【 Chapter 18 – Interwar Period – Encounter 】
November 5, 1937
The Führer’s residence, Berlin, Northern Germany
In the meeting room of the Führer’s residence, the highest figures in the German military were seated.
“How have you been, Marshal Blomberg?”
“Well, is there anything I can’t do, It is thanks to His Excellency Führer. Senior Commander Göring.”
To Air Force Commander-in-Chief, Hermann Göring, who asked how he was doing, Defense Minister Werner von Blomberg replied with a smile.
From the beginning of the Nazi regime to the Night of the Long Knives (an event in which the Nazis purged stormtroopers and anti-Nazis), the two had a good friendship.
On the other hand, Admiral Erich Raeder, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and relatively distant from the Nazis, remained silent.
“By the way, do you know why we are having such an informal meeting today?”
Hermann Göring smiled proudly when asked by Army Commander-in-Chief Werner von Fritsch.
“Because the great Führer has finally come up with a solution to Germany’s problems!”
“Is this the solution….?”
The person who asked such a question was Baron Konstantin von Neurath, the only foreign minister not related to the military.
Baron Neurath’s voice contained a faint hint of anxiety about doing something crazy again, but Göring smiled broadly as if he hadn’t noticed at all.
“Hahaha, yes, that’s right…”
But Göring did not make fun of his light mouth. Because the door to the meeting room opened and the person in charge entered to explain it.
Hitler, who entered the room with all the people standing up and saluting him, laughed as if he were in a very good mood.
“Ah, I kept busy people waiting for great Germany. Thank you all for answering my call.”
Hitler went to his seat, beckoned to sit down, and proudly declared to German dignitaries, wondering what brought them to the informal talks.
“We, Germany, will invade Austria and Czechoslovakia.”
“Ohh, as expected, Mein Führer!”
“Yes…. yes?!”
Unlike Göring, who praised him as if he had great insight, the rest of the people were horrified.
“Therefore, the Defense Minister and the Commanders of each military should formulate and submit an operational plan for this. We plan to secure both within next year.”
“Now, please wait a moment, Mein Führer! Austria and Czechoslovakia have been part of Germany since the days of the Holy Roman Empire, so I agree with the plan to secure them. But we’ve barely passed three years since we officially declared rearmament!”
“Therefore? What’s the matter, Minister?”
At the desperate restraint of Defense Minister Werner von Blomberg, Hitler asked back as if it was a problem.
Blomberg looked around for help, but everyone seemed to have no intention of stepping up, so he had no choice but to swallow his dry saliva and open his mouth.
“I’m sorry to say, but our defense forces have only just begun to have a plan as a military. We will have to wait until 1942 for the rearmament to be complete and the German Army to return to its former glory.”
“What? 1942? You want me to wait four more years? Germany has already been patient enough! The last war, the Treaty of Versailles, and even the provocations of those Jewish-Bolsheviks! Now is the time to act, Minister.”
“Bu, but…”
“But, what else? The strength of the German army has already been proven in the Spanish Civil War! Didn’t the Reds who were supported by the damned Soviet Union and the International Brigade of the Democrats fail to defeat the Condor Legion? We are stronger than Mussolini’s steel army!”
Since the Condor Legion was a small unit without support from the German homeland, Blomberg did not have the courage to discredit the Führer’s military presence, saying that it was more strange that they could not play an active role, and he kept his mouth shut.
“Bu-but Mein Führer. Right now, the Army is short of arms and ammunition for it’s forces. We don’t have enough time to arm all the troops…”
“Then tell the munitions companies to increase their productions. Can’t you just buy it with Meppo-Bexel bonds and pay the price after winning the war?”
Hitler was adamant about the remarks made by Army Commander-in-Chief Fritsch.
The Meppo-Bexel bond is the work of Hjalmar Schacht, who has been ousted from his ministerial post.
The plan was put forward to avoid the growing threat of inflation and difficulty hiding Germany’s blatant rearmament from Britain and France as it continued to increase military spending for rearmament.
It has been manipulating its financial statements by receiving munitions from military companies, but instead of paying them with a budget immediately, the government purchases bonds they issued and promises to pay later.
It has continued to ignore Germany’s economic capacity and is now on the verge of collapse.
“Mein Führer, The Meppo-Bexel bonds have already totaled more than 20 billion marks. As former Minister Schacht said, if we issue more bonds here, the government will simply not be able to afford it…”
“Stop! I’ve heard enough of those defeatist comments! The economy, the economy! How long will it take to develop Germany’s economy and rebuild its army to make a great Germany! After winning the war, rob them of their taxes and gold reserves and pay them back!”
Hitler shouted with glittering eyes to shut up the Army Commander-in-Chief and turned to Göring.
“Of course, Mein Führer! The Air Force will do its best to plan the operation!”
“Yes, if you are the Commander-in-Chief in charge of the Army in Great Germany be prepared to do this? How about the Navy, Admiral Raeder?”
Erich Raeder, who was next nominated by Hitler, opened his mouth as he narrowed his brows.
