Chapter 190: I Have Full Confidence in You

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That’s right, how could a victory that never happened be made real? This question appeared not only in Voroshilov’s mind but also in the minds of Khrushchev and Yezhov. This victory, which had to become real, was the life-saving talisman and the path to deification for the three of them.

“News from Spain,” Voroshilov said, as if starting a new topic, talking about something completely unrelated. “The German army has already captured Kraków and is threatening the central Polish city of Radom. In northern Poland, they have broken through the Danzig Corridor and are advancing south toward Warsaw…”

Khrushchev raised an eyebrow. He wanted to slam his hand on the table, stand up, and shout at Voroshilov, but after pressing on the tabletop twice, he ultimately gave up this childish plan. After so many years of being cautious in Stalin’s presence, he was no longer the young man whose head would fill with blood at the mere mention of a capitalist country.

Yezhov also understood the hint in the words and began to calculate the gains and losses in his head. In his eyes, Germany, which had expelled communists and struck a heavy blow against the Comintern, was not a difficult country to deal with, and that Führer far away in Berlin was a partner with a good reputation.

He, Yezhov, felt not the slightest animosity toward Germany; he even had some favorable feelings for this country that called itself the Third Reich. He and his German counterparts had engaged in a series of tacit collaborations on the Tukhachevsky case, and there was even a sense of mutual understanding between them.

“We will send people to Germany to reach a new agreement with the Germans,” Yezhov said after some thought. “As long as we cede some more Polish territory to them, I’m sure they won’t disagree with our request.”

“I’m afraid this matter will not be so smooth,” Khrushchev said, shaking his head. “The German army is already approaching Warsaw. As long as they maintain this speed of attack, they can easily take the Polish territory they want. The original treaty is actually in their favor. They will not agree to sign a new treaty.”

Perhaps even Khrushchev himself did not notice his own attitude. He was not objecting to contacting Germany to draft a new treaty; on the contrary, he had tacitly accepted the proposal and was merely offering some of his own opinions. In fact, he also knew that the outcome of the war could not be changed, and he could only stabilize his own position through compromise.

Seeing that both men had stated their positions, Voroshilov laid his own thoughts on the table. “Whether it succeeds or not, we must give it a try. After all, there are still hundreds of thousands of Polish troops on the Soviet-Polish border. It is only because we are tying them down that they can attack so smoothly. I just don’t know what to do about Comrade Stalin…?”

“We will submit the report. We will just need you to sign it, Marshal,” Khrushchev said. Seeing that the matter was settled, he let out a breath and snorted. “However, the offensive must continue! We have to give an account to those above.”

“We can execute a batch of disobedient people, concentrate some food and ammunition from the second-line units, and launch an offensive in a certain local area. That is still achievable,” Voroshilov said hurriedly. “But I cannot guarantee victory or defeat.”

“We can’t worry about that much. The offensive must proceed,” Yezhov said, glancing at Khrushchev and then at Voroshilov. “As long as we can persuade the Germans to cede a portion of Polish territory to us, you and I will return to Moscow as national heroes. If we fail, there’s no need to go back. We can just end it here.”

“Mm!” Khrushchev nodded in agreement. “Comrade Yezhov’s words make a lot of sense. For the sake of our great motherland, for the sake of our great leader Comrade Stalin, no matter what conditions the Germans propose, we will agree to them!”

“What do we want? Of course, we won’t make things difficult for our Soviet allies!” At the same time, in the Führer’s Residence in Berlin, Germany, Akado and August were sitting on a sofa, studying a map of Poland. Akado said this with a smile to August, who was drinking coffee.

“My Führer, the stalled Soviets must be anxious. Their envoys have probably already reached Romania by now and are negotiating with our garrison,” August was very optimistic about the excellent situation and was even a bit more aggressive than Akado.

“The French are holding their troops back, probably waiting for us to go to war with the Soviet army. The British have even secretly sold three million barrels of oil to Italy to covertly support our continued push east. With this tailwind, we can completely end the Polish campaign in a month,” August said, pointing at the map. “Have Merkel send people to Turkey to meet with the British representatives and tell them about our ‘difficulties’… If handled well, there will be no problem dragging out the war with France until the beginning of 1938.”

“I plan to expand the army by twenty divisions, including three panzer divisions, as a reserve force to be sent to the Franco-German border region,” Akado said after some thought. “These troops will be conscripted from regions like Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Hungary, and will be officered by Wehrmacht personnel.”

August thought for a moment, then stroked his chin and offered a suggestion. “I think we can let some veterans return to military service to be responsible for training these foreign troops of average combat capability. However, Germanic people must account for at least half of these units.”

