The Rise of the Third Reich

"You don't plan to go through Belgium and Luxembourg?"

On September 25, Hessman, Chloe, and Rudolf Hess and his wife moved into Villa Torlonia in Rome, which was the residence of the Mussolini family in Rome. The Hessmans and Hesss were guests of honor.

During dinner that day, the Italian leader also asked about Germany's "going through Belgium and Luxembourg". The Italian leader, like the British and French military strategists, believed that if Germany wanted to attack France from the ground, it could only go through Belgium and Luxembourg, just like in the last world war.

"Why go through Belgium and Luxembourg?" Hessmann put down his knife and fork, shrugged and said, "What does General Douhet's theory of air supremacy say? 'Mastering air supremacy means victory. Without air supremacy, you are doomed to failure and accept any conditions that the victor is willing to impose.' And we in Germany have a more powerful air force than France and Britain! We now have 4,000 of the most modern fighters and bombers. In the Battle of Poland, they basically wiped out the Polish Air Force with more than 1,000 aircraft in just a few hours, and their own losses were minimal. On September 3, our planes also bombed Scapa Flow and hit Destroyed 3 British aircraft carriers, sank 2 British battleships, and severely damaged several other battleships!

And we also have a lot of heavy bombers, which can be used to destroy Paris, Lyon and Marseille. I have 1,000 heavy bombers and 1,300 twin-engine medium bombers. The former can carry 8 tons of bombs, and the latter can carry 2 to 3 tons of bombs! As long as I give the order, 10,000 tons of bombs will fall on Paris tonight! "

Of course, Hessman was bluffing. He didn't have 1,000 heavy bombers at all, not even 100, and the number of medium bombers was less than 1,000. And Hessman didn't plan to use planes to raze Paris to the ground.

However, after becoming the Chief of the General Staff, Hessman's first order was to the Strategic Deception Bureau. He asked the Strategic Deception Bureau to release enough and real false intelligence to make the French believe that thousands of tons of bombs would soon fall on Paris-and so many bombs would fall from the sky every day!

"In addition, our navy is also strong enough!" Hessman said proudly, "The British had only four fast aircraft carriers before the war, and lost three in Scapa Flow. Now there is only one 'Royal Ark' that can accompany the fleet. And we now have two 'Sedlitz' class!

In this way, we can send out two commerce-breaking fleets with fast battleships and fast aircraft carriers. They will cooperate with submarines to destroy Britain's sea transportation lines. Britain and France simply cannot withstand such a blow, so they will ask for peace in six months at most and meet Germany's requirements."

It is unrealistic to drop 10,000 tons of bombs on Paris every day, but it is possible to use the commerce-breaking fleet to cooperate with submarines to severely damage the British transport fleet.

The reconnaissance aircraft of the commerce-breaking fleet can act as the eyes of the submarine, guiding the underwater wolf pack to attack the British fleet. At the same time, the "Scharnhorst" class battleship itself is also a commerce-breaking weapon. For a fleet without battleship escort, if it encounters "Scharn" and "Wolf Pack" at the same time, it can only be annihilated. A fleet with battleship escorts is not necessarily safe, because battleships are the prey of submarines. At that time, is it more important for destroyers to protect battleships or merchant ships?

For such a difficult problem, Mussolini's naval generals had already conducted war games and concluded that "it is difficult for Britain to deal with it."

"It seems that you don't have to go through Belgium and Luxembourg..." Mussolini seemed a little disappointed when he said this. He paused and asked in fluent German, "I don't think you will unconditionally recognize the neutrality of these two countries, right?"

"Of course!" Rudolf Hess said, "First of all, Luxembourg, the Luxembourg government must apologize for the injustice suffered by Her Majesty Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide, and build a cathedral named after the Grand Duchess to commemorate her!"

Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide was the monarch of Luxembourg during World War I. Because of her pro-German stance during World War I (she was originally German), she was forced to abdicate after the war and went to Italy to live in a monastery. She died in Germany at the age of 29.

"Luxembourg politicians who are responsible for the abdication of the Grand Duchess, even if they are responsible in the slightest, must immediately withdraw from politics and never be allowed to work in politics again!" Rudolf Hess added, "Any Luxembourg newspaper that has published articles attacking the Grand Duchess must also be closed!"

Mussolini nodded. This condition...is not harsh, at least it did not propose to merge with Luxembourg.

