Chapter 2: One Company Holding Off Three Divisions, The Advantage Is Still Ours!
Under Captain Andri’s instructions, several soldiers immediately led Lelouch and Klose to a cellar beside the mill ruins.
The cellar door had been deliberately smashed open with a hole, and a cable ran out from the hole, connecting to an antenna resembling a clothes rack.
When he transmigrated, he more or less inherited some subconscious instincts and skills from the body’s original owner, who had originally been a technical NCO in communications.
So he merely glanced at the antenna and casually asked the guiding soldier: “Your company’s equipment is also the F08 miniature radio?”
The guiding soldier opened the cellar door while casting an admiring glance: “Indeed professional enough.”
Lelouch wasted no words and quickly entered the cellar, heading straight to operate the radio.
This type of radio had a power of less than 50 watts, and its effective transmission range should be between 10~50 kilometers—
This number was never fixed, as weather and day-night cycles would affect the atmospheric ionosphere.
The transmission distance at night would be several times farther than during the day, and clear weather would be farther than rainy or snowy weather.
It was now afternoon, but the weather was clear, and the relative terrain here was high, so it was estimated they could contact friendly forces within 20 kilometers.
The German Army in 1914 had very few radio allocations, generally only down to regimental level. The battalions and companies below had to rely on horseback couriers for military orders. However, Captain Andri’s was a reconnaissance company, needing to promptly pass the latest enemy intelligence to the rear, so it was equipped with higher specs.
Lelouch tapped the telegraph key frantically until it smoked; he didn’t even bother with excessive encryption of the content, merely adding some identification codes to prove the sender’s identity.
“Reconnaissance Company of the 12th Division reports: Extremely urgent! Our unit has discovered Belgian troops setting up demolition facilities on the dams downstream of the Yser River! The dams could be blown up at any moment! All troops that have already crossed to the North Bank must immediately abandon all non-essential equipment and assemble at Nieuwpoort Town at maximum speed! Repeat, assemble at Nieuwpoort and hold firm!
All friendly forces that have not yet crossed the river, absolutely do not drag heavy cannons and supply trains into the low-lying areas along the river! Absolutely seek high ground nearby for relocation! All low-lying areas within ten kilometers on both banks of the Yser River could be flooded! Please have Division Headquarters quickly contact reconnaissance aircraft for close supplementary reconnaissance…”
Lelouch didn’t even draft it first; the telegram wording was very blunt, as straightforward as possible—he was practically racing against the Grim Reaper.
If anyone else were reviewing his telegram at that moment, these words would never have gone out.
But with the communications platoon leader killed in action and the reconnaissance company commander busy resisting the French Army, a mere corporal was left to do as he pleased.
The signal floated across the sky, through the fields, instantly covering a radius of twenty kilometers.
……
At the same moment, in the fields about seven or eight kilometers southeast of the town, the regimental headquarters of the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 12th Division, which had just crossed the Yser River not long ago, received Lelouch’s warning telegram via a backpack radio receiver.
German communications officers were always highly efficient; the cryptographer quickly delivered the decrypted telegram to Colonel Lister, the regimental commander.
“Colonel! Urgent military intelligence from the division’s reconnaissance company!”
Colonel Lister was a stern middle-aged man nearing fifty. He grabbed the telegram paper, clipped on his monocle, and after just one glance, he shuddered.
His mind raced as he stood frozen for a few seconds, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead one after another, as if making a painful decision.
Ten seconds later, he took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and said: “Have the foremost three battalions gather horses to pull a few 77mm field guns; abandon all other heavy cannons on the spot! Concentrate the 77mm shells!
Abandon all the tents in the supplies too, and ditch the field kitchens! Keep only three days’ worth of military rations; discard the rest! Advance at full running speed! Shoot anyone who lags behind!
You few, keep a few horses and carts, stay here with the radio to guard the abandoned supplies, and wait for formal orders from Division Headquarters! If there’s no supplemental order from Division in half an hour, or if the flood arrives, catch up quickly!”
The entire regiment immediately descended into chaos.
Fortunately, Germanics always executed military orders without question; within a few short minutes, the soldiers cleared out over a hundred heavy wagons.
All the draft horses originally used to tow supplies were now used to carry men.
Only a small group of soldiers ordered by the regimental commander to temporarily stay behind and guard the abandoned supplies remained in place with the radio.
Abandon heavy cannons, break the cauldrons and sink the boats, burn the tents, carry three days’ rations, whole army advances running.
