The Rise of the Third Reich

On December 12, 1936, the day after the British monarch Edward VIII, who "didn't love country but beauty", abdicated. The Reichstag passed the Constitution of the Third Reich. On the same day, the Reichstag elected Wilhelm II as Emperor of the Third Reich based on the newly adopted constitution.

Different from history, from this day on, the throne of the Third Reich of the German Empire was no longer vacant - historically, Hitler's official title was "Leader and Reich Chancellor", and after the death of President Hindenburg, Hitler It adopted the strategy of "abolition" of the presidency. This meant that the position of "Leader and Reich Chancellor" became Germany's head of state.

Isn’t it a little weird that the Prime Minister becomes the head of state?

In fact, this was a common tactic used by many European dictators in the 1920s and 1930s. They left the throne vacant rather than abolishing it, and at the same time monopolized power in the names of "Prime Minister", "Prime Minister", "Regent", etc.

For example, Horthy Miklós, the regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, and Franco, the prime minister of Spain, both adopted this strategy to govern the country. Hitler also adopted a vague approach on the issue of monarchy, ruling an empire without an emperor in the name of "leader and chancellor", which gave the Junkers officers who supported the monarchy unlimited daydreams - after all, Hitler was young. He is not young, and he has no heirs. His successor Goering has a close relationship with Crown Prince Wilhelm...

However, thanks to Hessmann's efforts over the years, the strength of the Junkers' officer corps has increased significantly compared to its original history. Not only did the officer corps (referring to the officers before Germany expanded its armaments) have a larger number, but there was also a large number of secret agents. organization, and also has a "Junker country" Baltic Republic with a population of three to four million.

Under such circumstances, the restoration of William II was a matter of course. This is the will of the entire Juncker Group, and Hersman, as their agent, naturally has to comply with their will. As a political general, Hersman, like most politicians, must firmly grasp his base.

"Thank you, Your Majesty General!"

"Salute to you, General!"

"Well done, General!"

Hersmann stood in the trunk of an open-top 62 Volkswagen (National Automobile Works) military vehicle. As he passed by groups of veterans and old officers wearing World War I uniforms, many people raised their hands and saluted him.

These people had come to participate in the emperor's coronation parade, and everyone's old military uniforms were covered with medals. Hersman saw that his father was among them. The old man is now a congressman of the People's Party of the Motherland. However, today he did not watch the ceremony with other congressmen. Instead, he put on a well-preserved old military uniform and old military uniforms. The comrades walked together in square formation and were reviewed by the emperor and leader and chancellor Hitler.

"Salute to you!" Hersman also raised his right arm in return.

Because of his "meritorious service", his status in the Juncker Group has also increased. He is now the Margrave Heinsberg-Hersmann and an army general. Unlike when many people were unconvinced when he was an infantry general, now he is a general who has won the hearts of the people - at least the royalist officers are convinced.

Hersman, who has been an officer for more than 20 years, knows that this kind of "submission" is very important for a general commanding thousands of troops. This is "execution ability". Not only will people listen to the orders given, but there will also be people who work hard to execute them and will not violate them.

To obtain this kind of "execution power", it is not enough to just form a small circle. You must also do something convincing. What Hitler accomplished was to completely solve the unemployment problem and allow Germany to take off economically. Hersmann and Schleicher established a powerful Wehrmacht and invited the German emperor back.

"The morale of everyone is very high. It would be great if the old President Hindenburg could see this scene."

Schleicher, who had just become marshal, sat in the seat next to Hessmann, holding the scepter in his hand, with a proud look on his face.

"He will see it, in heaven, together with millions of German heroes!" Hessmann said, "He will be very happy. Not only did we invite His Majesty back, we also established the most powerful people in the world. army!"

When the two people were talking, the Type 62 Volkswagen they were riding in had already passed by the Veterans Square - Hersmann was the chief reviewer of this review, and Schleicher came to conduct the review as the Minister of Defense. final inspection.

As a tribute to the veterans who participated in the last world war, the Veterans' Square will be the first to appear. There is no problem in this link. They are just a group of old people wearing military uniforms and medals. They can just walk through the square formation casually.

Behind the veterans' phalanx is a military band - Germans prefer music, and their military band is also very high-level and can play very beautiful music. In many ceremonies of the German army, the military band playing pipes and drums often goes to the front.

Behind the military band phalanx is the cavalry phalanx. Of course the German army has cavalry! Although the annual production of German cars in this time and space is nearly double that of the original time and space, it is still not comparable to the annual production of several million units by the United States. Therefore, complete motorization was not possible, and Germany did not have so much fuel to consume.

