Chapter 44 Pincer Maneuver, 240,000 against 190,000: This Time, the Advantage Really is Mine!

Major Bock, Major Rundstedt, the operational plan for the army group has arrived. Come over and take a look right now! The full-scale offensive should begin in a day or two once the snow lets up a little!

Late at night on December 18th, in Armentières, a town in the western suburbs of Lille, inside a wine estate temporarily requisitioned as military quarters.

Bock, Rundstedt, and the others had all intended to rest, but Captain Lelouch braved the wind and snow, driving back to the town from the divisional headquarters in Lille, bringing with him a military order and several tactical maps.

To prevent any leaks before the battle, crucial communications between frontline units were changed to personal, in-person notifications. Lelouch's advantage of knowing how to drive proved very useful here, giving him a legitimate reason to learn the high-level inner details earlier than the two major battalion commanders.

After all, Lelouch clearly knew that the Demanian naval ciphers had been decrypted by the Britannians. Although this did not mean the army ciphers had also been cracked, it was always best to be cautious.

With an anti-intelligence deception expert like Lelouch, who was intimately familiar with history, the radio discipline of the 6th Army before the great battle was also greatly optimized.

The German forces did not maintain complete radio silence—unusual quietness would also look too fake, so they simply maintained the same communication density as usual. Minor matters continued to be handled via radio, while major matters were communicated in person.

At this moment, upon hearing the commotion, the two battalion commanders instantly shook off their drowsiness. They simply wiped their eyes with a damp towel, quickly cleared off the table, and prepared to listen carefully as Lelouch relayed the superiors' deployment.

Lelouch spread out the military orders and maps, and concisely introduced: "The specific offensive routes have been decided. Let me first briefly outline the movements of our friendly forces.

The objective of the 4th Army this time is to first retake Ostend and Dixmude, which were lost during our previous elastic defense, and then in the second phase advance along the coastal highway, striving to recapture Nieuwpoort, De Panne, and Dunkirk.

The objective of our 6th Army is to set out from Armentières, following the railway line running through Armentières, Bailleul, Steenvoorde/Cassel, Wormhout, Bergues, Grande-Synthe, and Dunkirk, pushing forward with all our might.

Of course, the straight-line distance of this route alone is over 60 kilometers. Counting the twists and turns of the railway line and avoiding some hills and highlands, the entire journey is at least 80 kilometers.

Meanwhile, the 4th Army taking Ostend and then pushing along the coastal highway to Dunkirk is a 45-kilometer journey.

So in reality, we probably won't need to push all the way to Dunkirk; midway through, the friendly forces of the 4th Army will circle around in advance and rendezvous with us. Thus, even without capturing Dunkirk, as long as we encircle the main force of the Britannian army ahead of schedule and achieve the annihilation mission, it will count as fulfilling the campaign's objective.

The lower limit of our advance mission is to at least capture Steenvoorde and Cassel. Because Steenvoorde has a railway branch line that runs eastward through Poperinghe and ultimately leads to Ypres, where the Britannian army's headquarters is located.

Therefore, capturing Steenvoorde and Cassel means at least cutting off the railway line used by the Britannian army to transport supplies, shipped from the rear ports, into the city of Ypres. Even if the encirclement is not completely closed, it will gradually starve the enemy on the Ypres heights of ammunition and provisions.

Even if the enemy finally abandons the city and attempts a breakout, with no railway available, they will only be able to take the muddy flooded areas north of the Ypres heights, forcing them to abandon all heavy equipment and transport trains. By then, we can easily catch the enemy's tail in pursuit and inflict heavy losses upon them!"

Lelouch explained carefully with the map, and since both Bock and Rundstedt were highly professional, they grasped it immediately.

Bock also concisely summarized and confirmed:

"So, if this plan can be smoothly implemented and both sides perform well enough, the most perfect scenario is that the 4th Army and we rendezvous between Bergues and Wormhout, encircling the main Britannian force.

If our offensive suffers setbacks and our performance falls short of expectations, we will at least fight our way to Steenvoorde to cut off the enemy's supply railway, and then rely on the 4th Army to take on a bit more and come to Steenvoorde to rendezvous with us.

If the 4th Army's offensive suffers setbacks and their performance falls short of expectations, we will have to take on more, pushing all the way to Dunkirk to wait for them? As for the gap between Dunkirk and Steenvoorde, it all depends on who performs better and takes on more responsibility?"

Lelouch: "Exactly, that's it. When drafting the plan, the army group staff considered both the best and worst scenarios; the former is the lower limit, and the latter is the upper limit."

