Chapter 140 The Opportunity Is Coming

"Adolf, Gregor, please come in." Schleicher and Hersmann went downstairs together and stood at the door to greet Hitler and Strasser.

Compared with Hitler, Strasser looked more like a leader, with a sturdy torso and a handsome appearance. When shaking hands with him, Hersmann found that his hand was very strong.

"Colonel, I heard that you went to Japan and China?" Strasser asked in a loud voice. After getting a positive answer, he said, "Then you missed the good show here in Europe."

He was referring to the worsening economic crisis. "These termites are taking money away from the German people!" He gritted his teeth, "We can't allow this to continue, otherwise the disaster of 1923 will repeat itself."

This is a good thing to say in a campaign speech. Unfortunately, Schleicher and Hersmann are both "great politicians". They both understand where the root of the current economic problems are and how to solve them.

In fact, all German politicians on the stage knew that National Socialism was not new to Germany. It was just an upgraded version of the dynastic socialism practiced by the Second Empire.

Several people entered the restaurant while talking. Chloe and Mrs. Schleicher were already there. Chloe said in a cheerful voice: "Today we have steak, potatoes, sausages and salad. Adolf, you only have potatoes and salad."

"That's enough. Being a vegetarian helps me keep my mind sharp." Hitler glanced at the burly Strasser while speaking. Strasser liked to eat and drink, and was also famous in the Nazi Party.

"Let's have some aperitifs first," Hersmann said, picking up the bottle, "This is also to celebrate the rebirth of the empire!"

"Celebrate the economic crisis?" Strasser asked.

"Yes," Hersman laughed, "this crisis will announce the advent of the Third Reich."

The name of the Third Reich comes from a book written by a conservative writer Arthur, which calls the Holy Roman Empire the First Reich, the German Empire established by Prussia the Second Reich, and after the failure of the Weimar Republic, the Germans will regain their glory and establish the Third Reich.

"The situation now is different from 1923!" Hersman poured wine for everyone in the restaurant and raised his glass, "We are stronger, and the enemy has become weaker!"

He knew that the economic crisis would be global! The deflation that Germany is experiencing now is just an appetizer. In another year, once the bubble economy of the United States bursts, the crisis will spread to the whole world, and probably only the Soviet Union will not be affected.

Moreover, this level of deflation is the first time that people all over the world have seen it, especially those countries that regard free economy as the Bible. At the beginning, they didn't know how to solve it at all. So they all adopted a fiscal policy of contraction rather than expansion. Under the guidance of wrong ideas, military expenditures were the first to be cut. Of course, there was no power to deal with Germany, which wanted to break free from the shackles of the Treaty of Versailles.

"Colonel, what do you think we should do?" Strasser asked again.

"Just keep scolding the government, the Bolsheviks and the Social Democrats." Hersman took a big sip of wine and said with a smile, "The general and I have a lot to do... This crisis will keep us busy."

Hersman went to Japan and China, mostly because of the impending Great Depression - he had to sign all the contracts he could! In a few days, he had to go to the Soviet Union to attend the 11th anniversary of the August Revolution and talk business with Stalin. Schleicher was also very busy, as he was in charge of Latin America. The bald general had many friends there, most of whom were "political generals" who shared his tastes, some of whom were dictators and some of whom wanted to be dictators.

The economic crisis that was about to sweep the world would create many military regimes in Latin American countries, which was definitely a good thing for Germany - generally speaking, military dictators liked to seize military industries, and Germany could sell a lot of weapons and machines.

"The last election was in 1927," Schleicher took over the topic, "If nothing unexpected happens, 1931 will be a general election year... By then, I hope the Nazi Party can unite the majority of the people at the bottom. Because the system we want to implement requires the support of the middle and lower classes."

Winning over the lower classes is the reason why the military supports the Nazi Party! Since the advent of socialism, European countries have always been economically prosperous, and the influence of various radical socialist parties has decreased; when there is an economic crisis, the radical **** forces will increase greatly.

Therefore, as long as Germany falls into an economic crisis, the Bolshevik Party and the Nazi Party will definitely gain power. At that time, if most of the proletariat supports the Nazi Party, then the Junker military group can form an alliance with the Nazi Party, overthrow the "November criminals", and then establish a centralized government.

With a centralized government, the right to issue currency can naturally be regained, and deflation will not be a problem - but after tearing up the Treaty of Versailles, refusing to pay huge reparations, and then embarking on the path of expanding the army and preparing for war to create domestic demand, the world war will be a problem!

