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Chapter 0865 Ardennes Offensive in 1939 ([-]) Refueling Tactics and Golden Cicada Escape

At the end of April 1939, Paris, France, Avenue Saint-Dominique, Palace of Brienne.This historic building, built in 4, is the seat of the French Ministry of Defense.While hundreds of thousands of troops from China, Germany, Britain and France were setting up their battlefields in the northern part of the Ardennes Forest and south of the Maas River, the British and French allied forces also held emergency meetings in this luxurious and compact two-story building. .The central topic of the meeting was very clear, that is, what can be used to save the main force of the British and French coalition forces that are gradually falling into crisis.

At this point in the battle, everyone has already seen that the situation is very bad.The Chinese and German coalition forces have now captured Bastoni and opened up the passage through the Ardennes Forest. Countless Chinese and German coalition forces are pouring into the backyard of France through this passage.At the same time, there was also a powerful Chinese armored force that showed its prowess in the battle in the Ardennes Forest. In just half a day, the French First Army lost its helmet and armor, and the entire armored army was defeated. He lost his infantry division and is now huddled in the small Belgian town of Somme-Lez "stand by for help".

Although Admiral Joseph Georges, the commander of the French First Army Group in charge of commanding the British and French coalition forces in the northern theater, has put together 20 troops, 1300 tanks, and 2000 cannons to fight this brave Chinese armored force, but this building Everyone here, from the guard at the gate to Marshal Gan Molin, is not optimistic about this decisive battle.In fact, Admiral Joseph George, who decided to launch this decisive battle, knew that there was no hope of victory.

"Gentlemen, the fate of the French Republic and the United Kingdom has reached the most critical moment!" The hoarse voice of French Marshal Gan Molin came from the conference room on the second floor of the Brienne Palace.The commander-in-chief of the British and French allied forces now has a tired and frustrated look on his face, his eyes are bloodshot, and his face is pale without a trace of blood, as if he hasn't closed his eyes for many days.

However, after hearing the marshal's speech, all the people in the meeting room still cast their expectant eyes on Gan Molin sitting at the top of the meeting table.Gan Molin glanced at the senior generals of the British and French coalition forces present at the meeting, then raised his spirits, and said unhurriedly:

"I believe that you already know the results of the tank battle that took place in the Ardennes Forest in the morning. It is very regrettable that our First Armored Army was defeated by the Chinese in the battle! And it took the Chinese less than half a day to let the Chinese An armored force representing the strongest combat effectiveness of the French Army suffered heavy losses. After research, the Allied Forces General Headquarters believes that there is only one possible reason for this situation, that is, the northern part of the Ardennes Forest is the main breakthrough direction of the Sino-German Allied Forces. At least it is one of the main breakthrough directions! And the Sino-German coalition armored forces deployed in the northern part of the Ardennes Forest have a very large number and strong combat effectiveness."

Having said that, the elderly French marshal stood up with his hands on the table, then picked up the baton on the table, and walked to a wall hung with a huge velvet curtain.Several staff officers who had been waiting there immediately opened the curtain, and in an instant a huge map of the strategic situation of northern France and Belgium appeared in front of everyone.

"In addition, according to the reports of the French First Army and the Second Moroccan Infantry Division, they found at least the designations of the other four armored divisions and the designations of two Panzergrenadier divisions. One of them is the German Armed SS' Adolf · Hitler's armored division, and this armored division is subordinate to the German Second Armored Army under the command of General Guderian. Infantry Division! The German Panzer Army and the Chinese First Armored Army together have 6 or 4 elite divisions. If they use these troops to attack the flank of our army on the line from Namur to Huyi," said Gan Molin His eyebrows frowned slightly, showing a painful expression, "Our nearly 16 million troops from Britain, France and Belgium will be in danger of being attacked from the front and back! Moreover, the Belgian plain on both sides of the Meuse River is very conducive to the combat of Chinese and German armored forces. Once the enemy If the army has successfully crossed the Maas River, we have no power to prevent them from sweeping our rear and cutting off the retreat of our 32 million troops!"

As soon as Gan Molin came to this conclusion, there was a buzz of discussion in the conference room.Although everyone knows that the situation is not good, Gan Molin's prediction is obviously more pessimistic than everyone imagined.

