Imperial Elite

Chapter 140 Munich Conference

In the fortified zone of the Sudetenland, the Teutons found themselves in a situation akin to that of Verdun during the Great War.

The good news is that this time they have well-trained armored units that can easily keep an eye on the defenders' firepower and destroy their machine gun positions.

The bad news is that Bohemians also have them.

To make matters worse, since NATO had already mobilized its forces, the Bohemian Teutons also had to face NATO's well-trained light infantry.

As many commanders know, light infantry is a unique type of unit. In open, unprotected terrain, these light infantry are as fragile as glass, shattering at the slightest touch.

However, if you give these light infantry some cover or put them in complex terrain, they will immediately become incredibly tough.

If these light infantrymen also had some anti-tank equipment, well, that toughness would be enough to give any attacking force a headache.

Basically, all that was left to do was provide artillery fire, precision airstrikes, and then have tanks cover the infantry charge.

This method can indeed capture positions, but it also has a small drawback.

That is, not only is the progress slow, but the casualties are also enormous.

Especially when facing the fortified belt of the Sudetenland's permanent fortifications, the Teutons needed to find the blind spots of the bunkers' firepower, and then use their 88mm anti-aircraft guns to level them before bombarding the bunkers with artillery like a hammer blower.

Only after a breach was smashed in the bunker were combat engineers sent with demolition charges and flamethrowers to solve the problem.

But as with any offensive or defensive battle, the defenders would not simply cower in their bunkers and allow the Teutons to attack.

As everyone knows, Old Joe was one of the first to develop a mature armored offensive tactic, and he was also the defender of Paris.

Therefore, Bohemian armored forces would occasionally appear on the battlefield to launch surprise attacks on the Teutons who were struggling to break through the defenses.

Under the cover of the air force, they unleashed a fierce barrage of fire on the Teutons, slowing their advance and recapturing some of the lost defensive lines before turning and leaving without giving the Teutons a chance to react.

Meanwhile, Wagner's paratroopers also gave the Teutons a major headache.

These paratroopers, who had already proven their combat effectiveness in the Rhineland, would usually board transport planes at night and quietly airdrop behind the front lines in platoon-sized units.

After figuring out the situation in a day or two, launch a surprise attack on the Teutonic high-value targets.

Logistics supply centers, tank repair stations, or even unlucky command posts, and even field hospitals were attacked by them twice.

Of course, the Geneva Convention of 1864 stipulates that any medical personnel, ambulances and medical facilities wearing this mark should be considered neutral and should not be attacked.

So the Wagner paratroopers who raided the field hospital did not attack the medical staff inside; they simply packed up all the nurses and doctors and took them away.

The convention only states that attacks on medical personnel are not allowed, but it doesn't say that medical personnel cannot be taken away, right?

Moreover, the attack on these two field hospitals was not because the paratroopers couldn't find any targets, so they just randomly picked one to make up the numbers.

This is because there are members of the security detail in both hospitals.

As a Teutonic community, the Guard developed many collaborators in the Sudetenland.

After the outbreak of war, these Teutonic collaborators caused quite a bit of minor sabotage behind the defensive lines.

Although their combat strength is slightly inferior to Wagner's, much of the time, causing destruction does not require a large amount of combat power.

They would scatter nails on the roads where troop transports traveled, throw Molotov cocktails into Bohemian camps during nighttime air raids by the Teutonic Air Force, and even dismantle railroad tracks as troop trains were about to pass.

Any of the above methods can cause considerable trouble.

So while guarding the fortified zone, Joe also had to deal with these saboteurs who, before committing their acts of sabotage, looked no different from ordinary civilians.

However, these saboteurs were not entirely untraceable; most of them were under the command of the Teutonic intelligence agency or the guards.

In order to better command these saboteurs, the Teutons also airdropped a number of Guard members into the Sudetenland, allowing these Guard members to organize and train these saboteurs.

The Wehrmacht and the Air Force would sometimes provide support to these saboteurs. Just like Wagner sending paratroopers to infiltrate, when the Bohemian military and police were clearing out the Teutonic collaborators, the Teutonic Air Force would also send light aircraft to rescue those exposed saboteurs.

Wagner Paratroopers' operations against field hospitals were primarily aimed at these individuals.

Although the Teutons had an overwhelming advantage in terms of army size and equipment quantity, they did not achieve great results on the battlefield.

According to the frontline commander, "The land we acquired was just enough to bury the bodies of our soldiers."

