Chapter 326 France Don’t Cry XI

"Marshal, I think after transferring out three armored divisions, the 1st Panzer Army is still capable of completing the northward combat mission." General Halder, the second quartermaster general, said to Marshal Hessmann who was thinking, "Because the 1st Panzer Army still has 4 armored divisions, 3 motorized infantry divisions, and 2 SS motorized infantry flags.

In addition, we can also transfer the 1st Cavalry Division to the 1st Panzer Army. In this way, General Guderian will have 8 divisions and 2 flags or infantry regiments equivalent to brigades, more than 1,300 tanks, assault artillery and more than 100,000 officers and soldiers, which is enough."

Due to the early annexation of Czechoslovakia, the oil reserves are also very abundant, and the establishment of the General Armaments Administration. At this time, the establishment of the German armored division is more sufficient than in history, and it can still achieve the "ideal state" envisioned by Guderian. Each armored division has 1 armored brigade, each armored brigade has 2 tank regiments, each tank regiment has 2 tank battalions, and each tank battalion has 4 tank companies. Each company has 21 tanks, so a fully staffed German armored division has 336 tanks. Four armored divisions have 1,344 tanks!

In addition, the German armored divisions, motorized infantry divisions, SS motorized infantry battalions and the only 1st Cavalry Division also have a lot of self-propelled artillery and assault guns. With a 100% intact rate, the 8 divisions and 2 battalions of the 1st Panzer Army (after transferring out some armored divisions) have a total of nearly 1,600 tanks and assault guns (self-propelled artillery). However, after crossing the Ardennes Forest, the integrity of the equipment has declined. There are still about 1,300 tanks and assault guns (self-propelled artillery) that can be driven.

But this is also a very large number, which may be more than the total number of tanks and assault guns owned by the 7 armored divisions that attacked the English Channel in history.

Moreover, the equipment of the German armored forces is now slightly better than the same period in history. The No. 2 tank basically withdrew from the front line, and the 38t tank, No. 3 tank, No. 4 tank and No. 3 assault gun became the main force.

Although the quality of the 43-caliber 75mm tank gun of the No. 4 tank still did not pass the test, the 50mm anti-tank gun of the No. 3 tank was fully mature at the end of 1939 (this was related to Germany's early annexation of Czechoslovakia, and the technology used by Skoda to produce the No. 1 anti-tank gun became a reference for Germany to develop the 50mm anti-tank gun). Therefore, all No. 3 tanks were replaced with 50mm anti-tank guns, and the firepower was greatly improved.

Therefore, it is not unreasonable for people like Manstein and Rundstedt to support the splitting of the 1st Panzer Army. This Panzer Army is actually a bit overpowered.

Seeing that Hessmann was still hesitating, General Halder continued to persuade him: "Marshal, destroying the main force of the French army earlier will be very beneficial for us to implement the "Liberator Plan". If we can encircle the French army of the "Maginot" in the first phase of the operation, then we will be able to easily attack the Provence line in the second phase of the operation."

One "Scythe Operation" certainly cannot completely defeat France, so the German General Staff and the Western Front Headquarters have always had plans to launch another large-scale offensive after the "Scythe Operation". However, the specific offensive plan has not yet been formulated, because no one knows what the "Scythe Operation" will be like.

Therefore, the second phase of the operation currently has only two general goals: the first is the Paris-Brittany Peninsula line; the second is to advance to the Provence region, and if possible, occupy Marseille and Toulon (the home port of the French Mediterranean Fleet).

Occupying Paris is of course necessary for a forced landing in France, and taking Provence is a provision of the "Liberator Plan" - Hessmann is a "Mediterranean victory theorist", and in his view, seizing control of the Mediterranean and the oil resources in the Middle East are the key to Germany's victory.

Moreover, the task of seizing control of the Mediterranean and the Middle East oil resources must be completed before occupying the British mainland. Because once the British mainland falls, the British Empire will disintegrate, and the Soviet Union is likely to seize Iran and Iraq in the chaos!

And to seize the Mediterranean and the Middle East oil resources, Germany is better to have a naval base in the Mediterranean and a powerful naval fleet-a combination of a German fleet + German naval aviation is definitely safer than relying on Italy.

Therefore, the port of Toulon and the French Mediterranean Fleet are both very valuable targets!

"Okay, then follow the plan of the Western Front Headquarters!" Hessmann was persuaded by Halder-since Manstein, Rundstedt and Halder are all in agreement, what else does Hessmann have to worry about? After all, he is just a "political marshal" with a vision of the future. If he really commands the army to fight, he will definitely not be able to beat Manstein and other big bulls.

He thought for a moment and added: "Arrange a meeting and invite Marshal Halder, General Kesselring and General Graham to attend... to study the possibility of using bombing to block the British and French forces from retreating by sea."

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away."

