MR. ROBERTS: You are familiar with that?
JODL: Yes, I know that.
MR. ROBERTS: And I do not propose to read it again, because it was read very recently; but you agree, do you not, you said yesterday, the problem was this: First of all, you must have a surprise attack; if you were going to attack at all, you must have a surprise attack.
JODL: On the basis of the stipulations made by the Führer; yes.
MR. ROBERTS: You must have a surprise attack first, and your troops would take 4 days to get into their battle position.
JODL: Yes.
MR. ROBERTS: And therefore you must know the time, the incident which is going to be the cause of the attack; you must know the time when the incident is going to take place.
JODL: Yes, I said that one would either have to predetermine the time or one must know it in advance; otherwise the demands could not be carried out.
MR. ROBERTS: And, therefore, you must create the incident yourself.
JODL: I testified to that at length yesterday. Either one of the many had to be exploited or perhaps one would have to help the situation along a bit; but, as I said, those are General Staff considerations which, when we capture them from the French, you consider entirely irrelevant.