Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, United Kingdom......

Adolf Hitler stood in front of the map table with his arms crossed, his sunken gray-blue eyes sweeping over France's neighbors one by one, his mustache and mouth shaking from time to time, muttering something in a low voice, but the content was only audible to him. The pattern of world wars has become clearer, and the Battle of Hawaii and the Soviet-Finnish War became the last straw that broke the confidence of the British Empire. Under the persuasion of his "friend" British Crown Prince Edward, the British cabinet finally gave up all unrealistic illusions and returned to the real world. Chancellor Neville Chamberlain personally came to Berlin to negotiate with him and recognized Germany's rights on the European continent. In Asia, China, Germany's still loyal ally, has also been given its right, and Marshal Chang Ruiqing has assured Rathenau that the squadron will take responsibility accordingly.

However, there is now another great power on the European continent besides the Soviet Union that does not recognize Germany's rights, and that country is France, the old enemy of the German Empire for hundreds of years! While Germany was fighting against the Bolsheviks, France, which was on the sidelines, showed no weakness in arms expansion, Renault and Schneider's factories were all working overtime, the total monthly output of various tanks had exceeded 500, the airfields were full of the most advanced fighter planes, the size of the army was expanded to 2 million, and even the navy was given a budget for building battleships and aircraft carriers!

And there are growing signs that France is moving closer to the Soviet Union. The port of Toulon is full of equipment destined for Syria - Syria is surrounded by Soviet occupation zones, and those planes were not sold to the Soviet Union, but to whom?

This insidious enemy, who had been fighting against Germany for centuries, had finally shown his true face! Ready to strangle Germany by the neck with the USSR. There was a way forward in a vain attempt to trap Germany between France and Russia, as it had been in the last world war. But it was not Wilhelm II who ruled Germany now. but Adolf Hitler, who was destined to make Europe and the world tremble! France deserves nothing more than a stepping stone to Germany's rise.

"Herman." Hitler took his eyes off the map table, he already had a way to deal with the Franco-Russian alliance. Looking at Hermann Goering, who had just returned from Rome, Hitler asked: "Has Mussolini recovered from his defeat in 1924?" ”

As Hitler's confidant, Goering was well aware of his thoughts, but he was extremely unoptimistic about the fighting power of the Italian army: "The leader of Italy has completely escaped the shadow of being beaten by the Soviet Union, and has figured out that a war in Guò proved that he was an outstanding leader, that Italy was a world power." But I think his army and people are completely unprepared for war. ”

"But I need Italy to be on the side of Germany. It doesn't matter if their land forces can't really go into combat. "Hitler paced around the map stand, his blue-gray eyes full of gloomy gaze." Although Britain has promised not to interfere in our struggle with France, Britain has not actually given up its intention to contain us, and the so-called non-interference is nothing but a means to push France to the side of the Soviet Union! I think we are very much facing the dilemma of fighting on two fronts, so someone has to contain France, especially France's maritime power. ”

"In addition. France is always an uncertain factor, and I am not afraid to go to war with France now, because the German military can defeat France while defending against a Soviet attack, and our ally, China, will certainly find a way to hold the Russian bear by its tail. However, I am afraid of a surprise attack by France......" Hitler showed a wry smile: "This is also the reason why I have been slow to launch a large-scale offensive on the Eastern Front, which always requires more forces than defense." Marshal Ludendorff sued me. 1.5 million men would be enough to hold Hitler's Line, but to capture Poland and East Prussia, at least 3 million troops would need to be committed, and further into Belarus and Ukraine. I'm afraid it will take 5 million to 6 million troops. And it will take a long time to achieve the final victory. So we had to settle France before a full-scale attack on the USSR was launched! ”

The fat man Goering nodded silently, and the other almost fat Jewish foreign minister, Val Trathenau, chimed in: "Mr. Chancellor." I completely agree with you, the USSR was a fairly vast country, and without two or three years of hard fighting, it would be impossible for us to eliminate it. France's size and will to fight cannot be compared with that of the Soviet Union, and we can defeat it in a Soviet-style large-depth offensive operation...... As long as France is defeated, we will have no worries, and Britain will lose the last means to contain us, so that we can only obediently be an ally of Germany, so that we can win the war. ”

Hitler really wanted to fight France, and the German Army was about to reach the peak of its strength, and the powerful assault force of 100 Panzer Grenadier Divisions and 20 Panzer Divisions would definitely destroy France. And Germany has the most powerful air force in the world (although Berlin is bombed by Soviet TB-3s every once in a while, enough to paralyze the movement of French mechanized troops from the air). But on the question of how to provoke a war, Hitler was very troublesome, because the German Empire was also a ...... Evil democracies!

