Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: German Civil War - The Berlin Race (3)
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September 1, 1939
Berlin, Northern Germany, Schutzstaffel (SS) Headquarters
12:00
“These... these damn bastards!”
Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler slammed down the copy of the Frankfurter Zeitung his subordinates had brought him.
[SS Attacks Germany!]
[SS Captain Naujocks and His Agents Attacked German Radio Station]
[SS Tries to Drag Germany into Another Great War]
‘Operation Himmler,’ carried out under Hitler’s orders to start a war by any means necessary, had been completely seen through by the coup forces. With their plot laid bare, the public and the Wehrmacht were in an uproar.
“How in the hell did those bastards know our entire plan!”
Himmler was about to burst with frustration. The Abwehr had indeed procured the Polish uniforms and firearms for the operation.
But how could they have known the operation would take place in Gleiwitz from that alone and managed to stop it? He couldn't fathom it.
The fact that a certain captain had personally pinpointed Gleiwitz as the optimal location for a staged Polish invasion, leading to its discovery by the Abwehr, was something Himmler could never have imagined.
“Heil Hitler! Reichsführer-SS, sir! The Abwehr headquarters is already empty!”
“What?!”
“My apologies, sir. All we found at the scene was the body of SS-Obersturmbannführer Bamler. Judging by the state of the body, they must have left at dawn today.”
Himmler clutched the back of his neck.
The exposure of Operation Himmler and its spread through the press had been so swift that he had suspected the Abwehr bastards of collaborating with the resistance. But it turned out they had already fled while everyone was distracted by the attack on the Führer.
To think that their pretense of cooperation with the Nazis, such as appointing Bamler—a man planted by the SS—as a department head, was all a ruse to make him lower his guard!
“Heydrich, that damned fool! He's ruined everything!”
Come to think of it, Heydrich, the man he had discovered and favored, had been ungratefully checking him, openly revealing his ambitions.
“Surely... he didn't leak the information and defect to the other side, did he...?”
Operation Himmler was a top-secret plan.
At most, only Hitler, himself, the operatives, and Heydrich, who oversaw the operation, knew about it. If it was leaked, then Heydrich couldn't be trusted.
“Heil Hitler, Reichsführer-SS, sir!”
“What is it now!”
Another SS officer entered while Himmler was lost in thought, and he reacted irritably.
“My... my apologies, sir. A telegram...”
The officer hesitated before approaching and handing Himmler the telegram when he held out his hand.
[SS training camp at Wewelsburg Castle under attack by coup forces. Outnumbered. Reinforcements needed. - SS-Gruppenführer Paul Hausser]
“Damn it all...”
Wewelsburg Castle was a Renaissance-style castle located in western Germany.
Himmler had seized the castle to establish an SS training camp, intending to make his SS an honorable knightly order in the great Aryan state Hitler would build.
His dream—the vision of Hitler's Great Germanic Reich and his own role as its honorable Grand Master, a future that once seemed so close—was crumbling in an instant.
Just then, the phone rang, and Himmler immediately picked up the receiver.
[Himmler!]
Himmler's face lit up at the sound of Göring's voice.
“Sir! We are under attack! What should we do?”
Unlike Rudolf Hess, the nominal Deputy Führer, he was Hitler's de facto successor and the second-most powerful man in Germany. In this situation, he was the closest thing to a national leader.
Moreover, he was a co-conspirator in the Blomberg-Fritsch affair and the only high-ranking Nazi Party official with whom Himmler had no conflicts. For now, he was the man Himmler could trust most.
[I've mobilized the Luftwaffe! We have to buy time until the Führer awakens!]
“Can we trust those Wehrmacht bastards?”
[We can't trust them! Only Reichenau is reliable!]
Himmler bit his lip.
“As expected, the regular army can't be trusted. If only the Führer had granted the SS more military authority, so that a more moral citizen army could protect Germany...”
After ousting Blomberg and Fritsch, Göring had achieved his desired rank of Field Marshal, but Himmler had not received the permission he expected to expand the SS's military power.
It was a measure taken by Hitler, who remembered the precedent of the SA, which had grown so large it became a threat to the regime. But now, faced with this crisis, Himmler felt a surge of resentment toward Hitler.
Of course, in the original history, the Waffen-SS, which Himmler created after the start of World War II under the pretext of a "more moral citizen army," would earn an infamy second to none.
