Chapter 23 The Ninth Plan Watching the Fire from the Other Side

The yang is obedient and disorderly, the yin is waiting for the reverse, and the violent porcelain looks at it. The internal contradictions of the enemy tend to be intensified and superficial, and the order is chaotic.At this time, we must quietly wait for the enemy to riot. When the enemy turns against each other and turns into a vicious enemy, he will surely kill himself. This is the principle of Yu Gua, if we can act in accordance with the time, we will get good results. The divisive atmosphere within the enemy has already been exposed, and if you continue to persecute him, the enemy will put aside internal strife and fight back with one heart.If kept out of the way, he will riot on his own.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Yuan Shao's son Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi were defeated by Cao Cao, and led thousands of cavalry to defect to Gongsun Kang, the prefect of Liaodong.Gongsun Kang had been refusing to obey Cao Cao because of the distance he was in. After Cao Cao defeated the Donghu tribe in Karasuma, someone suggested that Cao Cao immediately take advantage of the victory to conquer Gongsun Kang and capture the Yuan brothers by the way.Cao Cao said: "I am going to let Gongsun Kang kill Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi, and send their heads. There is no need to bother teachers and laborers to go on an expedition." County Northwest), Gongsun Kang immediately killed Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi and sent his head. The generals were surprised and asked Cao Cao for advice.Cao Cao said: "Gongsun Kang has always been afraid that the Yuan brothers would annex him. If I rush to use troops, they will join forces to resist; if I relax, they will fight with each other. This is an inevitable development trend."

Some people say: This is the principle of the "fire attack method" in military books. Press: the first part of "Sun Tzu·Fire Attack" talks about the law of fire attack, and the second part talks about the theory of prudent use of troops, which is also consistent with the meaning of watching fire from the other side. On January 30, 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany.After he came to power, in order to realize his ambition of dominating the world, he disregarded the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles and unscrupulously expanded his armies and prepared for war. However, in the face of the armed forces of European countries, he himself has no confidence in whether he can dominate the world, so he released a "detection balloon" after careful planning.

On March 28, 1938, Hitler secretly summoned Konrad Hanlein, the permanent leader of the Germans in the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, to Berlin.He was secretly ordered to cause trouble in the Czech Republic, so that he could send troops to the Czech Republic under the guise of "Sudetenland" demanding autonomy, and then achieve his goal of dominating Europe and even the entire world. In the face of Hitler's provocation, if European countries unite.Hitler did not dare to act rashly.However, British Prime Minister Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Daladier adopted the notorious appeasement policy.

On September 13, 1938, in the middle of the night, in the residence of the British Prime Minister, Chamberlain was walking back and forth on the floor of the office in a hurry like an ant on a hot pot, thinking hard about the countermeasures. After a long time, he suddenly rushed to the desk. Picking up a pen from the pen holder, he wrote on a telegram: Berlin.hitler. In view of the growing seriousness of the situation, I propose to come to you immediately to find a peaceful solution. After he finished writing, he read it again, rang the electric bell leading to the secretary's room, and told the tired-looking secretary who hurried over: "Urgent, send it immediately."

Hitler received Chamberlain's telegram, secretly delighted, and immediately called back to invite. In the early morning of September 15, with a breezy breeze, the elderly and frail Chamberlain boarded a plane to Germany with his briefcase and his unique black umbrella. It is ridiculous to say that the 70-year-old British Prime Minister , had never been on a plane before.Because on the one hand, he was not sure whether the plane would not suddenly fall from the sky; on the other hand, the deafening engine sound made him unbearable. by plane.But this time, in order to meet Hitler as soon as possible and save "peace", he boarded the plane tremblingly.

After more than 4 hours of flight, Chamberlain's special plane landed in Munich, Germany, and then transferred from Munich to a train to Berchtesgaden, a small city in southwestern Germany. Berchtesgaden is a small station. After the car stopped, Chamberlain walked down. He thought it was a warm welcome scene, but unexpectedly the station was deserted. Neither Hitler nor the British Prime Minister came to welcome him. The crowd, he was very angry at this cold reception, but there was nothing he could do. In desperation, Chamberlain got into a convertible car prepared for him. The open hood scattered dust all the way, bumping on the winding mountain road for an unknown period of time, and pulled the angry prime minister to Hitler's mountain villa in Obersalzburg - "Eagle's Nest".

Hitler grasped Chamberlain's weakness of sacrificing others to preserve himself only to "peace things out". When Chamberlain came to the "Eagle's Nest", Hitler only stood on the steps of the villa from a distance to show his "welcome". Half enthusiastic, and full of arrogance.Chamberlain had just sat down in Hitler's room, when the 49-year-old Hitler with a pair of moustache was eloquently talking about his views. There was no room for Chamberlain to speak. In the face of Hitler's aggressive threat, Chamberlain was both angry and worried. What was angry was that Hitler was defiant and did not put the Prime Minister of the British Empire in his due position. What was worried was that Hitler would really attack Europe and start a world war. So Chamberlain said softly and firmly: "If the head of state has decided to use force to solve this problem and even doesn't want to discuss it between us, why should I come?"