"Everyone! Be quiet, please be quiet!" Seeing the trend of chaos in the venue, Marshal Gan Malin tapped his baton on the map, and then raised his voice, "Our 200 million troops are already in danger The brink of death! If we don't do something, this war will be lost!"

"Yes, Mr. Marshal is right!" Another giant of the British and French coalition forces, Admiral Ironside, the chief of staff of the British Empire, stood up, took over the topic of Gan Molin, and continued: "The current coalition forces are indeed in a difficult situation. In danger." He also walked to the edge of the map, took the baton from Gan Molin, clicked on Som Lez on the map and said:

"The Anglo-French coalition forces and the Sino-German coalition forces will fight a battle here. We will invest 20 troops, 1300 tanks and 2000 cannons. However, our opponents have stronger forces. It is estimated that they will invest at least four armored divisions. , four panzergrenadier divisions and three motorized infantry divisions, the total strength may be as high as 30, and the input of tanks, assault artillery will reach 2000, and 2500 cannons! Therefore, we expect that this battle will be It ended in our failure.

Although it is difficult to win the final victory in this battle, it can attract the attention of the German command within a certain period of time.I believe that our German counterparts also have enough professional vision to see the importance of this battle. They will definitely use the main combat power of the Luftwaffe on the battlefield south of the Maas River.And we took advantage of this opportunity to withdraw the main force of the coalition forces from Belgium.

In addition, our Royal Air Force has transferred all its fighter squadrons to airfields in northern France.Starting in the early hours of tomorrow, the Royal Air Force will compete with the Luftwaffe for air superiority north of the Meuse River at all costs, so as to ensure that the main force of the coalition forces can withdraw from Belgium in the shortest possible time... The specific withdrawal plan has been completed, and after the meeting is over It will be distributed to representatives of the various army headquarters.Each group of armies has 12 hours to prepare, and must retreat from tomorrow morning according to the plan. Within 24 hours, our main force will withdraw from Belgium, and all troops must not delay their actions for any reason! "

"But, Mr. General, who will cover our retreat? The German Army Group A will not just watch us retreat." At this time, someone in the conference room suddenly stood up and raised a question.

"This issue...is already arranged in our retreat plan." Marshal Gan Molin glanced at the general who asked the question. It turned out that it was General Maxime Weygand who had just been appointed by the French government to serve as his deputy.Gan Molin sighed softly, and replied in a sad tone: "There will be a part of the army remaining as the rear guard of the main force, and there will be arrangements in the combat plan issued to each group army. In addition... all the Belgians The troops will stay to contain the Germans."

"That is to say, we have abandoned Belgium, and we still want to count on them to end the queen." Admiral Wei Gang showed a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth.

Gan Molin glanced at the admiral who might soon succeed him, nodded with a wry smile, "Our retreat plan will be kept secret from the Belgians...although they will know soon, but they can always win More than ten hours, if all goes well, we can still withdraw most of the troops from Belgium."

"Hmph, what if things don't go so smoothly? How many of our 200 million troops are left? 50 or 30?" Admiral Wei Gang glanced at Gan Molin with contemptuous eyes, and then muttered in a low voice. In a word, just as he was about to make some practical suggestions in his opinion, the door of the conference room was suddenly pushed open.

I saw a staff officer rushing in in a panic: "Your Excellency, the First Army has an urgent call. About one Chinese division and one German division's enemy troops have surrounded the First Armored Army in the city of Somme-Lez. Attack there! And...at least two Chinese armored divisions have already bypassed Somme-Leuze and entered the Belgian plain!"

Gan Molin and Wei Gang's expressions changed drastically at the same time, Gan Molin glanced at Wei Gang, and then said loudly: "Gentlemen, we have no time to discuss, we must implement the retreat plan! Immediately!"

……

Around the small Belgian town of Somme-Lez, where the French 626st Armored Corps was defending, there was already a sea of ​​flames and hell.This armored army, which used to have [-] tanks, was originally an assault force with high hopes from the top French army, but in less than a day of fighting, they lost almost all of their tanks as if they had experienced a nightmare. And now it is surrounded by two infantry divisions (one of which is the panzergrenadier division) and bombarded indiscriminately with heavy artillery.

