The Rise of the Third Reich

"Minister, what did you say?" Admiral Verik did not understand Churchill's words for a moment, and he turned his head to look at the Minister of the Navy.

The Minister of the Navy smiled mysteriously and whispered: "Admiral, you just need to encourage Admiral Gamelin to support the bombing of the oil-producing areas in Baku, Grozny and Batumi."

This bombing plan has been planned by Britain and France for a long time. It can be said that everything is ready, except for two thieves' courage.

That's bombing the Soviet Union! Germany alone is already difficult to fight, and with the Soviet Union, can this world war continue?

So the top leaders of Britain and France were always hesitant at the last minute, and the bombing schedule was postponed again and again. By the beginning of 1940, it was almost abandoned. But at this juncture, two major events happened.

The first major event was that the Soviet Union urgently invited representatives of the Finnish government to Moscow for negotiations on February 8, and on the day when the Finnish representatives arrived on February 10, it proposed to cede and adjust part of Finland's territory!

The Soviet Union demanded that Finland move the Finnish-Estonian border on the Karelian Isthmus 40 kilometers northward, cede several islands in the Gulf of Finland and Finnish territory on the Rybach Peninsula to the Soviet Union; and lease the Hanko Peninsula to the Soviet Union at a cost of 8 million Finnish marks per year for 30 years. In order to compensate Finland for its territorial losses, the Soviet Union expressed its willingness to give Finland land northwest of Lake Onega that is twice the size of the area ceded by Finland.

This seemingly fair and reasonable request is actually very dangerous for Finland, because the Hanko Peninsula is Finland's natural barrier to defend against the Soviet Union, with the natural barrier of the Karelian Isthmus. Moreover, from 1927 to 1939, Finland also built the Mannerheim Line on the Karelian Isthmus, which is 135 kilometers long and has a maximum depth of 95 kilometers. Once the Hanko Peninsula was ceded to the Soviet Union, Finland could be swallowed up by the Soviet Union at any time.

Therefore, the Finnish government immediately rejected the Soviet Union's request and also sought help from European countries including Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands. And a general mobilization of the entire people began!

Obviously, a bloody battle between the Soviet Union and Finland was about to begin. Although the Soviet Union was far more powerful than Finland, the Mannerheim Line with its rugged terrain and the freedom-loving Finns seemed to be something to look forward to.

Moreover, if the Soviet Union invaded Finland, it would give Britain and France an excuse to attack the Soviet Union. If it worked properly, it might even be able to pull Norway and Sweden to the side of Britain and France.

The second major event was that the "Bismarck", which had been completed by 95% (the "Bismarck" started earlier in this time and space), was transferred from the dock of the Blohm-Voss shipyard in Hamburg to Wilhelmshaven. It would be installed with radar, anti-aircraft guns and seaplane catapults at the Admiralty Shipyard in Wilhelmshaven and accepted.

As a result, the mighty "Bismarck" was discovered by British spies as soon as it arrived at Wilhelmshaven. Photos were taken and sent back to Britain, which frightened a group of Admiralty officials. The "Scharnhorst" almost cut off the lifeline of the British Empire before, and now there is another larger battleship - you can tell from its appearance that it is not easy to fight, and there is a battleship of similar size to this giant ship being fitted out at the dock of the naval shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, and it looks like it is almost completed.

If the Germans let these two battleships pull two aircraft carriers to attack together, what can the British Empire use to fight?

The British government, feeling that its lifeline is once again in danger, now thinks of bombing the oil-producing areas of Baku, Grozny and Batumi - if the activities of winning over the Soviet Union still have no results in the future, it must make up its mind.

In the eyes of the British top leaders, as long as the Soviet oil-producing areas can be destroyed, and then Romania can be persuaded to stop supplying oil to Germany (either by exerting pressure or bombing), then the German war machine will fail within 6-12 months. Germany's national economy may also have major problems, and there may be changes like in 1918, allowing Britain and France to win another world war.

Convincing the French government to support the plan to restart the bombing of the oil-producing areas of Baku, Grozny and Batumi was Mr. Churchill's secret mission to Paris.

However, bombing Soviet territory was still a very dangerous thing. The British government felt that it would backfire if it did not do it well. So they came up with a safer way to coax the French to bomb, and Britain found an excuse to cancel the bombing...

...

Marshal Hessmann had received a lot of intelligence that Britain and France were going to bomb the oil-producing areas of Baku, Grozny and Batumi at the beginning of the World War, but by mid-February 1940, Marshal Hessmann, who was busy planning the Battle of France and occupying Poland, had long forgotten about it.

