The sun never sets

During the World War, German soldiers often fought for days and nights without sleep because of the large amount of stimulants they used. The German high-level officials had already made up their minds to go to war, and if they could obtain the formula of the new stimulant from the alliance before they started, it would definitely enhance the combat effectiveness of the army.

Even if it fails, it can be used to confuse the Human Innovation Alliance and the Anglo-French Alliance, allowing the German army to gain a greater advantage the moment the war breaks out.

No matter what, Germany will not lose out.

In addition, William III married his daughter to Alexander Romanov Nicholas, who was not optimistic about the future of Germany or the future of the German royal family.

The Junkers had tried to betray the emperor, but the last time it was nothing. But what about the next time? If the war went against the plan of the General Staff, and Germany was once again on the brink of a life-or-death crisis, who could guarantee that the Junkers would not push the emperor out to take the blame again?

For the sake of the Hohenzollern family and her daughter's happiness, marrying Crown Prince Alexander is a good choice.

Chapter 903: Note

The Human Revolutionary League had always claimed to be peace-loving, and by 1938, the fact that the League loved peace had become widely known. The Human Revolutionary League's 400 tanks, more than aircraft, more than ships, and a standing army of more than million men could all prove this fact.

In this world of tension, the Alliance has the world's strongest power, but it does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries (the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries have expressed their opinions), adheres to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and does not engage in self-centeredness. It is simply a beacon in this dark world.

Look, scientists, businessmen and ordinary people all over the world are running to the alliance. The United States is at war, Spain is at war, and other places and other countries, as long as they have some strength, are expanding their armaments and preparing for war.

No one knows when a new round of world war will break out, or rather, the new world war has already begun.

But there is still hope for peace, right?

The People's Revolutionary League once again called for the use of negotiation rather than war to resolve the issue. Chen Tianhua, the president of the People's Revolutionary League, proposed to the major countries in the world to establish a real international organization to deal with the major contradictions in the world and prevent the outbreak of a war as tragic as the world war.

Chairman Chen Tianhua had a good idea, and Germany and the trade unions also sent people to attend the meeting in Shanghai. But the meeting lasted for a long time, and the result was no different from the previous one - there was no result at all.

Bismarck once said more than half a century ago, "The great problems of this era can only be solved with iron and blood."

This statement was applicable before the outbreak of the World War. In 1938, more than years after the end of the World War, Prime Minister Bismarck's iron-blooded declaration was still applicable.

The suggestions put forward by Comrade Chen Tianhua were good in their original intention, but the other powers scoffed at them, believing that it was a trick by the People's Revolutionary League to seize world hegemony without bloodshed and to conquer other countries by economic and cultural means.

Lin Yongchang agreed with the views of those foreign politicians. Comrade Chen Tianhua was a good man and perhaps he did not do it intentionally, but as long as the United Nations was established, the People's Revolutionary League would inevitably gain greater influence throughout the world, which was unacceptable to other powers.

Comrade Chen Tianhua proposed to establish the United Nations, but his goal was not achieved. His attempt to open up the international situation encountered setbacks, but he did not lose anything. He was not discouraged and started diplomatic work again, inviting Germany, France, Britain, Italy and other countries to participate in the Moscow Games, and proposed a new slogan for the Games, "Friendship first, competition second".

Various countries responded to the alliance's invitation and sent a number of athletes to participate.

Comrade Chen Tianhua had good intentions when he invited all countries to participate in the Games, but the final result was not so good. At the Moscow Games, athletes from all countries basically did not win a single cent, and all countries felt humiliated.

So, it made sense for Lin Yongchang to decide not to invite other countries to participate. In the sports games held by the alliance, referees will not like to blow black whistles like the British and Germans, and there will be no boxers who are beaten half to death but still win by points.

After the Moscow Games, countries have publicized a wave of abuse of doping in the league. If it weren't for drugs, how could people run so fast? 100 meters in just six seconds, this is a cheetah!

Although the People's Revolutionary League is the country with the strictest doping control in the world, foreign media still want to publicize it this way. The media selectively reports facts, and even false propaganda is never uncommon.

The event sparked a long period of discussion, and the world's attention was once again focused on the civil war between the United States and Spain. Because the two countries were in the midst of a civil war, the Alliance did not invite them to participate in the Moscow Games, and they had no intention of participating in sports competitions. In North America and the Iberian Peninsula, the fighting was still fierce and brutal, and a large number of soldiers and civilians died every day.

