The world-devouring dragon

January 23, 1912, Vienna.

There are paintings lined up next to an open-air art stall somewhere. The paintings are suppressed by a piece of glass to prevent them from being eroded by ice and snow. On the side, a young man in shabby clothes was sitting on a short wooden stool. He was wrapped in a thick coat and wrapped tightly, leaving only a pair of eyes scanning the passers-by.

He curled up to resist the impact of the cold winter that had not yet receded. Only the white mist exhaled from his mouth and nose proved his signs of life.

People were coming and going around the painting stalls, but people who had just spent Christmas had no intention of looking at the works of an unknown painter. There were such down-and-out artists everywhere in Vienna. They walked in a hurry and passed by the painting stalls one by one. From day to noon, not a single person stopped.

And the young man seemed to be used to it. He looked at the glass that was gradually covered with a layer of frost. The painting under the glass was obscured by the frost and was even a little unclear. He lowered his head in silence.

Suddenly, a young man and woman passed by. The man caught a glimpse of the painting stall and stopped. He leaned down and wiped the frost on the glass to see what the painting looked like.

A burst of surprise filled his heart, and the young man stood up quickly and introduced his painting to the man.

"Sir, please allow me to introduce to you the concept of my painting. My painting..."

But before the delighted voice could finish speaking, the man shook his head, stood up straight, and said to the female companion beside him.

"Let's go."

Loss filled the young man's heart. Looking at the man and woman who had not gone far, he could still hear the curious inquiries of his female companion.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to look at it again?"

"Look, the painting is too rigid..."

The owner of the voice drifted away, leaving only the silent young man, who clenched his fist tightly. The once proud and confident young man was now filled with loss and inferiority.

Three years later, I still have accomplished nothing in Vienna.

Instead of setting up a stall, he quietly put away the paintings, and the young man prepared to go to his favorite cafe.

…

Cafes were extremely popular in Vienna at that time.

Due to the prosperity of Vienna, many artists and thinkers from the world gathered here at that time. Their habits and consumption gave birth to a large number of cafes. Many people who pursued different doctrines also discussed politics in this peaceful city. .

Conspirators, politicians, scholars, medical scientists, scientists, artists... these nearly one million people together form this prosperous metropolis.

The Central Cafe is also quite famous among these many coffee houses. Because of its unique taste, Adolf likes this cafe very much. As long as he has some extra money, he will come here. At least it is warm here, which is completely different from the cold outside.

In this cafe full of customers, this down-and-out young man was sipping coffee alone while thinking about what to do next.

"Are you leaving Vienna?"

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.

This idea only came to him recently. During the three years he lived in poverty in Vienna, he occasionally thought that maybe it would be better to go somewhere else. Before he could finish thinking carefully in his mind, the noise not far away disrupted everything.

"gentlemen……"

Not far away, a middle-aged man in poor clothes was holding something in his arms, as if he was a businessman selling things, and he was talking enthusiastically to the guests at other tables. However, those customers who were drinking coffee were suddenly disturbed, and you can imagine their unhappiness. They all waved him away impatiently.

The middle-aged man could only be forced to rush from one table to another, and finally came all the way to Adolf's table.

"Sir, look at this thing of mine, this thing of mine..."

The middle-aged man said enthusiastically, while lifting the cloth covering the thing he was holding. Adolf looked down with interest, then frowned, and immediately understood why none of the guests in front were interested.

I saw a rusty iron statue among the coarse cloth, and it could be vaguely seen that it was a girl dressed in military uniform. It's obvious that it hasn't been maintained for a long time. Even though it was temporarily wiped down, many corners are still full of rust, which makes people look off-putting.

Seeing that Adolf had no interest, the middle-aged man became anxious and said hurriedly.

"Sir, this is passed down from my grandfather. He is a big collector and has collected many treasures. This is his most cherished treasure. If you don't believe it, you can ask Tobias. I believe there are many treasures. People still know his name, I just think there are many artists here, and maybe someone who knows the goods is the reason why he sells here..."

Tobias?

Hearing this, Adolf couldn't help but turn his head.

