"Where is the King!"
"Did the kingdom's high command flee?! Did they abandon us?! Did they leave the people behind and run?!"
"If he hasn't run, let His Majesty come out! We want to see the King!"
"Are the interests of those dogs at the London Stock Exchange more important than the nation, the people, and the army?! Give us an explanation!"
Within Ostend, the final stronghold of the Belgia forces, the scattered remnants of the 1st, 4th, and 6th Divisions descended into absolute chaos after the German Army's leaflets were scattered everywhere.
Countless soldiers surged toward the King's former temporary palace to demand answers, creating an unstoppable uproar.
Many of them didn't even care about the truth. Their morale had already hit rock bottom after a string of defeats, and the pent-up frustration in their hearts desperately needed an outlet. They just wanted an excuse to vent.
At a time like this, handing them an excuse was like tossing a lit match into a powder keg. It would blow up and shred anything that stood in their way.
Among the final three Belgia divisions, the 1st Division was in relatively the best shape. They still retained some combat capability, having spent less time being consumed as cannon fodder.
The 4th and 6th Divisions, on the other hand, had essentially imploded. The 4th Division, in particular, had suffered the heaviest casualties and most devastating losses during the previous breakout attempt.The three division commanders gathered together, their expressions extremely grave.
As high-ranking officers, they were naturally well-informed and had already known since last night that the King had fled. Chief of Staff Felix had personally informed them in private, urging them to keep the secret and stabilize the situation as much as possible. He had also promised that the Britannia Royal Navy would soon evacuate everyone.
But none of the three expected the news to leak so quickly, directly inciting a military mutiny.
Those despicable Demanians had actually repeated their old trick of directly dropping leaflets! Since when had that stubborn, conservative enemy nation become so skilled at psychological warfare?
Now, they could only discuss emergency countermeasures among themselves. After talking for half the day, they still hadn't come up with a viable plan to suppress the troops.
Major General Degizel, commander of the highly resentful 4th Division, even showed signs of wanting to surrender, but Lieutenant General Berghem, who held the highest prestige and rank, sharply reprimanded him.
Major General Victor, commander of the 6th Division, played the peacemaker, as his division's losses and accumulated resentment were somewhere in the middle.
After their first secret meeting broke up in discord, Lieutenant General Berghem had to go out alone to try and maintain order and prevent a rebellion. Fortunately, he still held some authority. By running around putting out fires and making empty promises, he managed to stabilize the situation for the moment.
Berghem's main rhetoric was nothing more than deceiving the other Belgia soldiers, claiming, "The Britannia Royal Navy won't abandon us. Everyone will be evacuated by warships! The next batch of ships is coming right now. As long as you line up in an orderly fashion, you can get on board!"
This speech temporarily fooled quite a few people. Hearing they had a chance to escape by boat, they were no longer in a hurry to surrender to the German Army.
Meanwhile, the reprimanded Degizel pulled Victor aside for another private chat. Degizel desperately wanted Victor's support.
"Major General Victor! Think about it. It's absolutely impossible to evacuate everyone! Someone has to stay behind and cover the rear, otherwise, with no one defending the city, the German Army will reach the port in an hour. Even with ships, we wouldn't be able to leave! Berghem is a lapdog for the higher-ups. He's always been the best at kissing up to the royal family, the Defense Minister, and the General Staff. When the time comes, won't it be you and me left behind to die?!"
Victor knew he had a point, but his hesitation caused a temporary stalemate.
'Even if someone has to stay behind to die, it will definitely be your 4th Division, seeing as you've already torn up your relationship with him... As long as I don't offend either side, maybe I can still snag a ticket for the ship...' Victor naturally had this thought. This was the most genuine and common mindset of all fence-sitters.
They were both old foxes with a thousand years of cunning. Both were shrewd as hell, and neither was going to fool the other.
Seeing him evade the issue, Major General Degizel naturally realized what he was thinking. The two parted ways with a hollow unity, temporarily maintaining a facade of brotherhood while secretly looking for their own ways out.
Returning to his post, Major General Degizel immediately ordered his men to turn on the division's radio, preparing to communicate with the opposing German Army to secretly negotiate terms of surrender and test the waters.
