On September 4, 1939, despite a catastrophic defeat for the Royal Navy the day before, the day was filled with excitement and joy in the British Isles. Because all the newspapers have two great good news in bold and enlarged black letters.

The first piece of good news was that the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy had taught German planes a lesson in Scapa Bay, shooting down 132 planes, capturing 18 pilots, and forcing 11 German planes to land in Norway.

The second piece of good news is that at 9 p.m. on September 3, the American passenger liner "Athena" with more than 1,000 passengers on board was sunk by a German submarine in the northwest waters of Ireland!

The sinking of an American passenger liner is also good news? It depends on whom, and it is certainly not good news for the United States, but it is also bad news for Germany, because the sinking of the American passenger liner is likely to be a pretext for the United States to intervene in the war in Europe. For Britain, however, the entry of the United States into the war undoubtedly meant an inevitable victory in the war.

As a result, the "Athena Incident" in the British newspapers on September 4 occupied a larger and more advanced page than the "Scapa Bay Victory".

"The brutality and shamelessness of the Germans were once again on full display in the sinking of the Athena!" British Foreign Secretary Viscount Halifax said to the Soviet envoy Litvinov, who was visiting Whitehall Street, "They sank the liner and did not dare to admit it!" This is the act of a coward, and a coward ...... It is impossible to win the war! ”

"Of course they can't admit it," Litvinov shrugged, "but the Americans wouldn't have declared war on Germany because a passenger liner had been sunk, after all, the passengers on board had been rescued." ”

This was a fly in the ointment, the "Athena" was hit by a German torpedo in the stern, the power compartment was flooded, and the main engine was destroyed, but it did not sink immediately. Moreover, there were many passing merchant ships and oil tankers nearby, which quickly rushed to the rescue and rescued most of the passengers. For the United States, the loss is nothing more than a passenger liner worth several million dollars. President Roosevelt, even if he wanted to go to war again, could not declare war on such a ground. After all, isolationism and anti-war sentiment in the United States are still very high.

"We don't really need the United States to go to war," said Viscount Halifax, smiling, "because we and France and Poland will soon be able to defeat the Germans!" Their air force had just suffered a heavy blow in Scarpa Bay. ”

A stack of freshly printed, black-and-white photographs showing the wreckage of German planes and captured or killed German pilots was handed to Litvinov.

"We shot down more than a hundred German planes, and 11 planes made a forced landing in Norway, and some planes fell at sea." Viscount Halifax said with a relaxed face, "They have lost more than 5% of the total number of planes and pilots owned by Germany, and with their losses in Poland in the past few days, the Germans have lost 10% of their aircraft and pilots in just 3 days." ”

"What about your losses?"

"One battleship and one large training ship were sunk, three more aircraft carriers, a battle cruiser were heavily damaged." Viscount Halifax smiled slightly wryly, "This is a military secret and cannot be disclosed to the public." ”

He looked at Litvinov, "The Germans are actually doing a good job, but we still have 15 battleships and battlecruisers at our disposal...... And this is not counting the battleships and battlecruisers of the French. And the Germans had only two battleships at their disposal, and the balance of power at sea would not change at all because of this air raid. ”

"But you have three aircraft carriers that have been badly damaged," Litvinov said, "and if I remember correctly, you have only seven aircraft carriers." ”

"Aircraft carriers?" Viscount Halifax smiled, "Find some merchant ships, like the 'Athena', tear down the superstructure and lay the flight deck, that's an aircraft carrier." The Admiralty decided yesterday evening to start the refit of 20 aircraft carriers, which will be completed in a few months at most. ”

What can be completed in a few months at most is an escort aircraft carrier that can only run a dozen knots at the earliest. On the night of the "Scarpa Bay Air Raid," a cabinet meeting held at the Admiralty decided to immediately refit 20 escort aircraft carriers for future Atlantic escorts.

Because the members of the British cabinet have realized that Britain no longer has the strength to prevent the German sabotage fleet with the "Scharnhorst" and "Sedeliz" classes as the core from entering the Atlantic!

In order to maintain British sea transportation when the German fleet entered the Atlantic, it was necessary to send an escort fleet of battleships and escort aircraft carriers to protect the transport ship group throughout the whole process. For the Royal Navy, such a task was not only dangerous, but also extremely onerous, for which it was necessary to reduce the number of ships in the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans......

However, the Viscount of Halifax would not tell the Soviet envoy the truth about the predicament facing Britain, and now Britain must disguise itself as a victor and show aggressiveness.

