Chapter 41: The Power of Propaganda

Cassente looked horrified at the German field marshal who was standing in the small submarine control tower and smiling at him.

Although he hoped from the bottom of his heart that this excessively young German Field Marshal was not the man he had guessed, he really could not find another German Field Marshal who was so young from his memory. He really didn't want to believe that he was so "lucky" to meet the person the Prime Minister of the British Empire feared the most, the person everyone is talking about in the streets of London now, this military genius who made all British officials revered and feared, the Wehrmacht Reinhardt. Feng. Field Marshal Stadler, Deputy Führer of Germany, National Commander-in-Chief of the German Nazi Party.

This extraordinary soldier with countless dazzling nicknames, such as the god of the German army, the apostle of God, the cleanser of Poland, the nightmare of the degenerates, the knight of knights, and so on, has now become the nightmare of all British ** officers. In fact, it is not surprising that Carson was so panicked, all of this was actually the result of the British government's propaganda mistakes.

In England, the deeds of this young German marshal became known to everyone. In the mouths of the British government, he was portrayed as a sinister, vile, shameless, cruel and bloodthirsty Nazi leader, who was ready to destroy the great and holy British Empire with his evil wisdom and his cruel army. Although in fact it does not seem to be much different from this, but in order to achieve a better literary effect, the royal literati of the British government added a little more material to the details, the imagination was a little fuller, and the words were a little more ornate, and the result was that the Battle of Dunkelke was written by them as a magnificent war poem like Homer's epic Battle of Troy.

And the sworn enemy of the great and heroic soldiers of the British Empire, the commander of the cruel and evil legion, the intrigue of Reinhardt, who murdered His Majesty's countless loyal soldiers. Feng. Field Marshal Stadler was thus thoroughly demonized by their success.

The most ardent of these attackers was British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who, in order to cover up his mistakes at Dunkerke, and to shirk his responsibility for the heavy losses, exaggerated Field Marshal Reinhardt's performance in the battle. In his speech to the House of Lords, he listed this man as the most dangerous and vicious enemy of the British Empire for three hundred years, and he used all his negative language to discredit this German.

In his description, this German has simply become the spokesman of Satan in the world, a monster rarely seen in the history of human evolution for thousands of years, a madman with psychological problems, a common enemy of all mankind, and the epitome of all evils in human history.

He put his oratorical talents to good use, and he used all his rhetoric and all his sensationalism to try to convince the councillors that the defeat was not due to some problems with his command, but to the relationship between them and an incomparably powerful and sinister enemy that had never been encountered in history.

Churchill succeeded in placing most of the blame on the incompetence and underestimation of the front-line commanders, because of their stupidity and greed, they insisted on stepping into that vicious trap despite the orders of the high command. He put the rest of the blame on the intelligence services, which, according to him, were entirely the malfeasance of the intelligence services that caused Britain to suffer such heavy losses, because before that none of their intelligence was to tell the Ministry of Defense to be careful with this German field marshal, and they didn't even have a detailed file about this man, which was simply unforgivable.

As a result, Churchill finally succeeded in convincing the eyeing parliamentarians and the indignant British people, and he once again survived the storm and kept his position. However, what he absolutely did not expect at the time was that when his speeches and the works of those royal literati were circulated among the people, a serious sequelae appeared.

For a time, in the minds of ordinary British people, the German marshal's value skyrocketed, and he became the target of all British after-dinner conversations. After another exaggeration by these gentlemen and ladies, the German marshal was almost more terrifying and evil than the dragon in English mythology, and he was so evil that he could not even bind up all the famous villains in British history, and his terrifying wisdom could not even confront all the famous wise men in English history.

Especially in the remote villages, the legend is even more appalling, this man became the heir to a blood-sucking nobleman's family, the illegitimate son of an abyssal demon on earth, and almost said that he had to eat a beautiful virgin and make breakfast with a baby every day. The strength of Reinhardt and his German team was exaggerated to the point of mythology.

The danger of such rumors is serious, and even more serious is that the British, who have always prided themselves on having a scientific and logical way of thinking, actually believe these things. The stubborn character of the British makes them find 10,000 reasons to justify their choice as long as they believe in the existence of something, and they will try to deepen this impression with all kinds of lies and imagination. Moreover, their vanity will make them desperately indoctrinate others in order to prove that they are more clever and wiser than others.

