Chapter 301: Allied Disagreements

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Anyone who knew Rommel knew that this man was a born adventurer. The so-called all-powerful leaders of the world seemed not worth mentioning

Anyone who knew Rommel knew that this man was a born adventurer. The so-called all-powerful leaders of the world seemed not worth mentioning in his presence. This General Rommel liked to get into a tank himself and attack with his own troops. This General Rommel liked to sit in a light aircraft, lean his body out of the plane to take pictures of his own troops. The most dangerous experience this somewhat rash general had was when a bullet hit a staff officer less than two steps away from him.

Of course, if you are familiar with the real history of the French campaign in World War II, and the history of the Afrika Korps, you will find a tragic fact: this general named Rommel was a commander who was extremely fond of disobeying orders on the battlefield. As soon as he saw an opportunity—whether it was real or fake, as long as he judged it to be an opportunity—he would attack.

This had earned him the reputation of the Desert Fox, but it had also laid the groundwork for his later defeat. And now he enjoyed an even more prosperous “holy favor” than in the other timeline. Compared to Hitler’s affection, this time Rommel was a general who had been single-handedly promoted by Akado. In private, he even considered himself the Führer’s personal army. So at Laon, he had made almost exactly the same decision as Guderian.

He had patiently set up his command post at Laon, and then had left his staff and entourage, climbed onto a Panther tank, and, with his “reconnaissance force,” had continued forward, launching a “general’s reconnaissance” that was both amusing and exasperating to all.

This limited reconnaissance operation had reconnoitered all the way to the outskirts of the important French town of Marle. By the time Rommel arrived at the outskirts of Marle and had learned in a unique way that the French defenders were not very capable, he had decided to launch an attack with the very limited forces he had on hand.

His unique method of reconnaissance was to sit in a tank and drive through the city at the fastest possible speed, judging the number of French defenders by the sound of the gunfire hitting the tank. This method sounded a bit risky, but after a probing attack on the outskirts, Rommel had discovered that the French had no intention of defending this place. So his adventurous spirit, or rather, his death-defying spirit, had manifested itself, and he had made this crazy move with a danger factor of 9.9.

The French had not expected that there would be such a daredevil who would drive a single tank across the city. By the time they had come to their senses, this tank had already passed through. Of course, this also proved the French army’s lack of preparation and its weakness in not having anti-tank weapons. Soon, one tank regiment and one motorized infantry regiment of the 7th Panzer Corps had caught up with their commander and had driven the French army out of Marle.

The victory at Marle had given the supremely confident Rommel a reason to continue his “reconnaissance” to the northwest. He decided to order his troops to continue their attack toward their original intended target. They would launch a fierce attack on the French army and capture Le Cateau.

And the loss of Marle had also completely bewildered the French army. The French commander, Gamelin, who had originally judged that the German occupation of Stonne was in preparation for a push south, now discovered that the Germans’ real target was to encircle his main forces in Belgium. So he hastily ordered the troops in France to organize a counter-attack, but what he received was the news that de Gaulle had been soundly defeated at Stonne.

Guderian’s cooperation had made Rommel very comfortable. When he learned that the 1st Panzer Corps under Guderian’s command had already passed Laon and was fiercely attacking and had occupied it, he had used the word “understanding” to describe his flank partner. The news of the capture of Laon also made him advance toward his own target with even more confidence and boldness.

His troops had been carrying rubber hoses all along the way, scavenging abandoned French gasoline and civilian gasoline to supplement their embarrassing situation of having no supply. The situation of Guderian’s 1st Panzer Division was only slightly better; they also needed to make do with local resources from time to time. The two generals, like two bandits, had completed their pre-planned combat mission by robbing and plundering all the way.

Of course, to the north of Rommel’s troops, the 5th Light Panzer Corps under the command of von Rundstedt, in order to avoid Rommel’s 7th Panzer Corps becoming too exposed, had no choice but to be reluctantly dragged forward. Although they were not as active, the Anglo-French coalition’s defenses they faced were even weaker, so they had unknowingly already reached the northern city of Le Cateau, Le Cateau-Cambrésis.

When the 5th Light Panzer Corps arrived at Le Cateau-Cambrésis, the French army here had already left. Their flank had been threatened by Rommel’s offensive, and having no will to fight, they had abandoned this important city to the 5th Light Panzer Corps, along with a hospital full of wounded soldiers.

The speed of the German army’s advance had clearly scared the French commanders silly. Their defensive line in Belgium had put them in a very awkward position: if they retreated, then the interests of their Belgian allies, which they had always insisted on defending, would be completely lost. If they continued to hold their ground, then they would face the risk of being encircled in Belgium.

