My Third Empire

In an old building cubicle, a young boy in overalls sits at a table as his parents divide a pot of potatoes mixed with cabbage leaves. (First appearance) The little boy looked at the half of the sausage hanging on the windowsill not far away, and swallowed his saliva.

Since a few days ago, when German bombers appeared over Warsaw, Warsaw has implemented a food rationing system. Many citizens are starving because they can't get food, but the government still believes that the war will eventually go in their favor. . Unfortunately, many well-informed Poles did not believe the government's rhetoric and fled southeast with their luggage and relatives.

I heard that the Germans have already hit Rhodes? The boy's mother asked absentmindedly while stirring the food in the bowl with a spoon. The situation in Warsaw has been very bad recently, and many people are starting to pack their bags, ready to leave the city that is getting closer and closer to the front line.

That was a few days ago, our army is just a bunch of trash. The man took a mouthful of potatoes, his tone full of unwillingness and annoyance: Our army group is just a bunch of trash, hundreds of thousands of them can't do anything about it. Stop the Germans for a day.

The woman was startled, raised her head and asked, What? The front line was defeated again?

I'm at the telephone line and I know a little more. The man put down the spoon in his hand, sighed and said, The news from yesterday, Germany is estimated to be a dozen kilometers outside of Warsaw now.

The woman was obviously shocked by the news. Looking at her husband, she said, Oh my God. The Germans have come so close? No wonder German planes are coming more and more frequently these days. .

Boom! Suddenly the whole room trembled, and the dust on the ceiling was shaken off. The little boy in the room, who was staring at the sausage in a daze, was frightened by the sudden explosion and cried, and the chandelier was creaking. shaking.

The peaceful life was finally broken, and the war was once so far away, but now it is close at hand. It is already a hopeless thing that the capital of a country will eventually be affected by war.

Take care of the child, go under the table and don't mess around, I'll go out and see what's going on... The man wiped his mouth, stood up and brushed the dust off his body, pushed open the door and walked out of his room. Then go down the stairs to the first floor and exit your own building.

As soon as he got out of the building, he saw a three-story building not far away that had collapsed. Next to it were two pedestrians who fell to the ground. The collapsed building was a big pit. There was still light smoke coming out from the center of the big pit.

There were already a few people watching from a distance in a circle, and he quickly ran over to find a middle-aged woman and an old man in a woolen coat lying on the ground.

It appeared that both were hit by shrapnel and rubble.

Why don't you sound the air defense alarm? A citizen standing not far away watching the excitement looked at the corpse on the ground in horror and asked his companions.

His companion was also a little overwhelmed: Maybe the plane came too suddenly, maybe...

This is a 203mm howitzer! The Polish man who was a soldier and an artilleryman pointed to the big pit on the ground and said, This is not a bomb dropped by an Air Force plane, this is a cannon.

Impossible...how far can the artillery hit? a young man asked with a pale face: The German army...has hit the suburbs?

If I were you, go home quickly, pack up your things, and leave here quickly with the children. Warsaw is no longer a safe place. The man reminded the surrounding citizens loudly, Get out of here!

Not far away, dozens of Polish soldiers with guns were walking towards this side. They also found the location of the shelling and rushed over to check the surrounding situation.

Let's all go away! There's nothing to see! The infantry at the back began to drive away the crowd watching the fun, and all the people watching the fun were driven to a far away place.

The leading officer motioned the soldiers to leave the man who was a soldier. He looked at the man's face and asked, Sir, I think you should have been a soldier. To be honest, I have no clue about this matter. , can you tell me what you know?

This is our Polish 203mm howitzer. It's a very heavy and large artillery, and it's inconvenient to move. The man thought about it and said, I used this kind of artillery on the border of Poland when I was a soldier. artillery.

You mean, this is an accidental injury by one of our own people? the officer asked, with a look of anticipation on his face. It seems that he would rather believe that it was an accidental injury of his own people than that the Germans called.

I'm afraid it's a weapon captured by the Germans. The man broke the illusion of the young officer: This kind of artillery is generally deployed on the border and cannot be easily moved. I'm afraid the Germans hit a dozen kilometers away from here. Only then did I think of using the cannon to report us a letter first.

