The Rise of the Third Reich

Snowflakes are falling, and depressing scenes can still be seen in the completely European streets of Petrograd, Russia's largest city. Most of the shops are closed and there are very few vehicles, whether cars or horse-drawn carriages. Even if there are a few running on the streets, they are often German-made vehicles belonging to the Russian Expeditionary Force.

Reinhard is now sitting in a Volkswagen 82 barrel truck with a canvas top, with a shining Stassinian Order of Santa Ana hanging on his chest - it is said that this is a very high-level medal. , named after the martyr saint Grand Duchess Anastasinia, the little sister of Empress Olga, and awarded to foreign nobles who have made outstanding contributions to the restoration of the Romanov dynasty.

Although Reinhard really couldn't remember his contribution to the restoration of the Romanov dynasty? However, the Russian Empress Olga personally awarded Reinhardt the Medal half an hour ago. She also announced that she was Reinhardt's godmother in the throne room of the Winter Palace, and awarded Reinhardt the title of Count of the Russian Empire and the rank of Army Major... ...In Reinhard's own opinion, the honor and status given to him by the Russian Empress were completely nonsense, even if his father was Marshal of the Hessmann Empire.

"Reinhard, the rules here in Russia are different from those in Germany," his boss, Major Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Colonel of the Russian Imperial Army), who accompanied Reinhard to meet the Queen, told some The confused Reinhardt said, "Her Majesty the Queen is very loyal to her word here. Anyone she likes can become a successful person. And she and your father...well, there are many rumors."

"Rumors? What rumors?"

Little Ribbentrop chuckled and lowered his voice: "It is said that she and the Imperial Marshal are lovers."

"Lover? This is impossible." Reinhard said seriously, "My father and mother have a very good relationship, and he is a model husband."

Little Ribbentrop shrugged, and then looked at Reinhard with a strange look: "I know this, but in Petrograd, everyone knows that their empress has an ambiguous relationship with the Imperial Marshal, and it is said that there is an illegitimate child."

"Illegitimate child?" Reinhardt's eyes widened, "How is this possible? How can this be nonsense?"

Little Ribbentrop nodded: "Yes, no one in Russia dares to slander Her Majesty the Queen... and the Russians are very conscious in this regard. Apart from this rumor, there are no other negative rumors about Her Majesty the Queen."

"This is impossible..." Reinhard shouted, "It must be clarified!"

Little Ribbentrop just smiled: "Reinhardt, do you think that the Imperial Marshal and Her Majesty the Queen don't know about this rumor? Don't they have a way to clarify this matter?"

"..."

"There must be a reason why they didn't come out to clarify and allowed this rumor to spread." Ribbentrop Jr. said, "I think you should just pretend that this rumor doesn't exist."

Of course this rumor is not true. It was just made up by Olga at the time to make her backstage look tougher. No one in the Juncker circle in Germany believed it - even if someone believed it, they would not let Hersmann's The reputation was damaged, because having a "special friendship" with a Russian empress cannot be treated with common sense. It is a diplomatic activity that is conducive to Russian-German friendship.

The roads in downtown Petrograd were wide and empty. The Volkswagen bucket truck the two of them were riding in quickly drove out of the city and arrived at a large military camp near the city of Peterhof on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. This place turned out to be a garrison of the Soviet Red Army, with neatly arranged barracks, a very spacious playground, several rows of tall and large garages, vehicle repair sheds with oil stains everywhere, and a red star on the roof. headquarters building. Occasionally, traces of Russian slogans that have not been completely eradicated can be seen on the walls of some buildings, indicating that this was originally a camp for the Soviet Red Army. Now it has a new owner.

"Reinhardt, you are a major now," little Ribbentrop said when the vehicle stopped in front of the building that looked like a headquarters building. "I can assign you a new position as a staff officer at the division headquarters."

Little Ribbentrop is the chief of staff of the Russian Royal "Oliga" Guards Tank Division, assisting Lieutenant General Count Mikhail Alexeevich Romanov.

This count named Romanov is not a relative of Olga, at least he is not in the family tree of the Romanov dynasty. He is not even an "old white man", but a major general in the former Soviet Red Army. When the Soviet-German war broke out, he became a division commander. He was loyal to the cause of communism and was always ready to dedicate himself to his ideals.

But I didn't expect that Empress Olga would suddenly jump out to restore the Romanov dynasty. As a result, all the cadres named Romanov in the Red Army were implicated - it was necessary to find out that they were not relatives of the Tsarist royal family! But the investigation was never completed, and the investigation was not completed until the German army captured the city where Major General Romanov was... Later, Queen Olga dug up the ancient genealogy and confirmed that Major General Romanov belonged to a sideline of the Romanov family. He was a branch of the imperial family, and by the way, he was made an earl.

