The Rise of the Third Reich

"Prince, do you know who is behind this incident? Is it the United States?"

Although Hitler and Schleicher hoped that Hessmann could return to Germany on February 25, Hessmann, who was hampered by military affairs, did not wait until noon on the 28th, after the gasoline and ammunition escorted by the Italian fleet safely arrived at the port of Messe Matruh , and then returned to Berlin on an Fw-200 plane.

The headquarters meeting was scheduled to be held on the morning of March 1, the next day, so Hersman went straight to his estate in Zossen after getting off the plane. At dinner that day, he met Prince Paul, the regent of Yugoslavia who was exiled in Berlin, at the manor in Zossen.

Prince Paul looked very tired. He was almost ten years older than the one Hessmann saw at the Geneva meeting last year. His voice was also a little hoarse. It seemed that he had been having a very difficult time these days.

Hearing Hessmann's question, the Yugoslav prince smiled bitterly: "Of course the United States and the United Kingdom are causing trouble, but where in the whole of Europe are their people not fanning the flames? But only we Serbs were fooled... This shows that the problem is not mainly the United Kingdom and the United States. It’s the incitement of us Serbs who are not clear-headed.”

Hessman sighed helplessly. The prince was right. The Serbians' minds were indeed broken, otherwise they would not have launched an anti-German uprising when the strength of the German Empire reached its peak. In another time and space, the anti-German uprising in Yugoslavia was even more unreasonable. At that time, Hitler did not want to dismember Yugoslavia at all, but was busy preparing to invade the Soviet Union. The Serbians used a nonsensical uprising to force Germany to postpone its invasion of the Soviet Union for one month, which may have indirectly saved the Soviet Union and changed the course of World War II.

As a result, the Serbs themselves fell into one disaster after another. First, they were invaded by Germany, and then they started a vendetta against the Croats and the MSL in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A total of one million and hundreds of thousands of people died. The struggle later even left a The Croat Tito came to rule them, and for decades they maintained a strong southern and weak siege. In the end, the strong southern and weak siege triggered a Yugoslav civil war, which completely ruined the dream of a greater Serbia...

Hessmann thought of this and gently turned the goblet in his hand. "Your Highness, you are a friend of our Germany and a sober-minded Serbian politician. If you are willing to become a politician who saves the Serbian nation, we can Make you regent or even king of Serbia.”

"Be the king?" Prince Paul picked up the wine glass and drank it down, laughing. "Marshal, in the eyes of the Serbian people, I am a sinner who betrayed the country. How can I be the king? Our Serbian nation is There is never a shortage of heroes.”

Hersman knew that Prince Paul was talking about Serbian nationalist terrorists. The First World War was caused by the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian crown prince and his wife in Sarajevo by Princip, an assassin from the Serbian ultra-nationalist organization "Black Hand". In today's Yugoslavia, there are still many ethnic extremist organizations similar to the "Black Hand", and this anti-German uprising is related to these organizations.

However, it is not the Serbs who have extremists in Yugoslavia. The Croats, MSL, Macedonians, and Slovenes all have their own organizations, and the targets of their struggle are the Serbs. Since the Entente created a Yugoslavia after the last war (it was not called Yugoslavia at the beginning, but the Kingdom of Serbo-Croat-Slovenia), several small Slavic ethnic groups that originally disliked each other have been fighting each other.

"Then...your highness," Hessman frowned slightly, "who do you think is capable of cleaning up the mess?"

Conquering Yugoslavia is not a problem. Historically, it took 8 days. In this time and space, it may be even shorter. But how to deal with the aftermath is a problem. It is easy for Germany to start a war, but it is not necessarily easy to end the war.

Prince Paul shrugged and said with a wry smile: "Who has the ability to control a group of people with bad brains? If you must ask me to recommend someone, I recommend General Simovich."

"General Simovich?" Hessmann was stunned. "Isn't he anti-German?"

"Do you really think that General Dusan Simovich is so brainless that he wants to be an enemy of the powerful German Empire? He is just trying to cater to them, and does not really want to go to war with Germany. If you can stop the invasion, he The Serbian army will never be allowed to invade Croatia and Slovenia.”

This is true. Germany now has thirty-two divisions in Croatia and Slovenia, and there are fifteen Hungarian divisions ready to assist at any time. How stupid would it be for General Simovich to take the initiative to attack?

However, Germany cannot tolerate a small nation like Serbia holding up the flag against Germany every day in the heart of Europe!

