Father of France

Chapter 261 The advantage is mine
Small fortunes are made through smuggling, big fortunes through robbery. Arabs cannot allow Arab lands, including the holy city of Jerusalem, to be directly divided between the United States and the Soviet Union and given to Israel.

The Arab countries, eager for revenge, launched attacks according to their own interests.

Actually, the Syrian army is relatively clean compared to other participating countries. Egypt and Jordan sent troops for their own interests. To put it bluntly, Israel cannot annex Palestine, so they can annex Palestine themselves!
It is precisely because of their ambition to annex Palestine that Egypt and Jordan have long taken in Palestinian refugees, because in their eyes, Palestinians are originally Egyptians or Jordanians.

Countries like Iraq and Syria joined the war out of a genuine sense of national pride among the Arab peoples, rather than being direct parties to the conflict.

The outbreak of war, especially given that the Syrian army was previously affiliated with the French, has had a significant impact on Algiers: can the offensive of former allies achieve its objectives? This could be the subject of a war game simulation.

It should be noted that the French army in Algeria nominally only had four divisions, but the Production and Construction Corps had fourteen divisions, not including the three Railway Corps divisions that were still under construction.

Therefore, the total strength of the French forces in Algeria should actually be a huge military group of 400,000 officers and soldiers in 21 divisions, which is the same size as the French First Army in 1945.

Most of the troops, especially the fourteen divisions belonging to the Production and Construction Corps, were originally from the First Group Army.

This number is higher than the combined strength of the French forces in Europe, which includes 300,000 troops in France and 60,000 troops stationed in Germany.

So many troops and Syrian troops originally belonged to the same army group. When they learned that the Middle East war had broken out, they naturally became the focus of discussion among the French forces in Algeria.

The camaraderie forged in battle has not faded so quickly; many French commanders still maintain good personal relationships with Syrian army commanders.

As for the relationship between Jews and Arabs? What business is it of theirs? After some covert observation, Coman was certain that, at least for now, the French officers in the overseas departments were inclined to support the Syrian army.

The Arab coalition lacked heavy equipment. Although Britain and France had left behind some vehicles, they were insufficient to enable the Arab army to march quickly. Although the war started immediately, there has been no publicly available news of any results.

"Judging from the current military strength of the countries surrounding Palestine, the Jordanian Arab Legion should be the strongest in terms of combat power." Lukar had been gathering information with Koman for a long time and also sensed that his superior was interested in this war that had just broken out. Otherwise, why would he be doing this so secretly? "In terms of total troop strength, Egypt has the advantage."

"The Arab Legion still has a British commander, but Jordan only has this one army that can fight," Koeman replied. "Although the Syrian army, when it was part of the First Army, couldn't be said to have fought any major battles, mostly fighting against the Italian army on the Apennine Peninsula, General Dragon didn't treat it differently when it was part of the First Army. That was the treatment of a regular army. I believe the Syrian army definitely performed better than the Egyptian army."

It is true that they had never fought a major battle, because due to the Allied High Command, non-Marlon divisions were prohibited from entering Germany.

Similarly, the British army could not allow the British Indian Corps to enter German territory. The French colonial troops had never fought in Germany, and the Maronites were hard-won by the French because, apart from the First Army, the French had few troops composed of Frenchmen.

Does that mean Syria didn't fight in World War I? The Syrian army, as a regular French force, participated in the Italian campaign. They are certainly stronger than the armies of Egypt and Iraq. Most importantly, Syria has a large number of World War II veterans, exceeding 100,000.

Koeman believes that the Syrian army should perform the best among Arab countries, but what about Israel?
Israel also has Jewish soldiers who fought on the Eastern Front. Stalin himself was very wary of Jews within the country, and during his time leading the Soviet Union, he did not mind Jewish immigration to Israel.

The fighting capabilities of Israeli soldiers should not be underestimated. It is believed that at this moment, Moscow and Washington are also observing the course of this war from a third-party perspective.

Koeman believed that the military legacy General Dragon left for Syria was useful, and indeed it proved to be so. Syria was virtually invisible in the first Middle East war in another world.

It was the last Arab country to send troops in the war and achieved little success, playing a purely supporting role.

But in Koman's world, Syria was the most well-prepared for this war, having activated the Golan Heights defense line and dispatched an infantry division, an expeditionary force of 17,000 men, to advance south along the Lebanon line, with the strategic objective of rendezvous with the Kingdom of Egypt in Tel Aviv.

The offensive in the Golan Heights was limited, targeting the upper Jordan Valley and the Sea of ​​Galilee. The attacking force consisted of a mountain brigade, along with an expeditionary force from Lebanon, totaling 22,000 troops. This was the largest troop deployment by any Arab nation involved in the conflict. The Syrian army's presence from the Golan Heights and Lebanon immediately put unprecedented pressure on the Israeli militias.

