Iron Cross

With a "pop", Hoffman turned off the radio at the Eagle's Nest base camp and no longer listened to the chatter arranged by Goebbels - it was a long list that took forever to read. These lists were only announced after his approval. Instead of hiding them from the public, it would be better to inform them openly to avoid random guessing, and at least have a deterrent effect.

Facts have proved that Himmler's methods and ruthlessness were outstanding. He not only used this incident to brand Göring as a traitor, but also logically created a scene of suicide in fear of crime. Hoffman did not need to see it. Investigate and you will find out what the truth is. Göring had nothing to do with this incident. The bad thing was that he was usually too domineering. Not only did no one come forward to intercede for him during the handling, but no one questioned it after the case was announced - even though no one questioned it. Know what’s going on under the hood.

But because of Goering, Hoffmann had not slept well for several days. To be honest, he originally only wanted to deprive Goering of his rights, but did not want to kill him completely. He even still gave him the title of Marshal of the Reich. He kept it, but the consequences were so ruthless. It was just a subconscious hint at first, but Himmler finished the matter the next day. Although he became the head of state through time travel and inherited the memory of the head of state's ruthlessness, after all, he was just a time-traveling soul of an intellectual and could not be said to be a qualified politician at all. I have never even experienced a parliamentary struggle in normal times, but now I have actually eliminated an imperial marshal and the number two figure in the party while talking and laughing. The feeling of being in power is very good and very frightening. How can I sleep? The problem is that others do not know Hoffmann's original intentions. Whether they are party elders or military leaders, they are all shocked by the Führer's thunderous means of cleaning up Göring's forces. If we say that it took a lot of time to purge the SA and Röhm, With great effort, the liquidation of Göring this time was considered effortless. Everyone was impressed by the authority of the head of state. Even Ribbentrop, who had always been careless, now spoke with 120,000 careful words.

Originally, he had some sympathy for Goering's fate, but after Himmler presented Goering's list of confiscated homes, his mood gradually returned to calm. The list shows that the total value of real estate, securities, diamonds, gold, and cash in Goering's name is 50 million Reichsmarks, while the value of Goering's collection of antiques, cultural relics, and oil paintings exceeds 400 million Reichsmarks—these are all He used clever means to collect it from various places, and the price he paid was extremely negligible. In addition, Goering also owns the Hermann Goering Imperial Mining and Ironmaking Co., Ltd. This steel company was only established in 1936. Under the protection of the powerful, it has developed in just a few years. It has become one of the top five steel giants in Germany, and the value of this shareholding is no less than 100 million marks.

The cost of a Panzer IV tank was only 100,000 Reichsmarks, but Göring's worth was actually worth 5,000 tanks. Hoffman was deeply shocked by this, and his last remaining sympathy disappeared.

"My head of state, Göring, may not have committed treason, but his crime is no different from that of a traitor." Seeing Hoffmann's restless mood, Martin Bowman said angrily, "Look at his extravagant and lustful life. Even the Hohenzollern family does not have such a grand situation, and his end is not worthy of sympathy. "

"I know, but just thinking about our friendship for so many years still makes me unable to face it as if nothing happened." Hoffman no longer continued to entangle Göring's matter, but instead changed the subject and told Bowman, "After the Göring incident, your The task is also very arduous. It is necessary to strengthen the national socialist education for comrades within the party, to guide them to transfer their enthusiasm for making a fortune to contributing all their strength to the imperial cause, and to pay attention to the evaluation and assessment of cadres at all levels. Similar harm to us I can't bear it anymore, and I can't bear it anymore. Now, Himmler, Goebbels, you and Speer are my most important assistants. Himmler is in charge of the SS, Goebbels is in charge of government affairs, and Speer is in charge of government affairs. Pell wants to focus on the economy and armaments, but the core of our cause is the party and national socialism, and no one will be allowed to trample or override this principle, so you must fulfill your duties and be humble and cautious."

Bowman nodded, indicating that he understood Hoffman's subtext. After Goering fell, Himmler's power became too great and he had to find a way to restrict it. Although the head of state took the opportunity of the integration of intelligence agencies to weaken the party, Although the SS had some power, Himmler's overall status has still risen. To curb this momentum, it is necessary to borrow party pawns like Bowman. After personally experiencing the test of the Goering incident, Hoffmann I have matured a lot politically, and I have become a lot more tactful in my approach to problem-solving. Bormann and Goebbels were his pawns to restrain Himmler, and they must be used well.

