I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 935: Saarbrücken Is Very Safe

After the orders were communicated, Hindenburg finally calmed down from the panic upon first hearing the intelligence.

He touched his chin and stared at the map, thinking for a good while before asking expressionlessly: "Is the intelligence source reliable?"

Ludendorff turned his gaze to the staff beside him.

The staff hurriedly opened the file in his hand to check; it recorded the source of each piece of intelligence, with detailed explanations for important information.

"The intelligence comes from the US military, Your Excellency," the staff replied:

"It was our spy embedded in the US Army who heard some rumors."

"Additionally, indeed, there are French Army tanks secretly moved to Strasbourg, along with other troops."

The German Army in the regions of Lorraine and Alsace has a complete intelligence system, having controlled these areas for decades, the residents living here have blended together indistinguishably.

The German Army developed a batch of spies with little effort, leaving them behind in civilian life to hide before retreating.

Hindenburg lightly nodded; if the intelligence was obtained from the US Army, it adds a level of credibility, since the US Army, having only recently joined the conflict, doesn’t have as thorough confidentiality as England and France.

"Is there any issue?" Ludendorff asked.

"No, there’s no problem." Hindenburg himself was unsure:

"It’s just curious, east of the Rhine River seems unsuitable for armored units to conduct operations."

"Originally, such a secret battle plan so easily falling into our hands."

"Considering Shire’s adept use of false intelligence to confuse the enemy, I’m somewhat worried if this is a smokescreen released by him."

Ludendorff laughed:

"I don’t think so, Marshal."

"You may lack confidence in our spies and remain skeptical of Shire."

"But you must believe the British and Americans!"

Hindenburg was puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"It’s politics, Marshal," Ludendorff explained:

"Think about it, recently Shire has established the ’International Alliance’, poised to surpass the United States and overtake England."

"The British and Americans won’t let Shire continue developing like this, will they?"

Hindenburg was startled, then understood: "You mean, this could be intelligence intentionally leaked to us by England and America?"

"Yes." Ludendorff had a smile on his face, seemingly contemptuous of the British and Americans:

"Not ’possibly’, but ’very likely’.

"England and America don’t wish for Shire to easily win; what they want is for Shire to be mired in a quagmire, resulting in mutual destruction with us."

"And Shire, in terms of military equipment, tactics, and combat strength, is evidently stronger than us, thus..."

Hindenburg interjected: "England and America’s interest considerations put the battle plan in our hands?"

"Exactly," Ludendorff replied:

"Therefore, we shouldn’t doubt its authenticity because ’it was obtained too easily’.

"Otherwise, we might miss an opportunity, an excellent opportunity."

...

Saarbrücken, British Expeditionary Force Command.

After Shire and Pershing left, Haig and Baker had a secret conversation.

The US Government decided to keep this from Pershing, as they believed Pershing was too emotional, unsuitable for participating in political and strategic decision-making.

"What we need to do now is find an opportunity," Baker said, "then disclose the battle plan to the Germans in an oblique manner."

"Don’t worry about that," Haig seemed absent-minded, "Lorraine and Alsace are full of German spies, this won’t be difficult to achieve. The problem is..."

"What?" Baker frowned, fearing complications.

Haig hesitated for a moment, then took out a file from the drawer and placed it before Baker:

"This is the geographical information we’ve reconnoitered on the east bank of the Rhine River."

"We’ve even sent someone to swim across to the eastern bank to capture prisoners, thus we are very familiar with the situation there."

"My judgment is, even with ’belt floating bridges’, Shire’s crossing and landing will be extremely difficult."

Baker flipped through the file, seemingly agreeing with Haig’s assessment.

The east bank of the Rhine River is a flat alluvial zone, which, after the river swells in spring, turns a large area into a half-wet half-muddy swamp.

"Belt floating bridges" can quickly erect floating bridges between the river, but entering the shallow swamp would run aground.

It’s even impossible for tanks, as they would surely get stuck and unable to move.

Haig supplemented: "Even if Shire successfully crosses the river and takes Offenburg, do you know what will happen?"

Baker didn’t respond but cast an inquisitive glance.

Being the War Minister but not knowledgeable about military matters, the wise choice was to listen more and speak less.

"Supply would be difficult to transport to the eastern bank," Haig provided the answer, "even if Shire has amphibious landing ships."

Loaded with supplies, amphibious landing ships would also get stuck in the marsh, not to mention the Germans would use artillery to blockade the river surface.

"You mean..." Baker suddenly realized something.

"Yes." Haig had a cold smile on his face: "It seems we don’t need to reveal any battle plan, we can wait and see after Shire captures Offenburg."

If Shire is already mired in the swamp, England and America don’t need to overexert themselves.

If not, then disclosing some intelligence to the Germans later is not too late, which could also consider delaying supply provisions.

Baker pondered for a moment, then furrowed his brow: "Given the situation on the east bank of the Rhine River, do you think Shire would..."

His gaze turned to Saarbrücken on the map.

An idea popped into his mind; could this plan presented by Shire be false? Could his real target still be Saarbrücken?

"Impossible!" Haig exhibited a confident smile:

"Just as Shire said, the Germans have already set that up as a trap."

"The forests on both sides are filled with German artillery."

"More importantly, the Saarbrücken front measures 30 kilometers by 2 kilometers wide to the minefield, and just this is enough to block any unit’s penetration!"

...

"Saarbrücken is very secure," Hindenburg affirmed:

"These two months we haven’t done anything, just constructed trenches and laid mines in front of it."

"Layer upon layer, alternating minefield, trenches, barbed wire. Anti-personnel, anti-tank mines, and directional mines."

"If Shire’s mechanized forces attack from the front, this would become another quagmire!"

(Note: The German Army learned to make "Directional Mines" and call them "Steelpole Mines")

Ludendorff had no objection; a minefield 2 kilometers wide cannot be traversed by any unit in a short time.

And behind this 2-kilometer-wide minefield, Hindenburg positioned 3 regiments of 105MM artillery and 6 battalions of 77MM artillery around Saarbrücken.

When Shire’s armored units are stuck in the minefield and unable to move, they would be blasted to pieces by these artillery.

"Therefore," Ludendorff said, "we can confidently move forces to the east bank of the Rhine River for defense, that’s the place most needing infantry."