In the spring of 1939, the clouds of war that hung over Europe seemed to have lifted somewhat.
This time it was Mussolini who stepped up as a peacemaker, and his invincible Italian army had just emerged from the long Spanish Civil War, which had left the Italians somewhat tired, the treasury empty, and various strategic reserves reduced to dangerous proportions.
At this moment, the wise Italian leader knew very well that he did not have the means to fight, so he was reluctant to join the "socialist axis" no matter how tempting Hitler's offer, but adopted a pro-Anglo-French policy.
Of course, this does not mean that the leader is going to fight Germany.
It is certain that the Germans are not easy to deal with, and what can be gained by defeating Germany annexationThe Austrian leaders wanted the Roman Empire, not the Holy Roman Empire Thus, Mussolini played a balance between England, France and Germany.
Shuttled back and forth between Warsaw, Poland, Paris and London, and became a messenger of peace.
And it also proposes a seemingly fair peace plan: First, Germany abandoned its claims to denzig; secondly, to move all the Germans who were in Poland to Germany; Third, Poland will give Germany 1 million tons of wheat per year for the next 10 years; Fourth, Poland ceded the port city of Klaipeda, which had belonged to German East Prussia in the Free State of Lithuania, to Germany in order to unite East Prussia and the Baltic States.
Seems like a good solution Britain and France also exerted pressure on Germany through a unilateral embargo on oil and strategic resources and the purchase of Dutch East India oil at high prices.
Germany, on the other hand, began to implement a strict gasoline ration system from March 1939 to cope with the shortage of domestic fuel supplies.
It seems that the unilateral sanctions imposed by Britain and France have had some effect At the same time, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler began to soften, saying that the issue of the complete abrogation of the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain, as well as the return of some of the former German overseas colonies, must be resolved at the same time.
"The leader thinks very beautifully, and he wants to abolish the Treaty of Versailles and Saint-Germain, and then take back the colony" Hersmann shook his head and said with a smile: "He doesn't want to think about how strong Germany is now, if he officially abolishes the treaty and takes back the colony, our mark will become a gold mark."
"But we Germany plus the Soviet Union, Britain, France and Poland have no chance of winning even if they form an alliance against each other, don't they understand?"
Talking to Hersmann was Field Marshal Schleicher, and now he and Hirschmann were both playing war games in the No. 1 operation of the General Staff, and this kind of low-cost mock confrontation was a compulsory course in the training of officers in this era.
It can play a huge role in the development of a formal battle plan.
The reason why a battle plan is thorough is that it is gradually perfected by mastering sufficient intelligence and conducting many war games.
Sometimes, in order to verify the doubts that arise during the exercises, military exercises that are close to actual combat are also conducted.
In the past few months alone, the Wehrmacht has conducted no less than 10 small and medium-sized military exercises.
"It may not be that there is no chance of victory, in fact, we also have a dead end with the Soviet Union," Hersman said, holding a long putter in his hand, and pushed a wooden platoon with an airplane sticker to the corner of an oversized map.
"Where are you going to put the plane?"
Schleicher was playing a war game with Hersmann on the "Anglo-French-Polish" vs.
"Soviet-German" wargames.
Schleicher was responsible for simulating the "Soviet-German", while Hersmann simulated the "Anglo-French-Wave".
"Iran, Turkey, Iraq, how many planes have you deployed there" Schleicher walked over to Hersman and found that Hersman was placing planes in the Middle East.
"Very, very many," Hersman said, "Britain now has hundreds of Stirling heavy bombers, Wellington medium bombers and Blenheim light bombers, as well as many Blenheims as long-range fighters."
France also has a lot of Farman heavy bombers, EO45 medium bombers, and Potai 633 long-range fighters that can reach Baku.
If there is really a determination to organize hundreds of bombers and long-range fighters to bomb Baku, Batumi and Grozny in the USSR, it is possible" "Baku, Batumi and Grozny are the lifeblood of the Soviets," Schleicher nodded, "If they can really be destroyed, not only will the Soviet mechanized troops be unable to move an inch because of the lack of fuel, but even their industry will suffer." ” According to the intelligence of the Reich's Central Security Service, in 1937, the last year of the Soviet Union's Second Five-Year Plan, the Soviet Union's oil production was as high as 46.8 million tons, possibly water, and at the end of the Second Five-Year Plan of the Soviet Union, there was a flamboyant wind, but the production of coal was less than 1.2 billion tons.
Of the energy consumption in the USSR, the share of oil was 161 and only 5 in Germany.
Oil in the USSR was not only used as fuel to drive cars, but was also used in large quantities to generate electricity.
So as soon as the oil facilities in Baku, Batumi and Grozny were destroyed, then the industry of the USSR would be in trouble because of the lack of electricity.
