Under the global breeze and no wild waves, the Spring Festival of 1940 finally arrived. A year ago, after a busy year, the coalition government began to take a holiday after processing all the year-end summaries.

Except for some of the staff on duty, the rest can celebrate the Spring Festival. Even the Japanese, the sworn enemies of the Wehrmacht, did not deliberately come to find trouble at this time.

On the contrary, they are also celebrating the holiday. For a time, Southeast Asia, whether it was the Japanese-occupied area or the area occupied by the National Defense Forces, was celebrating this traditional Chinese festival.

And the negotiations between the USSR and Germany became more and more perfunctory, and even Kalinin and Ribbentrop no longer held negotiating conferences. Both sides know that this is nothing more than a way to stall for each other's time.

I don't even want a fig leaf, I just keep holding banquets to try to relax my opponent and then get information about the other party. In this regard, the two sides have reached a draw.

Kalinin sent some signals to Ribbentrop by "relaxing", and Ribbentrop also used these banquets to return some false news to Kalinin.

At the same time, both sides have a tacit understanding that they are not easily deceived by each other, but at the same time, they are also strengthening their vigilance and constantly testing to see if they can get useful information.

Although during the Spring Festival, the production of weapons did not stop. More than a thousand Type 1 fighters left the production line and were sent to Southeast Asia for use against the Wehrmacht.

At the same time, the newly recruited 100,000 Japanese troops were also incorporated into the combat sequence and sent to the Southeast Asian battlefield.

The Japanese were preparing, and the Wehrmacht was not idle. It took more than half a year for the aircraft carriers and battleships captured from the Japanese to be repaired.

Shen Honglie did not celebrate as much as he imagined, on the contrary, he was extremely low-key. Because he knew that this fleet alone would never be able to compete with the huge fleet of Japan.

What the Navy needs to do now is to keep a low profile, a low profile. No matter how low-key it is. Then, it is to find an appropriate opportunity to cooperate with the Air Force to give the Japanese a hard time.

But it was definitely not a head-to-head battle with the Japanese. The nascent Wehrmacht Navy was still very young, and the experience of large-scale surface operations was almost equal to zero.

They need to make up for this lesson, and a navy without this lesson is not a fleet that is truly capable of navigating the seas.

The take-off and landing of aircraft on an aircraft carrier is also a matter of course, and the ups and downs of the waves will lead to the instability of the ship. The limited runway also means that the aircraft is not as easy to control as it is on land.

Especially the ground command staff on the aircraft carrier, which is almost synonymous with high-risk occupations. It takes a lot of time and effort to train these people.

Fortunately, Tu Mengben, commander-in-chief of the National Defense Forces, gave Shen Honglie enough time.

The commissioning of a number of large iron ore mines and smelters has raised the resource capacity of the Wehrmacht by more than one level. In this regard, the United States has given great support.

As a result of the victory of the Wehrmacht in the Southeast Asian theater. The U.S. Congress agreed to allocate a war loan to the Wehrmacht. But this war loan was not a direct cash disbursement.

Instead, all of these loans were converted into actual production materials. For example, machine tools, steel furnaces, chemical equipment...... Wait a minute. At the same time, the coalition government does not have to pay back the United States.

Instead, steel, tungsten ore, and weapons of equal value are used...... and so on to be delivered to the USSR for the purpose of paying off debts. Of course, the production materials provided by the United States to the coalition government have already arrived.

The war materials that China needed to provide to the Soviet Union would not be treated until the Soviet Union announced its membership in the Allied Powers. And now. The supplies sat quietly in the Wehrmacht's storeroom.

The Japanese Soviet Expeditionary Force, under the coordination of Ishihara and Kandahar, quietly spent Afghanistan. and to assemble on the Soviet-Afghan border. Everyone was waiting for an order from the headquarters, followed by a decisive battle against the USSR.

