Chapter 258 Counterattack 3

After leaving the embassy, ​​Natalie sat in a Fiat car on the way to the Ministry of Defense, looking at the scene outside the car window. Warsaw was generally calm. There were many pedestrians on the wide streets, most of whom were carrying large and small bags of things, which should be the food they had purchased. Because Warsaw was expected to be besieged, the citizens were hoarding food. There were also many people in military uniforms, and their steps were a little hurried. I wonder if they were rushing to report to the military camp or to see their families for the last time?

The boulevard leading to the main square was lined with long rows of four-story buildings on both sides, which were very beautifully built. They were all intact and not destroyed by bombing - Hersman hoped to get Warsaw intact. This was a carefully built city, a bit like Paris. Except for Petersburg, there was no city in the original Russian Empire that could compare with it.

If everything went well, Natalie would be expected to become the mayor of Warsaw after the war - this would be a very good job, managing a prosperous city without being responsible for the citizens.

Maybe someone would accuse her of being a "Polish traitor", but in a few years - after Germany won the world war, no one would say that. People will only remember her as the world's first female mayor to lead a big city, an outstanding politician!

Because history is written by the victors, and Hessman will definitely be a victor, so Natalie also thinks she will be a good person.

...

"Poland will never fail!"

Marshal Rydz-Śmigły is probably crazy, he lives in his own fantasy-this is Natalie's first impression of the commander of the Polish army.

Poland's Coastal Army and Krakow Army have completely collapsed in the past few days (part of the 9th Division of the Coastal Army joined the Poznan Army), the Lodz Army was dispersed, most of them were captured, and only a small part escaped to Warsaw and became the main force to defend Warsaw (the headquarters of the Warsaw Army being formed is the headquarters of the original Lodz Army). The Prussian Army, the Polish Army's general reserve, is hastily withdrawing to Radom, 90 kilometers south of Warsaw.

Now, the door to Warsaw is completely open to the German army. Even the Polish government knows that Warsaw cannot be defended, so it retreated to Lublin. But Rezdz-Smithkwi still believed that Poland would win!

"Then why did you invite me here..." Natalie Lesinskaya was a little surprised. She looked around. This was a very narrow office, definitely not Rezdz-Smithkwi's. And she was quietly led into the Ministry of Defense building by Rezdz-Smithkwi's adjutant from the back door.

"Of course it's to discuss peace negotiations," Rezdz-Smithkwi whispered, "Now the Germans are caught in a two-front war, which is impossible to win. And we also have a greedy neighbor to the east of Poland, they are ready to move. If our two countries continue to fight like this, the Soviet Union is likely to become the final winner!"

"Soviet Union?" Natalie looked at Rezdz-Smithkwi, "Marshal, I need to get more accurate information."

Rezdz-Smithkwi was silent for a while, and said: "Britain suggested that we negotiate with the Soviet Union on the independence of the Free State of Ukraine!"

No wonder! Natalie thought that the British must have been beaten badly in Scapa Flow, so they wanted to "betray" Ukraine to win over the Soviet Union. How could Rez-Smithgwi be willing to give up the Ukrainian Free State? That is hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of black soil, as well as coal, iron ore, oil and various non-ferrous metals. Poland wants to become an industrial power and relies on Ukraine's resources.

Compared with Ukraine, what is the Free City of Danze? To lose Ukraine for Danze, you must be the stupidest fool in the world. So when the British just "kindly" proposed the "Ukrainian independence", the three Polish giants had an impulse to hit the wall.

"What about the conditions for peace?" Natalie asked.

"The Free City of Danze... plus a coastal corridor!" Rez-Smithgwi said and gritted his teeth, "plus Lithuania excluding the Vilnius area!"

What did you do earlier? Natalie thought: At this point, will General Hessman allow Poland to be independent?

"Okay," Natalie nodded, "I'll pass this message to the general."

"Hurry up! We must reach an agreement before the end of September," Rez-Smith looked at Natalie, "otherwise our Poland will be forced to lose Ukraine! And you will be caught in the crossfire between the Soviet Union and France!"

"So, you want to fight the Soviet Union together with Germany?" Natalie still felt that Rez-Smith was daydreaming - although Stalin did not want to attack Britain and France together with Germany, the dictator would not be so stupid as to join forces with France to fight Germany.

The Tsar had done such a stupid thing once and lost his life. Would Stalin be so stupid as to learn from Nicholas II?

