Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 102: Verdun Will Finally Belong to the Empire

Hellingen wasn't the only one who noticed this.

In fact, whether it was the First or Second Army, or the Third and Fourth Army, their commanders-in-chief, that is, the generals, almost immediately discovered what was hidden in Brian's words.

They all cast complicated glances at Brian, and in their hearts they speculated about Brian's intentions.

Among them, the two commanders of the 4rd and th Army were the most nervous.

As the defense center of the empire's right wing, according to Marshal Moltke the Younger, the two armies will have to face at least 500,000 enemies.

As long as Moltke the Younger nodded now, they would have to immediately prepare for the subsequent large-scale defensive battle.

This is not an easy task, because what awaits them will be the Farlans' heavy artillery fire and never-ending charge attacks.

Fortunately, Brian just said that he would provide them with a large number of Esk explosion-proof walls as compensation, which made their mentality, which was about to explode, more stable.

In contrast, the reactions of the three commanders of the Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Army were not as intense.

Mainly because they don't know as much as others.

But it’s not really their fault.

Because under the instruction of Lieutenant General Draven, currently only the army commander responsible for the main attack mission is qualified to obtain information about the Esco explosion-proof wall.

The commanders of these armies have the right to choose whether to equip their troops with such equipment to assist in offense or defense.

Take the Fifth Army for example. According to Field Marshal Schlieffen's plan, their mission will be to be stationed on the common border of Perije, the Empire, and Farland to guard against attacks from the Farlanders.

But now that the Kingdom of Perije has surrendered, the Farlans obviously wouldn't be stupid enough to launch an attack in such a hellhole.

Because they have a fortress defense line that is hundreds of kilometers long.

There is no reason to give up one's own advantage and attack a force that also has the advantage of terrain.

As for the Sixth Army and the Eighth Army.

The former's job was to keep an eye on the Farlans from outside the range of their artillery, so there was no need to use the Esco explosion-proof wall at all.

The latter is a new unit that was decided to be established only yesterday. Even if we know about it, it will be much later.

On the other hand, Brian.

In fact, he was also very worried when he said this.

But his worries are different from others.

This was because Bryan did not realize that the report submitted to him by Lane actually contained the idea of ​​ousting Moltke the Younger.

Ryan's report was brief, and from an officer's perspective, it would not be an exaggeration to say it was rudimentary.

But his analysis and views on strategy and tactics were not wrong.

This made it impossible for the gendarmes who were checking the papers and letters to understand what Ryan had hidden in the documents.

Brian didn't think much about it because he hadn't had contact with the generals of the General Staff at that time.

As a result, when Brian was giving this strategic explanation, he was more afraid that the generals of the First and Fourth Armies would remember him and find ways to make things difficult for him.

The other level is more tactical and strategic.

That is, Brian was worried that his speech, which contained content about retreating to advance and using defense to respond to offense, would cause dissatisfaction from the General Staff.

This was similar to what Ryan was worried about when he talked to Brian at the beginning of the month.

Because the result of this tactic at present will only be that the troops led by the Imperial Army will lose the hope of the first attack on Palu, and thus turn to positional warfare with Farlan and the United Kingdom, which will inevitably join the war later.

Brian knew clearly that Moltke the Younger was a coward and afraid of failure, so as long as he saw the result of this action, what would await Brian would definitely be a black mark on his file.

He would have to wait until at least October to be promoted to major general. If he missed the promotion opportunity because of this incident, all his efforts over the years would be completely in vain.

In the conference room.

Brian stared at the gazes of the eight generals and one marshal around him, exerting all his strength to stand like a soldier who had just joined the company. He thought to himself: "Major Flig, this tactic of yours better really fool that idiot Moltke the Younger!"

then.

Moltke the Younger moved.

The Imperial Marshal stood up and then sat down several times before returning his gaze to Brian.

He said, "If I give you enough funds and manpower, how fast can you speed up?"

"The earliest it will be is September 3rd."

"Does that mean it will take another four days before we can start mass production?"

Moltke the Younger controlled his expression very well, but Brian still saw the hint of hesitation hidden in his heart.

Brian turned his gaze away and looked at the document in front of him regarding the next operation.

The battle will begin around September 5th, and it will be difficult to prepare enough equipment for the First and Second Armies in two days.

Of course, even if they were prepared, the First and Second Armies would have little chance to use these equipment.

This is because the Esko explosion-proof wall is essentially a simple trench-building device that requires heavy industrial equipment to assist in its construction. The First and Second Armies, which only have manpower but no loaders, cannot use these things even if they get them.

The existence of this thing may even cause the advancement speed to slow down.

"Your Excellency Marshal!"

After realizing this, Brian decided to give Moltke the Younger a drastic measure.

He immediately said, "In fact, not only you, but even Major Flig himself would not carry these equipment during combat."

