The Rise of the Third Reich

"...After comprehensively analyzing all aspects of intelligence, the General Staff believes that the Soviet Union is preparing to go to war with our country! However, the Soviet-German war is not inevitable, and it will not break out in the short term, because the Soviet Union has not completed war preparations."

At a regular meeting of the high command on August 8, 1941, Reichsmarschall Hersmann, Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht, lightly informed that the Soviet Union was preparing for war.

In his opinion, there is nothing to worry about, because the Bolshevik Party of the Soviet Union has just begun to create public opinion, and it is already August, and the climate in the Baltic coastal areas, Poland, Ukraine, Finland and other places will be affected in another three months at most. will become unfit for combat. If the Soviet Red Army really wanted to launch an offensive, it would have to wait until the spring of 1942.

"According to the exact situation known to the General Staff of the National Defense Forces, the current situation of the Soviet Red Army Army is also difficult to bear a large-scale mechanized assault. Although the Soviet Red Army has a large number of tanks, more than twice as many as we have, they do not have enough tanks. Automobiles have enabled infantry, artillery and logistics to be motorized. Currently, the three military districts in the western part of the Soviet Union, the Western Military District, the Southwest Military District and the Northern Military District, have a total of only 150,000 vehicles, and the total number of vehicles owned by the entire Soviet Red Army is only about 270,000. Moreover, the performance and quality of these vehicles are generally poor, and it is difficult to meet the needs of logistics and infantry mobility for mechanized warfare..."

Hersman then began to analyze the combat readiness of the Soviet Red Army Army. In this time and space, the depth and breadth of Soviet-German cooperation were greater than in history. Therefore, the German Wehrmacht General Staff also had a more comprehensive understanding of the Soviet defense capabilities.

The Soviet Union's war capabilities are undoubtedly very powerful. The Red Army has far more aircraft, tanks, and artillery than the German army. But the Red Army also has a weakness that is difficult to overcome, that is, there are not enough cars to motorize the infantry and logistics. Although the Soviet Union still attached great importance to the development of the automobile industry in its two five-year plans, the development of the Soviet automobile industry has never been ideal. As of 1940, the Soviet Union's annual automobile output was only 145,400 vehicles, including 136,000 trucks. vehicle.

Although the annual output of 145,400 cars is not small, it is still less than one-third of Germany's (this is after Germany restricted the production of civilian cars in order to save fuel), and is even higher than France's in 1939. The output is still less. Considering the vastness of the Soviet Union and the huge number of the Red Army, this car can only be used as a supplement to railway transportation, but cannot be used when the railway line is partially paralyzed (bombed or penetrated deep into enemy territory). More heavily armed troops provided transport and logistical support.

"In addition, the combat effectiveness of the Soviet Red Air Force is also weak. Although they have a large number of combat aircraft, the performance of most of the aircraft is generally poor. They are not opponents of the Fw-192, BF-109 and Fokker Zero, and the Soviet electronic The industry was very backward and lacked high-performance radar and communication equipment, which further weakened the combat capabilities of the Soviet Red Air Force.

The Soviet Red Navy currently does not have the ability to confront our navy. Their 'Soviet' class battleships and 'Kronshtadt' class battlecruisers have not yet been completed, so the Soviet Navy does not have the ability to maintain sea transportation lines in the North Atlantic during wartime. Once a war breaks out, the Soviet Union's external transportation will be us Completely cut off from Japan, thereby losing the possibility of obtaining assistance from the United States..."

Hersman talked a lot at the headquarters meeting, and finally came to this conclusion: "Unless the Soviet Union first receives a sufficient amount of U.S. aid, it can enable their huge Red Army to motorize and obtain thousands of aircraft. P-51 and P-40 aircraft with excellent performance, and at least 20 million tons of fuel must be reserved to ensure that there is enough oil to sustain the war and the national economy after the oil-producing areas of Baku, Batumi and Grozny are completely destroyed. Otherwise, Stalin would never initiate a war rashly. To achieve the above goals, the Soviet Union would need at least 10-12 months to prepare. In other words, the war between us and the Soviet Union would occur as early as June 1942. It’s just the earliest possible time when the Soviet-German war could break out.”

Hersmann hoped to delay the outbreak of the Soviet-German war as much as possible, and even hoped to avoid the Soviet-German war. Because it could not be the navies of the United States and Britain that could destroy the Third Reich, but only the land force of the Soviet Union. In history, without the Eastern Front battlefield, the Normandy landings would not have happened at all. Even if the German Third Reich existed for thousands of years, there would be absolutely no problem in surviving into the 21st century.

