Iron Cross

After several days of debate and compromise, the international conference held at the Imperial Eagle's Nest Headquarters to resolve the issues left over from the former Yugoslavia and distribute Serbian territory officially came to an end. Under the sole auspices of Germany, all the Axis camp brothers bordering Serbian territory, including Italy, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia, were allocated more or less benefits and territories of varying sizes. At the same time, Germany also determined the principle of withdrawing most of the troops from Italy, Romania and Hungary from the Eastern Front. They will mainly be responsible for the vigilance and deterrence in the Central European direction, and the German armed forces, totaling about 90,000 people, who were originally responsible for the vigilance mission in the region, will be released for use in the Eastern Front.

In response to Germany's generosity, various countries also ceded considerable benefits:

Italy agreed to transfer to Germany 50 transport ships and three Greek islands in the Mediterranean that they originally controlled and could station air forces;

Romania agreed to give Germany 1 million tons of crude oil free of charge and promised to increase the crude oil quota to Germany by 1 million tons per year;

Hungary agreed to give Germany 500,000 tons of grain free of charge and promised to increase the grain quota to Germany by 500,000 tons per year;

Slovakia and Croatia, the two little brothers, also promised to further mobilize domestic forces to implement industrial matching with Germany and the production of agricultural products and light industrial products.

The meeting also conducted a large number of arms and material transactions. After Italy, Romania and Hungary left most of their heavy equipment to the Eastern Front troops, the troops they transferred back home and stayed in Central Europe faced a shortage of arms. Germany provided a large amount of arms, mainly including French aircraft and tanks, Dutch and Belgian light infantry weapons, Soviet and British artillery and other equipment, as well as some equipment that Germany itself considered outdated (such as Type 2 and Type 3 tanks and 37mm anti-tank guns, etc.). Although the items were uneven and mostly captured materials, they were large in quantity and low in price (half the purchase price before the war). At the same time, the Germans did not require hard currency, as long as the other party could provide materials or resources for exchange, so the countries were still happy to make this deal.

All parties also unanimously decided to hold an Eastern Conference on the distribution and solution of the former Soviet Union's territory at the end of next month, that is, in November. On the one hand, they would support and establish non-Russian ethnic countries and strengthen their strength in the struggle against the Stalin regime. On the other hand, they would distribute the remaining territories and interests according to the contributions of each country in the war against the Soviet Union (territory for neighboring countries and interests for non-neighboring countries). Germany also promised to provide another batch of arms at the next meeting, which would be of better quality and value than this time. The atmosphere of the meeting was full of joy.

In particular, the Italian dictator, who had been somewhat embarrassed by the North African issue some time ago, became arrogant again after obtaining the expanded territory. At the press conference, he boasted about the great achievements of the Italians everywhere, as if he had conquered Yugoslavia. The other leaders knew this very well, and especially after hearing the story of the "gold watch incident", they sneered at the leader's ability to show off.

After the meeting, all heads of government, including Italian leader Mussolini, Romanian ruler Marshal Antonescu, Hungarian regent Admiral Horthy, Bulgarian Tsar Boris III, Slovak President Joseph Tisse and other high-level officials, went to Berlin at the invitation of Hoffman to watch the friendly football match between the German and Italian national teams.

Before the game started, a grand memorial ceremony was held on the scene to mourn Lieutenant Colonel Albert Rank, who had just died two days ago (he was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of Oak Leaves and promoted to the first level), and all German players appeared with black armbands.

Martin Baumann presided over the memorial ceremony and delivered a eulogy. After briefly introducing Rank's life and outstanding contributions, he highly praised the Rank spirit and believed that:... Martyr Rank was a good fighter of the party, a good son and daughter of the people, and a good student of the head of state. His unyielding fighting spirit and spirit of sacrifice are the best embodiment of German values. In his short military career, he was modest, prudent, and worked diligently in every position. Whether it was meticulous in logistics work or heroic in special operations, he exerted his abilities to the limit; at the critical moment of life and death, he chose to cover his teammates and companions and left the threat of death to himself... He was like a meteor that streaked across the sky, forever illuminating the pace of the German nation's rise to power and pursuit of common dreams. Every German is proud and proud to have a compatriot like Ranke.

He finally said:... Although Martyr Ranke has left us, his voice and appearance are still there, and his spirit will live forever; although his body has been annihilated, his heroic name is immortal, and his faith is evergreen! He will always be with us!

