Chapter 272 Justice VII

"Marshal, you are the most amazing soldier, comparable to Marshal Moltke!"

Berlin, Charlottenburg Palace, Ludwig von Heinsberg-Hersmann is now Field Marshal, awarded the military title by the German Emperor William himself, and also received a newly established "Grand Knight's Iron Cross" Medal" - This is the highest military medal of the German Empire, higher than the "Blue Marx Medal". It is awarded to those who have made outstanding contributions to the national defense strategy. Hersmann was the first person to receive it.

As soon as Emperor William finished speaking, applause rang out in the magnificent audience hall. Hessmann raised his hand to Emperor William, and then said: "Your Majesty, I will defeat France like Marshal Moltke! Today next year, you will be the master of Versailles!"

This was not the first time that Hessmann said such words to Emperor William, but it was the first time that Emperor William took it seriously. After all, Hessmann led the German army to defeat Poland, the "world's second largest army", in only 12 days.

"Very well," Emperor William said, "Chief of the General Staff, I look forward to this day!"

At the same time as his military rank was promoted, Hessmann's position also improved and he became the acting chief of the general staff of the German Wehrmacht (Marshal Hamelstein, the chief of the general staff, personally went to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Western Front on September 12 to deal with Possible French invasion)! Now the position of the German Chief of General Staff is actually parallel to that of the Minister of Defense, and in wartime "has full command authority, and the instructions issued by the Chief of General Staff and the Minister of War have the same effect."

The battle plan to attack France was naturally led by Hessman. Even though he is talking big words now, in fact he has no confidence in his heart. The history of this time and space has changed, and it is difficult to say whether the "Manstein Plan" to attack from the Ardennes Forest will be feasible.

And now Britain and France are also trying their best to pull Belgium - if they succeed and the army enters the Liege Fortress, it will be very difficult for the German army to break through from the front.

…

"My Lord Marshal, my Lord Marquis, you really did it. I am so happy. I have a perfect life now."

After coming out of Charlottenburg Palace, as soon as she got into the Mercedes-Benz 770K car, Chloe gave Hessmann a passionate kiss. For a girl who had wanted to marry a great German soldier since she was a girl, today is undoubtedly the happiest day in her life.

"My dear, your happiness has just begun," Hessman put his arms around his wife, whose waist was not slender but not too big compared to her big breasts, and kissed her on the cheek. "This time next year, I will conquer Paris for Germany, and then all of Europe!"

Actually it's the same thing for Hirschman!

Historically Germany has not taken full advantage of its victory in the Battle of France. Hitler always kept his hands on Britain, and he also trusted Italy too much - just looking at power on paper, there was no reason for Italy to lose in North Africa. If Italy successfully takes over Egypt and blocks the Suez Canal, then British power will be forced to withdraw from the Middle East, and Turkey will have no choice but to turn to the Axis powers. In this way, the Axis powers can easily conquer the Middle East and no longer have to worry about oil and non-ferrous metals.

However, in this time and space, Hersman believes that he will not repeat Hitler's mistakes, nor will Chloe end up in a miserable life.

"Really?" Chloe looked at her husband affectionately, "Then I must reward you well. Why don't you let me give you another little Hersman?"

"Are you still having a baby?" Hersman touched his wife's waist, "You are already in your forties."

Chloe is no longer young. Although she is well-maintained, she is still very attractive - her skin has naturally become saggy, but she likes sports very much and still maintains a good figure. And Hersman still loves her body very much.

Chloe smiled sweetly: "So what? My body is very healthy, just like a mare."

"Really?" Hersman said half-jokingly, "Then I'm going to ride."

Chloe glanced in the direction of the driver's seat shyly - the front driver's seat of this 770K car was separated from the back by plexiglass, but Chloe still kept her voice to a minimum: "As much as you ride, Bar……"

After saying this, Chloe gave Hessman another long kiss.

But that night, Marshal Hessmann did not "ride" Chloe. Because the two of them had just returned to the villa in Charlottenburg, the phone call from the Chancellery came.

"Your Majesty Field Marshal," the voice on the phone was Colonel Friedrich Hosbach, Hitler's military adjutant. "The leader will return from Italy in the afternoon and hopes to convene a high command meeting immediately."

