"It seems that we need to consider the worst case scenario. The British surrendered at Dunkirk without a fight, allowing the Germans to liberate an elite armored corps, and this armored corps once took half a day to defeat
The 19th Armored Corps of ten main Belgian divisions."
After Wei Gang was silent for a while in the headquarters, the silence was broken by Berante, who was newly promoted to lieutenant general. The commander, who had just transferred troops from the Maginot Line and took over the command of a corps, sighed,
Pointing to the large-scale map on the wall, he said: "As we all know, the commander of the German 19th Armored Corps is Guderian. Judging from this man's command style, he may soon lead his troops to attack south."
Berlant held a telescopic pole, pointed at the Somme River, Oise River and Aisne River on the map, and said to everyone: "As you can see, the last line of defense that our army can rely on at the moment can only be Wei.
This area has just been designated by the general. Obviously, the German army can also discover this. In addition, Guderian, a commander who has always been vigorous and resolute, is good at running and attacking, so he will definitely launch an attack while our army's foothold is not stable."
Although he was only a lieutenant general, Berante was General Pétain's subordinate at that time, so he was deeply experienced in it, so Weigang paid much more attention to Berante's use than ordinary army commanders. Now, Pétain
The situation analyzed by Lundt was actually nodded by General Weygand.
"From Dunkirk to the Somme River, the Oise River and the Aisne River, the strategic depth we have is not sufficient. Considering the rapid attack capability of the German armored forces, we lack preparation time even more."
The telescopic rod in Lunt's hand moved on the map to the Dunkirk mark. Since it only needed to move slightly on the map, the distance seemed extremely short.
Berante's telescopic pole finally stopped at Dunkirk marked in blue: "Here, nearly 100,000 of our troops surrendered one after another under the influence of the British Expeditionary Force, resulting in the existing containment of our northern side.
The strength suddenly disappeared. Originally, our 100,000 people plus nearly 200,000 British troops were completely able to stop the German 19th Armored Corps. The German armored forces in the north were blocked, and we had to deal with the few German troops left on the front of our defense line.
The armored divisions are relatively relaxed. But now it seems that our new defense line must compete head-on with all German armored divisions."
"The staff officers of the headquarters have conducted detailed simulations on the sand table." Berlant glanced at Weigang, and after receiving a nod from the other party, he continued: "The German army has too many armored forces, which is fully sufficient to support their expansion.
A multi-pronged offensive south of the river. To put it bluntly, their tanks alone can almost crush the defense line we have worked so hard to establish. There are too many places on this long defense line that the Germans may break through. Moreover, the Germans’
Motorized infantry divisions can also quickly reach the front line to support their offensive as follow-up forces..."
Berante's words aroused exclamations from the generals present. Although they had all watched the deductions made by the staff officers at the headquarters. The French army currently has 61 poorly equipped third-rate divisions, even if they include the cavalry.
The eight second-rate divisions withdrawn from the Qino defense line could only hold off the Germans for a while at best.
After all, neither the third-rate garrisons remaining on the second line nor the second-rate fortress divisions in the Maginot Line that lacked mobility weapons had sufficient anti-tank weapons. When encountering German tanks, they were almost defenseless.
.
Perhaps, relying on the solid fortifications and large-caliber fortress artillery on the defense line, the eight divisions of the Maginot Line could still handle the German armored forces with ease.
But after leaving the Maginot Line, these are just 8 "pure" infantry divisions. Pure armored vehicles, transport vehicles, and artillery are scarce. After all, they were originally just fortress troops and did not need to be equipped with armored vehicles.
Equipment similar to field troops. As for artillery, with the fortress artillery fixed on the defense line, what kind of field artillery do they need?
But even so, Wei Gang still drew these eight divisions to form a new defense line.
The reason is simple. Even the training and combat capabilities of these 8 fortress divisions are much better than the 61 third-rate divisions in his hands. Wei Gang needs these 8 divisions to come back as the main force and pillar of the new defense line
.Stabilize the overall situation.
It sounds a bit sad and pitiful that an ill-equipped second-rate division is used as the main force. However, this is the current situation of the French Army. This is the French army that was known as the "World's No. 1 Army" more than a month ago.
The situation we are facing at this moment.
"This is the top priority we are facing!" Berlant said seriously and loudly: "The enemy we are about to face is not only not an emerging armed force as everyone thought before the war started, but on the contrary, they are very strong.
Even stronger than us now!"
"However, we are not without a chance of winning." Berlant frowned, and then quickly said suddenly: "At least now, our army is under the command of the experienced General Wei Gang, rather than Gamelin.
A layman can give orders. As long as the hundreds of thousands of troops of the French Third Republic can be commanded, relying on the geographical advantages along the Somme, Oise and Aisne rivers, it is completely feasible to stop the German army!"
Speaking of which, the French Third Republic has been plagued by many disasters since its establishment.
In the past 70 years, it has experienced successive crises, ranging from the collapse of the government to the appointment of a mentally ill president. Moreover, it has experienced two world wars, and was also beaten violently by Germany.
However, in the last world war, with the help of the British and American troops, they barely managed to repel Kaiser Wilhelm's army. But this time, the United States stayed safe across the Atlantic Ocean and did not enter the war. The British had already been defeated in the North Sea, and the expeditionary force surrendered in full.
.The allies that can help France no longer exist.
Oh, I missed one, where are the Belgian allies?
However, their sense of presence this time was too low. They lost all their main force on the first day of the war, and then paddled all the way until they formally surrendered four days ago. The 22 divisions of the Belgian Army played no role in almost the entire process. It seemed that
It doesn't exist like air.
Well, anyway, there are no allies to rely on. At this time, you can only ask for your own blessings. The officers present could also figure this out, so they did not interrupt Berante's policy of facing the enemy alone.
Of course, at this time, the French army could only respond to the enemy alone.
"Relying on rivers to place troops, even at the risk of blowing up bridges, we must first deploy defense lines as soon as possible." At the end of the meeting, Commander-in-Chief Wei Gang concluded: "Lieutenant General Berante has made it very clear that we must use the geographical advantage.
, Reasonable command, this is our only strategy, and it is also an absolutely feasible strategy!"
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PS: Unknowingly, I have already written 400 chapters of Desperate Situation. At this juncture when it is about to reach one million words, Feiyu is quietly asking for votes and rewards. Maybe, the promised fifth update will be completed by the end of the month