Germany does not seek survival

"After the conquest, how will the eight million Romanians survive this winter?"

There was a hint of sympathy on Rommel's face, but he didn't wail like Faust. He just said, "We are German soldiers. We can only be responsible to the German people, not to the Romanian people."

Faust sighed. "Even if we leave aside the humanitarian aspect, from a strategic perspective, if the German army exploits Romania too much, causing a humanitarian disaster, the result will only strengthen the Allies' resolve to fight to the end. Destroying Romania will make the enemy even more reluctant to surrender, because the Allies will feel that surrendering means being drained by Germany. Rather than being drained dry by the occupying forces, it is better to fight to the last drop of blood."

Rommel also fell silent: "We have no ability to influence the decision of the General Staff."

Faust stamped his foot hard on the top of the mountain: "So, whether for the welfare of the European people or for victory in the war, we should organize the National Socialist Party, the only militant revolutionary party in Germany, and use the sword of the National Socialist Party to purge the hereditary aristocracy, corrupt bureaucrats, greedy capitalists and incompetent general staff..."

"Gentlemen, how can you conduct politics well with insects like these?!"

The officers of the Grossdeutschland Battalion on the mountaintop looked at each other in bewilderment. But the man with the mustache was the first to speak out: "The progress of history has always been accompanied by blood. If we retreat from this great historical moment because we are afraid of bloodshed, more blood will surely be shed in the future. The blood of tens of millions of people!"

Faust said, "If you were offered two paths, one short, requiring only a few steps to achieve personal honor and success; the other very long, potentially taking a lifetime to reach its end, but potentially changing the world and ushering in a golden age of true idealism, which path would you choose?"

Schörner and Kesselring were at a loss for words. Rommel then stepped forward and said, "I don't know what the Golden Age will be like. Human civilization has been entangled for tens of thousands of years. Whether to destroy it or to free it is not something that a small group of us can decide."

Faust said, "You are right, my dear Captain Rommel. The German people are still asleep. They need new ideas to awaken them, to open their eyes and take a good look at the dawn of a new world. Perhaps only in this way can Germany's future usher in a turnaround. The Emperor cannot do this, nor can the Junkers and Krupp. We can only rely on ourselves, on the National Socialist Party... In a word, those who have different ideals cannot work together!"

Faust stood solemnly in the biting cold wind on the top of the mountain. He faced the crowd and said proudly, "How can a man's journey forward be filled with laughter and joy? How can a road determined to be taken be free from storms? Everyone, who is willing to march forward with the National Socialist Party?"

As he spoke, Faust drew the M1913 officer's sword from his waist. The silver-plated guard of the lieutenant's sword was engraved with the Bavarian diamond and lion emblem. The others were either moved or still hesitant. Rommel was the first to follow Faust and draw his sword.

Rommel's sword bore the Prussian eagle emblem, its scabbard was black-lacquered, its dark tassel hung down, and its blade rested on Faust's sword.

Only officers in the German army were issued with this ceremonial dagger. Since the mustache man did not have a sword, he used a Mauser rifle with a bayonet in his hand and also placed it on Faust's sword.

Scherner, Kesselring, Thomas, and others followed suit, crossing their swords. Faust took the lead and swore: "I pledge to strive for the realization of the ideals of National Socialism, even at the cost of my life on the journey, if necessary."

The other few people, the one with the mustache, followed suit and took the oath without hesitation. Rommel hesitated for a moment and then joined in the oath. The other officers were still hesitant, and only when Faust's gaze fell on them did they slowly join in the oath.

The man with the mustache raised his arm and gave a Roman salute to Faust, saying, "I swear before the silent world that I will unconditionally obey the leader of the National Socialist Party, Witt Faust, and the German people. As a brave German, I promise to abide by this oath until my death!"

This oath of the mustache is completely different from the oath sworn by Faust before. The previous oath only required obedience to the ideals of National Socialism, but this oath requires specific loyalty to Faust personally.

A moment of doubt flashed across Rommel's face, but due to the atmosphere, the other officers who were originally very hesitant about taking the oath, such as Scherner, Kesselring, and Thomas, were all incited by the mustache's passionate emotions. Without further thought, they read the oath together, and Rommel could only be swept up in it.

"We swear before the voiceless world that we will obey the Nazi leader Witt Faust and the German people unconditionally. As brave Germans, we promise to keep this oath until death!"

Chapter 46: Caesar or Cincinnatus

The Tao already existed in the budding chaos.

When Faust first proposed the idea of ​​the National Socialist Party to Hitler, he had already outlined the political program of the "Twenty-Five Points." However, for a political party, a path alone is far from enough. Especially for the "militant revolutionary party" that Faust envisioned, the National Socialist Party needed organization, discipline, and personnel...

