Phase one of the invasion As tensions with France skyrocket, preparations need to be made for the coming conflict. With heavy French fortifications along the border, simply trying to smash our way through is deemed too costly, and another strategy is needed. This would involve a surprise attack through Belgium to strike at the undefended border further north. However, it is essential that this strategy is not revealed to the enemy or it would be rendered obsolete, thus we would initiate a massive disinformation campaign to convince the French that we are planning a major offensive through their established defensive positions. To achieve this, we’d begin mobilising men and transporting equipment and supplies towards the French border, setting up fake camps and the appearance that German forces are massing along the border. However, in reality, majority of the troops and equipment that are sent in the morning are quietly withdrawn during the night, hopefully convincing the French that there are many more troops and supplies then there actually are. Fake artillery sites, command centres and supply depots are set up, while we would keep sending trucks and transports to constantly bring in more men and equipment while simply withdrawing them throughout the night in secret. Meanwhile, the main offensive would be prepared along the Belgian border, this time in secrecy to prevent the Belgians or French from realising our trick. Thus, we’d only transport our forces and equipment to the designated mobilisation points during the night and disperse our forces until they are given the signal to organise just before we begin the offensive, making it harder for us to be detected and arouse suspicion. Once preparations are complete, our campaign would begin with a large scale artillery bombardment on Belgian fortifications while our soldiers smash into the hopefully unprepared and unaware Belgians, with the objective of swiftly capturing border forts and routing the disorganised Belgian army from their defensive positions. We would emphasise speed and overwhelming power, giving the Belgians no time to react and recover. With more then a million German soldiers taking part in the operation, we would hope to easily crush the Belgian forces quickly, especially after their main forts and defensive positions are captured. From here, the advance would continue into France, aiming to flank their main army along the German border. This is where our previous efforts should have drawn the French to focus on defending their direct border with us instead of defending their border with Belgium, leaving most of the front undefended and thus allowing our forces to easily advance deep into the French industrial heartland before they can react. This concludes our first move, and opens up the path to Paris and victory.
