V4CH26: Adjutant

"Hmm. We have too many things to deal with now．"

　　Xu Jun slowly put down the paper in his hand, raised his hand and wiped it hard on his face, took a deep breath． He raised his head and smiled at the officers sitting around the conference table and said, "Gentlemen, what are your opinions on our current situation."

　　"Field Marshal, I think we must now make full use of the power at our disposal to deal a complete and devastating blow to your enemy, and end this chaotic situation as soon as possible, for the sake of Germany and for your sake, my Field Marshal, you should make up your mind." Xu Jun's chief of staff, Wehrer, replied seriously.

　　"Of course, of course, my chief of staff, of course I will do as you say, but you are in too much of a hurry, we are already starting to act, but there are some things that really can't be rushed. We can't expose our forces to everyone at once, it's not wise, I'll get into unnecessary trouble if I do that, especially not before these forces have been united with us. And that's not what I'm asking, I'm asking what you think about the current situation in Germany."

　　"Oh, you are quite right, my Lord Marshal, I am indeed in too much of a hurry, huh huh." Wehrle lowered his head to Xu Jun to apologize, Xu Jun smiled and waved his hand to Wehrle.

　　Xu Jun raised his hand and stroked his hair in front of his forehead then spoke to the officers, "Everyone here is my most trusted people, so you can speak freely here. Do you have any ideas and suggestions after reading the newly obtained information?"

　　The officers began to talk to each other after hearing Xu Jun's words.

　　"Just say what you have on your mind, I am eager to hear everyone's opinions. Meuller, you are the commander of the corps, you speak first." Xu Jun looked at Mueller and asked.

　　"This, this. Let me think about it again, sir." Mueller looked as if he had already racked his brain and replied with a bitter face as he pressed his hand to his forehead.

　　"Then, Hans, you tell us." Xu Jun lifted the coffee on the table eyes aimed at Hans.

　　"Ah! This." Hans was a little surprised by Xu Jun's name, he did not expect his commander would come to him in front of so many people to ask for advice. Hans stood up hand and foot: "Report my marshal ...."

　　"Sit down Hans, sit down. We are not having any military meetings now, just sit down and talk. Haha, you are now a general, do not still look like a just promoted sergeant as formal well." Xu Jun took the coffee cup in his hand and pointed it in front of Hans. "Have a sip of coffee before you say anything." Then he also raised the cups in his hands to the other officers. "You all have some coffee too, it won't taste good if it gets cold. Hahahahaha."

　　Hearing Xu Jun's words, the officers who were sweating profusely from Xu Jun's questions hurriedly let out a sigh of relief as they all relaxed and casually picked up their respective cups of coffee in front of them to taste the freshly brewed coffee.

　　Hans, as if to complete the task dutifully, seemed to drink up his cup of coffee in two or three sips, and then sat upright and looked at Xu Jun to answer the previous questions: "My marshal, my colleagues, and I have read this latest intelligence after the only feeling is that we must speed up our actions again. From the current situation, we are now under more and more time constraints, we must use the shortest possible time to complete our plans, end this dangerous chaos, and seize control of Germany before our enemies at home and abroad cause substantial damage to our great country. We must do our best to minimize the damage that may be done to our country, and then we must thoroughly beat the hell out of those enemies who want to take advantage of the situation.

"

　　Hans' words made all the officers suddenly look at him with astonishment, they did not expect Hans, who had always worked in Xu Jun's shadow, to have such a clear mind. Everyone now looked at the freshly minted brigadier general with astonishment, and they couldn't help but begin to wonder whether the man standing in front of them talking so eloquently was the adjutant Hans they used to know who only knew how to obey the commander's orders. Although at the time of the Battle of Dunkirk Hans was also the corps chief of staff for a while, but at that time everyone thought he was just a sounding board and word processor for His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, but now that they thought about it, how could a man like Field Marshal Reinhardt tolerate a fool who only knows how to obey as an assistant, it seems that everyone underestimated this young adjutant.

　　I don't know if it was the cup of coffee that did work or the stares of those officers that stimulated him, Hans felt his thoughts becoming sharper and his talk starting to become more and more fluent.

　　"Let's take a look at this document, number 1843950, at a glance you can see that this is a top-secret official document sent directly from the General Command of the French front to the General Command, which we obtained through the special channel of the General Command. Now the situation on the French front is in a very delicate balance, but now any unexpected event may completely break this balance. Due to the supply of supplies and ammunition on the front, the German Army has actually reached the point where it has to actually defend rather than the false defense that it appears to be. But fortunately, the French and British don't see this yet, but when they do, those troops on the front will face extinction, and I'm not being alarmist."