"In addition, there is another condition," Rudolf Hess said, "Luxembourg must guarantee to join the European Union, the European Common Market and the European Mark after the war."

"What?" The Italian leader was stunned, "European Union, European Common Market and European Mark? Do you really want to do this?"

Mussolini certainly knew what the European Union, the European Mark and the European Common Market were. But he did not expect Germany to be so determined to promote them, and would not hesitate to use war to achieve its goals.

"Yes!" said Hessmann. "We are fighting for a united Europe! We will not only ask Luxembourg to join, but also have the same terms in the final peace treaty with Poland. If Belgium wants to be neutral , must also be added, and must also be returned to the compensation state.

Otherwise, Belgium will have to return all the wealth stolen from Germany! Including the machines that were dismantled and destroyed by them, reparations, and physical compensation items...all must be converted into gold and returned to Germany! "

Germany, Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and probably pro-German Slovakia and Hungary... Mussolini calculated in his mind that the European Union, the European Common Market and the European Mark Area included at least 6 countries. The Netherlands and Denmark will have to enter sooner or later, and most of Sweden, Norway and Finland will not be able to escape.

"Then if France wants peace..." Mussolini asked tentatively.

"France will return half of the land in Alsace and Lorraine, and it will also join the European Union, the European Common Market and the European Mark Area." Rudolf Hess said, "In addition, the gold and foreign exchange reserves in the Bank of France must be deposited This is also our requirement for Belgium, Luxembourg, and Poland. Our own gold and foreign exchange will also be deposited in the European Bank headquartered in Geneva.”

"European bank?"

"It's the European Development Bank," said Rudolf Hess. "We plan to reorganize it into a European bank, and all non-European mark area countries will withdraw their shares. The new European bank will be responsible for the discovery of the European mark, and it will be the European mark." The only central bank in the region.”

Are the Germans really fighting for a unified European market? Mussolini was very surprised.

He asked again: "What about the UK? Will you also ask the UK to join?"

"No," Hersman shook his head, "We will not ask Britain to join. They will be excluded from the European Union, the European Common Market and the European Mark Area. What we ask of Britain is the return of reparations and colonies."

Mussolini finally understood Hessmann's "victory line", using bombing and blockade to force Britain and France to surrender, while at the same time forcing or luring European countries to join a European Common Market and the European Mark Zone dominated by Germany - just like German history The German Customs Union that once existed.

And this new "European Customs and Monetary Union" will also exclude the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union (Mussolini estimated), and Italy will certainly not join it. This will ensure Germany's dominant position in this customs and currency union, just like Prussia's dominant position in the German Customs Union. Over time, Germany will be able to integrate the countries that have joined the "European Customs and Monetary Union" into a whole. This will be an intercontinental country as large as the United States and the Soviet Union!

However, such a plan may not be accepted by the British Empire, and neither will Italy!

…

Ukraine, near Cherkasy. The red flag has been flying above the city of Cherkasy. The glorious Red Army of workers and peasants has driven out the evil white bandits and brought liberation and happiness to the poor and lower-middle peasants of Ukraine around Cherkasy.

As the First Secretary of the Ukrainian Bolshevik Party, Comrade Khrushchev began to visit the countryside around Cherkasy, regardless of the threat of the White Army detachment that was still rampant.

Now is the autumn harvest season, and wheat in right-bank Ukraine is generally growing well—looking better than in left-bank Ukraine.

Moreover, it seems that there are many rich farmers in this area. The houses in the countryside are very beautiful and sturdy. Horses can be seen everywhere, and there are also many cattle and sheep. Khrushchev specially chose to walk into a few farmhouses with smoke coming out during the meal. He found that these Ukrainian rich farmers also ate very well, with a lot of meat and dairy products, and the bread was almost eaten open. This made Khrushchev think of "socialism" uncomfortably - compared with the collective farms on the left bank, the rural areas of Ukraine on the right bank seemed more like socialism...

"How are the poor peasants? How are the poor peasants here living?" Khrushchev's car stopped in a Ukrainian village. He looked out the car window, and then asked a right-bank Ukrainian who accompanied him Leader of the Bolshevik party organization.

"Comrade Secretary," this old Bolshevik who has been fighting in right-bank Ukraine for nearly 20 years was stunned, and then answered very seriously, "the people I have taken you to visit these days are all poor peasant families. The landowners of Cherkasy Most of the peasants and rich peasants have fled, leaving behind only middle peasants and poor peasants with little property.”