Just when the North African battlefield was extremely hot, and Zhou Yu dispatched troops to place chess pieces, the big hairy bear in the ice and snow world in the north was not idle.

The occupation of the Baltic states did not satisfy them, and the collapse of the Anglo-French forces at an alarming rate prompted them to take advantage of as much as they could.

The day after France's formal surrender, they summoned the Nazi ambassador to Moscow and told him that the settlement of the Bessarabian question was urgent, that if the Romanian government refused to accept the peace agreement, the Soviet Union was determined to use force, and hoped that Germany would not hinder but support the Soviet Union's actions, and that Bessarabia had been taken by Romania from Russia during the First World War, and now they were only reclaiming the land that belonged to them.

Hitler was quite dissatisfied with this request of the Soviet Union, and even a little nervous, because the German army was in great need of Romanian oil, and also had to get food and fodder from this Balkan country, and if the Russian army occupied Romania, Germany would lose these things.

Regardless of Germany's attitude, the woolly bear issued an ultimatum to Romania to cede northern Bessarabia to Corvina, and insisted that Romania give an answer the next day.

Eventually, at the direction of Germany, the Romanian government compromised, and the Soviets marched into the newly acquired territory the next day, while Hitler had to temporarily stabilize the massive polar bear, because his plan was not yet ready to be perceived by the other side in advance.

In fact, if someone in Russia has carefully read Hitler's book "Mein Kampf", it is not difficult to find clues from it, and there is a paragraph in the book that reads:

[For our National Socialists are to take over the cause which we have terminated six hundred years ago, and we are to cease the incessant movement of Germany to southern and western Europe, and to turn our gaze to the lands of the East, and when we speak to-day of Europe and the new territories, we must think of Russia and the vassal states around it, and it seems that fate itself wishes to show us the way here, that it has come to the dissolution of this great empire in the East, and to the end of Jewish rule in Russia, It will also be the end of Russia as a state. 】

However, the idea of Germany's eastward expansion had long been ingrained in Hitler's mind, and the reason why he signed an agreement with Russia to partition Poland was only briefly postponed.

Now, after a long period of preparation, Germany has gathered all the resources of the Western European continent, Britain has been driven to the other side of the Channel, and no one in the North African theater can harass him, it is time to make a decision.

At a meeting of the Nazi Supreme Commanders, Hitler finally put forward his idea.

"My generals, I intend to attack the USSR next spring, and from now on I need you to transfer most of the troops from the Western Front to the Eastern Front, what do you have to add?"

Since Hitler had already laid the groundwork for the eastward expansion into the Soviet Union very early, the military bigwigs did not show any special surprise.

The Nazi Army Commander-in-Chief Brauchitsch sorted out his thoughts and said: "Führer, I think this campaign will last four to six weeks, and our goal is to defeat the Russian army, or at least occupy enough Russian territory so that Soviet bombers cannot reach Berlin and the industrial areas of Silesia, on the other hand, our air force bombers will be able to reach all important targets in Soviet territory. ”

Hitler nodded and motioned for the other to continue.

Brauchitsch pondered for a moment and said: "At the beginning of the battle, I plan to mobilize eighty to one hundred divisions to complete this task, according to our intelligence, the strength of the Soviet army should be fifty to seventy-five divisions, as long as we can quickly take Russia with a blitzkrieg, the British hope will also be dashed, because after the destruction of Russia, the Japanese power in the Far East will be greatly increased, and then our Axis powers will be able to connect in a real sense." ”

Hitler listened carefully to the field marshal's preliminary plan, looked at the tactical map in front of him, nodded with satisfaction, and said: "You are right, if Russia is destroyed, the last hope of the British will be crushed, that is, our empire will become the only master of Europe and the Balkans!"

In between, the time for the destruction of Russia is set for the spring of next year, my generals, I want you to take this goal as the ultimate goal of our army from now on, mobilize troops, hoard supplies, and destroy Russia as soon as possible, and do not drag this matter into the autumn and winter of next year, can it be done? ”

"Führer, rest assured, the task will be completed!"

After determining the next grand strategic policy, Hitler made up his mind to issue Directive 21, which was called the "Barbarossa Plan."

In order to conceal the ultimate purpose of this plan, the Germans camouflaged and disguised themselves in detail, and Hitler stipulated that such a build-up should appear natural, so as not to create the impression in Russia that they were preparing to launch an offensive in the East.

Until then, Germany had used a series of diplomatic tactics to discourage the Russians, even tolerating the latter's constant westward movement.

On the British side, Williams, at the suggestion of Churchill, tried to provoke a dispute between Russia and Germany through diplomatic means, and they engaged in a series of diplomatic battles around the Romanian oil fields.

But the relevant British intelligence officers also discovered the terrible fact that the Soviet Union, Italy, Japan, and Germany, as if they were pursuing a long-term policy of redividing their interests on a world scale.

This was simply bad news for Williams, and if the Russians were on the side of the Axis powers, they would be doomed.

When Williams informed Zhou Yu of his worries by phone, the latter laughed indifferently: "My Prime Minister, you can completely trust me on this point, maybe the Russians think so, but Hitler and his Nazis never think so."

I know him even more than anyone else in the world, don't you say that the bombing of London has become more and more sparse, and has not even appeared again in the last three days? I can tell you responsibly that Hitler was already preparing to mobilize his army on the Eastern Front.

Yes, you guessed it right, his real target was the huge empire to the east, which is why he has been operating in Finland, including the four-nation treaty, and his series of diplomatic dealings with Russia at this time have only one purpose, and that is to stabilize the latter, which is simply a joke.

If I'm not mistaken, Nazi Germany will show its real fangs to the east by next spring at the latest, and we can have a relatively nourished winter this winter, and I personally suggest that you take advantage of this opportunity to recuperate, recuperate, and prepare for a counter-offensive on the European continent, and I stand with you on this point.

Yesterday Congress passed the latest plan, there is a new batch of aid about to be shipped to you, friends, the war will soon be in our Allied forces, there is an old saying in my hometown, opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared, I have already said this, as for how you will prepare to believe, I don't need to teach you, and good luck, we will see you next year. ”