The Syrian army in the Golan Heights had its first objective in capturing the Israeli settlement of Degania, one of the first Jewish settlements in Palestine and of significant symbolic importance. Meanwhile, the main force of the Syrian expeditionary force advancing south from Lebanon headed straight for Haifa, a key town in the north. This influx of Syrian troops from the north placed unprecedented pressure on the fledgling nation of Israel.

France actually expelled the Christians from Lebanon and then generously gave Lebanon to Syria, which left an open space for Israel, which had only 600,000 Jews, to be attacked.

The Jews' argument is illogical. If Israel were to one day have ten million people, wouldn't it be easy for them to attack Syria?
However, Israel does have a small population now, only a few hundred thousand people, and has to face attacks from three directions. The Syrian front, which originally had the smallest contact area, has suddenly become a country with 100,000 regular troops due to the prosperity and development of the Dragon family, which is why Israel is complaining.

At this time, Israel faced 22,000 Syrian troops from the north, 7,000 Egyptian troops from the south, and 15,000 Iraqi and Jordanian troops from the east. The newly formed Israel had no choice but to issue a mobilization order, calling on Jews to join the war.

The entry of Arab armies immediately reversed the disadvantage of Palestinian Arab armed groups. These groups acted as guides: the Gaza Strip led the Egyptian army, the West Bank became the Jordanian Kingdom's collaborators, and the northern Arabs led the Syrian army straight to Haifa.

The Syrian mountain brigade, which departed from the Golan Heights and was led by local Arabs, launched an attack on Dgania. Before the attack, the Syrian army shelled Dgania for several hours, causing serious damage to the kibbutz's fortifications and buildings.

Under the cover of tanks, the infantry began to advance towards the outskirts of the kibbutz. Renault tanks became the main force of the Syrian offensive. The Syrian army's offensive had just begun when it greatly shocked the Jewish militia.

The Jews could no longer find the truth, and the development of the battlefield situation could no longer give them more time. The menacing Renault tanks, which were actually just standard 1948 armored vehicles, were advancing very fast and had already approached the edge of the front line.

The armored vehicles indiscriminately fired machine guns and shells at any target they deemed suspicious, and a few scattered shells had already exploded near the rocks where the Jewish militia were hiding.

This place was no longer safe. If they didn't retreat soon, they might be left behind on this front line. Ignoring their captain's objections and struggles, several soldiers dragged and carried their captain, who was determined to defend Jewish land, away from the front line and hastily retreated towards the trenches of the Degania settlement.

The Syrian expeditionary force heading to Haifa stopped on a hillside with a good view by the roadside, which would serve as a temporary command post until the end of this operation.

At this point, the command post is only responsible for overall control of the battle, as well as the allocation of supporting firepower and logistical supply. It will absolutely not interfere in the specific combat command affairs of the front-line troops unless absolutely necessary, serving instead as a communications hub and command and dispatch center. It also does not need to move with the combat troops.

After receiving orders, the scouts sped up and crossed the gentle slope beside the Israeli positions, followed closely by four transport vehicles belonging to the guard platoon, packed with the platoon's fully armed soldiers. At this moment, intense machine gun and cannon fire erupted from the other side of the hill, as the armored reconnaissance platoon began its pursuit of the fleeing Jewish militia.

“Haifa is an important town in northern Palestine and must not fall into Jewish hands.” Adib Shshakli stood on the hillside, watching the massive marching column from the assassin’s perspective, his eyes filled with confidence and pride in the Syrian army. “Colonel Hawak, how’s it going over there?”

If Koeman were here, he would definitely provide the voiceover: "If the country is not at peace, the army cannot be deployed; if the army is not at peace, the troops cannot be deployed; if the troops are not at peace, the troops cannot advance into battle; if the troops are not at peace, the troops cannot win the battle."

“General, there’s still no news from the Golan Heights. They’ll contact us once we take the Jewish settlement in Degania,” the officer beside him replied.

"Well, now we can only count on him." Adib Shshakli sighed. The French left, leaving behind a group of soldiers for Syria. Before leaving, they said that in gratitude for Syria's contributions in the World War, they promoted a group of officers and awarded them a bunch of medals.

Including Lebanon, Syria now has only over three million people, but 100,000 are soldiers. France helped Syria complete a path that would have taken a considerable amount of time. It is nominally a republic, but the country is ruled by a group of generals, and in reality, it is not much different from a military government.

The generals of the Republic now want to consolidate their positions through a war, and Adib Shshakli is no exception, but Colonel Havak in the Golan Heights is a man of the Army Chief of Staff.

"On the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, countless large-scale wars have been fought throughout history, with their rights and wrongs being too complicated to discuss. But everyone has noticed that it was on this ancient battlefield that the rise and fall of many civilizations were determined. One civilization rose while another fell, so it has always been a battlefield between different civilizations."

At the French military headquarters in Algiers, Koman, spitting as he spoke, pointed out to a group of comrades, "The Syrian army marched south, and wherever they went, the Arabs welcomed them wholeheartedly. They truly had the advantage of timing, location, and popular support. I can still vividly recall that vibrant scene of life flourishing. No matter how you look at it, the Arabs have the superior military strength."

(End of this chapter)