The Rise of the Third Reich

Chapter 318 France Don’t Cry 3

It was now 2 o'clock in the morning on April 10, 1940. Second Lieutenant Rudolf von Heinsberg-Hersmann began to pray to God for good luck so that he could encounter an unlucky MS.406 or HK75. , or it could be a hurricane. He can deal with these three types of aircraft with confidence. If it is a Spitfire, it will be a bit troublesome.

But little Rudolph didn't know at this time that they, the plane pilots, were not actually the vanguard of the attack. The real leader was the Brandenburg Special Forces adapted from the Miuta Special Forces. At 2 o'clock in the morning, a commando team composed of 9 Brandenburg members had crossed the border between Germany and the Netherlands. ——The crossing point was near a manor owned by the Heinsberg-Hersmann family.

Leading the team across the border was Lieutenant William Walser of the Brandenburg troops. He and two other team members who could speak Limburgish and Dutch pretended to be Dutch policemen, while the other six Brandenburg team members Play as a disarmed German soldier (the German-Dutch border is intertwined in Limburg Province and Heinsberg County, and there are no obvious signs in many places, so it is easy to stray into the other side's border). Under cover of darkness, they crossed the border into neutral Dutch territory, and then walked to the town of Hennup, 5 kilometers away. There is a railway bridge across the Maas River there that they want to capture!

Different from another time and space, the German army will not occupy the Netherlands this time, but will only "take advantage of" Limburg. Limburg is a province in the southeast of the Netherlands, with Maastricht as its capital. This province is right between Belgium and Germany, and the narrowest point is only a few kilometers - where William Walser is traveling now. You can pass through the three countries by walking a few kilometers.

At this time, they were walking in the countryside of Limburg. The road passed through large fields of farmland. In the distance, they could see some beautiful small houses, which were no different from the houses in Germany. There were no pedestrians on the road, and no Dutch soldiers on patrol could be seen. Although Europe is at war, the Netherlands is a "confirmed" neutral country, and Queen Wilhelmina is the benefactor of Kaiser Wilhelm. Therefore, few Dutch people now think that Germany will invade, so there are only a few people in Limburg Province. There were not many Dutch troops stationed.

However, there is still a small detachment stationed at the bridge across the Maas River in Henap Town. The Dutch also foresee that foreign troops will transit through Limburg, so they installed explosives on the bridge. Once foreign troops arrive, If the army invades, the bridge will be blown up.

"It's so quiet here!" A Brandenburg player named Albert Funk exclaimed in Dutch.

"It won't be quiet soon!" Lieutenant William Walser replied in a low voice. He had already vaguely seen the outline of the bridge. "If everything goes well, the vanguard of the attack on Belgium will pass through the Meuse River Bridge in 15 minutes.

All the officers, soldiers and weapons of the "Adolf Hitler" Guards Corps, the vanguard force that invaded Belgium, were loaded on several trains parked in Heinsberg County.

Kurt Meier (Panzer Meier), who once made contributions in the battle to invade Poland and received promotion and the Iron Cross First Class, is now sitting on the body of a brand-new No. 3 assault gun truck, waiting for the train. start.

His company (originally belonging to the "Adolf Hitler" Guards Corps) was assigned to the 3rd Armored Division during the Polish Campaign. After the Battle of Poland, it was upgraded to an assault gun battery, equipped with 6 No. 3 assault guns, which were very powerful in 1940.

"Captain," a platoon leader of Armored Meier's subordinates, a young man named Max Wenshe, was also on a flatbed truck with Meier. He was smoking and gave Meier one. "Probably it won't be as easy as fighting Poland this time, right?"

"Why?" Meyer took a puff of cigarette, "Is it because the opponent is a Frenchman?"

Max Wenshe shrugged, "Isn't it obvious? Poland is a large rural area, while Britain and France are industrial powers, and they have many tanks."

"But we have also practiced hard for several months," Meier said. "The sweat of these months will not be in vain. We are much better than last September!"

From the end of the Polish campaign in September last year until March this year, Panzer Meier and his men were undergoing rigorous training. This is intensive training after experiencing life-and-death combat on the battlefield, and every officer and soldier knows that when their training is over, they are likely to engage in a bloody and long struggle with the powerful British and French armies.

If they can win, the German Third Reich will become the leader of Europe and the world and last for thousands of years!

If they fail unfortunately, the country and nation they love will usher in the end!

"We will definitely win," Armored Meyer took a deep breath of cigarette, "because we have a leader, no one can defeat us!"

"who are they?"

a Dutch officer standing outside the gate of the post next to the bridge over the Maas River asked loudly. There were several Dutch soldiers with rifles on their backs beside him, all of whom were on night duty tonight.

