It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 222 | Friendly Reminder

Always prioritize national interests.

Shank also hoped that Mariana could curb Ivanros's expansion and give his country ample time to prepare for war.

Currently, Ivanros's army is finding no advantage in its frontal offensive, and the war has reached a stalemate.

The only variable left is... the Ardennes Forest.

In fact, Shank believed that the possibility of Ivan Ross's army successfully replicating the Ardennes Forest raid was extremely slim.

Why did the German army successfully capture Sedan fortress through the Ardennes Forest in history?
The most critical issue is heavy weapons.

Heavy artillery is essential for attacking fortified areas. The Sedan Fortress has numerous firing points and artillery positions, which cannot be dealt with by the direct fire of tanks alone. Indirect fire must be deployed. However, the cumbersome towed artillery cannot pass through the rugged forest in a short time.

The German response was to simply abandon heavy artillery and replace it with dive bombers. Historically, three to four hundred Stuka dive bombers transformed into "flying cannons" and bombed and destroyed most of the artillery positions of the Sedan Fortress.

In addition, the negligence of the French command in history was also fatal, with a slow response and failure to provide timely reinforcements and counterattacks.

The Stuka dive bomber was undoubtedly a very successful weapon in the early stages of the war, with high bombing accuracy and a psychological deterrent effect that could damage morale.

Unfortunately, the Ivanos army today does not have dive bombers like the Ju 87, only BB-1 (Su-2) attack aircraft.

It is obvious that the Su-2 attack aircraft does not achieve the combat effectiveness of the Ju-87—especially when striking fixed targets.

The tactical role of attack aircraft is significantly different from that of dive bombers; they have lower bombing accuracy and stronger armor.

Therefore, Shank believed that Ivan Rus's army could not have successfully replicated historical battles due to insufficient objective conditions.

Veronica, your T-34s were indeed terrifying in 1940, sweeping across the land. But the T-34s always had to cross the river and break through the fortified areas before they could rampage. They couldn't break through the firepower of the Sedan Fortress. No matter how powerful your tank units were, it was all in vain!
However, despite his optimism, Shank, for the sake of caution, still shared his views with the General Headquarters and suggested giving Mariana a friendly reminder.

(1) Pay close attention to the direction of the Ardennes Forest, as the enemy may launch a surprise attack.

(2) The anti-aircraft firepower of Sedan Fortress and the Mas River defense line is insufficient, and anti-aircraft artillery units should be reinforced.

Although Ivanross did not have dedicated dive bombers, it would be best to strengthen its anti-aircraft firepower to guard against attack aircraft.

Mariana's superiors did not take the goodwill of the Great Unified Federation to heart, and were not grateful at all, even somewhat speechless.

You Chinese people, stop pretending! If you really care, then get involved!
As for the Ardennes Forest, Mariana's superiors felt there was no need to worry, as the army was already prepared and an entire army group was deployed there.

The seeds of arrogance and contempt were sown from that moment on.

On April 26, Veronica signed Order No. 202, and the General Staff immediately began intensive preparations for combat.

"...When the assault army advances to the front of the Sedan fortress, the air force and paratroopers will immediately launch an unprecedented and fierce attack, severely damaging the defenders and making them believe that danger lurks all around them, thus shaking their will!" Lieutenant General Kovalev described the entire process of the surprise attack with great passion, then changed the subject and asked, "Your Majesty, the General Staff has given this military operation the code name 'Radiation,' do you agree?"

"That's fine." Veronica's mind wasn't on this at all; the codename for the operation was irrelevant.

In short, from a strategic perspective, Operation Radiation aimed to launch a surprise attack from the only possible point of attack, then advance deep into enemy territory, delivering a vicious left hook to sever the retreat and backbone of Mariana's million-strong army, thereby completely reversing the course of the war.

To seize this only chance, Ivanros's army exerted every effort to ensure that the radiation operation could be carried out as scheduled.

The order of battle for ground forces is as follows:

| 2 tank corps
| 2 Guards Tank Brigades
| 1 special vehicle brigade
｜3 motorized infantry division

| 2 naval infantry brigades
｜27 infantry divisions
｜4 Engineering Brigades
The 44th Assault Army, consisting of Guards Tank Brigade, Special Vehicle Brigade, Motorized Infantry Division, Engineer Brigade, and Naval Infantry Brigade, comprises approximately 8 personnel. It is the elite of the elite and the vanguard of surprise attacks.

The air force and paratrooper units deployed were as follows:

| 322 fighter jets
| 120 bombers
| 205 attack aircraft
| 38 reconnaissance aircraft
| 335 transport aircraft and older bombers used as transport aircraft

| 1 paratrooper
| 2 Guards Airborne Infantry Brigades
The air force was organized into the 11th Air Army, with approximately 2 paratroopers. The Guards Airborne Brigade was divided into several airborne assault detachments to undertake the most dangerous missions.

With a series of orders issued, countless Imperial Russian troops and military supplies were carefully transferred to Koblenz from all directions in an attempt to deceive the authorities.

At this moment, based on the current rate of ammunition consumption of the two to three million main force troops, there are less than two weeks left before the ammunition reserves are exhausted.

In order to draw the enemy's attention, the General Staff ordered the frontal battlefield in the Belgian direction to maintain an offensive posture and exert pressure.

At the same time, in order to reduce ammunition consumption, a large number of Imperial Russian troops abandoned daytime offensives and only carried out continuous infiltrations by infantry units at night, so that they could provide little or no artillery preparation...

It was ten days later when the radiation operation was basically ready.

At around 5:13 PM on May 5th, anti-aircraft artillery units along the Meuse River shot down a Russian reconnaissance plane. After several hours of interrogation, the Russian pilot admitted that the offensive was about to begin, with only 12 hours remaining.

At the same time, the Belgian Ardennes Forest Jäger had already made contact with the Imperial Russian forces that were crossing the Ardennes Forest, and several small skirmishes ensued with mixed results.

The sporadic enemy reports seemed to indicate that the invading enemy was not far away.
At 20:15 p.m., General Charles Henzig, commander of the 2nd Army under Marianne stationed at the Sedan fortress and the Meuse River defense line, hesitated. He suspected that the invading enemy was just a small light infantry force and not much of a threat, so he only ordered his troops to be on high alert.

At 22:30 p.m., the commander ordered the 47th Infantry Division to send out patrols to scout out the situation in the Ardennes Forest.

At 3:30 a.m., the staff officer woke the sleeping commander and urgently told him that the two patrol teams sent by the 47th Infantry Division had been completely wiped out and had put up a fierce resistance before their defeat.

Upon hearing the instruction, a strange chill ran through General Charles Huntsger's entire body, and his pajamas vanished.

(End of this chapter)