German Red Prince

Page 181

These situations worsened, and with Ludendorff's indifference, Hess truly decided to take a gamble and go all in. Witzleben's warning letter was a lucky coincidence; this time, Hess was truly determined to purge his faction and began compiling a list.

What Hess can now control is the new army under Stroheim, a completely new force formed by Wilhelm II. Although it was formed by Wilhelm II, it has actually been controlled by Hess. This is his last chance to win them over; if they don't cooperate, they shouldn't blame him.

Sternas was cautious when he attended the meeting. He mobilized his SA in Berlin, those forces loyal to him, in advance so that he could react quickly and take action should something happen.

At the party congress, Hess suffered a setback. At the National Party congress, many people stood up to oppose Hess, including a large number of members of the German Workers' Party. Even Strasser stood up against Hess, as it was their unity that led to the formation of the National Party.

Although Strasser was left-wing, he was also right-wing; if you say he was right-wing, he was also somewhat left-wing. Strasser once tried to merge with the Communist Party of Germany, but was rejected by them. The reason was simple: his theory was too dangerous and looked "frightening."

In collaboration with Hess, Strasser was completely unable to exercise his abilities within the new National Party, which was worse than before. Moreover, although Hess always talked about the people, he consistently sought to cooperate with Germany's big capitalists and nobles, which caused dissatisfaction among many in the Workers' Party.

At least there are genuine leftists within the Workers' Party. Hess's various policies have already prompted protests from the Workers' Party. It would be better to split up, with each party doing its own thing. Besides, the fight has already reached this point; let's not drag everyone down with us.

Besides the Workers' Party, within the National Socialist Party, important figures like Bormann and Rosenberg also began to oppose him. These people wanted to negotiate peace with the Kingdom of the Rhine, and protecting their own territory was of utmost importance. If Hess did not take action soon, it would be too late when he wanted to retaliate. Therefore, his purpose in holding this meeting was to purge the party.

After the party congress, there was a routine meeting of party cadres, mainly attended by high-ranking party officials. Before the meeting, Hess suddenly announced that the meeting would be held in another location, which puzzled everyone. However, they didn't think much of it and went anyway. But when they arrived at the meeting place, something was wrong. There were only these people at the meeting. Where were the others?

Strasser was the first to be arrested. Strasser wanted to separate from the Nazi Party and go their separate ways. After he arrived at the meeting place, his bodyguards were left outside. Strasser felt that something was wrong, but he didn't pay attention to it. Just as Strasser was about to enter the meeting room, the SS group that was specifically targeting him immediately came over.

When several SS soldiers grabbed him in the corridor, Strasser panicked and shouted, "I'm here for a meeting, what are you doing?" while punching and kicking and desperately resisting.

Having participated in major battles and even won the Iron Cross, he was indeed very skilled. They almost failed to catch him, but the SS squad members were all exceptionally skilled, and Strasser was quickly subdued by the squad and dragged into the hall by his arms.

Besides him, Baumann, Rosenberg, and a host of other high-ranking leaders who opposed Hess were all arrested, but unlike Strasser, they all had gloomy faces.

In the hall, Hess, who was waiting for them, read out the "arrest order" because Strasser and others had been arrested for going against the will of the people.

Before Hess could finish reading, Strasser suddenly roared, broke free from the soldiers' restraints, and pounced on Hess, who was five or six meters away.

Strasser had been a soldier; what if he hurt Hess? However, Hess remained remarkably calm and composed, completely ignoring Strasser's desperate struggles and watching his frantic actions with unhurried indifference.

At this critical moment, the SS soldiers nearby reacted quickly, rushed forward, tackled Strasser, pinned him down, and handcuffed him.

During the arrest of "reactionary party members," Strasser was the only one to be handcuffed twice, and he was also the most strictly monitored after his arrest.

Hess secretly arrested opposition members within the National Party, and next he was to deal with the Stormtroopers. Hess planned to use the same tactics, but Witzleben's letter had already created a chain of suspicion, and with the bomb in the meeting room, everything became uncertain again.

399. Tearing off the mask of civility

The purge of the opposition within the party was actually very successful; they were all wiped out in a single meeting. Strasser probably never dreamed that Hess, whom he had once so highly regarded, would now be the one who had imprisoned him. One wonders what he was feeling.

Then there's Rosenberg. When he first joined the National Socialist Party, he was a complete novice, unfamiliar with everything. He remembers stumbling over his first speech, and not many people listened. Back then, the National Socialist Party was a small party. However, Rosenberg was deeply attracted by the party's theories and chose not to join any of the larger parties, but instead settled down in this small party.

