Chapter 209: Go Spend Your Christmas In The Prisoner Of War Camp
December 25, 1915, 7 PM.
In the city of Silivri, 30 kilometers west of downtown Istanbul and 70 kilometers from the Bosphorus Strait.
Inside the Britannia Expeditionary Force Headquarters, a fairly modest Christmas Dinner had already been prepared.
In this year of great war, they couldn’t go overboard.
General Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, the Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force, a famous general who had made great contributions in both the South African Boer War and the Sudan Mahdi War, had only a Christmas roast goose brushed with honey crisp skin water to eat tonight, plus some large grilled fish fillets made from Black Sea sturgeon, paired with Scotch Whisky.
And he had to share it with his staff officers and adjutants.
Ordinary soldiers got some braised chicken legs or chicken breasts, counting as celebrating Christmas together.
General Ian Hamilton received news that morning that Germanian reinforcements had been spotted trying to cross the dense forest area of the Strandzha Mountains.
The general had already given it full attention and ordered Lieutenant General Hunter-Weston, the corps commander responsible for the Northern Front defenses, to quickly allocate nearby troops to block the gap.
He was still worried that Hunter-Weston’s 8th Corps alone couldn’t handle it, so he also pulled in two divisions from the ANZAC Corps that were conducting the siege, plus the Canadian 3rd Corps, supplementing them with a total of four full strength divisions.
Of course, troop movements and transfers take time. General Hamilton issued the order at 3 PM, and up to now, the two ANZAC Corps divisions and the Canadian 3rd Corps hadn’t budged, reportedly still assembling troops, packing logistics supplies, and loading divisional artillery onto vehicles.
By the time they finished packing, it would take at least five or six hours, so they wouldn’t set off until after finishing Christmas Dinner.
As a result of this delay, by the time they finished Christmas Dinner, they probably wouldn’t need to set off at all.
……
Just as General Hamilton’s adjutant was pouring Scotch Whisky into the commander-in-chief’s glass, the phone on the table emitted a harsh ring.
The adjutant was still pouring, so another staff officer hurriedly got up to answer. After a few ums and ahs in response, his face suddenly changed dramatically.
“What’s going on?” General Ian Hamilton, his mood disturbed, took a sip of single malt whisky, frowned, and set down his glass.
What a buzzkill.
“Germanians’ tank division has already pushed to west of Tekirdag, cutting to the Sea of Marmara coast. Our western retreat route has been severed…”
With a crisp “clang,” General Ian Hamilton’s hand shook, knocking over his whisky glass and sweeping a silver fork off the plate, making a mess on the floor.
The general licked his lips, swallowed hard, and then asked in disbelief: “You’re saying we’ve been encircled?!”
The staff officer also felt his lips parched, licking them lightly with his tongue to moisten them before hoarsely confirming:
“Yes… but we can still breakout. The enemy forces reaching the Sea of Marmara coast aren’t many yet, just like last year when they rushed to the sea—the initial troops reaching the coast weren’t many either. We might still extinguish them and reconnect the railway to the Gallipoli Peninsula…”
By the end, the staff officer was incoherent, completely unaware of how inappropriate his example was.
The adjutant who had been pouring for General Hamilton reacted and hurriedly nudged the staff officer with his elbow to shut him up.
The staff officer then realized: what kind of terrible examples had he just used!
What did he mean by “like last year when the enemy rushed to the sea—the initial troops reaching the coast weren’t many”?
General Hamilton’s face grew increasingly ashen, and he gave a bitter, self-mocking laugh: “Heh, in last year’s Rush to the Sea campaign, the Germanians’ initial force reaching the coast was indeed just one cavalry reconnaissance company and one communications platoon.
But they created a miracle, holding out until an entire regiment of reinforcements arrived at the coast, and in the end, they stubbornly annihilated three Belgian divisions, wiping them out completely. This time, who knows what kind of enemy it is, reacting so quickly.
Traversing 60 kilometers of Strandzha Mountains dense forest in a day and a night, then pushing forward another 80 kilometers on the plains… that’s 140 kilometers of advance in 24 hours? Is that a speed human armies can achieve? What’s the enemy’s designation? Who’s the commander?”
