In the spring of 1939, the clouds of war that filled Europe seemed to have dispersed a little. This time, Mussolini stood up as a peacemaker. His invincible Italian army had just escaped from the long Spanish civil war. This war made the Italians a little tired, the national treasury was empty, and various strategic reserves were reduced to a dangerous level.

At this moment, the wise Italian leader knew very well that he had no capital to fight, so no matter how attractive the conditions Hitler offered, he was unwilling to join the "socialist axis" and adopted a pro-British and French policy.

Of course, this does not mean that the leader wants to fight Germany. It is certain that the Germans are not easy to deal with, and what can I get by defeating Germany? Annex Austria? What the leader wants is the Roman Empire, not the Holy Roman Empire...

Therefore, Mussolini played a balance between Britain, France and Germany. He traveled back and forth between Warsaw, Poland, Paris and London, becoming a peace messenger. He also proposed a seemingly fair peace plan:

First, Germany gave up its demands on Danze;

Secondly, move all Germans in Poland to Germany;

Third, Poland will give Germany 1 million tons of wheat each year in the next 10 years;

Fourth, Poland ceded Klaipeda (original East Prussia, Germany) in the Lithuanian free state to Germany in order to connect the states of East Prussia and Polo.

It seems to be a very good plan!

Britain and France have made great efforts to promote it, and have put pressure on Germany through unilateral oil and strategic resource embargo and high-priced acquisition of Dutch East India Oil.

On the other hand, Germany, starting from March 1939, implemented a strict gasoline rationing system to deal with the situation of insufficient domestic fuel supply. It seems that the unilateral sanctions of Britain and France have achieved some results...

At the same time, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler's attitude began to soften, saying that the issue of the complete abolition of the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain and the return of some former German overseas colonies must be resolved together.

"The leader thought very well. He also wanted to abolish the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain and take back the colony..."

Hessman shook his head and smiled, "He doesn't think about it either. How powerful Germany is now? If the treaty is officially abolished and taken back to the colony, our mark will become a golden mark!"

"But we Germany and the Soviet Union, Britain, France and Poland have no chance of winning even if they form an alliance! Don't they understand?"

The person who spoke to Hessman was Marshal Schletcher. Now he and Hessman are playing war games in the General Staff No. 1 combat, which is a compulsory course for the training of officers in this era. It can play a great role in formulating formal combat plans.

The reason why a combat plan is thorough is that it is gradually improved by mastering enough intelligence and conducting multiple war chess deductions. Sometimes, in order to verify the questions arising in the deduction, military exercises that are similar to actual combat will be conducted.

In the past few months, the German Wehrmacht has conducted no less than 10 small and medium-sized military exercises.

"It may not be impossible to win. In fact, we have a fatal flaw with the Soviet Union!" Hessman held a long putter in his hand and pushed a wooden raft that was quickly attached to the plane sticker to a corner of a huge map.

"Where do you put the plane?" Schletcher was playing a war game with Hessmann between "English and French" and "Soviet Germany".

Schletcher was responsible for simulating "Soud" and Hessmann simulated "English-French waves".

"Iran, Türkiye, Iraq...how many planes have you deployed there?" Schletcher walked to Hessman and found that Hessman was putting the plane in the Middle East.

"Very, very, very many," said Hessman. "The UK now has hundreds of Stirling heavy bombers, Wellington medium bombers and Blenheim light bombers, and many Blenheim-style fighters as long-range fighters. France also has many Falman heavy bombers, leo-45 medium bombers, and Pothai 633 long-range fighters that can reach Baku. If you are really determined to organize hundreds of bombers and long-range fighters to bomb Baku in the Soviet Union, it is possible for Batumi and Grozny!"

"Baku, Batumi and Grozny are the lifebloods of the Soviets!" Schletcher nodded, "If it could be destroyed, not only will the Soviet mechanized forces be unable to move forward because they have no fuel, but their industries will be hit."

According to information from the Imperial Central Security Bureau, in the last year of the Soviet Union's second five-year plan, that is, in 1937, the Soviet Union's oil production reached 46.8 million tons (possibly moisture. There was a swelling trend in the late 25th Five-Year Plan), but the coal production was less than 120 million tons. Among Soviet energy consumption, oil accounted for 16.1% (Germany only had 5%). In the Soviet Union, oil was not only used as fuel to drive cars, but also used in large quantities for power generation.