In order to prevent familiar people from seeing the flaw, Hoffman also racked his brains to slowly get rid of the people around him. After being promoted by Chief Adjutant Schment, he appointed him as Lieutenant General to take over the position of Director of Munitions on the Eastern Front. Zeitzler Naturally, he welcomed the arrival of this old friend with both hands; Dr. Morel, who was familiar with the body of the Führer, also took the opportunity to arrange for him to work as the deputy director of the Military Medical Department of the Eastern Front Logistics Department - this uneducated and incompetent man who spent all day trying to figure out how to provide The charlatan who injected narcotics and other drugs into the Führer was finally kicked out by him. He is also determined to replace other heads of state service personnel at the appropriate time in the future in order to minimize the risk of identity exposure. There was perhaps only one person in the whole of Germany that he couldn't replace, and that was Eva - Eva Braun. In addition to Goering's matter, he was still having a headache these two days. How could he face this? But it was only a few kilometers away. The woman who lived in the Berghof villa and had the closest relationship with the Führer.

He could postpone facing the issue of Eva for a few more days, but he couldn't afford to delay the issue of the Air Force for a moment. After Goering's fall, the Air Force also set off a wave of purges of Goering's remnants. Keitel, who adhered to Hoffmann's will, tried his best to control the situation from getting too serious. However, the wave of purges inevitably spread to the number two figure in the Air Force, Air Force Director Marshal Milch. He was questioned as early as 1935 because his father was Jewish, and the Gestapo also intervened in the investigation. In order to protect Milch, Goering claimed that Milch's father was not the Jewish pharmacist Anton Milch, but his uncle Karl Brauer, and had a certificate signed by Milch's mother to guarantee it. This led to Goering's famous saying. : "In the Luftwaffe, I decide who is a Jew!" But now that Goering has collapsed, the promises and guarantees he made are also invalid - Himmler can easily find out Milch The German ancestry certificate obtained later was false, and Milch was an out-and-out Jewish descendant.

Faced with such a difficult problem, Keitel did not dare to be independent and could only come back to ask for instructions. As a conscientious scholar, Hoffmann deeply abhorred racism and anti-Semitism and wanted to change this established national policy. However, he also knew that anti-Semitism was a deep-rooted consensus throughout the Third Reich. Even as the head of state, he could not Risking the disapproval of the whole party, I thought about it for a long time and finally decided to do it slowly.

"Obviously, Marshal Milch has to move his position, otherwise the Air Force will not be able to explain it." In Hoffman's memory, Milch's abilities are outstanding, and his shortcomings are also obvious - he takes too much power, which is deeply criticized within the Air Force. . Due to his uncooperation, the chief of staff of the Air Force was changed one after another. It was not until Mirch's former deputy, Jehunnik, who was only 40 years old at the time, that he took office and secured this position. This shows Milch's popularity difference. What's more, Milch is good at administrative management and personnel organization, but weak at strategic command. He is also biased against the development of new aircraft. He even delayed the service of the ME-262 because of his bad relationship with Dr. Messerschmitt. This is very difficult for an air force. It's fatal for the director.

"Didn't you hand over the matter of the prisoner-of-war camp to the Air Force? Let Marshal Milch be transferred to the director of the Administrative Affairs Bureau of the Supreme Command to deal with prisoner matters full-time." Hoffman warned, "As for the Jewish descendants, don't mention it again. Although Goering has been dealt with, it does not mean that everything Goering did and said was wrong, and we must continue to deal with other people. Expand, otherwise only our enemies will be happy. The High Command must stand firm. The Wehrmacht is not a subordinate agency of the SS. "

Bowman on the side also nodded repeatedly. The Führer's words were vaguely reproachful to the SS. It seemed that he did not want to let Himmler do whatever he wanted.

Keitel asked: "How to arrange the follow-up personnel and organizational issues of the Air Force? At present, the most popular successor to the Air Force Commander is Marshal Kesselring. In addition, Marshal Hugo Speller and Wolfram, Commander of the Western Front Air Force - General von Richthofen has certain supporters.”

"The southern front is the strategic direction in the future. Kesselring's position as commander-in-chief of the southern front must not be shaken. As for the other two..." Hoffman hesitated slightly and walked slowly. These two people were really overqualified. Shallow, I'm afraid it won't be able to suppress the proud and powerful generals of the Air Force. He kept walking around in circles for three times, but he still couldn't make up his mind.

"Führer, why don't you personally serve as the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force?" Seeing that Hoffman didn't speak, Bowman interjected, "As the Supreme Commander of the Empire, you are now the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and you can also be the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. ——This will help stabilize the situation faster.”

Keitel was originally mocking Bowman as a flatterer in his heart, but after thinking about it, he realized that it was not unacceptable. Once the head of state concurrently serves as the commander of the Air Force, it means that the status of the "independent kingdom" of the Air Force will be completely broken, which will be of great help to the Supreme Command to control the overall situation. of. Therefore, he also echoed with a smile on his face, waiting for Führer Mann to accept it happily.

Who knew that Hoffman gave a different answer: "Let me think about it first. We will return to Berlin tomorrow. I want to exchange my thoughts on Air Force tactics and aviation manufacturing with the Air Force generals, which are crucial to our strategy." ”