Faced with Chamberlain's question, Hitler rolled his eyes unhappily, then stroked his two black beards, hummed hypocritically, expressing his willingness to discuss. Seeing that Zentler gradually calmed down, Chamberlain expressed his opinion, that is, he agreed to cede the Sudetenland region of the Czech Republic to Germany, but Germany would not take military action until he returned to England to seek the opinion of the British government and the two talked again. When Hitler saw that the situation was going according to his idea, he pretended to agree. Therefore, Chamberlain flew back to London the next day and invited French Prime Minister Daladier to a meeting. Then, Britain and France jointly put pressure on the Czech government, forcing the Czech government to make a heartbroken concession.

On September 22, 1938, Godesburg am Rhein, Germany, with beautiful scenery and pleasant weather, Chamberlain happily stepped off the plane, because this time he had made a compromise with the Daladier government. Will be very satisfied, do you know that things are just the opposite at this time. When Hitler saw Chamberlain, he said with a straight face: "Sorry, but due to the development of the situation in the past few days, the plan we originally discussed is of little use." After speaking, Hitler handed Chamberlain a memorandum and a map of Germany's request to occupy Teide on the spot.

Chamberlain, who was unprepared, turned pale when he heard Hitler's words. The 70-year-old man's yellow face turned red at the moment. He asked Hitler to give him time so that he could consult with the governments of the countries concerned. Chamberlain returned to London on September 24. He first talked about his views at the British cabinet meeting, hoping that the British government would adopt a compromise attitude and accept Hitler's new request, which was opposed by the British cabinet; The ultimatum-style memorandum and the map allowing its occupation were handed over to the Czech Republic, which was also flatly rejected by the Czech government. There are many coincidences in history. When Chamberlain was desperate and unable to step down, on the evening of September 24, 1938, Hitler sent a telegram to Chamberlain, expressing his willingness to negotiate with the Czech government. This is exactly what Chamberlain dreamed of. Telephone Hitler, he hopes that the heads of state of Britain, France, and Italy will go to Germany to discuss with Hitler about the handover of the Sudetenland area. On September 29, 1938, Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain, and Daladier held a meeting of the "Big Four" in Munich, Germany. Chamberlain, with gray hair, drooped his head, and French Prime Minister Faraday frowned, listlessly, and Mussolini, short and fat, wearing a Nazi uniform, was very active at the meeting. Based on the content of the telegram Hitler sent the day before, he put forward a so-called proposal that fully met the appetite of the "Führer". Radhi had no choice but to swallow his humiliation to cater to Hitler's despotic power. This proposal, which later became the notorious "Munich Agreement," stipulated that Czechoslovakia must, from October 1, 1938, separate the Sudetenland region of the Czech Republic and the The southern areas bordering Austria were under the jurisdiction of Germany, and the military facilities, industrial enterprises, and means of transportation in these areas were handed over to Germany intact. It was this "Agreement" that not only strengthened Germany's military power, but also opened up Hitler's offensive. Passage to Europe, trying to conquer the whole world. Chamberlain and Daladier originally thought that by adopting a policy of appeasement and sacrificing their allies, they would be able to obtain peace and keep their own positions, but they did not expect that their fleeing and compromise were just appeasement and rape. After Germany achieved the above goals, they sent troops. Occupying the whole of Czechoslovakia and soon Poland, the flames of the Second World War intensified.Chamberlain was quickly kicked out of power by the cabinet. He was sick and died a year later. The French Prime Minister Daladier soon lost his country and family. He himself was captured by the German army and became Hitler's "prisoner". On June 22, 1941, the German fascist army attacked the Soviet Union with a "blitzkrieg", and the Soviet-German War finally broke out! British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was a very stubborn and hard-core anti-communist, and Churchill himself was not shy about this.He was blunt in his radio speech when he learned that the fascist army had begun to attack the Soviet Union: "In the past 25 years, no one has been as consistently opposed to communism as I am..." In Churchill's bones, he hated both Nazism and socialism and communism. He regarded communism as a scourge. From the very beginning of the war, he hoped that the Soviet Union and Germany would fight each other, so that both sides would be hurt, and he would take over. Therefore, Churchill strongly hoped that the Soviet Union and Germany would go to war as soon as possible, but the biggest danger facing Britain at that time was that the real enemy was the German and Italian fascists, not the Soviet Union. Therefore, Churchill learned that the German and Italian troops had begun to attack the Soviet Union. Afterwards, he was relieved, and on the same day he issued a statement in support of Russia, which was well received by the world public opinion. On July 12, the Soviet and British governments signed an agreement to take joint action against the German War. However, Churchill was slow to take concrete action. 