V4CH24: The Commanding General

　"My great Führer. What response should we take to the declaration of war by Italy? I personally think it is a very difficult issue to deal with. As Italy's declaration of war is unjustifiable, don't you think they also carry a speculative mentality. How would you like to respond to this sudden and unpredictable action of the Italian leader?" Keitel looked expressionlessly at the gloomy little man sitting at one end of the map table, the current dictator of Germany.

　　Reinhardt didn't know why, but ever since he had come to the side of Vice Führer, he had found himself hating this little Austrian more and more. he really does know why he used to respect and obey him so much, but now he thinks about how stupid he was back then. The Austrian was indeed very good at buying people's hearts and minds. He used his false concern and kindness in his daily work to make everyone he came in contact with feel how approachable and kind he was, often making the generals and officials he received feel grateful.

　　Only people like himself who have been following him around can see the real face of this man, but it is unimaginable that he used to be oblivious to that. It is not too late to come to your senses, at least Germany has not yet been led into an unmanageable situation by this Führer who is full of crazy ideas.

　　The only way to make Germany truly be revived is to make the little man disappear from the German scene for good. This is what his old friend General Beck wrote to himself in a secret letter yesterday, and Hitler's performance at today's meeting confirmed that Beck's statement was undoubtedly correct.

　　He went back and forth in today's regular military meeting to talk about only one thing, that is, the assassination of the Vice Führer, he simply does not care about the current situation at the front. Already several supplies are in stock in the munitions depots at the front down to the dangerous bottom line, and it is now necessary to mobilize all forces to get these supplies from within Germany as soon as possible. But the report itself has been handed to Hitler for three full days, and until now he has not given himself a positive answer, those supplies are still piled up in the warehouses of various German railway stations for nothing but to gather dust. The man only cared about his own ambition and power and did not care about the death of the soldiers at the front, Keitel is now completely disappointed with Hitler.

　　And the behavior of that Germany's closest ally, Italy, made all the generals of the General Headquarters feel very angry. The boastful Mussolini obviously wanted to take a bite out of the fruits of Germany's victory. But Hitler's attitude now became very ambiguous as if he did not care about that leader's offense against Germany, it seems that this time it will be another weak compromise. At this point as a noble German officer, it is absolutely intolerable, and Italy's insatiable leaders compromises is simply like selling out the national interests of Germany.

　　Keitel now felt even more sure of himself and Field Marshal Brauchitsch's decision was the right one. They decided to do everything in their power and to delay by all means the military operations on the French front, never to let the dictator get the honor of defeating France, and they decided to dedicate the French victory as a gift from the Commandant to Field Marshal Jackson, whom they considered the most suitable leader of Germany. Not only they, but almost half of the senior generals on the French front were now treating His Excellency the Vice Führer with respect and love. They were all aware of the delicacy of the situation, so they agreed privately with the arrangements of the General Headquarters. On all fronts on the Western Front the German and French armies were now in an interesting state, the French did not have the strength to attack, and the Germans had no interest in attacking, and the two sides confronted each other across that fragile line of defense. But Keitel believed that this standoff would not last long, when Jackson takes power, it will be the day the French defense line collapsed. Until then, he could only continue to endure and confuse the Austrian.

To contribute what he can to the Vice Führer's plan.

　　"Marshal Keitel, don't you think your question is too liberal? We can only welcome the behavior of our close ally. Any other speculation would be impolite and untimely. The Italian leader once invited me to an important meeting with him, but I did not agree to his invitation because of the problems there in Poland. It seems that on that occasion he was trying to discuss with me this declaration of war on their part.

　　Now he also sent me an earnestly worded letter explaining his reasons for declaring war on France without informing us, which he had the right to do in every way. The fact that he has not hesitated to send countless brave young Italian soldiers to war for the cause of the revival of our great Germany confirms that he is a firm and faithful ally of our country. How can you say that he has an ulterior motive. You simply do not understand the value of an ally, which is why you can only be a staff officer and not a commander of a unit. Think about it yourself.

　　One more thing, speaking of the French front I would like to ask you why the war has stopped now and what is happening on the front. Where has the courage of the Wehrmacht gone? Where are the German troops who were not afraid to go forward a week ago? Have they all gone to Poland with your Vice Führer? Are you trying to betray me?" Hitler sneered at Keitel, while his grim gaze scanned the other generals and field marshals present.