Similar scenes repeatedly occurred within twenty kilometers of Nieuwpoort Town.
Some regiments acted decisively, some hesitated.
Some regiments acted immediately, some still needed to request instructions from Division Headquarters.
……
Soon, Division Headquarters of the 12th Infantry Division also received the telegram; after the cryptographer handed it to Major General Karl Lutwidge, the major general gave it a brief scan and immediately took it seriously.
“If there’s no flood, we can recover the equipment later; even with some losses, it’s acceptable. But if there really is a flood, the whole division might not drown entirely, but the heavy equipment will definitely be 100% lost, and it won’t be possible to reach Nieuwpoort Town anymore…”
Major General Karl frowned tightly and had someone quickly bring a military map, which he scanned fiercely.
His gaze swept back and forth between Ostend to the east of Nieuwpoort and Dunkirk to the west, even using a ruler to measure distances.
Finally, he painfully slammed the marching tabletop: “The Belgians should know that if our entire division infiltrates to Nieuwpoort and cuts the Coastal Highway, their whole army is doomed! It seems they really might do such a thing!
Immediately order the whole division to take it seriously and draft a formal order following the reconnaissance company’s warning content! Additionally, send a telegram to Army Group Headquarters requesting nearby emergency dispatch of reconnaissance aircraft for strict supplementary reconnaissance of both banks downstream of the Nieuwpoort River!”
Major General Karl’s orders were deployed methodically; his division headquarters was still over twenty kilometers from Nieuwpoort and hadn’t yet entered the low-lying areas south of the Yser River, so there was no worry of being flooded after the water was released.
For now, he could only temporarily halt the advance and observe the situation; it wouldn’t matter if it took one or two more hours anyway.
……
Lelouch’s telegram could potentially be intercepted by nearby Franks or Belgians.
But on the chaotic battlefield, even if the enemy intercepted the intelligence, they would take a bit more time to decipher it than their own side, even without full encryption. After deciphering, they might not believe it, or dismiss it as deliberate enemy propaganda to shake morale.
In the final stage of the “Race to the Sea” campaign, both sides were at the end of their strength, thoroughly interspersed and disorganized; the battlefield chaos greatly reduced communication efficiency.
There was also a lack of communication between the Franks and Belgians. Whether the Belgians were preparing to blow the dams was a secret they decided themselves; the Franks couldn’t know.
So it was perfectly normal for the enemy to realize the problem an hour or even two hours later than their own side.
Lelouch never expected to prevent the enemy from intercepting it; creating a time difference was enough.
After sending and receiving the telegrams, he tidied up his wording and handed the record draft to Andri, who had just finished commanding another small battle:
“Captain, I’ve already broadcast the warning to nearby friendly forces; the 16th Regiment has replied, saying they’re seven to eight kilometers from us and have begun advancing light.
They also said they’ve requested instructions from Division Headquarters, and Division has approved their adaptability. So our suggestion has been formally endorsed from above.”
Andri anxiously checked his watch: “How much longer until Regimental Commander Lister arrives here?”
Lelouch: “They’ve already crossed the river and accelerated. Even if the Belgian Army realizes the change and immediately blows the dams to release the water, by the time it reaches their feet, I estimate they’ll be just two or three kilometers from here.
They can wade the last stretch on foot and make it; it won’t drown anyone, at most some supplies lost.”
Andri breathed a slight sigh of relief: “Even if the whole division can’t arrive, if Colonel Lister’s regiment makes it, we’ll still have the capital to fight on.
The Franks only arrived at De Panne, seven kilometers west of us, from Dunkirk to the west this morning. The Franks attacking the town now all set out from De Panne.
The enemy’s numbers are dozens of times ours, but they also have to arrive at the front line bit by bit, forming piecemeal attacks. With one regiment, we might hold!”
Andri’s analysis also eased Lelouch’s mind.
The Race to the Sea campaign was indeed fought in such chaos. Both enemy and friendly forces were racing against time and life, desperately dashing north in outflanking maneuvers. Each side’s troops were stretched into a long serpent formation by the frantic rush.
A division might stretch over a dozen kilometers; when the first regiment of that division engaged, the last regiment might still be half a day’s march from the battlefield.
Not only the German Army and French Army, but the Belgian Army retreating from Antwerp was even more so.