The German general offensive against the Les Sulouis Heights was about to begin. The officers and soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Battalion took their positions, carrying their weapons and crouching under the dim sky.

From the perspective of modern politics, Germany has always lacked a democratic tradition. Since the 19th century, democracy has been seen as a product of "Western civilization" and "empty formalism," and Germans have always been skeptical of these two words.

Germany's pre-war bird migration movement naturally gave rise to the principle of a single leader, and the mustache man was deeply influenced by this. He tried desperately to shape Faust into his ideal leader.

But Faust still insisted on the principles of democracy. Faust required all members of the National Socialist Party, regardless of their status, to call each other "comrade" (Genosse).

This word originated from the German skilled workers' guilds in the 19th century. It was incorporated into the rituals of various youth groups in the bird movement, becoming a political word with international influence. Finally, almost throughout the world, the word "comrade" created by Germany replaced the word "citizen" created by the French Revolution and became the first generation name for revolutionaries.

Life on the battlefield brings officers and soldiers closer together, forming a brotherhood of shared hardships and bloodshed.

Soldiers have great confidence in the man who leads them into combat, and if this leader in the trenches—not the commander-in-chief on the general staff!—can always lead the soldiers to victory, the soldiers will admire him even more.

"For the German soldier, the leader in the trenches is not the commander, but the Führer! They are his comrades! They follow him blindly and, if necessary, go to hell with him!"

The old migratory birds felt true democracy in the dirty trenches, and used this dirty democracy to spontaneously and freely elect their leaders.

This leader could be Caesar or Cincinnatus.

It depends on what Faust will do.

There was still an hour before the general attack, but Faust insisted on immediately writing a roster of all members of the National Socialist Party and issuing each person a simple party membership card, which was just a piece of notepaper with the party member's name, position and party member number written on it, plus the party member's own signature and Faust's signature.

The National Socialist Party currently still has only a single-digit number of members, so this won't take much time. Faust insists so much because he doesn't want others to regret it.

The party membership card numbers that Faust wrote for each person all started from "1024", which happened to be the total number of troops in the Greater Germany Camp, because Faust was confident that the entire Greater Germany Camp would become the initial platform of the National Socialist Party.

The organizational form and disciplinary charter of the National Socialist Party were not yet clear. Little Mustache insisted on the principle of leadership and required everyone to first obey Faust regardless of anything else. However, this was not written on paper and did not form party discipline and party charter. It was just a manifestation of Little Mustache's personal worship of Faust.

The man with a mustache still insisted that everyone should change the way they addressed Faust and respectfully call him "Leader".

Faust flatly rejected it, thinking that the "leader" of a small party of a few people was too much of a clown, and that it would only be counterproductive if such a respectful title was given to a proud man like Rommel.

After arriving at the front line, the weather was still very bad. The cold wind felt like needles pricking the face. The focus of the Romanians' defense on the Lesuluihe Plateau was an ancient Orthodox monastery. The monastery was on the hillside on the east side of the plateau, not far from the top of the mountain, forming a natural shooting correction target.

Commander Galwitz and Major Rundstedt both went to the front to command the general offensive. They mobilized nearly half of the main forces of the 22nd Army. According to the military order, the Grossdeutschland Battalion would still launch the attack as the vanguard, and the artillery of the 22nd Army would provide support to the Grossdeutschland Battalion in the form of "artillery waltz".

The inventor of the artillery waltz was German artillery colonel "Breaker" Muller, who was also the recipient of the Blue Max Medal.

Müller believed that the artillery bombardments that often lasted for days or even weeks during trench warfare on the Western Front had little positive impact on the offensive. On the contrary, this mechanical bombardment not only destroyed the ground in front of and behind the enemy positions, making it rugged, but also destroyed most of the transportation facilities, making the subsequent advance extremely difficult. The advance of the German offensive forces and the transportation of logistical supplies were severely hampered.

At the same time, the prolonged bombardment gave the enemy enough warning time, allowing them to withdraw their main forces from the front-line positions in advance, wasting artillery shells in uninhabited areas, and then return to the front-line positions to fight after the bombardment ended.

In other words, traditional large-scale artillery bombardment tactics simply waste shells in empty trenches and fail to kill many enemies.

The artillery waltz tactics proposed by the enemy artillery breaker Muller believed that the goal of artillery was not to cause casualties, but to concentrate and use the highest possible rate of fire to deliver as much explosives as possible to the enemy's infantry trenches and artillery positions in a short period of time to paralyze the enemy's resistance.