Brian shifted the topic to Ryan. "This blast wall requires a lot of loaders and other heavy specialized equipment. Rashly delivering it to a mobile unit would only force them to abandon mobility and rely on defensive fortifications for positional warfare..."

He deliberately didn't say the rest of the words, because Moltke the Younger's face changed almost the moment Brian mentioned heavy special equipment.

"okay."

Little Moltke, who understood the meaning of Brian's words, showed an impatient expression.

He said, "I understand what you mean, sir. Please continue at your current pace. I will transfer the extra manpower and supplies to the Eighth Army. Is that okay?"

Hindenburg never expected that he would have the opportunity to speak today, but he immediately nodded and said, "Thank you for your assistance, Marshal."

Then he looked at Brian and Hellingen tactfully.

The three of them exchanged their thoughts with their eyes almost immediately and reached a consensus under the nose of Moltke the Younger.

However, Hellingen took another look at Moltke the Younger and thought to himself, this damn idiot is really not worthy of sitting in the position of marshal.

The people below have already exchanged opinions and want to sell you out, but you haven't noticed it yet.

Hellingen didn't even dare to imagine what kind of trouble this little Moltke would cause if he really went to the front line according to the rotation mechanism of the General Staff. But when he saw that the marshal's adjutant beside him had begun to pack up his documents, Hellingen finally realized that this ridiculous meeting was over.

There were no complicated tactical and strategic arrangements, nor a detailed division of troop objectives. Although all the content was proposed by Field Marshal Schlieffen, this meeting ultimately forced all troops into an extremely complicated state because of Moltke the Younger's unauthorized adjustment of troop strength.

Moltke the Younger himself seemed to have discovered this, so he didn't even say to disband, but directly left with his adjutant.

He actually didn't want to hear Ryan's name, mainly because of the incident with Marshal Schlieffen some time ago.

But it was precisely because of this that he subconsciously ignored how big a mistake he had just made.

And in the conference room.

All the other generals did not leave, but they all sent their adjutants away without prior agreement - except Brian.

Hellingen waved to the guards, signaling them to close the door, and then looked at everyone present.

He looked at the commander of the Sixth Army and said, "Our Seventh Army is incapable of launching an offensive in the next battle. The Crown Prince of Bavaria is aware of this."

"I agree." The Sixth Army Commander, the Bavarian Crown Prince, almost immediately raised his hands. "Joffre has deployed six armies along the fortress line. General Hellingen's Seventh Army and I can't spare any manpower. If we want to attack, we can only rely on the Fifth Army, Constantine."

The Bavarian Crown Prince looked towards the commander of the Fifth Army.

"The Fifth Army is fine," General Konstantin Schmidt von Knobelsdorff nodded slowly. "But I'm stationed 70 kilometers north of Verdun. If I want to launch an attack, I must have the support of the Sixth Army."

The Bavarian Crown Prince immediately said, "I can dispatch artillery for you. The Farlanes haven't attacked recently, and if a battle breaks out, they are unlikely to launch an offensive."

"Then I'll be fine."

General Constantine shook his head. "But what about the Third and Fourth Armies?"

He didn't believe that two armies could capture Palu, so he instinctively ignored the First and Second Armies.

This did not cause dissatisfaction among the commanders of the First and Second Armies, as they were also watching the people of the Third and Fourth Armies.

Then General Hausen of the Third Army made a very unhappy sound: "What are you looking at me for? How can I have any objection at this time?"

He actually had no problem with being responsible for protecting the First and Second Armies, but he had some thoughts about Brian's remarks.

Hellingen saw what he was thinking. "I'm asking you this. We can get you the equipment and supplies, but you have to make it clear to the Duke."

He was referring to Duke Albrecht of the Fourth Army. As the central part of the entire front, the Third and Fourth Armies had not yet achieved any impressive results, but as long as they were not defeated, everything would be possible.

“It’s easy to express your opinion.”

Duke Albrecht said calmly, "Our Fourth Army will hold the Maine River, but this is not a long-term solution."

He quietly set his sights on Brian, but then looked at Hellingen again: "I know what tricks you are playing, but I still have to tell you that the empire cannot withstand temptation."

Then his words made Helingen angry.

"The empire cannot afford to let that guy continue to sit here!"

Hellingen was so angry that his beard practically blew up, and he spoke without a trace of concealment: "When the war started, we said that we would deploy the majority of our forces to the right wing, but that guy insisted on withdrawing a large number of people to the south. Look at how many attacks the Falcons have launched this month. I've been in Saarbrücken for half a month, and I only fought one artillery battle with them."

The Farang launched two operations in Lorraine. The first was an assault in the direction of Saarbrücken, but they retreated because their artillery bombarded the wrong people.

