Chapter XIX: Fate knocks at the door
Most headquarters vibrated with excitement as the various plans for the invasion of England were received, and despite the difficulties of such an operation optimism circulated widespread and some officers even promised to their wives various souvenirs from the British islands. After a brief period of rest and military leaves to visit their families, the luckiest soldiers were deployed on the French coast to defend the continent in case of an invasion, and while the service hours were employed in surveillance tasks most soldiers had the feeling of being on vacation in the neighboring country. The remaining men from the Wehrmcacht, however, were arranged in certain strategic locations such as Cherbourg, Amsterdam and Kiel, the three main points from which the amphibious invasion would depart in order to start what some generals qualified as "the most ambitious project since the times of Alexander ".
German soldiers enjoying their stay in Paris
But that joy was to be short... Early in the morning, Chancellor Vogel was awakened by a phone call from the German ambassador to the Soviet Union, who shackily affirmed to have news of extreme urgency. Still asleep, the Chancellor thought that the Soviet Union had entered war with Japan or that they were about to claim the region of Bessarabia, but Vogel woke immediatly upon hearing that the Soviet Union had just declared war on Germany. Vogel had stupidly believed Crispien when the later held that they could trust Stalin, and now Vogel realized his mistake.
Stalin declared war against Germany
Without wasting any more time, Vogel ordered to awake all the German High Command for an emergency meeting, and within hours a special room in the Reichstag was enabled to plan the conflict. According to the OKH, the Russian declaration of war had caught everyone by surprise, and it was inevitable to assume that, at least temporarily, Germany would lose some territories to the Soviets until the Wehrmacht was redistributed around the eastern border. Similarly, the Russian attack eliminated any chance of using Romanian troops as garrisons in France and Prague, and Marshal Antonescu sent a telegram reporting the first skirmishes between Romanian and Soviet soldiers had occured. Fortunately, the Romanians were making good use of the mountainous terrain and the transferred German technology, which would buy the Wehrmacht some some time to reorganize and redeploy.
Rommel, Manstein and Rundstedt discussing plans, and a group of Romanian soldiers fighting against the Soviets
After asking for calm, Marshal von Manstein started speaking and argued that while it would be a costly war and the Soviets had the intial advantage of surprise element, with good planning and a firm willingness to overcome the difficulties the Soviet Union could be defeated. According to Manstein, the Russians had committed the folly of attacking in winter, a fact that would facilitate German defensive operations, and once ethe front was truly consolidated it would be the ideal time for a great counteroffensive. Then came forward Otto Gessler, who stated that despite the huge number of troops that the Soviet Union had, the Abwehr had credible reports that assumed that they were poorly equipped and badly organized. Moreover, and according to recent reports, the most brilliant generals of the Soviet Union had been murdered by Stalin years ago, and Marshal Shaposhnikov had tried in vain to modernize the the red Army and to clear the High Command from political commissaries.
The state of the Red Army according to the Abwehr
Throughout the day, High Command planned "Operation Hindenburg", according to which the war would be divided into two phases. On the one hand, the troops stationed in France would continue there until relief garrisons could be used, while the core of the Her would contain the Russian invasion until the weather improved. Most of the Luftwaffe would be used in the West to contain the Allied bombing campaign, but it would support the offensive operations against the USSR when necessary. Once Germany had gone on the offensive, the German spearhead would advance over Belarus and Ukraine, trying to lock the Soviet Army in a huge bag while the armored units would keep penetrating into Russian territory.
Initial plan for the German counteroffensive
According to reports from the Abwehr, the collapse of the Soviet Union could be achieved if Germany could capture a series of strategic points that would undermine the chances of a Sovier recovery after the first months of "Plan Hindenburg". The first objective would be Kiev, which would allow to install a friendly regime in Ukraine and ensure the food supply for all German troops. In the north, the seizure of the city of Leningrad would grant that the Russians would not receive any help from the Allies, while the fall of Moscow was seen as a priority both from an strategic and political point of view. Finally, it was also necessary to capture Stalingrad and Baku, thus preventing the supply of oil to the Red Army and causing the paralization of its military.
If the Wehrmacht captured this cities, Stalin´s regime would probably collapse
For its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs focused on trying to win more allies for what was already considered a "Crusade against Bolshevism". In a vain attempt to win the friendship of Germany, Mussolini declared war on the Soviet Union, but it was clear in the eyes of the world it was just a bluff and that the exhausted Italian army had no way to reach Russian soil, not to mention the fact that he was still at war with Ethiopia, and that according to the Abwehr Italy had just 18 divisions of dubious quality. Similarly, the German government still saw Mussolini's dictatorship as an evil regime, and getting him in the war would grant the Allies an easy way to land in Europe, and so that the Italian proposal was rejected with contempt. However, the Ministry did employ large sums of money in bringing Finland to the German cause, and while they still doubted about the necessity of declaring war upon the Soviet Union, it seemed that sooner or later Finland would accept the possibility of recovering their territories through its entry in the Axis. Several analysts studied the option of organizing a coup in Spain to restore a constitutional monarchy under the figure of Juan de Borbón, allowing the control of Gibraltar, but the plan was eventually discarded for being considered too risky.
Many wonder for how long the Italian people will endure Mussolini´s folly
After a very intensive day, the meeting was dissolved and the generals and marshals started to depart for the eastern front. Germany was at war with the world, and it was in the hands of the Wehrmacht to achieve the impossible and defeat the Soviet colossus. Fate knocked at the doors of Germany.