"But he is challenging the authority of the German Empire!" Hessmann shook his head and said with a wry smile, "If Germany is powerless against tiny Serbia, how can it rule Europe?"

"Then..." Prince Paul sighed, "Marshal, let me make one last suggestion to you. Do not let Serbia and Bosnia be in an occupied state without their own governments. I think, a recognition of Croatia, Slovenia and Bart A treaty to separate Nagoya from Yugoslavia is what Germany really needs.”

Hessmann smiled slightly: "Well, Your Highness, I will strive for such an ending as much as possible. I think... this should be an important principle for our German leadership in the world in the future."

The principle he said is to try not to drive your opponent into anarchy! Even if the leader of this government is not very smart, it is much better than having no government to deal with - as a world hegemon, you have to learn to deal with all kinds of people with bad brains!

…

"Stalin is crazy. His mind must be broken. He dares to make such unreasonable demands to us! This is an insult to the German Empire. I will never accept it, never!"

On the morning of March 1, Hersman arrived at the Ministry of Defense Building at 73 Wilhelm Street. As soon as he entered the headquarters conference room, he heard Hitler's unique hysterical voice.

This time it seems that something is wrong with Stalin's mind!

"Marshal," seeing Hessmann walk in, a furious Hitler shouted at him, "Have you built a bomb that can flatten a city? When can you use it to teach a lesson? Bolsheviks?"

"What happened?" Hersmann was confused. Seeing that Foreign Minister Ribbentrop was there, he asked, "Did Molotov make some unreasonable demands?"

He knew that Molotov was visiting Berlin these two days, but he was now a frontline commander and had no time to participate in the secret diplomacy between the Soviet Union and Germany.

"He put forward the conditions for the Soviet Union to enter the war," Ribbentrop replied. "The Soviet Union wants the Baltic States, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Republic of Finland, the Kingdom of Poland, Iran, Afghanistan and India."

Was Stalin really crazy? Or is he out of his mind and preparing to go to war with Germany?

Hessmann was stunned for a moment, but after thinking about it, he guessed some of Stalin's true intentions.

"Leader, Stalin is not crazy," Hersman said, shaking his head. "He may not have the intention to join the war immediately."

"You don't have any intention to join the war right away?" Hitler snorted, "I'm afraid he doesn't want to join the war on Germany's side!" He then asked, "When will that kind of bomb be ready?"

"1944, or 1945." Hersman frowned and gave an approximate time. Now scientists on the U Engineering Committee have calculated the critical value more accurately and are looking for ways to split uranium-235. In addition, while studying uranium metal that had undergone a chain reaction, they discovered a brand-new element—plutonium.

"Do we have to wait until 1944 or 1945 to attack the Soviet Union?" Hitler asked, looking as if he was irritated by Stalin.

"Yes!" Hessman replied very firmly, "At least we must avoid war with the Soviet Union as much as possible until we defeat Britain and the United States."

It would not be too late to start a war with the Soviet Union, and the worst possible outcome would be to use atomic bombs - but Hersman felt that it was completely unnecessary, because once the United States surrendered, Stalin would not have the guts to challenge Germany's world hegemony.

However, the time window to defeat the United States is very short. The naval forces of Germany, France, Italy, and Japan must be assembled to annihilate the main force of the U.S. Navy before the United States' huge shipbuilding plan is completed.

Otherwise, when American battleships and aircraft carriers start dropping dumplings, even if Germany has atomic bombs, it will not be able to reach the United States.

"Victory over the United States?" Hitler immediately asked, "Did the Japanese admiral promise to send battleships to the Atlantic Ocean?"

"Not yet," Hersman shook his head, "but sooner or later they will agree."

There is no rush in this matter, there is always an opportunity. In fact, even if there are no two Japanese super battleships, Germany may not be helpless. If the Pearl Harbor incident in this time and space is still the same as in history, two of the three Colorado-class ships in the United States will be blown up by the Japanese.

For quite some time after this, the number of super battleships in the U.S. Navy was only 3 (USS Colorado, USS North Carolina, USS Washington), while Germany had at least 6 super battleships - this is another important point. Time window!

"Okay, let's let Stalin go for now." Hitler gritted his teeth and regained his composure. "Then how should we reply to Molotov? Do you have any suggestions?"

"Leader, we should reject their request for the Baltics, Finland, Poland, and Lithuania." Hersman thought for a while and said, "In addition, the oil producing areas in southern Iran cannot be given to the Soviet Union."