The Rise of the Third Reich

In the spring of 1939, the clouds of war that hung over Europe seemed to have dispersed. This time it was Mussolini who stepped forward to be the peacemaker - his invincible Italian army had just emerged from the long Spanish Civil War. This war had left the Italians a little tired, with empty treasury and various strategic reserves. It has also been reduced to a dangerous level.

At this moment, the wise Italian leader knew very well that he had no capital to fight, so no matter how tempting Hitler offered him, he was unwilling to join the "socialist axis" and instead adopted a pro-British and French policy.

Of course, this does not mean that the leader is going to fight Germany. It is certain that the Germans are difficult to deal with, and what can be gained by defeating Germany? Annex Austria? What the leader wants is the Roman Empire, not the Holy Roman Empire...

Therefore, Mussolini played a balance between Britain, France and Germany. Traveling back and forth between Warsaw, Poland, Paris and London, he became a peace messenger. And also proposed a seemingly fair peace plan:

First, Germany gave up its claim to Danzi;

second, to move all Germans in Poland to Germany;

Third, Poland will give Germany 1 million tons of wheat per year for the next 10 years;

Fourth, Poland ceded the port city of Klaipeda in the Lithuanian Free State (originally part of German East Prussia) to Germany in order to connect East Prussia and the Baltic States.

Seems like a very good plan!

Britain and France worked hard to promote it, and put pressure on Germany through unilateral embargoes on oil and strategic resources and high-priced purchases of Dutch East India oil.

Germany, on the other hand, implemented a strict gasoline rationing system in March 1939 to cope with the shortage of domestic fuel supply. It seems that the unilateral sanctions imposed by Britain and France have achieved some results...

At the same time, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler also began to soften his attitude, stating that the issue of the complete abolition of the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain and the return of some of the original German overseas colonies must be resolved.

"The leader has a beautiful idea. He also wants to abolish the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain, and then take back the colonies..."

Hessmann shook his head and said with a smile: "He doesn't even think about how powerful Germany is now. If the treaty is formally abrogated and the colonies are taken back, our marks will become gold marks!"

"But we, Germany, plus the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and Poland have no chance of winning even if they form an alliance to fight against each other! Don't they understand?"

The person speaking to Hersmann was Field Marshal Schleicher. Now both he and Hersmann were playing war games within the General Staff's Operation No. 1—this low-cost simulated confrontation is a required course for officer training in this era. It can play a great role in formulating a formal battle plan.

The reason why a combat plan is thorough is that it is gradually improved by mastering sufficient intelligence and conducting multiple war games. Sometimes, in order to verify the doubts arising from the deduction, military exercises similar to actual combat will be conducted.

Just in the past few months, the German Wehrmacht has conducted no less than 10 small and medium-sized military exercises.

"We may not have no chance of winning. In fact, we also have a weak point with the Soviet Union!" When Hersman spoke, he held a long push rod in his hand and pushed a wooden raft with airplane stickers on it to a picture. A corner of a very large map.

"Where are you putting the plane?" Schleicher was playing a war game with Hersman between "British and French waves" versus "Soviet and German".

Schleicher was responsible for simulating the "Soud", while Hersman simulated the "British-French Wave".

"Iran, Turkey, Iraq...how many planes have you deployed there?" Schleicher walked to Hersman and found that Hersman was placing planes in the Middle East.

"Very, very many," Hersman said, "Britain now has hundreds of Stirling heavy bombers, Wellington medium bombers and Blenheim light bombers, as well as many Blenheims as long-range fighters. France also has many Farman heavy bombers, LeO-45 medium bombers, and Botai 633 long-range fighter jets that can reach Baku. If they are really determined to organize hundreds of bombers and long-range fighter jets to bomb the Soviet Union's Baku, Batumi and Grozny are both possible!”

"Baku, Batumi and Grozny are the lifeblood of the Soviet people!" Schleicher nodded. "If they can really be destroyed, not only will the Soviet mechanized troops be unable to move without fuel, but even their industry will be destroyed. will be hit."

According to intelligence from the Imperial Central Security Bureau, in the last year of the Soviet Union’s Second Five-Year Plan, that is, 1937, the Soviet Union’s oil production reached 46.8 million tons (there may be moisture, as there was a trend of exaggeration at the end of the Soviet Union’s Second Five-Year Plan), coal The output is less than 120 million tons. In the Soviet energy consumption, oil accounted for 16.1% (only 5% in Germany). Oil was not only used as fuel to drive cars in the Soviet Union, but was also used in large quantities to generate electricity.

So once the oil facilities in Baku, Batumi and Grozny were destroyed, Soviet industry would be in trouble due to lack of electricity.

