The sun never sets

In contrast, the media controlled by the German government, although they often slandered the People's Revolutionary League, were more restrained. After all, the League deployed 500,000 troops in Poland and the Baltic Sea, built many military camps, fortresses, fortresses, warehouses, and airports, which were said to be defensive in nature, but who knew if they would become offensive in nature?

Because of the many military facilities, the People's Revolutionary League can easily expand the number of people in the Polish military district to two million or three million. The military exercises a few years ago proved this.

Out of respect for the Alliance's strong mobilization capabilities and the thousands of tanks deployed in Europe, Germany generally does not go too far when it comes to the Black Revolutionary League. If it goes too far, the Alliance's Ministry of Foreign Affairs will protest, and the German government will warn the domestic media.

Whether it is the Anglo-French alliance or Germany and Italy, they have been expanding their military forces and preparing for war for a long time. The warehouses are filled with produced weapons and ammunition. If those things are not used, they will just be a pile of scrap copper and iron.

These countries are full of huge internal pressure. If Yali doesn't vent it, she will explode. The alliance is preparing for the fourth five-year plan, which means that the Human Innovation Alliance will use its strength for domestic construction for at least five years. Can such a godsend opportunity be missed?

In Spain, the League's retreat was coming to an end. More than a million people left the Iberian Peninsula on the League's ships. The People's Revolutionary League did not conduct extensive propaganda and mobilization, but only notified the Spaniards within its jurisdiction. Those who were willing to leave took a ship across the ocean to the Arabian Peninsula, Australia, Siberia and other places.

The living conditions in those places are not good. If you go there, you will definitely suffer a lot at first, and you may suffer for the rest of your life. This has discouraged many Spaniards from fleeing. Otherwise, the number of people willing to follow the Spanish People's Party would be far more than one million.

As the six-month deadline approached, most of those who were willing to leave had left, but a new problem arose. After some Spaniards in the Nationalist and Republican territories learned the news, they tried their best to escape to the Spanish People's Party territory, hoping to be evacuated with them, even if it meant going to Siberia to grow potatoes.

In fact, not everyone will be assigned to a remote place. The Alliance's Immigration Administration will assign jobs based on the skills that individuals possess. As long as you have a skill, you don't have to worry about going hungry.

Those people fled with their families, and they had to cross the border on the way. The Republican and Nationalist troops on the border could not fail to see the large-scale escape of Spaniards across the border, and then a new incident occurred.

"Comrade Rodriguez, I order you to attack those people immediately!"

"Comrade Captain, those people are unarmed, they are just civilians..."

"Comrade Rodriguez!"

The captain said sternly: "They are not civilians, they are enemies of the people! Otherwise, why don't they work hard instead of fleeing to the enemy-occupied area? Comrade Rodriguez, you must correct your thinking and don't be corrupted!"

Rodriguez was taken aback, "I'm not...I didn't..."

"I order you to destroy the enemies of the people!"

"......Yes! I promise to complete the mission, Comrade Captain!"

The Republican Army eliminated a group of Spaniards who wanted to sneak away, and launched an attack on the shelter on the other side of the border, killing and wounding hundreds of people. The Republican Army's attack attracted a counterattack from the Spanish People's Army, and the scale of the battle became larger and larger. At the beginning, it was just a company-level confrontation, but soon, more troops joined in.

The Republican Army used 105mm light howitzers to defeat the Spanish People's Army and occupied a town on the border. Two hours later, the Spanish People's Army's long-range artillery covered the entire town. The power and range of the 155mm heavy howitzers were far superior to the Republican Army's 105mm light howitzers. Hundreds of heavy grenades blew the town into ruins, and a battalion of Republican troops was destroyed by artillery shells.

The sudden battle triggered an escalation of the war. The Spanish People's Army stopped retreating and began to send reinforcements to the northern front. The main force of the Alliance's Mediterranean Task Force set out from Alexandria and entered the western Mediterranean. The strengthened Mediterranean Task Force was even stronger. Wei Guangju sent out three battleships and two aircraft carriers, threatening French shipping in the south.

Because Gibraltar was controlled by Franco's National Army, the French Red Navy and the British Red Navy

The main force of the French Commune could not enter the Mediterranean for the time being. The naval strength that the French Commune could use in the Mediterranean direction was not enough to fight against the powerful Alliance task force, and it could only watch the Alliance navy show off its power.

