"For Poland, the most important task at the moment is to hold back the main force of the German army to the east as much as possible, waiting for the support of our French army's general offensive." Bertrand looked around and said resolutely.
"For this reason, it is best for the Polish army in the north to use the natural barrier along the Bubul River-Narew River to resist the heavy German troops on the northern front. In this way, even if Germany has a large number of armored troops on the northern front, in such a situation
It’s also difficult to function in the terrain.”
"To the south, the Polish army's first task is to guard the Corpathian Mountains pass and prevent Germany from launching a large-scale encirclement. As long as the first round of German attacks can be blocked to the west of the Corpathian Mountains, they may not be able to wait until they launch the second round.
Attack, our French high command will be ready for a general attack. By then..."
The corners of Bertrand's mouth rose visibly, and he said decisively: "No matter whether the German troops on the eastern front advance or retreat, they will not be able to restore their decline. If they continue to attack eastward, the fire in their backyard will burn bigger and bigger. And if the German troops attack towards the east, the fire in their backyard will get bigger and bigger.
When allocating troops to the west, the Polish side only needs to dispatch a large number of cavalry to pursue them, so that these troops will have to be quickly split up to fill the vacancies in the east before they can be reunited. In the end, Germany will be like what happened in the last world war.
Falling into the quagmire of fighting on two fronts until failure!"
Bertrand's opportunity is almost the most feasible one so far. Even a layman who does not understand military affairs at all will definitely think that after comparison, the opportunities of these Polish generals here are not the same.
One would be more reliable than this plan.
According to the above method, the Polish army will have a high chance of successfully delaying the German troops attacking from East Prussia and Silesia.
First, the natural terrain advantage will help the Polish army improve its defense. Second, it can avoid being suddenly attacked by the German army on the border by retreating, and can detect the main direction of the German army without spending a single soldier.
(But a certain amount of land will be lost). Third, by retreating to a shorter defense line, enough strategic reserves can be freed up to deal with subsequent attacks by the German army.
Moreover, such a bold plan was not formulated by a mere group of dozens of French officers. It was a plan carefully determined by the French war department and combined with the wisdom of the entire French General Staff.
East Prussia and Silesia are the two main attack directions of the German army that the French Home Operations Department believes in!
Needless to say about East Prussia, it is almost an inevitable option for the German army to join up with the East Prussian troops in the north and then join forces and move south. Everyone can see the increase in strength brought about by the increase in the number of troops joining forces.
As for the possible main attack of the German army in the direction of Silesia, it comes from the comparison of the railway and road network in eastern Germany by the French Operations Department, and it was found that the railway and road network in the direction of Silesia is more suitable for the German army to implement rapid troop concentration. If the German army still has
If you want to achieve a certain campaign goal as soon as possible on the Eastern Front, you will definitely take the "shortcut" of Silesia!
Unfortunately, after all calculations, although the French Ministry of Home Operations considered military issues, it failed to calculate the character of the Polish government.
"Although the plan proposed by Major General Bertrand seems very ideal, I think it is not suitable for the current Polish government."
The person who said these words was none other than the current Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army, Field Marshal Smigre!
After considering his words, Smigre slowly said: "As a Polish marshal, my mission can be to open up new territories, but it must not be to lose cities and territory. I have to give up the entire western Poland before firing a shot.
Important industrial and agricultural areas, this is impossible for any government of any country to do. And the commander who issues such an order will definitely be nailed to the pillar of shame in history!"
"Yes, this large-scale retreat is a humiliation to Polish soldiers!"
"Yes, our army must not run away without firing a shot. This is not in line with the glorious image of the Polish Army!"
"..."
All of a sudden, voices responded to Smigre's words one after another. Many Polish generals who had long disliked Bertrand stood up and shouted.
Faced with such a group of generals who could not distinguish the situation and were only full of impulses, Bertrand raised his hands and sneered: "War always has to pay a price. This price may be the lives of soldiers, or it may be...
The land of the country. But no matter what, the ultimate goal of paying the price is to win! If you have to face the war with the desire not to give up everything, and you have to be bound by psychological and political constraints when the military strength is insufficient,
Then what chance does your country have of achieving the ultimate goal of 'winning'?"
The unwillingness to voluntarily give up any area will usually lead to the defeat of the weaker party. But the problem is that in the eyes of these generals, Poland is a weak party?! Just rely on the 200,000 brave and capable Polish cavalry.
, with a total force of nearly one million (including militiamen), it would be no problem to be evenly matched with the German army, right? Not to mention the support of the British and French Allied Forces.
It was precisely because he still counted on the military support of the French that Smigre did not get angry at the arrogant major general. Instead, he said with a smile: "Don't we still have the support of the French army? No matter how powerful the Germans are, it is impossible.
At the same time, we are competing against the largest and third largest powers in Europe."
The number one army in Europe is naturally trying to flatter the French. After all, France's self-proclaimed number one army in Europe has real credentials and is recognized by the public.
As for the third army in Europe that Smigre talks about, of course it refers to the Polish Army. Before that, Poland was still reluctant to say that the Polish Army was the third in Europe. After all, Czechoslovakia’s modern army is not weak either.
It’s really hard to say who ranks third. Of course, during Germany’s “100,000 Wehrmacht period”, the Polish Army could also be among the top three.
However, since the merger of Germany and Czechoslovakia, the German Army has firmly occupied the second position, and the Polish Army has also secured the third position. Now it is impossible to say that the armies of France and Poland are ranked first and third on the surface.
wrong.
However, Smigre's half-praising and half-flattering words did not resonate with Bertrand. The other party just smiled faintly and then said: "Since the marshal's words are full of confidence, I am relieved. As long as you
It can resist the German army for 6 to 8 weeks, and then the French army will definitely launch a full-line offensive."
Unlike Smigre's self-praise, Bertrand said with an extremely conceited smile: "Once our French army launches an attack, the outcome will be doomed. Before that, the Polish army only needs to hold on."
As a close confidant of Smigre, Filipovitz, who was quite quick-thinking among everyone present, felt that something was wrong at that time. 6 to 8 weeks? Wouldn’t the French army be able to watch the fire from the other side before then? This is simply blatant.
They reap the benefits, and in the end they have to let the Polish government who works for them be grateful and thank them for sending troops to help.
However, even if Filipowicz was aware of this kind of thing, he could only keep it in his heart. After all, it was Poland that refused to return the Danzig Corridor to Germany, which made others murderous and come to trouble him. The French army can
Sending troops is indeed helping Poland.
Unfortunately, even so, Poland and France are still missing out. In Europe, Germany is not the only country that has a blood feud with Poland.