"Based on the situation at the front, we are fully able to reason that the French army has received reinforcements. The sudden appearance of these reinforcements without warning also shows that the Gestapo's intelligence-gathering capabilities are far from enough! At this meeting proposed by Sickert, as the head of the Gestapo, Ross courageously stepped forward to take responsibility.

On January 14, the famous French general Petain, who was urgently sent to the front line by the French General Command, changed the tactics of the French army before fighting steadily. Bypassing the two high ground positions deployed by the SS in front of the Ruhr industrial area, the army stormed the Ruhr industrial area.

This unusual offensive caught the SS commander-in-chief Steveh by surprise. At noon on the same day, the French army made its first attack on the city of Dortmund, located in the Ruhr industrial region. Thankfully, Steve had just received SS reinforcements that had been assembled to drive the French advance party out of the city.

As a result, there was an urgent discussion meeting to discuss the next steps.

Ross was followed by Lieutenant Colonel Doyle of the Wehrmacht, who had joined the Socialist Workers' Party. I saw Lieutenant Colonel Doyle say loudly: "Except for the Gestapo, the intelligence department of the Wehrmacht has not received any information about the increase of French troops. Therefore, I think that the French army dared to attack in a big way, not necessarily with reinforcements, but probably with a bluff! ”

As soon as Doyle's words fell, a dozen or so senior officers in the conference room, who had also joined the Socialist Workers' Party, immediately raised their voices of opposition.

Lieutenant General Cologne, who was serving as chief of staff of an infantry division in the Wehrmacht and was also a member of the Socialist Workers' Party, was the first to retort: "Lieutenant Colonel Doyle may have taken it for granted. Without receiving reinforcements, the French commander Pétain, while besieging the two highland theaters of the SS, could still draw up his forces to attack the Ruhr in a big way. Judging by the current intensity of the French attack, if we do not mobilize reinforcements for Stevie's corps in time, the French army is likely to break through the SS line on the Dortmund line within three days. Next, if the French army assaults along the Duisburg generation, it will go straight to the city of Hagen. Narul's defensive battle can be declared a failure. ”

As a general with a military rank two levels higher than Zhang Chengtian and second only to Sickert, Lieutenant General Cologne's words are still quite weighty.

A lieutenant colonel staff officer immediately chimed in: "That's right, as far as the current situation is concerned. Petain, who ranks first in the list of French players, is indeed capable of breaking through the Dortmund line, where the SS is the weakest, in three days. Although Steve is also brave and resourceful, after all, it is the first time to command a large-scale operation, and the troops are at a disadvantage. It was obvious that Steve would not be able to defeat Petain, who had countless legions of combat experience and was able to hold off the Germans with inferior forces. ”

Seeing that the topic began to show negative signs, Sickert, who was the organizer of the meeting, coughed dryly: "Even if Petain is powerful, he is only one person, and it is impossible to conjure an army out of thin air." Besides, as long as it is human, there is a weakness. Moreover, even if we could not find Pétain's weakness, we had already found the weakness of the French army. Glancing at Zhang Chengtian, Sickert paused: "Reinhardt, tell me, where is the weakness of the French army?" ”

I'll tell you ?! Zhang Chengtian was a little dazed by Sickert's sudden roll call. As a traverser, he didn't think that he could be cheeky enough to talk about the military in front of a cadre.

However, the group of people present did not feel anything wrong. After all, Zhang Chengtian is the leader who agrees with them in their hearts, and once planned Operation Rainbow and evaluated the heroes of the Karp riot!

Of course, Zhang Chengtian also underestimated his own ability to some extent. Sickert agreed to teach him military knowledge because he discovered his talent for military affairs.

The perspective of the traverser, the summary of the experience of later generations, and the thinking from the future brought Zhang Chengtian not only the ability to predict, but also an experience, an alternative military talent.

