The Rise of the Third Reich

"Admiral, we are surrounded!"

The Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, General Wyrick, is sitting in his headquarters in Paris, watching a war report full of optimistic words from the Allied Forces Headquarters. Suddenly, his chief of staff, Major General Henry Bonnard, hurried into his office and told General Verrick a sensational news.

"What?" General Verrick, who was a little slow to react, was startled and asked subconsciously, "Did the Germans launch an attack?"

The reports placed on his desk clearly showed that the German army was "saving fuel." Their bombers have not crossed the French-German border for several days, and their surface ships have stayed stationary in Wilhelmshaven.

In addition, there is intelligence that German leader and Prime Minister Adolf Hitler and Crown Prince Wilhelm visited Romania on April 8, which is today, and asked King Carol II of Romania for permission to sell more refined oil (Romania also has a certain amount of oil) Processing capabilities) to Germany - but who in Europe doesn't know that the king of Romania, who belongs to the Hohenzollern dynasty, is a staunch pro-British and French supporter? Had he not been afraid of German invasion through Hungary and Transcarpathian Ukraine, he would not have sold even a drop of oil to Germany.

And after France bombed the Soviet Batumi oil refinery, the Romanian king would only become closer to Britain and France!

Could it be that when this kind of oil supply cannot support a protracted war, the Germans are going to take a desperate risk?

"No, not German."

Major General Henry Bonnard's answer made General Verrick breathe a sigh of relief.

"Who is that?" Admiral Verrick asked.

"It's the Bolsheviks!"

Major General Henry Bonnard's answer startled the general, and General Verrick suddenly stood up from his chair.

"What? The Soviet Union declared war on us!?" General Verrick stamped his feet, "I told Churchill long ago that the risk of bombing Batumi is too great, but he just didn't listen!"

"No," Major General Henri Bonnard shook his head, "The Soviet Union did not declare war, it was the French Bolsheviks! Supporters of the French Bolshevik Party surrounded our headquarters!"

As he spoke, Major General Bonnard walked to the window and opened the two windows with force, and then French shouts poured in.

"Brit, get out!"

"Brits, Europe doesn't need you!"

"Defend the Soviet Union against Britain..."

"Peace, not Britain!"

"Hit the fascist leaders Reno and Gamelin!"

General Verrick stared blankly at the square outside the building where the headquarters was located. It turned into a sea of ​​red flags at some point - it seemed that the red flags had already been planted on the top of Paris without Stalin's Red Army coming over. .

Along with these red flags came countless angry working people in Paris and the vanguard of the French working class - the French Bolshevik Party!

Although Stalin did not declare war on France, he would not let the French right-wing bourgeois government have a good life. On the day after the Batumi incident, the Third International issued instructions to the French Bolshevik Party: Oppose Reynaud and defend the Soviet Union!

The Batumi incident was characterized as the beginning of international capitalism's general offensive against the Soviet Union! Therefore, the Third International called on the French working people to immediately take practical actions to fight against the French imperialist group and defend the Soviet Union, the common motherland of the world's working class.

The French Bolshevik Party took action immediately after receiving the instructions. It also united with the opposition Popular Front parties to jointly launch protests against the "Reynaud's militaristic authority" and also launched a general strike.

"This, this is so ridiculous!" General Verrick muttered, looking at the crowds of people in the square downstairs, "We are here to protect France, we are here to protect them, how can they let us go?"

"Admiral," Major General Bonnard glanced at his commander-in-chief, "I suddenly have a very bad feeling."

"I have such a premonition too!" Admiral Verrick shook his head, "When will these French people become more serious? It's a world war now... If defeated, France will perish!"

…

Outside the Matignon Palace, the French Prime Minister's Office, there was the same scene at the moment, but the number of people was larger and the emotions were more passionate. The sounds of protest and the singing of the "Internationale" came one after another. In the Matignon Palace, Prime Minister Reno, who had just taken office a few days ago, has become an ant on the hot pot - not only because countless Parisian people are against him as a "fascist", but also because of the fact that he is a The right-wing camp of the "Democratic Alliance" also split.