Moreover, the original French First Army's idea of ​​using their sacrifices to gain a little time to regroup the front completely fell through.Germany's 46th Motorized Rifle Division arrived at the Somme-Leuze front line at around 4 pm on April 28. Prior to this, China's 3st Panzergrenadier Division was also drawn out. These two divisions were on the Under the unified command of Lieutenant General Wang Yaowu of the Chinese National Defense Forces, he surrounded Som Lez, and then under the cover of four artillery regiments, he launched rounds of onslaughts. It seems that it will not take long to wipe out this The "Number One" of the French Armored Forces.

As for the Chinese 2nd Armored Division, which fought the decisive battle with the French 9st Armored Army before the city of Somme-Leuze, after resting for 800 hours, it joined forces with the [-]nd Armored Division coming from the west, and then bypassed Somme Lez, advancing towards the town of Claviers, [-] kilometers away, prepared to use their more than [-] tanks and assault artillery to severely ravage the British [-]st Armored Division, [-]rd Division, and the French [-]nd Armored Division that had just arrived there. Moroccan Infantry Division.

General Xu Yunlong, commander of China's First Armored Army, is the commander-in-chief of these two armored divisions. Behind the half-track armored command vehicle he is riding on, there are Chinese tanks rolling forward. There are a total of 768 No. 200, No. 20000, and The No. 47 and No. [-] tanks, and more than [-] various assault artillery and self-propelled artillery, in addition to nearly [-] armored grenadiers riding on half-track armored vehicles to accompany the tanks.And behind this torrent of steel, there is a marching column composed of the [-]st Armored Division of the German Waffen-SS and the German [-]th Motorized Rifle Division.They just arrived from Bastogne. After studying the latest battlefield changes, the German High Command decisively suspended the combat operations in the western part of the Ardennes Forest, and put all available forces into the south of the Maas River. above the battlefield.In addition to these two German divisions, there are also elite troops such as the [-]th German Armored Division, the [-]nd "Reich" Armored Division of the SS, and the "Grossdeutschland" Panzergrenadier Division. Clavier advances first-line.

If all these divisions are in place, the Sino-German coalition forces in the Battle of the Ardennes Forest will have 9 divisions, including 5 armored divisions, 3 panzergrenadier divisions, and 2 motorized infantry divisions. Counting the teams directly under the three military-level units, the total strength has exceeded 18, with more than 2000 tanks and assault artillery!

At this moment, suddenly a motorcycle galloped from the front and stopped beside Xu Yunlong's armored command vehicle. The communication soldier on the motorcycle stuffed a file bag into the window of the vehicle.

Gao Kuiyuan, chief of staff of the Second Armored Army, took the document bag handed over by the communications soldier, opened it, and immediately showed an excited expression.

"Secretary, the 300nd Armored Force Search Battalion reports that the British have deployed their tank force in the plains and forests outside the town of Clavier. There are more than 2 Matilda [-] tanks, as well as some armored vehicles and infantry , looks like an armored division."

"An armored division to fight?" Xu Yunlong snorted coldly: "These British guys don't learn the lessons of the French at all."

Gao Kuiyuan nodded and suggested: "Army seat, let our two armored divisions also deploy. The British only have 500 Matilda 2 tanks, and our more than 700 No. 2, No. [-] and No. [-] tanks The No. [-] tank can finish the battle in [-] hours! Maybe the brothers can rest in Claviers tonight."

"Since the British dare to show it, maybe they really have something to rely on?" Xu Yunlong took the map from the adjutant's hand, and after a while, he pointed to the town of Clavier and a forest outside the town and said to Gao Kuiyuan: "If I am the commander of the British army. I know that my tank can't beat the opponent. I will definitely think of other tactics, such as using large-caliber anti-tank guns or anti-aircraft guns to make an ambush... This forest and small town should be The only terrain nearby where an ambush is possible. I will bombard it with cannons a few times later, and then use tanks to attack. By the way, let the 601 and 602 heavy tank battalions attack this time, using their long-range firepower at 800 meters to 1000 meters knock out British tanks at a distance."