As the Nazi Party expanded, Rosenberg's status within the party rose accordingly. People are always changing, and Rosenberg was no exception. He initially regarded Hess as an idol, and he remembers being so excited that he couldn't speak when he first met Hess. With his amazing eloquence, Rosenberg played a pivotal role in the early expansion of the Nazi Party.

This influence also gave him a corresponding position within the party. Although Rosenberg was a newcomer at the beginning, he later developed into one of the important leaders of the National Socialist Party and was once considered to be the next leader of the National Socialist Party after Hess.

There was also a group of die-hard supporters within the party, all of which changed Rosenberg's thoughts and attitudes. He was no longer the naive young man who could only give speeches; he had his own ideas and opinions. He also supported Hess's merger with the Workers' Party at the time, after all, he had befriended Strasser when he first gave his speech, and it was he who introduced Strasser to Hess.

It can be said that Rosenberg made great contributions to the merger of the two parties, which resulted in him having considerable support within both parties in the early stages of the merger, making him the third most important figure in the National Party.

However, in subsequent developments, Rosenberg's views became increasingly at odds with Hess's. Although Rosenberg was rather extreme, he always considered himself to be one of the ordinary people, which was actually similar to the views of the Workers' Party.

After the National National Party came to power, all of Hess's actions were clearly in service of the upper echelons, completely contrary to what she openly claimed.

This fueled his discontent, leading to a war with the Kingdom of the Rhine. Before that, when Rosenberg gave his speech, he was a staunch nationalist who believed that Germany absolutely needed to be reunified. In fact, Germany must be reunified because it was the foundation of the National Party's rule. If a nation, an empire, and a leader did not achieve unification, then his natural legitimacy would disappear.

Before the war with the Kingdom of the Rhine, Rosenberg was actually a nationalist who advocated unification. However, with the defeat in the war, his stance changed very quickly. Even he could see that Prussia could not win and at most achieve a draw. Right now, the Kingdom of the Rhine was easily handling two opponents, but once they dealt with Bavaria, they would be even more doomed.

Rosenberg advocated for peace talks with the Kingdom of the Rhine, suggesting that everyone could live their own lives, which he considered "quite good." His stance changed so quickly; he had previously spoken almost tearfully about wanting national unification, but now he had immediately changed his attitude and was willing to accept living separately.

But it's too late to talk about it now. His political ideals and ambitions vanished the moment he was arrested.

Rosenberg might recall the day he first stepped into the beer hall, when he was a fledgling street politician, and began his first political activity there.

Later it was a dedicated conference room, then the parliament, then the Imperial Square. The places where he gave speeches got higher and higher, and the crowds below grew larger and larger. In the end, it all came to nothing. Rosenberg still couldn't outwit the old fox Hess. Now he's isolated, he's nothing, and can only take his ideals to hell.

Thinking of this, Rosenberg felt somewhat unwilling. His ambitions hadn't even been realized yet, and it was already over? However, looking at Bowman, who was making a hysterical, desperate struggle, he chose to say nothing.

"I have served the Party! I have shed blood for the Party! Long live the Party leader! Long live Hess! I am innocent!" Bowman made a last-ditch effort, still wanting to fight one last time, but political struggles are always a matter of life and death, how could he escape so easily?

"I can name all my enemies within the party! Party leader! Spare my life!"

Hess didn't look at him. In fact, Hess wasn't listening to what he was saying at all. Hess was thinking about how to handle the upcoming meeting with the Stormtroopers. It was different from the Party Congress. The Stormtroopers' captains all had weapons, and these guys wouldn't be so easy to catch.

Hess ignored Bowman's desperate struggle and walked out step by step. Strasser watched Hess walk out like that and left a resentful remark.

"You won't get away with this. I'll be waiting for you in hell."

Hess didn't speak, glanced back at Strasser, and then silently left. Indeed, Hess now had no way out. He couldn't negotiate peace with the Kingdom of the Rhine. If he did, his legitimacy would be completely gone, and all his power would disappear as well.

Hess walked out of the meeting room. From that moment on, the National Socialist Party and the Workers' Party became history. There was only one party left: the National National Party led by Hess. This could also be seen as Hess formally severing ties with Ludendorff. Since that important person wouldn't come to his aid, he would do it himself.

......

"Have a cigarette."

The meeting room of the assault team was not as solemn as the party congress. Before the meeting even started, everyone was making noise, and a group of people were smoking in the meeting room.

