The Rise of the Third Reich

The construction site of the National Automobile Factory in Wolfsburg covers a large area of ​​dozens of square kilometers, but it is still small compared to the automobile city on the Volga River in the Soviet Union. However, the density of factories under construction is obviously higher than that of the Volga Automobile City. Many large factories have completed land leveling and are laying foundations. Busy workers and running construction machinery can be seen everywhere.

The roads and railways in and out of the "Auto City" have been completed, and various construction materials are being transported in a steady stream, neatly stacked, and covered with waterproof cloth. The German-style seriousness and rigor are evident everywhere in this huge construction site. Even the temporary living area for construction workers is very clean and tidy, without any intention of sloppy work.

When it is almost time for dinner in the evening, young workers wearing labor uniforms similar to military uniforms will line up in neat rows and sing inspiring songs to return - these people are organized by the Nazi Labor Front and were originally unemployed. When they return, the aroma of food is floating everywhere in the camp.

Tukhachevsky and Berzin were both very observant people who were not easily deceived by superficial phenomena. They carefully observed the workers. The skin on each of their faces and hands was tanned to the color of wheat, and they looked very strong and solid, which showed that they were doing heavy physical labor while having enough nutrition to keep up.

In the workers' residential area, there were many shops opened in temporary houses. Like those shops on the streets of Berlin, the shops here also had a wide range of goods and seemed to be doing quite well. According to Tukhachevsky and Berzin's inquiries, these shops were privately run and affiliated with several business cooperatives. Several shop owners were honorary Aryans - that is, Jews. Each of them said that the construction workers working here had a good income, so their purchasing power was also strong, and their business was still relatively easy to do.

It was obvious that the economic operation of German National Socialism was very good, reflecting some socialist superiority, and even surpassing the socialist Soviet Union in some aspects...

After returning to the Kaiserhof Hotel in Berlin from Wolfsburg, Tukhachevsky and Berzin began to prepare their report. It was originally just a report on Germany's war preparations and armored forces, but Tukhachevsky intended to mention Germany's very prosperous economy in the report.

"Jan. Karlovich, it seems that some of our original views on the German economy need to be revised." Tukhachevsky, holding a cigarette in his hand, stood on the balcony of the luxury suite, looking at the city bathed in golden light, which was the light of the setting sun shining through the fresh air. The wide streets were lined with rows of elegant houses, neat and clean, a bit like Leningrad, but obviously more...vigorous than Leningrad!

As a Bolshevik, he didn't want to use the word "vigorous" to describe Germany's "pseudo-socialism", but that seemed to be the fact!

"Germany's economy is much better than we thought, growing rapidly and running smoothly, and there doesn't seem to be much imbalance... In a way, it's better than our Soviet Union." Tukhachevsky said - he didn't know that what he said now would be recorded by Berzin and reported to Stalin, and would become evidence of his collusion with Germany in the future!

"No, there are problems with their economy." Berzin was the director of the Red Army Intelligence Bureau. In the Soviet Union, the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs and the Political Security Bureau were mainly internal affairs, while the Red Army Intelligence Bureau was external affairs. Therefore, Berzin's understanding of the German economy was deeper than Tukhachevsky's.

"Germany's industrial and agricultural development is unbalanced, industrial development and resources are unbalanced, and heavy industry and light industry are not very balanced." Berzin lit a cigarette and stood on the balcony with Tukhachevsky. The sound of the car covered their conversation, making it difficult for any eavesdropping equipment to work.

Berzin said: "Germany needs to import 4 million tons of agricultural products every year, mainly from the Baltic and the Soviet Union. They also need to import a large amount of oil, iron ore, non-ferrous metals and other raw materials to meet the needs of German industry.

And Germany is currently vigorously developing the automobile industry, which will bring great fuel demand. Although Germany has advanced synthetic fuel technology, the amount of oil they need to import is still increasing year by year."

"But they also export a lot of things," Tukhachevsky said, holding a cup of Russian coffee. "German aircraft, cars, ships, machinery and precision instruments are very popular in the world, and their trade is generally balanced."

In fact, Germany has a considerable trade surplus! It's just that the surplus is not in the form of US dollars and gold, but in the form of various raw materials.