As a result, the morale of both the military and the civilian population fell to the bottom, and defeatism began to spread rapidly throughout the British government and opposition. No one dared to assure the population that Britain would be able to win the war. Everyone thought that to continue the fight with that terrible Reinhardt was to send those British lads to die in vain, and that Britain could not win the final victory with the existence of that terrible enemy.

Those who were still calling for Britain to fight Germany to the end and win the final victory were branded liars, war maniacs, lackeys of arms dealers, war brokers, and even traitors. It is believed that those who are still preaching what is still fighting to the end are either crazy or have ulterior motives, and their ideas are not to save Britain but to destroy it. When these poor propagandists were beaten by the angry crowd, stoned and rotten eggs, and finally thrown into an incendiary bomb from the window even while eating at home, the voices calling on the British to stand up and fight the enemy to the end slowly faded.

The people were expecting the government to come up with a solution to appease the enraged European neighbour as soon as possible, and they hoped that negotiations would end the nightmare, which in their hearts was their worst nightmare as long as Reinhardt was still an enemy of Britain.

In addition to this rudimentary trend in Britain, a vigorous anti-Semitic frenzy began to unfold in various cities. Jewish societies were banned, shops were smashed, personnel were dismissed and expelled, and even their homes were sacked by tyrannical native British hooligans, while the British scouts stood by and watched with disgust at the innocent Jews who sought their help.

The whole British society was crazy to blame the Jews for the war, believing that the war was caused by these Jews, and that Britain was blinded by these Jews into a war that they should not have participated in. It was the wealthy Jewish merchants and societies who were behind all this, and it was the same people who brought the disaster to the great British Empire. They were determined to make the people who had harmed Britain pay for their actions, and they hoped that their actions would please the formidable enemy on the other side of the Channel, hoping that they would build a bridge of communication with Germany.

Once again, the poor Jewish people were pushed into the position of victims, and they were treated almost as well in England as their compatriots on the Continent, and in some respects even more than their fellow citizens in Germany had ever suffered. All this was going on frantically under the nose of the government of this country, and the British government at this time had no idea of preventing these things from happening, and they were not even willing to say a word of justice for the poor people. Perhaps the legislators felt that they were worthy of the Jews without enshrined anti-Semitic ideas in the law.

At first, human compassion prompted some government officials to express some dissatisfaction and sympathy. But when the wealthy Jewish merchants began to flee Britain en masse, and the businesses and property they left behind were taken over by the British government by wartime law, leaving the government agencies with a small fortune, no one showed any sympathy for these Jews. Some people are still there lamenting why it is only now that they have thought of opposing the Jews, that this kind of movement is too late, and that it would have been better if it had been done before the Great Depression.

Churchill was only indifferent to the anti-Semitic frenzy in Britain, and at most issued a decree or two to restrain it, and in his eyes he had more important things to deal with, and he really had no more energy to deal with these Jewish things. While such an act may draw criticism from the rest of the world, the interests of the Jews and the criticism of these countries are nothing compared to the life and death of Britain.

He also thought that he might change the attitude of his ally the U.S. government because of these things, but this was a matter for the future, and he couldn't care about it now, and he was confident that he would use his superb eloquence to convince the simple-minded Yankees when the U.S. expressed its disgust.

He feared the spread of defeatism and anti-war sentiment in Britain. Churchill was not going to surrender, he was even more reluctant to negotiate with the Germans, he wanted to fight this war, he wanted to win the final victory, he wanted to preserve the honor of the British Empire that had been undefeated for hundreds of years.

But what can be done to restore the confidence of these British people, in the final analysis, lies with the German field marshal. I didn't expect that those exaggerated remarks in order to shirk responsibility would eventually become a tool to tie my hands and feet. But it was too late to change that narrative, and the British people had become convinced of the strength of that enemy, and to say that he was nothing great now was to slap themselves in the face.

Churchill and his royal literati and aides consulted for several days, and at last they came to the conclusion that if they wanted to dilute the effect of one legend, they had to come up with another. It is impossible to create a legendary hero if the Englishmen have the courage to fight again, and the Englishmen know very well what their generals and marshals are, and it is impossible to create any effect without a brilliant victory. Now the only way to convince them is that their enemy is not a demon but a civilized man like them, and since the German deputy Führer has already described himself as a demon, then simply put on an angelic cloak on him, then these Englishmen will be at a loss, not knowing what to believe, at least not as afraid of being an enemy as they are now, and when the German bomb falls on the heads of the British people, they may have the courage to stand up and fight.

