Chapter 71: Return To The Front Line, Assault Dunkirk
Two flowers bloom, each branch tells its own story.
While Hipper contacted Count Spee and arranged for the 2nd Battleship Squadron to come circuitously to the Belgian sea area.
Lelouch also returned to the Dunkirk Front Line and reported all his preparations over the past half month to Duke Rupprecht.
The Duke was very satisfied with his work, told him to prepare for battle with peace of mind, and said that friendly forces had made considerable progress in the siege recently, needing only the final push.
Lelouch then returned to his troops, checked the training of the paratroopers, and made final pre-war adjustments and break-in.
At the same time, he needed to synchronize information and clearly understand how friendly forces had been fighting during the half month he was away, as well as changes in the front-line enemy situation and the comparison of enemy and friendly strengths.
……
The perspective shifts to the Dunkirk siege battlefield, and the timeline backtracks half a month.
From early February, the Germania Army had been gradually eroding the outer defense zone of Dunkirk Port. At that time, the German Army vanguard was still more than 20 kilometers from the city area.
Inside Dunkirk City, the Belgian Expeditionary Force 3rd Corps was initially defending. This corps was the first to be mauled in the German 6th Group’s “West Pincer” advance, so it was pulled back to the rear Dunkirk for relief.
Besides the 3rd Corps, the previously mauled Belgian Cavalry Corps and an additional 2 divisions were also placed in this defense zone.
However, with continuous consumption, the 3rd Corps was almost wiped out, and with their corps commander even brought before a military court, the troops’ morale was extremely low. Finally, the Belgian Army Ministry made a decision:
Starting February 3, the mauled Belgian 3rd Corps and Cavalry Corps 2nd Cavalry Division were withdrawn back home for reorganization and replenishment of personnel.
With a corps and a division withdrawn from the front line, corresponding troops naturally had to be sent to fill the line.
So the Belgian Army Ministry sent the Belgian 4th Corps, which was in training and newly formed not long ago, to the front line—this corps historically was not committed to the Battle of Ypres but was a new corps hastily assembled under the circumstances. It consisted of the Belgian 29th Division and 20,000 new recruits from the ANZAC Corps.
Besides the newly formed 4th Corps, the Belgian Army Ministry also brought in the 13th Division “Bombay Division” of the Indian colonial army from South Asia, about 12,000 men, and committed them to Dunkirk.
In other words, starting from early February, the Dunkirk garrison had been replaced with a new batch. The previously mauled and unsustainable troops had been withdrawn, replaced by 18,000 domestic new recruits + 12,000 South Asian new recruits + 20,000 from the ANZAC Corps second wave, totaling 50,000 men. Plus several thousand remnants of the additional 1st Division that had always stayed there.
These 50,000 new recruits were historically supposed to be the first landing troops for the Gallipoli Campaign in April-May of this year, sent by Naval Minister Walton to the Dardanelles Strait to fight the Ottomans.
Obviously, due to the increasing pressure from the Battle of Ypres, the escalation of the meat grinder on both sides, Britain could only pull up these 50,000 men intended for subsequent campaigns to fill the line.
On February 6, when the relief was complete, the garrison in greater Dunkirk（ (including Dunkirk suburbs and counties) and De Panne） across the Franco-Belgian border river totaled nearly 60,000 men.
With this reinforcement of over 50,000, plus previous reinforcements, Britain’s total committed force in the Battle of Ypres had increased from 190,000 at the start of the campaign to 250,000—of course, on February 6, the soldiers still alive and remaining in the war zone numbered only 180,000.
That is, from the start of the Battle of Ypres on December 20 to February 6, in a month and a half, 70,000 British Army and colonial troops had been killed, died of wounds, or withdrawn as wounded soldiers back home.
This number did not yet include the losses of the French Army assisting in the fighting.
By February 15, when Lelouch returned from the rear and rejoined the paratrooper troops training at the front line for break-in, the total British Army personnel inside the encirclement had further dropped to about 160,000. That is, in the just-passed 10 days, the British Army had added 20,000 casualties, with cumulative total losses reaching 90,000.
The German Army losses were of course not small either. In this stage of assault and stalemate warfare, even though the German Army was more elite, with no fancy tricks available, the attackers were definitely at a clear disadvantage.
In the final 10 days of assault, German Army casualties also approached 20,000, and the total casualties from previous stages were just over 20,000.
In total, up to now, the losses of the German and British sides in the Battle of Ypres were 40,000 to 90,000.
Considering the nature of World War I combat, and that the German Army was the attacker, this exchange ratio was actually already fought very well. The key to truly widening the loss gap between the two sides still lay in whether they could finish eating the dumplings in the end.
As long as the dumplings were eaten, the final losses on both sides might be 50,000 to over 200,000, a four-to-fivefold exchange ratio.
Including French Army losses, the total exchange ratio could reach over sixfold, one of the most brilliantly fought campaigns since the start of the World War.
