The Third Reich in Desperation

Even if there is a special reason for the leak of the original plan, knowing that a chief of staff has changed the plan carefully formulated by several generals, judging from the German Army's practice of placing staff officers in an auxiliary position, several generals will inevitably lose face .

The above two points made Manstein reluctant to share this offending plan at the moment, but "generously" gave all the credit to Reinhardt.

"In order to achieve richer results, the "Sickle Harvest Plan" changed the single-focus attack of Army Group B to the two-way focus attack of Army Group A and Group B." Manstein's telescopic pole, from Army Group B The assembly point moved to the assembly position of Army Group A: "Therefore, Army Group B needs to separate an armored division and transfer it to Army Group A to enhance the combat power of Army Group A."

Speaking of this, Manstein paused, and turned his attention to Reinhardt, Steve, the deputy commander-in-chief of the SS who actually commanded the Waffen SS for the head of state.

"The SS will provide one armored division and five infantry divisions with strong combat effectiveness for the A-level army group." Steve smiled knowingly: "This is already the entire main force of the SS left on the Western Front. Lead them all to join Army Group A and obey General Rundstede's orders."

Even the Führer's most important SS was allocated to Army Group A, which is one of the reasons why Army Group B accepted the transfer of an armored division from its own side to Army Group A.

It's just the transfer of an armored division, which is far from unacceptable.It can even be said that this change has little impact on their previous marching plan. As long as the command is proper, the impact of this change is almost negligible.

"In addition, the combat mission against the Netherlands was removed from the combat missions of the B Army. The original plan was to use the 10th Army of the Netherlands to invest in the Antwerp area, and then to fight with the British and French troops who are very likely to come to reinforce Belgium. .”

After all, the wars that Reinhardt has launched so far are all revenge wars as a continuation of history.Germany and France are feuds, and there is no discussion about fighting France.Belgium participated in the invasion of the Ruhr Industrial Zone in Germany at the beginning, and it can be regarded as a deep hatred with Germany.

Fighting against these two countries and Britain, which declared war on Germany early, Germany is not at a disadvantage in terms of public opinion or morality.

The Netherlands is the only country among these targets that did not bully Germany during World War I.Not only that, but they also took in the desperate Kaiser and participated in the secret transaction in the early stage of German rearmament.

It can be said that the Netherlands is indebted to Germany.

Reinhardt is not a war madman. His German will show his guns to the enemy and leave good wine for his friends.

In order to take down the Netherlands, which does not have much strategic interest, and turn a war of revenge into a blatant war of aggression with an image of ungratefulness, Reinhardt will not do this.

"Yes, our Third Reich represents justice." Reinhardt said nonsense with a face full of beatings: "We who uphold justice in the world only attack countries that deserve to be beaten!"

Oh shit!The Führer is the Führer, such nonsense, he just opened his mouth, and he said it in a serious manner!Sitting behind Reinhardt, Goebbels, who was in charge of propaganda, looked at him with admiration.

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Body 3 Chapter [-] The Conceited Manstein (Sixth)

"The enemy will never think that we will use our powerful armored forces to launch a surprise attack through the Ardennes Forest, and then advance to the lower reaches of the Somme River, cutting off the retreat of the Belgian army in front of the Somme River!" Manstein said emotionally.

In the Ardennes area, more than half of the land is covered by forests, the land is barren, and the roads are rugged. It is a veritable natural danger area.Not only did the French not think that the German armored forces could pass through this place, but even many German generals have always disapproved of allowing armored forces to enter this forest.

In ancient China, there was a classic dogma in the art of war, which is called no entry into the forest.It means that when the troops encounter forest areas, they should try to avoid them as much as possible, and never enter easily.Because in the forest land that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, an enemy that has ambushed in advance can even kill and injure several times its own troops, achieving the effect that one man guards the gate and ten thousand men cannot open it.

In contemporary Germany, this art of war has another meaning.That is not to drive the armored troops into the dense woods, because the tanks will not be able to pass at all under that environmental conditions.

However, Manstein didn't seem to see the questioning expressions on everyone's faces, and continued talking to himself: "Only by this method, we can surround them on the northern flank of the front line, and then wipe out this counterattack force." , thus creating the prerequisites for an overall victory in the French campaign."

In order to illustrate how important this point is, Manstein also gave an example: "Everyone, in Poland, we wiped out their counterattack force on the Bzula River, and then completed all the subsequent operations in one go. Similarly, the French People will also not be able to withstand the blow of losing the main counterattack force, so they will all collapse!"

Hearing this, someone finally couldn't help asking questions.Brauchic, the commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht Army who formulated the "Yellow Plan" at the beginning, finally poured out the doubts that were squeezed in his heart.

"Mr. Chief of Staff, when you made the specific plan, have you ever thought about the crucial terrain impact in war. How do you make the armored troops move normally in the dense forest in the Ardennes area?" Brauchic insisted. Fa asked: "In addition, once the Anglo-French coalition forces are handled properly, avoiding a decisive battle in Belgium, and at the same time gather forces to launch a large-scale counter-assault on the southern flank of our army to encircle the main force of our army in Belgium, how should we respond? !"

Bolohich said loudly and solemnly: "War is not a sand table deduction. If you lose, you can never do it again. And the plan you are in charge of envisions everything as the most ideal situation. I can't agree with that at all!"

Although Borahich had gradually accepted the new plan, when he heard that Manstein chose the Ardennes Forest as the breakthrough location for Army Group B, this responsible commander-in-chief stood up again.

