I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 41



Only Noblemtl

EP.41 Butterfly Effect (1)

If you ask who owns Germany today, nine out of ten people will answer Nazis.

So, are the Nazis the owners of the German Wehrmacht?

Unfortunately for the Nazis, the German military was dominated by traditional aristocrats who had been in power since the days of the Empire.

The noble Junkers, whose names include Von, created their own kingdom and rejected outside interference.

This nature of the German military was clearly demonstrated during the Weimar Republic when the government reprimanded the military for not responding to the coup attempt.

“Whose side is the National Defense Forces on?”

“The National Defense Forces are on my side.”

This is the answer given by General Hans von Seeckt, Commander-in-Chief of the German Armed Forces.

Not on the side of the country, but on the side of ‘me’.

Literally, the National Defense Forces were independent kingdoms within the empire, not part of the state.

Hitler was also aware of this situation.

In order to shake the Junkers’ strong hold on power, the Führer used his background to support capable officers of commoner origin.

Officers like Rommel were a representative example.

In addition, he sought to break the Junkers’ dominance by creating a new Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht, OKW, above the traditional Supreme Command of the German Army, OKH.

Despite these efforts, by 1940 the leadership of the German Wehrmacht was still in the hands of the Junkers.

Even though the German military openly sabotaged the invasion operation on the Western Front, Hitler was helpless.

In this situation, a man appeared.

“Your Excellency the President! I would like to tell you about Operation Sickle, which will end this war.”

The man was Erich von Manstein.

He was a man who was branded a member of the mainstream army faction and held a series of low-ranking posts after advocating for an operation that was close to a reckless gamble.

Manstein, who had the opportunity to approach the Führer through Hitler’s chief of staff, Colonel Schmundt, captivated the head of state with his characteristically eloquent speech.

“That sounds plausible!”

Hitler hit his knee.

However, because it was such a reckless operation, Hitler hesitated to change the operation, but when the original operation plan was leaked by accident, he had no choice but to change the operation.

With this, the German army was completely freed from the shadow of Schlieffen, who had been the army chief of staff during the imperial era.

The original plan, which was nothing more than a modified version of the Schlieffen Plan, was abandoned, and Operation Sickle Sweep, which would push the Allied forces through the Ardennes Plateau to the Atlantic Ocean, was adopted as the operational plan.

While the Germans were completely revising their operational plans, the Allies adopted the Diehl Plan, which was based on leaked German plans and called for a defense up to the Diehl River in north-central Belgium.

At the same time, he was confident of victory.

“If the Germans come, all they’ll do is make us look like cripple.”

The German attack route was clear, and they had ample troops to deploy for defense.

With the British Continental Expeditionary Force steadily advancing there, it felt as if the ‘victory’ bus that Hitler could have boarded had already departed.

“Hitler missed the bus. If he wanted to win, he should have pushed for it last year.”

Of course, that was also nonsense, but that’s what the Allies thought.

In the midst of tense tension, the German army moved first.

It started in Norway.

“Huh? Not Western Europe?”

On April 9, 1940, German forces simultaneously invaded Norway and Denmark.

Denmark was brought to its knees in just six hours by a three-dimensional invasion via sea, air, and land.

“I’ll give you both the cow and the mermaid princess. Just let them live. Or are you here to help us?”

Surprisingly, Germany has been attacking Denmark under the logic that it is ‘protecting’ the country.

Of course, it was something that even a dog wouldn’t believe, but I was grateful that he even told me that kind of lie.

‘If I’m going to lose anyway, is that better?’

Denmark immediately waved the white flag, but Norway held on for a while.

There was no other reason, but British support was very prompt.

It was as if they had prepared to send an invasion force to this country ‘in advance’.

“I feel a little guilty, but I helped you in the end, so isn’t it a good thing?”

The German invasion of Norway was a struggle due to the swift intervention of Britain.

Of course, Britain and France also struggled more than expected.

“No, why do Germans fight so well?”

Britain won the naval battle, and Germany won the land battle.

As the two sides fiercely traded victories and defeats, war clouds were also rising in Western Europe.

On the eve of the fateful day of May 10, 1940, the Allies judged the Germans unlikely to launch an offensive in the forested Ardennes plateau.

There were reports that the Sudanese would be the main attackers, but it was not easy to imagine that they would attack by pushing into the forest and exposing both sides.

The German offensive began amidst miscalculation by the Allied forces.

“Gentlemen, it is time to advance.”

The Germans launched an offensive along a wide front, stretching from the Netherlands in the north to the Franco-German border in the south.