　　"Indeed, my Führer, the attitude of the Army now makes one feel suspicious that all three army groups are staying in their positions to bask in the sun, that they have all stopped their attacks for various reasons, and that even the units that have surrounded the enemy have begun to organize their defenses outside the encirclement. These are the reasons why, I dare not speculate wildly about the Army's intentions, but your current behavior is simply no different from collaborating with the enemy. Moreover, my intelligence indicates that someone is behind the scenes controlling the current actions on the front line, something that must not be allowed to happen in our Third Reich. No one can play this clumsy conspiracy in front of the Great Führer, this is a blatant rebellion! I ask my great Führer to give me the authority to investigate this matter thoroughly, and I will find out the conspirators hiding in the heart of our German army and hang them one by one in front of all the great and decent German citizens." A young man with a shrewd face spoke viciously to Hitler.

　　The trademark hawk nose on the young man's face and the major general's logo on the black SS uniform proved his identity. The head of the Third Reich's General Security Directorate, the most inhuman and cruel beast of all the Nazi butchers in Germany, Reinhard Heydrich. Now, this bloodthirsty beast had completely taken down his superior, Heinrich. Himmler, and had completely replaced his boss at the Führer's side. He was now the most trusted person around Hitler, and he had become the Führer's most reliable thinker.

　　He was always jealous from the bottom of his heart of the apostle of God, younger than him, more powerful than him, more popular than him, and the kind of prestige in the army that he could never obtain in his life. All of this made this sinister guy jealous and about to go crazy. He once wanted to attach himself to that apostle's banner but was unceremoniously rebuffed by the other side. This makes this narrow-minded person has been holding a grudge until now. This time there is finally an opportunity to take down the boy who has been stepping on him, how can he not desperately grasp it. He wanted to take this opportunity to clean up the officers who once worshipped the apostle as a god, and then find a way to climb to the throne where the apostle once sat.

　　"No, my dear Heydrich, there is no need to do that now. Those people must have been fooled and misled by some conspirators to be willing followers of that man. As soon as they recognize the true nature of the hypocritical conspirators, they will know how serious their mistakes are. They will then repent and return to the noble cause of our great National Socialist German Workers' Party. Then they will understand that only I, Adolf Hitler, am the only leader of the German revival, that only I am the man sent by God to save Germany." Hitler smiled back at Heydrich's request, with a smile on his face, but an icy cold glint in both eyes as he watched the reaction of the generals and marshals to his words.

　　The result was disappointing. All the officers looked at the documents in front of them with cold faces and no expression, neither angry nor grateful for what Heydrich had said. The situation now was as if he and Heydrich were singing a one-man show, and the audience below seemed completely uninterested in the play. What was wrong with these generals and marshals, how could they suddenly have so much guts that they dared to ignore him. Hitler felt a strong sense of shame, he felt he was insulted by these people, these people completely treated him as a clown, this is simply inexcusable, absolutely inexcusable.

　　Hitler cold face gloomily said: "However, the performance of the German Army on the French front now is indeed very unsatisfactory to me, about which I still have to hold some people responsible. Field Marshal Brauchitsch, as commander-in-chief of the German Army, do you have any opinion on this matter?"

　　"No opinion, my Führer. For this matter, I think all of us are responsible to a greater or lesser extent. But it is true that there are many difficulties arising on the French front, such as fatigue damage to supplies, and other reasons, but there has been a delay in resolving these problems within Germany. On this point, I suppose the Führer is well aware of it." Field Marshal Brauchitsch replied unhurriedly: "Now our army from various aspects indeed has the upper hand over the French army, but from the practical point of view we are already at the end of the line, the soldiers on the front line are in need of rest, tank units also need a real overhaul. General Guderian disobeyed the order to not advance alone only to be beaten back by the French and suffered serious losses, which happened just two days ago, I think we will not fail to remember it. The fact that a great tank expert like General Guderian lost at the hands of a third-rate French unit proves that our theory is correct. What we need now is to rest and build up our strength before launching a deadly attack on the French. For the French, their vitality has been greatly wounded by Marshal Reinhardt at Dunkirk, and it will not be enough to recover without half a year's time. So that the stagnation of the battle now has no effect on our defeat of France."

