17

ke chachacha (1)

The speech I gave to the people attracted great attention even abroad.

While there were positive reviews that it was one of the famous speeches that will forever be remembered in history, or that it was a heavy-handed pitch thrown at today's generation that is accustomed to discrimination, there were also criticisms that it was a communist drip. Still, the reaction was generally favorable.

Needless to say, Hindenburg was already in awe of what I was saying, and even the military, who were looking at me with half-support and half-skepticism, seemed to think that I had done my job.

In particular, even France, which had been raising the level of criticism against me due to the Night of the Long Sword incident, acknowledged that 'I think I said the right thing this time', so I was able to make a good save.

This way, I won't have to worry about the Jewish issue for a while.

After resolving the Jewish issue, a non-aggression pact was signed with Poland in October 1933.

Until now, Germany was waging a trade war against Poland.

Poland must have suffered just as Poland did, but Germany was not without damage. The continued decline in international reputation was a bonus.

As was the case in actual history, a non-aggression pact with Poland will not only help stabilize the economy internally, but will also increase Germany's prestige, which has been declining internationally.

It would also have the effect of making me seem like a flexible leader who, unlike existing German politicians, is willing to reach out to enemies first.

Poland, which had suffered considerable damage from the trade war, readily accepted my proposal to stop the trade war and sign a non-aggression pact.

They had been unable to talk about their cooperation in negotiations due to their pride, but when I suggested it first, they seemed very happy.

"Your Excellency, I am by no means against your wishes, but there is some talk about concluding a non-aggression pact with Poland. "Not only in the military, but also in the private sector."

As in Poland, and in Germany, where people gnash their teeth regardless of political party, voices of dissatisfaction were naturally bound to come out here and there.

Let's assume that Korea colonized Japan and lost the war, but when Japan became independent, it took Dokdo, Ulleungdo, Jeju Island, and Gyeongsangnam-do. But how would the public react if the government signed a non-aggression pact with Japan?

The entire nation will rise up and demand his resignation. The German people's hatred toward Poland was beyond imagination.

Goering looked worried, but I answered with a calm face.

"That much was already expected. But, for now, this is the best. Right now, not only do we have to listen to foreign countries, but we also have to solve our economic problems.

Of course, that doesn't mean I have any intention of leaving those Poles alone forever. Someday, we have to get back the territory that those guys took away. To do that, we need to hide our intentions for a while."

Only then did Goering's face brighten.

"As expected, Your Excellency had a plan. "I'm so glad."

"Why, did you even think I was giving in to the Poles? you're welcome. This is just one step back to take two steps forward. Shouldn't the economy be resolved first before rearmament or anything else can be done? Isn't that right, Minister Schacht?"

"What... right...?"

Hjalmar Schacht, President of the Reichsbank and Minister of Economy, smiled awkwardly at my question.

This is because when the German-Polish trade war broke out, it was Schacht himself who insisted that Poland should not give in and that retaliatory tariffs should continue to be imposed on Polish products.

As planned, the German economy improved significantly. With the signing of the non-aggression pact, foreign investment increased, and the attitude of neighboring countries toward Germany became softer than before.

Now it's time to move on to the next step.

***

"Oh, please come quickly."

I smiled brightly and welcomed the two army officers who entered my office.

"I'm sorry for calling you suddenly. Even so, they are busy."

"No, Mr. Prime Minister."

The identity of the mustachioed man shaking his head in a quick manner is Lieutenant General Oswald Lutz. And the name of the colonel standing next to him is Heinz Guderian.

Among those who claim to be followers of Milduk, there may be people who have heard of Lutz for the first time, but I believe that there are none who do not know Guderian.

Both of them made a decisive contribution to the creation of the German armored corps. In particular, Guderian made such a huge contribution to the creation of the armored corps that he was later called the father of German tanks.

If you think about the performance of German armored units in World War II, you will understand how great their contribution was.

Five minutes later, even Defense Minister Blomberg arrived, bringing together everyone needed for this meeting.

"The reason I called you here to meet you is to discuss future tank development."

Tanks, the flower of the army and the king of ground warfare, were essential for the qualitative improvement and growth of the German army.

Although the development and possession of tanks was banned by the Treaty of Versailles, Germany, unable to give up tanks, developed tanks by disguising them as industrial tractors to deceive the Allied powers, and trained its soldiers with fake tanks made by covering cars with dummies made of linen and armored vehicles. All efforts were made to develop the unit.

