Battle of the Third Reich

"No! It shouldn't be like this! Why, unlike what I thought, the Germans shouldn't attack now! Our big troops haven't arrived here yet. Don't they want to divide and surround us here?"

Montgomery shouted loudly at Alexander.

"What exactly do those Germans want to do?"

"time."

Xu Jun took a fork from the beautiful silver plate in front of him and roasted a piece of just right fat and juicy beef and put it in his mouth. He satisfactorily tasted the rare delicacy on the front line.

The officers at the same table were also happily cutting the beef on their plate, and now they all stopped their forks and looked at their commander, waiting for him to continue. In fact, they would also like to hear the commander tell him what the ultimate purpose of his sophisticated pre-planning is. They have been privately speculating about the purpose of Xu Jun’s arrangement of the complex trap, but so far they have not received two identical answers, not even similar ones.

"Time." Xu Jun slowly swallowed the beef in his mouth, and then took a big sip of the red wine placed in front of him. He looked at the staff and the staff looking at him with expectant eyes. Lieutenants.

"Gentlemen, I just want time."

"Can you be more specific? My Excellency General."

Colonel Weierle, the chief of staff of Xu Jun's general headquarters, asked in doubt that he was the chief of staff of the general headquarters. Hearing his words, the other officers also nodded vigorously in agreement.

Weierle continued to ask: "In the past two days, I have also made a guess about the operational purpose of your previous plan. Because you and I can only see your current plan, you don’t know your The next stage of the plan. So I also hope that the general can tell us what you want to achieve at this stage, what is the role of the next stage of the operation and your ultimate goal? Otherwise we are really difficult to prepare for the next stage of the operation ."

"Hahahaha, my Colonel Weiler. You must know that for the sake of secrecy, no one knows everything except a few generals and staff of the headquarters. Even the headquarters of the group army can only receive Each has detailed instructions without knowing why it was done. It’s understandable that you are confused. Since you want to know the overall content of this plan so much, I can tell you a little, but I can only tell you the purpose of our current campaign You still need to understand what the action plan is in the future. I believe that if you understand what I want to obtain now, you can think of our next plan."

"Then please tell us quickly." Colonel Weiler said eagerly. "I'm really curious what exactly do you want? Originally we thought you wanted to lead the British out of the canal area and let the armored forces divide and surround them to annihilate them. But according to your order, those armored forces started to operate last night, Their attack was too early, and the enemy's large force has not entered that area. Why should you do this?"

"Colonel Weiler, because I never planned to divide and encircle and annihilate those British people in the Alaskan Plain." Xu Jun replied with a smile.

"What? Didn't you think that way? So why did we spend so much effort arranging the trap?" After hearing Xu Jun's answer, Weierle was even more confused.

"I said it, time. I led them out of the canal area and blocked their way so quickly, just wanting to get precious time." Xu Jun forked another piece of beef and chewed into his mouth.

"You mean, you are not going to wipe out the enemy there, and now the armored forces are not attacking but blocking?"

"Yes, the accurate statement is that the door is closed. We are closing the door of hope for the British Expeditionary Force." Xu Jun swallowed the beef and continued.

"If we want to annihilate those British teams near Arras, it is technically feasible, but we will also pay a great price because of the dying struggle of the British. And we can’t forget that there are still in the siege circle. The First Army of France, they haven’t had any action until now, it seems that they are on the sidelines. If they find that we are trying to wipe out the British, they may engage in some small movements behind our intervening troops to make our troops Suffered some unnecessary losses.

Even if they don't do that, they will immediately shrink their lines of defense and hide completely into the depths of the canal area. It is also a troublesome thing that we want to eliminate them again. "

"Then we can't let them all run out and eat together?" Randolph asked with a glass of red wine in doubt.

"My dear Captain Randolph, you are too naive to know that if we waited until their last troops left the canal area, their vanguard had already been in contact with the main French force." Weierle preemptively asked Randolph's question After answering, he turned to Xu Jun and asked, "I also understand why you don't want to fight an annihilation battle in General Arras. But I really can't think of any tactics you want to use to destroy those enemies. "

"My dear Colonel Wehrler, I'm not trying to annihilate them. I want to capture them all." Xu Jun replied with a confident expression.

"Captive? How is it possible?"

"Gentlemen, as I said before, all I want is time, and I have got the time I need now. If we follow our previous style of play, when we break through the enemy’s defense from all directions and hit the beach The British had already retreated to their island by their navy.

It's different now. I used that trap to get two days. During these two days, I planted mines in the strait, completely blocked the Dover Strait, and cut off their retreat at sea. In the past two days, our follow-up troops also caught up and joined the front-line corps, and our assault strength has been strengthened. In the past two days, I have accumulated a large amount of ammunition on the front line, and I have prepared for the future continuous operations. During these two days, we have rehabilitated and supplemented the front-line troops.

During these two days, the British could do nothing but rush back and forth and consume their precious materials. When they finally realize that they cannot break through our armored defense line, their main force will definitely retreat to their original position, which will give us more time.

