As it turned out, Roosevelt underestimated the Allies too much, and his series of actions had a very limited impact on the strategic level of the Allies. The generals of the German General Staff left only two army groups of more than 500,000 regular troops on the eastern border of the Central Powers. Then they continued to discuss the details of the future campaign against France. The present situation was very good for the Allies, because their enemies were none other than Britain, the United States and France. The Russians were automatically ignored by the Allies.

And Huaxia? Judging from their current actions, there is no intention of deploying troops on the front line, and the number of Chinese regiments deployed in Iran has been greatly reduced since the Iranian campaign. And the total number of troops in the country has not changed much. In terms of the navy, China is still cruising in the western Pacific. They rarely even pass through the Strait of Malacca. Although the speed of building ships is somewhat fast, it seems to be worse than that of the Allies. The Germans were convinced that even if two and a half years later, Huaxia decided to take part in the fighting in Europe, it would be difficult for him to concentrate a sufficiently powerful force in a short time. The Germans believed that this might have been the result of some of the things that had arisen between the Allies and China in the latter part of the Iranian War. But in any case, it seems that China really won't really be on the side of the Entente, which is a big piece of good news, after all, the most important oil fields of the Germans and Huaxia's military base in Central Asia are only separated by the Caspian Sea! And China's strong national and military strength was not something that the Germans were willing to face.

Although there was a long consensus within the German army that the French would be attacked first, there were still many plans under this consensus. For example, there was a clear conflict between the Army-led Scimitar program and the Navy and Air Force-led Mediterranean Lookout program. The scimitar plan meant to continue to follow the German assault route of World War 1, first to capture Belgium, then attack the Atsui hills, and then attack the Paris basin to take the French capital. The greatest advantage of this program is the direct destruction of the political and economic centers of the adversary with clean military action.

And this plan also has a lot of problems, the biggest of which is that what the Germans can think of, the French can also think of! The Germans had already attacked France from the east twice, the first in the Franco-Prussian War and the second in the First World War. The French can remember it even if they don't have a long memory! The French were well prepared for this, and a defensive system built along the eastern border of France kept the Germans at bay to the east. It was not that the Germans were incapable of breaking through this line, but the time and cost of breaking through this line made the Germans very hesitant. Historically, an important reason why the Maginot Line did not work was that the Germans bypassed the line, and this time, the Germans really couldn't get around it from land. can only die a little bit! On paper, when the gap in military power is not particularly large. If the French and the British and American teams came to the aid relied on the defensive line to resist the Germans, then the situation of the battle would be directly transformed into the direction of a protracted war, which the Germans could not tolerate! Although the French relied on the defensive line, they also built a strong mobile corps to match the depth of the defensive line. The Germans, even if they opened a gap, were quickly closed by the former.

Although the German Army later prepared some special equipment to deal with these French who were shrunk in turtle shells, whether it was the Dora cannon known as the king of artillery or the heavy mortar Karl equipment. The effect of these things in actual combat exercises is very average, not that the firepower of this thing is not enough to destroy the opponent's bunker, but that the Luftwaffe cannot guarantee the safety of these equipment. Not to mention anything else, take the Dora cannon with the same name and performance as the history, the total weight of 1410 tons, the need to use special rails to transport parts, and the assembly time is up to several weeks, requiring thousands of people to operate the behemoth, when the German Army deployed them less than 40KM from the front line, the Luftwaffe wanted to ask the army. Do you think that the Allied air forces are blind? Now the times are different, the war is three-dimensional, and if this artillery is unlucky, a 500KG bomb can be heavily damaged. As the saying goes, there are a thousand days to be a thief, but there is no thousand days to prevent thieves! The Air Force can be protected for a day or two, and it is impossible to protect it all the time, right? This thing can't be used without absolute air supremacy! And the Luftwaffe thought that there was no way to guarantee absolute air supremacy!

