Chapter 400153Chapter NaN

December 20, 1940

Warsaw, the capital of Poland

"Colonel."

"Colonel!"

The Polish soldiers resting at the defense line saw their Regimental Commander, Colonel Stanisław Sosabowski, and rose to salute him.

The Colonel returned the salute from his regimental members with a smile.

"You're all working hard."

The soldiers liked their Regimental Commander, who led them with passion and wisdom, always looking out for his subordinates and trying to solve their problems, but Sosabowski's expression darkened once he turned his back to them.

They had received many medals for their service, but the regimental members who should have enjoyed that glory were almost all new recruits.

Of the members who were here when this war began, barely over 20% remained.

"Colonel."

A female sniper, cleaning her scoped Kar98k, saw him and saluted with a smile, and Sosabowski returned it with a smile of his own.

Just a glance around revealed that everyone with the will to fight—women, the middle-aged—was holding a gun.

The remaining women and the elderly were mobilized for tasks like preparing meals or caring for the wounded.

In Warsaw, the once-splendid capital of Poland, buildings burnt by bombing or collapsed into ruins from shelling were a common sight.

This entire city was a symbol of Poland's resistance and a military base where everyone, regardless of age or gender, had been mobilized.

Sosabowski, who had proven his ability and gained military merit, and was likely to become a General soon, watched the scene with a complicated expression.

More than half of the weapons in people's hands were no longer Polish-made, but German-made.

Although the core industrial zones were still safe, Poland had lost too much territory.

To arm the soldiers mobilized on a large-scale to somehow hold on, they had no choice but to depend on Germany.

Furthermore, as a result of excessive conscription after losing its eastern territory, food had also become scarce, forcing Poland, once an agricultural powerhouse, into a situation where it had to import food through Gdynia and Germany.

Just then, Luftwaffe aircraft passed over Warsaw, flying toward the enemy lines.

"There they go again."

"Go blow away those damned Commie bastards!"

The Polish soldiers no longer feared or hurled insults at the Luftwaffe's aircraft.

A big part of it was that getting angry every time at the German Army's aircraft flying to bomb the Soviet Union daily had become tiresome, but as the matter of survival became paramount, the object of their old grudges and anger over lost territory was compromised to 'damn bastards who are at least helpful'.

The fact that Poland could no longer hold out without the help of the Allied Powers, Germany, was now keenly felt not only by the nation's leadership and generals, but also by the Poles fighting on the front lines.

That was how cornered Poland was.

Even now, with their country's fate on the line, the sight of Warsaw, where people relied on each other and burned with the will to fight, was Poland's pride, but Sosabowski, watching it, could not erase his worries.

Just how long could they hold on like this?

-

I visited Warsaw and met with the Polish leadership.

"Welcome, Vice-Chancellor Schacht."

"It's been a while, Inspector General of the Armed Forces Sikorski."

The leader of Poland, Władysław Sikorski, whom I hadn't seen in a long time, had his arm in a cast.

He had been injured when a government building was bombed, having stayed at his post without abandoning the residents of Warsaw amidst the continuous bombing.

Naturally, Warsaw was in an uproar, but he reportedly appeared before the people with only a hastily staunched and bandaged bleeding wound, appealing for resistance and bringing the chaos under control.

The accusations that he was a traitor for handing over Danzig and Posen to Germany vanished in an instant at the sight of Sikorski, and he became the spiritual pillar of a resisting Poland.

The situation had reached a point where, with all the young men conscripted, even retired old men and female volunteers had to take up guns to fight; Poland's unwavering resistance was surely thanks to his influence.

I was about to express my regret for his injury, but stopped.

He surely wouldn't want that.

"I can't deny that Germany entering the war has given us a breather. …Thank you for coming before it was too late."

There's a bit of a barb in his words…

Delaying our entry into the war until Poland was pushed to its limit was purely due to Germany's strategic interests, so I have nothing to say.

"Please grant us your understanding for the time it took. It took us time to clean up the Italian front and unify our national opinion."

The situation where the Soviet Union began to awaken its latent power, recovering early from the aftereffects of the Great Purge without the lessons of Operation Barbarossa, was beyond my calculations, and considering that, Poland had actually held out better than I expected.

Our choice to negotiate with Sikorski was a wise one. If not for that, we would have had to face a two-front war against France and the Soviet Union without Poland as a shield.

Sikorski let out a small sigh but said nothing more. Instead, the current Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army, General Kazimierz Sosnkowski, spoke up.