And while they were desperately heading towards Arras, we have been attacking the Belgian defense for two consecutive days. If we now strengthen our offensive strength as planned, I believe that the Belgian army will be within 24 hours It will collapse. We can force the Belgians to surrender before the British can rush back to their defense line, and then take over their defense line. In that way, we can not only free up more troops to deal directly with the British and French troops, but we can also tear a big hole in their defenses, making their canal defenses completely meaningless. "

"Ah, it's really wonderful, my general, you are really the greatest war genius I have ever seen." Weierle finally understood Xu Jun's idea, as an experienced staff officer, he Immediately understood Xu Jun's meaning, and now he was finally completely convinced by Xu Jun's plan.

Weyler added happily: "Also, if the British and the French know that their breakthrough plan is not feasible, their morale will fall sharply after they have caught our trap. And when they know that they are the only one When the maritime passage is also blocked by us, they will fall into complete despair. At that time their command will become panic, and their soldiers will lose their fighting spirit.

I think that their supplies should be running out soon, you let them waste two days, that is, let them consume two days of supplies in vain. By then, the British and the French will have to rely on airdrops to maintain the survival of the troops. Of course, you will not let them get airdrop supplies so easily.

As a result, when our troops overwhelmed the Belgians and rushed to the beach, they would be completely surrounded by a small area with no retreat, not enough ammunition, or even enough food, and morale was extremely low. At that time we will not be able to hold on for much time without attacking them.

According to their habits, when all hope is broken and all retreats are cut off, they will not continue to fight a hopeless battle, they will definitely choose to surrender. "

Weierle said more and more excited, the other staff and adjutants finally understood Xu Jun's plan, and their faces were full of joy.

"Yes, Colonel," Xu Jun said with a smile.

"At that time we will be able to win the biggest victory at the smallest cost. And according to my plan, we may have unexpected prizes in addition to those half a million troops."

"What prize?" Weiler asked eagerly.

"Haha, I don't want to say now, you will understand in the future. But we can't make the enemy think so simple, they will make the final struggle. At that time, it was a severe test for any troops fighting them. This must make the frontline troops clear that we are facing the elite of the British, not the incompetent French teams.

The British have already started mine clearance in the strait. From the intelligence point of view, it will take another three days to clear a fairway for large ships. Now the enemy can run away. Our task is still very arduous, we have to speed up our offensive speed, and block the retreat before they start to retreat. Although it seems that we have the upper hand from the current situation, we still have to maintain a high degree of vigilance. Any minor mistakes may ruin a war. Such examples are everywhere in history. "

"Understood, General." The officers stood up and answered solemnly.

"That's good, everyone sit down. Our lunch is not over yet? What do you think of today's beef?"

"It's really good, my deputy head. Hahahaha, it's really delicious. I didn't expect to eat such delicious beef on the front line, it was like I was eating it in a restaurant in Berlin. Remember that I was still "..." Randolph said with a piece of beef on a fork.

Dougan, who was sitting next to him, thought the guy seemed a little too proud, and gave him a foot under the table.

"Ouch." Randolph cried out in pain, and he turned his head to find Dougan theory. But when he saw Dougan's gray eyes staring at him fiercely, he flinched back again. Everyone looked at Randolph's grievances and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, Lieutenant Colonel Dougan, do you have any opinion on today's beef?" Xu Jun asked with a smile.

"Ah, deputy head of state, I have no opinion, this beef is very delicious, very good." Dogen replied quickly and respectfully, by the way, once again glared at Randolph again, this guy is still showing a sense of grievance. Holding a fork and drawing circles on the plate, the face of the SS was lost by this guy.

"Haha, I thought you were dissatisfied. The beef was ordered by the head of the air force to send me from Berlin. It is definitely a good thing. Speaking of the air force, Hans." Xu Jun turned his head and looked aside. Hans drinking in a wine glass.

"Ah, here, Lord General." Hans put down the cup quickly.

"When will the large airport that we built near the barracks be completed? You have to know that the air force divisions directly assigned to me by the head of state have been fully deployed, and they can be stationed as soon as the airport is completed. . This Air Force Division will play a very important role in our next phase of operations. I hope that the construction of the airport will be completed before the next phase of operations begins."

"Yes, General, I have urged the engineering unit to speed up the process, and the speed has been greatly improved after the engineering unit sent by the Air Force has joined. But this airport is too large to accommodate an Air Force Division aircraft, ammunition, The supplies and command organs are not ordinary field airports, but they are now about 90% complete. Only some auxiliary facilities and command systems have been commissioned. If they are allowed to work overtime, tomorrow night It should be completed."

"Very good, Hans, you did very well." Xu Jun nodded with satisfaction.

"Gentlemen!"

Xu Jun stood up and picked up the glass.

"For our victory in this stage of the battle and for the success of the next stage of the battle, I suggest everyone to have a drink.

The officers quickly stood up with cups.

"For Germany, for victory!" Xu Jun drank the glass of wine in one gulp.

"For Germany, for victory!" The officers also drank the wine.

"So is it time for dessert?"

A voice suddenly sounded, and everyone turned around, staring blankly at the young SS officer with a naive look.

With a crunch, Lieutenant Colonel Dougan shattered the cup in his hand. ;