Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 72 At the crucial moment, another formidable enemy arrives! The arrow is on the bowstring, and it must be released!

After Lelouch and Rommel finalized the appropriate time for the airdrop, he went to give a final report to Duke Rupprecht, the commander of the army group.

Everything was already set in stone and had to be done; even with some risks, we could only proceed according to plan.

How can there be a foolproof plan in war without any risks?

All units of the 6th Army Group also began operating at full speed according to the adjusted plan.

According to this plan, the offensive should be slightly slowed down during the day on February 16th, but the opposite should be done after nightfall. Taking advantage of the darkness, which would make it difficult for the enemy's heavy artillery to observe and aim, the advance should be accelerated. The pace should be slowed down again before dawn, allowing the enemy to become extremely tired, lower their guard, and fall into a state of complacency, paving the way for the final successful airdrop.

The entire schedule was originally set very well and was in line with the Demacian people's strict and punctual style.

Unfortunately, the enemy won't follow your timetable.

Just 20 hours before the airdrop, on the morning of the 16th, another minor accident occurred on the front lines.

On the western outskirts of Dunkirk, two German divisions advancing towards the coast were making relatively good progress early that morning. They had pushed forward a few hundred meters, capturing a trench, a communication trench, and destroying several layers of barbed wire.

If all goes well, by nightfall, they might be able to advance to within 4 kilometers of the coastline.

But at 10:30, heavy artillery fire, unlike anything the Germans had ever heard before, came from the sea. The German attacking troops, who were advancing in shifts, were thrown into chaos, and two entire companies of soldiers were killed or wounded in a single, unexpected barrage.

"Run! It's a battleship's main gun!"

When the troops withdrew, more than a hundred corpses were left on the battlefield. Dozens of wounded soldiers struggled to escape, rolling or crawling, a truly horrific scene.

Subsequently, the unprecedented artillery bombardment even began to extend its firepower, accompanied by a small-scale counterattack by the Burgh troops, which actually pushed the German troops back several hundred meters.

By noon, all the new positions the Germans had captured in this direction that morning had been retaken by the Burgundian army, which had even pushed back two or three hundred meters. Surprisingly, the German casualties exceeded those of the Burgundian army that had launched the counterattack.
The division tasked with the offensive suffered a setback and quickly reported it up the chain of command to the army commander, who then reported it to the army group commander.

Upon hearing of this unexpected situation, Duke Rupprecht summoned the involved military and division commanders to an emergency meeting to report the details in person. He also ordered the air force to send out reconnaissance aircraft and summoned Lelouch and Rommel to assess whether this incident would have any adverse impact on the upcoming airborne operation.

Before long, Lelouch and Rommel arrived at the Duke's headquarters.

Without further ado, the Duke asked a question with a somewhat grim expression: "The 3rd Division of Baria, which is in charge of attacking the west of the city, was originally the fastest advancing unit in our army. I was planning to ensure that the 3rd Division advanced to a position only 3 to 4 kilometers from the coastline before your airborne landing, so that they could provide more effective support to you at that time."

However, around 10 a.m., a change occurred. The 3rd Division was subjected to unprecedented heavy artillery bombardment. Not only was it unable to continue its advance, but it was also pushed back considerably. If the situation continued to deteriorate, by nightfall, it would not even be able to hold the line 5 kilometers from the coastline.

Lelouch quickly asked, "An unprecedented heavy artillery bombardment? Wasn't it the 340mm twin-mounted turrets of the Ronan Battery that did it?"

The Ronan Battery mentioned by Lelouch was a French artillery battery on the high ground south of Dunkirk. Its heaviest firepower consisted of three twin 340mm guns. There were also a bunch of relatively old-fashioned French 240mm coastal defense guns.

Similarly, at the Malorleban Battery north of Dunkirk, there are three twin 340mm guns of the same type.

The six 12 340mm guns in the entire Dunkirk harbor were originally built by the French for the lead ship of the Normandy-class battleships.

The Normandy-class battleships were designed in 1912, and construction of two ships began in April 1913, with construction of two more starting in October of the same year.

By the time World War II broke out, the first and second ships of the Normandy-class were almost ready to be launched, but outfitting had not yet begun, and the third and fourth ships were not even finished in terms of hull construction.

Because the French army was facing greater wartime resource constraints than the German army, in order to concentrate all resources on mass production of the army, all battleships under construction were suspended indefinitely.

