Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 86 Invading Ypres, Capturing French - Part 2

"I didn't expect Xu Jin's barrage tactic to be so effective; the enemy's reserve forces simply couldn't be deployed to the rear."

"So many soldiers relied on their experience to hide in the trenches behind the coverage area, only to be killed by our extended artillery fire in this unprotected state as soon as the artillery stopped and they moved away."

Lieutenant Colonel Lundstätter, with his half of his men, advanced as quickly as Lelouch.

Along the way, he saw countless soldiers of the Cloth Army lying dead on the flat ground between the trenches, as well as dense piles of corpses at the corners of the trenches. He couldn't help but sigh, and his admiration for Lelouch deepened even further.

He was 40 years old, experienced, and knew exactly what a normal trench warfare should look like.

In a normal artillery battle, it's impossible for so many defending soldiers to die outside the trenches. These people clearly felt safe after the shelling stopped and wanted to take a shortcut, so they simply climbed out of the ground and rushed from one trench to the next, instead of going around to the "I"-shaped communication trenches.

Just like some people who are too lazy to walk to a place with an underpass or zebra crossing when crossing the street, they just want to cross the street randomly wherever is nearby.

Under normal circumstances, wearing this during the interval between two waves of fire preparation is not dangerous.

But they happened to encounter Lelouch, who didn't play by the rules. So these soldiers were like a dump truck driving without looking where it was going, running into a real lucky break.

What a tragic death.

Thanks to the skillful coordination of the assault battalion and the slow-advance barrage tactics, in just one hour, five short but intense rounds of fire preparation and four slow-advance extensions, the entire 2-kilometer-deep field defense line south of Ypres was brilliantly breached.

By 9:30 p.m., Lelouch and Lundstätter, with more than 1300 men, had reached the edge of Ypres city.

Throughout the entire process, including those with minor injuries, the casualties were only around 200, and most of them were minor injuries, with only about 40 people dying directly in battle.

In a raid that split and annihilated two enemy regiments, such losses could be considered extremely small.

The army's terrifyingly low morale also played a significant role throughout the process. Many soldiers, after being subjected to the deceptive barrage of attacks, collapsed and scattered like birds and beasts.

"We've already reached the city center, let's adjust our tactics quickly." After storming into a textile factory south of Ypres, Lelouch found a safe place to set up a temporary headquarters and then decisively issued orders.

"Companies C and D held off the enemy's counterattacks from the left and right flanks, while Companies A and B continued their attack. The machine gun teams of each company concentrated, deployed to the rear, and sought high ground to block the streets and intercept reinforcements."

The submachine gun teams also assembled to take charge of the frontal assault. The grenade launcher teams switched to firing smoke canisters, and the flamethrower engineers were brought up!

A series of commands immediately shifted the troops' tactical stance from breaking through field defenses to urban warfare.

Light smoke grenades fired from grenade launchers quickly created smoke at key points along the troops' advance route.

In particular, those buildings and ruins that have been identified through fire tests as having enemy heavy machine gun garrisons should be heavily fortified with smoke.

Then the flamethrower engineers, carrying flamethrowers, wearing helmets and smoke masks, charged forward, spraying flames at windows or wall openings to eliminate machine gunners in every nook and cranny.

During the attack, they encountered several reinforced buildings with windows sealed off or even temporarily reinforced with cement. They couldn't find suitable positions for flamethrowing, and the remaining windows were almost all machine gun positions.

The flamethrower soldiers attacked several times but failed to break through. Seeing this, Lelouch immediately ordered the troops to make minor adjustments to their tactics.

The soldiers gathered their grenades, bundled them together, rushed to the vicinity of the fortified positions, threw them with all their might, and then lay down.

Cluster grenades are too heavy to be thrown more than 50 or 60 meters; they can only be thrown 20 or 30 meters at most. Therefore, the grenadier needs to pull the pin and throw the grenade immediately, then quickly run back a few steps and lie down.

As cluster grenades explode against the wall, even the most reinforced urban buildings will be slightly breached. Then flamethrower soldiers will move forward and spray fire into the breach, followed by submachine gunners to clear out the remaining structures.

Because these buildings only have openings on one or two sides, the areas without windows on the back are often poorly protected, and the heavy machine gun positions originally installed inside the building could not possibly face that direction.

After the building was suddenly breached by the blast, the enemy rushed in, and the heavy machine gun crew didn't even have time to adjust their firing angle.

The Bu army soldiers guarding the building could only exchange fire with the attackers' MP15 submachine guns while holding rifles, and they were immediately at a complete disadvantage and were wiped out.

Lelouch's meticulous command and adaptability allowed him to quickly break through one block after another. The tactical innovations he employed in this battle were deeply remembered by his officers, soldiers, and even his colleagues.

Lieutenant Colonel Rundstedt was particularly impressed by his tactical command innovations, and eagerly observed and learned from them, hoping to summarize and organize these tactics so that they could be better developed and promoted in the future.

“Lelouch is absolutely a genius. He is truly capable of everything from strategic vision to tactical innovation. A general who has risen through the ranks like this will surely lead the empire to final victory!” Lundstätter’s admiration for him reached a new level once again.