　　Hans drew out another document and said seriously, "There are already two groups of troops on the front line that are already using their captured supplies to keep them going. There is also a tank cluster that has completely consumed its spare parts. This is the urgent telegram sent from the front line to the General Command. From their situation, they can still hold out for about half a month, but this is talking about the situation now, if they are going to participate in the battle, they can only hold out for a week at most. But repeated messages from the General Headquarters to the Logistics Department have been rebuffed each time by the absence of an order from the Führer. It seems that our great Führer is determined to starve all troops who do not follow his orders, and it is a sad day for the German army that such a man is the commander-in-chief of our armed forces. So I beg my Field Marshal, even for the sake of those troops supporting you at the front you will have to speed up your operations."

　　Hans's words made all the officers nod in agreement, and Mueller called out from the sidelines, "Yeah, I think so too. I really don't know how my legion is doing, there's no information about them in these documents, they're not running out of ammunition now too, right, for these I have to get back to them quickly too."

　　"Don't worry, the legion is fine now, and it has never been better." Wehrle smiled at Müller and said, "I thought you had forgotten all about your troops when you never asked. And you, Colonel LaVey, yes! And you Colonel Ludvik. You've forgotten about those two infantry divisions of yours, too."

　　"How could you! General!"

　　"Don't be ridiculous, my Excellency the Chief of Staff."

　　"As soon as you arrived, you were in a hurry to talk to His Excellency the Marshal about things, and then you were busy even until now, so how could we have had the opportunity to ask you?" The three division chiefs looked aggrieved.

　　"Well, don't worry, the corps has no problem at all now, just those supplies and provisions stocked up for the battle of Dunkirk are enough for them to last until the end of the year, not to mention the ammunition, did I tell you what the hobby of those gunners of yours is now? Oh, I didn't. Their favorite job now is to use those heavy guns to fry fish. And of course sometimes to scare those British patrol boats that get too close to the cordon. The way the Corps is going now, it's all about starting another Dunkirk campaign. Wow, it seems that my words went off-topic, Hans or you continue to talk. Haha, really sorry." Wehrle found that the more time he spent with these officers the younger he became, not physically but psychologically, no matter what this feeling is really good.

　　"It's all right, Chief of Staff. Where was I earlier, oh yes, the supply problem. This also affects the hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war that we captured at Dunkirk, they consume no small amount of supplies, and if they are deprived of supplies that is a very serious problem. They still have.... Now from...." Hans searched through the pile of documents and then pulled out another one.

　　"From this document, it seems that the situation in the POW camps is now so bad that the POW camp commanders report that their supplies will only last for half a month, and then along with the guards, the POWs will start to starve. The Führer ignored this document, but Heydrich seemed to be very interested in these prisoners of war, has asked the Army for these prisoners many times, but because the marshal signed an agreement with the other side, so he did not agree to his request. My marshal, this is a matter of your personal credibility, you can not take this matter lightly ah." After saying that Hans turned his head to look at Xu Jun, Xu Jun hurriedly nodded his head to show that he was clear about the stakes.

　　Hans then picked up another document and said: "The situation in Germany is still very stable, except for Heydrich's desperate search for the so-called spies in the streets and alleys, there are no other changes. But there are signs that the heavy industry and business giants have caught wind of what's going on, and some are trying to transfer their assets, while others are hoarding some important raw materials, which will cause great damage to our German industry and economic development. Some industrial giants want to take advantage of this opportunity to fish in troubled waters, and they have started to use their influence to spread rumors that affect social stability. My Field Marshal, I hope that you can give these people a blow before they are able to cause harm to Germany, otherwise, there is a risk of social unrest in Germany, which will eventually damage your personal prestige, and I think you must have been aware of these signs."

　　Hans continued, "And we have to deal with the threat from abroad. The French have not yet been defeated, of course, they have little strength to attack us, and even if they had the strength they would not have the courage." Hearing Hans said here the officers let out a heartfelt laugh, but Hans then said in a serious tone: "But we should not underestimate them, although they lost their Northern Army Group at Dunkirk, they still have a lot of elite troops not used, Guderian's defeat proved that the French are not an army made of paper, they still have some combat power. They still have some troops scattered in their rear, if they put these garrisons together it is also a force to be reckoned with. The French are no match for the German Army, but only on the tactical and technical level. The French are not lacking in brave fighters, and I can't help but feel my blood boiling when I think that we may later face those long-established French elite troops, which are the best stage to prove the courage and strength of our German soldiers. You have all read the document, a few French divisions were able to hold off almost the entire Italian Army, if either the French suddenly became stronger or the Italians were too weak, or both. But they did manage to save a bit of face for their French Army from here, and kept that shameless ally of ours from stealing the victory from us, for which I think the French commander should be awarded a medal as a reward." Hans's words brought another roar of laughter from the officers.

