Chapter 37: Completely Replaced From Head To Toe
Learn to drive cars, then learn airplanes, and by the way, improve and oversee the production of the Storm Commando Unit’s individual soldier equipment.
Lelouch’s vacation life during this period could be called extremely fulfilling.
Most days he spent in Munich and Nuremberg, worrying about some trivial work. But during that time, he also took a week off to go to the neighboring Duchy of Baden’s DWM Karlsruhe Arms Factory, representing the 6th Army Group to make some minor customization requests to the arms factory—of course, these requests had all been approved by Your Highness the Duke and received the Duke’s approval.
In 1914, the two largest light weapons manufacturers within Germania were Mauser and DWM; the former was responsible for the production of rifles and ammunition, while the latter was responsible for the production of the MG08 heavy machine gun, as well as mortars, grenade launchers, and other equipment and their ammunition.
As for heavier heavy cannons and other equipment, one had to look to Krupp and Rheinmetall in the North; those were all in the Ruhr industrial area, which was beyond Duke Rupprecht’s sphere of influence, so he couldn’t command them. Therefore, development in the field of cannons could only proceed naturally for now.
Lelouch went to the Karlsruhe Arms Factory naturally to custom-order a batch of grenades. The wooden-handled grenades currently used by the German Army had no pre-formed fragments, so their lethality against personnel was quite luck-dependent.
Producing pre-formed fragment pineapple grenades like those in Britain was temporarily difficult and required re-research and development and adjustment of the production line, so it was temporarily impossible—that factory was managed by the Duchy of Baden after all, and the Baria Royal Family couldn’t intervene too deeply.
What Lelouch could do for now was to custom-order a batch of wooden-handled grenades with simple stamped grooves on the casing to create more fragments upon explosion. At the same time, optimize the wooden handle of the grenade so it could be thrown manually or be compatible with the grenade launcher. （This modification wasn’t very difficult, and it was historically achieved after the war）
Weapons like the “grenade launcher” also had a long history in the German Army and could be considered a special type of mortar.
The small grenade launchers had only a 50-millimeter caliber, smaller than the smallest mortars.
The largest could reach 280 millimeters, with the official name “grenade thrower.” The WWII-era SDK251 half-track vehicle had a variant equipped with six 280-millimeter grenade throwers. But the grenade throwers it used actually existed in World War I, called “smoke throwers.” World War II merely made them self-propelled and mounted them on half-track armored cars.
This time, due to the tight schedule, Lelouch didn’t expect to make major improvements to the grenade launcher either.
In actual combat, the precise strike range of this weapon was only between 100 and 500 meters, serving as supplementary firepower between grenades and mortars, which fit perfectly with the Storm Commando Unit’s role.
However, the experiences from World War I and World War II both fully proved that aiming such weapons was much more difficult than with mortars. Mainly because grenade launchers had no base or gun mount and thus couldn’t be pre-leveled, easily introducing extra errors during aiming; they required elite soldiers to use effectively—fortunately, those who could join the Storm Commando Unit were elite troops to begin with.
……
Time flew by to early December.
Early that morning, Lelouch drove back from Thuringia to Munich, with two large trunks on the BMW’s back seat.
Inside were prototype light machine guns and submachine guns trial-made by the Bergmann Company, with several of each.
Using a 20,000-mark BMW to haul goods—probably no one else would do such a thing.
The car was rare to begin with, and passersby on the road all turned to look; seeing the back seat piled full of crates made the head-turning rate soar to 100 percent.
Lelouch drove all the way back to his lodgings, and Immelmann came out to look upon hearing the engine noise. He’d been bored out of his mind these past few days with good food and drink; after Lelouch learned to drive, he drove himself everywhere.
Seeing him, Lelouch cheerfully opened the trunks and pulled out a gun from each side to hand to him:
“MG15 light machine gun, MP15 submachine gun—we deliver as promised. We even custom-made a swivel gun mount for you; just bolt it next to the cockpit then.”
Because there was no gun synchronizer, the current aircraft machine guns definitely couldn’t fire forward, or the bullets would hit the propeller. But the current enemies had no defenses against air combat yet, so such machine guns were sufficient for now.
There would be time next year to add the gun synchronizer.
Immelmann took the machine gun and couldn’t help showing joy as he examined it over and over: “Shall we go to the range to test-fire?”
Lelouch: “Spare me. I drove six hours to Thuringia yesterday and back today—I’m beat.”
The two were chatting when someone walked over and interrupted them: “Captain Lelouch? You’re back. Your Highness the Duke said to go to Neuschwanstein Castle for a banquet tonight and report in person on the preparation of individual soldier equipment—bring everything you need.”
The speaker was the royal steward managing this estate, whom Lelouch had gotten acquainted with recently.
“His Highness is back in Munich too?” Lelouch was a bit surprised upon hearing this. “Got it, I’ll be there on time.”
He thought for a moment: the Duke’s side must have already finalized the operational plan for the Battle of Ypres and wanted to take the last chance before the battle started to come back and reunite with family. Many high-ranking general officers with the means did the same.
