Following Captain Andri's orders, several soldiers immediately led Lelouch and Klose to a cellar beside the ruined mill.
A hole had been deliberately smashed into the cellar door. A cable ran right through it, connecting to an antenna that resembled a clothesline.
When he transmigrated, he inherited some of the original body's subconscious instincts and skills; its previous owner had been a communications sergeant.
So, after merely glancing at the antenna, he casually asked the soldiers guiding him, "Your company is equipped with the F08 Miniature Radio too?"
The lead soldier shot him an admiring look as he pulled open the cellar door. "You really are a professional."
Wasting no time, Lelouch stepped briskly into the cellar and headed straight for the radio.
This kind of radio had an output of less than 50 watts, giving it an effective transmission range between 10 and 50 kilometers—though that number was never fixed, as weather and the time of day affected the ionosphere.
Nighttime transmission ranges were several times greater than during the day, and clear skies carried signals farther than rain or snow.
It was mid-afternoon, but the weather was clear and the elevation here was relatively high. He estimated he could contact friendly forces within a twenty-kilometer radius.
In the German Army of 1914, radio allocations were scarce, typically only issued down to the regimental level. The battalions and companies below them still had to rely on horseback messengers to deliver orders. However, Captain Andri commanded a reconnaissance company that needed to transmit the latest enemy movements to the rear in real time, hence the high-end equipment.Lelouch tapped the telegraph key so fast it practically smoked. He didn't have time to encrypt the message thoroughly; at most, he included a few identification codes to verify the sender's identity.
"12th Division Reconnaissance Company Broadcast: Absolute emergency! Our unit has discovered Belgin forces planting explosive charges on the lower dams of the Yser River! The dams could be destroyed at any moment! All troops that have crossed to the north bank must immediately abandon all non-essential equipment and assemble at Nieuwpoort at maximum speed! Repeat, assemble at Nieuwpoort and hold the line!
"All friendly forces that have yet to cross the river, you must cease dragging heavy artillery and supply wagons into the low-lying areas along the banks! Relocate to the nearest high ground immediately! Every low-elevation area within ten kilometers of both sides of the Yser River is at risk of being flooded! Requesting division headquarters urgently contact reconnaissance aircraft for close-in supplementary scouting..."
Lelouch hadn't even drafted a rough copy. The wording of the telegram was completely unceremonious and as blunt as possible; he was literally racing against death.
If there had been anyone else nearby to review his message, it never would have been transmitted.
But since the communications platoon leader had been killed in action and the reconnaissance company commander was busy fending off the Franks, a mere corporal was left to do as he pleased.
The signal drifted across the sky and swept over the fields, covering a twenty-kilometer radius in the blink of an eye.
...
At the same moment, in the fields about seven or eight kilometers southeast of the small town, the headquarters of the 12th Division's 16th Regiment—which had just crossed the Yser River—received Lelouch's warning telegram via a backpack radio receiver.
The efficiency of Demanian communications officers had always been extremely high. A cipher clerk quickly delivered the decrypted message into the hands of the regimental commander, Colonel List.
"Colonel! Urgent military intelligence from the division's reconnaissance company!"
Colonel List was a stern man nearing fifty. He snatched the telegraph paper, clamped his monocle in place, and after a single glance, began to tremble.
He stood frozen for a few seconds. His mind raced as beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead, agonizing over a difficult decision.
Ten seconds later, he took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. "Have the lead Third Battalion consolidate their horses to haul a few of the 77mm field guns, and abandon all other heavy artillery right here! Gather all the 77mm shells!
"Ditch all the tents in the supply train, and leave the field kitchens behind! Keep only enough rations for three days; abandon the rest! Advance at a dead sprint! Shoot anyone who falls behind!
"You few, keep a couple of horses and carriages and stay here with the radio to watch the abandoned supplies. Wait for official orders from division command! If no supplementary orders arrive within half an hour, or if you see floodwaters coming, hurry up and follow us!"
The entire regiment immediately descended into chaos.
Fortunately, Demanians were resolute in carrying out military orders. Within a few short minutes, the soldiers cleared out over a hundred heavy wagons.
All the draft horses originally used for hauling supplies were reassigned to transport the troops.
Only a small handful of soldiers, ordered by the colonel to stay behind and guard the discarded supplies, remained in place with the radio.
Abandoning heavy guns, smashing cooking pots, burning tents, and carrying three days of rations, the entire force advanced at a run.
Similar scenes played out repeatedly within twenty kilometers of Nieuwpoort.
Some regiments were decisive, others hesitant.
Some regiments acted immediately, while others still felt the need to request instructions from division command.
...
