Empire in Progress

Chapter 66: Surprise attack on the Rhineland

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Hitler continued to make a fuss about peace. In the end, he also put forward thirteen-point suggestions for maintaining peace. These suggestions seemed very high-sounding, so they made a deep and good impression not only in Germany, but also in the whole of Europe. Before these suggestions, he had a reminder: Germany has solemnly recognized and guaranteed to France its borders decided after the referendum in the Saar... We have thus finally given up all claims to Alsace-Lorraine, For this land, we have fought two wars... Without forgetting the past, Germany has concluded a non-aggression agreement with Poland... We will abide by this agreement unconditionally... We recognize that Poland is a great and unique nation. The land of the conscious nation. As for Austria, Hitler said that Germany neither intends nor wants to interfere in Austria's internal affairs, let alone annex Austria or undergo an unification.

As for the reduction of armaments, Hitler was prepared to go all out: "The German government is willing to agree to any restrictions that will lead to the lifting of the heaviest weapons, especially those applicable to aggression, such as the heaviest artillery and the heaviest tanks." Limitations... Germany has shown its willingness to agree to any limitations on the caliber of artillery, battleships, cruisers and torpedo boats. Likewise, the German government is willing to agree to limitations on the tonnage of submarines, or to eliminate submarines altogether... "

On this subject, Hitler offered Great Britain a special bait. He was willing to limit Germany's new navy to only 35 percent of Britain's naval strength; he added that this would leave Germany still 15 percent below France in naval tonnage.

Finally, Britain and Germany signed the "Anglo-German Naval Agreement" on June 18, 1935. The treaty mainly stipulates that the total tonnage of German naval vessels shall not exceed 35% of the total tonnage of naval vessels of the Commonwealth countries as stipulated in the Washington Naval Treaty and the London Naval Treaty. In terms of submarines, Germany guarantees that the tonnage of the submarines it retains will not exceed 45% of the total tonnage of submarines in the navy of the Commonwealth countries.

Britain admired the Anglo-German Naval Agreement very much. Navy veteran Betty even publicly praised the spirit of the Germans in parliament, saying that it was gentlemanly to proactively maintain a disadvantage against Britain.

Because judging from the strength of the German navy before the signing of the agreement, due to sanctions, there is still a huge space to reach 35% of the British navy. This will allow the Germans to develop all possible naval forces with peace of mind. The British did not take it seriously. The Germans' 1935-1938 plan took them seriously. Because even if these plans are successfully implemented, the German naval strength is far from reaching the upper limit stipulated in the "Anglo-German Naval Agreement", and the British only implement the construction plan according to their own guidelines.

At this time, Raeder, who officially became the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, gave Lieutenant Colonel Dönitz, the captain of the training cruiser "Stern", a task to form a new submarine force. Dönitz advocated the construction of medium-sized submarines for "swarming tactics". He believes that the construction of medium-sized submarines not only complies with the ship tonnage restrictions in the German-British Naval Agreement, but also enables the construction of a larger number of submarines.

Raeder's work is also busier, but he has a reliable staff team. In addition, he enjoys broad independence within his remit. This enabled Raeder to complete the task of launching 2 armored ships, 2 cruisers, 16 destroyers and 23 submarines in 1935. By September 27, Dönitz was able to organize the first batch of six submarines into a submarine squadron and was officially appointed commander of the submarine force.

Seduced by Hitler's bait, the British government took the bait so quickly and so naively that it is unbelievable. By this time, Ribbentrop had become Hitler's diplomatic envoy, and he was invited to London for naval negotiations in June. Ribbentrop bluntly told the British that Hitler's proposal could not be counter-offered, and he would either accept it or reject it. As a result, the British actually accepted it. Thinking that it was in their own interests, they set out to lift the naval restrictions of the Versailles Peace Treaty without consulting its ally France in advance or even notifying the League of Nations, although nominally the Versailles Peace Treaty was guaranteed by the League of Nations. Even the simplest person in Berlin could see that the London government's agreement to allow Germany to build a navy one-third as large as the British navy was to encourage Hitler's shipyards and steel plants to operate at full capacity and to build a navy as quickly as possible. Rearmament of the navy.

Britain's policy of appeasement against Nazi Germany only worsened the situation for its closest allies. In order to fulfill its promise to Hitler, it actually refused to tell its closest allies the type and number of warships it agreed to be built by Germany, but only said that the tonnage of German submarines would be 60% of that of Britain. If special circumstances occurred, then Probably 100% UK. However, Germany's construction of submarines was absolutely prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles. Not only did Britain promise this, but it also agreed to Hitler's construction of five battleships, which would be greater in tonnage and armament than any British warships already at sea.

Mussolini took full note of Great Britain's breach of trust. Britain could appease Hitler, and he could take advantage of it. And Britain's selfish attitude in disregarding the Treaty of Versailles led him to believe that London might not take its contempt for the League of Nations too seriously. On October 3, 1935, Mussolini openly ignored the constraints of the League of Nations and sent his troops to invade the ancient mountainous kingdom of Abyssinia.

