Chapter 2 Do You Know Lenin?
The General Staff in 1917 was really big. On the eve of the First World War, the General Staff had 1 quartermaster general (actually deputy chief of the general staff), 5 quartermasters, 15 professional departments and 1 intelligence service group. Now, the General Staff, led by the best partner Hindenburg and Ludendorff, has become a huge organization with many branches, and even has a "Image Bureau" to manage the film industry in Germany.
At the same time, with the expansion of the General Staff, many young staff members have been able to enter it. Born in 1892, only 25 years old this year, Hessmann is one of them. In the spacious and bright office of the Central Department of the General Staff (handling personnel affairs), a smiling and handsome captain in his thirties who received Hessmann was also one of the new recruits of the General Staff.
"Captain Hessmann, right? Hello, I am Captain Albert Kesselring, a staff officer of the Central Department."
Oh, you are the Nazi German Air Force Marshal Kesselring who was sentenced to death but not executed? As Hessmann thought about the other party's tragic fate, his expression became heavy.
"Yes, I am Captain Ludwig von Hessmann, and I am ordered to report to you."
"Sit down, sit down." Kesselring still smiled, as if he had just learned that he was going to be promoted to major.
"Okay, Captain." Hessmann sat down on the chair opposite Kesselring's desk, and then took a closer look at the large office - this was a large room with more than a dozen desks, most of which had a jubilant officer behind them. The phone rang constantly, and occasionally there was a call, which sounded very happy, as if everyone had won the lottery.
"Did the front line win a victory?" Hessmann asked casually.
"No," Kesselring smiled, "it's better than this... it's Russia! There was a revolution in Russia, and the Tsar is likely to have been overthrown! I think this is a major turning point!"
It was the February Revolution! At this moment, Hersman remembered that today was March 15, 1917, and the February Revolution in Russia (February in the Russian calendar) began on the 8th of this month. If history had not changed, Tsar Nicholas II would sign the abdication declaration at midnight today.
"This is indeed a major turning point!" Hersman just managed to smile. Because he knew that the same thing would happen in Germany on November 9 next year. The only difference was that William II was able to escape to the Netherlands and did not fall into the hands of the workers and soldiers who revolted.
"Yes, I think your arrival is also related to Russia?" Captain Kesselring lowered his head and flipped through the notebook on the table, then asked with a smile, "The higher-ups want me to confirm whether you are proficient in Russian?"
"Yes, I speak Russian well." Hersman thought to himself, is he going to be sent to the Russian group of the Political Department to study Russian affairs? This is an easy job... I just took the opportunity to think about how to defeat the US empire and win World War II.
"Can you use the radio?" Kesselring asked.
"Yes," Hessmann replied, "I was in charge of this matter in the communications department of the 11th Army Headquarters."
Hessmann did have the skill of using the radio in his memory. He received relevant training before the outbreak of the war. After the outbreak of the war, he was sent to the 11th Army on the Eastern Front to manage the radio. It was not until last summer that he followed the Army Chief of Staff General Seeckt to the Austro-Hungarian 7th Army as a staff officer in the Operations Department. As a result, he was accidentally hit by an Austro-Hungarian shell while inspecting the Romanian front and suffered a concussion. By the way, he also changed his soul...
"That's good," Kesselring stood up. "Come with me, I'll take you to see the First Quartermaster General."
"First Quartermaster General!" Hessmann was stunned for a moment, "Are you talking about the First Quartermaster General, His Excellency General Ludendorff?"
Kesselring shrugged. "Yes, it's Admiral Ludendorff! He needs a Prussian noble officer who is proficient in Russian and can use the radio skillfully. The rank should preferably be lower than that of major. And you are recuperating in Zossen. So..." He held out his hand to Hessmann. "So, you are going to be lucky. Come with me quickly."
Will you be lucky? I don't know what the mission is? Maybe you will get the opportunity to be promoted to major and find a more important job in the pocket-sized Wehrmacht in the future. If you are lucky, you can be promoted to lieutenant colonel before Hitler comes to power. In this way, after Germany restores its armaments, he will have a good chance to become a general officer, and if he works hard, he can get the marshal's baton...
