Chapter 283: How about air freight
After Ribbentrop's narration, Fang Yan also had a clearer understanding of the current situation. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
It turned out that since the outbreak of the Winter War, the contradictions between the two allies of Germany and Italy have become sharply apparent. The Italian government lashed out at the Soviet Union's bullying in the strongest and fiercest manner, denouncing the Soviet Union as "the most murderous devil in the history of mankind." Public opinion in Italy was even more furious, with one-sided sympathy for Finland and hatred of the Soviet Union, which immediately put the German government in an embarrassing position.
In order to maintain the current tranquillity on the Eastern Front, which had been won with great difficulty, Hitler had to choose to give the green light to the Soviet Union's aggression: Finland ordered that all weapons and equipment ordered from Germany to be detained at the beginning of November when the situation was tense, and even the arms ordered by Finland to Italy were not allowed to be delivered to Finland through his own territory. Germany's performance has undoubtedly annoyed Italy. In the past, you united with the Soviet Union to carve up Poland, which had already touched my bottom line, and now you are still trying to pull the bias to help the Soviet Union, are you really going to abandon Italy and throw yourself into the arms of the Soviets?
If only that's it, the clumsy and incompetent Soviet Red Army fought on the border for five days, but still could not break through any of the main defenses of the Finns; Hitler's gloating mood lasted only a few minutes, and was quickly replaced by solemnity and thorniness. Now it is clear: if the Soviet Union can quickly defeat Finland and create a fait accompli to occupy Helsinki, then Italy, unable to change the status quo, will have to die down, and Germany will have plenty of room to make up for the rift in German-Italian relations. Once the Soviet Union failed to conquer Finland for a long time, the differences between Germany and Italy on the Winter War were bound to continue to ferment and magnify. When he reached a certain tipping point, Mussolini might really consider breaking away from the alliance with Germany and moving closer to Britain and France!
Yesterday, December 5, the situation that worried Hitler began to take shape. Ziano Jr. gave a public speech on the Italian Central Radio, calling on the entire capitalist world to stand up in support of Finland's Great Patriotic War; Hitler's claim in 1934 that Germany had completed the transformation from capitalism to national socialism was undoubtedly a precursor to the discord between Germany and Italy from behind the scenes to the open.
Hitlerton, who heard of this speech, was alarmed. You must know that when he brought Mussolini into the gang, it was with the help of the long Spanish Civil War that Italy supporting the national army had long-term hostility with Britain and France, which made Mussolini fall to Germany in order to confront Britain and France. At this time, a similar situation was repeated again, but the profiteer became England and France!
What Hitler is now going to do with Fang Yan's hand is to use Fang Yan's unofficial channel to stabilize Mussolinion's son-in-law and make them believe that Germany is also hostile to the Soviet Union, so as to stop the confrontation with Germany at the political level. Obviously, these words cannot be put on the face of it, and Germany must maintain friendly relations with the Soviet Union at the present stage.
Compared with risking being discovered by the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs and sending government officials to make contact, it is obviously much more convenient to use Fang Yan's line. Hitler, who was also a dictator, knew very well that in the fascist kingdom of Italy, even unpopular policies could be implemented temporarily without fierce resistance as long as Mussolini personally nodded his head.
"I'll be happy to help you." Fang Yan's eyes were clear, and he nodded in agreement. Hitler's account was not difficult for Mihiko, and the two families of Brom and Ziano still have several important areas of cooperation. If Fang Yan's identity is still sensitive, then let the cheap brother Freya go to Rome; After seeing the letters written by Fang Yan and his close relatives Sylvia, little Ziano and others should also understand the attitude of the German government.
However, Fang Yan still had doubts in his heart: his complicated in-law relationship with Mussolini should only play an auxiliary role in solving the problems encountered by Germany today. If it really wants to move the Italian leaders and the core members of the Roman government, Germany must have something else to say. At that moment, Fang Yan asked.
"Jonas, it seems that your political vision has not regressed because of your military career." Hitler's eyes were filled with appreciation, and he was not in the least annoyed by Fang Yan, a soldier, for transgressing political decisions. Hitler himself was a man whose vision was by no means limited to his own existing situation, otherwise he would never have been able to play with all the enemies at home and abroad as soon as he took over the post of chancellor. What's more, Fang Yan was Hitler's most important old friend, and after returning home from the surprise attack on Scapa Gulf, he has now become one of Hitler's most trusted and close ministers, and his status is even more scorching than that of many cabinet ministers.