Akado knew this was a prudent view and nodded in agreement. “This is a very sound suggestion, but it will affect the speed at which these troops can be sent to the front and also limit the speed of the next phase of military expansion.”

“My Führer!” August waved his hand and continued his counsel. “Sometimes quantity is very important, but you cannot abandon the necessary quality because you are too hasty! A mob will hold you back when you most hope for them to give you a surprise.”

Akado sighed and coughed twice in embarrassment. “Mr. August is right. I was too hasty. We must always be on guard against the terrible situation of a two-front war, which is why I am in a hurry to expand the army to a sufficient number.”

August stared at the map of Poland in silence for a few seconds, then finally offered Akado a suggestion. “Regarding the matter of army training, many generals have their own understanding. In the army, the generals whose ideas are closest to the Führer’s are undoubtedly Guderian and Rommel, but I think the Führer would prefer them to continue to charge at the front.”

Seeing Akado nod, August continued, “Next are generals like Brauchitsch and von Rundstedt (the von Rundstedt from the previous articles; at the suggestion of readers, the official translation of von Rundstedt will be used in the following text). To use them for training troops would be a bit of an underutilization.”

“General von Bock?” Akado suddenly thought of the old General von Bock in the General Staff, who was most in sync with him.

“Since the Führer has a candidate in mind, I also think General von Bock is more than qualified,” August agreed.

“The British Royal Navy has not been as active recently as it was after the war began. After forcing our High Seas Fleet into Wilhelmshaven, they have mainly been conducting surveillance and have shown no signs of large-scale sorties,” Akado said, making a mental note and smiling as he changed the subject. “The British don’t want to fight yet! This signal is very favorable for us.”

“Instead of unrealistically worrying about the British, we should be thinking about how to make a lion’s demand of the Soviets,” August said with a smile in response, speaking his thoughts aloud.

He then pointed to the eastern region of Poland, his old face a network of lines. “Asking for fuel and food is obviously not realistic. If we were to have a falling out, these long-term supplies would be as good as gone.”

Akado nodded. “Mr. August and I are of the same mind. I plan to make a one-time deal with the Soviet Union this time, to have them immediately give us what we want. But I’ll keep you in suspense. Please guess, Mr. August, what I plan to ask for.”

Although facing the same Polish defenders, the Germans’ situation was now completely different. Rommel’s troops had been counter-attacked by the Polish army earlier, but his troops had held off the attack and had heavily damaged the northern Polish forces. And the equally brave Polish defenders had achieved completely different results on the eastern and western fronts.

On the eastern border, they had halted the invasion of the numerically superior Soviet Red Army, which could be said to be a great victory. However, in the defensive war on the western front, they were in a continuous retreat against the German Wehrmacht, which had fewer men, losing cities and land in a rout that stretched for a thousand li.

The incident that Rein and the others from the 3rd SS Panzer Division had encountered in the south had also occurred several times in the north. Desperate Polish cavalry had launched attacks on the German army, only to collapse in the face of the German troops’ dense firepower, ultimately ending in the annihilation of their entire force.

In fact, the legendary stories of Polish cavalry charging German tanks were not common. The Polish army was not as ignorant as people imagined. These cavalry who attacked the German army fell into two categories: one was forced to counter-attack after being run into by German tanks during a retreat; the other was forced to launch an attack under orders to break out of an encirclement.

But for whatever reason, the Polish army, which was equipped with a large number of cavalry, did indeed use cavalry to charge German armored forces on local battlefields and paid a heavy price for it. Of course, these cavalry did not just charge German tank units; they also attacked German infantry, German cavalry… it would be more accurate to say that they attacked any enemy unit they encountered.

The German army in the north, with the 7th Panzer Corps as its vanguard, attacked fiercely to the southeast, like a giant ax that split apart the Polish Modlin Army, which had just begun to slowly retreat due to its flank being threatened. This completely crushed the Polish army group that had held out for three days on the southern border of East Prussia.

The commander of the Modlin Army Group committed suicide in his headquarters. All the Polish defenders in the entire northeastern region were caught in a huge pocket. Having lost their supplies and their rear, 500,000 Polish defenders surrendered to the German army. The gateway to the entire northern part of Poland was opened, and between Warsaw and the German vanguard, there was only a short journey of a few days.

At this moment, the Polish leadership, having lost all news of its armies, received a telegram from the French filled with sympathy: We share your suffering with all our hearts and have full confidence in your continued resistance.

Author’s Note: Guess what the Führer is going to demand from the Soviets?