Chapter 232 Operation Order No. 1

At noon on August 31, 1939, nearly 12 o'clock, Defense Minister Field Marshal Schleicher personally arrived at the Eastern Front Headquarters in Stettin and brought a document that determined the fate of all mankind.

Hersman immediately summoned the middle and senior officers of the Eastern Front Headquarters and read the contents of the document in the conference room.

"Combat Order No. 1:

Supreme Commander of the Defense Forces;

Minister of Defense/General Staff/Eastern Front Headquarters;

Top Secret Document No. 170 of 1939;

Reached only to officers;

Berlin;

August 31, 1939.

Combat Order No. 1:

1. Now that all political possibilities for peacefully eliminating the intolerable situation on Germany's eastern border have been exhausted, I have decided to use force to resolve it.

2. The attack on Poland should be carried out in accordance with the preparations for the "White Plan", but the army has now almost completed its assembly, so there are some changes. The mission classification and operational objectives remain unchanged.

Attack time: 4:45 on September 1, 1939.

At the same time, action was also taken on the Gdynia-Danze Bay and Disau bridges.

3. On the Western Front, it is important to let Britain and France...

Signed: German Emperor Wilhelm; Co-signed: Leader and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler. "

The war has begun!

Everyone in the conference room took a deep breath unconsciously, and then focused their attention on General Hersman, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front.

Hersman handed the document with "Combat Order No. 1" to his adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Speidel, and then glanced deeply at the people in the conference room.

"Everyone!" he shouted, "this is about to begin a world war!"

Then there was another silence, and then he continued: "You don't have to have illusions about not going to war with Britain and France, but you don't have to worry about the future. This is not 1914, and the pattern of war has changed dramatically. The decisive factor Instead of trenches, machine guns, cannons, and battleships, there will be tanks, armored vehicles, trucks, and aircraft. The war will be fought in an unprecedented pattern and rhythm, and traditional armies will be vulnerable to mechanized and semi-mechanized modern armies.

We in Germany are lucky. We have seized this era of change. We have the most powerful aviation industry in the world and the second most powerful automobile industry in the world. In Europe, only we can put a huge army of hundreds of thousands on wheels and roll forward powered by internal combustion engines. Any enemy that stands in front of us will be crushed without mercy!

In another 24 hours, you will see how the army that thinks it is Europe's second-largest army collapses in front of our invincible Wehrmacht! Gentlemen, the mission of making Germany the leader of Europe and the world will be completed in the hands of our generation! Please work hard! "

Finally, Hessmann raised his arms and shouted: "Long live the German Reich! Long live National Socialism! Long live the Emperor!"

…

Woo, woo, woo...

The assembly siren sounded over the military airport in Greenheide east of Berlin. He had just flown the Zero aircraft in a circle in the sky and had a double check with another Zero aircraft flown by the same supplementary pilot Walter Nowotny. Rudolf, who was undergoing aircraft formation training, climbed out of the cabin, then subconsciously looked up at the sky and found nothing unusual.

"Little Rudolf, what are you looking at? This is a muster alarm!" Captain Adolf Galland, the captain of the supplementary training brigade who performed well in the Spanish Civil War, shouted at him. "Go to the pilot conference room quickly!"

"Captain, is there going to be a war?" Walter Novotny, a handsome pilot who was born in Austria and joined the Austrian Air Force at 17, ran over. He and Rudolf were the same age, and both graduated from the Karlsruhe Air Force Sergeant School (this was Germany's famous air force pilot school during World War I. It was closed after the war and reopened when armaments were restored in 31 years).

Speaking of which, the training of German air force and naval aviation pilots in this era was really very strict. Students like Rudolf and Nowotny who have been active military personnel and have obtained their pilot licenses long ago have to re-take A/B level flight training (primary flight training) after entering the Karlsruhe Air Force Sergeant School.

First learn to fly in a trainer aircraft such as a Clem 35, Fw44 or Fokker D.20. At the same time, they also need to learn aerodynamics, aeronautical engineering, primary navigation, meteorology, flight procedures, and sending and receiving telegrams.

After passing all the above-mentioned subject assessments, they can obtain the A2 level certificate, and then participate in B level training, flying high-performance trainer aircraft, twin-engine large aircraft and old fighter jets for flight training. By the time they complete B2 training, all student pilots have at least 100-150 flying hours (if they did not obtain a pilot's license before joining the Air Force).

