Once Major General Karl had been thoroughly convinced by Lelouch’s plan, he understood that time was pressing. He therefore asked no further questions about the details and instead immediately had a reconnaissance plane arranged.
The plan was to send Lelouch first to the army headquarters to meet his elder brother, Duke Rupprecht, and strive to obtain a handwritten confidential letter of endorsement from His Grace—while also putting the matter on record.
After that, Lelouch would transfer to Wilhelmshaven to meet Rear Admiral Hipper and discuss the concrete operational plan and the plan for verifying the intelligence.
After all, the Britannians would not be sitting idle either. Warton, the First Lord of the Admiralty, having suffered a heavy loss and been humiliated, might very well already be planning how to regain face.
Given the Britannians’ decision-making efficiency, they might soon be able to make the decision to sortie and adjust the deployment of their fleet.
Moreover, Dover, the home port of the Britannian Channel Fleet, was only a mere 150 kilometers by sea from the Newport and Ostend area.
The Demanian navy, however, coming from Wilhelmshaven, would also have to take a slight detour into more distant waters to avoid being discovered near the coast of the Netherlands. The entire journey would be 500 kilometers.
Converted into nautical miles, both of those numbers had to be divided by 1.8.
An old-style fleet with a top speed of 20 knots would need only five hours to sail from Dover to Newport.
A high-speed battlecruiser squadron with a top speed of 26 knots, however, would need at least twelve hours to rush from Wilhelmshaven to the battlefield.
Of course, fleets rarely maintained top speed for an entire voyage. And even after arriving in the combat zone, they would not simply touch and go, striking once and fleeing at once; there would be considerable time spent lingering on the battlefield.
In particular, the Britannians were very confident in their own naval intelligence-gathering work, and also very confident in their overall strength. They generally would not worry about being ambushed by the Demanians. As a result, once their fleet arrived on the battlefield, they were often quite willing to fight a prolonged engagement.
But no matter how one calculated it, the faster the Demanian navy made its decisions, the better. Only then would they have a greater chance of seizing the opportunity. They absolutely could not dawdle.
……
Late that night, Major General Karl had just finished writing two handwritten letters and affixing his seal.
He then had his personal car race Lelouch to the airfield, while also giving advance orders for a reconnaissance pilot of absolutely reliable skill to stand by.
“Wear more on the way. If you can doze off on the plane, do your best to get some sleep. I’m afraid you won’t have time to sleep again tonight. Fortunately, young people have plenty of energy.”
When he handed the items to Lelouch, Major General Karl also specifically prepared for him a thick lieutenant’s winter uniform, as well as a military greatcoat made of reindeer hide.
Lelouch did not stand on ceremony. He got straight into the car and waved farewell.
As he got in, by the faint light at the divisional headquarters’ entrance, Lelouch vaguely saw several abbreviated letters engraved on the hood of the division commander’s personal car: “BFW.”
Historically, this small private start-up factory within the Kingdom of Baria would not receive royal investment until more than a year after the war began, when it was ordered to expand and upgrade its production. At the same time, it would be renamed the “Barian Motor Works,” and only then would the “F” in its abbreviation be changed to an “M.”
“BFW in 1914 really is still a slapdash little workshop. The car engines they make vibrate so violently. Is Major General Karl doing this to ‘support domestic products’?”
Lelouch sat in the car, jolting along, and thought this with no small amount of malicious amusement.
At least at this point in time, the quality of BFW’s engines was still clearly inferior to that of Benz engines, which already had more than thirty years of history behind them. After all, BFW had only just been founded.
Benz Automobiles was located in Stuttgart, in the neighboring Duchy of Futenberg. Futenberg was also one of the four southern Demanian states, and by rights had a very close relationship with the Kingdom of Baria; everyone was a neighbor. But when it came to manufacturing engines, every kingdom under the empire liked to support its own local brands.
Half an hour later, the car arrived at the airfield. This was also Lelouch’s first time seeing a field airstrip of this era, and the conditions were truly rudimentary.
It was nothing more than a stretch of compacted dirt road. It was not even paved with cement or asphalt, yet it could already be considered an airfield. On either side were dense grassy areas, probably to reduce dust being raised by the wind.
The wooden biplane was parked directly on the grass. On the engine cowling at its nose, the same three abbreviated letters were painted: “BFW.”
The moment Lelouch saw that brand, he felt somewhat apprehensive.
In the early stages of the Great War, the development of aircraft engines was still extremely unprofessional. A large number of aircraft engines were simply lightweight modifications of automobile engines. The main method was to replace as many of the engine’s original steel structural components with aluminum as possible.
Fortunately, if the hardware was lacking, the software could make up for it. Major General Karl also knew exactly what quality his aircraft were, and so for tonight’s mission, he had specially found an extremely dependable pilot.
Lelouch jogged all the way to the side of the plane and saw a captain extend his hand to him in a friendly manner. Lelouch hurriedly reached out in return.
The captain took the initiative to introduce himself. “Max Immelmann—you must be Lieutenant Lelouch Hunt. Don’t worry. I’ll deliver you safely to Duke Rupprecht.”
“So it is Captain Immelmann. I have long heard of you.” Lelouch politely shook his hand, then climbed into the rear seat of the reconnaissance plane.
Captain Immelmann went to the nose of the plane, inserted a crank into a small hole on one side of the engine cowling, and forcefully turned it several times, just like those hand-cranked tractors from the 1980s in later generations.
Only then did the plane slowly start. Immelmann then jumped into the cockpit and began taxiing and taking off.
As the nose lifted and turned to point toward Antwerp, Immelmann fixed the rudder in place. Only then did he leisurely turn his head and chat with Lelouch. “Lieutenant, you said you’ve long heard of me. What exactly have you heard?”
