PS: 2-in-1 big chapter, 80 monthly pass plus update

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Amid the roar of polar bears, Romania's capital, Bucharest, as a political center, an economic center, and an important transportation hub, decided that it was not immune to the ravages of war.

Romanian Prime Minister Marshal Antonescu was Romania's hero in World War I, and his years in the army gave him a keen sense of battlefield.

Almost as soon as the first bomb landed on the ground in Bucharest, he jumped out of bed with a carp and rushed into the basement of the Prime Minister's official residence wrapped in his pajamas.

Listening to the thunderous explosions and feeling the shaking from the ground to his legs, Antonescu stared at the ground with blank eyes, and kept guessing who was bombing Bucharest.

Did the Russians take the initiative to attack, or did the Germans stab themselves in the back?

It was about half an hour before Antonescu was told that the air raid was over and that it was safe outside.

Before Antonescu could change into his military uniform, the phone in the Prime Minister's Office had already been blown up.

Reports from the military, inquiries from cabinet members, and questions from King Mihai I, Antonescu was very busy.

Soon, the Romanian king Mihai I and Antonescu, the senior officials of the Romanian military and political circles realized a cruel reality, the Soviet Red Army had invaded Romania without declaring war, and the northeastern border was in an emergency.

With two personal secretaries, Antonescu stormed the wartime underground headquarters that had already been prepared.

No sooner had he given the general mobilization order in the name of the Prime Minister than the Foreign Secretary rushed to the underground headquarters and handed him a letter of war from the Soviet ambassador to Romania.

Flipping through a few pages of this belated war book, Antonescu slammed it on his desk and roared angrily: "Despicable Russians, and that shameless Georgian butcher, is this a war book?" Is this a provocation and molestation of the Romanians? ”

Waving the Foreign Secretary away, Antonescu picked up the wine bottle on the table and poured a glass of wine.

Raising his glass and taking a sip of the wine, Antonescu felt his dizzy head regain its senses.

The situation at the border is far from optimistic. It was necessary to immediately appeal to the allies, Germany, and to find out what the scale of the war was, whether Romania was the only one to be attacked, or whether the Soviets were aware of Germany's plans of attack. Launch a full-front attack in advance on the Eastern Front.

Soon, a radio wave rushed out of the underground command post and flew to the far northwest.

In the northwest of Romania, Budapest, the capital of Hungary.

The bitter brother of Marshal Antonescu, the regent of Admiral Horti without the Navy. Also hiding in the underground headquarters to get angry.

Unlike Marshal Antonescu, he did not throw the late war book on the table, but threw it directly to the ground, leaving the scattered white paper scattered on the dark red carpet.

Staring at the sad face of Prime Minister Baldoshi, Admiral Horthy shouted: "See, this is the end of compromise with the Russians." Do you still want to say peace, not war? ”

There was anger in Baldoshi's voice, too.

"It must have been the Russians who noticed our and the Germans' actions and took the initiative to attack us, and in the final analysis, it was the Germans who brought us this disaster."

Admiral Horty's eyes widened.

"Now is not the time to discuss this, I'll just tell you one thing. You are no longer the prime minister of Hungary, you can go. ”

Baldoshi did not feel sorry for losing the position of prime minister, he snorted stiffly, and said to Admiral Holty: "I will see with my own eyes how you lead Hungary into the abyss." ”

With that, Baldohi left Horty's office with his head held high.

"I've had enough of that soft egg, and without him getting in our way, we can finally let go and do it." This was stated by the Chief of the General Staff, Wilt.

"You immediately let the Second Army go, you must block the various passes of the Carpathians, and you must not let the Russians break out of the passes into the Great Hungarian Plain."

"The Second Army had only five brigades with a total of 40,000 men. The number is so small that we have to issue a mobilization order. ”

"The mobilization order will be issued soon, but before the mobilization order is issued, we must ask Germany for help."

Ten minutes later. The Hungarian 2nd Army received an order to pull out.

This unit was originally planned to be used in the Eastern Crusade against the Soviet Union, and it had long been prepared for war.