In August 1938, after more than two months of bloody battles, the Spanish Republican Army finally captured Granada, almost splitting the Nationalist Army's territory in two. In order to completely defeat Franco's Nationalist Army, the Spanish Republic gritted its teeth, endured the pain of food shortages and lack of consumer goods, and transported more troops and weapons and ammunition to the front line.

The Republican Army was not going to give the National Army a chance to regroup and planned to launch a more fierce attack to wipe out the National Army in one fell swoop.

The Iberian Peninsula is full of mountains, which is an excellent place for guerrilla warfare and defensive warfare. Napoleon's defeat began in Spain. Hundreds of thousands of French troops were trapped in Spain, consuming France's manpower and financial resources. The continental blockade policy was completely bankrupt, which led to Napoleon's choice of expedition to Russia, resulting in the tragedy of nearly annihilation of 600,000 troops.

The same is true in Spain now. Both the Republican Army and the National Army have a very difficult time attacking. After the National Army was dispersed, the defeated soldiers would spontaneously engage in mountain guerrilla warfare, causing great trouble to the Republican Army.

If the Spanish Republic relied on its own strength, it would not be able to capture Granada. If the Anglo-French Alliance had provided less assistance to the Spanish Republic and sent fewer volunteers, it would probably not have been able to capture Granada.

In the Iberian Peninsula, the Republican Army was caught in a vast sea of people. Franco's Falange was not a good thing either, and the red terror of the syndicalists was even more terrifying. Many Spaniards were faced with a dilemma. If they could, they didn't want to choose either side. But now Spain couldn't stay out of it, and couldn't tolerate a middle path, so they could only choose the fascist Falange.

This made the leaders of the trade unions very angry. They believed that some Spaniards did not care about the overall situation at all and had no sense of dedication, and they should all be thrown into labor reform camps!

A long and bloody war

The struggle is finally coming to an end. Although a great price has been paid, it doesn't matter. As long as the fascist regime is eliminated, the destroyed cities can be rebuilt, the army that suffered heavy casualties can be replenished, and the consumed ammunition can be produced again.

Spain had a population of over 4500 million before the Civil War, and should have had a population of nearly 4000 million after the war. This large population was enough to form dozens of labor reform camps and mobilize more than two million troops.

War is not only a contest of industrial capacity, but also a contest of population. The side with a larger population will definitely have more advantages.

However, just as the Republican Army was preparing to liberate the entire Iberian Peninsula, the German government suddenly sent a diplomatic note to the French Commune, demanding that the Anglo-French alliance stop supporting the Spanish Republic and withdraw its volunteer troops in Spain.

Chapter 904 Finally Here

A few days after the Moscow Games, the Human Innovation Alliance government released some engineering projects for the Fourth Five-Year Plan. Not too unexpected, the Alliance's Fourth Five-Year Plan mainly focused on strengthening infrastructure and investing heavily in high-tech industries such as biopharmaceuticals, electronics, and aviation.

The alliance will also build a brand new railway to test some new technologies. In addition, highways will continue to be built. The plan formulated by the People's Revolutionary League is very ambitious. Within five years, all major counties and cities in various places will be connected by highways.

This goal is too big. You know, the land area of the People's Revolutionary League exceeds 4000 million square kilometers. If all the counties are connected by highways, wouldn't the investment be sky-high?

What can't be done with so much money? Can the cost of building so many highways be recovered? It is said that the highways built by the alliance before took 20 years to pay back, and that was in the most prosperous areas. Now the alliance wants to connect cities in remote areas with highways. If you want to pay back the cost, won't it take 40 to 50 years?

Of course, the costs announced by the alliance may not be true, and the payback period may not be that long. However, the cost-effectiveness of highways is not high, which is something that many countries admit.

Germany tried to build a highway last year, but the high cost made officials at the Ministry of Finance so frustrated that they quickly halted the project.

Germany's national conditions are different from those of the Alliance. Germany's land area is not as vast as that of the Alliance, and the country is covered with railway networks, so transportation is already very convenient. It would be great to have highways as a supplement, but if there are none, the impact will not be that great.

After the Alliance announced some projects of the "Fourth Five-Year Plan", the Germans thought that the Alliance had too much money and had no place to spend it, but this was a good thing. Compared with investing funds in armaments, the hobby of building roads and railways seemed very lovely.

