Shadow Spy

Chapter 200 Qitan All Quiet on the Western Front

Late on September 9, news of Germany's attack on Poland spread throughout Asia. For a moment, all parties were shocked!Ordinary people are unaware of its significance, but various political forces and outstanding people who are well-informed and understand the world situation see the special meaning contained in it.

Yan'an judged that after Japan and Italy, the third and most powerful Axis power, Germany, also officially launched a war. At this moment when European countries are facing a crisis, the anti-fascist alliance around the world has The establishment is not far away!

Chongqing is extremely happy: Germany has begun to challenge the European order, and the two big brothers, Britain and France, will definitely take action to punish them. If the victory of World War I is repeated, then this time it will belong to the Axis Powers. Japan will have to stop being quiet!

In fact, for a long time, the relationship between Germany and China was very good. Not only did it send military advisory groups several times to help the Kuomintang government build a modern army and provide training and weapons support, but it also accepted many military students sent by China. The production lines of the "Chinese official" rifles produced in the Republic of China were all exported to China from Germany. In fact, they were the Chinese version of the Mauser 1924.

However, anyone with a true understanding of history can tell that some of the goodwill expressed by the German government towards China in the 20s and 30s was just to gain traction under the eyes of Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Japan and other countries. Just get benefits from China!

Especially after its defeat in World War I, its military, economy, and territory were all punished by the Treaty of Versailles. Two-thirds of the industrial area and 2% of the population were ceded to France, and Danzig, the outlet for the Mediterranean Sea, was ceded to France. It was designated as a free city, and the number of troops was limited to 3. It was not allowed to have an air force, the army was not allowed to have tanks, and the navy was not allowed to have battleships. There was also a large amount of war reparations to compensate the victorious countries in World War I...

Under such circumstances, it is a wise choice to look further ahead, away from Europe, which is surrounded by enemies everywhere, and to find new alliance partners in Asia!

Therefore, for a long period of time, Germany paid attention to and helped both China and Japan at the same time, but later developments left it with no choice - China's Kuomintang government was beaten into a state of disarray by the Japanese. Northeast China, then North China, then Shanghai, Nanjing and other central China... half of the country is occupied by the Japanese. How can such a China be trusted by Germany?

Li Junhao, who had studied this period of history in his previous life, despised Germany's choice of allies during World War II. The other two countries of the Axis, Italy and Japan, not only did not provide any effective help to Germany during the entire war, but they also One is not good at face-to-face, the other is not good at being crazy, and he has tricked Germany into a trap.

Italy was the first country to become fascist. When Hitler came to power as prime minister in 1933, Mussolini had already been in control of the country for 10 years. He was considered an old-timer.But I don’t know whether Mussolini’s military ability was too poor, or whether the Italian military generals deliberately caused trouble with him. Before World War II and throughout World War II, the Italian military’s performance was extremely ridiculous, and it was recognized by all participating countries as “noodles.” "Army", many people believe that its existence is just for fun!

In later generations, there was a joke that was very accurate: "If Italy can remain neutral, it can contain 10 French divisions; if Italy becomes Germany's opponent, Germany only needs 5 divisions to completely defeat it; but if Italy becomes Germany An ally, but the German army needs 20 divisions to protect him!" It's a joke, but I wonder what the descendants of Italy will think?But according to Li Junhao's observations in his previous life, people listened to operas, danced, and played football without any mental burden at all!

Japan, no matter what the reason, Germany became an ally with it, and Japan is also proud to have joined the "Axis" system of the world power group!But the development of things later confirmed that this country's strategic vision was really short-sighted, and it deceived Germany the most - just when the European War was at its most intense, little Japan quietly carried out the "Pearl Harbor Incident" ", which directly brought down the United States, which had been watching the show and counting money while selling goods!
Many historians in later generations have studied this period of history. If the United States had not finally participated in the war, the outcome of World War II would have been really unknown!In other words, if there had been no "Pearl Harbor incident", even if the United States participated in the war, it would have been the same as during World War I. It would only really intervene on the battlefield at the end of the war, when the outcome was already decided or when betrayal could determine the outcome of the war.
-
At this time, Japan is happy about Germany's invasion of Poland. This shows that its most important ally has finally come to an end. The future Eastern and Western worlds will belong to their two countries. As for Italy, I'm sorry, I didn't think of it at the moment. (Little Japan also looks down on the "noodle army").

As for the beginning of the German-Polish War, European countries were both surprised and frightened, and they turned to the two "big brothers" Britain and France for advice - what should we do about this?

However, Britain and France said firmly: Don't be afraid, little brothers, I am still here, the boss, and the situation is under control! ——
On September 9, Britain and France issued an ultimatum in response to Germany's invasion of Poland, requiring it to immediately withdraw its troops and restore the border between the two countries to the pre-war status!
German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop refused on behalf of Germany.

Subsequently, Britain and France declared war on Germany, followed by Commonwealth countries Australia and New Zealand.

But just as countries around the world were preparing to "enjoy" the fight between Europe's three major military powers, the scene on the battlefield was incomprehensible to everyone!
After the war was declared, the French army only advanced eight kilometers towards the Saar River before stopping. The troops sat in the trenches that had been dug long ago and chatted and chatted. The same was true for the British Expeditionary Force, which was scheduled to attack Germany from the west. There is no intention of taking the initiative to attack.

At that time, Britain and France assembled a total of 115 divisions on the Western Front. In contrast, the German defense forces on the opposite side only had 25 divisions. The British and French forces had an overwhelming advantage, but they did not take any action afterwards!

The silence on the Western Front battlefield has become a topic of concern around the world. After all, this strange spectacle of declaring but not fighting has never happened before. So what are Britain and France doing?

From September 1939 to May 9, for more than half a year, the British and French forces on the Western Front never received any offensive orders. During this period, they just quietly leaned on the fortifications in a daze, and even witnessed As Poland was trampled on by the iron hoofs of the German army, they did not have to do anything.

(End of this chapter)