After receiving the order, the 1st Mountain Infantry Brigade, the 8th Frontier Chasseur Brigade, and the 1st Rapid Army (under the jurisdiction of the 1st, 2nd Motorized Brigade and 1st Cavalry Brigade) under the group army immediately set out from the two eastern cities of Debrecen and Niraighazo, where they were assembled, and rushed to the northeastern border.

Subsequently, Admiral Horthy issued a letter to his compatriots throughout the country. He denounced the banditry of the Soviet Union for its undeclared war, and issued a general mobilization order, calling on Hungarian youth to join the army to defend Hungary's sacred territory from being violated.

However, in all the preparations to resist Soviet aggression, Admiral Horthy had the greatest hope for the radio waves that flew to the northwest.

To the surprise of Horthy and Antonescu, the two highly-anticipated telegrams did not fly to Berlin, but turned around and flew north, past the Polish Doge's Palace, into a "wolf's den" in the jungle of East Prussia.

At four o'clock in the afternoon of May 20, when Chen Dao hurried to the wolf's den by car, he jumped out of the car and joined the adjutant sent by Goering.

Seeing the solemn expressions of the senior officers coming in and out along the way, Chen Dao realized that the progress of the battle situation was even more unfavorable than he imagined.

Although it was not the first time he had been to the Wolf's Den, Chen Dao was still unfamiliar with the Wolf's Den, the fortress was too large, and there were many places that he needed to familiarize himself with, such as Hitler's operational command room.

Under the guidance of the adjutant sent by Goering to greet him, Chen Dao came to the outside of the operations command room.

On the walls on the left and right sides of the iron door of the command room, there are hangers for military hats and armed belts.

On the side of the horizontal hallway, an army lieutenant watched him warily until he unfastened his belt and pistol from his waist and hung it on the wall.

After Chen Dao walked into the corridor, he immediately noticed that the layout of this place was familiar.

After carefully recalling for a few seconds, Chen Dao confirmed that it was the first time he had entered here.

With deep doubts, Chen Dao walked into the command room.

The combat command room is very large, and it looks like it is seventy or eighty square meters.

In the middle is a wooden table more than six meters long and two meters wide.

On the wooden table was an oversized map of the Eastern Front, which was also lined with compasses, triangular rulers, pencils, and three magnifying glasses.

There are eight windows on the walls of the command room on all four sides.

Hitler stood in the middle of the table with his back to the door.

There was a circle around the wooden table. There are more than a dozen high-ranking generals of the army and air force.

The more Chen Dao looked, the more frightened he became, the more familiar he became, and the more he looked, the more he felt his scalp tighten.

Quickly looking down at the table, Chen Dao clearly saw that there were large and small handbags standing under the table. Brown and black are predominant, and there are six of them.

A series of black words quickly popped up in Chen Dao's mind.

"7.20 incident handbag bomb Stauffenberg Tom. Cruise. ”

These words were broken and reorganized into a word that made Chen Dao feel heavy - assassinating Hitler.

In another dimension of history, on July 20, 1944, Colonel Stauffenberg planted a handbag bomb in the operations conference room in the wolf's den. Attempt to blow up Hitler.

Later generations of Hollywood once used this history as material to shoot a movie called "Assassination of Hitler". Cruise plays Colonel Stauffenberg and restores this history to the world.

It was a room where Hitler faced one of the greatest crises of his life.

Chen Dao silently swept the handbag under the table.

Could there be a bomb in there?

Chen Dao shook his head to make himself no longer suspicious.

Germany is now in a thriving position, not a waning day after the July 20 incident.

Hitler's prestige in Germany was at its peak, and there should be no Stauffenberg and his ilk to carry out terrorist attacks at this time.

If they did, they would be the greatest sinners in German history.

However, it is still necessary to guard against such an enemy hidden in the shadows, and not to pin the national interest and the security of Hitler on the moral standards of Stauffenberg and his ilk.

Chen Dao's shaking of his head caught Goering's attention.

At Goering's signal, Hitler sensed Chen's arrival.

"Heinz. You have finally arrived, you must already know the news of the declaration of war by the USSR on Hungary and Romania, tell me, what do you think about this? How should we react? ”

"What is the current state of our border with the Soviet Union?" Chen Dao asked.

Hitler looked strange and motioned to Halder to answer Chen's question.

