Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 4 From today onwards, I am Sergeant Lelouch.

A few minutes later, Colonel Lister was led by Andrei through a maze of twists and turns to the communications room in the cellar.

Lelouch was still wearing his headphones, completely absorbed in sending and receiving messages, the beeping sounds filling the air, utterly unaware that someone had entered.

His fingers flew across the keys, so fast they were almost blurry. The micro-arcs from the high-frequency switching of the relay filled the room with a peculiar, acrid smell.

The air near the relay contacts is repeatedly ionized to generate ozone and nitrogen oxides, which then oxidize with the copper dust that falls off during friction, together forming this electrical spark smell.

Lister had served as a regimental commander for many years and frequently dealt with the regimental radio station. Just by smelling the intensity of the stench, he knew that the mechanic in front of him was definitely highly skilled and had worked under extremely high intensity.

He stood there quietly observing for a few seconds. Andri wanted to go forward and tell Lelouch to bow, but Lister stopped him: "No rush, let him finish."

But Andri didn't have time to waste here. The 16th Regiment had just finished a forced march and was out of breath, so they couldn't immediately engage in battle. Right now, they had to rely on Andri's troops to hold out for a little longer.

He could only pragmatically say in a low voice, "Then please continue your conversation. I'll go and direct the battle now."

Lister nodded.

About two minutes later, after Lelouch finished sending the last round of warning telegrams, he stopped and rubbed his wrist. Lister then loudly interrupted him:

"There's no need for further warnings; the floodwaters have already reached everywhere."

Lelouch then realized there was someone at the door. He quickly stood up, confirmed that it was a friendly force, and then breathed a sigh of relief and saluted, saying, "Sorry, sir, the gunfire was too loud, I didn't hear your footsteps."

Lister walked up to him and patted the collar of his uniform: "Lelouch Hunt? You really are a corporal? How old are you? How long have you been in the army?"

Lelouch tapped the heel of his boot again: "I was born in '92. I just graduated from university this July and have been in the army for three and a half months."

He gave a brief overview of his resume, during which Lister kept looking him up and down with curiosity.

They're too young; it's hard to imagine that such decisive and swift responses could have been made by a recent graduate.

After listening, Lister readily praised, "The people who assigned you to the rank of technical sergeant is really wasting your talent. But that's all in the past. You saved my regiment, and I will report it to my superiors."

"I heard your platoon leader died in battle? From this moment on, you can temporarily command that communications platoon with the rank of sergeant major."

Lelouch, not yet familiar with the promotion rules, was somewhat surprised: "You can promote me just by saying a few words?"

Lister patted him on the shoulder and said with a teasing laugh, "A new recruit is a new recruit. You haven't even memorized the Imperial Promotion Regulations?"

The evaluation of non-commissioned officers can be decided by the regimental headquarters.
Promotion of junior officers is decided by the division headquarters where they are located;
Promotion of officers at the field level is decided by the army group headquarters where they belong.
The promotion of a general is reported to His Majesty the Emperor by the Supreme Command.

If you were a sergeant in our regiment, I wouldn't even need to file a record; I could make the decisions directly. Unfortunately, you're not, so I still need to complete the filing process.

As the colonel spoke, he secretly observed Lelouch's expression.

Unfortunately, he didn't see even the slightest bit of admiration from Lelouch.

"A promotion... what good is being a mere sergeant major? I'm still trapped in the encirclement, aren't I? But at least I won't have to serve as an infantryman anymore after the promotion, which is better than nothing and improves my survival rate." Lelouch couldn't help but think to himself.

The colonel, seeing this expression, admired him even more, thinking that this young man was calm in the face of both honor and disgrace, and was indeed destined for great things.

The colonel was even a little embarrassed, feeling that he hadn't given enough and was unworthy of Lelouch's contribution in saving his entire regiment.

To dispel the awkwardness in his heart, the colonel casually changed the subject and naturally asked Lelouch how he saw the Billy Kings preparing to blow up the dam that morning, asking even more detailed questions than he had asked Andrei before.

Lelouch had already gone over this question in his mind several times, and he had just privately rehearsed his statements with Klose, so he wasn't afraid at all.

He recounted the events in detail, even offering to testify alongside Laklose again: "He was the one who reminded me first. His eyesight is better than mine. You can ask him again if you don't believe me."

After listening, Liszt still had some doubts about Lelouch's insight, but since the other party had saved his group and the outcome was good, he didn't bother to take it too seriously.

Moreover, even Liszt himself didn't know why, but when he saw Lelouch's left eye, which was bloodshot from the tear gas poisoning, and especially when he saw the sincere look in that eye, he couldn't help but believe that the other party was not lying.

“I see… It sounds like there was an element of luck involved, but luck is necessary in war.” He patted Klose on the shoulder. “Soldier, you have a keen eye for the enemy situation. I’m promoting you to sergeant. You will assume the same position as Sergeant Lelouch while he was acting as platoon leader.”

