I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 939 Saarbrücken is safe
After the order was relayed, Hindenburg calmed down from the initial panic upon hearing the intelligence.

He rested his chin on his hand, stared at the map in thought for a long while, before asking expressionlessly, "Is the source of the intelligence reliable?"

Ludendorff turned his gaze to the staff officer beside him.

The staff officer hurriedly opened the document in his hand to check it. It recorded the source of each piece of intelligence, and important intelligence also had detailed explanations.

"The intelligence comes from the U.S. military, Your Excellency," the staff officer replied.
“He was one of our spies infiltrated into the US military, and he heard some rumors.”

"In addition, French tanks and troops were indeed secretly transferred to Strasbourg."

The German army had a complete intelligence system in Lorraine and Alsace, having controlled the region for decades, and the residents there had become indistinguishable from one another.

The German army did not spend much effort developing a group of spies, which they left in the civilian population before retreating.

Hindenburg nodded slightly. If the intelligence came from the US military, it would be more credible. The US military had only recently entered the war, and their secrecy was not as thorough as that of Britain and France.

"Is there a problem?" Ludendorff asked.

"No, there's nothing wrong." Hindenburg himself wasn't sure either:

"I just find it strange that the area east of the Rhine doesn't seem to be very suitable for armored operations."

"What should have been a top-secret operation plan fell into our hands so easily."

"Considering that Charles is very good at using false information to confuse the enemy, I am a little worried that this might be a smokescreen."

Ludendorff laughed:

"I don't think so, Marshal."

"You can lack confidence in our spies, or you can remain skeptical of Charles."

"But you must trust the British and Americans!"

Hindenburg asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

“This is politics, Marshal,” Ludendorff explained.

"Think about it, recently the Charles formed the 'International League,' which has the potential to overtake the United States and surpass Britain."

Will the British and Americans let Charles continue to develop in this way?

Hindenburg was taken aback, then he understood: "You mean, this might be intelligence that the British and Americans intentionally leaked to us?"

“Yes.” Ludendorff smiled, a smile that seemed to convey disdain for Britain and America.

"To be precise, it's not 'possible,' it's 'very likely.'"

"The British and Americans do not want the Charles to win easily; what they want is for the Charles to get bogged down and both of us to suffer heavy losses."

"And the Charles are clearly superior to us in terms of military equipment, tactics, and combat capabilities, therefore..."

Hindenburg chimed in: "Considering British and American interests, they handed the battle plan over to us?"

“That is indeed the case,” Ludendorff replied.
"Therefore, we should not doubt its authenticity just because it is too easy to obtain this information."

"Otherwise, we might miss an opportunity, a golden opportunity."

……

Fort Salzburg, headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force.

After Charles and Pershing left, Hague had a secret meeting with Beck.

The US government decided to keep this from Pershing because they believed he was too emotional and not suitable for political and strategic decision-making.

“What we need to do now is find an opportunity,” Baker said, “and then subtly reveal the battle plan to the Germans.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Haig said absentmindedly. “Lorraine and Alsace are full of German spies; it’s not difficult to do this. The problem is…”

“What?” Baker frowned, worried that something unexpected might happen. Hague hesitated for a moment, then took a document from the drawer and handed it to Baker:

"This is the geographical information we have obtained about the east bank of the Rhine River."

“We even sent people to swim to the east bank to capture prisoners, so we are very familiar with the situation on the east bank.”

"My assessment is that even with a 'strip pontoon bridge,' it will be extremely difficult for Shire to cross the river and land."

Baker opened the document and looked at it; it seemed to be as Haig had said.

The east bank of the Rhine is a flat alluvial plain, which is flooded in spring, turning a large area of ​​land into a half-water, half-mud swamp.

"Belt-type pontoon bridges" can quickly erect floating bridges in rivers, but they can run aground in shallow swamps.

It's even less likely that tanks could get through; they would definitely get stuck and unable to move.

Haig added, "Even if the Charles successfully crosses the river and takes Offenburg, do you know what will happen?"

Baker didn't answer, only casting an inquiring glance.

Although he was the Minister of War, he didn't know much about military affairs, so his wise choice was to listen more and talk less.

“Supplies are difficult to transport to the east coast,” Haig replied, “even though the Shire has amphibious landing craft.”

Amphibious landing ships loaded with supplies would also get stuck in the swamp, not to mention the Germans would block the river with artillery fire.

“You mean…” Baker suddenly realized something.

“Yes.” A sinister smile appeared on Haig’s face. “It seems we don’t need to reveal any battle plans. We can wait until Charles has captured Offenburg and then see how things go.”

If the Charles is already mired in trouble, there is no need for Britain and the United States to take any further action.

If not, it wouldn't be too late to leak some intelligence to the Germans then, and we could also consider delaying the supply.

Beck pondered for a moment, then frowned: "Given the situation on the east bank of the Rhine, do you think Charles might...?"

His gaze shifted to Saarbrücken on the map.

A thought popped into his mind: Could the plan that Charles gave him be a lie? Could his real target still be Saarbrücken?

"Impossible!" Haig revealed a confident smile:

"Just as Charles said, the Germans have set it as a trap."

"The forests on both sides were filled with German artillery."

"More importantly, the Saarbrücken front has a 30-kilometer-long and 2-kilometer-wide minefield, which alone is enough to stop any unit from infiltrating!"

……

“Saarbrücken is safe,” Hindenburg asserted.

"For more than two months, we did nothing but build trenches and lay mines in front of it."

"One layer after another, minefields, trenches, and barbed wire alternated. Anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines, and steel ball mines."

"If the Sharl's mechanized forces launch a frontal attack, this place will become another quagmire!"

(Note: The German army learned how to make "directional mines" and called them "steel ball mines")
Ludendorff had no objection; no unit could pass through the 2-kilometer-wide minefield in a short time.

而在这2公里雷区的后方，兴登堡在萨尔布吕肯周边摆着3个105MM炮兵团、6个77MM炮兵营。

When the Charles' armored forces are stuck in minefields and unable to move, they will be blown into the air by these artillery pieces.

“Therefore,” Ludendorff said, “we can safely move our troops to the east bank of the Rhine for defense, where infantry is most needed.”

(End of this chapter)