Chapter 10: Yes, Minister!

"Your Majesty! It is a disaster! Reports received early this morning indicate that the 4th and 6th Divisions on the Nieuwpoort front are in chaos. Many soldiers, including two regimental commanders, have mutinied and refused to continue the offensive!"

"The morale on the front line has collapsed. Part of it is due to the Demanian propaganda they have fallen for, and the rest is because yesterday’s assault was simply too horrific. One colonel was killed in action, and his regiment was virtually wiped out during the breakthrough attempt. Two other regiments suffered catastrophic losses as well, and it is these survivors who are now using any excuse to refuse further orders, demanding at least to be withdrawn for refitting."

Shortly after seven o'clock that morning, inside the temporary royal palace in Ostend, a group of civil officials and staff officers finally succumbed to panic, forced to report these grim tidings to Albert I.

Albert I was in the middle of breakfast and was so distressed that he could no longer finish his coffee.

"De Broque! Explain yourself! How did this happen? Why can the army no longer be controlled? Why is it that bad news about us can never be contained?"

Albert I, in a state of extreme agitation, turned his fury on Defense Minister De Broque.

De Broque had no choice but to detail the situation further, adding his own analysis. He sounded utterly helpless: "...And so, Your Majesty, that is the state of things. The 16th Regiment of the 12th Division of the Demanian 6th Army, trapped within the encirclement, has engaged in so many despicable and shameless tactics—leaflets, photographs, telegrams, releasing refugees—a relentless barrage of strikes that we are simply overwhelmed and unable to blockade."

"They are demons!" Albert felt his lips drying and cracking; the lingering taste of coffee in his mouth turned increasingly bitter. "Didn't you say you had investigated? Colonel Lister, the commander of the 16th Regiment, was supposed to be just an ordinary, old-school officer. How could such a man conceive of so many vicious schemes? And this is not just a one-time occurrence!"

Defense Minister De Broque replied with embarrassment, "I apologize, Your Majesty. It is our incompetence! I have tried my best to investigate, but that is not the most pressing issue right now. We must prioritize our energy on the more immediate crisis. Moreover, I suspect the problem does not lie with Lister’s 16th Regiment—this unit only rushed to Nieuwpoort after the floods. Before that, the enemy was already pulling off one brilliant move after another. There must be a mastermind among the first wave of enemy vanguard troops that arrived in Nieuwpoort."

"Enough. We can review these matters once the war is over," Albert waved his hand in disgust, his spirit visibly waning. He then shifted the topic to Lieutenant General Felix. "My Chief of Staff! Tell me, how are we to deal with the current military predicament?"

Lieutenant General Felix had already prepared an emergency plan. He stood to attention and saluted:

"I believe we must withdraw the battered 4th Division and have them take over the defense of Ostend. Then, we should pull several regiments from the 1st Division, which is currently guarding Your Majesty, to carry out a final, desperate breakthrough! The enemy's psychological warfare is indeed potent, but it should not be enough to completely shatter the army. The 4th Division is so war-weary because they have been attacking relentlessly without success, suffering heavy casualties. The enemy’s anti-war propaganda has merely given them an excuse to escape. If the 1st Division is sent in, there may yet be a glimmer of hope."

Albert closed his eyes in sorrow. He knew that, according to the Chief of Staff, this was a final, desperate gamble—a cornered dog jumping over the wall.

He expressed his concern: "And what if the 1st Division is deployed but still fails to break through at Nieuwpoort? Furthermore, once the 1st Division is moved and the remnants of the 4th Division are brought in to defend Ostend, is there a chance our eastern front will collapse? The Baria 2nd Division of the Demanian 6th Army has been attacking our 1st Division east of Ostend all along!"

Lieutenant General Felix replied: "That is why we can only pull two regiments from the 1st Division for the relief. We must leave the other two behind: one as Your Majesty's guard, and the other to hold the eastern line during the transition. Nieuwpoort is less than 20 kilometers away; the relief can be completed in a single morning. A relatively elite regiment should be able to hold off the Demanian offensive on the eastern front for a morning. The 1st Division remains the most loyal to Your Majesty; they will surely fight to the death and never retreat!"

Albert snorted coldly: "But you still haven't said what we should do if it fails."

***

The King remained fixated on the "worst-case scenario." Unable to evade the question, Felix had to bite the bullet and say:

"If it truly comes to that... we can only hope for support from the Britannians. It is unlikely that the French will break through the German defenses on the western side of Nieuwpoort; their movements are too sluggish. As of midnight tonight, they may not even have two full divisions assembled near Dunkirk and De Panne. Furthermore, they will not fight as desperately as we do. We are fighting for our survival, while they have been rushing here all the way from Arras; those French soldiers must be exhausted by the war. The kingdom's last hope should be the warships of the Britannians. We should have requested that they deploy their Channel Fleet, especially their heavy artillery ships, to provide us with fire support."

