At 4 a.m. on June 6, 1934, a German convoy consisting of a Hunter tank destroyer, a No. 3 tank, a half-track personnel carrier and a C-type self-propelled gun swaggered across the German-Belgian border and into the small Belgian town of Saint-Vitus in the eastern Ardennes Forest. Now that the whole town has been completely blocked, the Belgian army has set up checkpoints at all major intersections leading to the town, and no idle people are allowed to pass through guò...... What the? How could the German convoy pass through guò?

This matter is a long story, and the primary credit probably belongs to the current Dutch matching king Prince Hendrik, and the so-called "matching king" probably means that he has become the queen's husband and has no real power to be responsible for breeding. Prince Hendrik's wife was Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and he himself was a German nobleman, duke of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in the German Empire, a Prussian officer until he married Queen Wilhelmina, and the German Empire had always been his homeland. It is said that the German Emperor Wilhelm II was able to go into exile in the Netherlands, which also had the effect of his pillow wind.

Germany in this time and space is different from history, it is not the dictatorship of the Nazi Party, but the co-rule of the Nazi Party and the Prussian officer corps of the Wehrmacht, and the Prussian officer corps has a bit of incense with the Dutch king and the German royal family in exile in the Netherlands. Therefore, the relationship between Germany and the Netherlands has always been very close, and after the invasion of the Dutch East Indies by Japan, an ally of the Soviet Union, the Netherlands naturally joined Germany in declaring war on the Soviet Union and Japan. Although he did not follow Germany in declaring war on France, he was clearly inclined to Germany on the whole.

The relationship between the Netherlands and Belgium is very special, Dutch and French have always been one of the two official languages of Belgium, and the population that speaks Dutch still accounts for the majority of the Belgian population, and the two countries are basically brothers.

In fact, relations between Belgium and Germany have always been good. It was not until the father of the current king, Leopold III, Albert I, that he turned against Germany, because Albert I rejected Kaiser Wilhelm II's courtship, and informed the French of his plan to go to war with France, and also fought on the side of France in World War I, resulting in the land being ravaged by German troops. As a result, the two countries became enemies. This is the main reason why Belgium chose to support France again after the Franco-German war.

However, the hardcore anti-German Albert I fell to his death in early 1934 while hiking in Switzerland. The new Leopold III was not as stubborn as his father. Although at the request of the government, it agreed to declare war on Germany. But it's been a little swaying, and it's a bit of a wall grass. Under these circumstances, Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands, who had always had close relations with Germany and was in fact a German, began to mediate between the two countries. At the end of May. A special tour group was also organized to go to Germany for "inspection" by the Belgian queen and several high-ranking generals of the Belgian royal army, and when they saw the Germans gathering in the Aachen and Trier regions with a large number of terrifying armoured units and air force planes, they all became hardcore German-friendly elements and ran together to King Leopold III and Brockville to speak for the Germans. Subsequently, Leopold III and Prime Minister Brockville also had a cordial meeting with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler in The Hague, the Netherlands, under the arrangement of Prince Hendrick......

At last. Max. The most brilliant attack in the Ardennes Forest, the highlight of Hoffmann's plan, turned into the current armed parade.

There was no overwhelming bombardment, no well-prepared shelling, no imposing armored assault. The 8 Panzer Divisions and 15 Panzergrenadier Divisions and 14 Motorized Rifle Divisions of the German Army Group B, a total of 37 divisions, were under the command of Army Group B. Under the command of General Bauk, he drove through the Ardennes Forest in southern Belgium to the Sedan region in central France.

Belgium's betrayal of the alliance was not concealed for long. Because the Belgian authorities did not mean to do anything about it, a small number of French troops stationed in Belgium and observers of the French army in Belgium received an expulsion order on 7 June. The French intelligence services were also unusually efficient, and the day after the German army entered Belgium, it sent a report to Paris that an unknown number of German troops were crossing the Ardennes Forest.

After confirming that Belgium had been co-opted by Germany, the French top brass really felt that a catastrophe was coming. However, at this time, they did not care about the unknown number of German troops who were crossing the Ardennes Forest, and in the eyes of Ganmalin and others, those were just small German troops, and it was likely that they were only harassing attacks. It was enough to have a few infantry divisions deployed on the Sedang line. What really kills is the main force of the German army that will soon penetrate the territory of Belgium and enter northern France!

