"General, is there going to be a war?"
The French army directly invaded the Ruhr area, instantly detonating regional tensions and shaking the entire country of Hans. In just one and a half months, there were two consecutive Gauls-led actions against Germany, which shocked the people. Anti-French sentiment is rising, and many soldiers in the army have come to Mainz to petition, asking to go to war and defend their country!
Mainz is packing up his things and preparing to go to Berlin, the capital. President Hindenburg has just issued a message. The telegram summoned him urgently, probably to discuss how to deal with the Ruhr incident.
At this time, Guderian and others came over, but Mainz really couldn't give them a clear answer.
"Be ready for battle and be ready to take to the battlefield at any time!"
Although I estimate in my heart that this battle should not be fought, we cannot say this casually. Since the enthusiasm of the army is so high, we should seize this opportunity and let them prepare for the war. This can also be regarded as accumulating experience for the future.
"yes!"
Guderian misunderstood, because Mainz gave an affirmative answer, so he immediately stood up straight, knocked his heels, and answered loudly.
Looking at Guderian's leaving back, Mainz seemed to have Thoughts
"General, the special train to Bolin is ready. Do you want to leave now?"
"Well, let's go!"
Five hours later, Mainz arrived at the presidential office and met President Hindenburg again after half a year.
"sit!"
There are already several people in President Hindenburg's office. One of them is familiar to Mainz, but the other one has no impression.
"Let me introduce, this is Colonel Bock, and this is Major Manstein!"
"You don't need to introduce me to this one, right?"
After Hindenburg finished his introduction, the two people opposite him immediately stood up and saluted Mainz one after another.
"It's an honor to meet you, General Mainz, you are the pride of our imperial soldiers!"
Colonel Bock is 17 years older than Mainz, but he does not have the consciousness of his predecessors in front of Mainz. After all, there is a two-level difference in military rank between the two sides. He needs to be promoted to brigadier general before he can enter the ranks of generals, and Mainz Ci is already a genuine major general!
"It's an honor to meet you too, Colonel Bock!"
Mainz also returned a military salute and said with a smile.
Although Bock is a soldier, he does not belong to the Hans Defense Forces. He is a member of the Special R Gate. This army is an army that does not exist. It is a secret army formed by General Hindenburg himself. In order to avoid the eyes and ears of the Allied Powers, this army has no domestic establishment, and there is no evidence of its existence.
However, this is indeed an armed force of the empire, and it is. A very important force, because it is too mysterious, even Mainz does not know how many people there are in this unit code-named R.
This is the first time Mainz has seen Bock. He became the third in history. The famous Imperial Field Marshal did not have a high military rank at this time, but Mainz did not underestimate him because of this, and he was still thinking in his mind: Hand over all the people from the R team. Maybe there is really going to be a war. What do you think?
There is no need to introduce the other person, Manstein, this strange but familiar name.
"Nice to see you here, bro!"
Mainz took the initiative to step forward and gave Manstein, who looked a little restrained, a hug.
"Nice to see you too, Levinsky!"
Perhaps Mainz's sincere actions infected Manstein. This staff officer who looked a little bookish finally showed a smile on his sullen face.
"Ahem, okay, don't be rude to me here, you can talk when you have time to go out, now let's talk about business! Hindenburg coughed lightly, and then asked someone to lay out a map of northwest Hans, especially the Ruhr Industrial Area.
"The French army arrived in the Ruhr Industrial Area yesterday. They have taken control of Aachen and are currently heading north. They will soon enter Dort and Essen and other places. If we want to stop the French army's actions, what do you think we should do? ?"
After Hindenburg finished speaking, he looked at the three people with burning eyes and waited quietly for their answers.
Mainz frowned slightly when he heard the old marshal's words. Hindenburg did not ask the three people for their opinions. Without discussing with the three men whether they could send troops, they directly decided on the march, leaving them only the power to discuss how to act. This made Mainz feel a little uncomfortable with the prestige of Marshal Hindenburg. If you want to do something seriously, other people may not be able to stop it, even if this person is the defense minister!
Thinking of this, Mainz simply put away his thoughts and focused on the picture in front of him. On the map.
Hans's country is not large, so the map is not complicated. There is a full-scale military map in his own office in Mainz, and there are even several very detailed ones in the German staff office. A large sand table.
From the map, Aachen is located on the border of Belgium. This time the French army is dispatched together with the Belgian army. The location of the dispatch is the eastern part of Belgium, so Aachen is their must. After capturing this place, they can take the train north along the railway and enter the Ruhr Industrial Area.
Due to the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, Aachen belongs to the Rhine Demilitarized Zone, so the German army is not allowed to deploy troops here..
This allows the French and Belgian troops to move northward from here unimpeded without any interference or threats.
The railway's transportation capacity is very powerful. If the French army is fully prepared, then within three days. Within, they can transport at least 100,000 troops to the front line. Even taking into account logistical supplies and military equipment, they can transport at least 50,000 fully clothed troops to the Ruhr Industrial Zone.
The German army currently has 100,000 Wehrmacht troops. There is also an unknown number of R troops. In terms of numbers, they may not be able to fight this battle.
However, the actual situation is not so optimistic.
As long as the German army cannot cut off the French army's northward route, especially the railway line, then The French army's follow-up troops will be continuously replenished.
By then, the number of French troops can easily exceed the total strength of the German army.
What's even more disadvantageous is that the French army is also equipped with heavy artillery and tanks, and also has the support of the air force, which makes them more vulnerable.
It has a huge advantage in obtaining intelligence and fire support.
If it were to fight, the German army would not necessarily have an advantage.
If this was not 192, but 1919, Mainz would definitely support fighting this battle. After all, it was last year. At this time, the German army has not yet completed disarmament. It still has at least four to five million veterans. However, at this time, the disarmament of the German army has been completed. There are really only 100,000 Wehrmacht troops. Such a small force, and it is the entire army. Mainz would be very reluctant to let them go to the battlefield in such a hurry!
These troops are not prepared for the current battle at all. They are the fire that Mainz is preparing for the large-scale expansion of the army in the future. Every soldier has the ability to become an officer. They will become the skeleton of millions or even millions of German troops in the future. Once the German army completes its recruitment expansion, with the leadership of these backbones, the German army will quickly acquire combat effectiveness and have the strength to wage war.
But it's still too early. If we start a war at this time, it's hard to say whether we can win or not. But one thing is for sure, it will ruin his alienation plan!
If he loses, it probably won't have any impact on his plan, but it will cause the German army to lose a lot of personnel, and the gain will not be worth the loss.
If they win, it will be even worse. After seeing the combat effectiveness of the German army and the defeat of the French army, they may not think that Gaul has the ability to annex Hans until the sun sets. At that time, it will be very difficult for them to continue to loosen the grip of the German army. It's hard to say.
So, Mainz decided to stop this war
"Mr. President, I think the time is not yet ripe. We cannot win this war!"
Before Mainz could speak, Major Manstein had already said what he said.