After the memorial ceremony, the friendly match between Germany and Italy officially began. These are two teams that know each other well. Both sides are relatively cautious. The first half ended in a goalless draw. After the start of the second half, the German team launched one round of offensive after another, but the Italian team's defense was very solid and did not leave any chance for the opponent. . In the 75th minute of the game, the deadlock was still not broken, and the score remained at 0:0. Just when everyone thought the game would remain a draw until the end, something unexpected happened. German team forward Sauker received a long pass from the backcourt. He cleverly used the arch of his foot to stop and release the ball steadily. He stopped and penetrated most of the Italian team's defense. Facing the last Italian defender who pounced on him, with a flick and a dunk, he knocked down the slightly reckless defender with the ball and faced him directly with the ball. To the goalkeeper.

The audience was conquered by his exquisite footwork, and they all stood up to watch how he scored. He gently pulled towards the center, deceived the attacking goalkeeper, and calmly pushed the ball into the lower left corner of the goal. 1:0! The German team took the lead to break the deadlock, and the atmosphere suddenly became heated. Everyone stood up, applauded and cheered for the goal just now. After the goal, all the German team members rushed up, but the audience soon discovered that the players did not choose to celebrate. They invariably pulled up the outer jerseys over their heads, revealing the white T-shirts they were wearing. Rank's portrait is outlined with lines on it, and there is a line of words below: He will always be with us! Obviously, they had discussed before the game that they would dedicate the goal to Rank, the spirit in heaven who comforts the martyrs!

The referee blew the final whistle, the game came to an end, and the score of 1:0 was maintained until the end. Players from both countries circled the court to greet the audience, and deafening shouts rang out: He will always be with us!

In the stadium box, Italian dictator Mussolini, who witnessed all this, listened to Rank's story and the meaning behind it. His originally unhappy face relaxed, and he turned to Count Ciano and said: "Speaking of it like this "We in Italy also want to express our gratitude to this warrior. After all, he avenged the ships and sailors that were sunk by the British through secret theft in recent years. After the game, I will send wreaths and condolences in my name."

"I understand, I will take care of this matter."

"Don't worry about the outcome of this game. Adolf spent so much money to win over us, so we have to make him happy for a few days." Mussolini thought for a while, "But there is one thing that needs to be grasped."

"You mean?"

"In view of our early losses and the fierce internal opposition, apart from maintaining the existing parachute brigade, I am not prepared to invest more troops in North Africa. We are only responsible for transporting relevant combat supplies and providing air force and naval support. But you have to remember that we have independent interests on African issues, and we are not just followers of the Germans." Mussolini paused, "We must find a way to sign a memorandum with the Germans."

"What do you want?"

"Libya will maintain our colonial status unchanged - at most it will give Germany some commercial interests; after conquering Egypt, it will give us Sudan and part of Egypt's territory, and at the same time take back our Eritrea and Somalia which were occupied by the British; in addition, we will also Recognize our occupation of Ethiopia..." Mussolini talked a lot and almost took out a map to draw on it on the spot.

Count Ciano frowned deeply when he heard these words: The leader's ideas and goals are good, but his appetite is really too big. Let alone whether the German head of state can agree to these goals, it seems to him even if he sees them It's a bit of a fantasy - if the Germans can agree to such conditions, it would mean that they spent money, effort, and troops to win the war in Africa and then gave up most of the benefits to Italy. Is this possible? If the Germans were so easy to talk to, they would never go to war with the British and French.

Perhaps seeing his son-in-law's doubts, Mussolini smiled slightly and told him: "This is our goal, but whether it can be achieved depends on fighting and negotiating. Haven't you noticed that the president's appetite for territory is much smaller now?" ? If we don’t seize the opportunity of his confusion and wait until the war is over, we will gain nothing.”

"Aren't you afraid that he will regret it in the future?"

"Repent?" Mussolini laughed loudly, "As long as it is written down on paper, he will not regret it, and he will not dare to regret it! Doesn't he want to set up the European Union to take the lead? If the Germans can't even make their commitment to Italy Fulfillment, why should he convince other countries? Does he still want to gain some credibility - although this thing has never been valuable in his eyes. "

Count Ciano gave a thumbs up. Leaders often do things unreliably, but this judgment captured the key point of the head of state.

"We may not be able to fight a war, but when it comes to playing politics, hum..." the Italian leader squeezed out a few words from his nostrils, "The Germans are still far behind."