When Hersmann, Raeder, and Natalie returned to the German embassy, Ambassador Schulenburg and Hirschmann's wife, Chloe, were meeting guests.

"Ludwig, who do you think is coming?" Chloe pulled a woman of about sixty years old, but still dressed very fashionably, to her husband.

"Alexandra. Mikhailovna! The person who came was Mrs. Collentai, an old acquaintance of the Hersmanns, and Hersmann hugged her, and then asked: "I heard that you have become a minister to Sweden, and have you returned to Moscow to meet an old friend?" ”

Of course not! Hersman knew the answer when he asked, the Soviet Union was not one of those capitalist countries with no rules. How can a minister stationed abroad take advantage of the opportunity to return to his home country to report on his work and meet with senior military officials of a foreign country without the approval of the organization?

"Ludwig, you're a lieutenant general, and you're so fond of joking." Colontai, who is about to become a grandmother, and Natalie, who betrays the revolution. Lesinskaya and Raeder, "an old friend of the Soviet people," shook hands.

Then he took Hersmann to find a sofa and sit down in the living room of the German embassy, and looked at the German ambassador with a rather solemn gaze.

"Earl, I'd like to go to Arbat Street and see the galleries there." Chloe immediately understood what Madame Kollentai meant, stood up and pulled the German ambassador, who had also been her boss at the German Foreign Office, Count Schulenburg, out of the room.

"Oh, Chloe is so empathetic." The old grandmother, Korentai, smiled, and her eyes turned to Admiral Raeder again.

"Tell me, what the hell is going on?" Hersman had no intention of sending Raeder out. The admiral was also an important figure in the "Schleicher-Hersmann Group". Otherwise, he would not have been the commander-in-chief of the German Navy.

"We're going to sign a non-aggression pact with France," Mr. Colontai said, "and it's Edward, who is about to become prime minister. Helio proposed it, and we will agree to it in June this year. Then Litvinov will be sent to visit Paris. Go and sign the treaty and discuss with the French the question of the Soviet Union's accession to the League of Nations. ”

That's a big deal! Throughout the 20s, Germany played the "Soviet card" more than once in the face of France, Belgium and Poland. It was Soviet-German cooperation that kept Germany's enemies from acting rashly when Germany was unusually weak.

And after Hitler came to power, there were obvious problems in Soviet-German relations. The contradictions caused by the National Socialist International are not necessarily perceptible to outsiders. But the Polish-German Declaration of Non-Aggression dismantled the "Polish-French-Czechoslovak Iron Triangle Alliance". It also caused a rift between the Soviet Union and Germany - and similarly, Polish-French relations became cold because of this declaration.

The simultaneous cooling of Soviet-German and Polish-French relations has created favorable conditions for the improvement of Franco-Soviet relations. After the dissolution of the Bofa-Czech Alliance, France was theoretically obliged to enter the war in the event of a Soviet invasion of Poland. This cleared the way for the signing of a non-aggression pact between France and the Soviet Union.

The signing of the Franco-Russian non-aggression pact would make it impossible for Germany to play the Soviet card in the event of a dispute with France.

Moreover, Kollontai also mentioned the accession of the USSR to the League of Nations. This was clearly a quid pro quo for the signing of a non-aggression pact between the USSR and France...... It is quite possible that this condition has also been recognized by the United Kingdom.

Adolph. Hitler's pro-British and anti-Soviet policies did not seem to have won Britain's friendship, but instead gave Britain and France the opportunity to co-opt the Soviet Union, the red steamroller, to contain Germany.

However, Stalin clearly did not want to break with Germany. Compared to what Britain and France gave - international status and recognition - what Stalin received from Soviet-German cooperation was much more affordable. That's why Mrs. Kollontai was recalled from Sweden and now appeared in front of Hersmann.

"Ludwig," Mrs. Collentai looked at Hersmann, who seemed to be lost in thought, "the contract will be signed in June, and now there is not much time left for you to settle the Rhine problem...... And the right-wing Pai government in France will resign in a few days, and the Radical Socialist Party will be Edward. Helio will form a cabinet. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! ”

Stalin was quite a friend, and even helped the Germans find the most suitable opportunity to get off the phone. Pursuing the Clemenceau route, the Great Right Pai Prime Minister Andrei. Tardieu lost a crucial election because he had nothing to do about the Great Depression. In a few days, I will bow and leave. And the successor was Edward, a disciple of Briand of the "Virgin". Helio.

"Our Lady of the White Left", of course, is easier to bully. It was simply impossible to fight because the Germans marched into the Rhine demilitarized zone. Moreover, now that Germany was armed, Poland and Germany had signed a declaration of non-aggression, and the Franco-German Non-Aggression Pact had not yet been finalized.

