Chapter 10 Wartime System

After making these adjustments in a row, Hoffman finally felt that his energy was much smoother, and his "role playing" level had reached a new level. At least these old comrades of the National Socialist Party could no longer see how much he had. Abnormally, he can still command like an arm.

"Everyone should be aware of the current military situation and strategic adjustments." Hoffman's face was stern and his expression was extremely serious. "From the current point of view, the war has inevitably become protracted. We must be mentally prepared for this. Russia The reserve force of the people is still sufficient, and it may not be possible to defeat them in a year or two. After the Americans participate, the British will continue to accumulate strength for the Eastern Front war and prepare to give the Russians next year. The idea of ​​a fatal blow. In order to avoid fighting on two fronts, based on the principle of easier things first, I have decided to shift the strategic focus to the southern front, while the eastern front will enter a relatively gentle offensive and defense. We must make effective use of this year. The adjustment time is to comprehensively enhance the strength of the empire. Our armament production, material mobilization and personnel mobilization will all have a different turn. Therefore, I ordered that from September 1, 1942, the empire will be fully transferred to a wartime system. All matters related to All laws and policies that conflict with this system are invalid. The consumer industry must gradually transform into an armaments industry. Major armament enterprises must change from the current one-shift system to a three-shift system. Production efficiency and output must be improved to lay a solid foundation for victory. material basis.”

This is another shocking decision. Although everyone in the meeting has not yet reacted, Hoffman knew that historically, the Third Reich did not carry out general mobilization until the defeat of the Kursk "Castle" battle, and then military production began in 1944. It reached its peak in 2000, when strategic bombing by the United States and Britain had already turned Germany upside down. At present, Germany is still immersed in the dream of "not interfering with the normal life of citizens", and is very poorly prepared for the protracted and cruel nature of the war. The military industry is still implementing the one-shift system unhurriedly, and the economic management system is in chaos. It's just that the problem is covered up by the constant victories on the front line.

Arms Minister Speer understood what Hoffman meant, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he interjected: "Führer, I'm afraid that there will be insufficient labor force."

"Labor force?" Hoffman glanced at General Jodl, director of the Operations Bureau of the Supreme Command, and asked, "Didn't we capture nearly 3 million Russian soldiers on the Eastern Front in the past year? All of them can participate in labor. ”

Yoder looked embarrassed and his face didn't look good.

Speer shrugged disapprovingly: "As far as I know, more than 500,000 people have died of malnutrition and harsh torture in prisoner-of-war camps, and some people were taken away by the Eastern Front troops, under the euphemistic name of volunteering as auxiliaries. The personnel were actually used as slave workers. What's more, the prisoners of war took advantage of the military mobilization and the tense war to escape control and defected to Stalin's arms again. "

"This won't work." Hoffman got angry and said to several giants of the Wehrmacht, "Russian prisoners are also an important resource. They must be placed in an equally important position as other captured materials and cannot be wasted easily." After a pause Then he added, "Prisoners of war alone may not necessarily be able to meet production needs. I believe that educated and appropriate-age imperial women should also serve in the military and expand the proportion of female employees in factories, social organizations, and government agencies... …”

Goering's eyes almost popped out of his head: "Führer, you want women to join the army? We are not Russians, and the army is not so cowardly as to rely on women to fight the war."

"Idiot, who asked them to take up arms and go to the front line?" Looking at the confused Goering, Hoffman was furious, "Just like in the Air Force, women can't be the operators and telegraph operators? Radar operators and anti-aircraft searchlight operators cannot be allowed to be women?”

"Oh, my God!" Keitel, who finally seized the opportunity, mocked, "Comrade Goering's air force is already overstaffed. If women are added to the air force, it will be even more overcrowded. I'm not worried about women. Serving, I'm afraid that when the time comes, even men who serve normally won't be able to complete their tasks."

This was a clear stance, saying that Göring, the leader of the Air Force, was a philanderer and had a lot of scandals. It was a retaliation from Göring's satire that only the Air Force was loyal to its leader. Seeing that Göring was about to get angry again, Hoffman stopped him and said: "Don't worry yet, I won't let the Air Force personnel idle, the Air Force has other tasks. The care and escort of these prisoner camps are all handed over to the Air Force Responsible, the Air Force Field Division can’t defeat the Russians, so it can’t even take care of the prisoners, right?”

Goering rolled his eyes and felt that if the prisoners were put into labor as the head of state said, it would inevitably lead to competition from major companies. This was a very profitable thing. The steel and metal companies under his name would There was a shortage of labor, so I readily agreed.

