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

Chapter 941 Emotional Values ​​Are Maxed Out
Preparations for the campaign dragged on until mid-April.

The reason was that the German army maintained a "compromising" stance diplomatically. On the one hand, they partially withdrew their troops in Romania and Italy, and on the other hand, they continuously sent telegrams to the League of Nations through the Netherlands:
"We respect the League of Nations' decision. Germany is not a belligerent country, and we also hope to end this war."

“We are withdrawing from the affected area, but it will take time because the roads have been damaged.”

"The Italians are still shelling us, and I think that's undermining our cooperation!"

……

In fact, it was obvious to everyone that the Germans were just making a gesture; the area they were withdrawing from was the central part of the defensive line.

The Italian advance towards the Pivea River cannot even be considered a retreat. The German army merely concentrated its forces on the flanks, leaving the central plains untouched. If the Italian army were to cross the river in pursuit, they would be encircled and annihilated by the Germans.

However, even if it's just a gesture, it's not appropriate for Charles to order an attack, otherwise he might be accused of "disrupting the peace."

In fact, Charles tacitly approved of the German army's delaying tactics.

If Charles is unwilling, he only needs to find an excuse, such as the German army's lack of sincerity in retreating, and he can launch an attack with the support of the international community.

Charles waited because he had received intelligence that the Germans were constantly shifting their troops to the east bank of the Rhine.

The Germans were very secretive; they made no moves during the day, only marched secretly at night, and once they reached their destination, they hid in the trenches without showing themselves and maintained radio silence.

They were trying to conceal their troop strength in this way.

What the Germans didn't expect was that the "Lady in White's" reconnaissance methods involved civilians peering out of windows to count the number of military vehicles, the amount of supplies transported by trains, or tracking wheel tracks.

The simpler the reconnaissance method, the harder it is to defend against, and sometimes impossible to defend against.

Charles was pleased with this situation, so he pretended to be fooled and waited quietly, while secretly reinforcing his troops on the west bank of the Rhine, just like the German army.

In addition to Tassini's Third Panzer Corps, he also transferred Foch's Northern Army Group to prepare for the offensive.

The Germans knew that Foch was an offensive force, never a defensive one, which aligned with the French strategy of advancing along the Rhine!
When Foch saw Ciel, he gave him a big hug:

"Lieutenant General, we have finally waited for this day."

"I never imagined things would turn out this way. We not only recovered lost territory, but we were also able to launch a counterattack into German territory!"

"Do you know, this is the dream of every Frenchman, and I am no exception. You gave us this opportunity!"

……

Foch believed that Charles intended to leave the immense glory of "conquering German soil" to him, and was therefore grateful.

Charles replied modestly, "Commander-in-Chief, a campaign of this scale certainly requires your command. My heavy armored army group is better at concentrating on one point to carry out infiltration."

The implication is that he lacks the ability to command large armies.

Foch was very pleased with these words, and he smiled as he shook Charles's hand: "This is the result of our joint efforts. Keep up the good work, Lieutenant General, I believe our cooperation will go smoothly."

Foch knew perfectly well that Charles was always the one who dictated the course of the war, and sometimes even he, as the commander-in-chief, didn't know the specific battle plans.

Old-fashioned combat thinking is outdated. Foch glanced at Charles and Tijani and sighed inwardly: the younger generation is formidable; he can no longer keep up with the pace of today's young people.

Charles put Foch in charge of the Rhine River, while the Northern Army Group deployed troops and secretly built docks to prepare for a multi-point crossing.

This immediately gave the Germans a headache. They quickly concluded that the French army could force a crossing from any point, and Strasbourg was just the main focus of the attack. The force crossing the river there was likely only Charles's First Panzer Corps.

……

After more than twenty days of preparation, the German army finally dropped its pretense and launched a counter-offensive against Romania and Italy simultaneously on April 16.

Towards Romania.

Because the German army was generally better equipped and more capable than the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and because Romania had lost the support of the Russian army, the German army broke through the Carpathian Mountains defenses and penetrated deep into its territory in a short time. (Towards Italy)

Although the Italian army followed Charles's advice and purchased a large number of rocket launchers to destroy the pontoon bridges built by the German army.

But as the saying goes, "the devil is always one step ahead of the saint," any fixed and singular tactic will eventually be found to have a weakness by the opponent.

The German army used deception to exploit the high ammunition consumption of rocket artillery.

They chose to cross the river at night, using wooden boats disguised as "strip bridges," and these were everywhere.

The tense Italian troops jumped into any pit they saw and relentlessly bombarded the so-called "pontoon bridge" with rocket artillery.

However, the rockets were exhausted in just over an hour.

Only then did the German army bring out the real "belt bridge" and use tanks to lead the infantry to cross the Pivea River.

The Italian army suffered a crushing defeat and fled to the Po River to organize a defense.

The Po River is situated on a flat plain, with numerous crossing points and vulnerabilities, instantly plunging the Italian army into a crisis of national annihilation.

……

One urgent telegram after another was delivered to Charles's desk.

Telegram from the Queen of Romania:

"Dear Lieutenant General, the German army is ostensibly retreating but actually attacking. They have formed an 'Alpine Army' that has marched 80 kilometers at high speed through the mountains in three days, penetrating behind our defenses and defeating the troops stationed at the pass."

"At this point, they were only 65 kilometers from Bucharest, and Romania was in imminent danger."

"This is a provocation against the League of Nations, and also a provocation against you. Please save us."

"Romania has promised that we will give you more oil quotas..."

An urgent telegram arrived from Cadorna, Italy:

"Lieutenant General, please send reinforcements or give us more rockets, otherwise we are likely to collapse."

"We are staunch supporters of the League of Nations. We have already relinquished control of the coal and steel industries. You will not stand idly by and watch us be captured by the German army, will you?"

……

The phone kept ringing; it was Clemenceau one minute and the representative to the League of Nations the next.

The League of Nations' meeting room was in an uproar. They made a decision as quickly as possible: "It's time to attack Germany and teach them a lesson."

Major newspapers urgently added extra reports on the German offensive, and the citizens all knew about it, with everyone believing that the offensive was inevitable.

With emotions running high, everyone turned their attention to Ciel, to see what he would do.

The only person who didn't urge Charles was Gallieri.

In the city hall minister's office, he stood in front of the map, looking at the Charles's troop deployments in Lorraine and Alsace, and smiled slightly: "This guy was prepared a long time ago!"

Gallieni's eyes were fixed on Saarbrücken.

He knew this was Charles's target because the distance was short, and it was possible to obtain the greatest benefit with the least cost.

Gallieni just didn't know how Charles would achieve it!

(End of this chapter)