The Rise of the Third Reich

"It would be great if the French could stand with us at this time!" Hitler shook his head, "But these Gauls have become as cunning as the Italians..."

"We don't need the French to win in Warsaw." Hersman shrugged and said with a smile, "Even if there are 1 million Soviet Red Army troops, they can't defeat Warsaw. The 6th Army led by General Model will not waste the precious time." , they will take advantage of the slowdown in the Soviet offensive to reinforce and transform thousands of buildings, and prepare to form hundreds of street fighting groups and conduct intensive training. "

"These are all issues at the tactical and operational level!" Hitler waved his arm vigorously, "But France's joining will give us a huge strategic advantage! Reich Marshal, don't you understand? As long as the French join, the East The balance of power on the online battlefield will soon undergo a fundamental change... It will no longer be 170 million people versus 180 million people, but 260 million people versus 180 million people!"

The population of 190 million is the total population of the entire German Empire (including the Commonwealth of Nations) plus Finland, Romania, Croatia-Hungary, the European Community member states that have sent troops to fight the Soviet Union. It is slightly more than the 180 million claimed by the Soviet Union. Some. The 260 million is the total after adding the populations of France, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, and Ireland, which were European Community countries that did not declare war on the Soviet Union or did not officially send troops (SS volunteers are not counted).

"And it is France that joins after all!" Hitler said in an exaggerated tone. "France is a decisive force! It is the fifth largest industrialized country in the world. It once had the most powerful army in the world... and it has now been rebuilt. As part of it, France now has an army of 500,000 to 1 million! Their artillery is quite powerful, with more than 5,000 artillery pieces over 100mm. If they join us, the balance of forces on the Eastern Front battlefield will be reversed. "

The German leader suddenly looked at Hersmann with bright eyes and said: "If at the critical moment of the Battle of Warsaw, the French suddenly announced their support for us and sent a large army, this would definitely be a heavy blow to Stalin and the Soviets, right? Maybe they Leaders and commanders will panic and make wrong decisions.”

France is of course a decisive force. Although it may not necessarily scare Stalin, their addition will definitely change the balance of power on the Eastern Front.

Hersman's view is the same as Hitler's. In fact, France's participation in the Eastern Front battlefield can immediately bring more troops to Germany than hundreds of thousands of French troops and thousands of French cannons... because Germany still retains troops on the Western Front. A reserve force composed of 300,000 elite troops was formed to prevent the French from suddenly going crazy.

"Leader, the French will join!" Hessmann thought for a while and gave an affirmative answer. "I have a way to convince them... In fact, we have given the best conditions. Both Pétain and Darlan know very well that only by following Germany can France turn French North Africa into a permanent land."

Germany specializes in dealing with all kinds of disobedient Nazis and Fascists! Therefore, the Pétain and Darlan regimes that followed Germany also had Nazi-fascist attributes. Those guys in North Africa can bully the white leftists in Europe, but there is nothing they can do when they encounter the Nazis, fascists, and the Bolsheviks of the Stalin era. If you believe in Christ, you must believe in Christ, and if you believe in communism, you must believe in communism. Anyone who dares to disobey will be sent to a concentration camp for labor reform. If not, they will be shot and gassed. Aren't there millions of people...

Therefore, if the French want to conquer North Africa, the victory of Nazi fascism must be replaced by the victory of the British and American free world. Freedom, equality, and fraternity cannot influence the people of North Africa.

"I have said all these things, but it is of no use!" Hitler was very confident in his own words. Compared with his ability to fight, he was not as good as Hessmann, and ten Hessmanns were not as good as Hessmann if he wanted to talk. "Marshal Imperial, how are you going to convince the French?"

"The facts must be presented!" Hessman said, "What the French want is nothing more than proof that we are bound to win. As long as this can be proven, the French will support us."

"Proof? Is there any?"

Hersman nodded heavily and said: "Of course! Leader, we should hold some kind of celebration and invite the French Minister of Defense, General Weygand, to Germany."

…

"I want to commit suicide! I want to commit suicide! I must commit suicide..."

Sokarov, the former commander of the 16th Mechanized Corps of the Soviet Red Army, was sitting on a train heading to Berlin, thinking about suicide repeatedly in his mind.

Suicide is his current ideal in life. In fact, he attempted suicide a few days ago when he was captured by the Germans. However, a Nazi took away the pistol in advance and tied the neighbor with a rope. Then, together with other Soviet prisoners of war who "betrayed the country", they were escorted to a place called the "Soviet-German Friendship Concentration Camp" in Warsaw and locked up.

