Chapter 196: Cornered Dogs Jump Walls, Britannians Double Down
December 1st, a rest day after capturing Poltava and Kharkiv.
The Greater Germania Armored Training Division, after a brief one-day rest in Poltava, was about to re-engage in the final assault encirclement toward Kyiv.
Lelouch’s entire body was extremely fatigued, but his spirit was also extremely exhilarated, with a sense of grandeur as if he was creating history; he was clearly very sleepy, yet he couldn’t fall asleep.
Army Group Commander Marshal Rupprecht also personally visited the Poltava front line for inspection and briefly met with Lelouch.
His original intention was to reassure Lelouch not to worry, to rest well, and he didn’t want to say too many encouraging words.
But after seeing Lelouch’s exhilarated yet fatigued state, he felt relieved: this young man before him, though exceptionally talented and a genius, was still not yet 25 years old, and his mental resilience was a bit immature.
Marshal Rupprecht originally had some bad news from other battlefield sectors, which he had been withholding from Lelouch for the past few days, precisely to avoid affecting Lelouch’s armored assault performance and distracting him.
And now, seeing that he wasn’t resting well anyway, he simply decided to lay it all out, using a different method to boost his morale.
So, at noon that day, when the marshal had Lelouch join him for lunch, the marshal casually revealed:
“Since you weren’t sleeping well anyway, I’ll not hide some things from you—actually, on the tenth day after our army surrounded Kharkiv, and the day after our initial encirclement of Poltava, November 27th, on the southern battlefield, new enemies emerged.
They must have been completely shocked by the drastic changes in Kharkiv and wanted to spare no means to further accelerate their offensive progress to save the Lushans. So, the burden on your shoulders is heavy.
We and Uncle Leopold must quickly encircle north of Kyiv and eliminate the enemies within this expected large encirclement, then we can split forces southward to destroy the forces rescuing the Lushans! Push them back into the sea!”
Lelouch was then forking beef pasta into his mouth, and upon hearing the news, his fork involuntarily paused; after a brief moment of thought, he reacted:
“You mean, the Britannians on the Gallipoli Peninsula have new actions to rescue Lushan friendly forces?”
Lelouch vaguely recalled that in this plane, the Britannians had launched the Gallipoli Campaign only in mid-August this year, opening a landing field on that narrow peninsula on the north bank of the Dardanelles Strait.
This campaign had been delayed by a full four or five months before being launched, obviously because Lelouch had nearly annihilated the Belgian Expeditionary Force in the Ypres-Dunkirk salient, dealing a spine-breaking blow to the Britannians’ army strength, forcing them to recuperate for four or five months before restoring their army establishment.
From mid-August when the Britannians landed until around September 20th, before the Zaporizhzhia Campaign started in the northern Kievan Rus’ War Zone, the Britannians had been relentlessly attacking, suffering over 100,000 casualties.
At that time, the German 6th Army Group had also dispatched fire support troops mainly composed of long-range cannons, railway guns, and airships to Gallipoli to aid the Ottomans, helping them build and perfect their defense system.
It also used railway guns and airship mining to inflict serious damage on the British Mediterranean Fleet, temporarily curbing their various tricks.
But afterward, from September 20 to November 20, these two months, there should have been no new developments on the Gallipoli Peninsula; it was purely a war of attrition exchanging lives.
During this process, the Ottomans should have been forced into successive retreats, employing elastic defense to trade space for time, using the gradual loss of every position to reap the lives of the Britannian coalition forces in large numbers.
Now, the Britannians must have seen new collapses among the Lushans in the Kievan Rus’ War Zone, and that the Germanians had even deployed “tanks,” equipment more advanced than armored cars, so they were thoroughly frightened and decided to further accelerate the speed of rescuing the Lushans.
It was unknown what new scheme that Minister Walton of the Navy had come up with.
Seeing that Lelouch was indeed very curious about this matter, Marshal Rupprecht explained the antecedents and consequences to him in detail.
The matter was as follows.
……
As early as November 18th, one week after the start of this Kievan Rus’ Campaign and the day after the German 6th Army Group encircled Kharkiv.