Hitler took a breath and said: "At this point, Germany can no longer reverse the will of the Italian government by means of empty gloves and white wolves, as it did in the past." I intend to increase the total amount of aid to Italy by 30% each month, starting this month; The 150 heavy anti-aircraft guns that the Italians had been hoping for were also aided in batches. These are all things that we need to compensate the Italians for the losses of the Soviet Union. I believe that Benito (Mussolini) can still see the situation clearly. As long as we can continue to win on land and sea, Italy will not abandon the alliance with Germany. ”
Fang Yan now fully understood Hitler's intentions. In contrast to the complex and clever political manoeuvres of Hitler's predecessors, his intention was unusually straightforward: since Germany had harmed Italy's interests by supporting the Soviet Union, it would compensate for it with free aid of steel, coal, and munitions. Although Italy was also at odds with the Soviet Union, the former was not currently a direct enemy of the Soviet Union. With Germany itself having an alliance with Italy, it was clear that such overtures to Italy would not provoke the same backlash from the Soviet Union as it did with Finland.
The reason for this phenomenon is not that Hitler was exhausted, but that the current situation in Europe has become sharply straightforward with the outbreak of war between Germany and England and France; Hitler could no longer use what he was best at using razing to defeat the situation, and could only use the simplest means of violence to break the game.
However, although Germany is now strategically out of options, if there is a strong tactic sufficient to create a generational gap, it can fundamentally change the situation. Wasn't the British Home Fleet, which had three times the lineup of the German Navy before the start of the war, directly crippled by a sneak attack by aircraft carriers in Scapa Bay?
"Honorable Führer, these supplies can certainly play a role in appeasing Italy, but they are also strategic materials that our country needs very much, especially since we are currently at war with Britain and France! I think we should give them something that is not important to Germany, but which the Italians urgently need, and that would be the best option. Fang Yan blinked and said with a relaxed expression.
"Jonas, you don't want to say that you want Germany to open up its territory for Italian supplies to Finland." Ribbentrop, who was next to him, finally found an opportunity to interject, and denied in a serious tone, "I will tell you clearly that this is absolutely not feasible. The current situation on the Eastern Front cannot be disrupted, and the Russians cannot sit idly by and watch these arms pass through Germany without being indifferent. If there had been a better way, the Führer would have known it thoroughly. ”
Fang Yan pursed his lips when he heard this, Ribbentrop really slapped Hitler's sycophants at every opportunity; As a veteran government functionary, not a man from the Nazi Party, he was able to curry favor with Hitler to this extent, and only Keitel, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, could match Hitler in the entire German center. However, Ribbentrop's mind also surprised Fang Yan secretly: he just mentioned it in a general way, and the other party directly pointed out that what Italy wanted most now was to provide military support to Finland in order to gain prestige and money at the same time.
"What if these munitions are transported not by land, but by air?" Fang Yan finally threw out his core idea. Facing Hitler's stunned look, Fang Yan spoke unhurriedly, and his expression was already confident: "According to the International Air Aviation Convention signed in 1929, civil airliners between two countries are allowed to use the airspace of a third country that must pass through. For example, more than half of the flights from Milan to London are in French airspace, and Continental Alitalia only has to pay the French government a corresponding toll. Since Italy can fly to the UK through France, it can also use Germany to set up a business to fly to Sweden! ”
Hitler's eyes were shining, and after pondering for a long time, he suddenly slapped the armrest of the sofa: "What a brilliant strategy!" At the moment Sweden and Italy are neutral countries, and the establishment of passenger aviation is fully in accordance with the relevant legal regulations. Sweden's political stance is pro-Finnish, and the Italian plane's subsequent flight to Finland will definitely not be blocked by the Swedish side. Once the airway is established, we don't know whether the planes will carry passengers or munitions. Therefore, the Russians have no reason to blame us, and should they have us stop the Italian plane in the air and check it for contraband? ”
At the end of the sentence, Hitler finally couldn't help but giggle.
Ribbentrop was also amazed by Fang Yan's trick, but he questioned: "Even if there is a theoretical feasibility to do this, how can the transportation volume be guaranteed?" The shortest distance from Italy to Sweden is 1,300 kilometres, which is 50% farther than to London. Even if it is only a one-way flight, an aircraft cannot carry much cargo, which can hardly be decisive for the needs of the Finnish army on the battlefield. (To be continued.) )