He had heard of this name. He was a well-known collector who was said to have collected a large number of famous paintings and treasures decades ago. But he looked at the middle-aged man in front of him and couldn't help but sneered.

"A great collector? Your most cherished treasure? I think it's something that's been sitting in the corner for who knows how long. Did you dig it out?"

As he spoke, he looked at the middle-aged man again and touched his chin.

"I heard that Tobias' family fell into decline after that... Could you be his grandson?"

The middle-aged man's face froze, and he smiled a little, with an unnatural expression on his face. All of this was captured by Adolf's eyes, but he remained calm. In the middle-aged man in front of him, he could feel the morbid aura of a gambler, which was a temperament developed due to long-term excessive gambling.

Adolf vaguely guessed something, but did not reveal it. Instead, he looked at the iron statue again.

There is no doubt that this is a rusty statue that looks like scrap metal, but his keen insight into art still allowed Adolf to detect some clues.

It was too delicate. Although many places were covered by rust, Adolf could still detect the traces of careful carving on the statue, the meticulousness and excellence in the details of the armor, face and even fingertips. It is definitely not something that ordinary sculptures have.

And as if he noticed Adolf's gaze, the middle-aged man said quickly.

"For a hundred crowns, I'll sell you this."

One hundred crowns was equivalent to two or three months' income of an ordinary worker, but Adolf snorted coldly.

"Huh, a hundred crowns? I think it's only worth two crowns."

"Two crowns? How is that possible?"

Hearing the sound, the middle-aged man shouted almost angrily...

But in the end, after some bargaining, the middle-aged man sold it to Adolf for five kronor. After all, no one except Adolf was willing to sell this piece of "scrap metal."

After getting the money, the middle-aged man happily walked away to get his own money and try to make money. Adolf stared at the figure, lowered his head and touched his wallet. There was not much money in it. There were only a few small-denomination bills and a few coins left.

The five kronor just paid was actually Adolf's last bit of money this month. He almost couldn't buy the sculpture.

"Going to the soup kitchen again..."

Adolf laughed at himself in his heart, he looked more and more like a beggar.

But even so, for some reason, he still bought the sculpture inexplicably, but there was an inexplicable impulse that prompted him.

After standing up and paying the money at the table, he was ready to leave.

"Bang..."

Just as he was walking out of the cafe, he suddenly felt his shoulder bump into someone. He turned around and looked, and the other person happened to be looking at him. He was a young man with two beards. He looked very handsome, with a bit of confusion on his face.

"Feel sorry."

The other person took the initiative and said, his voice had some Russian accent.

Russian?

Adolf frowned and didn't answer. He just walked away, while the young man looked at the back of the man who was walking away, as if he was a little confused.

"JOJO, what are you looking at?"

On the side, the young man's companion asked.

The young man shook his head.

"No, it's nothing."

With that said, the two walked into the Central Cafe together to discuss Russian politics and Bolshevism.

During the month from December 1912 to January 1913, a young Russian named Stalin came to Vienna to discuss Russia's communist cause with Trotsky. And because there are two JOs (Joseph Vissarionovich DJOgashvili) in his name, his pseudonym at the time was JOJO...

…

In 1913, Adolf Hitler moved to Munich, Germany.

During this period, German politics was extremely unstable. Decades ago, the German Prime Minister Bismarck's flexible diplomatic skills allowed him to move across the European continent and unify the originally fragmented Germany in a Europe full of great powers. Get up,

From the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, during the period of the iron-blooded prime minister Bismarck, the unified German Empire ushered in all-round rapid development. Using the compensation paid in the Franco-Prussian War, the results of the Industrial Revolution were promoted in the German Empire. Toward the climax.

The massive influx of rural people led to rapid urbanization, unprecedented improvements in national education and social security, and rapid advances in science and technology changed the face of life in this ancient empire. Until 1914, Germany had become the second largest country in the world after the United States. As an industrial country, its strong strength allows it to challenge the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets at sea, and it also has a powerful army capable of dominating Europe.

