The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 1339: Chapter 967: Counterattack!_3 Chapter 1339: Chapter 967: Counterattack!_3 The Ruhr District is the industrial heart of Germany and the most essential part of this industrial superpower. Even though it suffered looting and occupation after World War I, it quickly regained its vitality.

If one could occupy the Ruhr District and seize some important industrial equipment and skilled workers, it would be very helpful for the future development of Australasia’s industry.

However, such an assault was very challenging. At that time, a large part of French territory, including Paris, was still occupied by Germany, and the Ruhr District was located quite deep within.

For the Australasia Army to occupy the Ruhr District, they had to maneuver behind the German Army’s Westline.

The difficulty of this task can be imagined, although conquering the Ruhr District would yield great benefits, completing this task would also be a great challenge.

Arthur didn’t plan to push the front line to the Ruhr District in a short time. The timing of occupying the Ruhr District roughly coincided with France’s recovery of Paris, which not only could cut off a large number of German troops’ retreat routes but also meant facing a recently defeated German Army, reducing the pressure significantly.

Secondly, by occupying the Ruhr District and cutting off the German retreat on the Westline, this would also write a glorious chapter in Australasia’s history books for World War II.

This was very advantageous both for vying for more benefits in the post-war negotiation meetings and for the subsequent propaganda work.

The Ruhr District wasn’t far from Germany’s Capital City, Berlin. Once the Ruhr District was captured, it meant that it wouldn’t be long before Berlin was taken.

Germany, having lost its industrial heart, was destined for downfall; for Germany, defeat in the war would only be a matter of time.

In March 1939, the Russians’ counter-offensive on the Eastern Front hadn’t made much progress, but the Frenchmen on the Western Front received good news.

Due to the Germans redeploying the garrison in Brittany, the French Army at last found an opportunity and managed to reclaim cities in the Southern Region, such as Nantes and Rennes.

Further west, Lorient and Brest were practically in the Frenchmen’s pocket; in other words, the French had essentially regained the entire region of Brittany.

Although Brittany’s area wasn’t that large and its importance wasn’t as high as Paris and Normandy.

It was still the first official recovery of complete territory after large parts of Northern France had been occupied by Germany, and for the entire German public, it held significant meaning.

After essentially reclaiming Brittany, the Germans could only conduct another strategic retreat and abandon a large area of positions from Nantes to Tours.

There was no choice—Brittany’s area could easily outflank these positions from behind. At that time, the positions were no longer strong defensive lines for the German Army but rather a death knell for them.

In the regions of Normandy and Brittany, the Anglo-French army had already captured large swathes of land.

This seriously affected the German defensive positions on the opposite side of the Loire River, where the Germans had even retreated near Orleans, voluntarily giving up extensive land across from Tours.

Strategic retreat was the only policy for the German government to dedicate to the Westline troops.

With no choice, lacking reinforcements and supplies, the best way to prevent a collapse of the Western Front like that experienced on the Eastern Front was to actively conduct a strategic retreat. Surrendering part of the territory was a trade-off for the stability of the entire Western defensive line.