However, the "Friendship Prisoner of War Camp" in Warsaw was only a temporary place to hold them. Within a few days, everyone was put on the train to Berlin. It is said that the Germans also built a larger "Soviet-German Friendship Concentration Camp" near Berlin, which could be used to hold 1 million Soviet prisoners of war.

But Sokarov doesn't want to be one in a million. All he thinks about now is suicide!

Because he knows that being captured means betraying the motherland! All Bolshevik fighters knew this, and as a senior general, Sokarov knew it even more. His current behavior cannot be forgiven, and he also lost the battle and ruined the 16th Mechanized Army. Even if he is released, he will be shot. He might as well die himself, and maybe he can still be regarded as a revolutionary martyr. .

But the Germans seemed to have figured out his thoughts and did not give him a chance to commit suicide. They even confiscated the belt that could be used to hang himself. Moreover, four "traitors" were sent to take turns watching him and Fegulov who attempted suicide 24 hours a day.

This Comrade Political Commissar is really good at shouting slogans. If you want to commit suicide, just commit suicide. He will just pull out a pistol and shoot him in the head. What slogan are you shouting? It's not like you're going to the execution ground. Who are you going to shout to? As a result, after all the shouts of cheers, the Germans also discovered him. An SS officer shot the pistol out of his hand, and then he was also captured. It is really not worth it for a good revolutionary martyr to become a traitor like this.

I don’t know if he was discouraged because he died once but failed to die. In the past few days, Fegulov has not shown any signs of seeking death. He is also not like Sokarov, who has stopped eating several times and hit the wall several times (unfortunately) None of them died, National Socialist Concentration Camps are not afraid of this), and also tried to jump from a high-speed train - I am currently looking for opportunities, but the windows have been modified and sealed with iron bars, and the door is There are also SS troops standing guard, so it may be difficult to jump. What should I do...

Just when Sokarov wanted to die, the train containing Soviet prisoners of war was already rumbling slowly into Berlin's Friedrichshafen with its whistle blowing in a billow of white steam. Sri Lanka terminal.

Hersmann and General Weygand, the French Minister of Defense who was visiting Germany, were standing in a VIP room on the second floor of the train station building facing the platform, watching a train of Soviet prisoners of war get off the train and then enter the train with live ammunition. Under the guard of the officers and soldiers of the Berlin garrison, they walked outside the station along the prescribed route.

Hersmann told Weygand in stiff French, "Admiral, today there will be tens of thousands of Soviet prisoners of war walking through the main streets of Berlin and then walking to the prisoner of war camp in Potsdam. In fact, these people are only among all the Soviet prisoners of war we have captured." Some of them are being shipped from the Middle East and will arrive in Berlin tomorrow."

The idea of ​​a "Prison Parade" was proposed by Hersmann and Goebbels after discussion. The purpose was, of course, to inspire the confidence of the reactionaries in Europe who followed Germany. And Maxime Weygand, a French reactionary, came to Berlin just to visit the parade of Russian prisoners of war.

"Marshal Reich, I think the Russians will soon hold the same parade of prisoners of war in Moscow, right?" Wei Gang said lukewarmly.

Wei Gang is right. Since the war began, the Germans have captured fewer Soviet prisoners of war than the Soviet Red Army has captured Polish prisoners of war.

The ring defense fortress designed by Guderian has proven to be ineffective, at least it cannot stop the Soviet Red Army under the guidance of artillery doctrine. It is not good at mechanized mobile warfare, but when it comes to attacking fortresses, Maozi is no worse than the Germans.

This method of using a 203mm howitzer to "fight with a bayonet" is much cheaper than the "Assault Tiger" and "Grizzly Bear" that the Germans are developing.

Therefore, Hersman has ordered the suspension of the "Grizzly Bear" and "Assault Tiger" projects, and instead learned from Soviet comrades and installed large-caliber howitzers on "tractors" for use. But there is no need to ask German artillery experts to design and develop it, because the French have ready-made things. The St-chamond 194mm self-propelled powerful artillery used by France in World War I was similar to the B-4 Stalin Hammer.

This kind of cannon did not disappear after the end of World War I. Most of it was mothballed. A small part continued to serve in the French Army. After the Battle of the Western Front, it was stored in Fort Europa (the capital of the European Community, formerly known as Strasbourg). ). After France declared war on Britain, these cannons were unsealed and returned to the French, becoming part of the rebuilt French artillery.

In addition to this St-chamond type 194mm self-propelled powerful artillery, the French also have the St-chamond type 280mm tracked heavy mortar (which requires vehicle towing), which is similar to the B-4 and can be used for close range bombardment in critical battles. Target.