Chapter 131 Chapter 22 Even the winner is destroyed by victory (Dryden) (1)

1940.6-1940.10.28 That summer, Hitler made it clear that he was more interested in negotiating than fighting.In France, his weapon was persuasion and the presentation of himself as a magnanimous victor who offered France a share in the fruits of a united and prosperous Fascist Europe—a hegemony aimed not only at the spiritual Resurrection, and make it a bulwark against godless Bolshevism.One of the first steps he took in this campaign was to make his troops liberators rather than conquerors. "I don't want my soldiers to behave in France like the French soldiers did in the Rhineland after the First World War!" He told Hoffmann that anyone who robs will be shot on the spot. "I want a real understanding with France."

In this way, the troops entering Paris did not dare to swagger, let alone ask people to surrender or eat for free.They will give exactly what they buy.They drank coffee with the French and shared the sunshine in late June outside the cafe on Xiangshelishe Street.As awkward as it was, and often without words or attention, Parisians' fears—their fears that women would be raped and shops and banks would be looted—were gone.By now, everyone knows that German troops are helping French refugees return to the capital.Street signs hung all over Paris, showing a friendly German soldier with a baby in his arms, and a warning: "French! Trust the German soldiers!"

Hitler supposedly would have been proud of his soldiers.They are neatly dressed, and they speak kindly and even a little flatteringly.They are courteous to women and respectful to men.At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, they stand with their bare heads, armed only with cameras.They looked more like passengers arriving on a special holiday train than horrible figures who had just brought the French Army to a terrible disgrace.It was a cunning public relations maneuver, part of a plan to turn France into a working and productive servant. Hitler himself became a tourist.He was in a group that included his aide-de-camp and a corporal from the World War, Mex Amman.For two days, led by the head of state, they happily visited the old battlefield that led to this war.This is an emotional tour, and the Führer is always unhappy.Pointing to the Flanders battlefield, he told everyone that it was a swamp before, and some trenches were left as a memorial and for tourists to appreciate.The Fuehrer did not look back on the past in secret alone, but explained to everyone in eloquence and in great detail what happened here or there.As he drove through Lille (he had only seen it in watercolors), a woman peering out the window recognized him. "The devil!" she exclaimed.Amused at first, he vowed to erase the image from the minds of the conquered.

This highly emotional outing ended on the 26th.He then turned his mind to the unpleasant task at hand: to bring the British to their knees.He told his adjutants that the mission was unpleasant.The war with England was a fraternal war, and the destruction of the British Empire was also a source of sorrow for the Germanic Empire.This, he confided to Hewell, was the reason for his delay in invading England. "I don't want to conquer her," he said. "I'm going to make a deal with her, force her to accept my friendship, and throw out the whole Jewish mob that is inciting people against me."

Hitler still had no firm plans to invade the British Isles.Victory on the Western Front had actually come too soon for him to have either landing craft or barges ready for the Channel crossing—not even one.Instead, he appears to be waiting for Britain to sue for peace.However, on July 3, this hope was dashed: on that day, the British Royal Navy suddenly bombarded the French fleet anchored in the Algerian port of Messer-Keber.The battleship Britannia sank in 13 minutes, killing 977.Three other ships, including the Dunkirk, were severely damaged with heavy loss of life.The rest of the ships escaped.The British feared that Hitler would use these ships to attack Britain, and paid a high price for this fear.The British retreat from Dunkirk left a painful impression on most French minds.The offensive, especially after Admiral Darlan had vowed not to hand over the warships to Hitler, aroused deep hostility throughout France. The phrase "British treachery" has become a common phrase in cafés.

The shelling also confirmed what some believed: the only way to save France was to cooperate with Hitler.The armistice agreement signed not long ago has actually divided mainland France into two parts: the northern occupied area and the Vichy government area in the south-headed by Marshal Pétain.The shelling made his task of preventing Deputy Chancellor Laval from working more closely with Hitler even more difficult.At the same time, it simplified the search for new defectors by Jean Giraudoux and other fascist intellectuals.Alfred Fabre-Loos wrote in his diary: "England killed more French sailors in one day than Germany in a year." Wrong, he predicted, was accelerating Hitler's "One Europe" process.It also jolted the Führer out of his eternal dream of emphasizing his inability to control the French fleet or lay siege to the British Royal Navy, while at the same time wanting to settle the matter with Britain quickly.Surrounded almost entirely inland, he was stunned by the astonishing mobility of sea power.The Navy's explosive action reinforced his earlier fears.Even if the British fleet failed to crush an invasion of Britain, it enabled the fleet leaders to establish headquarters in Canada or Australia and rule the seas from there.