Major General Romanov, who knew that he had a sinful family background, therefore gave up his original ideals and no longer expected to be accepted by the revolutionary ranks. He fell at the feet of the Queen and became a "royal general" in the Belarusian army. Now he has climbed to the position of commander of the Guards Tank Division, and is considered one of Queen Olga's favorites.

"Reinhardt, you might as well come to the division headquarters as a staff officer, or serve as my adjutant." Lieutenant General Romanov, who was wearing a straight military uniform, handsome appearance, and a neatly trimmed beard, also made a similar suggestion. suggestions.

As early as when Reinhard reported to the army, he wanted the son of the German Imperial Marshal to be his adjutant, but Reinhard insisted on leaving the army - this idea is understandable. Without the experience of leading troops, he would not be able to do so in the future. You will suffer losses during the promotion process. So Lieutenant General Romanov did not persist at the time, but the situation is different now.

"Our division is about to go to the battlefield," Lieutenant General Romanov said without any hesitation. "We will set out at the end of March or the beginning of April."

"Go to the battlefield?" Little Ribbentrop, who had been transferred to Petrograd from the Guyana front line not long ago, became excited when he heard that he was going to the front line. "The whole tank division is going?"

"Yes! The entire tank division is going!" Lieutenant General Romanov said, "So in order to facilitate contact with friendly forces, the division needs to add a few staff officers who can speak Russian and German fluently. Reinhardt, you must come this time Division work, this is an order!”

"Understood, Lieutenant General." Reinhardt could no longer shirk this time, so he had to give up the idea of ​​going to the front line to kill the enemy in person and become a staff officer at the division headquarters.

The Royal "Oliga" Guards Tank Division is the elite of the Belarusian army. It is a fairly well-established armored division. It is modeled on the German armored division. Its weapons and equipment are mostly German-style equipment - not Russian military industry. It is so bleak that it cannot provide any equipment, but Germany is currently promoting the standardization and integration process of European Community weapons and equipment.

As the core and leader of the European Community, Germany naturally wants to promote their own equipment as the standard for the entire European Community. Therefore, most of the arsenals that are still operating in Russia have upgraded their equipment with the help of Germany and began to produce according to the drawings and samples provided by Germany. Therefore, the weapons and ammunition produced are also German-style equipment. Many of the weapons and ammunition currently equipped with the Royal "Oliga" Guards Tank Division are German-style equipment produced in Russia.

In addition, not all weapons equipped with the European Community armies were designed and developed by Germans. Weapon lineages from France, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union have also entered the European Community's standard equipment.

For example, the Olga tank destroyer, nicknamed the "Oliga Hammer", defeated the German "Stalker" tank destroyer and became the standard equipment of the European Community infantry division.

There is also the B4 203mm howitzer, known as the "Stalin's Hammer", which has also become the standard for the European Community Army's 203mm heavy artillery.

The popular ZIS-3 76.2mm cannon in the Soviet Red Army has also become the standard artillery weapon of the European Community. This is mainly because there are too many stocks of this cannon, and the production capacity of the Russian military industry is also too large. If it is not fully utilized, it will Such a waste. However, German and British technicians helped the Russians redesign the ammunition, which greatly enhanced the anti-tank capabilities of the ZIS-3 artillery.

Among the various types of aircraft that Russia inherited from the Soviet Union, there is also one that has caught the eye of Marshal Kesselin, which is the famous "Black Death" IL-2 attack aircraft. After certain improvements, this aircraft became the successor of the Hs123 attack aircraft. It formed a high-low match with the Hs129 and Br.800 (the shore-based version of the Br.810), which greatly strengthened the ground attack of the European Community Air Force. Capabilities - A large number of former Soviet pilots who rebelled against the revolution have also become part of the European Community's air power together with the IL-8 (improved name of the IL-2) attack aircraft.

When the most powerful tank division in the Russian Empire received the order to prepare for departure, the Il-8 attack aircraft improved from the Il-2 attack aircraft had already appeared on the Guyana-Trinidad front in South America.

Since the Il-8 has very low requirements for airports and maintenance, it can safely take off and land at temporary airports on the Guyana front line with harsh conditions. Therefore, more than 20 squadrons of Il-8 have arrived at the Guyana-Trinidad front line. , was not used to attack Trinidad, but was used to support the European coalition's jungle warfare forces in attacking the Amacuro Delta - since the end of 1944, the European Community coalition forces had been in this rainforest bordering Venezuela and Guyana. With the support of Il-8, the coalition forces made smooth progress. By mid-February 1945, most of the valuable strongholds in the Amacuro Delta had fallen into the hands of the coalition forces.