“Austria and Czechoslovakia are both landlocked countries, and they are not battlefields where Kriegsmarine (the name of the navy of Nazi Germany) will directly intervene, so it doesn’t matter, Mein Führer.”
Hitler, who smiled at Raeder’s answer that he did not oppose, frowned again at Raeder’s answer.
“…but if the British were to intervene in the conflict, there would be no way for the Kriegsmarine to achieve naval superiority from the Royal Navy. Plan Z is only just beginning, Mein Führer.”
Plan Z. Kriegsmarine’s grand and unrealistic plan to mass-produce cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers to catch up with Britain’s Royal Navy was underway, surprisingly, amid the optimism of naval leaders who still believe in giant guns and Hitler, who loves anything big and fancy.
Of course, the reality is a gutter, the battleship Bismarck, the symbol of the Kriegsmarine in World War II, has just begun construction, and even the Scharnhorst-class battleships that will lead the German surface fleet before the commissioning of the Bismarck-class have not yet been commissioned.
As the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, who did not even have the time to do something against the Royal Navy right away, Hitler responded with displeasure and dismissed the expression of apprehension.
“Britain will not intervene.”
“What? Bu-but Mein Führer.”
This time, the foreign minister, Baron Konstantin von Neurath jumped up, but Hitler was confident.
“They wouldn’t dare to stand up to our Great Germany, as they did during Rhineland’s rearmament. The plan will go ahead as scheduled, Admiral.”
“But, but Mein Führer. Things are different from when we were in Rhineland…”
“Even in the Rhineland, the Baron didn’t object! Why don’t you know that Britain and France are superficial cowards!”
Hitler yelled and silenced the foreign minister, at which point Raeder had no choice but to pretend to agree.
“…if there is no immediate war with Britain, there is no reason for the Navy to oppose it.”
Hitler’s gaze returned to the defense minister and army commander-in-chief, Blomberg and Fritsch, who would be the main pillars of the invasion of Austria and Czechoslovakia.
The two had no choice but to sigh deeply.
“What happened, Senior?”
German Commander-in-Chief and Senior Commander of the Nazi Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring, smiled bitterly and said to the “junior” who greeted him warmly when he came out of the Führer’s residence after a secret meeting.
“Blomberg and Fritsch were against it to the end.”
“Even the great Führer must be very concerned. Still, they won’t be able to go very far since they got stuck this time.”
Goering shook his head at the words of Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the Schutzstaffel (Nazi SS), who calls himself a senior.
“Hmm, His Excellency Führer still likes Blomberg, so I don’t think so.”
“Is that so….?”
While most of the Nazis’ high-ranking officials were notorious for vying for power under Hitler, Göring was quite fond of Himmler, who was respectful of him, except for being absorbed in some strange things like Norse mythology.
“It’s frustrating, because His Excellency Führer is quite affectionate.”
Göring began to walk with Himmler, saying something that would frighten future generations.
“…then why don’t we ease the Führer’s anxiety a little, Senior?”
“Is that possible?”
At Himmler’s suggestion, Göring asked back with admiration, and Himmler replied with a grotesque laugh.
“If you dig it up, you will find materials that will displace you. These days, I have a fairly capable friend among my subordinates. I have a friend named Reinhard Heydrich, I will introduce you sometime.”
“Oh, you are trustworthy. Then I’ll trust you. If you clean up the enemy, condescending and cowardly guys, then becoming an enemy is not my dream, and you too can grow the SS into an organization comparable to the National Defense Force.”
“As expected, you know how I feel. Hahaha!”
That’s how the plot of the Blomberg-Fritch affair began, the starting point at which the Senior ranks of the German Wehrmacht were torn apart and Germany’s deterrence on war began to loosen, thus began.
December 10, 1937
Berlin War College, North Germany
“The days of bloody push-and-pull warfare to establish trench lines and capture small plots of land are over, gentlemen.”
Although it was a lecture of personnel that began to be known to young armoured officers these days, the seats were more empty than expected. Is it proof that the majority of the army still look at his theory with suspicion?
“An armored unit surprises and quickly breaks through a weak spot on the line, while motorized infantry follows behind and deploys on the broken line, destroying the enemy before it can be recovered from the confusion. It will be a key factor for mobile warfare on the new battlefield.”
Major General Heinz Guderian, a man who was talking hard, was enthusiastically explaining the outline of the maneuver he was envisioning to the officers who would become the future of the German army.
In later generations, it would be commonly called blitzkrieg1, but there was no such word for the German army of this era.
“To do that, we must boldly forget about the common sense of the war in the past. The artillery unit, which was praised as the god of the battlefield, has been culled from its mobility, so it is turned to defense, and the air force, the artillery of the air, plays the role of artillery, and the commander must directly board the tank, see and read the battlefield, and make flexible and quick decisions.”
Indeed, among the people listening to this lecture, how many people can actually listen to Guderian’s explanation and associate it with their heads and follow it?
Guderian finished the lecture with a wry smile as if he had roughly read the atmosphere.
“Well, it must be difficult now. Don’t worry, the above is only an introduction, so let’s get to know more practical theories.”