And now the British are full of curiosity about the German marshal, and some have even begun to worship this evil genius, and this situation is most common in the army, and it is human nature to worship the strong, even if it is the enemy, not to mention that Reinhardt did no real harm to the British civilians. If the government now had a little more information about the other side of the German field marshal, it should be convincing.

When these rumors are accepted by everyone, then no one will fear the German team and their leaders as demons anymore. The British have never been afraid to fight an army as civilized as the British ** army, they are afraid of fighting against an army that is savage, cruel, irrational and full of conspiracies, far superior to them, they are afraid of a battle that does not see the slightest hope of victory, if they see a little hope of victory or a little balance of power, they will not hesitate to fight. This was the conclusion that Churchill and his intellectually brilliant aides had come to after a few days of deliberation, but no one could have imagined at the time that they were making another great mistake.

Those royal literati began to dance with their pens again, an ordinary German officer, a young military genius, a warrior who regarded honor as his life, a defender of those ancient and noble traditions of Europe, a true knight who fanatically pursued and abided by the spirit of chivalry, a civilized gentleman who greatly abided by the rules of war, and a great enemy Reinhardt. Feng. Field Marshal Stadler appeared in front of all the British people.

In their description, he was simply the rebirth of the glorious Teutonic knights of antiquity, and the cruelty and danger became a kind of bravery and strategy, and the viciousness and evil became the painful sacrifice he made for his homeland. His deeds in Dunker were also brought to light, he allowed the British soldiers to keep their personal belongings after the surrender, he allowed the British officers to keep their rank insignia and give them good enough treatment after the surrender, he protected the prisoners from falling into the hands of the cruel SS, he gave all the wounded good treatment and medical treatment, etc., etc., all to show the British public that this demon was not so terrible, that he was also a civilized man, at least they wanted the public to believe this.

As a result, the reports caused a stir in the community, as they expected, and the newspapers were swept away. People began to talk about the German marshal in the streets again.

But the painstaking results of Churchill and his staff made these wise men fall through their glasses.

The courage of the British was aroused by them, and the populace began to speak of their willingness to fight for the British Empire, but the starting point was a little off, they fought to re-establish the glory of the English knights, and it was clear that they had taken the German marshal as an example. Young people also began to want to join the army and fight against the greatest knight in Europe and the greatest enemy of England, not to go to war but to participate in religious activities. Obviously, half of Reinhardt's angels attracted the attention of the British people more than the devil's, and made them more willing to believe and accept.

The unit that Churchill wanted to get the effect most became the only unit that had no effect, and the morale of the army did not improve, but became lower and lower. They understand better than anyone the horror of those German ** troops, and the soldiers, who had been frightened to death by the rumors some time ago, are now beginning to be tormented by their conscience, because the enemy described in the newspapers does not look like evil no matter how they look at it, so what is it to fight with such a "just" enemy, and the British soldiers are even more confused about this war. Since that enemy was glorious and great, how could he defeat him, and the soldiers fell into depression.

Fortunately, this only happened in the Army, and the Navy and Air Force managed to maintain their morale, but Churchill didn't want to know why, because he knew that the answer would definitely make him more depressed, and the two branches of the Army might have maintained their morale because they wouldn't go head-to-head with the German Field Marshal.

Now Churchill regretted it to the extreme, and he succeeded in establishing the heroic image of a fallen German angel in the hearts of all Britons.

The marshals and generals said that they were helpless against the state of the army, and that they could now only mobilize the colonial troops to defend Britain, and that it was impossible for them and the army to resist the German invasion with the men and troops on their own soil.

The most unforgivable mistake had been made in the propaganda work, and as soon as Reinhardt showed up on the beach, they suspected that at least half of the British ** team would run away, while the other half might rush to meet him, and then it seemed that only God could save England and save the king.

Cassente stared blankly at the legendary figure, and he cursed in his heart to the staff officers of the Admiralty why he was asked to command this operation. I thought that I would not have the opportunity to fight this knight, but now this person is standing in front of me alive, and I am beaten by this person to this embarrassing situation, it seems that the statement that that this person is invincible on any occasion is not a legend, and he has become a proof of this legend.

But he can finally comfort himself that he did not lose at the hands of an unknown junior, but at the hands of the greatest military genius in Europe, which is not a shameful thing, and when the time comes, he can also tell others that he has fought with that apostle. Originally, I couldn't figure out why some pilots who were shot down by the Red Baron in the last war spread that experience everywhere as an honor, but now I completely understand.

Cascent had completely lost the courage to resist, and he looked at the smiling apostle, waiting for the final result.