The quality of the stormtroopers was not high. They were not regular soldiers; they were mostly thugs and hooligans. Except for a few elites, who were of higher quality and stronger in combat, almost like the army, most of the stormtroopers were a rabble and would fall apart at the slightest touch from the army.

If the soldiers below are like this, what can be expected of the officers above them? Most of the assault team leaders were just thugs and hooligans before they rose to power.

Theodor patted the shoulder of a commando captain and asked him for a cigarette. The captain seemed to be thinking about something, and the pat startled him.

"What are you doing, talking so mysteriously?"

Theodore took a cigarette and lit it. It wasn't hot this time of year, but he noticed that the captain was covered in sweat, which puzzled him.

"New here? Never seen you before. Wait, why are you so nervous about a meeting?"

Seeing that the other person was also a squad leader, Theodore didn't make things too difficult for him. Moreover, the two of them came from the same place, and you could tell from the color of their hat brims that they were from the same district.

"Just got promoted, right? Is this your first time attending a meeting?"

"Yes," the man said, wiping his sweat.

"Don't be so tense. It's just a meeting, a formality. I don't believe Hess would really dare to target our stormtroopers. He still expects us to risk our lives for him."

Although the conflict between the SA and the Party was not public, it had already escalated to a very sharp level in the shadows. Hess, as the Party leader, was unable to command the armed forces under his command, which would make anyone have some reservations.

"Let me tell you, don't be nervous. Just see what he says then. How about this, you sit next to me at the meeting, and I'll show you what I'm made of."

"Okay, thank you."

The man was clearly very grateful for Theodore's help, because he wasn't some squad leader in the stormtroopers, and what he had in his bag wasn't documents, but a bomb.

Meanwhile, Witzleben and Kruger were ready to act as soon as the bomb went off.

Hess and his ilk were high-ranking cadres within the National Socialist Party, but they did not wield much influence within the SA. If the SA were allowed to continue developing as it was, they could have broken away from the Nationalist Party and established their own People's SA party, an idea that had considerable traction within the SA.

Whenever there was a conflict between the SA and the National Party, some senior SA officers would use this as a threat: "Hess, don't push your luck. I have plenty of resources. If you keep arguing, we'll just split up. The SA can leave the National Party, but can the National Party leave the SA?"

Consider this: Hess was the one who founded the SA, but later he was busy dealing with party affairs and relinquished control of the SA. When Hess looked back, what happened? He had been sidelined in the SA. After all, he was one of the founders of the SA, and these people dared to threaten him with the SA splitting up?

What does this mean? It means that Hess, the old father, had raised his only daughter with great difficulty, but after a few years of neglect, he didn't keep an eye on her. When he returned, a young man with a sharp mind had already come over and said, "I got your daughter pregnant. I've stopped the fire downstairs. Now I'm going to elope with her."

If Hess didn't faint from anger, then he really has a lot of ability. Similarly, if Hess hadn't taken care of the SA, he would never have reached where he is now, becoming the Imperial Chancellor of Prussia. Hess didn't speak out before because he was concerned about party unity. At that time, the National Party was still in the process of integration and was very unstable.

Now things are different. Everyone has already torn off all pretenses. Hess has just arrested a group of important figures in the National Party. There's no turning back now. Since the party has been purged, the SA must be purged as well. Although regime problems are a major taboo during wartime, Hess can't care about that anymore.

If the dispersed power is not brought back into his hands at this point, and a unified and effective command cannot be formed, then there will only be one way out: death. Since death is inevitable either way, it is better to do something big and drag everyone down with him.

Hess had already made up his mind, but the stormtroopers were completely oblivious to the impending danger, still laughing and joking around.

Aside from a very few individuals, such as Sternas, who is probably the most nervous of them all right now, fearing that if things go wrong, Hess might wipe them all out. Sternas's strength has just been severely weakened, and Hess is very likely to target him at this meeting.

With his own troops in Berlin posing the greatest threat to Hess, Störstners didn't know how much of Hess's influence was within his SA. He could only gather a few of his trusted captains and instruct them to be ready at all times to take action and control several key locations should any unforeseen circumstances arise.

If something unexpected happens, it will come down to who reacts the fastest. If Sternas reacts quickly enough, he might be able to turn the tide. That's why he didn't tell anyone else about this. The more people there are, the more variables there will be, and of course, he'll have to reap all the benefits himself.

Hess already had the idea of ​​reforming the SA, but he wouldn't go too far. Ideally, it would be a bloodless coup like the one within the party. However, the SA is different from the cadres of the National Party. They have real military power. How could these guys be so obedient to you? If they were really that obedient, Hess would have trouble sleeping. Who knows if they would stab you in the back later?