In the "April Fool's Day Incident", the battleships of the French Red Navy clashed with the battleships of the Alliance. The Alliance battleships, with larger tonnage and better fire control systems, won.

If the Red Navy's main fleet could not break into the Mediterranean, the French Commune would have no way to fight against the Allied task force.

Chapter 900: Toast

The fighting between the Spanish People's Army and the Spanish Republican Army eventually subsided and did not evolve into a new round of war as many people had hoped.

Since the Alliance had already decided to withdraw from Spain, it had to swallow its losses. Spain was too far away from the Alliance. Although the Alliance Navy could now enter and exit the Suez Canal, as long as it did not control this transportation hub, the Alliance would always be controlled by others.

The conflict was resolved, and the League handed over most of its territory and weapons and equipment to the Spanish National Army as a revenge against the Republican Army. The People's Revolutionary League left behind a lot of weapons and equipment, including more than 600 fighter planes and 400 tanks, more than 3500 machine guns and 700 mortars, in addition to more than cannons.

Most of these weapons are not the most advanced equipment, but there are also new weapons such as DShK (Type 30) heavy machine guns, 155mm howitzers, and J-4 fighter jets.

Franco was ecstatic after receiving this batch of weapons. The National Army's officer corps had good fast food and high morale, but their weapons and equipment had always been poor. Light weapons were okay, but heavy weapons were seriously lacking. With this batch of weapons and equipment left by the Alliance, the National Army's combat effectiveness would be further improved.

Germany and Italy asked Franco for some 155mm heavy howitzers and J-4 fighter jets, which they planned to transport back to their homeland for research. Franco did not agree at first, but communicated with the alliance. After obtaining the alliance's consent, he transferred varying amounts of weapons and equipment to Germany and Italy.

Ever since Jose Sanjujo died in a plane crash, Franco has been in power and has gradually become a dictator. He cannot be considered a good man, but he is relatively sober and knows the power gap between Spain and the Alliance. He is unwilling to offend financial backers like Italy and Germany, nor is he willing to offend the Human Reform Alliance.

If possible, Franco would not even be willing to be an enemy of the Anglo-French alliance. If he could eliminate the Republican Army in the north, he would not be as eager to join the world hegemony as other countries, but would focus on domestic development.

Although Spain is large in area and has a large population, it is not as large as Italy and does not have the strength to compete for hegemony. In another time and space, Franco planned to do so, and in this world, Franco is still prepared to do so.

However, in this world, the enemies he faced were much more powerful.

The Spanish Republican Army in the north was not to be feared, but the volunteers sent by the British and French alliance were the biggest enemy of the National Army. Even if they took the territory and weapons and equipment left by the Spanish Popular Party, the National Army could not achieve a decisive victory on the battlefield.

Spain's industrial strength was poor to begin with, and most of it was destroyed by the war. The little industrial strength that remained was only enough to repair some weapons and equipment and to build a few rifles.

Without the strong support of Germany and Italy, the Spanish National Army would surely be gradually weakened in the continuous fighting and slowly bleed to death.

Night Raid Group: 69④⑨, 361③5 In order to change this situation, Franco asked for help from the League. The League gave him 10,000 Mauser rifles, nothing else. The People's Revolutionary League was not a charity, and had no other ideas about Spain. The reason why they left those weapons and equipment to the National Army was undeniably to retaliate against the Republican Army, but the main reason was that the shipping cost was too expensive.

It would cost a lot of money to transport those weapons and equipment back to the Arabian Peninsula. Most of the weapons are outdated and in Tibet, so it would be better to leave them to Franco.

If the National Army wants more weapons, they need to spend real money to buy them. Although Spain's industrial strength is relatively weak, it is a country with a population of more than 4500 million after all, and it has accumulated some wealth over the years.

In the era when Spain dominated the world, the Spanish brought back a large amount of gold and silver from the Americas. Most of these hard currencies were lost later, but some of them were still left.

The Spanish Republic's gold had already been shipped to London, and the National Army's gold was still stored in the vault in Malaga. Franco needed a lot of things, and he didn't mind exchanging gold for airplanes and tanks, or weapons production lines and steel mills, but he also had to consider the views of the German government.

Germany not only provided a lot of assistance to Franco, but also sent troops to participate in the war. Although the number of German volunteers was not as large as that of the French Commune and the United Kingdom sent to Spain, the hundreds of thousands of volunteers played an important role in the war.

