The Rise of the Third Reich

Hersmann looked at Hitler with a surprised face. He led the German army in history and forced Germany's old enemy France to collapse and surrender in just 35 days.

But now, Hitler simply couldn't imagine such a scene. Mechanized warfare is still in the theoretical and exploratory stage. Britain's Fuller and France's De Gaulle put forward theories, but few people in their countries are willing to listen. Although many people in Germany are interested in their theories, due to the lack of tanks with reliable performance, the development of the German armored forces is not very fast. So far it can only be regarded as an exploratory stage.

According to the plan, starting in 1935, the German Wehrmacht would begin to form the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions. However, these three armored divisions do not have any good tanks to use. The current speed of tank development in Germany is only slightly faster than in history. The No. 1 tank used for training has been officially put into production, and hundreds of units have been produced and delivered. This Allowing the training of armored troops to be carried out on a large scale.

However, the Army's combat tank (Panzer III) and support tank (Panzer IV) are currently still in development. The ones that have been completed so far are the 7.2-ton No. 2, in addition to No. 1, which cannot be used on the battlefield at all.

Developing advanced weapons is a complex and long-lasting project, and it is not easy to cheat. Due to the constraints of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany lagged behind in the design and production of many weapons. Tanks are one of them. Before the development of the Panzer 1, Germany did not even have a decent tractor industry. Moreover, Germany did not develop tanks after the World War, so the No. 1 tank was almost started from scratch.

"General," Adolf Hitler said in an obviously skeptical tone, "if I remember correctly, you don't even have a tank with real combat effectiveness now!"

"Yes, we don't." Hessman admitted very frankly, "And when we fight France in the future, it is likely that we will not have tanks with superior performance than the other side."

That is simply impossible. The French are far ahead of Germany in tank design and production. France's Charles D1, Charles D2, and S35 are all tanks that have been equipped with the army since the mid-1930s. Germany will have to wait until mass production at least on the 4th before it can have a tank to fight with it - it can only compete face to face. If you want to ensure victory, you may have to let the "Tiger" and "Panther" take the field. As for the French Hotchkiss H39 and Renault R35, two light tanks put into use in the mid-1930s, they can also overwhelm the German No. 1 and No. 2 in terms of firepower and armor.

"Then how are you going to win?" Adolf Hitler asked.

"Use a system to win!" Hessman said, "War has always been a confrontation of systems. At a small level, it is a confrontation between military forces composed of many arms. At a large level, it is a confrontation of comprehensive national strength. For a senior official of the General Staff like me, the main responsibility is to find the most reasonable way to combine arms and formulate combat plans based on this. Due to technological advancements in the past ten years, the land of the next world war will be different. The battle and naval battle modes will be very different!

Mr. Prime Minister, I will use a military exercise to prove this to you. "

…

"Dear, Mr. Prime Minister, has he agreed to support restoration?"

When Hirschmann returned to his estate in Zossen from the Chancellery in Berlin, Chloe von Heinsberg greeted him like a gust of wind.

"Oh, Chloe, be careful." Hessman quickly threw the bag in his hand to the servant and reached out to support his wife, who was pregnant again.

He and Chloe have already given birth to three children, and the eldest Rudolf has entered the Grosslichfeld Military Academy - this is an obligation that every eldest son of a Junker military noble must go to. The second child Maria and the third child Reinhardt have already gone to school and may be doing homework now.

Now Chloe is pregnant for the fourth time at the age of 38. However, this Germanic woman is very strong and does not consider herself to be a "key protected object" at all.

"I'm fine," Chloe kissed her husband on the cheek, "I'm as strong as a mare, you said so yourself."

This is what Hessman said when he was drunk one time - isn't Chloe just a "big ocean horse"? However, Chloe did not feel unhappy and sometimes joked that she was "Ludwig's mare".

"My dear," Hessman looked at his wife's figure, which could be described as "strong", and then kissed Chloe on her face that already had some crow's feet. "You are 38 years old after all. It's not easy to give birth to a child at this age. Safety."

"I'm fine," Chloe touched her belly proudly, "I also want to give birth to two more children for you... By the way, does Mr. Prime Minister support your idea?"

Hersmann’s idea was to restore the Hohenzollern dynasty! This idea was first put forward by him, and he also wrote the Hindenburg Will. The Army Policy Council and the Military Intelligence Bureau he controlled were also doing their best to promote restoration.

Basically, Hessmann has become the leader of the restoration faction in the army-if this thing is to happen, Hessman will "support the first victory." Titles and military ranks don't matter, even his prestige among the Junkers noble officers can be improved a few levels.

