"That's not necessarily, not to mention the United Kingdom, the United States has always had a tradition of 'isolationism', as long as the flames of war do not burn to the United States, the Americans will not be able to take action."

"But the Americans have great economic interests in our China! Are they willing to watch all this be carved up between the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union? ”

"Hi Hi! How to speak? How does it sound like we in China are going to die without the Americans? ”

"I don't mean to curse the country! I'm worried that the Americans will not take action when they see that China and the Soviet Union are struggling. If they do, there's nothing we can do. ”

"But it's also true, in that case, even if we win the war, we will inevitably lose our vitality."

"If this is the Soviet Union's attack on our country, it is impossible for the United States not to take action." A different view was raised.

"Why?"

"Dead lips and cold teeth? Don't you understand this? If China is destroyed, the United States will be next, do you think that I and the Soviets will not dare to fight the idea of the United States? ”

"Yes, so if that were the case, the United States would definitely be on our side, and the British would definitely follow the back of the Americans."

"If this situation continues, it will be a life-and-death contest between the two camps!"

After discussing it for a while, the men left in the car. They knew in each other's hearts what the war, which had first broken out in Europe, meant to them.

October 15, 1939, Poland, Lublin.

In the distance, there was another sound of shells exploding, and Manstein, who was sitting at the table with notes, looked up at the chandelier that was shaking a little overhead, got up and went to the window, and looked into the distance.

Accompanied by a muffled explosion, a huge column of smoke rose up, obscuring the sunlight, indicating that in that direction the battle did not seem to be over.

Manstein returned to his desk and continued to summarize the Polish campaign in his notes.

“…… Ever since Germany annexed Austria, I have been following the situation as it develops. ”

"Since 1933, our country has passed through crisis after crisis, and every one of us is deeply disturbed by the development of the situation. It is impossible to predict how it will develop in the future. The theme of the private conversation was the storm ahead, because the signs of the storm were already evident on the horizon. As we all know, His Majesty and Monsieur Strassel have long since decided to recover all the territorial losses caused by the Treaty of Versailles. We all know that since the autumn of 1938 Strassel has been negotiating with the Polish authorities in an attempt to achieve a general solution to the question of the Polish state border as a whole, but we are not aware of the progress of these negotiations. At the same time, we all know that since Poland and Great Britain had no alliance, Britain had no promise of guarantees for Poland. Still, I think that Germany is walking on the razor's edge. We are all somewhat surprised by Mr. Strassell's astonishing good fortune, for he has so far achieved his political objectives without the use of force at all. One success after another, it seems to be never-ending. ”

"Everything in the past did not need war. So I tried to ask myself, is this time different? Czechoslovakia is a special case. Although in 1938 we were on the border, there was still no war. This time, however, the situation was completely different, and I thought that we were already in the middle of another world war. ”

"Poland, after annexing German territory by virtue of the Treaty of Versailles, has always been an object of hatred for us, because such annexation has no historical basis and is not in keeping with the requirements of national self-determination. For us soldiers, Poland has always been the object of our distress in the era of Germany's weak national power. Whenever we look at the map, it makes us worry about this dangerous situation. The German borders are unjustifiably divided! Our Motherland is being disintegrated! That corridor cut off East Prussia from Germany, and gave us every reason to be afraid of this lovely province! Nevertheless, the German Army never dreamed of waging an aggressive war against Poland and ending this state of affairs by force. Among other considerations, there was a purely military justification: any attack on Poland would plunge Germany into a war on two or more fronts, which Germany would find difficult to deal with. On the contrary, although we do not wish to engage in a war of aggression, we do not dare to hope that we can sit down calmly with the Poles and come down at the table to discuss how to fix these unreasonable border problems. At the same time, it seems possible that one day the Poles will take the initiative to use force to solve the border problem. Since 1918 we have gained considerable experience in this area, and we are always preparing for this when the German national power is still very weak. Once Marshal Pilsudski was gone, certain nationalists in Poland would gain a power to determine their surnames, and they would have the possible surnames to invade East Prussia and Upper Silesia. However, a political answer to this situation has been found in our military surname considerations. Had Poland been the first to use force, and we had been able to repel their attack, Germany might have had an opportunity to resolve this unpleasant border question by means of a political counterattack. ”

