The Rise of the Third Reich

"Get up, slaves who are hungry and cold! Get up, people who are suffering all over the world! The blood in your heart has boiled, and you have to fight for the truth! The old world is in ruins, slaves, get up, get up! Don't say that we have nothing, we want to be the leader of the world Owner……"

April 10, 1940, 1 o'clock in the morning. The high-pitched sound of "Internationale" surrounded the Matignon Palace. French Prime Minister Paul Reno still didn't sleep. He was harassed by this damn song for most of the night, but there was nothing he could do. Because many of the people leading the protests are members of Congress from various nasty political parties. In the minds of these people, the interests of political struggle have overridden the interests of the French country!

Although Gamelin, Wei Gang, Darlan and others have issued a joint statement in support of Renault. However, these *** congressmen are still preparing to initiate a vote of no confidence in Congress. However, several small center-right parties changed their minds and supported Renault, so the Renault government was able to survive. So the leftist political forces launched street protests, regardless of the fact that France was in the middle of a world war!

But Paul Reynold has nothing to do with the Left. According to the constitution, he cannot dissolve Congress and hold a new election...unless a military coup is launched to establish a fascist dictatorship in France!

But how could Paul Reno, a lawyer by training, have such courage? We can only let them do whatever they want.

Prime Minister Reno, who was unable to sleep due to the protestors' singing, was sitting at his desk writing a letter to US President Roosevelt, asking him to mediate relations with the Soviet Union - France could compensate the Soviet Union for its losses, as long as the Soviet Union was willing to cut off Germany's Oil supply.

If the Soviet Union was willing to do so, France could also support the Soviet Union in reconquering the Baltic States, Lithuania, Finland, and Russian Poland after Germany's defeat.

In addition, East Prussia, West Prussia, Silesia and the former Austrian Galicia can all be occupied by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Red Army can even be stationed in Berlin, and it can also dismantle Germany's domestic machinery to build Soviet socialism!

After writing the full letter, Paul Reynaud began to read the letters written to him by others. That "other" was his good friend named Charles de Gaulle - General de Gaulle was actually a very amiable person. The soldiers he made friends with, including Pétain, Weygand, Reynaud and Gamelin, all liked de Gaulle.

In the letter, de Gaulle first complained. This is not to sue a certain colleague, but to think that this current generation of French soldiers is simply not good enough. They all came to the military camp to serve as soldiers with a strong sense of war weariness. When they got to the army, they didn't train well and just messed around. Moreover, these people are very afraid of death and do not have the spirit of their fathers to smile and die for the country.

It would definitely be a terrible disaster to direct them to attack the Germans, so De Gaulle understood Admiral Gamelin's current conservative layout very well.

But he was still very worried that the Germans would launch an attack through Belgium and be successful like they had been in 1914. Because Belgium today cannot be compared with Belgium in 1914 - neither the people nor the king of Belgium can do this!

There was no such great, determined and slightly foolish King of Belgium as Albert I. He led Belgium to block the guns of the French, turning half the country into scorched earth, and turning a war that could have ended within a month into a protracted world war.

Now King Leopold III was frightened by the Germans and only thought about how to appease Emperor William's anger.

At the end of the letter, Charles de Gaulle directly asked Reno for an officer. De Gaulle hoped to command the newly built 4th Reserve Armored Division.

The so-called "reserve armored division" is not a substitute for the "official armored division", but a truly powerful armored division, a reserve force directly controlled by the French Supreme Command. Each reserve armored division has 1 heavy tank half brigade ("half brigade" is a unit of troops, 1 tank half brigade has 2 tank battalions), 1 light tank half brigade, and 1 motorized hunting unit. Barracks, a motorized artillery regiment and some ancillary units.

At this time, in addition to the 4 reserve armored divisions, the French armored forces also had 3 light mechanized divisions (the 4th light mechanized division was also being formed). Although they are in the name of "light mechanization", their actual organization and equipment are very "heavy", including 2 light mechanized brigades (actually 1 tank brigade and 1 motorized infantry brigade), 1 reconnaissance regiment and 1 artillery regiment. In addition, the regiments to which these three light mechanized divisions belong, except for the artillery regiment, all bear the names of "Dragoon Regiment" and "Cuirassier Regiment".

After Paul Reno read de Gaulle's letter, he took out the letter paper and pen and began to write a reply. He promised to get the 4th Armored Division under formation for de Gaulle as soon as possible, and also said that after Gamelin's army expansion plan was completed, de Gaulle could be made commander of the armored corps. As for de Gaulle's concerns, he will once again remind General Gamelin to stay vigilant...