Klose was overjoyed. He stood up straight, took a deep breath to make himself look muscular, and gave a sharp salute: "Yes, sir!"

His heart pounded: listening to his old squad leader was definitely the right thing to do! He'd only just been promoted to platoon leader and he'd already taken over his post! From now on, whatever Commander Lelouch tells me to do, I'll do it!
The colonel was quite satisfied with this arrangement. He had been frustrated by his limited authority, only able to promote Lelouch to sergeant major. Now, by adding a sergeant rank and promoting one of his old subordinates, the favor was practically settled.

……

After dealing with the reward matters, Lister felt he had rested enough, so he ate a few bites of dry rations and drank the water in his cup before deciding to take over command of the battle from Andrei.

He also deployed his troops, which he had brought with him, into the defensive line.

Lelouch still felt a little uneasy, and seeing that he was about to leave, he couldn't help but ask one last question:
"Sir, Captain Andri held out for almost the entire day with just his company. Now that your entire regiment has arrived, our forces have increased more than tenfold. We should be able to hold out until the end, right? I heard that in previous defensive battles, the Empire's elite troops often held off enemies twenty times their size without any problems? Is that true?"

Lelouch asked this question partly out of genuine desire for guidance, and partly out of a desire for psychological comfort.

He had only been here for four hours and still didn't have a clear understanding of the ferocity of the battle or the troop strength required by the attacking and defending sides. He was eager to hear an authoritative opinion.

Lister's expression remained serious: "Of course I will defend with all my might, but I cannot underestimate the enemy. Since we get along fairly well, I'll tell you some more military intelligence."

The Belgian 1st, 4th, and 6th Divisions are now surrounded by us. At the start of the war, they had only six regular divisions, plus some temporarily mobilized reserve divisions. In the previous battles of Liège Fortress and Antwerp, the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Divisions, along with all the reserve divisions, were annihilated by the Empire.

The 1st Division is currently holding Ostend, commanded by Lieutenant General Alfred Busteran. He is responsible for covering the rear and delaying the pursuit of our 6th Army's 2nd Division, Baria. King Billygin, his cabinet, and his staff are also in Ostend. Today, the force engaging Andri is primarily the vanguard of the 4th Division, commanded by Major General Henry De Gizelle.

In addition, there's Major General Viktor Björköpke's 6th Division, which was previously responsible for the southern flank, defending along the Isère River. But now he's blown up the riverbanks, turning the south into a vast expanse of water, no longer needing defense. I estimate he'll arrive here by late tonight at the latest, joining forces with the 4th Division to attack us.”

The colonel's understanding of the overall battle situation was far more detailed than Lelouch's; a few simple words of explanation were enough for Lelouch to understand.

In other words, during the day today, our side was actually only fighting against one or two regiments of the enemy's vanguard.

The 4th Division will likely be fully deployed by the first half of tonight. By the second half of the night, the entire 6th Division will also gradually be deployed to the front line.

If the enemy still cannot break through Neopod by then, the 1st Division, which is responsible for the rearguard action, may also bring a portion of its regiments to break through at the last moment.

The battles to come will be tough, and all the auxiliary strategies that Lelouch comes up with in his head can only be used if the main battlefield is tough enough.

……

After the colonel finished explaining the battle situation, he put on his military cap, turned around, and opened the cellar door.

However, just as he opened the door, a soldier outside seemed to have just run over and was about to push the door open, so he pushed too hard and missed, falling face-first into the mud.

"How could you be so reckless!" The colonel naturally frowned.

Ignoring the pain, the soldier scrambled to his feet, straightened his helmet, and quickly saluted: "I'm sorry, Colonel! Company Commander Andri has been wounded! The enemy's latest offensive is fierce, and Lieutenant Barak, the deputy company commander, sent me here immediately to request permission for friendly forces to join the defense."

As soon as the soldier finished speaking, a stretcher was carried into the cellar, and sure enough, Captain Andrei was lying on it.

His left arm was bandaged, and blood seeped out in layers. The wound looked quite long, as if he had been cut by shrapnel.

He was still conscious. Upon seeing the colonel, he used his still-intact right arm to pull him along and said with difficulty, "The enemy has reinforcements. This time they have Schneider 75mm rapid-fire guns. There are enemies on both the east and west sides! My previous defenses are not suitable for dealing with direct-fire heavy firepower. Be careful..."

Before Andri could finish speaking, his head lolled to the side and he fainted from blood loss.

Previously, the enemies Andri faced only had light weapons, at most grenades, heavy machine guns, or ultralight, makeshift mortars, and relied mainly on manpower. That's why Andri managed to hold out for most of the night and almost the entire day with just one company.

The enemy's slow pace was obvious to all, but unfortunately, even with such slowness, the battle had been going on for almost 16 hours before the first batch of light artillery was finally brought to the front lines.

Andri was caught off guard and failed to make immediate defensive adjustments, which resulted in a loss.