Negotiation or use of force?He lingers in the agony of indecision. "I must not give up," he told Puttkamer. "The British will agree with me after all." But when Brauchitsch and Halder flew to the Berghof on July 13, he readily approved their plan to invade Britain, but in Moments later he protested that he didn't want to hit his British brother, that he didn't want the British Empire to fall apart.Bloodshed will only attract wolves to share the spoils.Why is Britain still so unwilling to make peace?According to Halder's diary records, he asked himself and answered: "Because there is still some hope that Russia will act."

Three days later he issued special instructions for the invasion of Great Britain.The purpose of the invasion was to destroy Britain as a base for fighting against Germany.And, if necessary, occupy it all.This campaign got an imaginative code name: "Sea Lion".Before the ink was dry on Hitler's approval of the plan, he came up with a peace proposal of his own. "The Führer will make a magnanimous peace proposal to Great Britain," Ribbentrop told Schmidt. "When Lloyd George hears the news, I'm afraid he'll get our necks stuck!" On July 19, the proposal came out of the cage.It began by attacking Churchill in a mocking tone, then threatened that if the two countries went to war, it would definitely be Britain that would be wiped out; The war continues."

Britain's answer to Hitler's proposals was first brought by those who knew the Führer well.The man was Sefton Delmer, now working for the BBC.He went on the air right away. "Herr Hitler," he said in German very deferentially, "you used to ask me sometimes how the mood of the British public is? So, again tonight, I intend to do a little service to your Excellency. Allow me to tell you that our people here What do you think of the appeal of what you call reason and common sense. Mr. Fuehrer and Chancellor, we throw it back at you, back at your sin-smelling teeth!" Shirer said in Berlin Listened to this broadcast in the broadcast room while waiting to broadcast to the United States.He would like to comment on the implications of the matter. "Can you figure it out?" someone called to Shirer. "Can you understand those British fools?"Reject the peace proposal?They are crazy! "

President Roosevelt was equally unimpressed by Hitler's proposal.Later that night, in his radio acceptance speech from the White House, he announced that there was only one answer to a totalitarian state—resistance, not appeasement.Ambassador Dickhoff reported to Berlin that Roosevelt's "complicity" with Britain in the outbreak and prolongation of the war was never more clearly expressed than in this speech. "Britain's course must not change, its resistance must increase, and the war must continue" (a few days later, a Washington embassy press adviser, after speaking with United Broadcasting Corporation political commentator Fulton Lewis Jr., told German diplomatic The Ministry submitted a memorandum: "Louis, who often travels abroad, said that when the Republican Party and the Democratic Party of the United States met with Americans from all walks of life and from all over the country at their annual meetings, they said that the people do not want war, but Roosevelt's tricks They are pretty powerless before him, especially when he has turned Congress into a rubber stamp with no will of its own.")

