Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 230 Promotion to Major General: Limitless Possibilities for the Future
"Given that Brigadier General Lelouch von Hunt has made numerous meritorious contributions and achieved outstanding results on the Eastern Front since the second half of last year."

As Chief of Staff of the 6th Army, he assisted Field Marshal Rupprecht in completing the two decisive annihilation battles of the Kiev and Istanbul sieges, achieving the great feat of the 6th Army and allied forces jointly annihilating 280 million enemy troops.

Having completed advanced studies at the Potsdam Military Academy and achieved outstanding academic results, Lelouch von Hunt has been promoted to Major General upon recommendation by the General Staff and by His Majesty's decree. He will temporarily remain Chief of Staff of the 6th Army, pending further assignment after the end of the fighting in the Caucasus region.

This scene took place in Berlin on March 22, 1916.

On Wednesday morning, General Falkenhayn personally read out the decision to promote Lelouch in the main conference room of the General Staff.

The generals and officers present also offered their congratulations to Lelouch after the ceremony.

"Congratulations, Major General Lelouch! You are now the youngest major general in the history of the Empire who is not of noble birth."

"What are you talking about! Major General Lelouch is a proper baron, what's with all this talk about being neither a noble nor a nobleman?"

"Alright, even if I misspoke, you know what I mean! Not a member of the royal family of any state, but to become a general at the age of 26, I'm afraid there has never been one since the time of Frederick the Great!"

A group of generals who were on good terms with Lelouch were all exclaiming in amazement.

If they knew that Lelouch had lied about his age by two years and was actually only 24, I wonder what they would think.

Several other officers, with a keen sense of workplace dynamics, deciphered some subtext from the last few sentences of General Falkenhayn's promotion order and tried to ingratiate themselves with Lelouch:

"The Chief of the General Staff said that he would be reassigned after the war in the Caucasus theater. It seems that this is to give Major General Lelouch a few months to hand over his work and he will soon be transferred to our General Staff. At that time, we will be colleagues working together and we should learn from each other."

This statement quickly garnered agreement from some colleagues, and an officer nearby immediately offered a serious analysis:
"Yes, yes, I heard that the 6th Army captured the entire Rostov Oblast in January, and only took a short rest in February. Before the end of the month, they took over the entire coastal area of ​​the Sea of ​​Azov around the Taman Peninsula, which is most of Krasnodar."

This month, I heard they captured Suhumi and Sochi, two Black Sea ports at the western end of the North Caucasus Mountains, effectively giving them control of the entire Krasnodar region. Once Lelouch returns to the Eastern Front, all he needs to do is lead the final battle across the Caucasus Mountains against the enemy in the Caucasus theater; wouldn't that be a two-month operation? If they don't take Dagestan and Chechen, and instead advance straight south of the Caucasus Mountains, it probably won't even take two months.

Major General Lelouch, then we'll see you in May.

These people were incredibly optimistic, believing that Lelouch would be promoted to major general in late March and immediately return to the front lines. They thought he could finish the war on the southeastern front by the end of May, then come back and join the General Staff as their colleagues.

Faced with such unfounded praise, Lelouch, of course, humbly declined it all. He said with impeccable decorum:

"You flatter me. It's best not to speculate on His Majesty's and the Chief of the General Staff's intentions. My promotion to Major General is a sign of their trust in me. I will just focus on doing my job well. As for future transfers, that's not my concern. Thank you for your kind words."

Some people thought he was genuinely humble, while others thought he was just being hypocritical to avoid giving others cause for criticism. After a series of formalities and empty pleasantries, Lelouch finally managed to escape unscathed.

……

However, the so-called escape was only a temporary escape from the General Staff Headquarters.

After his promotion, Lelouch had just left the General Staff when he received a summons from the Emperor, who wanted him to come immediately.

Lelouch, naturally unable to refuse, had his driver take his BMW straight to Potsdam Palace.

After a brief announcement, Lelouch was granted an audience without any trouble.

"I have carefully read your final version of the paper. It is very well written, and it has shown me a new model and a new way to end the war—"

"There's no need to completely conquer the enemy by force; if we can make the people of Lusa unwilling to fight anymore and make the soldiers of Bretonnia and Franks refuse to launch any more attacks, the war may end."

