"What a show!" Holding the clear-code telegram from the Soviet Embassy in London, Lin Jun was rarely elated. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

He really can't stand the current situation in Europe if he is not elated, the Soviet side as the audience has been applauding enthusiastically, and the performance in London is even more enthusiastic than in Germany!

On 27 September, just before Hitler followed Mussolini's advice, Sir Horace-Wilson, who had just returned to London that afternoon, brought back to the British the disturbing news of his second meeting with Hitler: Hitler's renewed intransigence had spurred Chamberlain and his inner cabinet to take action.

The British decided to mobilize the fleet, call up the Air Force Auxiliary, and declared a national emergency. Bomb shelters have begun to be dug in parks and squares, and children in London schools have begun to evacuate.

Chamberlain immediately sent a telegram to President Benes of Prague in Czechoslovakia, warning him that the information he had received from Berlin was that "if the Czechoslovak Government has not accepted German terms by two o'clock tomorrow (28 September), the German troops will be ordered to cross the Czechoslovak border." ”。

But Chamberlain, though "politely" informed the Czechoslovakians of the news, could not resist teaching them a lesson in the last paragraph of the message: "Bohemia will be ravaged by the German army, and no matter what one or more nations do, they will not be able to save your country and your people from this fate." Whatever the outcome of the world war, it must be so. ”

It is interesting to Lin Jun that Chamberlain did not put the responsibility for the war on Hitler, but on Benes. Chamberlain also said he was unwilling to take responsibility for telling the Czechoslovakians what to do: Czechoslovakia had to decide everything for themselves.

But is it really up to Czechoslovakia to decide? Before Benes could reply to this telegram, Chamberlain's second telegram came at once.

This time, however, Chamberlain tried to tell the Czech government what to do: he proposed to accept some limited military occupation by the Germans on 1 October -- that is, to occupy Eger and Ascher, which were outside the military core of Czechoslovakia, and then to form a joint border commission of German, Czech and British forces to quickly determine the other areas to be transferred to the Germans.

Of course, the second telegram contains a further warning: if this plan is not realized, there will be no other way out for your country than to be invaded and dismembered by force. And, while this could lead to a conflict that would cost countless lives, whatever the outcome of the conflict, Czechoslovakia would never again be able to rebuild its homeland on its original borders.

In this way, the Czechs were warned by their friends (and France also participated in these latest proposals) that even if Czechoslovakia and their allies defeated Germany in a great war, Czechoslovakia would have to cede the Sudetenland to Germany.

The implication is clear: since the Sudetenland is not yours after all, why risk plunging Europe into war?

After these events, Chamberlain broadcast to the whole of Britain at 8:30 p.m. that night: "How strange, how absurd, how inconceivable it is that we 、、、、、should dig a trench here for the quarrel between people of whom we know nothing in a distant country!" 、、、、、”

When September 28, known as the "Black Wednesday," came Berlin, Prague, London, and Paris were all in a state of unease and apprehension, and war seemed to be out of reach.

"A great war is no longer inevitable," was what Jodel wrote in his diary about Goering's words that morning. Goering added: "The war may go on for seven years, and we will win." ”

In London, digging bomb raid trenches, evacuating schoolchildren, relocating hospitals, everything goes on. In Paris, people scrambled to crowd the already packed trains, and on the roads outside the city, cars were so crowded that they couldn't move.

The scene in western Germany is similar: large numbers of German refugees have fled the border.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Hitler's deadline for Czechoslovakia to accept Goldsburg's proposals was approaching, but Prague showed no sign that he would accept them. But there were other signs: the activity on Wilhelmstraße (the street where the German Foreign Office was located) was extremely intense, and the ambassadors of France, England, and Italy came and went in a frenzy.

All of Europe was in chaos, and only the Kremlin bigwigs drank coffee and tea, constantly paying attention to various reports from the west - and now Lin Jun and his colleagues are the most secure people in the world to sit on the Diaoyutai side: no matter what the outcome of the west is, the Soviet Union will no longer be in trouble on the current issue, but Britain, France, Germany, and Italy are already on the brink of war.

