Chapter 354: Discussing the Invasion Plan Part II
Once the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg was gone, and Bruno was alone with the Kaiser, the man was quick to bring up the offensive that would lead to a swift and brutal end to the war.
"I didn’t want to discuss this in front of a maiden, so it’s good that she has finally departed, but her territory will become the front from which the 8th Army makes its initial advance. Other forces in Ypres, and Elsass-Lothringen will push at the same time.
While the Italians have agreed to grant military access so that we can invade France from the South as well. To put it simply, there will be no escape for the French Army once the onslaught has begun, and I need you to be okay with that..."
The Kaiser’s expression went from playful to somber as he was quick to ask the question Bruno was expecting him to.
"You have promised the war ended by the time the new year comes and have even promised to act with decreased caution and increased aggression to achieve this. May I ask how many of our men must die for this to be accomplished?"
Bruno did not hesitate to respond as he followed up with his reasoning immediately after.
"500,000 at the most will be killed or wounded in action. This, of course, includes the figures of our allies. The French have resolved themselves to fight until the bitter end, and theoretically the moment they realize they are encircled and there is no escape, the idea of surrender will no longer become an option.
Should we have found ourselves in a normal war of identical scale, but where all forces are relatively equal in size, our losses would be considerably higher in order to obtain our objectives. But not only is the 8th Army fully mechanized, we also have another Army that should be setup to mirror its capabilities.
In addition to this our allies have begun to produce their own tanks en masse, and while they are lagging behind in the department of other armored vehicles, we should expect hundreds if not thousands of their own tanks by the time the offensive begins in September.
The number of armored vehicles which are not only vastly superior to what our enemies are fielding but in many ways allow the deployment of troops with protection from hostile fire will severely mitigate casualties.