In fact, the question Bolohich asked was also something that many generals present wanted to confirm.It's just that he stood up first.

Sure enough, these two guys who had never gotten along in history still didn't get along well after they met under my own coordination.

On the side, Reinhard watched helplessly as the two famous generals with different styles expounded their opinions and engaged in a game.

Speaking freely, this was the effect he was after.Reinhardt would not favor Manstein just because he was his direct descendant, nor would he deny Brahich because he knew in advance that the "Scythe Harvest Project" would succeed.

"Naturally," Manstein remained calm at the beginning, and calmly responded to Bolohitsch: "I don't expect to wait for the end of the war with nothing to fall back on with just one plan."

Different from Bolohitsch's excited and seriousness, Manstein just smiled slightly, and then began his speech: "First, the "Sickle Harvest Project" is not a plan taken for granted. I have passed every part of it. The final decision was made after multiple consultations and comparisons.”

"About whether the armored forces can pass through the Ardennes Forest, I have already asked Lieutenant General Guderian, and the answer I got is-it can pass." Manstein nodded slightly in the direction where Guderian was sitting. .

"That's right. I've done some research on the terrain of the Ardennes Forest. The No. [-] tanks that our armored forces are currently equipped with can completely break some small trees that pass there. As for some large trees that block the main roads, if it doesn't work, you can also use them." Clean up the chain saw." Seeing everyone looking at him, Guderian responded a few words: "In short, if the armored troops want to pass, there is no problem in theory."

With Guderian, the armor master, speaking, everyone no longer has doubts about whether the Arden Forest can pass through the armored forces.Even if they know more about tanks, can they still compare with academic experts like Guderian?

Forget it, as long as I understand that superficially, I still want to be grabbed so as not to make a fool of myself.

"Tank No. [-]?" Brausic obviously reacted to Guderian's sudden mention of the new name.

He has heard of tanks 3, [-], and [-], and he knows tank [-], also known as the T[-] tank.When was there a fifth tank? !

Not only Brauchic, but also Bock, Le Bu and other generals were all puzzled. Guderian continued as if thinking of something: "Oh, yes. The No. 5 tank is still in a state of secrecy, and it is only under my command for the time being." The 19th Armored Corps has changed gear."

Reinhard's face twitched when he heard it.I quietly gave you the good equipment first, why did you say it?

Fortunately, the National Socialist Party's propaganda is in place, and Guderian's reputation in the German armor industry is still quite large, so no one seems to feel that there is anything wrong.

"Ahem........By the way, I just happened to say it too." Afraid that everyone will realize that they allocated all the No. 5 tanks produced in the first batch to Guderian and missed them, Reinhardt Quickly changed the subject and said: "This........The British and French coalition forces in the Ardennes area basically did not deploy defensive forces, because they did not believe that we would launch an attack in such an inaccessible place."

"It's all absolutely reliable news, everyone can rest assured." Reinhardt made up for his prophet Goldfinger: "We have placed several senior intelligence personnel at the top of France, and they have inquired about this matter. The information is the same."

After Guderian and Reinhardt finished explaining for themselves, Manstein continued to speak: "Of course, it is impossible for any combat plan to accurately predict every detail that will happen after the encounter with the enemy. .Only a layman will believe that in the course of a battle, a pre-determined battle plan can take into account all the details, and implement the original plan from beginning to end until the end of the battle.”

"People in our staff department always leave enough room for each plan!" Manstein straightened his collar and said with some conceit.

He has the capital of his own ego!Everyone below thinks so.

Body 3 Chapter [-] Italy's Southward Plan ([-]th update)

"Although I don't quite believe that the French High Command has the courage to take a bold detour, and its allies certainly don't agree with them. However, I still consider the countermeasures under this possibility." Manstein said with a relaxed expression .

Manstein circled a narrow area on the map with a telescopic pole: "If the enemy wants to launch a breakthrough on our southern flank, they can only launch from both sides of the Maas River or between the Maas River and the Oise River. And we It's just a matter of putting pressure on the area from the start and crushing any attempt by them to attack from the south."

"This is also the reason why when I formulated the "Sickle Harvest Plan", I emphasized that Army Group A cannot be assigned to only two armies, but must be three armies." Manstein concluded in the end.

In Manstein's specific plan, the German army changed from the previous main attack of Army Group B to a two-way main attack of Army Group A and B.He expanded the single task of Army Group A, which originally used two armies to cover the southern wing of Army Group B, into three tasks!

First, use an army group to organize defenses north of the Maginot Line to complete the original task of Army Group A, which originally covered the flanks of the entire Belgian army.Second, use another army group to pass through southern Belgium, cross the Meuse River, go north and attack the enemy in front of Army Group B from behind to complete the encirclement.The third is to use a new group army to keep advancing in the southwest direction, so that the French army cannot gather troops in the west of the Meuse River to launch a roundabout attack on the German army on the south flank.

"Then..." Manstein raised the corners of his lips, and looked at Brauchic conceitedly: "Does the commander-in-chief still think there is anything wrong with the new plan..."

...........

"No, I just don't think it's right anyway!" In the Venetian Palace in Rome, Italian leader Mussolini is trying to convince his generals that Italy has enough strength under his leadership .

Mussolini told his generals that, as a great nation, Italy had to face up to a struggle to reorganize Europe, not stand idly by.

Among the top four in Europe, Britain, France and Germany have already shown their muscles in Norway, while Italy is still standing in the corner like a peacemaker. This is not at all in line with Mussolini's vision of a new Rome. The image an empire should have.