"General Seckert once said: 'The existence of Poland is intolerable and does not correspond to the basic needs of Germany. Using its own internal weaknesses, and the strength of Russia, together with our help, it should be possible to eliminate it. 'We are well aware of the growing power of Russia's [***]; And France is still as hostile to us as it has been in the past. It always wanted to seek the Allies in the rear of Germany. The idea was that if Poland were wiped out, Russia would be a more dangerous French ally for Germany, unlike Poland as a buffer state. Between Germany and Russia, if the buffer states of Poland and Lithuania were to be eliminated, the two powers would be too prone to conflict. But now, the situation has completely changed, and Russia, in order to deal with the Chinese threat and want to have a stable rear, has signed a formal alliance with Germany. Poland had become an obstacle between Germany and Russia, so it would be beneficial for both Germany and Russia to abolish the country altogether. ”

"Many in the General Staff believed that Germany should be the first to knock out Poland, and on August 13 and 14, the last divisional exercises were completed. It ended with a military parade with Colonel General Lundstedt as the reviewer. On August 15, the artillery, in cooperation with the Air Force, held a large-scale firing exercise. At the end of the exercise, Strassel made a speech, and I could tell from his tone that he had made up his mind, this time absolutely determined, to bring about a general solution to the Polish question, even at the cost of war. Of course, if the Poles had yielded under German pressure, a peaceful solution would not have been hopeless, and Strassel was convinced that the West would not resort to force. He did not hesitate to explain this theory. His main reasons were as follows: First, Britain and France were still lagging behind in armaments, especially in terms of air force and air defense. Second, the only way for Western countries to provide any effective assistance to Poland was to attack the Siegfried Line. But the West does not have the power to do so, and they are not willing to take such an adventure, because it would require a lot of sacrifice. Thirdly, the international situation, especially the tension in the Mediterranean, was sufficient to place considerable restrictions on Britain's freedom of action. Fourth, the situation in France. Fifth, the surname of the politician in charge. Strassel believed that neither Chamberlain nor Daladier dared to make the decision to declare war. ”

"The most surprising and impressive thing was the announcement of the signing of the alliance treaty with Russia. Strassel declared that by using this means, he would also take away the trump card in the hands of Western countries, and that the blockade of Germany would no longer be effective in the future. He also implied that, in order to facilitate the conclusion of this treaty of alliance, he had also made considerable concessions to Russia in the Baltic and on the question of the eastern boundary of Poland, but this statement was not justified in any way and could be interpreted as a complete partition of Poland. ”

"When the Army Headquarters launched an attack on Poland, it used 42 divisions of regular troops, including the newly formed 10th Panzer Division and a new infantry division from the fortified forces, the 50th Division. They consisted of 24 infantry divisions, 3 mountain divisions, 6 armored divisions, 4 light divisions, 4 motorized infantry divisions and 1 cavalry brigade. In addition, there are 16 new divisions, which will not be formed until after the general mobilization, and are intended to be used between the second and fourth waves. These units, of course, were not initially considered first-class troops. SS divisions and one or two reinforced SS regiments were also ordered to take part in the Polish campaign. ”

"On the Western Front there were only 11 regular divisions left, some of the fortress troops equivalent to about one division (and 35 new divisions as units of the second to fourth lines. There are no armored or motorized units at all. Therefore, although there were 46 divisions in total, only three-quarters of them were suitable for combat conditions. The 22nd Infantry Division, which had been trained and equipped with an airborne division, remained in Germany for direct deployment by the Army Headquarters. The main forces of the Luftwaffe were also used on the Polish side, divided into two army groups, while on the Western Front only a weaker 3rd Army remained. ”

"The danger to the German authorities in such a distribution is enormous. By this time, the German High Command already knew that the strength of the French Army was around 90 divisions. In fact, in the autumn of 1939, France had 108 divisions in three weeks. This includes 57 infantry divisions, 5 cavalry divisions, 1 armored division, and 45 reserve divisions, in addition to strong tank and artillery units. The French reserve divisions consisted of well-trained reservists; Germany's new forces, on the other hand, were mostly made up of new recruits or veterans of the First World War. So there is no doubt that from the first day, the French army on the Western Front had already outnumbered the German army by a large margin. On the other hand, Britain's contribution to the land forces was very limited. It had only four divisions, and it didn't even reach the continent in early October. ”