Yes, there is no doubt that Germany is democratic now, otherwise how could Hitler's most hated Jewish capitalist be the Minister of Foreign Affairs? In fact, in the 10 years since he came to power, the great dictator in history has been following the evil path of democratic constitutional government. It was not that Hitler corrected his ways, but that the ass decided the head. Since 1924, the political landscape in Germany has been one of party power and the Wehrmacht. The leader of the Wehrmacht is President Hindenburg, and the second is the Chief of the General Staff, Ludendorff. Hitler, the Minister of Defense, had no actual military power, and he was not the head of state, if Germany wanted to take the road of dictatorship, the only person who could be a dictator was Hindenburg! That is why Mr. Hitler always held high the banner of democratic constitutional government. And the Nazi Party, well, has so far been classified by political analysts in Britain and the United States as a moderate left-wing socialist democratic party on par with the Chinese GCD, representing the interests of the German working class. Nor did anyone equate the Nazi Party with the Italian Fascist Party, nor did they say anything about the German Fascists......

So Hitler and the Nazi Party. A pretext for war was needed that would convince the whole of Germany, and it would be ideal if France could take the initiative to provoke the war. After rallying Mussolini as an anti-French ally, Hitler also planned to support the Spanish royalists and the Falangists in their rebellion to overthrow the government of the Spanish Republic and turn Spain into an alliance between Germany and Italy. In this way, France will be surrounded on three sides. Moreover, Hitler also estimated that France was likely to intervene in the Spanish civil strife with armed force, so that the Spanish civil strife would become the fuse for the Franco-German war. Even if France can hold back on the Spanish issue. Mussolini must have had a way of coming up with a pretext for going to war.

In addition, in order to ensure that the Germans could concentrate their forces on France as much as possible, Hitler also needed China to launch an offensive on the Eastern Front to contain the Soviet forces.

Hitler stopped, pondered in silence for a while, and suddenly raised his voice and said: "Mr. Rathenau, you will immediately go to Rome with Mr. Goering and invite Prime Minister Mussolini to Berlin to attend a meeting of the leaders of China, Britain and Germany...... You sue Mussolini. Germany welcomed Italy's return to the camp of opposition to the Third International. And Germany will also help Italy with the equipment of 10 panzer corps divisions and 1 million tons of oil, and at the same time support Italy to become the master of Abenicia and Constantinople! ”

"Give Constantinople to Italy?! Hehe...... I think Mussolini would have been eager to join the war. Ratnau laughed. And Mussolini was a real dictator...... In some ways he has a good way. ”

Seeing that his mind was seen through, Hitler showed a cold smile: "Hehe, so as long as Mussolini joins, it will not be difficult for us to find an excuse to go to war with France!" ”

On January 21, 1934, just as Rathenau and Goering, two big fat men, were once again going to Rome on Hitler's terms. French Prime Minister Daladier also secretly traveled to Constantinople, the capital of the Soviet-controlled Eastern Roman Soviet Socialist Republic, through Syria, to conduct secret negotiations with Soviet leader Trotsky.

The negotiations lasted for three whole days, and Daladier proposed to the Soviet Union a series of unreasonable conditions, including assuming the debts of the former Tsarist government, compensating French citizens for the loss of property in the Soviet Russian Revolution, stopping support for the French GCD, French Indochina GCD, and ensuring that Japan would not attack French Indochina, and at the same time resolutely refused to agree to sign an alliance with the Soviet Union aimed at opposing Germany. Only the expulsion of the White Russians and White Poles was promised, and a Franco-Soviet non-aggression pact was signed, and in secret. Supply of machinery and industrial technology to the Soviet Union.

Trotsky was so disappointed by this that he wanted to suspend the negotiations for a while. But on the last day of the negotiations, German Foreign Minister Rathenau visited Rome and Mussolini agreed to join the war against the Soviet Union with the news reached Constantinople. Daladier was shocked when he heard the news, fearing that the target of the German-Italian alliance would not be the Soviet Union but France, so he immediately made concessions in the negotiations and agreed to shelve the economic dispute between France and the Soviet Union, but still did not agree to sign an anti-German treaty with the Soviet Union in the nature of a specific military alliance. However, it promised to provide the Soviet Union with more aircraft and send engineers to help the Soviet Union improve the technical level of the aviation industry and the mechanical industry.

Having secured enough benefits, Trotsky also took a step back and agreed to Daladier's request. On January 23, 1934, France and the Soviet Union simultaneously issued a proclamation announcing the normalization of relations between the two countries and the signing of the Franco-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.

Before the world could recover from the astonishing news of France's "betrayal" of the international capitalist camp, another variable came to Europe from across the Atlantic.

On January 25, the day after French Prime Minister Daladier returned to Paris, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Hopkins and U.S. Army Chief of Staff MacArthur both arrived in Europe to begin their Franco-German trip. Chinese Premier Chang Ruiqing and Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini also flew to Berlin, the capital of Germany.

……

The granite floor is polished, the crystal chandelier above the head flashes with a soft light, the dome full of murals is full of brilliance, and the famous paintings hanging on the four walls make the beautiful Charlottenburg Palace full of artistic atmosphere, and let the Chang Ruiqing couple, who are accustomed to seeing mansions and villas, secretly talk about their Tangshan mansion compared to this place. It seems that I will have to get some art to decorate the façade when I go back.

