Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 177 Shooting yourself in the foot

Events ultimately took a turn for the worse than Ryan had anticipated.

Shortly after he and several captains finalized the operational route plan and response strategies for various situations the following day, a pre-battle order from the General Staff was delivered to him and almost all the front-line commanders.

"It's troublesome."

Without even going for his usual long run, Ryan tore up the order he had read countless times and threw it into the still-burning fireplace with a frustrated expression.

A few specks of ash were swept into the flue by the hot air, while the rest immediately blended into the ashes of the firewood, making them virtually undetectable unless you looked closely.

Brinkman sat at his desk in the corner, a week's worth of work piled up in his hands.

Catherine stood behind her with a worried expression, reminding her from time to time what she had done wrong.

However, the two of them didn't actually have much to do; it was mostly paperwork. The only thing to be careful about was that many of the documents involved personnel transfers.

This is also the reason why Catherine has that expression.

Handing a document to Renne regarding the withdrawal of two artillery regiments of the First Army to the rear for two weeks of rest before returning them to the front lines, Catherine said in a complicated tone, "The frontline command near Farland has already begun redeploying the troops. Based on experience, they should be back in combat status by the 20th of this month at the earliest."

"Are they going to rest in Ostend? Aren't they afraid of being targeted by the United Kingdom?" Renn didn't seem to care much about the documents Catherine handed him, but he knew in his heart that Ostend was a bright light bulb exposed to everyone's eyes. Apart from the training of the 502nd Regiment, almost everything about it was transparent.

"Is this what they're thinking?"

Lieutenant Colonel Catherine leaned against the side of her desk, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Brinkman, who was still working hard on documents: "Visibility in Farland is too poor, but they must have connections with the United Kingdom. If the artillery units were to withdraw from the front lines, they wouldn't be able to get the news immediately."

"So that's why we need to rest in Ostend, so that the spies of the United Kingdom can use their channels to get the information to the Farrans...?"

Ryan had considered this plan, and he felt there was nothing wrong with it.

Last month, the Empire specially approved two hundred trucks for the First Army Group. These were all new trucks with a half-track drive system. They had previously been secretly scolded by the Ministry of Railways, which was in charge of logistics, because they were not used after being delivered. Now it seems that they have been debugged and are ready for actual combat testing.

Of course, the artillery units of the 7th Army were the first to get their hands on these trucks, and there's no need to go into the reasons why.

just.

Suddenly, Renn realized a problem.

"No, the General Staff might not think that way."

He immediately turned to look at the war zone map hanging on the wall.

First, the Second Army is currently stationed in a massive reinforced concrete defensive fortification that is over 120 kilometers long and has more than 15 trenches. Therefore, the artillery does not actually need to return to the rear; they can rest and reorganize at the front without any need to retreat.

Not to mention that Ostend is teeming with spies and agents from various countries. Deliberately withdrawing troops would easily expose the combat time and further increase the risk of new equipment being exposed, making it a thankless task.

"What do you mean?" Catherine's curiosity was piqued by Ryan's words, but she didn't really understand the current battlefield. What she had learned in Old Blacklingen and at the military academy was no longer useful, which was one of the reasons she hadn't volunteered to go to the front lines. Ryan didn't speak immediately. He first studied the map for a while, then mentally estimated the time needed for the artillery regiment to withdraw and rotate, before speaking in a slightly hesitant tone.

"I think the General Staff may still want to curry favor with Farland."

"A gesture of goodwill?" Brinkman paused for a moment, but immediately went back to work.

Catherine then said, "You listen too, put your hands down, Colonel?"

“Hmm.” Renn frowned, his gaze still fixed on the map. “The Empire’s current objective is to contain Farland and the United Kingdom while getting the Empire to sign a treaty as quickly as possible to ensure stability among the various countries in the Mediterranean region.”

"Therefore, the Empire must ensure that it appears on the international stage in a manner that complies with the treaty, both before and after the signing of the treaty, which means it must safeguard its international image."

"If that's the case, then the mobilization order issued by the General Staff, while ostensibly a mobilization, is not actually one."

"My view is that the General Staff and Parliament want to use this actual order of mobilization to stimulate the United Kingdom, and in conjunction with the ongoing naval exercises, put pressure on the United Kingdom to make a decision on whether to sign the treaty as soon as possible."

"But in practice, the General Staff provided the Farrans with a safety guarantee by having the artillery regiments retreat. If I'm not mistaken, the United Kingdom will inevitably use this statement to provoke the Farrans: that the Empire is currently withdrawing its main forces to recuperate, and will immediately launch the largest counter-offensive in history after the recuperation is over."

Raine's words made Catherine's expression tighten: "This won't work, will it? The Farrans aren't stupid, how can they completely believe what the United Kingdom says? Besides, we still have a defensive line that's five hundred kilometers long ahead of us..."

"It's precisely because it's useless that it's useful!"

Ryan immediately retorted.

"The Farlans have been shrouded in the most violent blizzards in history for the past few months, unable to go in or out. How could they possibly know that the Empire has built such a long defensive line on the border? The United Kingdom is not stupid. If it wants to pin our Empire down on the continent, it will definitely put continuous pressure on the Farlans, keeping them in a state of high tension."

"You mean, Farland doesn't know the situation on our front lines?" Now it was Catherine's turn to be surprised.

Brinkman immediately added, "In the past few months, we haven't seen any Farrans active in Ostend or the other border regions. All we've seen are people from the United Kingdom and the United States, plus some smaller countries that haven't yet joined the war."

"That is to say?"

Catherine suddenly felt as if she had grasped the blind spot, but she still couldn't think of how to describe it in words.

Ryan said.

"For the Farrans, there was only one thing they could be sure of—the Empire was withdrawing its main forces from the battlefield."

"The United Kingdom may have thought their intelligence blockade would take effect at this time, but they misjudged how a force that had been tormented by extreme weather for countless days would view the news of the withdrawal."

After saying that, Renn let out a long sigh of relief.

"If you ask me, the United Kingdom is really shooting itself in the foot now."

(End of this chapter)