Just as the Teutons were suffering heavy losses against the Sudetenland fortified zone, almost the entire world's attention was focused on this land.

Although the Luscan military government did not say anything about the Teutons' disastrous experience of crashing into the Sudetenland fortifications, it began to doubt the Teutons' capabilities.

After all, the equipment of the Lucia military government cannot be said to be the same as that of the Teutonics; it can only be described as a complete reskin.

If the Teutons have proven themselves incapable in battle, does that mean we are incapable too?
As a group of straightforward Luscans, the Luscan military government privately began to question whether the Teutons were capable. "We agreed to divide the Old World in two, but now you can't even take Bohemia. Brother, are you really capable?"
While some were puzzled, others were overjoyed.

When the Teutons crashed into the Sudetenland fortified zone, the battle reached a stalemate.

The Gauls began their revelry.

This war signifies two things. First, the Gauls' choice to begin building permanent fortifications on the border in 1930 was, in retrospect, the right one.

Despite the introduction of new equipment like tanks, the situation of the war was not significantly different from the last major war.

The attacking side still faces the same situation as in the last major battle; they must find a way to deal with all the firepower of the defending side, as well as the terrible terrain.

Secondly, it proved that their design of the super-heavy tank, based on their experience from the last war, was the right direction.

Judging from the films released by Bohemia, their heavy tanks posed a greater threat to the defenders than the Teutonic medium tanks.

The tanks designed by the Gauls had thicker armor and larger caliber cannons than the Teutonic heavy tanks.

They were technically superior to the Teutons.

Moreover, the Teutons couldn't even defeat the Bohemians, so how could they possibly breach their own border defenses?

Times have changed after all.

While the Gauls were celebrating, Citibank was in a rather schizophrenic state.

Faced with the Old World already engulfed in war, the US government's idea was to let them fight as they pleased, while they profited from both sides and still won.

However, the views of the US military and society are not the same.

Leaving aside the military's clamor for expansion, the general public's view on this war is basically as follows.

Joe is awesome, Wagner is awesome, we must support Wagner!

To renounce one's Bonitania citizenship and lead troops to support an ally for the sake of an alliance—what is this? This is a modern-day paladin!

In particular, at this time, a combat hero named John appeared in Wagner's American camp, driving the Americans crazy.

Although there are many people named John, this John is no ordinary John.

The 2nd Company of the American Battalion was ordered to hold a pass until the troops arrived. The 2nd Company was met with a fierce attack from the Teutons at the pass.

In addition to the terrifying bombing by the Teutonic Air Force, there was also a fierce attack from two armored companies of the Armed Guard and the mechanized infantry battalion that reinforced the armored companies.

Under the fierce attack of the Teutons, the Second Company of the American Battalion suffered heavy losses, losing more than half of its men within an hour of the start of the battle, and was almost rendered incapable of fighting.

In this dire situation, John, who was in charge of guarding the machine gun position, held the position for six hours by himself, operating two machine guns and the rocket launchers left on the ground, after all his comrades in the same platoon had been killed. The armored troops that were counterattacking arrived.

This astonishing achievement immediately attracted the attention of Joe and the Bohemian government.

The next day, John, still wrapped in bandages, was awarded the Wagner and Bohemia's highest medal by the government of Bohemia and Joe in front of reporters from all over the world.

As a personal reward, Joe also gifted John an apartment on Paradise Island, a three-bedroom, one-living-room property with a view of the island's largest beach from the north-facing hillside.

Although the 2nd Company of the US Army suffered heavy losses at the time, leaving little audio-visual material of the battle, the grand medal-awarding ceremony still drove the US military and society into a frenzy.

Of course, this has absolutely nothing to do with the apartment that would have provided John with a comfortable life if sold. It's entirely because John's bloody battle at that pass proved that Americans are not just a bunch of cattle herders. When it comes to taking up arms and fighting, I can do it!

As a result, after the newsreel aired, the military, which had already stopped worrying about recruitment thanks to "Governor of the Planet," now experienced another surge in enlistment.

After watching the newsreel, the young people at Citibank all thought, "No way! How can I miss out on something this cool?"

So some people chose to join the American army, while others, impatient and restless, went to Wagner's recruitment office in the United States.

Compared to Citibank and Gaul, Bonitania is now in a more awkward position.

Originally, selling Bohemia was based on a harsh reality.

With Gaul possessing the strongest army in the Old World, it was on the verge of resurgence, so Bonitania instinctively wanted to begin implementing a policy of continental balance.