These details hadn’t been scouted yet, so the staff officer couldn’t answer and had to radio the front line again.
No choice, the enemy had come too fast—from discovering the enemy attack last night to now learning they’d cut to the coast, less than 20 hours had passed, and many in the British Army were still dazed.
Everyone lost their appetite, letting the Christmas Dinner go cold.
After truly inquiring and fussing for one or two hours, until the fat on the roast goose had re-congealed into white frost, reliable confirmation finally arrived.
“Report to the commander! The enemy’s designation is the 6th Army Group’s armored division and the Greater Germania Armored Training Division! The commander is Brigadier General Lelouch Ritter von Hunter. Follow-up includes two Germanian corps surging through that gap, now deployed on the line from Tekirdag to Kirklareli.”
“Lelouch Hunter?! Him again?” General Ian Hamilton couldn’t help but feel a chill from deep within,
“I remember intelligence said: during last year’s Rush to the Sea, he was in that earliest Germanians cavalry company and communications platoon that cut to the coast. Later, organizing the Germanians’ first airborne assault to seize the Dunkirk coastal defense battery—that was him too. Sure enough, it’s him again today…”
General Ian Hamilton naturally had his morale suppressed even before the battle started, as if bloodline-suppressed by Lelouch’s “verifiable historical record.”
That was the top “Britannia-killer expert” within the Germanians.
The Expeditionary Force headquarters in Silivri fell silent for a moment, deathly quiet.
The opponent had planned a terrifying operation to end the Expeditionary Force once before—could he be about to end the Expeditionary Force again this time?
“What do we do now?”
This heavy question finally weighed on everyone’s heart.
“Have the 1st Corps, 2nd Corps, and ANZAC Corps conducting the siege all turn around and launch a counterattack toward Tekirdag tomorrow! Attempt to break through the enemy’s newly established blockade line. Have the Italian Legion counterattack Kirklareli from the north to pin down enemy forces.
The 5th Corps and 6th Corps maintain feints against Istanbul to prevent the Ottoman Army inside Istanbul from discovering our rear is cut and counterattacking. If the Ottomans dare to act blindly, have the 5th and 6th Corps teach them a lesson; if we can annihilate the sortieing Ottoman Army, we can then counterattack Istanbul opportunistically!
Additionally, have the 8th Corps and Canadian Army outside the encirclement immediately attack from behind the enemy blockade line. Meanwhile, have the 3rd and 4th Corps in Greece leave two divisions to defend Athens, the Isthmus of Corinth, the Delphi Isthmus, and other areas; the rest withdraw to Thessaloniki immediately…
No! No need for Thessaloniki—have them board ships at Piraeus Port near Athens, then cross the Aegean Sea by sea route to land directly on the Gallipoli Peninsula and reinforce us from the flank and rear!”
After calming down, General Ian Hamilton immediately issued orders, setting the entire allied force of over 600,000 men in motion—whether the total 220,000 outside the encirclement or the 430,000 inside, all prioritizing breakout as the immediate goal.
Additionally, he urgently wired Admiral Sackville Carden, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, hoping the Royal Navy would pull through for the brothers again, at least ensuring the sea transport line between the Gallipoli Peninsula and Greece remained secure.
The Expeditionary Force’s crisis was reported first thing to London, scaring Prime Minister Asquith, Minister Walton, Minister Lloyd George, and others into a cold sweat.
The Army and Navy Ministries had no choice but to cooperate sincerely and exert every effort to rescue the Expeditionary Force. All of Britannia Domestic was shaken.
The morning after Christmas, even George V, who rarely concerned himself with specific military affairs, summoned Prime Minister Asquith and the other two key ministers to Buckingham Palace and solemnly inquired:
“I never interfere in government affairs, but lately I’ve heard of many dramatic changes on the Southeast European battlefield. I want to know what exactly has happened to the Empire’s Army and Navy.”
Prime Minister Asquith broke out in a cold sweat: “Your Majesty, it is we who are incompetent. Please rest assured, Your Majesty—we will definitely rescue the Expeditionary Force this time.”
