Chapter 97:
Chapter 97
Even though the Nazis did not completely control the military, the military was not a completely independent organization from politics.
First, Hitler ousted the Minister of Defense Blomberg and the Army Commander-in-Chief Fritsch from the military in 1938 by framing them with fabricated charges.
Last year, in 1941, he replaced the Army Commander-in-Chief again, and dismissed senior officers such as Rundstedt, the highest-ranking officer of the Wehrmacht, and Halder, the Chief of Staff.
That did not mean that the military was full of flatterers who obeyed Hitler.
There were many soldiers who followed Hitler.
Some of them admired the bright future of Germany that he would bring.
Some of them thought that superior Germans deserved more land and resources. Some of them were just sycophants who sought power.
But they began to feel disappointed.
The Führer, who seemed like a magician of strategy, was leading the country into a huge catastrophe after he invaded the Soviet Union with overconfidence.
“It will take only 10 weeks to subdue the Soviet Union!”
The generals who spoke confidently all disappeared after being purged for various reasons.
The only one left was the Führer who approved the operation.
Therefore, Hitler had no choice but to take all the blame.
The voices of discontent that opposed the Führer spread like wildfire in the military, which was tightly connected by kinship, seniority, and various official and unofficial ties.
***
“Your Excellency… Did you really think this regime was right?”
“…”
Rommel looked at his chief of staff who had been assisting him for a long time.
With a flushed face and bloodshot eyes, the chief of staff pleaded with him earnestly.
Rommel had always thought of him as a younger brother.
And like an older brother who tried to cover up his younger brother’s misbehavior for fear of causing trouble, he also turned a blind eye to his involvement in some rebellious gatherings.
Now his chief of staff, Hans Spiedel, revealed everything and appealed to him.
“Think about what they are doing with the Jews. After the Jews, won’t it be the Germans? Their ‘Aryan race’ nonsense is just propaganda. What they ordered in Britain…”
“Enough, enough. So, you intend to betray the Führer of Germany?”
“…”
Now Spiedel closed his mouth. Rommel chuckled softly.
“I see, so that’s how it is.”
There were many people in the Wehrmacht who hated Hitler.
Many of them were enthusiastic about Hitler’s vision, namely the ‘Lebensraum’ concept, but they abhorred the sight of killing Jews like rats.
Were the Jews who fought together in Kaiser’s army allies or were the yellow-skinned people on the other side of the world allies?
Why did the former become spies who had to be killed while the latter became ‘honorary Aryans’ and allies?
The people fervently believed and supported the ‘stab-in-the-back’ myth, but the soldiers who fought in the last war knew well.
They would have lost anyway no matter what they did.
Nevertheless, they tried to whitewash their defeat by blaming it on the Jews.
But as for the result, the Führer’s ‘final solution’, they acted like Pontius Pilate. They washed their hands in a basin and denied that they had blood on their hands from an innocent person.
“Be careful. You and I both have someone watching us. What those SS bastards are doing…”
“Thank you, thank you Your Excellency!”
“That’s enough. You just… do your best.”
“Yes!”
He would visit the Führer one last time.
The Führer was his benefactor who appointed him as a commander and raised him to the rank of field marshal. He was misguided but he was undoubtedly the leader of the German nation.
Rommel was thinking of what to say to persuade him one last time at the risk of his position.
And on the other hand, he was also thinking about whom to recruit.
“If I could get hold of a reserve commander…”
His own reputation – even though it was inflated by the regime – would be quite helpful if he joined the anti-Hitler plan.
But to directly overthrow Hitler, he needed military force.
The Grossdeutschland Division that defended Berlin was divided into regimental units, and the Führer was actually protected by SS armed guard units.
And having experienced their loyalty firsthand, he did not think it was a good idea to stage a coup with just one or two divisions.
He needed at least some troops that were directly controlled by the army. For example, reserves (militia).
“Come to think of it… wasn’t it planned that reserves would suppress any unrest in the country under their command? I should ask General Fromm, the reserve commander.”
“Yes, I think that’s the case!”
Spiedel’s face was now flushed with joy.
A big fish who could lead the operation to success had started to take off his shoes.
If he had a few combat units, he could cut off the necks of those damn Nazis and get out of this crazy war.
“By the way, who is leading this plan?”
“Huh? Um… As far as I know…”
Snicker, Rommel laughed softly.
“Oh, Führer. How blind you are.”
The most loyal intelligence agency, Abwehr, was sharpening their knives under the lamp.
It was worth a try.
If the ones who were responsible for intelligence betrayed him and attempted a ‘stab-in-the-back’, then what?