The breakthrough power of Germania’s new weapons and new tactics once again shocked the world. And it was even more shocking than the initial debut of the armored car cluster assault last time.
“Breaking through 150~200 kilometers of the front defensive zone within a week of the battle’s start, and completing the full encirclement of Kharkiv city, trapping the Lusha 9th Army Group”
What an astonishing speed this was?
So, when this battle report reached the Frankish Army Ministry, the Britannian Prime Minister, and their respective army ministries, the Franks, Britannians, and other Lushan allies were all stunned.
A few days later, even the Ugly Country across the ocean, which had not yet entered the war, was thoroughly shocked.
However, the Franks and Ugly Country could do nothing even if shocked; they currently had no foundation for producing tanks, especially the Ugly Country, which hadn’t even started relevant basic research.
（Note: Historically, the Franks independently initiated tank research around February 1916. After 7 months of research, the ally British Army’s tanks entered combat at the Somme, prompting the Franks to accelerate, deploying in 1917. In this plane, the Franks urgently initiated after seeing German armored cars, i.e., October 1915）
But the Britannians had already initiated tank development before seeing German armored cars in action in September, and had been drawing blueprints for several months.
After seeing the power of German armored cars in September, the British Naval Ministry took out the blueprints and collaborated with the Army Ministry to rush the production of prototypes, even if imperfect.
In October, the Britannians officially began testing the first prototype “Little Willie,” a machine-gun-only prototype without a cannon for the time being. And it was a size smaller than the historical “Mark I” that later entered combat, with reduced trench-crossing capability.
By November, “Little Willie” was finally pieced together, two and a half months ahead of the Earth plane—this was clearly the butterfly effect from enemy stimulation.
Without German stimulation, the Britannians would not have been satisfied with “Little Willie”‘s performance and would definitely have spent another three to six months refining it, further enhancing trench-crossing width before deploying to the battlefield.
But now the enemy had already fielded tanks first. The Britannians no longer needed secrecy for surprise, so “Little Willie” was directly put into use, with orders to produce as many as possible for battlefield testing.
And right at this critical juncture, news came back that German tanks had approached Kharkiv in three days and completed the encirclement in a week.
Stimulated by the Kharkiv situation, Prime Minister Asquith held another nighttime emergency meeting at 10 Downing Street, summoning the Army and Navy Ministers and the Minister of Munitions to discuss countermeasures.
……
“Walton! How’s the situation on your end lately! The Gallipoli landing battle has been going on for nearly three months; the first month had heavy losses but some progress. How did it turn into a meat grinder attrition war these past two months!
Now the Germanians have launched a new lethal offensive on the Eastern Front; they produced tanks before us and used them in the Kievan Rus’ region! Kharkiv is surrounded; if we dawdle, we won’t save the Lushans at all!”
Prime Minister Asquith appeared extremely anxious and irritated, with pimples around his mouth, completely unlike an ailment an old man like him should have.
Naval Minister Walton Spencer sincerely admitted fault: “We have been giving our all to kill the enemy. In the past two months on the Gallipoli Peninsula, there has been steady advance. From mid-August to end of September, in the initial 40 days of the campaign, we advanced nearly 30 kilometers, capturing the entire high ground at the westernmost end of the peninsula.
In the subsequent 40-plus days, we advanced another 40 kilometers, even seizing the pivotal railway town of Bolaier on the Gallipoli Peninsula, which is over 70 kilometers from the initial landing point at the westernmost end—
That is the narrowest point on the entire Gallipoli Peninsula, only less than 5 kilometers wide north-south; the enemy had pre-dug layered defensive positions there to delay us, so the advance was slow. But the Empire’s landing troops made progress every day, advancing 70 kilometers in three months, averaging 800 meters per day; you can’t say the officers and soldiers aren’t fighting hard.”
（Note: Current front line on the Gallipoli Peninsula and previous stage-by-stage progress as shown in the figure below）
Prime Minister Asquith was also left speechless by this response.
