The Rise Of Australasia

This military conference lasted over six hours, during which we not only specified the detailed tasks of various troops in each war zone for the first few days of the war but also clarified the purpose of this war: to crush Russia Nation and show the British the ending of this conflict, and then initiate peace talks with the British.

In the final mobilization speech, the German Chancellor once again mentioned the importance and necessity of attacking Russia Nation. The leader revered as great by the Germans said:

"This war will definitely be seen by Russians as an ideological battle between Two Kingdoms, which also means they will surely not shrink away at the moment of conflict.

We must hold the conviction of completely smashing the enemy's ideology and wage a comprehensive war against Russia.

We must anticipate the enemy's powerful air raids and respond flexibly to them to clear the way for our Military.

Perhaps the toughest war for us will be the first six weeks. I hope all of you understand our goal is not merely to defeat this country but to crush the terrifying ideology it has birthed."

When it came to the British, the leader spoke with a tinge of resentment: "The British are unwilling to reconcile with Germany; they even plan to side with Russia Nation to guard against us.

This is a betrayal to all countries in the world that oppose Russian ideology and is an abandonment of all European citizens.

If we lose this war, the whole of Europe will be swept up by this terrible ideology. If the British do not realize this, they will sooner or later lose their hegemony and the status of the world's strongest empire.

As the only ones who see all the difficulties in this war, we have a responsibility and duty to fulfill our role as a strong country in Europe, to protect its people from being swept up by such thoughts.

Just as I said, warriors, let us use two months to end this war and melt the icebergs of Saint Petersburg with our blood. God bless, long live the German Empire!"

"Long live Germania!"

On the morning of April 15th, 1937, at 6:26 a.m., Russia Nation President Stalin was still immersed in his sweet dreams.

Suddenly, a particularly intense knocking at the door arose, accompanied by an urgent and anxious call, "President Sir, President Sir, something major has happened!"

Startled awake by the abrupt knocking and shouting, Stalin felt some discomfort in his chest, as nobody had ever knocked on his door so rudely since he became President.

Not even his trusted Guard Andreyev would ever do such a thing.

"What has happened? Kolyomns, unless you have a good excuse, you should know the cost of waking me up," Stalin murmured half-asleep, clearly not yet fully awake.

"President Sir, urgent telegram from the Street borders, just this morning, a large number of German planes bombed cities like Kiev and Minsk; the war has started!" The guard known as Kolyomns, mentioned by Stalin, dared not conceal anything and reported all the intelligence frankly.

"Impossible!" Stalin shot up immediately, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief as he looked toward the door, his sleepiness gone in an instant: "The Germans have attacked us? When did this happen?"

"Just this morning, President Sir," Kolyomns continued, "Not only Kiev and Minsk, but Pskov also suffered bombing from the German Air Force.

Furthermore, according to reports from the Saint Petersburg Army Group, the German Army had captured Pskov two hours ago and is progressing toward Luga."

"What?!!" Stalin was now thoroughly awake and stood up swiftly, commanding the Kolyomns outside the door, "Summon all the Military upper echelons in Moscow; I want to hold an emergency military conference."

The preparation for this meeting took less than 20 minutes, and before it was even 7 a.m., the military conference was already convened in the Meeting Room.

Inside the room, Stalin's face was grim, spreading the oppressive atmosphere throughout the entire space.

The high-ranking military officers sitting below had all received the news, and while their expressions varied, none dared to meet Stalin's eyes.

Regardless of whether Stalin's decisions were right or wrong, he was still the President of Russia Nation. At a time like this, upsetting Stalin could still lead to their being purged.

"Speak, what is the situation at the front lines now?" Stalin, rubbing his forehead, finally accepted the reality of Germany's undeclared attack.

"According to reports from the front lines, the German Army divided into three groups, attacking our border positions in the North at Pskov, in the west at Brest, and in the Southern Region at Rovno.

Additionally, according to reports from the Air Force and various military airfields, the German Air Force has already attacked Minsk and Kiev, and currently, the Minsk military airfield has been destroyed, with at least 200 aircraft having lost their combat capabilities," a deputy chief of staff from the Russian command reported truthfully.