Having received his answer, Bock remained tight-browed, staring at the map as if deep in thought.

Meanwhile, Rundstedt, who had been listening in silence all along, suddenly spoke up with an additional question: "Have the reconnaissance units figured out the enemy's force distribution? How many enemies do we face on our front? And how many are facing the 4th Army's front?"

Lelouch: "Our direct attacking force consists of about 15 divisions in total. Our 6th Army has 12 divisions, of which 6 must be deployed on the flanks to guard against the French forces coming from the direction of Arras and Lens, leaving 6 available for the offensive.

As for the 4th Army's friendly forces, they don't need to worry about their flanks, as their flank is directly the open sea. Therefore, out of their 12 divisions, they only need to spare 3 to hold the front of the Ypres salient, leaving the remaining 9 available for a flanking breakthrough.

As for the enemy's total strength, including the entire British Expeditionary Force, it is divided into 3 corps and 7 infantry divisions. The Britannian infantry divisions are just like ours, at full strength with 18,000 men each, so 7 divisions theoretically amount to 126,000 men.

However, previous bloody battles like the Battle of Mons have cost the enemy quite a few casualties. Especially the 3rd Corps' 6th and 7th Divisions, which had two-thirds of their active strength wiped out. Currently, the total remaining combat strength of the 7 infantry divisions is roughly between 85,000 and 90,000 men.

In addition, the Britannian Expeditionary Force also has 1 cavalry corps, comprising 3 cavalry divisions. A cavalry division has half the manpower establishment of an infantry division, at 9,000 men at full strength. Having suffered losses previously, the 3 cavalry divisions currently have a combined total of over 22,000 men remaining.

Aside from the Britannian homeland expeditionary force, they also have some troops from dominions and colonies.

These include the 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions, totaling 36,000 men.

There is also the ANZAC Corps, totaling 18,000 men.

Finally, there are the 3rd and 7th Lahore Divisions from the South Asian colonies; these colonial divisions only have 12,000 men each, totaling 24,000 men.

Therefore, what we are facing in total are 7 Britannian infantry divisions, 3 Britannian cavalry divisions, 2 Canadian divisions, 1 ANZAC corps, and 2 Lahore divisions—also 15 division-level combat units, totaling 190,000 men, of whom 110,000 are Britannian and 80,000 are colonial personnel.

Our 15 first-wave attacking divisions have all been replenished in manpower, so their total strength should be around 240,000. There are also 9 defense-coordination and line-filling divisions which, in a critical moment, can also be pulled up as a reserve, numbering around 150,000 men.

According to current intelligence, the Britannian 1st Corps is deployed in the center of the Ypres salient, while the enemy cavalry corps and the ANZAC Corps, acting as the general reserve, are also there.

The Britannian 2nd Corps is deployed on the northern coastal flank along the Dixmude and Ostend line, opposing our 4th Army.

The Britannian 3rd Corps is deployed right opposite us at Bailleul. Furthermore, considering that the Britannian 3rd Corps had previously suffered severe attrition, the enemy command has placed the 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions as second-line reserves at Steenvoorde, the railway bottleneck directly behind the Britannian 3rd Corps. If we attack the Britannian 3rd Corps, the Canadian 1st and 2nd Divisions can quickly reinforce them.

As for the Lahoris brought over from the South Asian peninsula, their current whereabouts are unknown. They might even still be undergoing emergency training in the rear at Dover and haven't even crossed the strait yet. The Britannian forces themselves probably look down on the combat proficiency of those tropical fools."

Having listened to this, Rundstedt concisely summarized: "So regardless of the overall situation, the forces that our Barian 6th and 12th Divisions directly face right now are just the two divisions of the Britannian 3rd Corps?

As for the second-line troops, they have the Canadian 1st and 2nd Divisions as rear support, and perhaps the fast-moving cavalry corps can quickly reinforce them as well, but we also have 4 divisions in reserve.

Generally speaking, the establishments of both attacking and defending sides are still comparable, but our forces are more fully manned and equipped, so this battle is certainly winnable."

In World War I, the geographical advantage of the defending side was extremely pronounced. If the ratio of attacking to defending forces was 1 to 1, based on the experience of the previous few months, the attacking side had never succeeded.

If the attacking side was at full strength while the defending side was under-strength, theoretically there was still a sliver of possibility, depending entirely on on-the-spot execution.

It wasn't that the 6th Army didn't want to deploy more forces in the direction of Armentières, but rather that the width of this battlefield was only so wide, allowing only two divisions to be deployed initially, just as the enemy could only cram in two divisions.