In a devastated Brussels, Colonel Grewdo, who had been promoted to commander of the Brussels garrison, stared blankly at Gamelin and the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff of the British Empire, Lord Gort, who were in front of him. The two of them had deliberately come over in the hope that Colonel Grewdo could understand the decision they had made.

“Colonel Grewdo, we must ensure the safety of the entire coalition army,” Gort said, somewhat bracing himself. “The German army in our rear has threatened the security of our transport and supply lines. This has made us lose the initiative. We need to shorten our defensive lines and withdraw a portion of our troops to counter-attack the Germans to the south… Please understand.”

“So I have been temporarily appointed as the defense commander of Brussels to hold back the German attack for you?” Grewdo asked, staring at Gort.

“Yes. If the Belgian forces can hold out in Brussels for two to three weeks, then we will counter-attack. As allies, we will fulfill our obligations,” Gamelin said from the side, also very embarrassed, helping Lord Gort.

In fact, the idea of retreating and giving up a portion of Belgian territory was Gort’s idea, and he had single-handedly pushed this plan through the Allied command. Compared to the close relationship between France and Belgium, it was easier for Britain to make a decision to give up a portion of Belgian interests. They had to prioritize the safety of the British Expeditionary Force before they would consider other matters.

But even so, Britain’s decision to push for the retreat of the main Anglo-French coalition forces was very reluctant and had been highly questioned. At least the commander of the 3rd Division of the BEF’s 2nd Corps, General Montgomery, had strongly disagreed with this act of betrayal. He had suggested withdrawing a portion of the elite troops to deal with the German armored forces to the south, while the majority of the defenders would continue to hold their positions.

It was a pity that his suggestion was not taken seriously by Gort. The Anglo-French coalition had ultimately decided to give up a portion of the Belgian-controlled area to shorten their defensive lines and to withdraw troops to the south, in order to ensure the absolute security of the entire coalition’s supply lines.

But in doing so, they had sacrificed a portion of Belgium’s interests, which had met with resistance from most of the Belgian officers. This anger and resistance had spread within the coalition and had even begun to affect the cooperative relationship between the two sides. For example, on many occasions, the Belgian defenders had refused to provide fuel to the retreating Anglo-French coalition forces and had also refused to transport food supplies for these allies.

But under the effect of this mutual buck-passing and constraint, the slow retreat of the Allied forces was still unable to shake off the pursuit of the German Army Group B. The defensive line was shrunk again and again, but they were still unable to withdraw effective forces to support their vulnerable southern supply line.

Now, Brussels in Belgium had become a frontline city that could be directly threatened by the German army, and the country of Belgium was also at a critical juncture of life and death. Most of the Belgian defenders had decided to fight to the death and not to retreat, to live or die with the country. But their idea was still to hope that France and Britain could stop their retreat and join hands with them for a decisive battle, instead of, as they were now, leisurely walking on the road of escape every day with their luggage and equipment.

So this had led to this awkward meeting between the two sides. The two sides could not stand the sight of each other’s decisions, so they had no choice but to discuss the subsequent problems in such a disgraced manner.

“Colonel Grewdo, I know you are all for your motherland. I also hope to be able to hold this city with you. But we cannot act on emotion. We must make the necessary trade-offs for victory,” Lord Gort said with a sigh, once again trying to persuade him. “We must achieve victory in the south before we can rest assured and fight our way back to Brussels from the north.”

“We? Relying on a weak force to defend such a vast territory, and we must hold out for two weeks? Do you think we can do it?” Grewdo was almost amused by his ally’s fantastic request. “We lack heavy weapons and equipment, are unable to stop the German 6th Panzer Corps in the northern region, and have no ability to counter-attack the German 2nd Panzer Corps that is constantly advancing in our south. What do we have to defend Brussels?”

“This…” Gort’s face turned slightly red, and he was too embarrassed to speak.

The French commander, Gamelin, had no choice but to brace himself and present their plan. “Belgium will concentrate its forces and defend Brussels. The German armored forces are not very effective in urban combat. It is still possible to hold out for two weeks… This is also the main reason why we have come to see you.”

The feasibility of this plan was higher than that of other operational plans, but there was a very serious side effect, which was that to defend Brussels in this way would turn the city into a scorched earth. No matter what the final outcome of the war, the city of Brussels would become synonymous with ruins.

Colonel Grewdo glanced at Gamelin and did not speak. He just walked to the side of the door, opened the office door, and then made a gesture to the two generals, whose ranks were much higher than his, to see them out. Only then did he speak. “Regardless of what you decide, the Belgian people will defend their country in their own way.”