Zhang Chengtian, who was hard-headed, combined with the historical summary of the French occupation of the Ruhr, recalled Sickert's guidance all along, and gritted his teeth and said his judgment: "The French army is bound to send troops this time, and 100,000 Franco-Belgian allies should be all the strength they use for this operation." In a short time, it was difficult for France to assemble a new reinforcement. It is not that there are no troops in France, but that the current economic situation in France, political foundation, public opinion, and even the international situation do not allow the French government to continue to transfer troops and expand the war. ”

The generals nodded their heads at Zhang Chengtian's summary, which gave Zhang Chengtian great confidence. Zhang Chengtian, whose vanity was satisfied, immediately flooded his brain with a rush of blood, completely forgetting the scar of the last speech that was criticized by Sickert: "The strategic advantage of the French army is based on a quick victory, and once we get stuck in the momentum of their attack, the French have actually failed." Therefore, their strong attack at the moment seems to be high-spirited, but it is actually very powerful. They had no choice but to keep attacking until they broke through. ”

Hearing that Zhang Chengtian had similar opinions to himself, Doyle also nodded and said: "That's right, the domestic situation and international pressure of the French army are already very severe. In this case, I believe that the intelligence services of the Wehrmacht and the Gestapo should be credible. There will be no reinforcements from the French! That's why the French army had to give it a go, creating the illusion of sufficient troops, combined with psychological warfare to crush us. ”

Seeing that someone was helping him to continue, Zhang Chengtian looked at Lieutenant Colonel Doyle with grateful eyes.

Misinterpreting Zhang Chengtian's gaze as encouragement, Doyle confidently boasted about Haikou: "According to my estimate, the large-scale offensive of the French army against the Ruhr cannot continue. I can even conclude that their offensive could not last 24 hours! By this time tomorrow, perhaps we will receive reports that the French are exhausted and have stopped their offensive. ”

Lieutenant General Cologne, who had just agreed with Chang Seung-tian's remarks, once again strongly refuted the lieutenant colonel who had inadvertently made a trip for Chang Seung-tian.

I saw Coren knock on the report on the table and sarcastically said: "According to Steve's report, the two high ground positions of the SS are besieged by no less than 20,000 French troops in turn. Plus a French armored division that was heavily consumed on the previous 1st heights. The Marshal of France, Pétain, had only more than 10,000 French troops in his hands. ”

Glancing at Lieutenant Colonel Doyle, Coren asked rhetorically: "According to Lieutenant Colonel Doyle's inference, the French army should have stopped attacking at 2 o'clock at noon today because of exhaustion. But according to the report we have just received, the French offensive has not stopped. So, how does Lieutenant Colonel Doyle explain this? ”

Seeing that Doyle was questioned by Cologne, Zhang Chengtian suddenly felt that Sickert was likely to continue reasoning on his own. So, the shrewd Zhang Chengtian immediately gave Rose a look on the side.

As the head of the Gestapo, Ross was quite observant. Zhang Chengtian's hint was immediately understood by Ross.

Unfortunately, Ross had no clue about the situation at hand.

However, the admiration and loyalty to Zhang Chengtian made Ross determined to go up hard.

It's one thing to be determined, it's another to be capable.

Ross was not very military-literate, otherwise he would not have been transferred from the Wehrmacht to the police station as a sergeant.

To put it bluntly, Ross is an officer who was eliminated by the "100,000 Wehrmacht".

Still, after racking his brains, Ross thought of a possibility.

Under the silent urging of Zhang Chengtian's eyes, Ross hurriedly put forward his own idea: "I have a hypothesis. Perhaps the Marshal of France, Marshal Petain, concentrated the French armored forces on the front line to attack, and it was the infantry that remained to besiege the two high areas. Perhaps, this is the reason why the French army has caused us to attack us so hard. The troops of the French front did not increase in quantity, but in quality. ”

Yes, it's possible. Zhang Chengtian looked at Ross, who was not good at military affairs, with a relieved expression.

It's a pity that before everyone could be happy, Sickert poured cold water on it: "Even if the French army concentrates armored troops, it should not have such a high combat effectiveness." You know, the French already had an armored division the other day that had just suffered heavy losses. Steve's Ruhr line was also supplemented with anti-tank guns that we had secretly shipped to him. Moreover, Steve's report clearly mentions that the French army was carrying out massive assaults on multiple sectors at the same time. According to my speculation, the French army would need at least 30,000 men to support such a high-intensity and intensive offensive. ”