Wrapped in the cold wind, Himmler, dressed in a dark green uniform, appeared at the gate of the Chancellery. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Seeing this loyal subordinate of his own heart, Hitler's anger and hatred for the cowardice and weakness of the army top brass was finally somewhat relieved. He put on a smiling face and began to talk pleasantly to Himmler in front of him. In this world line, due to Goering's early death, Himmler, who commanded the SS, became the only presence in the National Socialist Party capable of competing for military power with the Prussian officer corps. In view of this, Hitler's reliance on Himmler also increased. Especially after the outbreak of war, as the power of the army swelled dramatically, Hitler gave Himmler unprecedented high hopes: he was extremely eager for Himmler to make the SS bigger and stronger, and even develop into a powerful force that could compete with the army.

For Himmler, the arming and strengthening of the SS was another result he dreamed of. Since the suppression of Roma and the SA in 1934, the National Socialist Party has not had a truly formidable armed force: despite the rapid development of the SS in recent years, the vast majority of them are Gestapo (secret police) carrying out internal repression tasks, and are not really armed and combative. And if the SS can also gain a place in foreign wars, then he will also rise to Himmler's position, and truly become the top decision-making member of the party and the state with great power!

On the premise that the two sides had the same goal, the plan for the expansion of the Waffen-SS was quickly finalized by the two. The ambitious Himmler planned to expand their establishment to divisions with the current 3 Flag Guards as the core; And these newly formed divisions are not ordinary infantry divisions, but Panzergrenadier regiments equipped with a large number of mechanized vehicles. Among them, Himmler was even ready to equip one of the divisions with 1 tank regiment; The rest of the division's composition will also be changed to make it a true armored division.

On the afternoon of 7 November, Hitler summoned Brauchitsch and informed him of the enlargement of the Waffen-SS. Hitler said that the Army should uphold the collective concept of One Germany, and teach the command and combat experience of the Panzer and Motorized Divisions to the newly formed SS units. Of course, in order not to irritate the nerves of the Army community, and at the same time to have a deep understanding of the lack of command qualities in the SS leadership, Hitler promised that the SS would remain under the command of the Army in wartime.

Hearing that the other party was about to form 1 Panzer Division and 2 Panzergrenadier Divisions, the muscles on Brauchitsch's face twitched: you must know that the entire army currently has only 6 complete Panzer Divisions and 4 motorized divisions, and another 4 light and fast divisions equipped with No. 1 tanks are ready to be reorganized and upgraded into regular Panzer Divisions. This expansion of the SS was bound to greatly squeeze out the personnel and equipment belonging to the army and to a considerable extent interfere with the process of reorganization of the latter.

Brauchitsch, however, failed to stop the plan. For just this morning, Hitler, through Keitel, had given an order to postpone the offensive on the Western Front: this was a relief to the entire army leadership, and a strong sense of joy and joy was born of the precipice that had been pulled back from the edge of the precipice. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is an alternative compromise by the Führer to the army, which has not yet completed the preparations for the offensive: because although the date of the offensive has only been pushed back to November 25, two weeks later, as winter approaches and arrives, the weather and transportation conditions on the Western Front will only get worse and worse, and the time for the offensive will inevitably be delayed.

For the top brass of the Army, led by Brauchitsch, this was undoubtedly the best situation they could imagine. And when Hitler had already made such a major concession, if the Army further delayed the expansion of the SS, it would inevitably have a complete standoff with Hitler, and the consequences of this would not be borne by Brauchitsch and others. Moreover, Hitler also made a solemn guarantee to Brauchitsch that these newly formed SS divisions would be completely under the controlled command of the Army during combat operations.

Although Brauchitsch was also a little wary of Hitler's promises, he was now fully convinced of the sincerity of Hitler's words - if the SS dared to abandon the army and go it alone, then with the military qualities of Himmler and others, even if he was given 30 divisions, these armies would be broken and scattered in a very short time like trees under an avalanche!

After some weighing, Brauchitsch finally had to pinch his nose and admit Hitler's move to add sand to the army. Himmler, having received a great bargain, immediately went to Walter and asked the latter to discharge enough weapons for him in the production plan. As a result, the SS power developed out of history, advancing rapidly into the unknown territory of Fang Yan's previous life. In the face of this butterfly effect, Fang Yan could only silently remain a bystander for the time being, and he had a vague premonition in his heart that the SS would become a pivotal and key chess piece in the future German political chessboard.

