Chapter 10 The fastest promoted lieutenant colonel in German history
"What! All our contacts with Krupp, Hugenberg, and Tishen have been unilaterally interrupted!" After listening to the report from his subordinates, Karp suddenly had a bad feeling. After all, there was no sign of this.
Emergency incidents are generally not a good thing.
However, after all, Garp is a figure who has been among the upper class for many years.
He understood that at this moment, this kind of information must not be leaked.
Once chaos is caused, the long-planned coup will be in flames.
Moreover, the coup was imminent and had to be launched. More than 2,000 coup troops led by Lütwitz were secretly on their way to Berlin.
At this time, Garp really did not have the energy or time to stop and investigate carefully.
"First, don't report this matter to anyone except me, and notify me as soon as you resume contact with the three major families.
Second, let the troops led by Lutwitz quickly occupy the government buildings in Berlin and drive away the parliament and government members.
Third, let our people go to Brandenburg immediately after arriving in Berlin to invite Ludendorff and other officials from the old imperial army to join the new government."
After thinking briefly, Garp issued three instructions to his cronies.
However, Garp has already had a premonition. It seems that there is an unknown trouble that is about to appear.
With a crisp gunshot, a large number of armed men emerged from the Berlin night.
Since there were many members of the Wehrmacht in the Kapp coup, the German Wehrmacht was strictly ordered not to conflict with the rioters.
In contrast to the restraint of the Wehrmacht, Ludendorff, a representative of the old army, and his "marked" troops immediately declared their allegiance to the government, did not support the Kapp riot, and assumed an offensive posture. Civil war was about to break out!
Immediately following was a force that had already reached Stuttgart, helping the government that had fled here to stabilize its position.
As the supreme commander of this force, a captain named Reinhard proposed the strategy of calling on German workers to go on strike to resist the coup when he met with the upper echelons of the government. This strategy was immediately favored by the exiled government, and soon followed.
A general strike swept Berlin.
On March 17, Kapp's new government was completely unable to function. Under pressure from armies from all over the country to declare allegiance to the Weimar Republic government, Kapp was forced to announce the dissolution of the new government and immediately fled to Sweden.
President Ebert later returned to power, strikes ceased one after another, and order began to be restored in Germany.
At the same time, the names of the two men were talked about in the streets of Germany.
One is Imperial General Ludendorff, who decisively supported the government at the beginning of the coup and formed a confrontation with the Kapp rebels.
The other was Captain Reinhardt, who predicted where the exiled government would end up, assisted the government in maintaining stability, and planned Ludendorff's formation and the Berlin strike.
It can be said that these two people played an indispensable role in the counter-insurgency. The Wehrmacht, which originally had good cards, did not do much except declaring allegiance to the government after Ludendorff declared his allegiance.
However, compared with Ludendorff and Zhang Chengtian, who became Reinhardt after traveling through time, the actions of the Wehrmacht are somewhat of an afterthought. After all, adding icing on the cake is often less meaningful than providing help in times of need!
After the incident, Ludendorff was reactivated. Captain Reinhardt was promoted to colonel and transferred to Berlin. The Wehrmacht welcomed a new army commander-in-chief, 54-year-old Hans von Sickert.
Hans von Sickert was the founder of later Germany's "One Hundred Thousand Army". The army he trained for Germany became the backbone of Germany's subsequent military expansion. It can be said that Sickert is the well-deserved father of the German army in World War II!
On the second day after Sickert took office, he called in Chang Chengtian, who was transferred to Berlin.
"Major Reinhardt has been ordered to report." Zhang Chengtian, who was not sure of Sickert's intentions, walked into Sickert's office seriously with the most serious attitude he could show.
"Participated in the planning of the original Navy Operation Rainbow; predicted the location of the exiled government and promptly assisted the government in maintaining stability; participated in the planning of the Berlin General Strike; participated in the confrontation plan between Ludendorff and Kapp. Major Reinhardt, your resume can be
It is said to be a legendary history. Look at your age, a major in his 20s! You may be the fastest-promoted officer in German history." As soon as Sickert saw Zhang Chengtian, he listed his investigation of Zhang Chengtian
Material, of course this is done with good intentions.
