The Rise of the Third Reich

At noon on August 31, 1939, nearly 12 o'clock, Defense Minister Field Marshal Schleicher personally arrived at the Eastern Front Headquarters in Stettin and brought a document that determined the fate of all mankind.

Hersman immediately summoned the middle and senior officers of the Eastern Front Headquarters and read the contents of the document in the conference room.

"Combat Order No. 1:

Supreme Commander of the Defense Forces;

Minister of Defense/General Staff/Eastern Front Headquarters;

Top Secret Document No. 170 of 1939;

Reached only to officers;

Berlin;

August 31, 1939.

Combat Order No. 1:

1. Now that all political possibilities for peacefully eliminating the intolerable situation on Germany's eastern border have been exhausted, I have decided to use force to resolve it.

2. The attack on Poland should be carried out in accordance with the preparations for the "White Plan", but the army has now almost completed its assembly, so there are some changes. The mission classification and operational objectives remain unchanged.

Attack time: 4:45 on September 1, 1939.

At the same time, action was also taken on the Gdynia-Danze Bay and Disau bridges.

3. On the Western Front, it is important to let Britain and France...

Signed: German Emperor Wilhelm; Co-signed: Leader and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler. "

The war has begun!

Everyone in the conference room took a deep breath unconsciously, and then focused their attention on General Hersman, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front.

Hersman handed the document with "Combat Order No. 1" to his adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Speidel, and then glanced deeply at the people in the conference room.

"Everyone!" he shouted, "this is about to begin a world war!"

Then there was another silence, and then he continued: "You don't have to have illusions about not going to war with Britain and France, but you don't have to worry about the future. This is not 1914, and the pattern of war has changed dramatically. The decisive factor Instead of trenches, machine guns, cannons, and battleships, there will be tanks, armored vehicles, trucks, and aircraft. The war will be fought in an unprecedented pattern and rhythm, and traditional armies will be vulnerable to mechanized and semi-mechanized modern armies.

We in Germany are lucky. We have seized this era of change. We have the most powerful aviation industry in the world and the second most powerful automobile industry in the world. In Europe, only we can put a huge army of hundreds of thousands on wheels and roll forward powered by internal combustion engines. Any enemy that stands in front of us will be crushed without mercy!

In another 24 hours, you will see how the army that thinks it is Europe's second-largest army collapses in front of our invincible Wehrmacht! Gentlemen, the mission of making Germany the leader of Europe and the world will be completed in the hands of our generation! Please work hard! "

Finally, Hessmann raised his arms and shouted: "Long live the German Reich! Long live National Socialism! Long live the Emperor!"

…

Woo, woo, woo...

The assembly siren sounded over the military airport in Greenheide east of Berlin. He had just flown the Zero aircraft in a circle in the sky and had a double check with another Zero aircraft flown by the same supplementary pilot Walter Nowotny. Rudolf, who was undergoing aircraft formation training, climbed out of the cabin, then subconsciously looked up at the sky and found nothing unusual.

"Little Rudolf, what are you looking at? This is a muster alarm!" Captain Adolf Galland, the captain of the supplementary training brigade who performed outstandingly in the Spanish Civil War, shouted at him. "Go to the pilot conference room quickly!"

"Captain, is there going to be a war?" Walter Novotny, a handsome pilot who was born in Austria and joined the Austrian Air Force at 17, ran over. He and Rudolf were the same age, and both graduated from the Karlsruhe Air Force Sergeant School (this was Germany's famous air force pilot school during World War I. It was closed after the war and reopened in 1931 when armaments were restored).

Speaking of which, the training of German air force and naval aviation pilots in this era was really very strict. Students like Rudolf and Nowotny who have been active military personnel and have obtained their pilot licenses long ago have to re-take A/B flight training (primary flight training) after entering the Karlsruhe Air Force Sergeant School.

First learn to fly in a trainer aircraft such as a Clem 35, Fw44 or Fokker D.20. At the same time, they also need to learn aerodynamics, aeronautical engineering, primary navigation, meteorology, flight procedures, and sending and receiving telegrams.

After passing all the above-mentioned subject assessments, they can obtain the A2 level certificate, and then participate in B level training, flying high-performance trainer aircraft, twin-engine large aircraft and old fighter jets for flight training. When they complete B2 training, all student pilots have at least 100-150 flying hours (if they did not obtain a pilot's license before joining the Air Force).

Then comes the professional C-level training - C-level training is divided into multiple specialties such as twin-engine fighters, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, single-engine fighters, dive bombers and torpedo bombers. Training is longer and more demanding. Not only do you have to fly during the day, but you also have to be trained to fly at night and in adverse weather conditions.

