The first field marshal of the German Army, who was born with the title ceremony presided over by Führer Accardo, the second field marshal Rundstedt also had a very decent promotion ceremony, and Rommel even flew back to Germany from distant North Africa for his marshal scepter.

However, Manstein's marshal promotion ceremony was rather hasty. Because he neither returned to Berlin to accept his marshal promotion, nor did he find countless media to leave a few photos of his promotion with pride. He simply hurried back to Kiev, the political center of Ukraine, where he took his marshal's scepter from Brauchitsch's hands.

Although the ceremony was hastily presided over by another marshal, this did not mean that the weight of Manstein's marshal scepter was not so important, on the contrary, this marshal's scepter determined the rank of the highest marshal in the German Army, and the position of the Führer's faction finally rose to the occasion.

Quantitatively, at least Rommel and Manstein were real Führer cronies. And Rundstedt, who was not so firm, was another of the Führer's favors, and even Brauchitsch, the former representative of the aristocracy, questioned less and less of Accardo's decision on the core issue. Needless to say, Admiral Raeder, this person is completely Accardo's mouthpiece, and he will only carry out all of Accardo's orders without hesitation. Therefore, these bigwigs of the German military now seem to have completely resigned themselves to their fate, because they really have no way to counterbalance the Führer's faction in the future competition for the strength of Germany's senior leadership.

The Air Force can be said to be a branch of the army born with the rise of Accardo, and Catherine and Dick have no suspense at all. The Navy rose to prominence because of a series of decisions made by the Führer, and the dream of defeating Britain in several generations was fulfilled - a prestige that made Lütjens and Dönitz and others even more subservient to Accardo.

If the three armies begin to be promoted to marshal, then there are too many of Accardo's henchmen who are stuck in the rank of general, and who have the prestige to be promoted to marshal, not including the four people mentioned above, just in the army, Accardo's henchmen have Guderian and Kluger, two people who can be justifiably promoted at any time - and the rest of Liszt and Modelketel and others are also pulled up by Accardo. They all have the shadow of Accardo more or less, so the traditional aristocratic faction can't get a few competitive high-ranking generals at all.

This was also one of the reasons why Brauchitsch was anxious to send General Bock down to the commander of Army Group P, and he hoped that his old partner could get military merit at the front and leave a person to talk to in the military for the future German nobles.

"Congratulations, Marshal Manstein! You have conquered such a vast territory for the Reich that you deserve this marshal's scepter!" Marshal Brauchitsch smiled and handed Manstein the scepter, which represented the highest rank and honour of the German soldiers, in an auditorium in Kiev.

The Führer's envoys arrived first, and they ordered a perfectly fitting German field marshal's dress for Manstein. Of course, there was also a jewel-encrusted Oak Leaf Sword and Knight's Iron Cross. All this thrilled Manstein, after all, it was something he had always dreamed of as a German soldier. He had dreamed of taking the marshal's scepter, but he found it felt better today.

The Marshal's Scepter was not really expensive, in fact it was supposed to be made of precious gold and set with precious stones. However, in order to save unnecessary waste, the inner core of the scepter is weighted steel, only the surface is gilded and set with precious stones, which are still very precious because of the deal with General Furcumman of South Africa. On the surface of the scepter there are 24 golden eagles and 24 iron crosses, with a total length of 50 centimeters and a cross-sectional circle of 3.4 centimeters in diameter. The color of the holding part of the Field Marshal's Scepter is red, distinguishing it from the white color of the Navy and the blue color of the Air Force.

Manstein smiled and accepted the scepter handed by Brauchitsch, then stood up and saluted a German salute and shouted loudly: "Long live the great Führer Accardo, Rudolf!"

"Long live Führer Accardo, Rudolph!" Brauchitsch also raised his hand and gave Manstein a gesture in response. Then he lowered his arms and walked side by side with Manstein to the bottom of the steps, and as he walked, he asked: "I heard that in the Caucasus, there are still many areas where partisans are active, and there are still certain difficulties in laying oil pipelines?"