"Adolf, Gregor," Hersman's tone suddenly became heavy, and he looked at the two Nazi leaders with his eyes. "The day when the Nazi Party came to power may not be far away, but there is one thing I want to remind you now. It is the duty of our German soldiers to save Germany from the shackles of the Treaty of Versailles, let her become the leader of Europe, and then get the world's leadership!"

"This is also my duty!" Hitler shouted loudly, "Once the National Socialist Workers' Party takes power, it will immediately restore the compulsory military service system, expand the army, establish the air force, and formulate a large-scale naval shipbuilding plan!"

Hersman and Schleicher looked at each other, and a mocking smile appeared on the corner of the big bald general's mouth. "Mr. Hitler, there is no need to wait for the National Socialist Workers' Party to come to power to restore the compulsory military service system, expand the army and establish the air force, and merge the German Empire and the Baltic Republic... We will take the responsibility of the German army ourselves!"

Hearing this, Hitler's face changed slightly, and his brows frowned slightly.

The army does not need the favor of the Nazi Party - this principle was proposed by Hessmann, and Schleicher immediately understood its significance. The Honorable Officers Corps cannot let the Nazis become the benefactors of the army, otherwise the army may become a tool of the Nazi Party!

In their plan, the future Germany will be governed by the Nazi Party and the army, rather than the army kneeling to the Nazi Party - if the Nazi Party is unwilling to cooperate, then establishing a military dictatorship is also an option to consider!

Because the German Honorable Officers Corps in this time and space is much stronger than in history!

The number of German army alone is twice that of history, with 200,000 on the books and 230,000 in reality, and the General Staff is also retained - there are no "real soldiers" among these 230,000 people, they are all backbones who can serve as officers and non-commissioned officers.

In addition to the 230,000-strong army, the German Defense Forces also have a navy of 15,000 people, which is also composed of carefully selected elite backbones.

And the Honorable Officers Corps actually owns a country - the Baltic Republic. This country now has a population of nearly 3.5 million, and the number of standing troops is announced to the public as 35,000, but in fact it exceeds 50,000. Not only does it have an army, but it also has an air force and a navy. It is equipped with various advanced weapons such as aircraft, tanks, submarines, light cruisers and destroyers.

The Military Intelligence Bureau and the Stasi Agency controlled by Hersmann are also the power of the Honorable Officers Corps. After ten years of development, Stasi agents have spread all over Germany and have established a huge intelligence network abroad. The total number of investigators and cooperative informants under its command has exceeded 20,000!

If all the soldiers and agents controlled by the Honorable Officers Corps are added together, the number alone is as high as more than 300,000, which is twice the number of the current Nazi Party's stormtroopers.

In addition, the German Defense Forces also control two powerful committees, the Industrial Promotion Committee and the Aviation Promotion Committee. The former has a considerable degree of control over Germany's heavy industry (through equity and loan issuance), while the latter controls a large number of pilots (both amateur and professional), and can quickly expand the size of the Baltic Air Force and the Naval Aviation when necessary-this is the trump card to deter France from invading the Ruhr area again.

So in this time and space, the risk of Germany tearing up the Treaty of Versailles is much smaller than in history. The reason for not taking action in the past few years was that the British and French economies were still good at that time and they could maintain strong military forces. And Germany's industry could also continue to grow with the help of the Keynes Plan, so there was no need to take risks.

"Colonel," Hitler asked, "When do you plan to tear up that damn treaty?"

"It's definitely not possible now," Schleicher turned the wine glass with his hand, "The crisis has just begun, the enemy has not lost its strength, and we are not united. If we act rashly, the risk is still very high."

When to take action is a science! Because it takes at least several months from the announcement of the implementation of the compulsory military service system to the completion of the military expansion. So we must choose a time when the enemy is weak and confused.

Moreover, Germany itself must be united enough. It must not happen like in 1918, when the enemy has not yet attacked, and it starts an internal conflict. So there must be a workers' party that can unite most of the lower classes and cooperate with the Honorable Officers Corps.

According to the plan agreed upon privately by Hersmann and Schleicher, the military expansion will be implemented by President Hindenburg's presidential decree when the total number of seats in the parliament held by the Nazi Party, the Fatherland People's Party (Junker's own people), and the People's Party (right-wing nationalists) exceeds 50%. At the same time, the Baltic Parliament controlled by the Baltic German National Party will also pass a resolution to join Germany. Before that, the Baltic Defense Force will be expanded to more than 150,000 people and be prepared to fight Poland...

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Additional update for the 550th vote, the violent update on May 1 ends here, and normal updates will begin tomorrow. The additional updates for the 600th vote and the 1,000th first subscription will be presented at 12:00 on May 2 and 12:00 on May 3. Luo Luo thanks everyone for their support. Luo Luo is exhausted and is going to bed. See you tomorrow.