Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 37 Sir, times have changed

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Before Ryan could finish his words, a lieutenant colonel from the 17th Army shouted out.

He glared at Ryan, his eyes, nose, and ears spitting fire. "Do you know how long it took us to build these battle lines? A whole year!"

"And now, you actually say you can build a battle line overnight that's enough to cut off all the Fallans' retreat!"

"I don't care if you're a war hero or something! Even if the Twelve Knights of the Empire showed up, I wouldn't believe your nonsense!"

As he spoke, he drew his sword and slammed it heavily on the filing table beside him.

The loud noise was heard outside the command post, attracting a large number of non-commissioned officers to rush forward and join in the fun.

Then they were scared back by Brian's general uniform.

Looking back at the command post.

The others almost all shared the same opinion as the lieutenant colonel.

They were all veteran officers, and the Iron Cross and other medals they wore were proof enough of the victory they had contributed to the Empire time and again during their service.

But Ryan was not afraid of them.

He first glanced at Brian, and then placed dozens of blue chess pieces representing the fortress on the high ground three kilometers away from Mulhouse in a straight line, so that he could easily overlook the entire battlefield and even the Rhine Valley.

These chess pieces are basically arranged in groups of three or five, along the edge of the battlefield, and directly through the entire battlefield.

Brian discovered that these points almost completely guarded all the main traffic routes around Mulhouse, and even took into account some small roads that only local farmers and hunters would use.

And each point can support at least two to three points closest to it, and there are almost paved roads connecting them.

He looked at Ryan, and had already roughly guessed what Ryan was thinking.

At the same time, the last chess piece fell.

Looking at the sand table in front of him, combined with the battlefield scenes he confirmed in the system map, Ryan finally confirmed the correctness of all the points before speaking.

"My troops will establish a total of forty-five small, concealed strongholds at these locations within three to six hours. These strongholds will be composed of forty light machine gun and five heavy machine gun fire points."

"As for the other troops, all they need to do is hold back the first wave of troops attempting to invade Mulhouse. After my troops complete the construction of their stronghold, we can use our superior terrain and firepower to drive them out of Mulhouse again."

As he said that, Ryan turned and ran to the paper map beside him and drew a big circle on it with a pencil.

This circle covered a group of unfinished trenches on the front line of the Imperial Army, as well as most of the obstacle area in front of the trench, which was covered with barbed wire and minefields.

This is the range in Ryan's plan where the enemy needs to be driven into, and it is also the area that his firepower network can fully cover.

No one present is a fool.

They clearly realized that this was the closest area that their artillery fire could cover. In their assumption, once the enemy completed a breakthrough in this area, the troops would immediately retreat and induce the artillery to bombard.

The firepower points set up by Ryan can easily block the Farlans in this area and prevent them from advancing further.

The only problem was that the firepower points set up by Ryan were only suitable for troops attacking from the direction of Belfort.

Several colonels and lieutenant colonels looked at each other calmly.

They actually knew about the existence of these points a long time ago, but because the purpose of these firepower points was too single and they would most likely be snatched away and used by the Farlan army after construction, they did not build positions at these points.

Then, a colonel spoke.

He did not curse like his colleagues, but just spoke lightly.

"Captain Flig," he said, "we are all aware of these strongholds you have set up."

"They were indeed able to effectively block all attack routes to the forward defensive positions."

"But the problem is..." "How can you ensure that the stronghold you build won't be used by the enemy?"

His voice was very calm, without any hint of contempt or disdain.

"Besides, your army only has two battalions, with a total of 24 light machine guns and 4 heavy machine guns. How are you going to raise the remaining 16 light machine guns and one heavy machine gun?"

The implication was clear: the Seventh Army would not provide Ryan with more than the standard amount of equipment.

But his gentle tone made Ryan not choose to ignore him like he did to the previous lieutenant colonel, but spoke naturally.

"Regarding the first question, since it involves our military secrets, I cannot explain it to you before obtaining permission from the General Staff."

This was a very flattering statement, and even Brian felt that Ryan handled it quite well.

"And about the second question."

Ryan looked around at everyone present, a smile on his face.

"I brought with me a heavy assault battalion from the Fifth Military District. They arrived at Mulhouse with me and happened to be equipped with sixteen light machine guns and one heavy machine gun."

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After one hour.

Belfort, headquarters of the First Farland Army.

Senior military officers led by General Louis Bonneau gathered in a command post converted from a hotel to discuss operational plans for attacking Mulhouse and Colmar.

In front of them was a large map made up of hundreds of black and white photos.

Not only does it mark the current situation of the empire's front line, but it also clearly shows the location of each barbed wire.

This will be an excellent tactical map for them as they are about to launch the first wave of offensive.

Countless officers gathered around, nervously confirming the movement routes of each batch of attacking troops.

In their minds, there was no other idea except the word assault.

The Farlans desperately needed a major victory to reverse the situation that had clearly reached a stalemate.

But when a messenger delivered a document to General Louis Bonnot and all his staff members, the temperature in the entire command post instantly dropped to freezing point.

"Is this true?"

A major general, the commander of the first wave of offensive in this operation, looked coldly at the document in his hand, his shaking beard clearly showing his thoughts.

Then, the messenger who rushed into the command post with the intelligence immediately spoke.

"This information was obtained by a newspaper in Mulhouse an hour ago. They personally interviewed Imperial Army officers stationed in Mulhouse with the Seventh Army, and the information was confirmed by the local Imperial Army General Staff."

"The executioner from Stuttgart..."

A lieutenant colonel snuffed out the remaining cigarette butt in his hand without even noticing that the flame had burned his fingers.

"Ryan Flig, the owner of Blue Star Max, I didn't expect that he would actually come to Alsace just as the rumors said."

"Isn't that perfect?" Another colonel slammed his hand on the table and roared, "The Empire has only a few troops deployed in Mulhouse, at most a division."

"We have a whole army, and the morale of the soldiers is high. It's only a matter of time before we can kill them!"

As he spoke, he put the intelligence in his hand aside and stood at attention, facing Louis Bonnot, who was still staring at the report and the sand table with a frown on his face. "General, please allow me to personally lead the 2nd Infantry Regiment as the vanguard and launch the first wave of the offensive!"

"My troops are well-equipped and their morale is high. They can't wait to avenge their fallen comrades from the Lawrence Fleet!"

(End of this chapter)