Chapter 374: Lobbyist
In a bright and spacious room, Dönitz was taking a closer look at everything around him. The study in front of him www.biquge.info true to its name, with two shelves more than 4 meters long filled with publications and classics, and with his height of nearly 1.9 meters, he also needs to use a sliding ladder to reach the top items. Unlike those vulgar and vulgar Kuomintang high-ranking people who deliberately disguised their knowledge, these books have obvious traces of being turned over by their owners, especially the literature on the frontier of aircraft performance research, which has serious burrs in the corners, and the cover has faded marks caused by long-term friction.
"There has been a lot of gossip in the Navy lately that you have been relying on pure luck, General Brom, to achieve the merits of the Norwegian naval battle, and now it seems that this is completely irresponsible slander." Dönitz said with a bit of sincere admiration on his face. The young man in front of him was 17 years younger than him, and he was enough to be his son in a Silesian village, but now the two were in the same position, which had to make Dönitz feel inexplicable. No matter how many points the other party's family background and interpersonal relationships add to him, judging from this personal effort alone, it is enough to be called a model for the whole army.
Fang Yan smiled when he heard this. In the past two years, he has been promoted too fast, from a major during the German-Austrian merger period to a major general, although this looks extremely cool on the surface, but the promotion to level 4 in a row has put great pressure on Fang Yan, so that he has to devote 120% of his mental energy to improving his own ability. For this experience, Fang Yan was bitter in his heart, he did not comment on it, but quietly waited for Dönitz's subsequent words.
"Yet, you should be in the spotlight receiving the highest accolades and honors, and now you are being treated unfairly. Marshal Raeder put you in charge of the Shipbuilding and Repair Bureau, ostensibly to get you promoted, but in fact it cut you off from the first-line fleet, and you can no longer continue to advance to the top through your exploits. The reason why he made an exception in awarding you the rank of major general is that he will be able to firmly lock you into your current post in the next six or seven years, so that you will not only be directly controlled by him, but you will also lose your status and influence in the hearts of officers and men at the grassroots level over time. Dönitz's words turned sharply, and his eyes burned.
Fang Yan took a deep look at the middle-aged man in front of him, who was taller than himself, and his thoughts were spinning. He could be sure that Dönitz was not sent by Raeder to test him, because Dönitz was not only a fanatical believer in national socialism in the navy, but also had a huge disagreement with Raeder on whether to give priority to the development of submarines or surface warships.
Now that Dönitz has said this, it is enough to prove that he has switched to the National Socialist Party, and the people standing behind him are either Goebbels, Hess, or Hitler.
"The marshal is the commander-in-chief of the Navy. Whatever position he gives me, I must obey this command. Fang Yan spoke slowly, his expression full of bitterness and helplessness, "I can understand what you said just now. But I don't understand why the marshal wants to be on guard and against me. Could I still threaten his Commander-in-Chief? ”
Dönitz said hesitantly, "It seems that you feel it too." Your current head of the Repair Bureau seems glamorous and noble, but in fact you are a canary in a cage; The colleagues around him are all cronies of the marshal, and his future is blocked and there is no chance of promotion. As for why the marshal did this, it was entirely because of the National Socialist background you have. ”
Dönitz smiled slightly, and the corners of his mouth already showed a bit of disdain and contempt: "Our commander-in-chief is self-assured of his all-round talent, and as early as when he was a vice admiral, he regarded himself as the strict father of everyone in the navy, regardless of professional ability, personal life, or political position, he must personally take care of it to the end." And for those who don't meet his heart, no matter how outstanding his talent is, he will never reuse it. Now it's your turn, General Brom. ”
"Because of your well-known relationship with the top of the National Socialist Party, the Marshal feared that you would help the National Socialist Party to break its absolute dominance within the Navy when you came to power, so he made these arrangements. In my opinion, this is a sign of extreme selfishness and stupidity. ”
Dönitz's voice was sonorous, and his eyes were full of resentment and flamboyance: "Not to mention that General Brom, you haven't started to do these things at all, even if you really preach nationalism in the navy, it is a righteous thing." He Raeder has been taking responsibility and honor and military tradition as a guideline all day long, but what major achievements have he made in the past ten years? Had it not been for the birth of Germany's greatest son, and for the change of day, and your prophetic subversion of the old system of naval warfare, would he Raeder now have half the fame of Lord Tirpitz? ”
Fang Yan's heart trembled, and he was almost moved by Dönitz in an instant. It is true that the shackles on the German Navy were broken by Hitler, and today's victory in the British naval battle is the result of Fang Yan's years of painstaking efforts to build an aircraft carrier fleet. However, without Raeder's leadership of the overall situation and the tremendous efforts he has made in personnel training, equipment production, organization and management, and planning and many other fields, it would have been absolutely impossible for the German Navy to develop from a 13,000-ton pocket combat cruiser and light air-shell aircraft carrier with a personnel establishment of less than 15,000 in just a few years to the heyday of today's continuous warships and eagles soaring into the sky with more than 200,000 officers and men in service.