　　"You are lying! My Lord Commander-in-Chief of the Army, the situation at the front is not at all as difficult as you say. General Guderian's defeat was caused entirely by your failure to reinforce him. The real culprits are you." Heydrich stood up when he heard this and pointed at Brauchitsch shouted.

　　"Who told you this ridiculous story, which is a shameless lie that not even a three-year-old child would believe. How could we disregard one of the most elite tank units of our German Army, which is the most valuable asset of our German Army, and how could we deliberately put it in danger? Is this what General Guderian said to you personally?" Brauchitsch still answered without any delay.

　　But Jodl, who was sitting by the marshal, could not stand Heydrich's arrogance any longer. He stood up with a start, and he likewise pointed his finger at Heydrich's nose and said angrily, "Heydrich, you have to watch your words. You have to know who you are talking to! This is the commander-in-chief of our German Army, a noble field marshal. And what a thing you are yourself, you're just a little SS Major General, who gave you this authority to speak to a Field Marshal in such an attitude."

　　"You!" Heydrich had been going smoothly in the past few days, no one had ever spoken to him in such an attitude, and now he was being reprimanded by Jodl pointing at his nose, which made his nose almost crooked. But Yoder's words are indeed reasonable, his own behavior in front is indeed a bit too arrogant, and as a result, he had to sit in his seat, two eyes viciously glaring at JodI but could not find a word to refute him.

　　"General Jodl, sit down. It is true that Heydrich was a little too bold, but he also questioned the Army Commander-in-Chief for the benefit of Germany. And since you have reprimanded him so loudly in front of me, I think this matter should not be discussed for the time being." Hitler said coldly: "Now whether it is due to real difficulties or because there is a conspiracy behind the scenes, it is impossible to open an investigation into this until the French have been completely defeated. But for those officers who have now been investigated and whose crimes have been confirmed must be punished. With regard to the defeat of Guderian on the French front, I have dispatched special personnel to investigate it, and I have found that it was due to the dereliction of duty on the part of the commander of the Army Group. I have therefore decided to arrest Rundstedt and his entire command staff, who will be taken to the Berlin military prison in two days, where they will be tried for their crimes and subsequently tried by a military tribunal. I am sure they will receive the punishment they deserve. Field Marshal Brauchitsch, what do you think."

　　Hitler's words caused a stir among all the officers of the commanding general present. Brauchitsch looked at the neatly rested mustache, he was sneering in his heart, this little man wanted to use him to make the Army submit? A month ago this trick may have work, but now it will not be useful. It seems that Hitler really thought that Field Marshal Reinhardt had been seriously wounded and was now temporarily unable to confront him, so he began to purge his followers. It seems that the apostle's plan has an additional 10% chance of success. Since this is the case he simply let this corporal know the temperament of the German Field Marshal, let him know the courage possessed by the officers of the German Army, don't let those people look down on themselves as officers of the command, the officers of the command also have dignity.

　　"Führer!" Brauchitsch jerked to his feet. He bowed slightly to Hitler, then raised his chest full of medals and said: "About this matter on the French front, I, as the commander-in-chief of the German Army, did not fulfill my duties, for which I express my immense shame. In order to assume the responsibility I should have, I have decided to resign from my position as Commander-in-Chief of the German Army, and I will now leave the command, and I will go to the French front as a volunteer veteran to fight with my soldiers. Even if you do not agree, I will not fulfill any more responsibilities as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. I am very sorry." Brauchitsch picked up his marshal's scepter and cap from the table and gave Hitler a standard military salute.

Hitler was stunned by this unexpected event in front of him, he now did not know how to deal with the situation, but before he could think of a countermeasure, a whole platoon of commanding officers followed their commander-in-chief and stood up.

　　"You guys, what do you want!" Hitler shouted in panic.

"We all resign from you, my Führer, for our failure to do our respective duties. We will go to the front and fight with the soldiers of Germany, as His Excellency the former Army Commander-in-Chief did, in order to wash away our disgrace until we have left the last drop of blood for our great fatherland. I hope you will be able to find more capable assistants than us." Keitel said to Hitler with a heavy expression. Then all the officers respectfully saluted Hitler, then they picked up their caps in front of them and left their seats to follow Von Brauchitsch towards the door of the conference room.

　　Hitler sat in his seat and watched dumbfounded as the first-ever resignation of the entirety of the heads of the High Command in German history took place right in front of him, his mouth was now open, and he unable to say a word.