Post by Diarist on Oct 29, 2016 6:52:46 GMT 1
It was nice to be in our 'Club' again, full of familiar faces from TRADOC. I was also glad to see that Colonel de Gaulle was still here and I told him that we have an important meeting on Friday. He replied that he wouldn't be moving to France until January so he would have plenty of time to talk about our plan. I then introduced Winston to Generals Raoul van Overstraeten and Henri Winkelmann. "Our newest colleagues from Belgium and Holland respectively. I didn't know you were bringing your daughters," I said jokingly. That got the wives smiling. "Have you settled in?"
"It's wonderful here and General Gort has given us a very warm welcome," Henri replied. "When did you arrive back in England?"
"A few hours ago and work has already caught up with me. I hope to find time to talk to you both on Tuesday or Wednesday."
After visiting the restaurant to inspect Gertrude in a Dirndl Winston and I joined John Gort, Irvine and de Gaulle at a 'quiet' table.
"24 hours ago I was at a restaurant in Erfurt. With me were the senior commanders of 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions as well as Wilhelm Canaris and Erich von Manstein who is the Head of Operations at the Army HQ in Berlin. He's working on Case Red which is a contingency plan to defend Germany against a French invasion of the Rhineland. I told them it sounds more like a German plan to enter the Rhineland without waiting for the French. Von Manstein immediately denied it. I countered that the Führer and von Neurath are looking for any excuse to enter the Rhineland and do you seriously believe that the OKH won't take a look at your plans. Without knowing it he's been planning the German remilitarization of the Rhineland. They dread that thought because they know they are not ready if it starts a war."
"You believe they are going enter the Rhineland sooner or later, don't you?"
"Yes, John. It's a matter of when, not if. Hitler needs a victory and it's the easiest way to achieve one if they believe that we'll do nothing."
"I hope they don't move too soon because I need at least six months to organize the armoured division."
"Charles, forget the armour. You have the 1st Motorized Infantry Division and to be precise nine battalions of motorized infantry. You don't need armoured units to move into the Saar. You already have everything you need. The division needs to be moved from Lille to the German border. The creation of an armoured division and the Armour Training Centre is just a pretext to move near to the Saar."
"You're right. I don't need an armoured division for that, do I?"
"You need a battalion from each of the three regiments to be on alert so that they can move within an hour of getting the order."
"It will be difficult to keep that secret."
"I know so why try. It'll either deter them from making their move or encourage them to speed up their plans and move in before they believe we are ready. But Charles, we should be ready before the end of January, correct?"
"Correct. We can use the rail network too like in Italy. Saarbrücken, the capital is just across the border. A battalion could be there in less than an hour."
"...and you really do need to create the armoured division. Create it in the Saar."
"Bob, what target do you have in mind for the two new Generals?" Winston asked.
"Aachen and the vicinity. There's the huge lignite open mining region and it supplies most of the electricity for the Cologne-Düsseldorf area. Belgium and Holland could use it to support their own economies."
"So you are also planning to use the coal and steel from the Saar for our economy?"
"Of course. Why shut it down? That's what I don't understand about the German leadership. Why risk losing that for their own war machine if they don't have the military force to back their moves? If they were to wait a year they'd have the necessary muscle."
Irvine asked, "and you believe that the Wehrmacht will stop Hitler."
"No, they won't stop him but if his gamble fails they'll remove him. That's why we must respond in order to give the Wehrmacht the reason to act. If we do nothing Hitler will prevail and afterwards nobody in Germany would dare question him and we'll have a war against a strong Germany four or five years from now."
"So no Hitler, no war."
"Irvine believe me when I say there will be a war. Stopping Hitler won't stop Stalin or the Japanese. The French and British have global issues, something that Germany doesn't have to worry about anymore. Then there's the USA, they have global ambitions too. A war will make them much stronger than they are now. More powerful than Britain and France together. Franklin D. Roosevelt has his agenda, Winston and it's definitely different to ours. Our only counter would be a united federal Europe but that's pure fiction at the moment."
"With that I'm saying good-bye. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Bob."
"I'll be there."
"It's wonderful here and General Gort has given us a very warm welcome," Henri replied. "When did you arrive back in England?"
"A few hours ago and work has already caught up with me. I hope to find time to talk to you both on Tuesday or Wednesday."
After visiting the restaurant to inspect Gertrude in a Dirndl Winston and I joined John Gort, Irvine and de Gaulle at a 'quiet' table.
"24 hours ago I was at a restaurant in Erfurt. With me were the senior commanders of 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions as well as Wilhelm Canaris and Erich von Manstein who is the Head of Operations at the Army HQ in Berlin. He's working on Case Red which is a contingency plan to defend Germany against a French invasion of the Rhineland. I told them it sounds more like a German plan to enter the Rhineland without waiting for the French. Von Manstein immediately denied it. I countered that the Führer and von Neurath are looking for any excuse to enter the Rhineland and do you seriously believe that the OKH won't take a look at your plans. Without knowing it he's been planning the German remilitarization of the Rhineland. They dread that thought because they know they are not ready if it starts a war."
"You believe they are going enter the Rhineland sooner or later, don't you?"
"Yes, John. It's a matter of when, not if. Hitler needs a victory and it's the easiest way to achieve one if they believe that we'll do nothing."
"I hope they don't move too soon because I need at least six months to organize the armoured division."
"Charles, forget the armour. You have the 1st Motorized Infantry Division and to be precise nine battalions of motorized infantry. You don't need armoured units to move into the Saar. You already have everything you need. The division needs to be moved from Lille to the German border. The creation of an armoured division and the Armour Training Centre is just a pretext to move near to the Saar."
"You're right. I don't need an armoured division for that, do I?"
"You need a battalion from each of the three regiments to be on alert so that they can move within an hour of getting the order."
"It will be difficult to keep that secret."
"I know so why try. It'll either deter them from making their move or encourage them to speed up their plans and move in before they believe we are ready. But Charles, we should be ready before the end of January, correct?"
"Correct. We can use the rail network too like in Italy. Saarbrücken, the capital is just across the border. A battalion could be there in less than an hour."
"...and you really do need to create the armoured division. Create it in the Saar."
"Bob, what target do you have in mind for the two new Generals?" Winston asked.
"Aachen and the vicinity. There's the huge lignite open mining region and it supplies most of the electricity for the Cologne-Düsseldorf area. Belgium and Holland could use it to support their own economies."
"So you are also planning to use the coal and steel from the Saar for our economy?"
"Of course. Why shut it down? That's what I don't understand about the German leadership. Why risk losing that for their own war machine if they don't have the military force to back their moves? If they were to wait a year they'd have the necessary muscle."
Irvine asked, "and you believe that the Wehrmacht will stop Hitler."
"No, they won't stop him but if his gamble fails they'll remove him. That's why we must respond in order to give the Wehrmacht the reason to act. If we do nothing Hitler will prevail and afterwards nobody in Germany would dare question him and we'll have a war against a strong Germany four or five years from now."
"So no Hitler, no war."
"Irvine believe me when I say there will be a war. Stopping Hitler won't stop Stalin or the Japanese. The French and British have global issues, something that Germany doesn't have to worry about anymore. Then there's the USA, they have global ambitions too. A war will make them much stronger than they are now. More powerful than Britain and France together. Franklin D. Roosevelt has his agenda, Winston and it's definitely different to ours. Our only counter would be a united federal Europe but that's pure fiction at the moment."
"With that I'm saying good-bye. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Bob."
"I'll be there."