Chapter 198: False Peace
"Rhineland."
Polish President Mościcki closed the map and looked at Mussolini, who sat opposite him in the same car.
"The focus of this meeting will undoubtedly be the Rhineland. Germany's outward expansion has reached its limit. Any farther, and Britain will no longer retreat. The Rhineland is the final piece needed to complete Germany."
Mussolini looked out the window at Munich's tall buildings, unable to suppress a trace of wonder at Germany's rapid development.
"What is your view, Mr. Mościcki?"
Unlike the leaders of many other countries, Mussolini understood the foundation of his power very clearly.
He had already promised the Italian public that he would seize Albania and Greece within two years.
Unfortunately, both countries had sensed the coming pressure and were drawing closer to Germany. If Italy started a war, German aid would inevitably follow, and that would make everything troublesome.
New Rome had to be built on Germany's corpse.
If only Hill had taken power in Germany back then.
That thought crossed Mussolini's mind more than once.
Mościcki remained silent for a moment.
He, too, had sensed the threat from Germany. The recent easing of Soviet German relations had awakened him like a bucket of cold water poured over his head.
"At this meeting, we can compromise. Let Germany reclaim the Rhineland. We can also grant Germany the right to host the Olympics and make them lower their guard."
His gaze sharpened.
"Then, after the Olympics, we strike them when they least expect it."
He paused and looked at Mussolini.
"The question is, Mr. Mussolini, do you have the courage to face the Germans?"
"Of course," Mussolini replied without hesitation.
Then he narrowed his eyes.
"But what about our French friends?"
"I have spoken with Mr. Daladier. At the beginning of the war, France will not intervene directly. They will only provide material aid. But if the war develops unfavorably..."
Mościcki looked toward Daladier, who was being led through the gate by an attendant.
"The French Army will act directly and force Germany to face a three pronged assault."
His voice lowered.
"There is no need to worry about the British. They will help whoever is winning."
After finalizing the plan, Mussolini placed his hand on the door handle and asked, "Then shall we set it for December 1936? We will catch the Germans off guard during Christmas."
Half an hour later, everyone entered the conference room with their own calculations hidden behind polite expressions.
Just as Mościcki had predicted, Jörg used the Rhineland issue to set the tone of the meeting.
He exerted pressure on France, claiming that the Rhineland was a thorn lodged inside Germany's flesh, and that only by deploying the Army along Germany's own territorial borders could Berlin dispel its sense of crisis.
Chamberlain echoed him.
Daladier made no statement.
After several rounds of speeches, the meeting seemed to reach a consensus. Germany would be allowed to deploy troops into the Rhineland.
Even Chamberlain's arms reduction consensus document passed unanimously.
The leaders of Germany, France, Britain, Poland, and Italy all signed their names on the document.
Chamberlain had prepared himself for a long and difficult negotiation, but the meeting proceeded with such unusual smoothness that he was both shocked and delighted.
He even intended to invite everyone to a meal after the meeting.
What he did not know was that the warm water he thought had extinguished the bomb was, in truth, a splash of scalding gasoline.
"Jörg, I will be leaving first."
Looking at the car driving away outside the window, Jörg smiled and nodded to Chamberlain.
The moment Chamberlain left the room, the smile vanished from Jörg's face.
He turned coldly to Ethan, who was waiting nearby.
"Go to the Wehrmacht. The plan needs to be moved forward."
Ethan was startled.
"Führer, was the meeting not successful?"
"Successful."
Jörg looked toward the signed document on the table.
"Precisely because it was too successful."
At the end of 1934, four German divisions advanced into the Rhineland.
Having secured the five nation promise, Chamberlain rejected further military expansion at home. In his televised New Year's speech, he held up the five nation consensus document like a sacred banner and declared that he had brought back peace for a generation in Europe.
But to the other four countries, that document was nothing more than waste paper, stained with so much ink that it was not even fit to wipe one's backside.
Military expansion continued.
Germany's was the most conspicuous.
The German Army surpassed 1.15 million men. This figure did not include the reservists currently undergoing training, but referred only to regular Army units already capable of combat, many of them recruited from veteran clubs.
The Navy's Atlantic exercise with the Third Carrier Battle Group concluded smoothly, while the submarine fleet expanded to more than 250 vessels.
For the Army, after obtaining data from the Spanish battlefield, the experimental Type 3 tank was eliminated.
At the same time, the advantages and shortcomings of the Type 4 tank with sloped armor were carefully examined. While the sloped model entered mass production, the non sloped Type 4 tank, whose parts could be replaced at any time, was not abandoned.
The heavy tank experimental project also began to show results.
Most importantly, the V 2 missile test launch concluded perfectly.
Heisenberg's nuclear test base received more than thirty million Reichsmarks in quarterly funding.
A new nuclear weapons research center was being poured in concrete beside a secret mine in Czechoslovakia.
For the Air Force, the aircraft tested on the Spanish battlefield received positive evaluations. Considering that other countries would temporarily find it difficult to cross the technological gap, the Air Force did not waste resources excessively modifying existing aircraft. After developing several derivative models, it shifted its focus to Heinkel and Ohain's turbine engine projects.
Of course, the European public knew nothing of these developments.
With Italy and Poland withdrawing their boycott of the Berlin Olympics, and with Triumph of the Will released in February 1935 to promote Germany and warm up the atmosphere for the Olympics, the European public believed that British mediation had succeeded.
The turbulence would soon pass.
Europe would regain the peace of the 1920s.
As the March torch relay plan was approved by the Olympic Organizing Committee, the belief that Europe would remain peaceful spread across the world.
Jörg did not adopt the original plan of a 3,187 kilometer route beginning in Greece.
Instead, he adopted the World Torch Relay plan designed by Joseph.
The United States became the first stop for the torch. From there, it would cross the Pacific to East Asia, be passed by Chinese and Japanese athletes to India, then carried by British athletes across the Arabian Sea to Oman and Saudi Arabia. Finally, it would pass through Turkey into Europe, cross Athens and the surrounding countries, and ultimately arrive in Berlin on August 1, 1936.
Jörg actually contributed very little money or effort to this vast project.
Japan, delighted to receive the invitation from East Asia, eagerly fawned over the European gentlemen. It bore most of the expenses and labor in East Asia, even covering all costs for the American athletes.
India and half of the Arab region were funded and supported by Britain.
London used this method to demonstrate its dominance over the colonies. After all, having British athletes carry the torch through colonial lands and spread the flame of civilization greatly satisfied the old conservatives in the House of Lords.
And while the world's attention focused on the torch relay, in Berlin, inside the German General Staff Headquarters, plans for attacking France were being fiercely debated.
Inside the red brick building, Manstein picked up a pointer and tapped the center of Belgium on the blackboard.
"I do not doubt that our generals and soldiers have the confidence to win a frontal assault."
His voice was calm, but firm.
"But I believe we can make two preparations. We do not necessarily have to collide head on with the French at the Maginot Line."
With that, Manstein moved the pointer to the Ardennes.
"We can go around it."
He tapped the map lightly.
"And take a mountain road."
.....
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