The results of Germany's blitzkrieg on Poland stunned everyone.

Poland, widely regarded as one of the most militarily powerful countries in Europe, fought a "Soviet-Polish War" at the beginning of its restoration, forcing Lenin to cede Western Ukraine and Western Belarus to Poland and pay Poland 30 million rubles in economic compensation.

At the time of the German invasion, Poland had a total strength of 1 million men, which did not seem to be much worse than the German army of 1.6 million.

According to the expectations of Britain and France, Poland can last at least two or three months, and even 1 million pigs will have to be killed for a long time. As a result, before the Polish forces could be deployed, they were completely stunned by the German army, and they were the first to learn what a "blitzkrieg" was.

In just one week, the main force of the Polish army was basically divided and surrounded, and all that remained was to see how the Germans cleaned up the mess.

The Soviet Union also participated in the partition of Poland, but they claimed to regain sovereign territory. This brings us back to the Soviet-Polish War we mentioned earlier, which Poland considered its homeland and the Soviet Union considered it to be the legacy of the Russian Empire.

The last time the USSR lost, and the territory was taken by Poland, this time it was easily taken back.

As for whose territory it is, it has long been unclear. Today is yours, tomorrow is mine, it has been so for hundreds of years, and that land has not stopped.

Poland seems innocent and pitiful, but this country is not a fuel-efficient lamp either.

At the end of World War I, Poland's three suzerains, Germany, Austria, and Russia, were all defeated, and Poland was successfully restored. Lenin, despite internal and external troubles, recognized the independence of Poland and promised to return the Polish territories. However, the Polish government was ambitious, taking the initiative to provoke a war with the Soviet Union, in a vain attempt to establish a Greater Polish Empire that controlled the entire territory of Ukraine and the Baltic Sea coast.

I will not talk about the territorial dispute between Poland and Germany, because it is impossible to say clearly. Just half a year ago, when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, Poland not only did not help to resist, but took advantage of the fire to rob and occupy the Czech Ceschine region.

This kind of downfall is hateful, so when Germany invaded Poland, the Czechoslovak servants, who were attached to Germany, were very heroic - tell you to stab you in the back!

On the other side of the battlefield, when the Soviet army attacked Poland, the local people also led the way to help, as if ushering in the long-awaited liberation. From an ethnic point of view, many Poles here do not consider themselves Poles at all, they belong to Ukrainians and Belarusians.

Even without the Soviet invasion, the locals rebelled frequently, and the Polish government resorted to brutal repression throughout.

In this way, the Soviet Union took back the homeland of the Tsarist era, Germany occupied the rest of Poland, and the Soviet Union and Germany cooperated tacitly to divide Poland.

Britain and France had apparently not learned the lessons of Poland's blitzkrieg, and they were still dreaming of a Soviet-German war after the partition of Poland. However, nothing happened, and Germany and the Soviet Union seemed to have a good relationship, and they did not follow the script written by Britain and France at all.

What was Hitler doing?

Half a month after Hitler was in Poland, he issued a secret order to attack France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. But apparently the time was not yet ripe, and these secret orders were the hot-headed decisions of His Excellency the Führer after the victory, and when he had calmed down, Hitler decided to attack Denmark and Norway first, in order to ensure that Germany had a strategic naval base and a supply of Swedish iron ore.

It was under this international situation that the First Battle of Changsha ended.

In the half-month-long roundabout battle, the two sides won and lost each other, but neither achieved the expected goal. Xue Yue's combat strategy was actually well formulated, but due to the inferiority of the equipment and the poor execution of some troops, the Japanese army always broke through the encirclement at a critical time.

Not only that, but the Japanese army, which broke out of the encirclement, gathered around Changsha in turn.

