章 139: Chapter 217 The Second Day
On the morning of July 4th, General Laidlaw had just gotten out of bed when his adjutant hurriedly ran over. "General, the Belgian forces in Liège have all fled!"
"What?!" General Laidlaw was momentarily stunned. They had spent the night on the outskirts of Liège, and the Belgian forces in the city had fled? If they slept a few more nights, would the whole of Belgium surrender? "Have you confirmed it?"
The adjutant was very certain. "The reconnaissance battalion has searched the entire city of Liège. The Belgian forces have indeed withdrawn to the other side of the Meuse River, and all the bridges have been blown up."
"The bridges are blown up?" General Laidlaw nodded thoughtfully. Since the bridges were blown up, it was indeed confirmed that they had fled.
There were three bridges from Liège to the other side of the river. The high command had discussed whether to send paratroopers to occupy these bridges. However, both banks of these bridges were heavily guarded by a large number of Belgian forces. After calculation, it was deduced that the success rate of paratroopers occupying these bridges without casualties was less than 40%. Even if they succeeded in occupying them, the success rate of holding on until reinforcements arrived was only 12%. Therefore, the plan to send paratroopers was abandoned.
Now, these bridges had been blown up by the Belgians themselves. It seemed that they could only forcefully cross the Meuse River. "Issue the order: after breakfast, the entire army will move into the city. Send a telegram to the high command; we have already occupied the city of Liège, and a few hours later, we will begin the forced crossing of the Meuse River."
At the same time, in the headquarters of the Anglo-French coalition, there was a roar of anger from Gamelin. "Last time, their ancestors resisted the German army here for a whole 13 days. Are they not afraid of embarrassing their ancestors?!" The seemingly impregnable fortress of Eben-Emael had fallen within two hours of the start of the war yesterday. Today, as soon as the enemy approached, they panicked and fled? Were these cowards planning to escape to France seeking refuge?!
How could they have such unreliable allies?!
Viscount Gort smiled bitterly. "Didn't they say it themselves? Liège is not defensible, and they have established defensive fortifications on the other side of the Meuse River, and they will staunchly resist the German crossing." The last time they resisted for so long during the Great War was because there was the fortress of Liège. Unfortunately, that fortress was eventually disabled by the German artillery, and the Belgian forces did not repair it afterward.
"Humph, these cowards!" Gamelin cursed angrily. "Your Lordship, do you think they can hold on for how long?"
Viscount Gort thought for a moment. "Two or three days should be no problem."
"Once the Germans successfully cross the river, it will be less than 100 kilometers to the capital, Brussels. In less than 100 kilometers of plain, they can delay the Germans for at most two or three days. That means the Germans could reach the outskirts of Brussels as early as July 8th." He had initially expected the German forces to be blocked on the line of Liège-Meuse River-Albert Canal for 10-15 days, but it seemed he had overestimated the combat will of the Belgian forces.
Viscount Gort nodded. "It's about right."
Staring at the operational map on the wall for a long time, Gamelin spoke. "Although our current forces assembled in Brussels far outnumber the Germans, I'm still not at ease. I'm considering mobilizing the Seventh Army as well!"
"The Seventh Army?" Viscount Gort was momentarily surprised. "That's our reserve force, General. Are you planning to send the reserve force over now?"
War is about strategy, that is, deploying one's own forces according to the enemy's situation in advance. However, the battlefield is ever-changing, and the enemy may appear in unexpected places, or other unforeseen circumstances may arise. In such cases, there should be a reserve force that has not been deployed, ready to deal with such situations. This is the origin of the reserve force.
In crucial times, deploying an additional reserve force can play a decisive role.
King Alexander of Macedonia proposed the idea of using moderately equipped infantry as the reserve force and established and timely deployed the reserve force in the Battle of Gaugamela, defeating the Persian army. Napoleon's failure in the end was also because there was no reserve force left.
But now, Gamelin was sending all the reserve force over, making Viscount Gort somewhat uneasy. What if there were unexpected changes in the situation or if the Germans had some unrevealed tactics?
"Rest assured, Viscount.", Gamelin confidently declared. "We are now completely certain that the German attack is following the Schlieffen Plan, and this is the main direction of the German offensive! Deploying the reserve force now is the best opportunity because we need to defeat the Germans with a powerful and continuous assault!"
"...Sounds reasonable." After all, the German forces are indeed formidable, and it makes sense to concentrate superior forces to defeat them. But the lack of a reserve force still makes Viscount Gort uneasy.
Seeing this, Gamelin reassured him. "I've already deployed the reserve force now, and domestic defense mobilization is underway. Follow-up forces will be continuously organized. In a week at most, we will have ten reserve units fully organized."
Hearing this, Viscount Gort felt somewhat relieved. "Shouldn't we support the defenders at the Meuse River? The Belgian fighters are no match for the Germans. Without air support, they might have a hard time holding on."
At the mention of this, Gamelin's expression turned somewhat grim. Not to mention the Belgian fighters, even the French fighters were not a match for the Germans. Just yesterday, over 200 planes (including British Hurricane fighters) were shot down.
"When will your 'Spitfire' fighters arrive?" He knew that the British had a type of fighter called the "Spitfire", which far surpassed the Hurricane and their MS.406 in performance.
"They'll be here in the next few days. But..." Viscount Gort hesitated.
"But what?" Gamelin asked curiously.
Viscount Gort continued after some hesitation. "We've heard that the Germans also have a new type of fighter aircraft in service. Although we don't know the specific performance, it shouldn't be inferior to their Bf 109s."
Gamelin's mouth twitched slightly. This news was quite discouraging. The German Bf 109s were already formidable, and now there was an even more powerful fighter aircraft?
Nevertheless, he tried to boost the morale of both himself and Viscount Gort. "No need to worry too much, Viscount. The outcome of the war still depends on the army. God favors the army!"
Meanwhile, in the Ardennes Forest, the German's suspected next move, which had been causing subtle concerns for Viscount Gort, was slowly advancing. Due to the narrow and lengthy roads, the entire convoy formed a long snake-like formation. When refueling was needed, the entire convoy had to stop to avoid potential congestion.
"Stop and refuel!"
The long procession gradually came to a halt, and tank crew members took oil barrels from the tank racks to refuel.
Speaking of these military oil barrels, it was another remarkable invention of the German army during World War II. While the German High Command developed the Blitzkrieg strategy, they faced a logistical problem: the rapid pace of attack by various assault units led to a lag in supply, and thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, and trucks required a large amount of gasoline in battle.
Later, the German army developed a new type of 20-liter oil barrel, formally known as the "standard container". This container was stamped from thin sheet iron into two parts, which were then welded together. It was not only very low-cost but also required minimal production time, meeting the large-scale needs during wartime. More importantly, it was extremely convenient to use. Normal individuals could easily carry it, it didn't leak, and it could be effortlessly hung on military vehicles.
The German High Command considered these oil barrels as a strategic secret weapon. They even ordered that, in the event of German forces being forced to surrender or captured, they should destroy their oil barrels first to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Allies. The structure of this item was too simple; the Allies, once in possession of it, could mass-produce it.
Eventually, this secret was unable to be fully protected, and the Allies seized German oil barrels. They quickly replicated and applied them to the battlefield. This type of oil barrel was extensively used in civilian and military fields in the future.
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