二战风云：轰炸鹿特丹
去过鹿特丹仓库区两次，对市区景点几乎没有游览。在我的印象中，这个城市是欧洲的奇葩，满城都是现代的建筑，毫无旅游价值。前日看罢电影《轰炸鹿特丹》才明白为什么这座曾经是世界最大的集装箱港口城市为什么没有古迹。其实她原来的老城也是同Amsterdam、leiden等荷兰城市一样古老迷人的！
鹿特丹缺乏古迹的原因是二战时被德军和盟军轰炸过两次。对鹿特丹市中心的毁灭性轰炸发生1940年5月德国入侵荷兰期间。The heaviest bombardment was on May 14, when 711 people died and almost the entire city centre was flattened。In a quarter of an hour time， 158 bombs of 250 kg and 1150 bombs of 50 kg fell down on the city， 德军的轰炸一共造成大约1,150人死亡，80,000人无家可归。约2.6平方公里的城市中心几乎被夷为平地。24,978栋民宅、24座教堂、2,320家商店、775座仓库和62所学校被摧毁。
更为奇葩的是Rotterdam在二战中还被美军轰炸过一次，这在欧洲受轰炸过的诸多城市中似无二例。遭到敌对双方的两次轰炸，这大概使得Rottderdam人放弃了恢复城市原貌的决心，这就是为什么就连欧洲被炸毁高达75%上的三座城市：汉堡、Bochum和Mainz乃至被夷为平地的华沙都致力恢复城市旧状， 而Rottderdam人却干脆推到重来，借机建成一个现代化的崭新城市。
德军占领期间，1943 年 3 月 31 日，102 架美国空军轰炸机也对鹿特丹造船厂和码头市发动了袭击。虽然仅 33 架 B-17 投下了 99 吨炸弹。但由于轰炸不准确，仍然造成荷兰平民死亡人约 400人 ，并导致 10,000 至 20,000 人无家可归。这次轰炸被称为“被遗忘的轰炸”。 美国空军也损失了一架 B-24 和三架 B-17，有 16 名美国飞行员阵亡、10 人受伤、10 人失踪。
深入研究之后，我发现Rotterdam中心还是有几处老建筑逃过了二战的轰炸，并且发现“鹿特丹大轰炸”本来是可以避免的。
一、 战火蹂躏下的知名建筑
但当时被称为欧洲最大、最现代化的百货商店Bijenkorf 就不那么幸运了。在1940 年 5 月 14 日的轰炸中，Bijenkorf三分之二被炸毁。该商店是1930 年 10 月 16 日正式开放的，当时它就拥有自动扶梯。
二、 灾难性轰炸本来可以避免，官僚主义和专制体制则是毁灭Rottderdam的恶魔
德军于1940年5月10日入侵荷兰。他们起初的推进非常迅速，轻松地粉碎荷兰的边防。然而，荷军在鹿特丹却挡住了德军三天。荷兰部队在Pieter Scharroo上校的指挥下防守着通往鹿特丹的新马仕河北岸，以避免德军从此地穿过。
General Henry Winkelman 是commander in chief of the Dutch forces，他在首都Hague，他主张坚决抵抗。Since May 11th, Scharroo had received reinforcements of no less than five battalions. In spite of the numerical superiority he did not succeed in driving the German forces back. 海牙的Winkelman 对此甚为不满，因此ordered Lieutenant Colonel Wilson and two other staff officers to Rotterdam with the command to - if necessary - relieve Colonel Scharroo and take over command.
德国部队包括了司徒登将军(Kurt Student)率领的滑翔机和伞兵部队及施密特(Schmidt)将军率领的地面部队。
本来德国的两个将军是不主张地毯式轰炸的。Generals Kurt Student and Schmidt desired a limited air attack to temporarily paralyze the defences, allowing the tanks to break out of the bridgehead; severe urban destruction was to be avoided as it would only hamper their advance. However, Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring, worried about the fate of his surrounded airborne troops（22th airborne division）, hoped to force an immediate Dutch national capitulation by a much more extensive bombardment. Adolf Hitler, had also announced that Dutch resistance had to be broken at any price.在一个极权体制内，唯上，一切行动听指挥是保持体制高效运转并取胜的必然特点，上级的定调及决心自然成为下级执行的最高指示，任何实际的、职业的、人道的方案都不可与之冲突。
这样，在格林的直接干预下， On 09:00 May 14， a German messenger crossed the Willemsbrug to bring an ultimatum from Schmidt to Colonel Pieter Scharroo, demanding a capitulation of the city; if a positive answer had not been received within two hours the "severest means of annihilation" would be employed（如果在这个最后通牒递交后的两个小时内还没有收到正式答复，德军将被迫执行最极端的破坏措施）。
同时，At 11:45 hrs. 90 Heinkels He 111 bombers took off from Delmenhorst, Münster and Quackenbrück, with destination Rotterdam， planning fly over Rotterdam at 13:20.
However, Scharroo did not receive the message until 10:30， 这时离最后通牒规定的期限仅剩半小时了。鹿特丹市长彼得·乌德（Pieter Oud）认为，在德国人设定的11点前，根本没有足够的时间疏散该市。因此乌德市长恳求沙罗投降。Not feeling inclined to surrender, he asked 荷兰的总司令Winkelman for orders; the latter, hearing that the document had not been signed nor contained the name of the sender（因为此最后通牒没有德国方面的任何人签字，也没有人名，因此，荷兰方面拒绝认真考虑投降）。在海牙的荷兰的总司令Winkelman instructed Scharroo to send a Dutch envoy to clarify matters and gain time.