Gammel and others took it for granted that the current German high command must be acting according to a plan of operations similar to Schlieffen's plan. Penetrate northern France with a powerful armoured force through Belgium and then a left hook to Paris. to achieve what they did not achieve in 1914, and the subsequent arrival of news confirmed this idea.

On the morning of June 8, 1934, the day after Belgium issued an order to the French to expel the guests, an Panzer Army Group belonging to German Army Group A passed the road bridge over the Meuse River from under the guns of the fortress of Liège in the afternoon of the same day. The vanguard of the German army appeared on the streets of Brussels, the capital of Belgium! However, they were not now invading troops, but allies of the Kingdom of Belgium, for France had already surrendered its declaration of war to Belgium at noon that day.

Seeing that the German army had already attacked with great momentum, and the second line of defense, which had been painstakingly operated for many years, had a huge gap due to the betrayal of Belgium. The commander of the French army, Gammerin, could not care about the cruel reality that the enemy was strong and weak, and hurriedly ordered the large army of 4 mechanized corps and 6 infantry corps assembled in northern Germany to penetrate deep into central Belgium, and put on a posture of preparing for a decisive battle with the German armored group.

But first of all, it was the plane that obscured them in Belgium! As de Gaulle said, the mighty Luftwaffe completely occupied the day, bombs rained down in the middle of the French convoys, and the screams of the Stuka were deafening. It constantly stimulates the nerves of the French soldiers who are on the battlefield for the first time. After paying the heavy price of destroying more than 1,000 vehicles and tanks, the French Army Group North advanced less than 30 kilometers into Belgian territory. Every kilometer connecting northern France and Belgium was filled with French vehicles that burned or had been burned to the wreckage of charred metal. It is no exaggeration to say that the most formidable forces of the French Army have been paralyzed by the constant bombardment of the Luftwaffe.

Seeing that the mechanized troops seemed to be unable to maneuver, the French commander-in-chief Gammelin had no choice but to order the troops to dig trenches in central Belgium and move to defense. This time he finally listened to de Gaulle's advice. The troops were ordered to form several parallel fronts, and the French version of the Stalker tank destroyer, S35 medium tank, and B1 heavy tank were also ordered to be buried in the trenches and used as fixed firing points. It was hoped that the German advance could be somewhat delayed and that time would be bought for further arming of the French.

And the French Minister of Defense, Paul. On June 10, Renault hurriedly boarded a plane to the United States with a thick list of weapons purchases to purchase equipment for two or three million recruits who had just entered the barracks. At the same time, the Soviet authorities, who were still negotiating an alliance with France, received a telegram for help from French Prime Minister Daladier. The Soviet Red Army was asked to immediately launch the fiercest attack on the German forces in Poland and Romania.

……

Standing in the operational command center in the Kremlin, looking at the huge Western European military figure, holding the telegram from Daladier in his hand, Trotsky's brow was already twisted.

"This time, I actually let Hitler, a corporal, play tricks, and I thought that the German armored forces were all on the Eastern Front, but I didn't expect that they had been secretly transferred to fight France. He also won over Belgium and cracked the 'second line of defense'! It seems that this Franco-German war is simply a long-premeditated conspiracy! ”

Trotsky smiled bitterly, thinking that with the entry of France into the war, the pressure on the western part of the Soviet Union would be greatly reduced, and that it might even be possible to unite with France to flank Germany and achieve victory. But the appearance of the French was a great disappointment, the war had just begun to show its decline, and if it continued like this, it was not far from defeat. And once France is defeated, Germany will have no worries.

After handing over the telegram to Tukhachevsky and Shaposhnikov on his side. Trotsky took a deep breath, calmed his mind a little, and said: "Comrade Shaposhnikov, go and call back Prime Minister Daladier that the Soviet Union will launch an attack on Poland within a week...... Go and relieve the siege of the GCIST fighters who are holding on to Warsaw! ”

"Chairman, are you serious?" Tukhachevsky was stunned and looked at Trotsky fixedly. Break the siege of Warsaw? The city has been besieged by hundreds of thousands of German troops for more than a month, and it has long been at the point of exhaustion! The reason why the Germans did not take Warsaw was not to confuse France? Now that France had caught Germany off guard, there was no need to maintain the illusion of Warsaw. The fall is estimated to have happened in the past few days.

Trotsky shook his head with a wry smile and did not answer Tukhachevsky's question, but changed the subject: "Comrade Tukhachevsky, do you think France will be able to hold on?"

