Gamelin’s Gamble (Sept '39 Hypothetical) - TWiE The First Blitzkrieg

French-German Frontier - 6th September 1939: With five full Armies deployed in the east, to conquer Poland, Hitler was taking a calculated gamble that the French and British would be paralyzed with indecision, and not take action in the west before events in the east were concluded. While General Maurice Gamelin, the Commander of the French Army, did launch a limited, face-saving offensive in the Saare region, a real opportunity may have been lost by the Allies. General Franz Halder, the German army's Chief of Staff, was astonished by the weakness of the French attack. He wrote, "If the French had used the opportunity presented by the engagement of nearly all our forces in Poland, they would have been able to cross the Rhine without our being able to prevent it, threatening the Ruhr with decisiveness for the German conduct of the War." *Designer Note: Unlike the Saare Offense Scenario (#102), this Scenario depicts a full scale attack by the French on Germany with all forces mobilizing to aid the Poles. However, Belgium neutrality is honored and this area on the map is marked as impassible terrain.