However, among the complex geographical relationships in Europe and the royal families of various countries, Germany's territory seems particularly small. However, Bismarck was keenly aware that he could not easily challenge Britain's bottom line. At this moment, Britain occupies one-third of the world's land and one-quarter of the world's land. With a population of 1, there were British colonies all over the world, so Bismarck always maintained a high degree of vigilance and caution.

But after the death of the old emperor, the new and radical 29-year-old Emperor William II was not willing to be controlled by the prime minister. In the end, the iron-blooded prime minister, who was over 70 years old, resigned angrily.

After getting rid of Bismarck, the young new emperor was able to display his ambitions.

"Germany's journey is the stars and the sea!"

The passionate young emperor declared this.

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, were shot dead by Serbian youth Gavrilo Princip during an inspection in Sarajevo, Serbia. A month later, Austria-Hungary, with the support of Germany, used the Sarajevo incident as an excuse to declare war on Serbia. Then Germany, Russia, France, Britain and other countries entered the war one after another...

The First World War broke out.

In the midst of this unprecedented world war, an inconspicuous young man chose to serve in the army.

…

On the Western Front battlefield, the German army advanced all the way, but was blocked by the British and French forces on the Marne River in France. The soldiers fought bloody battles but could not open their mouths. On the Eastern Front battlefield, Germany, which was the first to declare war, had the advantage and advanced all the way forward, occupying a large amount of territory. Later, it was blocked by Russia's dangerous environment and found it difficult to advance.

The war on the east and west fronts has reached a stalemate...

However, the brutality of modern war far exceeded the imagination of people at the time. Under the situation of all-out war and total war, the resources of the entire society were tilted towards war. A large number of men enlisted in the army, causing a shortage of population in rear arsenals. Countries had to hire a large number of women to participate in factories, and children were forced to do light tasks such as shoveling snow.

The shortage of supplies, the pressure of busyness, and the burden of life are weighing heavily on everyone's shoulders. The soldiers on the front line are wallowing in blood, while the women in the rear are working overtime in the factories.

The enthusiasm at the beginning of the war was gone forever, and more and more doubts and demonstrations were raised, and even anti-war sentiment grew.

But for the whole of Germany, it is not that there is no good news. The Soviet Revolution in Russia forced Russia to armistice with Germany. There is no war on the Eastern Front. Germany can focus all its energy on the Western Front, and there is no hope of victory. It seems to have appeared.

However……

On October 25, 1918, an order from the German Naval Command reached the port of Kiel.

"Fight against the British... and sink with honor if you fail..."

After the captain read out the entire order with a complicated expression, this order was not complicated. In order to cooperate with the German counterattack on the Western Front, the naval command ordered the fleet to leave the port to fight the British army. If it failed, it would rather die than retreat. But for these sailors, this is simply unacceptable. They have already suffered heavy losses in the naval battle. Let them forcefully leave the port at this moment, not to mention that they cannot defeat the eager British fleet. This is completely asking them to die.

The many sailors in front of them looked at each other in confusion. Most of them had injuries on their bodies, and some of them were blind and had broken hands. After a long time, an angry voice sounded.

"Fuck orders!"

Not long after, the entire fleet boiled over. More than 60,000 sailors with low morale disembarked from the fleet and refused orders...

The sailors mutinied in the port of Kiel.

…

Along with this mutiny, turmoil swept across the entire German Empire. Massive marches and demonstrations by the people finally forced the end of the war. The German emperor had to sign the Treaty of Versailles with the Allied Powers. The hope of victory that seemed to have bloomed had withered before it could bloom...

Germany was defeated.

In the eyes of many Germans, Germany was defeated not because of the collapse of the front line, but because of the stabbing people from behind.

When the news of the defeat reached a hospital, a soldier who had fought bloody battles on the front line, was wounded twice, and was resting in the hospital had just learned the news.

"No!!!"

Angry and desperate voices sounded from the hospital bed.

The introduction of the military sub-plane to World War I and World War II is indeed very interesting, and because I am not familiar with World War I, some introductions to the military sub-plane are used in it, so don’t be surprised.