After Xu Yunlong's order was conveyed, China's First Armored Army launched a 5-meter-wide front 4000 kilometers away from the British army. More than 700 tanks formed an offensive wedge formation, and a brigade armored The grenadiers accompanied the attack, and another panzergrenadier brigade was deployed on the left flank of the main force to guard against the Moroccan infantry division at Harvard Lange.

boom!boom!boom……

下午6点钟整，炮声准时响起，3个中国自行火炮团的162门105mm或150mm自行榴弹炮就开始猛轰对面的英军阵地。

The entire town of Clavier and the woods outside the town suddenly seemed to be on fire. Looking north from the starting position where the Chinese tanks assembled, they saw countless splashing ballistic trajectories flying from behind to the woods and small towns in the north. A moment later, high and low pillars of smoke accompanied by flames shot straight into the sky above the British army's battle line, and fragments of weapon parts, as well as human body stumps and broken arms could be vaguely found in the smoke pillars, all of which were covered by high They flew high into the air, and even a few unlucky Matilda 2 tanks were directly hit by large-caliber shells, and they immediately turned into balls of flaming fireballs.

The response of the British army was also considered timely.The artillery group hidden behind immediately started a rumbling counterattack, and many 17-pound, 25-pound and 6-inch shells fell on the assembly area of ​​​​Chinese tanks and the rear artillery positions.However, it did not cause much damage. As long as they were not directly hit by shells, the armor of tanks and self-propelled artillery was sufficient to resist damage caused by shrapnel and shock waves.

The artillery battle between the two sides did not last long, and the huge tank clusters of the Chinese army began to roll forward roaringly. More than 700 tanks from the two armored divisions were lined up in 27 rows, each with 18 to 36 tanks.The pioneers are more than 120 No. 88 tanks from two heavy tank battalions. Their 2mm guns can wipe out those Matildas who can only crawl slowly outside the effective range of British tanks or anti-tank guns. Type [-] tank.For General Xu Yunlong, who commanded this battle, there is no doubt that he will win.For Montgomery on the other side, this battle can only be described as helpless!

In his view, the deployment of the entire British and French coalition forces is now all messed up.The powerful assault force of four armored divisions and one light mechanized division could have been squeezed into a fist and dealt a fatal blow to the Sino-German coalition forces in the Ardennes Forest.But now these troops are put into the battlefield one by one, which has become a typical refueling tactic!As a result, they were defeated one by one by the Chinese armored forces, which had superior strength and equipment.First the French 20.00st Armored Division, then the French [-]rd Light Mechanized Division, then the British [-]st Armored Division and the [-]rd Division, and then the French [-]rd and [-]th Armored Divisions that are probably coming!In just two days, [-]% of the armored forces of the British and French allied forces lost inexplicably like this...

Chapter 0866 The Ardennes Offensive in 1939 ([-]) The Gate to Paris

April 1939, 4 was an endless nightmare for the British and French allied forces. In the morning, an armored division commanded by Charles de Gaulle was introduced into the ambush circle of anti-tank guns by the Chinese with heavy tanks. Seventy to eighty percent of it was damaged after being flattened.After finally running to Somme-Lez, before they had time to catch their breath, the French 28rd Light Mechanized Division and the remnants of the [-]st Armored Division had another fierce collision in Somme-leuze and the Chinese [-]nd Armored Division. In the end, he was still ravaged a lot, and he was directly classified as an infantry division!After dinner, another bad news came. The two British divisions commanded by Major General Montgomery were repaired by two Chinese armored divisions in the town of Claviers!

Although the resourceful Montgomery came up with the tactic of combining tanks and anti-tank guns, using tanks to lure the enemy, and using 17-pound anti-tank guns to wipe out the enemy.But the Chinese are also cunning and cunning!First, they used 162 self-propelled howitzers to bombard the British front line very unreasonably, and swept away the anti-tank guns ambushing in the woods and small towns.Then, more than 120 45.5-ton No. 88 tanks were shamelessly dispatched to take the lead, firing long-range shots with 88mm tank guns!This is really bullying!At a distance where the 2mm tank gun can easily destroy the Matilda 17 tank, the British 600-pound gun can't hurt the No. 40 tank at all!And what made Montgomery vomit blood even more was that the remaining 48 No. 75 and No. [-] tanks in the Chinese tank group actually played the role of field artillery, using their [-]mm tank guns with [-] times the caliber and [-] times the caliber. High-explosive bombs were fired, and there was a burst of bombardment on the woods and small towns behind the British tanks.Smashed the British infantry positions and anti-tank artillery positions hidden there!There are dead bodies and broken and damaged cannons everywhere.