However, since the 48 main gun barrels of the first four Normandy-class ships had already been built, it would be a waste not to use them. So they were assigned to the four major naval ports of Dunkirk, Saint-Nazaire, Brest, and Toulon, respectively, to be used as fortified coastal defense guns.

The two batteries at Dunkirk were assigned the 12 340mm guns from the "Normandie".

Lelouch had previously investigated the situation and knew that the Ronan Battery's artillery firing arc had some limitations. It could provide near-perfect coverage of the eastern part of Dunkirk, but not the western part. How could the attacking forces in the west of the city suddenly be under such heavy artillery fire today? And this was at a considerable distance from the coastline.

If they were almost at the coast, it wouldn't be surprising if they were attacked. It's possible that the dreadnoughts of the Brigadier Generals on the surface were responsible. But according to the Duke, the attacking force wasn't that close to the sea at the time, and the enemy battleships couldn't get too close to the shore, so they shouldn't have been able to hit that far.

Furthermore, even if we assume the enemy battleships could reach that far, they would have attacked a few days ago and wouldn't have allowed the Germans to advance to this point.

Lelouch voiced his question, but unfortunately the Duke didn't know how to explain it at the moment and could only wait for further information.

Fortunately, the two didn't have to wait long. After only a few minutes of wild speculation, Lieutenant Colonel Immelmann from the reconnaissance aviation team arrived, bringing with him the latest aerial reconnaissance intelligence:

"I'm sorry, Your Highness! It was an oversight in our reconnaissance that prevented us from detecting and identifying the enemy's new warships in advance! The latest aerial footage has confirmed that the Britannians have deployed shallow-draft heavy gunboats, which have approached to within 2 kilometers of the coast and then bombarded the inland areas directly!"

Originally, enemy battleships had such deep drafts that in shallow waters without anchorages, they had to be at least 5 to 10 kilometers from the shore to fire upon it. However, shallow-draft heavy gunboats have extremely shallow drafts, allowing them to approach as close as 1 to 2 kilometers from the shore, thus greatly increasing the depth of their shore-attacking capabilities!

"It's just that our young pilot didn't recognize the 'shallow-draft gunboat' type of ship before. We actually spotted these ships newly deployed in Dunkirk port during aerial reconnaissance the day before yesterday, but he didn't identify them. Only after taking aerial photos just now did he urgently consult a professional and finally decipher them."

"Shallow-draft gunboats? When did the Britannians build such things? I mean, aren't shallow-draft gunboats all outdated and antiquated?"

Duke Rupprecht wasn't very knowledgeable about naval technology and was a bit confused, so he quickly sent people to urgently gather intelligence.

The Duke had heard of the term "shallow-draft gunboat" before. There were quite a few shallow-draft gunboats at the end of the last century, commonly known as "mosquito boats," but they have been phased out in recent years.

Lelouch, who was standing to the side, pondered for a while and suddenly remembered that although the concept of shallow-draft heavy gunboats was outdated, the Burkina Faso navy seemed to have actually made good use of the local resources and built several batches of shallow-draft heavy gunboats during World War I.

The biggest advantage of that thing is that it has a very shallow draft, similar to a light cruiser, which allows it to be used close to the beach. Although its speed is extremely slow, its firepower is fierce. Moreover, it often uses spare, uncommon gun barrels to build a few ships for flexible deployment.

Unexpectedly, in this Dunkirk battle, as the German army advanced closer and closer to the core urban area of ​​Dunkirk port, and the western part of the city was out of reach of the enemy's coastal artillery due to the lack of firing angles, and the pre-dreadnoughts anchored in the eastern anchorage could not bombard the combat zone in the west of the city, the Burghers once again came up with new weapons and shallow-draft heavy gunboats!

And you know what? This weapon is indeed very well suited to this environment. Historically, shallow-draft heavy gunboats were originally built during World War I specifically for use in the Beligh-Kin coastal theater.

Just as Lelouch was pondering, the intelligence-gathering officer quickly brought the information the Duke wanted.

An intelligence officer rushed into the command room, saluted, and said, "Commander! It's been confirmed that the Bretonnia built four shallow-draft heavy gunboats using 14-inch naval guns. The Bretonnia even gave these ships Ukrainian names: 'HMS Grant,' 'HMS Robert E. Lee,' 'HMS Stonewall Jackson,' and 'HMS Admiral Farragut.'" The Duke was still somewhat puzzled: "Why would Breton warships be named after generals from the Ukrainian Civil War?"