Many important battles, including the battle to retake Barcelona, were fought by German volunteers. If the gold was to be transported away, it would have to be transported to Berlin.

Franco was unwilling to give up the gold in his hands, and the alliance did not care. The People's Revolutionary League's gold reserves had reached more than 70% of the world's total. A few hundred tons more or a few hundred tons less would be enough.

Gold will not be affected much.

Before evacuating Spain, the military advisers of the League advised Franco to withdraw the gold and factories to Africa. If they lost the civil war, they could still gain a foothold in Africa under the name of Morocco.

Of course, this proposal was rejected by Franco. The National Army was now strong and ready to wipe out all the Republican bastards and recover the entire Iberian Peninsula. How could they listen to the suggestion of "Tiger in Africa"?

The alliance only made suggestions and didn't take care of the rest. The current focus of the People's Revolutionary League is on Ethiopia and Egypt. Both countries are relatively backward, and rapid development requires a lot of funds and related technologies.

The People's Revolutionary League imitated the story of the Persian Empire and provided a large amount of low-interest loans to Ethiopia and Egypt to purchase machinery and weapons of the alliance. Similarly, the alliance sent a military advisory group to help Ethiopia and Egypt train their troops and build military factories and supporting factories upstream and downstream.

Unlike their German counterparts, the Alliance's military advisory group did not always keep the issue of arms sales in mind. Instead, it started from the actual conditions of each country and helped them build their national defense capabilities quickly, efficiently and economically.

When considering military equipment, most of them are simple and practical. For example, the military advisers of the alliance did not recommend Ethiopia to equip them with artillery of a certain caliber, nor did they recommend them to form armored forces, because the cost-effectiveness was too low. It would be better to equip them with more mountain artillery and anti-tank guns, which could play a greater role.

The situation in Egypt is different from that in Ethiopia. There are not so many mountains in Egypt, but there are large areas of desert and open and flat terrain, which is a good place for tank troops to roam freely.

However, the Egyptian government does not have the money to form a large-scale armored force. Therefore, the alliance's advice to the Egyptians is to form one or two rapid reaction forces, equipped with a small number of the alliance's "Type 24 tanks". The main force should still be cavalry and infantry, while enhancing mobility and taking firepower into account.

In addition, the alliance also sold a batch of warships that were about to be decommissioned and stored to Egypt at a very low price, in an effort to strengthen the Egyptian Navy's self-defense capabilities.

Germany can win over Egypt, and so can the People's Revolutionary League, which is much stronger than the German Empire. If Egypt refuses to accept the toast, it can also drink the penalty wine.

Chapter 901: Once Again

The German government has been waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to completely break the strategic dilemma. And now, the opportunity has come to the Germans.

Because of the events in Spain and the previous series of events, the relationship between the Human Innovation Alliance and the Syndicate has reached a freezing point, and they are almost on the verge of a fight. This is a pity, but the situation is still in the favor of the German Empire.

The Anglo-French alliance sent millions of volunteers to North America, and Spain sent 500,000 to 600,000 troops, which were already mired in the quagmire of the remaining wars. Although Germany also sent troops to North America and Spain, the number was far less than that sent by the Syndicalists.

At this point in time, the German Empire had a great advantage over the trade unions.

At the end of 1937, the League announced that it was preparing the fourth five-year plan and would disclose some projects and details of the plan in the second half of the year. However, the German top leaders had already made up their minds to go to war.

Perhaps there will be better opportunities in the future, but it is more likely that such a good opportunity will never appear again. Germany is not fully prepared for war, but is the Anglo-French alliance ready for a total war?

William III was worried about the prospects of war. He would never forget the last world war. The marshals and generals said that this was the best possible outcome, and he agreed. But could they really win?

During the World War, Germany was on the brink of collapse. When the Battle of the Emperor broke out, the sailors in the port of Kiel launched an uprising, and the previous German emperor was ready to seek refuge in the Netherlands.

Will things really change this time?

"The great German Empire will surely win!"

William III did not comment, but asked worriedly: "Halder, will the People's Revolutionary League really not invade Germany while our army is at war with the French public?"

"Your Majesty, the People's Revolutionary League's military deployment in Europe is defensive in nature. It will take at least three months to adjust to an offensive state. If our army can quickly capture Paris, the People's Army will definitely not dare to take action."

