-kin suspicion” issues, multiple factors overlapping assault finally made Eberhardt completely collapse.
“I… I’m willing to cooperate, but I don’t have the full mine deployment map on hand, nor do I carry such things always. Besides, when my warship sank, even if there was a map on the warship, it sank too.”
Lelouch: “That’s not important! As long as you’re willing to cooperate, we can get the nautical charts after entering the city. You can first dictate some mine-laying info we need now—don’t think of tricks; I have technical means to verify.
Then, give me a name, best a native Lushan; we’ll subtly hint through other channels he’s the traitor and inner traitor, letting him take the blame and be ruined—while you can rest assured, even if historical truth comes out later, you won’t take blame.
Because even years later, if you formally defect to my Germania, history books won’t say you were the proactive traitor, nor reveal your initial defection time. It’ll only say you abandoned darkness for light in righteous anger because the Tsar couldn’t distinguish loyal from traitor, favored treacherous ministers, harmed the loyal.
In other words, once the people you push to take blame have their families and kin killed by the Tsar, I’ll naturally publicize the technical truth of Lusha Navy’s destruction at a suitable time.
Letting the world know it wasn’t those people betraying the Tsar, but because we Germania mastered new mine-sweeping technology that we destroyed Lusha’s two major fleets. This mine-sweeping tech can only be hidden temporarily, not for years, so I don’t expect this secret to last forever.
And history books recording your betrayal of Lusha won’t date it before this reveal, but after. In other words, future history books will say: the Tsar wronged you first, so you wronged him; he was unrighteous first, so you were disloyal—the cause-effect order reversed—of course, all premised on you obeying my orders.”
Eberhardt thought it over, finding Lelouch’s plan so feasible it was terrifyingly strong.
The Tsar’s “treacherous favorite ministers” whispering poison…
Such people were too easy to find; godsticks like Rasputin were tailor-made!
Once Lelouch’s plan succeeded, pinning the shit pot on those guys’ heads would make everything seamless, too perfect.
