Father of France

Chapter 69 The British Army Lacks Strategy, the French Army Lacks Intelligence

At the French front command, General Dracon stared at the hanging German map for a long time. "After seventy-two hours of fire and air bombardment, turn the Saar region into a sea of ​​fire. Remember, do not surround the German residents; give them a chance to escape. The First Army will split into two groups: one will advance eastward in the direction of the sun, and the other will form the Southern Group, whose target is Austria and the German forces in the Alps, cutting off communication with southern Germany."

"As for cooperating with Patton's U.S. Third Army, that was the task of General Tassini's French Second Army."

On the first day of bombardment of the Saar region, the French army fired 1.5 million shells of various calibers, which was almost the amount the French army consumed in a week during the Battle of Verdun.

Faced with such intense shelling, the city of Sarr was reduced to rubble. Bodies were buried in the rubble, and the survivors, their faces covered in blood, silently watched the ruins and smoke. Some of the relatively healthy people rushed to salvage their property and extinguish any fires. The cries of women and children became occasional embellishments between shelling sessions.

Suddenly, a strange, piercing shriek broke through the roar of artillery fire. "French bombers!" someone screamed.

The survivors looked up and saw three French bombers tearing through the fog, their horns blaring a piercing, mournful wail from beneath their wings.

The first 200-kilogram bomb landed among a group of people who were fighting a fire. The blast wave threw several people up into the treetops, and their severed limbs hung on the rubble and swayed.

German residents of Saarland scattered and fled, howling and crying as they tried to avoid the aerial bombs that could fall at any moment.

But the anticipated large-scale bombing did not occur. The leaflets, like dazzling fireworks, drifted down slowly through the air. Some survivors picked up the leaflets, which contained various messages written in German, but they were definitely not letters urging surrender. "We are back."

"The entire Saar region is within bombing range, and any settlement will be engulfed in the flames of French revenge."

"Germany opened the gates of hell with its own hands, and now Germany will face the real devil."

"All German residents of the Saar region are considered members of the German People's Storm, and France will complete the task that the Saar Offensive of 1939 failed to accomplish."

The leaflets airdropped by French planes contained no false promises of surrender or leniency; instead, they were filled with vehement rhetoric of revenge and intimidation.

On the central front, Patton's Third Army began its reckless advance, forming a long marching formation. The entire army was deployed like a snake in Changshan Mountain: if you strike its head, its tail will follow; if you strike its tail, its head will follow; if you strike its middle, both head and tail will follow.

The vanguard had already engaged the German defenders, but some troops had not yet set out. Chief of Staff Major General Guy reported to Patton on the progress of the offensive across the entire front: "The British forces in the north, under the leadership of Montgomery, have begun their offensive. At the same time as launching the attack, Montgomery has also arranged for two airborne divisions to be airdropped behind German lines."

"The British always do these fancy things and then call it the art of war," General Patton scoffed. "I don't know what this art of war, which always loses, is trying to show? That Ike always tolerates the British."

"The French forces on the southern front have also begun their attack. It is reported that the French First Army fired 1.5 million rounds of ammunition in one day, but the ground advance has not yet begun," Major Guy continued to report.

"According to Ike, General Dragon is a man who doesn't express his opinions much. There are many generals like that in France. Conservative generals don't take risky strategies and fight in a conventional manner. The French army is dragged down by these conservative generals. But now that the victory is secured, it's not a big problem. They are more reliable than the always flashy British."

"Order: Head straight for the Rhine and attack. Cross the river immediately without rest." Patton spoke glibly about the British army's lack of strategy and the French army's lack of intelligence, and with a smile, he instructed Chief of Staff Guy to issue the operational orders.

General Patton believed that the German army was no longer capable of counterattacking. Faced with a 1,500-kilometer-long front, their so-called defensive plan was simply to hold their positions and wait to be encircled, unable to support each other, let alone coordinate. The Allied forces could fight however they wanted. Without a doubt, relying on their overwhelming advantage of ten times that of the Germans in every aspect, they could simply advance into the heart of Germany; what strategic considerations were there?

However, the various unnecessary actions taken by Britain and France now could allow Patton to become the fastest advancing Allied force, and let the Third Army win honors for the United States in front of other countries.

The armored column of the U.S. Third Army stretched for five miles: Sherman tanks, half-tracks, tankers, and infantry on foot, all crawling eastward. Jeeps rolled over the road churned up by artillery fire, their tires crunching over broken bricks.

Beside the road, the wreckage of a Tiger tank lay askew in the ruins of a farmhouse, its gun barrel twisted into a pretzel shape.

Beside the tank, the bodies of three German Nationalist grenadiers lay neatly arranged, their pale faces up, their helmets resting on their chests. The bodies had been pulled out by the American troops for a staged photo op, becoming an embellishment to this advance.

At the headquarters of the French Youth Division in Paris, Coman looked melancholy, resting his chin on his hand, wondering if the respected French General Dragon had forgotten about the Youth Division.

It has been three days since the general attack began on March 7. Unlike the Saarland, where Germans were bombing and eating 155mm caliber bullets, Paris is peaceful.

But this peace was not what he wanted. As the saying goes, fortune favors the bold. Although the risks of war had to be considered, if Koeman couldn't reach out to Germany, a genuine imperial power, the consequences would be dire.

Hans, Koeman's German translator, finally got the radio working. By this time, listening to enemy stations had become a habit for Koeman.

The full-scale offensive on both the eastern and western fronts has begun, and even the most loyal Germans now know what the final outcome will be.

When Martin and Alan entered the dormitory, Koeman was listening intently to the typical German speech—passionate, hysterical: "Soldiers, the enemy's advance in the west has begun. We will have no chance to beg for peace, nor will they give us one. Our army has already begun its initial operations, and in the following weeks and months, the big ones are coming."

"The People's Storm will fight with piety, as if participating in a religious ceremony. When our soldiers take up their weapons and climb into the tanks, they will see before their eyes the children who have been martyred and the wives who have been raped, and the cry of revenge will burst from their throats, making the enemy tremble in fear."

"Just like the difficulties the Führer has faced in the past, we will eventually achieve victory. I firmly believe that we can overcome this difficulty. We will launch a grand offensive against the enemy, we will defeat them, we will annihilate them, and one day, our banner will triumph. This is our unwavering belief."

"The German leader's mobilization speech?" Martin asked curiously, listening to Hans's translation. "His voice was indeed very rousing."

“It shouldn’t be…” Koeman replied after a moment of thought. “This voice should be Goebbels’s voice, but he’s right, the big one is coming.”

It's a bit of a pity that the Führer probably won't be giving any public speeches in his final days, so we won't be able to hear the German imperial voice broadcast.

　The release date should be Friday. They asked me before, and I didn't dare to release it in the first batch of August.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)