Afterward, Prime Minister Asquith ordered General Edmund Allenby in Greece, Lieutenant General Hunter-Weston in Edirne, and Admiral Sackville Carden of the Mediterranean Fleet to cooperate fully and rescue Commander-in-Chief Ian Hamilton’s troops.
……
Starting from the morning of December 26, fierce breakout battles erupted along the 80-kilometer defense line from Kirklareli to Tekirdag.
Lelouch’s division of 40,000 men, plus the two elite full strength corps of 110,000 he brought, totaling 150,000 troops, were deployed straightforwardly along the 80-kilometer line, with trenches and fortifications not fully complete.
They stubbornly held against over 70,000 from the east and nearly 300,000 from the west in a pincer attack.
Though the enemy claimed 430,000 inside the encirclement and over 200,000 outside, they couldn’t all engage immediately. The Ottoman Army in Istanbul could pin down at least 100,000+, and over 100,000 in Greece would take at least 3-5 days to reach the battlefield.
Perhaps some readers wonder: didn’t Lelouch bring 270,000 troops total? Why only 150,000 on the front?
That’s because another understrength Germanian corps and two Ollie corps had previously been positioned north of the Edirne plain in the western section of the former Bulgaria-Austria border, feigning an attack to draw the attention of British Army Northern Front defense commander Lieutenant General Hunter-Weston. That force accounted for 120,000 men.
After the British Army fully shifted to pincer breakout, pressure on Lelouch surged, and Lieutenant General Kusmanek of Austria responsible for the plains north of Edirne inevitably sent a secret wire requesting instructions:
Whether his troops should detour north of Edirne to north of Kirklareli, then follow the same route Officer Lelouch had taken, crossing the mountain forests into Kirklareli to assist in defense.
But Lelouch rejected Kusmanek’s request, telling him not to worry and to proceed with the original plan. If his opposing enemy, Lieutenant General Hunter-Weston, erred amid the chaos by diverting large forces east for the pincer, then Kusmanek could opportunistically launch an active offensive in the Edirne direction.
This tactic might seem hard to grasp at first, but compare it to Earth’s 1940 Frankish campaign—after Manstein’s planned surprise force crossed the Ardennes for the flank, von Bock’s Army Group facing the Belgians could naturally cooperate in the offensive, crushing the enemy together.
Lieutenant General Kusmanek’s 120,000 men were originally a feint to attract enemy attention. But if the enemy opposite panicked and withdrew large forces, the feint could flexibly turn into a real main attack anytime.
In the end, it became all forces as main attacks, no feints.
After hearing Lelouch’s instructions, Lieutenant General Kusmanek was fired up—he had done this once before in the Kyiv campaign, when Officer Lelouch successfully flanked, causing the enemy front to collapse and retreat in large strides.
And whenever that happened, the troops originally sitting in the center of the confrontation line, sticking to the enemy, could naturally switch to offense.
Thus, on December 26, Lelouch stubbornly held out the whole day with his 150,000 men.
Britannians from east and west surged like tides toward the incomplete Germanians defense line; many sectors hadn’t even dug full trenches, only foxholes and temporary gun emplacements.
But the Germania Army held firm with ample MG08 heavy machine gun emplacements, plus the flexibly mobile armored division and half-track mechanized infantry regiment ready to reinforce and plug gaps, staunchly resisting the British Army’s desperate charges.
Moreover, after weathering the first wave, Lelouch felt the pressure wasn’t that great. Because many charging enemies had gradually shifted from Britannian soldiers to relatively weaker Canadian, ANZAC, and Italian troops.
In this plane, there might be no Somme campaign, but scenes like Earth’s Somme were playing out here.
While resisting to the death, Lelouch still used his usual tricks—dropping leaflets or radio psyops—propagandizing “the enemy general who annihilated you at Dunkirk last time is back.”
The British Army’s desperate charges stalled, and morale quickly wavered. Officers could only desperately maintain morale, ordering soldiers not to believe rumors.
But too many soldiers were mowed down in the assaults; eventually, they refused to believe, and rumors spread fiercer. Many ordinary soldiers knew the enemy had a general who was a “Britannia-killer expert”—no Britannian survived escaping his grasp.
