Chapter 862 Coastal Defense Division (Asking for Monthly Votes)

Rommel fell silent as he looked at the map.

It has long been proven that mountains can minimize the enemy's advantage, and Rommel himself has personally experienced this in Africa.

On the one hand, the defenders can use the reverse slope of the mountains to build fortifications, so tanks and artillery are basically useless in an instant.

As for the enemy's aircraft, it may seem that they are not restricted by the mountains on the surface, because they fly in the sky and can see and attack any corner.

The problem is...

The slope of the mountain will cause a phenomenon that a straight distance of one meter in the sky is ten meters, dozens of meters, or even a thousand meters in the mountains.

Therefore, the error of bombers dropping bombs on the slope of the mountain will be magnified several times, dozens of times, or even dozens of times.

More importantly, the German army can also build fortifications, just like the Gabes Line, which built fortifications on the reverse slope.

Such a defense line cannot be simply piled up with ammunition. It must rely on troops to capture and fight for each hilltop, and this is the advantage of the German army... Although the German army is short of manpower, its fighting spirit and will are much stronger than the Allied forces, and they have fought in rounds on the African battlefield and the Eastern Front.

On the other hand, the Allied forces, especially the US military, are mostly rookies who have never fought a war. In order to have enough troops to participate in the war, they even recruited criminals in prison to serve in the military.

Therefore, the front line is likely to fall into a stalemate again.

"But..." Rommel looked at France: "This means that we have to give up a large area in northern France!"

"We only give up the places that we can't defend!" Qin Chuan replied.

This is a sharp remark. The plains in northern France are indeed impossible to defend. Holding on to them and refusing to let go will only waste the precious manpower and resources of the German army in vain.

Therefore, war must have this kind of courage to cut off one's arm.

What's more, voluntarily withdrawing and being driven out are two completely different things...Voluntary withdrawal can transfer many important things, such as wealth, machines, talents, etc.

Rommel certainly knew this truth. After thinking for a while, he nodded, but soon shook his head and said, "The Führer will not agree to this defensive strategy. We can't convince him!"

Rommel was right. As long as you know a little about Hitler, you will know that he will definitely not agree to this plan of abandoning a large area in northern France and retreating to the Maginot Line.

In fact, Hitler would not be willing to give up any land, which can be seen from Hitler's remote control command on the Eastern Front... Even if he knew that the 6th Army would be surrounded, Hitler still refused to give up Stalingrad.

So now, France at least has the Atlantic Wall and hundreds of thousands of troops, plus France is a goose that lays golden eggs... How could Hitler give up easily?

"Yes!" Qin Chuan nodded: "So I didn't plan to convince him from the beginning!"

"You mean..." Rommel looked at Qin Chuan in astonishment, then quickly shook his head and said: "No, Lieutenant Colonel, you are crazy. This is not Africa, I can't disobey the order of the Führer and do my own thing!"

Qin Chuan certainly understood this, otherwise Rommel would have done it long ago.

"You misunderstood, Marshal!" Qin Chuan replied: "I don't mean disobeying the Führer's order!"

"Then what is it, how can you implement your defense strategy without disobeying the Führer's order?"

"We can use the Allied Forces to convince the Führer!" Qin Chuan replied: "Withdraw materials from France in a planned manner, retreat in a planned manner, until you withdraw to the Maginot Line!"

"That is to say... the battle that should be fought must be fought!"

"Yes!" Qin Chuan said: "Not only that, the difficulty is much greater than coastal defense and deep defense!"

Rommel nodded in agreement.

Coastal defense is just coastal defense, and deep defense only requires troops to be deployed on the second line.

Qin Chuan's defensive strategy, on the other hand, was to block the Allied forces and retreat in an orderly manner while being able to confront the U.S. military... Everyone knew that this was the most difficult, both in terms of the battle situation and psychology, and if one was not careful, the entire line would collapse and become a rout.

"What is your plan?" Rommel asked.

"First!" Qin Chuan said: "We must stop the first wave of the Allied attack, otherwise we will have no time and space to retreat!"

This was caused by the disagreement between the Führer and the officers on the Western Front.

Without knowing the strength of the Allies, some officers thought that the Atlantic Wall could be used to stop the Allied attack, and Rommel was the most typical example.

Some officers supported deep defense, thinking that the Allied troops that landed could be driven into the sea in batches by using armored forces to counterattack, and then repeating this action, the Allied forces would never be able to land.

Hitler stood between the two factions. He neither supported the former nor the latter, and took a wait-and-see attitude in the middle... This was also the reason why he asked Rommel to continue to strengthen the Atlantic Wall along the coast while deploying elite troops on the second line.

In the face of such interference and endless arguments among the various factions, it is almost impossible to implement a certain strategy unwaveringly.

Only after the First World War, when everyone can see the gap between the enemy and us, can they unify their thoughts.

This is what Qin Chuan said, "Use the Allies to convince the Führer."

Therefore, the first wave of attack must be blocked, otherwise it will be a rout rather than a retreat.

"The problem is how can we stop them!" Rommel said distressedly: "The defense of the Brittany Peninsula is the weakest. The completion of the fortifications in that area is less than half. There are 8 coastal defense divisions among the 14 divisions, but I can't mobilize a single soldier here!"

"Is there any problem with the coastal defense division?" Colonel Slaine asked.

"Oh, yes!" Rommel said: "Coastal Defense Division, what a good name, it sounds like it can defend the entire sea surface..."

After a pause, Rommel changed the subject and shook his head and said: "They think that the coastal defense division only needs to be able to pull the trigger in the fortifications. Therefore, all those who were eliminated in the recruit training were thrown into the coastal defense division. The average age of these troops is 36 years old, and they are full of wounded soldiers who cannot fight, severe gastric ulcers or pulmonary aspiration patients, etc. Do you know what they say about the coastal defense division? These troops are "unmovable" without automobile transportation!"

Hearing this, Qin Chuan and Colonel Slaine looked at each other.

But the truth is not just that.

"There's something worse!" Rommel said: "Among these 8 coastal defense divisions, there is a volunteer division, which is composed of Soviets, French, Belgians, etc., and there are even prisoners among them. Can you believe it? Let the prisoners join the army to resist the Allied attack!"

"French?" Qin Chuan asked.

"Yes, French!" Rommel said: "The French regiment transferred from Algeria!"