"If the employees work in three shifts, the Krupp family can arm ten to twelve armored divisions within a year, which is about three thousand tanks." Lin Wei lowered his head and calculated, "Including the Skoda Arsenal and Rheinmetall?”
After doing the calculations for a long time, Lin Wei promised, "If Krupp, Rheinmetall and Skoda arsenal operate at full capacity, within a year, we can send 9,000 to 10,000 tanks to the army, enough to arm thirty soldiers." to thirty-five armored divisions”.
"That's no problem," Ludwig Beck said: "According to my estimate, the Poles should have approximately 2,800 artillery pieces, 500 tanks and armored vehicles, and more than 400 aircraft when mobilized, a total of 30 infantry divisions, 11 Cavalry brigade and 2 motorized brigades, with a total strength of 1 million."
"There are quite a few people." Lin Wei smiled disdainfully.
Von Brauchitsch said with a smile, "Poland, as the eastern ally of Britain and France, is indeed the most powerful militarily, and their soldiers are indeed hard-working, especially their cavalry, which defeated the Soviet invasion more than ten years ago. , it really shouldn’t be underestimated.”
Lin Wei shook his head slightly to express his disapproval, "General, I have always believed that if the thinking has fallen behind the times, then the army will be nothing but an empty shell. When defending the country, any army is very hard-working and will do its best. Their ability to protect their country does not change the outcome. The same is true for the Indians in North America, the black people in Africa, and the former Qing Empire in the East."
Seeing the excitement of their discussion, the veteran General von Blomberg interjected, "Although Poland has some strength, it doesn't worry me. What really worries me is the attitude of Britain and France. We must avoid the consequences of the last war." Lessons learned, fighting on two fronts..."
"That's no problem!" Hitler interjected, "I can ask Ribbentrop to reach an agreement with the Soviets. In this way, the people fighting on the two fronts will become the Poles, and on the western front we will rely on the defensive line. , to stop the French attack." At this point, Hitler began to talk endlessly, "But the most important thing is, my generals, you must solve the Polish problem in a short time." Hitler looked around and said, "Is there any problem? "
"No problem, head of state" was greeted with an affirmative voice, as if Poland's fate had been determined.
No country created by the Treaty of Versailles had as ill-fated a fate as Poland. In the turbulent years after its restoration, it waged wars against Russia, Lithuania, Germany, and the Czech Republic. After Field Marshal Piłsudski's death, Poland was ruled mainly by a small group of "colonels", leaders of the Polish regiments under Piłsudski that fought against Russia in World War I. At the head was Marshal Smigle-Leeds, and Colonel Baker was in charge of foreign policy. This group of military groups has always been arrogant and politically short-sighted. When Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, they took advantage of the situation and took advantage of it to carve up a small piece of land.
When Hitler occupied Bohemia and Moravia and sent troops to protect "independent" Slovakia, that morning Poland's southern border was already surrounded by Slovak German troops, just as its northern border had long been German troops surrounded Pomerania and East Prussia as well. In just one night, it was surrounded militarily on three sides and became undefendable.
In a telegram to Hitler and Mussolini, the President of the United States asked them to guarantee that the German and Italian armed forces would not invade 31 countries, including Britain, France, Poland, and the Soviet Union. Roosevelt said that if such a guarantee could be made, he promised that the United States would participate in worldwide negotiations to relieve the world of "the burden of the arms race" and open the way to international trade.
Roosevelt's appeal seemed too naive, but Hitler was quite embarrassed and raised difficult questions about his ongoing aggressive expansion. In response to Roosevelt's question, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a diplomatic note asked two questions to all the countries that Roosevelt had mentioned except Poland, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France: Do they feel that they are affected by Germany? Did they ever authorize Roosevelt to make this call? As a result of the consultation, most countries, including Yugoslavia, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, gave a "negative" answer to the above two questions. ". These replies provided Hitler with ammunition. He used these materials to give a "brilliant" speech for more than two hours at the Congress on April 28.
He was eloquent and full of wit, and he was extremely sarcastic, hypocritical and cunning in his response to Roosevelt's appeal. His speech was not only broadcast on German radio, but also on hundreds of radio stations around the world; it was also broadcast by major broadcasting companies in the United States. Never before or since has he had such a worldwide audience. After the usual opening remarks about the evils of the Treaty of Versailles and the injustices and long-term suffering it inflicted on the German people, the speech began with a reply to Britain and Poland, a reply that shocked a worried Europe.