...

You mean the Germans have already reached Warsaw?...Why did I get a report? Pétain hung up the phone ruthlessly, scolding his commanders: A bunch of rubbish! They're all idiots! They have two hundred Ten thousand troops were defeated by one million Germans, and there was no place to hold on for a day along the way!

Sir, the troops who went to check the source of the explosion sounded back and said that it was a shell attack, and the anti-aircraft observation post also reported back that they did not detect the invasion of the German aircraft. An adjutant covered the phone's receiver with his hand and reported loudly. .

Cannonball? How did the artillery attack hit Warsaw? They are already so close? Shouldn't they still be dozens of kilometers away? Petain shouted loudly: The last contact with the Pomeranian Army was When? They should be setting up defenses in the northern part of Warsaw now! Why haven't they heard from them yet?

General Potnowsky called for the last time, saying that they were in a heavy firefight with the German troops pursuing them, and he said that some of his troops would be able to reach northern Poland by the afternoon. The adjutant replied immediately.

British and French treachery! They flirted with the Germans, and finally sold their loyal allies to fierce jackals! Just wait! One day they will all eat the bitter fruit they sowed! Not one can escape! Neither will run away. Don't drop it! Petain roared loudly, smashing everything he could hold in his rage.

Sir, if it doesn't work, let's retreat to the southern region? There we can at least hide for a while and see what explanations the UK and France have at that time. The secretary advised on the side.

They won't give any explanation to a dying country! Petain waved his hand and said, And it's too late to escape at this time! The German team in the south has already controlled a large area, and we have nowhere to stand.

Sir...Are we just sitting here and waiting to die? The secretary said with some fear: If they advance a few kilometers, they can hit the cannonball directly on top of our heads!

What can I do? My Minister of Defense, Commander of the Army, Minister of Transportation, and Minister of Civil Affairs have all fled! I still can't determine how many troops can be deployed and how many reservists can be mobilized...

Then let me take full charge of the defense of Warsaw. An officer walked in. He was the commander of the Polish Warsaw Corps, Nassar, who was in charge of the defense of the entire area around Warsaw.

As early as a week earlier, he had begun ordering troops to deploy defenses around Warsaw, dig trenches and fortifications, dig anti-tank trenches and lay mines in the main defensive areas. He proposed to deploy anti-aircraft artillery in major parts of Warsaw, but the proposal was rejected on the grounds that it would cause panic among the citizens.

But the citizens were still panicking. German bombers began to frequent the skies over Warsaw two days ago, dropping dozens of tons of bombs, destroying many homes and military facilities in Warsaw.

However, because of the insistence of this general named Nassar, the vicinity of Warsaw was not without combat readiness, but became the city with the best combat readiness in Poland. These pre-built fortifications gave the 50,000 defenders of Warsaw the confidence and courage to live and die with the city.

I ordered Li to take over the command of all the nearby Polish soldiers! Gather them together and surround Warsaw! Petain has been with this Nassar these days, and Nassar has become his most trusted army general. , so Petain ordered loudly: Don't let the Germans go any further! Victory will be ours in the end!

Nassar never believed that victory would belong to Poland, and after the German encirclement of the Lodz Army, he even less believed in this slogan. All he can do now is perform his duty as a soldier and defend his country to the last minute.

After receiving this order, he immediately rushed back to his command post and began to confirm the number of troops he could deploy. Soon he got even more depressing news. Just now, the Germans shelled Warsaw again. Six shells hit the buildings in the northwest of Warsaw city, causing dozens of civilian casualties.

But it's not all bad news. There are about 20,000 reserve soldiers that can be armed in Warsaw. Counting the police and real defense forces, Nassar can muster a full 80,000 soldiers to defend against the German attack. .

In addition, the Pomeranian Legion, which has been without news, has also resumed contact. They were surrounded 30 kilometers away from Warsaw. Breaking through the siege is obviously impossible. Potnowsky intends to lead them all the way to Warsaw. The troops under the city were holding their positions until the last moment.

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