Then the German government sent a note to the French Commune.

Without waiting for a reply from the French Commune, the German government harshly criticized the French Commune and the Syndicalists for provoking wars around the world the next day, denounced Sebastian, Trotsky and others as "warmongers", and demanded that the Syndicalists stop supporting the Spanish Republic.

Naturally, the French Commune would not give the Germans a good look. The Paris Workers' Daily ridiculed the German government in a mocking tone, saying that William III probably inherited the madness of William II, which was why he kept doing some inappropriate things.

Although the French media was extremely contemptuous of the German government's actions, the leaders of the French Commune smelled danger from the German government's unusual actions.

The leaders of the trade unions contacted each other by telephone and prepared to hold a high-level meeting to deal with the German threat.

But things developed faster than the union leaders expected.

On the third day, intelligence came in that Germany was sending a large number of troops to the Rhineland. On the German railway lines, trains transporting troops and military supplies were running day and night. Germany was already mobilizing!

There had been news that Germany was about to go to war, but they had all been confirmed to be "the wolf is coming". This time the intelligence news said that Germany was about to invade. The French Commune's reaction was inevitably a little slow. After four days, it used two intelligence lines to confirm that the Germans were serious.

At about 11 o'clock that night, the French Commune also urgently issued an order for general mobilization. But everything seemed to be too late. The German government received news of the general mobilization of the French Commune and Britain in the early morning, and issued a message at about 5 o'clock in the morning, claiming that the French army crossed the border and attacked the German garrison. It also used large-caliber artillery to bombard a small German town on the border, killing and injuring 43 people.

The sound of the broadcast tore through the cold wind of the early morning. After repeating the important things three times, the female announcer said in a sonorous and powerful voice: "The great German nation cannot accept such humiliation and threats. His Majesty William III declares that the self-defense counterattack against France begins from this moment!"

The German ambassador to Paris got up in the middle of the night, opened the safe with the key, took out the document bag with trembling hands, then took a deep breath and read the contents of the document bag in the locked room.

"This day has finally come!"

The ambassador prepared what he needed, carefully dressed himself, and then drove to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the French Commune. At 5: in the morning,

The declaration of war was delivered to the French.

"From this moment on, the German Empire and the French Commune are at war!"

The diplomats of the French Commune were woken up in the middle of the night. They had already anticipated what would happen, but when the moment really arrived, their excited mood calmed down.

"It's such a tragedy."

"Yeah, it's a tragedy, and there's nothing we can do to stop it."

The diplomats of the German Empire, like those of the French Commune, were mostly just mouthpieces and had almost no say in the direction of national policy.

As the diplomats of the two countries exchanged polite words, the German army launched an attack on three fronts at the same time. Fierce artillery fire shook the earth, and hot shells exploded on the French positions. Heavy shells shattered the earth, and the soil rushed into the air like a column of water, and then fell down.

The French army immediately launched a counterattack, and the artillery deployed on the border fired back at the positions that had been marked. The French Commune has mainly done two things in the past few decades: developing production and preparing for war. The French Red Army is equipped with a large number of 305mm heavy artillery, and is no worse than the German army in terms of firepower delivery.

But the German army had made preparations in advance. Although it did not complete the total mobilization, it had more troops and firepower than the French Red Army on the border. In the artillery battle, the German railway guns and super cannons played a terrifying role. Every time those huge artillery fired a shell, there would be a sound like a train whistling. When it exploded on the ground, the fireball soared into the sky, like a bunch of orange mushrooms on the ground.

Especially the "super cannon" secretly developed by the German Krupp company, which shook the earth and mountains with one shot. The French fortress on the border could not withstand the 800mm caliber "super cannon". The 4000mm thick concrete cover and the 300mm thick steel plate below were blown to pieces.

Even though the French Red Army was blessed with "revanchism" and "syndicalism", they were still distraught and demoralized after seeing such a horrific scene.

Chapter 905 Believe it or not

The bombardment lasted for more than half an hour. When it was light, dense German fighter planes appeared in the sky. The German army dispatched more than 800 planes in the first wave and carried out large-scale bombing on airports in France and Belgium. The Netherlands was a neutral country during the World War and had given Germany a lot of help. Now it has become a target of the German army.