After taking care of the ambush of the British army, the two Chinese armored divisions also separated out two regiments of Panzer III tanks and two armored grenadier regiments, and broke through the loose infantry of the British third division from both sides of the town of Claviers. Line of defense, trying to outflank the British artillery positions!Seeing that nothing could be done, Montgomery had no choice but to grit his teeth and give the order to retreat like de Gaulle and Major General Pierre.Because the maneuverability of the British Matilda 2 tanks was really bad, the British army simply discarded these useless "iron lumps" when they retreated, and the tank soldiers and infantry boarded the truck and ran away.In this way, the two British divisions quickly got rid of the pursuit of the Chinese armored division, and most of the officers and soldiers also safely withdrew across the Maas River.

However, the Moroccan infantry division in Harvard Langri was not so lucky. Due to the escape of their British allies, this unlucky Moroccan division was caught in two Chinese armored divisions and the German armed SS who arrived later. Under the siege of the 47st "Adolf Hitler" Panzer Division and the German 17000th Motorized Rifle Division! The infantry division of more than 47 people was quickly compressed into the small town of Harvard Lange by three armored divisions, and then surrounded by the German 3th Motorized Infantry Division, and slowly attacked with heavy artillery and infantry.Afterwards, two Chinese armored divisions and one German armored division divided their troops into two groups, sweeping the flanks of the French Third and Fourth Armies in east and west respectively, in order to coordinate with the frontal Chinese Second Armored Grenadier Division to attack the two. A French infantry corps (actually only [-] divisions) that had already become frightened was defeated.

In the early morning of April 4, the front of the British and French allied forces south of the Meuse River was shaken across the board.After a day of hard work, they already understood that the decisive battle south of the Maas River was impossible, and the only option now was to retreat to the Maas River.But under the strong pressure of the two elite armored armies of the Chinese and German armies, how long can the Maas River defense line, which has not built many strong fortifications, last?If the Maas River is broken through by the Chinese and German coalition forces, the main force of the 29 million British and French coalition forces in Belgium will face the danger of annihilation!

At this time, the main retreat of the Belgian, British and French forces also began in a panic!Due to hasty preparations and the unexpected defeat on the south bank of the Maas River, the coalition forces fell into panic everywhere. The troops who received the retreat order fled westward along the Belgian kilometers and railways regardless of everything.The troops who were ordered to stand firm and serve as the palace army were even more flustered, and they kept asking to retreat as soon as they were attacked by the German army.And those abandoned Belgian troops also quickly discovered the "route" of the British and French coalition forces. These "nowhere to retreat" Belgian troops no longer obeyed any orders from the coalition headquarters, and spontaneously retreated to Brussels, the Belgian capital.But at this moment, the German planes that covered the sky returned to the Belgian sky and dropped a series of bombs on the retreating coalition forces... The main force of the Anglo-French coalition forces in Belgium fell almost overnight. caught in the greatest crisis.

Faced with this sudden retreat, the British and French allied forces were completely panicked.The headquarters of the British and French Allied Forces, from Marshal Gan Molin down, are all in a hurry.While desperately mobilizing the air force to try to disperse the German planes over Belgium, trying to ensure a smooth retreat for the coalition forces.On the one hand, he ordered the French First Army, which had already suffered heavy losses, to launch a counterattack against the armored forces of the Chinese and German coalition forces advancing towards the Maas River, not to repel them, even to delay the opponent for a moment.While planning to defend Paris and defend the northeastern part of France, they desperately searched for reserve troops. At the same time, they also asked for help from the United States on the other side of the ocean, hoping that they could provide enough weapons to equip more British and French allied forces.In addition, France also asked the United Kingdom to send more expeditionary forces to France, and also wanted the British army to try to launch a landing battle in Norway to reduce the frontal pressure on some French coalition forces.

At this time, there are even rumors that Britain and France have secretly entrusted the Italian leader Mussolini to mediate peace!France is willing to cede Alsace, Lorraine, French North Africa, French Morocco, and French Madagascar to Germany, and French Indochina to China to end this war!The United Kingdom only wants to keep Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa, which is rich in gold... Of course, the governments of Britain and France immediately denied such irresponsible rumors.The French Prime Minister Renault, who had just been ordered in danger, and the British Prime Minister Chamberlain both vowed to reporters: The war situation is still within the controllable range, and there is absolutely no need to consider seeking peace.

