Chapter 939 Saarbrücken is safe
After the order was passed down, Hindenburg calmed down from the panic he had just heard the information.
He held his chin and stared at the map for a long time before asking expressionlessly, "Is the source of the intelligence reliable?"
Ludendorff turned his gaze to the staff officer beside him.
The staff officer hurriedly opened the document in his hand and checked it. It recorded the source of each piece of intelligence, and important intelligence also had detailed descriptions.
"The information comes from the US military, Your Excellency Marshal." The staff officer replied:
"We are spies in the US military, and he heard some rumors."
"In addition, French tanks were indeed secretly transferred to Strasbourg, as well as troops."
The German army had a complete intelligence system in Lorraine and Alsace. After all, they had controlled the area for decades, and the residents living there had become mixed together and difficult to distinguish.
The German army did not spend much effort to develop a group of spies, and left them dormant among the people before retreating.
Hindenburg nodded slightly. If the information was obtained from the US military, it would be more credible. The US military had just joined the war and its confidentiality work was not as thorough as that of Britain and France.
"Any questions?" Ludendorff asked.
"No, it's all right." Hindenburg himself was not sure:
"I just wonder, the area east of the Rhine doesn't seem to be very suitable for armored units to fight."
"What was supposed to be a top-secret battle plan fell into our hands so easily."
"Considering that Ciel is very good at using false information to confuse the enemy, I am a little worried that this might be a smokescreen from him."
Ludendorff laughed:
"I don't think so, Marshal."
"You can either have no faith in our spies or be suspicious of Ciel."
“But you must trust the British and the Americans!”
Hindenburg was puzzled: "What do you mean?"
"This is politics, Marshal," Ludendorff explained.
"Think about it. The Shire recently formed the 'League of Nations', which is likely to surpass the United States and the United Kingdom."
"Will the British and Americans allow the Shire to continue in this way?"
Hindenburg was stunned for a moment, then he understood: "You mean, this is possible that Britain and the United States intentionally revealed this intelligence to us?"
"Yes." Ludendorff had a smile on his face, which seemed to show his contempt for Britain and the United States:
"To be precise, it's not 'possible', it's 'very likely'."
"Britain and the United States do not want the Shire to win easily. What they want is for the Shire to fall into the quagmire and suffer losses together with us."
"And the Charles are obviously superior to us in military equipment, tactics, and combat effectiveness, so..."
Hindenburg responded: "Considering the interests of Britain and the United States, will the battle plan be handed over to us?"
"That's right," Ludendorff replied.
"So, we should not doubt the authenticity of this intelligence just because it is so easy to obtain."
"Otherwise, we might miss an opportunity, a great opportunity."
…
Saarburg, headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force.
After Shire and Pershing left, Haig had a secret meeting with Baker.
The U.S. government decided to keep this matter secret from Pershing because they believed that Pershing was too emotional and not suitable for participating in political and strategic decision-making.
"All we have to do now is find an opportunity," Baker said, "and then reveal the battle plan to the Germans in a veiled way."
"Don't worry about it." Haig was a little absent-minded: "Lorraine and Alsace are full of German spies. It's not difficult to do this. The problem is..."
"What?" Baker frowned, worried that something unexpected would happen.
Haig hesitated for a moment, then took out a document from the drawer and handed it to Baker:
"This is the geographical information we have scouted on the east bank of the Rhine."
"We even sent people to swim to the east coast to capture prisoners, so we are very familiar with the situation on the east coast."
"My judgment is that even with a 'belt bridge', it will be very difficult for the Shire to cross the river and land."
Baker opened the document and took a look. It seemed to be just as Haig said.
The east bank of the Rhine is a flat alluvial zone. When the river water rises in spring, a large area of land is flooded and turned into a half-water, half-mud swamp.
The "belt pontoon bridge" can quickly build a floating bridge across the river, but it will run aground if it enters a swamp with low draft.
It was even more impossible for the tanks to get through, as they would definitely be stuck in it and unable to move.
Haig added: "Even if Charles succeeds in crossing the river and taking Offenburg, do you know what will happen?"
Baker didn't answer, just gave him a questioning look.
Although he was the Secretary of War, he knew little about military affairs, so the wise choice was to listen more and talk less.
"It's difficult to transport supplies to the east coast." Haig gave the answer: "Even if the Shire has amphibious landing ships."
Amphibious landing ships loaded with supplies would also be stuck in the swamp, not to mention that the Germans would block the river with artillery fire.
"You mean..." Baker suddenly realized something.
"Yes." Haig showed a grim smile on his face: "It seems that there is no need for us to reveal any battle plan. We can wait until Charles captures Offenburg and then see the situation."
If the Shire was already in trouble, there would be no need for Britain and the United States to do anything unnecessary.
If not, it would not be too late to reveal some intelligence to the Germans at that time, and they could also consider delaying the supply.
Baker thought for a moment, then frowned: "Since the situation on the east bank of the Rhine is like this, do you think Charles will..."
His eyes turned to Saarbrücken on the map.
An idea popped into his mind: could the plan given by Charles be a fake? Would his real goal still be Saarbrücken?
"Impossible!" Haig smiled confidently:
"Like Ciel said, the Germans have set that cloth as a trap."
"The forests on both sides were full of German artillery."
"More importantly, the minefield on the Saarbrücken front is 30 kilometers long and 2 kilometers wide. This alone is enough to prevent any troop from penetrating!"
…
"Saarbrücken is safe," Hindenburg declared.
"For more than two months we did nothing but build trenches and mines in front of it."
"One layer after another, minefields, trenches, barbed wire. Anti-infantry and anti-tank mines, and steel ball mines."
"If Charr's mechanized troops attack from the front, this place will become another quagmire!"
(Note: The German army learned how to make "directional mines" and called them "steel ball mines")
Ludendorff had no objection. No unit could pass through the 2-kilometer-wide minefield in a short time.
Behind this 2-kilometer minefield, Hindenburg deployed three 105MM artillery regiments and six 77MM artillery battalions around Saarbrücken.
When Charles' armored forces were trapped in minefields and unable to move, they would be blown into the sky by these artillery pieces.
"So," Ludendorff said, "we can safely transfer troops to the east bank of the Rhine for defense, which is where infantry is most needed."
(End of this chapter)
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