Father of France

Chapter 70 Tobacco Business
"Although the voice was still passionate, the tone was full of fatigue." Although Alan didn't hear the whole thing when he came in and didn't understand German, he could still tell from the tone.

"Does the current situation even need to be explained? Forming a People's Stormtroopers aged sixteen to sixty, aren't they just charging headlong down the bright road to national subjugation?"

Koeman laughed heartily and said to his two comrades, "If you had heard Goebbels's mobilization speech two years ago and compared it with today's speech, you would understand everything."

In particular, the question posed to the supporters, "Do you want a total war?" was asked with great confidence, and the Germans quickly responded with the most vehement rebuttal.

Unlike now, when even martyred children and raped wives are brought up, although the speech is still passionate enough, the despair of the general situation has reached a point that even Goebbels has to admit.

Martin did not join the discussion on German ideology, but instead lit a cigarette and smoked it around without holding back, though he was refused by everyone.

"Once the tobacco arrives in Germany, you must hold it tightly in your hand."

Despite being exposed to secondhand smoke, Koeman didn't mind asking for details. "I don't want to poison the Germans. You know, from a national perspective, while death doesn't create value, it doesn't consume value either. What I want is for Germany to be unable to accumulate wealth and invest the value it creates in this kind of thing. So, release a little less poppy. We need to give the Germans a little hope, just a little. We only have so many cards to play. Our homeland has just been liberated, so we definitely can't grow tobacco. Once this batch of tobacco is distributed, there won't be any more."

"Well, if Koeman doesn't understand, let me explain." Martin took a deep breath, demonstrated how he could inhale deeply, and tossed away the half-smoked cigarette. "What does 15,000 tons of tobacco mean? If a man consumes ten cigarettes a day, 15,000 tons of tobacco could feed 35 million people for a year. I heard Germany has over 70 million people, and that's roughly half the number of men. I supervised the filling with some dry grass and other raw materials; as long as it smokes during wartime, that's fine. I doubt the Germans could even smoke it."

"As for the amount of poppy used, you can rest assured. There are many such people in the Middle East, and we know quite a bit about what is appropriate. We will definitely not let the Germans go to meet their maker."

"That's good." Koeman estimated in his mind that 15,000 tons of tobacco could supply a German man for half a year. He skipped over the fact that it would take ten cigarettes a day. This was a meticulous calculation method.

It is a careful and meticulous way of calculating, but it is not a wrong way of calculating.

Even in the 21st century, a tobacco production of 100,000 tons would rank among the top ten in the world. Most of the countries in the top ten have a tobacco production of around 100,000 tons. The only country in the world with a tobacco production of more than one million tons is, of course, the great Eastern power whose military spending is directly proportional to its tobacco production.

If you think about it that way, 15,000 tons is enough for Germany's supply for half a year. Half a year is enough time. It's worth it for the Germans to benefit from the tobacco that Koeman accumulated over several years while he was stationed in Syria.

After Germany's defeat in 1945, a cigarette could be exchanged for a day's food. With Germany nearly destroyed, a day's food was worth far more than a German woman selling her meat. American soldiers often used cigarettes to exchange for the services of German women.

Koeman felt that this round of speculation would easily net him hundreds of millions of dollars.

"I wonder if Sal's attack is going smoothly." Unlike Martin, Alan wasn't so easygoing and kept an eye on the progress of the battle, asking Coman.

"It shouldn't be a problem. The defenders along the Saar line number only tens of thousands. Two army groups with over 800,000 attacking troops can't take it unless the Germans are necromancers," Koeman patiently explained. "The total number of German troops along the Rhine is less than the Allied forces that are resting and regrouping, excluding those already engaged in combat. In this situation, even a defensive master like Model wouldn't be able to handle it." Koeman remembered that Model could only directly command a German army group of over 300,000, while the attacking Allied forces numbered over three million.

This was something Model had never faced on the Eastern Front, the Eastern Front between the Soviet and German armies. It wasn't that Model was incompetent; it was simply that at this point, it had nothing to do with the general's command skills.

Koeman was unaware that Patton had already given the order to attack the Rhine defenses, but if he had known, he would have felt that Patton's judgment was indeed correct. Patton's Third Army had nearly 300,000 troops, almost all of Model's forces. Even if Patton were to be surrounded, Model would have no way to deal with him.

Compared to Patton's bold advance strategy along the central line, the French army's practice of assigning a 155 caliber rifle to almost every German resident in the Saar region was indeed outrageously cautious.

But this was precisely General Dracon's objective. Destroying the desired German settlements in the Saar did not mean that the French would do the same when they entered the heart of Germany. France only used such a large amount of ammunition to exchange for the Germans' escape because it had territorial claims to the Saar region.

Over the past three days, the Sardar army's positions had been completely destroyed by French artillery. The surviving German soldiers stood on the soil of the positions, which had been overturned and was so loose that a normal person could sink up to their knees.

Even on the Eastern Front, German soldiers had never faced such intense artillery bombardment. Compared to the German army at that time, the Japanese army, which was fighting a bloody battle with the Americans on Iwo Jima, could be said to have been very restrained by the Americans.

On the evening of March 10th, General Dracon, commander of the French First Army, issued the order to attack: "The French people are longing for a great victory. We will win this war. Fight for France! You are the bravest soldiers of France. Your victory will increase France's influence throughout the world. Every soldier is now filled with the power of France. Victory will surely belong to us! Charge!"

In the early hours of March 11, the shelling resumed as scheduled, waking the sleeping Germans instead of the clock.

When this round of shelling ended, the French 1st and 22nd Armored Divisions officially launched their attack on Saar. Sixteen hundred tanks of various types, including Sherman and Churchill tanks, tore through the dawn and launched a ground offensive against Saar.

The German armored forces that once rampaged across the European continent were the pride of the German people. Now, the Germans must endure the enemy's armored forces wreaking havoc on German soil.

Many Germans in the Saarland region are unaware that the Saarland region will soon be part of Germany.

At eight o'clock in the morning, General Dragon telegraphed General Duval, commander of the French Youth Division, ordering the French Youth Division to assemble and head to the front the next day.

General Duval issued orders to all regiments and battalions, and the Youth Division's garrison was thrown into chaos as units assembled and awaited further orders, while also waiting for the allocation of railway transport.

(End of this chapter)