After Major General Victor returned to his camp, he also hurriedly got on the radio. Each man negotiated on his own; everyone was looking for an escape route.
...
Meanwhile, in London.
Naval Minister Warton's phone was ringing off the hook.
It was a call from Albert I, King of Belgia, who had just retreated to Ypres, vehemently demanding to be sent back.
"Minister Warton! Didn't you say everything would be kept secret?! And that within two or three days of my departure, my troops would be evacuated as well?! Why was the news leaked so quickly?! There must be a traitor in the Admiralty! A Demanian spy!"
The King had just received a relayed message from Lieutenant General Berghem and learned that a mutiny had broken out in Ostend, right inside the enemy's encirclement!
Burning with anxiety, the King naturally had to immediately seek help from the Brit Nation's Naval Minister, venting his grievances and complaints. A sudden outpouring of various emotions caught Minister Warton somewhat off guard.
"That's impossible! There are absolutely no spies in the upper ranks of the Royal Navy! Furthermore, the vessels involved in the operation maintained absolute radio silence! King Albert, could the problem have occurred on your end?"
What followed was a round of mutual finger-pointing. Ultimately, Minister Warton forced down his anger and pointed out that they needed to look forward and solve the problem first.
He then assured King Albert, "Rest assured, the Royal Navy is highly responsible. We will dispatch high-speed destroyers to reach Ostend as quickly as possible. We'll evacuate as many as we can, and the rest of the fleet will also set sail to provide support as soon as possible! Now is not the time to investigate who leaked the intel; we need to solve the problem first! I promise that our high-speed destroyers will arrive at Ostend in advance within five hours!"
After hanging up, Minister Warton hurriedly got to work. He even broke radio silence to order the Channel Fleet destroyers patrolling off the coast of Belgia to rush over first, while the rest of the fleet sped up their preparations to set sail.
Unfortunately, those pre-dreadnought battleships built in the 1890s were incredibly slow to start. Just preheating their coal boilers took half the day. They could only rely on relatively modern cruisers to serve as the main force for the evacuation mission.
The enraged Minister Warton slumped his heavy torso resentfully into his armchair, his mind already calculating just where among the enemy ranks such a capable figure had emerged.
"This is absolutely not the kind of cunning the Demanians possess! Nor could they have spied out this situation. Could it be that a blind cat bumped into a dead mouse, and they just started spreading rumors to bluff us?"
If someone had a bird's-eye view of the situation at this moment, they would likely sigh in admiration: Minister Warton was indeed worthy of being the original number-one schemer in the Western Hemisphere. His guess was actually quite accurate.
What a pity that where there is a Zhou Yu, there must be a Zhuge Liang. With Lelouch transmigrating over, Warton had no choice but to surrender his title as the number-one schemer in the Western Hemisphere.
...
Meanwhile, on another front.
At that exact moment, at the 16th Regiment headquarters in the town of Nieuwpoort.
Sergeant Lelouch had been stationed in the telecommunications room since early this morning, leading a few of his trusted core technicians and cryptographers in continuously broadcasting surrender messages to the Belgia forces opposite them.
They were using an open code on a low-power shortwave radio. Its signal could only travel a dozen kilometers or so, ensuring that only Belgia officers at the regimental level or higher within Ostend could receive it, while the enemy farther in the rear would remain ignorant—
Of course, considering that radio waves travel outward indiscriminately in a circular pattern, theoretically, French forces stationed in French-controlled Dunkirk roughly a dozen kilometers to the west could also receive these messages, though they wouldn't necessarily be monitoring them.
"To the soldiers of Belgia across the line: think carefully about your futures. You have no way out. Your King has sold you out. Surrendering under these circumstances will absolutely leave no stain on you in the history books. The people will understand you. This is the best time to surrender..."
Telegrams like this were broadcast on loop, intensely bombarding the nerves of the enemy's confidential clerks. Unless they turned off their radios and abandoned communications entirely, they would easily pick them up. To ensure reception, Lelouch even frequently changed frequencies after broadcasting for a while.
