Germany does not seek survival

"We all long to fight alongside heroes, and we long to fight alongside you."

"I am a Sudeten German. My application was published in German newspapers and approved by Generals Falkenhayn and Conrad, so I was able to be transferred to your unit, Faust."

……

These new recruits who had just written applications to be transferred to the Grossdeutschland Camp were basically the best in the German army and had high morale, at least stronger than most of the demoralized veterans in the trenches on the Western Front.

Some of the new soldiers came from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Habsburg family, the royal family of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was originally the most powerful prince among the German nation. However, over the past few hundred years, with the continuous expansion of the Habsburg family in the German border areas, the Austro-Hungarian Empire ruled by the Habsburg royal family gradually changed from a German-ethnic country to a multi-ethnic country.

The ruling ethnic group of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was still the Germans, but these German soldiers were not happy in the army.

In order to accommodate the large number of ethnic groups in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the army set up many outrageous rules. If a German wanted to become an officer, he had to learn at least three or four languages. Therefore, many Germans in the Austrian army wanted to go to Germany to join the real German army as soon as they had the chance.

For example, Hilary Mustache was born in Linz, Austro-Hungarian Empire and was a real Austrian. But when World War I broke out, Hilary Mustache did not want to sign up for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's complicated multi-ethnic army, so he went to Munich, Germany to join the army.

The Germans in the Austro-Hungarian Empire have no difference from the Germans in terms of blood, culture, language, etc. In the past three years, the German and Austrian armies have fought side by side for a long time. As allies, under the close military ties, the Germans in the Austro-Hungarian Empire have become more yearning for and closer to Germany.

A few months ago, the Brusilov Offensive launched by Tsarist Russia dealt a heavy blow to the Austrian army on the Eastern Front. After this battle, the Austrian army, as an independent sovereign military force, actually ceased to exist. It was only with the assistance and blood transfusion of the German army that it was able to hold on to its last breath.

The price paid was that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was now completely under the control of Germany, and the German and Austrian armies became increasingly unified.

Scherner, the company commander of the 3rd Company of the Grossdeutschland Battalion, was from Munich, but he spent most of his youth in Austria. He also held an Austro-Hungarian passport, which meant he had dual German and Austrian citizenship.

Scherner was a mountaineer before the war. When the Great German Battalion held its first reorganization meeting at the Loren Barracks, it was Scherner who spoke first.

Scherner prepared a thick notebook filled with the extensive mountain activity experience he had accumulated as a senior mountaineer, as well as improvement suggestions for the German mountain hunter corps based on this experience.

Faust briefly flipped through his notes and found that the content was indeed solid, reliable and constructive.

"The Allies, especially the Italians and Russians, have always believed that high-altitude mountainous areas are not suitable for large-scale military operations. Even the Imperial Army generally does not believe that mountain troops above the battalion level are capable of large-scale combat in snowy mountains above 1,500 meters."

"The mission of the Grossdeutschland Battalion is to challenge this implicit understanding. We must master the ability to conduct large-scale infiltration assaults in the high mountains. The hunters must learn to march and survive in the uninhabited areas of the mountains lacking vegetation. They must know how to move quickly in the snowy mountains. Our equipment must also be improved, using ski poles, hooks, and the new white snow uniforms..."

Chapter 33: Easily Seize Power

The Grossdeutschland Battalion replaced the conventional artillery equipped by ordinary infantry divisions with artillery suitable for mountain warfare. The characteristic of these mountain artillery is that they can be disassembled and transported by manpower or a single mule or horse.

The "Edelweiss" logo, unique to mountain soldiers, has also been added to the uniforms of all officers and soldiers.

Edelweiss is the national flower of Austria. This flower usually grows in the Alps at an altitude of more than 1700 meters, and only grows on very rare rocky surfaces. Therefore, it is extremely rare. Mountaineers, hunters and mountaineers from Germany and Austria will risk their lives to climb steep peaks just to pick an Edelweiss as proof of their bravery.

Because all the soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Battalion are veterans, they do not need to undergo basic military training for new recruits. All of them are familiar with drill movements, have rich combat experience, and are carefully selected for their physical fitness.

Many of the soldiers in the Grossdeutschland Battalion came from Bavaria and Austria and had a good foundation in mountaineering, but as a whole unit, they still needed to undergo special mountain training.