"The Eastern Front is currently relatively calm, the Russians are not engaged in a large-scale exchange of fire with us. They simply sent a large number of scouts to spy on our Panther line along the border, and on the front of Army Group Center, there were even part of the Russian scouts who crossed the Bug River to reconnoitre. Prior to the start of this meeting, our border guards had already engaged in seventeen exchanges of fire with Russian scouts crossing the border. Halder said.

"Since this morning, three air groups on the Eastern Front have reported that 42 incidents of Russian reconnaissance aircraft crossing the border have been detected," said the Chief of the General Staff of the Air Force. Our fighter units and anti-aircraft artillery units shot down fourteen fighters that crossed the border. And our warplanes that crossed the border into Soviet airspace for reconnaissance were also subjected to massive attacks by the Soviet Air Force, and seven reconnaissance planes were shot down, which has never been done before today. ”

Hitler continued: "A telegram was sent from the command of the Navy, the seas of northern and northeastern Poland. Patrol aircraft and destroyers in the Baltic Sea have repeatedly spotted Russian submarines and reconnaissance aircraft, and there have been no exchanges of fire so far. ”

Only against Hungary and Romania.

They did not attack Germany, but they reconnoitred Germany in all directions on land, sea and air, and put on a-for-tat posture.

What did Stalin want to do? And what did the Soviet Red Army under his command want to do? Chen Dao rubbed his forehead, very confused by the strange situation.

"What is the state of affairs in Hungary and Romania?" Chen Dao asked.

Halder picked up the slender indicator stick on the table, pointed to the Soviet-Hungarian border and said: "The Soviet Red Army has entered the Carpathian Mountains on the Soviet-Hungarian border. We do not know how many days it will take to cross the Carpathians along the various mountain passes towards the Hungarian plain, and we can only know the progress of the Soviet army on the basis of the war reports sent by Hungary. In addition to the Soviet troops, the Hungarian army also spotted Soviet paratroopers in the transportation town of Mukachevo, at the western foot of the Carpathian Mountains, attacking Mukachevo and the nearby city of Uzhhorod. ”

Chen Dao followed Halder's instructions and saw that the city of Uzhhorod was also a city adjacent to the Carpathians.

"Can I judge that the mountain pass adjacent to the city of Mukachevo and Uzhhorod is the main direction of attack of the Soviet army?" Chen Dao asked.

"That's right. The Führer and we agree with you. Halder said.

Chen Dao nodded and said, "Please continue." ”

Pointing to the Suro-Roy border, Halder said: "The war in Romania is very unfavorable to us, the Soviets have completely broken through the boundary river Prut, the Eleventh Army and the Romanian Third and Fourth Army have been suddenly attacked, and the defense line of the Romanian Fourth Army has completely collapsed. The right flank of the 11th Army was exposed, and the line had to be retracted. The Third Army of the Romanian Army on the left flank also did not hold out for long, and if the Romanians could not restore their defensive lines, the two wings of the Eleventh Army would be completely exposed and would have to retreat. Otherwise, you will be in danger of being surrounded. ”

Brauchitsch glanced at Chen Dao gratefully, and then said: "The Russians' offensive is very fierce, and the number and quality of tanks are beyond our imagination. Despite this, the commander of the 11th Army, General Schubert, was killed by an air strike by enemy aircraft. ”

At the very beginning of the war, the loss of a group army commander, or a general, was really disadvantageous.

Chen Dao first sighed, and then said: "So, the Eleventh Army is likely to become a lone army fighting in Romania?" ”

"The prospects for the 11th Army are not optimistic. If the Hungarians could not stop the Soviets and let the Soviet forces rush into the Hungarian plain and cut off their retreat, the Eleventh Army would most likely be completely cut off from the land connection with the German mainland and then annihilated. Halder said.

Hitler said sullenly: "The telegram sent by Marshal Antonescu indicates that the air raids of the Soviet Air Force on the Ploiesti oil fields continued for a whole day, and the same telegram was sent from our oil field escort units stationed in Romania. The oil fields were reduced by at least forty percent of their production capacity and were in danger of being occupied by the Soviet Army. ”

Chen Dao sensed that there was a storm hidden in Hitler's low tone.