Tukhachevsky's face was solemn, and it seemed that he had no bottom in his heart. After pondering for a while, he said: "Chairman, you are too worried, although the French were caught off guard, after all, they are one of the most powerful countries in the world, and the United States is also obviously inclined to France, and it may not be easy for the Germans to win in the short term, after all, they are enemies on both sides, and it is impossible to concentrate all their efforts to attack France."

Trotsky nodded, and understood another meaning of Tukhachevsky's words, that the Germans were unlikely to be able to defeat France quickly, but that in the end they would still be able to defeat France, and that the Soviet Union would have to contain at least half of Germany's strength.

"Is it possible, then, to save the fate of France if we concentrate all our efforts on the offensive on the Western Front?" Trotsky was silent for a while, and then asked another question.

Tukhachevsky thought for a while, shook his head and said: "I don't know, after all, we don't know much about the situation on the Franco-German battlefield, and if we want to know if they can withstand it, it's best to go to the front line of the Franco-German battlefield to see it in person."

"You need to see it with your own eyes, seeing is believing." Trotsky said: "Comrade Tukhachevsky, you are ready to take a plane to Constantinople early tomorrow morning, and another TB-3 to France in the evening."

"Okay, I'll go and get ready, but, Comrade Trotsky, do you have any specific instructions?"

Trotsky shook his head and said, "You can do it yourself...... The conditions put forward by the French at this time must have been related to the Eastern Front battlefield, and if they could be satisfied, they should be met as much as possible. In addition, the technical information of French aircraft and tanks should be as thorough as possible, which is very important for us to persist in the revolutionary struggle. ”

"Understood." Tukhachevsky gave Trotsky a military salute and turned to leave, and before he could leave the operational command center, he saw Shaposhnikov, who had just left to send a telegram to the French prime minister, rush in in a rage and bump into Tukhachevsky's arms. "Comrade Trotsky! Something is wrong! Just after receiving an urgent telegram from the French side, the armored units of the Germans suddenly crossed the Ardennes Forest in southern Belgium and appeared on the east bank of the Merz River...... The French defense line is now all crumbling! ”

Both Trotsky and Tukhachevsky were somewhat discoloured. Vatsettis, who was studying the situation on the Eastern Front with several staff officers on the side, also jumped up: "What! Hit the east bank of the Merz River in one fell swoop!? Wasn't the French front cut in two? The flanks of the 40 divisions that attacked Belgium were all exposed! ”

Tukhachevsky didn't have time to pack his luggage at this time, so he walked to the topographic map of Western Europe hanging on the wall in three or two steps, took out a red and blue pencil and sketched it, and saw a huge blue arrow facing the important place in central and eastern France, on the banks of the Merz River. He turned back and asked Shaposhnikov: "What is the size of the German armored forces?" How many French people are there in Sedan?"

"The French also did not know how many armored forces the Germans had, only that tanks and armored vehicles were pouring out of the Ardennes forest. Their forces in Sedan were very empty, with only a few infantry divisions, and now Admiral Gammelin had ordered another armoured group assembled in the Nancy area to rush to Sedan to defend the city before the Germans could break through the city. ”

"Blind command! It's over, it's over, it's the end of France! Tukhachevsky stomped his feet, wanting to cry without tears. Originally, it was calculated that with the strength of France, it would always be possible to spend a few years with Germany, and it was always possible to fight the year without a good time. But they didn't take into account how bad the French generals' fighting skills were! If Napoleon had known about their current cousin, he might have jumped out of the coffin in anger!

Seeing Tukhachevsky's reaction, Trotsky also chuckled in his heart, but he was still a little unrelenting, so he asked: "Things are not so strict, are they?" Even if the French armoured forces did not have time to save Sedan, they could still hold off the Germans along the Marne. ”

Tukhachevsky sighed: "Then they should go directly to the Marne, not only the armored cluster in Nancy should go to the Marne, but also the hundreds of thousands of French troops on the southern flank of the second line of defense should immediately move to the Marne and Paris." But now the French are still fantasizing about keeping the Germans out of their country, Belgium has already fallen into 40 divisions, and if another 40 divisions are lost in the first battle of the Merz River, and the troops on the second line cannot be withdrawn, what are they going to do to defend Paris? Relying on those millions of recruits who have been in the army for less than half a month? Now France is really finished, and we will soon face the all-out attack of the Germans! (To be continued.) You are welcome to come to the Biquge www.biquge.info to vote for recommendations and monthly passes. For mobile phone users, please go to read