I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 765 Lao Jiang
In March this year, Germany was forced to hold early general elections because Friedrich Ebert, the first president of the Weimar Republic, was unable to handle government affairs due to illness.

In the first election in March, none of the seven candidates won an outright majority, leaving the presidential candidate undecided.

In order to stabilize the situation as soon as possible, the leader of the Fatherland People's Party, Alfred von Tirpitz, personally went to Hanover, the secluded residence of former German Commander-in-Chief Paul von Hindenburg, to persuade Hindenburg to run for election.

On April 4, Germany held its second general election. Hindenburg was elected as the second president of the Weimar Republic with 26 million votes, accounting for about 1460% of the total votes.

Hindenburg was a staunch royalist. The first thing he did after taking office was to return all the property of William II and the abolished German aristocracy and compensate them for their losses, despite opposition from the German Parliament.

On May 5, Hindenburg issued a presidential decree instructing all embassies and consulates abroad to fly the black, white and red tricolor flag of the German Empire in addition to the black, red and gold flag of the Weimar Republic.

Russia was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with the Weimar Republic. After the German Embassy in Alexandria hoisted the black, white and red tricolor flag, Russian News wanted to publish an article to remind all countries to be vigilant against the revival of German militarism, but was forcibly revoked by the Press and Publication Administration.

After Hindenburg became president, he took the initiative to propose to Russia that he hoped to visit Russia in October.

This was also Hindenburg's first overseas visit as president.

Felix welcomed Hindenburg, and on October 10, Hindenburg arrived in Alexandria.

Felix held a grand welcome ceremony for Hindenburg. On the second day after arriving in Alexandria, Hindenburg took the initiative to come to the Yuriev Palace on the pretext of visiting Anne.

Hindenburg never concealed his identity as a royalist on various occasions.

Anne was a princess of the Hohenzollern family and had a high status in Germany, so it was reasonable for Hindenburg to take the initiative to visit her.

Visiting Anne with Hindenburg was the former German Crown Prince Wilhelm.

During the World War, William fought on the Western Front and did not have a direct confrontation with George.

After William II abdicated, Crown Prince William fled to the Netherlands with members of the royal family and was only allowed to return to Germany last year.

Crown Prince Wilhelm did not hold any office in the Weimar Republic.

The so-called visit to Anne was just a cover; the person Hindenburg and William really wanted to visit was George.

George and Anne had a clear division of labor, and the women worked together to keep in touch with each other. George, Hindenburg and William went to the study to drink tea and chat.

During the Imperial Russian era, both Hindenburg and Wilhelm had participated in the Rivne exercises as military observers or special guests, so George was no stranger to the two.

The topic naturally started with the world war.

"If Grand Duke Nikolayevich had not initiated the Battle of Tannenberg, the situation between Germany and Russia would not be what it is today."

Hindenburg put all the blame on little Nicholas.

This was only because little Nicholas was not present, otherwise he would have fought Hindenburg for three hundred rounds.

"If Nikki hadn't taken the initiative to attack, you wouldn't even have had a chance to come back."

George's attitude was casual. That was ten years ago and a hero never brags about his past achievements.

"According to what you said, I should be grateful to Grand Duke Nikolayevich——"

Hindenburg's eyes were as big as bells, and he was not convinced at all.

When George took over the northern front, Hindenburg had returned to Berlin to serve as commander-in-chief of the German army. Strictly speaking, Hindenburg and George did not fight directly.

"You should be grateful. If Nicky hadn't been deceived by the British and French, Germany wouldn't have survived until 1915."

George was actually also very upset because the world war had changed so many things.

"Which Nicky are you talking about?" Hindenburg must have done it on purpose. The old guy didn't come to build relationships, but to find trouble.

Just as George was about to fight back, Vasily made a brilliant appearance.

Hindenburg, who was born in 1847, was already in his eighties. If George went all out, he was afraid that Hindenburg would be too excited to speak. He did not want to say anything too extreme, after all, he was a guest.

Vasily is the descendant of the military god and the current Duke of Suvorov, so he is no less capable than Hindenburg.

"If George and I had been on the Northern Front, you wouldn't have stood a chance!"

"Suppose the Russian army on the northern front does not take the initiative to attack, but only takes a defensive position, and instead attacks the Austro-Hungarian Empire with all its strength, what can you do? Call Conrad over and ask him how many days he can hold out!"

"I don't know who Erich (Ludendorff) is."

After Vasily joined, Hindenburg could no longer rely on his seniority.

George did not neglect William and expressed his greetings to the old emperor.

Unlike Hindenburg, William did not distinguish between the important and the unimportant. He took the initiative to ask George how Germany should get out of the current unfavorable situation as soon as possible.

"It is not difficult to revive the industry. The key is how to rebuild the confidence of the German people."

To William, George's words inevitably sound a bit Versailles.

Whether it is difficult to revive the industry depends on who the target is.

The reason why Russia's strength was able to recover so quickly is that Amur still has an almost complete industrial system, and the Russian-European region has been completely destroyed, reducing the obstacles of the old forces to a minimum, so it was able to return to its peak in just a few years.

Germany is now facing internal and external troubles. It is not as easy as George said to revive its industry.

As for the Germans' confidence, this was not the main problem in William's view.

All we can say is that different angles will naturally lead to different conclusions.

"Russia's experience is not applicable to Germany. To solve your problems, you still have to start from reality."

George only spoke half of the words, and those who understood understood.

If William is a blockhead and refuses to learn, even if George teaches him step by step, William will not be able to understand the homework he copies.

If William could be realistic, many of Germany's current problems would not actually be problems.

The most crucial reason is that the war did not spread to Germany, and Germany's industrial base and talent pool were not systematically destroyed.

Although after the end of World War II, Germany moved some factories abroad due to the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, there was also a certain degree of talent loss.

Most Germans still have feelings for Germany, and Germany's power, especially military power, is still in the hands of the Junker aristocracy.

This is William’s greatest asset.

If William is wise and brave enough, restoration is not impossible.

Hindenburg, who was engaged in a heated argument with Vasily, suddenly interrupted and said, "The Austro-Hungarian Empire no longer exists. The fundamental contradiction between Germany and Russia has disappeared. We should look to the future and start a new era."

George has to give Hindenburg a thumbs up, the older you get, the wiser you get.

(End of this chapter)