Emperor William didn't mince words; upon meeting him, he frankly stated that he truly appreciated Lelouch's article, believing it to be more than just a military academy graduation thesis, but a blueprint for national policy that could guide the empire out of its predicament.

Lelouch sincerely thanked him: "Your Majesty is too kind. It has always been easier to know than to do. I believe that many insightful people in the Empire have seen my humble opinion, but they have not summarized it or have not had the time to do so. And even if they have seen this direction, how easy is it to work towards this goal and ultimately achieve it?"

The emperor paused, cleared his throat, and continued, "I plan to transfer you to the General Staff after the war in the Caucasus is over. You won't refuse this time, will you? I allow you to personally carry out the planning on the Eastern Front, and I believe you are the one who can make the Caucasus campaign the best it can be."

But what about after the Caucasus? According to your plan, the Empire will no longer need to seize the lands of the Russa, because we have already taken over most of the areas where the Russa are close to the coast and can be easily seized and where our army's logistical supply lines can be easily maintained.

Unless a direct naval landing is launched against St. Petersburg, or a land attack from the north is launched to cover the sea, the situation will be dire. But that would mean a massive, bloody battle involving millions of troops on each side. The Lussacks' manpower shouldn't be exhausted this year; it's better to continue the blockade.

"And you, if you hadn't come to the General Staff and had remained merely in the 6th Army, how could you possibly have effectively coordinated the blockade of the entire Lusha region?"

When Emperor William said these words, Lelouch was actually a little moved, and almost thought that Emperor William had completely become a wise ruler.

It's true that human nature is complex. Although Emperor William was rather arrogant in diplomacy and often made foolish mistakes, at this critical juncture, he genuinely wanted to improve and revitalize the country.

Since giving Lelouch important positions would benefit the country, the emperor was genuinely looking for ways to fully utilize Lelouch's talents and strategies.

The Emperor had already realized Lelouch's special relationship with the Baria faction.

This relationship may stem from the close bond between the Oreos and the Bareas; it may stem from the fact that the Southerners are all Catholics while the Northern German groups are Lutherans of the New World; or it may simply be gratitude for Duke Dereprecht's patronage of Lelouch when he first rose from humble beginnings.

Although the Emperor couldn't figure out the specific reasons, he could tell that Lelouch was more inclined to serve the Kingdom of Baria than the Empire directly led by Prosson, and had a kind of awkward feeling that "the vassal of a vassal is not my vassal."

If Emperor Wilhelm were familiar with Eastern culture and had read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, perhaps he would have used the story of Cao Cao and Liu Bei vying for Guan Yu to draw parallels to the present situation. Up to this point, Lelouch has been portrayed as a "vassal military officer who, through being used by the Imperial Uncle, indirectly serves the Han Emperor."

But regardless of whether the emperor fully understands Lelouch's wariness, it doesn't stop the emperor from still wanting to try and get talented people directly to his service.

Faced with the emperor's sincere offer of recruitment, Lelouch was also a little nervous.

He knew in his heart that, in terms of whether he was "incompetent" or "wise," Emperor Wilhelm was not significantly inferior to Duke Rupprecht in any way—except for his tendency to offend people in diplomacy.

Is Duke Rupprecht necessarily a wise ruler? Not necessarily. At most, because Lelouch of this world has a preconceived notion and has proven his own divine abilities, the Duke listens to him and becomes humble, open-minded, and receptive to advice.

If Lelouch had proven his supernatural abilities to Emperor Wilhelm from the beginning, the emperor might have listened to him. However, Lelouch also knew that the main reason he was unwilling to serve the emperor directly or become his close advisor was because he feared that the emperor would have to abdicate when the war ended.

Even if the emperor did not do anything more wrong in this world war, his biggest problem was that he had caused too much trouble and accumulated too much hatred in the more than ten years before the war broke out.

The Britannians are determined to fight Demania to the death, and the root of this is the naval competition that the Emperor started more than twenty years ago. Unfortunately, the Emperor doesn't know how to be discreet; he made a lot of noise but accomplished little, building very few combat-capable warships, while attracting a lot of hatred.