1941 and 1942 were the two years when the Soviet Red Army and Hitler fought desperately. Although the Soviet Union basically contained the "lightning" attack on Hitler in 1942, on the Soviet-German battlefield, the Soviet Red Army suffered from more than 4 million well-equipped troops. For this reason, Marshal Stalin of the Soviet Red Army repeatedly proposed to the United Kingdom and the United States a plan to open a second battlefield in northern France to contain the fascist army and reduce the pressure on the Soviet battlefield. He agreed, and sent General Marshall, the chief of staff of the army, to London to discuss with the British side, but Churchill hesitated and took a negative attitude, deliberately delaying on the pretext that the conditions were not mature. In fact, Churchill's intention is very obvious, that is, to use Hitler's hand as much as possible to attack the power of the socialist Soviet Union, just as the Spanish journalist L. Jereby wrote in his book "Churchill's Secret": "Churchill Hope that the Soviet Union will shed blood in the war, and hope that by the time of victory, the Soviet Union is completely exhausted and unable to play a leading role in Europe and the world... Churchill tried to weaken the Soviet Union through war. He hoped that the Russians would fight the Germans in isolation, so that regardless of the outcome of the war Whatever the outcome, both parties will try their best." Just because he urged Churchill to open up the second front as soon as possible, on the one hand to reduce the pressure on the Soviet Union, and on the other hand to shorten the process of World War II as soon as possible, in May 1942, Stalin sent Foreign Minister Molotov to London to urge Churchill to act as soon as possible. But still to no avail. The honest and kind-hearted British people are contrary to what Churchill said. They hope that their country will sincerely fulfill their ally obligations to the Soviet Union. British progressive parties and patriots actively demand that the British government fulfill its promise of opening a second front. Numerous marches and rallies were held for this purpose. Frightened by the heavy pressure at home and abroad, Churchill and Roosevelt held separate talks in July 1942. Under Churchill's instigation, Britain and the United States decided not to land in Europe in 1942, but to enter North Africa, allowing the Soviet Union to continue to fight Hitler. At the same time, Churchill also notified the relevant departments of his country to stop preparations for the second battlefield. Churchill sat on the mountain and watched the tigers fight, and another year passed. Since 1943, the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War has passed the most difficult stage, especially in the summer and autumn. Under the circumstances, on November 28, 1943, Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill, the three "giants" who were concerned by the world, held a very important meeting in the Soviet embassy in Tehran.This is the "Tehran Conference" that historians wrote about later. Inside the stone wall of the Soviet Embassy in Tehran, several light brown brick buildings are sparsely located in the shade of the courtyard, which looks very quiet and elegant. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, as soon as the meeting started, Churchill explained to Stalin why he hadn't opened up a second front. He said: "When Mr. Moloteau arrived in London, I told him that we were making plans to contain the enemy in France... The two countries are preparing for a large-scale military operation in 1943... I fully understand that this plan will not help Russia in 1942..." As soon as Churchill spoke, Stalin remained silent with a gloomy face, allowing Churchill to justify and explain himself. Later, Stalin couldn't bear it anymore, and he directly questioned: "As far as I know, you can't use a large number of troops to open up the second battlefield, and you don't even want to use 6 divisions to land?" Churchill replied falteringly: "It is true," but then explained that "we cannot land with six divisions, but such a landing is actually useless, because it will greatly hinder the huge campaign planned for next year. War is war. No kidding, it wouldn't be too stupid to cause a disaster that doesn't benefit anyone." "I'm very sorry, my views on war are different from yours." Stalin widened his eyes and said sharply, "If you are not prepared to take risks, you cannot win. Why are you so afraid of the German army? I really don't understand." Stalin quarreled with Churchill. When the two were arguing red-faced, there was an embarrassing, suffocating silence in the conference hall, and the atmosphere was quite tense. Later, Stalin took his curved pipe, slowly plugged it in and lit it, and took a big puff.He emphasized again: "If you cannot land in France this year, I have no right to force it, but I must say that the Soviet government does not agree with the British Prime Minister's argument." Facing Stalin's aggressive offensive, Churchill was sullen, smoked his big cigar dejectedly, and exhaled white smoke. Although the meeting had achieved some other results, the dispute on the second battlefield ended in the end. Churchill weighed After repeated attempts, they reluctantly agreed to land in France in May and June of the following year and open up a second battlefield. On June 6, 1944, the huge Allied troops finally crossed the English Channel, landed in Normandy, France, and began to attack Germany. It took two long years from Stalin's proposal to open up the second battlefield to the Normandy landing. Two years was the most dangerous and difficult time for the Soviet Union. In the Great Patriotic War against Hitler and Fascism, more than 20 million Soviets died under the iron hoof of the German and Italian fascist troops. If Churchill did not adopt the strategy of watching the fire from the other side, sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, and opened up the second European battlefield as soon as possible, not only could the process of the Second World War be greatly shortened, but also tens of thousands of lives could be saved.