In recent days, the Soviet-German border has not been quiet.
Although the conflict in the Baltic Sea was tacitly treated as an accidental air crash by both the Soviet Union and Germany, everyone knew the inside story of the matter.
The appearance of Soviet reconnaissance planes in the German sky was obviously not for tourism. In Reinhardt's words, this was "Stalin's intention, and passers-by could understand it."
However, on the surface, neither Stalin nor Reinhard had pierced the last layer of window paper. As long as this layer of window paper was not pierced, the two superficial brothers could continue to work.
However, with Reinhardt's character of never suffering a loss, facing the fact that the Soviet Union has boldly and arbitrarily invaded German airspace with reconnaissance planes, he has recently been thinking about opportunities to regain his position.
Originally, this meeting, which brought together the core leadership figures of the entire Third Reich, was to discuss the next means of dealing with the Soviet Union.
However, before Reinhard could talk about this matter, a telegram sent to Berlin signed by Stalin himself was rushed into the conference room by the confidential secretary.
"The head of state, Soviet leader Stalin personally urged us to pass the Baltic Sea and deliver the two battleships we owe the Soviet Union as soon as possible!"
The confidential secretary was really shocked when he saw all the important people in the conference room. However, because of his position, he had no time to sigh, so he continued to report to Reinhardt: "The Soviet side said in the telegram
The terms were very harsh, and they publicly questioned us for the first time. They demanded that we, the German side, should give an explanation immediately."
This was not a confidential secret that could not be exposed, so Reinhard signaled his secretary to report to him publicly. Therefore, many German senior officials present heard everything clearly.
Redel was the quickest to react. After all, the two battleships Stalin mentioned were now in service in the Imperial High Seas Fleet.
Redl must also understand that the German navy he manages, including the two cheated, only has three battleships in total, and he treats them as treasures. Let’s not say whether the shrewd head of state will recognize the Soviets.
War, anyway, he, Redel, would definitely be reluctant to let go of these two big treasures.
Besides, if Reinhard was really planning to hand over the ship to the Soviet Union, he wouldn't have let Redl's navy take it over from the beginning. Nowadays, they are all eating what's in their stomachs, so there's no reason to spit it out?
Soon, less than ten seconds later, not only Redel, but also generals like Steve and Ross who knew the inside story, including Manstein and Paulus, also saw the source of the dispute between the two battleships.
.
However, completely different from the reaction of most people who knew the inside story, Reinhardt said with a sneer: "Stalin, hum! He changes the subject, questions, accuses, and wants to gain dominance in the discourse. This is really
...Too low-level!”
Stalin was not a fool, and with so many people under his command, it was impossible that all of them could not see the tricks of the battleship deal. After being exposed for so long, not to mention the shrewd Stalin, even a slightly smarter staff under him should have been exposed long ago.
It seems that Reinhardt decided to refuse the loan.
Reinhard knew very well that he had successfully confused the Soviet Union by first delivering a defective battleship. He used people's psychological inertia to make the Soviet leaders believe that since Germany had not defaulted on the debt from the beginning, the deal was still possible.
hopefully.
However, this is not a long-term solution after all. Just like a shrewd liar, he has done a lot of preparations, set up a lot of traps, and let the deceived people taste the sweetness at first. But since it is a scam, the secret will eventually be exposed.
day.
In Reinhard's view, this day should have come a long time ago. However, Stalin should have noticed it a long time ago, but he refrained from exposing it. Instead, he used the time to deal with Germany's request for battleships to let his Soviet troops capture it.
It included eastern Finland, northern Romania, and the three Baltic countries to build a western defense line against Germany.
Then, he also solved his worries and signed the "Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Treaty" with the Japanese, luring the Japanese army in the Far East to implement the southward advance plan, and being able to concentrate on dealing with Germany on the Western Front.
Now that everything was ready, Stalin was naturally confident. So he didn't even wait for Reinhardt to question his malicious behavior of sending reconnaissance planes, but took the lead. The bad guy complained first, accusing Germany of defaulting on the delivery of the battleship.
Although he mocked Stalin for his low-level tactics, Reinhardt couldn't help but secretly applaud his move.
If Reinhard was the first to ask the question, Stalin would admit in any way that the reconnaissance plane was sent by the Soviet Union into German airspace. Even if Soviet diplomats could later explain it as an unintentional or mistaken move, it would still be considered an admission.
.
In this way, no matter what bad things happen between the two sides in the future, Germany can blame the Soviet Union.
When necessary, Goebbels of the Propaganda Department could even fabricate various descriptions about the Soviet Union, portraying the Soviet army as a group of crazed beasts, villains who were always spying on German soil, and also murderous devils.
This is no longer a matter of spreading rumors. With the precedent of Soviet fighter planes invading German airspace, everything can be avoided as being made up of nothing, adding fuel to the fire, and distorting the facts.
And based on what Reinhardt has proven with his unforgettable experience in his previous life, if you believe it, but no one else believes it, this is a rumor. If everyone believes it, if you don’t believe it, this is the truth!
It is an easy thing to add a little publicity to increase the hatred and rift between the Soviet Union and Germany.
But Stalin is now resorting to this trick. If Reinhardt talks to him about whether or not to give him battleships, and when to give them, there will be no end in sight. Moreover, this will also make Reinhardt feel that he is weak-minded and imbecile.
Besides, Stalin certainly didn't care how beautifully Reinhardt continued to convey the so-called guarantees.
What the other side wants is everything in Germany, not just two battleships: land, wealth, people...including the final captured battleships.
After roughly guessing what Reinhard meant, Ribbentrop lost no time in getting up and asked: "My head of state, the matter of the air battle has been spread among the top leaders recently. Although everyone is sympathetic and
I respect the pilot who sacrificed his life, but at this time, if we put aside the issue of the battleship and the Soviet Union’s theoretical ‘air crash’ truth, it will inevitably make our country appear guilty in the international community, just like deliberately avoiding the Soviet Union’s accusations.”
"Even if we don't avoid it, Stalin will continue to cause trouble for us." Reinhardt smiled, shook his head, looked around the crowd and said, "So, two bordering superpowers will never be able to live in peace and harmony forever.
!”
"It is easy to win over the Italian expeditionary force, but the negotiations with Marshal Mannerheim of Finland must be speeded up!" At the end of the meeting, Reinhard told Ribbentrop emphatically.