This new tactic was currently only popular on the Eastern Front, and it was still something new to the Grossdeutschland Battalion from the Western Front.

Before the general attack began, Paulus explained the "Artillery Waltz" tactic to the Grossdeutschland Battalion, saying, "To make this tactic effective, our army has carefully studied the terminal ballistic characteristics of various types of artillery and roughly divided them into three categories based on caliber and range: rapid-fire artillery, infantry support artillery, and heavy artillery. The goal is to ensure that each type of artillery can perform its specific role in combat, utilizing its strengths to strike key targets in the enemy positions with a precise hail of bullets."

"Rapid-fire cannons have limited power, but their high rate of fire makes them well-suited for counter-artillery missions. Heavy howitzers with shells over 200mm have the characteristic of shrapnel flying backwards, which can easily inadvertently injure our own attacking forces. However, they have a greater range and can pose a threat to deep enemy targets."

"During the implementation of the artillery waltz, the first stage is a short surprise attack, aimed at the enemy's command and communication center; the second stage is a counter-battery bombardment, targeting the enemy's artillery positions; the third stage is a deep bombardment, targeting the enemy's reserve assembly areas; and finally, the final bombardment, a series of saturation bombardments on the enemy's forward positions."

Faust asked, "Then when is the window for our infantry's attack?"

Paulus replied, "To prevent the enemy from discovering the true timing of the attack, we will insert some decoy bombardments between the first and second phases of the artillery waltz. This will trick the enemy into thinking an attack is imminent and cause them to begin deploying their troops to the front. This way, we can use the artillery to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy's active forces. This will then provide the Grossdeutschland Battalion with a window for infiltration and assault."

"Now, the bombardment will begin."

Paulus took out his pocket watch, and after everyone adjusted the time, they held their breath and waited for the 22nd Army's artillery waltz. Soon, a large number of red and green lights flew into the sky, illuminating the entire mountain area. Then, the curtain of raging war opened, and dense roars followed. Thunder roared, and a large number of artillery roared at the same time.

Faust looked out from behind the bunker and saw flames rising into the sky above the monastery on the heights of Les Sulouis, deafening roars, and a wall of smoke, dust and flying snow rising in front of the Great German Battalion. The barrage of bullets pushed forward, and wherever it went, it was like a volcanic eruption.

Paulus confirmed the time one last time and said to everyone, "It's time!"

Faust raised his rifle and was the first to jump out of the bunker: "We will meet at the top of the mountain!"

More than a thousand soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Battalion quickly rushed up the mountain in dispersed groups. They effortlessly passed through a pile of shattered barbed wire and easily crossed the Romanian army's first trench, which was basically unrecognizable in its original shape.

The wave of charge was overwhelming, and enemy troops had already appeared on the mountain. As Faust moved forward, he stopped from time to time to shoot. The Romanians had built many reinforced underground bunkers high on the hillside, but at this time they were severely damaged by German artillery fire, and many Romanian soldiers took the initiative to escape from the bunkers where smoke was rising.

The Grossdeutschland Battalion immediately launched an attack. People advanced forward in skirmish formations, lines, or squad columns. There was only one sturdy bunker that was stuck in the path of the Grossdeutschland Battalion's attack. Many German soldiers were suppressed by the machine gun fire in the bunker, suffered heavy casualties, and were unable to move.

Seeing so many of his comrades killed and wounded, the man with a mustache angrily tied grenades and explosive packs to his body and was about to rush towards the bunker.

Faust snatched the explosive pack from the man with a small mustache, then calculated the time briefly, lit the fuse immediately, raised the explosive pack high above his head with both hands, and threw it hard, immediately throwing the explosive pack at the machine gun hole of the Roman army bunker.

The explosive pack exploded at this time, silencing the Romanian machine gun fire. Once the machine gun was silenced, Faust was not afraid of ordinary bolt-action rifles. He immediately rushed out with another explosive pack, ran to the front of the bunker, and stuffed the explosive pack into the gun hole that had just been blown open. Then the Romanian soldiers in the bunker were all panicked and fled with pale faces.

All officers and soldiers of the Great German Battalion followed up, and they reached the commanding heights without any hindrance. The monastery was already in front of them, and German artillery shells continued to fall and explode around the monastery. In other directions of the Les Sulouis Plateau, the German artillery waltz also successfully suppressed the Romanian army, and the assault of the Württemberg mountain troops also achieved great results.

The Romanian defenders were defeated one after another, and the sun gradually came out. The sunlight illuminated the monastery under artillery fire, and also illuminated several Romanian firing points on the high buildings of the monastery.