Only Marshal Hindenburg’s Tannenberg Victory + Masurian Lakes campaign on the Eastern Front had a more exaggerated exchange ratio—but Hindenburg fought against the soft underbelly cannon-fodder Lusha Army, while here on the Western Front it was against the British-French allied elite forces; the enemy’s elite level was not comparable.
Killing and consuming enemy personnel was not the most critical; in the last 10 days before Lelouch arrived at the battlefield, the German Army’s main progress was in breakthroughs against the British Army defense line.
In 10 days, the German Army advanced an average of about 10 kilometers. In the west of Dunkirk City, they had advanced to only 5-6 kilometers from the coastline. Even in the east near the port area, the farthest was less than 10 kilometers.
The British Army personnel in greater Dunkirk also sharply dropped from over 50,000 ten days ago to 37,000-38,000, with over 10,000 casualties in 10 days; both sides went all out in extremely bloody fighting.
The reason the German Army could still achieve steady advances before such a fortified city was mainly thanks to the siege heavy cannons.
Starting February 5, 280mm railway guns had been widely committed to the assault, initially concentrating five or six, increasing to ten after February 10. In the recent two months, Krupp Company had invested massive production capacity into the railway gun project, even temporarily halting large-caliber naval gun production, and massively converting semi-finished naval gun barrels into railway guns.
The 380mm “Big Mark type” railway gun converted from the Baria-class battleship main gun remained low-key and unexposed. Because 280mm railway guns were sufficient for the siege, exposing a few 380mm guns might alert the enemy, which would not be conducive to subsequent operations.
The German Army reconnaissance aircraft aviation team led by Major Immelmann also heavily suppressed British Army reconnaissance aircraft in air superiority operations, cumulatively shooting down dozens of enemy airplanes. With the air reconnaissance advantage, German Army railway guns received aerial spotting and correction bonuses, delivering devastating strikes against the British Army’s solid fortresses and fire points south of Dunkirk City.
Later, with the establishment of absolute air superiority and reconnaissance dominance, the German Army even transported the 4 “Big Bertha” 420mm siege howitzers used in the Liège Fortress campaign last August by train to the Dunkirk Front Line, using them alongside the 280mm railway guns for the siege.
Although the “Big Bertha” 420mm had a relatively short range of only 12 kilometers, the enemy lacked indirect fire control and aerial reconnaissance, making it hard to detect “Big Bertha,” so the usage risk was controllable. Even if within the enemy’s long-range heavy cannon counterfire range, as long as the position wasn’t discovered, they couldn’t counter.
……
“So, the current situation is like this: there are about 30,000 enemy troops defending inside the city, and 7,000-8,000 more in De Panne across the river?
Meanwhile, our siege troops have increased to 2 corps and 6 divisions, with over 90,000 men currently conducting the siege? The closest point has approached to 5-6 kilometers from the sea, and the slowest advance is only 10 kilometers left. The enemy’s outer positions have all been broken through, and we’ve killed our way to the edge of the city area? Is that right?”
After returning to the troops, Lelouch got an update from Deputy Battalion Commander Rommel on friendly forces’ progress during his absence. After understanding, he finally confirmed thus.
Because airborne operations were very dangerous, for this drop, Duke Rupprecht did not allow Lelouch to personally lead the airdrop into the encirclement, nor von Bock, as he worried it would be hard to explain to Chief of Staff Falkenhayn if von Bock had an accident.
So the final discussion result was to have 3rd Assault Battalion Deputy Battalion Commander Major Rommel as the front-line commander, leading 2,000 submachine gunners and flamethrower engineers to drop into the heavy encirclement to seize the enemy’s giant cannon coastal defense forts.
Since Rommel was the direct person responsible for the final airborne operation, Lelouch also had to confirm the enemy and friendly situation with him, to ensure Rommel had confidence to execute this most dangerous task.
Rommel confirmed the officer’s summary: “Pretty much, but I need to add one point: the so-called ‘30,000 troops garrisoned in the city’ only includes the enemy’s army. But there are also British Navy sailors in the port area who sometimes come ashore overnight, and guarding the coastal defense gun fortress are Frankish navy—
The French Army initially handed Dunkirk’s city defenses to the British Army but did not leave their own equipment; those coastal defense fortress guns couldn’t be moved, and the British Army wasn’t familiar with operating them. These two parts add up to several thousand men.”
Lelouch finally looked at the map several times, then silently rolled it up, while discussing with Rommel:
“Then, if we take out the coastal defense forts on the north and south sides of Dunkirk Port according to that plan, eliminating the coastal defense guns that pose the greatest threat to our railway guns and Big Bertha, how long do you think it will take for our outer two corps of friendly forces to rush in and link up with us? Are there any other current bottlenecks?”
Rommel thought for a moment, frowned in analysis: “Given the determination of those generals above, previously advancing 1-2 kilometers per day was definitely possible; faster would depend on their resolve. In the first half month, the top was cautious attacking to control casualties. If they really go all out, doubling the speed isn’t impossible.
