Father of France

Chapter 78 Conditions for Surrender
At the Youth Division headquarters, Koeman entered with a translator and a well-dressed, distinguished-looking middle-aged German.

Friedrich Juncker, the mayor of Baden-Württemberg, was considered one of the more humane mayors of the region during his five years in office.

"This is our division commander, General Duval of the French Youth Division," Koeman introduced to Friedrich Juncker after leading his men in. "This is Mayor Juncker. We've reached an agreement with him. He has a good understanding of the current situation. If the fighting continues, Germany will only end up with all the men dead and the women becoming spoils of war."

General Duval nodded and said, "Mayor Juncker, I believe you are already aware of the current situation. Even the most steadfast party member, would you believe that such a situation can be reversed? Germany in 1945 is definitely not France in 1940. France could wait for the day when the situation could be reversed, but it seems that Germany will not be able to wait that long. Germany's allies, the Eastern European countries, are trembling under the boots of the Soviet Red Army. Italy is left with only the Alps. As for Japan, you don't expect Japan to make any great contribution across Eurasia, do you?"

In the Axis powers, the smaller countries had all been overthrown, Italy was entirely supported by the German army, and Germany and Japan had no other option but to surrender?
Not all party members were as steadfast as the Führer, hoping that Frederick the Great, during the Seven Years' War, would encounter a repeat of the brainwashed Peter II, leading to a miraculous turn of events in the war.

Moreover, Tsarist Russia, a country that had spared Prussia, had already been defeated by Germany. Could the Soviet Union be expected to be like Peter the Great? Stalin would have had no other fate but to suffer an immediate stroke.

Friedrich Juncker listened quietly to the French psychological offensive, lost in thought for a long time before finally asking, "What do the French need?"

"Germany has only one path: surrender. Every day that it delays surrendering makes it possible for the Soviet Union to occupy more German territory."

Koeman patiently explained, "I believe Mayor Junker is well aware of what the so-called noble Germans are really like in Eastern Europe. Also, this is the only chance to save the local governor of Gersheim from imprisonment. You should know that this is a very important meritorious act in the post-war trials."

It's fortunate that administrators like Juncker weren't in such a high position; people like Goebbels, Ribbentrop, and Himmler couldn't have saved them.

Giving a German administrator like Junker a chance was agreed upon by the army group's high command. General Dragon had served in the colonies for a long time and didn't really have any particular views on the Third Reich. As long as it could reduce French casualties, anything was negotiable.

“I can try, but success is not guaranteed.” Friedrich Juncker ultimately made the decision, and as it turned out, few people truly believed in a comeback that the Führer endorsed.

"You have 24 hours. If you don't come back by then, the negotiations will be considered a failure."

Koeman relayed the army group headquarters' bottom line: "If the mayor of Gersheim chooses the path of death, then there's nothing any of us can do. We've already shown goodwill once; doing it again would seem cheap. The countdown will begin at eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

The Youth Division prepared a huge swastika flag and selected one hundred German prisoners of war to cross the river with Friedrich Junker. This was to prevent accidental injury. Even if the enemy changed their minds, the defending forces would not increase by one hundred men, and it would not have a significant impact on the overall situation.

"Coman, the Allied High Command has issued an order regarding the joint management of prisoners of war, to build a prisoner-of-war camp on the left bank of the Rhine."

General Duval began, “Our division has the least combat pressure and does not undertake the main combat missions. It seems that this mission may fall to our troops.”

Isn't this the Rhine Camp? In countries where the United States doesn't control media, this POW camp is extremely famous.

The prisons held not only prisoners of war, but also a large number of people without military status, including members of the People's Storm, civilians who had spontaneously fought against the U.S. military, government civilians, members of the National Socialist Party, female assistants of the Wehrmacht, hospital staff, and many others. The total number of people imprisoned in the "Rhine Camp" was as high as five million.

The vast majority of them were young and middle-aged men whose future fate was crucial to Germany.

According to the United States, one percent of the prisoners died at the Rhine camp.

But this statement only serves a propaganda purpose. The United States can claim that it has not committed any offenses when attacking any country, as long as it can win.

If you include the German men in the Rhine camp, the male-to-female ratio in Germany is even more alarming.

