A floor-standing chiming clock placed in the corner of Stalin's office rang out 12 crisp and loud bells, announcing to the dictator of the Soviet Union the arrival of September 1, 1939.

The great leader of the Soviet Union looked up from the pile of papers, looked at the dark night sky of Moscow, and then bowed his head to continue reading the long telegram from the ambassador to Geneva, Mrs. Kollentai.

Unlike another time and space, the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, and Japan have not yet withdrawn from the League of Nations. These four countries make up the majority of the permanent members of the Executive Yuan of the League of Nations! Hence Adolf. Ebbentrop, the foreign minister of Hitler's government, has been active in Geneva these days, striving for the adoption of a resolution to abolish the Treaty of Versailles -- this is not a unilateral tear up by Germany, but a resolution of the League of Nations to abolish it, and the meaning is different.

And the abrogation of the Treaty of Versailles is a fatal blow to Poland in the field of international law! In 1918, the Polish government signed a border agreement with Germany, recognizing the pre-World War German (Russian Poland) border as a border between the two countries. However, the Treaty of Versailles later abrogated the German-Polish Boundary Agreement.

If the Treaty of Versailles were abrogated by the League of Nations, it would mean that the German-Polish Boundary Agreement would remain in force. From the point of view of international law, then, the vast territory of western Poland that had been acquired from the German Empire had to be returned to Germany.

Germany recovered it by force, and it was justified.

(To note that Germany's borders with France and Belgium were confirmed by the Treaty on the Security of the Rhine and the Locarno Convention signed in the twenties.) And the question of the border between Poland and Germany is still in the balance. ）

However, it will not be easy for such a resolution to pass the League of Nations, because Britain and France will definitely do everything they can to block it.

Stalin thought to himself: it seems that the Germans still want to break through in the League of Nations, and even if they do not succeed, they have made clear that they have no intention of destroying Poland...... Hitler's pseudo-socialist government had no determination to fight Britain and France to the end. The Soviet Union must be prepared to deal with the peace negotiations between Britain and France and Germany -- the Soviet Union should make peace with Britain and France before Germany.

……

An hour after Stalin heard the midnight bell, the bells were also heard by the Polish triumvirate assembled in the Belwedel Palace in Warsaw, and Poland entered the early hours of September 1 (the time difference between Poland and the Soviet Union).

The atmosphere in the conference room was a little heavy - the Germans had delivered an ultimatum to Poland through Britain at 11 noon (London time) on the 31st, demanding the entire Primorsky area (the Danzig corridor) and the merger of the Free City of Danzig. And only gave Poland 12 hours to reply.

Now 12 hours have passed, and war can break out at any moment!

"Twelve hours have passed," said the tired Polish marshal, sipping his coffee and smiling a little, "perhaps the German soldiers are preparing to attack, poor fellows." They will soon be killed by our fighters. ”

"Marshal, there really won't be a problem?" Polish President Ignazi. Mośichitsky seemed a little worried. "There is a good chance that we will be caught in a war on two fronts."

"There is no problem," laughs Rez-Shimigvi, "the Germans and Russians made a fatal mistake, they gave us too much time to prepare. Poland has now mobilized 3 million troops, 1 million of whom have been trained and equipped, most of them on the border with Germany, and fortifications have been built. It will take at least a few months for the Germans to break through there, and then we will be able to build a new line of defense in Greater Poland. When the time comes, our Anglo-French allies will definitely launch an offensive on the Western Front. The Germans will again find themselves in the predicament of 1914. As for the USSR...... All they want is Ukraine. Let the Ukrainians resist, we have given them enough weapons and ammunition, they should be able to last more than 1 year. ”

……

When the clock struck midnight, Hersmann was not sleepy at all, and he was talking to Admiral Kesselring, who was also the commander of the Air Force on the Eastern Front, Lieutenant General Manstein, chief of staff of the Eastern Front Headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Moder, chief of operations on the Eastern Front, and the representative of the Baltic Fleet, Helmut. Colonel Heyer talks.

Because Heyer had formulated the first phase of the "Z" plan, which focused on the construction of submarines, he was a German naval officer that Hersmann admired. Now Colonel Heyer, on behalf of the British naval command, is complaining about the indiscriminate use of Germany's limited naval power by the Eastern Front command.

It turned out that the White Plan, led by Hersman, called for the formation of a Baltic Fleet to attack the port of Danzig from the sea.

At Hersman's request. All the capital ships of the German Navy were at their disposal, including two "Scharnhorst" class battleships. Three armored ships of the "Deutschland" class, the heavy cruiser "Admiral Hipper" and the aircraft carrier "Sedelitz" were assigned to the Baltic Fleet.