However, before receiving any reply, everyone felt apprehensive. No one knew just how effective this psychological warfare would be or whether the enemy's mentality would actually collapse.
Other than Klose, Lelouch's most diehard subordinate, the other telegraph operators shot occasional glances at their superior, seemingly seeking encouragement from his gaze.
After an unknown amount of time broadcasting, Klose and Schweinsteiger, who were guarding the receiver, suddenly reported:
"Sir! We intercepted an enemy reply! The reply claims to be from the headquarters of Major General Degizel of the 4th Division. They want to negotiate terms! They also mentioned that Lieutenant General Berghem of the 1st Division refuses to surrender, and Major General Victor of the 6th Division is fence-sitting. He hopes to receive our assistance when he defects!"
Lelouch, who had been leaning back in his chair resting his eyes while tapping his knuckles rhythmically against the armrest, instantly snapped his eyes open and stood up abruptly upon hearing this.
"Finally a reply? Excellent! The enemy's mutiny is finally out of control! The first to defect is Degizel of the 4th Division... Hmm, let me think. His division did suffer the heaviest casualties during the breakout attempt, but the 6th Division is actually still sitting on the fence... Does a guy like him really have the nerve to sit on the fence? I've got it! I know how to deal with him. Send a telegram immediately, exactly as I say."
Lelouch paced back and forth a mere seven steps—about the same pace as Cao Zijian composing a poem—and a new, venomous scheme, improvised and tailored to counter this specific move, popped into his head.
"To the commander of the 6th Division, Major General Victor: It has been reported that King Albert announced to the public yesterday that the incident involving the bombing of the Yser River dikes to release the floodwaters was not a decision made by the royal family or the cabinet, but was rather an impromptu action taken by frontline generals.
"It is laughable that you, General, do not even realize disaster is imminent, yet you continue to display foolish loyalty to a foolish king! Think about it: King Albert has already abandoned the people and the army in his retreat. When the time comes for him to spout nonsense to the international community, he will undoubtedly shift the blame onto the dead. At a time like this, even if you want to die serving your country out of a soldier's sense of honor, you must survive to have any chance of making a name for yourself in history!
"Otherwise, when the King pushes all the blame onto dead men, you will not only suffer a fatal disaster but also bear an unrightful injustice, ultimately ending up with your reputation completely destroyed...
"Furthermore, our Demanian Army will provide corroborating testimony. Whoever refuses to surrender will have all the evidence of the Yser River bombing pinned on them. You personally participated in bombing those dikes, General. If you don't surrender to Demania, will you ever be able to wash away the infamy that awaits you in the eyes of future generations?"
Lelouch simply had too many of these psychological surrender tactics stored in his brain.
Having thoroughly read the Twenty-Four Histories before he transmigrated, he could pull relevant historical precedents out of thin air.
For example, after Zhang Han suffered a crushing defeat against Xiang Yu at the Battle of Julu, Chen Yu wrote a letter urging Zhang Han to surrender: "As a Qin general, you die if you win, and you die if you lose. Bai Qi and Meng Tian accomplished great things but were not fully rewarded. Not to mention, you cannot even win, and you will become Zhao Gao's scapegoat to appease the Qin court's accountability."
Taking all the historical precedents he could think of, Lelouch threw them together with the mindset that all the world's strategies were free to be plagiarized. Was there any doubt that he could scheme these Belgia men to death?
Western civilization trying to compete with Eastern civilization in the historical accumulation of schemes and intrigues was simply showing off before a master.
After this series of telegrams—which precisely targeted the dark corners of the enemy's hearts—were sent out, the military mutiny over in Ostend indeed reached a new climax.
A single telegram was worth a hundred thousand elite troops.
...
A short half hour later, at the 6th Division headquarters inside Ostend.
Looking at the German telegram brought by Major General Degizel, Major General Victor immediately broke out into a profuse sweat, as if he had just been fished out of the water.
"Despicable! Despicable! This is too malicious!"
Major General Victor felt a wave of dizziness. His vision went black, and he nearly collapsed straight to the ground. Fortunately, his orderlies were quick on the uptake, supporting the general from both sides.
"Wake up, General! Are you alright, General?!"
