Snowflakes are falling, and in the fully Europeanized streets of Petrograd, Russia's premier metropolis, a depressed scene is still everywhere, with shops mostly closed and few vehicles, whether cars or horse-drawn carriages.
If there are a few cars running through the streets, they are often German-made vehicles belonging to the Russian Expeditionary Force.
Reinhardt is now sitting in a Volkswagen 82-barrel car with a canvas canopy, with a gleaming Order of St.
Anastasiania on his chest, which is said to be a medal of considerable rank, named after the little sister of Empress Olga, the martyred saint Archduchess Anastasiania, and awarded to foreign nobles who had made outstanding contributions to the restoration of the Romanov dynasty.
Although Reinhardt really couldn't remember what he had contributed to the restoration of the Romanov dynasty, the Russian Empress Olga still personally awarded Reinhardt the Order half an hour ago, and also announced that she was Reinhardt's godmother in the throne hall of the Winter Palace, and awarded Reinhardt the title of Count of the Russian Empire and the rank of major in the army.
"Reinhardt, the rules here in Russia are different from those in Germany," Reinhardt accompanied the Empress to the meeting of his superior, Major Rudolf von Ribbentrop, Colonel of the Imperial Russian Army, who told the somewhat ignorant Reinhardt, "Her Majesty is a man of his word here, and the person she likes can soar, and there are many rumors about her and your father." ” "What a rumor" Ribbentrop Jr. grinned and lowered his voice: "It is said that she and the Imperial Marshal are lovers. ” "Lover, this can't be."
Reinhardt said seriously, "My father and mother had a good relationship, and he was a model husband. ” Ribbentrop Jr. shrugged, then looked at Reinhardt with a strange gaze: "I know this, but in Petrograd, everyone knows that their empress and the imperial marshal have an affair, and it is said that they have illegitimate children. ” "Bastard" Reinhardt's eyes widened, "how is this possible, how can this be nonsense" Little Ribbentrop nodded: "Yes, no one in Russia dares to slander Her Majesty the Empress, and the Russians are very conscious in this regard, except for this rumor, there are no other negative rumors of Her Majesty." ” "This can't be," Reinhardt shouted, "it must be clarified" Ribbentrop Jr. just smiled: "Reinhardt, do you think that neither the Imperial Marshal nor Her Majesty the Empress know about this rumor, and they have no way to clarify this matter?"
“” "There must be a reason why they didn't come out to clarify and allowed this rumor to spread."
Ribbentrop Jr. said, "I suppose you should assume that this rumor does not exist." ” Of course, this rumor is not true, but Olga made it up at that time to make her backstage look harder, and no one in the German Junker circle believes that even if someone believes it, it will not damage Hersmann's reputation, because having a "special friendship" with a Russian empress cannot be treated with common sense, and it is a diplomatic activity that is conducive to Russian-German friendship.
The roads in Petrograd were wide and empty, and the Volkswagen wagons they were riding in quickly drove out of the city to a large barracks on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea near Peter's Palace.
The place was originally a garrison of the Soviet Red Army, with neatly housed barracks, a very large playground, rows of tall garages, oil-stained vehicle repair sheds, and a headquarters building with a red star on the roof.
Occasionally, there are traces of slogans in Russian that have not been completely eradicated on the walls of some buildings, suggesting that this was originally a camp of the Soviet Red Army.
Now there is a new owner.
"Reinhardt, you're a major now," said Ribbentrop Jr. as the car stopped in front of the headquarters building.
"I can assign you a new position to be a staff officer at the division headquarters."
Ribbentrop Jr. was the chief of staff of the Russian Imperial Guards Tank Division "Olga", assisted by Lieutenant General Mikhail Alekseevich Romanov.
This count, surnamed Romanov, was not a relative of Olga, at least not in the genealogy of the Romanov dynasty, he was not even an "old white man", but a major general of the former Soviet Red Army.
At the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, he was loyal to the cause of GCISM and was ready to dedicate himself to his ideals.
But I didn't expect Empress Olga to suddenly jump out and restore the Romanov dynasty, and as a result, all the cadres surnamed Romanov in the Red Army had to find out that they were not relatives of the Tsar Royal, but the investigation was not finished, until the Germans captured the city where Major General Romanov was located, and it was not found out until the German army captured the city where Major General Romanov was located, and later Empress Olga turned out the ancient genealogy and confirmed that Major General Romanov belonged to a side branch of the Romanov family, and by the way, he was made a count.
