Chapter 194 Green Plan 2

The construction site of the National Automobile Factory in Wolfsburg covers a large area, covering dozens of square kilometers, but it is still small compared to the automobile city on the Volga River in the Soviet Union. However, the density of factories under construction is obviously higher than that of the Volga Automobile City. Many large factories have completed land leveling and are laying foundations. Busy workers and running construction machinery can be seen everywhere.

The roads and railways in and out of the "Auto City" have been completed, and various construction materials are being transported in a steady stream, neatly stacked, and covered with waterproof cloth. The German-style seriousness and rigor are evident everywhere in this huge construction site. Even the temporary living area for construction workers is very clean and tidy, without any intention of sloppy work.

When it is almost time for dinner in the evening, young workers wearing labor uniforms similar to military uniforms will line up in neat rows and sing inspiring songs to return - these people are organized by the Nazi Labor Front and were originally unemployed. When they return, the aroma of food is floating everywhere in the camp.

Tukhachevsky and Berzin were both very observant people who were not easily deceived by superficial phenomena. They carefully observed the workers. The skin on each of their faces and hands was tanned to the color of wheat, and they looked very strong and solid, which showed that they were doing heavy physical labor while having enough nutrition to keep up.

In the workers' residential area, there were many shops opened in temporary houses. Like those shops on the streets of Berlin, the shops here also had a wide range of goods and seemed to be doing quite well. According to Tukhachevsky and Berzin's inquiries, these shops were privately run and affiliated with several business cooperatives. Several shop owners were honorary Aryans - that is, Jews. Each of them said that the construction workers working here had a good income, so their purchasing power was also strong, and their business was still relatively easy to do.

It was obvious that the economic operation of German National Socialism was very good, reflecting some socialist superiority, and even surpassing the socialist Soviet Union in some aspects...

After returning to the Kaiserhof Hotel in Berlin from Wolfsburg, Tukhachevsky and Berzin began to prepare their report. It was originally just a report on Germany's war preparations and armored forces, but Tukhachevsky intended to mention Germany's very prosperous economy in the report.

"Jan. Karlovich, it seems that some of our original views on the German economy need to be revised." Tukhachevsky, holding a cigarette in his hand, stood on the balcony of the luxury suite, looking at the city bathed in golden light, which was the light of the setting sun shining through the fresh air. The wide streets were lined with rows of elegant houses, neat and clean, a bit like Leningrad, but obviously more...vigorous than Leningrad!

As a Bolshevik, he didn't want to use the word "vigorous" to describe Germany's "pseudo-socialism", but that seemed to be the fact!

"Germany's economy is much better than we thought, growing rapidly and running smoothly, and there doesn't seem to be much imbalance... In a way, it's better than our Soviet Union." Tukhachevsky said - he didn't know that what he said now would be recorded by Berzin and reported to Stalin, and would become evidence of his collusion with Germany in the future!

"No, there are problems with their economy." Berzin was the director of the Red Army Intelligence Bureau. In the Soviet Union, the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs and the Political Security Bureau were mainly internal affairs, while the Red Army Intelligence Bureau was external affairs. Therefore, Berzin's understanding of the German economy was deeper than Tukhachevsky's.

"Germany's industrial and agricultural development is unbalanced, industrial development and resources are unbalanced, and heavy industry and light industry are not very balanced." Berzin lit a cigarette and stood on the balcony with Tukhachevsky. The sound of the car covered their conversation, making it difficult for any eavesdropping equipment to work.

Berzin said: "Germany needs to import 4 million tons of agricultural products every year, mainly from the Baltic and the Soviet Union. They also need to import a large amount of oil, iron ore, non-ferrous metals and other raw materials to meet the needs of German industry.

And Germany is currently vigorously developing the automobile industry, which will bring great fuel demand. Although Germany has advanced synthetic fuel technology, the amount of oil they need to import is still increasing year by year."

"But they also export a lot of things," Tukhachevsky said, holding a cup of Russian coffee. "German aircraft, cars, ships, machinery and precision instruments are very popular in the world, and their trade is generally balanced."

In fact, Germany has a considerable trade surplus! It's just that the surplus is not in the form of US dollars and gold, but in the form of various raw materials.

