The Rise of the Third Reich

Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell was not an incompetent military commander, but a very professional senior general who had a very in-depth study of warfare in the mechanized era. In the years after the war, he had been emphasizing that at this point. In the view of him and his good friend General Marshall, the disaster that the U.S. military encountered in England on January 16 and 17, 1943 was not caused by Stilwell's fault, and that Stilwell tried to save the lives of 30,000 American soldiers. I've tried my best. Therefore, he is an American hero worthy of respect.

However, Bradley, who broke out of the encirclement wearing civilian clothes and a few guards on the night of the 18th, insisted that Stilwell was simply in the wrong profession. He should not join the army at all. His performance on the battlefield was uncompromising. A fool who doesn't buckle.

Although this comment is a bit harsh, when the US 2nd Armored Division and the 28th Division encountered German attacks from the 16th to the 18th, Stilwell's behavior was indeed no different from a fool.

In fact, on the night of the 16th, Stilwell and Bradley had already learned that some British troops had begun to retreat. At this time, the German army did not launch an attack on the American troops stationed on the plain near Stodonk, but only sent some armored vehicles and No. 3 tanks (belonging to the 2nd German Marine Division) to monitor nearby - 2 German troops. The heavy armor battalion and a tank destroyer battalion were chasing the retreating British troops.

Bradley, who noticed something was wrong, immediately suggested to Stilwell that the troops break out. However, Stilwell believed that the breakout at this time was likely to cause the troops to suffer heavy losses, and he was willing to stand still and wait for help - after all, on the British Isles, Britain and the United States The number of troops is far greater than that of the German army!

So when the German army was temporarily unable to mobilize troops to encircle and annihilate the two American divisions, Stilwell asked them to dig trenches and fortifications in the bitterly cold snowfields, preparing to hold on for at least 72 hours. The optimistic Stilwell believed that the British It is unlikely that a counterattack will be organized within 48 hours, but 72 hours should be enough for the British to organize one.

To be fair, Stilwell's view was not wrong from a purely military perspective. If the battlefield is moved from the British Isles to the east coast of the United States, it is the most correct option to stand firm and wait for reinforcements. But in the UK in mid-January, there were no longer any issues that could be considered from a purely military perspective.

Although this country still claims to have millions of soldiers in uniform, the scarcity caused by the long-term blockade, the shock caused by the German landing, and the inducement of surrender by the Cairo Declaration were combined together. It has convinced most people that Britain's defeat is inevitable!

So at this time, almost no one of the British big shots who have considerable strength or strength cares about the 30,000 American troops on the Hartlepool-Middlesbrough battlefield. Now just waiting for the Wenck Group, which is chasing the retreating British troops, to return, the end of these 30,000 American troops will come.

…

"Comrades, the incompetent reactionary army suffered a disastrous defeat at Hartlepool-Middlesbrough, and the end of the reactionary House of Windsor is coming!"

Somewhere in the East End of London, in the secret headquarters of the British Bolshevik Party, someone suddenly shouted loudly.

Harry Pollitt, who was discussing something in a low voice with a few elderly men in inferior suits, suddenly stood up and looked at Ivan Mace, the general representative of the Third International, who walked in excitedly. base.

"Comrade Maisky, is the news reliable?" Pollitt asked.

"Reliable!" Maisky nodded heavily and said, "We have insiders in the British War Department, and the United States also informed the Soviet Union of the relevant situation - there is no doubt that the British reactionary government has lost the war, thus proving After realizing our own incompetence, it is time for our Bolshevik Party to stand up and lead the British people to resist the German invaders.

In addition, we must overthrow the reactionary Windsor dynasty and the greedy and decadent British aristocratic bourgeoisie! "

"Do you want to overthrow the Windsor dynasty and the British bourgeoisie?" Pollitt frowned slightly. It seems that the previous plan did not include this content?

"Of course!" Maisky said, "This is necessary. If the Windsor dynasty is not overthrown, should the leaders of the Bolshevik Party be allowed to swear allegiance to the king? As for the bourgeoisie and aristocrats, they have monopolized most of the British economy. Land and wealth, the revolution cannot succeed unless they are defeated!”

Pollitt exchanged glances with several members of the Political Bureau of the British Bolshevik Party (the newly formed Political Bureau), and then asked: "Comrade Maisky, is this an instruction from the Third International?"

"Yes! This is the latest instruction from the Third International!"

In fact, Stalin did not want to overthrow the Windsor dynasty immediately at the beginning, nor did he think about immediately overthrowing the bourgeoisie.

However, after several days of investigation and testing (to test the position of George VI), Stalin was convinced that the Windsor dynasty and the British aristocratic bourgeoisie would not cooperate with the British Bolshevik Party, and had no determination to resist to the end.

