The news that the German, French and Norwegian allied forces had arrived at the city walls of London had far more impact than just a few moments.
For example, in several countries in the Balkan Peninsula, they are all as if they have been given a shot of chicken blood, and they have completely lost their previous cautious appearance.
Let’s talk about Bulgaria first. Although its pro-German Prime Minister Bogdan Filov had previously signed a letter of consent for Bulgaria to officially join the Steel Alliance formed by Germany and Italy, Bulgaria has been cautious and unwilling to assume too many obligations.
Contrary to its neighbor in the Balkans, Romania, which immediately followed Germany in declaring war on Britain and the Soviet Union, Bulgaria had previously been reluctant to declare war on the two major powers, Britain and the Soviet Union, in an attempt to muddle through.
But now, as the German army, with its loyal small ally Norway and Pétain's Vichy France, is galloping across the British Isles with outstanding results. Bulgaria, which had been silent before, finally became impatient.
There is no doubt that after the Battle of Britain is over, France and Norway, which directly sent troops to participate in it, will definitely receive huge post-war dividends. Although the troops sent by these two countries are not huge, they have undertaken extremely important tasks.
meaning, and followed the Germans all the way to the walls of London.
The war of annihilation launched against the Empire on which the sun never sets is such a rich cake.
Iceland and India may all become spoils of war for Norway and France in the future.
Now, Bulgaria neither sent troops to participate in joint operations, nor did it immediately follow Germany and declare war on the Soviet Union and Britain like Italy and Romania.
If they do not seize the opportunity to show their loyalty, the always shrewd Germans may not even share the soup with Bulgaria.
In that case, joining the Allied Powers would have no practical benefits for Bulgaria.
An expression must be made immediately!
Under the instructions of King Boris III, Bulgarian Prime Minister Bogdan immediately held a press conference after the Allied forces had reached the gates of London, solemnly announcing that Bulgaria had officially declared war on Britain.
Boris III hoped that Bulgaria's symbolic war against Britain would allow Bulgaria to find some sense of identity in the Allied camp. However, he did not want to join the war between Germany and the Soviet Union for a piece of cake that he had not yet obtained.
In short, Boris III found various reasons. For example, the Bulgarians had deep feelings for the Russians and were not suitable to fight the Soviet Union. There was also the fact that the equipment of his army was not suitable for modern mechanized warfare. Even if he went to the Soviet-German battlefield,
It doesn't have much effect Yunyun.
However, under the influence of Reinhardt, the political and diplomatic style became more and more like that of the former British German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, who did not accept the Bulgarian king's rhetoric at all.
The Third Reich, which has become more and more fond of inciting allies and mobilizing allied forces to share the pressure on its own side, has long lost the idea of challenging the world alone. On the contrary, what Germany is now pursuing is to do everything possible to use as many allies as possible.
strength.
Germany will no longer acquiesce to Bulgaria's idea of preserving its gains but not wanting to take any responsibility for the Allied camp, as it did in history.
Ribbentrop's request for Bulgaria was very clear, requiring it to send a main force of three divisions to assist the small number of German troops remaining in the rear to control the Soviet-occupied areas after the German troops facing off against the Soviet army achieved a large-scale advance.
This is a requirement worthy of speculation. Because once the German army cannot achieve a large-scale advance or even defeat the Soviet army, Bulgaria does not have to bear any obligations.
But once the German army achieves a large-scale advance and counterattacks into the Soviet Union, it means that the German army has a military advantage. In this way, if Bulgaria sends troops to participate, the risk will be relatively small.
And for Bulgaria, which has a total force of more than 400,000, it is not difficult to provide three divisions of troops for the alliance. However, Ribbentrop requested that the Bulgarians themselves provide the logistics vehicles for these three divisions, because the German side
We also don’t have enough logistics vehicles to help the Bulgarian army transport supplies.
Of course, this is the maximum capacity Bulgaria can provide to the expeditionary force. If they really want to drag all 400,000 troops to the Soviet battlefield, not only will they lose their lives, but they will also put great logistical pressure on the Allied forces.
Reinhard did not dare to give important tasks to the Bulgarians. The Bulgarian troops could serve as minions of the Third Reich, but they would never be able to shoulder the task of fighting alongside the Germans like the Romanian or even Italian troops.
Even if they were asked to help control the occupied areas, Reinhardt would not let the Bulgarian troops be solely responsible for the management of any occupied areas.
In order to ensure control of the occupied areas and suppress future Soviet guerrillas, Reinhardt planned to divide the three divisions provided by Bulgaria into three parts. One Bulgarian division in each part would be combined with another Italian division.
Division, 2 German battalions, formed together into a regional garrison.
These regional occupation forces will control the rear area for the German army and free up more troops for frontline operations.
Of course, the occupying forces are more than that.
In Reinhardt's plan, the south would provide the Allies with rear occupation forces, as well as an additional part of Romanian and Italian troops. In the north, an additional part of the rear occupation troops would be provided by Finnish and Norwegian troops.
Regarding the request to provide occupation troops, Norway and Romania, Germany's loyal allies, expressed their support without objection almost immediately after receiving Ribbentrop's secret briefing.
Norwegian Prime Minister Quisling, who controlled more troops than ever before and had more support from the people, simply wished he could send all the remaining four newly rebuilt, small-format divisions in Norway to fight on the Soviet-German battlefield.
Although Norway is a small country, Quisling does not care about the shortcomings of his own national strength, but instead adopts a desperate attitude to serve the Allies.
Many people may think Quisling is a brainless German lackey, but more politicians know that this is Quisling's unique political wisdom.
Judging from Norway's geographical situation, if it can help Germany defeat the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, then there will be no potential enemy countries around that can threaten its national security. Once it wins, there is no need to consider defense issues at all. Even if there is not a single soldier left in the country, Norway will
National security will also be guaranteed.
On the contrary, if the German army fails, then the Norwegian Wehrmacht, whether it is the British or the Soviet Union, can easily destroy the Norwegian Army.
The most important thing is that since Norway's national strength is weak, it should strive for extra points in its political attitude. Quisling's posture of supporting the Allies in their war effort is also to let other countries in the alliance see that, although Norway does not
It will definitely be able to mobilize more power to participate in the battle of the entire alliance, but Norway will unconditionally support any request of Germany, the leader of the alliance, and is the most loyal minion of the Third Reich within the alliance.
No one hates an obedient younger brother, so Germany will definitely not treat Norway badly after victory.
As for the Romanian dictator General Antonescu, not only did he fully support the German army like the Norwegian Quisling, but he also prepared an army of more than 800,000 in order to fight the Soviet Union with the German allies!