Fighter planes roared, loud noises exploded, and huge waves of fire burst out one after another from the British merchant ships, setting off soaring flames, scorching and dazzling like lighthouse torches. The turtle-speed merchant ships that fled in all directions were like sheep with broken legs in front of the flying warplanes, and there was no chance of resistance or escape at all. With the precise fall of bombs, all 23 merchant ships were turned into floating incendiary materials in less than an hour, and three of the oil tankers exploded earth-shatteringly and disappeared into the sea in an instant!

"What a shocking ocean massacre!" Looking at the scene of thick smoke and fire billowing on the sea, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas, who commanded the attack, said in extreme shock. Although he knew that the British merchant ships could not withstand the attacks of his fighters, he never expected such an astonishing result: after a round of attacks, the British fleet was directly crippled to death, and more than 20 merchant ships were not spared! Both the number of enemy ships sunk and the time it took to reap this result were too shocking!

At this time, even though many merchant ships were still struggling at sea, Thomas knew that their sinking was only a matter of time. Not to mention whether these fragile civilian ships can withstand the devastating destruction of the ********, the mere fact that they have entered the water and stalled in large numbers declares that they will never be able to reach their destination. The German fleet was nearby, and a few more bombers could send these merchant ships to the bottom of the sea. In addition, these stalled merchant ships were the favorites of German submarines, who absolutely did not mind taking away the heads of merchant ships with a few shells!

Two hours passed quickly, and the sea gradually returned to calm from the tumult and boiling - for most of the British merchant ships that had been shot had sunk into the sea to meet Poseidon. A large amount of debris floated and sunk with the waves, including nearly a hundred British sailors. Although the German pilots showed the utmost sympathy for the poor creatures, all they could do was inform them in plain terms that there was a British crew overboard; As for making them merciful to the British ships, it is absolutely impossible to do so. Even anti-submarine tugs could significantly affect the hunting operations of the German Navy. Their presence would have made it impossible for German submarines to surface and attack targets with the most efficient deck guns.

"Confirmed sinking of 20 merchant ships totaling 110,000 tons, while sinking 2 anti-submarine tugboats." Thomas, who had been hovering high in the air, observed for the last time. Although he was curious to know when the remaining three merchant ships with thick smoke would sink, neither the fuel on the plane nor the time it was approaching evening allowed him to linger any longer. After a dashing turn, Thomas whistled the plane back in the direction of the mothership, and the communicator sitting in the back row flew his fingers, and soon sent a telegram of the battle report over the mothership.

"With just a few more attacks like this, the great Führer will be able to telegraph and reward us again, right?" The messenger who had finished sending the telegram spoke softly. His expression was full of piety and fanaticism. Thomas was also excited in his heart, and nodded heavily: "The Führer has been watching his warriors, and our efforts will surely be rewarded." ”

The war in the North Atlantic is fierce, and the German fleet is frantically strangling British merchant ships at an unprecedented speed; Thousands of kilometers away in Central Europe, the German Army has also created brilliant martial arts that have shocked the world.

From 7 September, the outcome of the Polish campaign was settled. The main force of the Polish army, which consisted of more than 35 divisions, was quickly divided and surrounded, and soon fell into an extremely disadvantageous situation of isolation and logistical disconnection. At the same time, the German army, which had absolute air superiority, violently attacked Poland's railways, bridges, barracks, warehouses and other key parts, nipping in the bud the counterattack plan of the latter's strategic reserves. And the infantry units that followed the advance of the mechanized corps. It is like a giant anvil that weighs more than a mountain; They rumbled unstoppably across the plains beneath their feet, crushing all the Polish troops in the encirclement!

Although the Polish soldiers showed amazing bravery under the strong nationalism of the "Pingduzhenlu", they were absolutely inferior in strength and equipment. But it can only be a useless sacrifice as a moth to a fire. Their resistance was quickly crushed and dissolved. Tens of thousands of officers and soldiers were bloodied on the battlefield, and many more were beaten to the point that their fighting spirit collapsed, and they laid down their arms and walked into the German prisoner of war camps. The Polish armed forces began to be erased by the formation. It collapsed faster than any previous war.

A week later, the remnants of the Polish government, which had been bombed and strafed by German warplanes. Flee to a village on the Romanian border. At this time, there were less than 20 people left in the original team of hundreds of people, and the rest were either killed under the German air raids, or took advantage of the chaos to flee for their lives, completely abandoning this leaky and stormy broken ship. They have lost all contact with the outside world, and their unkempt and dusty mess is like beggars; The coarse, dry country bread was completely unpalatable to these pampered politicians, who retched even when soaked in warm water. In the dim light of the grass hut at night, the faces of these exiled Polish government officials were full of desolation and despair, and their self-esteem and their dreams had been completely destroyed in just half a month, and even the faintest light could not be seen!

Now it was the turn of the Soviet Union to invade the ravaged and ruined country and seize its share of the stolen goods.

In Moscow, the Kremlin, like all other governments, was taken aback at how quickly the German military invasion of Poland was progressing. Stalin originally thought that even if Germany had a clear military advantage, it would take at least three months to defeat Poland, which also had a million-strong army, but he did not expect that these Hans would be so fierce that they would defeat the Poles in just ten days! In the face of the change in the situation, the Soviet Union must launch a military operation against Poland in advance, otherwise in October, the whole of Poland will be swallowed up by Germany, and what interests will the Soviet Union have at that time?

Stalin, in desperation, could no longer care about his own face, and immediately ordered his loyal lackey, Foreign Minister Molotov, to find the German ambassador to Moscow, Schulenburg, and ask him a series of questions that went straight to the core. When will Warsaw be captured? Was Germany prepared to abide by the agreement of the secret treaty concerning the partition of Poland along the borders? If the Soviet Union sent troops to blame Germany, would Germany be willing? The pace of German progress in Poland was so alarming that the Soviet Union could not find a suitable excuse to annex this immediate neighbor in a short period of time.

