Iron Cross

The power of example is infinite. After Kononov struggled for a long time and finally decided to stand up, all the prisoners in the 289th prisoner-of-war camp where he was currently located soon stood up. After learning the news of his standing up, except for a few people, the 160th Division, where Kononov was originally located, who were detained in other prisoner camps, also stood up one after another. The total number of the two added up to nearly 3,000.

Zikov was very satisfied with this. Even Vlasov's German liaison officer Major Schweninger was amazed at the influence and appeal of this lieutenant colonel. In view of his value and energy, Vlasov not only personally met with this former subordinate, but also promoted him to a higher rank. Kononov went from lieutenant colonel to colonel, and was promised that he would serve as the division commander if the fourth infantry division was formed. Similar momentum spread in the prisoner camp like a prairie fire, and the backbone of the Russian Liberation Army with three divisions was quickly established. The 1st Division was commanded by Colonel Sergei Bunyachenko, the former commander of the 389th Tank Division of the Soviet Army (the deputy commander was Kononov), with 18,000 people under its jurisdiction, including an artillery regiment, an anti-tank artillery battalion, and an engineering battalion. The commander of the 2nd Division was Colonel Zverev, the former political commissar of the Red Army brigade, and the commander of the 3rd Division was Mikhail Shapovalov, the former major general of the Soviet Army and commander of the Infantry Army.

In addition to the above forces, the Russian Liberation Army also organized a reserve brigade, an anti-tank brigade, an officer school and its own air force brigade - the Germans formed a battle group commanded by former Air Force Colonel Victor Maltsev with more than 80 Soviet pilots who surrendered by plane. The battle group was mainly composed of a fighter squadron commanded by former Soviet Captain and former Soviet Hero Bychkov and a night bomber squadron commanded by former Soviet Captain and former Soviet Hero Ankirevsky.

The formation of the Russian Liberation Army was not an isolated incident. Similar actions were spreading in all German-occupied areas:

According to the historical trajectory, the three Baltic countries originally only formed SS divisions, but now that Hoffman promised them independence, the Wehrmacht forces of these three countries have also been formed, including the 1st Division of Lithuania and the 1st Division of Estonia. Latvia has the closest relationship with Germany and was included in the German sphere of influence as early as the Livonian Order. Therefore, two divisions were formed, namely the 1st and 2nd Latvian Divisions, and the cavalry general von Panwitz introduced to Manstein by Zeitzler successfully combined the various Cossack regiments to form the 1st Cossack Division.

The climax of the whole operation was in Ukraine. After Barbarossa began, Ukrainian nationalists led by Stepan Bandera established an independent regime in Lviv, but were ordered to disband by the SS just a few days later. Himmler hoped to support another Ukrainian nationalist organization led by Andrei Mernik to replace Bandera's position, because he believed that the former was more obedient and easier to control, but the problem was that they had little prestige among Ukrainians. The deceived Bandera's men in turn formed the Ukrainian guerrillas, which not only fought against the Germans, but also fought against the Soviet guerrillas.

Hoffman's approach was much more radical than Hitler's. He could accept Ukraine's autonomy and even independence, so Bandera got a chance to come back. Hoffman also found Pavel Shandruk, who had close ties with both factions of Ukrainian nationalist organizations, to form the Ukrainian Liberation Committee and sign a joint agreement: the two sides agreed to support Ukraine's independence, form the Ukrainian Defense Forces and disband collective farms, and distribute land according to population. As a price, Ukraine will need to set aside 100,000 to 150,000 square kilometers of land on the western border in the future to resettle German Russians (after Germany controlled Poland, it has directly bordered Ukraine, and the land lost by Ukraine will be recovered from Russia in the future), and provide Germany with 3 million tons of grain every year during the war. Soon the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the Ukrainian Defense Forces were formed. According to the Ukrainians' idea, at least 5 divisions were needed.

"Führer, do you really think such a political arrangement and these troops are useful?" In the Führer's office in Berlin, Hoffman was listening to Marshal Keitel's report on the situation on the Eastern Front. At the end of the report, the other party suddenly raised such a question.

"Of course it is useful." Hoffman smiled, "Let's not talk about anything else. Ukraine alone can provide us with abundant agricultural products after a year of good harvest. If you occupy Ukraine, can you make Ukrainian farmers motivated to farm for you?"