"Damn, what is Pavlov doing? To lose at least 200 aircraft without any preparation, doesn't this mean we will be at a disadvantage in the upcoming air battles?" Stalin, after hearing the specific damage report, showed considerable anger and questioned the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Western Front Army, Pavlov.

"Based on General Pavlov's report, the Western Front Army has already established a more solid defense line in Brest and deployed more aircraft and tanks to reinforce firepower.

I believe that under our soldiers' valiant defense, the German army will not advance a step further. They are just cowards who only know how to sneak attack and will never dare to confront our military head-on," Chief of General Staff Shaposhnikov replied with a confident smile.

Upon hearing the Chief of Staff Shaposhnikov speak in such a manner, Stalin's expression improved somewhat, and he temporarily dismissed the idea of questioning Pavlov.

At least domestically in Russia, Pavlov's personal reputation is still rather good. This man, who has just reached 40 years old, is already the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Western Front Army, holding the senior officer rank of General.

Speaking of Pavlov's promotion history, it is quite rare in Russia. Born in 1897, Pavlov graduated successfully from the Frunze Military Academy in his early thirties and was sent for accelerated military technical training.

After completing his education, Pavlov served successively as commander of a cavalry corps and a mechanized corps, and was ordered to support the Spanish Civil War, where he served as brigadier of a Spanish volunteer tank brigade.

Although his grassroots experience only consisted of corps and brigade leadership, these were so-called mechanized units, or the current armored troops, which were very rare in Russia.

When Pavlov was the commander of a tank corps, there were only two tank corps in all of Russia, and the other tank corps commander was the famed Zhukov.

Zhukov's illustrious history needs hardly be mentioned. At this stage, Pavlov, who held a similar status to Zhukov, was naturally also a highly valued talent in the command of Russia's mechanized forces.

After the end of the Spanish Civil War, Pavlov smoothly became the minister of Russian armored tank forces and conformed to Russia's idea of mass-producing tanks, becoming Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Western Front Army, implementing large-scale tank deployments and operational applications within the army.

For Russia, this was a very bold attempt. If successful, Russia would possess a very powerful armored force, and it would greatly improve Russia's experience in the development and manufacturing of armored units.

As a very important, indeed critical, link, Pavlov naturally became a key figure influencing the development of Russia's armored forces.

April 15, 1937, 7:15 a.m., at the Russian border, Brest.

Brest was just a slightly larger city within Poland's borders, and its importance wasn't that high even when Poland existed.

But after Germany and Russia jointly partitioned Poland, Brest became a new frontier fortress on the German-Russian border line and one of Russia's most important military strongholds on the western border.

This was the Western Front Army's forefront outpost, the region with the highest number of stationed Russian soldiers.

The Germans had made considerable efforts to capture Brest.

It's worth mentioning that the person responsible for the attack on Brest was an old acquaintance, a famous German general in World War II, the inventor of the famous blitzkrieg, and one of the most masterful practitioners of tank warfare.

Guderian led the German 2nd Armored Group, facing off against the Western Front Army's left 4th Army Group of Russia.

Of course, which specific Russian units were involved was no longer important. For Guderian, how to launch blitzkrieg again on this familiar terrain was what he needed to consider.

Compared to Guderian, a man who played tanks to perfection, the opposing Russian military had other ideas about the application of tank units.

Yes, this person was none other than the pioneer of Russian armored forces, who once served as the minister of armored tank forces, Pavlov.

What did Pavlov think of tank units? In his view, tank units should assist infantry units because tanks did not have the capability to operate independently.

Why say this?

Because Russia's most mainstream tank at the time, the T-26 light tank, practically lacked any armor protection. Let alone facing the enemy air force's bombings, even when confronted with the enemy infantry units, there was a good chance they would be destroyed by the enemy military's artillery fire.

In Pavlov's opinion, the T-26 tank could only stand behind the infantry, serving the function of artillery. After all, tanks, compared to artillery, did have some ability to move independently, which made them significantly more convenient than artillery.