"What are the Italians doing? How can they lose their advantage in the Mediterranean?"
In the Reichstag in Berlin, Hitler was venting his dissatisfaction with Italy.
In front of him were Canaris and Heydrich, who were the chiefs of German intelligence. On the side were Goering, Hess, Himmler and other senior leaders of the Communist Party, as well as military chiefs Brauchitsch, Keitel, etc.
People are also there.
"Now this makes us very passive."
Goering on the side also took the opportunity to interject, but after he finished speaking, he couldn't help but look at the army officers.
This time when senior German military and political officials gathered together, it was of course not just the news of Italy's defeat in the naval battle. Canaris and Heydrich brought an order from France to send some African troops back to the mainland. This had a profound impact on Germany's next battle.
Huge influence, so Hitler specially summoned them to discuss the plan for war against France.
In fact, the battle plan against France had already been drawn up. It was the historical Operation Sickle, which was drawn up based on Manstein's opinion and the armored troops passed through the Ardennes Forest.
Although the plan was opposed by Brauchitsch and others in the War Department (thinking it was too risky), Hitler and Armored Force Commander Guderian and others liked it. In the end, under Hitler's pressure, the plan was approved.
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Of course, this plan was approved partly because of luck. The original plan for the war against France was called the Yellow Plan. This plan was similar to the Schlieffen Plan when the German army attacked France in World War I. That is, the main force of the German army was placed on the right wing and passed through
Belgium goes to attack France.
However, in January, a German Air Force officer carrying the yellow plan made an emergency landing in Belgium because his plane got lost. Unable to burn all of this important document, part of it fell into the hands of the British and French. Faced with the risk of leakage, Germany had no choice but to
Instead of overturning the yellow plan, use Mannstein's plan.
However, now that France is moving some of its troops back to the mainland, this makes Hitler and others a little anxious. So this time, they are apparently scolding Italy for losing the naval battle, but in fact they are putting pressure on the army and trying to launch military operations in advance.
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So naturally some people took over Göring's words.
"Göring is right. We cannot just watch France continue to increase its troops on the border. This will be very detrimental to our future operations."
This time it was Hitler who spoke, but in the face of Hitler's obvious pressure, Brauchitsch, as the commander-in-chief of the army, felt a little embarrassed. The current commander-in-chief of the army has not made many political achievements and is more famous for his military capabilities.
Faced with the obvious pressure from the head of state, he thought for a while and said, "The current increase in France's border troops is actually nothing. The troops it mobilized from Africa basically come from the colonies, and its equipment and morale are not at all
The method is comparable to that of the local army."
"But that is an army of more than 100,000 people, and their weapons can also cause harm to the soldiers."
Obviously, although General Brauchitsch's desire to transfer the new French troops back to the mainland was trivial, there were still people who were opposed to it, and the person who spoke out was General Keitel next to him.
Facing the opposition of Wilhelm Keitel next to him, Brauchitsch was not surprised. This was Hitler's spokesperson in the army and had always been known for his resolute obedience to the orders of the Führer.
But the current situation made him feel a little bit bad.
Sure enough, as General Keitel's words fell, Hess immediately took over. "Your Excellency, the Chief of Staff, is right. We cannot remain indifferent to this. This will be a crime against the soldiers on the front line."
After Hess finished speaking, other senior government officials immediately joined in, making the parliament almost turn into a criticism meeting of Brauchitsch.
Brauchic, who was almost forced into a corner, immediately retorted. "But this cannot change the combat time. You must know that changing the planned time will have serious consequences. No one wants to see this happen."
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"But the plan needs to be modified based on the actual situation. Unexpected situations have occurred and it is time to make changes."
Keitel, who also belongs to the military, tried to use a military point of view to counter Brauchitsch's words.
"However, the current increase in French troops is not enough to allow us to advance our plans."
Since Keitel tried to suppress himself with military views, Brauchitsch also responded unceremoniously. Although Brauchitsch did not think that he could be the best in the army militarily, Keitel did not want to give in.
The two of them have been working together for so long, and he still knows how much the other person weighs.
"But we can't wait until then to decide, we need to plan ahead."
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, do you know how much risk you need to take if you want to change the time of the combat plan? At present, all preparations of the army are carried out according to the plan. This cannot be solved in advance. Military problems require military intervention.
solve."
Although Brauchic did not say it explicitly, everyone present knew who he addressed his last words to.
However, Brauchitsch's current reaction was all expected, and Göring intervened at this time. "Although it seems that France has not mobilized too many troops from Africa at present, we cannot wait like this. And
Our allies are making very good progress so far, and we cannot wait too long."
Well, Göring returned to politics from a military perspective.
When faced with political topics, Brausic could not compete with the people in this room and was quickly at an absolute disadvantage. However, even at an absolute disadvantage, Brausic still refused to let go and did not agree to launch an early attack on France.
attack.
In fact, everyone present knew that the issue of advancing the plan had a lot to do with Hitler's desire to control the army.
As we all know, Hitler came to power with the acquiescence of the Army. However, the Army has always been controlled by the Junkers, and they have a more cooperative relationship with the German Workers' Party. Their philosophy is also to serve Germany.
Before, Hitler disbanded the SA and shot Röhm to make the army recognize him.
It’s just that since Hitler became the head of state, his infiltration into the army has not stopped. He wants the army to serve the political party. The Junkers in the army are also aware of this, and the overt and covert struggles between the two parties have also continued throughout.
Until now.
However, the army now has a huge disadvantage, that is, since Hindenburg's death, the army has not had a leader. Therefore, the army is at a disadvantage in this confrontation.
Of course, as an excellent politician, Hitler naturally knew that if he wanted to achieve what he wanted, he needed to do it slowly. So whenever he found an opportunity, he would exert influence.
He considered the defeat of the Italian naval battle this time to be a good opportunity. Of course, he had also talked to several generals before to find out that the early execution of the plan would not have as big an impact on the army as Brauchic said, so he launched an attack in parliament this time.
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Brauchic, who was unprepared for this, could only fall into isolation.
In the end, Brauchitsch, who was not alone, pushed back the time of launching the attack a bit, from the beginning of May to the end of April, under pressure from Hitler.
Although it doesn't seem to be much in advance, it perfectly shows the current relationship between the army and Hitler.
The impact of the Italian Naval War was of course not limited to Germany alone, and was also being discussed in Romania.