London has yet to formally reject the German proposal. On Sunday, July 21, Hitler summoned his generals to a conference in Berlin.He seemed bewildered rather than belligerent. "The situation in Britain is hopeless," he said. "We have won the war. There is no possibility of reversing the prospect of success." He speculated that Britain would have a new cabinet with Lloyd George as prime minister.Then he fell into gloomy thought. Suddenly, the silence was broken.He called for a "quick end to the war" and said there was no more effective route than "the sea lion".But his assurance—or, rather, his apparent assurance—was gone almost immediately.He warned that an expedition to Britain across the enemy-held English Channel was not the same as it was to Norway.Never a one-way trip.The element of sneak attack is impossible.How will the problem of logistics supply be solved?He went on and on, pointing out serious problems--problems (which had been kept on record), and Admiral Raeder implicitly agreed.Complete air superiority is crucial, and the first landings must be completed by mid-September, otherwise, the increasingly harsh weather will prevent the Air Force from fully participating in the war.He turned around and asked Raeder: When will the Navy give a definite answer on technical preparations?When will the artillery positions on the coast be fully set up?To what extent can the navy cover the crossing of the strait? Embarrassed, Admiral Raeder was thinking about other problems: most of the infantry had to be transported by inland or canal barges, and the barges needed still had to be towed from the empire.How can this weak fleet withstand the British Royal Navy?After being damaged in the Battle of Norway, only 48 speedboats, 1 heavy cruiser, 4 destroyers, and 3 torpedo boats remained available for combat.Raeder replied, a little embarrassed, that he hoped to get answers to some technical questions within a few days.But how does he begin to prepare when air superiority is not yet a fact?Brauchitsch answered his pessimism with unwavering confidence.He likes "sea lions".Goering's deputy said that the air force is ready for everything, and it can launch a powerful offensive in the air as long as it is ordered.Hitler did not express his opinion, so Raeder submitted the report as soon as possible. "If the preparatory work is not sure to be completed in early September, then other plans must be considered." Thus, the burden of the "Sea Lion" fell on the Navy. With no one else around, Hitler told Brauchitsch: "Stalin is flirting with Britain in order to keep Britain in the war and wear us down in order to buy time to get what he won't get in peacetime." On the one hand he concedes that there are currently no signs of Soviet action against the Empire, but on the other hand he agrees that Russia presents a problem which must be dealt with seriously. "We have to start thinking about these things." Not long ago, a discerning Britishman, George Orwell, foresaw that Hitler's real goal was to gain living space at the expense of the Soviet Union. "If one compares what Hitler has said in the past year with what he said 15 years ago," he wrote in an article reviewing the English edition, "one will find this: his heart is as firm as it is. His world view has not developed. This is the definite view of paranoia, and it is not likely to be affected by the temporary actions of power politics. Perhaps, in Hitler's mind, the Soviet-German Treaty was just a timetable change. His plan was to destroy Russia first, and hinted at Britain after that. Now, as it turned out, he dealt with Britain first. Because, of the two countries, Russia is easier to buy. However, once Britain is destroyed .and it was Russia's turn - no doubt that was how Hitler saw it." Hitler's gains on the Western Front, while impressive, were not enough to bring him the political stability he needed to begin his holy war against Russia.The blows he dealt to Britain only made this tenacious country more tenacious.His appeasement policy with the French Vichy government - so that it could join his crusade - is also unraveling as it falters.In this way, Germany will not receive active assistance. Despite these defeats, Hitler was confident that he could prevent the conflict from developing into a world war, and that Britain's surrender was imminent.He then ordered an immediate intensification of the propaganda war against Britain.Goebbels' first act was the fulfillment of Nostradamus' prophecy, and the prophecy that London would be destroyed by 1940, to the British broadcasting industry via a secret radio station.The modern interpretation of Nostradamus' prophecy is by Kraft.He predicted the beer hall bombing. In this season of fear, Hitler took time out to meet his old friend Kubischek again.He had sent someone to bring him tickets to the Wagner Festival in 1940. On July 23, during the first intermission of "Goth Dameron," the two met in the lounge.After greeting Kubitschek warmly, he complained that the war had interrupted his reconstruction plans. "Definitely, I still have a lot of work to do. Who else? Right now, I'm just going to stand by and watch the war eat away at my best years... we're all getting older, Ku Bishik, there are not many years—too late to finish the rest of the work." A private meeting with Kubischek on this day was very rare, because Hitler's public duties were constantly increasing.Paradoxically, his relationship with Eva Braun was more like husband and wife.Instead of separating them, the war brought their relationship closer because he had more time to live in the Berghof.Gone are the pretensions of making people believe they were just friends. The staff and servants respected her very much and called her "the proprietress" in private.To Hitler, she openly used the nickname "thou"; to her, he also addressed her as "thou", and sometimes called her "Sabel" - which is the word for "little" in Vienna, which means to refer to things or people as small .In the