Chapter 966: Lure the Enemy Deeply
Pershing was not a traitor.
Baker, Haig, and Wilson all agreed that "Pershing could not be trusted" and that "he might reveal the plan to Shire."
Therefore, they thought about removing Pershing and replacing him with someone more obedient and cooperative as the commander of the American Expeditionary Force.
However, the U.S. military, which had just joined the war, obviously had no more suitable candidate than Pershing. They were worried that removing Pershing, who had made great military achievements, without any reason would cause resistance from the U.S. military or affect morale.
So they came up with a solution that would get the best of both worlds.
One day Haig approached Pershing:
"Commodore, we need to implement a secret plan."
"In this plan, the British and American troops will retreat under the attack of the Germans, but not really retreat, but concentrate them in the plains to encircle and annihilate them."
"Because this is a secret operation between the British and American forces, this plan cannot be told to anyone, including Charles. Do you understand?"
Although Pershing felt something was wrong, he had to follow orders and keep it secret under Baker's "supervision".
This was not the reason why Pershing was able to record a conversation between Baker and Haig.
He had previously promised Charles to "give an explanation".
The British are so shameless, Pershing thought. Haig and Baker actually secretly revealed Charles' battle plan to the Germans!
That's why the Germans were fooled into transferring heavy troops to the east bank of the Rhine, that's why Saarbrücken was short of troops, and that's why Charles was able to create such a big storm with 5,000 paratroopers.
This is espionage and treason, even though they keep saying it's for the national interest!
Pershing decided to investigate the matter, and he sent someone to connect to Baker and Haig's private phone line and record it.
As a result, Pershing discovered a shocking secret.
"Good news, General." Baker called Haig: "We have reached a consensus that they will launch a counterattack in five days."
"Excellent, Your Excellency," Haig replied. "Now it is time to tell Pershing about the plan."
Then the two of them laughed meaningfully.
The content of the call sounded very ordinary, and at first glance there was nothing valuable, but Pershing's mind was suddenly in a mess.
“We have reached a consensus”, who do we mean?
"They will launch a counterattack in five days." Who are they? If they are Germans, why did Beck know in advance that the Germans would counterattack?
"Tell Pershing the plan." Is this plan the so-called secret plan?
Putting all of this together, and thinking about the fact that Britain and the United States had previously intentionally leaked intelligence to the Germans, Pershing was shocked by the answer he came up with.
"God," he exclaimed.
"They have joined forces with the Germans."
"This is not a 'lure the enemy in deep' plan."
"It's a plan by the British, American and German forces to try to eliminate the First Panzer Army and even Charles."
After calming down, Pershing decided to pretend that he knew nothing. He didn't want to get involved in this dispute.
However, when he saw the disappointment and depression that Charles showed, he felt that he could not continue like this.
Because this is not in the interests of the United States or of humanity, at least that's what Pershing thinks.
…
Charles did not use the recording to expose Britain and the United States' conspiracy. He hoped to give them a loud slap in the face in his own way.
The British and American defense lines retreated little by little, a few hundred meters today, a mile tomorrow, and sometimes they would be quiet for a few days.
After more than a month, they finally retreated to the "super defense line".
The British and American troops had nowhere to retreat. If they retreated further, they would have to engage in a battle with the Germans with Pétain's Center Army Group and a solid line of defense that had taken several months to build.
On this line of defense, there are not only bunkers, artillery positions, barbed wire, and mines, but also complete underground passages, as well as artillery positions and armored trains in the rear.
Once the battle with the French army came into contact, the Germans, who were short of ammunition, would probably not be able to complete the whole game.
Then the defense line was stabilized.
However, the 1st Panzer Army stationed in Saarbrücken became a salient and was in danger of being surrounded by the German army and having its supply lines cut off.
The Germans were ready to lay siege to Saarbrücken: artillery, armored forces, aviation, and an army group of 300,000 people dug trenches to form a semicircle around Saarbrücken.
Only the southwest direction could not be surrounded because it was a 20-kilometer-long minefield full of mines that had not been cleared. The French army also brought in more mines to extend the minefield, which is now 3 kilometers deep.
In addition, there are two French motorized divisions protecting the supply lines in this direction.
Although the war was about to break out, Hindenburg and Wilhelm II were hesitant to launch an attack.
…
General Staff, Berlin.
As William II commanded his troops to a series of "incredible" victories on the Western Front, he had successfully established a foothold in the army, and his status even seemed to surpass Hindenburg.
Many people are thinking:
"Is Hindenburg's tactics too conservative? He has always been thinking about defense and even built a line of defense."
"Yes, our troops are better at attacking. Perhaps offense is the best defense."
"The emperor's command is correct, and his battle results during this period prove this!"
…
The German army even experienced a period of "revival", the morale of the soldiers was boosted, the citizens cheered loudly, and more and more people signed up to join the army.
William II was once in great glory.
Although Hindenburg and Ludendorff had doubts about the abnormal situation on the battlefield, they did not think much about it. They just thought it was a problem of the combat effectiveness of the British and American armies, as well as William II's luck.
"Impossible!" Hindenburg said to Saarbrücken on the map, "Charles can't just leave the 1st Panzer Army in Saarbrücken and wait for death. He must have something to rely on!"
William II remained silent.
Before this, his ideas were very different from Hindenburg's. Hindenburg advocated defense, while William II strongly advocated offense.
But this time, William II agreed with Hindenburg's point of view, and Charles certainly would not sit idly by.
After thinking for a while, he said in a muffled voice: "The point is, what can Ciel do?"
"Mine-sweeping tanks." Hindenburg frowned. "They can use mine-sweeping tanks to move in and out of the minefields at will, so they don't have to worry about the retreat route."
Hindenburg was reluctant to mention this.
The minefield that the German army spent a lot of resources to lay under his command was now being used by Charles. This was his mistake.
"Then we can also use mine-clearing tanks." Wilhelm II stared at Hindenburg: "Is it difficult to copy it?"
"No, Your Majesty," Hindenburg replied, "We have successfully copied it, Your Majesty, but the point is that they have air superiority and our tanks can easily be destroyed by their artillery fire."
What happened? Hindenburg was puzzled. How could he command his troops to repel the British and American troops without knowing this?
(End of this chapter)
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