Chapter 1927: Devil's Condition II
"Of course, if this battle is successful, then we are very close to victory. The rest of the matter is not decided by the ground war. I will rush to the navy and defeat the British fleet. The ground offensive will naturally stop ’ said the prince.
In fact, even the current German army will rest for a period of time after a large-scale offensive, and during this time, the prince will lead the High Seas Fleet to attack the Grand Fleet. Battles at sea will not last for several months like land battles, and the winner may be decided in a few days. Regardless of whether the sea battle is won or lost. The war will end. The only difference is whether Germany can extract enough benefits from the British. From the perspective of time, the Western Front can't wait to launch the next battle. Therefore, the prince's promise to the French is true. But it's also a blank check. Because there was not enough time for the Germans to launch a second campaign.
"Your Highness, although you have formulated two plans to deal with the French's cooperation or non-cooperation, it is not worth the loss from a military point of view. The British army is in the north, and the French are in the center and south. At the same time, we must be prepared to attack in two directions. A large amount of supplies, support firepower, and troops have to be deployed separately, which is equivalent to diluting our strength. If we only choose to attack one point, then our strength will be more concentrated. , and the chances of winning are great," General Crook said.
Is there any truth to what Crook said? There must be! It is best to have only one core goal in the combat plan. Whether you want to take into account two goals or choose one of the two, you will allocate forces to the two goals at the same time during plan formulation, which will naturally lead to the dispersion of troops. For example, you started to prepare to break through the French position on the center line, but the French agreed to the prince's suggestion to expose a gap at the connection between the northern line and the British army, but the corps you deployed on the center line will not be needed in a short time Thousands of artillery pieces and hundreds of thousands of troops were left idle. This is indeed a waste. But the prince has ideas of his own.
"Leaving aside the political significance, and the great advantage we have once the French get out of the way. I will only say one thing, and that is that within three weeks the leading elements of Mackensen's corps will be arriving in the West." The second batch of reinforcements from the Austro-Hungarian Army will also arrive. In this way, our strength will be quite sufficient. Before the war, our number will not be lower than that of the British and French forces. The strength may be more than 300,000 more than the opponent! Well, tell me now, General Crook, do you still think our strength is not enough? I feel that this front can no longer accommodate so many troops!" Lu Precht said with a smile.
"I'm going, happiness came too suddenly." Even Little Maoqi didn't know about this matter. In fact, this is quite normal, because this news was sent by the Navy, and Admiral Scheer had reached an agreement with Mackensen. After reaching an agreement, the latter agreed to immediately transfer the Eastern Front Army to the Western Front, while the Navy expressed its willingness to provide transportation and cover. As a result, the German army on the Western Front has been strengthened for the second time!
And in this way, the huge military strength on the western front has already "overflowed", and the current military strength is enough for the prince to squander. That's why the prince has the full confidence to choose two targets at the same time. Anyway, the result will not be bad. And if the prince's operation is successful, then the benefits will be huge and amazing! If the British are lucky, it may also be a World War I version of the Dunkirk retreat? If unlucky. So let’s not talk about it….
With a full hand of cards, you can naturally do whatever you want. As for, why not tell the French in the meeting just now that they have a great advantage, and at the same time put more pressure on the French? On the one hand, the French may not believe it, and on the other hand, the prince needs to leave enough cards in his hand. As for the third point? The prince now wonders what the attitude is inside France.
The last point to be clear is to give the French a chance to imagine. Through this contact, the prince can feel that although the French have realized the final result, they still want to go for it! Think about it, too, there are still millions of troops, the proud French have to find a more appropriate time even for peace talks.
In short, in this negotiation, although Ruprecht emphasized the advantages of the German army, this advantage did not become a victory in the eyes of the French! So from an objective point of view, the French can still choose between a wave of war and peace talks. If the high-level French now agree with the prince's opinion, it means that the French have indeed considered the possibility of future French-German reconciliation strategically. Then it shows that the prince's generosity is valuable.
And if this wave tells the French that you are dead, and my brother has come with another 1 million troops, then objectively speaking, it means that the French have no choice. Even if it surrenders, it may be forced to surrender, and subjectively it may still be hostile to Germany. Maybe many years later, when the international situation changes again, the French will still embark on the road of confrontation with Germany. If this is the case, then the current concession is meaningless!
In short, now has come to decide the fate of the French, and the decision made by the French at this time is even more important than the decision made later! If only the French were sensible. Then everything is easy to say, if the French are not sensible. That Germany and France are still enemies, even if the war is over, Germany will not let go of any opportunity to weaken France! Until France is completely pressed to the ground and cannot stand up!
At the same time, Clemenceau and Joffre, who returned to Amsterdam, were also thinking about how to write a report to the high-level. From leaving Brussels to returning to Amsterdam, the journey for the two of them felt like a dream. They had thought about countless things. A scene when two parties talk. But I never thought that the result would be like this!
The biggest enemy of the Allied Powers actually claimed to have a certain favor for France, and said that this time the French could be let go conditionally. And the most unbelievable thing is that although what the prince said seems absurd, it is clear and logical! So much so that Clemenceau and Joffre believed it!
That's right, the current Clemenceau and Joffre believe at least 60% of what the prince said! Even Clemenceau felt that if he was a German commander, then if he had enough IQ, he would come up with such a method!
"From a military point of view, if the Germans attack us with all their strength, can we stop them?" Clemenceau asked.
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