The Rise of the Third Reich

Hersmann's prospective in-laws, Prince Yusupov and Grand Duchess Irina, suddenly arrived in Berlin on July 9, bringing their beautiful daughter Elena with them. When Hersman walked into the main building of the manor from Zossen, they were drinking coffee and chatting with Chloe.

Seeing Hessmann returning home from get off work at the General Staff, Prince Yusupov, who had been discussing the marriage of his children with Chloe a moment ago, stood up, nodded apologetically to Chloe, and then walked quickly towards Hessmann. Sman.

"Chloe, Felix and I have something important to do. You should stay with Irina and Elena first."

After Hersman told his wife to continue entertaining the guests, he waved to Prince Yusupov, and then the two of them went up to the second floor, walked through a corridor filled with art, opened a carved door, and entered A tall, gorgeous study room. There are several large maps hanging on the walls of the room, indicating the situation of the Soviet-German battlefield, the Pacific battlefield and the Atlantic battlefield.

"Sit down." Hersman gestured to Prince Yusupov and asked him to sit on a sofa, and then he went to open a wine cabinet in the corner of the study.

"What do you want?" Hersman took out a bottle of Riesling wine with a petroleum taste. "How about the Riesling from Alsace?"

"Okay, have a drink."

Hersman poured two glasses of Riesling dry white wine, handed one to Yusupov, took the other in his hand, and then sat in an armchair opposite Yusupov, quietly Looking at his future father-in-law.

"Are you sure you want to acquiesce to the Japanese invasion of the Far East?" Prince Yusupov's question was completely expected by Hersman.

"Yes." Hessman nodded helplessly.

"If we go to war with Japan over the Far East, who will you support?" Yusupov then asked.

"I support you, there is no doubt about it." Hessman paused and then said, "But you can't reach the Far East now."

Prince Yusupov snorted slightly, looking a little annoyed. "If we can take the Far East, how dare the Japanese attack?"

After hearing his words, Hessman breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Because he had previously revealed the news to the Soviet Union and Russia that Japan would attack the Far East - this was not a betrayal of Japan, but an explanation to close Russian allies (and an explanation to the Hohenzollern dynasty). Could they It's up to them to protect the Far East.

If Olga can successfully win over the Soviet Union's Red Flag Far Eastern Front, then Germany will have no choice but to bite the bullet and endorse the Russians. Japan-Germany relations may be completely broken, but it seems that this is not happening now.

"So what are you going to do?" Hessman asked.

Yusupov took a sip of Riesling and said: "We must safeguard Russia's interests. Russia's interests are higher than the interests of the Romanov dynasty and the Bolshevik Party."

"Russia's interests are higher than the interests of the Bolshevik Party?" Hersman raised his eyebrows, "Who said that?"

"Mrs. Kollontai," Yusupov said without concealing what Hersman meant, "I met her in Switzerland, just when you were convening the European Community leaders' meeting."

It turned out that after learning that Japan was going to attack the Far East of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union and Russia began to have secret contacts. This incident was almost a disaster for the Bolsheviks, and it was also extremely painful for Olga.

Because the Russians who support her, whether they are "old white men" or original Soviets, regard the Soviet Far East as an integral part of the country.

Therefore, Olga cannot show an incorrect political stance on the Far East issue, otherwise her rule in Russia will not be stable... At least in the eyes of Empress Olga who "turned over once" and the old white men who are loyal to her. It seems that we cannot ignore Russian public opinion and cooperate with the Japanese.

Moreover, the Bolsheviks are now a cornered beast still fighting. Although the general trend has passed, they still have the power to fight to the death. If Belarus wants to attack hard, even with the support of Germany, it will suffer heavy casualties. Now that the Japanese are willing to come out to "help," Olga and Yusupov are of course willing to sit back and watch the fight.

If the Japanese could defeat the Bolsheviks, Russia's unification would be much easier.

Hersman gently twirled the wine glass and asked thoughtfully: "What does Bolshevik mean?"

"They want to cease the war," Yusupov said. "The conflicts between the Russians should be settled after repelling the foreign enemies."

Do you want to survive? Hessman thought to himself, at this stage, the Soviet Union still has the power to repel Japan?

Hersman took a sip of Reisling. "Where is the ceasefire line? The Ural Mountains?"

"Yes, the Ural Mountains!" Yusupov glanced at Hersman, "Ludwig, I think you must support such a division, right?"