It was precisely because Raeder's excellent coordination skills were so important to the navy that Hitler had always tolerated the former's political inadmissibility and the fact that the navy was self-contained. If Raeder really had a name, how could Hitler, a dictator, have been honoring him for seven years? One only has to look at the Minister of Defense Blomburg, Commander-in-Chief Fritsch, and Chief of the General Staff Beck, who were ousted in 1938, to understand that Hitler would absolutely drive out all those who stood in his way from the center of power as long as he had a choice!
"But I don't have the power to change the situation right now." Fang Yan said in a low voice. Dönitz looked directly into Fang Yan's eyes and said, "But the Führer can achieve everything you want in your heart." As long as you firmly follow the Führer's orders in the future, the Führer will be able to promote you to vice admiral within 3 years, and in 10 years, you will be the new commander-in-chief of the Navy. In the end, Dönitz emphasized to Fang Yan almost word for word.
Fang Yan stared at the man in front of him, and for the first time a huge wave rose in his heart. He really couldn't think of how Dönitz could give himself this promise: at present, the real power of the navy is in the hands of Raeder, and the appointment and dismissal of any high-ranking officers needs to be through his nod, unless Raeder steps down and is replaced by a commander who obeys Hitler's orders, otherwise the latter will definitely not be able to bypass the naval headquarters and directly control personnel changes within the navy. But how easily can Reddell be replaced? If there had been a suitable candidate, Hitler would have made up accusations to remove Raeder from power!
Suddenly, Fang Yan's mind flashed with lightning, and he thought of some kind of terrifying possibility. He took a deep breath, his gaze becoming a little flustered, and he couldn't get his breathing back in order for a while. In Dönitz's expectant eyes, Fang Yan slowly stretched out a hand and said in a deep voice, "I have completely understood your intentions. I'm sorry, however, that I can't remove Marshal Raeder from power by such means, at least not yet! On this point, I will personally go and explain it to the Führer. If you don't have anything else to do, please leave. ”
Dönitz looked stunned and said, "I haven't said anything yet, do you know what the Führer wants you to do?" Fang Yan had regained his composure at this time, and said unhurriedly: "There is a proverb in the East that says that after a cunning rabbit is hunted, the hound is also slaughtered and cooked by its owner because it loses its effect. I don't know how Marshal Blomburg was brought down? I must commend the Führer for his impressive political means and boldness, but strategically the rabbit before Germany's eyes is far from finished. ”
Watching Dönitz leave the study with a hellish look of horror and disappear outside the iron gate of the manor, Fang Yan slowly stood up and walked straight to the bathroom next to the bedroom. After a while, the warm water enveloped Fang Yan's body, and he comfortably straightened the joints of his body, leaning against the edge of the bathtub and thinking quietly.
At the beginning of 1938, Field Marshal Blomburg, then German Minister of Defense, could not hold back his second youth and married his secretary, who was 30 years younger than him. However, before the honeymoon was over, the Gestapo investigated and found that the marshal's newlywed young wife had left her name in the register of German prostitutes.
As the traditional Prussian aristocracy and the absolute core of the government, Blomburg's marriage to a prostitute could not be accepted by the officer corps and the populace under any circumstances. Hitler was even more furious when he heard the news, thinking that he had been deceived, and even sent a wedding blessing to a Bichi, which was simply stepping his Führer's dignity into the dirty sludge. Soon, Blomburg was dismissed from his post in the midst of the crusade of the public, and Hitler abolished the post of Minister of Defense and let himself, who was already the president + chancellor, concurrently serve as the supreme commander of the armed forces.
For a long time, Blomburg's dismissal was said to be self-inflicted, but Fang Yan knew that this matter was definitely not as simple as it seemed on the surface. Hitler's motivation to get rid of Blomburg was absolutely valid, given Hitler's long-standing desire to covet military power, and Blomburg's gradual transformation from his initial assuction to power into a stumbling block to his dictatorial ambitions. Fang Yan guessed that Hitler must have known the details of Blomburg's new wife for a long time, but he deliberately withheld it; It wasn't until the end that the Gestapo was ordered to suddenly attack and seize power in one fell swoop.
Now, Hitler has hit Raeder with a similar idea, intending to use Fang Yan to set Raeder in order to wait for the net to be closed. Although the specific means are not yet known, this is undoubtedly not important. Fang Yan was sandwiched between the two, only feeling that his thinking was almost unable to keep up with the changes in the situation. He was so tired that before he knew it, he fell asleep in the bathtub.