[What are you talking about! Now is the time to pull yourself together! Mobilize all SS units and defend Berlin!]
“Understood, sir. I'm counting on you.”
Of course, Himmler had no choice but to follow Göring's orders.
[And one more thing. Public opinion, both among the people and the military, is terrible. Those heinous traitors attempted to assassinate the Führer, yet these rags are full of rumors that the SS tried to start a war! Try to persuade Dr. Goebbels!]
“What is Dr. Goebbels doing now?”
[He's sitting outside the Führer's hospital room, praying! This kind of damn propaganda is his specialty, isn't it? He despises me, so you try to convince him!"]
Himmler let out a dry laugh. Goebbels was competent but eccentric, fanatically loyal only to Hitler, and on bad terms with almost everyone in the Nazi Party. Especially Göring.
“Hmph... Very well, sir. I will try to persuade him.”
[Thank you, I'm counting on you! I'll go have it out with the Wehrmacht!]
Himmler slammed the receiver down and struck his desk in frustration.
The Berlin branch of the Frankfurter Zeitung, which had exposed the SS plot across Berlin and all of Germany as soon as the incident broke, had already cleared out.
He had argued for shutting down that damn newspaper when Ribbentrop died, but Dr. Goebbels had blocked it, leading to this mess.
“Tch, that stupid Führer-worshipping fanatic calls himself a doctor!”
Of course, he was hardly one to talk about fanaticism.
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September 1, 1939
Kassel, IX Military District, Central Germany; Frankfurt, Provisional Capital of the New German Government
20:00
As the long day drew to a close, I returned to Frankfurt, having successfully completed the raid on Buchenwald concentration camp.
Many of the liberated prisoners were in poor condition, so it took a considerable amount of time even with vehicles mobilized.
But regardless of the hour, the government building in Frankfurt was as bright as day.
“The Ruhr industrial region has been secured!”
“Security for the Siegfried Line has been entrusted to the Freikorps! General von Witzleben is advancing into northern Bavaria, and General von Hammerstein into southern Bavaria!”
“General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb's forces are engaged with Paul Hausser's SS at Wewelsburg!”
Inside the building, people were frantically busy, fielding a constant stream of reports, telegrams, and phone calls.
“Hausser is no incompetent. Our forces are small; we can't afford heavy losses!”
“But if we fail to capture Wewelsburg, a key SS stronghold, we won't be able to secure the XI Military District!”
“If we leave them be, General Lutz's armored units advancing on Berlin could be surrounded.”
While the staff officers debated with their heads in their hands, Ludwig Beck was in the middle of a phone call.
“Listen, Rundstedt. I demanded they reinvestigate the incident, just as you asked, and I was thrown out for it! Surely you're aware of that!”
[Orders have come down to Army Group South, Beck. I've ignored them for now, but I hear Göring is at the Army High Command. If an order comes in the name of the acting head of state, I won't be able to ignore it any longer.]
“We're trying to restore His Majesty the Emperor's government! Isn't Manstein there? Didn't you hear anything from him? Put him on.”
[...I'll call you later.]
“Hey, Rundstedt! Don't hang up! Hey...”
The line went dead. I saluted Beck, who looked quite disheartened.
“I've returned, Colonel General.”
“...You're back, Captain Schacht.”
Once the coup was in motion, Colonel General Beck had shed his previous indecisiveness and was working with fervent dedication.
He was the one who had brought retired generals like Oswald Lutz and Hammerstein back into service. Many of the units currently advancing on the front lines and the staff officers here had followed him out of respect for his character.
However, even he and the other key figures of the coup couldn't let go of the rosy expectation that the Wehrmacht would rally to their side if they declared the restoration of the Emperor's government.
“With all due respect, Colonel General, the banner of restoring His Majesty the Emperor's government alone is not enough to win the support of all of Germany.”
Perhaps for someone like Dr. Goerdeler, a fervent hater of democracy and an ardent monarchist, it would be enough, but the majority of Germans had grown accustomed to a Germany without a Kaiser.
The era of obeying the Emperor's command was over.
“So, what are you proposing?”
“Even if we do restore the monarchy, it would be unrealistic to bring back the former Emperor, who is being watched by Britain and France due to the last Great War. We could end up turning Britain and France into enemies in the middle of our civil war.”
Britain and France, having been informed by the Abwehr about the Gleiwitz radio station incident, were furious and vehemently condemned the Nazis.