Restoration has been the dream of the Junkers for more than ten years. If Hessmann succeeds, he will be as important as Hindenburg as the head of the General Staff. It is not only Hohenthal who Hessmann wants to restore. The Lun Dynasty also wanted to re-establish a command and mobilization system with the General Staff as its core.

However, Hersman's promotion of restoration was not purely to seize command of World War II, but also for the sake of himself and his descendants - if the emperor was not restored, he would be just a count for fun. With the emperor, he would not only become a real Earl, and can go two steps further to become a marquis or a duke.

And there is no emperor at the top. Once Ludendorff dies, Juncker and the Nazi Party will have to show their cards... Who knows what the result of this showdown will be? Hitler was not a fuel-efficient lamp either.

"Not yet," Hersman said, "but he has not expressed any objection. We can move forward with this matter and slowly find ways to convince him."

"How to convince?" Chloe and Hersman walked to the restaurant together.

"Use a military exercise to prove that his talents and knowledge are not enough to serve as commander-in-chief." Hersman explained, "In this way, I can personally serve as the de facto commander-in-chief of the army! By the way, I am going to the Netherlands in two days. Will you come with me to meet His Majesty?"

"Meet His Majesty?" Chloe smiled in surprise, "Of course, let's go together."

…

"A military exercise? Ludwig, what do you want to do?"

The next day, at the General Staff Headquarters in Zossen, Hersmann, Chief of General Staff General Kurt Hammerstein, and Director of Armored Forces General Guderian talked about holding a "joint military exercise of armored forces and infantry." idea.

"We will do it in the Baltic Republic in the second quarter of next year." Hersman whispered, "His Majesty and the Prime Minister will go to observe..."

"Your Majesty? Which Majesty?" General Hammerstein was stunned.

"Of course it is His Majesty the Emperor!" Hessmann looked at his immediate boss, "By the way, we will arrange for His Majesty to meet with Mr. Prime Minister and His Excellency President Goltz to discuss the establishment of restoration and the Third Reich!"

"Really?" The way General Hammerstein looked at Hessmann changed a bit - originally he looked down on Hessmann, who had never commanded a field unit above a company, and thought he was not worthy of being a general at all. But watching Hessmann push forward the restoration step by step, it seemed that it was about to succeed. As a general of the Junkers, how could Hammerstein not be excited?

"Of course!" Hersman said, "President Goltz is a staunch royalist, and Mr. Prime Minister has always supported the restoration of the Hohenzollern dynasty. He is just worried about the reaction of Britain and France. If we can prove to him the military's If it is strong, then the restoration will be successful.”

This mechanized war exercise was not only for Hitler, but also for the old emperor William - so that the old man knew that the current war was completely different from what he knew!

"So how to prepare for the exercise?" Guderian interjected and asked. He was not of noble birth and had no special feelings for His Majesty the Emperor. What he is most concerned about now is to test a set of mechanized warfare methods that he imagined based on the theories of Fuller and de Gaulle.

"One army against two armies!" Hersman said, "Form an armored corps, consisting of an armored division and a motorized infantry division, and then attach a bombing aviation group as the blue side. The red side is composed of two infantry corps. Hold the preset position. The Baltic side provides a motorized infantry division and an infantry corps.

In addition, after the army exercise, a naval aviation long-range attack exercise will be held in the Gulf of Riga. A fleet of 100 twin-engine torpedo bombers and reconnaissance aircraft will take off from East Prussia to attack target ships in the Gulf of Riga. "

"Who will command the blue side?" Guderian asked.

"Heinz, of course you are here!"

"What about the red side?" Guderian asked again.

"Let Lieutenant General Alexander von Falkenhausen serve as the commander-in-chief," Hersman replied. "His term in China will end in February next year. He has stayed in China for almost five years and has not had much contact with him. The concept of armored and motorized combat is most suitable for imitating the brainless Poles!”

Lieutenant General Falkenhausen has been the head of the military advisory group in China for five years. As in history, Falkenhausen's advisory group was sent by Schleicher to help the Wuhan government train the army. However, in this time and space, they have trained many more troops than in history, and have trained a total of 60 outdated infantry divisions - the kind that can only dig trenches and squat in pits, and do not have many cannons, machine guns and rifles. It can be regarded as a barely adequate infantry division, and it is not German-made. It is an upgraded version of the Soviet Union made in Hanyang (most of the military industry of the Wuhan government is aided by the Soviet Union, and the reason why German instructors are used to train the troops is entirely because of Stalin) unwilling to irritate Japan and Britain on this issue).