Major General Romanov, who knew that he had a criminal family background, gave up his original ideals, no longer expected to be accepted by the revolutionary ranks, and bowed at the feet of the empress, becoming a "royal general" in the White Russian army.
Now he has climbed to the position of the commander of the Guards Tank Division, and is considered one of the favored retainers of Empress Olga.
"Reinhardt, you might as well come to the division headquarters as a staff officer, or be my adjutant."
Lieutenant General Romanov, who was dressed in a straight military uniform, had a handsome appearance and a very neatly trimmed beard, made a similar suggestion.
As early as when Reinhardt reported to the army, he wanted the son of the German reich marshal to be his adjutant, but Reinhardt's insistence on leaving the army is understandable, and he will suffer in the future promotion process without experience in leading troops.
So Lieutenant General Romanov did not insist at that time, but now the situation is different.
"Our division is going to battle," Lieutenant General Romanov said without concealment, "at the end of March and the beginning of April." ” "To go to the battlefield" Not long after being transferred from the front line in Guyana to Petrograd, little Ribbentrop suddenly became excited when he heard that he was going to the front line, "the whole tank division will go" "To the whole tank division," said Lieutenant General Romanov, "so in order to facilitate communication with friendly forces, the division headquarters needs to add a few staff officers who are fluent in Russian and German."
Reinhardt, you have to work at the division headquarters this time, this is an order" "Understood, Lieutenant General."
Reinhardt couldn't shirk it this time, so he could only give up the idea of going to the front line to kill the enemy in person and become a staff officer of the division.
The Royal "Olga" Guards Tank Division is the elite of the Belarusian Russian Army, and it is a fairly well-established armored division, which is formed after the German armored division, and most of the weapons and equipment are German-style equipment, and it is not that Russia's military industry is so bleak that it cannot provide any equipment, but that Germany is currently implementing the process of standardization and integration of weapons and equipment in the European Community.
Germany, as the core and leader of the European Community, naturally wants to promote its own equipment as the standard of the entire European Community.
Therefore, most of the arsenals that are still in operation in Russia have upgraded their equipment with the help of Germany and have begun to produce according to the drawings and samples provided by Germany.
Therefore, the weapons and ammunition produced are also German-style equipment.
Many of the weapons and ammunition that are now equipped with the Royal Guards Tank Division are German-style equipment of Russian production.
In addition, not all weapons used to equip the EC armies were designed and developed by the Germans, and the French, British, and Soviet bloodlines were also included in the standard equipment of the EC.
For example, the Olga tank destroyer, nicknamed the "Olga Little Hammer", defeated the German "Stalker" tank destroyer and became the standard equipment of the European Community infantry divisions.
There is also the B4 type 203 howitzer, known as the "Stalin's hammer", which has also become the standard for the 203 heavy artillery of the European Community Army.
The ZIS 3 type 762 cannon in the Soviet Red Army has also become the standard artillery weapon of the European Community, mainly because there are too many stocks of this cannon, and the production capacity of the Russian military industry is too large, and it will be too wasteful not to make full use of it.
However, German and British technicians helped the Russians redesign the ammunition, which greatly enhanced the anti-tank capabilities of the ZIS3 gun.
Among the various types of aircraft inherited from the Soviet Union, one of the Russian aircraft has also entered the eyes of Marshal Kesselring, that is, the famous "Black Death" Il-2 strike aircraft.
This aircraft, after certain improvements, became the successor to the HS123 attack aircraft, and the HS129 as well 800 The shore-based version of the 810 has formed a high-low combination, which has greatly strengthened the ground attack capability of the European Community Air Force, and a large number of former Soviet pilots who have defected to the revolution have also become part of the European Community air power together with the improved name of the Il-8 and Il-2 attack aircraft.
At the same time that the most powerful tank division of the Russian Empire received the order to prepare for the move, the Il-8 attack aircraft, which was improved from the Il-2 strike, had already appeared on the Trinidad front in Guyana, South America.
Due to the low requirements for airport and maintenance of Il-8, and the temporary airfield on the front line of Guyana in harsh conditions can also take off and land safely, more than 20 squadrons of Il-8 have arrived at the Trinidad front in Guyana, not to attack Trinidad, but to support the jungle warfare forces of the European coalition forces to attack the Amakuro Delta Since the end of 1944, the coalition forces of the European Community have launched an offensive in this rainforest area bordering Venezuela and Guyana, and with the support of Il-8, the coalition forces are progressing smoothly, By mid-February 1945, most of the valuable strongholds in the Amakuro Delta had fallen into the hands of the coalition forces. t1706231537: