Chapter 235: The Paris Defense Line
The next two days were the calmest two days on the French battlefield.
The Greater Eastern Region had been captured by Heinz Guderian, and together with the adjacent Channel Area, it formed a pincer aimed directly at Paris.
The Western Front Army, which had split into two after passing through the Ardennes Forest, finally reunited.
This reunion also meant that Germany had completed the first phase of its mission and entered a brief rest period to integrate prisoners and re-plan the next offensive routes.
Luxembourg.
Manstein arrived at the Western Front operations room by special plane.
His cap sat high on his head, almost as if it were reaching for the sky, and the officers around him looked at him with undisguised envy.
He had broken through Sedan at astonishing speed, opening a tactical window that shattered the French defensive concept. Then he had flashed toward Calais and organized the encirclement of Dunkirk.
Either of these achievements alone would have been enough to rank him among famous generals.
With both combined, only the phrase etched into history could describe it.
And Manstein had not only two such achievements, but three.
The rapid advance on Warsaw.
The swift breakthrough at Sedan.
The encirclement of Dunkirk.
The only person completely unaffected by Manstein's achievements, whose attitude toward him remained unchanged, was Heinz Guderian.
After all, Heinz Guderian was no longer like the other soldiers.
If Manstein was a madman of rapid advance, then Heinz Guderian was the Führer's general.
Deeply trusted by Jörg, he no longer needed one or two wars to prove himself.
The title of Deputy for German Military Reform alone was enough to write his name into history.
Heinz Guderian was studying the tactical map when he saw Manstein arrive. He looked up, swept his gaze over him a few times, and teased, "Still smiling, Manstein?"
"Do not forget the promise you made to the Commander in Chief. Back at the Wehrmacht, you swore you would not let a single Frenchman escape."
"According to intelligence statistics, you allowed about forty-one thousand men to escape. Three great victories cancel out three executions, but that still leaves forty thousand more. Do you have forty thousand heads?"
Manstein realized that Heinz Guderian was joking, so he did not continue along that dangerous topic. Instead, he asked, "Do we need to launch an attack on the remaining British and French soldiers in the Channel Area who have not surrendered?"
Heinz Guderian shook his head.
"No need. The latest telegram from Berlin states that the Belgians have entered the war. They will send troops to deliver the final blow to these struggling routed soldiers. The surrendered prisoners will be transported back to Belgium to await the end of the war."
"Send one or two infantry divisions to guard them. As long as no problems arise, that is enough."
Once they turned to proper military affairs, Heinz Guderian's expression immediately became serious.
He tapped the map hanging on the blackboard with a ruler.
"The two-day leave is over. Where are your three Panzer divisions?"
Manstein pointed in the direction of Lille.
"They are resting in Lille. My Third Armored Division suffered heavy losses. Only fifty percent of its replenishment has been completed in two days. It is very likely that we will not be able to keep up with the speed required for the subsequent operations."
Manstein stated his difficulties openly.
Heinz Guderian had naturally already considered this.
"In that case, the Third Armored Division will be transferred back to the main front. I will assign you an additional Austrian Panzer Division to cooperate."
He tapped the map again.
"Tomorrow at eight o'clock, you will depart from Lille, break through the left flank of the French Army's defensive line, and head straight for the Normandy region."
"Afterward, two motorized divisions and three infantry divisions will assist you in consolidating the front."
"I will lead the First Armored Division and attack from the right flank, sealing off the Swiss line to ensure that no routed soldiers from the upcoming Battle of Paris can escape into Switzerland."
The Commander in Chief had already explained this operational plan to them very clearly.
Naturally, Manstein had no objections.
However, he still had some questions about the strategic deployment.
"Is the Italian side truly going to be left undefended?"
"The risk is too high. It is easy to face attacks from both front and rear there, and it is too far from the Paris defense line."
Heinz Guderian's explanation was straightforward.
"The French will not be able to run that way."
Paris.
The General Headquarters was shrouded in gloom.
The failure of the Dunkirk evacuation had left Daladier sleepless for two consecutive days.
Compared with the Maginot Line, which had been lost almost without effort, the failure at Dunkirk, despite all their attempts to save it, was what truly drove them toward despair.
Prime Minister Reynaud was the same.
The fall of the east had forced him to begin doubting whether France truly possessed the strength to defeat Germany.
Although the fifteen divisions that had retreated from the Maginot Line far exceeded his expectations, it could only be described as a blessing within disaster.
At the same time, it also meant that Paris now faced the reality of being caught in a pincer.
Although all remaining resistance forces had begun digging trenches and pouring temporary bunkers, what Reynaud feared even more was that Paris would face a bombing campaign as intense as Warsaw's.
The world-renowned City of Romance would become a heap of collapsed ruins.
A capital reduced to rubble by bombing was a loss no country could accept.
More importantly, Germany's military progress had been too fast. At the beginning of the war, France had not had enough time to organize the evacuation of civilians.
If Germany resorted to mass bombing, countless citizens of France would suffer separation, death, and ruin.
But even so, Reynaud had never considered surrender.
He understood that surrender would nail France to the world's pillar of shame, a stain that would accompany the nation for the rest of its life.
Moreover, France had been a victorious nation in the Great War.
It had also been the main country that had pressured Germany after the war.
If they surrendered now, the humiliation they would face would be unimaginable.
He could not accept groveling before Jörg.
Nor could he accept bowing and flattering German officials.
"When can De Gaulle return?"
Reynaud's voice carried restrained anger.
"This is the third time I have asked, is it not?"
He had already regarded De Gaulle's army, which had accumulated considerable combat experience in the Balkans, as the decisive factor in the coming encirclement battle.
But not everyone possessed Reynaud's courage to resist to the end.
On the other side, facing the complete failure of the Eastern Front, Pétain no longer had the face to continue participating in the subsequent operational command.
He only nominally retained the position of Commander in Chief, entrusting all specific defense plans to Weygand.
Looking at the white clouds drifting beyond the window, a deep sense of frustration entered Pétain's heart.
He believed that resistance could indeed continue.
Although Paris was the capital, it was still only a city.
They could abandon it.
They could establish one defensive line, then another, then a third, and even more afterward.
But would it still have meaning?
Hardliners might believe that forcing Germany to pay a greater price, forcing them to spend more lives, more tanks, and more aircraft, had meaning.
For glory.
For homeland.
For France.
The people and soldiers should shed their last drop of blood.
But Pétain did not think so.
Continued resistance would mean the intensity of the war would rise to a completely new level.
Germany might bomb every industrial zone, destroy infrastructure, railways, hospitals, and even schools, reducing the efforts of one or even several generations of France to nothing.
The loss of life would reach an extremely exaggerated level.
And that price, compared with the possibility of making Germany pay with more lives, was terrifyingly high.
So high that France could not afford it.
Taking a deep breath of Paris's unique bustle, Pétain looked at the Eiffel Tower, where the words [Resist to the End] had been written.
He shook his head and closed the window.
Then he could not help asking himself.
"Is all of this… truly worth it?"
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