He first talked about his admiration and friendship for Britain, and then attacked it for not trusting him, attacking it for implementing a new "encirclement policy" against Germany, and announcing the abolition of the 1935 Anglo-German Naval Treaty. "Its foundations have disappeared," he said. Likewise for Poland, Hitler made public his long-kept secret proposal to Poland regarding Danzig and the Corridor, calling the proposal "possible in the interests of European peace." "the greatest concession imaginable" and told the German Reichstag that the Polish government had rejected this "unique proposal". Poland had concluded a military agreement with Britain, so Poland had reneged on the Polish-German non-aggression pact. Therefore, he believes that this agreement has been unilaterally undermined by Poland and is no longer valid.
Hitler then turned to President Roosevelt, where Hitler's eloquence almost reached its peak. To ordinary ears, these words were full of good intentions, but to those carefully selected members of Congress, his easy use of laughter and curses sounded like a real pleasure. When the German "Fuhrer" made fun of the President of the United States almost endlessly with increasingly touching effects, those fat-headed congressmen kept laughing. He first listed out the arguments in Roosevelt's phone call one by one, and then ridiculed and sophistryed them with a cunning smile.
President Roosevelt called and said that he believed that all international problems could be solved at the conference table. Hitler replied, "I would be very happy if these questions could indeed be settled at the conference table. However, my suspicions are based on the fact that the countries that most clearly express their distrust of the usefulness of the conference It is the United States itself. Because the greatest conference in history is the League of Nations." Hitler reminded the American president that Germany had participated in a conference at Versailles, not to participate in the discussion, but to listen to others' tricks. Its representatives "suffered even greater humiliation than the chiefs of the Su'an tribe."
Hitler's reply to President Roosevelt's request that he promise not to attack any of the 31 countries finally struck home. Hitler asked rhetorically, "How does Mr. Roosevelt know which country believes that it is threatened by German policy and which country believes that it is not threatened by this threat?"
He said, "I have taken the trouble to investigate the countries mentioned above. First, do they think they are threatened, and more importantly, second, what are the questions raised by the President of the United States to us? Was it made at their request, or at least with their consent? All the answers were negative... Admittedly, I did not ask questions about certain countries because those countries - for example, Syria - -are not yet free, but are occupied by the armies of democratic countries and are therefore deprived of their rights."
Hitler then seized on the issues of Ireland and Palestine for further attack: "I must call Mr. Roosevelt's attention to one or two historical errors. He mentioned, for example, Ireland, and asked me to declare that Germany would not attack Ireland. I have just read Come to a speech by Irish Prime Minister de Valera. What is strange is that in this speech, contrary to Mr. Roosevelt's opinion, he did not criticize Germany for oppressing Ireland, but condemned Britain's continuous aggression against Ireland...
"Similarly, Mr. Roosevelt did not pay attention to the fact that Palestine is not currently occupied by German troops but by British troops, and the freedom of this country is suppressed by the most brutal means of force."
"Okay, distinguished members of Congress." At this time, Lin Wei stood up again and began to support his big boss: "Generally, when a head of state gives a speech, Deputy Head of State Hess is organizing it, but these two days have been very busy. Unfortunately, Mr. Vice President was struck down by a severe cold, so I have to catch the duck and put it on the shelf." Lin Wei came up and humored him first.
But immediately, Lin Wei changed the subject and said: "Everyone has heard what the president said just now. President Roosevelt of the United States asked us. Do they suspect that Germany is destroying peace in Europe? And the president has already refuted the query of the president of the United States. Everyone should It can be heard that the words of politicians in these Western countries are still full of hypocrisy."
The congressmen present laughed, and someone shouted, "That polio patient doesn't understand the situation in Europe at all."
"No, no, no... Mr. Averill, your behavior is simply too ungentlemanly," Lin Wei criticized. Just when Congressman Averill was about to lose his composure, Lin Wei said again, "But here is Germany, the whole world says we are short-sighted and barbaric, but I say this is honest and pragmatic, so Mr. Averill, you are right.”
"Hahaha..." The congressmen were swaying with laughter, even Averill, who was laughed at just now.
Seeing everyone's laughter gradually subsided, Lin Wei said, "Dear congressmen, I also have a few questions to ask you!"
"Say it, Lampard," the MP below shouted.
"Who accepted a country that faced complete destruction because of its trust in foreign promises and the poor system of democratic government? And overcame the chaos in Germany, re-established order, and greatly increased production." Lin Wei asked with a smile road.
"Yes, head of state!" The scene was a bit chaotic, and Lin Wei had the illusion that the ceiling was about to be lifted by people's shouts.
"Then who managed to get 7 million unemployed workers back to work?" Lin Wei asked again.
"That's still the head of state!" The atmosphere was as warm as ever.
"Not only did he unite the Germans politically, he rearmed us."
"He was also committed to tearing up the 448-article treaty page by page, which contained the most despicable oppression that no country or person could endure." Lin Wei kept repeating it over and over again. The changes in Germany in recent years have also reached the hearts of the congressmen. Maybe they are corrupt, maybe they are not very moral, but as long as they are patriotic, that is enough.
