Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 129 Miracles Happen with Great Effort (A Long Chapter of 7,000 Words)
After spending two days in Prague assessing the progress of the half-track and tank projects and issuing important instructions.

Lelouch soon took a 20-hour train ride, traveling over 800 kilometers across most of Demania, to reach Port Wilhelmshaven in Hanover, on the coast of the North Sea.

This area houses the main force of Demacia's naval fleet, as well as the Wilhelmshaven Naval Shipyard and the warship design bureau.

Lelouch wanted to realize his plan of "using control of the Baltic and Black Seas to launch a two-pronged attack on Rusa," but the last few key weaknesses were related to the navy.

Therefore, this stop is very important. Lelouch needs to meet with Hipper and Spee, the naval commanders he has a good relationship with, and communicate with them about some things.

It would also be necessary for the warship design bureau to make contact and provide the navy with some ideas for new minesweeping equipment so that the navy can enter the Gulf of Riga in the future.

Lelouch had been to Wilhelmshaven before. One day at the end of October last year, he came to Wilhelmshaven in a reconnaissance plane piloted by then-Captain Immelmann to meet with General Hipper, convey Duke Rupprecht's message, and request his cooperation.

Unexpectedly, three whole quarters have passed in the blink of an eye, and now he has returned to Port William once again.

When the train arrived in Wilhelmshaven, Lelouch received an even bigger welcome than he had in Prague.

Two high-ranking officials, both bearing the rank of general, personally came to the train station to greet them; they were General Spee and Lieutenant General Hipper.

“I’ve heard from the Duke that you’ve planned another big operation for him, a combined land and sea operation, and we’re really looking forward to it. This time, could you give us another satisfying opportunity to destroy the enemy like you did during the Dunkirk campaign?” Lieutenant General Hipper was closest to Lelouch and immediately asked for fighter jets without any hesitation.

Lelouch smiled and said candidly, "No problem. However, your main objective this time is to reap the rewards from the Lusa people. As for General Spee, you can take the spoils from both the Lusa and the Britannians—"

Moreover, this operation doesn't require radio secrecy, so there's no need to worry about our codes being cracked by the Britannians. As long as we maintain complete radio silence, we can operate independently without resorting to intelligence deception; we'll rely purely on overwhelming force.

Upon hearing this, Vice Admiral Hipper's eyes flashed with a hint of disappointment. As Demacian naval commanders, everyone was focused on how to kill Bu better. If they were only dealing with Lusa's navy, the sense of accomplishment would not be as strong.

When General Spee heard that he had both the opportunity to kill Russo and the opportunity to kill Brutus, he couldn't help but feel a little smug.

"Why should I only fight Lusa people?" Hipper asked as he helped Lelouch into the car.

Lelouch did not answer the question directly, but instead asked in return: "I remember you were in charge of the rapid strike fleet, right? And General Spee was in charge of the overseas fleet before the war. Now, if the General Staff approves the coordinated sea and land operations, a two-pronged attack, then naturally a general will be needed to lead the home fleet to fight in the Baltic Sea theater."

At the same time, another general is needed to fight on the southern front and actually command the Black Sea Fleet, which operates under the Ottoman naval banner. Do you think you will be left in the Baltic Sea, or sent to the Black Sea?

Without even thinking about it, Hipper blurted out, "Then I'll definitely be left in the Baltic Sea, and Senior Spee will definitely go to the Black Sea—so, you mean that in the Black Sea we'll not only have to face the Russa's Black Sea Fleet, but also possibly the Burkina Faso Navy? Do you think that if a war breaks out around the Black Sea, the Burkina Faso Navy can break into the Black Sea through the straits controlled by the Ottomans?"

Lelouch: "I can't guarantee that the Britannians will be able to break into the Black Sea in the future, but I can guarantee that if things get to that point and they're pushed to the brink, they'll definitely try to break into the Black Sea at any cost. As for the outcome of that attempt, that's uncertain and will depend on our performance."