Another quick victory theory? William III felt that the battle plan put forward by the General Staff was no different from that of the last World War. It was basically a replica of the "Schlieffen Plan" with only a few modifications to adapt to the application of new weapons. This showed the rigidity and stubbornness of the German General Staff.

The terrain and numerous fortresses in Western Europe greatly restricted the German army's offensive routes, but this was not a reason to use the "Schlieffen Plan" again.

Can't we think of another way? Must we knock out Belgium first and then throw a right hook?

William III was not optimistic about the battle plan drawn up by the General Staff. The "Schlieffen Plan" did have many bright spots, but its drawbacks were also obvious. Moreover, Germany had already used it once, so wouldn't the French be prepared for this?

It's not that no one has proposed other plans. There are more than a dozen counter-attack plans in the archives of the General Staff. However, all the counter-attack plans have various problems. It is better to start from the "Schlieffen Plan".

It is as good as the "yellow plan" derived from it.

In addition, Erich von Manstein, the first assistant to the Chief of General Staff Ludwig, proposed a new combat plan. The new plan would place the main force of the offensive on the southern wing of the offensive force. The basic combat idea was to destroy the enemy's defense line between Liège and Sedan by exposing the southern wing.

To this end, Army Group A would use powerful mechanized and armored forces to attack from the south, cut off all the enemy's forces deployed in Belgium, and then cooperate with Army Group B to destroy these forces. The mission of Army Group B was to quickly occupy the Netherlands, on the one hand to contain the enemy forces in Belgium, and on the other hand to prevent Britain from using the territory of the Netherlands to attack Germany.

Manstein believed that the offensive must seek to force the enemy to a decisive battle on the ground, and suggested that the focus of the attack should be placed on Army Group A from the beginning, using armored forces to break through the Ardennes Mountains. Once the danger of the enemy's flank attack was eliminated, all available forces should be turned to the north to help destroy the main British and French forces trapped there.

Erich von Manstein had submitted six related memoranda, but the Army High Command was unwilling to adopt them, and the General Staff also believed that his plan was fantastic and unfeasible.

Germany secretly assembled troops on the Western Front. Manstein sensed that war was about to break out, and there was no time for him to further perfect his plan. So Manstein used some connections to send his battle plan to William III. William III read the "Manstein Plan" carefully and appreciated it very much.

The German Emperor summoned Manstein and asked him about his battle plan in detail. Manstein explained his plan in detail with great interest. He told William III that the German Army did not have an overwhelming advantage and must concentrate on using armored forces to defeat the slow with the fast, like the "Battle of the Emperor", to annihilate the main forces of the British and French coalition forces in one fell swoop.

William III was attracted by the prospect described by Manstein and mentioned Manstein's plan to the General Staff. The General Staff received His Majesty the Emperor very politely, listened to William III's suggestion very attentively, and then said that the General Staff would seriously consider it.

The so-called "consideration" actually means refusal. The German military's combat system is somewhat different from that of other countries. The superiors often delegate tasks to their subordinates. As long as the subordinate troops can complete the task, the superiors cannot interfere with the means used, including the command of the front-line generals.

The old Japanese army learned from the German General Staff system and also adopted this method.

The General Staff cannot completely limit the combat plans and methods of the front-line troops. Similarly, His Majesty the Emperor cannot interfere too much with the General Staff. In the case of opposition from the General Staff, if William III wants to force Manstein's plan, he must replace the chief of the General Staff.

William III had received a complete military education since childhood, had led troops in battles, and was very familiar with the military rules. Therefore, after learning the opinions of the General Staff, William III hesitated.

He was willing to support Manstein's plan, but he did not want to go against the General Staff, nor did he think of replacing the Army Chief of Staff for this reason.

After communicating with the General Staff, William III backed off. The Second German Empire was neither an absolute monarchy nor a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, but a dual constitutional monarchy within the constitutional monarchy. The German emperor did not have supreme power and authority.

Chapter 902 Preparation

The German top leaders had already made up their minds to go to war and began to gradually reduce aid to the Confederate States of America and the Spanish National Army. Through a series of dazzling transfers, they transferred the main force of the German Volunteer Army back to their homeland.

The troops on the Western Front began to replenish the front-line combat forces, officers stopped taking leave, and a large amount of military supplies were transported to the Rhine region, etc. Some of these things were done secretly, as there were many secrets in the army, and they were not very eye-catching; some were done openly, such as the transfer of generals and troops, and stricter management of the railway system.