Facts have proved that Mussolini was right. The weak attitude of the League of Nations caused Mussolini to misjudge the situation, and Mussolini successfully escaped punishment. Although the League of Nations clamored for sanctions, it was powerless to stop a determined aggressor. But the person who benefited most from this series of events was none other than Adolf Hitler.

On February 27, the French Parliament passed the Franco-Soviet Mutual Assistance Agreement by a vote of 353 to 164. After the news reached Germany, Hitler immediately sent a message to summon Lin Wei. When Lin Wei came to the Chancellery, Deputy Head of State Hess , Aviation Minister Goering, Propaganda Minister Goebbels, and these direct descendants of Hitler have all arrived.

"Hi, Hitler." Lin Wei went in, raised his hands and then asked, "Führer, what happened?"

Hitler waved his hand and said, "Let Goebbels speak." Goebbels next to him said, "Lampard, it's like this. According to the news we just got, France and the Soviet Union signed a Franco-Soviet Mutual Assistance Agreement, which is very important to the empire. It's not good, the head of state has called you here just to talk about how to get rid of the situation that is not good for the empire."

Lin Wei pondered for a moment and asked, "Ribbentrop didn't get any news from London." As an upstart of the National Socialist Party, Ribbentrop was ordered to go to London as ambassador-at-large to negotiate and sign with the United Kingdom. The Anglo-German Naval Agreement allowed Germany's naval tonnage to be 35% of that of Britain, creating conditions for Germany to expand its navy, so it is now highly appreciated by Hitler.

When asked this question, Hitler smiled bitterly and said, "Ribbentrop's life is a bit difficult now. He always sends me telegrams to complain, saying that he has been ostracized by the London social circle. But according to the news he has now sent, the British I don’t understand the mutual assistance agreement between France and the Soviet Union.”

"In other words? The British soldiers are not involved, so this is not too bad for us, and maybe it can be an opportunity for us," Lin Wei analyzed slowly.

"Oh? What chance?" Goering, who had been silent, asked.

"Maybe we can take this opportunity to take back the Rhineland," Lin Wei said in an astonishing voice.

"What?"

"You're crazy..."

"Okay, everyone, be quiet," Hitler shouted, "Lampard, go on,".

"Yes, Head of State," Lin Wei replied respectfully, "Actually, France is not to be feared in the Anglo-French alliance. Now France is just following the British and showing off its claws. I think if the British don't support France, the French themselves won't be able to do anything." They don’t dare to do anything to us. Besides, this time the French and the Soviet Union signed a mutual assistance agreement, I think the British may also feel very uncomfortable and will not help the French.” The disdain in Lin Wei's tone was very obvious. In Lin Wei's opinion, if the battle was one-on-one between Germany and France, France would fall in a month.

After Lin Wei's analysis, several people present lowered their heads and thought, "Maybe, this is really an opportunity," Hitler muttered to himself,

"Okay, you are all tired, so go back first. I need to think carefully," Hitler said, waving his hands.

"Yes, Führer," Lin Wei and the others said in unison. When they walked to the door, Lin Wei turned around and saw the heat in Hitler's eyes.

Lin Wei returned to the headquarters and first ordered the transfer of 500 military police from the Berlin Flag Guard. Then he summoned Paul Hauser, hoping to borrow some soldiers from the "Father of the SS". Unexpectedly, Paul & Hauser cleanly rejected Lin Wei on the grounds that the current special operations division cannot fight. After Lin Wei's repeated requests, he finally borrowed 500 soldiers from Paul Hauser, plus 500 military police, which was exactly 1,000 people.

After Paul & Houser left, Lin Wei slumped in his chair and thought about the quarrel just now, letting Paul & Houser take the lead. After a long time, he finally said, "I am the most useless leader in history."

On March 7, after a month of preparation, Hitler finally made up his mind. Prior to this, Lin Wei finally got Hitler to agree that the SS could participate in this operation. Lin Wei took a thousand armed SS soldiers Three battalions of soldiers and Wehrmacht entered the Rhineland Demilitarized Zone in a surprise attack.

Two hours later, Hitler announced in the Reichstag that the Locarno Pact had expired due to the mutual assistance agreement between France and Russia. For the sake of the fundamental right of the German people to maintain the security of their borders and ensure their defense, the German government has re-established Germany’s absolute sovereignty without any restrictions in the Demilitarized Zone from today!

Looking at the unkind looks of the military policemen under the SS, these parliamentary bosses immediately understood what choice they should make. The 600 members stood up quickly like robots, stretched out their right arms in a Nazi salute, and shouted loudly. Say "long live"!

Since Lin Wei took the armed SS to participate in the operation, the person who usually accompanied Hitler became Heydrich. Lin Wei knew that Hitler would not be able to calm down and get the members of Congress to agree to such a big matter, and would definitely adopt some different methods. Too bright methods include threats, so Lin Wei would not stay in Berlin to do such things even if he were killed, so Heydrich threatened these Congress bosses on Lin Wei's behalf.