stonecrandall Chapter 323
Chapter 323
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, the Third Army’s headquarters.
Manstein’s troops were ready, waiting for Mainz to arrive and set off with him.
However, before meeting Mainz in person, Manstein was very nervous!
Although he had received a telegram from Mainz, knowing that Mainz was safe and not injured in the assassination.
However, as Mainz’s brother, he was always worried before seeing his brother, which was very different from other people.
Whether it was Guderian, Model, or Kesselring and Bock in the east, when they learned of Mainz’s assassination, they were also greatly shocked in their hearts, but after receiving a telegram from Mainz himself confirming that their general was fine, these people quickly put these things behind their minds and began to concentrate on executing Mainz’s orders, without any worries!
But Manstein obviously couldn’t do this. After all, there was another layer of relationship between him and Mainz besides that of boss and subordinate!
“Rommel, the commander of the 11th Armored Division, salutes you!”
Rommel led the tank group and rushed to the front, taking the lead in entering Munihei.
After seeing Manstein, who had been waiting for a long time, Rommel immediately jumped off the No. 1 tank, stood straight, and saluted Manstein.
Manstein was already a major general at this time, while Rommel was only a major. The two had a difference of several ranks in rank, so he was naturally very respectful to Manstein.
“”Where’s the general? Is he behind us?”
Manstein returned the salute and looked back with concern.
“No, General Mainz has already set off by plane and arrived in Potsdam!”
……
Potsdam is a city less than 20 kilometers away from Berlin on the southwest side of Berlin.
The city is not large, but it is the southwest gateway of Berlin and controls the main road from the southwest to Berlin.
Because the location is very critical, the German army strengthened its defense here early.
The Fifth Army stationed in Brandenburg has a motorized infantry division stationed here, and the division commander is Major Kuchler.
Kuchler is a Junker noble, and his stationing location is very critical, so when the Junker nobles plotted a coup, they first thought of this army stationed outside Berlin.
As long as they can get the support of the 22nd Infantry Division, then they will at least have the ability to control Berlin militarily, take the opportunity to purge the team left by Mainz in Berlin, create a fait accompli, and then let those who are still following the trend and watching turn to them and further strengthen their power!
It has to be said that the Junker nobles’ idea is very good, and their plan is likely to succeed just from the plan.
The key to the problem lies in the attitude of the commander of the 22nd Infantry Division, Kuchler!
On the night of the assassination in Mainz, a group of lobbyists from the Junker nobles sneaked into the barracks to lobby Kuchler!
The German barracks were certainly not paper-pasted windows with air leaking everywhere, so as soon as they approached the German barracks, they were immediately discovered by the secret sentries outside.
“Put your hands up!”
“Be honest, throw away the weapons in your hands or we will kill you!”
The news of Mainz’s assassination had already reached the German army. Hillel had issued an order in the afternoon to strengthen the control of the military camp and prohibit anyone from entering or leaving!
The German army has now entered a full wartime state. In this situation, these people still tried to sneak into the military camp. I really don’t know how to write the word death!
They are lucky, because this is Hans’s homeland, so even if the German army has entered a wartime state, the sentinels have no intention of killing people, so as long as they can control them, there is no need to kill them on the spot!
Several Junker nobles were very surprised. They did not expect the army to react so strongly. They had to put down their weapons obediently, and then told the sentinels their purpose. They came to see the division commander Ku Hillel!
The sentinels naturally could not make decisions for the division commander, so after they brought these people back to the barracks, they immediately reported to their own company commanders according to the process, first reporting to their own company commanders, The company commander then contacted the battalion commander, and the battalion commander contacted the regiment commander. After receiving the report, the regiment commander felt very strange and ran to see these people!
Because the 22nd Division was stationed in Brandenburg, these Junker nobles were relatively familiar with the regiment commander, so he reported the situation to the division commander!
As a result, because of the long delay in the middle, it took nearly two hours from the sentry to catch these people and then the regiment commander to report to the division commander, Ku Xiler! In two hours
, a message can be passed from the hands of the lowest-level soldiers to the hands of the highest commander, the division commander. This efficiency is already quite good in the armies of various countries in this era.
After all, the message they passed was not the kind of emergency combat intelligence, so the priority was not very high!
After receiving this information, Ku Xiler immediately asked people to bring these people over and prepare to interrogate them!
“Who asked you to persuade me? Can you tell me clearly?”
When he met them, he did not speak first to express his attitude, but wanted to find out the mastermind behind these people!
This attitude made several lobbyists of the Junker nobles feel a little uneasy. Kuchler did not even ask about their intentions, which meant that the other party should have guessed their intentions. However, after guessing his intentions, his attitude was still so cold and tough. Does this mean that Kuchler is not very interested in cooperating with the Junker nobles?
If this is really the case, it would be bad!
There are many troops near Berlin. In addition to a German army in Potsdam, there is also a German army in Frankfurt to the west, and That German army was even bigger, it was the 13th Army of the Fifth Army, this army had 70,000 people!
However, they didn’t know anyone in the 13th Army, and Frank was really far away from Berlin. For the Junker nobles who urgently needed the army to help them control the situation, the top priority now was to get the army immediately, quickly enter Berlin to control the situation, and then calmly deploy other things!
Therefore, Kushiler’s 22nd Division was the best choice!
After figuring this out, these lobbyists had to bite the bullet and try to tell the other party their intentions even though they knew Kushiler’s attitude was not particularly enthusiastic.
“General Kuchler, we are here……”
“I just want to know who asked you to come? If you can’t even say the other party’s name, then how do you think I can trust you?”
There is nothing wrong with what Qu Xile said. Since he wants to cooperate with him, he must be made to see hope. If any unknown person comes to win him over, he will definitely not agree to help the other party!
Therefore, this sentence actually requires their side to show enough strength to prove that they are indeed capable of accomplishing this task. Otherwise, Qu Xile may not choose to help them!
After figuring this out, several lobbyists looked at each other, exchanged glances for a while, and finally made a decision.
“Moltke, who made this decision, was the head of the Moltke family, a meritorious family that had produced a marshal and a general, General Johannes von Moltke!”
The Moltke family is well-known in Hans because they have produced two famous generals, one is the famous old Moltke, and the other is the old Moltke’s nephew Moltke the younger.
Over the past hundred years, the entire Hans army has been deeply engraved with the imprint of the Moltke family, so they not only have a huge influence within the Junker nobility, but also have a very large influence in the army.
These lobbyists thought that by saying the name of the Moltke family, they could intimidate Küchler and make him bow down and take the initiative to surrender.
As a result, when they finished saying the name of the current head of the Moltke family, what they got was not Küchler’s surrender, but a sneer.
“Haha, I was wondering who was making trouble behind the scenes, it turned out to be him!”
With a sneer of contempt on his face, Qu Xileer glanced at the people in front of him and said to the guards,”Take these people away and keep them under strict watch. Don’t let them run away, and don’t let them die!”
“Yes, General!”
The guards didn’t care whether these people were Junker nobles or not, they just obeyed military orders.
So, with several Junker nobles cursing and looking confused, they were quickly taken away!
After the guards took these people away, Kushiler quickly walked to the next room and saluted respectfully to a young general.
“Report, General, the other party has confessed, the Junker nobles are led by the Moltke family!”
When the young general turned around, the others suddenly realized that this man was Hans’s commander-in-chief of the three armies, Admiral Mainz!