Chapter 1176 Reinhardt

Snowflakes were falling. On the completely Europeanized streets of Petrograd, Russia's leading metropolis, the scene of depression was still everywhere. Most of the shops were closed, and there were few vehicles, whether cars or carriages. Even if there were a few running on the streets, they were often German-made vehicles belonging to the Russian Expeditionary Force.

Reinhardt was now sitting in a Volkswagen 82 barrel car with a canvas roof, with a shining Order of St. Anastasia on his chest - it was said that this was a medal of a very high level, named after the martyred Saint Anastasia, the younger sister of Empress Olga, and awarded to foreign nobles who had made outstanding contributions to the restoration of the Romanov dynasty.

Although Reinhardt really couldn't remember what contribution he had made to the restoration of the Romanov dynasty? But the Russian Empress Olga personally awarded Reinhardt a medal half an hour ago, and announced that she was Reinhardt's godmother in the throne room of the Winter Palace, and also awarded Reinhardt the title of Count of the Russian Empire and the rank of Major in the Army... In Reinhardt's own opinion, the honor and status given to him by the Russian Empress was completely nonsense, even if his father was the Marshal of the Hessman Empire.

"Reinhardt, the rules here in Russia are different from those in Germany," accompanied Reinhardt to meet the Empress, his boss Major Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Colonel of the Russian Imperial Army), he told the somewhat confused Reinhardt, "Here, Her Majesty the Empress has the final say, and those she likes can rise to prominence, and she and your father... well, there are many rumors."

"Rumors? What rumors?"

Little Ribbentrop chuckled and lowered his voice: "It is said that she and The Imperial Marshal is a lover."

"Lover? This is impossible." Reinhardt said seriously, "My father and mother have a good relationship, and he is a model husband."

Little Ribbentrop shrugged, then looked at Reinhardt with a strange look: "I know this, but in Petrograd, everyone knows that their empress and the Imperial Marshal have an ambiguous relationship, and it is said that there is an illegitimate child."

"Illegitimate child?" Reinhardt's eyes widened, "How is this possible? How can you say this nonsense?"

Little Ribbentrop Nodding: "Yes, no one in Russia dares to slander Her Majesty the Empress... and Russians are very conscious in this regard. Apart from this rumor, there are no other negative rumors about Her Majesty the Empress."

"This is impossible..." Reinhard shouted, "It must be clarified!"

Little Ribbentrop just smiled: "Reinhard, do you think the Imperial Marshal and Her Majesty the Empress don't know about this rumor? Don't they have a way to clarify this matter?"

"..."

"They didn't come out to clarify, and let this rumor spread. There must be a reason." Little Ribbentrop said, "I think you should just pretend that this rumor doesn't exist."

This rumor is of course not true. It was just made up by Olga to make her backing look stronger. No one in the German Junker circle believed it - even if someone believed it, it would not damage Hessmann's reputation, because having a "special friendship" with a Russian empress cannot be treated with common sense. It is a diplomatic activity that is conducive to Russian-German friendship.

The roads in Petrograd were wide and empty. The Volkswagen bucket car they were riding in quickly drove out of the city and arrived at a large barracks near Peterhof on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. This place was originally a garrison of the Soviet Red Army. There were neatly arranged barracks, a very wide playground, several rows of tall garages, a vehicle repair shed covered in oil, and a headquarters building with a red star on the roof. Occasionally, traces of Russian slogans that were not completely removed can be seen on the walls of some buildings, indicating that this was originally a camp of the Soviet Red Army. Now it has a new owner.

"Reinhard, you are now a major," said Ribbentrop Jr. when the car stopped in front of the building that looked like a headquarters building. "I can arrange a new position for you, come to the division headquarters as a staff officer."

Ribbentrop Jr. was the chief of staff of the Russian Royal "Olga" Guards Tank Division, assisting Lieutenant General Count Mikhail Alexeevich Romanov.

This Count Romanov was not a relative of Olga, at least he was not in the genealogy of the Romanov dynasty. He was not even from the "Old White Man" family, but a major general of the former Soviet Red Army. When the Soviet-German War broke out, he was appointed as a division commander. He was loyal to the cause of GCism and was ready to devote himself to his ideals at any time.

But unexpectedly, Empress Olga suddenly jumped out to restore the Romanov dynasty, which implicated all the cadres with the surname Romanov in the Red Army - they had to find out that they were not relatives of the Tsar's family! But the investigation was endless, and it was not clear until the German army captured the city where Major General Romanov was located... Later, Empress Olga dug out the ancient genealogy and confirmed that Major General Romanov belonged to a branch of the Romanov family, and also made him a count.

