Time passed in 1937 in the Sino-Japanese war, and the biggest focus of this year was the Sino-Japanese war.

The same as in history is that the principal still decided to fight the Japanese army in Shanghai, but the difference is that the Battle of Songhu did not only last three months, but has not ended until now. At present, millions of Chinese and Japanese are gathered in the Jiangsu and Shanghai areas to fight, and the casualties on both sides are currently 350,000 and 60,000 respectively. 、

According to the report of Lieutenant General Moderk, the Nanjing side currently intends to withdraw its troops in view of the huge casualties in the battle of the Soviet Union and Shanghai. In this battle of Songhu, all members of the Rhodes division participated in the battle, and it was their participation in the battle that made the Japanese army unable to break through, but at present, more than half of the Rhodes division has suffered casualties and has lost the ability to continue fighting.

The Nanjing government saw that its most elite troops were no longer able to fight, so it made the decision to abandon Shanghai and other places. Fortunately, the ordnance purchased from Romania has already landed in Guangzhou, and the Rhodes Mechanic Division, which has replenished the equipment, believes that it will definitely have a better performance in the next battle.

And when the time entered 1938, a major event occurred that turned everyone's attention away from the smoke of the Far East, and Germany announced its merger with Austria.

Since the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire (also known as the First German Empire), it has been the dream of many Germans to build a unified state centered around German culture.

It was this dream that would lead to the Second German Reich. But with the end of World War I and the fall of the Second German Reich and Austria-Hungary, the dream of a great power centered on German culture seemed to have been dashed.

But it was also at this time that some unified voices emerged in Germany and Austria, each with the same cultural roots. And the momentum is growing, and the forces of the German-Austrian merger are re-emerging, but the two countries have always maintained their marginal positions.

However, Article 80 of the Treaty of Versailles, in order to punish the defeated countries, explicitly denied the possibility of German-Austrian merger. Although not an immediate success, the German-Austrian merger has since become an important issue in Austrian politics, and the parliament has been divided into two factions: some Social Democrats supported the merger, while Christian Democrats, fearing German Protestantism, resisted the merger.

In Germany, a German-Austrian merger is the only option for the ** party. Hitler, who was born in Austria, put it bluntly in Mein Kampf: "Germanic Austria must return to Germany, not for any economic reason. Even if the merger is economically unprofitable or even disadvantageous, it is still necessary to stick to the merger. The same blood, the same empire. ”

In the 30s, Austria's ** party became more and more powerful in parliamentary elections. In the face of repression by the authorities, they carried out several terrorist attacks and counter-repression campaigns throughout the country.

In 1934, with Hitler's approval, the Austrian** party assassinated Chancellor Taulfis in an attempt to stage a coup d'état. Although the outcome ended in failure, it was a major earthquake for the Austrian political situation at the time. The merger and austro-German merger has become an almost irresistible trend.

The Austrian authorities have always pursued a cautious "semi-appeasement" foreign policy towards Germany in exchange for independence. However, Hitler continued to put pressure on the Austrian government to recognize the legitimacy of the Austrian party, and even to involve the Austrian party in political affairs.

In addition to the urgent need to unite the Germans, Hitler saw the weakness of Britain and France in the militarization of the Rhine, which made him more urgent to unite Austria. Of course, the Austro-German Pact of July 1936 was also an important step in Hitler's annexation of Austria.

The agreement provided for Germany's recognition of Austrian sovereignty. But in relations with Germany, it forced the Austrian government to pursue a policy based on the fact that Austria was a German state. Austria was in fact subject to German foreign policy.

In January 1938, the *** elements in Austria received instructions from Berlin to prepare for a rebellion. On 4 February, Germany announced the reorganization of the central authorities and the Supreme High Command of the armed forces. Hitler concentrated the functions of head of state and supreme commander-in-chief in his own hands. Germany began to implement a plan for integration with Austria.

On 7 February, Austrian Chancellor Schuschnitge was invited to Hitler's official residence in Berchtesgaden. In order to intimidate the Austrian Chancellor, Keitel reported to the Führer in front of him that the Germans were preparing to invade Austria.

Hitler forced Schüschnigg to sign a letter of agreement, which in fact stipulated: to establish German control over Austrian foreign policy, to legalize the activities of the Austrian National Socialists, and to appoint a number of Austrian ** elements to key government posts.

The key posts of Minister of the Interior and Minister of Public Security were to be given to Hitler's deputy, Seth Inquart. This effectively meant the abolition of Austria's sovereign independence.

In the face of Hitler's pressure, a desperate Schuschnitge announced on 9 March that a referendum on the future of Austria would be held three days later. This put the German attempt to occupy Austria by peaceful means in danger of failure. Faced with such a risk, Hitler demanded the immediate implementation of the Otto plan – an invasion of Austria.

Previously, Austria tried to obtain rescue from Britain and France, but was flatly refused. Faced with this situation, the Austrian government surrendered.

After Britain and France refused to accept Austria's request for help, the German army began to rush all the way to Vienna. After the German occupation of Vienna, Hitler signed an order declaring Austria a German province.

In fact, the Wehrmacht crossed the German-Austrian border without any military resistance, but also received cheers, cheers, salutes, flags and flowers from the population. Therefore, this aggression is also known as the "Flower War". Austria was so easily brought under German control.

Hitler, who was complacent about this, declared in Vienna. This is also a common feeling of all other Germans. No matter what happens, the unified German Reich that we claim today will never again be divided by anyone, and will never be divided. ”

The annexation of Austria expanded Germany's territory by 17 percent and its population by 10 percent, making it even stronger.

The German-Austrian merger has made the smoke of gunfire in Europe even stronger, and at the same time, it has also made more people worry about the future of Europe.

In Romania, however, not much attention has been paid to the German-Austrian merger. Because of a big event that Eder was preparing, the impact of this matter was not much worse than that of the German-Austrian merger.

That was the union of Romania with Bulgaria, and Eder intended to take advantage of this opportunity to bring the two kingdoms together. There is no better time than for European eyes to be held back by a German-Austrian merger.