Based on Hitler's various bad deeds in the past, Chen Dao knew that Hitler's biggest shortcoming was that he could only fight with the wind, and he would be restless once there were twists and turns in the war. Command indiscriminately, based only on feelings and not on the actual situation of the battlefield.

Although Iraq's Kirkuk and Libyan oil fields are used as backups, it can also trade overseas and import oil from the United States. However, the Ploiesti oil field in Romania is still Germany's most important oil producer, after all, it is the closest to the German mainland and the production is guaranteed.

In 1941 alone, Germany imported 2.37 million tons of oil from Romania, and if the Romanian oil fields were destroyed, the 2.37 million tons would have to be compensated by other means.

Soviet attack on Romania. It is no wonder that Hitler's emotions were even more emotional when he mentioned the Ploiesti oil fields than when the 11th Army was facing annihilation.

Hitler must not be allowed to run wild, nor can he be allowed to command indiscriminately, and his bad mood must be reversed.

Chen Dao looked at the intertwined arrows and defense lines on the map, and his heart was a mess.

The Soviet-German battlefield began in this way, which was already far from history, and even more beyond his grasp.

Seeing Hitler's hopeful eyes, Chen Dao found that he couldn't think of any good response at all, so he had to kick the ball back to Hitler first.

"Does the Army Command have any response plan?" Chen Dao asked.

"Our idea was simple, immediately send the Twelfth Army and the Second Army south. When the Second Army entered Hungary, it was necessary to block the Soviet troops in the Carpathians and prevent them from entering the Hungarian plain. The XII Army entered Romania through the territory of Hungary and Yugoslavia to protect the Bucharest and Ploiesti oil fields. At the same time, to prevent the Soviets from continuing to advance westward, threatening Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Halder said.

"We must also send an armored army to Romania, otherwise it will be difficult to hold off the Soviet armored forces with only infantry divisions, let alone the strength to drive them out." Brauchitsch said.

"Almost all of our Panzer Divisions are organized in four Panzer armies, and each Panzer Army will have to bear heavy tasks, if one Panzer Army is transferred to Romania. What about our upcoming offensive? Chen Dao asked.

"General Rosen, don't you see that the situation has changed significantly, and the plan we made before must be adjusted, and it may even be overturned. Make a new plan. Halder couldn't help but raise his voice.

"Our original plan was based on a raid, and now all indications are that the Soviets have perceived our plan and that our previous plan is no longer suitable for the current situation. Must be voided. Hitler said.

Hitler and Halder have a point, but Chen Dao is speechless.

As soon as the war deviated from the historical trajectory, the essence of his own half-military strategist was exposed, and if he could not come up with an excellent response plan, he would probably destroy the image of the military god that he had worked so hard to establish in Hitler's heart.

Chen Dao looked at the map. Racking his brains to think about strategy, Hitler also discussed with Halder and Brauchitsch which troops to send south.

Goering walked up to Chen Dao and whispered: "Our situation this time is very serious, if the speed of troop transfer is too slow, not only the Eleventh Army is in danger of being annihilated, but even the Ploiesti oil field will be occupied. If we don't get it right, we'll be a second France. ”

"France? Why? Chen Dao asked.

Goering raised his chin and motioned to Chen Dao to look at the map, and said with a sneer: "Didn't you notice that the Soviets were copying our tactics?" At the time of the French campaign, we marched from Luxembourg and Belgium. Bypassed the Maginot Line. Now in front of the Soviets is the Panther Line, and the Soviets ignore the Panther Line and choose to take a detour from Hungary and Romania, which is clearly copying our tactics, and they are really uncreative. ”

Chen Dao gasped and hurriedly looked at the map.

The Panther Line corresponds to the Maginot Line, and Hungary and Romania correspond to Belgium and Luxembourg, which really looks like a replica of the French campaign, except that the area of the battle area and the size of the army are much larger.

Goering's words made Chen Dao's chaotic thinking sort out a little clue.

"Passing through Romania. The Soviets could rush into Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in one fell swoop. It is also possible to rush into the German mainland through the Hungarian plains, which would be an Eastern version of a scythe blitzkrieg if we didn't handle it properly. ”

"What do you say? What Eastern Front version of the Scythe Blitz? Hitler's ears were sharp, and he heard the conversation between Chen Dao and Goering. Hurriedly asked.