Hipper and Spee exchanged a glance upon hearing this. Hipper's eyes held a hint of sympathy, while Spee's eyes flashed with a trace of worry.

The two men tacitly understood that fighting in the Black Sea would be difficult.

As for the Baltic Sea, the key lies in whether they can acquire effective new minesweeping weapons in the future. In terms of absolute combat power, the Demacian Navy completely overwhelms the Russa Baltic Fleet.

Hipper commented aptly: "Over on the Black Sea, there seem to be only two Moltke-class battlecruisers, not a single dreadnought. There are also a few pre-dreadnoughts that were decommissioned before the war and sold to the Ottomans, plus some light cruisers and a few destroyers."

These warships wouldn't even be able to completely overwhelm the Russa's Black Sea fleet; if the Bretonnian navy were to slip into the Black Sea, they would be utterly helpless.

Spee had been in charge of overseas fleets for many years before the war, and he was very familiar with the history of warship exports. He immediately recited them in great detail:

"Well, the only new warships in the Black Sea theater are the 'Mooch' and the 'Goben', in addition to all five 'Vichersbach' class pre-dreadnoughts. The Empire also sold four light cruisers and several destroyers to the Ottomans before the war."

奥斯曼人自己也有一艘1874年的老式铁甲堡时代战列舰，比帝国的前无畏舰还老20年，基本可以算是废物了。另外奥斯曼人自己还有2艘早年外购的装甲巡洋舰、2艘轻巡、11艘驱逐舰/大型鱼雷艇。

In addition, the Romanians could provide six destroyers and six large torpedo boats, while Bulgaria had no organized navy, only some gunboats and minesweepers.

全部算下来，帝国在黑海可以调动2艘战巡、5艘前无畏舰、1艘老式铁甲堡战舰、2艘装甲巡洋舰、6艘轻巡、14艘驱逐舰、17艘大型鱼雷艇，若干扫雷艇/猎潜艇。

The Empire faces the Russa Black Sea Fleet, which possesses two completed dreadnoughts of the Queen Maria class, with the third ship launched but not yet fitted out. It also has two pre-dreadnoughts of the St. Yevstabfi class, two Potemkin-class, two Kagur-class armored cruisers, seven older protected cruisers, and 23 destroyers—including nine Unreasonable-class, six Petonis-class, and eight Novik-class.

After listening to Admiral Spee's summary, Lelouch and Hipper quickly identified the key factors in the future balance of power between their own and enemy navies in the Black Sea region:
Both sides are evenly matched in terms of the number of battlecruisers/dreadnoughts. Originally, the second ship of the Lusa Navy's "Queen Maria" class was not to be completed so quickly; it was not until October of this year. But it is clear that the sale of two "Mooch" class ships to the Ottomans by Demania in this plane spurred the Lusa people, causing them to rush the construction of the "Catherine" in a shoddy manner.

Historically, this class of warships of the Lusa people had serious problems. When Lelouch read the information in his previous life, he also mentioned that the "Queen Maria-class" was designed and built in a hurry, and even the center of gravity was not properly balanced. As a result, after completion, it was found that the bow was seriously sunken, the bow was naturally sloping at several degrees, and the stern was upturned. It was really a crude and shoddy workmanship.

Later, the only way to achieve a semblance of balance was to empty the cabins at the bow and remove all items from them. The second and third ships were then planned to balance the weight distribution by temporarily reducing the thickness of the upper glacis armor and making the bow plates as thin as those of a light cruiser.

It was also thanks to the fact that, historically, the Demanians only had one Goben in the Black Sea, and the Ottomans lacked a large enough shipyard to ensure the Goben could be extensively repaired should it be severely damaged, that the Demanians used the Goben with great caution. Therefore, these flaws in the Russa battleship, which were not apparent on paper, did not have a chance to surface.

In this life, the Lusa people are forced to rush the work even more, which will probably only make it worse.

Regarding the pre-dreadnoughts, the Ottomans in this plane purchased a large number of outdated Demanian "Wichelsbach-class" ships, surpassing the Lussa in number, reaching a ratio of 5 to 4.