As an important ally of Germany, the leader of one of the three or four great powers of the world in the future. Chang Ruiqing received the highest standard of hospitality in Germany. Not only did Hitler and Ludendorff personally go to the airport to greet him, but even President Hindenburg, who had been bedridden for a long time, sent his son Oskar von Hindenburg to greet him on his behalf. An extravagant dinner was also arranged in the Charlottenburg Palace, the former Prussian royal family, and a concert and dance party were arranged after the dinner.

In order not to disturb the guests of the Yaxing of the "old hen of Trotsky" (the nickname given by the Berliners to the TB-3 bomber. Luftwaffe Commander Goering also dispatched 212 Ju-88 bombers and 321 He-111 bombers that had just been put into service to bombard several large airfields in Poland that were used to take off and land TB-3 bombers. More than 300 BF-110 twin-engine fighters were mobilized to serve as night fighters and were responsible for driving away Soviet bombers approaching Berlin.

Italian leader Benito Mussolini, who arrived in Berlin a day earlier than Chang Ruiqing, also appeared at the dinner. The Italian dictator was very short, a head shorter than Chang Ruiqing even in his heightened shoes, but he was very active, with a rich expression and a lot of talk.

For this Italian leader cheekily returned to the table of the world war. Chang Ruiqing did not find it strange at all, after all, Trotsky had also burned the flames of the world revolution to the Adriatic Sea, and there was also news that the Italian GCD leader Palmiro Togliatti was now recruiting Italian exiles in Constantinople to organize the Red Army, ready to follow the Soviet Red Army to liberate his homeland.

Today, however, Mussolini repeatedly mentioned Spain in his conversation. The Bourbon dynasty, which had ruled Spain for centuries, died in 1931. The Republican Party, which came to power in its place, was a left-wing party heavily influenced by the Soviet Union, which adopted a socialist constitution to implement a series of social reforms of a socialist nature, including land reform, and established a highly political police force, the Assault Guard. They want to use such an armed force loyal to the party rather than the state to consolidate their rule. Dealing with reactionary forces.

Naturally, the right-wing forces in Spain, such as the landlords, the bourgeoisie, the church, the royalists, and some military generals, were not willing to sit idly by, and armed parties such as the Fascist Front and the Spanish Falangist Party emerged. As a result, political parties are armed in their hands, and democracy and everything naturally begins to go out of shape...... However, no matter how chaotic Spain is, it is also the internal affair of others, and several surrounding powers have no intention of interfering, and it was not until the outbreak of the civil war in 1936 that Italy, Germany and the Soviet Union began to intervene. But now. The Spaniards were still at the level of group fights and assassinations, and Mussolini and Hitler couldn't help but want to intervene somehow.

Feeling that the topic was a little strange, Chang Ruiqing took the initiative to interrupt: "Both, I don't think the civil strife in Spain is an issue that we need to discuss in this meeting, and it is impossible for my country to interfere in Spain's internal affairs......

Hitler and Mussolini looked at each other. The two of them held Chang Ruiqing's elbows left and right, and pulled him through a door leading to the balcony. Walked out onto the balcony and closed the door again.

Hitler looked up at the burly Chang Ruiqing and said, "Marshal, what do you think about the recent contacts between France and the Soviet Union?" ”

"France?" Chang Ruiqing realized that Hitler and Mussolini were actually aiming at France when they were pointing at Spain, but he clearly remembered that France did not intervene in the Spanish Civil War in history. "What does this have to do with Spain? Did the two want to use Spain to contain France? Spain doesn't seem to be a strong country now, can they lead France? ”

"Of course not, I don't have that idea, in fact...... My plan is to defeat France first! Hitler looked at Chang Ruiqing and said word by word in heavily accented German: "France's collusion with the Soviet Union is a betrayal of Germany, Britain, China, and even the entire free world!" Without defeating France, Germany cannot rest assured that it will boldly advance eastward! China would not be able to acquire lands in Eastern Siberia and Central Asia and French Indochina, and Britain would not be able to recover its colonies in India and the Middle East! ”

Chang Ruiqing's German is not very good, he pricked up his ears and carefully listened carefully, and Mussolini next to him was worried that Chang Ruiqing would not understand, so he translated Hitler's original words in fluent English. After listening to Mussolini's retelling, Chang Ruiqing already understood what Hitler meant...... He felt that the German chancellor in front of him was ready to take a big gamble on the French question! Take advantage of the fact that Britain and China now have to condone or support Germany to settle France before defeating the Soviet Union.

"When are you going to do it?" Chang Ruiqing frowned, revealing a very solemn expression: "Trotsky will not sit idly by and watch the defeat of France, can Germany fight on two fronts?" "To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the www.biquge.info of Biquge (qidian votes for recommendation votes, monthly passes, your support is my biggest motivation.) For mobile phone users, please go to mqidian to read. )