"Is there really no hope for a peaceful settlement anymore?"

At the official residence of the royal city of Berlin, the German Emperor Wilhelm tried to hide his inner worries, and asked questions in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, the Poles have begun to expel their compatriots from Posen, West Prussia and Silesia, with great cruelty, and many have been killed by them. According to the Act on Citizenship of the German Reich, the deceased were all citizens of the Reich. ”

Adolph. Hitler replied in a tone of extreme exasperation. On 10 August, the Poles rejected Mussolini's offer of peace and began to expel the German population from the western lands of Poznan (Posen) and Pomerania (West Prussia), excluding the free city of Danzig. According to the new Citizenship Act, adopted by the Kaiser after the Restoration, all ethnic Germans outside Germany (Germanic or of Germanic blood) could apply for German citizenship while retaining the nationality of the country in which they resided - the German Empire recognized dual citizenship. As a result, almost all ethnic Germans living in Poland applied for German citizenship.

And these people with German nationality are a hidden danger to national security in the eyes of the Poles. So while rejecting the "Mussolini plan", the Polish government began to implement the "German expulsion plan". Hundreds of thousands of Germans, forced to leave their homes by Polish soldiers, could only carry very little luggage. And all their property on Polish land will be confiscated, and those who resist will be killed!

In addition, Poland has imposed an embargo on Germany since August 10, prohibiting the export of agricultural products to Germany, and at the same time cutting off land transportation between Germany proper, East Prussia and the Baltic states. All trade between the Soviet Union and Germany through Polish territory, territorial waters, and airspace was also cut off!

And these acts, in particular the deportation and killing of the German population of Poland, were absolutely intolerable to the National Socialist Workers' Party, which flaunted racism.

So Hitler announced the final solution at the Cabinet meeting on August 12: war against Poland!

"But both Britain and France announced their support for Poland." The German emperor hesitated for a moment, and then glanced at the three major leaders of the German military who had entered the palace with Hitler -- Field Marshal Schleicher, Minister of Defense, Senior General Hammestein, Chief of the General Staff, and Senior General Hersmann, Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

"Your Majesty, if England and France dare to support Polish sinners," Hirschmann replied in a calm tone, "then this time next year. You will be the master of Versailles! ”

"Ah, is it?" The German emperor heard Hersmann say this more than once, and Hitler was almost calloused, along with Schleicher and Hammestein. But they all have deep skepticism.

"Your Majesty, although Britain and France support Poland, we also have the Soviet Union on our side." Adolph. Hitler was confident, "Germany plus the USSR." Both in terms of population and industrial strength, they were several times larger than Britain and France, so it was impossible for Britain and France to win. They can only choose to recognize our fourth partition of Poland! ”

"Admit it?" The German emperor was somewhat puzzled.

"Your Majesty, the Italian leader has promised that he can intercede again after our defeat of Poland." Hitler replied.

The Italian leaders were not so foolish as to follow the British and French against the Soviet Union, but chose to continue to be a beloved dove of peace in Europe - in fact, the German General Staff had drawn up a plan to defeat Italy with five divisions!

"That's good." Kaiser Wilhelm has not asked about military and politics for many years, and he doesn't know how awesome Germany and the Soviet Union are now, but he still understands the calculation. The five major powers in Europe are Britain, France, Germany, the Soviet Union and Italy, and now Italy is a peacemaker. Then Britain and France could not be defeated by the Soviet Union and Germany, and Britain and France could not win, so peace was the only option.

"We must avoid an irretrievable state of war with Britain and France." The German Emperor commanded earnestly.

"Your Majesty, the government's opinion is exactly the same as yours." Hitler said, "I have given an order to the Ministry of Defense to prohibit the bombing of British land, nor of Paris." ”

According to the constitution, the emperor was the supreme commander of the German army. However, the prime minister of the government has the "power" to make military policy, and the imperial parliament has the "power of questioning" (on major decision-making issues such as declaring war). The General Staff, for its part, has the "right to advise" on military policy. Theoretically, the General Staff should put forward feasible proposals for the implementation according to the requirements of the Prime Minister, and then the Prime Minister should make the choice, and finally submit it to the Emperor for approval.

Therefore, there is a lot of room for maneuvering as the soul of the General Staff like Hersmann. For example, the original version of Hitler's order "not to bomb British land and Paris" was "not to bomb Britain and Paris". And Hersman in order to carry out the "air raid on Scarpa Bay plan". The idea of "differential treatment of territorial waters and territories" was put forward, and it successfully got through the confusion.

"In that case, I agree to go to war against the Polish Commonwealth, and I will formally approve it as soon as the Reichstag passes a resolution declaring war." The German emperor after receiving Hitler's assurances. The request for war was granted - he could not have dreamed at this moment that he had agreed to start a new world war.

……

The leader of Ukrainian nationalism, Simon. Vasilevich. Petliura, in August 1939, was alive and well. Because of his defection to Poland and his outstanding performance in the Battle of Kiev (during the Soviet-Polish War), he became the Prime Minister of the Ukrainian Free State supported by Pilsudski. Now he is once again in military uniform, in the capacity of the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Forces of the Free State of Ukraine and his deputy, the Stepan who looks a bit like a mouse. Bandera arrived together at the Belvedel Palace in Warsaw.