However, the Wichelsbach-class has its disadvantages compared to the Lussars' St. Yevstaff-class. Although both are pre-dreadnoughts, the St. Yevstaff-class was built almost 10 years later and is more technologically advanced.

The Wichelsbach-class had only four 240mm main guns, while the St. Yevstabf-class had four 305mm main guns. The difference in firepower was qualitative. The secondary guns were about the same, but the German-made guns were actually stronger.

As for the two Potemkin-class ships of the Russa, they were not much of a problem. Although their cannons were also large-caliber, 305mm, they were old-fashioned cannons with a firing rate of only one round every minute and a half.

It's unlikely that these German pre-dreadnoughts can effectively deal damage to enemy capital ships, but their numerical superiority in clearing out enemy light vessels and providing cover for the Moltke-class battleships, preventing torpedo attacks, is still very useful. They can also act as human shields, drawing enemy capital ship fire.

In terms of light warships, if the original development trajectory had been followed, the Demanians would have been completely outmatched. In the history of the world, the reason why the Goben did not dare to seize the window of opportunity before the completion of the Luza "Queen Maria" class in June 1915 and wreak havoc in the Black Sea was mainly because the German torpedo shield frigates were far from sufficient.

The Ottomans originally had only 8 destroyers and 11 large torpedo boats. If the Lussars were to charge up and launch a torpedo swarm attack, the Ottomans would not be able to stop them.

But now, because of the butterfly effect caused by Lelouch, Romania has entered the war ahead of schedule, then was quickly defeated, and a new king has been enthroned to abandon the darkness and embrace the light.

Therefore, the six destroyers and six large torpedo boats that should have been assigned to the Lusa side were instead assigned to the Ottoman side. This addition and subtraction resulted in a difference of 12 destroyers and 12 large torpedo boats, instantly leveling the gap in light torpedo defense capabilities.

After this analysis, Lelouch felt that the two sides were roughly equal in strength on paper, but the Lusa people's warships were poorly made and had many flaws that could not be seen on paper. He believed that if they could take advantage of this opportunity to fight a battle and find a way to break through the minefields in the enemy's important naval port and shipping lanes, they might be able to severely damage the Lusa Black Sea Fleet in one fell swoop!
If this can be achieved, the supply situation along the Black Sea coast will be completely different in the future. It will be reversed from "the Russa can transport supplies by sea, but the Demanians cannot" to "the Demanians can transport supplies by sea, but the Russa cannot".

At that time, it will not only have an impact on the Kievan Rus' Plain battlefield, but may even have an impact on the Transcaucasian battlefield—currently, the Ottoman army and the Russo army are also engaged in a bloody battle in the Transcaucasian region from Georgia to Azerbaijan, with both sides deploying two to three hundred thousand troops.

Logically, the Lussa people's supplies should have been even worse on that battlefield, since they had to cross the Caucasus Mountains to fight south of them. Although the Ottomans also had to cross some mountains, and there were no railways available in the easternmost part of the Anatolian Peninsula, at least the mountains they had to cross were not as extreme as those in the Caucasus.

However, in reality, the Russo's supplies were always better than the Ottomans' in the Transcaucasian theater, precisely because the Russo had previously controlled the Black Sea. The Russo army could not only use the Georgian port of Batumi to transport supplies, but could even capture Trabzon, the Ottomans' forward port in that area.

The Ottomans, on the other hand, could only support the Caucasus front by land transport, which is why even at their peak, the Ottomans, despite deploying three times the manpower of the Rosários, still could not push through the three Transcaucasian regions.

If Demania gains control of the seas in the future, they can simply capture ports like Trabzon and then advance along the railway to Azerbaijan's Baku oil fields. The Russo people have a branch railway in the Transcaucasus that connects the Baku oil fields on the Caspian coast of Azerbaijan with the port of Batumi on the Black Sea coast of Georgia. Russo needs oil domestically and relies on this route to transport it out.

