Lin Jun in Minsk and Stalin in Moscow were waiting for the German attack - it was not appropriate to launch another large-scale offensive on their own at the moment, at least until the ground was frozen after the autumn rains in winter. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info The adaptation of the Soviet army to the cold would be the only practical reality for the Red Army to launch several major campaigns: now that the autumn rains are still two months away, effective defense is the key.

But this will not only have to make effective new battle plans for the German army, but the deployment of troops and equipment is also an astronomical task, and for Hitler, in addition to military problems, there is one more thing that he has a headache!

Germany's spy network in the Soviet Union was completely dismantled in the "Purge", leaving not even a small shrimp (one of the few good consequences of the "Purge"). But they have a huge and relatively complete system of latent intelligence in the United States: now the problems that give Hitler a headache come from the United States, and they are not yet obtained by spies, because they are in the "New York Times"!

The United States was going to impose the "Lend-Lease Act" on the USSR, providing all kinds of strategic assistance, which gave Hitler a great headache!

From the very beginning, there was a fundamental contradiction in Hitler's policy toward the United States, and although he did not despise the military power of the United States at all, he still did his best to keep the United States out of the war - so that the United States did not get involved in the war, which was the main task of the German embassy in Washington.

The German Embassy in Washington used all means, including bribing members of the U.S. Congress, trying to "subsidize" writers, and funding the "U.S. First Committee," to support the American isolationists and keep the United States out of Germany's enemies in the war. Hitler understood very well: as long as the United States was led by President Roosevelt, Hitler's arrogant plan to conquer the world and divide the earth with Italy and Japan would not be realized.

"Sooner or later, we will have to deal with the United States, and we will deal with it fiercely!" But only one country at a time - this was one of the secrets of the success of Hitler's strategy until the summer of '41. The time will come against the United States, but only after the defeat of Britain and the Soviet Union: by then, with the help of Japan and Italy, he will deal with the nouveau riche Americans, and the victorious Axis powers will easily bring the isolated Americans to their knees.

Hitler tried his best to ensure that the United States would not be involved in the war until preparations for an attack on the United States were ready; To do this, Japan is the key.

As early as the beginning of the 40s, Ribbentrop pointed out to Mussolini that Japan had the power to contain the United States, and it could prevent the United States from sending troops to Europe to fight against Germany, as it did in World War I.

How does Germany view the United States? The United States will only retreat when it realizes that they are facing an unwavering determination, and that the American people are not willing to sacrifice their children and therefore oppose the war.

As for relations with Japan, Hitler knew very well that the island countries in the East still had to rely on him: in the Pacific region, the contradictions between Japan and the Western capitalist countries could hardly be resolved peacefully. If there is a problem with Germany in Europe, it will not be long before Japan finds itself under siege from all over the world. So Germany and Japan were in the same boat: the defeat of Germany was the end of the ideals of the Japanese Empire.

After more than a year of fighting with Britain, Hitler felt a little helpless, why was this so? He understood, there was no doubt about it: if Roosevelt had not always cheered up Churchill, Britain would not have fought a long time ago!

This "encouragement" was not only in words, but also in the huge amount of strategic aid, and the British on the island could be said to be insisting on the aid of the United States: Germany must do everything in its power to prevent the United States from entering the war, and prevent it from aiding Britain too effectively!

Four months earlier, Hitler and Ribbentrop had spent a great deal of time in talks with Japanese diplomats in order to give Japan the confidence to attack Singapore south without fear of Russian containment, and to that end they had even tacitly acquiesced to the possibility of a "non-aggression pact" with the Soviet Union.

Hitler's hope for a quick defeat of Soviet Russia, especially if Japan acted in the East, would be enough to convince the United States that it would be on the side of a completely isolated Britain and an alliance with the most powerful in the world (Germany, Italy, Japan). Opposing is futile.

Hitler wanted Japan to enter the war as soon as possible, and the best goal for Germany and Japan was, of course, to meet on the Trans-Siberian Railway before winter came - but such a dizzying prospect did not impress the Japanese government, and Lake Hassan and Normen Khan taught them enough lessons. The two-month war appeared to have taken over vast areas of the Soviet Union, but the front was now only advancing to the western borders of the Soviet Union 39 years ago, and the Soviet military power and state system were not dealt a major blow.

