In the early morning of April 12, 1940, in the general headquarters of the German Airborne Chasseurs in Saarbrücken, General Kurt Studentt was anxiously waiting in the war room for news from the front.
The airborne operation on the west bank of the Sedan Maas River seemed to him to be a test that was likely to pay a high price: using an elite airborne chrysmers division to test the reality of the French army on the front line of the Sedan Maas River.
If the French had really transferred the main forces of the Allied 1st Army Group to Belgium and Metz, as expected by the German General Staff and the Western Front Headquarters, the assault of the elite 1st Airborne Chasseur Division would have been successful.
If the French had also deployed a fairly strong force along the Sedan Maas, the 1st Airborne Chasseur Division would have been bogged down in a bitter battle with heavy casualties.
However, the sacrifice of the airborne chasers will not be meaningless, because by ascertaining the reality of the French army in the area of the Sedan Maas River, it is possible to infer the deployment of French troops in Metz, so as to adjust the offensive plan in time, and of course, there are plans A, B and C plans.
If the French had deployed the main forces at the Sedampmas, then the Germans would have been able to break through from Metz.
After all, the French have such a small number of troops, it is impossible to deploy enough troops everywhere, and there must be empty gates, either in Metz or on the Sedamas River, and the French do not dare to put empty gates in Belgium, because that would put the British Empire in a desperate situation.
Since Britain is an island country, it has always been a large navy and a small army.
The size of Britain's army in peacetime is simply not comparable to that of a traditional army power like France.
The small size of the army in peacetime caused the British army to expand slowly in wartime.
Moreover, the British army also likes to play the elite route, and will not so-so-so expand the "motley army" of hundreds of divisions.
Therefore, the 10th Division of the British Expeditionary Force now sent to the European continent is a seed unit that has been trained with great difficulty, and there are a large number of professional officers and senior non-commissioned officers.
If they were all lost in Belgium, the recruits who were being trained on British soil would have to be commanded by no qualified officers and non-commissioned officers.
Considering that Belgium and the British mainland were less than 100 kilometers close, and the strength of the Luftwaffe and naval aviation, the loss of most of the army officers, non-commissioned officers, and Belgium would put the British mainland in a terrible situation where it could be invaded and fall at any time, which most likely forced Britain to seek a compromise with Germany So now the options put on Gammel and Joseph George are very limited.
"Your Excellency," the Chief of Staff of the Airborne Forces, Major General Bruno Breul, suddenly shouted from the war room, "succeeded succeeded in the telegram from the commander of the 1st Airborne Chasseur Division of Major General Tretna: the operation was successful and a great success" "Great," Student took the copy of the telegram, glanced at it, and then walked over to a red telephone, picked up the receiver and dialed the Western Front headquarters.
The news of the success of the airborne operation was reported to Infantry General Manstein, who served as Chief of Staff of the Headquarters of the Western Front.
"Marshal, the Airborne Forces have succeeded," Manstein put down the phone, he could hardly contain his excitement, "the first wave of raids was a complete success, the 2 regiments of the 1st Airborne Chasseur Division were successfully airborne west of the Sedammas, they did not meet resistance in most areas, which shows that the French forces in the area of the Sedammas River are very empty, and they will soon be broken through by the 1st Panzer Group" The current commander-in-chief of the Western Front is Field Marshal Hammestein, who is also the official chief of the General Staff of the Great General Staff The command system of the German Wehrmacht is now World War I, and the Great General Staff can be divided into the Berlin Headquarters and the Front Headquarters in wartime, and the Chief of the General Staff or the First and Second Quartermaster Chiefs serve as the important front commanders.
If the Chief of the General Staff himself is the commander-in-chief of the front, then the 1st Quartermaster General will act as Chief of the General Staff.
Since Hersmann had already served as the commander-in-chief of the front in the Polish campaign, the chief of the General Staff Hammestein was the commander-in-chief of the Western Front this time.
However, Hamstein did not put forward his own battle plan, but the meeting of the high command chose the Manstein plan as a blueprint and formulated the "Operation Scythe".
Unlike Manstein himself, who was suppressed by the army during the Battle of France, Manstein now became the powerful chief of staff of the Western Front with the support of Hersmann.
"Very good" Marshal Khamestein also breathed a sigh of relief, and a rare lightness appeared on an overly serious face.
"Erich, what do you suggest for the next steps?"
