Chapter 259: Assassination of Reinhardt (Part I)
Above the city of Munich, the sky is as clear as ever. Bright sunlight spreads on the roofs of the Munich tavern, adding to the vibrancy of this famous local pub.
Unlike cloudy Finland, Germany, in the sun, now seems to be far from the war. In other words, the Third Reich had the power to choose war on its own initiative, rather than having to react passively, as Finland did.
While people lament that life is thriving, there are also a small number of people who selectively forget Reinhardt's credit for leading Germany out of a desperate situation and blame him for his current behavior.
For example, the former commander of the 3rd Military District in Berlin, General Witzleben.
The Wehrmacht group, headed by him, had always been bitter about Reinhardt, who had formed the SS as an independent external unit of the Wehrmacht.
Witzleben even publicly accused Reinhardt of forming a party in 1923, or even earlier, by using his power to promote a large number of junior generals and interfering in state decision-making on several occasions of his own volition.
Although almost all of the generals promoted by Reinhardt proved their abilities in the later wars, they were by no means wine bags and rice bags. Although Reinhardt did influence the course of Germany's development, it seems that this development is also evolving in a good direction.
Forming a party for personal gain? You Junkers played better than anyone else! Lack of qualifications? How many of those Junker officers in the old army were not more senior than those promoted by Reinhardt?!
Many people in the know understand that the rights of the Junker class have been weakened by Reinhardt one after another, and they have long been anxious.
After Reinhardt's presidential election that year, the Juncker consortium was already divided and divided by Reinhardt.
Now, there are still a few stubborn Junker generals, who are always trying to get back a game.
"Yo, General Witzleben!" Surrounded by two SS guards, Reinhardt approached a group of officers headed by Witzleben: Chief of Staff Beck was there? Eh, isn't that General Hammerstein? It's all here, it's all there. ”
The former mayor of Leipzig, Gotaile, who was a little further behind, immediately had the idea of slipping away when he saw the Führer coming. Somehow, he always felt that the smiling Reinhardt would give him a sense of oppression.
This feeling came from his countless experiences, unfounded, but never deviated!
Just as Gotaile quietly moved his steps back, Reinhardt rushed up with a smile on his face and grabbed his hand, and laughed heartily: "Mr. Gotaile, I have heard of the great name for a long time, and I will finally see him today." I heard that you have close friendships with many politicians, business leaders, Catholic and Christian clergy, diplomats and military personnel, and even many foreign dignitaries are your friends. If we have a chance another day, we must have a good chat. ”
Reinhardt's seemingly flattering words sounded terrifying and cold sweat to Gotailer's ears. Yes, he has contacts with all sectors of society at home and some dignitaries abroad, but they are all for the secret organization to which he belongs.
And the ultimate purpose of contacting these people is to overthrow Reinhardt's rule and make the Junker nobles ****!
Just when Gotale looked at Reinhardt with a weak heart, the other party had already gone to talk to Witzleben and didn't care about him. It seems that the Führer is not yet aware of what his gang is doing.
Wait until Gotaile is curious to lean over and listen. Depend on! What are Reinhardt and Witzleben talking about?!
I saw Reinhardt hook Witzleben's shoulders and say loudly "with great enthusiasm": "General! Actually, I really didn't mean to replace you as commander of the Third Military District in Berlin. It's really that we are now dividing our troops on two fronts, and our troops are empty, so we will dismantle your men and send them to the meritorious division of the Polish campaign, that is, the 30th Infantry Division, as a supplementary source of troops. ”
Originally, Witzler had planned to use his army in Berlin to stage a coup d'état and quickly take control of Reinhardt to create the established situation. For this reason, they even sent people to secretly contact the British government to seek cooperation between the inside and the outside.
Unfortunately, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain blindly pinned his hopes on appeasement and refused to ask for help from Witzleben, an internal German resistance force, and did not provide diplomatic support.
During the negotiations between the rebel groups in Witzleben and the British, the three SS divisions led by Moder happened to be stationed around Witzleben's army, so that the idea of a coup d'état was temporarily dispelled by the rebel groups.
Then, Reinhardt gradually split and replenished the troops under Witzleben to the various units that continued to replenish the supply of troops after the Polish campaign, further elevating him, the commander of the light pole, and completely dispelling the idea of a coup d'état for this group of people.
"Führer, I have no objection to the arrangement of the state." Witzleben replied respectfully.
His expression was very respectful, at least, on the surface.
"The Wehrmacht was originally there for the needs of the Empire, it was the force of the Empire. For the sake of Germany, they can obey any arrangement. Witzlerben turned to Reinhardt in the most objective tone possible: "Unlike the SS, the Wehrmacht is not a private armed force loyal to a single individual, so it does not disagree with the arrangements of the state because of the personal likes and dislikes of their leaders. ”
Reinhardt didn't need anyone, he immediately reacted, this guy is scolding me in a different way!
At this time, if you bring the SS into it, don't you want to say that the SS is inferior to the Wehrmacht, and you look down on the SS and so on.
Reinhardt, who had long known that Witzler wanted to plot to kill him, sneered in his heart, if it weren't for the fact that your fame was too big to start, you thought I would keep you as a scourge to this day?
Look down on the SS? It doesn't matter, I don't have to deal with a dead man.
"Or General Witzleben understands my thoughts! He is worthy of being the most outspoken loyal minister of the empire, and at this time, as you said, the military and the people of the whole country should unite with the outside world and bravely face the threat of Britain and France! Reinhardt didn't seem to understand what Witzleben was saying just now, and what he said when he opened and closed his mouth was not what Witzleben meant.
I have to say that this guy's means of referring to deer as a horse is really neat, and his voice is loud enough. After two or three sentences, it looks like he and Witzler have been friends for a long time, and they cherish each other. According to his meaning, it was as if Witzlerben's previous remarks against him, both openly and privately, had become blunt and unspeakable advice, deliberately addressed to him.
Not to mention the others, even many people in the know of Witzleben and his party were confused after Reinhardt made a cordial gesture with Witzleben full of nonsense.
This looks like ........ Could it be that Witzleben and the Führer have always had a good relationship?