Father of France

Chapter 72 Targeting the Waffen-SS

The only remaining church in Saarbrücken became the headquarters of the Youth Division, where General Duval, the division commander, was also located.

Reconstruction work had already begun, and some French soldiers posed for photos in front of the still relatively intact buildings with shovels and brooms. An AFP war correspondent would capture this scene and put it on the front page to show that the French army had not harmed Sarchoul.

"Getting the body out of here is the priority, to prevent an outbreak of infectious diseases." Coman led Martin around the AFP's staged photo booth and around French soldiers kicking down doors to search.

Kicking down doors to search is normal, and no amount of attention should be paid to clearing away weapons left behind by civilians.

The French army was also afraid that if any guerrilla warfare broke out, they would be ambushed. So, after taking over Saarbrücken, they immediately began to implement the order to clear out civilian weapons. This order would be carried out throughout the Saar region.

"Commander." After finally getting over the shell craters that were being filled in, Koman arrived at the division command post, muttering helplessly, "It looks like the shelling intensity was too high. Seventy percent of the buildings have been completely destroyed, and most of the remaining ones are dangerous buildings."

Wasn't that all caused by your general father? Suppressing his thoughts, General Duval yawned and asked, "You must have come to headquarters for something. Should I contact headquarters?"

"There is indeed something." Koeman didn't lie. General Duval knew very well that his power was based on his father's influence, so it was better to be honest. "Could you have headquarters issue an order to distinguish between Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS prisoners of war? I believe many of our brother units have already captured quite a few prisoners. The POW camp is located in Baden. I don't know if the 1st Panzer Division has arrived in Baden yet."

Baden is geographically located in southwestern Germany, close to Switzerland, and not far from Saar. The POW camp could be located anywhere, but not in Saar.

Baden was also within the French-occupied zone divided between Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States, so it was a place where France could maintain its influence for a few years, and its reliability was beyond doubt.

Koeman had his eye on the Waffen-SS prisoners of war and planned to bail out a group of them, as the Allies had designated them as members of a criminal organization.

There were two reasons for doing this. The first, of course, was to bolster the French Foreign Legion. After the war, the independence of the colonies had only just begun, and France needed a group of German soldiers with combat experience to join them.

Koeman was determined to recruit tens of thousands of people. The reason he chose members of the Waffen-SS was because of the organization's infamous reputation as a criminal organization designated by the Allies.

In particular, the Waffen-SS was part of the SS, and the Jews, who had a huge influence in the United States, would not regard the SS as a militia organization.

The members of this criminal organization were born with original sin, and in postwar Germany they would be an unwanted and unloved group. France's first purpose in accepting these Waffen-SS members was to help France suppress the wave of colonial independence, but the main purpose was the second one.

The second objective is to prepare for the future Saar referendum. Once the French Foreign Legion opens its doors to these former Waffen-SS members, and considering that postwar Germany would consider ostracizing them as politically correct, then if France adopts a tolerant attitude towards them, they will naturally make choices that align with their interests.

This shouldn't be too difficult, considering that the far-right forces in France are not necessarily small, and there are still quite a few supporters of the new European order.

Another large group of people opposed the new European order primarily because they opposed Germany; if France were to attempt to establish a new European order, they would not oppose it.

Koeman believes it's unreliable that there are currently no Germans fleeing the Saar region, and that large-scale French immigration to Saar would likely be blocked by Britain and the United States, especially the US. Even if a large number of German residents have already fled Saar, the referendum would likely still be unfavorable to France if the German population of Saar cannot be changed.

This has happened once before. After World War I, France attempted to annex the Saar, but a referendum resulted in 90% of the Saar residents choosing to return to Germany, leaving France with no choice but to watch helplessly.

Koeman recalls that in the Saar referendum after World War II, more than 60 percent of people still chose to return to Germany.

As the birthplace of both World Wars, the post-war German government would certainly have tried its best to suppress members of the Waffen-SS. If these marginalized people moved to the Saar region with their families, they might have turned to support France's annexation of the Saarland in a fairer environment.

Because these remnants of the empire were destined to be abandoned by Germany in the future, Koeman decided to change their fate in order to facilitate a possible Saar referendum.

At the headquarters of the First French Army, General Dracon, who was staring intently at the sand table battle map, received a report from his staff officer Bryce: "Commander, it's a call from General Duval of the Youth Division."

"Young Division Commander, tell him to wait a moment." After hearing this, Admiral Dragon left the sand table, went to the phone, picked up the receiver, and said, "This is Dragon."

The conversation lasted for more than five minutes before Admiral Dragon asked, "Is Corman next to you?"

"Here!" The call quality was mediocre, but General Dragon still received a reply from General Duval.

"Hmm, it's nothing." General Dragon put down the microphone and returned to the sand table. After a while, he ordered, "The various units should have captured quite a few German soldiers. After taking Baden, establish a prisoner-of-war camp there. Remember, the German Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS should be separated. Issue the orders to the various units immediately."

"The British tanks only have tea sets inside, why don't they put in some tea leaves?" Koeman angrily rebuked the British for their underhanded behavior in front of General Duval, then changed the subject, "Commander, how many days will we be stationed in Saar?"

"The initial plan is three days. The Saar has been severely damaged, but it has already served as a transit point for military supplies in this offensive, so we still need to find a way to restore road capacity," General Duval replied. "We will mobilize local residents to repair the roads tomorrow, but the blockade between the Saar and Germany may result in insufficient manpower."

"We have an idea to gather orphans from the war and take them with us when we march."

Koman thought that since he was already considering targeting the Waffen-SS, he might as well go even further. "Children still receive sympathy from most people, even during wartime. Taking these war orphans with us will reduce our chances of being attacked."

"Fortunately, the war is almost over." General Duval's gaze seemed to see a tangible demon. If the war had continued for several more years, who knows what shameless things Koman might have done.

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(End of this chapter)