Realizing that the lecture was coming to an end, the officers let out sighs, and Guderian ended the lecture with a smile.
“Then see you next time, gentlemen. ”
“Yes! Thank you!”
In the future, he will be revered as the father of German armored warfare, but now Guderian, who is only a proponent of an adventurous theory, leaves, and I ask Captain Mikhail, who was sitting next to me.
“So, well… do you understand?”
“…no… I thought I was a little smart, but I guess I’m not…”
Like me, he was recommended by Colonel Model to enter the War College, and since we were of the same rank, we quickly became close.
Not as close as Clement when I joined the army, but…
“Well, it’s a lecture strongly recommended by Colonel Model, so I’ll take it whether it works or not.”
“Hahaha… that’s how it should be. Well, see you next week then. Captain Mikhail.”
“Oh, good weekend. Captain Schacht.”
Time at the war college was passing by quickly.
In addition to professors, the War College often invited commanders in actual field command to give lectures, and as a result, there were quite a few cases where great commanders of World War II left in history visited and lectured for students who would be responsible for the future of the German army.
Of course, according to history, the candidates for General Staff, who are studying hard here and dreaming of a rosy future, will face World War II before they finish the process, and those who survived the hell should either stand trial or see their country torn apart and disbanded.
Colonel Model has occasionally written to me and Mikhail, who were in Spain and entered at his recommendation, to recommend lectures or to ask about his regards, and he also said that he would return to Germany early next year.
Somehow even I, who was interested in him in my own way, did not even know that he participated in the Spanish Civil War, and he didn’t stay that long.
Come to think of it, when Army Chief of Staff Ludwig Beck resigned in the aftermath of the Blomberg-Fritch affair, the Walter Model was also demoted, wasn’t it?
Walter Model, who had been building a career as a rising star of Berlin’s staff headquarters, was sent to the Spanish Civil War, but he thought it was too late to play a leading role during World War II, and that must have been the main culprit…
As a third party of his later generations, the situation of the German military, which he had not thought deeply about, became a party, and the flow was visible.
Ludwig Beck is the centerpiece of the anti-Hitler conspiracy, so it must happen to antagonize Hitler…
My father, Hjalmar, has been dismissed, and Colonel Model, who will become my connection in the military, will soon be demoted… Will it be okay as it is, I…
My relationship with my father, Hjalmar Schacht, was recovering thanks to my hard-working appeal to my mother every weekend throughout the War College.
I don’t know exactly when the von Kleist meeting will come into contact with my father, but I know it’s at least before the Munich Agreement.
They almost went to the brink of staging a coup d’état led by Major General Hans Oster during Operation Green – Invasion of Czechoslovakia, and they know that Hjalmar Schacht also had a leg on it.
I must wait for that time while properly following the general staff course as much as possible.
I was walking while thinking for a while, and a beautiful woman was walking in front of me, enough to catch people’s attention at a glance.
A beautiful woman with bright blonde hair and blue eyes. I’m dying to say that the Nazis are a perfect Aryan figure.
Well, it’s none of my business.
Thanks to that, I think of Clement, who betrayed his motive for leaving Spain to fall in love.
By the way, why is this woman coming straight to me?
“Hello? Good afternoon. Excuse me, but are you Captain Dietrich Schacht?”
“Good afternoon. Yes, it’s me, but… excuse me, who are you?”
“Aha, nice to meet you. My name is Claudia Jung from Frankfurter Zeitung. If you’re not busy, could you spare me a moment?”
Claudia, the woman who introduced herself, asked with an attractive smile.
How to say, she looks like a stereotype of a white beauty that men can dream of as a fantasy, so it doesn’t feel real.
I’ve seen all the white beauties in the blonde walls on screen as Hollywood actresses, because they’re actually rare in Europe.
So, my answer is.
“I’m sorry, I’m a little busy.”
Claudia blinked blankly as if she didn’t know she would be rejected, and I smiled at her and added.
“I’m sorry, reporter. I’ve been suffering from Spain, so I avoid interviews.”
The Frankfurter Zeitung is a traditional German newspaper.
An interview about Bonamas or the Spanish Civil War, or about my father who was deposed. Or maybe both.
Is this body sprinkling pheromones that fascinate you? Every time I do something, I keep getting involved with reporters.
As I was walking past the dazed woman, I suddenly heard a chuckle from behind.
Isn’t that the reaction you expected?
“Ahah, I’m sorry, indeed, I’m sorry. Well- that’s exactly what Mr. Havenstein said.
Havenstein? I’ve heard of it somewhere…. oh.
“…Julius Havenstein?”
The one who was discharged from the 3rd Platoon of the Condor Legion?
“Whoa, yes, that’s right. Do you feel like listening to me now?”
Claudia asked again this time with a playful smile instead of a reporter’s unique business smile.
….no, why is he coming out of here?
【 Interwar Period – Encounter 】- End
1Blitzkrieg was Germany’s strategy to avoid a long war in the first phase of World War II in Europe. Germany’s strategy was to defeat its opponents in a series of short campaigns.
Thank you for reading!