"The basis of the German battle plan for Poland was to make the best use of the full length of its borders in order to encircle the enemy from the outset. So the Germans were deployed in two groups at a considerable distance on the flanks, leaving the central area almost open. The commander-in-chief of Army Group North was General Bock, and the chief of staff was General Sharmuz. It has two army groups, including 5 infantry corps and 1 armored corps. They in turn commanded a total of 9 regular infantry divisions, including the newly formed 50th Infantry Division, 8 newly mobilized infantry divisions, 2 armored divisions, 2 motorized infantry divisions and 1 cavalry brigade. There were 21 divisions in total. In addition, in East Prussia there were fortified troops at Kenigsburg and Lodz; In Pomilania there is also the Nietzsche Brigade. Within this army group, the 3rd Army was deployed over the territory of East Prussia, and the commander of the army group was General Kuhle; The 4th Army was deployed on the territory of Pomilania, and the commander of the army group was General Kruger. The task of this army group was to cut off the Polish corridor, concentrate the cavalry forces on the east bank of the Vistula, and then advance to the southeast or south. After breaking through the line of the Laliu River, they attacked the Polish defenders of the Vistula River from the flank. ”

"The commander-in-chief of Army Group South is Colonel-General Lundstedt, with me as chief of staff. This army group was relatively strong. It consisted of three army groups: the 14th Army, commanded by General Liszt; the 10th Army, commanded by General Reichenau; 8th Army, commanded by Colonel-General Braskowice. Counting up, this army group consisted of 8 infantry corps and 4 armored corps, a total of 15 regular infantry divisions, 3 mountain divisions, 8 newly formed divisions, and the main force of mechanized forces - 4 armored divisions, 4 light divisions and 2 motorized infantry divisions. There were 36 divisions in total. ”

"The 14th Army was deployed in the industrial region of Upper Silesia, as well as in the eastern part of Moravia and the western part of Slovakia. The 10th Army was around Upper Silesia and south of Claudsburg. The 8th Army was in central Silesia, east of Ars. The task of this Army Group was to defeat the enemy forces in the Great Bend of the Vistula and in the territory of Grisia, to rush towards Warsaw with a strong motorized force, to take the Vistula crossing as quickly as possible on a wide front, and then to cooperate with Army Group North in order to destroy the remnants of the Polish army. ”

"Regarding the deployment of the Polish army, we know that in peacetime Poland has 30 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry brigades, 1 mountain brigade, and 2 motorized armored brigades. In addition, there are several regiments of the State Border Garrison, a large number of SDF battalions, and naval units stationed in the Gdynia-Hull area. The total number of Polish troops was considerable. However, most of its weapons are old from the First World War. Although its air force also has about 1,000 aircraft, many of them are not modern enough. ”

"We have estimated in advance that the number of Polish divisions can be doubled in wartime, but whether there is the necessary equipment seems to be in doubt. We understand that the Polish High Command disposed of its forces in such a way that along the border of East Prussia, in front of the Bol-Laliu-—— Vistula line, there was a battle group between Suvarki and Lomencha, consisting of two divisions and two cavalry brigades. On both sides of Morava was the Modlin Army with a total of 4 divisions and 2 cavalry brigades. In the Polish corridor there was Army Group Pomolz, consisting of 5 divisions and 1 cavalry brigade. From the Varta River to the border with Slovakia, facing the German border, there were three army groups: Army Group Poznań, consisting of four divisions and two cavalry brigades, stationed in the western part of the province of Poznań. Army Group Rhodes, consisting of 4 divisions and 2 cavalry brigades, was stationed near Viren; Army Group Krakow, consisting of 6 divisions, 1 cavalry brigade, and 1 motorized brigade, was stationed between Testochava and Lavitag. In the rear of the two armies, there was the Prussian Army, consisting of six divisions and one cavalry brigade, stationed in the Tomazzo-Kiels area. Finally, along the borders of the Karpatia Mountains, the flanks of its deep penetration were covered by a Karpatia Army Group. Most of it is composed of reserve units and self-defense battalions, and is deployed in echelons. Another reserve group, General Piscoll's Army, consisting of 3 divisions and 1 motorized brigade, remained in the Modlin-Warsaw-Lublin area of the Vistula. In addition, the Poles formed an army group of Borrich east of the Bug River, whose main purpose was to fight the Russians and protect the rear. ”

"In fact, when we started the offensive, the deployment of the Polish side was not yet complete."

"It is actually difficult to determine the strategic objectives of the deployment of the Polish army. The difficulties of Poland in the strategic situation are obvious. On the one hand, it is at a disadvantage in terms of military strength; On the other hand, the shape of its borders made it possible for the Germans to attack from two sides at the same time, and even from three sides in the future. But despite this, the Polish authorities still refused to abandon their idea of 'holding on to everything'. This actually determines their psychological and political intentions, which are extremely difficult to reconcile with military facts. ”

(To be continued)