In this chaotic situation, the Allies judged that the main direction of the German attack was not the Ardennes Plateau, but northern Belgium.

“They are Schlieffen even if they die. They are the ones who cannot escape the Schlieffen operation.”

The judgment of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, Gamelin, pointed north.

In that case, there was no need for the Allied Strategic Reserve to remain in the south.

“Take me north.”

This was a critical misjudgment that led to defeat throughout Belgium.

“No, the lord is coming to the castle! Where are you guys going!”

With the reserves having moved north, there were no units left to block the breakthrough of the main German Army Group A, which was advancing through the Ardennes.

Clearly, the Allies had the upper hand at the start of the game.

There was nothing lacking, from superior numbers of troops compared to Germany, powerful tanks, favorable defensive lines and terrain, to a well-prepared operational plan.

However, after exactly 72 hours, things were a mess.

The Allied Forces also realized the situation late.

“This is messed up.”

The Allied forces first attempted to block the enemy’s advance by hastily mobilizing all available aircraft to strike the bridges occupied by the Germans.

“Yeah, anti-aircraft gun.”

The Germans laid down dense anti-aircraft gun positions and easily repelled the Allied bombers.

They tried to counterattack with ground forces, but that didn’t work either.

“Oh, you’re not going to attack until you receive the order?”

It’s not the 21st century, but back in the days of radio, a messenger had to go and personally deliver and receive orders in order to carry out an operation.

“Are you guys in the middle of World War I?”

In terms of turn-based RPG games, it would be like fighting with the French army tied up so that when the German army moves 4 spaces, the French army only moves 1 space.

Even when orders were given, they could not move in unison.

Some received orders to charge, while the rest just watched.

Continued failures and setbacks depleted the French military’s capabilities.

Immediately after the decisive defensive action of the 55th Infantry Division ended in failure, the French prepared another large-scale counteroffensive.

but.

“Why are you guys so slow? What if you miss your appointment by half a day?”

The French failed to launch their attack in time.

“I saw it all coming.”

The Germans took up a defensive position and easily repelled the counterattack.

While the French counterattack faltered, the Germans began to advance toward the Atlantic, tearing the French to pieces.

It was the completion of Operation Sickle.

Up to this point, there was no significant difference from the original translation.

If fate had not changed, the Germans should have reached the Atlantic coast and then been ordered to halt.

However, a variable occurred here.

The one who created the variable was Adolf Hitler.

‘The reason why Lee Seong-jun, the powerful man in Korea, is pitiful is because he ended up stopping at the entrance to Nanjing. How can he win if he hesitates when he should have won a decisive victory?’

Hitler learned a lesson from Lee Seong-jun’s actions in giving up on occupying Nanjing.

Even if you negotiate with the British, you must do so after they have clearly surrendered.

Hitler’s bold advance order raised concerns among OKH generals.

“If we continue to advance while our flank is overly exposed, we will give the enemy a chance to counterattack. If that happens, all the progress we have made so far will be in vain.”

“Your Excellency, greed is a no-no. Now is the time to preserve the power of the armored units that led to victory.”

Although the generals strongly urged a halt to the advance, Hitler refused to listen.

‘Are these guys thinking of turning me into Lee Seong-jun? That’s impossible.’

Hitler had no intention of achieving a crippled victory like Lee Seong-jun.

“I have already given the order. There can be no stopping for Panzer Group Kleist. Advance until the moment when the enemy is completely encircled.”

Hitler decisively ordered the Allied forces to be strangled.

On May 19, 1940, Maxime Weygand took over as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, replacing the incompetent Gamelin, but the situation was already doomed.

The Netherlands had fallen, and a million Allied troops, trapped between Belgium and northern France, were on the verge of being trapped by a German encirclement that was closing in by the minute.

“What on earth happened in just nine days?”

Beigang couldn’t hide his embarrassment.

Baygang tried to counterattack hastily, but it was no use.

On May 24, 1940, the port of Dunkirk, the last hope for the isolated Allied forces in northern France, fell.

The Allied forces were speechless at this worst-case scenario.

A combined Belgian, French, and British army of nearly one million men was trapped in a German encirclement, waiting to be taken prisoner.

“We lost this war.”

The French had completely lost their will to fight.

Britain was equally bewildered.

On May 10, Winston Churchill, newly sworn in as Prime Minister, cried loudly in his office.

“Gallic bandits, bring back my continental expeditionary force!”

Contrary to Seongjun’s expectations, the fate of the Allied Forces was heading towards destruction.