Lelouch, quick-witted, suddenly remembered reading in a book in his previous life about the Burmese people's attempts to drag the Ugly Kingdom into the conflict during World War I. He immediately spoke up to clarify things for the Duke:

"Ah! I remember now! Before the war, didn't the Empire's William Shipyard build a battleship called 'Salamis' for the Greek Navy? But the Greeks wanted to install 14-inch main guns, while the Empire's Krupp Arms Factory had only ever built 12-inch main guns before. So the Greeks ordered 14-inch guns from Bethlehem Steel Company in the United States across the ocean."

When the war began, the Salamis was still under construction. The Americans knew they couldn't transport the custom-made 14-inch cannons to the Empire and install them on Greek warships. So they sold their surplus stockpile to the Bretons!
The Bretonnia misappropriated these cannons and hastily built several shallow-draft gunboats. Now, they deliberately named them after a bunch of Ugly generals, as if afraid the Empire wouldn't know that these cannons were sold to them by the Ugly!

"Brazil just wants the Empire to protest against the Ugly Kingdom's violation of neutrality laws and its sale of weapons to belligerent nations! They want the Empire and the Ugly Kingdom to break off relations so that Blazeil can drag the Ugly Kingdom into an alliance! How despicable!"

The Duke was indignant when he learned that the cannons were sold by an American company.

The world war has been going on for six months, and it's common for American capitalists to do business with both sides of the conflict. But at least they had previously adhered to neutrality laws, refraining from directly selling weapons and only allowing the sale of raw materials or non-weapon manufactured goods.

Even if the goods you sell can be easily processed into weapons, you still can't sell them directly. In this matter, the US arms dealers have absolutely violated international law in a serious manner.

What Lelouch didn't know was that, in the past, after the people of Burma rushed to complete these four shallow-draft heavy gunboats equipped with U.S. cannons in February 1915, they first named the warships after generals in U.S. history. As a result, the U.S. Congress secretly sent people to threaten and protest, forcing Burma to change the names, because the U.S. did not want to be dragged into the mess too early, nor did it want to leave any irrefutable evidence for Demania to condemn.

Finally, the Burkina Faso foreign ministry could not withstand the pressure and in May 1915 renamed the four warships, which were equipped with neutral guns, as the "Abercrombie-class" and renamed them after four generals in Burkina Faso's history: "Abercrombie," "Lagrange," "Havloc," and "Roberts."

Furthermore, because these ships had never been sunk or captured by the Germans in history, the Ukrainian government, after changing their names and slightly disguising their appearance, could argue that "these cannons were not finished weapons sold directly by the Bethlehem Company, but rather manufactured by the Ukrainian artillery factories themselves after the raw materials were sold." Therefore, historically, Demania's diplomatic authorities had not obtained conclusive evidence and were unable to blackmail the Ukrainian government.

Otherwise, if they could find even a little solid evidence, they might be able to offset the impact of the "Lusitania" incident in the future. If there is solid evidence that the United States sold weapons directly to the United States first, then the Demanian submarine would have a much stronger reason to sink Ukrainian civilian ships in the future, which would be a case of "you are unjust first, so I will be unjust later".

Lelouch was thinking a lot, while the Duke beside him lacked this diplomatic sensitivity; he was still considering purely military issues.

Finally, the Duke couldn't help but ask Lelouch, "The enemy has suddenly strengthened its forces, adding four more shallow-draft heavy gunboats with 14-inch main gun turrets, and they even pushed back our offensive in Dunkirk by more than a kilometer."

The situation is more dire than planned. Do you think the airborne operation scheduled for tomorrow morning can still proceed as planned? By then, it might take longer for the supporting forces to break through Dunkirk city, and your paratroopers might have to hold out for even longer after capturing the artillery positions…”

Lelouch and Rommel, who had remained silent until now, exchanged a glance and finally said in unison with firm conviction, "It's all planned! We can't postpone it any longer!"

Rommel's view was more military-oriented: "Commander! Now that the enemy has shallow-water heavy gunboats, we can't wait any longer. If we wait any longer, the enemy might push our troops even further back in the west direction tomorrow or the day after! Under the bombardment of 14-inch main guns, our forward troops cannot stand firm."

Now we must press on! Once we capture the two major forts north and south of the port, no enemy warship will dare approach the port to bombard our army!