Germany is a militarized country, known as a country with its own army. The troops are regularly trained and the generals are frequently transferred. These are commonplace things, and no one should be able to discover that Germany is about to start a war.

However, the Syndicalist intelligence officers still found out a lot of information and warned the French Commune and Syndicalist Britain, "Germany is about to start a war!"

I have to say that the trade union has done a good job in intelligence work. The problem is that similar warnings have appeared too many times in the past few years. As the number of times they appear increases, the attention they receive gradually decreases.

At the beginning, when the French Commune received news of the impending German invasion, its response was to hastily increase the level of combat readiness and begin mobilization, but in the end nothing happened.

Mobilization costs money, and it costs a lot of money. If the war doesn't break out, all the money will be wasted. The mobilized French Red Army could take the initiative to attack Germany, but the international situation at the time did not allow the French Red Army to do so.

[Human Innovation Alliance] stood by and watched during the world war, waiting until both sides were exhausted and at the end of their rope before swooping in to take advantage. Do we want to let this happen a second time?

The French Commune

The leadership failed to make up its mind, and in the hesitation and debate, the opportunity was lost. The same thing happened eight or ten times, and even the French Commune, which was bent on revenge, became tired of the news of "Germany's imminent invasion."

Everyone knew that the German Empire was preparing for war, but preparing for war was not the same as going to war. The French Commune was not ready to completely resolve its old enemy, and the German Empire was the same.

Could this "alarm" be the same as before, with intelligence personnel misjudging the normal movement of German troops as a precursor to an attack?

The leaders of the trade unions were unaware and just followed the previous practice of paying close attention to the matter. It was easy for the leaders to issue orders, but the specific things were done by the people below. When the same thing is done too many times, it is inevitable that fatigue will occur. The comrades may still take it seriously, but compared with the first time, they are obviously much more slack.

Moreover, the German government invited Alexander to visit Berlin and was discussing with the league about sending a team to the Moscow Games. The league was not very interested in the Olympics. It participated in each event, but only sent a few teams at random. Those athletes were not upset when they could not win the championship, and they were not particularly happy when they won the medals.

An Olympic 100-meter race champion was once asked what he felt after winning the award. His answers were, "The league championship is too difficult to win," and "I was eliminated in the Chang'an Games trials, so I had to come to the Olympics."

This statement caused an uproar in public opinion at the time, and many people angrily said that the league's athletes were arrogant and disrespectful. However, after the reporter conducted an in-depth investigation of the matter, it was found that the situation was just as the athlete said.

The league held a national sports meeting every four years, with the main venue switching back and forth between Moscow and Chang'an. At the Chang'an Games, the league's highest record for the 6-meter race was 28 seconds. The sprinter who won the Olympic gold medal could only run 9 seconds. Within the league, he was not even rated as a second-level athlete, so he had to participate in the Olympics.

There are too many similar cases, and after they were disclosed one after another, they had a great impact on many people's worldviews. 100 meters in more than 6 seconds, is this really the speed that humans can achieve?

Many people doubt that these data are false, but there is a lot of evidence to prove that they are true. There are many strong men in Mianmeng who are stronger than big animals. Whether it is strength, speed or endurance, they have reached an extremely exaggerated level.

If they were not reproductively isolated from ordinary humans, they could almost be considered a different species.

The Alliance's sports games usually do not include other countries. Germany wants to participate in the Moscow Games this time, not only to expand its international influence and improve its relations with the People's Revolutionary League, but also to take this opportunity to get the "physical performance enhancers" used by the Alliance.

The common international explanation for the league's exaggerated achievements in sports competitions is that the league has developed a new type of stimulant. France, Britain and Germany all used stimulants extensively during the war, and those things can indeed allow humans to exert physical strength beyond their limits.

Many years ago, the chemical industry of the People's Revolutionary League was very developed. There were many new theories and achievements in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, and new drugs such as sulfonamides and penicillin were developed.

If the alliance can produce a better stimulant than "ice", then all countries can accept it. Otherwise, do they have to believe in the theory of racial superiority? This is absolutely not possible!

It’s good enough that European and American countries don’t resort to “white supremacy” now. How can they admit that they are an inferior race?

Since we cannot admit that the Alliance's race is superior, then it can only be the effect of the new stimulant. Drugs that can enhance physical fitness are not only useful in sports competitions, but also more useful on the battlefield.