Upon hearing this, Albert could not help but berate Felix again, calling him incompetent for not thinking of contacting their allies sooner.

But Felix was helpless; he was merely the Chief of Staff and could not directly coordinate diplomatic aid. The decision-making process of this era was inherently cumbersome, and the mobilization of various nations was slow. Yesterday, he had not realized that the war situation would deteriorate so rapidly, so the idea of swallowing his pride to beg foreigners for help had not crossed his mind. Now, after being severely reprimanded by the King, he hurriedly went to contact foreign support.

...

That same morning, the secret telegram for help from the Belgic people was routed through various channels, first reaching the diplomatic departments of the Britannian Empire across the channel, and then to 10 Downing Street. After the Prime Minister reviewed it, it was finally handed to his trusted First Lord of the Admiralty, Wharton Leonard Spencer.

By the time this entire process was completed, it was already noon. Lord Wharton was having lunch and only saw the secret telegram and the Prime Minister’s instructions afterward.

"The Belgic army in the encirclement is experiencing such a serious collapse in morale? Will the Belgic people collapse entirely? How did the Demanians suddenly become so strong that a single regiment could withstand the combined assault of three Belgic divisions and one Frankish division?"

"What? The Demanians are even using such despicable and shameless tactics as air-dropping photos of the Belgic army blowing up the dikes and returning flooded Belgic refugees? Is this the Demania I know? There must be a mastermind guiding the enemy! Could a Britannian traitorous think-tank have defected?"

As the minister with the deepest understanding of the Britannian Empire's inherent nature as a meddling troublemaker, Wharton’s first reaction upon seeing the Belgic telegram was disbelief that the stubborn Demanians could possess such intellect. His second reaction was to wonder if a Britannian traitor was advising the enemy.

Just as the Han people two thousand years ago, when they first suffered at the hands of the Xiongnu, their first reaction was to wonder if a despicable traitor like Zhonghang Yue had emerged to advise the Xiongnu Chanyu.

Diplomatic provocation and political fraud were the patents of the "glorious and great offshore balancers," having undermined one continental hegemon after another for generations. How could such tactics trickle down to a barbarian nation that only understood brute force?

However, this was a time to focus on solving problems; these questions would have to wait for the future.

Lord Wharton suppressed all his irritation, forced himself to remain calm, and after reviewing the telegram several times, decided to place a call to the headquarters of the Channel Squadron in Dover:

"Get me General Cecil! What? He’s in a meeting? Give him ten minutes! If he doesn't call me back within ten minutes, I'll have his head! This is Wharton!"

***

Wharton hung up the phone in a huff and lit a Havana cigar. After puffing on it fiercely, the phone rang.

"My Lord! I apologize, I was truly in a meeting just now," the humble voice of Lieutenant General Cecil Burney came from the other end of the line.

Wharton asked, "Which warship is currently closest to the Ostend front?"

Cecil replied, "Reporting, My Lord, it is the *Audacious* of the Arethusa-class. It is less than twenty nautical miles from Ostend and can arrive in an hour. This ship was dispatched the day before yesterday to sabotage enemy submarine cables near Nieuwpoort."

Wharton said, "The Arethusa-class? It has a speed of 28 knots? That’s not bad; at least it’s fast and stable. That will be the one. Have it go to Dunkirk to resupply and await my orders. I need to communicate with the Belgic royal family. If their King is willing, or if the situation truly deteriorates to that point, we will need the *Audacious* to rescue the King from the encirclement. Additionally, what is the status of the other capital ships in your Channel Squadron? Are they ready to sortie?"

"Er... they require some preparation time. You know, my capital ships are coal-burning pre-dreadnoughts; it takes time to refuel, restock ammunition, and heat the boilers before battle. Also, one of the main ships is currently undergoing maintenance," Cecil complained helplessly.

Wharton, a veteran of the Navy, knew these common facts well and did not make things difficult for his subordinate. "Then you have a maximum of 48 hours—preferably within 24 hours—to prepare the entire squadron for departure. Furthermore, gather some merchant vessels with large cargo capacities. In the worst-case scenario, we may have to rely on them to evacuate some of our surrounded allies from the sea at Ostend."

Lieutenant General Cecil was shocked: "Minister! That is a futile effort. Ostend is not a major port; large ships cannot dock there, and we would need small boats for shuttle service. There is no possibility of a rapid mass evacuation by sea from that location!"

Wharton snapped, "That is not your concern! Just requisition the merchant vessels and get the squadron ready to sortie!"

Lieutenant General Cecil replied, "Yes, Minister!"