"First, the front has been stabilized."

General Rundstedt's offensive resulted in a disastrous defeat for Germany, but consequently, it also exhausted the Soviet Union's offensive capability, buying time to save Warsaw, which was on the verge of fall.

In the meantime, the deployment of the Luftwaffe allowed Warsaw, which had been exposed to continuous bombing, to catch its breath, and we persistently bombed the Soviet Army's railroads to buy time for the troops coming up from Italy to be deployed.

Thus, before the Soviet Army could finish preparing to resume their offensive, we were able to save the collapsing Poland by deploying General Kluge's Army Group North, General Rundstedt's successor, in East Prussia, General Bock's Army Group Centre in Warsaw, and General Blaskowitz's Army Group South in Kraków.

"However, the losses we have suffered are serious. Our military force is now only one million at most."

One million was not a small military force, but Sosnkowski's next words were quite discouraging.

"More than half of them are not properly trained, and one-fifth are middle-aged, elderly, or women."

At this point, Poland, having suffered losses fighting us and with over half its territory occupied, must have scraped the very bottom of the barrel.

"…I see."

What could I dare say to these people who have held on so desperately until now?

Although Poland did wage war against Germany, they are now clearly our ally.

Moreover, the current Polish high command is fundamentally different from Rydz-Śmigły and the Sanacja who invaded Germany.

In the original history, these men were not even given military authority during the German and Soviet invasion of Poland, and after their homeland's downfall, they fought desperately for the Allied Powers as Free Poland, moving between France and Britain.

However, towards the end of the war, they were betrayed by the Allied Powers who accepted the Soviet Union's demands, and even their communized homeland, Poland, abandoned them.

Sikorski, who had been silent for a moment, opened his mouth.

"If this continues, Poland will soon reach its limit. It's difficult for us to say, as we must rely on Germany for offensive capability, but we need to counterattack and retake our territory as soon as possible."

The Soviet Army wouldn't go mad and carry out a Holocaust like Nazi Germany, but it's hard to expect their treatment of the occupied territory to be lenient.

Besides, as Sikorski said, Poland is fighting after scraping the bottom of its national power, so it won't be able to handle any more damage.

As someone who knows the original history, I want to properly reward the dedication of those who shed blood in Germany's place, but the situation is not favorable.

"I'm well aware of Poland's circumstances. However, our own circumstances are not favorable for launching an offensive against the Soviet Army right now."

Excluding garrisons and border guards, Germany has mobilized 2.

5 million troops, but continuous battles have resulted in a significant number of casualties.

On top of that, the last battle with the Soviet Union resulted in a staggering 250,000 casualties.

Not all of them are permanent losses, as some have recovered from injuries and returned, but consequently, even after replenishing forces by requisitioning from the rear area and some border guards, our current available force is about 2.2 million.

Of those, 700,000 troops are deployed on the Western Front, and the remaining 1.5 million on the Eastern Front.

So, the current Allied Forces on the Eastern Front number 2.5 million.

But as for the Soviet Army in front of us.

"The forces we can currently commit to the Soviet front are 2.5 million, but we are facing 4 million."

The army that supposedly became 3.

5 million after we took down 1 million from 2.5 million, then became 4 million after we ground down another 500,000.

This isn't some kind of cosmic horror, so what is this dreadful situation? Even I, who know the original history, feel this way, so the reactions of others in the Allied Forces go without saying.

The German high command, who had especially looked down on the Soviet Army, is in a state of shock and terror.

On the bright side, there won't be any more incidents of underestimating the Soviet Army and charging recklessly, but the problem is that they're not an easy opponent even if we take utmost preparedness now.

"…Is it difficult to commit additional military force from Germany?"

"We are currently mobilizing an additional 800,000, but it will take time. And, even if they are mobilized, not all of those troops will be deployed to the Eastern Front."

Since we're mobilizing an additional 800,000, Germany's wartime mobilized force is 3.

3 million.

Considering the auxiliary personnel in the home country and other border guards.

In effect, the maximum military force that can be drawn from Germany's population of 70 million without ruining the economy and national power has been mobilized.

Further mobilization is possible, and in fact, the Nazi Germany of the original history fielded a much larger-scale military force than we have, but while that might work for now, it will definitely become poison if the war becomes a prolonged one.

World War II is a total war, and maintaining the national power to continuously operate that military force is more key than just drawing out troops.