Lelouch said, “Of course I’ve heard that your flying style is bold—that you can perform a vertical roll. Today’s mission is only to get me there safely. Please don’t do any of those flashy, dangerous maneuvers.”
The first maneuver in the history of human aerial combat to be named after a pilot was the Immelmann turn—also translated as the Immelmann roll.
Although in later generations this maneuver would be among the most basic, something every pilot could perform, it involved pulling the aircraft up into an inverted climb while half-rolling, in order to complete a 180-degree vertical turn as quickly as possible.
But at the end of 1914, this was absolutely still a unique specialty belonging solely to Max Immelmann.
Immelmann had originally thought Lelouch was merely offering him hollow pleasantries. He had not expected the other man to genuinely know the subject. Feeling rather pleased with himself, Immelmann also put away any thought of teasing him.
“I didn’t expect you to actually understand flying. All right, I promise I won’t scare you halfway there.”
As Immelmann spoke, his flying became even steadier, and he no longer showed off his skills.
Even so, along the way, the plane was still tossed up and down by disturbed air currents. Lelouch could not help grumbling, “They really ought to equip all pilots with waist safety belts and strap them to their seats! That way, they won’t fall out so easily. In the future, they’ll also be able to fight using more aggressive maneuvers.”
When Immelmann heard the first half of Lelouch’s words, he had intended to refute him. He knew very well that airplanes did not need safety belts. Even when performing high-overload maneuvers, centrifugal force would press the pilot firmly into the cockpit.
With a safety belt, when a plane crashed or made a forced landing, it would instead affect the efficiency of escape, making it harder to unfasten at any moment.
However, the second half of Lelouch’s words immediately changed Immelmann’s opinion and dispelled his urge to argue. Instead, it aroused his curiosity.
“You mean… fighting with airplanes? Carrying a pistol and shooting at one another? Wouldn’t directly killing the enemy pilot be a little lacking in chivalry? But your idea is rather inspiring. If it’s for combat, adding a safety belt to avoid sliding around during violent maneuvers does seem somewhat more necessary.”
Lelouch said, “Who says combat between aircraft must be fought with pistols? Remove the rear seat of a two-seat reconnaissance plane, take the payload meant for the second crewman, and use it to install a fixed machine gun instead. Wouldn’t it be better for the pilot to operate the trigger directly and strafe enemy planes ahead?
“If you don’t want to aim specifically at the pilot and shoot him, then simply spray at random. Most likely you’ll hit the fuselage or wings. Shoot down the enemy aircraft and let the pilot glide away to escape. That should be chivalrous enough, shouldn’t it?”
Lelouch had no intention of immediately interfering and altering the development of aerial combat doctrine. The main reason was that his current rank was still too low, and his status insufficient. He had no voice. If he brought out certain things now, the credit would not be his anyway. It would be better to proceed gradually.
It was just that today, he happened to meet Captain Immelmann, so he casually offered a few pointers to help the man understand more quickly. It could also be considered forming a good connection.
When Immelmann made a name for himself in the future, he would naturally remember Lelouch’s foresight. At that time, he would come to seek advice again.
Captain Immelmann did indeed fall into a brief bout of contemplation. Fortunately, Lelouch reminded him to focus on flying the plane, and only then did they avoid missing their stop.
……
After just over an hour of flight, Immelmann, relying on his absolutely solid flying skills, completed the nighttime landing with great steadiness. Guided entirely by the lights on either side of the runway, he touched down with extreme precision.
Lelouch had just climbed out of the cockpit when he saw several senior officers in luxurious uniforms standing beside the apron.
The man at their head appeared to be in his forties or fifties. He had close-cropped hair, two thick downward-curving moustaches, hard, prominent brow ridges, deep-set eyes, and a square face.
He wore a general’s uniform, with a robe of red fox fur draped over it. Embroidered upon the robe was the twin-lion crown crest of the Wittelsbach dynasty.
Clearly, this man was Major General Karl’s elder brother, the commander of the 6th Army, the crown prince of the Kingdom of Baria, Duke Rupprecht.
Lelouch hurried forward and saluted. “Lieutenant Lelouch Hunt, wire-laying platoon commander of the army’s directly subordinate communications battalion, reporting to Your Highness, Commander.”
The duke merely nodded slightly and looked him up and down. Lelouch’s injured, reddened left eye likewise left a deep impression on him, causing him instinctively and subconsciously to regard the young man as loyal and righteous.
Thus, the duke did not make things difficult for him. “Karl repeatedly told me in his telegram just now that he had discovered an extraordinary talent, one who, if used well, could make an enormous contribution to the empire. But he did not explain too much in detail, and said there would be opportunities to understand more slowly in the future. I believe there must be a reason for him to value you so highly. I also know a little about those displays of foresight you showed before.
“This is my handwritten letter to Rear Admiral Hipper. In it, I have written that, so long as it does not violate his duties as a soldier, he is to assist you as much as possible. Time is pressing now, and I do not wish to delay an opportunity in battle. As long as you answer one question for me, you may take this letter and leave.”
The duke’s attitude was clearly that he was prepared to grasp the main issue and let the minor ones go. With time so urgent today, he trusted that Karl had already checked the concrete details.
The duke only wanted to personally ask Lelouch one more question of right and wrong. If Lelouch could give him a satisfactory answer, this matter could be approved.
Lelouch also knew there was no avoiding this. It was just like how, even if an ancient emperor did not understand literature, after the Ministry of Rites’ metropolitan examination was over, he still had to hold a palace examination as a formality and ask one question.
“Please ask freely, Your Highness.” Lelouch stood solemnly at attention, his expression still as calm and unruffled by honor or disgrace as ever.