Faust yelled, "Give me a G98 with a scope!"

Faust took a Mauser G98 sniper-modified version with a side-mounted scope from his guide Tito, and then pulled the classic revolving bolt. Every time he pulled the bolt and every time a gunshot was fired, he accurately shot down a Romanian soldier on a tall building.

The distance of nearly one thousand meters was enough for Faust to hit the target accurately in his eyes.

After the Romanian defenders of the monastery fell silent, the Grossdeutschland Battalion quickly attacked from the side corridor of the monastery. The enemy's positions inside the monastery seemed to be unfinished, and many fortifications were only half-built. The commandos shot and threw bombs, and when they caught up with the Romanians, they used engineering shovels and daggers to fight hand-to-hand. It didn't take long for the Grossdeutschland Battalion to completely occupy the monastery.

Rommel and Scherner came to report the situation of the flank battle to Faust. The Romanian defense line had completely collapsed. The German artillery suppression tactics were extremely successful. The remaining troops from Württemberg also attacked the Les Sulouis Heights.

Faust nodded. "After a short rest, we must carefully cross the dense forest and attack the airfield. This time, we have no friendly forces or artillery support, only the Großdeutschland Battalion."

The man with the mustache said excitedly, "After another victory, the higher-ups should allow the Grossdeutschland Battalion to expand into a regiment, and the National Socialist Party's strength will be doubled."

Faust was silent at first, then smiled: "Let us use the promotion letters of the General Staff to make a noose to strangle them."

Chapter 47 Faust Shoots Down a French Plane

The next mission of the Grossdeutschland Battalion was to set out from the Lesului Heights, cross an inaccessible forest and snowfield, and destroy the Ptolemin Airport independently as a battalion unit without being discovered by the Romanian army.

Only if Faust achieves this tactical goal first, can the main force of the 22nd Army calmly launch a flanking offensive towards the Skudok Pass where the Allied forces are stationed.

The snow in the forest was seven or eight centimeters deep, and the fog was thick, making visibility very low. The Great German Battalion sent guard troops to the front and both sides. The troops exploring the front were led by Hitler and guide Tito. They advanced to about 200 meters ahead of the main force. The heavy machine guns were disassembled into three parts and carried on the backs of mountain horses. The light machine guns were disassembled and carried by manpower.

Originally, Rundstedt had secured several trucks for the Grossdeutschland Camp, but after actual use, Faust soon discovered that the trucks were inconvenient to move in the snowy forests and made too much noise, which could easily alert the defenders.

Therefore, the Grossdeutschland Battalion abandoned these trucks, and all heavy weapons had to be transported by horses and manpower. When encountering hills that horses could not pass, Faust would carry the important machine gun parts one by one by manpower.

The advance team commanded by Hitler and Tito was the fastest. The mustache man had learned to ski during the high-altitude training in the Alps, and Tito knew how to ski before the war. They were like a school of barracudas in the vast ocean, rushing forward rapidly against the undulating waves.

The peaks of the Carpathian Mountains, like tall waves, seemed to be surging in the opposite direction of the advance team, and were left behind one by one.

The man with a small mustache led the way at the front of the team. He was full of energy and during such a long and forced march, you could hardly hear him breathing.

Tito has always been disgusted by Little Moustache's racist prejudice, but he also admires his willpower.

Outside the Ptolemin Airport, there is a mountain stream, which is the most difficult place to cross. The sky is dark before dawn, and only a ball of gray and cold moonlight is hanging on the treetops. With its residual light, the soldiers of the Great German Battalion can see the distance of the mountain stream clearly. The deep valley under their feet is a dark abyss with huge rocks hanging. The cold wind is blowing, scraping the flesh and penetrating the bones.

The big trees on the mountain were also swaying and rustling in the cold wind. Because of the swaying of the treetops, it seemed as if all the mountains were shaking, making people dizzy.

"Hurry up, it's almost dawn! Videl, come here!"

The man with the mustache whispered an order, and Videl, a climbing expert in the advance team, rushed over.

Wieder was from Stettin, a Prussian province called Stettin in German and Szczecin in Polish. It was a coastal area with dense forests. Wieder's grandfather and father were both forestry workers. He grew up with them in the mountains and forests and was very good at climbing.

Videl chose the largest and tallest fir tree. He skillfully tied a cable several dozen meters long to the tree, tied a Prussian knot commonly used in rock climbing at the other end, and then checked it carefully again.

"Everything is ready, can we start?"

The mustache man said nothing. He pulled the rope and personally checked its safety. He then bent down to measure the distance to the treetops that extended towards the mountain stream. When the mustache man was sure that his preparations were all right, he extended his hand to Videl: "Comrade Videl, I wish you success!"