So he quickly packed and freshened up, changed into a steel helmet, camouflage uniform, and boots, left Immelmann behind, and drove straight to Neuschwanstein Castle alone—not that he didn’t want to bring his brother along for free food and drink, but the Duke hadn’t invited him.
As for the dress uniform for the banquet, Lelouch was afraid of wrinkling it early, so he folded it neatly in the trunk, planning to change after reporting work.
This was his first time attending a banquet at a royal castle, so he could only try to be neither humble nor arrogant, and not impolite.
……
Neuschwanstein Castle was located in the southwestern suburbs of Munich, requiring over two hours to drive, a snow mountain castle on the Alps.
Many viewers in later generations might not be familiar with this name, but as soon as they saw its shape, they would definitely find it familiar—because the Disney castle was modeled after it, and major anime works in later generations conventionally used Neuschwanstein Castle’s design when depicting castles.
This was a stereotypical impression so ingrained as to be subconscious.
The castle began construction in 1868, took eighteen years, and was completed in 1886, costing a total of six million marks and once exhausting the Baria Royal Family’s privy purse. After completion, it became one of the Royal Family’s main palaces.
Afraid of getting lost and being late, Lelouch set off very early, and the road went smoothly; he actually arrived two hours ahead of the requested time.
The castle guards saw his car and knew he must be a guest highly valued by the Duke; after checking his identification and invitation, they let him in.
“Seems I arrived too early. Might as well report work to the Duke first, then change into formal attire for the banquet.” Thinking this, Lelouch asked the attendant receiving him to help pass the message.
But the attendant said the Duke hadn’t arrived yet, and Lelouch then realized that big shots’ schedules were always tightly packed.
He had no choice but to listlessly return to the waiting room first.
However, as he walked through the front courtyard corridor, he met head-on a boy in luxurious clothing, about fourteen or fifteen years old, who was sizing him up with curious yet defiant eyes.
Unaware of the other’s identity, Lelouch just slightly bowed his head in greeting.
But the boy brazenly looked him up and down: “Hey, what are those dirty rags you’re wearing? So rude—and you’re driving a BMW? What a waste; I don’t even have one.”
Lelouch was stunned and instinctively looked down, only then realizing his camouflage uniform today had been mistaken for “disheveled clothing.”
He was wearing this outfit specifically to let the Duke see the camouflage effect in person.
Since it was customized for the muddy environment of the Ypres battlefield, where there was hardly any vegetation left, Lelouch hadn’t chosen green as the base color but instead used the German Army’s gray uniform base, mixed with quite a few earthy yellow and white patches.
People of this era had never seen camouflage uniforms and at first glance thought he was some mud-covered slob.
Lelouch didn’t know how to explain for a moment, but just then, a slightly older long-haired girl emerged from behind the boy; her hair color was quite strange, probably due to some illness.
The girl was dressed in gothic lace-trimmed finery and was stunned at first glance by Lelouch’s tall, handsome figure. Especially his left eye, deeply reddened from poison gas injury, gave a mysterious aura.
So the girl hurried forward, pulled the boy, and scolded: “Albrecht, you mustn’t be rude to guests! You’re only fifteen; what do you need a car for! Father is doing it for your safety.”
The girl seemed more polite; after scolding a few words, she turned to Lelouch: “You must be my father’s guest? Oh, my father is the Crown Prince. This is my younger brother Albrecht Ferdinand Michael. I am Irmgard Theresa Jose Cecilia Aldegonde.”
Lelouch: “Lelouch Hunter, Captain. I’m here on orders to report work to Your Highness. This special military uniform is just for better battlefield concealment; it’s not filth. Mister Albrecht just misunderstood.”
Cecilia nodded: “My father hasn’t returned yet; perhaps you arrived too early. But if it’s military affairs you need to discuss, you could chat with my great-uncle first. Shall I introduce you?”
Lelouch hesitated: “Wouldn’t that be too presumptuous? I don’t have an appointment after all.”
Cecilia: “No problem. Since retiring two years ago, the old gentleman has been bored stiff and welcomes young officers from the military.”
Lelouch: “Then I’ll gladly accept.”
Cecilia led her brother away, and a few minutes later, a castle servant came to invite Lelouch to another study upstairs.
Lelouch tried to be polite, stepping lightly into the room, where he saw an old man seemingly in his seventies reclining in a chair with eyes closed in rest.
Though the old man’s hair and beard were all white, his skin was still smooth and taut, and his body exuded a sense of strength, with an aura of unspoken authority.
Lelouch’s heart tightened as he suddenly recalled the old man’s identity:
Cecilia called him great-uncle, so he must be Duke Rupprecht’s own uncle and the current King of Baria’s younger brother, Ludwig III.
This old man was the Eastern Front commander-in-chief in the later stages of this World War, Marshal Hindenburg’s successor, and one of the Empire’s only five recipients of the Grand Iron Cross.
In Earth’s history, it was in this old man’s hands that the Lusha Empire on the Eastern Front was utterly crushed.
In terms of military status, this old man outranked his crown prince nephew by quite a bit.