If you add in the air command course (the Air Force NCO School is to train air force officers), it will take 2 years to complete the entire school program of the Karlsruhe Air Force NCO School.

After graduating from the Karlsruhe Air Force Non-Commissioned Officer School, you can become a supplementary pilot, and you must learn the tactics and methods of combat forces in the supplementary training team under each combat regiment (wing)/group.

Moreover, all training is conducted in accordance with the strictest "German standards"! Therefore, every German pilot who can fly an aircraft into the air for combat is the elite of the elite. This is also an important reason why the German Air Force was historically invincible in the early stages of the war.

"War? This has nothing to do with you." Adolf Garland squinted a half-blind eye and smiled at Nowotny, "By the time you complete the supplementary training, the war will probably be over."

"It won't be over!" Rudolf interjected, "After Poland, we still have France and England!"

"France? England?" Garland walked quickly to the conference room with the two "child pilots", "Will it? It's hard to say."

"Definitely!" Rudolph said, "A week ago we were flying in circles over the North Sea, and it took us six hours at a time...almost 1,800 kilometers. Isn't this the distance to and from England?"

"Nonsense," Garland sneered, "That's to familiarize you with sea flight. You are all carrier-based aircraft pilots and will be on aircraft carriers in the future."

But contrary to Adolf Galland's expectation, Rudolph's judgment was soon partially verified. Major Werner Moldes, an ace pilot who also made outstanding achievements on the Spanish battlefield and commander of the Hainan Airlines 1st Combat Aviation Regiment, announced the combat plan in the pilot conference room. It is not the "Operation Order No. 1", but the plan taken out after opening the "Operation Plan Document Bag" after receiving the order.

Werner Moldes, who was only twenty-six or seventeen years old and very young in appearance, but was known as "Moldes' father" said in a very calm tone: "Turn off the lights and go to bed at 6 o'clock tonight. Tomorrow The wake-up call was blown at 2:30 in the morning. In addition, everyone packed their bags immediately and we returned to Wilhelmshaven on September 3.”

…

"Panzer Maier." Stationed in the headquarters of the 3rd Armored Division in eastern Pomerania near the Polish border (Polish Maritime Area), Gale, the commander of the 3rd Armored Division who just announced the "Combat Order No. 1" Major General von Schwepenburg shouted the nickname of Lieutenant Kurt Meier, commander of the armored reconnaissance vehicle company directly under the division headquarters.

"General," Lieutenant Kurt Meier, who was born in the Waffen SS, is tall and extremely strong. When he was a student at the police academy, he once fell from the second floor and suffered more than 20 fractures. However, he miraculously recovered and was awarded the honor. Received the nickname "Panzer Meyer".

"What are your orders?" Armored Meyer raised his hand in salute to the division commander who was born in a noble family and held the title of baron.

"Come here," Major General Schwepenburg waved his hand, letting Armored Meyer come to the map table next to him. "Do you know what Combat Order No. 1 means?"

"There's going to be a war!" Armored Meyer replied in a tone of uncontrollable excitement.

"That's right," Schwepenburg pointed to the Tuhola Forest on the Polish side of the map, "We are going to break through from here! If no new orders are issued before 4:30 tomorrow morning, your company will The first to cross the border.”

The Armored Reconnaissance Battalion is the vanguard of the entire division, and the Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle Company in the Armored Reconnaissance Battalion has become the vanguard of the vanguard because it has 18 wheeled armored vehicles equipped with machine guns and 20mm machine guns.

According to the plan, Panzer Meier and his company will use the gap between shelling to break into Poland to conduct fire reconnaissance. If possible, they will also occupy several villages in the Tuhola Forest and open up roads through the forest to prepare for the assault of the entire armored division. Clear the way.

"Your Excellency, I understand my mission!" Panzer Meier, like most fanatics from the SS, had no fear in the face of war. "I will open the way to victory for the whole division!"

"Very good," Major General Schwepenburg nodded with satisfaction, "But don't be too aggressive. Your unit is an armored reconnaissance vehicle company, not an armored training battalion with No. 3 and No. 4 tanks. If you encounter the enemy's A large army doesn’t need to fight.”

"clear!"

"Okay," Major General Schwepenburg patted the big SS center guard on the shoulder, "Have a good rest. Starting tomorrow, you and your people will have a hard time. Because our Third Armored Division will Take on the most difficult and arduous task! We will be the sharp knives and blades to destroy Poland!”