Mainz felt somewhat regretful as he personally escorted the five people onto the train.
He actually wanted to follow him and have a look, but his identity restricted his movements and he couldn't run around as he pleased.
And these people are all heroes who left a mark in World War II. I hope they can live up to their hard work!
Manstein and others took a train, escorted by a regiment of 3,000 German troops, and marched eastward with a large amount of arms until they arrived at Lviv, south of Jifu City, before stopping.
A British regiment commander entertained them. After the Allied military supplies personnel checked the status of weapons and equipment and signed for confirmation, their escort mission was basically over.
At this time, Manstein and others followed Mainz's instructions and applied to go to the front line to watch the battle.
Originally, they thought that this application would not be approved so easily, but unexpectedly, the Allied Powers directly agreed to their request very generously.
Of course, the Allies were not without conditions. They hoped that the German army would assume part of the combat mission and help them defend an area to defend against the Soviet attack.
Manstein and others could not make the decision regarding this requirement. Although they only led one regiment of troops, the control of this unit was still in the hands of the Ministry of National Defense. Whether it could participate in the war depended on the opinion of the Ministry of National Defense.
So, they sent a telegram to Mainz reporting the incident.
After Mainz received the telegram, he shook his head and laughed.
"General, why are you laughing?"
Ribbentrop, who served as office secretary, saw Mainz's wry smile and was a little curious. He didn't know what made the almost omnipotent general show such an expression!
"Now, see for yourself!"
Mainz handed the telegram in his hand to Ribbentrop, who read it with curiosity. After reading it, he also began to frown.
"This should be an obvious diversion of trouble to the east, right? Can't the generals on the front line see it?"
Ribbentrop was very smart. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Third Reich, he naturally had an extremely sharp mind and international strategic vision.
After reading the telegram, he immediately realized that this was a trick of the Allied Powers, so the front line Can't you see those German officers who are highly favored by the general?
This shouldn't be the case!
"Of course they could see it, but they still chose to jump into this pit!"
This is the reason why Mainz feels dumbfounded!
People's reason sometimes cannot resist the temptation of the outside world.
As soldiers, they naturally want to make contributions to the enemy and make achievements, but in Hans' country, for a long time It is unlikely that they will have a chance to fight within this time, so they have long been depressed!
But this time when they went abroad, they saw a battle close at hand, and it was a large-scale battle involving millions of soldiers and tens of countries. I'm afraid no soldiers would be interested in the battle, right?
Manstein and others would naturally be tempted. After all, even in World War I, there were very few large-scale battles like this, and only one with a scale larger than this one. The only battle close to this scale was the Battle of Verdun.
These two battles were basically restricted by trench warfare. Therefore, although the fighting was fierce, the scope was not very large. The armies of both sides were on a limited battlefield. There was an extremely brutal fight. The protagonists of the battle were not soldiers, but machine guns and cannons, including tanks!
This kind of battle was extremely frustrating for a talented general like Manstein, because he faced With the defense system built by trenches, barbed wire and heavy machine guns, their full talents are unable to be used. They can only build fences and fight stupidly like those mediocre people, without any technical content.
The upcoming battle of Jifu is different! , although both sides have a large number of troops, reaching more than 2 million, the scope of the battle between the two sides is very wide. In such a wide range, so many troops may not be able to use a large number of trenches and barbed wire like the Western Front battlefield of World War I. To fill up the front.
Even if someone does this, it will cause a lot of holes in the defense line because the front is too long, which greatly increases the space for their generals to play freely.
Although the Battle of Jifu has not yet started, but However, Manstein and others realized that the form of this battle was probably completely different from the battles they experienced in World War I. Both warring parties would probably use the battlefield space as much as possible to fight for some key points. Gain the initiative in the battle.
In this case, if you can go to the battlefield to observe some of the commands of the commanders on both sides, it will be of great help to them to independently command operations in the future.
This temptation is really great. So the five people couldn't help but be tempted. Instead of making their own decisions in private, they chose to send this telegram to Mainz. This was already considered very good. After all, if they really decided to kill first and then play it later, then Mainz would also There's nothing we can do with them!
Ribbentrop thought for a moment and understood what Mainz meant.
He considered it and asked,"Then how should we respond?"
In Ribbentrop's view, there is no need for the German army to participate in the war between the Allies and the Bears. After all, this war is a dog-eat-dog war between the two camps and does not involve their own interests, so they have no reason to To intervene.
Moreover, because of the orders for weapons and ammunition brought by the war, the military factories in Hans have begun to resume production. The resumption of work in a large number of military factories has made the workers who were unemployed and faced difficulties in life finally able to Having a stable job and being able to earn money to support himself and his family will have a great positive effect on the social stability of Hans' country!
For Ribbentrop, if it is for Hans' own benefit! If so, he hopes that the Allies and the Bears will continue to fight, and the more intense the fight, the better. In this case, they can continue to benefit from this war.
Therefore, Ribbentrop is not at all! I hope that the Battle of Jifu will be held, because no matter who wins this unprecedented large-scale battle, it will gain a huge advantage over the other side, thereby rewriting the entire war and speeding up the end of the war. Hans won't be able to make much money, and the workers will probably lose their jobs again!
"Tell them to refuse the invitation of the Allied Powers, we cannot be enemies of the bear!"
Mainz also hopes that the two sides can fight longer, because in this case, the attention and energy of the Allied Powers will be attracted by the bear, and Hans will be able to develop without so much pressure!
"However, if this is the case, wouldn't we lose an opportunity to watch the game?"
"Haha, that's not necessarily the case.
You have forgotten that when we sell arms to foreign countries, we are not just selling them to the Allied Powers.
We are also doing business with Mao Xiong!
Mainz smiled slyly.
He called Himmler and asked Himmler to contact Yarkov, who was in charge of the underground arms trade between the Bear and the German army, and prepared to send Manstein to Manstein through the channel of the Bear.
Because the others were sent to Mao Xiong, let them go to the Soviet side to watch the battle!
If the west is not bright and the east is bright, since both sides can do business, then naturally there is a way for both sides, and they can take the path of Mao Xiong, who is isolated from the whole world.
, it must be much easier than taking the arrogant Allied path!
Sure enough, after Himmler contacted Yarkov and told him about this matter, the other party really agreed to help solve the matter.
The Ministry of National Defense sent a telegram to Manstein and others, asking them to pretend to return to China, and then use secret channels to enter Maoxiong territory to find the Soviet army and join the Soviet army's observation group, not to observe the battle at close range!
Whether it was a coincidence or fate, the person entertaining Manstein and others was actually Second Lieutenant Zhukov, the cavalry company commander under Tukhachevsky who had just arrived in Kursk!