They seemed to have three divisions, but only the vanguard of the first division was just reaching Nieuwpoort, while the third division hadn’t even arrived at Ostend twenty kilometers to the east.
Seeing Lelouch had recovered, Andri handed him the rifle placed on the ground nearby: “If you don’t need to contact superiors anymore, take your platoon to join the defense, or check if your platoon’s other NCOs have woken up. Our defensive pressure is mounting.”
As he spoke, sporadic artillery shell explosions sounded from afar again, and the machine gun fire hadn’t let up much either; clearly everyone was fighting hard.
Lelouch looked at the rifle in his hand, feeling that as a technical NCO and military enthusiast transmigrator, doing infantry work was a waste of his abilities; he could clearly change more.
Moreover, he’d only transmigrated a few hours ago and hadn’t fully adapted. Life was only one; better to avoid directly facing bullets if possible.
So he racked his brains and quickly came up with another idea, immediately volunteering:
“Captain, I think staying in the telegraph room, I can contribute more to the campaign. You don’t lack one more infantryman no matter how tough it gets.”
Andri raised an eyebrow, about to reprimand him, but considering Lelouch had just accomplished something major, he gave him one more chance: “Then spit it out!”
Lelouch: “I can eavesdrop on nearby enemy shortwave plaintext telegrams to see their reactions, and maybe deduce if they’ve changed plans, like wanting to blow the dams early.
Right… we could even consider, when necessary, sending plaintext broadcast warnings in French to surrounding Belgian village towns! Let the innocent locals evacuate in advance!
Once the Belgians blow the dams, over a dozen kilometers north-south along the river and nearly a hundred kilometers east-west of land will be flooded to varying degrees. Even if it doesn’t drown people, it will destroy over a dozen village towns.
These Belgian civilians are innocent! They are also victims of their military’s actions!”
Andri was stunned upon hearing this, not because he thought it wrong, but because it didn’t match his earlier impression of Lelouch’s character:
“Are you serious? It does align with a soldier’s sense of honor, but do you really care about these civilians’ lives?”
Lelouch spoke rapidly: “What I think doesn’t matter! The key is this benefits not just humanity, but also militarily!
If we don’t broadcast the warning, it’ll all become a mess later! The enemy might slander that our bombardment destroyed the dams; with the battlefield so chaotic, there’s no proof against the dead!
Civilians and even ordinary soldiers mostly don’t understand military strategy. Nor do they know who benefits more from the dams being blown; they’ll believe their own side’s propaganda and hate us more!
But if we seize this opportunity to publicize our humanity, and even have friendly forces, while advancing light northbound, incidentally rescue some local innocent civilians to evacuate the lowlands together, these people could become witnesses to our soldiers’ honor in the future! This could lower enemy morale—
If those Belgian soldiers fleeing from the east learn their generals blew the dams drowning their own compatriots, while we rescue theirs, will their resolve for desperate breakout remain firm? Will they waver more when considering surrender?”
Captain Andri was utterly dumbfounded by Lelouch’s chain of deductions.
Admittedly, compared to Easterners, German officers were downright childish in using propaganda, psychological warfare, and rumors.
Lelouch casually pulling out bits from the twenty-four histories and military strategy he’d read in his previous life already left these straightforward officers in awe.
Andri swallowed hard and said with difficulty: “Then… when do you plan to send it? Too soon, might it provoke the Belgians to blow the dams immediately?”
Lelouch: “Not soon! I still need you to provide a few soldiers fluent in Frankish or Netherlandic as assistants! I first have to translate the broadcast telegram into foreign languages before sending! Translation will take at least half an hour!”
Andri gritted his teeth: “Alright, no matter how great the defensive pressure, we can spare two or three men! I’ll find the translators! You focus on hiding in the basement to translate and send! We’ll handle the fighting above!
Corporal Lelouch, I think you’re no ordinary NCO; even without military academy, you must’ve gone to university, right?”
Lelouch recalled this body’s resume and admitted frankly: “You guessed right; I’m actually a citizen of the Ollie Empire, but also Germanic tribe.
I was top in math across the whole school since childhood; I just graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts Architecture Department in July, and was about to job hunt when war broke out. I dislike the ethnic mixing in the Ollie Army, so I crossed the border to enlist in Germania’s Baria Kingdom.”
“No wonder your brain works so well.” Captain Andri suddenly felt it all made sense. “With your specialty, you should be in engineering troops, not communications; whoever in enlistment rated you a corporal really underutilized your talent.”
