Just as Hans was about to rush to the front line with the command company and cartographic platoon of the division headquarters with his guns, the news of reinforcements came from outside the headquarters for a long time.

A major staff officer led a well-dressed lieutenant officer in, and Hans knew at a glance that the lieutenant officer had not fought before. A soldier who comes down from the battlefield cannot be spotless in military uniform.

However, seeing the arrival of this lieutenant, Hans was naturally happy in his heart, and immediately greeted him in person and shook hands: "Welcome, lieutenant." I am Hans, the commander of the 30th Division, and the one who is responsible for the battle here. May I ask which unit you are following to support us this time? ”

Hans, of course, did not think that the little lieutenant would be the commander of the reinforcements, and in his subconscious, the lieutenant must have been the microphone that had come with some senior officer.

"Report! The 14th Company of the 1st Regiment of the 8th Division of the 8th Army of the 7th Army came to assemble, and we did not go with other troops. His subordinate Leon is currently serving as the company commander of this support army. ”

A company of reinforcements! Hans looked at Leon with wide eyes, and asked with a strange face for a long time, "No other reinforcements?" ”

"Nope!" Leon saluted and replied: "We have a whole company of 201 people, and we happened to follow the logistics convoy of the 8th Army passing through this area, and we heard that Rhodes was counterattacked by the Polish army and urgently needed reinforcements, so we rushed here non-stop. ”

Hans was eager to tell the lieutenant, Lyon, that the company he had brought would be wiped out in less than three minutes under the attack of the Polish Army Group on the opposite side. However, after Hans swallowed his saliva, he chose to swallow back the words of Dao Mouth.

The current 30th Division is in great need of reinforcements. Even if it's just a company, it's better than nothing. Besides, the company brought by Leon is a standard combat company, no matter how you say it. Compared with the remaining division command company and cartographic platoon in his hands now, the battle is more professional.

With more than 100 cooks left behind at the division headquarters, Hans was now able to cobble together a force that was close to battalion size. Although there are not many troops in this last force, they still have the strength to fight, and they can still splash when used to throw themselves at the forward positions.

"Lieutenant Lyon, now that the forward positions are in full swing, we urgently need to rush to the front immediately. Is there a problem with your troops to set off with us now? Hans looked into Leon's eyes and asked solemnly.

Leon replied to Hans with a standard military salute: "Yes!" ”

.............

"Marshal, Rhodes war report!"

In the conference room of the Polish High Command, Marshal Smigre finally waited for the news he most wanted to hear.

"Posen's 8th Army Group, moving south, has all been assembled today, and will launch a general assault on Lodz by 5 p.m. at the latest. According to a telegram from Admiral Levky, the remnants of the German army deployed in the area of Lodz will definitely not survive this evening. ”

The French Major General Béronte, who was standing next to Smigre, stepped forward, took the telegram sent by Rhodes and glanced at it at a glance, and then cried out through gritted teeth: "A bunch of rubbish! ”

Smigre was blinded by Belante's reaction, wasn't there good news from the 8th Army, why should he be angry?

"Major General Bronte, what are you ........?" asked Smigre after a moment's pause.

Glancing at the puzzled Smigre, Belant sighed secretly in his heart, deeply worried about the level of this dignified Polish field marshal.

After taking a deep breath, Belant calmed down and said, "Mr. Marshal, the subtext of this telegram sent to you by the Eighth Army is that they have not taken the city of Lodz until now. If you think about it, a force the size of an army group, even if it has not been assembled before, should be enough to take a city with weak enemy forces in 24 hours. But now 36 hours have passed, and they still stopped to the east of Rhodes, wasting such a good opportunity for a surprise attack in vain! ”

After hearing what Belante said, Smigre's expression was actually a little sluggish, and it took a few seconds before he suddenly recovered, and then roared indignantly: "Relky, that waste! I gave him an army group, but he couldn't take even a remnant of the Germans. This garbage, garbage! ”

"Now is not the time to complain." With a wave of his hand, Berant turned around and walked to the side of the operational diagram in the conference room and said, "According to the speculation made by our French officer corps in the past few days, the German army has probably not left any other large-scale troops within a radius of 100 miles from Lodz. This is also the reason why so far, the 8th Army has not encountered German reinforcements. ”

Berente's words reassured Smigre a little, so that the 8th Army could take Lodz before the Germans brought back reinforcements, as long as they hurried. Once the key strategic point of Lodz was taken, the German army's logistical routes would be threatened, and it would not be possible to attack Warsaw without letting go.

While the Germans were pinned down by Rhodes, the Polish army was able to organize a new ring of defense on the Warsaw front, thus gaining more time to wait for the Anglo-French forces to launch a general attack on the German back in the west.

So far, though, it's just Smigre's wishful thinking. What he didn't know was that the French officer corps, which had gained the trust of the entire Polish High Command, had received an order to use the Polish army to contain the German army as much as possible and buy time for the new French troops to enter the Maginot Line.

Yes, it was to move into the Maginot Line for further defense, not to attack western Germany as Smigre expected. On the one hand, the French government encouraged Smigre to resist stubbornly and wait for reinforcements, but on the other hand, it said one thing and did the other to strengthen its own defensive deployment, and there was no desire to attack.

To put it simply, France is using Poland to work for itself, and it has made a good promise to the Polish government, but the French have no intention of fulfilling their promise.

Smigre, who did not see all this, or did not want to believe the worst outcome, now pinned his only choice on the French government and this French officer corps.

"General," said a colonel of the French Guiding Officer Corps, leaning over to Berente's side, "it stands to reason that if the Germans were to mobilize their mobile forces to aid Lodz, they would have arrived today." But why is the opponent of the Polish 8th Army today only the German unit at the beginning? ”

After listening with a frown, Belant stared intently at the battle diagram and said, "This is also where I am confused. Originally, I thought that the German commander who had made the plan would resolve the local crisis I had planned as soon as possible in order to return the rhythm of the war to his original plan. Just after listening to the report of the Polish army, I also wondered why German reinforcements had not yet appeared. ”

"Could it be that the German commander was unable to react in time because the original plan was disrupted?" The French colonel guessed.

"No, it won't!" Belante categorically denied this statement, and said in an affirmative tone: "Judging by the skill of the German commander in formulating this plan, he is by no means incompetent. To say that he would be disrupted by me so easily, I wouldn't believe it myself. ”

"But........ Why didn't he send reinforcements to Rhodes in time? Shouldn't he fail to see the crisis? Belante dragged his hand and muttered to himself.