Father of France

Chapter 46: Admit guilt first, then talk.

The stalemate that had lasted for more than two months caught the Allied command of Germany off guard with their sudden attack. German tanks, emblazoned with the Iron Cross, roared out of the night like legendary monsters.

Faced with such an attack, the Allied forces were completely unprepared. The outer defenses of the temporary camp were rendered ineffective, and the sentry posts and machine gun emplacements crumbled at the first touch. German infantry followed the tanks and advanced along the road, attacking all targets they encountered indiscriminately.

These scenes, like something out of a nightmare, are so unbelievable.

The Germans did not hesitate to act just because the Allies were complacent. The Luftwaffe destroyed military camps everywhere, and Stukas precisely attacked the bunkers built in the surrounding area. Even though the garrison had carefully painted these bunkers with camouflage paint and hung up camouflage nets, the Luftwaffe seemed to have X-ray vision and did not hesitate to blow those semi-concrete bunkers and their camouflage into pieces.

After all, the Allied forces had previously held an absolute advantage, and even if they did not launch an attack temporarily, they maintained an offensive posture. Although they had defensive fortifications, how could they really devote too much energy to them?

The Allied forces under attack were in a state of chaos and completely unable to control the situation. A group of German assault engineers, dressed in white snow cloaks, crept into the American positions like ghosts. They were armed with STG-44 assault rifles, the muzzle flashes of fire glinting in the snow mist.

Just as an American machine gunner turned his gun around, he was blown into the air along with a sandbag by a Panzerfaust rocket.

"Retreat! Retreat!" an officer shouted. But where to retreat to? The gray figures of German soldiers were everywhere, and countless steel helmets suddenly emerged from the snow—they were like an undead legion crawling out of hell, and the American soldiers were like deer being hunted.

The crisis at the front threw the Allied command on the Western Front into chaos, but the atmosphere at the French military conference in Paris was not so gloomy. This was because the command of the Allied forces on the Western Front was dominated by Britain and the United States, and France, due to the fall of its homeland, did not have enough troops in its overseas colonies to take the lead.

Now, the army has been rebuilt and split into five groups, regaining some strength, but the war is coming to an end, and it is too late to fight for Allied command.

As Germany's adversary in both World Wars and the Franco-Prussian War, the thunder in the Ardennes, though shocking, was preceded by numerous previous battles, which kept the French generals calm.

"Judging from the current situation of the enemy and ourselves, and the balance of power between the two sides, this is nothing more than an emperor's offensive." General Dragon made a casual judgment, which was agreed upon by the generals present, including Tassini and Juan, who also approved of General Dragon's assessment.

The Emperor Offensive was the last large-scale offensive launched by the German army in 1918, towards the end of World War I. After this offensive, the German army retreated to the Hindenburg Line, and it was only a matter of when they would lose the war.

The Emperor's Offensive and this Ardennes Counterattack are very similar in timing.

There are still differences. In the two world wars, the countries that took the brunt of the damage were different. In World War I, France took the brunt, but in the last few months of the war, France was about to collapse, and Britain and the United States took over.

The situation is now quite the opposite. It is Britain and the United States that are bearing the brunt of the damage. If the Ardennes Offensive is to achieve its strategic objectives, the main direction of attack will definitely be the northeastern front deployed by Britain and the United States, replicating the results of the encirclement of the French army in Belgium and the Netherlands four years ago.

"It's just an imperial offensive." In Turin, Koeman also learned that the German army was launching an offensive from the Ardennes. He mainly learned this from German radio broadcasts and had the content translated. Perhaps the Allies were keeping a low profile due to the unfavorable situation, but the Germans were not modest. The urgent need for a second Dunkirk was evident in the broadcasts.

When Lefèvre arrived at Corman's place, he reported on several matters of current concern. Martin had already achieved considerable success in Genoa, bringing together local advantageous industries, technologies, and STEM students and faculty to France, and they had already departed.

Once the mission is launched, it's basically a done deal. Martin is now preparing to come to Turin to join his brother units, barring any other delays. "Also, several families have been saying at the division headquarters that they've arrested the wrong person. After all, they're prominent nobles in Turin, so we're under a lot of pressure," Lefevere reported on the second matter after finishing with Genoa.

Family ties don't discriminate based on class! Even though Koeman considered the Kingdom of Italy a defeated nation, Britain and the United States had treated Italy with relative leniency, so he couldn't go too far.

"Let Martin investigate the Bishop of Genoa first. We'll start our own investigation simultaneously. Now I'm going to meet with a few royalist families." Coman stood up to leave and suddenly said, "Remember to remind me when the Italian Communist Party Congress is held, or I'll forget in my busy schedule."

There have always been rumors of child molestation within the Catholic Church. Koman had only heard of it but had never seen it, but he thought that Italy was the stronghold of the Papacy and had once been home to the Papal States.

If such a tradition truly exists, then Italy, with its one-third of cardinals, would undoubtedly be a major disaster area.

He still had the habit of gathering leverage over a faction before trying to win them over. It might not be easy to investigate, but it was definitely something he should do. Cardinal Cardinal Cardinal of Turin was the first to catch Koeman's eye; otherwise, why would a modernist Christian like him have his own company attend Mass?

Half an hour later, with the approval of his superior Celtic, Coman arrived at the location where the Turin nobles were being temporarily detained. It was formerly a company dormitory and was being used by the French army as a temporary settlement.

The conditions were neither good nor bad, but for these important figures in pre-war Turin, they were perhaps somewhat rudimentary.

Flipping through the prepared documents, the head of the Roero family had already been brought up. Italians are generally considered to be good-looking in Europe, but clearly the head of this large family was not among them.

Roero sat down, looking somewhat tired. He was clearly under a lot of mental stress lately, and even though he hadn't been subjected to any torture, he was still feeling anxious and uncertain.

"Mr. Roero, 16,000 hectares of vineyards, what a valuable asset! One-fifth of Italy's wine exports are in your hands!" Coman exclaimed as he flipped through the intelligence. "Your son has even killed someone before. What an unexpected bonus! It seems you'll be reunited soon."

“Slander, that’s not true.” Roero clenched his fists, staring intently at Coman. “We’re not without a basis for cooperation. How dare you, a low-ranking officer, do this?”

As a high-ranking nobleman in Turin, he had his own sources of information. There was an agreement between the Allies and Italy, and all the previous mistakes were Mussolini's fault. What did it have to do with him?
"No such thing? Could it be that the Italian Communist Party's investigation report was fake?" Coman feigned surprise, looking at the contents of the report again and again, and suddenly said to Roero with a sneer, "I don't care about your illegitimate children, but I believe no country would consider murder a trivial matter, right?"

“Let’s go back to the beginning. The Italian Communist Party is so powerful right now. In order to alleviate what they call class contradictions, shouldn’t I do something to win people’s hearts and minds? Shift the focus of the contradictions. Of course, if Mr. Roero doesn’t want to cooperate, that’s fine. It’s not like I have to ask you to cooperate.”

"Then tell me, what do you want me to do?" Roero couldn't help but ask loudly. He was willing to do anything as long as he regained his freedom, but he couldn't stand being so restrained all the time.

“I still prefer your rebellious side. If all the nobles in Turin were as understanding as Mr. Roero, our work would be much easier.” Coman put the intelligence aside. “But first, you still need to plead guilty and get the other families who are visiting here to plead guilty as well. Only then can we move Paris.”

(End of this chapter)