Therefore, the "mechanized" German army is only a minority today, and the majority is "burning horse dung". There are currently as many as 1.1 million military horses serving in the German Army of approximately 1.5 million people! Each infantry division was equipped with at least 5,300 horses and 1,100 carriages. In addition, the infantry division's reconnaissance battalion also relied on horses and bicycles for maneuvers.

However, what was reviewed today was not the cavalry attached to the infantry division, but independent cavalry units, a mixed cavalry regiment belonging to the 1st Cavalry Brigade of the Wehrmacht and a cavalry regiment from the 1st Cavalry Brigade of the SS.

The former is a partially mechanized cavalry force, while the latter is a pure cavalry unit. However, the German cavalry no longer used saber charges, but marched on horseback and dismounted to fight. They were actually mounted infantry.

"Haha, there are two whole cavalry regiments, it's very spectacular!" Schleicher was very satisfied when he saw the soldiers leading the horses and lined up neatly. "This reminds me of before the World War, when there were many cavalry."

"There are many now!" Hessmann said with a smile. "The Wehrmacht has three regiments and the SS has 12 regiments."

The three cavalry regiments of the Wehrmacht (including a semi-mechanized cavalry regiment) all belong to the 1st Cavalry Brigade, and they are front-line combat units. Hersmann planned to equip the cavalry brigade with a motorized anti-tank battalion and a motorized reconnaissance battalion before the war began, allowing them to accompany the armored forces in action.

As for the SS cavalry, they are some second-line troops, temporarily engaged in security warfare in the rear.

After the cavalry are some infantry phalanxes, wearing M35 helmets, carrying Mauser 98K rifles, shiny leather boots, leather backpacks, high-quality armed belts and other equipment. In addition, they are also very handsomely dressed. The new military uniforms - this was designed by the leader and imperial prime minister himself (only participation, the main design was still responsible for the traumatist Hugo Boss of the BOSS brand), which is very eye-catching.

Then came the artillery. What was displayed this time were the 150mm K18 heavy artillery that had just been equipped with the troops. It was towed by trucks, and the gun crew members were also sitting on the trucks - this was considered mechanized artillery.

Although the last military exercise held in the Baltics told the German Army that they needed more self-propelled artillery, manufacturing tracked self-propelled artillery requires a large number of tank chassis. Germany's factories are currently operating at full capacity to meet the needs of tanks for the armored forces, and they cannot take care of self-propelled howitzers for the time being.

However, some progress has been made in the development of self-propelled artillery. The No. 1 "training tank" that is currently withdrawing from active service is being converted into the No. 1 assault gun and No. 1 self-propelled artillery.

But these two projects have not been completed yet, so naturally there are no weapons available for display.

After the K18 cannon, the motorcycle troops appeared. They usually belong to the reconnaissance battalion of the motorized infantry division or armored division, and use three-wheeled motorcycles produced by BMW and Zundap.

After the motorcycle troops, comes the final tank!

The uniform Panzer 2 tank is no longer the original model, but the Type 2 C tank that has undergone several major changes. The maximum armor thickness reaches 15 mm, and 20 mm of additional armor is installed on the front of the tank turret. It is relatively reassuring in terms of defense, but the firepower is still too weak, it is still a 20mm machine gun.

"A total of 400 No. 2 Type C tanks will be very spectacular." Hersman looked at the neatly arranged tanks and said to Schleicher with satisfaction. "They are enough to defeat Poland! At most, a small amount is needed. III and Skoda tanks (Skoda has developed several light tanks, and more advanced tanks are under development).”

"I think the Poles will be very happy to see these tanks," Schleicher shrugged, "Because they are too small! Without No. 3 and No. 4, there is no confidence in attacking Poland. The Poles also have many tanks. Bar?"

"There are TK series of small tanks, each division can have at most one battalion," Hersman said. "They are of no use. The armor is too thin and can be penetrated by rifles. But their 7TP tank is still good. It is better than our No. 2 It’s better, it’s bigger, it’s more armored, it’s more powerful, but it’s too small to be of any use.”

"But they can seize the time to produce. If they are willing to spend money, they can also ask factories in the UK and France to help. In two years, there may be thousands of 7TPs."

Hessman smiled and said, "Don't worry, we can handle it!"

He raised his wrist to check the time, and then said to Schleicher, "Kurt, it's still early, let's go to the airport now. This time the Air Force sent the latest four-engine heavy bombers Do19 and Ju89, It will shock the British and the French."