Chapter 143 Deputy Chief of General Staff
"Thank you, General!"
Hersmann stood at attention and saluted respectfully to Defense Minister General Kurt von Schleicher. This "political general" who became Defense Minister a month and a half ago and was promoted to General yesterday, just put on the shoulder straps symbolizing Lieutenant General for Hersmann.
"Haha, this is what you deserve, my good brother!" General Schleicher laughed and patted Hersmann on the shoulder, and said to the group of jubilant officers and lieutenants around him, "A 39-year-old Lieutenant General, and the Deputy Chief of Staff of our Wehrmacht... It's really enviable!"
Promoted to Lieutenant General at the age of 39! It's really fast in the German Army, and it was promoted in peacetime. But among all the officers and lieutenants gathered in the etiquette hall of the Ministry of Defense today, no one was dissatisfied with Hersmann. Because they all knew that their promotion this time was all due to the efforts of Schleicher and Hersmann-the Wehrmacht expanded from 230,000 to 800,000! The scale has expanded several times, and the opportunities for promotion have naturally increased several times! For most German officers who have been working hard for so long that they are almost old, this period of time is like going to heaven.
And the two initiators, Schleicher and Hessmann, are responsible for a lot of things - expanding the army to 800,000 directly tore up the Treaty of Versailles. If the Allies really fight, the situation will be even bigger.
Fortunately, good news came from Geneva, Switzerland this morning - the old-fashioned French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand officially accused Germany to the League of Nations!
This is great news! The French chose to accuse, which means that they will not use force to interfere with Germany's military expansion. And the League of Nations will at most impose collective sanctions, economic blockades, etc.... There is nothing to be afraid of!
Because the current League of Nations does not include the United States and the Soviet Union, these two countries will not participate in collective sanctions. Sanctions without the participation of these two countries will have no impact on Germany at the moment.
In addition, Briand's accusation may not be passed. Now Germany, Japan and Italy are all permanent members of the League of Nations!
Italy has cooperated with Germany for many years. Mussolini would not agree to sanctions, otherwise what would happen to a lot of unfinished projects? As for Japan, it is even more in cahoots with Germany. There are many German engineers in Japan's shipyards, steel mills, and aircraft factories. Moreover, 90% of the cooperation projects between Japan and Germany violate the Treaty of Versailles. Should they also be sanctioned?
So among the five permanent members, three are on the side of Germany (including Germany itself), but the five big gangsters of the League of Nations do not have a "veto power". When the League of Nations Executive Council meets to decide who to sanction, the procedure is that the five permanent members and eleven non-permanent members must vote according to the principle of "one country, one vote".
And among the current non-permanent members of the League of Nations, not all are close to Britain and France. Among them, the dictators of three Latin American countries have a good relationship with Schleicher and are preparing to develop industry with the help of Germany. So they will definitely protect Germany at that time. Finland is also a non-permanent member. This country was saved from the Bolsheviks by the current president of the Baltic Republic, Goltz. It has always been pro-German and will definitely support Germany when voting.
In addition, the Kingdom of Siam is also a non-permanent member. This country has a good relationship with Japan, so Japan can try to win it.
In this way, Germany can take 8 of the 16 permanent and non-permanent members. The French accusation will most likely not succeed. And even if it succeeds, it will not impose any sanctions.
"Ludwig, I have awarded you a title, and now it's your turn to award the ranks to our brothers in the Wehrmacht!"
Schleicher pointed to the epaulettes and collar badges on a long table. These are all intended to be awarded to the officers and soldiers gathered in the Ministry of Defense Hall today.
Since Schleicher got the Minister of Defense in charge of military and political affairs, he has a lot of power in this "big promotion". And he generously asked Hersman to make a list - that is, to let Hersman promote some confidants.
Therefore, all the people who arrived at the etiquette hall of the Ministry of Defense today were close to Hersmann. They either worked in the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Stasi, or had close relations with Hersmann when they served in the Baltic Defense Forces or the Aviation Committee, or Hersmann knew his comrades when he served on the front line.
Just among those who became famous in later generations, there are Kesselring, Guderian (he met Hersmann when he was training armored forces in the Baltic), Rommel (he knew Hersmann when he was fighting in Romania), Halder, Model, Canaris, Falkenhorst, Hipper, Milch, Student, Paulus, Jeschonnek and Udet.
Hersmann stood in front of these "brothers" who had made great contributions to the German Empire in history, but most of them did not end well in the end, and did not start to award titles immediately. Instead, he took a deep breath, jumped onto a chair placed next to the long table, and began to give an impromptu speech.