The most important thing is: according to the Japanese: it is already a joke that Germany wants to defeat the Soviet Union before this winter - an impossible task based on Japan's experience in land warfare! At this time, it was no longer possible for Germany to count on the "Western Lia Division," so it hoped that Japan would attack the Pacific Ocean as soon as possible.

Japan itself had roasted chestnuts that could not be extracted, and it was determined not to take chestnuts from the Russian fire for Hitler: it was therefore of the utmost importance to Germany to prevent the United States from being involved in the war until the conquest of the Soviet Union. By June 3, Hitler was convinced that Germany could conquer the Soviet Union before winter arrived.

In order to stabilize the United States, Hitler even made great sacrifices: for a long time the German Navy was dissatisfied with Hitler's restrictions on their activities -- not allowing them to sabotage American cargo to Britain and to counter the increasingly hostile actions of US Navy ships against German submarines and surface ships in the Atlantic.

The Nazi admirals saw farther than Hitler, who was confined to land: they saw almost from the outset that the United States was inevitable and urged the Führer to prepare for it. As early as June 1940, after the defeat of France, Raeder, with the support of Goering, immediately urged Hitler to seize French West Africa and, more importantly, to occupy Iceland, the Azores, the Canary Islands and other islands in the Atlantic, so as to prevent the United States from occupying these islands.

Hitler expressed interest, but he had to attack Britain and conquer Russia first, and then deal with the nouveau riche, the Americans, who were already in a desperate situation. Hitler considered the occupation of the Atlantic islands in the 40th year with the aim of waging war against the United States in the future.

It follows that the question of the United States is no longer whether Hitler wanted to go to war against the United States, but when to start the war: in '41, Hitler was in favor of occupying the Azores so that long-range bombers could take off from there to bomb the United States, and there might be such a need in the fall. That is to say: after the defeat of the USSR, it will be the turn of the United States!

The "Battle of the Atlantic" was inextricably fought, and Germany did not gain the upper hand: large quantities of material resources provided by the United States under the Lend-Lease Act were shipped to Britain, and "Pan-American neutral patrols" made it increasingly difficult for German submarines to carry out effective activities. Raeder pointed out all these situations to Hitler, but to no avail. By the spring of '41, the British American cargo ship was escorted by American warships, all the way to Iceland. Raeder asked for permission to attack American warships without warning, and to take certain measures to prevent the United States from gaining a foothold in French West Africa.

In the previous month, Roosevelt announced that American troops would take over the British occupation of Iceland, and Berlin reacted strongly: "American troops, aiding Britain, invaded a place that we had officially declared a war zone, which in itself was an act of aggression against Germany and Europe!" ”

Raeder demanded that Hitler make a decision on the question: "Should the American occupation of Iceland be regarded as an entry into the war, or as a provocation that should be ignored." ”

In the eyes of the German Navy, the American landing in Iceland was an act of war: the Navy also demanded the right to sink American cargo ships and attack American warships in the escort zone if necessary.

Hitler did not agree.

"Misunderstandings" were inevitable, as U-boats sank American cargo ships in May, and two more American merchant ships were torpedoed in August. On August 7, Roosevelt reacted to the attack of the German Navy in a speech: announcing that the Navy had been ordered to 'open fire as soon as it was discovered'!

Roosevelt's remarks and actions provoked Berlin, and the German press scolded Roosevelt as "the number one warmonger"!

The contradictions between the United States and Germany were becoming more and more intense, and the German army suffered heavy losses on the Eastern Front, and in order to solve the Soviet Union before the United States was fully engaged in the war, Hitler could no longer wait for sufficient deployment to launch another large-scale offensive. On August 8, he shouted to his subordinates in the "Wolf's Lair": "It's August! There is only one way to break the Russian will before the cold arrives! That is to occupy Moscow! ”

Hitler's consideration was still very reasonable, Moscow's position in the Soviet Union was extremely sacred, and the fall of Moscow would greatly blow the determination of the Soviet Union to resist: the German marshals immediately drew up a detailed battle plan - the first step of the campaign, to occupy Minsk as quickly as possible!

In order to immediately occupy Minsk and open the door to Moscow, Hitler even weakened Army Group South and sent troops north.

The nearest route to Moscow, which has a relatively well-developed road system in this straight line, may also ensure the activity of the army during the rainy season: Lin Jun and Zhukov are really blocked in the crater of the German attack! There will be more Germans to face than the two expected! (To be continued.) )