The "High Command" was established after the beginning of the Polish campaign, but the Supreme Commander of the German Armed Forces, Kaiser Wilhelm, was not directly involved in the activities of the High Command. Instead, in accordance with the Constitution, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of General Staff are granted the "right to make direct statements". In fact, these three people are allowed to act as commanders. The current command of the German army actually belongs to the leadership of a "three-person committee" (Navy The Commander-in-Chief, the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, and the Director of the General Administration of Armaments are also members of the High Command Committee, but they do not have direct authority), and Hersman is one of the three.

…

The meeting of the High Command was held in the Ministry of Defense building at 73 Wilhelm Street. After the start of the World War, this "three-person meeting" (of course there were more than three people attending the meeting, but all decisions must be agreed upon by at least two of the three people) was the highest authority in Germany.

"I discussed with the Italian leader in Rome for two days, and we reached an agreement this morning that Italy would guarantee the neutrality of eight countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. So, can we confirm their neutrality now?" Adolf Hitler asked.

Because the Wehrmacht has never been controlled, the Polish campaign mainly enhanced the prestige of Marshal Hessmann. Even Hitler himself now believes that Hessmann's opinion must be sought in military matters - after all, Hitler does not understand the way the Wehrmacht fights now, and the record of conquering Poland in 12 days is incredible to him.

"It should be confirmed!" Hessmann said, "The neutrality of these eight countries is good for us."

These eight countries, except Switzerland and Portugal, are relatively pro-German countries. If they remain neutral, Germany can get a lot of materials needed to maintain the war from them, and they can also obtain raw materials needed to maintain their own economy from overseas trade.

Hessman paused, "So has Italy expressed its neutral position?"

Hitler glanced at Hessman, then shook his head, "No! Italy will not remain neutral forever." He said in a very low voice, "In fact, in Rome, I discussed the issue of letting Italy join the war with the Italian leader. I think he may stand on our side to join the war."

The German Wehrmacht fought too well in Poland, and Mussolini couldn't help but feel a little itchy.

Hessmann nodded and exchanged glances with Schleicher. Hessmann said, "We will need the Italians in the end, because the Mediterranean battlefield is of decisive significance, and we have no springboard to enter the Mediterranean. But before France's defeat, we don't need to win over Italy to join. After France's defeat, I believe the Italians will definitely join on their own. It's just... their war preparations are very bad! We have intelligence on this. Their navy does not have enough fuel to drive the fleet; the army does not have enough trucks and useful tanks, and the training is also poor; the air force is not in good condition either. Although there are 2,300 aircraft on the books, only about 1,000 can actually fight. If the Italians really want to get something in the war, I think they should use the remaining time to stockpile as much supplies as possible."

"Is it really that bad?" Hitler thought for a while, "Italy gives people the impression of a military power!"

Herssmann thought: In another time and space, you were killed by this impression.

"They..." Hessmann shook his head, "If you don't take into account the Italian navy, Italy's military strength will not be stronger than Poland."

In other words, it will only take ten days or half a month to defeat Italy! If he had not been unsure of capturing the Italian naval fleet, Hessmann would have wanted to push Italy to the side of Britain and France, and then send troops to conquer it.

"But Mussolini has no accurate understanding of this," Hessmann sighed softly, "This is a trouble."

"We still need him," Hitler exhaled, "Now he is the arbitrator of Europe."

Now that Britain, France and Germany seem to be "equally matched", then Italy's attitude as a "military power" is crucial.

"He should use this 'arbitrator status' to speed up oil reserves!" Hessmann pondered, "We can give him airplanes and tanks, but we can't give him oil. He is now guaranteeing neutrality for eight countries, shouldn't he ask them for something as a reward? Especially the Netherlands... They have a lot of oil in the Dutch East Indies!"

Britain is now blocking Germany's oil import channels and not allowing the Netherlands to transport too much oil to its own country. But Italy's status is special, and now it is the object that Germany, Britain and France want to win over. If Mussolini takes advantage of the opportunity to guarantee neutrality for the Netherlands to ask for 1 million tons of East Indian oil as a reward, Britain and France can't say anything.

"That's a good idea," Hitler nodded. "Hess will go to Rome again next week. I'll ask him to talk to Mussolini."

"Hess and I will go to Italy to meet Mussolini!" Hersman thought for a while and said, "And we should also ask Mussolini to mediate relations with Belgium and Luxembourg."

Belgium and Luxembourg also asked for neutrality, but Mussolini didn't dare to guarantee them.

"Belgium and Luxembourg?" Hitler was stunned. "Aren't we going to pass through there?"