It seemed only a matter of time before the French defenses along the Sedan Maas River were breached, but what to do after the breakthrough was controversial within the German army.
According to Manstein's original plan, after breaking through the Sedan Maas River, the German Army Group A had to undertake at least two tasks at the same time, the first was to go south to Metz to copy the rear of the "Maginot Line"; The second is to use Manstein's plan to form an armored group of three armored divisions and motorized infantry divisions to attack Dunkirk and Calais, cutting off the main forces of the coalition forces in Belgium and the land communication with the French mainland.
Subsequently, the Manstein Plan was amended twice, the "Hersmann Amendment" and the "Rundstead Amendment", thus becoming the "Operation Scythe" program.
The "Hersmann Amendment" gave priority in this direction to outflank the elite British and French forces in Belgium, and the main mechanized and motorized units of Britain and France.
The "Rundstead Amendment" greatly increased the strength of Army Group A to 64 divisions, and added the plan to attack Metz, France from the south of Luxembourg, which was not only a record when it was difficult to break through the line of the Sedan Maas, but also to encircle the "Maginot Line" The main force of the French army was relatively large, but mostly ordinary infantry divisions, and the need to open up the logistics line of Army Group A.
"Marshal, I propose to split the 1st Panzer Army," Manstein said, "and the main forces of the 19th Panzer Army and the 15th Panzer Army of the 1st Panzer Army will continue to carry out the task of outflanking Dunkirk and Calais in the north."
The 41st Panzer Army and the 5th Panzer Division of the 1st Panzer Army belonged to the 15th Panzer Corps, and were assigned to the 12th Army of General Kleist Cavalry. ” The encirclement of the dozens of French divisions stationed on the "Maginot" line was actually the main purpose of Manstein's plan.
Moreover, Marshal Khamestein and General Rundstead were equally in favor of making the enemy of the Maginot line the main target The main goal was to break through with the enemy in Belgium and Marshal Hersmann and General Guderian.
"Is Army Group A capable of carrying out both southward and northbound missions at the same time?"
Marshal Khamestein hesitated.
His fears were justified, if the 41st Panzer Army and the 5th Panzer Division were transferred to the 12th Army, then the 1st Panzer Army going north would lose 3 Panzer Divisions and only 4 Panzer Divisions.
"Marshal, we now have the complete railway system of Luxembourg," Manstein said, "which will allow the large infantry of Army Group A to move quickly north of Metz, so that we can flank the enemy in Metz."
Once Metz is captured by our troops, Army Group A will be able to easily cut off the retreat of the main French forces stationed on the Maginot Line, and according to reliable information, the 50 French divisions there have a large number of artillery, but they are weak in maneuverability and are not equipped with enough trucks to haul heavy artillery.
As long as we can cut the railway line, they can't move. ” The defenders of the "Maginot Line" were not mobile units in the first place, and their task was to defend the line to the death, so naturally they did not need to be equipped with a large number of trucks, and even large livestock were insufficient.
According to the plans of the French high command, if the troops there needed to be moved, they should be done by rail, not by road.
Therefore, as long as the railway line can be cut, the dozens of divisions there will not be able to return to Paris, and then the defense of Paris will not be possible, because Stalin's Red Army fought hard in Kiev and Brest, and they were also very difficult in Finland, so that many German generals realized the difficulty of attacking the big cities.
Therefore, the "Battle of Paris," which would not have happened at all, became a matter of great concern to a group of German generals, and under the domination of this kind of thinking, dozens of divisions behind the "Maginot Line" became a major problem for the German army.
Therefore, the plan advocated by Hersmann and Guderian to annihilate the Belgian enemy and then attack the enemy of Maginot received little support.
"As for the 1st Panzer Army's mission to the north," Manstein pondered, "I think that the main constraint on them is not the strength but the fuel, and the use of most of the infantry divisions of the 12th Army and Army Group A in Metz can reduce the pressure on the logistics line." ” This point of view is actually reasonable, if the main forces of Army Group A do not attack Metz and can go by train, then they will have to pass through the Ardennes Forest, and then dozens of infantry divisions will slowly crawl on several narrow roads, and it will be difficult for trucks transporting fuel to pass.
"That's right, only by eating the defenders of the Maginot Line can we truly defeat France."
Field Marshal Hamestein thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then report this plan to the Berlin headquarters." ” t1706231537: