Guderian flew to the German Army headquarters in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, and met Hitler again in the "Werewolf" concrete bunker.
The entire situation on the Eastern Front has almost collapsed. Compared with more than two months ago, the head of the empire looks more haggard, and his head has turned gray. Because Marshal Manstein launched a series of strategic counterattacks, which successfully stabilized the situation on the eastern front, and because the melting ice and snow turned the road into mud, neither side was able to launch a major offensive. Since entering March, the situation on the entire Eastern Front has entered a period of calm.
"The most dangerous situation now is in the North Caucasus. Our troops are limited and unable to stop the Russian attack!" At a combat meeting held at the German Army Headquarters, Zeitzler once again raised the issue of retreating from the North Caucasus. The Chief of General Staff stated his reasons. The Soviet army was advancing towards Rostov, putting the German troops in the North Caucasus in danger. He strongly urged Hitler to agree to Kleist's retreat, warning: "If you do not issue an order to retreat from the Caucasus in time, a second Zhuyashviligler will appear."
Hitler was upset by what he said. Under Zeitzler's repeated urging, he hesitated for a long time and said, "Okay, you can do whatever you want!"
Both Guderian and Manstein participated in this operational meeting. Hitler hoped to organize another large-scale offensive in the summer. Manstein proposed that due to insufficient troops and equipment, after entering the summer, the German army would probably not even be able to maintain its current strength. The defense line cannot be maintained. Guderian pointed out that due to problems with military production, at least before the spring of 1944. The country was unable to provide enough tanks for the front line, and the general immediately raised the issue that made the F¨¹hrer angry again. That is, requesting China to send reinforcements to maintain frontline defenses in Ukraine and the North Caucasus.
This time Hitler did not get angry again, and indeed began to seriously consider the so-called Soviet-German peace issue raised by Republican China. The huge losses suffered by the German army on the battlefields from the Volga River to the Don River forced Germany to begin domestic mobilization in early 1943, conscripting men under the age of forty-five and men over the age of seventeen to serve in the army.
Since Britain and the United States had brought the war to Germany, Hitler had to admit that he was facing an increasingly deteriorating war situation and began to talk to his generals about the military crisis he was currently facing. He admitted that his hope for a quick decisive battle had been shattered and that a protracted war was inevitable. At the same time, German public opinion also began to talk about peace. Hoped to make separate peace with Britain and the United States.
"My head of state, I think we may have forgotten the strategy we formulated at the beginning. In our plan, we did not want to completely occupy the entire Europe. In the "Yellow Campaign Plan" and "Barbarossa Plan" our purpose was just to defeat France liberated Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic countries and had no intention of annexing them, but now we seem to have deviated from our original intention. We need a buffer zone between us and Soviet Russia. This is our purpose, even if the Chinese enter Ukraine and Eastern Europe. But it is not inconsistent with our plan." said Manstein, who was the main architect of the plans for these two campaigns. The Germans did not initially have the intention to annex these countries. This was also the case when the Ukrainians in the early days of the war The people of Belarus and Belarus welcomed the arrival of the German army as liberators. However, as the Gestapo and the SS implemented no less harsh rule than Soviet Russia, they gradually pushed the people back to the side of the Russians. .
This is a major political mistake.
Now Marshal Manstein is reminding Hitler. Even if the Chinese come in, Germany will not lose anything, but it will be easier to achieve its original war goal.
In the eyes of Germans, including Hitler, there is not much hatred for the United States, on the contrary. Most Germans feel closer to Americans. But now Americans are doing their best to help Russia, thinking of the brutality of Soviet Russia. This would make every German shudder. And in this world, the only ones who can deal with the United States are the Republic of China and those "yellow people" from Asia.
Although he was extremely reluctant in his heart, his reason told Hitler that only those "Easterners" could save the "noble Aryans" from suffering the tragic fate of defeat.
"Okay, I will consider your suggestions carefully!" Hitler thought for a while and then said weakly. As the war progressed, he had realized that without the support of Republican China, Germany would not even be able to compete with the Americans. The Soviet Union supported the Russian army. In the face of the harsh reality, he had to choose to bow his head. Although the head of the empire was arrogant, he was not stupid.
In Rome, the Venetian Palace located on the north side of the Capitoline Hill exudes a romantic and classical atmosphere. The Prime Minister's Office of the Kingdom of Italy, the Foreign Ministers of the Republic of China, the German Third Reich and the Kingdom of Italy jointly signed the agreement after three days of talks and consultations. The Declaration of Rome.
"Cheers to the common development of mankind and future world peace!" As the host, Italian Foreign Minister Ciano raised the crystal cup in his hand, and the red wine in the cup was as red as blood. meaningThe Italians seemed very proud. At the partition meeting in Rome, the Italians benefited the most. The Chinese agreed to hand over the entire North Africa to Italian jurisdiction after the war.
German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop smiled very reluctantly. After the "Rome Declaration", the Chinese-Italian coalition forces will enter Eastern Europe and France controlled by the Germans. The Germans will lose more than half of the benefits they gained in the war, and millions of imperial troops will be lost. The war gains that the Japanese had gained with their blood were shamelessly forced by the two allies to "share" them with Germany.
He could imagine that after the Chinese and Italian coalition forces entered these areas, it was basically impossible to invite them out, unless the German Empire chose to go to war with the allies, but Germany had the ability to fight with Republican China and was always following them. Are their lackeys turning against each other? The weak Germany now urgently needs the support of these two countries, but these two so-called allies have taken advantage of the situation and turned Eastern Europe and France into a three-country "condominium".
Ribbentrop can imagine how angry the F¨¹hrer, who is still a "werewolf", is.
"Cheers to our great friendship and cooperation!" Chinese Foreign Minister Shi Zhaoji gently clinked glasses with Ribbentrop and Ciano, with a calm smile on his face, which made the German Foreign Minister feel even more hypocritical. But what can be done now? Without the help of these hypocritical allies, it will be difficult for Germany to continue to support itself. Soviet Russia was much stronger than imagined and already had an advantage on the Eastern Front. In the North Atlantic, since the Americans landed in the UK, it has become the domain of the United States and Britain. American long-range bombers have begun bombing the German mainland, and the skies in Western Europe have become the domain of the US-British coalition forces.
The German Air Force, which had the advantage in the early stages of the war, was already at an absolute disadvantage. Goering's Air Force was unable to stop the continuous attacks of American and British fighter planes. The German Empire began to fall behind in terms of both the number of aircraft and the performance of the fighter planes.
"We launched a European war, but in the end we invited the Orientals back to Europe!" Thinking of this, Ribbentrop was very disappointed with the result. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote for recommendations and monthly votes.