On September 6, 1939, the commander-in-chief of the tank unit of the newly formed French 5th Army, Charles Murphy. Colonel de Gaulle, together with his immediate superior, Lieutenant General Putrella, viewed the position at the forefront of the Agno salient (located on the border between Alsace and Germany, bordering Germany to the northwest).

It was the focus of the Maginot Line, which was defended by the strongest defensive line in the world, whether it was the part of the confrontation with Germany across the Rhine to the west or the flat section of the border to the north (the border runs northwest-southeast).

And Colonel de Gaulle and Lieutenant General Putrella are not here today to see the Maginot Line, they are here to observe the Siegfried Line of the Germans opposite.

The front line was very quiet - the hundreds of thousands of German and French troops faced each other on two lines, and this was the real front line, but there was no smell of gunsmoke or gunfire.

"Your Excellency, Mr. Colonel, in the week since the war began, we have not suffered a single casualty, nor have we fired a single shot at the enemy. Of course, they didn't shoot a single shot at us......"

An older major stood beside a reinforced concrete fortress, pointed to the quiet German line in the distance, and reported the situation at the front line in a very satisfied tone.

No firing, no casualties, no fighting, very satisfying indeed!

"You didn't conduct a fire reconnaissance?" Colonel de Gaulle asked, somewhat dissatisfied.

"Why fire reconnaissance?" The "old major", who had participated in the First World War and had been bombarded by German shells in the trenches, looked at de Gaulle with a look of surprise and disgust.

"That's sending the children to death! It doesn't make the slightest sense! "I don't need reconnaissance to know how strong the line on the opposite side is, because I'm watching the Germans build it...... They came in a lot of people, and Opel trucks carrying cement and steel bars lined up the highway in an endless line. And the construction has been going on for several years, and the amount of work completed will definitely not be less than that of the Maginot Line! ”

"There must be some weak spots!" De Gaulle said.

"Nope! There are no weak lots! Absolutely no ......"

As if he had guessed de Gaulle's thoughts, the elderly major immediately cried out, looking at De Gaulle and Lieutenant General Putrella, who was beside him without saying a word, with pleading eyes. "Okay, okay, don't let the children die...... Our generation has died enough! Why let our children go and let the Germans kill again? It's so cruel! ”

The old major was so anxious that he was about to cry, he knew how cruel the war was! He lost two younger brothers in the last war, and now he is reluctant to lose his sons.

"Major, how can you talk like that!" De Gaulle looked back at Lieutenant General Putrella and seemed to be asking Lieutenant General to punish the coward.

"Colonel! What I say is true! The major didn't seem to care at all that de Gaulle was higher in rank than him, but instead said in a stirring voice, "It's easy to give the order to attack, let the children climb out of the safe line, charge at the German positions, and watch them all be killed by the German machine guns!"

If you think it makes sense to do this, then give a formal order! ”

It was a difficult remark, but Lieutenant General Putrella did not mean to be angry, but persuaded the "old major" with a few words, and left the front with de Gaulle.

"Lieutenant General!" De Gaulle, in the car returning to the headquarters, said dissatisfiedly, "The morale of the troops is low, no one wants to fight, so how can an attack be launched?" ”

It turned out that Putrella and de Gaulle had wandered around the front line in order to draw up an offensive plan - at the strong demand of the British, French Prime Minister Daladier asked the commander-in-chief of the French army, Admiral Gammerin, to study the question of a major attack on the Siegfried Line.

As a result, the commanders of several French Army groups stationed behind the Maginot Line went to the front line to inspect and see if it was possible to break through the German lines.

Putrella also took de Gaulle around the front line of Agno for a few days, and what he saw was a peaceful sit-in battlefield.

Although they went to the battlefield, no one wanted to attack, and not many people were ready to sacrifice their lives for the country. When the battalion commanders and regiment commanders at the front heard the word "attack", they were all kinds of reluctant.

"And the Charles," asked Lieutenant General Putrella, "is it possible to break through the Siegfried Line with your tank forces?" ”

Break through the fortified strip with armored forces? De Gaulle, like the "old major" this time, shook his head again and again: "Lieutenant General, this is impossible...... The Siegfried Line of the Germans had anti-tank trenches and dragon tooth systems, as well as a large number of reinforced concrete artillery ramparts, which were used against tanks. In the event of a strong attack with tank troops, the losses will be very heavy! ”

The specifics of the Siegfried Line, De Gaulle did not know. But German propaganda spent a lot of time boasting about the "anti-tank trenches" and "dragon's teeth" there - two obstacles that could stop the tanks' advance, while anti-tank guns placed in the reinforced concrete forts in the rear would destroy the French tanks.