　　"Our enemies are brewing a counter-attack against us, and although as I said earlier, the French generals don't have the courage yet, don't forget that our enemies still have the British, and I'm worried that the British will take advantage of our current situation to encourage the French to attack our troops at the front, and that would be a problem. That's why I hope my marshal can speed up our action and end this situation with the fastest speed, then he can lead us to the battlefield again to completely defeat our enemies." After Hans finished speaking, he looked at Xu Jun, and his words triggered a fierce applause.

　　"Everyone, let me say a few words." Xu Jun smiled and stood up and waved his hand at the officers, when the applause stopped Xu Jun smiled and said, "I am very happy that my adjutant is a smart man. Don't be modest, my Hans, your performance today has left a very good impression on me, and you have indeed not let me down. What you say is what I think, and these problems will continue to haunt me, haunt you, and haunt all of us until this matter is resolved. We are not yet invincible, we can only win this fight by being careful everywhere and taking every step. I do wield very great power, but until I put it all together, it is enough for me to praise God that these forces do not fight with themselves. I do have a lot of power, but now I do not dare to use it casually, because in this situation now who can tell me which are my own people and which are the enemy. Not to mention the fact that we have to shoulder the burden of national interests, and that every step we take has to be made in the interests of Germany.

　　Now, while we are fighting for the future of Germany, our friends are not idle either. You've seen Churchill's speech. He wants to fight me to the end, and he will stop fighting only if Germany or Britain falls completely and is completely crushed. I couldn't believe my eyes that this was coming from a prime minister of a country. He wanted the whole country to fight to the last man for his so-called beliefs, simply shameless. But he made me even more determined to overthrow the current Führer Hitler because I believe that Hitler and that crazy fat man are one and the same, it is dangerous to put Germany in the hands of such a person. Look, that fat man actually wants to fight on the coast, fight in the mountains, fight in the woods, and I'll give him that chance, as long as he lives to see that day. It's strange that this guy hasn't been ousted by the British after they captured so many of them by me, that's a miracle indeed." (TL: I assume he's saying this to discredit Churchill instead of actually believing this.)

Xu Jun paused to drink a mouthful of coffee and continued: "The French side of the front Hans has made it very clear, I have nothing to add, only one thing, we have to remember that the French front has actually lost the unified command, General Rundstedt was arrested, this is true, I have obtained the latest information to confirm this point. And the Generalissimo has actually given up command of the army, and only when I return to the French front to take over the overall command of the Western Front will the Western Front troops be able to gain unity of command, until then they are actually fighting on their own. The period before I took over command was the most vulnerable period for our troops, and if the French and British took advantage of this opportunity to launch a counterattack we might lose the war. So I do have to get to the French front as fast as I can. I want to save the glory of our Army while defeating Hitler in a big way. If the blood of those brave soldiers is shed in vain because of embracing me to let their previous efforts go down the drain I am a sinner of Germany and I will never be able to forgive myself."

　　Xu Jun swept a glance at those officers sitting upright and continued: "We now have to consider how to stabilize the situation in Germany after the end of this struggle, I do not want to end up with a turbulent Germany. So we have to find a way to quickly remove the targets that may pose a threat to social stability. Also, I want to take this opportunity to completely eliminate the obstacles and hidden dangers in the development of Germany's economy, culture, industry, and technology. I want to bring the German people a prosperous and stable Germany. This is a very important part of the things that I think we need to consider now. Only after these problems are solved can I choose a path that is most suitable for Germany's development and let it stand on top of Europe again. I want to make Germany's old enemies not dare to offend us even after another 10,000 years.

　　Of course, this is difficult to achieve by my own strength, This will require the joint efforts of all Germans to achieve, but I believe that this day will come, we will be prosperous, we will be rich and strong, we will be able to raise our noble heads anywhere, and you, you will be like the German national renaissance laid and witnessed, you will leave your names in the history of Germany as witnesses to the renaissance of the German nation, and your names will be immortalized together with our beloved fatherland."

　　Xu Jun's words ended all the officers stood up in the excitement and applauded wildly, even the calmest Dorgan and Wehrle stood up while smiling and applauding.

(TL: Hitler II)

　　But just as Xu Jun raised his hand to silence everyone, a sudden burst of fierce gunfire rang out from all around.

　　"We're under attack, Field Marshal!"

　　Randolph looked out through the bulletproof window of the command car as the other officers hastily drew their respective pistols.

　　"I'll cover, you guys take His Excellency the marshal and rush out?" Mueller yelled, waving his Mauser 1932.

　　"Don't panic, this place is still safe for the time being, this is at least one more layer of bulletproof steel plate protection, have to figure out the surrounding situation first, we still have a storm commando team protecting...."

　　But not waiting for Xu Jun to finish his words came a heavy fierce knocking on steel sound, Xu Jun violently laid his head down on the table.

　　All the officers present froze when they saw this scene.

　　"It's an anti-tank gun! Marshal!"

　　Hans understood what had happened when he saw a small bullet hole in the steel plate of the command car, and he lunged toward Xu Jun who had fallen on the table.