Ultimately, it took pinching his philtrum, splashing cold water on him, and rubbing his chest—a whole flurry of first-aid maneuvers—to finally revive Major General Victor.
Too malicious! The primary reason these generals held out and refused to surrender even to the bitter end was largely due to their sense of honor as aristocratic officers.
When the war had just started in 1914, there were still many old-school aristocrats on both sides. Many of them cared about their pride and didn't want to leave an infamous reputation in the history books.
As for loyalty to the King... Heh, that only accounted for a small part of it. Everyone knew each other's true nature; it was primarily about reputation.
But Lelouch's deduction made him see the most terrifying thing in the world: whoever didn't cooperate would not only die, but their reputation would be entirely ruined after their death!
How were they supposed to fight against that?
Major General Victor finally had the backbone of his soul shattered. He completely turned to the dark side.
"Brother, I'm with you," Victor said. "Let's surrender to the German Army together and let them in. If Berghem dares to stop us, we'll join forces and kill him! He's always been a trusted aide of the King and the General Staff anyway!
"When the time comes, we'll say the ones who bombed the dikes were a special operations team under his command, and that it had nothing to do with our 6th Division! All the crimes of murdering our compatriots will be pinned on his head—as long as you promise me this, I'm with you!"
"Deal!" Degizel replied.
An hour later, the Demanian Army surged into Ostend from both the east and the west.
The 4th and 6th Divisions announced their defection on the battlefield, declaring a crusade to console the people, punish the wicked, and overthrow the tyrant.
The city of Ostend plunged into a brief but fierce civil war.
The 4th and 6th Divisions led the way for the German forces, fighting all the way to the former royal palace.
Amidst the chaos, Lieutenant General Berghem of the 1st Division was killed in action before he even figured out what was going on. The soldiers of the 1st Division who were absolutely loyal to the King were also mostly slaughtered.
Only a very small fraction realized something was wrong. Disregarding the rough seas, they directly scoured the coastal docks for any small fishing boats, sampans, and sailboats they could find, hastily boarding them to flee. They drifted with the waves, hoping the Britannia warships would arrive to pick them up soon.
However, these stragglers were merely a minor annoyance, no longer worth mentioning.
News of the victory immediately reached the 12th Division headquarters—which was still cut off by the floodwaters to the south—as well as the 6th Army headquarters, before finally reaching the General Staff and the Emperor's ears. The Empire's propaganda department was also deeply shaken by such an epic and legendary triumph.
Major General Karl was extremely exhilarated to learn that Colonel List's regiment under his command was the very first to counterattack and storm into Ostend.
Relying on just a single regiment, they had withstood a three-day, three-night siege by three Belgia divisions from the east and two French divisions from the west, remaining as solid as a rock and preventing the enemy from breaking out!
What's more, the key was that they had inflicted massive casualties on the enemy and annihilated three enemy divisions in retaliation!
The total annihilation of the Belgia Army!
According to post-war statistics, this battle saw the immediate surrender of over 17,000 enemy troops, along with the capture of over 4,000 lightly wounded soldiers, for a cumulative total of 22,000 men taken in.
Based on pre-war full-strength statistics, each Belgia division was roughly equivalent to a German division at 16,000 to 18,000 men. Three fully manned divisions should have totaled over 50,000 troops.
However, considering that these three Belgia divisions were routed troops retreating from their defeat at the Battle of Antwerp, their total number had already fallen below 40,000 upon leaving Antwerp. After fighting and fleeing through subsequent battles, accumulated casualties and desertions accounted for over 10,000 more.
Most of those were lost during the defense of Ostend and the breakout battle at Nieuwpoort. A few thousand more were lost in the internal infighting right before their final surrender.
Regardless, the German Army accepted the surrender and captured 22,000 men alive, bringing the total number of annihilated enemies to nearly 40,000.
What an illustrious military achievement this was!
They had to be heavily and swiftly rewarded! This had to be reported to the High Command as a textbook example of a great victory!
The Major General immediately ordered his men to drive at top speed, taking a large detour to rush to Ostend. He wanted to personally receive Colonel List and the meritorious soldiers who had just created this heaven-shaking miracle.