On February 18, Marshal Rydz-Smigwi, who had been trapped in the Brest Fortress for several months, finally chose to surrender in order to save the lives of 200,000 Polish soldiers. On the same day, a Soviet Red Army fast column composed of cavalry, tanks, armored vehicles and motorized infantry began to advance towards Warsaw.

Upon receiving the news, Hessmann immediately ordered the two Waffen-SS motorized infantry divisions stationed in the New Posen Province and West Prussia Province, the "Germany" Division (the future "Empire" Division) and the "Totenkopf" Division, to immediately move towards Warsaw and Krakow.

He also ordered the Waffen-SS "Galicia" Division stationed in Western Ukraine to occupy Lublin, and the SS "Lithuania" Division stationed in Vilnius to occupy the Podlaskie Province west of the Bug River.

At the same time, Herschmann summoned Natalie from Warsaw to his Heinsberg estate in Zossen.

"Natalie, you have been working hard these days."

"Natalie, welcome to the manor."

The Hersmans greeted Natalie at the door of their living room. They hugged her respectively, and then welcomed her into the house.

"How is the situation in Warsaw?" Hersman took the coffee from the maid at home, took a sip, and then got down to business.

"It's terrible, everyone is crying." Natalie said sadly, "Many people's husbands, sons, fathers and brothers are in Brest."

These husbands, sons, fathers and brothers will soon be dead! Hessmann thought to himself, and then the seeds of hatred will be sown... There may be SS "Polish" divisions and SS "Israeli" divisions in the future (many of those who died in Brest were Jews) Such a strange troop appeared.

"What about the Polish government?" Hersman asked. "Are Ignacy Mościcki (Polish President) and Josef Beck (Foreign Minister) planning to stay in Poland or are they leaving?"

"They are going to Romania," Natalie frowned, "I talked with them for a long time and offered very attractive conditions to allow them to stay in their original positions, but they still refused to stay."

"Are they going to join the Free Poland Movement?" Hersman asked again.

The Free Poland Movement was established in London at the end of 1939. Its leader was Wladyslaw Sikorski (also one of Piłsudski's "colonels", but he lived in exile in France for a long time because he opposed Piłsudski's coup. ). This organization claims that the current Polish government is a German puppet and has no right to represent the Polish people. It also calls on the Polish people to persist in resistance and fight Germany to the end.

"They promised to quit politics and retire in Romania," Natalie said. "I think what they said is credible."

"Then allow them to leave," Hersman thought for a moment. "Then how will the future Polish government be formed?"

He looked at Natalie and thought: If it were the 21st century, this woman could be the Prime Minister of Poland, but women don't have this status now.

He asked: "Natalie, can you recommend a few people."

"Okay, I recommend two people, Wladyslaw Gomulka and Edward Ohab."

"who are they?"

Natalie smiled: "They are members of the Polish Bolshevik Party. I knew them before I left the Soviet Union."

"There are also Polish Bolsheviks?" Hersman felt a little strange. "Didn't you say they were all killed?"

The Polish Bolshevik Party was banned by the Third International in 1938 after its members were summoned to the Soviet Union in large numbers and arrested.

"Not everyone was killed," Natalie sighed softly. "Basically everyone in the Soviet Union was arrested...many people were sentenced to death, some were killed, and the rest were sent to labor camps. . But the Bolsheviks who were imprisoned in White Poland prisons are relatively safe, and most of them have been won over by us now."

Gomulka and Ohab were both lucky enough to be caught by the police of the reactionary Polish government and imprisoned. However, the prisons and courts in reactionary Poland all adhere to bourgeois legal rights, so these two are still alive and well. After the war began last September, the two of them and a number of other Polish Bolsheviks were released and somehow recruited into Natalie's employ.

"Natalie, do you want to use Polish Bolsheviks to govern Poland?" Hessman already understood Natalie's thoughts, "Are these people reliable?"

Natalie smiled: "Of course they are reliable. Since they have been involved with the National Socialist Party, they can no longer go to Moscow. If they do, they will not survive."

It's a bit like being on a Nazi pirate ship! Those innocent Polish Bolshevik Party members did not end well in the Soviet Union. Those who had been on pirate ships could not be cleansed even by jumping into the Arctic Ocean.

"Okay," Hessman nodded, "Then we will arrange a minister for these two people in the future Polish government." He looked at the woman sitting opposite him again, "Natalie, I will arrange it for you too. An acting mayor of Warsaw."

The United Kingdom had a female minister (Labour Party) in 1929, the Soviet Union had a female minister (Mrs. Kollontai) earlier, and now it is Poland's turn to have a female mayor.