Indeed, compared to the previous disastrous defeat at Ypres and Dunkirk, the Gallipoli Campaign could only be called heavy casualties, but at least it was currently a victory.
Although each of the front and rear phases had over 100,000 dead, totaling nearly the same as the total personnel scale annihilated in the previous Ypres Campaign.
But Ypres annihilated nearly 300,000 with nothing gained and even being pushed back.
The Gallipoli Campaign currently had nearly 300,000 casualties, but at least advanced 70 kilometers.
The front line doesn’t lie.
Prime Minister Asquith calmed his mood before continuing to press: “I’m not saying the 70 kilometers achieved by the officers and soldiers isn’t precious, but even if you’ve taken Bolaier, how far is it from Istanbul?”
“Still 200 kilometers…” Walton Spencer couldn’t sugarcoat this answer and could only state it directly.
“…” Prime Minister Asquith took a deep breath, “70 kilometers took you 3 months; with 200 kilometers left, do you plan to take 9 months? So, the entire Black Sea Strait campaign and the campaign to seize the Ottoman capital—you plan to fight them front and back for a whole year?
Do you think, given the Lushans’ current situation, the Tsar can still sit on the throne 9 months from now? They are being ruthlessly bitten, beaten, and hammered to death by the Germanians. If we don’t do something, I dare not imagine if the Tsar will even be alive in 9 months! At least the Kievan Rus’ Great Plain and the entire southern Lusha agricultural and mining districts will definitely be lost clean!”
After venting his dissatisfaction, the Prime Minister quieted down again, signaling everyone to think of other ways to accelerate, even overly aggressive moves not dared before, which now had to be considered.
After some discussion, Minister Walton, full of cunning ideas, indeed had a pre-prepared offbeat scheme.
Thus, a plan to further drag others into the water and escalate the war surfaced.
“Your Excellency Prime Minister, how about we execute the radical plan and forcibly drag Greece into the water ahead of schedule! Then we can join with the Greek Army to attack Istanbul directly eastward from the Greece-Ottoman border on the mainland.
Moreover, considering that our landing troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula have advanced 70 kilometers, greatly consuming the Austrian Army over these three months—the Ottomans’ casualties must not be few either. They are now at their most exhausted.
If we suddenly assault from the Chios Border just north of the Gallipoli Peninsula, targeting the Ottoman main force currently blocking the base of the peninsula, they are likely to be caught in a pincer and encircled by us! Then we can crush the Ottoman main force from front and rear to annihilate them completely!
And as long as we can quickly annihilate the Ottoman main force and then seize Istanbul, opening the Black Sea Strait, the Empire’s absolutely superior Royal Navy can swarm into the Black Sea.
At that point, the German 2 battlecruisers and several old pre-dreadnoughts in the Black Sea will be no match for us at all! We will be the complete victors mastering Black Sea sea control.
The reason the Empire and allies have not fought smoothly these past six-plus months is that the Empire’s invincible naval superiority couldn’t be fully utilized! The Empire cut off German maritime trade shipping on the high seas but couldn’t enter the Baltic Sea or Black Sea.
This led to the Lusha Navy being completely annihilated by the Germanians in these two geographically isolated marginal seas, giving the Germanians invincible coastal shipping logistics advantage against the Lushans—as long as they advance along the Baltic Sea and Black Sea coastlines with wings on both sides, they can thrust deep inland.
But once this situation is reversed, once the Royal Navy enters the Black Sea, we choke their distant sea transport logistics thousands of miles away and set their coastal rear ablaze everywhere.
Even if the Germanians can still rely on railway logistics, the Lushans’ domestic resistance morale will surely be ignited by our coordination, with countless people spontaneously rising to destroy rear railways, and the Germanians will inevitably perish in the ocean of resistance from 200 million Lushans!”
Minister Walton spilled out all the above considerations in one breath.
Prime Minister Asquith, of course, understood the benefits and gains here, and could even say he had long been aware of them.
But as Prime Minister, Asquith had many more issues to consider.
First and foremost was the issue of diplomacy and legitimacy.