He followed Captain Kesselring, who was sentenced to death in history, and strode into the building of the General Staff. In the aisle, he saw many young officers wearing military trousers with red trouser lines. They were the elites of the German nation, and each of them had a happy face. Probably no one would have thought that the empire they were loyal to would be destroyed in more than a year, and they would not have thought that they would suffer the shame of a second defeat more than 20 years later. Moreover, they will be labeled as "fascist demons" by the victors, and will be executed or live the rest of their lives in humiliation.
Even more tragic is that in the original history, the descendants of Germany will never be proud of their martyrs who once fought in the name of their motherland...
Hessmann slowly developed a feeling that only he could save these pathetic Germans. This was probably his fate of traveling through time and space and rebirth... If he didn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison or be hanged on the gallows, he had to find a way quickly!
He followed Captain Kesselring and walked quickly to the end of a corridor. In front of him was a closed door. Outside the door was a desk. A major adjutant with shiny blond hair was sitting behind the desk looking at some documents. He raised his head when he heard footsteps.
"Captain, what's the matter?" The blond major recognized Kesselring and asked with a smile. It was obvious that he was also happy about the revolution in Russia.
"Mr. Reinhardt, is His Excellency the Admiral in there?"
"Yes, you're just in time. The Admiral just came back from His Excellency the Field Marshal and is now in the office."
In today's General Staff, "His Excellency the Field Marshal" is synonymous with Hindenburg. President Hindenburg is now the Chief of the General Staff, the immediate superior of General Ludendorff, and the most powerful person in Germany today (Emperor Wilhelm II has been sidelined by the General Staff), while Ludendorff is the second most powerful person in Germany after Hindenburg.
Captain Hersmann followed Kesselring into the luxurious office of the second most powerful man in Germany, and saluted the old man with sparse gray short hair and a neat general uniform who was studying a situation map of the Eastern Front battlefield on his desk.
"General, Captain Kesselring of the Central Office reports to you!" Kesselring respectfully placed a folder on the general's desk.
Ludendorff raised his head, revealing a rather majestic face. He had a high forehead, sunken eye sockets, and a straight nose that seemed to be carved out. He wore a monocle on his nose, and under his gray mustache was a tightly closed mouth with both sides bent downward.
The admiral glanced at Hessmann, his eyes sharp, as if he wanted to see through the soul hidden in his body. Then he waved to Kesselring and let him leave the office without saying a word.
Now, only Ludendorff and Hessmann were left in the huge office.
Could it be a top-secret mission? Hessmann had noticed something unusual, but he still stood straight, without a trace of expression on his face - this was the most standard posture of a Prussian officer.
Ludendorff still didn't speak, but opened the folder and read it carefully. I don't know how long he read it, and a voice that sounded very majestic broke the silence.
"Captain Hessmann, do you know the news of the Russian Revolution?"
It was indeed for Russia!
Hessmann said calmly: "I already know."
This is not a military secret. Tomorrow morning, all German newspapers will publish this inspiring good news on the front page.
"Don't you think this is good news?" The admiral asked in a gloomy tone.
"This is good news, but it's not good enough for the Empire, because I don't think the revolution will bring peace to the East." Hersman answered with certainty. He knew that the leaders of the Russian Provisional Government after the February Revolution were unwilling to negotiate with Germany at all - those guys were stupid people with brains, and they deserved to be caught and shot by the Bolsheviks!
Admiral Ludendorff's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a satisfied smile: "It seems that you have some research on Russian issues."
Hersman did not deny that the German military fans in the future generations certainly knew the Soviet Union, the Red Empire, very well.
Ludendorff looked at Hersman, paused and asked again: "So, do you know Lenin?"
"Le...Lenin!" Hersman was stunned, and suddenly thought of something, blurted out: "Sir, are you talking about the leader of the Russian Bolsheviks, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov?"
Ludendorff tilted his head back. "Haha, it seems that the Central Office has finally found a suitable candidate for me this time." He looked at Hersman, "Captain, I now appoint you as my adjutant, and you will be directly responsible to me. And you have only one task, take the radio station and the people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Switzerland, and establish contact with Lenin, the most dangerous rebel in Russia, in the name of the German Socialists!"