presence of close friends, he sometimes openly touched her hand, or made other public gestures of affection.According to the insider, their sex life is normal considering that Hitler is now nearly 50 years old and is engrossed in work.Eva finally became the hostess of the Berghof, becoming more confident and elegant.Difficult as her life might be, she was comforted with the confidence that she no longer had competition. That summer, Hitler decided that the time had come to eliminate Bolshevism and expand its living space.He directed the Army to begin preparing for this goal. On July 29, 1940, Jodl came to Bad Reichenhall Station and consulted with Colonel Vallimont, the director of the planning department of the Supreme Command, on the matter.Vallimont and the three senior military officers originally thought that this unusual visit was probably related to promotion or rewards.But what made them feel mysterious was that as soon as Yodl arrived, he asked someone to close all the doors and windows of the dining car.Then he suddenly announced—his voice was calm and impassive—that Hitler had decided to rid the world of the threat of Bolshevism “in one stroke and forever” by launching a surprise attack on the Soviet Union as soon as possible—in May 1941. "The effect of Jodl's words was like an electric shock," Vallimon recalled-at that time, because he couldn't believe his ears, he clung to the chair desperately. "No!" a colonel named Rosberg blurted out.Britain has not yet been defeated, how could Hitler beat Russia!Jodl gave a strange answer: "The Führer is afraid that the public sentiment after the victory over Britain will not allow him to launch a new war against Russia." Dissenting opinions erupted.This style of play is a style of fighting from the front to the back, and it was this two-front war that defeated Germany in World War I.Why is there such a sudden change after signing the treaty with Moscow?Didn't Stalin keep his promise and deliver all the raw materials and food on time?Jodl responded succinctly to each objection: a conflict with Bolshevism was inevitable, and it would be better to attack at the peak of German military might.This answer did not convince Vallimon.Jodl, who had raised similar objections to Hitler, interrupted the debate. "Gentlemen," he said, "this is not a matter for discussion, but a decision of the Führer!" He ordered Vallimont to immediately begin drawing up plans under the code name "Building the East." On the last day of July, the Führer summoned his generals to a meeting at the Berghof.The meeting was originally planned to discuss issues related to "sea lions", but it actually ran counter to it later.The first to speak was Admiral Raeder.The preparations are in full swing: the military supplies have been prepared as planned, and the refitting of the barge will be completed by the end of August.Merchant shipping, on the other hand, did not fare well due to damaged or damaged mines in Norway; mine clearance began, but was hampered by Allied air superiority.Therefore, he concluded that it would be better to postpone the date of the invasion until May of the following year. Hitler objected.Such a long wait, he said, would not only make it possible for Britain to improve its army, but also to receive substantial military supplies from the United States—perhaps even from Russia. "How can we fill the gap until May?" he asked.So he fixed the date on September 15th.Having made this decision decisively, he immediately overturned it.He added, that is, to concentrate on intensive bombing of southern England, if within a week the Royal Air Force and Navy and the main ports can be destroyed, it will be convenient to launch an attack on September 15. "Otherwise, it will be postponed to May 1941." If it was a decision, it was a half-hearted one, one that pleased Raeder.On the one hand, it gave Raeder the highest priority in preparing the Sea Lion, and on the other hand, it handed over the heavy responsibility to the Air Force.More importantly, it gave Hitler the option to turn the war from West to East.As soon as the two naval figures, Raeder and Puttkammer, left the room, Hitler began to belittle the capabilities of the Sea Lion. "Our little navy," he sighed, "is only fifteen percent of the enemy's size!" Besides, the English Channel is much more formidable than it is shown on the map-it is the best place for anyone who has ever crossed it in bad weather. Navigators of treacherous waters will attest. It seemed that Hitler had all but called off the invasion of Great Britain. "Russia only needs to give Britain a few hints that Russia does not want Germany to become too strong, and the British will regain hope like a drowned man: in six to eight months, the situation will be completely But if Russia is wiped out, so is the last hope for England. Germany will then be the master of Europe and the Balkans." This time his musings became firm conclusions. "Decision," he said succinctly, "from these considerations, that Russia must be destroyed. Spring 1941." Gone was the indecision of the previous meetings.He was once again the Führer of old, a man in charge of his destiny. "To wipe out Russia, the sooner the better. The country will be smashed to pieces in one blow. Only in this way, this campaign will be meaningful. It is not enough to conquer the land." He said that the attack must be completed in one go, and there should be no pause.He will not repeat the mistakes of Napoleon, wiped out by the Russian winter.We will wait patiently, he said, until May. "There are five months to prepare," he said with satisfaction. The beauty of the beautiful day he imagined made him fascinated. "The goal is," he said briskly, "to wipe out Russia's main source of energy." Warlord personified, he quickly described plans for an invasion involving 120 divisions: first to Kyiv; Moscow advances; third, a north-south attack, and then launches a special campaign to attack the Baku oil fields.This dream is becoming a reality.