On August 23, 1939, German Deputy Foreign Minister Ribbentrop took a special plane to Moscow. Before leaving, Lin Wei went to the airport to see him off. Looking at the high-spirited Ribbentrop, Lin Wei solemnly said, "Mr. Minister, in a sense, your mission is more important than ours. The success of this treaty Whether it is or not is related to the future destiny of the empire."
"Of course, I will definitely bring the empire's goodwill to the Soviet Union in its entirety," Ribbentrop said with a pun.
Lin Wei's eyes followed the plane as it gradually left the horizon. He suddenly looked back and said, "Go back to the headquarters." With that, he got into the car.
Coax... Several black cars drove away.
The conference room in the SS headquarters building was now full of people. Louis, Heydrich, Paul and Hauser were all present. At this time, the door opened with a bang.
Lampard and Krupp, the national leader of the SS and Prime Minister of Bavaria, slowly walked past the crowd and sat at the head of the conference room.
Lin Wei looked around at the crowd and said forcefully, "The empire is ready to solve the Polish problem. Nothing can stop us. The pain of Danzig will end today, and the avenging of Poland will begin today."
"Hi, Hitler..."
Lin Wei seemed not to hear everyone's excited voices and said, "Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ribbentrop has gone to the Soviet Union. In Moscow, Mr. Minister will express the empire's goodwill to the Soviets."
At this time, General Paul Hausser said, "In the operation against Poland, the SS will be affiliated with Army Group South and will be under the command of General Rundstedt."
"Yes," Lin Wei added, "Although we are under the command of the National Defense Forces, there is one thing I must warn you, that is, the SS is not allowed to surrender at any time or anywhere."
Looking at everyone's reaction with satisfaction, Lin Wei said: "This fate may be a little unkind, but I want to tell you that the SS is not a regular armed force of the empire, so according to international law, if you surrender after being in a desperate situation, , there is no way to guarantee your own safety, because you are not prisoners of war, understand?"
"Understood! Leader"
"Louis, how is the newly formed Viking division in Austria?" Lin Wei asked.
"Leader, the Viking Division has been reorganized, and most of it is volunteers from Western and Nordic countries. There are 520 officers, 2,383 non-commissioned officers, 17,637 soldiers and 1,103 foreign volunteers, for a total of 20,540 people." Louis answered quickly. road.
"At least the scale is on par with other divisions." Lin Wei touched his chin and thought, "Who is the commander of the Viking Division now?"
"It's me! Leader" a middle-aged man in his forties with gray hair stood up and said.
"Who are you?" Lin Wei looked at the person in front of him. He felt familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was.
"Leader, I am Felix Steiner," the middle-aged man introduced himself.
It turned out to be him. Lin Wei nodded to show that he knew. A celebrity, Lin Wei's idol in his previous life, and the first commander of the Viking Division, Felix Steiner.
Steiner used his valuable experience in the Wehrmacht to implement strict militarized training for the troops and repeated his motto "Sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in wartime." He drastically reduced rigid formation drills and replaced them with intensive physical training, individual and team attack tactics, and frequent live-fire exercises. The purpose of this training model is to cultivate soldiers' "hunting" skills, that is, their tactical literacy in a rapidly changing field environment. During the exercise, each soldier in a team has the opportunity to take over command and lead everyone to complete the mission. This kind of training allowed the SS troops to maintain their combat effectiveness even after losing their commander. In addition, Steiner also required the troops to have sufficient physical strength to launch an attack immediately after a long-distance forced march.
The "Viking" Armored Division is probably the most unique unit among the 38 divisions of the SS. First of all, this is the recognized ace division of the SS. The officers and soldiers of this division have won a total of 55 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, second only to the 69 medals of the Imperial Division. During the four years of bloody battles on the Eastern Front, the Viking Division became one of the most terrifying opponents for the Soviet army. When the Soviet commander learned that the German army opposite was a Viking division, he would often strongly request reinforcements. The Soviet battle report claimed three times that the Viking Division was completely wiped out, and the Viking Division was able to repeatedly inflict heavy losses on the Soviet army even when it retreated. Secondly, the Viking Division was the earliest "Foreign Legion" established by the SS, and two-thirds of the soldiers were foreigners. Such a unit, which came from all over the world with different languages and customs, was able to come together to form a strong fighting force, and Steiner, the first division commander, was indispensable.