General Gamelin was not in Paris at this time. His headquarters had been moved to Vincennes on the outskirts of Paris a few days ago. This is a quiet little town. There is no French working class bent on defending the Soviet Union, and German planes probably won't visit it. This allowed the general to concentrate on commanding his 108 divisions (a few more than before).

De Gaulle's concern - that the German army would break through Belgium - was actually also the concern of Gamelin and other top brass of the British and French coalition forces. Tonight, General Gamelin, who had some insomnia, stood in the quiet headquarters (now his headquarters could not hear the ringing of the phone, and no one was making loud noises, it was strangely quiet), standing in a large In front of the electric sand table, I looked at the wooden sign symbolizing the division-level combat unit of the British and French allied forces.

General Gamelin frowned when he saw a large number of wooden signs symbolizing "divisions" piled up in northeastern France near Belgium.

The Belgian and Luxembourg governments have been discussing the issue of "confirming neutrality" with the German government. Countries such as the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Norway and Denmark are also actively mediating, as if an agreement can really be reached.

Therefore, the Belgian and Luxembourg governments, which had hopes for neutrality, were always unwilling to stand on the side of Britain and France and allowed the British and French forces to enter. This caused great difficulties for the British and French forces to defend Belgium.

Due to political considerations and the British position (Britain does not allow Germany to control Belgium, because that would put the British mainland, the English Channel and even parts of the Atlantic Ocean west of the British Isles under the threat of German shore-based aircraft), now The coalition forces that were not allowed to enter Belgium to deploy defenses could not consider abandoning Belgium and deploying defenses in France. Instead, we must always be prepared to send a considerable part of the main force into Belgium.

Therefore, in the "Der River" plan formulated by the French High Command in March and the "Secret Order No. 9" issued on March 20 (modification of the "Der River" plan), the rush to aid Belgium was regarded as a The same center of gravity as the "Maginot" line of defense.

According to the plan, the 1st Army Group under the jurisdiction of the Northeastern Front (the entire British-French coalition is divided into two fronts, the Northeast and Southwest) led by General Joseph George was specifically used to carry out combat missions in Belgium. This army group includes the French 1st, 2nd, 7th, and 9th armies and the British Expeditionary Force, totaling 41 divisions. Among them, the French army has 32 divisions, including 3 powerful light mechanized divisions, 7 motorized divisions and 4 light cavalry divisions (actually the semi-motorized cavalry consists of 1 cavalry brigade and 1 motorized cavalry brigade). The British The corps has 8 motorized infantry divisions and the 1st Armored Corps Group (division level) consisting of the 2nd, 4th, and 22nd Tank Brigades.

In other words, among the 41 divisions owned by the 1st Army Group, there are 4 armored divisions/light mechanized divisions (there are 6 tank brigades, so they can also be regarded as 6 armored divisions), and 15 motorized infantry divisions , there are 4 semi-motorized cavalry divisions, and a total of 23 mechanized/motorized divisions (the British Expeditionary Force is highly motorized). This army group can be regarded as a sharp sword in the hands of the British and French coalition forces that can penetrate into the Belgian battlefield at any time!

In addition to the sharp sword, Gamelin also has a "Magino's Shield" that can resist any attack. The 50 divisions of the 2nd Army Group and the 3rd Army Group are currently stationed at the "Maginot" defense line. Relying on a solid defense line and a large number of artillery (the British and French allied forces have twice as many artillery pieces as the German army), this line of defense is theoretically impossible. Breached.

In addition to these 91 divisions, General Gamelin also has a strong reserve force composed of 17 divisions, including 4 powerful reserve armored divisions (the 4th Reserve Armored Division is being formed).

If you include these 4 reserve armored divisions and 1 light cavalry division (semi-motorized) attached to the 3rd Army (stationed on the "Maginot" line of defense), the number of mechanized/motorized troops owned by the British and French coalition forces will be as many as There are 28 divisions, including 8 armored divisions (including light mechanized divisions), which are already as numerous as the Germans!

In addition, the French High Command has also deployed 10 divisions in the southeast and southwest regions to defend the borders with Italy, Spain and Switzerland. If the northeastern front is tight, they can also fight northward.

In addition to these troops that have completed training and organization, France also has many soldiers who are participating in training. After the outbreak of the World War, France immediately implemented general mobilization, bringing the number of French troops to more than 6 million (more than Germany's current 5.8 million). Currently, less than 3 million have completed all training (22 divisions are still under training) formation). The rest will be trained within 1941, by which time the forces at General Gamelin's disposal will be greatly increased.

"At that time, the opportunity to attack eastward to eliminate Germany will come!" General Gamelin thought of this, exhaled a long breath, and said to himself, "If our blockade still does not prompt a revolution in Germany! "