Chapter 569 Summer Thunder (1)

Ps: Readers are asked to think about a question when reading the book. Are the words spoken by the characters in the book necessarily correct? real?

On the night of July 3, 1943, stars and dignitaries gathered at the Berlin Chancellery, and a promotion and investiture ceremony for senior generals of the Third Reich was being held.

"General Hermann Hoth, because of your consistent loyalty, courage and indelible contribution, on behalf of the entire German armed forces and the German people, I now promote you to Field Marshal of the German Wehrmacht!"

"Long live the Führer!" Holt raised his hands respectfully, then took the marshal's scepter, which symbolizes the top status of the military, from Hoffman and raised it high, and the audience burst into applause...

"General Ewald von Kleist, because of your consistent loyalty, courage and indelible contributions, on behalf of the entire German armed forces and the German people, I now promote you to Field Marshal of the German Wehrmacht!"

General Kleist also became marshal.

The two of them would never understand that in real history, instead of becoming marshals, they were ordered to step aside within a few years because of disagreements with the head of state.

Seeing someone in the Army being promoted to marshal, the Air Force and Navy were very jealous and wanted to select someone for promotion. However, the Navy had just been promoted in a round not long ago, and General Graham, who was closest to being promoted in the Air Force, was promoted to general at the beginning of the year. The promotion to marshal was too fast, so I could only continue to wait. However, Hoffman would not forget Graham's loyalty in history and his outstanding performance in recent battles, so he and Model and others received the Knight's Cross with Silver Oak Leaves and Two Swords.

The promotion and investiture ceremony lasted for more than 2 hours, but no one felt impatient because they knew that the highlight of the night - the engagement ceremony of the head of state - had not yet begun.

Ordinary people's engagement ceremonies are usually held in the woman's family, and at most a few relatives and friends are invited. But when the news of the head of state's engagement came out, it was not a simple personal matter, but a major event that the whole of Germany and the entire Axis camp paid close attention to. Not only Senior generals, core officials, including heads of state from various countries were present in person to congratulate him. Even Pope Pius XII, who was reclusive in the Vatican, also came to Berlin.

After Hoffman's time travel, the relationship between Germany and the Holy See became much more harmonious. For one thing, Germany changed its policy towards the Jews. Even the Holy See thought that the three-year hard labor was completely reasonable and appropriate. It was a response to the Jewish betrayal of Christ. Secondly, Germany has weakened its ideological export and no longer exerts aggressive pressure on Christianity or Catholicism; thirdly, various Eastern countries that have escaped the control of the Bolsheviks have begun the normal spread of religion. Although Orthodox Christianity is the mainstream, Christianity still has a certain influence. market.

However, before the engagement ceremony was held, the head of state unexpectedly stated that he would give a live speech first.

"Do we need to tell the radio audience the content?" Goebbels asked. The Propaganda Department and the regional party organizations of this ceremony tried their best to broadcast the entire process. Now there are at least 20 million people in Germany paying close attention. Listen to live coverage on the radio.

"should."

"German people, all German patriots, the Führer is now making a public speech..."

"...Before the war started, I made a promise to the German people that I would not consider personal marriage issues until the final victory of this war, and everything I had would be dedicated to this country that had suffered so much disaster. Today I broke my promise. , although Germany continued to win on the battlefield, defeating enemies one after another, it was still some distance away from the final victory. The engagement ceremony I held at this time was not a whim, nor was it a random violation of the promises I had made. "

Hoffman paused and said, "It's because my lover, Miss Eva Braun, has given birth to a new life in her belly. As the father of this life, I cannot ignore his growth. I cannot ignore the selfless contributions of those who love me. I must give them a promise and a status to fulfill my responsibilities as a man and a father.”

Everyone was stunned when they heard it, and the tens of millions of people listening to the radio were also stunned.

"If you are still willing to continue to unite and fight together under the banner of the party, are willing to trust me to continue to lead the empire forward, and are willing to magnanimously forgive me for breaking my promise, please feel free to cheer..."

The silence only lasted for 1-2 seconds. In the next moment, all the guests heard the roar of the mountains and the tsunami outside, "Long live the Führer!" - that was almost the whole Berlin people shouting!

"Thank you, I heard your voices... Believe me, I will definitely bring you a glorious and glorious German Empire that will stand for thousands of years. Let us shout together for Germany's final victory - Long live Germany!"

Outside the window, there was also an overwhelming voice: "Long live Germany!"

