In response to the objections of some SS generals, Lin Wei assured that the five divisions would soon be equipped with new tanks, which would be more powerful than the Panzer IV. In the hands of the second batch of armed SS troops put on the battlefield, these No. 4 tanks were definitely not as powerful as Guderian in the Central Army Group. Lin Wei only hoped that these tanks would be put into the hands of Guderian. Create some conditions for Guderian, and even if the Soviet Union cannot be killed instantly, Moscow must be captured.
Ribbentrop and Turkey talked about joining the war on the condition that Germany occupy at least two of the three important Soviet cities of Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad. Because Stalingrad is too far from the border, it cannot be won in the short term. Therefore, in order to let Turkey participate in the war, Germany can only choose between Leningrad and Moscow. Leningrad is not far from the border with Finland. It can be said that as long as a sudden victory is achieved Sex, within a month of the war, it is not difficult to control it. The only difficulty is Moscow. We can only hope that Guderian has a stronger tank group than in history and can achieve his hope of capturing Moscow by the end of the year. If Moscow and Leningrad can be occupied. It can be said that it is difficult for Germany to lose in this battle.
"Heydrich, prepare to release the Jews immediately!" After talking about the military deployment, Lin Wei thought of the Jewish problem. Lin Wei had participated in German concentration camps more than once, but he had not shown any compassion. The irony is that , after seeing the Soviet concentration camps, Lin Wei suddenly discovered that what Germany and the Soviet Union did was indeed a bit cruel. The Jews did not fulfill their obligations as Germans at the critical moment of the war in Germany, but this was only a small number of people, and there were not many Jews in Germany, only 500,000. A small part of the 500,000 were guilty. Now extended to the entire Jewish community, it is indeed a bit cruel. Moreover, the capital of the Jews has now been drained. The Jewish business group represented by the once powerful Rothschild has been attacked by the SS on the European continent, and it has lost its former glory. It’s time to put the release of the Jews on the agenda.
"But, leader, we have restrained the Jews for such a long time. It is inevitable that they will not pose a threat to ordinary Germans after they come out!" Heydrich objected, "I heard that the leader is preparing to carry out preliminary arms against the Jews and let them Protect the country, if there is any change among the Jews, it will be terrible!"
"It doesn't matter, there will be new residents in the quarantine area soon. Building a new concentration camp is a huge expense! It's better to put the money on building tanks!" Lin Wei explained, "And although the Barbarossa Plan will Let most of our troops be transferred to the Soviet Union, but Germany still has three million armed forces. Although it is not comparable to the main force, it is still a piece of cake to deal with the Jews. At the same time, it can also deter France and prevent them from advancing eastward in Germany. He does little tricks behind his back!"
After saying this, Lin Wei breathed a sigh of relief. Everything he needed to prepare was ready. Whether he could completely escape the threat of the gallows depended on God's arrangement. Lin Wei has prepared everything he can for Germany. He knows that the railway tracks in the Soviet-controlled areas are different from those in the German-controlled areas. Lin Wei even asked his father Gustav to build 60 locomotives. Although it is not many, he hopes Railways to Eastern Europe could be used to transport troops to Germany.
As the date of the outbreak of the war got closer and closer, unlike the atmosphere on the border, the trade between the Soviet Union and Germany reached an extraordinary peak in history. Due to Germany being blocked for a year, important war raw materials They all need supplies from the Soviet Union. Although Germany has broken the blockade, the United States does not sell what Germany needs. Although the colonies controlled by France and Italy have resources, except for the consideration of distance, they are still loyal to the colonial army of the Churchill government. It is also a major instability factor. It is unrealistic to obtain the resources Germany needs from Africa in a short period of time.
So until now, the country that has continuously provided resources to Germany is still the Soviet Union. Although the whole world is nervously staring at the Soviet-German border, there are already rumors that Germany is planning an unprecedented military operation. However, the Soviet Union was unmoved. Perhaps it hoped to satisfy Germany's appetite and avoid war. Perhaps it believed that Germany did not dare to launch a war, or was not ready for war. The Soviet government was still diligent in supplying important raw materials to Germany. .
Schnur, who was in charge of trade negotiations with Moscow, happily reported home that the Soviet Union's deliveries in January and February 1941, after slowing down due to the cold political relations, had increased dramatically in March, especially It is in grains, petroleum, manganese ore, non-ferrous metals and precious metals. Transit shipments through Siberia are proceeding smoothly as usual. Because of our request, the Soviet government even put a train of rubber trucks at our disposal on the Manchurian border.