The Dutch government did not like the syndicates, nor did they want to stand on the side of the German Empire. They did not want to participate in a new round of world war. Like last time, doing business with both sides without offending either side, wouldn't that be great?

However, the situation this time is different from last time.

The aviation industry has developed rapidly over the past decade, which has greatly increased the range of bombers and the weight of bombs they carry. If Britain and France use airports in countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark, they can drop bombs on Berlin.

Therefore, the Netherlands cannot remain immune now. After the German attack, the airports in the Netherlands suffered a devastating blow, and a large number of aircraft were destroyed at the airports and hangars. The warehouses storing oil were hit by bombs dropped by Stuka dive bombers, and the oil warehouses exploded, igniting a huge fire.

Many ground crew members and other staff were ignited by the splashing flames, uttered tragic wails, and then turned into ashes in the flames.

France's airports on the eastern border were also hit, with more than 1,300 aircraft destroyed or malfunctioning. At the beginning of the war, the French Commune's air force suffered heavy losses.

However, due to radar warning and decades of persistent combat readiness, the French Air Force was not without the ability to fight back. Before the German planes arrived over France, the French took the opportunity to dispatch the Red Army.

A large number of fighters, fighter planes and interceptors took off from airports all over France, and after a slight formation, they flew to the air combat area and engaged in fierce battles with German planes painted with the Iron Cross.

France's population is still smaller than Germany's, but over the past decade or so, France's investment in armaments has been higher than Germany's, and the quality and quantity of the French Air Force far exceeded the German army's expectations.

The German Air Force did not gain much advantage in the air battles on the first day of the war, except for the huge victory in the first wave of raids. From the exchange ratio, the Germans had the upper hand. However, because the air battle took place in French airspace, many pilots landed in French territory after parachuting, so the German pilots suffered more losses than the French.

Elite pilots are scarce talents in any country. Germany lost dozens of elite pilots, which may not seem like a lot, but the German Air Force General Staff was deeply hurt.

In the air battle, the Germans had some advantages, but not enough to cover the sky. The situation was similar in the battle on the ground. After several hours of heavy bombing, the Germans launched a fierce attack.

During these years, the German army established a total of ten armored divisions, equipped with nearly 4000 tanks of various models. The most advanced of them were the Type 4 medium tank and the Tiger heavy tank. The most commonly equipped were the Type tanks, as well as various anti-tank guns and assault guns based on the Type tank's territory.

There was no other way. In order to deal with the thousands of tanks of the People's Revolutionary League in the east, Germany produced a large number of Type 3 tanks.

We spent a lot of money on so many equipments, we can't just throw them away. It's just that the armor is a little weak, it's not a big deal, at most we will just pierce through the enemy.

The German army made breakthroughs on the German-French border and the Derby border at the same time. The "super cannon" deployed in advance played a huge role. One shell hit a core fortress of the French Commune, opening a channel for the German army to advance.

However, because the French Commune built too many fortresses on the German-French border and deployed many infantry and armored divisions, the German attack towards the French mainland was very slow. It was necessary to open a passage through those densely packed fortresses and defeat the French Red Army in front of them before a breakthrough could be achieved.

The super cannon's firing rate was too slow, and its hit rate was not high either, requiring constant correction of its trajectory. Its previous success was purely due to good luck, but good luck could not always favor the Germans.

The German army really made rapid progress in the direction of Belgium. Everything was a familiar plan and a familiar route. The Liege Fortress was still standing in the way of the German army. The Belgian army retreated step by step in the face of the powerful German offensive and retreated to the vicinity of the Liege Fortress, preparing to rely on the fortress to hold on, just like last time.

The French Red Army's resistance on the German-French border was strong, which was a good thing, because the main force of the French Red Army was not in Belgium. It would take some time for the British expeditionary force to cross the sea. As long as they took advantage of this rare vacuum period to sweep Belgium, and then made a right hook at the strategic level to annihilate the main force of the French Red Army, victory would fall into the hands of the German Empire!

The German Supreme Commander used the same old trick again, taking out the "Schlieffen Plan" from the archive and using it again, betting that the British and French allies would never expect the German army to do this.

On the first day of the war, the hearts of the people in the German Supreme Command were hanging. William III remained calm and looked very steady on the surface, but his fingers were shaking constantly.