At the meeting, Colonel Epp was not positive about the contents of the notebook provided by Schorner. He believed that the contents of Schorner's notebook did not conform to the German combat manual at all. It was full of absurd ideas of amateur scientists. It was not worth mentioning at all and there was no need to pay any attention to it.

At the meeting, Colonel Epp, still relying on his status as an old aristocrat, lectured Scherner: "The German Army's combat manual is the product of generations of military greats. It embodies hundreds of years of experience and achievements in the German military field. You can't just randomly copy some folk mountaineering techniques and try to replace them."

Colonel Epp liked to hold a cane in his hand. He had no leg injury, nor was he a marshal, but he just liked to use a cane and act like an old-fashioned aristocrat.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has authorized me to organize and train the Großdeutschland Battalion. All training regulations must adhere to the highest standards and comply with the combat manual. I don't have time for your tricks."

At this time, Lieutenant General Claus had already left the Loren Barracks. As the chief of staff of the Army Group on the Western Front, he certainly had a lot of military affairs to attend to. It was impossible for him to stay in Munich for several days just for the matter of a Jäger Assault Battalion.

After Lieutenant General Claus left, Colonel Epp, the highest-ranking commander of the Grossdeutschland Battalion, became the most authoritative person in the Loren Barracks.

Colonel Epp also enjoyed reprimanding his young men. He stood up, slammed the table, and said, "We don't have much time. We must start training immediately today. Do you understand? I mean real training, not this circus put on by Captain Scherner."

Captain Scherner was so embarrassed by Colonel Epp's direct humiliation that he immediately lost face. However, due to the strict discipline of the German army, Captain Scherner could not lose his temper and could only hold his breath.

After the meeting, Faust immediately found Scherner. Faust was very happy to see that his temporary superior, Colonel Epp, was such an arrogant person, because this would make it easier for Faust to recruit soldiers and control the entire Grossdeutschland Camp in his own hands.

Faust took Scherner's notebook and opened it. "Rock climbing, bouldering, abseiling, alpine skiing, mountain map reading..."

"These things are all very sophisticated and professional. Colonel Epp is too superstitious about authority. He doesn't understand that the Second Industrial Revolution brought about rapid progress in material terms, giving us the ability to conquer mountains and polar regions. Even the most far-sighted military strategists of the last century couldn't have imagined that just a few decades later, humans would invent climbing ropes, hooks, and cold-weather clothing made of new materials. Therefore, the works written by military strategists cannot compare to the experience and skills of modern mountaineers."

Captain Scherner had been humiliated by Colonel Epp and his face was extremely ugly. Now, with Faust's comfort, he regained some face.

"But without Colonel Epp's consent," Scherner said, "we will have to stick with the old mountain training program."

Faust folded his arms and smiled, "I heard from Captain Kesselring that you were a mountaineering star before the war. Captain Scherner, I absolutely support your training according to your ideas. Rommel's First Company and I will also use your plan for training."

Captain Scherner was a little worried: "Colonel Epp is the battalion commander. We can't disobey his orders."

Faust said, "Don't worry, as long as the four company commanders below cooperate, Colonel Epp won't have much to worry about."

After Colonel Epp left, Faust snapped his fingers. The remaining four company commanders all looked at him. Faust said softly, "I support Captain Scherner's training plan. The training of the Jaegers should be integrated with the experience of mountaineers. Captain Scherner has climbed the Zugspitze, but what about Colonel Epp? I've never heard of any great achievements of his."

Rommel immediately said, "I support Faust. Gentlemen, the top brass formed the Grossdeutschland Battalion based on the advice of Second Lieutenant Faust. He is the best assault soldier in the German army, bar none. We should all trust Faust's combat experience. Otherwise, who among you could capture a hundred French soldiers?"

Among the remaining three company commanders, Captain Scherner of course unconditionally supported his own training plan. The remaining Captain Kesselring was an old acquaintance of Rommel, and he was quickly persuaded by Rommel.

Only Captain von Thomas, who was born into a noble family, was left. He was still hesitant and did not dare to disobey his superior, Colonel Epp.

Faust approached Captain von Thoma, pinned the Blue Max Medal awarded to him by William II on Captain von Thoma's chest, and said:

"If you cooperate with me, the Grossdeutschland Battalion will soon receive its second, third, and fourth Blue Max Medals. If anything goes wrong along the way and the higher-ups investigate, Captain Rommel, Captain Schörner, and I will take full responsibility and will not let you be held responsible at all."

