Chapter 43: Iron and Blood (4)
In the evening of the same day, the Berlin garrison, having completed its preparations and assembly, embarked on a train south to suppress the rebellion, and prepared to go to Munich to suppress the rebellion under the leadership of General Georg Wetzel.
Due to the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, the original most famous army general staff was disbanded, and the army bureau actually exercised some of the functions of the former general staff, and Weitzel's role was closer to that of the deputy chief of the general staff who coordinated a front before the war, and sending him out to command the operation was the highest degree of importance that Sickert attached to the Munich riots.
Wetzel himself had full confidence in the completion of this task, but he could not have imagined that this confidence would be twisted and turned by a small problem: the train full of the Berlin garrison had an accident only three hours after leaving Berlin, and the locomotive boiler was damaged due to pressure problems and had to be replaced before it could be put on the road.
Finally, the repairs were completed at 8 p.m., and after less than four hours of driving, at 12 o'clock in the evening, another accident occurred: the tracks and switches in the key section ahead were damaged and had to wait for repairs, while the maintenance workers were on strike and had to wait for Berlin to send out maintenance teams and materials to move on, so they had to stop at a second-class station.
"When will we finally be able to fix it and start again?" Wetzel asked impatiently, looking at his watch.
"Maybe ...... tomorrow afternoon"
"We have to spend 15 hours here?" He exclaimed.
"Sir, you can walk through the damaged section and requisition other locomotives to move forward, but I don't know if there will be any problems." The stationmaster replied lukewarmly, "Or just wait here for 15 hours." β
Wetzel was angry: "You know what? Your attitude was enough to be shot during the last war. β
"But that won't be the case in the last big war."
"Why?"
"The last war was to beat the French, to beat the Russians, of course the workers worked hard, now you are going to beat the Germans, and you are going to beat the Germans who rebelled against the Treaty of Versailles, who will give you your life?"
"You!" Wetzel slapped the table and stood up, "You're a rioter sympathizer!" Maybe it's the spies who help them spy on the enemy! β
"Yes, I sympathize with them, what can you do?" The stationmaster snorted coldly, took off his scarf, and revealed the blue Max medal on his collar, "You don't need to look at me so angrily, where were you when I beat the Russians on the Eastern Front?" You have the ability to beat up the French in the Ruhr area......"
Wetzel shook his head depressedly, there were less than 1,000 recipients of the Blue Max Medal in Germany, and it stands to reason that such a meritorious person would not be driven out of the army, but he looked at the stationmaster's left hand, which only had two fingers left, and then thought of such a horizontal attitude, and he understood.
"I refuse this proposal, it's already late at night, the troops still have to rest, and it's too late to think about anything tomorrow morning!" Wetzel replied coldly, "You'd better not play tricks on me, since you are from the army, you should understand that soldiers take obedience to orders as their duty, no matter how many thoughts you have in your heart, no matter how many merits you have in the past, you can't change this principle." β
If it was just light infantry, of course Wetzel would have directly ordered the troops to go over, the problem is that they still have artillery, and there is a lot of trouble in boarding, loading and unloading up and down, so they can only endure it!
"Okay, I wish you a good night!" The stationmaster smiled slightly and said no more.
In fact, as soon as the news of the Berlin garrison was clear, Munich knew that Hitler could not stop Sickt from sending troops, but he could think of all kinds of ways to obstruct it, and the National Socialist Party in this time and space because of Contini's financial dollars, coupled with the neatness of going straight to Munich and Hitler's famous oratorical talent, made its prestige far greater than in history.
At this time, the German working class took a clear stand: they despised the surrendered and traitorous Weimar government, and believed that "the Munich government that declared that it wanted to abolish the Treaty of Versailles was a truly patriotic and revolutionary government", and the organizers of this regime were still the Socialist Workers' Party, the ranks of the working class itself, so they were determined to do Adolf Hitler a little favor, and the sabotage of the railways and the workers' demonstrations were all spontaneous acts, as the stationmaster threatened. If the army really goes to the front and requisitions other trains, they have a way to keep the trains going and stopping, and the railroad is not easy to get something done?
Deutsche Bahn is the best and most tightly regulated place in the world, and conversely, it is the easiest place to do sabotage.
"The Berlin garrison is coming, what are we going to do?" The high brass of the Kuomintang, who had received the exact news, had not yet recovered from the joy of the successful seizure of power, and heard the bad news coldly, although they knew that the railway workers were desperately trying to hold them back so that the Nationalists would have time to prepare, but even then all the top brass were not confident.
Strassell, the second-in-command of the National Socialist Party, sighed: "Sickert attaches great importance to us, and actually brought over the most capable troops." What is General Ludendorff's opinion on this matter? β
Hitler was silent.
Someone replied: "He suggested that we put up a proper resistance, and then try to find a political solution, if we can't do it, then we can only surrender honorably." β
"Adolf, do you think so?"
Hitler shook his head slightly: "A government that wants revolution, a government that tries to overthrow the Treaty of Versailles, is now frightened by a few thousand people in a regiment, if tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of troops from the Entente come over, what should we do?" β
"Now is not the time to talk big!" Strassell said dissatisfiedly, "We don't even have a decent artillery, and our opponent is a well-armed, heavily armed regular army, so you still have to fight?" Are you going to kill all the comrades of the party? β
Before Hitler could answer, Goering sneered beside him: "So, some people are weak and sick again, and a regiment is at a loss before it reaches the door, if a division comes, will it directly tie up the comrades and turn themselves in?" β
"Herman, what do you mean by that?"
Goering ignored him, and only said to Rom: "Aren't the thousands of stormtroopers under your command a decoration, let's say, do you dare to have a fight with the Berlin garrison?" β
Rohm was furious: "What is there not to dare? I've been preparing for this day for a long time, but don't be scared to pee your pants when the time comes. β
"You ...... You ......" Strassel stomped his foot hard, unable to say a word.
"I have decided to think of a political solution first, and at the same time take Comrade Hermann's suggestion to build barricades in Munich and mobilize the working class to fight together!" Hitler gritted his teeth, "The revolutionary government can be suppressed by force and blood, but it must not surrender itself!" You can't surrender without a fight! β
After the meeting was dismissed, RΓΆhm hurried to set up the barricades, while Goering hurried to Gyan, who had been sent by Contini to join him, to continue his adviceβthe suggestion was made by the brave and Continy's joint consideration, and that in a war with a regular army like the Berlin garrison, the field battles in the suburbs would be lost, but the street battles might still have a chance.