Several small parties on the center-right line have threatened to withdraw from the alliance - the Democratic Alliance is not a party, but an alliance of parties. Unlike the current stable Nazi-Fatherland two-party coalition government in Germany, the French political scene is composed of a bunch of fragmented small parties consist of. Therefore, all governments are "coalition governments" and are very unstable. As long as a small party in the ruling coalition (the Popular Front or the Democratic Alliance) withdraws, the government will collapse. And unlike other countries that implement responsible cabinet systems, the French government does not have the checking power to dissolve parliament. So several small parties in a coalition government sometimes become the ancestors of the government...

But this time the "ancestors" showed off their power was purely unreasonable. They wanted to withdraw not because Renault was wrong in bombing the Soviet Union, but because the British let the French dove and let French planes bomb Batum alone.

This not only made the French leftists very dissatisfied, but also the French rightists were not happy - how could the majestic France let the islanders in England act like monkeys? Now France's confusion has annoyed the Soviet Union. If the Soviet Union and Germany really form an alliance, it will not be able to withstand the "Maginot Line"!

"General, what do you think we should do? What should we do now?" Paul Reno, who is also the Minister of Defense, loudly asked Gamelin, Chief of General Staff of the Ministry of National Defense and Commander-in-Chief of the Army (he is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Coalition Forces) in the conference room.

"Mr. Prime Minister," Gamelin was as calm as ever, "Our bombing operation in Batum was very successful. The largest oil processing center in the Soviet Union has been reduced to a sea of ​​flames. According to the intelligence we have, they require monthly help from the Germans. Processing 250,000 tons of crude oil, which accounts for 40-50% of Germany's annual oil processing volume (Britain and France do not know the extent of Germany's synthetic fuel production, so they overestimate Germany's oil processing capabilities). Therefore, the German army has now begun to save fuel. … This will greatly weaken the offensive capabilities of the German army, and there will be no danger on all fronts. Of course, if the Germans want to make a desperate move, we have enough power to defeat them.”

"Really?" Paul Reno's face looked a little better, "But my government is in trouble now!"

"Mr. Prime Minister," General Gamelin said calmly, "I can join forces with General Wei Gang and General Darlan with a group of generals from the army and navy to issue a joint statement to firmly support your government!"

"This is soldiers interfering in politics!" Paul Reno looked at Gamelin.

Gamelin shrugged and said with a smile: "War is also politics. France needs a truly courageous commander. In our opinion, this person is you! If those people insist on asking you to step down, then we will resign collectively! This is against you Those people should think twice before doing so.”

Paul Reno is a big rightist, and a little further to the right is the "fascist". In this era, the rightist and "fascist" are generally more supported by the military. I believe that all French army officers are not willing to let a bunch of Our Lady of White Zuo came to power.

Because in the eyes of these French officers, these "big leftists" are the culprits who condone the rise of Germany!

"Okay!" Paul Renault thought for a while and nodded. Because he feels that only he can lead France to win this war.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, the Germans are encountering difficulties of fuel shortage, and the situation seems to be excellent. Maybe France can actually win a world war sitting back...

…

"Leader, good news, the large-scale protests in Paris, France were initiated by the French Bolshevik Party!"

Ludwig von Heinsberg-Hersmann told this good news to Hitler, who had just suffered a disastrous defeat in Romania - Romania's autocratic King Carol II told him very clearly: Romania It is currently impossible to increase oil supplies to Germany.

"French Bolsheviks?" Hitler asked. "What do they want to do?"

"They want to defend the Soviet Union!" Hersman replied. "This is the result of the French Air Force's bombing of Batumi... The Third International ordered the French Bolshevik Party to cause trouble, not only demonstrations and protests but also strikes."

"These Bolsheviks are simply a cancer on the country!" Hitler said in a disgusted tone, "But they can't become a climate in France, can they?"

"Yes," Hessman smiled, "a group of French generals issued a statement to support Reno's government. However... this will still shake the morale of the French army, which is very beneficial to the attack we are about to launch!"

Today is April 9, 1940, and "Operation Sickle" will begin in the early morning of tomorrow!

So after Hitler finished his trip to Romania and Hungary (which was also an action to paralyze his opponents), he immediately rushed to the General Staff Headquarters in Zossen to listen to Hessmann's report on offensive preparations.

"Leader," Hessmann saw Hitler's somewhat nervous face and just smiled lightly, "this time will not be any different from the attack in September last year. The British and French air forces have long been defeated by us, and we have overwhelming air power. Advantage, our armored forces will soon pass through the Ardennes Forest, and we will achieve a key breakthrough by the 13th at the latest!”