Seeing that Keitel and Zeitzler, the two chiefs of staff, were about to protest again, Hoffman called back directly: "Aren't you complaining that there are not enough troops on the front line? I will leave the prisoner camp matter to the Air Force, and you only care about the prisoners on the battlefield. , which can free up tens of thousands of field troops for use on the front line. Moreover, it is beneficial to you that the prisoners will not occupy the army's food and supplies after being escorted back home by the air force. This will be done for all prisoners on the Eastern Front in the future."

Speer saw Goering taking the prisoners' jobs, and looked at Hoffmann eagerly, hoping that he would allocate some workers to him for forced labor. Unexpectedly, Hoffmann gave him a brand-new solution: the prisoners' enemies The army cannot simply be assigned to work. It must first be screened, especially Bolsheviks. Soldiers and officers must be detained separately to prevent officers from using their authority to incite and organize. Officers and Bolsheviks will all participate in forced labor. As for ordinary soldiers, it is not recommended to directly invest in military production - there will inevitably be sabotage, strikes, and sabotage, which will cause great harm to the quality of arms. By the same token, the current armaments in the imperial-occupied areas Industry cannot trust other countries to produce, it must be controlled by itself.

"My suggestion is this, we transfer all consumer industries to the occupied areas, and relocate their military industries to the empire itself. In this way, even if they mess with the products, they will not cause harm to our weapons, and at the same time, they can weaken our weapons. Their defense capabilities prevent them from producing weapons for the resistance. I think the Russian prisoners should be placed in the Reichstag of East Prussia and Poland, so that they can mainly engage in agricultural and mining production - especially agriculture. We should have an incentive policy to be resettled. As long as the captives can produce enough for the imperial government, the rest will be left to their own devices. Doesn't Stalin like to set up collective farms that plunder all surplus materials? We can also learn from this model to let them understand what a real national society is. Doctrine. Thanks to the food products they provide, the residents of the empire who were originally engaged in agricultural production can join in large-scale industrial production." Hoffman stood up excitedly when he got to the point, "Gentlemen, we don't need to be afraid. They are doing mischief, being passive and slowing down their work, and reducing production will not do them any good at all. It is completely to blame for their own stomachs. If these captives under separate control perform well enough and we can provide treatment that is better than that of Stalin's collective farms, they can still do it in the future. Let them take over their family members, give them Polish land, and let them serve the empire wholeheartedly. In short, the empire's production capacity, especially heavy industry and armament industry, must be greatly improved, and we must integrate the entire Europe. resources and production capabilities to fight against the three countries of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union - this principle was clearly explained by General Ludendorff in "Total War". If you are still unclear, I suggest you find it and read it carefully. Take a look, it’s good for you.”

"Bah bang bang!" Goebbels was the first to applaud. "The Führer spoke so well. He not only explained the necessity and importance of the empire's general mobilization and full transition to a wartime system, but also the future economic work and Industrial and agricultural production has pointed the way, no matter how far-sighted it is, it cannot be overstated.”

Others could only follow suit and clapped their hands. Goering muttered "flattery" in Goebbels' direction with dissatisfaction, but the latter ignored him as a matter of course.

"So," Hoffman slowly walked up behind Speer and patted him on the shoulder, "Your task is very heavy. The system needs to be reorganized after the implementation of wartime system and production reforms. I require the production of major technical weapons as follows The production of tanks, artillery, and aircraft must be doubled in a short period of time, and basic industrial products such as steel, aluminum ingots, and synthetic oil must also increase significantly. After the complete integration in 1943, efforts must be made to double this year. Of course, you don’t have to worry. Since I have assigned you a task, I will also grant you the corresponding rights-all imperial economic work and armament production, whether it is the air force, army or navy, are controlled by You have unified dispatch and command. Anyone who dares to disobey orders will be regarded as a traitor who undermines the wartime system and will be punished by Comrade Himmler."

This was completely a reuse of Speer's posture, which was tantamount to handing over the entire economic and production power of the empire to him. At this time, Speer felt that the blood all over his body was rushing up, and his face turned red as if he had drank it secretly. Like a bottle of fine French wine, he stood up straight and said loudly: "Don't worry, Head of State, I will live up to your high expectations." The faces of Goebbels, Himmler and others were very moved, showing that With an expression of envy and jealousy, Martin Bowman even looked at Speer eagerly - the head of state had given clear instructions last night that in addition to the current base camp, no new headquarters would be built that would waste people and money. Comrade Bowman, who built it, has been missing for a long time.