The armored units that were barely created made a big splash when World War II broke out and played a decisive role in creating the German military myth.

But now it is 1934.

The German armored forces, which would later conquer Europe, were in their infancy, with the Tank No. 1, which was armed only with two machine guns, being the latest tank.

Let alone the Tiger and Panther, we have to wait two more years for even the 4th Panzer to be developed. In order to come up with Tank 4, we had to go through a lot of trial and error again.

I wanted to make the most of my knowledge and contribute to the creation of German armored forces while preventing 'unnecessary waste'.

"There are three tanks currently planned for development: a tank equipped with a 20mm cannon, a tank equipped with a 37mm main gun, and finally, a support tank equipped with a 75mm main gun."

As you may have guessed, the tank equipped with a 20mm cannon is Tank No. 2, the tank equipped with a 37mm main gun is Tank No. 3, and the tank equipped with a 75mm main gun is Tank No. 4. Until this time, there was only one tank that had a proper name.

"As far as I know, the 20mm cannon-equipped tank was planned to fill the gap in tanks along with Tank No. 1 until the mass production of 37mm and 75mm class tanks. Is that correct?"

"you're right."

"Right. "This is just my idea, but is there really a need to make all three?"

It's something I've thought about for a while, but I didn't see the need to make all three, even spending precious resources, money, and time.

If all three are limited to their assigned roles, they are well worth the money, but considering future wars, it would be much more profitable to focus on producing only the 4th Tank.

My opinion was to build only those that would be used for training purposes for the 1st Tank, which had just been mass-produced, and to focus on producing the 4th Tank.

"Think about it carefully. Tank 1 is a well-made tank, but it has very clear limitations. "It may be useful for anti-infantry use as it only has two machine guns, but engaging enemy tanks is impossible."

"Of course."

Lutz, Guderian, and Blomberg also nodded obediently. Even in their opinion, Tank No. 1 was not something that could be used in tank warfare.

"And the tank equipped with a 20mm cannon, for simplicity's sake, I would call it the 2nd tank. As far as I know, Tank No. 2 is also armed with one 20mm cannon and one machine gun. It may be more useful than Tank No. 1, but there are many doubts about its use in tank warfare.

From what I have seen, among the tanks that France and the UK currently have or are developing, there are many heavily armored vehicles that can easily deflect a 20mm cannon from the front. How effective will Panzer 2 be when fighting these tanks? "

All three listened quietly to what I was saying. It seems like they also have a lot to think about after listening to me.

"Lastly, there are the 37mm class tank and the 75mm class tank. For convenience, we will call them tank 3 and tank 4, respectively. They say that the 3rd tank will be equipped with a 37mm main gun capable of anti-tank warfare and be used as the main force, and the 4th tank will be equipped with a 75mm main gun for infantry support and used to support the 3rd tank and the infantry. Is there really a need to divide it in such detail? "

"What do you mean by that, Your Excellency?"

Blomberg asked.

"Literally. Is there really a need to classify tanks into two separate categories, hindering productivity and complicating the logistics system? The 37mm gun may be effective right now, but as the armor of tanks thickens in the future, its power will naturally be halved.

Then, there is a need to exchange it for a different main gun. In that case, wouldn't it be easy to just use a 75mm main gun from the beginning? Tank 4 was originally created to mount a 75mm main gun, so it will be more convenient than Tank 3 even when mounting a larger gun."

Tank No. 1 had already been criticized as not being usable in actual combat since the Spanish Civil War, and Tank No. 2 also made a great performance in the invasion of Poland, but in the invasion of France, it was used like the French Army's Hotchkiss and the British Army's Matilda tank. They faced superior tanks and made great sacrifices.

Although Panzer 3 was better than the previous two, it was still no match for the British and French tanks encountered during the invasion of France.

In 1941, when it was replaced with a 50mm main gun, it seemed to be somewhat active, but even this was put to waste when the Soviet army brought out heavy armored tanks such as the T-34 and KV-1.

Even after replacing it with a long-barreled 50mm main gun, its limitations were clear enough that it was defeated in a 1:1 match against the T-34 and M4 Sherman.

