Chapter 61: The Empty City Plan
Hindenburg's huge estate is now surrounded by 3,400 SA members. However, none of the SA men rushed inside the gates of the manor.
It wasn't the huge defensive force that stood in the way of the stormtroopers. On the contrary, the entire gate of the manor was not visible to even a single cleaner. The avenue leading to the manor's interior was straight and quiet in front of the stormtroopers.
Röhm was a little worried, he was afraid that there was fraud in it. It is impossible for the manor of an old marshal of the empire to not even exist with a janitor. Then, the abnormal emptiness in front of you is obviously deliberately done by someone.
Glancing back at the main force of the stormtroopers he had brought, Rom's mind was a little more determined. Originally, the total number of stormtrooper members in Roma's hands had reached tens of thousands. But most of them are just unemployed and mobs who have no combat effectiveness and only know how to smash. The only ones who really have a certain combat effectiveness are the 3,400 party members in front of them.
The 3,400 SA members were divided into 11 brigades of 300 men and 1 100-man Rohm Guard. The 300-man stormtrooper brigade was armed with Mauser Type 88 rifles, which had long been obsolete, with fixed double-row magazines and rotating rear-pull bolts. The Röhm Guard, on the other hand, was equipped with a better Gew.98 rifle with sights in the old Wehrmacht standard version.
With such troops, the manor in front of him is not as dangerous as it seems, and Rom secretly cheers himself up.
"Captain, the layout of this manor is too weird. Could it be that all the people inside have run away? Hines, who graduated from the Military Academy in Munich at the same time as Rohm, took two steps forward. Hines and Röhm were not only graduates of the same era, but also colleagues in the 7th Military District of the Army in Munich. As a result, Hines has long been marked as a close confidant of Rohm. Now, as a close confidant, Hines naturally wants to stand up and share Rohm's worries.
"Impossible." Rohm shook his head and said, "From here we can clearly see that Hitler's black Mercedes is still parked next to the main building of the manor. I know Hitler as a person, even if he wanted to leave, he would not leave Hindenburg's car. ”
Hearing this, Hines said in a deep tone: "Then let me lead two brigades to rush in to find out what the hell Hindenburg and Hitler are doing." ”
Rom was pleased with Hines's loyal retainers, and what he needed was a cronie like Hines who was willing to take risks for him. Now leading a team to break into the manor must be a very dangerous task. Everybody knows that.
Glancing at the few stormtrooper cadres beside him who were silent, Röm sighed. The stormtroopers, after all, are not his word to the court, and many people here are in a wait-and-see attitude. The remaining few members are the ones who have already stood in line. Before Frey, he chose to stand in Hitler's team. And now Hines is on the side of his Roma.
From the bottom of his heart, Röhm was reluctant to let Hines take this risk. However, the only thing he can use with confidence now is this top student of the military academy who graduated at the same time as him.
Rom, who was ruthless, patted Hines on the shoulder and said, "My loyal vassal Hines, you are my best subordinate, and this task will be entrusted to you to complete." I'll give you 3 brigades to use to play Hindenburg's hole cards. Remember, don't rush and stay safe. ”
"Yes, Captain!" After Hines replied loudly, he named the two captains and asked them to bring people into the manor with his team.
The two captains whose names were named reluctantly pulled the team to the front. After all, no one likes to do this kind of work.
However, Hines didn't seem to see the expressions of the two captains. He simply pulled out his Luger P08 pistol from his waist, loaded it with 19mm bullets, and loaded it.
After a look at Rom, Hines said in a deep voice, "Let's go!" ”
At the sound of an order, Hines's direct brigade quickly rushed into the gates of Hindenburg's manor. Since Hines was a magna laude student at the Munich Military Academy, all members of his SA received some degree of military training. A brigade of 300 men scattered and lay down on both sides of the gate as soon as they stormed the manor. Then, the other two stormtroopers walked slowly and straight into the gate of the manor.
"Dispersion, dispersion!" Hines reminded quickly.
It's a pity that these two stormtroopers who came in later didn't have any military literacy at all. Their ranks were chaotic and their command was uncoordinated, so Hines's reminders didn't have the slightest effect.
On the contrary, since no blow was taken. The party members of the two backward brigades laughed at Hines for his timidity.
The two stormtrooper captains sneered even more contemptuously: "I was righteous and awe-inspiring just now, but I didn't expect it to lose momentum so quickly. ”
"Others call it cautious, be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years, hahaha......"
Under the leadership of the two captains, all kinds of taunts continued one after another.
"A bunch of idiots!" Hines said angrily: "Before you are out of danger, you dare to relax like this." In this way, they are not far from real danger! ”
At the same time, in the two three-story concrete annexes on either side of the main building, rows of Wehrmacht soldiers wearing black steel helmets have quietly loaded their rifles and slowly raised their guns to aim at the vanguard of the stormtroopers.
Compared to the Type 88 rifles, which lagged behind the SA, the Wehrmacht in the annex building was equipped with all G98 rifles. In addition, each floor was equipped with an MG15 machine gun. In both buildings, there were a total of 6 machine guns. Against stormtroopers, who only have light weapons, such weapons and equipment can only be described as luxurious.
In the main building of the manor, 100 Hindenburg's private estate guards also gathered by the windows on the first and second floors. Although these convoy members are only armed with a few improved shotguns, they can also form a network of fire. Moreover, the frontal escort is not the main force. Hindenburg really relied on the officers and men of the 1st Company of the Wehrmacht deployed on both sides of the main building.
..........
Behind the secret door of the study at the Hindenburg estate, Hitler and Goering were sitting on the sofa opposite Hindenburg with awkward expressions.
"Roma, a villain who eats inside and out, I treat him as a comrade, but he betrays me at the most critical time!" Hitler said to Hindenburg, who was sitting behind his desk, as if he were a speech: "Once we have cleared the villain of Röhm, the rest of the SA will be back in our hands." That's when we can take back the initiative......."
"Enough!" Hindenburg interrupted Hitler's rhetoric and shouted angrily: "You know that tonight is the time for us to carry out a coup d'état, but you have failed to manage your subordinates, which has led to the present chaos, so that it has disrupted my overall deployment. ”
Hindenburg's anger was justified. Originally, he was scheduled to mobilize troops loyal to him today to seize power in Berlin. However, Hitler's SA came into clash with the SS, which led to the transfer of a large number of SS units to the vicinity of Berlin. This extra SS unit was clearly detrimental to an armed coup.
Once the Wehrmacht, loyal to his Hindenburg, met the SS loyal to Chang, it was an unpredictable showdown. And all this, apparently, was what Hindenburg had tried to avoid before. And if the coup is deadlocked, Sickert will be able to mobilize the Wehrmacht loyal to the government to suppress it, in which case the coup will fail completely.
And the stormtroopers that originally belonged to their own camp suddenly defected, bringing an imminent crisis. The safety of Hindenburg was now guarded by Hamette's 1st Company and a mere 100-man manor guard. How does this make Hindenburg not angry?
Goering, who was sitting next to Hitler, was already in a cold sweat at this time. If it weren't for the fact that he had advised Hitler not to reveal the coup d'état to the gossip SA in order to prevent Rohm's rise in status. Knowing that there was going to be a coup d'état, Rohm probably wouldn't have defected. If Goering were given another chance, he would even be willing to personally inform Röhm that they were going to unite with Hindenburg for a coup d'état.