"It's not just the Soviet Union, we're going to have problems," Hersman said, throwing the long putt in his hand to Lieutenant Colonel Galen, director of the Strategic Deception Bureau of the General Staff who was playing wargames with him.
"We," Schleicher shook his head, "we already have 18 million tonnes of oil in reserve, and we expect to add another 2 million tonnes by the end of June."
Moreover, our daily production of synthetic fuels is also more than 120,000 tons, so that we only need to consume 4 million to 5 million tons of oil a year, which is enough to cope with the war.
And we can buy a lot of oil from Romania. ” "But oil reserves and synthetic fuel production are classified," Hersman said, "Reinhard, what is the news released by the Strategic Deception Bureau" "2 million tons of oil reserves, 5,000 tons of synthetic fuel per day, and another 1 million tons of synthetic fuel reserves.
To sustain the war, we need to import 8 million tons of crude oil a year, 80 of which comes from the Soviet Union.
"And we have been spreading false information about German oil consumption, imports, and reserves since 1924, and all the false news that has been disseminated for 15 years can be compared with each other." ” Hersman shrugged, "Once we can't import oil from the Soviet Union, then with our 3 million tons of reserves and imports from Romania, we can only last for six months."
Marshal, do you think Britain and France will not consider bombing Baku" "Ludwig, do you really think that Britain and France are likely to bomb Baku," Schleicher pondered, "and if they really bomb Baku, Britain, France and the Soviet Union will really tear their faces."
Although in the treaty, the Soviet Union said that it would submit an "ultimatum" in support of Germany to Britain and France within a week after Britain and France declared war on Germany, and the war would start without receiving an agreed reply within 24 hours.
But whether the USSR would fulfill the treaty or not, no one is sure.
And during this time, diplomats from the USSR and Britain and France were also in frequent contact.
Hersman smiled contemptuously, "What can be achieved in contact, Stalin can give up his claim to right-bank Ukraine, the Poles can cede right-bank Ukraine," he shook his head and said, "At this time, war is inevitable."
But Britain and France have lost the courage they had had in 1914.
They only want to win the war with the least amount of blood, and bombing Baku seems like a good way to do it without paying many casualties."
"Yes, Mr.
Prime Minister, the Air Force considers it feasible to bomb the Baku oil fields."
Lord Chatfield, the British Secretary of State for Defence Coordination, was at this time reporting to Prime Minister Chamberlain on the results of the Chiefs of Staff Committee's discussion of the proposal to bomb Baku.
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At this time, Britain did not have a Ministry of Defense, and the coordination between the arms was the responsibility of this Chiefs of Staff Committee, and the secretary of state for defense cooperation presided over the committee.
"Aircraft of the Royal Air Force have already taken off from bases in Iraq and have reconnoitred the oil fields in Baku and oil refineries in Batumi.
The whole process went very smoothly and was not detected by Soviet aircraft, and the Soviets did not have a radar detection system there.
Moreover, the defense of Baku and Batumi was also very lax.
The command of the Royal Air Force believed that only 100 to 150 bombers needed to be dispatched to paralyze the oil fields and refineries of the Soviet Union. ” Hersmann's guess was not wrong, and Britain and France were always looking for ways to win the war with the lowest losses.
Now Britain could no longer tolerate Germany becoming bigger, otherwise there was a real risk that the crown of world hegemony would be taken away from the heads of the Anglo-Saxons by the Germans Holding the Maginot Line, using Polish cannon fodder to send them to death, sending the Royal Navy to blockade Germany, and bombing the Baku oil fields did not seem to cause fatal casualties to Britain and France.
And the Soviet air defense in Baku, Batumi and Grozny was also not tight.
The size of the Soviet Air Force is certainly not small, but there are not many truly advanced fighters, and now most of them are concentrated in Belarus and Ukraine, ready to show their skills in the invasion of the Polish Federation.
In addition, Soviet diplomats also hinted to Britain and France on more than one occasion that the Soviet Union's goal was only to restore the borders stipulated in the Brest Treaty, and that it had no intention of continuing to expand, nor was it willing to go to war with Britain and France.
Under these circumstances, Stalin took it for granted that Britain and France would be happy to maintain a "de facto non-war" with the Soviet Union, and perhaps they would negotiate peace with the Soviet Union after the Soviet Union triumphantly regained its lost territory.
"So is it possible for the Poles to hold out for 6 months to 1 year until the enemy's oil reserves are exhausted," Prime Minister Chamberlain asked again.
"The Prime Minister, the Council of Chiefs of Staff considers that there is no problem," said Lord Chatfield with great certainty, "that the Poles are quite well prepared for the war, and they will certainly be able to hold on."
Even if our bombing of Baku did not achieve the desired results, they would not have been easily defeated by Germany and the Soviet Union. ” t1706231537: