I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 937: Emotions Maxed Out

The preparation phase of the campaign dragged on until mid-April.

The reason was that the German Army maintained a diplomatic stance of "compromise," partially withdrawing troops from Romania and Italy, while frequently messaging the "International League" through Holland:

"We respect the decisions of the International League, Germany is not a belligerent nation, we too wish to end this war."

"We are retreating from the relevant regions, but due to road destruction, it will take time."

"The Italians are still shelling us, which I think breaks our mutual understanding!"

...

In fact, everyone could see that the Germans were just making a gesture, as the areas they withdrew from were the central regions of their defensive lines.

In the Piave River direction of Italy, it couldn’t even be considered a retreat. The German Army merely concentrated its forces on the flanks, leaving the central plains open. Should the Italian Army cross the river to pursue, they would be surrounded and annihilated by the Germans.

However, even as a gesture, it was inappropriate for Shire to order an attack; otherwise, it might give the pretext of "destroying peace."

Actually, it was Shire who tacitly approved of this delaying tactic by the German Army.

If Shire was unhappy, he only needed to find an excuse, such as the German Army’s lack of sincerity in retreating, and could initiate an offensive with the support of the international community.

Shire was waiting because he had intelligence that the Germans were continuously moving their troops to the east bank of the Rhine River.

The Germans did this very secretly, making no movements during the day but moving covertly at night, hiding in trenches and maintaining radio silence once reaching their destinations.

They tried to use this method to hide their troop strength.

What the Germans didn’t expect was that the "White Lady" used civilian reconnaissance methods such as counting military vehicles from windows, tracking the amount of supplies transported by train, or following tire tracks.

The simpler the reconnaissance method, often the harder it is to guard against, or even impossible to defend against.

Shire was pleased to see this happening, so he pretended to be fooled and quietly waited while secretly reinforcing troops on the west bank of the Rhine, just like the German Army.

Apart from Tassin’s Third Armored Army, he also redeployed Fuxu’s Northern Group Army to prepare for the offensive.

The Germans knew Fuxu was meant for an offensive; he never defended, aligning with the French Army’s offensive strategy across the Rhine River!

When Fuxu saw Shire, he gave him a big hug:

"Vice Admiral, we’ve finally waited for this day."

"I never thought we’d have the current situation. We’ve not only reclaimed lost territory, but also have the chance to counterattack into Germany’s homeland!"

"You know, this is every Frenchman’s dream, and I’m no exception. You’ve given us this opportunity!"

...

Fuxu believed Shire intentionally left the immense honor of "invading Germany’s homeland" to him and was thus grateful.

Shire replied modestly, "Commander-in-Chief, for a battle of this scale, of course, it requires your command. My armored group army is more adept at focused penetration."

The implication was that he lacked the capability to command large armies.

This made Fuxu quite pleased as he cheerfully shook Shire’s hand, saying, "This is the result of our joint effort. Let’s strive, Vice Admiral, I believe our cooperation will be successful."

Fuxu was well aware that it was always Shire who guided the direction of the war. Sometimes, as the commander-in-chief, he didn’t even know specific operational plans.

The old military ideas were outdated. Fuxu glanced at Shire and Tijani, inwardly sighing: the young are formidable, and he could no longer keep pace with the younger generation.

Shire assigned Fuxu to command the Rhine River, with the Northern Group Army deploying forces while secretly building docks to prepare for a multi-point river crossing.

This immediately gave the German Army a headache, and they quickly judged: the French Army might force a crossing at any point, with Strasbourg being a primary focus, although the force crossing there might only be Shire’s First Armored Army.

...

After more than twenty days of preparation, the German Army finally dropped their pretense and launched counterattacks on Romania and Italy simultaneously on April 16th.

Romania direction.

Due to the German Army’s generally superior equipment and combat effectiveness compared to Austria-Hungary, coupled with Romania losing the support of the Russian Army, the German Army quickly broke through the Carpathian Mountains’ defenses, penetrating deep into its hinterland.

Italian direction.

Although the Italian Army heeded Shire’s advice and purchased a large number of rocket launchers to destroy the floating bridges the German Army had set up.

But as the saying goes, "where virtue is one foot tall, the devil is ten feet high," any fixed single tactic, over time, will reveal flaws to the opponent.

The German Army used deception to exploit the heavy ammunition consumption of rocket launchers.

They chose to cross the river at night, using wooden boats disguised as "belt-like pontoon bridges," scattered everywhere.

The Italian Army, on edge, quickly fired, using rocket launchers to bombard the so-called "pontoon bridges" frantically.

In just over an hour, they exhausted their rockets.

At this time, the German Army brought out the real "belt-like pontoon bridges" and led infantry across the Piave River with tanks. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The Italian Army collapsed, retreating to the Po River to organize defenses.

But the Po River is located on a flat plain, with numerous crossing points and vulnerabilities, plunging the Italian Army into a crisis of national annihilation.

...

Urgent telegrams flooded Shire’s desk.

A message came from the Queen of Romania:

"Dear Vice Admiral, the German Army’s so-called retreat is an actual attack. They have formed an ’Alps Army,’ advancing 80 kilometers in the mountains in three days, infiltrating behind our defense lines and defeating the garrison at the pass."

"They are now only 65 kilometers from Bucharest, and Romania is on the brink of disaster."

"This is a provocation against the International League and against you personally. Please, you must save us."

"Romania promises we will provide you with more oil allocations..."

Italian Cadorna sent an urgent telegram:

"Vice Admiral, please dispatch reinforcements or give us more rockets, otherwise we are likely to collapse."

"We are staunch supporters of the International League. We have surrendered control over coal and steel management. You won’t stand by and watch us be taken by the German Army, will you?"

...

The telephone kept ringing, sometimes Clemenceau, sometimes the representative at the International League.

The International League’s meeting room was in an uproar, quickly reaching a decision: "It’s time to attack Germany and teach them a lesson."

Major newspapers hastily published supplements reporting on the German offensive, and citizens everywhere became aware of the situation. Everyone believed an attack was imperative.

Emotions were high, and people turned their attention to Shire, watching how he would act.

Gallieni was the only one not pressing Shire.

In the City Hall Minister’s office, he stood before the map, observing Shire’s troop deployments in the regions of Lorraine and Alsace, smiling slightly: "This fellow has long been prepared."

Gallieni’s gaze was fixed on Sarbrucken.

He knew this was Shire’s target because of the short distance, potentially achieving the greatest benefit with the least cost.

But Gallieni didn’t know how Shire would accomplish it!