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In June 1942, Hitler put aside his affairs and went to Finland, a small northern country, to visit an old man.
At that time, few people dared to pose in front of Hitler, but the old man did not seem to give him this face.
When Hitler enthusiastically ran to the old man, he arrogantly said to Hitler:
"Officers should not run, they lose their identity, only soldiers will run."
This gave Hitler a nose of ashes.
It was the old man's 75th birthday, and the old man had prepared a not very hearty banquet, as if to show Hitler his hospitality.
Hitler was not discouraged, he passionately played his speech skills at the birthday banquet, thinking that it would make the old man smile and give him a good look, but he saw the old man take out a large cigar from his arms and gulp and vomit.
Hitler usually hated the smell of smoke the most, and the smell of cigars was much greater than the smell of ordinary smoke, and Hitler coughed frequently, and the old man did not care.
And from Hitler's performance, the old man also came to a conclusion, I'm afraid that Germany really came to the end this time. Soon after, a very bold decision was made.
Who is this old man? On what basis did he think Germany would lose? What decision did he make after that?
He is Mannerheim, the founding father of Finland.
Mannerheim was born on June 4, 1867, in Finland to a fallen aristocracy, the third oldest.
Growing up, the handsome and tall Mannerheim was admitted to the Nikolai Cavalry School in St. Petersburg, and from 1893 to 1903 Mannerheim again served in the "Royal Stables Management House".
When the Russo-Japanese War broke out in 1904, Mannerheim came to the Tohoku Theater, where his heroic performance led him to the rank of colonel.
After returning home, Russia gave Mannerheim an important task, asking him to go to China under the pseudonym "Madahan" to find out the situation.
The trip to Mannerheim was indeed "rewarding", and it can be seen that Mannerheim has a meticulous mind and keen insight.
While in China, he interacted with a variety of people and gained a deep understanding of the actual situation in China, and on the other hand, he mapped 18 cities and 3,067 kilometers of roads.
But before Tsarist Russia invaded Asia, the European side was already ready to move each other.
In 1914, World War I broke out with a gunshot in Sarajevo.
Mannerheim was drafted as commander of a cavalry brigade, later promoted to division commander, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general towards the end of the war.
Despite the rise of Mannerheim, all this became meaningless with the fall of the Russian government.
After Russia withdrew from World War I, Mannerheim lost his job and reluctantly returned to his hometown in Finland.
Returning to Finland, Mannerheim was appointed Chairman of the Military Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Self-Defense Forces.
But when Mannerheim saw Finland's national policy, he immediately realized that Finland was dying - Finland was siding with Germany and stirring up an anti-communist movement.
Mannerheim expressed strong opposition, which was ignored by parliament, and Mannerheim resigned in anger and returned home.
Sure enough, Mannerheim's prophecy was very prescient, and siding with Germany was indeed an act of death, and the pro-German regent Hu Wood slipped off the stage, and the parliament quickly invited Mannerheim back.
Strangely, the famous Mannerheim ended up losing the opportunity to be elected president by a narrow margin, and had to return home in hiding.
For more than a decade, Mannerheim worked obscurably in child protection-related public welfare. It was 10 years since it reappeared.
In 1931, the world changed dramatically, and the Treaty of Versailles of World War I brought a brief peace and the 64-year-old Mannerheim returned to politics.
He once again showed his talent as a "prophet", believing that sooner or later the Soviet Union would invade Finland, so he built a 105-kilometer fortification in the border area, which has since worked wonders and is known as the "Mannerheim Line".
From 1931 to 1938, Mannerheim raised funds, developed the military industry, sent military students, trained pilots, and carried out military reforms, mobilizing more than 160,000 soldiers, and men over the age of 20 had to undergo 350 days of military training.
Mannerheim's precautions are indeed not useless.
As Mannerheim expected, the Soviet Union was eyeing Finland at this moment, and in August 1939, Stalin and Hitler signed the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact, after which the two sides jointly divided Poland.
Stalin also knew that there would be a big war sooner or later between the Soviet Union and Germany, so on the grounds of establishing the "Eastern Front", he asked Finland to rent a naval base on the Hanko Peninsula.
Isn't this bullying honest people? Finland, of course, disagrees.
So on November 29, 1939, the Soviet Union abolished diplomatic relations with Finland, and then sent 450,000 troops to the border of more than 1,000 kilometers, accompanied by more than 2,000 tanks and more than 1,000 aircraft, planning to end the war against Finland within 12 days.
You can go home for Christmas. Everyone should also understand the fate of setting up this flag.
From the age of 64 to 72, for 8 years Mannerheim did not have a moment of preparation for this defensive battle. The day finally came.
The Soviet army was surprised to find that how could this Mannerheim defense line be so strong, but it could not be passed?
After 12 days, the Soviet 7th Army, which was in charge of the main attack, found that it could only walk 3 to 6 kilometers per day, far below plan.
The main reasons for this situation are probably in these aspects.
