Ross and Steve are also the first old members to follow Reinhardt. Since Reinhardt's position has become higher and higher, their rights have become more and more powerful, and their tasks have become more and more heavy.
Especially after the Gestapo expanded its intelligence work to foreign countries and the SS began to expand its troops on a large scale, the two old comrades who went their separate ways rarely had the opportunity to meet.
But this time, through Reinhardt's seemingly "whim" speech in a Munich pub, the two finally had the opportunity to get together.
Looking back 20 years ago, Steve was just a small company commander in the Weimar Republic. With no hope of personal promotion and a bleak future for the country, he lived his life in frustration.
Ross's situation was even worse. After participating in Operation Rainbow, he was laid off and assigned to the police station as a sergeant.
These are two small characters who were supposed to remain unknown all their lives. Apart from their patriotic passion, they did not have many outstanding talents. Because they were the first to come to Reinhard's side, they eventually became the powerful second-in-command of the Third Reich.
The Chief of Staff of the SS, who serves as the commander-in-chief of the Waffen-SS, and the Minister of Homeland Security, the leader of the Gestapo. Who would have thought that the two most popular deputy positions next to the Führer would actually be occupied by two unknown people in history?
It's occupied, and it's occupied securely.
Of course, since the capital of the Yuan Dynasty has been changed, it would be unreasonable if the head of state's cronies are not changed.
"Führer, I heard that the fighting in Finland was extremely fierce. I was wondering whether in the name of our SS, like Norway and Sweden, we should organize a volunteer army to support Finland." Although Steve is usually very good at talking nonsense.
, but now he asked Reinhard for instructions with a serious expression.
As one of Reinhardt's most trusted cronies, Steve fully understood Reinhardt's true attitude towards the Soviet Union.
Regarding the Soviet Union and Soviet leader Stalin, Reinhard was definitely not as relaxed as he appeared. On the contrary, he had been vigilant about every move of the Soviet army and calculated the relative benefits of cooperation between the two sides.
In this Soviet-Finnish war, although Reinhard never publicly expressed any attitude, many people even thought that he was supporting the Soviet Union in a tacit manner. But in fact, Reinhard had long been secretly supporting Finland.
The military helped a lot.
On the one hand, Reinhardt transferred hundreds of German instructors from the Wehrmacht to the Finnish army to strengthen the Finnish army's combat skills on the grounds of honing their qualities and summing up war experience.
On the other hand, Reinhard also secretly sold the supplies obtained by the Gestapo that Mussolini planned to use for the defense line in northern Italy to the Finnish government to help them strengthen the Mannerheim Line.
Steve even knew that in Reinhard's mind, Finland's strategic significance was extremely important, and its value was worth more than a hundred thousand troops!
Unexpectedly, Reinhard quickly shook his head and rejected the plan of armed aid to Finland that Steve had considered for a long time.
"Steve, our SS is different from that of Norway and Sweden." Reinhardt smiled, patted Steve on the shoulder and explained: "Fifteen years ago, maybe our SS could still be used by the outside world.
Treat it as a militia and even send troops to the Ruhr on behalf of the Wehrmacht."
Having said this, Reinhard paused, and then continued meaningfully: "But not anymore! The SS has long been regarded as the imperial weapon of the Third Reich. In the eyes of the outside world, the SS has become the same as
To Germany’s national force!”
"So, we can't do this little trick like Norway and Sweden." Reinhardt patiently explained to Steve, who wanted to share the trouble for him: "Besides, after all, we still have cooperation with the Soviet Union.
In order to create a better environment to deal with Britain and France, we cannot offend the Soviet Union. Even if we are reluctant, we can only watch them attack Finland."
Ross, who was walking aside and had something to say for a long time, quickly seized the opportunity to speak: "Furthermore, we have no time to worry about the war between Finland and the Soviet Union. According to intelligence, all 100,000 British expeditionary forces have arrived in France.
Their target is obviously Germany."
After thinking about it for about two seconds, Ross immediately added: "In addition, our spies detected the British high-level occupation plan of Norway. This plan is also designed to deal with us. It is intended to seize Norwegian ports and block our access to Norway.
Sweden’s main gateway for importing iron ore.”
The few words between Reinhardt and Rose immediately made Steve, who was in the army and didn't know much about this information, understand the undercurrents beneath the seemingly calm situation.
The north is already on the minds of Britain and France, and problems will arise sooner or later. The Soviet Union, which is next to the east, cannot be messed with, otherwise it will be a big trouble. To the west, the British, French and three-nation coalition forces are fully in place and may invade the western front of the empire at any time. The southern one is
Italy is an unreliable ally, but in Steve's eyes, this ally is the same as no one.
"Then we should..." Steve was a little anxious. Since the situation was already so urgent, why did Reinhard still have the heart to conduct a high-profile small-scale confrontation exercise between the SS and the Wehrmacht.
From this point of view, the head of state should convene the generals of the three armed forces in the palace today to discuss the situation, instead of just summoning a large number of army generals to give an informal opening speech for the exercise in a Munich pub?
Looking at Steve who was a little anxious, Ross smiled and explained to me on behalf of Reinhardt: "Steve, you have been busy with military expansion recently and are not with the Führer, so you have no chance to understand the Führer's in-depth plan. etc.
After I finish my work today, I will come down and explain it to you in detail."
"It's enough for a few of us to know. Don't spread the word. We can't let too many people know about this." Reinhard reminded kindly.
This reminder made Steve feel warm in his heart, because he understood that he was one of the few people who could know what Reinhard said. This was Reinhard's trust in him!
On the other side, Ross immediately went on to tell Steve: "Don't we both understand the Führer's character? When will he do something meaningless?!"
Indeed, ever since Steve got to know Reinhardt, what impressed him most was Reinhardt’s personality of concealing his skills from others.
Although his behavior is often unreasonable and bizarre, in the end it all serves a secret and important core purpose. And the more important the purpose is, the more the methods Reinhardt uses to achieve it look like he is insane.
…
Soon, the three of them, escorted by a group of majestic SS officers and soldiers, walked all the way to the Munich pub.
"Let your people be ready to take action and be smart." Reinhardt showed a sly smile and gave Steve a brief final explanation: "You know, now is not the time to relax at all. I am here today."
I'm not here to give a speech for that little exercise." Raising his wrist, Reinhardt looked at his watch, then turned around and said to Steve: "I'll see Ross later to tell you more about today's schedule and time.
We're almost here, I'm going to prepare a speech."