After a whole day of fighting, the German army suffered heavy losses but achieved great results. Not only did they inflict heavy damage on the enemy on the battlefield, but they also won a major victory in diplomacy. The Human Reform Alliance did not make any strong comments on the German attack, but only made some bland remarks about opposing war and striving for peace.

The People's Revolutionary League seemed to have really focused on domestic construction, or perhaps the previous conflict with the trade unions led to a change in the People's Revolutionary League's attitude towards the Anglo-French alliance.

The top leaders of the German government all knew that the People's Revolutionary League would not always be like this. Even if there was a deep hatred between the People's Revolutionary League and the French Commune, they would never want to see the French Commune being completely defeated by the German army.

But all Germany needed was one or two months. As long as the main force of the French Red Army was annihilated during this period, Germany would be free from the dilemma of being attacked from both sides.

In order to stabilize the Human Revolutionary Alliance, the German government sent its foreign minister to Chang'an, reiterating the German Empire's desire to coexist peacefully with the Human Revolutionary Alliance, and stating that the German army's attack on the French Commune was to resolve the Spanish issue. If the French Commune agreed to withdraw its troops from the Iberian Peninsula, the German army was willing to stop the attack.

Whether others believe it or not, the German Foreign Minister himself believes it.

Chapter 906: Adding fuel to the flames

After Germany attacked the French Commune, the People's Revolutionary League had a very cold attitude, as if it had nothing to do with the alliance. Of course, there are no completely unrelated things in this world. The People's Revolutionary League increased the number of active troops in major European military regions, but the increase was not large. It mainly increased the combat readiness level and carried out a large-scale expansion of military academies at all levels.

Germany's manpower and industrial power are always limited. It is impossible for it to take the initiative to attack the People's Revolutionary League while fighting the French Commune. Before taking Paris, the People's Revolutionary League does not have to worry about the German army launching "Barbarossa".

The day after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, trains from the People's Revolutionary League continued to enter Germany as normal, carrying trainloads of iron ore, metal ingots, grain and other supplies.

At the same time, the Alliance's merchant ships and cargo ships sailed into the ports of the French Commune as usual, carrying a lot of machinery and food.

The industrial strength of the French Commune was very strong, even surpassing Germany in some aspects. However, the sequelae of the trade union's one-sided emphasis on heavy industry were also very serious. Agriculture in France had not improved. Even with the investment of a large amount of agricultural machinery and equipment and the use of a lot of pesticides and fertilizers, the per-acre yield of the French Commune's fields was still in a sluggish state.

Sebastian once criticized French farmers, saying that they "have no sense of ownership" and "don't care how the wheat grows in the fields." Trotsky also criticized the agricultural sector for holding the country back.

Criticism and other means did not change the lack of food in the French commune. France's mainland area is not large enough, the amount of land available for cultivation is limited, and it has lost all its overseas colonies. No matter what ideology, it cannot change this situation.

As a result, the French Commune, like Britain and Germany, had to import millions of tons of grain from abroad every year. Previously, the French Commune imported grain mainly from the United States, and later from the Central American Syndicalist Alliance and South America.

After the American Civil War, Americans wanted "guns, not butter", and several US governments expanded the scale of the military industry.

With millions of troops trained and a large number of people fleeing the country, the United States' agricultural production has been greatly damaged. Now Americans themselves are starving and can no longer export food and agricultural products on a large scale as before.

The United States was mired in the Civil War, but the French still had to eat. The leaders of the union searched the world for food, and finally found that the only one that could stably provide millions of tons of food and agricultural products was the Human Innovation Alliance.

Germany also imported food from the United States five years ago, but now it has no choice but to change its supplier to the People's Revolutionary League. As a result, the food suppliers behind Germany and the British-French alliance, who are fighting fiercely on the battlefield, all come from the People's Revolutionary League.

Since there is only one major supplier left, the price increase of grain and agricultural products is inevitable. The alliance has granaries such as Ukraine, Henan, Hebei, and the three northeastern provinces, as well as livestock grazing lands such as the Central Asian steppes, the southern and northern deserts, and Australia. The output of grain and other agricultural products is sufficient, but the price increase will still be necessary.

Because the People's Revolutionary League raised the price of grain exports, Germany and the British and French allies were very dissatisfied and believed that the People's Revolutionary League was taking advantage of the situation. The media of various countries rarely spoke in unison and criticized the People's Revolutionary League's actions.