When the exasperated generals asked why the Luftwaffe could not suppress the French air force, Richthofen replied by pointing his marshal's scepter at Britain to the north of France and saying: "If we go to war in the north, we will be faced with the British and French air forces at the beginning!" Geographically, the British and French air forces had a greater advantage, and they could carry out shuttle operations. The fighter took off from England and took direct part in the fighting on the European continent, then landed in France, and then took off from France to participate in the battle and returned to England, so that the problem of the short legs of the British Spitfire would be greatly alleviated. And the bomber units of the British Air Force are not vegetarian either. Not only the army, but also the air force must be prepared to eat bombs. ”

"Take a step back. Even if we succeed in bombing the air base in northern France, then Britain and France and the Americans who have come from afar can still rely on Britain to launch a gap against us, and the range of the Americans' fighters is much stronger than that of the British. And if our BF109 and FW190 fighters take off from the German mainland, at most they will fight a dozen over the strait, and it will not be possible to penetrate deep into the British depth, and the rear bases of the other side are quite safe. The outcome of the war will inevitably shift in the direction of a protracted war. ”

The Luftwaffe actually supported the Scimitar Project at first, but after many deductions, Richthofen and others found that they really couldn't destroy the French defense system and then deal with the British Royal Air Force, which relied on bases that were almost impossible to attack could continue to put pressure on the Luftwaffe, and when the Americans intervened, the Luftwaffe would be in a worse situation. It is not only the bombers themselves that limit the combat radius of strategic bombers, but also the range of escort fighters, and on this issue, BF109 and FW190 cry and faint in the toilet! The range is not enough! So the situation of a war of attrition will not be avoidable.

And after a high-level meeting of the Navy and Air Force, Richthofen found the key to solving the problem, that is, if the airfields on British soil could not affect the situation of the war, then the situation would be much better! For example, the navy proposed to land in the south of France, so this led to the navy's plan to look at the Mediterranean, although as early as the end of the Italian war, it was already suggested to use a partial division to land in the south of France and then contain the Allied forces, but this plan was only a vassal of the original scimitar plan, with it, without it still work. Not much impact. But when the Air Force and land-based are at an impasse. The Navy that led this plan saw an opportunity! So he carried forward the style of the navy and air force in the Sky Garden operation, and the bigwigs on both sides contacted first!

The Air Force was not very enthusiastic about this plan at first, but then after thinking about it, they realized that the Luftwaffe was in a good situation if they fought in the south! First, the Air Force said it could take Corsica shortly after the start of the war. The Luftwaffe could then use its bases in Italy, Corsica, and Spain to launch air strikes in southern France. Together with the air forces in Germany and Austria, it was possible to form a semi-encirclement of France. If the British wanted to support the French Air Force, then their Spitfires would have to be deployed in France. And if they were deployed in France, the RAF fighters would not have a safe rear base. What's more, France's most important air bases and aircraft production plants are concentrated in Toulouse in the south, which is quite attractive to the Luftwaffe.

In the eyes of the top brass of the Navy and Air Force. This plan also applies to the army, for the simple reason that a landing battle in the south can effectively avoid the defenses built by the French in the east, and the German navy guarantees that the army can be sent up, so what is there to dislike about your army? In addition, the Air Force guarantees support to the Army. The feasibility of this action plan is very high.

And the army actually rejected this plan, and even the General Staff was not very optimistic about it, for the simple reason that the south of France was mountainous and plateau, and the advance and deployment of armored forces was more problematic, and if attacked from the south. Then it is too far from Paris, the political and economic center of France, which will inevitably prolong the time of the entire campaign, so once the United States and Britain react and fully support France, then how should this war be fought? The General Staff still wanted to quickly settle France. So want to veto this plan.