"It's not just the Soviet Union, we will also have problems!" Hersman threw the long putter in his hand to Lieutenant Colonel Galen, director of the Strategic Deception Bureau of the General Staff, who was playing war games with him.

"We?" Schleicher shook his head. "We already have 18 million tons of oil reserves, and we are expected to add another 2 million tons by the end of June. And our daily production of synthetic fuel has exceeded 12,000 tons... In this way, we only need to consume 4 to 5 million tons of oil every year, which is enough to cope with the war, and we can also buy a lot of oil from Romania.”

"But oil reserves and synthetic fuel production are both secrets," Hersman said. "Reinhard, how much information has the Strategic Deception Bureau released?"

"There are 2 million tons of oil reserves, a daily production of 5,000 tons of synthetic fuel, and an additional 1 million tons of synthetic fuel reserves. In order to maintain the war, we need to import 8 million tons of crude oil every year, 80% of which comes from the Soviet Union." Lieutenant Colonel Galen said, "And we have been spreading false news about German oil consumption, imports and reserves since 1924. The false news spread over the past 15 years can be compared one by one."

Hersman shrugged, "Once we are unable to import oil from the Soviet Union, with the 3 million tons of reserves in our hands and imports from Romania, it can only last for 6 months even if we use them sparingly. Marshal, do you think Britain and France will Would you consider bombing Baku?”

"Ludwig, do you really think it's possible for Britain and France to bomb Baku?" Schleicher said thoughtfully, "If they really bomb Baku, Britain, France and the Soviet Union will really be at odds with each other!"

Although in the treaty, the Soviet Union stated that it would submit an "ultimatum" to support Germany to Britain and France within a week after Britain and France declared war on Germany. If they did not receive an agreed reply within 24 hours, they would go to war.

But no one is sure whether the Soviet Union will honor the treaty. Moreover, during this period, diplomats from the Soviet Union and Britain and France were also in frequent contact.

Hersman smiled contemptuously, "What can be the result of contact? Can Stalin give up his demands for right-bank Ukraine? Can the Poles cede right-bank Ukraine?" He shook his head and said, "At this time, war is inevitable. But Britain and France They have lost the courage they had in 1914. They only want to win the war with the least amount of blood, and bombing Baku seems to be a good way to do it without paying many casualties!”

…

"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, the Air Force believes that bombing the Baku oil fields is feasible."

Lord Chatfield, the British Minister of Defense Cooperation, was reporting to Prime Minister Chamberlain on the results of the Chiefs of Staff Committee's discussion of the proposal to bomb Baku.

At this time, the UK did not have a Ministry of Defense. The coordination between the services was the responsibility of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, and the person who chaired the committee was the Minister of Defense Cooperation.

"Royal Air Force planes had taken off from bases in Iraq and scouted the Baku oil fields and the Batum refinery. The whole process went very smoothly and was not detected by Soviet aircraft. The Soviets had no radar detection systems there. Moreover, Baku and Batumi's defense is also very lax. The Royal Air Force Command believes that only 100 to 150 bombers are needed to paralyze the Soviet oil fields and refineries."

Hersman's guess was not wrong. Britain and France had been looking for ways to win the war with the lowest losses. Now Britain can no longer tolerate Germany becoming bigger, otherwise the crown of world hegemony may really be taken away from the heads of the Anglo-Saxons by the Germans!

It seems that holding on to the Maginot Line, using Polish cannon fodder to die, dispatching the Royal Navy to blockade Germany, and bombing the Baku oil fields will cause fatal casualties to Britain and France.

Moreover, the Soviet air defense in Baku, Batum and Grozny was not tight. Although the size of the Soviet Air Force is not small, there are not many truly advanced fighter jets. Most of them are now concentrated in Belarus and Ukraine, preparing to show off their skills in the invasion of the Polish Federation.

In addition, Soviet diplomats have sent hints to Britain and France more than once - the Soviet Union's goal is only to restore the borders stipulated in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and has no intention of continuing to expand, nor is it willing to go to war with Britain and France.

Under such circumstances, Stalin took it for granted that Britain and France would be willing to maintain a "factual no war" with the Soviet Union, and might even negotiate peace with the Soviet Union after the Soviet Union successfully regained its lost territory.

"So is it possible for the Poles to persist for 6 months to a year until the enemy's oil reserves are exhausted?" Prime Minister Chamberlain asked again.

"Prime Minister, the Chiefs of Staff Committee think there is no problem," Lord Chatfield said very firmly. "The Poles are quite well prepared for war and they will definitely be able to persist. Even if our bombing of Baku does not achieve the expected results, they will not would be easily defeated by Germany and the Soviet Union."