"But I heard too many complaints from below, saying that you are too lenient to the Russians. We worked hard to fight the Bolsheviks, but we got nothing. Instead, these countries became independent with the blessing of the Germans. They distributed land and formed armies. Even the weapons were allocated from the part we captured... In addition..." Keitel said hesitantly, "The SS also complained that you showed too much sympathy to these inferior nations."

Hoffman burst out laughing: "Keitel, this is not your real idea, right? If so, it's ridiculous."

Kate blushed immediately. He wanted to say no, but his expression could not be faked. It clearly showed that he also agreed with this view, at least partially.

"Yes, I have made them all independent, but that doesn't mean anything. Their position is fragile and unreliable, and they all rely on our support." Hoffman paced back and forth in the office, and suddenly turned to Keitel and asked, "Do you think we can defeat Stalin alone?"

"sure."

"Can we defeat the combined efforts of Churchill and Stalin?"

"That should work too."

"Can the joint efforts of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin be defeated?"

"Well..." Keitel hesitated, and answered hesitantly after a long time, "I think it's okay."

"You didn't tell the truth...at least, the look in your eyes tells me that you didn't tell the truth." Hoffman joked, "If you go to act, you won't be a good actor, let alone a brilliant one." Liar—because you can’t even fool yourself when you lie.”

"Führer." Keitel argued unconvinced, "When implementing various plans in the past few years, the vast majority of people, including those in the General Staff, thought it was impossible, but the results were not always successful. ? I believe that under your leadership, we will definitely..."

Hoffman waved his hand to stop Keitel from continuing to speak: "Dear Marshal, I am very pleased that you think so. This shows that you have seriously thought about and summarized our successful experience in the past few years. You just said I also think these words are because you consider my leadership factor. But leadership is not a panacea. It can make up for some gaps in strength but cannot permanently replace the strength itself. You may have heard this saying, a hero. A flock of sheep led by a lion can defeat a flock of lions led by a sheep, but have you ever thought that a flock of sheep led by a male lion can defeat a flock of lions led by a male lion? Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, regardless of the outside world? No matter how you evaluate them, in my mind they are all lions, figures who are completely comparable to me. They are much stronger than Chamberlain, Pétain or other politicians, and the national strength of the United States does not depend on me. It should be clear to you."

Keitel nodded mechanically.

"Based on the reality that war has been completely globalized, we must desperately expand our own power-whether this power is military, economic or political." Hoffman gave an example, "Let these countries form armies to fight the Russians. Wouldn't it be better for Vlasov to form an anti-Bolshevik force and fight Stalin to the death? We have to spend our energy watching them and feeding them in the prisoner-of-war camp - why not let them do something useful? things.”

Keitel continued to nod thoughtfully.

"There are many opportunities to compete with the United States for global hegemony - but that is the task of the next war. Our goal in this war is to unify the German nation and form a new Europe under German leadership that speaks with one voice. Our cause is very important. It is huge and majestic, and it cannot be completed in a day or two. We have been fighting for more than three years since the war against Poland, and the United States was mobilized for the war less than a year ago. Now that we have the current sphere of influence and develop over the past 20-30 years, to what extent will our power expand?” Hoffman suggested, “Don’t worry about these small countries, as long as we maintain our current status and strength. , they dare not have any second thoughts. In addition, these measures of mine are also for some countries in Western Europe to see - if we can even restore their independence to the occupied Russian lands and move toward joint coordination, what reason do they have to doubt my formation? What's the European Union's motive? What reason is there to fear that Germany will annex their territory?"

Keitel defended: "But this way our sacrifice would be too great, and everyone would not be able to turn around emotionally."

"This is an investment, not free." Hoffman said with a smile, "These countries will participate in the war against Russia. Haven't they already formed so many division-level troops? In order to defend their sovereignty and freedom, they will inevitably choose We will also gain additional economic benefits by fighting the Bolsheviks and Stalin to the end, and they will repay us with agricultural products and various resources for the support and weapons we give them - remember, it is better for them to fight for themselves than to fight for them. More. I can bet you that the combat effectiveness of these same former Soviet troops will surprise you."

"I hope so," Keitel murmured.