Chang Kaishen obviously had no confidence in holding Changsha, and he issued instructions to Xue Yue: "If the enemy's movement of taking Changsha has been exposed, then our army's tone will make a tough resistance in front of the Battle of Changsha, so it is better to abandon Changsha first, and when the enemy has not yet established a foothold in Changsha, he will rise up and deal a fatal blow." If the counteroffensive plan can be carefully arranged and properly applied, it will surely achieve the greatest victory. ”

These are obviously nonsense, and Lao Jiang's real thoughts are nothing more than abandoning Changsha to preserve his strength, and he is afraid that the troops of the Ninth War Zone will be lost in a battle.

Xue Yue formulated the "Heavenly Furnace Tactics" to induce the Japanese army to go to the outskirts of Changsha to carry out counter-encirclement, and then wait for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the invading enemy.

The two talked on the phone almost every day, saying that they couldn't convince anyone, and Lao Jiang simply stopped answering the phone later. In desperation, Xue Yue had no choice but to call Song Meiling and let Song Meiling convey her determination to resolutely defend Changsha.

Lao Jiang suddenly panicked, and hurriedly called Xue Yue and asked him to find a suitable time to give up Changsha. As a result, it was Xue Yue's turn not to answer the phone this time, and Lao Jiang was so anxious that he could only send Bai Chongxi to Changsha to convey orders, but Xue Yue still disobeyed his orders.

Hearing that Lao Jiang was so angry that he slapped the table in Chongqing, he said: "If you don't follow the order and withdraw the Miluo defenders, then the area south of the Yangtze River will be at fault in the future, and you will be responsible!" ”

Xue Yue really couldn't do it, so he could only order a retreat and give way to the Miluo River defense line, and the Japanese army took the opportunity to drive straight in.

Lao Jiang thought that Xue Yue had obeyed the order, but who knew that Xue Yue had rebelled and resolutely defended Changsha. Lao Jiang had to send Bai Chongxi to persuade again, and this time he also brought Chen Cheng, but Bai and Chen couldn't persuade them even if they said they were dry.

Lao Jiang finally stopped objecting, and with the psychology of a gambler, let Xue Yue give it a go, maybe he could win.

The area between the Laodao River and the Liuyang River is a natural pocket array. Xue Yue described this pocket as a heavenly furnace, and he wanted to throw the Japanese army into the furnace for alchemy, which is the origin of the name "Heavenly Furnace Warfare".

Okamura Ninji led a large army into his pocket, and suddenly felt that every step was difficult. Not only did the Chinese defenders fight bravely, but the local people also burst out with strong patriotic enthusiasm, and the main transportation routes were completely destroyed, not to mention, and even the few flat lands were dug up by the people. It rained heavily, the ground was muddy, and Japanese tanks, trucks, artillery, and motorcycles were ...... One after another.

It's still a fart, the two sides didn't start any fierce fighting, and Okamura Ninji decisively ordered the whole army to retreat.

This situation made Xue Yue incredulous, thinking that the Japanese army had some conspiracy, and ordered all units to follow and pursue, but not to start a fierce battle without authorization. It wasn't until three days after the Japanese retreated that Xue Yue was sure that this was true, and immediately asked all the troops to fight a pursuit battle with all their might.

But it was too late, the main Japanese forces had already withdrawn from the pocket formation, and the Chinese defenders pursued only a small remnant.

The First Battle of Changsha ended with China claiming more than 40,000 casualties and more than 30,000 Japanese casualties; Japan claimed 3,600 casualties and more than 48,000 casualties.

Regardless of the actual casualty figures, it is clear that China has won, the whole army is uplifted, and the people are jubilant.

Fortunately, Xue Yue has always insisted on disobeying orders, otherwise Changsha would have disappeared directly.

It can't be said that Chang Kaishen is too brainless, in fact, the entire high-level of the national army is arguing, and even Bai Chongxi advocates abandoning Changsha. It is really that the previous battles have made the high-level generals have no confidence, and they have been frightened by the Japanese invaders, and no one expected that they would be able to hold Changsha, and they would hold it for several years.