耍小聪明、打马虎眼、东扯西拉的荷兰总司令拿出了政治家的一套手段对付军事问题，这是导致鹿特丹灾难降临的第一原因。掌管生杀大权的决策者，一定不能使自己的决策逻辑过长，不能建立在诸多串联的假设上，因为任何一个环节的走样都会造成其决策的总失误，并酿成灾难。其中，特别要考虑对手因其内部的决策程序过长而走出非理智的昏招。故此，荷兰官僚主义的一厢情愿是毁灭Rottderda的第一个罪魁，德国的专制体制则是毁灭Rotterdam的第二个罪魁。
因此Scharroo对第一封最后通牒的回复如下：
“致德国军队司令，
我已收到你的来信。主题信尚未正式签署，也未提及其发起人的姓名和级别。在认真考虑您的建议之前，应在该信函上正式签名并提及您的姓名和级别。
Scharroo 上校，鹿特丹荷兰军队指挥官”
On the return of the German envoy at 12:00, Schmidt sent a radio message to 德军第二航空队that the bombardment had to be postponed because negotiations had started。Colonel Scharroo sent Captain Backer to the demarcation line to receive the new ultimatum.
施密特将军还是懂政治的军事家，也是严谨的有历史责任感的理智的职业军官。 This newly drafted ultimatum ，now signed by Schmidt and with a new expiry time of 16:20，was handed over to Colonel Scharroo at 13:20 hrs. Schmidt allowed the Dutch three hours to answer.
德军第二航空队于 12 点 42 分(即炸弹开始投下前大约 40 分钟）收到该消息，但该消息并未发送给轰炸机，这是导致鹿特丹灾难降临的第二原因。德国空军第二航空队的指挥官、陆军元帅阿尔伯特·凯塞林在纽伦堡审判期间承认，当时的情况是可以取消袭击的，但他仍然坚持认为这是出于战术目的，因为他是奉命这样做的，而且他不是政治家而是士兵。箭在弦上，不得不发呀。
Around 13:20 two formations of Heinkels arrived 鹿特丹上空， 54 架轰炸机从东北方向飞来， 36 架从南方飞来。轰炸机飞行员根本不知道地面谈判的事情，更不知道最后通牒的期限已经改为16:20.
Schmidt 将军看见轰炸机没有被召回，就ordered red flares to be fired to signal that the bombardment was to be broken off. 由于德军仅占领了该市的南部地区，因此北部没有发射照明弹。此外，大片烟雾遮蔽了城市南部，使得看清耀斑变得更加困难。南方机群看到了照明弹，after their first three planes had dropped their bombs,他们的大部分飞机都没有投弹就折返了，而北方向54架 轰炸机机群则没有看到照明弹，继续摧毁了这座城市(continued to drop their share of the grand total of 1308 bombs)。我们看到正是Schmidt 将军的努力导致33架飞机放弃了轰炸，可以说他使得Rotterdam的毁灭程度减少了1/3！
At 15:50 Scharroo capitulated to Schmidt in person. 然而Göring失去了耐心， 他had ordered a second bombardment of the city. A second wave of bombers took off around 15:30 and would reach Rotterdam somewhere around 17:30 and 18:30 hrs.
When Schmidtheard of the order, he hastily sent an uncoded message at 17:15 claiming the city was taken, although this had yet to take place. The bombers were recalled just in time. 这个德国将军自己冒着风险又一次做出努力，终于避免了对Rotterdam的第二次轰炸，这简直是该城市的守护神！人类战争史上还没有听说过这样的军人！，如果说荷兰官僚主义和德国的专制体制则是毁灭Rottderdam的恶魔，那么Schmidt将军就是拯救Rotterdam的天使！
稍后，Germans had demanded the surrender of Utrecht under the threat of the destruction of the city. Leaflets were dropped by propaganda planes announcing that only unconditional surrender could "spare it the fate of Warsaw".
This was enough for Winkelman. 这意味着the city of Utrecht had been given an ultimatum similar to that of Rotterdam。Winkelman held a meeting with other Dutch generals. They decided that further resistance was futile and wanted to protect civilian residents. In the afternoon of 14 May, Winkelman issued a proclamation to his army to order them to surrender:
On 15 May, the Netherlands officially signed the surrender with Germany. During the four-day campaign, about 2,300 Dutch soldiers were killed and 7,000 wounded, and more than 3,000 Dutch civilians also died. The Germans lost 2,200 men killed and 7,000 wounded. In addition, 1,300 German soldiers captured by the Dutch during the campaign.
三、Rotterdam守护神的多舛命运
鹿特丹之战后，他被appointed acting commander of the 2nd Army which took part in the Battle of Moscow. On 25 December 1941 he was appointed Commander of the 2nd Panzer Army。In January 1942 Rudolf Schmidt was promoted to 上将。
由于His brother sold details of the Germans' Enigma machine and other sensitive military information to the French from 1931 until the German invasion of France in 1940，on 10 April 1943 he was relieved of his command after the Gestapo arrested his brother for spying for the French, and found letters that Schmidt had written in which he was highly critical of Hitler’s conduct of the war and the Nazi Party. He appeared before a court martial but was acquitted and transferred to the leadership reserve on 30 September 1943. He was never re-employed.由于他的弟弟和他的良知未泯，他在德军的将军生涯彻底葬送了。
战后，他的厄运仍未结束。On 16 December 1947 Schmidt was arrested by Soviet forces on his way to his home in Weimar. Taken to Moscow, he was initially imprisoned at the Vladimir Central Prison and Butyrka prison. In 1952, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for war crimes by a military tribunal. On 30 September 1955, Schmidt was among the last prisoners to be released. He died in 1957
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