Captain Scherner was already dissatisfied with Colonel Epp's disdain for his plan, so he immediately joined Faust's camp.

Rommel was not a man who followed rules. He said: "The Grossdeutschland Battalion is not a copy of other German units. If we only follow the combat manual, we will never achieve a breakthrough."

Captain von Thoma was still hesitant. He looked at Kesselring, who stood up and said, "Okay, I'll join you."

Hearing this, Captain von Thomas took off his military cap, placed it on the table, and extended his right hand to shake hands with Faust: "I will join you, Mr. Faust."

Faust easily won the support of all the company commanders of the Grossdeutschland Battalion. Everyone knew that the original intention of establishing this unit was because Crown Prince Rupprecht valued Faust as a war hero.

Only Colonel Epp, who was too aristocratic, did not take Faust, a hero whose fame had spread throughout Germany, seriously.

After convincing the four company commanders, everyone unanimously agreed to adopt Captain Scherner's training plan:

All officers above the platoon level in the Grossdeutschland Battalion must undergo special mountaineering and skiing training by Scherner. The other soldiers do not need to master such professional mountaineering and skiing skills, but they must also strengthen their basics.

Because of time constraints, Faust hoped to complete most of the training programs within one month, so the entire training process was extremely difficult and all the soldiers' time was packed.

Fortunately, Rommel and Scherner were both highly motivated military talents. Although the training subjects they arranged were extensive in content, they were flexible in form. Most of the training subjects were integrated into interesting rock climbing, mountaineering and skiing games. Although they looked very tiring, most of the soldiers actually enjoyed participating in them.

Faust was able to set an example with his outstanding energy. In the following weeks, whether it was mountain climbing, alpine skiing, long-distance marching training, or shooting and combat training, Faust won the unanimous love of all officers and soldiers of the Great German Battalion with his true strength as a super soldier and Aryan superman.

As for Colonel Epp?

Faust persuaded Captain von Thoma to calm the commander of the Grossdeutschland Battalion and make Colonel Epp believe that everyone was training according to his plan.

In order to reassure Colonel Epp, Faust came up with an idea. He wrote two hundred letters of gratitude himself in just one day.

Some of these letters of gratitude praised Colonel Epp on behalf of the citizens of Munich, some praised Colonel Epp on behalf of the soldiers of the Great German Battalion, and some even proposed to Colonel Epp on behalf of women.

At the end of each letter, Faust attached a request for Colonel Epp to reply.

In this way, every training day, Colonel Epp would only appear once at the morning meeting at 7 o'clock. For the rest of the time, Colonel Epp would stay in his command headquarters and spend the whole day reading and writing letters.

The daily organization and training of the Great German Camp fell under the control of Faust.

Chapter 34: The Indoctrination

In the last month of 1916, Faust led a platoon of soldiers, carrying all the mountaineering equipment. Everyone wore combat uniforms and skis and climbed the steep slopes of the Torena Ridge, which is about 1800 meters above sea level. Standing on the ridge, on one side is Lake Königssee and on the other side is the Salzach Valley in Austria.

Taking into account the special combat environment of mountain troops, mountain troops rarely fight in mountainous areas at the scale of battalions or above.

Germany's mountain chasseur units, usually organized into companies and platoons in mountainous areas with complex terrain, are small units equipped with support weapons such as light machine guns and mortars. They have better tactical flexibility than large units and can more easily avoid dangers such as avalanches and mudslides.

However, the training that the Grossdeutschland Battalion had to do was to maintain an operational scale of at least battalion or regiment level in combat operations. The troops needed to move quietly and allow an entire battalion or regiment of hunters to cross mountains and ridges and cross the peaks of the Alps in a very short time.

The mountain engineers of the Grossdeutschland Battalion could use explosives to clear fallen rocks blocking the road, open a new road in the mountains, build rope bridges across ravines, and build pontoon bridges across rapids in the mountains.

Medics learned how to use special mountain stretchers that ensured the wounded were safely and slowly lowered down the cliff face.

Based on Scherner's mountain experience, medics also need to know how to deal with frostbite, temporary snow blindness, abrasions caused by ropes and other common injuries in mountaineering.