On the other hand, the 4th Tank was equipped with a 75mm main gun from its inception, so it was easy to mount a long-barreled main gun, and from 1942, when it was replaced with a long-barreled 75mm main gun, it played a significant role as a hidden card on the front line.

What Rommel wanted more desperately than the Iron Cross was the Panzer 4, equipped with a long-barreled 75mm main gun, and an 88mm anti-aircraft gun. Before the Tiger appeared, the Panzer 4 was the strongest tank possessed by the German army.

Although it is undervalued by the Tiger and Panther that appeared later, it is an old tank made in the 1930s, but it is a worthy fighter that fought against the new tanks T-34 and M4 Sherman that appeared in the 1940s until the end of the war.

It is not for nothing that the German military nicknamed Panzer IV 'War Horse'.

According to history, wouldn't the sacrifices of tank soldiers who would have died while going to the front in tanks such as No. 1 or No. 2 be greatly reduced if they were to ride on Tank No. 4?

I thought everyone would strongly agree with my opinion. It is not an unreasonable request to produce the Tiger and Panther right away, but it is a reasonable opinion to produce only the 4th Tank.

But the results were quite different.

"That makes sense, Mr. Prime Minister."

Blomberg, who had been quietly savoring his tea, opened his mouth.

"but,"

"huh?"

"Isn't it a bit difficult to make a judgment already when it's not even in the mass production stage yet?"

uh?

weird. This is not the reaction I wanted.

Although he didn't show it on the outside, unlike me who was taken aback by the unexpected reaction, Blomberg continued speaking in a calm tone.

"Of course, this doesn't mean that what you said is wrong. However, all three tanks are still in the development stage, let alone mass production. However, if the existing plan is already overturned by guessing, there may be great confusion later."

"That's my opinion too. It is a great honor for Your Excellency to take such great interest in the development of armored weapons, but weapon development is not something that is carried out through guesswork and speculation. It is something that develops through countless trials and errors, experiments, training, and practical use.

"Even the first tank has not seen combat, so I think it would be a bit too much of a leap to order a halt to the development of tanks that are in progress."

Even Lutz expressed his opposition to my opinion.

The common opinion of these two was, 'Isn't it going too far to stop it when the results haven't even come out yet?'

It was a reasonable enough statement if you just listened to it without considering the future, so I couldn't think of anything to refute.

"What do you think, Colonel Guderian?"

I looked at Guderian with a look on my face, hoping for help. Among them, the only one who had not yet expressed his opinion was Guderian.

"I think His Excellency Prime Minister's opinion is reasonable."

also. Guderian took my side. This is why people who learn it are different.

However, Guderian had one major weakness.

Just rank.

"Hey, Colonel Guderian. You know it well, right? "The development of weapons is not something that can be done with immediate guesses and judgments."

"Yes, that's right."

Blomberg is the Minister of Defense, and Guderian is a colonel.

Naturally, Guderian has no choice but to be pushed out due to class reasons.

If you think about it that way, since I am the prime minister, it would be fine to suppress him based on his rank, but since the relationship between me and the military is still complicated and delicate, it seemed too obvious to use the authority of the prime minister to suppress him.

In addition, Blomberg was one of the leading supporters of the Nazi Party within the army. If we press Blomberg here, we may end up giving only good numbers to the anti-Nazi faction.

As the differences of opinion could not be resolved until the end, it was decided to reach a conclusion after seeking the opinion of the Ordnance Bureau.

The Ordnance Department ruled in Blomberg's favor.

Old bastards.

The Ordnance Department opposed my opinion even more strongly than Blomberg.

Not only the Ordnance Bureau but also other army generals came forward and expressed their opposition to my opinion, but it seemed that they misunderstood my intention as a first step to tame them.

I wasn't planning on doing that at all 'just this time'. Damn Junkers.

Even Hindenburg tried to mediate, but to no avail. That's how stubborn the army's attitude was.

"The opposition within the Army is very strong. Prime Minister. "Please reconsider again."

"Yes, Hitler. "Please give in this time."

"······All right. "I can't help it."

As such, my 'Great Tank Integration Plan' was in vain, and after long discussions with the Army, I reached a compromise to postpone the decision until the test results of the prototype came out.

Nothing is easy.

***

Unlike the Army, which was stubborn, the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) was somewhat conversant.

