740.0011 European War 1939/9206: Telegram
The Minister in Yugoslavia (Lane) to the Secretary of State
[Received 10:38 a.m.]
215. Military Attaché57 summarizes military situation as follows:
(Hypothesis 1) If Germany can be assured of non-belligerence of Turkey and Yugoslavia its forces of 20 divisions now in Bulgaria will be sufficient for action against Greece which can be launched by April 1.
(Hypothesis 2) If Germany has to protect its flanks in Bulgaria while attacking Greece an additional 10 German divisions will be required and are not likely to be in position before April 10. These presumably would be placed on the right (Yugoslav) flank, while the Bulgarian troops now massed on Turkish frontier should suffice to hold the left flank.
(Hypothesis 3) However unlikely, the possibility of a Yugoslav and/or Turkish offensive also must be considered. By April 1 the Yugoslavs could attack German right flank with 8 divisions before the Germans were in a position to cover this flank. As a corollary to such action the Yugoslavs with 4 divisions might launch an offensive against the Italians in Albania at the same time.
- Lt. Col. William E. Shipp.↩