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On the ninth day of the battle in Poland, Rundsteadt's Army Group South was advancing smoothly. Everything was as Manstein had expected, and the Polish army was losing ground and was completely unable to build a new line of defense under the pursuit of German armored forces.

Even the experienced Rundstead had the illusion that there would be no more accidents that would stop the battle or change the plan, and that the Germans would only need to follow the plan assigned by the genius Manstein, and they would soon be able to fight all the way to Warsaw!

In the early hours of the ninth day, Rundstead, who had just woken up, met Manstein, who had been waiting for a long time, at the door of the deaf school cafeteria, which was the temporary headquarters.

Seeing Manstein's worried look, Rundstead asked strangely: "What, something happened to the northern flank of the army group you mentioned earlier?" ”

"No, Commander, the Poles have not yet made an unexpected move. But ......." Manstein hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to say bluntly: "Although it is only my speculation, I am quite certain that the Poles are very likely to make a big move!" ”

"Big move?" Rundstead looked at Manstein suspiciously, frowned, and said, "Didn't you already mark out the key points they needed to build a new defense line, and send enough troops to occupy it?" Can't even organize a coherent line of defense, what else can they do to make a big move? ”

Manstein, who was the chief of staff, did not answer immediately, but gestured to another staff officer next to him. Then the staff officer immediately stepped forward and reported: "We have received certain information that the Polish army is massing a large force in Posen Province, but the enemy is not moving. Although the Chief of Staff had repeatedly telegraphed the Chief of Staff of the Eighth Army two days before receiving the information, asking him to pay attention to the reconnaissance of its northern flank, there was no news so far. ”

When his staff officers finished their reports, Manstein immediately continued: "The General Staff had already begun discussions with the Army General Headquarters an hour ago on the stagnation of the Posenbo Army. However, according to the speculative information sent by the Führer's base camp himself, Posen's Polish army was about to move its troops to the southeast as quickly as possible. ”

If it had been a month earlier, Rundstead would not have looked twice at all at the speculation sent by the group of "half-irrigated" people from the Führer's base camp. At that time, he did not believe that the Führer and the people around him could speculate on what was really true.

But now, Rundstead's opinion of Reinhardt has changed a lot. Reinhardt's legendary experience aside, his ability to discern pearls alone made Rundstead look up to him. In addition, Reinhardt's previous prediction that the British and French forces would not launch a strong attack are still in effect today!

Although Britain and France declared war on Germany immediately after the German attack on Poland, for various reasons, they did not really use their guns against Germany.

First, Britain and France had adopted a policy of appeasement for a long time before the war, which was unfavorable for preparing for war.

secondly, Britain and France, after the outbreak of the war, did not completely abandon the policy of appeasement, and still had illusions about Germany;

Third, the two countries knew that their armament growth was far behind that of Germany, and they did not have the courage to fight a war.

Fourth, there are major differences between Britain and France on strategic deployment. Specifically, both sides want to play a leading role in the alliance, but neither is willing to send more troops, so it has not been able to establish a unified command system;

Fifth, Britain and France also fantasized that Germany would attack the Soviet Union after annexing Poland and kill people with the sword. Therefore, he was reluctant to throw away the German knife.

Although Britain and France were forced to declare war on Germany in order to fulfill their promise to protect Poland's independence. But the people actually declared no war, neither sent a single soldier to aid Poland, nor launched an offensive on the Western Front.

Originally, the Anglo-French army had 110 divisions on the Western Front at that time, while the German army and the Waffen-SS on the opposite side were only 52 divisions. Once the British and French armies attacked on the Western Front, the German army would be unable to take care of each other and would be bogged down in a two-front battle.

But the British and French troops cowered in the fortifications and did not interfere with the Germans. The French army often published war reports that "the Western Front is calm and there is nothing to talk about." The British Air Force even ordered a ban on bombing German military targets, and only dropped leaflets in the air.

On the other hand, although France had already declared war on Germany. Reinhardt actually exported another 200,000 tons of cement to France three days ago to help the French further build the Maginot Line to defend against Germany.

Reinhardt's move was also interpreted by the French government as a gesture of goodwill on the part of Germany that had no intention of attacking France. French public opinion also believes that since the German head of state helped build the Maginot Line, which was used to defend Germany, how could Germany attack France in the future?

Rundstedt's face suddenly darkened, his own reputation in his life, is it really about to be ruined at the hands of Reinhardt? He was adamant that Britain and France would definitely send troops to attack Germany, but if the Führer's prophecy came true in the end, would he really want to run naked on the streets of Berlin?

"Commander?" Seeing that Rundstead seemed distracted, Manstein reminded softly: "I think the speculation of the Führer's base camp is justified, please think about it." ”

Rondstead, who had come to his senses, swallowed his saliva and said to Manstein, "Tell me your reasons." ”

Seeing that the other party had recovered from some kind of thought, Manstein changed to a calm and objective tone and then analyzed: "First of all, although we successfully annihilated more than 100,000 troops of the Polish army some time ago, they still have about 10 divisions south of the Vistula River, that is, in the area between Lodz and Warsaw, which is the first focus for us. ”

Seeing Rundstead's nod of approval, Manstein continued: "In addition, the 8th Army, which is used to cover the flank of the army group, is deployed in echelons to launch several assaults against the northern Polish army with the 30th Division in the early hours of this morning, but they have not achieved results. I have made a preliminary estimate that the number of Polish troops that can hinder the several assaults of one of our divisions is at least more than one army, which also confirms the speculation of the Führer's base camp that the large Polish army is moving south. ”

Rundstead is not an ordinary person, and listening to Manstein's words here, he also has a general understanding of the current situation. Once the speculation of the Führer's base camp came true, most of the troops that the 30th Division of the 8th Army happened to clash with were the main forces of the Polish army moving south. And the first point that Manstein just mentioned, the 10 divisions left by the Polish army south of the Vistula River, are likely to be a right hook to cooperate with this southbound force to launch a counteroffensive.

If this is the case, then the second half of the march plan originally set by Major General Manstein will not be applicable at all!

While they were considering, an urgent telegram from the 8th Army was sent to Rundstead and Manstein - a huge number of Polish troops were launching a counteroffensive against the German army in Lodz, and the 30th Division, which had been withdrawn due to the failure of the attack, had also moved to the defensive. The Eighth Army, which was already scattered in various places, requested Army Group Command to move forward an armored division as soon as possible to stabilize the crumbling defensive line around Lodz. At the moment, only the discredited 30th Infantry Division is struggling to support there. For mobile phone users, please browse M. Reading for a better reading experience.