"The war will last at least a few more months, giving us ample time to build prisoner-of-war camps. We could even take over German concentration camps and use them on German soldiers," Koeman replied after a moment's thought. "There's no rush. We can leave one regiment to oversee the construction of the prisoner-of-war camps, while the other units have their own tasks." The three regiments of the Youth Division were to join the Southern Group, which was spun off from the First Army. According to the latest orders, the formation of the Eastern Group of the First Army had been cancelled. Apart from the units joining the Southern Group, the remaining units would rest and reorganize in place after crossing the Rhine.

I don’t know if it’s related to the construction of the Rhine Camp, but Koeman doesn’t think it’s very relevant, because the next offensive will be taken over by the Third and Fourth Armies.

Therefore, this is more like giving the two newly established French army groups an opportunity to gain merit. Everyone knows that once the Rhine River is breached, Germany will lose its greatest natural barrier, and the difficulty of the battle will drop another level.

Before nightfall, the Youth Division made adjustments: the Edessa Regiment accepted the task of building a prisoner-of-war camp and withdrew from the upcoming military operations.

Early the next morning, Friedrich Junker, along with one hundred prisoners of war released by the French army, crossed the Rhine River by boat, draped in swastikas, and disappeared from the sight of the French soldiers. The officers and soldiers of the Edessa Regiment behind him had already begun to contribute to the construction of the Rhine camp. Out of their honesty, all the prisoners of war knew that this was Eisenhower's order.

Half an hour later, Gersheim Mayor Karl Renzen met with Friedrich Juncker with a complicated expression. As the local administrator, the two had naturally met before.

It's perfectly normal for friends at different levels to get to know each other. However, Karl Lenzen never expected to meet in this way, with Friedrich Junker coming as a prisoner of war to persuade him to surrender.

But he was still willing to listen to what the other party had to say: "You have betrayed Germany and are disloyal to the country."

“Germany will perish if it continues fighting like this.” Friedrich Juncker said without any remorse. “You and I are both party members, and you understand what I’m trying to say. I’ll just ask you one thing: have you ever participated in the persecution of Jews?”

“There are no Jews in Gersheim,” Karl Lenzen replied coldly, though several nearby mayors had participated in the persecution of Jews, and he certainly didn’t.

“That’s settled then. You won’t be purged, and the French aren’t interested in this kind of thing, but there are huge Jewish influences in Britain and the United States, especially in the United States,” Friedrich Junker said helplessly. “Do you know that the Rhine defenses in the north have already been breached? Even if we fight our way through, we won’t be able to hold out for more than a few days. The American troops will move south along the Rhine, and you will be a war criminal.”

"Really?" Karl Lenzen's expression changed drastically. He had not heard this news at all and did not know that the Rhine River defense system, which the higher-ups claimed was indestructible, had been breached.

Friedrich Junker silently watched the other man. Could it be that he had risked crossing the river at this point just to deceive him?
On the left bank of the Rhine, at the headquarters of the 1st French Armored Division, Koeman followed the guards into the headquarters and greeted them as soon as he entered, "General Axel."

"Coman, you've grown taller." Upon hearing the voice and looking at him, the commander of the 1st Armored Division, Axel, immediately said with a smile, "I heard from the battalion commander that you were serving in the Youth Division. Why are you running around on the battlefield? Your understanding of war is still too optimistic."

“Uncle Axel, I heard that half of the troops will be resting after the Rhine offensive. I’ve never heard of that before.”

Koeman voiced his doubts. Germany is not a vast and resource-rich country, and this order to make repairs was very abrupt, without any prior warning.

“This order is here. However, the formation of Group South remains unchanged,” General Axel stated decisively. “Not only the First Army, but the Second Army, except for a few units composed of native Frenchmen, will be rested and will not participate in the subsequent military operations. After crossing the Rhine, the Third and Fourth Armies, along with our reorganized Group South, will continue the subsequent military operations.”

Upon learning of Koeman's confusion, Axel explained in a rush, "This order isn't just for us; the British Indian Army is also prohibited from entering German territory to fight. For the Second Army, which is mainly composed of African colonies, the restrictions are naturally even greater. We're considered relatively fortunate because the Maronite faith is considered part of Europe."

Finally, Axel explained that this was an order from the Allied High Command, and that armies like the white dominions of Britain and the Maronite forces of Syria in France were permitted after dialogue.

“I see.” Koman said in a learned tone, “Americans are quite racist, they still think highly of Germans, and they prevented soldiers of other backgrounds from potentially polluting the white world.”

Upon closer examination, this makes sense. While the discipline of the US military in the European theater was also not great, they were more like human beings compared to the US military in other theaters.

(End of this chapter)