Furthermore, the Kordt brothers, who were on the ground, were working to create a positive impression of our new government, and the initial reception seemed favorable.
For now, at least, we are seen as a German resistance movement rising up against the warmongering SS and the Nazi dictatorship, and we have the support of anti-war sentiment in Britain and France.
Right-wing politicians in Britain and France might be licking their lips at the sight of a divided Germany, but their people fear a new Great War just as much as the German people and military do.
The perception that war was inevitable due to the Nazis' recklessness had been slowly spreading, but if Germany was fighting the Nazis itself, their public had no desire to intervene and shed their own blood.
But what if we tried to restore the monarchy by bringing back the mustachioed Kaiser, Wilhelm II, who is remembered as the cause of the last Great War? We'd be handing Britain and France a perfect excuse to intervene in a Germany already chaotic from civil war.
“Ultimately, victory in a civil war goes to the side that wins the people's support. Why not enthrone Crown Prince Wilhelm as the new Emperor and re-establish the parliament? We can have an emperor, but in the same form as Britain.”
“What is this nonsense! Who are you to presume to speak of the throne!”
Dr. Goerdeler, who had been listening nearby, snapped and pointed a finger at me, but Ludwig Beck, though looking slightly displeased, continued to listen in silence.
“Former Mayor Adenauer, as well as many of the figures we rescued from Dachau and Buchenwald, are well-known politicians. If we announce the restoration of a government for the people, they will all cooperate with us, and public opinion will follow. We can turn the tide decisively.”
The exposé of the Gleiwitz incident had already captured the hearts of the German people who wanted to avoid war.
The tragedy of Buchenwald, which would soon be publicized, was a horror that would enrage any decent human being.
If we can show that we are not trying to re-establish an autocratic imperial regime or a military-run government, but rather a government for the people, support from within Germany will follow naturally.
The Wehrmacht won't decide its allegiance based on Hitler versus the Emperor; they'll back whoever seems more likely to win. This is a fight we can win, if only our leaders are willing to accept this path.
“I've heard enough of this madness! His Majesty Emperor Wilhelm II is the legitimate head of the House of Hohenzollern and the only one with the right to wear the German crown!”
But, as expected, the hardline monarchist Dr. Goerdeler flew into a rage and vented his fury at me.
“How dare you speak of the throne in such a way?! Do you think we are doing all this just to resurrect that weak, pathetic Weimar Republic that let Hitler run wild!”
“Then do you have a way to declare an empire right now without Britain and France intervening?! They have been rearming continuously since the Munich Agreement! If we give them, in the midst of their war preparations, a reason to fight, we're finished.”
By now, everyone's eyes were fixed on us.
“Restoring His Majesty the Emperor right now will not bring us the support of the Wehrmacht! They will ultimately swear allegiance to the side that has the people's support! Our forces are smaller than the Nazis', and the longer this drags on, the more disadvantageous it becomes for us!”
For now, it might seem like we've swiftly conquered western Germany with a perfectly executed surprise attack according to Manstein's plan.
But our forces are small. The troops stationed on the Siegfried Line are not even a quarter, let alone half, of the forces prepared for the invasion of Poland.
We have civilian volunteers, but their numbers are not yet significant as we haven't fully swayed public opinion.
If they recover from the shock of the surprise attack and the Wehrmacht sides with them, it's over for us.
“On the other hand, if we champion the cause of overthrowing the dictatorship and restoring democracy in Germany, Britain and France cannot intervene in our civil war! In fact, we could even secure their support and turn the war in our favor.”
The Kordt brothers are in France and Britain for that very reason, having consulted with me and other members of the democratic faction beforehand.
For politicians in democratic nations facing elections, what could be a greater campaign promise than claiming that their support eliminated the threat of war and turned Germany into a normal country?
“Then we can even win their recognition for restoring the German throne! The cause of restoring the monarchy and rebuilding democracy are not mutually exclusive—”
“Urgent news!”
Just as I was passionately making my case, a staff officer who had received a telegram ran over.
“What is it?”
“Count von Blumenthal reports he has successfully shot Hitler!”
“Ooooh...!”
The operation had been carried out at dawn, but there had been no news until now, with Nazi broadcasts only mentioning that the Führer had been attacked. Finally, the report had come in.
And this news completely erased my impassioned speech from the minds of the high command, instead filling them with boundless optimism.
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