Chapter 207: The Battle of the Western Front

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“We’ve been played!” a old French general said with a sigh, looking at the map. “I just received news from the front. Many sections of the Germans’ Siegfried Line are fake! We still need to reassess how much of the entire defensive line is real.”

Another old general took a sip of coffee, his mustache twitching as he spoke. “Right now, de Gaulle has already entered German territory with two divisions. We have deployed a full ten divisions on his flanks and to his rear.”

He put down his coffee cup and pointed to a red line inside Germany on the map. “If the Siegfried Line is fake, then what will the Germans use to stop our offensive?”

“So what will we use to stop the French offensive?” von Rundstedt asked with a smile, standing on a hillside and looking at his men. “I’m sure the French are asking the same question, aren’t they? A dozen years ago, I wouldn’t have known how to answer… but now, I believe that as long as we hold fast to one thing, we can achieve victory.”

His adjutant, standing behind him, looked into the distance. “Hold fast to what?”

“Trust in the Führer!” von Rundstedt replied with a smile. “Because ever since God let the Führer lead Germany, we have not yet lost!”

A Panzer III tank sped past him, kicking up a breeze that rustled his greatcoat. It was followed by another Panzer III, and then one StuG III after another.

“Soon, the French will know that we have prepared for everything,” von Rundstedt said, watching the hundreds of tanks driving along the highway below the valley. More soldiers were crossing the hills, trucks were pulling cannons one after another, and countless German soldiers were singing as they advanced.

In the sky above, an Fw-190D fighter plunged out of the clouds, followed by a second, a third… and soon the hundredth, the hundred and first. These fighters, in formations of four, were stacked at different altitudes, already beginning to give the impression of blotting out the sun.

In a parked car near von Rundstedt, a radio was broadcasting the German Führer’s speech from that morning. “At a time when the German people are protecting Europe from the corrosion of the Comintern, at a time when we are rescuing the Polish people from Soviet aggression, France, which considers itself the leader of Europe, has declared war on us…”

“We are fighting and bleeding for the people of all of Europe, but they have stabbed us in the back with a despicable and vile knife! What kind of act is this? This is a sell-out! A betrayal! When we were facing the Comintern, we did not expect their help, but they are holding us back! This is an act of irresponsibility to all the people of Europe!”

“They think they can achieve victory! They think they can defeat us! But, the outstanding German people, will we let ourselves be carved up like fish on a chopping block? No! We are prepared. Even if we only have armor and swords, we still dare to challenge our opponents! We still dare to shed our hot blood for our land!”

“The war in Poland has already proven that we are invincible! Originally, those damned Frenchmen should have been thankful, thankful that we did not plunge our bayonets into their chests! But they have dared to challenge our sacred territory! This is a criminal provocation against the entire Germanic nation! This is a blasphemy against the peace we long for!”

“Soldiers! Take up your weapons! Prove to the whole world that only we are the emperors of war! We fear neither the enemy nor war! On the contrary, we long to prove our loyalty to the people of our motherland in blood and fire! We long to repay the trust and love of the people back home with victory!”

“Disembowel the invaders, pull out their intestines and hang them with them! Go! Let them taste the power of our tanks! Let them witness the might of our fighter planes! Let them know the firm resolve of the German people!”

“Outstanding warriors loyal to the Reich, go! My great soldiers who are loyal to me, for me, for the nation, bring back victory!”

In the sky above, a fighter pilot gave a loud command. “Ground radar has detected an invading French air force fighter group. We’re going to go and tell them whose sky this is… All fighters, climb! ‘Contingency Plan’ is now in effect! Repel all invaders.”

“All fighters, climb!” Commands from various commanders came through the headsets. “12th Squadron, you provide top cover above the clouds… Entire 9th Group, you are responsible for the main frontal attack… 6th Squadron, you do not get entangled. Your job is to find the French bombers. They are all yours.”

The roar of the engines grew louder. All the planes began to accelerate, one after another, climbing into the white clouds like mischievous sparrows, disappearing in an instant.

“General!” Von Rundstedt’s adjutant received a telegram, then stood at attention and reported. “A telegram from the Air Force Commander, Kesselring. They have already begun to counter-attack the French air force and expect to seize control of the nearby airspace within a day.”

