Adrian, who was stationed in the General Staff, with the assistance of the personnel in Eric's War Room, began to implement it in strict accordance with the plan plan.

It's just that this effect doesn't seem to be as promising as everyone expected.

Both at home and abroad, they all felt that this young man who had continuously skipped grades and sat in the position of chief of the general staff seemed to understand nothing at all, and he was still blindly commanding.

In May 1916, the Chief of the General Staff of the Second German Reich Erik ordered Max Hoffmann, commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front, to launch a new round of summer offensive against the Russian army. From the outset, the situation was one-sided, and the entire German eastern defense line retreated nearly 100 kilometers, not only surrendering the areas originally occupied, but also giving up the national border. As soon as this incident came out, the voices of scolding Eric Adrian and asking him to get out of class were heard endlessly. But for the first time, Kaiser Wilhelm II did not make a decision immediately, but ordered Eric Adrian to find out who was directly responsible for this time. Later, Eric Adrian found a few scapegoats from various places, and the matter was forcibly suppressed, but the voices against him remained.

Even Sylna had privately persuaded Adrian to take the blame and resign so as not to cause more damage. But Adrian didn't listen to the persuasion, and still went his own way.

In August 1916, just as the Eastern Front was already losing ground, the situation on the Western Front became confusing. The German army, which had already suffered in Verdun, launched the Verdun offensive again. However, this offensive did not seem to be as bad as on the Eastern Front, and the two sides were once locked in a battle to the death, with casualties counted in hours.

On August 12, in the office of the Chief of the General Staff, Adrian trembled and received the casualty report on the Western Front from Brauchitsch, he didn't want to see it, but as the supreme commander, he had to read it and memorize it. This is a table at the end of the classification record, which is a series of numbers except for a few limited words such as classification and unit. It may not seem as vivid and bloody as the written description, but for Adrian, who is naturally sensitive to numbers, this is more intuitive and full of possibilities than any language. The constraints of language and description are no longer there, there are only casualty figures that can make people play infinitely blind. Walter von Brauchitsch was one of Adrian's adjutants, that is, the chief of the General Staff. This is not the first time he has handed Adrian the casualty form to Adrian himself, but he can feel Adrian's inner torment every time. It's not something that can be pretended, and Adrian doesn't need to pretend in front of him, it's the part of his inner torment that he doesn't completely hide.

At this time, the Field Marshal, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front, Ludendorff, who was supposed to be commanding at the front, appeared in his office.

"Why was the ration of shells canceled?" Ludendorff was not in a good mood at this time, and he had in his hand a list of the types and quantities of supplies for the front line, and this was just one of them, and on this list there was a kind of shell that was conspicuously crossed out.

Adrian knew what Ludendorff was talking about, but he was in no hurry to speak.

Ludendorff looked at Adrian's expression and became even more angry, scolding: "Stupid, stupid, ignorant! Everyone is using it, thinking that you don't use each other because you don't use it? Amusing! The grumpy Ludendorff grabbed the pen holder on the table and smashed it against the window behind Adrian, so loud that the guards rushed over. After Adrian signaled that it was okay, the guard exited the room, but Brauchitsch, who remained in the office, saw the whole process, clenched his fists and waited for Adrian to speak, he could beat the old man to the ground. In Brauchitsch's heart, Adrian's status is only half a point lower than that of the emperor, and he is already an existence that he needs to look up to and support, how can you allow an old man in a coffin who likes to steal people's credit to insult and disrespect at will?

"Don't forget the reason why you kid can have today, don't sit high and don't know how thick the sky is. Make up the supplies, otherwise you will bear the consequences. Ludendorff's fiery temper made him more and more arrogant, and his voice became louder and louder. The people who rushed to hear the news stood at the door and did not go in, but listened outside to see what was going on. Someone dared to be so arrogant in front of the Chief of the General Staff.

While Ludendorff's momentum was getting louder and louder, Adrian was still sitting in the same place gloomily watching Ludendorff dance and scold. Seeing that his speech was becoming more and more unremarkable, Adrian had to wave his hand to signal Brauchitsch to press Ludendorff down in order to prevent things from happening. Brauchitsch, who had endured it for a long time, shouted at Adrian's approval and shouted at the guards, and then pressed Ludendorff to the ground with three strikes and five divisions, and then violently buckled him. Ludendorff, who had just been dragged into the corridor, suddenly scolded: "You damn bastard, you dare to treat me like this, even the emperor has to give me three points, what are you?" But it's because..." Before Ludendorff could finish speaking, the people in the corridor saw Adrian suddenly run out and shout: "Hit, hit him until he can't say half a word!" ”

The next scene made everyone's hearts jump, the dignified Supreme Commander of the Western Front of the Second German Reich was beaten and kicked in front of everyone, and the scene was very violent. The old Ludendorff was no match for these elite guards, not to mention that he was still tied, and although he was still trying to spit out the words in his mouth, it was difficult to distinguish between the shouts.

After all, Adrian didn't want to aspire to Ludendorff, but to stop him from continuing to keep his mouth shut, so it didn't take long to say: "Stop, lock him up alone, and wait for His Majesty to decide." He could only do this, although he could be sent to a military court, but he was afraid that Ludendorff would continue to be unspeakable if he broke the jar, so he had to let the emperor deal with this tricky old man himself.

The news that one of the imperial marshals, the supreme commander of the Western Front, was severely beaten by the chief of the General Staff spread far and wide, and those who heard about it did not believe it, it was too unbelievable, and such a thing had never happened throughout history. Just as the matter continued to ferment, people became less and less hopeful about the general staff under his command, and a new wave of cries for Eric's downfall finally came again. At this time, the emperor stood up again, stating the severity of the incident this time, but did not mention the initiator of this incident, but asked Adrian to strictly investigate the matter and deal with the relevant personnel according to law. The emperor sighed for a while when he said this, which was a bit too short-guarded. Some emperors have a taste of endorsing Adrian. But Adrian didn't seem to appreciate it, and he didn't have any treatment for the people involved in this incident. As the minutes ticked by, no one saw Adrian make any further moves. In the end, the emperor finally couldn't sit still.

On August 26, 1916, exactly two weeks after the marshal's beating, Kaiser Wilhelm II dismissed the chief of the General Staff from his post for incompetence and promoted Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz to chief of the General Staff. Originally, this appointment should have been big news, but because of the series of personnel changes since the start of the war, Tirpitz's appointment has become less impressive.

Speaking of Adrian's situation at this time, he left the General Staff the same day after the edict of Kaiser Wilhelm II was issued. Then he disappeared from everyone's sight. This young chief of the General Staff, who was promoted quickly, came and went quickly.

Hans Westerau, a major attached to the Berlin General Staff, was supposed to be a driver, but he didn't have that many worries when he found out who he was. It's just that he was particularly curious that all these chiefs of general staff, who had been out of class since Falkingham had been out of class last year, seemed to have been sent to the same place, and then always with the same face, and the same major rank and person drove the person away. Even the youngest chief of the General Staff in the history of Germany, who now sat in the back, was no exception, and he was curious to know what was going on, but his commander had told him to talk less and inquire less. So he still held back his curiosity.

In the midst of this series of appointments, subtle changes are quietly taking place in the most important eastern and western fronts in Europe.