"If these Soviet partisans are completely eliminated, it is estimated that another 150,000 to 300,000 troops will need to be invested. Manstein put his hands behind his back, playing with the marshal's scepter, which represented power, and said to Brauchitsch: "If there are 200 to 300 helicopters, you may save 50,000 yuan." ”

Field Marshal Brauchitsch couldn't help frowning when he heard Manstein say this, he knew that the guerrilla activities in the mountainous area were indeed difficult to eliminate, but the situation was so grim that it was indeed quite a headache for him.

"We can build pipelines from Ukraine to St. Rudolph, where there is more security, and then we will have time to deal with the difficult partisans. Manstein spoke his mind, after all, he was the commander-in-chief in charge of oil field safety.

As he walked, he pondered his words, after all, he was not thinking about this on the first day, Accardo wanted oil from Baku, not the poor mountains and rivers: "If the Soviet defenders continue to rout on the frontal battlefield, then these local partisans will not be fed and replenished with weapons and ammunition...... That makes it easier for my troops to clean them up. ”

"Your strategy is right! This is the most effective way to get rid of the guerrillas. If their homeland had now ceased war with us, then they would have no reason to continue fighting with us, would they?" Brauchitsch was quite satisfied with Manstein's answer, he nodded, and then said with a smile: "From the time you were a staff officer to me, I could see that you were very strategic, and the Führer had his own reasons for placing you in the Caucasus. ”

The two of them just walked down the steps and walked towards the door, their attachés and guards could only follow from a distance, after all, this was the highest-level meeting of the imperial military besides the Führer.

"Your appearance in Kyiv is now probably back in Berlin. Suddenly, Brauchitsch came up with something that seemed to have nothing to do with the current state of the war: "The Baku oil fields are very important, and as an Imperial soldier, I don't want such an important resource to fall into the hands of the merchants." ”

Manstein strongly agreed with Brauchitsch's view, and he also felt that the Baku oil field should be directly controlled by the Reich's Ministry of Industry, since it was the first large oil field under Germany's own control. If greedy businessmen were allowed to mess around in Baku, it could really shake the very foundations of the German army.

"I agree with you. Manstein said: "I think the Führer meant the same thing, which is why when the previous Baku received the work, it was strictly secrecy. ”

"It's a pity that there is no impermeable wall in this world! No matter how strict the secrecy is, it can't shut everyone's mouth. There must be an undercurrent in Berlin by now, at least the bustling city is not as peaceful and serene as it seems. Brauchitsch said with some concern.

"So what?" said Manstein, laughing, then looked at Brauchitsch, and asked in a very humorous tone, "will you approve of those men and do something stupid to our Führer that violates your oath?" and then let those fellows who have never been on the battlefield elect a man who does not speak human words to sit in the Führer's place? ”

Brauchitsch glanced at Manstein, and then the worried expression on his face eased a little: "I hope those idiots don't really think they're going to have the support of the Army." At least Germany's mighty army, the world's invincible army of 7 million, was on the Führer's side from beginning to end, there is no doubt about that. ”

"You see, now we know who is bound to win this power struggle...... At least I never doubted that the Führer would be ousted by a bunch of idiots. Manstein patted Brauchitsch on the back with his marshal's scepter and made a gesture of please, telling the other to be the first to walk out of the hall: "We only need to carry out the Führer's orders and win the war." ”

The two marshals got into their cars and drove in the direction of the railway station. Manstein didn't have time to enjoy the scenery of Kiev, he had to rush back to Baku to organize a new round of extermination of the Soviet partisans, and there were many, many things that he needed to take care of personally, after all, he was now the marshal of the Third Reich, wasn't he?

"Marshal, do you really choose to be on the Führer's side?" asked Brauchitsch's adjutant in the rocking car, with some flickering.

"I'm on the side of the victors!" Brauchitsch replied coldly, looking at the receding scenery outside the window, "and now, even you and those behind you can't change anything, because the Führer is the side that will surely win......"

A day later, Field Marshal Brauchitsch personally brought his own adjutant to a court-martial. In the afternoon of the same day, the senior officer was sentenced to death for the crime of unknown origin of a large amount of property.