Iron Cross

A curl of green smoke slowly rose up, transforming into different shapes in the air. Below was a fat man sitting on the sofa, thoughtfully. He is the current Prime Minister of the British Empire and the most famous fat man on the British Isles— —Winston Churchill. Sitting next to him are the core figures in the decision-making circles of the British Empire since the war began. Today, they will focus on listening to the report of Major General Stuart Menzies, nicknamed "Big C" and the current director of MI6.

"You mean, Hitler is conducting a purge?"

"Yes, judging from the facts that Germany has publicly announced and the intelligence we have collected, this is an internal purge of an unusually large scale. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently one Reich Marshal (Göring) and Marshal 6 people (Witzleben, Loeb, Kruger, Brauchitsch, Bock and Milch), 15 generals or admirals (Baker, Hoppner, Halder, etc.), and officers above major There were hundreds of people above, including many civilian representatives, including former Economics Minister Schacht, Leipzig Mayor Godler, Prussian State Finance Minister Johannes Popitz, Ambassador to Italy von Hassell and the State Councilor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Secretary Baron Von Witzsucker, etc. It is said that there are still some big names whose names have not been officially disclosed, such as our old rival Canaris. "Menzies seemed very relaxed in front of these big shots and kept talking, "Never before. Judging from the information available, there are a lot of anti-Nazi organizations and personnel in Germany, and most of them are concentrated in key departments such as the military, finance, and diplomacy. Most of these anti-Hitler forces were gradually accumulated after the Nazi Party came to power in 1933. , intertwined with all kinds of characters, but no communists have been found yet. It is not that the communists are not opposed to Hitler, but that they fundamentally oppose the entire country. These small anti-Hitler groups have different demands and ideals. The future development and vision of Germany are completely different, and there is no unified program and action plan. The only starting point and position to guide their actions is to oppose Hitler. This is particularly obvious within the army, where most of the opposition forces are senior. Members of the officer corps accumulated considerable conflicts in the process of Hitler usurping military power, grossly interfering in military affairs, and dictating combat plans."

"Hitler purged nearly one-third of the marshals, one-sixth of the generals or admirals, and hundreds of generals and officers in one fell swoop. What on earth did he want to do?" Labor leader, deputy wartime prime minister and minister of dominion affairs Clement Attlee asked doubtfully, "For those who don't know the so-called 'treasonous group'?"

"Some people say this is a German-style purge...or another Night of Long Knives." Menzies answered cautiously.

"No matter what, this result shows that the trend of division within the Hitler group has been further clarified. Especially the attempted bombing of the Eagle's Nest Camp has strengthened this persecution mentality. It's great - this is not what we did, right?"

"No, Mr. Prime Minister, although I would like to take the credit."

"You can also try to do this." Churchill waved his hand nonchalantly, "Whether it succeeds or not, it is good to scare the great dictator. If he can launch a round of purges every time, we will weaken the Nazi group. The work will get twice the result with half the effort, because after a few more times he will not be able to find generals who can fight for him, and the combat effectiveness of the army will quickly decline - just like Stalin once did."

Churchill habitually took two puffs on his cigar and continued: "The most noteworthy name among these people is Göring! This is a person who followed Hitler and became his successor. He is also his personally designated successor. His role and status are not that of Röhm at all. They can be compared with each other. Now he was killed with such a ridiculous reason as "the leader of the treasonous group", which fully shows how serious the strife within the Nazi group is. I think the top leaders of this regime should be trembling if not everyone is in danger. Already..."

Menzies added to the Prime Minister's discussion: "At present, the power of the Hitler group is further concentrated. Except for Hitler himself, Himmler, Speer, Goebbels, and Bormann have almost all the power, especially Spe. Hitler's status rose rapidly. After the launch of the general mobilization system, he took over almost all economic powers and was known as the "Economic Head". Hitler himself served as the commander-in-chief of the army and air force. He also controlled the main force of the navy through Dönitz and promoted unknown people. Zeitzler served as the Army Chief of Staff. After purging these senior officers, his control over the army has reached an unprecedented level, and his trust in the officer corps has been reduced to the lowest level."

