I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 872 Desire to die

Ribbentrop was good at scheming. He entered the upper class by marrying Anneliese Henkel, the daughter of German champagne maker Henkel, and was adopted by his aunt who had a noble title, thus having a noble prefix in his name.

Ribbentrop had a way with women, and his story with Wallis Simpson is almost universally known.

Wallis Simpson was the wife of King Edward VIII of England. Edward VIII gave up the throne to marry her, becoming a typical example of "loving beauty more than power".

During Carol's visit to Germany, rumors circulated that Ribbentrop had hooked up with Carol's mistress Elena, so Georgy called Carol a "coward who only knows how to hide in a woman's crotch."

Carol was very angry and decided to teach the outspoken Georgi a lesson with force, but was stopped by Ion Antonescu.

Romania's military strength is indeed stronger than that of the Kingdom of Greece.

But Yugoslavia is between Romania and Greece. If Romania wants to send troops, it must either pass through Yugoslavia or through the Bosphorus Strait controlled by Russia.

Let’s not talk about whether Yugoslavia will give way.

Considering the increasingly tense situation in Europe, Russia will certainly not allow war to break out within the Balkan Alliance.

"This bastard! I'm going to kill him sooner or later!"

Carol hated her former brother-in-law to the core.

Ion Antonescu looked at Carol with a slightly cold look.

Carroll gave up the throne twice for women. He loved beauty more than the throne than Edward VIII.

Ion Antonescu hoped that the Kingdom of Romania could break away from its dependence on Russia and become independent.

I don't want to go to war with Russia.

Compared with Ion Antonescu, who was loyal to the interests of the Kingdom of Romania, Carol only loved himself and never considered the future of the Kingdom of Romania.

After Germany announced the invalidation of the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact, the situation in Europe further deteriorated.

Chamberlain worked hard to avoid war, engaging in shuttle diplomacy between Germany and Poland.

Following Germany, the Kingdom of Hungary also began to mobilize, and everyone except Chamberlain could hear the footsteps of war.

On August 8, Germany issued a diplomatic statement that in addition to protecting Germans in Poland, Germany would also recover Danzig and the Polish Corridor.

Previously, Germany's demand was only to build a highway in the Polish corridor.

Germany did not refuse to negotiate with Poland, but required that representatives of the Polish government must arrive in Berlin within one day, otherwise the door to negotiations would be closed.

This request caught the Poles off guard. Although the Polish government held an emergency meeting overnight, the negotiation officials sent by Poland still did not arrive in Berlin within the time required by the German government.

On the 30th, the German government announced through the radio that the Polish government had rejected the German government's demands and the negotiations had completely broken down.

At 31 p.m. on the 1st, the little mustache issued a combat order to the German army, and the attack would begin at 4:45 a.m. on the st.

1939年9月1日凌晨4时45分，德军轰炸机群首先出动，对波兰境内的关键设施进行轰炸。

The Polish army was caught unprepared, and the few fighter planes they had were destroyed in the hangar before they could even take off.

At 6 o'clock, 44 German divisions launched a ground attack on Poland from the north, west and southwest.

Russia had long anticipated the German attack. George's secretary did not even wake him up at the first moment of the German attack. George only realized that the war had broken out after he woke up.

The German army was advancing very quickly into the heart of Poland at a speed of 50-60 kilometers per day.

The reaction of Britain and France was slower than George had expected. It was not until the 3rd that Britain and France respectively issued ultimatums to Germany.

Britain and France demanded that Germany immediately stop its attack on Poland, otherwise Britain and France would declare war on Germany.

At this time, the little mustache was excited about the upcoming conquest of Poland and ignored the warnings from Britain and France.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Britain and France declared war on Germany, and World War II officially broke out.

Surprisingly, although Britain and France had declared war on Germany in accordance with their agreement with Poland, they did not organize an attack on Germany.

It is understandable that the UK has not taken any action.

France has not taken any action either, which is indeed puzzling.

Britain had been working hard to develop its navy without any mobilization. It would take at least six months from the issuance of the mobilization order to the completion of the mobilization.

France has stockpiled 60 troops on the Maginot Line. If France launches an attack on Germany at this time, Germany will have to draw troops from Poland.

In the last world war, it was precisely because of Russia's proactive offensive that forced Germany to withdraw troops from the Western Front that the British and French forces escaped disaster and withstood the German offensive.

Pétain is just bad, not stupid.

So George was not surprised when this happened.

What made George nervous was that the Russian troops deployed on the Russian-Polish border had no plan to cooperate with the German army to launch an attack on Poland and divide Poland.

Polish troops stationed near the border fired artillery at Russian military camps.