"It's just a temporary balance," Berzin smoked, "Unlike Britain, France, and the United States, Germany has no colonies. They don't have a stable market for dumping industrial products and a place to collect cheap raw materials. And they will soon swallow up Austria and Czech Republic... This is equivalent to taking over most of the industrial areas of the original Austro-Hungarian Empire."

"The German economy will definitely be more unbalanced!" Berzin said very confidently, "So they have no other way out but to expand outward. And they have repeatedly declared anti-colonialism and believe that investing in colonies is a losing business..."

"Either they are cheating, or they are pursuing the route of local expansion," Tukhachevsky smiled coldly. "They are following the United States and want to create a greater German empire with complete industrial and agricultural resources!"

"Yes!" Berzin nodded in agreement, "If we want to achieve this goal in Europe, the direction of German expansion must be eastward...After Czechoslovakia will be Poland, and after Poland will be the Soviet Union!"

"This is determined by their economic foundation," Tukhachevsky took a puff of his cigarette and looked at the constant flow of traffic on the road. "So the Soviet Union must be prepared for war with Germany!"

…

While Tukhachevsky and Berzin were visiting various places in Germany, Ludwig von Heinsberg-Hersmann was working with senior staff members of the General Staff on the "Green Plan" Make final changes.

The "Green Plan" is a combat plan formulated for Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. As early as 1934, shortly after Ludendorff took over as president, Defense Minister Schleicher and Chief of General Staff Hammerstein received secret orders from the president to formulate two combat plans: one of which was for fighting France and Belgium. The "Red Plan"; the other is the "Green Plan".

According to the results of several joint meetings between the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, the Navy and the Naval Staff, the "Red Plan" is a defense-focused plan - Germany will build a road along the borders of France, Belgium and Luxembourg. The "Siegfeld" line of defense was designed to correspond to France's "Maginot" line of defense and possible attacks by the Allies.

However, due to limited financial resources, the strength of the "Siegfeld" line of defense was far from comparable to that of the "Maginot" line of defense.

This 630-kilometer-long defense line is mainly composed of three parts: the obstacle zone, the main defense zone and the rear position, with a depth of 35 to 75 kilometers. The obstacle areas are mainly minefields, barbed wire fences, anti-tank trenches and the "Dragon Teeth" system. This is a multi-row pyramid-shaped reinforced concrete pile village, mainly used to block the advancement of tanks. The theoretical basis for building this "Siegfeld" defense line is the "Large Depth Elastic Defense Theory" proposed by Hersman. In other words, this is a line of defense against mechanized assault!

In addition to having anti-tank trenches and dragon's teeth, many permanent fortifications of reinforced concrete and steel armor were built behind the obstacle zone, equipped with machine guns and anti-tank artillery. However, it is not equipped with a large number of large fortresses and armored turrets with complex structures like the "Maginot Line". However, the concrete and steel used in the entire defense line exceed that of the French "Maginot" line of defense. The number of various fortifications is 11,860, which is far more than the "Maginot" line of defense.

In fact, the historical sit-down war is closely related to the existence of this "Siegfeld" line of defense. If the French really launch a strong attack on the "Siegfeld" defense line, I am afraid that the losses will be too great to bear.

In later history, this "Siegfried" line of defense blocked the powerful British and American Allied forces for five months at the end of the war, when the German army was gone! If it were 1939 and the French were allowed to attack Siegfried alone, they would not even need the "Manstein Plan", and the Germans would be able to easily defeat France by following the old path of World War I.

Although he knew about the "sit-down war" later, Hessmann still did not dare to interfere with the construction of the "Siegfeld" line of defense - this was a matter related to the survival of the country, and it was good to take more insurance factors...

Moreover, the "Red Plan" was not a matter that Hessmann was in charge of, but was personally in charge of the Chief of General Staff, General Hamerstein. Hirschman is in charge of the "Green Plan" area.

The "Green Plan" under Hirschman's leadership is definitely different from the historical version.

First of all, this is not a plan based on the use of force to annex Czechoslovakia - but a comprehensive plan that combines political, diplomatic, espionage and military means. Unlike in history, the entire operation was controlled by the General Staff, not by Chancellor Adolf Hitler.

Secondly, the order of annexation is also different. In the "Green Plan" formulated by Hirschmann, the first country to be annexed by Germany was not Austria, but the Czech Republic. Moreover, the annexation of the Czech Republic did not start with the Sudeten Germans making trouble.

Rather, it began with secret cooperation among Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, and Japan in the League of Nations.