"This is the funniest joke I have ever heard. An Army Corporal can actually serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Air Force." Churchill burst out laughing. "I want to hear your thoughts on whether we can take advantage of this." Write some articles?”

“There may be a Rommel added to these names.” Robert Anthony Eden, who served as foreign minister and a core figure in the Conservative Party, reminded.

"Rommel?" Hearing this name, the Prime Minister of the British Empire couldn't help but frown. He had seen this name in the defeat telegram almost every quarter for two years, and it had become the person he least wanted to face. , he asked in surprise: "He also opposes Hitler? Why? Isn't he the Führer's favorite?"

"The situation is like this. Among the people arrested this time is an army colonel named Stauffenberg. He was originally Rommel's right-hand man in North Africa. This time he returned with Rommel not only to assist him in managing and training the German reserve army, but also to assist Rommel in managing and training the German reserve forces. I was also planning to promote him to the main person in charge of the reserve army, but he was found to be a conspirator, and he was not an ordinary peripheral person. He was a core figure who plotted a coup in the Czechoslovakia incident... Rommel was said to be because of this incident. He was admitted to the hospital. I don’t know if he was really ill or if other measures were taken.” Menzies said regretfully, “The hospital is very tightly sealed and our people can’t get in.”

This sentence reminded everyone of the Munich incident directed by former Prime Minister Chamberlain. Churchill's face was very ugly, and he cursed two words angrily: "This is the so-called consequences of bringing us peace for a whole generation. If he had been tougher at that time, If we continue to cooperate with the anti-Hitler people in Germany, how can we have the current war?”

Most people did not agree with Churchill's venting of anger, but felt that he was not kind enough - and I didn't see you desperately opposing it at that time.

"What does this mean? It means that the warmonger opposite is going crazy again." Seeing that the venue became dull, Churchill couldn't help but stand up. "I had always been surprised by Hitler's move to replace Rommel. I thought he arranged for Rommel to return. The state has more important combat tasks, especially after the change in the commander of the 6th Army in Stalingrad, Russia, it became more obvious. The commander of the reserve army is nothing more than a transitional position, but combined with this intelligence, you can rest assured..."

"Prime Minister, a telegram from the Eighth Army." As soon as Churchill sat down, his confidential secretary reminded him softly.

"Did Montgomery attack the enemy?"

"Attack."

"Did you defeat Guderian?"

"No, there isn't."

"What, lost?" Churchill didn't expect this result at all. He stood up in surprise, with cigar ashes falling on his pants.

"No." The attendant suddenly showed an indescribable expression, "The telegram is here, you'd better take a look for yourself."

Churchill took the telegram in confusion, but after looking at it carefully, he became furious and threw the message paper on the table angrily. The telegram first informed him of victory, saying that three Italian divisions and 40,000 people had been captured in one fell swoop. It boasted that the Italian officers captured were as many as "several acres." They slipped away, and finally implicitly stated that there had been some losses in the battle, including more than 300 tanks, more than 250 aircraft, and a large amount of materials and supplies. They hoped to receive additional supplies as soon as possible. Alexander and Montgomery expressed that they would After the reinforcements are in place, continue to pursue the enemy.

Churchill's face quickly darkened. He was also a veteran politician who had served as Lord of the Admiralty, been on the battlefield, and had the "experience" of the Dardanelles defeat against the Turks in World War I. Of course he saw It can be concluded that there is a lot of moisture hidden behind this good news: the prisoners are all Italians, and the Germans escaped? Thinking of the "one degree" loss, he immediately and sensitively connected the two - this shows that the Germans not only slipped away but also bit the Eighth Army hard, and now Montgomery blamed all these losses on the Italians. It seems that the latter is the source of their heavy losses. If the Italians were really that good at fighting, would they have three divisions and tens of thousands of prisoners? Don't be kidding, he knew what the Italians were from the last war.

"Let you waste the opportunity to fight and lie about the military situation..." The fat man lost his temper with great force. Everyone didn't know what happened and could only look at each other in confusion.