It's just that this statement doesn't sound so firm anymore. It seems to imply to the public that if the war situation reaches an irreversible point, it is completely possible to consider seeking peace with Germany and China!

Because the Soviet Union has now become the Russian Empire, and Queen Anastasia has also declared war on Britain a few days ago!The United States has to be busy defending the Americas again, and has no time to take care of Britain and France, and the foundation of the British Empire - the Royal Navy is also on the verge of collapse in a series of failures, so the voices of the compromisers in Britain and France are also louder than in previous lives a lot.

……

At this time, the General Staff of the German Empire in Zuosen outside Berlin was also in an extremely tense atmosphere.Both Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and Keitel, Chief of Staff, were extremely shocked by the upheavals that had taken place on the front line!In their plan, they also did not expect that the 200 million British and French allied forces would reach the brink of collapse overnight.Brauchitsch and several senior staff members kept whispering about the battle situation around the electric sand table, while Keitel was sweating profusely, and the phone calls from the Prime Minister's Office kept coming, urging when Group A could start Pursuit, when will Army Group B be able to complete the outflanking... Later, Hitler simply drove to the general staff of Tsosen in a car, and yelled in the combat command center: "Pursuit! Encirclement! Annihilation!" It seems that only he With a few orders, millions of German troops can immediately put on their wings and fly to the battlefield.

General Keitel had to deal with various reports or telegrams for instructions that flew in like snowflakes.While dealing with this somewhat nervous head of state, I tried my best to explain to him that because the British and French allied forces' rout came too suddenly, not all German troops were ready to pursue them.What the German army can do now is to use the air force to kill and delay the British and French coalition forces as much as possible, and at the same time send ground troops to cross the Maas River from the front and break through the Liege defense line that has not been defended by many people... and this process will take 24 hours anyway. After all, all the bridges on the Maas River have been completely destroyed, and the large German troops can only build pontoon bridges if they want to pass, and this project will take a lot of time.In addition, it will take time to assemble troops, forcefully cross the Meuse River, and seize various key points on the Liege defense line.

As for the outflanking of Army Group B, it is actually not that easy to implement.The original plan to cross the Ardennes Forest, break through from Sedan in eastern France, and then go all the way north to cut off the main force of the Belgian-British-French coalition forces from the mainland of France has no way to be realized.Because, at present, only one Chinese Eighth Armored Division has reached the east bank of the Maas River, and the rest of the troops have been transferred to the battlefields in the north of the Arden Forest and the south bank of the Maas River.

The only feasible outflanking solution now is to use the Sino-German coalition armored group that just defeated the French First Army in the Battle of the Ardennes Forest, break through northward, cross the Maas River near Namur, and only insert the Belgian capital Brussels.Even if Brussels is not captured in the end, it can greatly delay the retreat of the main force of the British and French allied forces.As long as they are held back for more than 24 hours, at least 200% to [-]% of the main force of the [-] million British and French allied forces will not be able to return to France.

The main forces of the Anglo-French coalition forces in Belgium are the essence of the armies of these two countries, with the most complete equipment training and the most active officers. They also include at least 10 armored divisions and an unknown number of light mechanized divisions!If these troops are lost, then at least France definitely loses the war.Without the French army, the British navy, which has only a few remnants and defeated generals, will certainly not be able to continue to support it.The era of German domination of the Western world will come!It's just that to achieve this goal, it seems that we have to rely on the power of the Chinese ally, who is already at odds with Germany.

"Why is this happening! Why!" Hitler paced back and forth next to the huge electric sand table, waving his fist vigorously, and roared: "Am I going to just watch this best opportunity to completely defeat France slip away from me? go?"

"That's not the case, my head of state," Keitel frowned bitterly, and explained: "The French have actually been defeated, even if our nine divisions with the Chinese cannot break through the Meuse within 9 hours However, the British and French allied forces will still lose at least 24% of their troops and most of their heavy weapons. Even if the remaining half return to Paris, they will definitely not be able to withstand our attack... It will take up to three months before we can The old enemy of France has been defeated, and it was all achieved under your wise leadership, Führer."