Soon, another officer came up the slope. “Report. After the shelling, the French are shifting their artillery positions. The enemy’s tank units are attacking our defensive line. Our losses are heavy, but we have managed to halt the French attack. General Manstein has sent a message asking when his troops can be committed to battle to attack the enemy’s flank.”

“The general offensive will begin in four hours. We must ensure we have air superiority and have confirmed the enemy’s situation before we can begin. We have to let the French army go, to avoid them becoming cornered and starting a real all-out war,” von Rundstedt said after a moment’s thought. “The Führer estimates that we still need a few more months to complete our mobilization and deployment, so we must win this time for the Führer.”

“I now order! The counter-attack begins!” von Rundstedt announced loudly, looking at his watch. “All troops! Begin the counter-attack!”

“Boom!” “Boom! Boom!” On the artillery positions, the already-prepared 150mm field guns spewed dazzling flames. The German artillerymen, who had already measured their firing data, began their performance. In one exercise after another, they had firmly imprinted the method of blanketing this land in their minds.

“Fire!” With a single command, the Army Group’s attached Friedrich rocket artillery regiment let out its own roar. The “whoosh! whoosh!” sound blended into one. The entire artillery position was engulfed in the smoke and dust kicked up by the rocket exhaust. Everyone watched as the small, slightly elongated black dots, trailing white smoke, flew into the distance, where the not-yet-fully-deployed French army was waiting for them.

In the sky above, at the same time, a German aircraft commander gave the same order. “Enemy planes spotted! Combat begins!”

“Vrooom! Wheee!” The German fighters, formed up in battle formation, banked and dived like eagles that had spotted their prey, joining the attack on the low-flying French planes. These planes quickly broke through the clouds and found the French air force, which was already pulling up to engage them.

The German planes had the advantage of position, potential energy, and their own inherent power, which was demonstrated to the fullest. The French air force was forced to engage, because they had to protect their bomber groups and could not fly as high as the German pilots.

“Fire! Fire! Aim for the enemy planes and fire!” The shouts of his comrades constantly came through his headset. Heinz Bär was piloting his Fw-190D, diving in pursuit of a French MS.406. He lined up on the nose of this constantly firing fighter and centered his crosshairs on the unlucky Frenchman.

Soon, Bär squeezed the trigger. The 20mm cannons spat fire. A dozen or so shells accurately hit the French fighter opposite. The plane exploded and disintegrated in mid-air, while Bär calmly pulled up his fighter and began to search for his next target.

Although the maximum speed of the French fighters was a little faster than the Polish and Soviet planes, they still could not catch the German Fw-190, which had a top speed of over 700 km/h. This turned the air battle into a one-sided slaughter by the German Air Force. Within an hour, only 14 German pilots were shot down, six of whom were subsequently rescued. But the French Air Force lost a full 101 excellent pilots.

However, the unluckiest ones in this day’s air battle were not the French fighter pilots, but their bomber units. The German 6th Squadron was an interceptor unit that had just been issued with a new air force weapon. Under the wings of each of their Fw-190D fighters hung ten 65mm air-to-air rockets.

They whistled down from high altitude, charging toward the French bomber formation, and then, at a relatively safe distance, fired off all the rockets under their wings in one go. This was a tactic personally invented by the Führer to intercept large-scale enemy bomber formations, called “saturation attack.” Dozens of planes could fire several hundred rockets in one direction in a single pass, enough to cause heavy losses to a bomber formation.

Soon, disaster befell the French bomber formation. Planes hit by rockets exploded in mid-air. The pilots had no time to bail out and were burned to a crisp by the great fire. Many planes collided with each other while evading the rockets. Many more, in a panic, dropped their bombs and fled, not knowing that many of the bombs landed right on the heads of the advancing French ground troops.

Everyone knew that when facing swarms of fighter planes, bombers could only reduce their losses by maintaining their formation. But now, their formation had been broken by the German Air Force in the first instance. The rest of the matter became very simple: German pilots fired their 30mm and 20mm cannon shells into the wings of the French planes, sending these big guys trailing black smoke as they crashed into the ground.

Even the French themselves could not believe that in less than three hours after the battle had begun, they had lost air superiority over German territory.