First of all, the Soviet army was very disdainful of Finland, so it was unorganized in the battle, which led Finland to rely on the favorable terrain to launch an effective blockade of the Soviet army.
Secondly, the equipment of the Soviet army is mainly mechanized troops, and it is really difficult to stretch its hands in Finland, a country with complex terrain and many forests and lakes.
In the end, the weather in Finland was cold and covered in silver, but the Soviet army wore conspicuous green military uniforms, almost a living target for the Finnish army.
In the end, under the stubborn resistance of Finland, the Soviets lost 27,500 men, 1,500 were captured, and more than 6,000 guns were destroyed, while the Finnish army lost only 900 people.
Stalin was furious, scolded the general Marshal Voroshilov and removed him from office.
Although the morale of the Finnish army was high and everyone was still basking in the joy of victory over the invaders, Mannerheim frowned, knowing that the next Soviet offensive was about to return.
On February 11, 1940, more than 500 planes covered the sky with black pressure, more than 440 cannons were lined up, and then 300,000 shells fell tightly on the Finnish position, and the snow-covered Finnish position instantly melted into scorched earth.
The Soviet infantry swept in like a tidal wave, did not hesitate to pay casualties, and went straight to the Finnish line.
Finland was far from being able to compete with the Soviets in terms of numbers and firepower, and was quickly defeated, and the Soviet 7th Army was humiliated. The important communication route of the Maintenance-Helsinki Road was cut off.
On 12 March, the Mannerheim Line was finally breached, and the Soviets further used their firepower superiority to bombard Finnish positions. Finland was unable to fight back and was forced to cease the war and ask for peace.
In this battle, the Soviet army sent 960,000 people, 11,266 artillery, 3,253 aircraft, against Finland, which had only 200,000 troops, and 289,510 people died, and the Soviet army died more than Finland participated in the war, and it can even be said that Finland lost, Mannerheim did not lose.
The battle was foolish and reckless for the Soviets, who could have joined hands with Mannerheim to negotiate a better response to the German invasion, but instead adopted the great-power chauvinism of armed invasion.
At the negotiating table, the Soviets gained the Hanko Peninsula in their hearts, but also pushed the border 150 kilometers north, and at the same time pushed Finland into the German camp outside the negotiating table.
Hitler, who was watching the fire from the other side, was ecstatic after seeing the war between the Soviet Union and Finland in the distance.
On the one hand, he saw the fragility of the Soviet army, which further strengthened the Soviet army's inability to withstand the German blitzkrieg, and on the other hand, he saw a tenacious and combative Soviet-hating country in Northern Europe, Finland.
So in December 1940, Hitler approached Mannerheim and expressed his willingness to help Finland and hoped that Finland would help Germany.
Mannerheim put forward his wish: the land that we in Finland will lose.
There is no alliance, but Germany knows that as long as you Finland have this idea, it is enough.
On June 22, 1941, Germany raided the Soviet Union, and the Soviet-German War officially broke out.
Hitler said that the Germans were allied with the Finns, but Finland denied it. Stalin still immediately ordered the bombing of Finland, not listening to any Finns.
3 days later, Finland declared war on the Soviet Union, when the Soviet army was busy fighting against Germany, the Soviet army in Finland was on the verge of collapse, Finland successfully recovered its homeland, but Finland is very martial arts, after driving the Soviet army out of the house, it will be pointed, not a step beyond the minefield.
Hitler had always respected Mannerheim, and when he offered Mannerheim to command all German troops in Finland, Mannerheim refused.
The reason was that Mannerheim did not like Hitler, he knew that fascism was unjust, and he was contributing to the abuse, but he had only one goal: to protect Finland from abuse.
So there is the opening scene, Hitler specially came to celebrate Mannerheim's birthday, but did not want to be deliberately answered by Mannerheim.
Through Hitler's performance, Mannerheim decided that Germany was in very difficult trouble at this time, and even likely to be defeated, and his wisest choice was to dissociate himself from Germany as soon as possible.
When Mannerheim was appointed president of Finland in 1944, Finland and the Soviet Union were once again on the opposite side of the negotiating table as World War II drew to an end.
Stalin, who has always been hot-tempered, was in awe of the 77-year-old Mannerheim, and he hoped that Finland could help the Soviet Union end the anti-fascist war as soon as possible, and Mannerheim readily agreed.
In September, Mannerheim launched the Battle of Lapland, which successfully expelled the German army in Finland and preserved the country's sovereignty. As a result, Finland received a $300 million compensation waiver.
After the war, perhaps to avoid post-war conflicts with the Soviet Union, or perhaps to be ashamed of his previous collusion with Germany, Mannerheim resigned from the presidency and went to Switzerland to retire.
After Mannerheim's retirement, Stalin could not help but say:
"You Finns owe you marshal too much."
In 1951, Mannerheim died of illness, and at his funeral, thousands of people wept, which may be the people's pertinent evaluation of the controversial marshal.