"No!" Rydz-Śmigły said seriously, "We don't need Germany's help. We can defeat the Soviet Union on our own. In fact, unless Germany and the Soviet Union join forces, no one can defeat Poland alone.

If Germany is unwilling to negotiate immediately, then we will first fight a battle like the 'Marne River', and then Germany will have to negotiate with Poland."

...

"What? What? The French said that they would not be ready to attack the Siegfried Line until 1941? This is ridiculous!"

British Lord of the Admiralty Churchill has almost become the de facto Prime Minister in the past two days. He is the one who takes the initiative at every cabinet meeting - because everyone else has lost his mind.

"Yes," Baron William Edmund Ironside, who had just taken office (he took office on September 3), replied dumbfounded, "the French think that if they attack now, millions of people will die... So they need to build a lot of super-large-caliber artillery and special armored vehicles for attacking fortified areas, which will take two years..."

"A bunch of French cowards!" Churchill rolled his eyes. "Do they think it's possible for the Poles to last two years?"

"Actually, they also gave another possibility." Baron Ironside said, "If the Netherlands and Belgium are willing to join us, we can break into Germany from the north of the Netherlands. The German Siegfried Line has only been built to Close to the Dutch border in Kleve.”

"Belgium is still possible, but it is impossible for the Netherlands to join..." Prime Minister Chamberlain shook his head repeatedly.

I remember when Kaiser Wilhelm took refuge in the Netherlands when he was in trouble, it was Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands who saved him. Queen Wilhelmina's son-in-law, the future Prince Husband of the Netherlands, is Duke Bernhard, a member of the German royal family (not the Hohenzollern dynasty). He holds the title of Duke of the German Empire and was once an officer in the German Wehrmacht.

With these two levels of relations, Germany and the Netherlands are their own people. How could the Netherlands join Britain and France?

"Actually, actually..." Baron Ironside said, "Actually, what the French mean is that we can prompt, uh, to borrow the passage without the consent of the Netherlands."

"Invade the Netherlands!?" Chamberlain looked at Baron Ironside, "Does Gamelin (Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces) want to turn Britain and France into evil invaders and Germany into the defender of justice in Europe?"

"Well..." Baron Ironside shrugged, "Then there's nothing we can do."

"No, we have a way!" Lord Admiralty Churchill suddenly changed the subject. "Baron, are you ready to bomb Berlin?"

"Preparations are underway," Baron Ironside said. "Eight squadrons of Wellington bombers have been mobilized."

"Where's the bombing route?"

"Take off from the airport in Norwich, fly north along the airspace line in the northern part of the Netherlands, reach the Gulf of Heligoland, then turn southeast and fly directly to Berlin. The total distance is about 870 kilometers."

"Why not fly in a straight line?" Churchill asked.

"A straight line? That would pass through Dutch airspace, which would violate the neutrality of the Netherlands..."

Churchill shrugged, "The Dutch don't have radar, they won't find out!"

"But the Germans do, and they'll find out."

"Then what will they do?" Churchill glanced at Foreign Secretary Viscount Halifax. "If the German capital was hit by a bomb, and the bombing plane was a British plane flying through Dutch airspace, how would the Germans react?"

"We have violated the neutrality of the Netherlands," Viscount Halifax looked at Churchill with some admiration and said, "From the perspective of international law, the Netherlands will lose its neutral status. Germany can ask them to join. If the Netherlands does not agree, Germany can Occupy it."

Churchill is going to play a side ball! Bombers flying through Dutch airspace at night are something that can be denied... This is completely different from the French army rushing into the Netherlands with murderous intent.

Whether Germany's response is to force the Netherlands to side with them or to send troops into the Netherlands, it will create an excuse for the British and French forces to quickly move into the Netherlands and Belgium.

…

"Theodore, are your men ready?"

At this time, General Hersmann did not know that Berlin was about to be bombed. He was at Breslau Airport in Silesia, seeing off the 1st German Airborne Regiment, the 1st Regiment of the Miuta Force and the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment that were about to go out. .

Three regiment-level troops will form the "Miuta Cluster" and parachute to the Lviv oil field. Hersmann's old subordinates in the Miuta Special Forces, Major General Theodore von and Hipple, will serve as commanders of the entire group.

"No problem at all!" Hipple is 48 years old this year, the same age as Hersman, but he is still very strong because of his long-term service in the special forces. He has now put on the green collarless parachute jumpsuit unique to the airborne troops, and has a khaki parachute bag on his shoulders. A row of Junkers 52 transport planes have been lined up at the Breslau military airport and are ready to take off at any time.