After Mainz returned from the capital, he immediately began to gather troops to prepare for the expedition.
After disarmament, the German army had only two corps and six divisions, including one cavalry division.
Mainz did not hold anything back and directly notified all the troops to dispatch together, putting on a desperate posture to fight the Gauls!
"Major Guderian, your first division is the vanguard. Set off now with the goal of Dort. Control this place to prevent the French army from continuing to advance eastward!"
Seeing Guderian's excitement, Mainz said sharply:
"Remember, your mission is to block the advance of the French army, and you are not allowed to take the initiative until the follow-up troops arrive. If you disobey military orders, no matter what results you have achieved before, I will send you to a military court. Do you understand?"
Seeing that Major General Mainz spoke so seriously, Guderian finally put away the excitement on his face and answered seriously:"Yes, I promise to complete the mission!"
"Repeat my order!"
"First Division���Capture Dort and stop the French army in Tokyo. Never take a step out of Dort without an order!"
"Great, go get ready!"
Mainz nodded, and then asked Guderian to leave.
The reason why Guderian was asked to take the lead was because Guderian's troops had already begun preparing for war before Mainz left Hamburg, so at this time he Our troops are the most well-prepared and can set off as soon as they receive an order. If you seize the position early, you can block the enemy's advance early.
The Ruhr Industrial Zone is very important, and Mainz cannot just sit back and watch. Fall into the hands of the French army and ignore it!
"Model, the destination of your second division is Bocholt, which is the right wing of our army.
Occupying this place can block the French army from moving north.
Unless the French army and the Allies persuade the Windmill Country to join the war, our army will The security of the right wing can be guaranteed.
This task is very heavy.
If I were the French general, I would send at least one army to attack here and cut off the connection between our country and the Windmill Country.
Therefore, this task is very difficult.
I want to ask you, you Are you willing to accept this mission?"
Model has a nickname called Mo Bu Gong, which means that he is good at defense but not good at offense.
Mainz also understands this characteristic of Model very well, so he has no intention of handing over offensive matters at all. It would be difficult for anyone to do it for Model!
However, whenever a tough battle or a defensive battle is needed, the first thing Mainz thinks of is Model!
No one in the entire German army has as much defensive talent as Model..
Unlike Guderian's excitement, Model did not show too much excitement after hearing Major General Mainz's roll call.
He even had time to think for a while before he said:"General." , when our army deploys defenses, does it need to defend against enemies in the west?"
To the west of Bocholt is the Windmill Country. It stands to reason that the Windmill Country will not participate in the war, but the actual situation is difficult to judge.
The Second Division has insufficient troops, and it is already a bit difficult to let them go all out to defend the enemy in the south. We are stretched thin. If we add another threat from the west, it will be even more awkward.
By then, even if Model manages to form a defense line, I am afraid that the defense line will become a piece of paper due to the serious manpower gap.!
Therefore, Model's question will directly determine the German combat policy and strategic deployment.
Everyone looked at Mainz, waiting for his answer.
Mainz knew that his judgment was very important. It may directly affect the outcome of the war, but at this moment he can only take a gamble!
Historically, the Windmill Country did not participate in World War I, and it was also forced into the war by the Third Reich in World War II. Before that, the Windmill Country The relationship with Hans has always been good, and they even accepted the abdicated Kaiser for political asylum in the Windmill Country. Therefore, Mainz feels that the possibility of the Windmill Country participating in the war is very low.
"Don't worry about the windmill countrymen in the west. Your task is to go all out to defend the French army in the south!"
"Yes, General!"
Now that Major General Mainz has made his judgment, Model did not doubt Major General Mainz's judgment. After respectfully saluting a military salute, he quickly left the operations department and rushed back to his troops to prepare. Got it
"Dietrich, you lead your cavalry division and rush here immediately. Your task is very simple. Continue to exert pressure on the French army in the Rhine area from the east and be ready to attack their supply lines at any time. Do you understand?"
Mainz used the baton in his hand to circle a range on the map and said to Dietrich, the commander of the cavalry division who came from Odili.
Dietrich looked at it carefully for a while, then nodded:"I Got it, general!"
Seeing that everyone has received the mission one by one, the remaining people who have not yet received the mission are as anxious as ants on a hot pot.
Especially the commander of the third division, Kesselin, he hesitated several times to speak. He hesitated and wanted to ask for a fight, but he was worried that it would affect General Mainz's deployment.
Mainz found it very funny, so he opened his mouth and called Kesselring's name.
"Kesselring!"
"General, what are your orders?"
Kesselin was shocked when he heard his name, and immediately stood up and answered.
"The mission of the third division is here!"
Mainz used his baton to point to a place quite far away from the Ruhr Industrial Area on the map, and said to Kesselring:"Your task is not heavy. Enter Kaiserslautern and pose as if you are about to head west. Offensive stance!"
Kesselin scratched his head. This position doesn't look like there is a battle to be fought!
Placing a main force here makes him confused.
"If you don't understand, just think more. By the way, don't rush to set off when you go back. I will ask people to contact factories such as Rheinmetall and Krupp and ask them to send you a batch of equipment for 100,000 people. When you leave, take these Take away the equipment together!"
If Kesselring was only confused about the deployment of Mainz before, then he was completely confused at this time.
Although the Third Division is the main division of the German army, the total strength of this division is only 16,000 people. , an army of 16,000 people is equipped with equipment of 100,000 people. What is the truth?
Although the more equipment, the better, but this is several times more, which is a bit abnormal!
"how? Are you curious why you are asked to bring so much equipment?"
Seeing Kesselring's confused look, Mainz was angry and funny.
"Yes, I can't figure it out a bit!"
"Huh, if you don't understand, just think about it more. By the way, this is Major Manstein from Bolin. He is a staff officer from the General Staff. I will transfer him to you and make you the chief of staff. Here we are. After Kaiserslautern, if you still don't understand, you can ask him!"
After Mainz finished speaking, he waved his hand and told Kesselring to go away. He would definitely explain some things when they should be explained, but when they shouldn't be explained, Mainz was unwilling to say a word.
It was not comprehensive at this time.
The era of war is just a military conflict that may break out.
At this time, it is natural to focus on training the officers under your command.
Naturally, you cannot do everything on your own shoulders.
In that case, it will be difficult for them to grow.
Mainz will not He wants the people under him to become a group of machines that can only execute orders.
What he wants is a group of generals and even marshals who can stand alone and deal with various situations!
Kesselring's record in history is very brilliant, which shows that his He is very talented, so Mainz has high hopes for him, hoping that he can show his military talents as soon as possible.
For this reason, he specially transferred Manstein to the third division in order to use these two tactics. Let's discuss more, master!