So once the oil facilities in Baku, Batumi and Grozny are destroyed, the Soviet industry will be in trouble due to the lack of electricity.

"Not only the Soviet Union, we will have problems!" Hessman threw the long putt in his hand to Lieutenant Colonel Garen, the director of the General Staff Strategy Deception who accompanied him to play war games.

"We?" Schletcher shook his head, "We already have 18 million tons of oil reserves, and we are expected to increase by another 2 million tons by the end of June. Moreover, our daily production of synthetic fuels exceeds 12,000 tons... In this way, we only need to consume 4 million to 5 million tons of oil per year, which is enough to deal with the war. And we can also buy a lot of oil from Romania."

"But oil reserves and synthetic fuel production are confidential," Hessman said. "How much is the news that Reinhardt's strategic deception has released?"

"There are 2 million tons of oil reserves, and the daily output of synthetic fuels is 5,000 tons. There are 1 million tons of synthetic fuel reserves. In order to maintain the war, we need to import 8 million tons of crude oil every year, 80% of which comes from the Soviet Union." Lieutenant Colonel Garen said, "And since 1924, we have been spreading fake news about German oil consumption, imports and reserves. The fake news that has been spread over the past 15 years can be compared and seen one by one."

Hessman shrugged, "Once we cannot import oil from the Soviet Union, we can only maintain 6 months with the 3 million tons of reserves in our hands and the import from Romania. Marshal, do you think Britain and France will consider bombing Baku?"

"Ludwig, do you really think Britain and France may bomb Baku?" Schletcher said thinking, "If they really bomb Baku, Britain, France and the Soviet Union will really break up!"

Although in the treaty, the Soviet Union stated that it would submit a "ultimatum" for support for Germany to Britain and France within a week after Britain and France declared war on Germany, and the war would start without receiving a consent within 24 hours.

However, no one is sure whether the Soviet Union will implement the treaty. Moreover, during this period, diplomats from the Soviet Union and Britain and France were also frequently in contact.

Hessman smiled contemptuously, "What can be encountered? Can Stalin give up his demands on Ukraine on the right bank? Can the Poles ceded Ukraine on the right bank?" He shook his head and said, "At this time, war is inevitable. But Britain and France have lost the courage of 1914. They will only think about winning the war with the least blood, and bombing Baku seems to be a good way to avoid much casualties!"

...

"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, the Air Force believes that bombing the Baku oil field is feasible."

Lord Chatfield, the British Secretary of Defense Cooperation, was reporting to Prime Minister Chamberlain the results of the discussions on the proposal of the Chiefs of Staff to bomb Baku.

At this time, Britain had no Ministry of Defense, and the cooperation between the arms was the chief of staff committee, and the minister of national defense cooperation was chaired by the committee.

"The Royal Air Force aircraft have taken off from bases in Iraq and have investigated the Baku oil fields and Batumi refineries. The whole process went very smoothly and was not discovered by Soviet aircraft. The Soviets did not have a radar detection system there. Moreover, the defenses of Baku and Batumi were also very lax. The Royal Air Force Command believes that only 100 to 150 bombers need to be dispatched to paralyze the Soviet oil fields and refineries."

Hessman's guess is not wrong. Britain and France have been looking for ways to win the war with the lowest losses. Now Britain can no longer tolerate Germany becoming bigger, otherwise the crown of the world overlord would really be taken away by the Germans from the heads of the Anglo-Saxons!

It seems that the Maginot Line, the use of Polish cannon fodder to kill, dispatch the Royal Navy to block Germany, and bomb the Baku oil field will not cause fatal casualties to Britain and France.

Moreover, the Soviet Union's air defense in Baku, Batumi and Grozny was not tight. Although the Soviet Air Force was not small in scale, there were not many truly advanced fighter jets. Now most of them were concentrated in Belarus and Ukraine, preparing to show their skills in the invasion of the Polish Federation.

In addition, Soviet diplomats have issued more than once hinting to Britain and France that the Soviet Union's goal is only to restore the border stipulated in the Treaty of Brest, and have no intention of continuing to expand, nor are they willing to fight with Britain and France.

In this case, Stalin took it for granted that Britain and France would be willing to maintain "de facts without fighting" with the Soviet Union, and might even negotiate peace with the Soviet Union after the Soviet Union successfully recovered the lost territory.

"So is it possible for the Poles to last for 6 months to 1 year until they run out of their enemy's oil reserves?" Prime Minister Chamberlain asked again.
Chapter completed!