But even so, Lin Wei just nodded now. After all, Lin Wei has seen too many celebrities in history and has begun to get tired of aesthetics.
The concern for the Viking Division only lasted for three minutes. Lin Wei immediately began to investigate how much force the SS could invest in this war. Lin Wei had devoted a lot of effort to the SS. Lin Wei I don’t want to get off to a bad start right off the bat.
Cadres from all aspects of the SS were here, but Lin Wei didn't have to worry about it. They all quickly reported their situations to Lin Wei.
"Leader, you know that the Military Police Division is in Berlin. The Military Police Division has never stopped training at any time during the year." Lin Wei's adjutant Robert C. Crawford reported to Lin Wei: "The Military Police Division There are 33,000 people, 552 tanks, 304 armored personnel carriers. 2,200 motorcycles, 1,030 cars, and 1,800 horse-drawn carriages."
Lin Wei nodded and said, "How are the other divisions doing?"
"The situation of the other divisions is similar to that of the Viking Division. Among them, the Police Division is still stationed near Damon Concentration Camp, the Totenkopf Division is now in the Czech Republic, and the Polish Division is the closest to the Imperial Division and is now stationed in Slovakia." Robert C. Crawford De replied.
Lin Wei lowered his head and thought for a moment and shouted, "General Paul Hauser."
"Yes, leader." Paul & Hauser still called Lin Wei leader in public, which left Lin Wei helpless. After all, the officers of the National Defense Force were relatively old-fashioned.
Lin Wei was troubled by Paul Hauser's words and deeds. He could only ignore his thoughts and said, "General Paul Hauser, I appoint you as the commander of the Imperial Division. As for Heinz, he still treats you as the commander of the Imperial Division." The deputy is better." After all, Heinz still lacks experience, and Lin Wei does not dare to let him catch up with the Poles directly.
"Okay," Paul & Hauser said without being humble or condescending.
"Okay," Lin Wei looked up at everyone and said, "If there is nothing else, let's break up the meeting."
Seeing that everyone was silent, Lin Wei shouted, "The meeting is over, Heydrich come to my office."
Coax... The conference room that was so noisy just now immediately became deserted.
When they arrived at the conference room, Lin Wei and Heydrich sat down, and Lin Wei said, "Heydrich, the empire needs an excuse to legally launch a war. After all, we cannot fight without any scruples."
"Is it that simple?" Heydrich asked in surprise.
"It's that simple!" Lin Wei said naa.
Heydrich stood up and patted Lin Wei on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, this matter will be taken care of by me." After speaking, he walked out without stopping, leaving Lin Wei at a loss.
Following Hitler's instructions, German Army Commander von Brauchitsch formulated a plan for the Army's military operation against Poland. To conquer Poland, Brauchitsch formed two armies. The South Army Group consists of the Eighth Army, the Tenth Army, and the Fourteenth Army; the North Army Group consists of the Third Army and the Fourth Army. Army Group South, commanded by General von Roon's Stadt, would launch an attack from Silesia, "with Warsaw as the general direction, defeat the resisting Polish army, and occupy Warsaw on both sides of the Vistula River as quickly as possible with the strongest possible force." The goal is to cooperate with the Northern Army Group to annihilate the Polish army that is still resisting in Poland. "The first task of the Northern Army Group is to open the corridor and "establish the connection between Germany and East Prussia." Each legion, air force, and navy of each group army have detailed and specific goals. Brauchitsch said that on the first day of the war, Danzig would be declared German territory and local forces under German command would take it.