Therefore, Stalin was determined to mobilize the masses and carry out a big campaign in London - even if the British revolution failed to succeed, it would still severely damage the basis of British rule and social stability.

The future foundation of the British mainland's political power must not be the same as France's - based on the votes of the people - but must be based on military repression.

Only in this way will the British government act like a reactionary regime instead of being cloaked in legality like the French government. This is of great significance to the British resistance movement in the future!

Polite took a breath and asked: "Comrade representative, when will we take action?"

"Right now!" Ivan Maisky said, "We must catch our opponent by surprise!"

Pollitt said: "Then we immediately mobilize the crowd to surround Downing Street, Whitehall Street and King Charles Street."

"And Buckingham Palace!" Ivan Maisky said, "The collapse of Churchill's government is inevitable, and after Churchill's collapse, Princess Elizabeth will become the object of allegiance to the British reactionary forces! We must control her as much as possible ! If necessary... we can send her to the guillotine!"

…

"Mr. Prime Minister," Viscount Brooke jogged into Churchill's office. "The people in the East End are taking to the streets again. They must know the situation of the Battle of Hartlepool-Middlesbrough!"

"Damn Bolsheviks!" Churchill slammed the table. "I made a mistake. I should have resigned instead of dissolving Parliament!"

This is a big mistake! At least this is the case in Britain, which is particularly particular about democratic procedures.

Because once the Battle of Hartlepool-Middlesbrough was defeated, the British mainland was equivalent to defeat, and now there was no force that could prevent the Germans from landing.

The British people will definitely be angry because of the defeat. There is only one outlet for all their anger, which is the war cabinet.

The best option for the War Cabinet at this juncture was to step down and hand over power to the Labor Party. But...Churchill chose to dissolve Parliament after the London protests!

This made the Churchill government a caretaker cabinet that could not step down immediately - because Parliament had been dissolved by Fatty Churchill, there was no way for the Labor Party to come out to form a new government.

"Prime Minister," Viscount Brooke suggested at this time, "Now we can only ask Her Royal Highness the Princess to come forward as regent, and then Her Royal Highness the Princess will appoint Mr. Attlee to form a temporary cabinet."

Fatty Qiu slapped his forehead. He was really confused. How could he forget this problem? After all, Britain is a kingdom, and the king still has the right to appoint a prime minister in a state of emergency.

Moreover... Princess Elizabeth still has 12,000 Royal Guards in her hands. As long as the Royal Guards are dispatched, the situation in London should be stable.

Churchill held the chair with both hands and stood up, "Viscount, I'm going to Buckingham Palace now. You go to the Southern Military District immediately to see if you can mobilize some troops back to London... I'm worried that the 12,000 Royal Guards are not enough. "

"Okay, I'll go to the Southern Military District right away." Viscount Brooke nodded and immediately left the War Cabinet Headquarters underground on King Charles Street.

The current British ground forces are mainly concentrated in the southern theater and the Irish theater. The Irish theater is around Belfast, where dozens of divisions are stationed. The southern theater is responsible for defending the English Channel coast, and there are also dozens of divisions. As long as Viscount Brooke can pull some troops back to London, the Bolshevik conspiracy will be crushed!

Just as Churchill was about to leave the headquarters underground on King Charles Street and head to Buckingham Palace, Foreign Secretary Eden, who was guarding the cabinet, suddenly walked quickly, holding what seemed to be a copy of a telegram in his hand.

"Mr. Prime Minister," Aiden saw Fatty Qiu slowly moving out of the office on crutches, and quickly went to meet him and said, "President Roosevelt's telegram."

"Roosevelt?" Churchill stopped. "What did he say?"

"Roosevelt said that he hopes that you can visit the United States after leaving office to discuss with him the issue of peace negotiations with the Axis powers... President Roosevelt hopes that the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom can unify their positions on the issue of peace negotiations."

"Negotiating peace? Unifying positions?" Churchill snorted coldly, "You still want to lie!"

"Prime Minister, Roosevelt is lying to us?" Aiden was a little unconvinced.

"Of course it's a lie!" Churchill said bitterly, "He wants to delay our resistance with the unification of peace. But how can we delay? If we delay, Britain in 1943 will be Russia in 1917."

"So...how do we respond?" Aiden asked.

Churchill thought for a moment and said, "Just say I agree."

"agree?"

"Yes!" Churchill finished his instructions and prepared to go out. As soon as he walked up the stairs under the protection of several entourage and guards, he heard a dull roar coming from above his head.

Then I saw several soldiers in military uniforms running down the stairs. When they saw Churchill, they loudly reported: "Mr. Prime Minister, there was a violent explosion on King Charles Street! There are still people shooting at the crowd. You can't go out now."