So in the fastest case, after the coastal defense forts are taken, friendly forces might take 48 hours to push to the sea, quicker could be 24 hours—there’s also a variable we can’t assess, which is changes in enemy morale.
Is it possible that when the enemy sees our forces descending from the sky and suddenly achieving major results, putting them in a position of being attacked from front and rear, their morale will collapse? If chain panic and surrenders occur, the progress could accelerate greatly.
If the enemy remains calm even after their rear forts are stealthily taken, then we really need to mentally prepare to hold the forts in place for an average of 30 hours after seizing them.”
Lelouch thought about it and felt Rommel’s view was a bit conservative. If the enemy suffered such a major setback, how could their morale be completely unaffected and not collapse?
Of course, Rommel didn’t know how great the shock of the airborne drop would be to the enemy; assuming the worst for the enemy wasn’t wrong.
Sometimes underestimating the enemy too much leads to blunders like “Market Garden,” assuming “airborne to enemy rear to seize key nodes will panic and collapse the enemy,” but if the enemy holds firm, then the paratroopers who jumped face the “distant bridge.”
After much deliberation, Lelouch finally encouraged Rommel: “But things have come to this; we’ve prepared nearly 20 days for humanity’s first airborne operation, with all sides mobilizing so much—it’s impossible to cancel. War has no certainties; I firmly believe the French Army and British Army’s will to fight is inferior to ours! I believe that after landing, we can deliver absolute shock to the enemy, accelerating the outer friendly forces’ offensive!
If it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to rely on the final backup plan… As long as you can seize those giant cannons, you can use them to take out the threatening ships in the French Army dock. Then, just hold the fort for one daytime until nightfall.
Even if by then our outer siege troops haven’t fully torn open the enemy defense line to link up with you, I’ll have the navy figure out ships at night, beach them into Dunkirk Port, directly unload reinforcements to land and support you—that would only cost some ships. Moreover, the navy will deploy pre-dreadnoughts to support you, shelling enemies on shore to cover our troop transports. In short, we won’t leave you to hold with just 2,000 men forever.
Of course, the initial task of dropping to seize the forts can only be completed by your 2,000 men themselves. After training so long, you should know how to launch the assault. War has no certainties; we can only minimize risks as much as possible—the last bit must be shouldered by ourselves.
If no issues, I’ll reply to the Duke; starting tomorrow evening, that is, nightfall on February 16, first have the outer siege troops launch a fierce assault on the Dunkirk city area defense line, and massively deploy flamethrower soldiers to purge buildings.
At the same time, use long-range railway guns to bombard the coastal defense forts on the north and south sides of Dunkirk Port with special incendiary shells at pre-observed marked positions. We don’t expect 280mm shells to destroy the coastal defense forts; incendiary bombs are just to sustain fires and mark points.
Then your airships can take off around 3-4 a.m. at night, arriving over the target before 6 a.m., using the big fires from ground railway gun barrages for visual navigation. Airships can take off at night but not land at night, and your paratroopers also can’t jump at night easily.
That’s why we aim to take off before dawn and fly covertly, but arrive over the target just as dawn breaks. This way airships won’t face enemy airplane interception, and your paratroopers’ suddenness can be maximized.
After the drop, seize the forts as quickly as possible, then hold for one daytime by yourselves—as long as that’s achieved, subsequent friendly forces will ensure your safety. And the Duke said, if this airborne succeeds, I as planner and you as executor can both promote one rank!
All 2,000 officers and men participating in the airborne will each get at least one rank promotion! If ordinary soldiers or corporal, promote two ranks! That is, as long as they survive, every soldier becomes an NCO, at least a corporal! Pre-war private first class directly to sergeant! Pre-war corporal to sergeant major!
As long as participating in the airborne, everyone gets a Second Class Iron Cross Medal! Those killed in action awarded a First Class Iron Cross Medal posthumously!
Duke Rupprecht had set the rewards so high; after hearing the battalion commander’s relay, Rommel was also moved.
Since the great war began, no campaign had seen such high rewards, but it was understandable—this was humanity’s first airborne operation, and dropping in would put them in enemy encirclement.
If not to seize the port forts, directly sealing the enemy’s port and striking where they must rescue, there’d be no need to go so big.
Without this move, relying on traditional offensive methods would not only cost far more but also make it impossible to seize the coastal defense forts—Frankish navy, if truly unable to hold, would bury explosives and blow up the giant cannons themselves, not leaving them to aid the enemy.
Only by surprise attack, only when the front line is still several kilometers from the coastal defense forts, striking suddenly, would the enemy be caught off guard without time to self-destruct.
The German Army also urgently needed to capture this batch of equipment to reverse the firepower blockade comparison against Dunkirk Port and surrounding sea areas.
“I understand. Today I’ll let the soldiers rest well and conduct final pre-war mobilization.” Rommel saluted Lelouch, then withdrew to get to work.