The reason Nazi Germany lost the war against the Soviet Union despite its series of victories sweeping across Europe was largely due to the role of an unbearable enemy, America, but before that, it was because they had whittled away their own capability for a prolonged war under the illusion that the war would be a short one.

The reason we increased our forces in stages instead of mobilizing them all at once was a measure to minimize the shock that mobilization would have on factory production and society.

While Sikorski remained silent with a heavy expression, their Foreign Minister, Józef Beck, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

"Then, what do you intend to do? Must we remain in a stand-off indefinitely? Even at this very moment, the Poles are groaning in the Soviet-occupied territory!"

Józef Beck was the Foreign Minister in Rydz-Śmigły's government as well, but he had opposed the war with us.

"Is it because we are behind on our weapon payments to your country? But our finances have also reached their limit.

We can't create money out of thin air to give you, can we?"

If I had brought up Upper Silesia in this atmosphere as my father demanded, wouldn't I have been shot right here? The thought gives me goosebumps.

In the ensuing silence, Beck asked desperately.

"If Germany continues to just maintain the stand-off while collecting weapon payments, our people will soon have to fight while starving. We have truly done our best.

We struggled and shed blood in Germany's place, are you going to abandon Poland after we've come this far?"

When France abandoned them by revoking its guarantee of Poland's independence, Józef Beck was the party concerned who heard that declaration directly in Paris.

The situation of his homeland being abandoned must have become a kind of trauma for him.

I let out a small sigh and opened my mouth.

"Realistically, the difference in military force is too severe to launch an offensive on the Eastern Front. We plan to maintain the stand-off on the Eastern Front and launch an offensive on the Western Front."

"Ah…"

A groan went through the Polish high command.

Even Sikorski couldn't hide his discouragement.

"However, that doesn't mean I will ask you to continue making weapon payments during that time."

It was a treaty where they would pay 2 billion Marks over 10 years in exchange for corresponding weapons, but as the war situation worsened, we were already in the middle of handing over weapons exceeding that amount.

It wasn't a light burden to begin with, but for Poland, with over half its territory occupied, it was back-breaking…

Even if it had the nature of war reparations, telling an ally who fought their best to just wither and die is by no means a wise course of action.

"Let's arrange the weapon payments to be received after the war ends, with an annual interest rate of 2% and a repayment period of 50 years. Depending on Poland's degree of contribution to the war, we will also consider a reduction of the amount."

Hearing my words, the Polish high command seemed to calculate for a moment, then their faces brightened.

This way, instead of squeezing their scarce budget to pay Germany, Poland would be able to use it to purchase food and maintain the public livelihood and its soldiers.

This is the Lend-Lease Act that America would have originally established.

I just didn't expect that America's FDR would fail his third term, and that instead of us receiving the expected Lend-Lease, we'd be using it to save Poland.

From our perspective, we were in the middle of enjoying a bountiful budget by breaking Poland's back, so there was opposition from the Cabinet, but in the end, they have to survive for us to receive anything later, right?

I told the Polish high command, who had found a glimmer of hope amidst the gloom.

"We will never turn a blind eye to the heroic resistance Poland has shown. From now on, Germany will help too, so please hold on a little longer. Once we sort out the Western Front, that will be the time to land a counterattack on the Soviets."

"…To think I'd live to see the day I receive a debt of gratitude from Germany."

Of course, even if things are this heartwarming for now, I don't have any romantic expectations that a rosy friendship will blossom between our two nations.

Still, at a time when the view of the Allied Powers has become strange due to the Romania affair, giving definite help to an ally that has fought hard will set a good precedent for Germany's future diplomacy.

To become a respected great power and not just a strong thug, you have to instill the perception that being on the same side is also profitable for other countries.

"Thank you, truly, thank you. We will not forget Germany's goodwill."

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Józef Beck was almost on the verge of tears.

It seems the heartache from being abandoned by France was quite severe.

Of course, the German government's attitude toward Poland wasn't this heartwarming, so I had to go through a hell of a hardship to persuade the Cabinet, but there's no need to spoil the mood by telling them that.

The members of the War Cabinet are all competent, but it's sad that almost no one advocates for a policy of appeasement towards Poland.

…I don't know what's so great about this exhausting power that everyone covets it so.

In any case, with this, the lifeline of the Eastern Front has been extended somehow.

Now, we must settle things with France.

…Before the Soviet Union's power grows even stronger.