In addition to learning normal artillery aiming and shooting skills, members of the artillery unit must also train to quickly assemble and disassemble the artillery they use. In addition, they must learn to use mountainous terrain to build concealed artillery positions with good firing range, as well as how to position and correct artillery fire in the mountains.

For the Großdeutschland Battalion, which lacked heavy equipment and firepower, accurate artillery fire could make up for the lack of heavy firepower to a certain extent.

A single 75mm small-caliber shell that hits the target is far more effective than ten 200mm howitzer shells that miss the target.

Faust leaned easily on the ski poles, while the other soldiers were already panting. Everyone enjoyed a short rest, with the hoods of their windbreakers pressed down on the short cloth mountain hats on their heads.

The surrounding environment was covered in snow. Unless Faust had excellent eyesight, ordinary people could only make out the reflected light of the machine rifles. In order to protect their eyes, Faust also suggested that every soldier of the Grossdeutschland Battalion be equipped with a pair of light blue sunglasses with aluminum frames.

Aluminum was a very precious metal during the Franco-Prussian War. French Emperor Napoleon III used aluminum to make tableware, which was considered a luxury at the time. However, with the rise of Germany's chemical industry, the price of aluminum has plummeted in recent decades, and it has become a metal that civilians can use at will.

Faust took off his hat. After several weeks of high-altitude field training, the white skin on his forehead and hairline covered by the hat formed a clear contrast with the dark brown skin on his face. Due to time constraints, the Great German Battalion adopted a particularly Spartan training schedule. All soldiers in the company got up at dawn, washed in the snow, did gymnastics, ate breakfast, and then began to practice skiing courses and alpine rope descents.

The wind on the mountain blows constantly, causing the snow on the ridge to become particularly hard and icy. If you fall, even if you don't die, you will definitely be disabled.

With the Grossdeutschland Camp's rigorous and intense training schedule, Rommel originally thought it wouldn't be surprising if hundreds of people were injured and retired during the training process.

But in the end, during the entire intense training process, there was not a single casualty in the Great German Battalion, let alone death.

It's not surprising. This is naturally the credit of Faust. With such an "Aryan superman" like him, it would be difficult for you to deliberately fall off the mountain. Even if you really fall down, Faust can use the climbing rope to rescue you.

Originally, many of the soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Camp applied to join this unit because they admired "Saint Quentin Siegfried". After the high-altitude training in the past few weeks, many of them received the favor of Faust. To exaggerate a little, it is not surprising to say that they were saved by Faust.

Faust's prestige and respect in the army naturally increased day by day.

When doing mountain climbing training, Faust also required the soldiers to carry weights on their backs.

All the soldiers were in the village at the foot of the mountain, filling their canvas backpacks with 40 kilograms of potatoes so that they could get used to carrying the weight when climbing. During the climb to the top, they could also deliver some food to the residents living on the mountain.

When someone was unable to climb, Faust approached the soldier and said, "Hold on, soldier, you can do it! Give me your rifle and the weight, I'll help you carry it for a while, and I'll be back soon to see how you're doing."

The march training sometimes continued into the night. Under the starlight of the Alps, the troops passed through quiet mountain villages, crossed frosty mountains, passed through dense mountain fog, waded through snow-covered gravel slopes, and used ropes as bridges to jump over mountain streams...

The red morning light illuminates the German soldiers as they conduct mountain climbing training. Afterwards, they run down the mountain, followed by shooting training. The most important item in the shooting training is the machine gun relocation.

The machine gun relocation training was proposed and designed by Rommel and Kesselring. Faust initially thought that this training was outrageous and looked a lot like the fantasy in brainless special forces novels. However, in view of the professional abilities of Rommel and Kesselring, Faust still chose to believe it.

The soldiers had to clamp the light machine gun on a three-person boat-like sled, with two people in front and the machine gunner in the back, forming a skiing mobile machine gun group. It looked very similar to the chariot soldiers during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

After the start, the troop leaders, such as squad leaders and platoon leaders, rush to the front, followed closely by the machine gun team, and the other hunters follow behind. The skiing pace must be unified to ensure the fastest movement speed of the troops.

Because Faust often maintains an imagination of the army of the old empire and the army of bourgeois countries that is similar to the Chinese KMT army, his first impression is naturally associated with the class oppression in this type of old army.

Obviously, the German army was not exactly what Faust imagined. German officers still had the courage to lead by example. Even Colonel Epp, who was of aristocratic origin and had a particularly arrogant personality, had very qualified professional abilities.

