The Rise of the Third Reich

While the loving father of GCism was quietly preparing for a revolutionary thunderstorm sweeping Europe, Hersman boarded a Fokker F40 plane bound for Italy.

The purpose of his return to Italy was, of course, to continue commanding the war. Because the Mediterranean campaign has not yet ended, the British still have three strongholds in the Mediterranean, Tobruk, Gibraltar and Crete.

In addition, the 290,000 Italian troops stationed in East Africa are still fighting hard. Although the British army basically abandoned the battlefields in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, it did not retreat from East Africa. Instead, it strengthened its troops. According to a report from the Italian East African Forces Group Command, the British army currently has 11 African divisions (with the main force being teosinte) and at least 3 Indian divisions in East Africa. This is a powerful force that the 290,000 Italian troops cannot defeat!

The German army has not yet opened the Suez Canal, which is blocked by the sunken ship, so it is currently unable to reinforce the Italian army in East Africa.

However, even if the Suez Canal is opened, it will be difficult for the German army to help the Italian army in East Africa. This is because the Italians lost two valuable aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean. Without aircraft carriers, the powerful surface fleets of Italy and France would not be able to operate in the Red Sea - the British Eastern Fleet has three aircraft carriers, and the British are still at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Shore-based aircraft have been deployed at the Port of Aden and Socotra Island, located at the outlet of the Gulf of Aden.

For a fleet without air cover (the length of the Red Sea is close to 2,000 kilometers, it is difficult for German aircraft deployed on the Sinai Peninsula to cover the fleet located in the southern Red Sea), the British shore-based aircraft and carrier-based aircraft are still very dangerous. Therefore, Hessmann did not intend to risk the precious Italian and French fleets, which were the key to defeating the British.

Moreover, Hessman also knows that by this time next year, the Japanese Navy will probably be able to dedicate some forces to enter the Indian Ocean. It doesn’t take much, as long as two fleet aircraft carriers and two Kongang-class ships can be sent into the Indian Ocean, it will be enough to deal with the British Eastern Fleet.

Once the British Eastern Fleet is finished, the British army in East Africa will not be far from disintegration. By then, the Italians will almost be able to produce a few escort aircraft carriers. This will be the best time for the Italian fleet to leave the Red Sea and enter the Indian Ocean.

However, Hessman's goal for the Indian Ocean operations is not limited to opening up the oil shipping channel from the Persian Gulf to the Suez Canal. His goal is the same as Stalin's, which is to capture India!

And Hessmann also had a trump card in the fight for India that Stalin did not have, because he would soon have an Indian army.

On the special plane flying to Italy, there was an additional Indian Asan, the former chairman of the Indian National Congress Party, Chandra Bose.

This is an Indian in his forties, taller, similar in appearance to a white man, but with slightly darker skin. He was wearing a dark green military uniform, a boat-shaped cap on his head, and small round glasses on his big, pointed nose. He looked very cultured and educated. In fact, he is a cultured and educated upper-class Indian. He is from a high caste (you can tell by looking at his face and skin). His father is a barrister. He graduated from the University of Calcutta and the University of Cambridge in the UK. He also passed the extraordinary degree in 1920. The difficult Indian Civil Service Examination.

However, he did not serve as an official in the British colonial authorities, but devoted himself to the Indian independence movement. First, he participated in Gandhi’s independence movement. Later, I felt that there was no political power in the world that relied on starvation, so I decided to take the route of creating political power through the barrel of a gun. In 1927, the National Volunteer Army (a semi-military organization) of the Indian University Student Organization was established. He also proposed a resolution calling for complete independence of India at the Indian National Congress Party Congress. Although the resolution was not passed, Bose himself gained a large number of supporters and was elected as the General Secretary of the Congress Party. Since then, he has been committed to promoting violent revolution, and finally put himself in British prison in 1936.

But after serving his sentence, Bose became more valuable and became the leader of the National Congress Party second only to Gandhi. In 1938, he was elected chairman of the National Congress Party. However, Gandhi subsequently took the lead in opposing Bose, forcing Bose to leave the National Congress Party to establish a radical organization, the Forward Group, and continue to use the barrel of a gun to gain power. But it wasn't long before he was caught again by the British authorities and imprisoned. This time in prison finally made Comrade Bose understand a truth.

If you want to take the path of a gun, you must first learn to hold your thighs!

So Bose escaped from the British prison in Calcutta, and then obtained an Italian passport (this guy looked like a southerner from Italy), took it to Afghanistan and went to the Soviet Union.