Although Stalin's brutality was well known throughout the Soviet leadership, he had to make a glorious gesture as the great heir of Lenin, the teacher of the poor proletariat, in front of his own people and the world, so that the Soviet Union under his rule could never show the image of an aggressor.

On the evening of September 15, Ribbentrop forwarded to Molotov a "special urgent top secret" telegram through the German ambassador. These questions were answered. In his telegram, he said that the Germans would be able to occupy Warsaw in the next few days. Germany was willing to abide by her border commitments to the Soviet Union and welcomed the Soviet Union's "military action now." As for the Soviet Union's intention to find an excuse to place the charge of sending troops on Germany, that is "absolutely unacceptable," which is contrary to the spirit of the Moscow Agreement of 23 August, and will cause the Soviet Union and Germany to appear in front of the world as hostile to each other. Finally, Ribbentrop demanded that the Soviets determine the date and time of their attack on Poland as soon as possible.

Although Germany refused to take the blame for the Soviet invasion of the West, Stalin also got the answer he wanted. The Germans had not yet turned against the Soviets because of their prowess in Poland, which allowed them to carry out the envisaged annexation. As for the offensive pretext, Stalin also after a day of thinking. A reason worthy of a masterpiece of sophistry was devoured: "Since the Polish state has collapsed and ceased to exist, all agreements concluded with Poland are null and void, and third countries may take advantage of the present state of confusion." The Soviet government considered it its duty to intervene to protect its fellow Ukrainians and Belarusians so that it would be possible for these unfortunate people to live and work in peace. ”

Since Germany is the only country that may be referred to here, Schulenburg strongly disagrees with this wording. However, Molotov awkwardly told him that he hoped that Germany would not care about these details, because the Soviet government could only find such a deaf reason for now. Facing Schulenburg's uncertain gaze. Molotov, who knew he was wrong, hastily ended their meeting; In any case, he had to let the Germans carry part of the black pot for themselves.

In the early morning of September 17, the Soviet Western Front began to enter the eastern Polish territory in a big way. Although the Soviet High Command did not issue a war ******, the vast territory and relatively sparse railways made the red bear react far less fast than that of the Franco-German countries. But since Moscow had a specific plan to attack Poland a month earlier, the army stationed in Belarus also had a high degree of flexibility after weeks of preparation. Extremely fortunate for the Soviet troops, the Poles had already been crushed by Germany. Their movements met with little resistance, and the vanguard of their southern flank declared a rendezvous with the Germans at Brest the next day. If not, with the quality of the Soviet army after the Great Purge. It's really not easy to beat the Poles!

"The purpose of the Soviet Red Army's entry into Polish territory is exactly the opposite of the propaganda of some Western imperialist countries: it shows that the Soviet government has shown a noble class fraternity that transcends the international borders of the war-torn Polish people! We have fully implemented our solemn declaration of protection for the oppressed of the world and saved the Polish people from the abyss of suffering. The noble mission of the Soviet Government was to restore peace and order, which had been disrupted by the collapse of the Polish state, and to assist the Polish people in creating new conditions for their political life. ”

In the grand and solemn office of the Chancellery, Hitler turned off the radio button with a gloomy expression, and the corners of his eyes twitched slightly, as if he did not expect the brazenness of the Soviets to reach such a level. A naked robbery while the fire was beautified by these Bolsheviks as a glorious cause to save the Poles! In contrast, the diplomatic rhetoric used by Germany in the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia was as simple as the ice fountains in the Alps, and the Soviets were absolutely ruthless characters who ate people and did not spit out bones!

Army Commander-in-Chief Brauchitsch took a deep breath and said to Hitler with a solemn face: "Honorable Führer, the Russians are asking too much. The valiant German army defeated Poland alone, but they rushed up like greedy bloodsuckers and plundered our spoils without any shame! The Russians demanded two-fifths of Poland's 387,000 square kilometers of territory and 35 million people, which is simply exploiting and oppressing glorious Germany as if it were Africans! We must make these greedy grey animals understand how sharp the sword is in the hands of Germany, and only then can they understand what duty and reverence are. ”

Halder, the chief of the General Staff of the Army, who had the temperament of a scholar, nodded, and said with a bit of pride in his words: "My Führer, I fully agree with General Brauchitsch's opinion. Poland was defeated by Germany, and there was no reason to give the USSR such a generous reward. After more than half a month of fighting, the German Army has proven to be the most powerful armed force in the world; We could have rejected the treaty of 23 August, and used our sword to force the Russians to make concessions on the partition of Poland. ”

"Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps is already joining forces with the Russians southeast of Warsaw. According to his observations, the combat effectiveness of the Russian army remained completely on paper: all their officers were excessively young, and one of the major generals and division commanders was not even 30 years old! The Soviet ruler's campaign to consolidate his power had already inflicted irreparable heavy losses on the army, and against an enemy of this magnitude, we could not get up with a little finger! Yodl, chief staff officer of the Supreme Command, echoed the same words.

The afternoon clouds fluttered leisurely, releasing the bright sunlight that had been blocked by the city of Berlin, and the office of the Chancellery soon became bright, reflecting the expressions on everyone's faces. Keitel, the sharp-eyed chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Command, suddenly noticed that the corners of Hitler's mouth were hooked up with a complex arc that seemed to be mocking and bitter, so he immediately swallowed the words of approval that came to his lips, made a fortune with the loudest muffled voice, and waited for the moment when Hitler would declare his personal will. (To be continued.) )

PS: Today's chapter is 4K words, which can be regarded as a little to make up for the lack of yesterday's failure