If they were to detour further south to widen the attack frontage, they would run right into the French lines and drag the much larger French forces into the fray. And under the current circumstances, the 6th Army had indeed detached several divisions to pin down the French on the flanks.

Once the three main officers of the assault battalion had thoroughly figured out the enemy situation, the next step was to assign specific assault positions.

The army group had not made a final deployment for the specific offensive positions of the Barian 6th and 12th Divisions, currently still allowing frontline units to make minor adjustments based on actual conditions, but once a final decision was made, it definitely had to be reported for the record.

Considering that there was not much maneuvering space between Armentières, controlled by the German forces, and Bailleul, controlled by the Britannian forces, the army group's preliminary intention was to have the two divisions each choose one side.

The railway connecting the two places runs northwest-southeast; therefore, one division would launch its main attack along the northeast side of the railway, while the other division would launch its main attack along the southwest side.

In any case, it was impossible to attack directly along the railway, as that would offer no cover and turn them into sitting ducks for the heavy artillery concentrations deployed by the Britannian forces on the edge of the Ypres heights to the north—

The two highlands of Mount Noir and Mount Kemmel on the southern edge of the Ypres heights were only 7 to 8 kilometers away from the closest points to this railway. Taking into account the elevation advantage of the highlands, 75mm Schneider rapid-firing cannons could easily cover and interdict the railway.

Therefore, with everything laid out completely on the table, Lelouch also showed his cards and asked: "Major Bock, Major Rundstedt, the higher-ups do not understand the specific situation on the front line, so they did not force an assignment upon us. The divisions corresponding to our two battalions are both stationed in the town of Armentières, and we can take either side.

So it all depends on how the two of you want to choose. Once decided, it must be reported for the final record—which of you wants to advance along the northeast side of the railway? Whichever is left will take the southwest side.

The disadvantage of the northeast side is that it is closer to the Ypres heights, making it easier to draw artillery fire from the enemy on the heights. The advantage, however, is that the terrain is higher, with more hills and woodland cover.

The pros and cons of the southwest side are the reverse: it is farther from the Ypres heights, making it less susceptible to artillery fire, but the terrain is also lower and more depressed, requiring passage through many waist-deep, muddy, waterlogged areas."

Bock glanced at the map; he had already made up his mind long ago, but he didn't want to incur the infamous reputation of "bullying others by pulling rank with his uncle the Chief of General Staff," so he let Rundstedt choose first.

Rundstedt was equally sharp and seasoned. After studying it for a short while, he judged: "If you ask me, we might as well deploy both assault battalions to attack on the southwest side of the railway. Mud is not a problem; heavy snow will freeze it over soon enough. Being too close to the Ypres heights and facing the enemy's ferocious artillery fire is what's truly fatal."

Lelouch: "What you're saying makes sense, of course, but on the first day of the offensive, the width of direct engagement between enemy and friendly forces is not enough to pull apart sufficient space to cram both assault battalions in. At least until some breakthroughs are made on the first day, when the enemy and friendly front lines become more interlocked and can accommodate more people, can we consider your idea."

Rundstedt sighed: "So, the essence of the problem is that the first day requires the southwest side to make the main attack and the northeast side to launch a feint, in order to disperse the enemy's attention. Only after a breakthrough is achieved on the southwest side can the assault forces concentrate on the southwest side—

Since that's the case, my battalion will take the 6th Division to launch the feint. On the first day, we'll strive to build up a bit of momentum, and then have the line-filling troops of the 6th Division consolidate my achievements. By then, I can slip across the railway line under the cover of night, rendezvous with you on the southwest side, and continue thrusting into the depths."

Showing good judgment of the situation, Rundstedt actively shouldered the feint mission, which was less likely to yield glory.

Seeing this, Bock instead felt a bit apologetic and proactively extended an olive branch: "Regardless of who feints and who makes the main attack, when the time comes, our respective enemy-killing battle achievements will be tallied separately, but the breakthrough achievements of the first day will be split evenly between us!"

Bock couldn't be bothered to take petty advantages over such credit either. He reached out and shook hands firmly with Rundstedt, and the two of them reached a tacit understanding just like that.

——

PS: Don't think I'm being slow; the second chapter today will actually start the fighting.

Mainly because it's a massive battle involving 200,000 troops on both sides, just explaining the force distribution and deployment of enemy and friendly front lines, the directions of main attacks and feints, and the geographical advantages and disadvantages of the battlefield takes an entire chapter to introduce. I'm not padding the word count.