If a ceasefire is to be achieved in the future, one of the enemy's conditions might be the abdication of the emperor. Or rather, only if the emperor abdicates will the enemy feel that they have saved face. They have lost tens of millions of people in this war and their country has regressed by several years. Finally, they have driven off a Demacian emperor. This symbolic significance will make them feel that the war was not fought in vain.

The higher a person's level of hatred, the more hatred they can take away when they step down.

The Duke of Rupprecht and the Grand Duke of Baden did not need to be more brilliant than the Emperor; they only needed to do fewer things and make fewer mistakes than the Emperor, and have relatively clean resumes. That was enough.

The politics of the future will not require emperors or kings to be particularly wise, as long as they don't have a bad reputation and don't cause trouble.

Fortunately, these thoughts, though seemingly numerous and complex, had already been pondered by Lelouch many times, and he had been reflecting on them for the past few months.

So, with a slight shift in thought, he knew what to do: since the emperor sincerely wanted to give him an important position, he should first do the most important thing the emperor wanted him to do. After that, as long as the emperor's expectations aligned with his own, he would serve him for a longer period.

However, I must adhere to one principle: I cannot completely follow the emperor's wishes. If the emperor becomes arrogant, or wants to expand the war after winning and there is a risk of self-destruction, then I must argue my case and even threaten to resign.

In short, one can serve the emperor, but only for the sake of the empire, not for personal relationships. If the emperor is willing to accept advice, one will continue to serve; if the emperor is unwilling to accept advice, one will resign to correct the emperor's mistakes.

In this way, the world will see that Lelouch is not a sycophantic minister, but a loyal and outspoken official who distinguishes right from wrong! He is upright, incorruptible, and willing to speak frankly and directly to the emperor!
After his thoughts were completely clear, Lelouch immediately stated:

"I have no way to repay Your Majesty's kindness in recognizing my talent. Since Your Majesty believes that transferring me to the General Staff Headquarters in the future would allow me to better coordinate the overall situation regarding the blockade of Lusha, I will certainly not refuse."

However, I believe that the Empire's current military coordination structure is not suitable for handling this matter, and I fear it will disappoint His Majesty's expectations.

Emperor William was surprised by Lelouch's answer and became intrigued, asking curiously, "Oh? So what do you want? Why don't you just say it? Why is the current military coordination framework unsuitable for coordinating the blockade of Lusa?"

Lelouch: "As we all know, to completely blockade Russa, we will not only need to win the Caucasus Campaign, but also require the cooperation of the navy. The Russa people are already building a port in Murmansk at all costs, and I believe that with such a frantic construction that disregards costs and lives, it will be completed soon."

Similarly, the railway connecting Murmansk and St. Petersburg should also be operational in the first half of this year. The Empire needs to prepare to cut off Arctic shipping routes before the weather warms up. This may require the navy to take risks and find suitable opportunities to weaken the Royal Britannian Navy.

It may also require our navy and the navies of our allies in the Mediterranean to take some actions to induce the navies of Britannia and Frankish forces to split up, thus creating an opportunity for the enemy fleet to be temporarily weakened in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.

The army must also cooperate, targeting other vital points of the Russa. For example, after the Caucasus campaign, will the Russa completely give up? I doubt it. The only possibility for the Empire to gain an advantage in the Caucasus lies in our control of the Black Sea, allowing us to reach Batumi port directly by sea without having to cross the Greater Caucasus Mountains by land.

But what if the enemy abandons the Black Sea side of the Greater Caucasus Mountains and retreats to the Caspian Sea side, adopting a scorched-earth policy? Their navy would be unable to enter the Caspian Sea, while the Russa might possess a Volga River gunboat fleet, allowing them to enter the Caspian Sea from Astrakhan. Therefore, navigation rights and sea control of the Caspian Sea would inevitably belong permanently to the Russa.