At this time Ribbentrop had arrived in Moscow, where he met the new Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov. He and Molotov said, "From the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, there is no problem that cannot be solved through negotiation and make both sides feel... satisfy."
Stalin, Molotov and Ribbentrop held two talks and formally signed the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact that night.
The reason why Stalin readily agreed to Germany's request was partly because of his distrust of the British. On the one hand, they also consider their own interests.
As Lin Wei expected, in 1939, Japan was expected to provoke the "Nomenkan Incident" in the Far East. The Japanese Army and the Soviet Army fought for several months in this barren place. During the four months of fighting, about 8,000 of the 30,000 Japanese soldiers who participated in the battle were killed and 9,000 were injured. The Soviet army invested approximately 57,000 infantry, 500 tanks, and 350 armored vehicles; official casualties were stated at 9,000 casualties.
Judging from the casualties, both Japan and the Soviet Union suffered losses, but the Soviets' foundation was much stronger than that of the Japanese army, so it was no big deal at all.
Gestapo intelligence officers in the Nomenkan area sent the latest battle report, saying that the Japanese strategic thinking was still stuck in the First World War. Lin Wei gave the battle report to Hitler, and Hitler never mentioned forming an alliance with Japan in the future. The problem.
In fact, by mid-August, Britain and France were also negotiating with the Soviet Union in Moscow, and they were actually at a standstill. When the British and French military delegations arrived in the Soviet capital by boat on August 11, they did not discuss with the Soviet representatives where, how, and what force to use to deal with Nazi aggression. They avoided discussing the essence of concluding a military treaty. problem, just killing time on abstract and insignificant so-called "issues of principle". The Soviet representative Voroshilov said that you are here "not to make an abstract declaration, but to formulate a comprehensive military treaty." The Soviet marshal asked some very specific questions: Is there any treaty that stipulates that Poland What action should be taken? Once war breaks out, how many troops can Britain use to assist the French army? What will Belgium do? The answers he received were vague and unsatisfactory. French representative Dumanc said he knew nothing about Poland's plans. British representative Drax said hesitantly that the UK currently has five regular divisions and one mechanized division. The Soviet Union said that at the beginning of the war, it could send 136 infantry divisions, 5,000 artillery pieces, 10,000 tanks and 5,000 aircraft to deal with the invaders from the west.
At a key meeting on August 14, Marshal Voroshilov emphasized that the fundamental question was whether Poland was willing to allow Soviet troops to enter its territory to meet the German invasion. If they are unwilling, how can the Allies prevent the German army from rapidly sweeping into Poland? He specifically asked, "Do the British and French general staffs believe that the Soviet army can cross Poland, especially across the Vilna Gap and Galicia, to fight the German army?" Contact?" This is the heart of the matter. Finally, the anxious British and French representatives believed that Voroshilov raised political issues that they were not qualified to deal with.
At the meeting on August 21, Voroshilov once again reiterated that the Soviet delegation’s desire was, and still is, to agree to organize military cooperation between the armed forces of the three countries. The Soviet Union and Germany did not have a common border, and only Soviet troops It can provide assistance to Britain, France, Poland, and Romania only if it has the right to pass through the territories of Poland and Romania. If the Soviet army is not allowed to enter the territory of Poland and Romania, they will not be able to cooperate with the British and French armies. The Soviet military delegation could not imagine how the British and French governments and general staffs could not give them instructions on such a basic issue when they sent delegations to the Soviet Union. This can only make people doubt that they Whether there is a desire for serious and effective cooperation with the Soviet Union.
Dumank and Drax asked their governments for instructions on answering the Soviet Union's questions about Poland, but they waited for three days but received no reply. On August 17, Dumonk telegraphed to Paris, "The Soviet Union wants to make a military treaty. It does not want us to give it a piece of waste paper without specific guarantees. Voroshilov announced that as long as he said After the key issue is resolved, all problems can be easily solved." Dumonk asked Paris to try to get Warsaw to accept Soviet aid, but was rejected by Britain, France and Warsaw.