Then comes the professional C-level training - C-level training is divided into multiple specialties such as twin-engine fighters, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, single-engine fighters, dive bombers and torpedo bombers. Training is longer and more demanding. Not only do you have to fly during the day, but you also have to be trained to fly at night and in adverse weather conditions.

If you add in the air command course (the Air Force NCO School trains air force officers), it will take 2 years to complete all the school programs at the Karlsruhe Air Force NCO School.

Only after graduating from the Karlsruhe Air Force Academy can one become a replacement pilot, and must learn the tactics of combat units in the supplementary training teams under each combat regiment (wing)/brigade.

Moreover, all training is carried out in accordance with the most stringent "German standards"! Therefore, every German pilot who can fly an aircraft into the air is the elite among the elites. This is also an important reason why the German Air Force was invincible in the early days of the war in history.

"Fighting? It has nothing to do with you." Adolf Galland squinted one half-blind eye and smiled at Novotny, "By the time you complete the supplementary training, the war will probably be over."

"It won't end!" Rudolf interrupted, "After Poland, there are still France and Britain!"

"France? Britain?" Galland and the two "child pilots" walked quickly to the conference room, "Will it happen? It's hard to say."

"It will definitely happen!" Rudolf said, "A week ago we were still flying in circles over the North Sea, and it took 6 hours to fly each time... Almost 1,800 kilometers, isn't this the distance to and from Britain?"

"Nonsense," Galland sneered, "That's to make you familiar with sea flying. You are all carrier-based pilots and will be on aircraft carriers in the future."

But contrary to Adolf Galland's expectations, Rudolf's judgment was soon partially verified. Major Werner Molders, the commander of the First Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Naval Aviation, who also made great achievements in the Spanish battlefield, announced the combat plan in the pilot conference room. It was not the "Operation Order No. 1", but the plan taken out after opening the "Operation Plan File Bag" after receiving the order.

Werner Molders, who was only 26 or 27 years old and looked very young, but was called "Molders's Father", said in a very calm tone: "Turn off the lights and go to bed at 6 o'clock tonight, and blow the wake-up call at 2:30 a.m. tomorrow. In addition, everyone should pack up immediately, and we will return to Wilhelmshaven on September 3."

...

"Armored Meyer." In the headquarters of the 3rd Armored Division stationed in eastern Pomerania near the Polish border (Polish coastal area), the commander of the 3rd Armored Division, Major General Geir von Schweppenburg, who had just announced the "Operation Order No. 1", called out the nickname of Lieutenant Kurt Meyer, the company commander of the armored reconnaissance vehicle company directly under the division headquarters.

"General," Lieutenant Kurt Meyer, who was from the Waffen SS, was tall and extremely strong. When he was studying at the police academy, he fell from the second floor and suffered more than 20 fractures, but he recovered miraculously, so he was nicknamed "Armored Meyer."

"What do you want?" Armored Meyer saluted the division commander who was born into a noble family and had the title of baron.

"Come here," Major General Schweppenburg waved his hand and asked Armored Meyer to come to the map table beside him. "Do you know what the first combat order means?"

"It's time to fight!" Armored Meyer answered with an uncontrollable excitement.

"That's right," Schweppenburg pointed to the Tuchola Forest on the Polish side of the map, "We are going to break through here! If no new orders are issued before 4:30 tomorrow morning, your company will be the first to cross the border."

The armored reconnaissance battalion is the vanguard of the entire division, and the armored reconnaissance vehicle company in the armored reconnaissance battalion has 18 wheeled armored vehicles equipped with machine guns and 20mm machine guns, making it the vanguard of the vanguard.

According to the plan, Panzer Meyer and his company will use the gaps between artillery bombardments to break into Poland for firepower reconnaissance. If possible, they will also occupy several villages in the Tuhora Forest, open up roads through the forest, and clear obstacles for the assault of the entire armored division.

"Sir, I understand my mission!" Panzer Meyer, like most SS fanatics, has no fear of war. "I will open the road to victory for the entire division!"

"Very good," Major General Schweppenburg nodded with satisfaction, "but don't be too positive. Your troops are armored reconnaissance vehicle companies, not armored training battalions with No. 3 and No. 4 tanks. If you encounter a large enemy force, you don't need to fight."

"Understood!"

"Okay," Major General Schweppenburg patted the shoulder of the big SS guard, "Have a good rest. Starting tomorrow, you and your people will have a hard time. Because our Third Armored Division will undertake the most difficult and arduous tasks! We will be the sharp knife and blade to eliminate Poland!"