The Rise of the Third Reich

The Grand General Staff in 1917 was really big. On the eve of World War I, the Grand General Staff had one Director of Munitions (actually the Deputy Chief of General Staff), five Chiefs of Munitions, and 15 professional departments. and 1 intelligence service group. By now, the General Staff, led by the best duo of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, had become a huge organization with many branches, and there was even a "Photography Bureau" to manage the film industry across Germany.

At the same time, with the expansion of the General Staff's establishment, many young staff officers have also been able to join it. Hirschman, who was born in 1892 and is only 25 years old this year, is one of them. In the spacious and bright office of the Central Office of the General Staff (which handles personnel affairs), Hessmann was greeted by a smiling, handsome captain in his thirties who was also one of the new recruits of the General Staff.

"Captain Hessmann, right? Hello, I'm Albert. Captain Kesselring, staff officer at the Central Office."

Oh, are you the Nazi Luftwaffe Marshal Kesselring who was sentenced to death but was not executed? Hessmann thought about the other party's tragic fate, and the expression on his face became heavy.

"Yes, I am Captain Ludwig von Hessmann, and I have been ordered to report to you."

"Sit, sit down." Kesselring was still smiling, as if he had just learned that he was going to be promoted to major.

"Okay, Captain." Hessmann sat down on the chair opposite Kesselring's desk and took a closer look at the large office - a large room with more than a dozen desks. , there is a beaming officer behind most of the desks, the phone rings constantly, and the voice of a call comes from time to time. It sounds very happy, as if everyone has won a big prize.

"Did the battle win on the front line?" Hessmann asked casually.

"No," Kesselring laughed, "It's better than this... it's Russia! There's been a revolution in Russia, and the Tsar has probably been overthrown! I think this is a major turning point!"

It's the February Revolution! Only then did Hessman remember that today was March 15, 1917, and the Russian February Revolution (February in the Russian calendar) began on the 8th of this month. If history has not changed, Tsar Nicholas II will sign his abdication declaration at midnight today.

"This is indeed a major turning point!" Hersman just managed a smile. Because he knows that the same thing will happen in Germany on November 9 next year. The only difference was that Wilhelm II was able to escape to the Netherlands and did not fall into the hands of the revolting workers and soldiers.

"Yes, I think your arrival is also related to Russia, right?" Captain Kesselin lowered his head and flipped through the notebook on the table, and then asked with a smile, "The above wanted me to confirm whether you are proficient in Russian?"

"Yes, I speak Russian well." Hessman thought to himself, is he going to be sent to the Russian team of the Political Office to study Russian affairs? This was a leisurely job... I just took the opportunity to think about how to defeat the American emperor and win World War II.

"You still use the radio?" Kesselring asked.

"Yes," Hessman replied, "I was in charge of this matter in the communications office of the 11th Army Headquarters."

Hessmann did have memories of radio skills, having been trained in them before the war broke out. After the outbreak of the war, he was sent to the 11th Group Military Radio on the Eastern Front. It was not until last summer that he followed the army chief of staff, General Seeckt, to serve in the Austro-Hungarian 7th Army as a staff officer in the operations department. As a result, while inspecting the Romanian front line, he was accidentally hit by an Austro-Hungarian artillery shell without eyes and suffered a concussion. By the way, he also changed his soul...

"That's good," Kesselring stood up. "Come with me and I will take you to see the First Quartermaster General."

"First Munitions Director!" Hersman was startled, "You mean the First Munitions Director, General Ludendorff?"

Kesselring shrugged. "Yes, that's General Ludendorff! He needs a Prussian aristocratic officer who is proficient in Russian and proficient in using radios, preferably with a rank lower than a major. And you happen to be recuperating in Zossen. So..." He Reach out to Hirschman. "So, you're in luck, come and follow me."

Will you get lucky? Don't know what the task is? Maybe he would get the chance to be promoted to major and find a more important job in the future pocket-sized Wehrmacht. If he was lucky, he could be promoted to lieutenant colonel before Hitler came to power. In this way, after Germany restores its armaments, he has a good chance of becoming a general-level officer, and if he works hard, he can even get the marshal's scepter...