At the same time, because Bohemia is located deep inland, even if Buntania wanted to provide support, it would be very difficult to send supplies and personnel to Bohemia.

Of course, Poland would not refuse Buntania's demands, but Poland's neutrality was a crucial cornerstone for maintaining the situation on the continent. Forcing Poland to withdraw from its current neutrality would immediately escalate tensions. Furthermore, having been depleted after the last war and burdened with debts, Buntania was unwilling to risk another major conflict.

During the last great war, everyone had relatives and friends who went to the Old World and never returned.

In the years following the end of the war, what sold best in Bonitania?
Prosthetic hands, legs, and eyes were given to disabled veterans to cover up their disabilities.

Therefore, many people in Buntania did not want to fight another war. At the same time, Wagner's defeat in the Rhineland also made many people feel that they could not stop the Teutons.

Since we can't stop them, we might as well trade land for time. After all, Bonitania is rich and powerful, and it will definitely recover faster than the Teutons. If we have a few decades of peace, things will be very different.

However, Joe's move of renouncing his Bruneian citizenship and then launching a bloody Sudetenland war has put Bruneian in a very awkward position.

A war hero of Bunitania, a memory of a generation, the most famous Bunitan in the world renounced his Bunitan citizenship, leaving many people feeling somewhat bewildered.

Meanwhile, Bohemia withstood the Teutonic offensive in the Sudetenland.

Although the Teutonic front continued to advance, the pace of progress—from one village to another, to one settlement, and then back and forth—was so rapid that even the most stubborn person would have to admit that the Bohemians had indeed withstood the Teutonic offensive.

This made the situation extremely awkward. Without London's support, Bohemia and Wagner still managed to hold the Sudetenland. Doesn't this prove that London was dispensable from the very beginning?
Unsurprisingly, the Best of the Buntanians party, which had been heavily criticized for Joe's renunciation of his Buntanian citizenship and his disobedience to London's foreign policy, launched a full-scale counterattack.

They publicly criticized London's appeasement policy in newspapers and on the radio.

Although things seem to have taken a turn for the better, Joe, who is personally leading the armored group to put out fires all over the Sudetenland, is actually under a lot of pressure.

Due to the overwhelming disparity in national strength, although the front lines appear very stable at the moment, the thick casualty reports have made Joe realize that this fighting has begun to become unsustainable.

Although Bohemia began a second round of mobilization after the war officially broke out, the inspired Bohemians also began to take up arms and go to the battlefield in large numbers.

This gave Joe his first army of a million men.

However, a large portion of this million-strong army consisted of fortified garrison troops that could not be mobilized.

The remaining few mobile units had to fight fires everywhere on the front lines, despite the casualties.

If these mobile forces are exhausted, then the time when the defensive line will completely collapse will not be far off.

Faced with this situation, in addition to the Bohemian government beginning to implement the industrial relocation plan, Joe began to plan a large-scale counterattack.

The war raged on in Bohemia, which made the Teutons feel no pressure.

But what if the war spreads to the Teutonic lands?
This time, instead of paratroopers making quick in-and-out runs, or what the Germanic side calls mosquito-like attacks, they led a large force to storm into Teutonic territory and occupy Teutonic cities, such as Dresden, which is located on the border.

Could this affect the course of the war and force that mad leader to the negotiating table?

Based on this, Joe began to formulate this counterattack plan.

While Joe was formulating the plan, the Führer was also under great pressure.

Although when the war was launched, the Führer believed he could easily seize the Sudetenland, or even occupy the whole of Bohemia.

But once the attack began, the leader realized that things were not at all what he had imagined.

After the troops crashed into the Sudetenland region, they were stuck in a quagmire.

Even the elite armored forces were advancing at a pace reminiscent of the trench warfare phase of the last war.

Although the troops were in high spirits, the losses suffered by the troops made the leader somewhat uneasy.

The heavy losses suffered by the armored units that were originally intended to be the spearhead to break through the Gauls' defenses made the Führer realize that he could no longer continue fighting like this.

If the fighting continues like this, I will be able to acquire the Sudetenland.

However, the price to pay is absolutely unacceptable to me.

Damn it, Joe is such a difficult guy.

Faced with the current situation, the Führer summoned his generals after the Great Purge, which had led to the complete dissipation of royalist forces.

The current Teutonic government and army are staffed with people whom the Führer can trust.

Therefore, the head of state explained his thoughts to his generals.

Although the troops are not making good progress in Bohemia, Bohemia is also suffering heavy losses, and Joe is definitely not able to fight now.