Soon enough, the headquarters of the 12th Infantry Division also received the telegraph. After the cipher clerk handed the message to the division commander, Major General Karl Luitpold, the major general only scanned it briefly before treating it with the utmost gravity.
"If there is no flood, we can always recover the equipment later. Even if there are some losses, it's an acceptable risk. But if a flood truly comes, even if the entire division doesn't drown, our heavy equipment will be a total loss, and making it to Nieuwpoort will be impossible..."
Major General Karl frowned deeply, ordering someone to fetch a military map so he could scrutinize it.
His gaze darted between Ostend to the east of Nieuwpoort and Dunkirk to the west as he used a ruler to measure the distances.
Finally, he slammed his fist against the folding campaign table in frustration. "The Belgins must know that if our entire division pushes through to Nieuwpoort and severs the coastal highway, their whole army is doomed! They might actually do this!
"Order the entire division to treat this as critical immediately, and draft a formal command mirroring the reconnaissance company's warning! Additionally, send a telegram to army group headquarters requesting the emergency dispatch of nearby reconnaissance aircraft to conduct thorough supplementary scouting along both banks of the lower Yser River near Nieuwpoort!"
Major General Karl's orders were swiftly and methodically issued. His division headquarters was still over twenty kilometers away from Nieuwpoort and hadn't yet entered the low-lying areas on the southern bank of the Yser River, so there was no immediate fear of being submerged if the floodgates opened.
All he could do for now was temporarily halt the advance and observe how the situation developed. A delay of an hour or two wouldn't make much difference at this point.
...
In truth, there was a possibility that Lelouch's telegram could be intercepted by the nearby Franks or Belgins.
However, on a chaotic battlefield, even if the enemy intercepted the intelligence, it would take them longer to decode it than friendly forces, even if the message wasn't fully encrypted. Even after decrypting it, they might not believe it, dismissing it as a fake message deliberately spread to shake their morale.
In the final stages of the race to the sea campaign, both sides were at the end of their ropes. Their formations were completely disorganized from outflanking maneuvers, and the sheer chaos of the battlefield severely reduced communication efficiency.
Communication was also lacking between the Franks and the Belgins. Whether or not the Belgins were preparing to blow the dams was a secret decision of their own; there was no way the Franks could know about it.
Thus, it was completely normal for the enemy to realize the problem an hour or even two hours later than the Demanian forces.
Lelouch never expected to prevent the enemy from intercepting the message. All he needed was a time difference.
After transmitting and receiving the messages, he organized his phrasing and handed the transcription notes to Andri, who had just finished commanding another skirmish.
"Captain, I've broadcast a warning to all nearby friendly forces. The 16th Regiment replied, saying they are still seven to eight kilometers away from us and have already begun advancing lightly equipped.
"They also mentioned they sought instructions from division command, and headquarters approved their improvised response. Therefore, our suggestion has officially been retroactively authorized by the higher-ups."
Andri checked his watch anxiously. "How much longer until Colonel List gets here?"
"They've already crossed the river and are pushing forward," Lelouch said. "Even if the Belgin army realizes what's happening and immediately breaches the dams, by the time the floodwaters reach their feet, I estimate they'll only be two or three kilometers away.
"They can wade through the final stretch on foot. It won't be deep enough to drown anyone; at most, they'll lose some supplies."
Andri sighed in mild relief. "Even if the entire division can't make it, as long as Colonel List's regiment arrives, we still have the capital to keep fighting.
"The Franks also just rushed from Dunkirk to the west early this morning, arriving at De Panne seven kilometers west of us. All the Franks currently attacking the town launched their offensive from De Panne.
"Although the enemy outnumbers us by over ten to one, they still have to reach the frontlines little by little, which will force them into oil-adding tactics. If we have a single regiment, there's a chance we can hold the line!"
Andri's analysis brought a sigh of relief from Lelouch as well.
The race to the sea campaign was indeed fought in complete chaos. Both sides were racing for their lives, sprinting frantically to the north to outflank each other. Forces on all sides had been stretched into long, thin columns by this mad dash.
A single division could stretch out over a dozen kilometers; by the time the first regiment engaged in combat, the last regiment might still be half a day's march from the battlefield.
This wasn't just true for the German Army and the Franks, but even more so for the Belgin forces retreating in a rout from Antwerp.
They appeared to have three divisions, but only the vanguard of the first division was just reaching Nieuwpoort, while the third division hadn't even made it to Ostend, twenty kilometers to the east.
Seeing that Lelouch had caught his breath, Andri handed back the rifle resting on the ground. "If you don't need to contact command anymore, take your platoon and join the defense, or go see if the other sergeants in your platoon have woken up yet. Our defensive pressure is mounting."