However, the French "Madonna of the White Left" will not remain indifferent to Germany's regaining control of the Rhineland, and they will certainly move closer to the Soviet Union in an attempt to cobble together an alliance against Germany.

And this kind of move of France and the Soviet Union to continue to move closer is obviously very beneficial to the diplomacy of the Soviet Union.

……

"We must send troops into the Rhine!" Hersmann after learning that France and the Soviet Union were about to sign a non-aggression pact. Immediately took the plane back to Berlin, got off the plane and drove straight to the Wilhelm Street Chancellery.

"While the Franco-Soviet treaty had not yet been signed, we could control the most important industrial areas of Germany without risk." Hersman made his proposal loudly at an emergency secret cabinet meeting. "Although the presence in the Rhineland not only completely tore up the Treaty of Versailles, but also undermined the Locarno Final Agreement, I believe that Britain and Italy will never do anything."

The Locarno Final Agreement is also known as the Rhine Security Convention. The convention required Germany to abide by the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles on the demilitarization of the Rhine Zone, with Britain and Italy as guarantors. However, in the years following the signing of the agreement, relations between Germany and Italy improved rapidly. Now Mussolini will never stand up for the French because of the Rhine question.

Britain, which had not long ago obtained satisfactory results from the Germans on the question of naval arms control, would probably not have chosen to use force with Germany at a time of great financial difficulties and the great depreciation of the pound sterling, which the British could not bear at last, and abandoned the gold standard in the second half of 1931.

Hitler took over the topic, suppressed his excitement, and said in the most calm tone possible: "We now have an army of up to 900,000 men, and we have signed the Declaration of Non-Aggression with Poland, and once we have completed the fortifications in the Rhineland, the countries of Central Europe will understand that Germany has completely freed itself from the constraints of the Treaty of Versailles, and then all these countries will have a complete change of attitude in their diplomacy, and even their domestic politics will change in favor of Germany." ”

He was clearly not willing to pass up his chances, and his presence in the Rhine seemed risk-free and would boost his prestige. In the past year or so, the government's prestige has also been greatly enhanced by the improvement of economic problems.

So Hitler was planning to complete the merger with the Baltic Republic by the end of this year or early next year, and then hold another general election - and if all went well, the coalition Nazi Party and the Fatherland People's Party (which would merge with the Baltic German National Party) would win a landslide victory. It was possible to control not only the parliaments of the German Empire, but also the parliaments of the states.

Subsequently, the Nazis and the People's Party of the Fatherland were able to amend the Weimar Constitution to significantly weaken the autonomy of the states and turn them into local administrative regions under the control of the German Imperial Government.

After gaining control of the localities, Hitler also planned to pass the National Transitional Justice Ordinance in Parliament, which would investigate the revolutions that took place in Germany between November 1918 and February 1919. In fact, it was a tailor-made bill for the Social Democrats.

The result of the investigation, of course, was that the Social Democrats were banned for a large number of lawlessness and traitorous acts!

At this critical juncture, Hitler certainly hoped that the Rhineland question could be a significant plus point.

In addition, Germany's recovery of all sovereignty over the Rhineland would greatly enhance the prestige of National Socialism in Europe and the world, which would be very beneficial to the international export of national socialist values and the use of ideology to win over allies.

"Admiral Schleicher!" Hitler immediately named Defense Minister Schleicher.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister." Schleicher nodded.

"I order the Ministry of Defense to immediately draw up a plan for stationing in the Rhine zone and arranging defenses in the Rhine zone." Hitler paused, "It's better to come up with a plan tomorrow...... I will then immediately ask His Excellency the President for approval to implement the plan. ”

This is a Hitler without military power...... At least until the death of President Hindenburg and Vice President Ludendorff, he had no chance of getting his hands on the military.

"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister." Schleicher said, "The Wehrmacht has a plan for a long time...... After receiving orders from the President, we will complete control of the Rhineland on May 11, the second day after the French Left Pai government came to power. ”

"Good!" Hitler seemed very satisfied, and a little excited. "And how many troops are you going to use to take back the Rhineland?"

"Mr. Chancellor," said Hersmann, who had led the plan for the troops to be stationed in the Rhine, and who would be personally responsible for carrying out the plan for the troops to be stationed in the Rhine district, according to Schleicher's disposition. "We will use 19 infantry battalions and 13 artillery batteries, a total of about 30,000 people, to control the whole of the Rhineland."

"What?" Hitler seemed to be taken aback, "Only 30,000 people? If the French also march into the Rhine, will there be enough of these people? ”

"Not at all." Hersman said, "But Edward. Helio would never dare to do that! Because his electorate does not want to fight, and we Germans crave a war of revenge! (To be continued.) )