All the guests breathed a sigh of relief. They were not used to the head of state performing such thrilling moves. On the contrary, Goebbels secretly applauded. Although the matter of pregnancy out of wedlock was not a big deal, it was not a trivial matter when it came to politicians, especially heads of state. Recognition, on the one hand, appears to be aboveboard, on the other hand, it appears to be sentimental and righteous - the head of state is a working-class politician, a representative of the people at the bottom, a leader elected by the people of Germany with votes, not an aristocratic elite who is aloof and indifferent to the fireworks of the world. Public support is crucial. Rather than losing points, this kind of candor will gain points.

Eva was almost about to cry. She didn't know that there were so many things hidden behind this engagement ceremony. These days, she devoted all her attention to jewelry, wedding dress, clothing, and ceremony, trying to make herself dignified, elegant, and worthy of the Third Reich at the engagement ceremony. Hoffman tried his best to meet her requirements, but this simple-minded woman didn't think of anything more.

Now everyone looked at Hoffman differently: the head of state was not only engaged, but also clearly announced that he had offspring. Considering that the head of state is less than 55 years old, he still has at least 20 years of golden age as a politician. As long as the overall situation is not turbulent, his position is as stable as Mount Tai. If a boy is born, he will be a hot figure again in 20 years. He may be a little young to take over the throne, but he is undoubtedly the top heir to Germany's political legacy. They all studied history. Charles-Louis-Napoleon rose from a poor nobleman to the French emperor just by virtue of the reputation of the surname Napoleon. If Germany becomes the leader of Europe, who will dare to look down on the surname "Hitler" from now on?

Mussolini in the crowd couldn't help but said to Count Ciano: "I didn't expect Adolf to be a pure seed..."

Ciano laughed in agreement, but couldn't help but slander in his heart: You are so embarrassed to tease others. You are almost a laughing stock for the whole Italian people in terms of the relationship between men and women.

Romanian ruler Marshal Antonescu said to those around him: "The head of state has become more calm, not as impatient or fanatical as before, and has a vague aura of being the leader of Europe, which is a good thing for the future political landscape. Now I just hope that the war will end soon!"

Of course, you have to drink on such a good day, but Hoffman is obviously very restrained and only drinks a little wine. At 1 o'clock in the morning, he was almost sober. He gently woke up Eva who was sleeping beside him: "I have to go to a meeting, you have a good rest."

"Ah, you still have a meeting so late?" Eva opened her eyes in a daze, "Can't it be held tomorrow?"

"It's already been scheduled. If I don't go now, I'll be late."

"Then be careful and come back early."

In the meeting room of the headquarters, several generals were pacing. Seeing that the time was almost up, Marshal Hoth asked worriedly: "Will the Führer not be drunk and unable to wake up?"

"It's possible. Today is a good day for engagement." Marshal Kleist nodded and said yes. "I was much younger than the Führer when I got engaged. I drank more heavily at that time. I was drunk and unconscious... er..." As he said this, he couldn't help but burp, causing a lot of people to laugh at him.

But today is the wedding day of the two marshals. It would be abnormal not to drink. Didn't you see Marshal Kleist standing here with a rosy face? A man in his 60s looks energetic like a young man in his early 20s.

Zeitzler smiled and said, "It's okay if the Führer doesn't come. The general strategy has been determined. The operational plan will be finalized after a little clarification. I will report to the Führer tomorrow morning."

As soon as he finished speaking, a voice of "The Führer is here!" came in.

At 1:30, Hoffman walked into the meeting room on time. Everyone saluted neatly. Hoffman smiled and congratulated the generals who were promoted and received medals today, and then everyone congratulated him on his engagement.

After a few minutes of greetings, the meeting officially entered the main topic. Hoffman had carefully considered the reason for choosing this time to hold the meeting. First, most of the generals were concentrated in Berlin; second, the news of the engagement ceremony was known to all countries, and the formulation and initiation of the cover operational plan could achieve unexpected goals. He believed that Britain and the United States would get the news of his engagement, so Berlin made great efforts in security, deployed heavy troops on the ground, and hundreds of planes in the air to escort. Britain and the United States were sensible and did not come to harass.

"What's the situation at the front?"

"Everything is going very smoothly. The organization of each army group has been initially adjusted. More than 90% of the losses in the Castle Battle have been replenished. The surrendered Russian Liberation Army's 2nd Army and the remaining Russian prisoners have been fully transferred from the front line to Ukraine and Minsk." Zeitzler looked at the progress chart, "Logistics support is in full swing and is expected to be completed by the evening of July 4, which will not delay the launch of the offensive. Now the overall plan lacks a resounding code name."

"This will be an unexpected sudden attack, like a thunder in summer that shocks everyone." Hoffman thought for a while, "Let's call it Summer Thunder..."