"It's just a temporary balance," Berzin smoked, "Unlike Britain, France, and the United States, Germany has no colonies. They don't have a stable market for dumping industrial products and a place to collect cheap raw materials. And they will soon swallow up Austria and Czech Republic... This is equivalent to taking over most of the industrial areas of the original Austro-Hungarian Empire."

"The German economy will definitely be more unbalanced!" Berzin said very confidently, "So they have no other way out but to expand outward. And they have repeatedly declared anti-colonialism and believe that investing in colonies is a losing business..."

"Either they are deceiving, or they are taking the route of domestic expansion," Tukhachevsky smiled coldly, "They are following the United States and want to create a Greater German Empire with complete industrial and agricultural resources!"

"Yes!" Berzin nodded in agreement, "If this goal is to be achieved in Europe, the direction of German expansion must be eastward... After Czechoslovakia, it will be Poland, and after Poland, it will be the Soviet Union!"

"This is determined by their economic foundation," Tukhachevsky took a puff of cigarette, his eyes looking at the endless stream of cars on the road, "So the Soviet Union must be prepared to go to war with Germany!"

...

While Tukhachevsky and Berzin were visiting various parts of Germany, Ludwig von Heinsberg-Hersmann was making the final revisions to the "Green Plan" with the senior advisers of the General Staff.

The "Green Plan" is a combat plan formulated for Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. As early as 1934, shortly after Ludendorff succeeded to the presidency, Defense Minister Schleicher and Chief of the General Staff Hammerstein received secret orders from the president to formulate two operational plans: one was the "Red Plan" for fighting against France and Belgium; the other was the "Green Plan".

According to the results of several joint meetings of the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, the Navy and the Naval Staff, the "Red Plan" is a defense-oriented plan - Germany will build a "Siegfried" line for defense on the borders of France, Belgium and Luxembourg to respond to France's "Maginot" line and possible attacks by the Allies.

However, due to limited financial resources, the solidity of the "Siegfried" line is far from comparable to that of the "Maginot" line.

This 630-kilometer-long defense line is mainly composed of three parts: obstacle zone, main defense zone and rear position, with a depth of 35 to 75 kilometers. The obstacle zone is mainly minefields, barbed wire, anti-tank trenches and the "Dragon's Teeth" system. This is a multi-row pyramidal reinforced concrete pile fort, mainly used to block the advancement of tanks. The theoretical basis for building this "Siegfried" line is the "Theory of Elastic Defense in Great Depth" proposed by Hirschman. In other words, this is a line of defense against mechanized assaults!

In addition to anti-tank trenches and dragon teeth, many permanent fortifications of reinforced concrete and steel armor were built behind the obstacle zone, equipped with machine guns and anti-tank artillery. However, it is not equipped with a large number of complex large fortress fortifications and armored turrets like the "Maginot Line". However, the concrete and steel used in the entire line of defense are more than the French "Maginot Line", and the number of various fortifications is more than 11,860, which is also far more than the "Maginot Line".

In fact, the sit-in war in history is closely related to the existence of this "Siegfried" line of defense. If the French really attacked the "Siegfried" line of defense, I am afraid that the losses would be too great to bear.

In later history, this "Siegfried" Line blocked the powerful British and American Allied forces for five months at the end of the war when the German army was already doomed! If it was 1939, and the French were allowed to attack "Siegfried" alone, I'm afraid that even the subsequent "Manstein Plan" would not be needed. The Germans could easily defeat France by following the old path of World War I.

Although he knew about the "sit-down war" later, Hessmann still did not dare to interfere with the construction of the "Siegfried" Line - this was a matter related to the survival of the country, and it was better to have more insurance factors...

Moreover, the "Red Plan" was not something Hessmann was in charge of, but was personally responsible for by the Chief of the General Staff, General Hammerstein. Hessmann was in charge of the "Green Plan".

The "Green Plan" led by Hessmann was definitely different from the historical version.

First of all, this was not a plan based on the use of force to annex Czechoslovakia - but a comprehensive plan that superimposed political, diplomatic, intelligence and military means. Unlike in history, the entire operation was controlled by the General Staff, not by Chancellor Adolf Hitler.

Secondly, the order of annexation was also different. In the Green Plan formulated by Hirschmann, the first country to be annexed by Germany was not Austria, but Czechoslovakia. Moreover, the annexation of Czechoslovakia did not start with the Sudeten Germans making trouble.

Instead, it started with the secret cooperation between Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union and Japan in the League of Nations.