They are now roaming outside the Bay of Danzeg, bombarding the ports and batteries of the Danzeg with artillery when war breaks out......

"Admiral, your plan has completely disrupted the Navy Command's plan to break diplomatic relations." Colonel Hayer said, "Although submarines could strike enemy merchant ships, they did not serve to attract the main force of the British home fleet." ”

"I know." Hersman glanced at Colonel Haye, "Because the General Staff and the Naval Aviation Command have a plan for an air attack on Scapa Bay as soon as it is at war with the British...... We are preparing to use 120 Junkers Ju.88s, 120 He111s, 100 He115 shore-based fighters and 60 of the latest Zero fighters to bomb Scarpa Bay. ”

"What?" Colonel Heyer's mouth was wide open, and he was speechless for a long time. The General Staff went so far as to go beyond the Navy Command and work with the Naval Aviation to plan an air raid on Scapa Flow, although the Naval Aviation was "professional" from the Air Force and had never been very compatible.

But that's naval aviation, not the Air Force and the Naval Corps after all!

"Colonel, such a momentous operation. It should be approved by the Navy Command, and it is indeed inappropriate for us to conceal the preparation of the Navy for air strikes, and we must apologize. When the Poles were finished, I personally went to apologize to Marshal Raeder. ”

Hersman gently turned the coffee cup in his hand and said in gentle words: "But the General Staff and the Command of Naval Aviation have been preparing for a long time, and the operation will be carried out anyway.

And if successful, this operation will completely change the balance of British and German naval power. According to reconnaissance by the intelligence services, the British Home Fleet currently has 7 battleships, 2 battlecruisers, 4 aircraft carriers and 15 cruisers. Now most of them are moored in Scapa Bay, waiting for war to break out. And in order to prevent them from leaving the harbor to search for our shipbreakers, the main force of the German Navy should make an appearance in Danzer Bay. ”

……

"Prime Minister, the naval reconnaissance aircraft of the Poles found 2 battleships, 1 aircraft carrier, 4 heavy cruisers in the waters off the Danzeg Bay...... It's the fleet of the Germans! ”

When London, England ushered in September 1, 1939, Winston. Churchill was already Lord of the Admiralty. He was in the meeting room of the Admiralty on Whitehall Street, reporting to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on the movements of the German Navy.

Britain is founded on the navy, so the Admiralty Secretary has a very high status in the British government, and the Admiralty is also the place where the British Cabinet often gathers for meetings.

After the German ultimatum, the British government knew that war was inevitable and met overnight at the Admiralty to discuss how to deal with it.

"4 heavy cruisers?" Chamberlain did not remember that there were 4 heavy cruisers in Germany.

"Prime Minister, the Poles may have taken 3 'German'-class pocket battleships as heavy cruisers." Sir Pound, First Sea Lord (equivalent to Chief of Naval Staff), explained, "This means that the German capital ships will not break into the North Sea for the time being, which is reassuring news." ”

"That's great," Chamberlain thought for a moment, his brow furrowed again, "but the presence of the main force of the German navy outside the Danzig Bay means that the Germans are about to go to war?" ”

"I think so," said Viscount Halifax, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, with some indignation, "the Germans were insincere, giving the Poles only 12 hours, and refusing to recognize the status of the Polish envoy, simply because the Polish envoy did not cede authority to the Danzig corridor. ”

"The Germans just want to fight!" Churchill took a puff on his cigar and then said in a contemptuous tone, "I was not convinced by the last time I lost, and now I want to fight again." But how could they win? We have such the most powerful navy in the world, the French have the most powerful army in the world, and the Poles have mobilized and armed 3 million people...... That's more than the current total strength of the German Army! ”

"But it is quite possible that the USSR is on the side of Germany!" Viscount Halifax said.

"So what?" Churchill waved his hand indifferently, "Aren't we ready to bomb Baku?" As long as the oil in Baku is blown up, the mechanized armies of the USSR and Germany will soon be unable to move because of the lack of oil. He looked at the Foreign Secretary, "Viscount, did the Turks agree with us using their airfields?" ”

"No," said Viscount Halifax with a smile, "Ismail. President Inonu is a very cunning guy, how could he easily plunge Turkey into a war? However, he said that Turkey's weak air force and lack of radar made it impossible to detect bombers flying from Iraq and French Syria over their airspace. ”

Churchill laughed, "Isn't that enough?" We've got it...... This time, we must not spare Germany again! (To be continued.) )