Lelouch fully agreed with Rommel's assessment of these points, but he saw further ahead and also recognized some diplomatic benefits: "Commander! I think these shallow-water heavy gunboats have very poor wave resistance and seaworthiness. I've heard that their maximum speed is only 6 to 8 knots, and their power is very weak. When these ships are unable to fight at night, they often return to port."

In that case, we must seize the port forts at all costs! If we can take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness when their shallow-water heavy gunboats return to port at night, and then turn their guns to sink the heavy gunboats in the berths, the Empire will have irrefutable evidence that the U.S. violated the Neutrality Act first. We can salvage the original 14-inch twin-gun turrets from Bethlehem Steel! We can even salvage the hulls bearing the names of U.S. generals! They won't be able to deny it then! We must be decisive at this point!

The Duke was also persuaded from multiple angles and became very excited.

Although the situation worsened slightly during the day before the final offensive, the enemy also became stronger.

But the Empire had no way out! Neither did the 6th Army!
Both sides have piled up so many chips on the poker table that they can barely hold any more.

If either side backs down or refuses to follow at this point, the consequences will be very serious.

This is a winner-takes-all situation!
"Order! The attack plan will proceed as scheduled! After dark, the entire army will launch a general offensive! The assault will continue until 4:00 AM. At the same time, the airship squadron will take off at 4:00 AM, aiming to reach the target area by 6:00 AM, and then begin the airdrop! Ground troops will rest at 4:00 AM, but will only have 2 hours of rest. After the paratroopers land at 6:00 AM, the ground support troops must immediately resume the attack!"

Meanwhile, instruct the air force and navy to prepare according to plan, and to enter the fray at the appointed time! Reconnaissance aircraft must provide cover and shoot down any small number of enemy two-seat reconnaissance planes hastily equipped with heavy machine guns! Shoot down all enemy planes, even at the cost of attrition! We cannot allow those few enemy aircraft to threaten our airships! Inform General Spee's pre-dreadnought that it should set sail tonight with its escort torpedo boats to reinforce the bombardment!

Both armies participating in the battle were put into operation according to the Commander's orders.

That afternoon, a portion of the army continued its offensive, trying to wear down the enemy forces and push the front line forward as much as possible.

The two sides engaged in a bloody melee on the outskirts of the city. The German army deployed hundreds of flamethrower engineer teams to clear out buildings and even ruins where enemy fire was located. Countless Burgundy soldiers screamed and jumped out of windows, their bodies engulfed in flames. However, German flamethrower engineers were also frequently caught in enemy fire, exploding into fireballs themselves, a truly tragic sight.

After more than half a month of fierce fighting, the troops of both the Burgh and the French were no longer so afraid of flamethrowers. Although they knew that these things were very powerful, they had also learned to "spray flamethrowers at the German flamethrowers at any cost" as soon as they saw them.

While the German flamethrower troops still achieved impressive results, their casualty rate was increasing.

Even so, the German army continued its relentless advance.

As night fell, the German offensive became even more rapid.

Because enemy ships and artillery positions could not be observed or bombarded at night, the resistance of the Burgh troops weakened, and the German army naturally seized the opportunity to launch a chaotic and fierce attack.

In contrast, many of the German strongholds were fixed targets. Before nightfall, the Germans had obtained more coordinate information through artillery observation posts and aerial reconnaissance, and their heavy artillery could still fire at these fixed targets at full power at night.

The roar of cannons echoed throughout the vast southern front of Dunkirk all night. When the Burghers were frustrated by the fighting, they would order their coastal artillery or battleships in the harbor to fire back, but they lacked target guidance and could only fire blindly at positions that were "clearly in enemy territory," without knowing whether there were any enemies in those positions.

Time passed slowly, and as the night drew to a close, it was finally time for the airship to take off with the paratroopers.

Duke Rupprecht managed to assemble more than 40 airships, which was the largest number the Empire could currently muster.

More than 40 airships took off from Armandière, 80 kilometers behind the front line, around 4 a.m., and were scheduled to reach the target area in one and a half to two hours.

Meanwhile, the German railway guns continued to roar, bombarding the area near the two main forts north and south of Dunkirk. Although they couldn't penetrate the forts, they left large patches of raging fire on the surface. This was enough for the airships to notice from a great distance and adjust their course accordingly.

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PS: Third update! 13,000 words today.

(End of this chapter)