The two assault battalions cooperated in this way, continuously infiltrating and advancing at such a fast pace that the Burkina Faso expeditionary force could not react at all.

After another hour and a half of fighting, Lelouch finally reached the vicinity of Marshal French's expeditionary force headquarters.

French didn't run away, perhaps because he felt there was no point in running away anyway, and it wouldn't matter where he went, so he didn't want to lose face.

Near French's headquarters were several of the city's most fortified buildings, converted into fortifications. After all, Ypres had been the headquarters of the expeditionary force for two months after the start of the war. That is, since October of last year, the Burgh army had been operating there for over four months, and many of the fortifications had been specially constructed and modified.

Lelouch's assault also failed to break through these strong fortifications, so he called in the 210mm siege howitzers from the rear.

Each of his platoons at the front was equipped with a radio station, which could accurately report and calibrate positions.

The soldiers in the fire observation team began calling for artillery fire from about one or two kilometers away. The initial error in the impact point of the shells was as much as seven or eight hundred meters, but it was quickly reduced to two or three hundred meters after the reporting and calibration, and finally hit the target directly.

They blew up the strongest fortresses one by one.

Lelouch's commando team then rushed up, either finishing off the enemies in the ruins or capturing and interrogating those who were clearly incapacitated.

Before long, they managed to find out the location of the headquarters cellar entrance from a Bu army major staff officer who had been knocked unconscious by the explosion but then woke up in pain.

Lelouch had his men blast open the basement door with cluster grenades, then threw two more grenades at the entrance, and finally poured in a large number of smoke grenades.

Smoke grenades used for smoke bombing don't cause as much tearing as professional tear gas, but they're still incredibly choking. Even the Demacian army has to wear smoke masks to launch smoke attacks.

As a large amount of smoke bombs were poured in, everyone inside was choked and could no longer hide. They frantically rushed out, wanting to breathe fresh air.

"Drop your weapons and come out! Anyone who dares to come out with a weapon will be shot on the spot!"

The first few Burmese guards who rushed out didn't even hear the shouts and ran out with their guns, only to be shot dead on the spot.

Their bodies rolled back into the basement, which finally calmed the people behind them down.

Lelouch realized that his subordinates' shouts were inappropriate and that he couldn't just use their native language, so he personally shouted them out several times in Burmese.

This time, finally a group of officers and soldiers who had abandoned their weapons emerged one after another, raising their hands to avoid any misunderstanding.

At the very end of the procession were a lieutenant general with a sword and a marshal with a scepter, each holding something above their head with one hand, indicating that they should leave the cellar.

However, after leaving the smoky area and clearing up the misunderstanding, the two men immediately lowered their arms and resumed their dignified demeanor.

The lieutenant general's sword had an ebony scabbard, but most of its surface was inlaid with gold, and the hilt was inlaid with rubies and sapphires, with a diamond set at the end of the hilt.

The marshal's scepter was made entirely of ivory, with a band of gold inlay. Similar to the Demacian marshal's scepter, it also had a crown-shaped head, inlaid with a ring of gemstones.

Today, marshals in free countries like the Franks do not have scepters, but monarchies like Debreu still retain related ceremonial objects.

The Kingdom of Burkina Faso is more secular than the Kingdom of Russo. The marshal does not usually carry the scepter around. Theoretically, it is only used when attending royal ceremonies or providing ceremonial regalia.

"I am Marshal John French, Commander-in-Chief of the Britannian Expeditionary Force, and I now surrender to your forces on behalf of the Expeditionary Force."

After catching his breath and clearing his throat, the old marshal spoke calmly, his eyes glazed but still holding a trace of pride. His voice was not loud, but his tone and pronunciation were calm and clear.

"Lieutenant Colonel Lelouch Hunt, Commander of the Training Assault Battalion of the 6th Demania Army, accepts your surrender."

Lelouch stepped forward proudly, his steps steady, one step at a time, until he reached French and accepted his scepter with both hands, showing the other the necessary respect.

French breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw that the other man had caught the cane with both hands instead of one, at least he hadn't been humiliated.

"A lieutenant colonel? I was actually captured by a lieutenant colonel. Is this really my fate...? Sigh..."

French wanted to say something, but when the words reached his lips, his throat felt extremely dry. In the end, he could only swallow a few times and say nothing.

Lelouch, however, had no time for his sentimentality. He simply urged him in a calm tone, "Marshal French, shouldn't you have your radio operator send a message now, ordering all the Burmese troops to cease resistance? You can send it in plain text; that way, our troops will also cease hostilities upon receiving it."

French nodded, but he didn't usually concern himself with such trivial matters; he simply gave Archibald a wink.

Lieutenant General Archibald, as chief of staff, immediately made arrangements to ensure a ceasefire sooner rather than later, thus reducing the bloodshed.

Ten minutes later, the surrender telegram spread throughout the Ypres salient.

Twenty minutes later, the warring parties finally separated and confirmed a ceasefire.

The last 132,000-plus Burma soldiers (including Canadian, ANZAC, and a small number of Indian soldiers) laid down their weapons and waited for the Demanians to take them over.

(End of this chapter)