Although their own people were not bombed the second time, they still had to retreat after seeing the imperial artillery bombardment.

Joffre's thirty regiments were bombarded for six hours by the artillery under Heringen and the Crown Prince of Bavaria. The huge casualties scared them back to Nancy, but Heringen was unable to expand his victory due to the existence of the fortress group, so he was so angry.

Of course, this was also due to the fact that his army group was supposed to be the main attacker in the original Schlieffen Plan, but in reality it could only go to Alsace.

Seeing this, everyone shut up.

Since the Empire started fighting with Farlan, it has never achieved any definite victory over France. This would have been fine if it were in the past when muzzle-loading rifles were used, but everything is different now.

The troop's marching speed, firepower, and size are incomparable to before.

Helingen was still angry, but much better than before.

He drank the coffee in front of him, lowered his head, looked at the cup, and guessed what Ryan was thinking.

The others looked at him, and then heard Hellingen's voice.

"The First and Second Armies must maneuver quickly. The sooner you get behind the Duke, the greater our chances of victory."

"The Third and Fourth Armies can send some of their men to the border between Periguet and Farrand to build trenches. Our Seventh Army now controls all the loaders in Alsace. If you require them, the supplies, personnel, and vehicles will be delivered to your base tomorrow."

"Are you serious?"

Admiral Hausen looked as if he had seen a ghost. It was the first time for him to encounter such a situation where he could directly obtain promises from other troops.

"Seriously." Heilingen was a little speechless: "Just tell me whether you want it or not. If not, I will take it back. You can play with the war zone planning yourself."

"Hey, no, no, no."

Admiral Hausen immediately waved his hand and pulled Hellingen, who was about to stand up, "I was just wondering how long we can hold on until this ends."

"I do not know then."

Hellingen was telling the truth this time.

Because he only saw that Ryan wanted to get rid of Moltke the Younger, but he didn't see the deeper things hidden in Ryan's mind.

But coincidentally, Brian knew!

The document that Ryan gave to Bryan was written only after he had finished his conversation with Field Marshal Schlieffen.

In addition to what has been said and what cannot be said, Ryan also thoughtfully set a specific time for Brian to declare war on the Empire according to the schedule of the Schlieffen Plan.

Simply put, if the Imperial Army showed no signs of defeat before September 10, the United Kingdom would declare war immediately after the Russian Empire was repelled.

And if the Imperial Army has shown signs of defeat, the United Kingdom will definitely not declare war in a short time.

Ryan also analyzed the reasons.

Basically, the United Kingdom's foreign policy led them to not want to see a super army empire emerge on the continent, because this would lower the United Kingdom's international status and pose a threat to the United Kingdom's territory.

Brian agreed with Ryan's opinion, so he arrived almost immediately: "The specific time can be decided by Admiral Hausen personally."

"What do you mean?"

Brian's words aroused Admiral Hausen's curiosity.

The old man looked at the middle-aged man in front of him, and one of his eyebrows suddenly twitched twice.

"That's exactly what I meant, Admiral Hausen."

Brian was sweating profusely, praying that Ryan's theory was correct. He said, "The United Kingdom hasn't sent troops yet. The reason isn't just Perij's surrender, but also their own policy of isolation."

"As long as the Empire can slowly retreat without losing a large number of troops and move the battle line out of the Farlan border, the United Kingdom will definitely not declare war!"

"Are you so sure?"

Admiral Howson looked at Brian: "What if they declare war?"

Brian was prepared for this.

He said, "If the United Kingdom declares war, all that awaits them is the wrath of a large number of Marines who are preparing to go home."

"Furthermore, the Empire captured a large number of United Kingdom soldiers in a previous battle, and they are currently arguing fiercely in Parliament about this matter, so the United Kingdom will definitely not declare war during this period."

After saying that, Brian added another sentence.

"They should at least wait until the prisoners have returned safely and the reinforcements from the colonies have arrived in the mainland before discussing these matters."

Apparently, his words persuaded General Hausen: "In that case, let's see what the Fifth Army thinks."

Admiral Hausen turned his head and looked at Admiral Constantine who was resting with his eyes closed.

"? What are you looking at me for?"

Constantine was stunned for a moment: "Unless the Farlans give up Verdun, I will never lead my troops to charge in."

"Those guys have their backs to the fortress. Only a few of them are needed to keep their butts safe. The rest can be concentrated in Verdun to defend it!"

After saying that, Constantine looked at Brian and said, "You were the one who brought this up. Tell me."

This time, everyone's attention turned to Brian again.

Then they heard an answer that no one could have expected.

Brian said.

"Major Ryan Flieger has assured me that his troops will capture Verdun before September 12th."

"I cannot elaborate on the specifics of the operation, but please rest assured, Generals, Verdun will be under the Empire's control before the end of the twelfth day."

(End of this chapter)