At this point, officers had no choice but to lead charges personally, because soldiers wouldn’t believe otherwise.
The end result: officers and infantry fell in swathes on the desperate breakout charge path.
On December 26 alone, over 60,000 breakout soldiers died before the Germania Army’s blockade line west of Tekirdag to Kirklareli, surpassing the record set by Earth plane butcher Hegge.
And that wasn’t all—being a pincer from both sides, not only the eastern breakout forces charged, but the western relief forces did too. But the relief forces didn’t charge as desperately or costly, and with fewer numbers, their casualties were lighter: just over 10,000 lost in the whole day.
The two pincer forces combined achieved the grim feat of over 80,000 battle deaths in one day.
On December 27, just as Lieutenant General Hunter-Weston’s relief force in western Edirne was nearing exhaustion, Lieutenant General Kusmanek of the Austrian Army struck from behind.
Lieutenant General Kusmanek used hundreds of cannons for fire preparation, rapidly bombarding for over an hour before dawn, then launched charges with two corps of the Austrian 3rd Army Group.
Under normal conditions, Ollie troops’ combat effectiveness was absolutely inferior to Lieutenant General Hunter-Weston’s British Army. But Weston’s troops were now over half casualties, exhausted, and severely depleted.
Plus, completely unprepared for his northern base to be backstabbed while he desperately rescued eastern allies, in one day, Lieutenant General Hunter-Weston’s sortie base of Edirne city was overrun by Lieutenant General Kusmanek.
Large amounts of supplies for Lieutenant General Hunter-Weston’s troops suffered severe shortages as the forward logistics base was taken.
The most obvious was that after the 27th’s fighting, by the 28th, Lieutenant General Weston had few shells left; his cannons had to reduce firing frequency.
And more miserably, if Weston ignored it and let his troops continue consuming, he himself might get slowly enveloped by the even further west Lieutenant General Kusmanek.
Because theoretically, Lieutenant General Kusmanek had the strength to do it again, cutting to the Sea of Marmara coast or at least the Aegean coast at the root of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Then, the British Army would face multi-layered sandwich dumplings—or rather, dumplings turning into sandwiches.
Farthest west: British Army General Edmund Allenby returning from Greece,
Second layer west: Ollie’s Kusmanek,
Third layer west: Hunter-Weston,
Fourth layer west （ third layer from east ）: Lelouch Hunter,
Second layer east: Ian Hamilton,
Farthest east outer layer: von Zanders and Kemmel’s Istanbul garrison troops.
The entire battle situation would become a six-layer alternating enemy-ally sandwich from east to west.
Hunter-Weston finally panicked; he didn’t want to be one of the sandwich layers, so as Kusmanek slowly advanced south about to cut his rear road, he chose to abandon his superior and flee.
The remnants of Britain’s 8th Corps and Canadian Army fled west from west of Tekirdag, attempting to withdraw into Greece.
But he didn’t expect every move to be seen by Germanians aerial reconnaissance, so Lelouch quickly realized Weston couldn’t save the allies and wanted to run.
Lelouch handed the task of holding Ian Hamilton temporarily to his army group’s two corps commanders, while he himself took the Greater Germania Armored Division to pursue Hunter-Weston again.
Weston miscalculated again; he didn’t expect Lelouch, still under pincer attack, to have reserves for counter-pursuit. Thus, Weston’s heavy artillery units failed to withdraw and were all captured by the pursuers.
Moreover, when fleeing, Weston had his 8th Corps main units withdraw first as “breakout vanguard,” leaving the Canadian Army to rear guard.
The result: when Lelouch launched the pursuit, the rear-guarding Canadian Army was annihilated, wiped out due to Lieutenant General Weston’s betrayal.
Over 40,000 Lord Canna’s men were thus senselessly slaughtered on the road withdrawing to Greece, corpses strewn over dozens of kilometers.
Only Weston’s own British 8th Corps barely had some remnants escape to Greece.
At this point, the Expeditionary Force main force between Tekirdag and Istanbul had thoroughly lost any hope of breakout.