"Comrades! Today is a memorable day. Since November 1918, our great German motherland has been suffering from humiliation and oppression, and has been bound by the evil Treaty of Versailles. It has been almost 13 years today. Every day for the past 13 years, we have dreamed that one day we can trample the Treaty of Versailles under our feet and restore the glory of the German Empire... Now we have finally succeeded in breaking through the obstruction of the Treaty of Versailles and rebuilding our great German army! This is the beginning of our victory! It is the beginning of the German motherland standing up again! Long live the German Empire! Long live the Third Reich!"
"Long live the Third Reich! Long live the German Empire!"
...
"They, they succeeded...successfully tore up the Treaty of Versailles!"
At the same time, in Adolf Hitler's private apartment on Regent Street in Berlin. The Nazi leader who had just attended a pre-election rally also knew that France had accused Germany of violating the Treaty of Versailles to the League of Nations.
Hitler's expression was a bit complicated when he heard the news. Of course he was very happy. This was his dream. From the day he learned that the German Empire was defeated, he dreamed of the day when the empire would stand up again.
But it was not him who tore up the Treaty of Versailles, but the German army... and the army's adventure was successful.
"This is good for our election!" Hermann Goering was also in this room. He looked in a good mood - the German Air Force was rebuilt, many of his comrades returned to the army and were reused, and he would soon rise to prominence.
"The Social Democratic Party and the Bolshevik Party will make a fool of themselves now. They have always claimed that the army's adventure will lead to joint intervention from France, Britain and Poland. But now there is nothing except the French accusation!"
The speaker was Major Rosenberg, the director of the Political Department of the Military Intelligence Bureau. He is not a Nazi party member now, but he has a close relationship with Hitler and is actually involved in the activities of the Nazi Party.
The adventurous behavior of the Seeckt caretaker government is simply outrageous according to democratic standards!
A caretaker cabinet should not do anything major, just maintain the situation. However, the Seeckt cabinet did something earth-shattering - partially tearing up the Treaty of Versailles, pushing the country to the brink of war.
When the news of the implementation of the compulsory military service system came out, the whole country was in an uproar. There were those who welcomed it, and there were those who opposed it. The Social Democratic Party and the Bolshevik Party had the same view on this issue, and both were the most resolute opponents.
However, when there were more than 2 million registered unemployed people, and many people (at least 2 million) were relying on part-time jobs to make ends meet, expanding the army by more than 500,000 would definitely attract votes from unemployed and semi-employed voters...if General Seeckt's adventure was successful.
The attitude of the Nazi Party on this issue was firm support! Although Seeckt himself was a member of the Fatherland People's Party, the Fatherland People's Party has always been in the upper middle class - the Fatherland People's Party's votes would definitely increase, but it would not divert the Nazi Party's votes, because the lower-class voters would not vote for this Junker Party.
So Hitler's Nazi Party would definitely be the beneficiary of this adventure, but... not the biggest! The biggest beneficiaries are definitely the Junkers and the Honorary Officers Corps.
"They will soon have more than 800,000 troops. If you count the Baltic Defense Force, it will be almost 900,000." Ernst Rohm, the chief of staff of the SA who had just returned to Germany from Bolivia, had a gloomy tone and seemed unhappy.
Although his SA was said to have a million troops, in fact, only 200,000 or 300,000 of them could actually charge, and they were no match for the more than 800,000 Wehrmacht. This also means that his political capital has shrunk greatly, and it is probably difficult to implement his ideals - Ernst Rohm is the leader of the left wing of the Nazi Party. His faction's political views are to resist capitalism, advocate the nationalization of major industrial enterprises, expand workers' control, confiscate the land of the old aristocracy and redistribute it, and promote social equality.
Hitler glanced at his old comrade, "Ernst, in about 20 days, we should be able to gather enough seats to become a major ruling party! Some practices and positions must be changed, not only for our party, but also for the fundamental interests of the German people!"
Röhm shook his head and was about to speak when Rudolf Hess pushed the door open and walked in: "Leader, Lieutenant Colonel Paulus, the adjutant of Lieutenant General Hessmann, Deputy Chief of the Wehrmacht General Staff, called and invited you, Mr. Hermann Goering, Mr. Ernst Rohm and Mr. Gregor Strasser to his home in Charlottenburg tonight for dinner, and by the way, to discuss the issue of a coalition government."