Since Goering, the person responsible for creating the Air Force, is my right-hand man, and I also do not have much knowledge about the Air Force, I had no choice but to focus entirely on the opinions of those working in the field.

Göring, who had transformed into a middle-aged man without being sick from morphine or gaining weight, had changed to the point where I wondered if he was the same Göring I knew.

While actively listening to the opinions of his subordinates, he appropriately mediated conflicts between departments and placed the necessary talent in the right positions to maximize their efficiency.

It also gave strength to Lieutenant General Walter Weber, who had originally been overshadowed by differences of opinion with Hitler and Goering.

"I support the general's opinion. As times have changed, strategies must also change. "Isn't that right?"

"That is a very wise statement, Mr. Prime Minister."

Unlike most air force generals who were blinded by the immediate results and were fascinated by tactical bombing, Walter Weber firmly believed that strategic bombing, rather than tactical bombing, could change the game of war, and worked hard to develop a heavy bomber capable of strategic bombing.

However, when Weber died in an accident in 1936, the development of his dream heavy bomber was virtually halted.

But who am I?

Wasn't he not the original Hitler, but a native Korean who experienced the 21st century newspapers?

Unlike Hitler, I understood that strategic bombing was much more important than tactical bombing, so I decided to actively support Weber.

"I will tell Goering well. If you still have difficulties, please come visit us at any time. "Don't pay attention to anyone."

"Thank you so much, Your Excellency! "I will definitely repay you with results!"

Weber must have been truly moved and even had tears in his eyes. There is no need to cry though.

Well, both superiors and subordinates are busy half-listening to what they say, but the Prime Minister, not just anyone else, not only listens to what they say but also supports them, so of course they can't help but be happy.

In the case of the Kreigsmarine (German Navy), which was born earlier than history, it was a bit subtle.

This was not because there were many anti-Nazis like the Army, but because there was a big difference of opinion, starting with Admiral Erich Raeder, the most senior member of the Navy.

Leder was a great soldier who took good care of his subordinates and led by example, but he was an ardent believer in the old-fashioned ideology of big-money bombing, so it was inevitable that he would naturally clash with me.

"No, I mean, how many times have I said that? "Aircraft carriers are much more efficient than battleships?"

"Of course, what the Prime Minister said is correct. We do need an aircraft carrier. I am aware of the importance of aircraft carriers described in your book Mein Kampf. Still, Sir, aircraft carriers are only auxiliary, and the center of naval warfare is still battleships!"

Leder also did not deny the need for aircraft carriers.

However, they only irritate me by insisting that aircraft carriers should only play a supporting role to battleships and that battleships should play a leading role.

"The existence of a battleship is essential in order to destroy the enemy fleet with powerful firepower, seize control of the sea, and carry out a war of destruction! "Please reconsider again."

Leder's argument was that a large number of battleships and battlecruisers armed with powerful firepower should be built, engage in decisive battle with the enemy fleet, destroy it, and then travel around the North Atlantic to conduct a war of trade destruction.

It is true that battleships are also important. Not only during World War II but also until the 1960s, battleships that could support ground troops landing on the beach with large-diameter guns were still a threat on the battlefield.

However, if you calculate the time, cost, and manpower required for construction, it would not be an exaggeration to say that battleships were literally money-guzzlers.

Even if it was barely built, the basic maintenance costs alone would cost a fortune, and when a war breaks out, there aren't many places for battleships to be active.

The Japanese battleship Yamato, which was theoretically the strongest battleship of its time, was sunk under concentrated attack by aircraft launched from aircraft carriers of the U.S. fleet and U.S. submarines.

Until Yamato was sunk, the number of American aircraft shot down was only about 10.

This is truly the worst value for money.

Unlike Leder, Karl Dönitz, later a naval marshal, was much more communicative.

Dönitz also thought that although battleships were necessary, aircraft carriers and U-Boots (submarines) were much more efficient than battleships, which were expensive and had limited uses.

The problem was that Dönitz was only a colonel. He became a colonel because I specially promoted him, so he should have still been a lieutenant colonel.

In contrast, Leather's rank is Captain. He would be promoted to senior captain in 1936. If you replace the captain and appoint a colonel as the head of the navy, there will be chaos.

I have no choice but to coordinate my opinions with Leather as much as possible.

I already feel like my head is going to explode.