Building an oil pipeline directly across the Greater Caucasus Mountains is too difficult. It would be better to build a pipeline/railway along the valley between the Greater and Lesser Caucasus Mountains to Batumi, then transport the oil from Batumi back to ports like Rostov/Odessa by tanker, and finally back to the Lussa hinterland via pipeline.

It can be said that by seizing control of the Black Sea, the great undertaking of appropriating the oil resources of the Lussa people was half completed.

This move, which simultaneously benefits both the vast granary of the Kievan Rus' Plain and the Baku oil field, is a stroke of genius.

……

After the three chatted casually and clarified the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, Lelouch seized the opportunity to persuade General Spee, who was about to head to the Black Sea:
"...So, this is how I see the naval strength comparison in the Black Sea. As long as our army is decisive enough and seizes an opportunity to lure out the Rusa Black Sea Fleet and severely damages it, the future battle situation around the entire Black Sea will undergo earth-shattering changes!"

Seizing the opportunity is not difficult; there are simply a few possibilities.

Alternatively, we could wait for our army to develop new mine-clearing weapons that could counter the anchor minefields commonly used by the Russa people, and then launch a surprise attack on one of their ports—except, of course, Sevastopol, where the defenses are too tight.

Alternatively, we could take advantage of the Lusa people sending out escort fleets and supply ships to transport supplies and reinforcements to the South Caucasus region, and then have our army conduct scouting in advance, send out high-speed warships to intercept and kill them, forcing the Lusa people out!
In short, the two sides are currently evenly matched on paper, but the Lussan's dreadnoughts were hastily built. I heard that the first dreadnought was only completed in June, and the second was just completed in the last few days. Now is definitely the time when the enemy is most arrogant and complacent. They will inevitably be careless and think, 'The Demacians have missed the best opportunity to attack. They didn't attack when Lussan only had one dreadnought, and now that they have two, they are no longer a threat.'

Our strategy is to do the opposite. We'll provoke them while they think they can fight. In reality, their ships have just entered service, and their soldiers will inevitably have issues with training and coordination. Even with good warships, their combat capabilities may not be fully realized. I hope the general won't miss this opportunity! Our army will also cooperate fully. Perhaps, if the opportunity arises, we can even attack Odessa!

Lelouch couldn't directly use his third eye to tell Spee, "I know the Lusa people's 'Queen Maria' class design is terrible. They can't even balance the center of gravity, and the upper glacis armor has been reduced to paper." So he could only use the reason that "the Lusa people's training and coordination are not enough, and right now they are actually at their weakest."

Otherwise, if the old-school staff officers at the Navy Department were to decide whether or not to send troops into battle, they, who only consider the apparent strength, might not dare to take the risks and responsibilities and allow Spee to go into battle.

Lelouch could only encourage Spee, urging him to take responsibility and seek war. Then they could find a pretext for commerce raiding, such as intercepting enemy transport convoy information and pretending to send the Moltke and Goebbels to intercept the convoy, while actually finding other aircraft to carry out other missions en route.

Let's have another "wartime improvisation" exercise.

This kind of improvisation can only be considered as flexibly executing orders from superiors, not as "subordinates defying superiors" or directly disobeying orders, and it is unlikely to arouse suspicion from the enemy afterward.

After a thorough mental preparation, Lieutenant General Hipper and Admiral Spee finally realized that the opportunity was truly rare. Moreover, Lelouch had already led them to achieve two and one major feats respectively, and their promotions were closely related to Lelouch's advice.

Since that's the case, of course we should trust him again this time and gamble our future!

They all believed that Lelouch was acting in the best interests of the Empire and everyone else.

The two naval admirals, once again, reached a rare consensus and were willing to follow Lelouch's plan.

This leaves only one question: can a mine-clearing weapon to break through the Lusa people's anchor mines be developed?
……

Just as Lelouch had resolved the two generals' desire for war, Hipper's car had already arrived at the design bureau of the Wilhelm Naval Shipyard.