...

"Paddle hard! Paddle hard! Don't worry about the French firepower, don't worry about those..."

The battle to cross the Meuse River has begun. Hundreds of rubber boats carrying nearly 1,000 German soldiers, supported by aircraft, artillery and tank fire, are heading towards the west bank of the Meuse River. Rudolf Ribbentrop, the son of the German Foreign Minister, is also rowing now, braving the various shells and bullets fired from the west bank of the Meuse River. In his ears, in addition to the sounds of various explosions and the whistling of airplanes, there is the rough voice of the platoon leader Gustav Schwarzenegger and the occasional screams.

The one who screamed was a comrade-in-arms of Rudolf Ribbentrop, named Paul Schultz. He was shot through the shoulder by a French bullet, leaving a lot of blood, and kept screaming. I don’t know if he will be disabled?

“Maf, give him a few shots!” Gustav Schwarzenegger knew that the screams of the wounded would affect the morale of others, and quickly ordered the medical soldier who was bandaging the wound to give Paul Schultz a few shots.

When the screams gradually stopped, the rubber boat suddenly hit the river beach, and everyone's body rushed forward.

"It's time!" Gustav Schwarzenegger shouted: "Go, go, follow me!"

While shouting, he raised an MP-38 submachine gun and jumped off the rubber boat first. Rudolf Ribbentrop glanced at Schulz, who was no longer screaming but had a terrible pale face, and silently wished him good luck in his heart, and then jumped into the knee-deep river with his rifle. Before he could stand firmly, a huge explosion sounded in his ears, followed by a huge water column and waves, and he fell into the water without standing firmly.

"What bad luck!" Rudolf Ribbentrop sighed in his heart, and was about to struggle to get up, when suddenly someone grabbed the back of his military uniform and lifted him out of the water, as if he was lifting a chicken. Such a strong guy must be Rudolf's platoon leader, Lieutenant Schwarzenegger.

"Rudolf, don't be afraid, the Frenchmen's firepower is very weak!" Schwarzenegger patted the wet little Ribbentrop, "Go ahead, kill a Frenchman and you will be a man, and when you get to Paris, you can find some French girls to have fun!"

Are there any necessary connections between killing French men and sleeping with French women? Little Ribbentrop held his rifle, pondered what Lieutenant Schwarzenegger said, and charged forward with his head covered and wading through the water.

At the same time, at 2000-3000 meters in the air, another Rudolf - Rudolf Hersman, the eldest son of Hersman, was driving his Zero Fokker to chase a French plane that looked a bit like a catfish.

This is a French Bre.693 attack aircraft. Although it looks ugly, it has very good performance, with a maximum level flight speed of 490 kilometers per hour (at an altitude of 5000 meters). It also has good low-altitude performance and can carry out ultra-low-altitude horizontal bombing attacks. Its bomb bay is usually equipped with 8 50 kg bombs, which pose a great threat to vehicles and personnel on the ground.

However, these flying catfish are like a delicious meal in the eyes of pilots flying Fokker Zero. After all, it is a clumsy twin-engine aircraft, and its speed is not as fast as Fokker Zero. So when Rudolf saw this Bre.693 coming out of the clouds, he drove the plane to rush over without saying a word.

"Rudolf, I will cover you, you shoot and shoot it down!" Novotny, who was in a two-plane formation with Rudolf Hersman, hurriedly drove the plane to follow up to cover.

"Thank you!" Rudolf Hersman replied, and then concentrated on driving the plane to rush to the Bre.693. At this time, the French plane also found that two Fokker Zeros were targeting it. It quickly began to dive and lower its altitude, trying to escape from low altitude.

This was originally a life-saving trick for fighters such as P40 and Spitfire to deal with Zero. However, Bre.693 is a twin-engine attack aircraft after all, and even in a dive, its speed is only over 500, which is much slower than the Zero.

"Ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta..."

Seeing that he couldn't rely on speed to get rid of the Fokker Zero, the mechanic/self-defense gunner of this Bre.693 fired like crazy with a 7.5mm machine gun located on the back of the aircraft that could fire backwards. However, the mechanic and self-defense machine gunner was obviously scared, and he fired too early, and the bullets couldn't reach Rudolf Hessmann's plane at all.

There will be results! Seeing that the opponent had used up all the bullets in a daze (there were only 100 rounds of spare bullets), Rudolf Hessmann wanted to go up and kiss that guy twice.

"Tutu, tatta..." Rudolf Hirschmann pressed the cannon and machine gun buttons at the same time, and the distance was very appropriate. The trajectory of the bullet and the 20mm machine gun shell completely overlapped (because they were two calibers of ammunition, the trajectory only overlapped within a certain distance), and they drew a beautiful arc and crashed into the fuselage of the French plane.

Rudolf Hirschmann achieved his first victory in his life!