Videl shook his hand tightly and said solemnly, "See you on the other side, comrade."

Then, Videl turned around and waved to the members of the advance team, then he stood on the edge of the cliff dragging the big rope. He loosened the rope in his hand, and with a whoosh, he slipped down the cliff and disappeared.

Wedel hung halfway up the cliff, holding the rope in his hands and pushing against the rock wall, like a spider pulling out silk, he climbed down. When the rope was completely released, he stepped on the rock wall again and climbed in the opposite direction of the mountain stream.

The man with the mustache looked at his pocket watch: "Three minutes."

Videl had climbed to the angle that suited him. He measured the distance and angle again, then contracted his whole body with all his strength, and then stretched it out suddenly. He pushed his feet hard against the stone wall, and jumped up into the air. He crossed the mountain stream in one breath and arrived on the other side of the cliff.

The man with the mustache exclaimed, "It worked! Tie the rope tighter!"

Videl tied the rope tightly on the opposite side of the cliff to form a rope bridge. The advance team members all hung on the rope bridge and slid across the mountain stream.

When they reached the other side of the mountain stream, the man with a mustache waved his hand and said, "Let's go!" All the team members crouched down and followed Hitler. The Romanians had a sentry post on the other side of the mountain stream, but they were completely unprepared for this direction. Well, who would have thought that the advance team could cross the mountain stream cliff in this way?

When the advance team surrounded them, the Romanian soldiers in the outpost were still asleep. Tito whispered, "Great! The sentry is still sleeping. What do you think? We will destroy the outpost immediately, and the large force behind us will be able to pass safely."

The mustache man waved his hand: "Don't worry."

He picked up the telescope hanging around his neck, looked into the distance again, and said, "There is another outpost on the opposite side. Comrade Weidel, you control this outpost, and the rest of you follow me."

The man with the mustache waved his hand and walked into the mountains and forests. The rest of the team members followed behind him in battle formation. There were several newly felled trees in the forest. The Romanian soldiers were cutting down trees here for materials to build new fortifications.

The advance team led by the man with a small mustache moved very carefully. Five Romanian soldiers were still sawing branches there, unaware that the German army had arrived. The man with a small mustache pointed his finger and made a gesture. Several clever young men understood it completely. They immediately went around from behind the big tree and flew towards the Romanian soldiers. The enemy didn't notice at all and was immediately killed by the German army with an engineering shovel and a dagger.

Only one Romanian soldier was left, struggling and begging for mercy. The man with a small moustache rushed to him, raised his bayonet, and pressed it against the Romanian soldier's chest, asking Tito to ask him in Romanian: "How many people are there in your outpost? How many outposts are there in total? Tell the truth. If you say even a lie, I will rip your chest open!"

The Romanian soldier was so frightened that he was shaking all over and begging incoherently: "I, I am, I am just an orderly..."

The man with the mustache glared angrily, "How many people are there in the outpost? How many locations are there? If you don't tell me, I'll stab you to death."

"Four, four outposts, plus more than thirty people..."

"Take us there, don't talk nonsense, or I'll kill you too."

The man with a small mustache grabbed the Romanian soldier's hair and cursed. The Romanian soldier also crawled and led the advance team around the outpost, pointing out the locations of the four outposts one by one.

The advance team members immediately rushed into the outpost from several different directions. The Romanian soldiers were either sleeping or eating breakfast. They were completely unprepared and were wiped out by the advance team in an instant.

The Romanian soldiers in the sentry post were in chaos. Someone took a gun off the wall and aimed it at the man with the mustache, wanting to shoot. Tito, who was standing behind the man with the mustache, immediately fired a bullet and knocked the Romanian soldier down.

The soldiers of the advance team pointed their guns at the Romanians who had just stood up and hadn't put on their pants yet, and shouted angrily: "Don't move! Anyone who moves will be killed! Lie down!"

The frightened Romanians actually lay back on their camp beds. Tito, led by the mustache, confiscated all the enemy guns in the outpost house, and then sent someone to report the news to the main force.

Faust was also surprised by the quick and efficient actions of the mustache-wearing advance team. He didn't expect that Hitler was not only good at talking, but also had such strong action ability!

In fact, it is not surprising. Anyone who can reach such a high position as Xiao Huzi is unlikely to be mediocre in any other aspect except painting.

After the advance team took the outpost, the Great German Battalion was able to safely pass through the mountain stream, which would put them very close to the Ptolemin Airport. Faust climbed onto the roof of the outpost and could vaguely see the flat and open land of the Ptolemin Airport without a telescope.