Hipper, as a high-ranking naval officer, personally and skillfully led Lelouch to the Torpedo Weapon Research Institute under the Design Bureau. This institute was responsible not only for the research and development of various torpedoes and mines, but also for mine-clearing and anti-torpedo methods. In fact, the latter was just a small branch of the Torpedo Weapon Research Institute, since mine-clearing didn't involve much technical expertise.

Upon arrival, relevant experts were quickly brought up. While introducing the Empire's existing mine-clearing technology to Lelouch, Hipper, and others, and sharing information, they also emphasized the difficulties and obstacles in subsequent research and development, hoping that Lelouch would not underestimate the problem.

Researchers are most afraid of encountering bureaucrats at the administrative level who have only a superficial understanding of the problem, oversimplify it, come up with bad ideas on a whim, and cause everyone to do useless work and work overtime.

Lelouch listened patiently for a while.

The engineer in charge explained, "The minesweeping equipment currently used by the Empire is mainly a trawl net. This weapon consists of a very thin steel cable, with two destroyers each holding a section of it, and then pulling the net forward in the channel, just like a two-ship trawler."

The minesweeping line also has a number of cutting blades. Once it sweeps through the steel cable that is moored to the mine, it cuts the cable, and the mine will then float to the surface due to the loss of counterweight.

Once it floats to the surface, everything becomes much easier; it's essentially a more primitive form of drifting mine—just locate it visually and destroy it with a rapid-fire cannon.

(Note: The image below is a schematic diagram of mine-clearing technology that existed in 1915. You can also return to the last paragraph of Chapter 126 and click on the chapter description illustration provided by reader "己欲立而达人" for more detailed step-by-step diagrams and text explanations.)
Lelouch listened and nodded frequently. After the other person finished speaking, he asked, "So, in principle, there's not much of a problem with this thing. In actual use, have you encountered any difficulties or unexpected events?"

Upon hearing this, the naval engineer's eyes immediately dimmed: "Our design was perfect, but after actual use, we found that the reliability was still seriously insufficient. In many cases, the steel cable of the mooring mine's counterweight could not be guaranteed to cut."

Sometimes, a mine mooring is simply dragged away from its original position, but as the mine-clearing cable continues to be dragged forward, it cannot be guaranteed that it will 'strangle' the mine mooring. After the mine mooring is freed, it drifts back to its original position.

Back in May, when the Lithuanian campaign was at its fiercest, the navy attempted to use existing minesweeping lines to clear a safe passage into the Gulf of Riga. However, due to insufficient reliability, they lost two destroyers and had to abandon the attempt.

Upon hearing this, Lelouch finally understood the current state of technology.

It turns out that the existing technology was already quite good, but it was still lacking in reliability. Later, after World War I, the Demacians learned from their mistakes and made a second improvement to the minesweeper.

Before his time travel, Lelouch was a seasoned player of Hearts of Iron IV with thousands of hours of experience, and his knowledge of relevant war and weapon history was extensive.

He finally found the specific breakthrough point for improvement, and then spoke candidly about it without holding back:

"I know where your problem lies: insufficient reliability, sometimes the towed shear chain cannot be cut, and sometimes it cannot even be held in the first place. The key is that your minesweeping cable depth setting is problematic!"
Currently, the minesweeping devices at the ends of your minesweeping cables are still floating in the water. This requires fine-tuning the average density of the terminal depth-fixing devices, just like adjusting the depth of a torpedo – it needs to be very precise. If it's not adjusted correctly, being a little too deep isn't a big deal, but being too shallow will cause problems, miss or miss moored mines!

Furthermore, have you considered that the Baltic Sea is a sea area almost completely isolated from the convection currents of the outer ocean? Every year, the seawater here receives a large amount of glacial meltwater from the Scandinavian Peninsula and the inflow of rivers along the coast. The salinity and density of the seawater here are lower than those of other major sea areas in the world! You might directly use the salinity and seawater density data of the North Sea to adjust the depth, but the error will be even greater.