If the French were to concentrate their tank groups to break through the line, the losses would be unbearable!

"So, who is to go?" Lieutenant General Putrella frowned and looked at de Gaulle.

"With infantry divisions!" De Gaulle said, "Concentrate a large number of infantry and artillery on the Agno salient, launch a strong attack under the cover of infantry tanks, and try to break through the Siegfried line within a month." Then they can throw in tank troops and motorized troops and attack all the way to Berlin. ”

The Siegfried Line was originally an anti-tank fortified area, and unlike the Polish-German border, it was impossible to break through a bloody road with armored forces. The only tactics left over from the First World War - tanks to cover the infantry, with the support of artillery, and to spend enough time and shells to tear through the defensive line. After tearing through the defensive line, armored and motorized units can be put in......

Of course, there are shortcuts!

"Or ......," de Gaulle paused, "passing from Belgium and Holland!" ”

The Siegfried Line stretched 630 kilometers from Clevaud, near the Dutch border in Germany, along the borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, and France to Basel, Switzerland, and further north on the German-Dutch border.

"What?" Lieutenant General Putrella was taken aback by de Gaulle's suggestion, "To undermine the neutrality of Belgium and the Netherlands?" ”

"If we don't want millions of people to fall in front of Siegfried!" De Gaulle's tone was heavy, "Passing from Holland is the best way!" ”

……

Chopin's "Polonaise" once again sounded from a Siemens radio, and Natalie was enjoying lunch. Congressman Leshinskaya knew that the nonsense of the noon news was about to begin again - the news of the Poles was ridiculously outrageous, and since September 1 had been full of news of victory, except that the front line was getting closer and closer to Warsaw.

By the night of September 5, news that the Polish government was going to move out of Warsaw had spread throughout the city. And this morning (September 6), the government did leave. Now the largest in Warsaw is the headquarters of the Polish army led by Rez Shimigvi. And Natalie. Immediately after learning that the Polish government had left Warsaw, Leshinskaya wrote to Rez-Shimigvi, asking for a meeting.

"Madam Councillor," said her secretary, John Brown. Liberski walked in at this time, "The adjutant of Rez-Shimigvi has just called the embassy and said that the Marshal of Poland has agreed to meet with you. ”

Leshinskaya now lives in the Italian embassy - her public identity as a member of the Polish National Socialist Party (Ceskhine constituency) in Warsaw, although Polish intelligence knows who she is. So as soon as the war began, Natalie hid in the Italian embassy. She had a good personal relationship with the Italian ambassador, so she could happily take refuge here.

But Natalie doesn't plan to stay in hiding in the Italian embassy until the end of the war, she still has a mission to complete Hersman - to be a traitor!

Natalie doesn't have any psychological burden about becoming a "Polish traitor", because she is only Polish (in fact, she also has a lot of German ancestry), and she never took Polish citizenship before following Cesin back to Poland. She was Russian, then Soviet, then German, and she has not renounced her German nationality until now - she is white, fluent in German, and has some German ancestry, so she is also an honorary Aryan.

But the German Empire was also not her homeland to which she was allegiated, in fact she would not be loyal to any country, she was only loyal to Admiral Hersmann personally. In her opinion, since Hersman was not her man, then she was her "monarch". Since Hersman had given her protection and enough wealth for her to squander, she owed her allegiance to Hersman.

"Okay," Natalie put down her knife and fork, and smiled at John. Libelsky said, "Bring the poison." ”

"Here it is."

A small white box was placed in front of Natalie, who opened the box, and inside was a denture - a denture that could be crushed hard and contained poison.

Natalie picked up her dentures and was about to shove them into her mouth.

John. Libelsky said: "Ma'am, you don't have to be ...... like that"

Natalie shook her head with a smile and said with a smile, "Everyone has to pay for what they get, and I'm no exception...... Since he doesn't want my body, then I'm ready to give my life for him! That's the only way I can continue to have everything I have now! ”

As she spoke, she put the poison-filled denture in her mouth - the probability of crushing it was actually very low, and Rez Shimigvi was not such a tasteless person. But putting poison in his mouth is an attitude, and Hersman will know it, and then he will continue to treat Natalie as a confidant. (To be continued.) )