Outside of going out to Ishihara, Sugiyama was not in the mood to celebrate the New Year. There doesn't seem to be any change in Hodai's attitude towards Japan, but Sugiyama still has a faint feeling in his heart that something is wrong.

Even the Thai side made him feel that something was wrong. These people seem to be beginning to have doubts about the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army, and although they cover it well, Sugiyama still feels it.

But for this time. Sugiyama was helpless. The king of Thailand has a high reputation in the country, and Sugiyama cannot easily move him. And Baoda too, driving out the French has increased his prestige by more than one level.

Although the French were gone, the Japanese came, but the Japanese army, which had been busy fighting, had little time to harm the locals except to recruit civilian husbands and capture some comfort women.

The task of requisitioning grain has always been accomplished by the local coercive subordinate troops. The Japanese army was only responsible for fighting. The Wehrmacht did not give them the effort to hang around.

In the midst of all this seemingly calm situation, everyone knows that this calm is only temporary. Once the year is over, then the war will continue. When we have the opportunity to rejoice like this again, it may be after the war is over. When the time comes. How many people will be laughing, and how many will not have this opportunity again......

"According to the judgment of Comrade Kalinin. The Germans are not going to launch a full-scale attack on us in the short term. And the best time for them to do so would be at the end of spring and just after the start of summer......"

This is not a serious Supreme Council of Soviets, but in Stalin's residence. Stalin was hosting a cocktail party, and he needed to know Trotsky's views on an informal occasion.

"And that was going to be the hardest time for us. The Germans would use their mechanized forces and air superiority to carry out surprise attacks on us. Just like they used to do in France, in the Netherlands......"

Trotsky did not speak, he was merely playing with the glass in his hand. In fact, he also knew about these situations, but as for how to deal with them, he didn't have any confidence in his heart.

The Soviet Union's foundation was too poor, and all that could be done was to fill this hole with human lives. Millions of Red Army units were improvised to defend against the impending German invasion.

"The great amount of aid that the British and Americans have now promised us will only arrive after we go to war with Germany. Even if these supplies are delivered to the battlefield, I am afraid it will take at least a month. Stalin smiled bitterly and said: "A month, this is enough for the Germans to consume most of our troops......"

"But we can't do anything, are we......" Trotsky said with a wry smile, "but fortunately, the British and Americans have sent some fighter and tank units to support us." At least we were able to give it a go when dealing with the air superiority of the Germans and tank forces......"

"What's that tiger's attitude?! Will he be able to support us?! Trotsky paused and asked thoughtfully at Stalin.

Stalin, on the other hand, shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Now the Wehrmacht is waiting in Southeast Asia to engage the Japanese army, although they have achieved certain results, it is not so easy to completely defeat the Japanese. ”

"It will certainly not be possible for them to send troops to support us until the Japanese are defeated......," said Stalin, putting down his glass, "at least...... They will not come to our aid until we have been badly damaged by the Germans......"

Trotsky was not surprised by Stalin's words, and would certainly have done the same if Stalin or Trotsky had been on the side of the Wehrmacht.

"I don't expect them to be able to support us in terms of troops, and in fact I don't know if the combat effectiveness of these squadrons will change on Russian soil." Trotsky paused and said, "What I want to know is, how many weapons can they provide for support?!" At least they need to be assured of that, right?! ”

"When I go to China this time, what they can give is probably their bottom line now......" Stalin looked at Trotsky and said, "Maybe after the war starts, I should go to China again." I believe that the Wehrmacht will provide us with something more for the sake of their own border security......"

Await. Both Stalin and Trotsky read these two words in each other's eyes. Now all they need is to wait. Waiting for the outbreak of war, waiting for the right opportunity.

Perhaps the war would have turned out to be a turning point for the Soviets, but it could also have become a hell for the USSR.

And for China, the United States, Germany, and Japan, which are involved in this battlefield, how can this be the same......

ps: My right hand hurts...... I don't know if it's because I play the keyboard too much......