Father of France

Chapter 75 Obedience Test

After the purge of French traitors, the French Youth Division gained considerable renown in France, and Agence France-Presse (AFP) became one of the four giants that, along with Britain, the United States, and Germany, built media hegemony after the 19th century.

This powerful collaboration is bound to produce a synergistic effect, with Henry, a young war correspondent, serving as the planner for this truth-based reporting campaign.

Since the Saar region is currently under French control, and after a rough census, the current statistics show that there are still 320,000 German residents remaining in the Saar region. This statistic may not be absolutely accurate, but it is unlikely to have any major deviations.

The Saar region, which had a population of one million before the war, now has only one-third of its inhabitants remaining, due to deaths and escapes.

With a few additions, subtractions, multiplications, and divisions, Coman could secretly immigrate 100,000 to 200,000 Lorraine residents, add the families of the Waffen-SS, and have French soldiers marry 100,000 to 200,000 German women, then there would be no need to fear a referendum.

This process will inevitably take time, and Koeman no longer needs to wait in the trenches of Sal. Other garrison troops will naturally maintain order. Koeman can now consider an opponent.

"Once we cross the Rhine, we can truly execute our plans." General Duval breathed a long sigh of relief as he saw off Henry, the war correspondent.

Before the formal offensive began on March 7, General Dragon had already issued a plan to the First Army to collect technical personnel in the occupied territories. This was something that had been decided in Paris beforehand. The plan was to collect enough personnel to cover the basic education of ten million people, which was actually the current population of Algeria excluding French immigrants.

The native Algerian population is estimated at around eight million, but if you include the Christian families of the First Army who immigrated there after the war, the number reaches ten million.

Christians in the Middle East, including those in French Syria, had a slightly higher level of education than Algerians, but only to a limited extent, and they still needed basic education and training after the war.

France certainly doesn't have enough educational talent. The shortage of educational talent for a population of ten million must be filled by Germany, which lost eight million people in the war. The numbers are almost perfectly complementary.

Therefore, France's plan to plunder Germany was certainly not as high-quality as the US's plan to acquire German academic geniuses, but it was definitely much larger in scale.

This was not something that a single unit of the Youth Division could accomplish; it required the concerted efforts of all French units participating in this battle.

Of course, the young division will still have its own tasks, but this will only be possible after crossing the Rhine River.

"General Duval, a telegram from headquarters: the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions have broken through the Siegfried Line and are advancing toward the Rhine." Just as Koeman was about to leave the command post, the cipher clerk arrived with a telegram from the First Army headquarters, reporting on the current battle situation.

An hour earlier, two well-equipped French armored divisions had successfully broken through the Siegfried Line and were advancing toward the Rhine.

Given the situation at the Siegfried Line, if the German defenders had sufficient strength, it wouldn't have been breached so quickly.

However, Germany had already established a strategy of holding out on the Eastern Front and offering only symbolic resistance on the Western Front. The German troops on the Western Front were no better than second-line troops in quality and were at a significant numerical disadvantage.

The Siegfried Line, which had already invested more resources than the Maginot Line, was breached two days ago by Patton's U.S. Third Army due to its significantly longer length and insufficient garrison. Now, it has been breached by the French. The next target is the Rhine River.

Before leaving the command post, Koman heard the good news again and felt happy. It was still early when he left the command post. Not far away, he saw flashing blue lights. It was the maintenance soldiers welding the tank railings. Koman walked towards the flashing blue lights.

"Where's the welding progress? We're about to set off," Koman asked gently. He didn't smoke, but he would definitely have lit a couple of cigarettes while talking to reward the maintenance crew for their hard work.

"I don't know which bastard came up with this unnecessary thing," a repairman complained as he welded a fence onto a tank. Koman, unaware of what was happening behind him, pulled a long face. The fence was, of course, to make it easier for more people to ride on the tanks together during marches. Soviet infantry on the Eastern Front had this habit: they would sit directly on the tanks and advance with the armored divisions, then jump off and join the battle upon reaching their destination.

Soviet tanks didn't have railings; Soviet soldiers had to sit on them themselves, and they could easily be thrown off.

In comparison, Koeman's idea of ​​welding fences for the tanks shows that he was quite considerate of his country's soldiers.

There were consequences, though. Because Germany distributed a large number of Panzerfaust rocket launchers to the Volkssturm, many Soviet soldiers who were used to sitting on tanks died in sneak attacks and became human explosive reactive armor.

"There's a reason for this order; the fence can reduce the probability of tanks being hit," Koeman explained kindly. This wasn't just idle talk; it was indeed the case.

However, Koeman wouldn't be tempted by convenience and make his comrades into human explosive reactive armor; naturally, he would bring along German orphans who were marching with him to sit on it.

The standard was based on the French feminist claim that children over ten years old could go to the battlefield. The German war orphans gathered this time were over ten years old and would be taken to the battlefield by the officers and soldiers of the departing youth division.

However, let General Duval, the division commander, issue this order, which is somewhat contrary to human values. He hadn't even done anything before he was scolded by the maintenance soldiers.

The following morning, AFP launched its front-page story, praising one side while criticizing the other, highlighting the moral superiority of the French army in the African colonies by citing the crimes committed by the French troops in the African colonies.

Disparaging the soldiers and officers who fought in the colonies would not provoke criticism from the French public; it was a very safe operation, and the angle was perfect.

At the same time, it called on the officers and soldiers of the Third and Fourth Armies, who had not yet set out, to be strict with themselves and to distinguish themselves from the colonial soldiers.

"Although millions of German soldiers have died and millions of young women are destined to remain unmarried, as proud French soldiers, we must not take advantage of this situation."

The AFP's critical report was too long and did not align with the military's emphasis on efficiency, so the order to swiftly enforce discipline in the Third and Fourth Armies was condensed into a single sentence.

The two army groups are about to set off, and there is no time to hold an impromptu meeting to enforce military discipline and appearance.

The roads in the Saar district have been successfully repaired and restored. After all, the roads are not long, only about 20 kilometers long, and the first batch of tobacco that Coman had been looking forward to, totaling 1,000 tons, has been delivered.

"Now we can finally do what we should be doing." Lieutenant Corman of the French Osaka Division felt a huge weight lifted from his heart when he saw the goods; a better life was beckoning to him.

The Youth Division's stay in Saar was coming to an end. At this time, General Duval issued a controversial order to leave with Saar's orphaned children who had lost both parents. This order caused a great uproar among the local Germans, but no consequences occurred.

"To put it bluntly, what's the difference between the German residents of the Saar District and a country that has fallen? Go ahead and riot if you dare." Martin said with his hands on his hips, sounding incredibly arrogant. If the Youth Division were to suppress the riot, another group of hidden dangers would be eliminated, and the future security threshold of Saar would be even higher.

"It's a pity, these Germans still passed the obedience test." Alan's tone was regretful. "What noble Germans, they tolerated this kind of thing."

(End of this chapter)