It was just that Faust had found a way to transfer Colonel Epp away so that he could take over the power. Otherwise, even an officer like Colonel Epp, who came from a prominent family, should have personally led the team to participate in the high-altitude and field training.

Moreover, because Prussia was defeated very thoroughly by the French army during the Napoleonic Wars, when Scharnhorst later implemented military reforms, he imitated the Republican French Army during the French Revolution in many ways, eliminating many differences in treatment between nobles and civilians, and officers and soldiers.

Today, although the German army is a semi-feudal, semi-capitalist militarist imperial army, its professionalism is the best in the world, and the relationship between officers and soldiers within the army is much better than that of most European countries.

Of course, the German Imperial Army was not a red revolutionary army. The equality between officers and soldiers within it was relatively equal compared with Britain and Russia. Compared with the United States and France, the equality advantage was not obvious, let alone compared with a real revolutionary army.

At nightfall, all the soldiers would rest around the campfire, sitting on the ground and singing together, or listening to a cultured soldier reciting poetry. Faust liked to stand in front of the campfire and instill his ideas into the soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Camp.

Protect the country through revolution, save the country through revolution.

"We are not war-weary, we are not defeatists, we do not want to see Germany defeated, but from the Rhine to the Alps, the General Staff is stupid, and the bankers in Berlin treat the corpses of soldiers as nothing more than numbers on the exchange books!"

"Look at the Iron Cross on your chest - can it feed the crying babies in the ghettos of Munich? Feel the worn pockets of your uniforms - can they hold the last sack of rye looted by the Junkers? The emperor in Vienna is still eating venison from a golden plate, the arms dealer in Berlin is laughing as he counts bloody marks, and our mothers are making potato soup from shell casings!"

"Some people ask if promoting revolution will only cause trouble at the front. No, our revolution is to root out the parasites in Germany, the aristocrats and unscrupulous capitalists who are truly causing trouble at the front..."

The high mountains of the Alps create an isolated environment, and are actually a monastery with walls of ice and snow.

Here, no matter what Faust said, no military police would intervene. The soldiers were in this unique closed environment and were more receptive to Faust's extremely radical thoughts and words.

Everyone has long been accustomed to accepting Faust's help and wisdom, so it is also easy for them to get used to accepting the National Socialist ideas instilled by Faust.

Chapter 35: Moustache's Speech

The closed high-altitude training environment made it easy for Faust's thoughts to assimilate the entire battalion and become the overall thoughts of the Greater Germany Camp.

This is not surprising, as the Germans had actually conducted similar exercises before the war.

Before the outbreak of World War I, there was a strong trend of youth worship in German society. "Only young people can find a new path in the decayed past." However, young people, as the main body of worship, did not catch up with the prosperity of the previous forty years. Most of them failed to enjoy the dividends of Germany's economic growth, but had to accept the high prices, big city diseases and broken acquaintance society caused by the highly developed German economy.

Therefore, the German youth of the First World War had become accustomed to Germany's victory and rapid development in their childhood and adolescence, and had unrealistic and high expectations of society. However, after entering society, they found that Germany had already touched the glass ceiling of Britain, the world hegemon, in the international arena. Unless Britain was completely defeated, it seemed that Germany's rapid development had reached its peak.

In this structural distortion, German youth have developed many strong contradictory psychological states. On the one hand, they are keen on the material enjoyment of developed capitalist society. On the other hand, because they have not become rich from the dividends of the times like their parents, they despise the capitalist consumption concept from a moral standpoint.

These young people were full of strong patriotic sentiments, and were arrogant and self-righteous. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, it was this group of people who gradually formed a huge wave called the "Migratory Bird Movement".

On the surface, the Bird Migratory Movement was a youth travel movement. It called on young Germans to travel around the country on a budget in an ascetic manner, strolling around Germany and Europe, and camping to strengthen their spirit and body. But in fact, this movement gave rise to self-organization among young people in a society that was originally ruled by feudal states, aristocrats and capitalists, and brewed the factors of revolution.

However, it was still unclear at the time whether this revolution would move to the left or to the right.

Young people participating in the bird migration movement will use a special greeting "Heil" and freely elect a "leader". This leader is sometimes called a guide, commander-in-chief, leader, or captain. The most familiar name to later generations is the word "head of state".