In May, Schnur reported that the responsive Russians set aside several freight trains so that 4,000 tons of urgently needed raw rubber could be shipped to Germany via the Siberian Railway. The Russians are delivering raw materials on time and in the quantities stipulated in the contract, and although this puts a heavy burden on them, my impression is that we can even make economic demands to Moscow that go beyond the scope of the treaty, so that Germany gets more than the current contract. range of food and raw materials.
However, Germany did not deliver the machines to Russia as planned. If the Russians don't mind. Surprisingly, Schnur explained in a long memo to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that this difficulty came not from Russia but from German industrial companies, which, he said, were trying to cancel their ties with Russia. contracts concluded by persons.
Stalin took further conciliatory actions after Lin Wei returned to China. To curry favor with Germany, he expelled British, Free French, and even Yugoslav diplomatic representatives in Moscow and closed their legations. He recognized the pro-Nazi Rashid Ali government in Iraq. He restricted Soviet newspapers extremely strictly so as not to anger Germany. After doing everything, Stalin asked Germany to respond to the Turkish issue as soon as possible. In Stalin's view, the Soviet Union had done all that Germany needed, and now Germany The Soviet Union's demands should be answered.
On May 6, Stalin replaced Molotov as Chairman of the People's Committee and Prime Minister, and Molotov continued to serve as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. This is the first time that a powerful Communist Party secretary has taken over government office. The general reaction around the world was that this meant that the situation had become so serious for the Soviet Union, particularly in its relations with Germany, that it could only be dealt with by Stalin as both nominal and de facto head of government.
The goal Stalin set for himself was to seek benefits for the Soviet Union as much as possible without causing conflict between the Soviet Union and Germany. For the deterioration of Soviet-German relations at the beginning of the year, Stalin mainly blamed Molotov's clumsy diplomatic skills. Stalin believed that Molotov's untimely tough attitude caused the relationship between the Soviet Union and Germany to drift apart. In this situation, At the moment of crisis, Stalin believed that he needed to make amends with Germany so that a war would not break out between the two countries with the most powerful military forces in the world.
Stalin still didn’t realize that this was an impossible goal? He must have known the significance of the German conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece, of the presence of large numbers of German troops in his southwestern neighbours, Romania and Hungary, and of the strengthening of German armed forces in Poland on his western borders. He must have heard rumors that had been circulating in Moscow that Germany would attack the Soviet Union. But Stalin believed that he had a way to bring the two countries back to the track before the partition of Poland, and even closer than then.
Germany has assembled more than 150 divisions of troops in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland, but Stalin was not worried about this because the Soviet Union also deployed almost the same troops on the front of these German troops. If When a war breaks out, the number of troops can increase very quickly.
The extent of the Russian People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs' lack of information was publicly demonstrated only a week before the German attack. Molotov summoned Schulenburg that evening and handed him the full text of a TASS statement, which Molotov said would be broadcast that evening and published in the newspapers the next morning. This official statement from the Soviet government attributed "the widespread rumors in British and foreign newspapers about an impending war between the Soviet Union and Germany" to Cripps himself, denouncing these rumors as "manifestly absurd and anti-Soviet." A clumsy propaganda ploy by the anti-German forces." It also said: What Soviet people think about Germany? ? Rumors of an attack on the Soviet Union were completely nonsense. The statement even explained the recent transfer of German troops from the Balkans to the Soviet border as having "nothing to do with Soviet-German relations."
As for the rumors that Russia was about to attack Germany, they were "untrue and provocative." The statement issued by TASS on behalf of the Soviet government was made even more ridiculous by the actions taken by the Germans.
The German Wehrmacht has been reorganized. The German army is divided into three army groups: northern, central and southern army groups on a long front of more than 1,800 kilometers from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. The strength of the Northern Army Group is 29 divisions. Its mission is to annihilate the Soviet troops along the Baltic Sea and attack Leningrad. Commander of Army Group North: Field Marshal Ritter von Loeb: Directly under the jurisdiction of the 23rd Army, consisting of the 251st and 254th Infantry Divisions.
The 18th Army, Commander: Army General Georg von Kuchler, is under the jurisdiction of:
The 1st Army consists of the 1st, 11th, and 21st Infantry Divisions;
The 26th Army consists of the 61st (Division Commander: Lieutenant General Jürgen Heinicke) and the 217th Infantry Division;
The 38th Army consists of the 58th and 291st (Division Commander: Lieutenant General Kut Herzog) Infantry Divisions.
The 16th Army, commander: Army General Ernst Busch, under the direct jurisdiction of the 253rd Infantry Division.
The 2nd Army (Commander: Infantry General von Brockdorff-Alefer) consists of the 12th, 32nd, and 121st Infantry Divisions;
The 10th Army (Commander: Army Artillery General Krist Hansen) consists of the 30th and 126th Infantry Divisions;
The 28th Army consists of the 122nd and 123rd Infantry Divisions.
