Reincarnated: Vive La France
Chapter 90: "So was Guderian once. So was I.”

Chapter 90: "So was Guderian once. So was I.”

Berlin, Abwehr Headquarters

In the basement level, where the lights flickered against old stone and thick cables, two men hovered over a desk piled with documents from Paris.

"Again this name," said Oberleutnant Franz Lenz, flipping through a set of annotated French press translations. "Étienne Moreau. Rank: Major. Attached to the French Ministry of Defense. Present at closed-door committee sessions."

The younger analyst, Kurt Voss, squinted at the page in front of him. "It’s the fourth intercept mentioning him this month. First he was in yugoslavia, then gave speech, then was in Rome with Laval and apparently sat in on meetings discussing Mediterranean security."

Lenz nodded. "And now he’s in Paris, being quoted in minutes of the defense committee. Advocating for... mobile combined-arms doctrine."

Voss tilted his head. "That sounds familiar."

"Because it’s ours," Lenz muttered. "Or at least it will be."

He picked up a dossier and tapped it on the desk. "Armor integration. Air-ground coordination. Independent rapid divisions. He’s not parroting old French doctrine. He’s pushing something close to what Guderian’s been screaming about for a year."

Voss looked skeptical. "He’s just a major. They’ll never let him run with it."

"True," Lenz said. "But it’s not the man, it’s the noise he’s making."

They exchanged a look.

Lenz stood. "This one goes upstairs. Flag it. Mark the officer. And copy Canaris personally."

Wilhelm Canaris, Chief of the Abwehr, sat behind a desk piled high with cross-border summaries and cables.

His expression rarely changed, and this day was no exception.

He read silently, eyes narrow as they tracked across the lines of Lenz’s report.

"A major," he murmured. "What’s his service history?"

"Minimal in the files," said his adjutant.

"Verdun. Staff work in Paris. Recently promoted. Decorated, but not flashy. No political affiliations. But he’s shown up four times in key defense deliberations since Christmas."

Canaris flipped the report over and turned toward the wall map of France, riddled with pins and strings.

"And this project? A ’pilot division’?"

"Yes, Admiral. Mobile armor, artillery, motorized infantry. Focused on flexibility and response speed."

Canaris rubbed his temple. "The French love their lines. Their doctrine hasn’t moved in fifteen years."

He tapped the map near Reims.

"But if even one of them is learning to maneuver..."

The aide shifted slightly. "Do we bring this to the Chancellery?"

Canaris didn’t answer immediately.

He walked slowly back to his desk, eyes scanning other reports on the Luftwaffe buildup, Italian troop movements, Belgian rail schedules.

Then, with quiet finality, he said.

"Yes. Quietly. No alarms. Flag his name Moreau. And make sure this lands on the Führer’s desk with the next file."

January 12th, 1935, Reich Chancellery, Berlin

The private reading room in the Reich Chancellery was nearly empty and windowless, with walls of soundproof oak and a single broad desk beneath a brass chandelier.

Hitler preferred reading alone, especially in the mornings before meetings.

He flipped through reports with disinterest: British air fleet expansion.

Naval speculation in Italy.

Polish political fragmentation.

Then something caught his eye.

"Major Étienne Moreau, French officer involved in recent doctrinal debates. Connected to Rome mission. Advocating mobile division structure inside French General Staff. Language consistent with maneuver warfare."

Hitler reread it.

Then again.

Finally, he gave a short laugh and set the folder down.

Across the room, Rudolf Hess looked up from his own documents. "Mein Führer?"

Hitler held up the page.

"One of their majors is talking about tanks. Not just talking pushing them into policy discussion. Mobile divisions. Mechanized flanking strategies. Combined arms."

Hess furrowed his brow. "That’s not typical of the French."

"No," Hitler said, standing and walking to the fireplace. "They’re slow to adapt. Buried in arrogance and outdated memories. But this one this Moreau is interesting."

He tapped the page.

"This kind of thinking... it belongs in Germany."

Hess tilted his head. "He’s still just a staff officer. Likely one voice among dozens."

Hitler smiled coldly. "So was Guderian once. So was I."

By afternoon, Hitler had gathered Goebbels, Göring, and Hess in his private council chamber.

The mood was sharp tense.

Plans for the March rearmament announcement were underway.

Every detail mattered.

He placed the report on the table.

"France has a problem," Hitler said. "One they don’t yet see."

Goebbels took the paper and scanned it. "A French major?"

"Not just a major," Hitler said. "An idea. One that does not belong in France."

Göring snorted. "They’ll debate it for five years before funding it. If they do at all."

"Perhaps," Hitler said. "But watch what happens if they build it. One pilot division. Quiet. Clean. And the next war begins with movement not mud."

Goebbels raised an eyebrow. "Do we act?"

"Not yet," Hitler replied. "But we watch. If Moreau is real if his ideas start to spread then we have something to plan around."

He stood and walked to the map table, where Germany’s neighbors were laid out.

"They always follow us. In tanks, in discipline, even in ambition. But always one step too slow. They can’t imagine a world that doesn’t worship the past."

He pointed at Paris.

"This one Moreau he has imagination. But he’s trapped in a system that eats its own."

He turned to Göring.

"If they build the division, I want Luftwaffe reports on its movement. If it trains, I want pictures. If it deploys, I want dates."

"To what end?" Goebbels asked.

"To know," Hitler said, "when to hit them before they learn how to hit back."

A clerk at the Abwehr finished updating a series of index cards.

In careful script, he wrote:

NAME: Étienne Moreau

RANK: Major

AFFILIATION: French Army, Ministry of Defense

NOTES:

Yugoslavia Mission (1934)

Speech from the Presidential Palace (1934)

Present at Rome diplomatic visit (Jan 1935)

Delivered statement before Defense Committee (Paris)

Advocates mobile doctrine: combined arms, fast deployment

Viewed favorably by General Beauchamp

No political records; limited publication history

STATUS: Monitor

REMARKS: Potential doctrinal reformer. Watch for advancement or reassignment.

He filed the card under "France / Officers / M" in a drawer labeled VORWÄRTSBEWEGUNG (Forward Movement.)

Then he locked it.

Inside a high-level Abwehr office, Canaris met privately with two staff officers.

"If France begins to change doctrine," he said softly, "we must assume it’s because someone inside saw what we see."

"And if they don’t?" one officer asked.

"Then Moreau becomes irrelevant. A footnote."

"And if he doesn’t?"

Canaris lit a cigarette and stared out the window.

"Then we’ll find a way to make him one."

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