Well, there was also SD (Reich Security Main Office) as an intelligence agency, but they could not infiltrate the Wehrmacht.
They might have swept away the conservative senior generals who would rather rebel, but… Anyway, not many people liked them.
“I should invite them for dinner.”
Spiedel nodded his head.
If Rommel officially joined the conspiracy, it would be half a success.
The other half depended on the comrades who would recruit the units for the actual action.
Rommel wrote down the names of those he would invite for dinner one by one.
Old comrades, classmates, those who were most honest and respected among them.
He himself had already risen to the rank of field marshal by rapid promotion, but most of his old comrades were commanding frontline units.
Most of them were sent to the Eastern Front, but…
“You rats. Do you think you can bear the fate of the German nation?”
“Ha ha… That’s right.”
SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler spat out those words to the key commanders of the armed SS who gathered in his office.
“Disloyal bastards, traitors to the state and the nation, plotting rebellion in the dark and colluding with the filthy Jewish Bolsheviks!”
It was already a well-known fact that the major generals in the Wehrmacht did not like the Nazi party.
The Junkers with von in their names, the aristocratic officers who were proud of their lineage from the time of Frederick the Great, despised the Führer who was called ‘the corporal from Bohemia’.
The Führer also had to appeal and cooperate with them at one point, and he gained the upper hand by overthrowing R?hm and purging the high-ranking generals such as Rundstedt.
“Are they plotting another treason?”
The spies loyal to the Führer and Himmler reported that the army officers and lieutenants had been meeting frequently lately.
In officer clubs, in manors owned by families in East Prussia, or in castles of noble families, they began to whisper something.
Among them, those who were smart and quick-witted, and who did not show much affection for the Nazi party, were able to join them.
And they caught a big fish.
“They plan to mobilize troops around Berlin and occupy the capital, and turn back the reserve forces from K?nigsberg to stabilize any possible unrest… Damn it, we almost got caught off guard.”
“Give me an order and I will suppress them right away!”
“The order is not given by me, but by His Excellency the Führer. I will go and see him personally and get his instructions on what to do.”
Himmler declared confidently in front of the SS commanders and walked out to see the Führer with what he thought was the most dignified stride.
The key commanders of the armed SS followed him.
‘Heydrich, that bastard, he’s gotten too big…’
Reinhard Heydrich was out as the governor of Czechoslovakia, but he still held the position of Reich Security Chief and carried out independent intelligence activities under the direct orders of the Führer.
As there was Abwehr in the Wehrmacht, there was SD in the SS. Just as Abwehr plotted a conspiracy outside of the Führer’s sight, SD was also deviating little by little.
The report just now was also obtained by Heydrich in Prague first and then reported to him after processing.
“If that damn Asian guy also has a different mind…”
One of his eyes had grown cancer cells and had to be removed. The one-eyed eagle had no choice but to rely on his only eye.
But what if he also plotted treason?
Even if it was not treason, it was fine. Heydrich, who was armed with a sharp mind and overflowing ambition, was determined to expand his power by any means.
He was trying to climb up higher and higher from Prague with his ‘achievements’. Himmler could clearly see that in his eyes.
If he wanted to go higher in the SS, he would have to compete with him eventually. And he did not have confidence to beat Heydrich, who was young, competent and ambitious, with his abilities.
Himmler, who had climbed up to this position with his loyalty like iron and the Führer’s favor, could only look up to him.
“Reichsführer sir, there are still more loyalist troops around Berlin.”
“Oh! Hauser! That… That’s right? Those traitorous bastards wouldn’t dare do anything?”
“We, the armed SS, will defend the party and the Führer with our lives.”
Except for 1st Division LSSAH, 2nd Division Das Reich, 3rd Division Totenkopf and 7th Division Nord that were out on the Eastern Front, most of them were undergoing reorganization or formation process relatively close by.
Touching his eye patch that covered his right eye lost to the Soviets, Hauser reassured Himmler who looked clearly terrified.
“I don’t even understand what they are thinking. Despite such a huge disadvantage in military strength, they expose themselves by capturing officers… Is this how they make such a sloppy coup plot?”
“What do you expect from madmen who dare to defy the Führer and the clear destiny of the German nation? Anyway, General Hauser, I trust you!”
He seemed relieved as he puffed up his chest. Hauser smirked bitterly as he looked at Himmler.
A divided house cannot survive when enemies attack. This regime was walking steadily towards its downfall.
A soldier should only be loyal to the state and nation, and to the government they created… It was regrettable that he could understand them as a former Wehrmacht officer.
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