Goering recounted the conversation with Chen Dao to Hitler, who was taken aback and hurriedly looked at the map with a panicked expression.

Brauchitsch and Halder were no exception, staring at the map.

"We must immediately send three army groups south, we must get ahead of the Soviets and block their way to the heart of Europe. In particular, to ensure the safety of Budapest and Bucharest. Halder said.

Hitler nervously said: "You will immediately draw up a plan of war in Hungary and Romania and bring it to me for signature." ”

Halder hurriedly picked up the internal telephone in the house, dialed the number of the Army Command, and asked the staff officers to start working on the battle plan.

Chen Dao stood aside, holding his arms silently, and after Hitler and Brauchitsch discussed the situation for a while, they suddenly saw Chen Dao's expression of indifference.

Hitler said dissatisfiedly: "What are you thinking? Why don't you speak, is it because you are too frightened by the situation to speak? ”

Chen Dao didn't seem to hear Hitler's ridicule, and said flatly: "We must attach importance to the enemy tactically, but we must despise the enemy strategically. From a military point of view, since we know what the Soviets are going to do, the threat of the Soviets will no longer be a threat. ”

"What exactly do you want to say?"

"I want to say that we must not forget that war is a continuation of politics. From a political point of view, can we use the war launched by the Soviets to maximize the benefits of this war? ”

Hitler's eyes lit up and he said excitedly: "Do you have any new tactics?" Say it, and I know you won't let me down. ”

Chen Dao twisted his neck and his gaze swept over the command room.

"I don't know why, I felt dizzy when I entered this room, maybe I wasn't used to the environment. It wasn't until I talked to Herman and I about the Battle of France that my head came back to my senses, but it wasn't at its best, so could we change places? ”

Hitler then looked into the room and said, "I don't feel anything unusual about this house, well, I'm tired of standing too, let's go to the lounge." ”

Having just sat down in the lounge, Hitler eagerly asked, "Say, what do you think we can do best in the interests of Germany?" ”

"From a political point of view, I don't think we can put too many troops into Hungary and Romania, sending one armored army and two armies at once is too much, it will affect our offensive on the Eastern Front, I think it can be reduced by one army, and the armored army can also be reduced to an armored army."

"If we were too slow to react and let the Soviets pass the Carpathians smoothly into the Hungarian plain, and then try to drive them out, it would take far more time and losses than to block them in the Carpathians."

"Isn't it better to think about kicking them out and sending them directly to a prisoner of war camp after they come in?" Chen Dao said with a wicked smile.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I think that the more Soviets enter Hungary and Romania, the more beneficial it will be to strengthen our control over these two countries. When their lives and deaths are in our hands, will we not be the true masters of these two nations? This is from a political point of view. From a military point of view, the more Soviet troops entered Hungary and Romania, the less pressure there was on our borders. Well, give me a day, and I'll write you a battle idea right away, and you'll make a decision after reading it. ”

"You can use my office." Hitler said earnestly.

"Also, I need General Guderian's help, ask him to come here, the sooner the better." Chen Dao said.

While Chen Dao was writing in the wolf's den, Stalin was listening to Zhukov's report in the distant Kremlin.

"The first day of the offensive went very well, especially in Romania. The power of our KV series tanks and T-34 tanks has also been tested in battle, and the combat efficiency is in line with our expectations. Zhukov summed up the report.

"Those are the details, and I am concerned about the reaction of the Germans. Prevent us from entering Germany via Hungary, defend the Ploiesti oil fields from occupation, prevent us from entering Bulgaria and Yugoslavia via Romania, and prevent their 11th Army in Romania from being completely annihilated. Any of what I have just said will be enough for the Germans to send a large army south to fight us. Now that all the conditions I have said are met, how many troops do you think the Germans will send into Hungary and Romania? One, two, or three million? Stalin asked.

"I speculate that they will send an army group, two or three army groups, at least a million people. However, when they find that these forces are not enough to withstand our attack, they will certainly continue to increase their troops. Zhukov said.

Stalin smiled confidently and said: "The Germans can bypass the Maginot Line, and we can also lure the Germans away from the Panther Line and fight on our preset battlefield." Walking around a hard wall, the Germans understand it, and we understand it. (To be continued.) )