Therefore, to solve the reliability problem once and for all, we need to change our approach and switch from fixed-depth towing to bottom towing! Forget about fixed depth; change the material of the minesweeping cable from ordinary steel cable to a heavy iron chain that is at least ten times thicker! Stop pursuing the goal of keeping the minesweeping cable suspended below the sea surface at a fixed depth; instead, bottom tow it directly! Scrape the seabed clean!

Moreover, this method might not work in other sea areas, but it will definitely work in the Gulf of Riga, the Gulf of Finland, and even the straits and shallow waters around the Crimean Peninsula. The biggest problem with bottom-scraping minesweeping chains is their inability to scrape in deep water, which significantly reduces their efficiency. But the sea areas we're dealing with this time are relatively shallow, so bottom scraping is perfectly fine!

When Lelouch said this, all the Demacian engineers who pursued "precision" and "precise control" were taken aback.

They never imagined that minesweepers could be used in this way.

But in fact, Lelouch's approach of "great effort brings miracles" is the most appropriate, and once you understand it, you won't find it unacceptable.

This is similar to a trawler. Many trawlers in later generations simply stretched a net between two boats, but the net had a fixed depth. They would just skim across the surface and catch whatever fish they could find.

But there are even more ruthless "destroyer nets" that have a heavy counterweight attached to the bottom of the net, ensuring that the bottom edge of the net scrapes directly against the seabed and can even tear apart coral reefs.

Although this type of fishing net is banned for "damaging the marine ecosystem" and has wiped out many benthic organisms, it must be admitted that it is really efficient.

Lelouch's proposal was an improved version of what the Demacian Navy came up with twenty years later, after summarizing historical lessons, in order to make up for their defeats in the Baltic and Black Seas.

These things also happen to coincide with the general trend of "trawlers evolving from floating nets to bottom-scraping nets" in later generations.

Once the bottom is scraped, absolutely no anchor mine will escape due to depth issues.

As for whether scraping the bottom will "miss the bottom of the anchor mine", there is no need to worry, because the anchor is often deep under the sand and gravel of the seabed. It is already sunk in, so even if you scrape, it is impossible to scrape that deep. It's like a razor shaving your face but not reaching the inside of the hair follicle.

"How about... we try this method?" Several engineers from the Naval Weapons Design Institute were also impressed by the new method Lelouch mentioned. There was no harm in doing a few experiments, so they might as well verify it.

Seeing that even the professionals were persuaded, Hipper and Spee quickly encouraged them, "Then give it a try! Colonel Lelouch's solutions always solve problems!"

The chief designer stroked his beard and pondered, "However, increasing the weight of the minesweeping chain like this will increase the weight of the entire minesweeping device many times over. It may not be able to be towed by a destroyer anymore. After we make the modifications, we should first send two 10,000-ton armored cruisers to try to tow it."

The people at the Naval Weapons Design Institute acted immediately, and began trial production of a new weighted bottom-scraping mine-clearing chain that very day.

At the same time, we requested the deployment of two high-powered cruisers for testing towing capabilities.

These are all relatively easy tasks; from production to testing, it can definitely be completed within half a month.

To put it simply, there's no fundamental difficulty in this thing. It's just that after breaking through a thin layer of paper, you need to increase the weight of all the components many times over, so that its principle changes from levitation to directly scraping the seabed.

This is something that works purely through sheer brute force; it's just that the Demacian engineers, who previously favored precision, hadn't anticipated such a crude and unrefined solution.

After Lelouch mentioned it, they all understood immediately.

Ten days later, everything was settled. Then, we repeatedly tested the hollow anchor mines without explosives and actually achieved a nearly 100% mine clearance rate!

When General Spee and Lieutenant General Hipper finally saw the test results, their eyes widened in astonishment.

The problem of Lusa anchor mines that had plagued the Empire for so long was solved just like that?

Lelouch is simply amazing! You really have to follow him to get a chance to make a name for yourself and seize opportunities in battle!

(End of this chapter)