Without waiting for Zhang Chengtian to reply, Sickert continued, "I know Ludendorff. He is a typical old imperial officer. Not only did he not support the coup of Kapp and his party, but he declared his allegiance to the Weimar government. I believe you must play a role in it."
You are playing an important role... You are doing the right thing. I am very grateful to you for doing so much for the stability of our country. However, I want to know more about how someone as young as you can do so much.
?”
Zhang Chengtian was very embarrassed after being praised by Sickert. He suddenly felt that this old man was not as ignorant as he was in history.
Zhang Chengtian also praised in return, "Haha, my ability is far inferior to that of General Sickert. I think back then, the German army you led was stationed in Turkey. When the Turkish army collapsed, you were able to hold it steady.
position, and led the German army to respond calmly. In this regard, the British military history also recorded that "a small number of German detachments were well-disciplined, surrounded by scattered troops, unrecognizable faces and a torrent of disasters"
During the battle, about two regiments of German troops maintained their cohesion and fighting spirit, maneuvering as freely as on the parade ground, shooting between stops, and then moving to the rear.'"
Sickert couldn't help but feel relaxed when he heard Zhang Chengtian's praise. After all, he is a human being, and he will be happy when he hears praise. What's more, Zhang Chengtian was talking about what Sickert was most proud of. So Sickert also asked the question just now.
Put it aside and go straight to the topic, "Major Reinhardt, I feel that you are a talented person, and I hope that you can work on a higher platform to revitalize the future of Germany."
When Sickert put down his doubts, Zhang Chengtian also breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't say that, in fact, I knew everything. I just came up with the good ideas that everyone had originally thought of. In that case, Sickert would probably regard himself as
A psychopath.
"Before I arrange your position, I hope you can answer me a question. Major Reinhardt, how do you think Germany can use the one hundred thousand army limited by the Treaty of Versailles to resist possible threats in the future?" This is Sigg.
A special test for Zhang Chengtian, he wanted to judge whether Zhang Chengtian only had a ghost idea or had real materials.
Of course, Zhang Chengtian was happy when he heard this question. There is no one in the world who understands what Sickert wants to hear better than Zhang Chengtian, and he will do whatever he wants without hesitation.
"What we need now is an army that can become the mainstay of the country, with the best training and the strongest leadership ability. The officer corps must be retained, but it needs to be renamed externally. The standard for military personnel should be: Soldiers are in good health
, have more than 12 years of service experience; officers must have more than 25 years of service experience. Once they become a member of the National Defense Forces, they must receive specialized training in a certain aspect, focusing on leadership skills. We need to pay attention to the personal skills and subjectivity of soldiers
Motility. Let every private be trained to become a sergeant, every sergeant be trained to be an officer, and every officer be trained to be a general. Exercises are conducted every six months to improve professional skills.
Professionalism has been improved. If there are no tanks or anti-aircraft guns, we use cardboard and wood imitations, and use toy airplanes to simulate real airplanes for air shooting exercises. During the drill, individual soldiers have to call themselves a certain platoon, or represent an 8-man machine gun team.
"
Great! Sickert heard what he wanted to hear most. Since this little-known major had completely thought of it with him. And he even worked out many details that he hadn't thought of yet. Like this
People are exactly the talents that we need most at the moment, and we are the talents that Germany needs most at the moment!
"Major Reinhardt, write an army reorganization report to me as soon as possible. Once the report is approved, you will assist me in the specific army reorganization steps. Of course, in order to better assist me, I will let the personnel department promote me.
You have the rank of lieutenant colonel and serve as division chief of staff. After all, it has just stabilized, I still have the right to be promoted." After hearing the satisfactory answer, Sickert promoted Zhang Chengtian again without hesitation.
