Chapter 69: The British Lack Strategy, the French Lack Wit

At the French front-line headquarters, General Dragon gazed at the hanging map of Germany for a long time. "After seventy-two hours of artillery barrage and air strikes, turn the Saar region into a sea of fire. Remember, do not encircle the German civilians; give them a chance to flee. The First Army will split into two paths: one heading east with the sun as its guide, and the other forming the southern group, targeting the German forces in Austria and the Alps to sever their connection with southern Germany."

"As for coordinating with the U.S. Third Army commanded by Patton, that is the mission of the French Second Army led by General de Lattre de Tassigny."

During the first day of bombardment in the Saar region, the French army fired 1.5 million shells of various calibers, which was roughly equivalent to the weekly consumption of the French army during the Battle of Verdun.

Faced with this intensity of shelling, the urban area of Saar was reduced to rubble. Corpses were buried beneath the debris, and the survivors, their faces stained with blood and grime, stared blankly at the ruins and smoke. Those who were still relatively healthy seized the time to salvage their property and put out fires, while the cries of women and children served as the background noise during the lulls in the artillery fire.

Suddenly, an unusual, piercing screech pierced through the roar of the artillery. "French bombers!" someone screamed.

Survivors looked up to see three French bombers tearing through the mist, their wing-mounted sirens emitting a harsh, mournful wail.

The first two-hundred-kilogram bomb landed right in the middle of a crowd fighting a fire, the shockwave tossing several people up into the treetops, their severed limbs dangling and swaying among the piles of rubble.

German residents in the Saar urban area fled in all directions, howling and crying as they sought cover from the aerial bombs falling at any moment.

However, the anticipated large-scale bombing did not arrive. Instead, propaganda leaflets fluttered down from the sky like brilliant fireworks, drifting slowly. Some survivors picked up the leaflets; they contained various texts in German, but they were certainly not surrender appeals:

"We have returned."

"The entire Saar region is within the bombing range, and any settlement will be consumed by the flames of French vengeance."

"Germany opened the gates of hell with its own hands, and now Germany shall face the true devils."

"All German residents in the Saar region are deemed members of the German Volkssturm. France will complete the task left unfinished by the Saar Offensive of 1939."

The leaflets airdropped by the French planes contained no false promises of sparing those who laid down their weapons or causing no harm to the populace. Every leaflet was filled with fierce rhetoric of revenge and intimidation.

On the central front, General Patton's U.S. Third Army began an unyielding advance. The entire army formed a long marching column, its deployment resembling the snake of Mount Changshan: strike its head and the tail responds, strike its tail and the head responds, strike its middle and both head and tail respond simultaneously.

The vanguard had already engaged the German defenders, yet some units had still not set out. Major General Gay, the chief of staff, found Patton to report on the progress of the general offensive. "The British in the north, led by Montgomery, have already commenced their offensive. Alongside the attack, Montgomery has also arranged for two airborne divisions to drop behind German lines."

"The British always engage in these fancy, showy maneuvers and then call it the art of war," General Patton sneered upon hearing this. "I really don't know what the art of constant defeat is trying to demonstrate. It's just that Ike always tolerates the British."

"The French on the southern front have also begun their attack. Reports indicate that the French First Army fired 1.5 million rounds of ammunition in a single day, though the ground advance has not yet started," Major General Gay continued his report.

"Ike mentioned that General Dragon is someone who rarely speaks publicly. There are many such generals in France; conservative generals who will not adopt risky strategies and fight by the book. The French army is dragged down by these conservative generals. Still, victory is certain now, so it's not a major problem—certainly more reliable than the always showy British."

"Orders: advance straight toward the Rhine, cross the river without resting." Patton spoke cheerfully of the British lack of strategic sense and the French lack of tactical brilliance, and with a smile, instructed Chief of Staff Gay to issue the combat orders.

General Patton believed that the German army no longer possessed the capability to counterattack. Faced with a fifteen-hundred-kilometer-long front, their so-called defense plan consisted merely of holding onto their respective defensive positions while waiting to be encircled, unable to provide mutual support or coordination, let alone cooperation. The Allied forces could fight however they pleased.

Without needing much thought, relying on an absolute advantage where every condition surpassed the Germans tenfold, they simply needed to push straight into the German heartland. What strategy was even left to speak of?

However, the various superfluous maneuvers currently undertaken by Britain and France would allow Patton to become the fastest-advancing Allied force, enabling the Third Army to win glory for America in front of all nations.

The armored column of the U.S. Third Army stretched for five miles: Sherman tanks, half-tracks, fuel trucks, and infantry on foot, all crawling eastward. Jeeps crushed the roads plowed open by artillery fire, crushed bricks crunching beneath their tires.

Alongside the road, the wreckage of a Tiger tank lay slanted into the ruins of a farmhouse, its barrel twisted into a corkscrew.

Next to the tank, three German Volksgrenadier corpses were neatly aligned, their pale faces turned upward, steel helmets placed upon their chests. The bodies had been pulled out and posed by the U.S. military as a decorative touch to this advance.

At the quarters of the French Youth Division in Paris, Corman wore a melancholic expression, one hand propping up his chin. In his heart, he suspected whether the esteemed French General Dragon had forgotten about the Youth Division.

Ever since the general offensive began on March 7th, this was already the third day. Unlike the German experience in the Saar region, where aerial bombs and 155mm shells were served in endless supply, Paris was entirely peaceful.

Yet this peace was not what he wanted. As the saying goes, wealth is sought amidst peril, and while the risks of war had to be factored in, Germany was a genuine imperialist power. If Corman failed to get a piece of the pie, missing out on the century would be an understatement.

Hans, Corman's German translator, finally managed to get the radio working. Listening to enemy broadcasts had by now become a habit for Corman.

The all-out offensives on both the eastern and western fronts had already begun, and even the most loyal Germans now knew what the ultimate outcome would be.

As Martin and Alan walked into the dormitory, Corman was closely listening to the Germans' characteristic, impassioned, and hysterical speech: "Soldiers, the enemy's advance in the west has begun. We will have no opportunity to beg for peace, nor will they give us one. Our army has already initiated preliminary actions, and in the coming weeks and months, the big one is coming."

"The Volkssturm will throw themselves into battle with devotion, as if participating in a religious ritual. When our soldiers take up their weapons and crawl into tanks, images of their martyred children and raped wives will float before their eyes, and shouts of vengeance will burst from their throats, making the enemy tremble in fear."

"Just like the hardships the Führer has experienced in the past, we too shall ultimately achieve victory. I firmly believe that we can overcome this hardship. We will launch a grand offensive against the enemy, we will defeat them, we will annihilate them, and one day, our banners will triumph. This is our firm and unshakable belief."

"The German Führer's mobilization speech?" Martin asked curiously, listening to Hans' translation. "The voice is certainly very inflammatory."

"It should... not be," Corman replied after a moment of contemplation. "This voice should be Goebbels', but he's right—the big one is coming."

It was somewhat a pity that the Führer likely wouldn't give any public speeches during this final period; they wouldn't get to hear a German-style broadcast of the sacred voice.