On September 14, the world war seemed to have entered a "stumbling period". The Eastern Front had ceased fire and the Western Front was still sitting still. After Poland sought peace, Britain and France were no longer interested in using the Netherlands. Instead, they persuaded Belgium to join the war so that Britain and France could set up defenses in Belgium, using the rivers and fortresses there to completely block Germany's westward passage. Then, they used the sea blockade and the protracted war on land to slowly drag Germany down, just like in the last war.

On the land of Belarus and Ukraine in the east, there is a kind of peace before the future of the war. Under this peace, the two countries are stepping up their troops to deploy troops, and a life-and-death war that is no less than the German-Polish war is about to begin.

Of course, during this short "truce period", there is not peace everywhere. German submarines began to attack frequently at sea, using "unlimited submarine warfare" and "wolf pack tactics" to launch ruthless killings against the British transport fleet on the Atlantic Ocean!

For a time, the sea transport ship became more deadly than in the trenches on the front line, and British merchant sailors became the most dangerous profession these days.

Hessmann, who returned to Berlin from the Stedene Eastern Front headquarters, knew very well that because of the great victory in Scapa Bay on September 3, the current German Navy could actually make more noise in the Atlantic Ocean.

"Kurt, what do the Navy people think of the 'Scapa Bay Airstrike'?"

At the Berlin Railway Station, Hessmann exchanged a few greetings with the Secretary of Defense Schletcher, who came to greet him, and then asked the Navy's opinion on the "Surprise Attack on Scapa Bay".

"It's a great victory," Marshal Schletcher said with a smile, "it changed the strength comparison in the Atlantic. Marshal Redell has planned to get the 'Sharnhorst' and 'Seddritz' attack!"

The Army settled Poland in 12 days, but in fact, the Air Force's naval aviation blew up Scapa Bay and it was only the Navy that showed no performance. In order to compete for the military budget, Redel had to let the fleet venture to the Atlantic Ocean.

"I think it's OK," Hessman said to Schletcher as he walked outside the train station. "It's enough not to use those three 'German's' levels. They are too slow to support login and cannot fight the battle."

It is reassuring to let the Schanehorst and Seedlez attack together. The Schanehorst is equipped with sea and air search radars, and the two ships are not slow in speed. This is very conducive to their use of night cover to break into the Atlantic Ocean.

When he walked out of the railway station building, Hessman suddenly saw several 88mm anti-aircraft guns in the station square, with muzzles pointed high towards the sky. Soldiers in air defense uniforms were practicing loading shells and aiming over and over again.

"There's a bit of gunpowder," Hessmann looked at the anti-aircraft guns in the square and said to Schletcher with a smile. "The air strike on the evening of September 6 was quite scary, right?"

"I don't know, I spent the night at Thosen's villa that night. But later I tried to catch animals that escaped from the zoo." Schletcher shook his head, raised his hand to point at a Mercedes-Benz 770k sedan, signaling Hessman to get in with him. The car was followed by two convertible Beetle cars, painted with gray paint on the field representing the military, and Schletcher's adjutant and guard stood beside them.

Apart from these two Beetles and a Mercedes-Benz, there are no other motor vehicles in the entire square. Since the war began on September 1, gasoline and diesel have become strictly controlled supplies. In Berlin City, driving cars have become rare items overnight.

"Ludwig, go to the Prime Minister's Office first or take you home?" Schletcher asked at this time.

Of course, Hessman came back from the front line to be in charge of official duties. He came to attend a meeting to discuss the "Occupy Area Policy", which was a very important meeting!

In the original history, Germany occupied a large area, including many industrialized countries, such as France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, but they were unable to truly mobilize the industrial potential of those countries.

"Let's go to the Prime Minister's House first," Hessman turned around and said to his adjutant Lieutenant Colonel Spidal. "When you arrive at the Prime Minister's House, go and call Chloe and ask her to wait for me in the house in Charlottemberg, where I will spend the night."

When fighting on the front line, Hessman was full of war situations, and even forgot to notify Chloe when he returned to Berlin. However, when he returned to Berlin, he immediately remembered Chloe, his wife who had lived with him for 20 years.

...

"Leader!" Hessman raised his hand to Adolf Hitler in a very grand office.

