1053 2 Marshals
? The first field marshal of the German Army was born at the conferring ceremony hosted by the head of state Akado himself; the second field marshal Lundstedt also had a very decent promotion ceremony; Even flew back to Germany from as far away as North Africa.
However, Manstein's marshal promotion ceremony was rather sloppy. Because he neither returned to Berlin to accept his promotion as a marshal, nor did he find countless media to leave a few photos of himself for this promotion. He just hurried back to Kiev, the political center of Ukraine, where he took his field marshal scepter from Brauchitsch.
Although the ceremony was hastily presided over by another marshal, this does not mean that the weight of Manstein's marshal's scepter is not so important. On the contrary, this marshal's scepter determines the highest rank of the German army. In terms of military rank, the position of the head of state faction finally took advantage of the momentum to rise.
From a quantitative point of view, at least Rommel and Manstein are real cronies of the head of state. On the other hand, Lundstedt, whose stance is not so firm, can be regarded as another one that is biased towards the head of state. Even Brauchitsch, the original noble representative, questioned Akado's decision on core issues less and less. Needless to say, Admiral Raeder, this person is completely Akado's mouthpiece, and he will execute all orders of Akado without hesitation. Therefore, these bigwigs of the German government seem to have completely resigned to their fate now, because in the future competition for the power of the German senior leadership, they really have no countermeasures to check and balance the faction of the head of state.
The Air Force can be said to have been born with the rise of Akado, and there is no suspense at all for Catherine and Dick, who only follow Akado's lead. The navy has risen because of a series of decisions made by the head of state, and the dream of defeating the United Kingdom for generations has come true—this kind of prestige makes Lütjens, Doenitz and others bow to Akado even more.
If the three armies start to be promoted to marshals, then there are too many of Akado’s henchmen who are stuck in the rank of generals and have prestige who can be promoted to marshals, excluding the four people mentioned above, only Akado’s in the army There are Guderian and Kluger among the confidantes who can be promoted justifiably at any time-and the rest of Liszt, Model Keitel and others are all promoted by Akado. There are more or less shadows of Akado in them, so the traditional aristocratic faction simply cannot produce a few competitive senior generals.
This is also one of the reasons why Brauchitsch is eager to send General Bock to the P Army as the commander. He hopes that his old partner can get military merits in the front line and leave a place for the future German nobles to speak in the military. people.
"Congratulations, Marshal Manstein! You have built such a vast territory for the empire, and this marshal's scepter of yours is well deserved!" Marshal Brauchitsch smiled and held the scepter The scepter representing the highest military rank and honor of the Germans was handed over to Manstein.
The Führer's special envoys arrived here first, and they ordered a very fitting German Field Marshal's dress for Manstein. Of course, at the same time, there was also a gem-encrusted oak leaf sword Knight's Cross of Iron.
All this made Manstein very excited, after all, this was something he had always dreamed of as a German. He used to dream of taking over the marshal's scepter in his dreams, but he found that he felt better today.
The marshal's scepter is actually not too expensive, in fact, it should have been made of precious gold and inlaid with precious stones. But in order to save unnecessary waste, the inner core of this scepter is steel after counterweight, only the surface is gold-plated and inlaid with gems-because of the deal with General Fukuman in South Africa, the gems are still very rich in gold. of. There are 24 golden eagles and 24 iron crosses on the surface of the scepter, with a total length of 50 cm and a cross-sectional circle with a diameter of 3.4 cm. The handle of the Field Marshal's mace is colored red to distinguish it from white for the Navy and blue for the Air Force.
Manstein smiled and took the scepter that Brauchitsch handed over, then stood at attention and saluted a German, and shouted the slogan loudly: "Long live the great Führer Arkador Rudolf!"
"Long live the Führer Akado? Rudolph!" Brauchitsch also stood at attention and raised his hand, making a salute to Manstein in response to him. Then he lowered his arms and walked down the steps side by side with Manstein. While taking steps, he asked: "I heard that in the Caucasus region, there are still many areas where guerrillas are active. Oil pipelines There are still some difficulties in the laying of the
"If these Soviet guerrillas are completely eradicated, it is estimated that another 150,000 to 300,000 troops will be needed." Manstein folded his hands behind his back, playing with the marshal's scepter representing power behind him, and said to Braug "If you have 200 to 300 helicopters, maybe you can save 50,000," Hitch said.