On the Earth plane, Britain finally dragged it out until 1916, using inducements plus hyping Ottoman threats to pull Greece in. Even then, Greece’s entry had serious legal flaws.
Although that Greek Prime Minister Venizelos claimed to have seized some land from the Ottomans and Bulgarians, with merits in territorial expansion.
But his entry into war was sternly rejected by Greek King Constantine I. And Greece’s previous laws clearly stipulated that the Prime Minister only handled internal affairs, while the King had the right to declare war and was the commander of the army.
And now it was only 1915; with the drastic worsening of the Black Sea periphery and Kievan Rus’ theater situations, and the Gallipoli Campaign’s progress in breaking the Black Sea Strait too slow, the Britannians were forced to disregard shame and forcibly pull Greece in ahead of time, leaving no time for many superficial articles to whitewash international opinion.
As early as the first half of the year, the Britannians had actually negotiated through formal secret diplomatic channels with Greek King Constantine I, hoping he would change his mind, abandon neutrality, and declare war on the Ottomans.
But Constantine I resolutely and clearly stated he wanted to ensure his country’s peace and was unwilling to intervene in the World War.
These problems were all thorny obstacles before Prime Minister Asquith.
“I understand what you’re saying, but Greek King Constantine I is unmoved by soft or hard tactics; he just insists on neutrality—what can you do?” Asquith threw this key issue back to Minister Walton.
Walton gritted his teeth: “Then take him out! I suggest inciting the Greek Prime Minister to directly announce that he represents the people’s will, elected by the Greek People together; as for Greece’s laws saying war declaration and military command belong to the King—let it wipe asses! A Prime Minister elected by the people should have unlimited power.
We can arrange a day with Prime Minister Venizelos for him to leave Athens and flee to Thessaloniki, where anti-Ottoman sentiment is strong, pro-British forces are robust, and Venizelos himself has strong control over the area.
Then, he rises in arms in Thessaloniki in the name of the Greek People to overthrow the neutral traitorous tyrant, and our reserves on Samothrace Island and elsewhere can land nearby in Thessaloniki, then ‘at the invitation of the Greek Prime Minister and people,’ march back to Athens to take out the traitorous tyrant!
As long as we control the Greek situation in an extremely short time, we turn around to attack from land via the Chios Border, hit the rear of the Ottoman defenders on the Gallipoli Peninsula, pincer with our forces on the peninsula to annihilate the Ottoman main force completely, reach Istanbul, and thoroughly break the current deadlock!
I hope our actions are fast enough, hope the news of successfully opening the Black Sea Strait reaches before the Lusha Southwestern Front despairs. Then they will have confidence to continue fighting to the death, because they know that once the Royal Navy’s invincible Mediterranean Fleet storms into the Black Sea, the German rear is doomed!”
Prime Minister Asquith gasped upon hearing this.
“But doing this would be supporting a Greek rebellion? Publicly trampling Greece’s laws…”
Minister Walton: “How can it be called trampling? It’s their laws from nation-founding that are wrong—how can military command and war declaration be entrusted to the King? We are helping them overthrow the traitorous tyrant at the invitation of the Greek People.
Moreover, we can rush all 5 accumulated ‘Little Willie’ prototypes and all in-stock Rolls-Royce armored cars from army inventory by rail first to Southern France, then day and night to the Gallipoli front.
Once we act, let the armored cars land in Thessaloniki to help the Greek People take out their King. Then put all our tank prototypes into the Gallipoli battlefield to strive for a quick breakthrough.”
Prime Minister Asquith really didn’t want to bear the infamy of inciting foreign rebellion, but with matters at this point, for the greater good, he seemed to have no choice.
It was just a bit of historical notoriety; if they didn’t do this, they might lose this World War—better infamous than that.
“Alright… I’ll bet on this with you. If the previous Gallipoli Campaign failed, only you personally would roll. But if we bet on inciting Greek rebellion this time and still fail, both you and I are done for.”
Because the bet was escalated, failure wouldn’t stop at sacking one Naval Minister; the Prime Minister would be held accountable and sacked too.
This matter was too big; Asquith had already staked his own future on it.