"Second Lieutenant, they are several German soldiers who accidentally entered the Netherlands and were disarmed by us." Lieutenant William Walser tightly held a loaded Mannlicher M1895 rifle, which is the standard weapon of the Dutch border police. .

"Why should we disarm him if we know he entered by mistake?" said the Dutch officer. "Can't we just drive him away?"

"You've already paid it, so you can't give it back to them, right?" William Walser was speaking as he pretended to be escorting six "unarmed" German soldiers closer. "It says that any foreign soldiers caught by mistake will be handed over to you."

"Leave them to us?" The Dutch officer thought for a moment, as if there was an order, "Okay, bring them over." Then he said in German to the German soldiers who were coming toward him: "Brothers Don't worry, we Dutch have no hostility. We just have to keep you in custody because of the Neutrality Treaty, but this won't do you any harm. At least you won't be killed by French shells... Hey, you are not. Are you disarmed? Why are you still holding a gun? Why are you pointing the gun at me? This is not allowed..."

Before the unfortunate Dutch officer could react, a German Mauser pistol was pressed against his head. Several Dutch soldiers standing with him were also

"You, are you Germans?" He seemed to understand something. He looked at William Walser in horror and asked in a voice that was almost crying, "Do you, Germany, want to invade the Netherlands?"

"No, we will not invade. We are friends with the Netherlands." William Walser waved as he spoke, asking several Brandenburgers to rush into the post to control the bomb detonator.

"It's not an invasion?" Lieutenant Holland asked, "Then what is happening now?"

"Captain, we have cut off the wire (detonation device)." The voice of a Brandenburger came from the post.

William Walser breathed out and said to several Dutch officers and soldiers: "Nothing happened! For the Netherlands, the best situation is that nothing happens now!"

As he spoke, he took out a flare gun and fired a red flare into the night sky.

"Hey, Rudolf, did you hear that your father is a minister?"

On a road near the Luxembourg border, there were all kinds of vehicles parked at this time, and it was as far as the eye could see. On one of the Opel trucks belonging to the "Grossdeutschland" banner unit (not the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment, the Berlin Garrison Regiment was reorganized into the Royal Guards Regiment in this time and space), Gus, who once served as a gunner for Panzer Meier, Taff Schwarzenegger was talking to a rather handsome young man named Rudolph. Of course, this Rudolf's surname was not Heinsberg-Hersmann, but Ribbentrop.

"Yes, my father is the Minister of Foreign Affairs." Rudolf von Ribbentrop replied in a low voice. His father was a minister, but now he was just an ordinary soldier - not a professional soldier who graduated from an officer school like Lichtfeld Military Academy, but a supplementary soldier who was drafted into the army before the start of the world war. Now he has just completed recruit training and has been added to the 11th company of the "Gross Deutschland" flag corps.

After the Polish campaign, Gustav Schwarzenegger returned to the SS Officer School in Braunschweig (he entered this military school before the outbreak of the war and was discharged from the army midway) and completed The training he had to undergo as a platoon leader has now become the second lieutenant platoon leader of the 2nd Platoon of the 11th Company of the "Grossdeutschland" banner unit.

"You are really Minister Ribbentrop's son." Gustav Schwarzenegger was slightly surprised - only "slightly".

In today's Germany, it is natural for the sons of big men to participate in the war like ordinary people. Even the emperor's eldest grandson Wilhelm Friedrich Franz Joseph Christian Olaf (who lost his inheritance rights due to intermarriage with commoners) is now on the front line. Not to mention the descendants of those marshals, generals, ministers, and parliamentarians.

"Are you afraid?" Gustav Schwarzenegger handed a lit cigarette to the son of the Foreign Minister. "Maybe there will be a bloody battle in a few hours."

"There won't be any bloody battles in a few hours," Rudolf Ribbentrop took the cigarette and took a drag. "In a few hours we will just be torn apart in this Opel truck, thinking The war will have to wait until Belgium. The Belgians may fight us, but the Luxembourgers will not fight us... They are the same family as us Germans!”

The foreign minister's son made a good analysis. Luxembourg was originally a member of the German Confederation until 1867 when it seceded due to the consequences of the Austro-Prussian War, but remained a member of the German Zollverein until 1919. Therefore, there have always been relatively strong pro-German forces in Luxembourg, and it is impossible to resist Germany desperately. The Belgians would not actually resist Germany in the desolate Ardennes Forest in the south. The so-called adventurous surprise attack was actually a safe passage through an undefended area.

The key to the success of the surprise attack is whether Army Group B's attack on Belgium can attract the Allied 1st Army Group in northern France to reinforce Belgium.

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