Hess did not trust the army. Although the army was very interested in dealing with the SA, Hess did not want to completely destroy the SA this time. He wanted to control the army. The target of the operation was the SA's senior officers. He did not need too many troops. The Berlin garrison in Stroheim could meet the needs of such an operation.

This elite army stationed in Berlin was Hess's collaborator. Unlike the regular army, many of its members were members of the Nationalist Party and were loyal enough to Hess. Moreover, Stroheim was very interested in the Nazi Party's theories. They were enough.

Each had their own agenda. While they were making tense plans, Witzlerben and Kluge on the military side were also quite nervous, especially Witzlerben, who, with the support of "Marshal Mackensen," had already won over several high-ranking officers in the army to prepare for this operation.

It's all or nothing for them. This operation is extremely important. The explosion will be the signal. Once the bomb explodes, the entire army stationed in Berlin will have to move quickly. They will then use the pretext of a coup within the National Party and conflicts within the SA to "protect" various government buildings. Next, they will have to find Hess as soon as possible. Either he will die in the accident, or they will sign a truce with the Kingdom of the Rhine.

Theodore had the mentally unstable SA captain sit next to him, intending to personally teach this newly promoted young man a lesson: the SA is the SA, and the National Party is the National Party. Even a small captain can still act with impunity in front of the National Party's high command at such a meeting.

Theodore belonged to the anti-party faction within the SA. Although their political stance was relatively neutral—at least they didn't openly clamor for the re-establishment of a new People's SA party like the extremists—their position still leaned towards expanding the SA's independence.

Those who wanted the Stormtroopers to become independent were mostly the newer faction within the organization, namely the captains who joined the Stormtroopers later.

After the National National Party came to power, the SA expanded. A large number of people joined at that time, which suddenly transformed the SA, a small organization within the party, into a giant paramilitary force within the party.

Hess walked in through the door. Although the party leader had entered, some of the stormtrooper captains inside only went through the motions, standing up and saluting without even putting out their cigarettes. Theodore grabbed a young man who was about to stand up and salute, wanting to deflate Hess's arrogance. Everyone knew that he had just wiped out nearly a thousand stormtroopers.

Hess didn't say anything when he saw this situation. After all, these people wouldn't be so powerful for long, and there was no need to mess with dead people.

"Welcome everyone to the meeting. Our focus going forward remains the war with the Kingdom of Rhine, as well as some minor issues regarding the internal restructuring of the convoy..."

The audience below was distracted. It was just a routine meeting, and they figured there wouldn't be much to say. About halfway through, the young man next to Theodor suddenly looked pained.

"Damn it, I think I ate something bad yesterday. I'm going out for a bit."

"random."

Theodore didn't suspect anything, and he didn't want to attend this boring meeting. If he hadn't wanted to know how to deal with the problems with Sternas, he would have left long ago.

After the young man went outside, his expression changed. He looked around and, after confirming that no one suspected anything, quickly got into a car.

"Quickly, report to the colonel that the package has been placed and preparations for the next operation are underway." The car quickly drove away from the venue, and Witzleben, having received the news, immediately began mobilization.

Hess was halfway through his speech when a party member suddenly ran over and whispered a few words in his ear: preparations in Stroheim were almost complete, and to avoid any accidental injury, it was best to leave now.

Hess's lips curled up slightly. After saying a few words, he announced a recess and walked out. Sternas, who had been paying close attention to the proceedings, couldn't sit still. Meetings were always completed in one session. There was no such thing as a recess in the middle. This was too abnormal. Moreover, he had just noticed that a very unfamiliar young man was sitting next to Theodore. However, he actually remembered this young man somewhat.

Wasn't this guy in the army? How did he become a member of the commando unit? Hess went out not long after he left. Could it be that Hess actually colluded with the army to eliminate them? That's too ruthless!

Realizing he couldn't stay in the venue any longer, he quietly slipped out and quickly got into his car.

"Quick, to the camp! Hess has made his move!"

Theodore finished two cigarettes, but the young man next to him still hadn't returned, which made him curious. What had he eaten? Why had he been in such a long time? Just as Theodore was wondering, he vaguely heard noises coming from the man's bag.

Curious, he opened his briefcase. Inside was a package. Upon opening the package, Theodore's heart sank.

"There's an explosion..."

Before the bomb could be fully uttered, a massive explosion rang out in the meeting hall, leaving the entire hall in ruins. This was a signal; everyone heard it immediately. Now it was a matter of who could react the fastest.