At that time, the enemy would regain logistical superiority, and if they launched a pincer attack on Persia from the north and south, reopening supply routes between Persia and Iraq, Lusa could still potentially recover its external support. In this scenario, the army would need to undertake further long-distance expeditions to support Persia, suppress the Burma forces in Iraq, and even deal with any potential future resistance forces in Ottoman territory…

Therefore, to achieve the grand plan of 'completely blockading Lusa,' the army and navy alone cannot accomplish it; coordination between the army and the fleet is necessary. Your Majesty expects me to accomplish such a monumental task by placing me in the Army General Staff; I am truly sorry, but I cannot do so.”

Later generations often compared the German General Staff with the Ukrainian Joint Chiefs of Staff, even seriously comparing "whether the Chief of the General Staff or the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has more power."

But in reality, this issue is incomparable, because even the highest-ranking German Chief of the General Staff has a prefix; he is, in fact, the "Chief of the Army General Staff."

Even during Helmut Moltke's era, the Chief of the General Staff had no control over the navy. This was simply because German-style countries often had absolute land power, with an army that was so large that the navy was less prominent, and no one paid attention to the difference.

The "Joint Chiefs of Staff" established by the Ugly Kingdom in the Earth dimension during World War II was a cross-service conference. The chiefs of staff of the Army, Navy, and even the future Air Force all had to attend this conference, and a cross-service coordinator was needed.

The United States established the Joint Chiefs of Staff because joint land and sea operations are too difficult to coordinate. Without this meeting, operations such as the Normandy landings and a series of amphibious landings in the Pacific would be impossible to coordinate.

Lelouch doesn't need to launch a large-scale landing right now, but the Emperor wants him to find a way to blockade Lusa, which can't be done well without the full coordination of the army and navy.

Therefore, he naturally made his own demands.

The emperor was surprised by his ambition: "What? Putting you in the Army General Staff isn't enough? You want to coordinate the navy too? What kind of official position do you expect to hold?"

Lelouch: "Official rank is not important, and I don't need command of the army or navy. I'm just stating a fact: to execute such a grand plan, at least a coordinator across the army and navy is needed. This coordinator can be someone else, it's all for the empire, I'm fine with doing odd jobs for him."

The emperor then came to his senses. The coordinator's official rank and military position did not need to be too high; he could simply be defined as a liaison.

After much deliberation, the Emperor finally decided to privately promise Lelouch: "Then you should return to the Eastern Front and do a good job in the Caucasus, firing the first shot in this year's comprehensive blockade of Lusa. You are already a Major General. If you fire this shot well and set an example for other war zones and branches of the armed forces, I will naturally not be stingy with your official rank."

At that time, you will be appointed as the "Director of the Army-Navy Operations Coordination Office" with the rank of Major General. You will not have direct command authority, but you can help formulate plans for coordinated operations between the Army and Navy, list the forces and resources that need to be coordinated by the Army or Navy, and submit them to the War Department for approval.

However, this situation is unprecedented, so this 'Army and Navy Operations Coordination Office' will not be a permanent institution for the time being. It is merely a temporary agency set up to blockade and strangle Rusa. Once Rusa collapses, or the blockade operation is fully deployed and no longer recurring, this agency may be dissolved. At that time, I will naturally give you a new position.”

Emperor William was also worried that if this institution were established, its power might gradually expand during its operation, making it difficult to control in the future.

Therefore, on the one hand, their rank was lowered, just like how in ancient times, a governor with a salary of 600 shi (a unit of grain) was used to supervise a prefect with a salary of 2,000 shi (another unit of grain), because they were afraid that the governor would become too powerful and turn into a huge figure like a state governor.

At the same time, he was always thinking about dismantling this temporary organization after the matter was completed to avoid future troubles.

Lelouch, of course, had no objections, which was a gentleman's understanding with the emperor.

After that, he should first go to Munich to visit Duke Rupprecht, who was currently on vacation there, to inquire about some specific preparations for the future Caucasus campaign, and then he would follow the Duke eastward back to the front lines.

The Duke would certainly understand the Emperor's direct recruitment.

Of course, if the Duke is really worried and insists on finding another way to tie Lelouch to his chariot, that's just the Duke being overly anxious and has nothing to do with Lelouch.

(End of this chapter)