4th Armored Group, commander: General Erich Heppner, Army Armor, under the jurisdiction of:
The 41st Motorized Corps (Commander: Army General Hans Reinhardt), composed of the 1st, 6th, and 8th Armored Divisions (Division Commander: Army Major General Erich Brandenberger) , 36th Motorized Division, 269th Infantry Division;
The 56th Motorized Corps (Commander: Army Infantry General Erich von Manstein), composed of the 3rd Waffen-SS Panzer Division 3rd "Totenkopf", the 3rd Motorized Division, and the 290th Infantry Division division.
The 101st Rear Area Command is composed of the 207th, 281st, and 285th Military Quartermaster Division's special guard divisions.
1st Air Force, Commander: Air Force General Alfred Keller
5th Air Force, Commander: Air Force General Hans-Jürgen Stumpf
6th Waffen-SS Northern Mountain Division, division commander Major General Richard Hermann. 7th Prinz Eugen Division, commander Lieutenant General Arthur Philip.
The task of the German Army Group Center is to encircle and annihilate the Soviet army in Belarus. It has 50 divisions and 2 brigades, and then attacks Moscow, the heart of the Soviet Union. The commander of the Army Group: Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, under the jurisdiction: 102nd Directly Administered Regiment Rear area headquarters, 2nd Army headquarters.
The 4th Army, commander: Field Marshal Gunter von Kluge, under the direct jurisdiction of: 255th, 267th, 293rd Infantry Division, 286th Guard Division.
The 7th Army consists of the 7th, 23rd, 258th, and 268th Infantry Divisions, and the 221st Guard Division;
The 9th Army consists of the 17th, 137th, 263rd, and 292nd Infantry Divisions;
The 12th Army (Commander: Infantry General Walter Schroeder) consists of the 29th Motorized Division, the 31st and 34th Infantry Divisions;
The 13th Army (Commander: Infantry General Hans-Felber), composed of the 78th Infantry Division and the 26th Motorized Division (Division Commander: Major-General Werner von Boltenstein);
The 43rd Army consists of the 131st, 134th, and 252nd Infantry Divisions;
The 53rd Army (Commander: Army Infantry General Karl Weissenberger) consists of the 45th (Division Commander: Army Major General Franz Schlipper), the 52nd, and the 167th Infantry Division.
The 9th Army, commander: General Adolf Strauss, is under the direct jurisdiction of the 102nd and 900th Infantry Divisions, and the 403rd Guard Division.
The 5th Army consists of the 5th, 35th, and 161st Infantry Divisions;
Commander of the 6th Army: Army Engineer General Helmut Furst, composed of the 6th and 26th Infantry Divisions;
Commander of the 8th Army: General Walter Heitz Army Artillery, composed of the 8th and 28th Infantry Divisions;
The 30th Army consists of the 129th, 162nd, and 256th Infantry Divisions;
Commander of the 42nd Army: Army Lieutenant General Count Theodor von Sponnecke, composed of the 87th Infantry Division and the Waffen-SS Communications Division.
2nd Armored Group, commander: Field Marshal Heinz Guderian, under the jurisdiction of the 24th Motorized Corps (Commander: General Geier von Schwepenburg Army Armor), composed of the 1st Cavalry Division, the 4 (Division Commander: Baron Willibald von Langemann-Onder-Ehlenkamp, Army Major General), 3rd Armored Division, 10th Motorized Division; Commander of the 46th Motorized Corps: Heinri General of the Armored Forces of the Army Gottfried-Gottfried von Feitinghof-Schel, composed of the 10th (division commander: Army Lieutenant-General Ferdinand Schell), the Wehrmacht Grossdeutschland Panzer Division. The 47th Motorized Corps consists of the 17th and 18th Armored Divisions.
3rd Armored Group, Commander: Army General Hermann Hoth, under the jurisdiction of: 39th Motorized Corps, Commander Army Armored General Rudolf Schmidt, 7th Division Commander: Hans- 14th Division Commander: Major General Baron von Funk: Major General Friedrich Kühn, 20th Armored Division, 20th (Division Commander: Major General Hans Kühn) Motorized Division; 57th Motorized Corps, Commander: General Adolf Konzen, Army Armored Corps, consisting of the 12th and 19th Armored Divisions and the 18th Motorized Division.
2nd Air Force, Commander: Air Marshal Albert Kesselring.
The mission of Army Group South is to attack in the general direction of Kiev and the entire Ukraine, and to eliminate the main force of the Soviet army in Ukraine to the west of the Dnieper River, so it has the largest number of troops. Army Group Commander: Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, under the direct jurisdiction of the 99th Light Division.