And Major General Romanov, who knew that he had a sinful family background, gave up his original ideals and no longer hoped to be accepted by the revolutionary team. He bowed down at the feet of the empress and became a "royal general" in the White Russian army. He has now climbed to the position of commander of the Guards Tank Division and is considered one of Queen Olga's favorites.

"Reinhardt, you should come to the division headquarters to be a staff officer, or be my adjutant." Lieutenant General Romanov, who was wearing a neat military uniform, had a handsome appearance, and a very neatly trimmed beard, also made a similar suggestion.

As early as when Reinhardt reported to the army, he wanted the son of the German Imperial Marshal to be his adjutant, but Reinhardt insisted on going to the army - this idea is understandable, and the lack of experience in leading troops will suffer in the future promotion process. So Lieutenant General Romanov did not insist at the time, but the situation is different now.

"Our division will go to the battlefield," Lieutenant General Romanov said without hiding anything, "We will set off at the end of March or the beginning of April."

"Go to the battlefield?" Little Ribbentrop, who had just been transferred from the Guyana front to Petrograd, was immediately excited when he heard that he was going to the front line. "The whole tank division will go?"

"Yes! The whole tank division will go!" Lieutenant General Romanov said, "So in order to facilitate communication with friendly forces, the division headquarters needs to add a few staff officers who can speak Russian and German fluently. Reinhard, you must work at the division headquarters this time, this is an order!"

"Understood, Lieutenant General." Reinhardt could no longer shirk this time, so he had to give up the idea of ​​going to the front line to kill the enemy and become a staff officer at the division headquarters.

The Royal "Olga" Guards Tank Division is the elite of the White Russian Army. It is a well-organized armored division. It was established based on the German armored division, and most of its weapons and equipment are German equipment-it is not that Russia's military industry is so bleak that it cannot provide any equipment, but that Germany is currently promoting the standardization and integration of weapons and equipment in the European Community.

As the core and leader of the European Community, Germany naturally wants to promote its own equipment as the standard of the entire European Community. Therefore, most of the arsenals that are still in operation in Russia have upgraded their equipment with the help of Germany and started to produce according to the drawings and samples provided by Germany. Therefore, the weapons and ammunition produced are also German equipment. Many of the weapons and ammunition equipped with the Royal "Olga" Guards Tank Division are German equipment produced in Russia.

In addition, not all weapons equipped with the European Community army are designed and developed by Germans. The weapons of France, Britain and the Soviet Union have also entered the standard equipment of the European Community.

For example, the Olga tank destroyer, nicknamed "Olga's Hammer", defeated the German "Hunter" tank destroyer and became the standard of the European Community infantry division.

There is also the B4 203mm howitzer known as the "Stalin's Hammer" that has become the standard of the European Community Army's 203mm heavy artillery.

The ZIS-3 76.2mm cannon, which was very common in the Soviet Red Army, also became the standard artillery weapon of the European Community - this was mainly because there were too many stocks of this cannon, and the production capacity of the Russian military industry was too large, and it would be a waste if it was not fully utilized. However, German and British technicians still helped the Russians redesign the ammunition, greatly enhancing the anti-tank capability of the ZIS-3 cannon.

Among the various types of aircraft inherited from the Soviet Union, Russia also had one that caught the eye of Marshal Kesselring, the famous "Black Death" Il-2 attack aircraft. After some improvements, this aircraft became the successor of the Hs123 attack aircraft, forming a high-low combination with the Hs129 and Br.800 (the shore-based version of Br.810), greatly enhancing the ground attack capability of the European Community Air Force - a large number of former Soviet pilots who defected from the revolution also became part of the European Community air force together with the Il-8 (the improved name of the Il-2) attack aircraft.

When the most powerful tank division of the Russian Empire received the order to prepare for the march, the Il-8 attack aircraft, which was improved from the Il-2 attack aircraft, had already appeared on the Guyana-Trinidad front in South America.

Since the Il-8 had low requirements for airports and maintenance, it could take off and land safely at the temporary airports on the Guyana front under harsh conditions, so more than 20 squadrons of Il-8 arrived at the Guyana-Trinidad front, not to attack Trinidad Island, but to support the jungle warfare troops of the European Allied Forces to attack the Amacuro Delta. Since the end of 1944, the European Community Allied Forces launched an offensive in this rainforest area bordering Venezuela and Guyana. With the support of the Il-8, the Allied Forces made smooth progress. By mid-February 1945, most of the valuable strongholds in the Amacuro Delta had fallen into the hands of the Allied Forces.