"But I doubt that the Royal Navy will be able to use those aircraft carriers, because the Germans will probably not be able to make them," said the Viscount. ”

"Really?" Litvinov asked noncommittally.

"Yes," said Viscount Halifax, "I will give you another military secret, the French will soon launch an offensive on the Western Front, and now the German armies are concentrated on the Eastern Front, and their Western Front is so empty that if the French are determined, they will be able to break through the Siegfried Line, so that the Rhine will be occupied by the French, and Germany will lose the war." And the brave Poles will also launch a counterattack on the Eastern Front at the same time in order to pin down the main forces of the German army. ”

Litvinov asked: "When will the counterattack begin?" ”

Stalin needed to know the exact time - not to remind the Germans, but to observe the situation...... If the counterattack of France and Poland achieves a decisive victory. Then the USSR will have to forget about Comrade Lenin's will for the time being.

But if the French and Polish counterattacks are ineffective, then sorry, the Soviet Union will have to submit an ultimatum to the Polish government.

"Before the end of September, the Germans will taste another crushing defeat!" Viscount Halifax replied.

……

"End of September?"

Inside the Kremlin, Joseph. On Stalin's desk was a photograph of an air raid on Scarpa Bay that had just been sent from Germany by "air express".

The photos, of course, are all pictures of British ships burning and sinking! At the same time as Britain announced the victory, Germany also announced the results of the battle: three British aircraft carriers were sunk, two battleships were sunk, three battleships were heavily damaged, and five cruisers were sunk.

Each result is evidenced by at least 3 different photos!

Now Stalin has seen all these photos, but he does not know whether they are real or fake.

People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov was now sitting across from Stalin's desk, and in addition to these photographs, he brought Litvinov's secret telegrams.

On the telegram, Litvinov reported on the rescue of the passenger liner "Athena" and the plans of Britain, France and Poland to counterattack.

"Do the British want us to sit still until the end of September?" As he spoke, Stalin stuffed tobacco into his pipe.

"Comrade General Secretary, I think that's what they intended." Molotov said. "If their counterattack is successful, the operation to regain right-bank Ukraine may be ......"

"Will it work?" Stalin shook his head, "In the Polish province of Primorye, the armored units of the Germans have crossed the Vistula, and at the same time a German army has marched into the city of Danzig. The Poles fought badly, that's for sure. ”

"But the French offensive may be successful!" Molotov reminded that "in this way, the war on the Western Front will last for a long time." ”

"That's for sure!" Stalin lit his pipe and took a puff of his cigarette, "And it's good for the USSR!" ”

Stalin clearly did not want to sit idly by and watch Germany "completely defeated", if that would have led to the possibility of the Soviet Union being besieged by imperialism.

"Pseudo-socialism, after all, still carries the sign of socialism," Stalin said, spitting out a cigarette, "and its existence always attracts some imperialist firepower." ”

"You're absolutely right." Molotov complimented, "So how should we reply?" ”

"Reply?" Stalin snorted softly, "The USSR does not need to reply to imperialism!" In addition, inform the Germans of the news that the Anglo-French and Polish counter-attacks were about to be launched. ”

Molotov understood what Stalin meant, and although Stalin did not trust Germany, he did not trust Britain, France and Poland even more. If Britain, France, and Poland agreed to "Ukrainian independence", then the Soviet Union might be able to limit the scope of military operations to Ukraine.

But Britain pursued a policy of perfunctory and procrastination, which Stalin could not accept!

……

News of the imminent counterattack by the British, French and Polish reached Stettin's headquarters on the Eastern Front through various channels. General Hersmann reacted with a sigh of relief, for his concern was not a counterattack by the enemy, but a compromise between Britain and France, which could have been carried out on a much larger scale on 3 September. Although Hersman now has no authority to interfere with the naval air force (he is not now the deputy chief of the General Staff), his influence is still there.

A thousand-plane bombing could not be done - every army group on the Eastern Front demanded more and stronger air support - but the possibility of 500 aircraft was still possible, because each air regiment now had a battalion of supplementary pilots and aircraft available.

But Hersman did not end up influencing the naval air force, fearing that the British might compromise because of the heavy losses. With Hitler's current position bent on making peace with Britain, a temporary compromise is quite possible!

This was not in Germany's favor, because the British Empire would not abandon its hostile policy towards Germany, and the French Army would speed up the pace of mechanization as a result of the Polish campaign. (To be continued.) )