In this time and space, Germany has already controlled the oil in the Middle East. After 1943, the production of oil in the Middle East will be greatly increased to the point where it can meet the wartime needs of the entire European Community and Italy. By then Germany's military power will be greatly strengthened! Moreover, Germany's U project will be closer to success than it is now.

In addition, the naval forces of Germany, Italy, France and Japan may also achieve a decisive victory over Britain and the United States before 1943. By then Germany will be invincible, and it will be much easier to deal with the Soviet Union.

Hitler listened carefully to Hersmann's analysis. When Hersmann finally expressed his conclusion, the Nazi leader showed a wry smile, and his mustache and mouth moved. He said: "Marshal Reich, can't we consider taking action against the Soviet Union first? There are currently 3 to 3.5 million Wehrmacht troops doing nothing. And we also have the most powerful air force and armored forces in the world... although they are not as numerous as the Soviet Red Army. But the combat effectiveness is certainly far greater than that of the Soviet Red Army, and perhaps we can eliminate this scourge once and for all within a few months.”

"Leader, your thoughts are the same as those of Emperor Napoleon." Hessmann had known Hitler's thoughts for a long time. He said in a disapproving tone, "More than a hundred years ago, Napoleon's army was also very powerful, far exceeding the Tsar's. army, but the war against Russia became a watershed in the decline of Napoleon’s empire.”

"It was the Russian winter that defeated Napoleon's army." Adolf Hitler's attitude was unwavering. He obviously believed that victory must belong to him. "We don't need to attack immediately, but we can launch an attack in the spring of 1942. If we start the attack in April, we have 6-7 months to use. Can't we still defeat the Soviet Union?"

"It's possible, but not certain." Hersman shrugged. "We can't imagine the Soviet Union as another France. The Bolsheviks have a very strong will to fight, and they will fully tap the military potential of the entire Russian nation."

"But the Russians don't support the brutal rule of the Bolsheviks, do they?" Adolf Hitler looked at Hersmann, "We have a Russian empress in our hands. She is very attractive. The tyranny of the Bolsheviks will definitely be missed by the Russian people. From the Romanov dynasty. If we carry the queen’s flag, we might be welcomed by the Russians.”

Hitler obviously didn’t know enough about Russian history! Hersmann thought to himself that the German leader knew the situation in Central Europe and France very well, but he knew very little about Russia.

"Empress Olga only has a strong appeal in Belarus," Hersman said, "but no one in the Soviet Union knows her, and Russians do not love the defeated Romanov dynasty."

He winked at Marshal Schleicher, another "Russian-knowledge" figure. Schleicher said: "My leader, if you study the history of Russia carefully, it is not difficult to find that there are no good czars in Russian history. Those czars are all tyrants by European standards.

But as long as the countries led by these tyrants can win the war, there will be no problem. If a tyrant can't win a war, he's in big trouble... This is Russia. Russians are actually just European-looking Tatars who like brutal and powerful rulers. And the Bolsheviks are precisely such rulers! "

Hersman also said: "In the history of Russia, as long as it can win foreign wars, the tsar's power will be consolidated, no matter how cruel he is. If the country loses the war, then the tsarist government must immediately Various improvements were made to appease people's hearts. And now the Bolsheviks have defeated Poland, Finland, taken back Bessarabia, and now occupy most of Afghanistan... Although the victory is not very good, it is a victory after all."

The history of Russia or the Soviet Union can be summed up in one sentence: winning is the last word! As long as the country can win foreign wars, any tyrant will be loved by the Russian people. If we fail to win, then the common people will cause trouble, and the people above will be unstable.

Hersman continued: "So we cannot expect those in Russia to abandon the Bolshevik Party that won the war and welcome a foreign puppet that lost the war. At least the Russian nation will not do this. The Ukrainians may welcome us, but The Russians definitely don’t.”

Hitler hesitated for a while and seemed to waver in his original position. He did not understand the Russians very well, but Hersmann and Schleicher, who were from East Prussia, had been dealing with the Russians for generations. He shrugged and said, "So what are we going to do about these nasty Bolsheviks?"

"A solid line of defense can be established," Hessman said. "If the Soviet Red Army wants to attack, it will attack them hard and completely defeat the Bolsheviks! As long as the Bolsheviks lose a war they started, they will be in big trouble. At that time we may consider supporting the restoration of Queen Olga."