Of course it is supported! In fact, Germany simply does not want such a division method. A united Russia is too big for the European Community or the United States of Europe to digest. Eating half of it is just right, so after the Caucasus is solved, Germany's military assistance to the Russian Empire will be significantly reduced according to the plan.

The most difficult problem for Hersman, the chief of staff of the Wehrmacht, is that it is difficult to grasp the size of the Caucasus campaign - if Guderian acted too cunningly and wiped out the last strategic main force of the Soviet Red Army, Belarus might not be able to use it. Without any German aid, they can reach the east of the Ural Mountains with overwhelming force.

"So... what about Moscow and the Caucasus?" Hessman thought for a while and then asked, "When are the Bolsheviks going to hand it over?"

Preparations for the siege of Moscow have been completed. More than 10,000 French and German artillery pieces and more than 1.5 million Belarusian soldiers are in place and ready to launch a general offensive at any time.

The battle in the Caucasus is currently ongoing. The German troops moving south from Eastern Ukraine swept through the flat North Caucasus and pushed the front to the Caucasus Mountains in June.

At the same time, the Middle East Army Corps commanded by Rommel also moved to the border between Iran and the Soviet Union, and launched an attack on Soviet Azerbaijan from there.

According to the original plan, the siege of Moscow would begin in early July, and the attack on the Caucasus mountains should end before the end of October. If the Bolsheviks took the initiative to give up the above two territories to negotiate peace with Belarus because the Far East was about to be attacked by Japan, a lot of casualties could be avoided.

"When will the Japanese launch an attack on the Far East, and when will the Bolsheviks withdraw from Moscow and the Caucasus and sign an armistice agreement at the same time." Yusupov said with a heavy tone, "For us, this is the only choice... Japan versus the Bolsheviks The attack actually delayed their demise! Ludwig, can’t you really persuade the Japanese not to do this?”

Hessmann shook his head, "Felix, the key to this matter lies with you. As long as you agree to rearrange the borders of the Far East..."

"This is impossible!" Prince Yusupov immediately interrupted, "Russia may be big, but not an inch of its land is redundant!"

This answer was completely within Hessman's expectation. Belarusians like Prince Yusupov have a very stubborn attitude towards territorial issues. Even East Belarus and East Ukraine, which are actually ruled by Germany, have to press " In the name of the "Kingdom of Little Russia and Belarus", as the territory of the heir to the Russian throne (that is, the German Crown Prince and Crown Princess), it seems as if it is still Russian territory. What's more, the Far East is several million square kilometers wide? If it were cut off to Japan, how would the map of the Russian Empire be drawn?

Hessman closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then nodded and opened his eyes, "The battle in Moscow is now dominated by you. It is up to you to decide when the siege of Moscow will begin. As for the Caucasus... before July 20, Our troops will launch an attack on the mountains and the Caucasus will be completely controlled by 1944!"

Moscow is an isolated city, and it is up to the Russians to decide when to take it down. The Caucasus is the most important oil-producing area in the Soviet Union. The sooner it is obtained, the sooner production can be resumed, and enough fuel can be injected into the German war machine. Therefore, the Caucasus must be captured as soon as possible!

Fortunately, the Soviet troops stationed in the Caucasus are not in a dead end and can choose to withdraw to Central Asia to maintain their strength. With Japan about to invade the Far East, the Bolsheviks should cherish the few elite troops they have left.

Prince Yusupov thought for a while and nodded silently.

Hersman then said to Prince Yusupov: "Felix, I also have a request. Today's conversation... never happened." He raised his glass, "You just came to taste the Riesling white from my private collection. of wine.”

Strictly speaking, his current behavior is betraying the Japanese allies - if he does not tell the Russians about Japan's invasion of the Far East, then he is betraying the Russian allies. Anyway, it goes against the spirit of chivalry!

"Yes! Nothing happened." Yusupov took a big sip of Riesling, shook his head and said, "It tastes a bit like petroleum and doesn't taste good...it's not as good as French wine."

"That's because you don't understand," Hersman immediately retorted, "Riesling is the best wine in the world." He paused and then changed the topic back. "Also, you just found out that the Japanese are going to attack the Far East, right?"

"Yes," Yusupov nodded, "We didn't know anything before... I believe Comrade Stalin was also kept in the dark."

Hessman shrugged and said with a smile: "That's great. Let's go to dinner now. Chloe has carefully prepared today's dinner. I believe you will like it."