"The most important thing is!" Lin Wei said this and paused, "I took back the place that was taken from us in 1919 and gave it to Germany. I gave it to the millions who were forced to be separated from us and suffered. The bitter Germans were brought back to their homeland... "
"Hi, Hitler..." All members of Congress stood up, raised their hands in salute, and acted uniformly.
Perhaps it was Lin Wei's words that reminded these congressmen of the changes in Germany in the past few years. These congressmen were not at all dull when raising their mobile phones. Hitler could see that these congressmen were calling the Führer sincerely, and there was no usual perfunctory attitude at all. This gesture made Hitler forget all the lines he had prepared. Looking at these congressmen, Hitler solemnly said, "Despite this, I am still willing to fight for the future of Germany. We must make every farmer in Germany able to work." , We want Germany’s unemployment rate to drop to zero! We want Germany to be a normal country, a country that no one can oppress.”
At the end of the meeting, every member of Congress, including Hitler and Lin Wei, walked out of the Capitol with solemn faces. Only they knew that the attack on Poland would never be stopped.
In Essen, the Ruhr area in western Germany, the Krupp family's arms factory began to work overtime to produce enough tanks and artillery for the army. It is being equipped into the National Defense Forces at a rate of 300 vehicles per month.
At the Hamburg Shipyard, the Tirpitz, the second Bismarck-class battleship, is being completed and will be launched within the year.
At the Germania Shipyard, the support ships in Plan S have also begun to be put on the schedule, and the keels have begun to be laid.
On May 22, 1938, the "Steel Covenant" was signed with Italy in a grand ceremony at the Chancellery in Berlin. The treaty stipulates that "if, contrary to the wishes of the two Contracting Parties, it should happen that one of the Contracting Parties becomes involved in a military dispute with another country or countries, the other Contracting Party shall immediately act as an ally and use all its military might to Provide assistance and support on the ground, at sea and in the air." Article 5 of the treaty also stipulates that in the event of war, neither country shall cease war or make peace alone.
On May 24, the day after Hitler addressed his military chiefs, General Georg Thomas, director of the Economic and Armament Bureau of the High Command, reported on Germany's military expansion and war preparations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It took the former Imperial Army 16 years, from 1898 to 1914, to increase its strength from 43 divisions to 50 divisions, but the Army of the Third Reich jumped from 7 divisions in four years. to the 51st division.
Lin Wei held the income statement of this month's Krupp military-industrial complex in his hand, and not only lamented, no wonder everyone said that the military industry is a hugely profitable industry. The profits of the Krupp family have increased by 30% in just a few months, and are still rising steadily.
The violence in it made Lin Wei blush and his heart beat. If one day Germany stopped fighting, should he be happy or angry
"Other families should be similar, right?" Lin Wei looked at the ceiling without focus, not knowing what he was thinking.
One year passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was 1939. The tanks needed by the army had been hunted and loaded.
The battleship Tirpitz has been launched, and the construction of the Bismarck-class improved version of Plan S has begun.
On the British side, Chamberlain delivered a speech in the House of Commons strongly condemning Hitler's aggression and announced his full support for and guarantee of Poland's independence. In April, the United Kingdom announced that it would guarantee the independence of Greece, Romania, Denmark, the Netherlands and other countries; it also announced a national conscription law to strengthen war preparations. France also made corresponding statements. Since Britain and France did not border on Poland at all, in order to assist Poland, they had to improve their relations with the Soviet Union. Therefore, Britain and France agreed to hold negotiations with the Soviet Union in Moscow starting in May. All this shows that under the threat of Hitler, Western countries, especially Britain, began to change their policies toward Germany.
Germany is located in the middle of Europe, and its military taboo is to fight on the Eastern and Western fronts at the same time. No matter how arrogant Hitler was, he would never dare to violate this principle and foolishly put himself into an embarrassing situation where he was exhausted. If he wants to invade Poland and prepare for war with Britain and France on the Western Front, he must stabilize the former Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. Similarly, the purpose of Britain and France was to mobilize the former Soviet Union on the Eastern Front and force Hitler to retreat out of fear of a two-front war.
Both sides have placed their biggest bets on the Soviet Union. For Stalin, there is no question of which side to fall to. Now that Britain, France and Germany are all under his control, he just wants to take advantage of this. Historical opportunities made decisions that were most beneficial to the Soviet Union. At the moment, Stalin does not want to get involved in the fight between the two sides without sufficient preparation.
Germany must be exempted from the situation of fighting on two fronts, so Hitler immediately asked Ribbentrop to go to the Soviet Union. Hitler repeatedly expressed to the Soviet Union through Foreign Minister Ribbentrop that Germany had no intention of invading the Soviet Union and hoped to improve mutual relations.