USSR, Northern Barents Sea, port of Murmansk.

As winter approaches, it is becoming increasingly difficult for this port city at 69 degrees north latitude to see the brilliant red sun. At 10 a.m., the sun reluctantly showed half an arc on the eastern horizon, and by 4 p.m. it had completely disappeared into the sky, leaving only endless coldness, darkness, emptiness, and gloom in this frozen snowfield. The officers and men of the Red Banner Northern Fleet also ended their daily duties early and went to the bars on the shore to spend the long and difficult days of the polar night: although the Soviet authorities attached great importance to Murmansk, a port that did not freeze all year round and had free access to the vast world, if you look at it from the point of view of life, it is a desolate wasteland.

Wrapped in a thick bearskin coat, Yevgeny, the commander of the Soviet port garrison, stood on the pier and constantly looked anxiously at the dark sea to the northwest. The temperature had plummeted to minus 15 degrees Celsius after the sun had set, but as a colonel, he had no intention of going inside and enjoying the warmth of the fireplace. Beside him, Valentin, the commander of the North Sea Fleet, who had been in contact with Fang Yan, and Oleg, the lieutenant colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, also stood in the cold wind. It's just that compared to Yevgeny's anxiety, their faces are more patient and calm.

"Damn the Germans, didn't you say we'd be approached at 8 o'clock tonight? It's 7:58 a.m., why is there still no light on the sea? Yevgeny looked down at his pocket watch for the first time, and finally couldn't help but curse in a low voice. He began to pace back and forth in place, and a little bead of sweat appeared on his forehead because of impatience: "Are the Germans going to break the treaty?" Are their promises all farts? ”

"Comrade Ye Fei, please calm down a little. Germans are very rigid and punctual creatures, and they try to do everything with the utmost precision and meticulousness. After all, the thirty-five-year-old Valentin was calmer than Yevgeny, who was not yet ready, and he opened his mouth to persuade him. Valentin paused and said again: "Ten days ago, when I went to sea with 3,000 tons of heavy oil, I waited until 2 o'clock in the morning to receive a detailed telegram from the telegraph machine confirming the place of the transaction. Now I only regret that I was too cautious and took only a small part of the heavy oil with me to trade with the Germans; If it weren't for that, I would have been able to build a villa on the outskirts of Minsk by now. ”

Evgeny was jealous and yearning, and said sourly: "Even so, that's a total wealth of $15,000!" I could only get 20% of it, which was not enough for the gifts I promised to buy for the three women. He gritted his teeth and said: "My life in the next ten years will be all bet on this deal, if the Germans don't come, even if I have to take a big risk, I will ****** kill that evil German lieutenant colonel!" ”

As he cursed himself, Yevgeny suddenly saw a light flickering in the darkness to the northwest. His body shook suddenly, and he looked intently, and sure enough, he saw that the bright light flashed out two short and three long joint signals. Yevgeny was overjoyed and hurriedly responded with his own flashlight. He looked down at his watch again and saw that it was exactly 8 o'clock. Seeing this, Valenkyin and Oleg next to him also breathed a long sigh of relief.

There was a faint hum of the engine in the air, and the sound became clearer and clearer, and about ten minutes later, a small boat identical to an ordinary traffic boat appeared on the dockside. A middle-aged man dressed in ordinary Russian clothes strode onto the land, smiled in fluent Russian at several high-ranking Soviet officers in front of him, and said: "Gentlemen, I am Raphael, who serves the German Brom family. Five years ago, when I was the deputy director of the Leningrad Union Shipyard, I had a conversation with Mr. Valentin, who served in the Baltic Fleet. ”

Valentin was stunned for a moment, and his eyes immediately showed surprise: the person in front of him was the old man he had left an impression on. When the Union shipyard was still under the control of German capital, Valentin, who had just been promoted to captain, visited the shipyard with the regiment, and it was this middle-aged man named Raphael who received him. Seeing Raphael again at this moment, Valengin no longer had any doubts about the ability of the young German officer who had arrived a month earlier: he was indeed a star of fortune that would change his fate, and his life would truly turn a new page in the future.

"Three gentlemen, the weapons you provided should be ready, right? If there are no problems, then I will have to bring in two other weapons experts to start the inspection. With Raphael's words, two more people emerged from the sealed compartment of the dinghy. Looking at the three Valentin with changing faces, Raphael still maintained a decent smile on his face: "This is the procedure we have stipulated in the contract, and I believe that you will definitely keep your promise." (To be continued.) )