George really couldn't understand why?
"Now we have no choice but to join the battle—"

Vasily couldn't wait.

"This must be a conspiracy between the British and the French!"

Demeter hit the nail on the head. Britain and France probably want to drag Russia into this.

"Warsaw is ready to attack."

Andrei was very angry. The Polish army's artillery bombardment injured two Russian soldiers. One of them sprained his foot, and the other fell off the bed and broke a front tooth.

"Then let's get started!"

Since Poland was determined to die, George went along with it.

Speaking of the strength of the Poles, it is actually quite good. They not only have fighter jets, but also more than 800 armored vehicles.

Unfortunately, Poland's aircraft and armored vehicles are old models produced during the last World War, and their performance is seriously inferior to that of German fighters and armored vehicles.

The German attack force included 7 armored divisions, 4 light armored divisions, and 4 motorized divisions.

古德里安的闪电战术得到充分验证，他指挥的第19装甲军隶属北路集团军群第4集团军，辖有1个装甲师、2个摩托化师和1个步兵师。

Three days after entering Poland, the 19th Panzer Corps commanded by Guderian annihilated three Polish infantry divisions and one cavalry brigade, with only 3 casualties killed and 1 injured.

Faced with the German blitzkrieg, the Polish army was defeated and completely unable to resist. Large tracts of territory fell and the army suffered heavy losses.

Russia declared war on Poland at 4:11 am on the th.

As the most powerful military district in Russia, the Warsaw Military District has four army groups, each of which is equipped with two armored divisions and two infantry divisions, with a total strength of nearly 50 people.

The Warsaw Military District has more than 1000 fighter jets and bombers.

The Polish army was unable to stop the German attack.

The addition of Russian troops caused the Polish army to collapse at a faster rate.

At 9 a.m. on the th, the German and Russian armies successfully joined forces near Lodz, Poland.

The scene that Britain and France expected did not occur.

There was no conflict between the German and Russian armies. The officers on both sides shook hands with each other, and the soldiers exchanged cigarettes and trophies together. The scene was extremely harmonious.

On the 11th, Sikorski, who had fled to London in a hurry, announced the establishment of a government in exile in London, calling on the Poles to unite and continue to fight the German army under the leadership of the government in exile.

On the 12th, some German troops began to withdraw from Poland and headed for the southern border.

On the same day, Russian armored forces also began to withdraw from Poland, leaving only a small number of guard troops to maintain local law and order.

The British and French were able to sit still. Seeing that the German army had turned south, French President Albert Lebrun decided to mobilize France.

Britain mobilized only one day earlier than France.

The news George received was that the French government was holding a meeting to discuss whether to stop the war with Germany.

France declared war on Germany to fulfill its promise to Poland.

Now that Poland no longer existed, there was no point in declaring war on Germany.

Army General Maxime Weygand, who had been Foch's chief of staff, suggested that France exit the war in an honorable manner.

“How can I be decent?”

There is no greater sorrow for Pétain than a dead heart.

Before the war broke out, Pétain suggested countless times that France purchase more fighter jets and more armored vehicles, extend the Maginot Line to the Franco-Belgian border, and completely eliminate hidden dangers.

Pétain's advice was ignored, as no one, including Albert Le Brun, wanted to invest precious funds in the unfathomable bottomless pit of national defense.

Before the outbreak of the last world war, France and Germany engaged in a fierce arms race, which ultimately led to the loss of a generation of French people.

Pétain was not the only French person who suffered the greatest sorrow.

"We can no longer be influenced by London, which wants us, the Germans, and the Russians dead so that Britain can dominate Europe."

Weygand suggested negotiations with Germany.

"That's not negotiation, that's surrender!"

Colonel Charles de Gaulle, who served as vice chairman of the Supreme War Council on Pétain’s staff, was furious and would not accept any form of surrender.

"Colonel, be aware of your identity!"

Weygand was very dissatisfied with de Gaulle's behavior. At a meeting of this level, a mere colonel should not have spoken.

"I am a Frenchman first, and a French officer second. Any upright Frenchman cannot accept any act of surrender."

De Gaulle refused to give in.

"Get out! Get out of my sight!"

Weygand was very angry. He did not surrender, he just wanted to prevent France from suffering greater losses.

In the last world war, both sides were still mainly equipped with machine guns and artillery, which caused France to lose a generation.

Today's wars are mainly fought with air forces and armored forces, which are more efficient in killing the enemy.

As Charles de Gaulle said, if France fights to the death, how many French people can survive the war?
If all the French were dead, the outcome of the war would not matter.

"Gentlemen, if we surrender, it will become a stain in French history that can never be erased. We can lose, but we cannot surrender."

De Gaulle had his own persistence.

(End of this chapter)