But the war could not be fought at once, because Hitler followed Mussolini's advice.

、、、、、、

On the night of September 28, Hitler's special train left Berlin's Anhar station and headed for Coffstein, a small city in Tyrole, on the German-Italian junction, where he would meet Mussolini.

Hitler warmly welcomed his allies, and the two men traveled to Munich on Hitler's special train, accompanied by the Italian Foreign Minister, Count Ziano, Mussolini's son-in-law.

Unlike Goldsburg a few days ago, there is no trace of an important meeting going to be held on the streets of Munich, and the talks of the four powers seem to have been deliberately forgotten. In fact, this was all at Hitler's behest: he ordered Munich to ban all public welcome.

Hitler wanted the politicians of Britain, France and Czechoslovakia to understand that the Third Reich despised international talks.

Hitler and Mussolini arrived on time, as did Chamberlain and French Chancellor Eduard Daladier: the Germans gave more respect to the French than the Bavarian state councillor and SS brigade captain Christian Weber, who greeted Chamberlain – it was Goering who was waiting at the airport to greet Daladier.

At one o'clock in the afternoon of September 29, Hitler and Mussolini sat in the conference room of the "Leaders Building" to "welcome" Chamberlain and Daladier. When shaking hands, his face was expressionless, cold, and he didn't even get up!

Around a round table, the Munich conference began, and the Czechoslovak delegates did not even have the right to enter the room - they just had to wait in the hotel for the "verdict" of the four powers.

The British delegation stayed in the same hotel as the Czechoslovaks, for which Ribbentrop scoffed: "They don't do stupid things there." ”

The negotiations lasted for 13 hours, and the talks were "successfully" concluded, and in the early morning of the 30th, Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain, and Daladier signed their names on the "Munich Agreement."

Many years later, Lin Juncai learned from the interrogation records of war criminals that after the talks, a dialogue between Hitler and Daladier, a dialogue that can be included in the "Ten Shameless Quotes on World Political Relations", and this shamelessness belongs to the French:

"What if the Czechoslovakians don't agree?" Hitler asked.

Daladier replied sharply: "Your Excellency, you ask what if they don't agree?" They must agree! ”

The French now had an alliance with Czechoslovakia!

After the talks, Chamberlain and Daladier informed the Czechoslovak delegates who remained in Munich of the results of the meeting: Czechoslovakia ceded the Sudetenland and the area formerly adjacent to Austria.

On the 30th, Chamberlain and Daladier returned to London and Paris, respectively.

Returning to Paris, Daladier was greeted by the victors at the Gerbour airport, where members of the French cabinet, members of parliament, industrial banking magnates, and representatives of the French diplomatic corps in France gathered, all congratulating Daladier on his diplomatic victory, none of whom wanted war.

The U.S. ambassador to France, Bullock, had to smoke a pipe with the German counsellor in France, Brower -- a "pipe of peace," as the Americans called it!

Daladier is in a piece of "Long live Daladier!" Long live Chamberlain! He was carried to the car in the midst of cheers.

How was Chamberlain in London? It was his well-known declaration of peace.

On October 1, 1938, the Germans, under the command of General von Loeb, crossed the Czechoslovak border and passed unhindered through the line designed by the Frenchman Maginot - which was opened for Hitler by the British Prime Minister and the French Prime Minister.

On 2 October, Polish troops occupied the Orsha region of Czechoslovakia.

Lin Jun, like all the military and political bigwigs in Moscow, watched a rare drama from beginning to end as a qualified spectator, and many people were a little "overwhelmed" by the "diplomatic skills and political vision" of Chamberlain and Daladier.

As soon as he learned of the contents of the Munich Agreement, Stalin asked his favorite general: "Andrey, the drama is over, I want to say something." ”

"Comrade Stalin, there is only one sentence: whoever has the big fist is the truth."

"Huh."

The year 1939 is approaching. (To be continued.) )