Since Gaul has not yet mobilized, could we halt operations on the eastern front and then make some moves on the western front?

Faced with the leader's thoughts, most of the generals said that the leader's words sounded like he was speaking.

Oh, you couldn't conquer Bohemia, so you turned around and attacked Gaul. How did you come up with this idea?
The Gallic defenses were far more formidable than the Bohemian defenses, and they had far more men, along with those incredibly heavy tanks that looked like formidable opponents. Not to mention, if they attacked Gaul, Buntania would certainly intervene.

With Britannia involved, London will definitely recall Old Joe, and then it's hard to say what the situation will become.

So maybe we should...

As the generals spoke, their voices grew softer and softer.

The head of state silently watched his generals.

Then the Führer slowly said, "Generals, I know you understand military affairs, but do you know..."

You're looking at a map, but I'm deciding on the future.

What you're rejecting now isn't the plan, but your own future. I'm not giving an order today, but you'll be out of a job tomorrow. I'm the one who doesn't understand military matters, but you're the one who needs to learn. You think you're putting the army on a safe path, but you're actually putting yourself on the road to failure.

Think about it again, what were you trying to say just now?

After thinking for a moment, the generals all said, "Is there anyone in the world who understands military affairs better than the leader?"

With the world's attention now focused on Bohemia, this is the perfect opportunity for us to launch a surprise attack.

The armored forces have suffered heavy losses, and we can now use this as an excuse to withdraw and reorganize, and move our troops to the Gallic border.

The Sudetenland region, which has already been captured, can be used to strengthen defenses. The second-line troops that have been rotated in can consolidate their defensive lines here. If Joe wants to attack, he can be run over and bruised on his own defensive line.

As expected of a leader, he came up with such a meticulous plan from the very beginning; he really considered everything.

With the general direction set, the rest are just some insignificant details left for the generals to work with.

Then, unsurprisingly, the generals started arguing again.

The reason for the argument was quite simple.

Because of the frequent minor conflicts between the Teutons and Gauls throughout history, the Teutons had many plans for how to attack Gauls.

For example, the Schlieffen Plan before the last war involved using overwhelming force to sweep through northern Gaul through the Low Countries, bypassing the heavily guarded Lorraine defenses, and encircling Paris from the northwest, west, and south. Then, it would sweep eastward to attack the rear of the main Gaul force, aiming to force Gaul to surrender within 6-8 weeks, and then return by train to deal with the slower-mobilizing Lucia.

Of course, due to some technical reasons, the plan ultimately failed.

However, this plan to directly encircle a large enemy force has led many to blame the defeat in the last major war on the commander at the time, who failed to implement the plan and weakened the right flank, which was the main attacking force, by 20% before the plan even began, which led to the defeat.

Therefore, many generals felt that they should use this plan again, and that as long as the right wing was strengthened this time, the problem would definitely be solved.

But just as Leonardo da Vinci had his installments, Picasso had his constraints.

Others have raised objections to the plan, namely that Erich felt it might have been a good plan decades ago, but times have changed.

Using the same tactics from the last major battle again will definitely not work.

After all, Gaul didn't build that damned defensive line on its border during the last great war, and the Low Countries didn't completely fortify their borders.

If the attacking force were to follow this old route again, they would surely exhaust their offensive momentum in front of the defending forces' lines.

The best outcome would be to last a few more years than in the last major war.

In contrast, they could easily replicate the attack route Joe took when he invaded the Teutonic homeland at the end of the war.

From a place no one would have expected, they bypassed the Gallic defenses and entered Gallic territory. Then, relying on their speed advantage, they brought their troops to Paris within two weeks.

Regarding this route, the generals felt that while it was theoretically possible, the plan had a minor problem: if they attacked Gaul, Bunitania would definitely join the war.

The Miracle on the Marne in the last war was achieved by the Bunitan Expeditionary Force. Now that they have broken through the defenses, how does Erich plan to deal with the Bunitan Expeditionary Force?

Erich said he had already thought this through, but there was a prerequisite: the exhausted armored forces must be rested and replenished, and could not begin operations in their current poor condition.

In response to Erich's request, the Führer said that it was not difficult at all. With just a few maneuvers, he could buy enough rest time for the armored forces and prevent Gaul and Buntania from starting mobilization ahead of schedule.

So, in the sixth week after the outbreak of the Sudetenland campaign, the Führer convened another meeting in Munich to discuss the Sudetenland issue, stating that war brings nothing but death and destruction, so let's talk about it.

(End of this chapter)