As he spoke, the sporadic booming of exploding artillery shells echoed from afar, and the whistling chatter of machine-gun fire barely ceased. Clearly, everyone was fighting tooth and nail.
Looking at the rifle in his hands, Lelouch couldn't help but feel that for a technical sergeant and military enthusiast transmigrator like himself, acting as basic infantry was a waste of his talents. He could obviously change so much more.
Furthermore, he had only transmigrated a few hours ago and hadn't fully adjusted yet. He only had one life to live; if he could avoid charging directly into incoming bullets, he would rather pass.
Racking his brains, he soon came up with another idea and immediately volunteered a suggestion:
"Captain, I believe I can make a far greater contribution to the battle by staying in the communications room. No matter how tough things get out there, you aren't going to be short a single infantryman."
Andri raised an eyebrow, initially intending to reprimand him, but considering the major feat Lelouch had just pulled off, he decided to give him another chance. "Then speak quickly!"
"I can eavesdrop on the shortwave plain-text telegrams of nearby enemies to gauge their reactions," Lelouch explained. "I might even be able to deduce if they've changed their minds—for instance, if they plan to blow the dams early.
"Right... we could even consider, if necessary, preemptively broadcasting a plain-text warning to the surrounding Belgin villages in Frankish! Tell the innocent civilians in the area to evacuate ahead of time!
"Once the Belgins breach the dams, land stretching over ten kilometers north-to-south and nearly a hundred kilometers east-to-west along the river will be submerged to varying degrees. Even if people don't drown, it'll destroy more than a dozen towns and villages.
"Those Belgin citizens are innocent! They're victims of the Belgin military's actions as well!"
Andri was momentarily stunned by the proposal. It wasn't that he thought the idea was wrong, but rather that it completely contradicted his recent impression of Lelouch's character.
"Are you serious? Doing so certainly aligns with a soldier's sense of honor, but do you truly care about the lives of those civilians?"
"It doesn't matter what I think!" Lelouch said, speaking at a rapid clip. "The point is that this action carries not just humanitarian benefits, but military advantages as well!
"If we don't broadcast a warning, everything will turn into a massive blame game! The enemy might slander us, claiming our artillery bombardment destroyed the dams. With the battlefield this chaotic, there'd be no proof otherwise!
"Most civilians and even ordinary soldiers don't understand military strategy. They wouldn't grasp which side actually benefits more from the dams being blown, so they'll blindly believe their own side's propaganda and hate us even more!
"But if we seize this opportunity to publicize our humanitarian efforts, and even have friendly forces rescue innocent locals and evacuate them from the lowlands as they march north light-packed, these people could serve as future witnesses to our army's humanity! This could demoralize the enemy—
"If the Belgin soldiers routing toward us from the east learn that their own generals breached the dams to drown their countrymen, while we were actively saving them... will their resolve to fight to the death remain just as firm? Might they waver a bit more when considering surrender?"
Captain Andri was instantly left dumbstruck by Lelouch's string of deductions.
It had to be said that compared to Easterners, Demanian officers were woefully amateurish when it came to utilizing tactics like psychological warfare, public sentiment manipulation, and counter-espionage.
Lelouch only needed to dig up a fraction of the historical annals and military stratagems he had read in his past life to leave these straightforward officers marveling in awe.
Andri swallowed hard and asked with difficulty, "Then... when do you plan to send the message? If you do it too soon, won't that provoke the Belgins into blowing the dams immediately?"
"I couldn't do it quickly even if I wanted to!" Lelouch replied. "I need you to provide a few soldiers who speak Frankish or Netherlandic as my assistants! I must translate the broadcast into foreign languages before I can send it out! The translation alone will take at least half an hour!"
Andri gritted his teeth. "Fine. No matter how immense the defensive pressure is, I can spare two or three men! I'll find you your translators! You focus on hiding in the cellar to translate and send those telegrams! Leave the fighting up top to us!
"Corporal Lelouch, I have a feeling you're no ordinary sergeant. Even if you haven't attended a military academy, you must have gone to a university, right?"
Lelouch recalled the resume of his current body and confessed openly, "You guessed right. I'm actually a citizen of the Oreo Empire, but I'm an ethnic Demanian.
"I've been top of my school in mathematics since I was young. I just graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts' architecture department in July, but the war broke out right when I was looking for a job. I despised the mixed-ethnicity atmosphere of the Orio military, so I chose to cross the border to enlist in Demania's Kingdom of Bavaria instead."
"No wonder you have such a sharp mind." Captain Andri suddenly felt everything made perfect sense. "With your major, you should have been assigned to the engineering corps, not communications. The recruiters who designated you as a mere corporal completely wasted your talents."