Fortunately, he had provided plenty of useful information before he lost consciousness, and Colonel Lister was a seasoned veteran who knew how to conduct counter-battery operations.

"Don't panic! Our regiment also brought 77mm field guns! Although their performance is not as good as the French army's, as long as we hide them well enough and don't expose them too early, we can completely turn the tables on them. Everyone, listen to my command immediately and adjust your deployment!"
Lelouch, you know the situation well, come with me. Don't worry, you're safe with me.

As a communications officer, Lelouch was not required to personally participate in observing enemy movements and adjusting deployments.

But the colonel had just arrived and wasn't familiar with the other officers in the original garrison. He only got along well with him, so they could only ask him to fill in for the time being and do some relaying work.

Although Lelouch was a little afraid of the shelling, he couldn't disobey orders, so he gritted his teeth and followed the colonel out.

Without the cellar's soundproofing, the cannon fire sounded several times louder. Lu Xiu's mouth dropped open, fearing his ears would be damaged, and he followed the colonel step by step.

Colonel Lister, however, appeared calm and quite used to it.

Surrounded by seven or eight guards, he walked a few dozen steps, and before even reaching the observation post, he made a rough judgment simply by listening:
"At least four guns on the east and about four more on the west, all Schneider 75mm rapid-fire guns—no wonder when our troops arrived, the enemy's offensive seemed to have almost stopped. It turns out they were consolidating their strength and had agreed on a time to attack from both the east and west!"
It's not surprising that the French forces to the west could bring up four Schneider guns, but it's unexpected that the Belgian forces to the east could also bring so many. It must be the main artillery force of the 4th Division. Billy King's division, at full strength, should have 36 guns, including 24 75mm Schneiders.

But they had fled all the way from Antwerp, losing at least 70-80% of their heavy equipment. If they had four guns left, that would be almost the entire artillery of a division. The division responsible for covering the rear might not have been able to take a single gun with them. With so many cannons, the supporting infantry force would be at least one regiment on each side, or even more.

"You few, listen to my orders. Move the two companies of the First Battalion to the east and fill in the gaps along the reverse slope of the ruins of the second block of the town. Move two companies of the Second Battalion to the west as well. The rest of the troops remain in reserve. All 77mm field guns are to remain stationary for now. Have the troops behind the first layer of ruins on the edge of the town temporarily withdraw; do not hold out to avoid unnecessary casualties."

The colonel first explained the deployment adjustments in a few words, and several trusted messengers also quickly split up to carry out the adjustments and filling in of the lines for each unit.

Listening to the colonel's analysis and commands, Lelouch couldn't help but show surprise in his eyes: "Truly a seasoned veteran! Just by listening to the density of fire, he can determine how many cannons the enemy has and what type they are. How many years of fighting does it take to develop that skill?"
"Colonel, you are truly amazing..." Lelouch said with genuine admiration.

Before he could say anything more, the colonel suddenly raised his hand to stop him. After listening quietly for two seconds, his expression changed drastically: "What's going on? The enemy still has 150mm heavy artillery? That's impossible! Given the French army's slow and sluggish nature, how could they have brought 150mm heavy artillery here so quickly?"

It turned out that while the colonel was listening and observing, another particularly loud cannon shot alerted him, and a slight wavering naturally appeared in his eyes.

Fortunately, Lelouch was very knowledgeable about this issue and quickly explained, "Colonel, don't panic. This is a Bretonnian light cruiser in the North Sea. It's been patrolling there since early this morning. When I woke up this morning, it was already shelling the coast. Every time the French and Belgian forces attack, it will also provide fire support by firing several rounds."

However, Captain Andri has figured out their tactics. Their main guns have poor elevation and can only fire from due north. When we deployed our defenses, we abandoned the side along the coastline and placed all our firing positions on the south-facing reverse slope of the ruins. As long as you follow this practice, their guns won't be able to hit us.”

Hearing that the enemy's naval guns had a limited firing arc, Colonel Lister breathed a slight sigh of relief. However, he was still uneasy and pressed for details: "Are you sure that cruiser has a limited firing arc? Is it one of those old-fashioned warships designed for naval interception missions?"

Lelouch immediately gave an affirmative answer: "Yes, Captain Andri sent men to observe it with high-powered reconnaissance telescopes beforehand. Judging from the hull shape, it is a Britannian Navy Linxian-class light cruiser. They said it has two 6-inch main guns and six 4-inch secondary guns."

"Why would the Britannians send only a light cruiser here... and a ship designed for anti-destroyer missions at that? It's clearly more suited for naval warfare than shore bombardment..."

Colonel Lister was also puzzled, but he didn't have time to worry about it for the time being.

Lelouch has already relayed how to defuse the cruiser's bombardment; all he needs to do is incorporate these command elements into the previous plan and make targeted adjustments.

Under the colonel's command, the rate of German casualties quickly slowed down, but the Frankish and Belighian charges seemed to be going more smoothly, and they had already captured the first block on the outskirts of the town.

(End of this chapter)