When Marshal Brauchitsch heard what Manstein said, he frowned involuntarily. He knew that the guerrilla activities in the mountainous area were really difficult to eliminate, but the severe situation really gave him a headache.
"We can first build the pipeline from the area with relatively stable law and order between Ukraine and St. Rudolph, and then we will have time to deal with those difficult guerrillas." Manstein expressed his thoughts, after all, he is the The overall commander in charge of oilfield security.
As he walked, he thought about his words. After all, it was not the first day he was thinking about this issue. What Akado wanted was the oil in Baku, not the poor land: "If the Soviet defenders on the frontal battlefield continue to If they are defeated, these local guerrillas will not be able to get supplies and replenishment of weapons and ammunition... In this way, it will be easier for my troops to clean them up."
"Your strategy is right! This is the most effective way to eliminate the guerrillas. If their homeland has ceased fighting with us now, then they have no reason to continue fighting with us, do they?" Brauchitsch was quite satisfied with Manstein's answer. He nodded, and then said with a smile: "From the time you served as my staff officer, I can see that you have a strategic vision. The head of state put you in the Caucasus. , has his own reasons."
The two just walked down the steps and walked towards the door. Their entourage and guards could only follow from a distance. After all, this was the highest-level meeting of the imperial government except the head of state.
"The matter of your appearance in Kiev may have been reported back to Berlin." Suddenly, Brauchitsch talked about a topic that seemed to have nothing to do with the current situation: "The Baku oil field is very important. Mrs. Mingdi, I don't want such important resources to fall into the hands of those merchants."
Manstein very much agreed with Brauchitsch's point of view. He also felt that the Ministry of Industry of the Empire should be directly in charge of the Baku oil field. After all, this oil field is the first large oil field controlled by Germany so far. If those greedy businessmen are allowed to mess around in Baku, it may really shake the foundation of the German army.
"I quite agree with your point of view." Manstein said: "I think the head of state also meant this, so he carried out strict confidentiality work when he received the work in Baku before."
"Unfortunately, there is no impenetrable wall in this world! No matter how strict the secrecy is, it can't seal everyone's mouth. Now there must be an undercurrent in Berlin. At least that bustling city is not what it seems on the surface. It looks so peaceful and serene." Brauchitsch said with some concern.
"So what?" Manstein laughed, then looked at Brauchitsch, and asked in a very humorous tone: "Will you agree with those people and do some stupid things to our head of state that violate your oath? Then let those guys who have never been on the battlefield choose someone who can't speak human language to sit in the position of head of state? That won't win the war, Marshal, so I won't stand on the side of those idiots .”
Brauchitsch glanced at Manstein, and then the worried expression on his face eased a little: "I hope that group of idiots don't really think that they will get the support of the army. At least Germany's powerful army is invincible. There is no doubt that the 7 million troops have been on the side of the head of state from the beginning to the end."
"Look, now we know who is bound to win this power struggle... At least I never doubted that the Führer will be deposed by a group of idiots." Manstein patted the He patted Brauchitsch on the back, made a gesture of invitation, and let the other party walk out of the hall first: "We just need to carry out the order of the head of state and win the war."
The two marshals got into their own cars and drove towards the train station one after the other. Manstein has no time to appreciate the scenery of Kiev. He has to rush back to Baku to organize a new round of work to wipe out the Soviet guerrillas. There are many, many things that he needs to ask himself. After all, he is now the German Third Reich. Marshal, isn't he?
"Marshal! Do you really choose to stand with the Führer?" Brauchitsch's adjutant asked in a flickering voice in the swaying car.
"I'm on the side of the winner!" Brauchitsch replied coldly, looking at the receding scenery outside the window, without turning his head, "And now, even you and the people behind you have changed. Nothing, because the head of state is the one that will win..."
A day later, Marshal Brauchitsch personally sent his adjutant to a court-martial. That afternoon, the senior military officer was sentenced to death for the crime of a large amount of unidentified property.
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