In a large room, which was decorated to look like a war room, Petliura reported to the Polish Minister of Defense and Director of the Armed Forces, Rez Šimigvi, on the preparations for the Eastern Plan.

The Eastern Plan was a military plan for Poland in response to the Soviet attack, while there was also a Western Plan for Germany.

According to the assumptions of the Polish, British and French military strategists, the war that would take place would be a "protracted war". Poland, on the other hand, could be at a disadvantage within two or three months of the outbreak of war, so a strategy of defense was necessary.

Of course, being defensive doesn't mean just defending. In fact, in the "Western Plan", a combat plan was drawn up to attack north and seize East Prussia in order to eliminate the threat from the north. On the western and southwestern frontiers, however, the Polish army was still firmly on the defensive, fearing that Germany might seek an armistice after occupying the "lost territory", so the Polish army was determined to implement a strategy of "fighting for every inch of territory" in the Western Plan.

To this end, the Polish Ministry of Defense intends to devote the vast majority of the 44 divisions and 22 brigades already mobilized - 40 divisions and 21 brigades - to the implementation of the Western Plan. These armies have formed 7 army groups and 1 tactical group, and another 2 army groups (tactical groups) are being formed, which are:

1. Coastal Army Group defending the Danze corridor;

2. Army Group Modlin, deployed on the Polish-East Prussian border directly north of Warsaw;

3. Army Group Poznan, deployed in the Greater Poland region on the western border;

4. Army Group Lodz, deployed on the left flank of Army Group Poznan;

5. Army Group Krakow, deployed on the right flank of Army Group Poznan in the area of Upper Silesia;

6. Army Group Krakow deployed on the southern border east of Army Group Krakow (including the Polish-Slovak border, primarily in the Carpathian Mountains);

7. The Prussian Army Group, as the general reserve of the whole army, mainly deployed on the second-line positions west and south of Warsaw (in the rear of the three armies of Poznan, Lodz and Krakow);

8. On the right flank of Army Group Modlin, the Narev tactical group, which was responsible for operations in the southeastern border area of East Prussia.

These seven army groups and one tactical group are equipped with a total of 33 infantry divisions, 13 cavalry brigades (including 1 motorized brigade), 3 mountain brigades, 3 civil defense brigades and 1 civil defense semi-brigade.

In addition, 7 divisions (including 1 armored group) and 1 brigade were deployed in Veshkov, north of Warsaw, and Lublin, southeast of the Polish Free State and on the border of the Ukrainian Free State, in preparation for the formation of two new army groups (tactical clusters).

The remaining 4 divisions and 1 brigade are assigned to the Ukrainian Defense Forces as the backbone of the "Eastern Plan".

"Marshal, we formed the Pinsk Army Group with the 45th Reserve Infantry Division as the backbone; With the 46th Reserve Infantry Division and the Brest Fortress Brigade as the backbone, the Brest Army Group was formed; The Kiev Army Group was formed with the Kiev Fortress Division as the backbone; The Lviv Army Group was formed with the Lviv Fortress Division as the backbone. In addition to the regular army, each army group is equipped with at least 30 or more urban defense battalions, of which 65 urban defense infantry battalions and 15 urban defense artillery battalions in Lviv and Kiev are the backbone of the Ukrainian defense army, which is quite combat-effective......"

It is with a very gloomy and desperate mood that Petliula reports on the composition and deployment of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which are responsible for Ukraine and Western Belarus (part of the Polish state, but with a predominantly Belarusian population), have only a small number of troops compared to the large army defending Poland itself.

There are only 4 "regular divisions" and 1 "regular brigade" and 140 urban defense battalions (including 30 artillery battalions) plus 36 battalions of the border protection force totaling less than 200,000 people, and two of those four divisions are newly formed reserve divisions - although they are "reserve divisions", they are quite combat-ready, because the officers and soldiers are all from Ukraine. In addition, 80 of the 140 city defense battalions are made up of Ukrainians, and they will certainly be quite effective in defending their homeland.

However, the total strength of 200,000 troops is still too small.

"Don't worry, Mr. Admiral (Petliura has the rank of Admiral)." Rez-Shimigvi's expression was relaxed, he had received assurances from Britain and France - once the Soviet Union and Germany declared war on Poland, the British and French bombers would blow up the large oil fields in Baku, so that the Soviet and German mechanized armies would soon be paralyzed by lack of fuel.

The Polish Minister of Defense smiled and said: "We will soon be able to defeat Germany in the West, and then go back to the Soviets, and you will only need to hold out for 3 months." Moreover, I will order the transfer of another 300,000 rifles, 5,000 machine guns, 500 cannons, 300 million rounds of ammunition and 1 million shells from warehouses to the Ukrainian Defense Forces. This will allow you to raise more troops to defend the city. (To be continued.) )