Chapter 493 Imperial Parliament

When he reached out to turn the page, he noticed the presence of Malashenko outside the window. He didn't expect Malashenko to finish the job so quickly, so he straightened up in a hurry.

"Hey, comrade Malashenko, I didn't expect you to come back so soon."

Before Valentin finished speaking, he had already opened the car door and sat in the co-pilot seat. He glanced at the watch hand and found that it was just past three o'clock in the afternoon. Malashenko didn't know what to do for a while.

"Forget it, I won't waste time. I'll go home early to accompany my wife. There's not much good places to go in the cold weather."

Malashenko, who had long been accustomed to the Soviet winter, didn't feel how cold the car without air conditioning and heating was. At best, it was just a little colder than the tank with a high-power engine directly baking.

After putting his hands back in his pockets to barely exchange for a little warmth, Malashenko, who leaned back against the seat and changed to a comfortable posture, spoke quietly.

"Go back, Comrade Valentin, today's trip is over."

As a full-time driver, Valentin naturally responded to Malashenko's requests. Although he didn't quite understand why Malashenko finished the task that was scheduled to take five or six hours in such a short time, Corporal Valentin, who was used to knowing nothing, didn't think it was strange. A small corporal really didn't have the qualifications and shouldn't know too much.

Rewriting the course of history again and accelerating the development of the Red Army's heavy tanks, Malashenko finally had time to deal with his own private affairs after solving all the things at hand, although this so-called private matter was nothing more than sleeping with his back to the bed board and spending a few more days comfortably with Natalia.

But at the same time, the Soviet Red Army, which was in a state of counterattack, retreated dozens of kilometers in succession like a duck before it stopped. Today, Guderian, the father of the German armored forces, has long since lost his glory. Guderian, who knew that the Battle of Moscow had ended in failure, had to face a very difficult problem: how to deal with the German head of state Hitler.

Hitler, who still had unrealistic fantasies about Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, was in the warm and spring-like headquarters of the head of state. Because the people around him only reported good news but not bad news, he did not know how cruel the cold and terrible predicament the German army on the front line was facing.

The optimistic and confident Hitler still believed that Moscow was within the reach of the German army. As long as he tried a little harder, the last broken door that Stalin used to defend the fragile capital would be kicked to the ground by the unstoppable German army.

In order to make Guderian, who was sleepless all night because he was worried about how to prevent the soldiers from freezing to death while sleeping in the wild, hold the position, Hitler even personally called Guderian on the front line and gave him a firm order in an unquestionable and firm tone.

"Moscow is within reach. All troops on the front line are not allowed to retreat, including your troops! The reinforcements will arrive soon. Marshal Goering has promised me that he will use an airplane to airlift a battalion of 500 people to you. You will be able to see these troops this afternoon."

Guderian, whose call quality was not very good, once thought that his ears were frozen by the Russian winter. Until Hitler repeated the order again on the other end of the phone, Guderian, who felt dizzy and almost stood unsteadily, made a buzzing sound in his head.

"Is the Führer crazy!?"

Let's not talk about the use of the 500 reinforcements promised by Fatty Goering. Guderian, who calmed down and carefully analyzed the situation and the information at hand, quickly came to a rather surprising conclusion.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Führer should not know how bad the situation on the front line was and was kept in the dark by the people around him.

The guys who thought they were just sitting around doing nothing in Berlin continued to deceive the Führer and lied about military intelligence. Guderian, who was always stubborn, could not change his mind once he made a decision, and the trip to Berlin to meet the Führer in person was no exception.

Martin Luther, a famous German religious reformer in the 16th century, was a brave man who dared to go against the will of the world. He was hated by the Pope of Rome for launching a national movement against the Roman Catholic Church, and even the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire hated this representative of public opinion.

When the Imperial Parliament of the Holy Roman Empire was preparing to try and persecute Martin Luther, Martin Luther, who resolutely embarked on the road to trial, was advised by his followers before leaving.

"Little priest, little priest, the road ahead of you is not easy to walk!"

Four hundred years later, when Guderian set out on the road to Berlin to meet the Führer, the same words rang in Guderian's ears again.

With the advice given to him by the deputy and staff officers of the Second Panzer Group Command before he left, Guderian always felt that his situation was somewhat similar to that of Martin Luther. He repeatedly asked himself a question in his heart: Is Hitler equivalent to the Pope of Rome? Is the Führer's headquarters equivalent to the Imperial Parliament?

After thinking hard, he finally failed to come up with a satisfactory result that could convince himself.

Although the road ahead was confusing and everything was unknown, Guderian was very clear about one thing at this time.

It was not an easy task to convince the paranoid Hitler.

Until Guderian's plane landed at Rastenburg Airport in Poland in the severe cold of the Soviet winter. The father of the German armored forces, who had made outstanding contributions to the Third Reich, still believed that as the main armored group on the front line, he could persuade those around him even if Hitler could not listen, which would more or less help the situation on the front line.

But the cruel reality that is not affected by personal subjective willpower always comes too suddenly and quickly.

Guderian, who stepped into the warm spring-like headquarter, soon found that the environment deep inside him seemed a little bad.

Whether it was Keitel, who had witnessed the moment of breastfeeding in the Compiègne Forest, or Schmont, who held an important position in the Wehrmacht Headquarters, the inadvertent looks in their eyes were all telling Guderian the same problem without exception.

Here, Guderian was Martin Luther, who was isolated and helpless when he entered the Imperial Parliament.

After being watched for several hours by a crowd of people who seemed enthusiastic but actually had other ideas, Guderian, who had arranged his schedule in advance, finally got to meet the Führer as he wished.