The 11th Army, Commander: Army General Ritter von Schobert (killed in action on September 12, 1941, succeeded by Army Infantry General Erich von Manstein), under the jurisdiction of: Directly under the jurisdiction of the Romanian Cavalry Army Headquarters. The 11th Army consists of the 22nd, 76th and 239th Infantry Divisions, the 6th Romanian Infantry Division, the 5th and 8th Romanian Cavalry Brigades; the commander of the 30th Army: Army Infantry Colonel Hans von Zalmuth General, composed of the 198th Infantry Division, the Romanian 8th and 14th Infantry Divisions, and the Romanian 6th Cavalry Brigade; the 54th Army, composed of the 50th and 170th Infantry Divisions;
Military delegation to Romania, consisting of the 72nd Infantry Division;
The Romanian Mountain Army consists of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 7th Romanian Mountain Infantry Brigades, and the Romanian 7th Infantry Division.
The 17th Army, commander: Army Infantry General Karl-Heinrich von Stipnagel, under the direct jurisdiction of the 125th Infantry Division.
The 4th Army consists of the 24th, 71st, 295th, and 296th Infantry Divisions, and the 97th Light Division;
The 44th Mountain Army consists of the 1st (division commander: Army Major General Hubert Lanz), the 2nd (division commander: Army Major General Ernst Schlemmer), the 4th Mountain Infantry Division, and the 257th Infantry Division. 100th Light Division;
The commander of the 52nd Army: Infantry General Werner von Briesen, and the commander of the 101st Light Division: Army General Erich Marquez.
The 103rd Rear Area Command consists of the 444th and 454th Guard Divisions.
The 6th Army, commander: Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau, under the direct jurisdiction of: 168th Infantry Division, 213th Guard Division.
The 17th Army (Commander: Infantry General Werner-Kinitz) consists of the 50th, 62nd, and 298th Infantry Divisions;
The 29th Army consists of the 44th and 289th Infantry Divisions;
The 44th Army consists of the 9th, 57th, 262nd, and 297th Infantry Divisions;
The 55th Army consists of the 75th and 111th Infantry Divisions.
1st Armored Group, commander: Army General Ewald von Kleist, under the jurisdiction of:
The 3rd Motorized Corps (Commander: Army Cavalry General Eberhard von Mackensen) consists of the 13th, 14th, and 25th Armored Divisions;
The commander of the 48th Motorized Corps: Army Cavalry General Werner-Kempf, composed of the 11th Division, the division commander Major General Kluwer, the 16th Armored Division, and the 16th Motorized Division.
At the same time, Hungary's Regent Horthy has promised to send the newly formed Hungarian Rapid Corps to participate in the war, which includes the 1st Infantry Brigade, 13th Infantry Brigade, 15th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Brigade, and 10th Infantry Brigade. , 12th Infantry Brigade, 14th Infantry Brigade, 19th Infantry Brigade, and 2nd Cavalry Brigade.
On the German army's long front of more than 1,800 kilometers from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south, 3.3 million German Wehrmacht troops, 200,000 Romanian troops, and the Hungarian Rapid Regiment were waiting. As for what to wait for? They didn't know, but the soldiers across the long border had almost guessed the outcome, although they didn't want to admit it.
Stalin was aware of Germany's strength on the border, but he still believed he could prevent the war, and he believed Germany was not ready. Although this is the case, the Soviet army on the western border has been able to directly feel the presence of the powerful armed forces of the German troops on the other side of the border. A secret message sent by the Western Special Military Region on June 21 stated. "The German army in front of us had dismantled the barbed wire fence at night. The border guards could even hear the roar of tank tracks coming from the forest opposite. However, the day before, Vasilevsky, the Chief of Operations of the Soviet General Staff, followed Stalin's instructions The secret message sent to the military region with instructions still did not allow troops from all western military regions to enter field fortifications. The Soviet Red Army in the Leningrad Military District, the Baltic Coast Special Military District, the Western Special Military District, the Kiev Special Military District, and the Odessa Military District were forced to retreat before the danger arrived. The chilling atmosphere stimulated alertness.
Some soldiers climbed out of the fortifications to anxiously observe the movements of the German Wehrmacht on the opposite side, and even looked around nervously, as if they were afraid that the German armored forces would suddenly rush out. The Leningrad Military District, the Baltic Coast Special Military District, the Western Special Military District, the Kiev Special Military District, The commanders of the Odessa Military District sent telegrams to Moscow, reporting the abnormal movements of the German army and requesting Stalin for instructions.