Preparations for dealing with Poland began to accelerate, and it was certainly impossible for the Poles to be unaware of it. The Polish Army High Command also formulated a combat plan against Germany code-named "Western Plan". This plan stipulated that if Germany attacks Poland, taking advantage of the fact that the main force of the German army has not yet transferred eastward, the Polish army will first attack north to capture Germany's East Prussia. In order to eliminate the threat from the north, take defensive positions on the western and southwestern borders to prevent the German attack, and wait for Britain and France to launch attacks on the western front, attack from the east and west, and defeat Germany. To this end, the Polish army mobilized a total of 40 divisions and 22 brigades, 870 light tanks, 824 aircraft and 4,300 artillery pieces. Seven armies were formed: Pomorie, Modlin, Poznan, Lodz, Krakow, Carpathia, and Narew. Two armies were deployed along the northern border, and two armies were deployed along the western and southwestern borders. 4 armies, and another army group deployed in the area east of the Vistula River as a reserve.
At the same time, on August 25, Britain and Poland signed the Anglo-Polish Mutual Assistance Agreement.
The German high command planned to use rapid corps and powerful air force to carry out surprise attacks, destroy the Polish defense line in a flash, occupy the industrial areas in western and southern Poland, and then invade the hinterland of Poland, encircle and annihilate the isolated Polish army, and strive to defeat the Polish army within half a month. End the war, and then return to reinforce the Western Front that may be attacked by Britain and France. To this end, the German army concentrated a total of 62 divisions, 886,000 people, 4,400 tanks, 2,000 aircraft, 6,000 artillery pieces and mortars, forming two army groups, the South Road and the North Road. Army Group South is commanded by Army General Rundstedt and includes General Blaskowitz's 8th Army, General Reichenau's 10th Army, and General List's 14th Army. , a total of 8 infantry corps and 4 armored corps. Its mission is to first annihilate the Polish Army Group in Silesia, and then detour to Warsaw from the southwest; the North Army Group is commanded by Army General Bock, and has General Kuechler's 3rd Army and Kruger's Army Group under its jurisdiction. The general's 4th Army consists of 5 infantry corps and 1 armored corps. Its mission was to first cut off the "Polish Corridor" and completely encircle and annihilate the Polish army group gathered here, and then go south from East Prussia, attack the Polish army on the Vistula River from the back, and detour towards Warsaw from the northeast.
Both sides have been prepared. Although the Poles know that their strength is not as good as Germany's, their ambitions are no less than Germany's. It can be seen from their plans that the Poles have always wanted to annex East Prussia. It's just that their strength is not enough, and now, the Poles believe that with the help of the British and French, they can get what they want on the battlefield.
All the two sides lack is an excuse, an excuse to start a war. This excuse was easily solved by Heydrich. At noon on August 31, 1939, under Heydrich's personal arrangement, more than a dozen death row prisoners were pulled out of the Nazi concentration camp. They all dressed up and wore uniforms. Wearing Polish military uniforms and equipped with Polish weapons. Heydrich personally led this team. "You have committed unforgivable crimes against the country, but I have given you the opportunity to redeem yourself and make meritorious deeds!" Heydrich said slowly.
Next, a small group of SS soldiers dressed in civilian clothes took this group of "Polish" soldiers to a forest 16 kilometers away from the Polish-German border and killed them. SS member Alfred Helmut Naujokes led a team with the surviving death row prisoners and rushed to the Gleiwitz radio station near Poland. There, they occupied the radio station, and then a German soldier who spoke Polish read a pre-drafted outline, which was full of inflammatory anti-German remarks. The most important thing was to announce that Poland had launched an attack on Germany. Then they killed the condemned man, fired a few shots and left.
At the same moment, the forest management office in the border forest city of Pitzen north of Kreiburg, Germany, and the German Hochlinden Customs House in the area between Greiwitz and Ratipol were camouflaged by the SS. The "Poles" launched an attack at the same time.