But he was not a communist, so he didn't get any support in the Soviet Union, so he had to go to the German Embassy for help. Not long ago, he arrived in Germany and was received by Hitler. Later, he met Marshal Hessmann who had returned to Berlin from the Middle East for a meeting. This was when he truly embraced his thick legs.

…

"Mr. Bose, Gandhi's view is undoubtedly wrong. US President Jefferson once said: The flower of freedom must always be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is the natural fertilizer for the flower of freedom. The United States can get rid of the British Colonial rule was achieved through the bloodshed and sacrifice of countless people, not through hunger strikes in Washington. How can India today expect to gain national independence and freedom through the hunger strikes of a few people, even if Mr. Gandhi died of hunger? What’s the loss for Churchill?”

On the way to Rome, the capital of Italy, Hersman sat in the spacious and comfortable cabin and talked.

"If Bose is willing to stand up and lead the battle first, I can provide some assistance. In the battle of Tobruk, we captured quite a few Indians. There were several Indian divisions fighting there for the British. When the battle went bad, they were abandoned and were captured in large numbers by us and the Italians. In the prisoner-of-war camp in Benghazi, there were about 20,000 Indian prisoners, 80% of whom were still capable of fighting. "

In fact, not all those held in prisoner-of-war camps are Indians. Several thousand are Gurkhas from Nepal. Most of the remaining Indians are Sikhs. There are only a few Asan who truly believe in Hinduism.

"They are all very good fighters, better than our Italian friends." Hersman looked at Boss and smiled, "If you can convince them to fight for you, I can give them to your command, and also could provide weapons and equipment and send them to India to fight in the war of independence after the Italian navy broke out of the Gulf of Aden.”

80% of twenty thousand is sixteen thousand! Sixteen thousand soldiers of the British-Indian army were all given to Chandra Bose, and they were fully armed. Bob suddenly felt like he was hugging Jin's thigh.

"Marshal, thank you so much!" The smile on Chandra Bose's face almost ran out of space. "The Indian people will always be grateful to you and Germany..."

Hessman waved his hand, interrupted Boss, and then said: "Don't rush to say thank you, because there is never a free lunch in the world, and naturally there is no free liberation."

"Marshal, what do you mean..." Boss looked at Hessman and thought: Does liberation require money? So how much should you give? Should payment be made based on head count or land area?

"Germany's efforts must be rewarded," Herschmann said slowly, "but we will not regard India as a colony, nor will we seize territory on the South Asian subcontinent."

He only mentioned "not to seize territory on the South Asian subcontinent" and did not say that he did not want territory in the Indian Ocean. But it doesn't matter to the current Indian Asan, they will not have such unrealistic ideas as "India's Indian Ocean".

Hirschmann then made a demand: "The British government's properties in India, excluding sovereignty and territory, but including railways, factories, mines, port facilities, bank and company equity, and schools, must be taken over by the German government."

In fact, this is not necessarily a bad thing for India. If those railways, factories, ports, mines, and schools are managed by German companies, the efficiency will definitely be higher than if the Indian Asan manages it himself.

"That's no problem," Bose thought for a moment and replied, "but those can only be regarded as German commercial investments in India and must abide by the laws of the future Indian country."

"Of course, that is of course a business investment." Hessman nodded and smiled, "We do not pursue special privileges in India. That will not be good for us. In fact, if the Indian government can come up with a reasonable price in the future, these All can be sold to India.”

Hessman paused and then said: "In addition, we have noticed that there are a large number of MSLs in the British Indian Empire, and they have deep conflicts with you Hindus. But resisting British colonial rule requires Hindus and MSLs to unite and fight together. . So we will also provide military assistance to the MSL revolutionaries in northwest India."

"Of course," Chandra Bose nodded, "there are many MSLs among my comrades, and I am willing to fight together with them."

In this era, apart from the National Congress Party, there was also the MSL alliance in India's fight for independence. It is now led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and is following a similar path to the Indian National Congress Party.

However, there are also radical elements in the MSL alliance who want to use the barrel of a gun to remove power. Hersman has instructed Iran's Reza Khan and the Arab Socialist Baath Party to try to contact them. It is also prepared to provide weapons and instructors to the Indian MSL, striving to create a situation where the Indian MSL army and the Hindu army work together.

The future enemy of the Indian MSL army and the Hindu army is probably not the British colonists, but the Indian Bolshevik Party supported by the Soviet Union. In the future, India is likely to see a three-nation struggle for hegemony...