But then the Navy said that this plan could be further optimized, since the Navy could send an army unit to shore in the Mediterranean, it could also send a German army from Spain to the west coast of France! The French have so far no plans to strengthen the shore defense on the west coast! If the Luftwaffe air force on the southern front could defeat the southern French air force, then it would not be very difficult for the Luftwaffe to land on the western coast of France, relying on the air bases in Spain. If France wants to hold the south. Then he had to disrupt the original configuration and put a large number of mobile troops and weapons into the southern front, and the British and American air forces had to abandon the unsinkable aircraft carrier of the British mainland and enter France, and fight with the Luftwaffe, which was geographically superior and powerful, in this case. The German aviation units actually took advantage! If you consider that the Americans need to face the interception of German submarines and fleets to send supplies to France, then this war of attrition in the south of France is actually in favor of Germany!

Although it was also a war of attrition, it was completely different from the war of attrition in northern France, except for geography, if the Luftwaffe could deploy some of its forces in Spain, then the German Navy could enter the Bay of Viscay with the support of land-based aviation. And then impose a blockade on the ports of western France, and then the support of the United States and Britain will definitely be greatly reduced! Losses in terms of transportation will also skyrocket. If the Americans were able to send 8 percent of the supplies to France before, then under the coercion of the German Navy, the Americans may only be able to send 5 percent or even less of the supplies to France. In fact, this plan is to change the focus of troop deployment, unexpectedly gain an advantage in a certain direction, and then rely on the initial advantage to obtain a favorable engagement situation.

The German General Staff also specifically deduced that in such a situation of engagement, the Allies would have the upper hand. The essence of war is exchange, and when the exchange ratio between the two sides is greater than the difference in national strength, the weaker side will become weaker and weaker in the war, until it finally collapses. The gap between the Allies and the Allies was much smaller than the gap between the Axis powers and the Allies in history. If this war of attrition is fought, then the Allies will naturally be willing. Of course, in order to accommodate the mood and needs of the Army, and to keep the time as short as possible, the Navy and Air Force, in coordination with the General Staff, indicated that when the mobile forces deployed by the Allies in France were almost exhausted, the Air Force would shift the focus of the battle back to the German mainland to support the Army in breaking through the defense line from northeastern France. The Navy also said that as long as the situation is suitable, the Navy is also willing to fight a decisive battle with the Allied fleet on the west coast of France under the cover of land-based aviation, and will try to send submarines and attack ships to cut off the route between the United States and France.

Therefore, this strategy that combines the navy and air force's observation of the Mediterranean Sea and land-based scimitar battle plan has become the core of the German Navy's military operations in the early stage of World War 2, and the core of this plan, known as the yellow plan, is to now drive a few wedges into southern France, and then rely on the superiority of aviation forces and ground forces to consume and contain the opponent, when the other side is weak, taking advantage of its unpreparedness, the main force of the army launched an attack from the northeast of France, captured Paris in one fell swoop, and forced the French government to surrender. This strategy was correct, but after the defeat of France, what to do next, the German military top once again disagreed. There are those who advocate the continuation of the attack on the British, the feat of crossing the English Channel under the cover of superior naval and air forces, and no one has crossed the English Channel since the Romans beforehand! Let the Germans finish the unfinished business of the French emperor.

Others believe that even the English Channel, which is close at hand, is too difficult for Germany, with complicated weather conditions. The British fleet on the other side of the strait, as well as mines, aircraft, submarines, etc., as well as the logistics and transport fleets that need to be raised, are too complicated for Germany. The Luftwaffe felt that even with the losses of the British Air Force, it would still be problematic to seize air supremacy in the English Channel and southern Britain. The German Navy believed that even if the fleet could defeat the fleets of the United States, Britain and France, it would still take a long time to repair the warships and replenish the battle damage. This is similar to the battle between Britain and Germany in the North Sea in World War I, even if the Germans can win the battle with a 1-2 or even 1-3 exchange ratio, they are still suppressed for a long time by the British fleet, which has a poor proportion of numbers and quality. Count Spee did not think that the German navy could solve the problem once and for all with a wave of offensives. Yingmei is not a fool, if you can't beat others, you can hide!

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