In a large, high-roofed, dimly lit, richly decorated room, with several maps hanging on the wall, Lenin sat behind a desk that looked like a work of art, with a pile of papers on a red flannel in front of him. When the Great Mentor saw Hersman walk in, he stood up and shook his right hand with him. He was now wearing a loose suit and looked a little thin. His secretary and lover, who was also a veteran of the Bolshevik Inessa. Fedorovna. Armand sat beside him, a woman who looked to be in her thirties but still had charm, whom Hersmann had known since he was in Switzerland. He nodded at Armand and sat down in a chair across from Lenin.

Lenin nodded at Hersmann and said in a grateful tone: "I have just received a report from Comrade Trotsky that Kerensky's rebels have been defeated and we are victorious!" It's all your credit...... The victory of the August Revolution could not have been achieved without your help. Otto, I really don't know how to thank you. ”

Lenin still called Hersmann "Otto", as if the name symbolized the friendship between the two. Hersman smiled: "Vladimir. Ilyich (this title also indicates that the two are close), your friendship is the best thanks. ”

Lenin's friendship was certainly more valuable than gold, and by virtue of his role in the August Revolution in Russia, Hersmann would certainly have received the rank of major and the Iron Cross of the 1st class upon his return to Berlin. Then, because of his friendship with Lenin, he could go back to Russia.

Compared to other places, Russia is a blessed place for promotion and wealth. When the Brest Treaty was concluded, Hersmann had a chance to be promoted to lieutenant colonel!

After the defeat of Germany, his position would have been even more important, so that he would not be demoted (due to the small size of the Wehrmacht, it was very common for officers to be demoted and retained), and he would also be given a key position in charge of cooperation with the Soviet Union. This meant new promotions, a great deal of wealth and contacts - political, business and military - and the historical Soviet-German cooperation was very extensive, including the export of technology and equipment, the training of the air force and armored forces, the procurement of vital resources and diplomatic coordination. The resulting benefits are unimaginable!

Moreover, in Hersman's opinion, Soviet-German cooperation could well be taken to a higher level. The two countries can completely jointly develop advanced weapons such as battleships, aircraft, and tanks -- just as Russia and India did in later generations. While this would speed up the modernization of the Soviet army, it would be more beneficial for Germany. Not only can it obtain a large amount of funds and resources, but it can also use the funds of the Soviet Union to develop German weapons and equipment, and may even guide the direction of the development of Soviet armaments......

Such as the restoration of the Great Navy since the time of Peter the Great!

Another example is the development of a long-range heavy bomber that can take off from Vladivostok to bomb the Japanese mainland!

It's exciting to think about! But that's all in the future, and for now, the most important thing is to broker a Russian-German truce as soon as possible. The sooner the armistice was held, the sooner Germany could divert its forces to the Western Front. Perhaps we can make a more decent peace and preserve a little more vitality, so that the revival in the future will be easier.

Thinking of this, Hersman's expression became solemn: "I am here today to learn about your real peace conditions, not the peace conditions used for political propaganda...... Vladimir. Ilyich, I don't think you really think that peace without land and reparations can be achieved, do you? ”

Lenin shook his head and let out a long sigh: "Otto, the conclusion of a democratic peace treaty without annexation and without reparations based on national self-determination is the program that the Bolsheviks have always adhered to, and if it is abandoned, it will cause a serious crisis!" ”

"Wait!" Hersmann analyzed Lenin's words word for word, and suddenly discovered a loophole - perhaps deliberately left by Lenin. "On the basis of national self-determination, you say?"

National self-determination, in later generations, is almost equivalent to independence! But at the moment, this principle did not have much influence on the German Reich. Because the German Empire was a nation-state, the vast majority of its citizens were Germans, and the German people had been brainwashed by German nationalism for decades, and there was no possibility of voting for independence. Even the inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine, which were occupied by Prussia during the Franco-Prussian War, were in fact Germanic - both were originally principalities of the Holy Roman Empire, and most of their inhabitants were German-speaking, with Alsace seized by France in 1681 and Lorraine because of a land deal and a marriage (a king who lost the War of the Polish Succession received the Duchy of Lorraine from the Holy Roman Emperor as compensation, and his daughter later married Louis XV). If national self-determination were to be pursued, Germany could, of course, retain Alsace and Lorraine.

But for Russia, the principle of national self-determination would at least cost it Ukraine, Lithuania, Courland, Livland, Estonia, Livornia, Poland, and Finland.

"Vladimir. Ilyich, can I understand it this way, if citizens of Ukraine, Lithuania, Courland, Livland, Estonia, Livornia, Finland and Poland can vote to secede from Russia? ”

(The provinces of Estonia and Livonia later formed the Republic of Estonia, and the provinces of Livland and Courland formed Latvia.) ）

"Yes!" Lenin nodded and replied in the affirmative, "You can understand it this way, this is what national self-determination means. But Germany could not annex there...... This is the principle of non-annexation. He paused for a moment, and then added: "And I don't think that all the regions you mentioned will break away from Russia, at least not Ukraine." ”

Ukraine is not at all the same thing as Lithuania, Courland, Livland, Estland, Livonia, Poland, Finland and other places. It is the birthplace of the Rus' nation, has a very long history of integration with Russia, is very close linguistically and culturally, and Ukraine is very rich in natural resources, which is extremely important for Russia. If you lose it, you can't explain it.

Of course, Lenin did not really want to abandon Lithuania, Livran, Courland, Livonia, Estonia, Poland and Finland. At the first opportunity, he would send troops over and take back those areas, and then in the name of the last union republic - there is a state, is it not national self-determination?

As for Hersmann, he didn't care how much territory Lenin would take back after Germany's defeat...... There is no loss for Germany! The question now is only how to convince Wilhelm II, the German Viva of Germany, and the two old diehards of the Great General Staff - whether or not they can achieve self-determination is not important, whether they can fool the past is the key!

"So...... What about reparations? "Is it possible that on the surface you would conclude a treaty without compensation, but in private, you would transfer a sum of gold and jewels belonging to the Tsar to Germany?" ”

"I don't understand what you mean." Lenin shook his head, he did not know how much property the tsarist government had left - the situation was very chaotic.

"As far as we know, in 1915, for fear of our invasion of Petrograd, the tsarist government secretly transferred 600 tons of gold and a large amount of jewels to the vault of the State Bank in Kazan! That gold is still there...... As long as you can secretly transfer the gold to us, you can sign a treaty without compensation. ”

600 tons of gold is worth more than 2 billion gold marks, which is certainly much less than the 6 billion gold marks in the Brest Treaty. But cash and a promissory note that you don't know when it will be cashed are not the same thing after all!

Moreover, public transfer and secret transfer are not the same thing, because the Central Powers are not Germany alone, and if the reparations are made public, they will have to be distributed with Austria-Hungary and Turkey. Secret transfers could be monopolized by Germany and could exist as secret funds. In the event of a German defeat, the gold, because it was secret, would not be used to pay reparations, but could be held by the army and used to revive the country......

"What!?" Lenin was also taken aback, "Is this true?" ”

Hersman smiled and said in a low voice, "It's not true, don't you just send someone to check it?" And we in Germany are not going to take this gold for nothing...... We will provide a large number of artillery and shells, enough for the Soviet government to suppress all opposition! ”

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