He strode into the General Staff building with Captain Kesselring, who was to be sentenced to death in history. On the aisle, I saw many young officers wearing military trousers with red trousers. They are the elites of the German nation, and each of their faces was filled with joy. Probably no one would have thought that the empire they were loyal to would be wiped out in more than a year, let alone that they would suffer the humiliation of a second defeat more than twenty years later. Moreover, they will be accused by the victors of being "fascist demons" and executed or spend the rest of their lives in humiliation.

What is even more sad is that in the original history, the descendants of Germany will never be proud of their martyrs who once fought in the name of the motherland...

Hessmann slowly developed a feeling that only he could save these miserable Germans. This is probably his fate after time travel and rebirth... If he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison or be hanged on the gallows, he has to find a way quickly!

He followed Captain Kesselring and walked quickly to the end of a corridor. In front of him was a closed door. Outside the door was a desk. A major adjutant with shining blond hair was sitting behind the desk looking at some documents. He raised his head when he heard footsteps.

"Captain, what's up?" The blond major recognized Kesselring and asked with a smile. It was obvious that he was also happy about the revolution in Russia.

"Mr. Reinhardt, is the Admiral in there?"

"Yes, you're just in time. The Admiral just came back from the Marshal and is now in the office."

In today's General Staff, "Marshal" is a synonym for Hindenburg. The future President Hindenburg is now the Chief of the General Staff, the immediate superior of General Ludendorff, and the most powerful person in Germany today (Emperor William II has been sidelined by the General Staff), and Ludendorff is the second most powerful person in Germany after Hindenburg.

Captain Hersman followed Kesselring into the luxurious office of the second-in-command of Germany, and saluted the old man with sparse gray short hair and a neat general uniform who was leaning over his desk to study a battlefield situation map on the Eastern Front.

"Your Excellency the General, the Central Office Captain Kesselring reports to you!" Kesselring respectfully placed a folder on the general's desk.

Ludendorff raised his head, revealing a rather majestic face. He had a high forehead, sunken eye sockets, and a straight nose that seemed to be carved out. He wore a monocle on his nose, and under his gray mustache was a tightly closed mouth with both sides bent downward.

The general glanced at Hersman with a sharp gaze, as if he wanted to see through the soul hidden in his body. Then he waved to Kesselring and let him leave the office without saying a word.

Now, only Ludendorff and Hersman were left in the huge office.

Could it be some top-secret mission? Hersman had noticed something unusual, but he still stood straight with no expression on his face - this was the most standard posture of a Prussian officer.

Ludendorff still didn't speak, but opened the folder and read it carefully. I don't know how long he read it, and a very majestic voice broke the silence.

"Captain Hersman, do you know the news of the Russian Revolution?"

It's really for Russia!

Hersman said calmly: "I already know."

This is not a military secret. Tomorrow morning, all German newspapers will publish this inspiring good news on the front page.

"Don't you think this is good news?" The admiral asked in a gloomy tone.

"This is good news, but it's not good enough for the empire, because I don't think the revolution will bring peace to the Eastern Front." Hersman answered with certainty. He knew that the leaders of the Russian Provisional Government after the February Revolution were unwilling to negotiate with Germany at all - those guys were stupid people with crazy brains, and they deserved to be caught and shot by the Bolsheviks!

Admiral Ludendorff's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a satisfied smile: "It seems that you have some research on Russian issues."

Hersmann did not deny that the German military fans in the future generations certainly knew the Soviet Union, the Red Empire, very well.

Ludendorff looked at Hersmann, paused and asked again: "So, do you know Lenin?"

"Le...Lenin!" Hersmann was stunned for a moment, and suddenly thought of something, blurted out: "Sir, are you talking about the leader of the Russian Bolsheviks, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov?"

Ludendorff tilted his head back. "Haha, it seems that the Central Office has finally found a suitable candidate for me this time." He looked at Hersmann, "Captain, I now appoint you as my adjutant, directly responsible to me. And you have only one task, take the radio station and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Switzerland, and establish contact with Lenin, the most dangerous rebel in Russia in the name of the German Socialists!"