400. Saving the Emperor

The explosion stunned more than one person, but Hess was undoubtedly the most bewildered. What happened? He hadn't even made a move yet, so why did it explode? Had some "good Samaritan" come to his aid?

Besides Hess, the most bewildered was Sternas. Hess, you really are ruthless! You actually went for it. You have such a deep grudge against the Stormtroopers that you even used bombs. You went to such extremes, so don't blame him for being heartless.

"Hurry! Drive faster! Get to the camp immediately!"

It's important to know that those sitting in the conference room weren't just people who opposed Hess, but also people who supported him. His sudden outburst meant that Hess had abandoned the Stormtroopers and was making overtures to the army. Sternas had temporarily escaped, but if he didn't take timely and effective action, he would be in big trouble.

Now Hess faces two choices. One is to rush in and rescue people. He didn't do this, at least he definitely didn't give the order for the explosion. This explosion has alarmed Berlin. If the SA troops arrive, it will definitely be a fierce battle.

But if he went in and rescued these people, Hess had already arrested the opposition within the party. Releasing them now would be like letting a tiger return to the mountains. They would definitely take action next, and it would be too difficult to control them then. So this was no longer Hess's idea; it was a necessary move. Sealing off the scene—if he didn't do it, then let's pretend he did it. Anyway, there was no way back.

"Seal off the scene, prohibit anyone from approaching, and send a telegram to immediately mobilize troops!"

Fortunately, Hess, as the party leader, still had some prestige, and almost everyone here was one of his confidants. Although there were groans and screams in the meeting room, they still faithfully carried out Hess's orders. Those people, let them scream for a while longer. It's not too late to go in after they've bled enough.

When the explosion rang out, Witzleben was undoubtedly the first to receive the news. He and several officers in the army had already discussed it, and now that the signal had been given, they had to take immediate action.

"Our armed forces in Berlin mobilized quickly, blocked the streets, seized the radio tower, the National National Party building, the SA headquarters, the Chancellor's residence, the Royal Conference Center, and immediately went to the Royal Palace to receive the Emperor."

Speaking of this operation, the army was definitely the fastest, because they were the ones who planned it. Witzler believed that this operation would definitely succeed because he had already stirred up conflict between Hess and the SA. The two of them would start fighting first, and he only needed to step in and clean up the mess when they were fighting fiercely. Therefore, his intentions could not be revealed for the time being, and he had to make it look convincing by temporarily putting Berlin under "martial law".

"Block all roads except the one with the Stormtroopers and the National National Party meeting hall; close all other passageways."

Witzleben's actions were indeed very swift. In fact, although the Rhine Kingdom's army had not yet reached Berlin, the people of Berlin were already like frightened birds. Many of these people in Berlin had relatives living in the fighting area. They fled to Berlin and told the locals how powerful the Rhine Kingdom's army was and how they had "occupied" their city in just a few hours.

Hanjana had just fled from a city on the front lines to visit relatives in Berlin. The war on the front lines had made her unusually clear-headed. Before, Hanjana's husband was a staunch nationalist who believed that Germany should be unified into one country. Later, when the war really broke out and came to their doorstep, her husband was directly captured and taken to the front lines. There was no news of him until she risked going to the front lines and found that her husband had been hanged on a telephone pole. He had deserted.

Hanging oneself from a telephone pole is extremely cruel, and even the Prussian army wouldn't usually do that. However, the troops stationed in their cities were SA (Storm Troopers), soldiers of the Nationalist Party. These people were far more ruthless to their own people than to the enemy, compared to the Prussian army.

These people were even more terrifying than the Rhine people. This group of stormtroopers wreaked havoc in their area for a while before the Rhine Kingdom's army came and drove them away. Only then did Hanjana realize what it meant to "welcome the royal army." The Rhine Kingdom's army had excellent discipline, and Hanjana wasn't sure if this was a result of comparing them to the stormtroopers.

These people would send people to repair the houses they damaged. Their logistics troops would help the residents repair the damaged houses, and the field hospitals would receive the wounded. Most importantly, they would pay for the things they bought. Moreover, they rarely went to the residential areas and spent most of their time in the camp. Only a few soldiers helped maintain order in the residential areas.

Later, many bold people talked to them. These people told them that they were the people's army, fighting for the German people, not for revenge, and naturally they would not do anything beastly. Some soldiers were punished by the army simply for trespassing into people's homes. All of this left a deep impression on Hanjana.

Later, when the troops moved to another place, many residents came out to see them off. Hanjana could also sense that, contrary to the propaganda of the National Party, these soldiers came to Prussia, but they brought not hatred and occupation, but something else entirely.