"General!" Hitler also politely returned the gift, and then told Hessman that there was good news, "Your Majesty just called me, and he has decided to promote you to the Army Marshal. Congratulations."

Hessman smiled and said, "Chloe will be very happy. She married a marshal."

"It is also a marshal who led the German team to win the World War!" Schletcher said on the side, "The result of the Polish battle shows that our army is extremely powerful and we will definitely win the World War!"

He and Hessman were the soul figures of German war preparations, and of course they knew how powerful Germany is now.

"There are still many battles to fight!" Hessmann was not as optimistic as him, "and defeating the army of a country is just the beginning of conquering this country!"

He sat down in a chair, then took out a stack of documents from the briefcase that Spidal handed him and placed it on Hitler's desk.

"This is the 'Western Ukrainian Resources and Land Survey Report' submitted by the Ukrainian Free State Government. The Western Ukraine we are now occupying includes 6 provinces, with more than 110,000 square kilometers and a population of about 8 million. In addition, the Lviv province of Western Ukraine has very rich natural resources. Currently, the large-scale coalfields are the Donbas Coalfield and the Krivorog Iron Mine, and have been developed to a certain extent. There is also the Lviv Oilfield, which is a very old oilfield. In addition, Lviv also has manganese, chromium, titanium, lead, zinc, aluminum, nickel and other non-ferrous metals."

"It's indeed a good place," Hitler picked up the report and looked carefully. "Western Ukraine should be merged into the empire in the future..."

"It's better to develop an investment and development plan as soon as possible," Hessman said. "In a while, many Ukrainians may move from the east, and they also need to make a plan for resettlement."

Population is also an important resource. Currently, Germany has only about 90 million people. If we can make good use of the newly joined Ukrainians, Lithuanians and some Poles, the population may reach 110 million.

"These people are first farmers, miners and construction workers, and secondly, the source of soldiers," Hessmann was worried that Hitler would not accept the Ukrainians, so he explained, "If we go to war with the Soviet Union in the future, the Ukrainians will be good cannon fodder."

Hitler said with some concern: "But accepting these Ukrainians may increase the tightness of food supply."

Germany's food was unable to be self-sufficient before the war, and it required imports about 1.5 million to 2 million tons of grain each year.

"Then we should accept Ukrainian farmers even more," said Hessman. "Western Ukraine belongs to the black soil belt and is very empty, with enough land to be reclaimed."

"But I want to resettle the Germans in Western Ukraine!" Adolf Hitler expressed his plan, "The land occupied by the Poles in West Prussia, Posen and Silesia should also be taken back and used to resettle the Germans."

"The land in West Prussia, Posen and Silesia should of course be recovered, and it is the land in Germany." Hessman nodded.

He paused and said, "But in Western Ukraine, we cannot be too explicit now. Ukrainians are the targets we need to fight for... With their support, we can develop Western Ukraine in the shortest time. If the war lasts for five to six years, we will need Western Ukraine's resources and black soil."

"But that requires investment!" Hitler reminded Hessman, "I know what is in Western Ukraine. I am an Austrian (Western Ukraine once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire), but I also know how behind there is."

"Well, then let's invest," Hessman glanced at Hitler, "Start invest now!"

"It's easy!" Hitler snorted, "that requires putting in machines, materials, fuel and a lot of labor!"

"It takes money!" said Hessman, "the machines can be purchased from the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, and the labor can hire Ukrainians. Leaders, what we need now is money, not just relying on barter trade!"

Barter trade is a form of international trade developed by Germany in the absence of hard currency. Its core is to "balance" machines for food, or arms for oil, etc., which basically maintain balance. The purpose of trade is to communicate whether there is or not, rather than accumulating gold, silver or foreign paper money.

Such a form of trade certainly has its advantages. Germany's foreign trade was maintained and expanded in the 20s and 30s, and barter trade made an indelible contribution.

However, barter trade also has a disadvantage, which makes it difficult for Germany to use monetary means to overdraw the future. For example, when the United Kingdom and the United States need to use foreign resources, machines and labor, they just need to brush banknotes.

And Germany must use barter or... plunder!

The former is limited by Germany's own productivity, while the latter is actually not small. Germany must continue to expand its occupied areas, which will consume a lot of energy and troops.

"Money?" Hitler looked at Hessman, "Money is waste paper!"
Chapter completed!