Germany does not seek survival

On the Polish issue, the positions of both Germany and Austria-Hungary were very complicated.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire hoped to merge Russian Poland occupied by the Central Powers with German Poland and Austrian Poland to establish a Polish constitutional monarchy with a member of the Habsburg royal family as king, in exchange for the loyalty of the Poles.

On the German side, the position was divided into two factions. One faction was the princes and nobles surrounding William II. They also wanted to establish a complete Polish state, but a German prince should serve as the king of Poland.

The other faction was Ludendorff, who firmly opposed granting Poland independence.

Ludendorff was born in the Posen Province of German Poland, which is what the Poles call the Poznan area. Therefore, Ludendorff has been dealing with Poles in Germany since he was a child. He is well aware that the Poles have a strong national identity. If Poland is allowed to establish an independent country, it will not only fail to bring benefits to Germany, but will also inevitably add a new opponent to Germany.

Ludendorff's eyes were filled with venom when he mentioned Poland: "We must control the use of Piłsudski and his Polish army. Germany cannot allow the Polish army to become too large, nor can it allow this army to stay in the Warsaw area for a long time. They should all be consumed in the forests of Courland."

"If Piłsudski makes any move, he must be eliminated immediately!"

Manstein thought for a moment and proposed an idea: "How about this? Let the expanded Great German Battalion be responsible for monitoring the Polish Legion."

The German army still had a million troops on the entire Eastern Front that could be mobilized by the Eastern Front General Headquarters. However, Piłsudski's Polish Corps had always been used by Hindenburg and Ludendorff as a special force with the nature of a commando, and did not act with other army groups, so Manstein made this proposal.

Ludendorff agreed to this arrangement and asked Major General Max Hoffmann, who was about to be promoted to Chief of Staff of the Eastern Front General Staff, to record the following:

"It is proposed to expand the Grossdeutschland Assault Battalion into a regiment and move it north from the Romanian battlefield aboard Army Train 21, passing through Krakow and Warsaw. First, they will proceed to Königsberg and then to Kovno in Courland, where they will monitor Piłsudski's Polish Corps."

Major General Hoffman then asked, "How should we deal with Piłsudski's request to expand the Polish Army from two divisions to four divisions?"

Without waiting for Hindenburg to consider, Ludendorff issued his own order: "As appropriate, expand the Polish Army to three divisions first. Whether further expansion is possible depends on when the Polish Army can capture Riga! Once Riga is captured, we will allow the Polish Army to expand to four divisions."

During the Tsarist period, Riga was not a small city, but the third largest city in the Russian Empire after Petrograd and Moscow, with a higher status than Kiev.

Ludendorff had a plan. After occupying all of Russia's Baltic coastal areas, he envisioned rebuilding the ancient Duchy of Courland and the Livonian Order here and establishing a country dominated by Germans. The capital of this country should be Riga.

Chapter 53 Who to Punish

The speed at which the German army captured Bucharest was beyond everyone's expectations, even General Falkenhayn and Marshal Mackensen, the supreme commanders of the Romanian campaign.

The war on the front line was declared over while Falkenhayn was still in Vienna, which undoubtedly made Falkenhayn feel embarrassed.

He was originally a loser who was driven away by Hindenburg and Ludendorff. He originally wanted to win back his face on the Romanian battlefield, but unfortunately he suffered even greater humiliation.

Before the Großdeutschland Battalion entered Bucharest, the Romanians did not organize any resistance in the capital because the Romanian army had collapsed across the board. The Brătianu government fled in panic to the Iasi region controlled by Russia.

The Danube Army Group, led by Marshal Mackensen, sent several troops to Bucharest to take over the Romanian capital four days after learning that the German army had occupied Bucharest.

During these few days, Lieutenant General Galvez of the 22nd Army became the dictator of Bucharest, and Major Rundstedt and Faust were in charge of the specific affairs for him.

Faust had changed his uniform, collar badges, epaulettes and rank into captain's insignia. As an officer of civilian origin, Faust was promoted from an exempt soldier to captain in just two months, which was really fast.

All the shops in Bucharest were closed and the streets were deserted. The German army controlled all the major public buildings in the city. Lieutenant General Galvez set up his headquarters in the ancient old palace.

But the temporary military administration set up by Rundstedt and Faust in the Snagov Church is the actual person in charge of Bucharest now.

There was a lot of food stored in the city, including all kinds of high-end food. Rare cigarettes and red wine were also piled up like mountains. Major Rundstedt first got two cars of luxury goods for the great German Battalion.

"The coffee is from Grant, the crab meat is from Chatka, even the ketchup is from Austrian Kodaly, and we also have German Riesling wine."

Rundstedt stirred the coffee in the ceramic cup with a silver spoon and smiled brightly: "Christmas is coming, Faust, and we can spend the most wonderful Christmas since the outbreak of the war together in Bucharest."

After the German army passed through the Shkuduk Pass, the Romanian army began to collapse across the board. The 22nd Army alone captured tens of thousands of Romanian prisoners at the Shkuduk Pass.

After the fall of Bucharest, Romanian troops in other areas began to retreat into Russian territory, and Mackensen's Army Group took the opportunity to pursue the remaining Romanian troops.

During the pursuit, Romania's First and Second Armies were completely destroyed, and 200,000 people surrendered to Mackensen's Army. Only 70,000 Romanian troops retreated to Iasi and cooperated with the Russian army. On Christmas Eve of 1916, they barely stabilized their position and established a new line of defense.

Eighty percent of Romania's territory was occupied by the German army.

The soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Camp were very happy to receive such high-quality food as a reward, but Faust was not in such a good mood.

Faust said calmly, "Romania is the country in the Balkans that has always had the best relations with Germany. The late King Carol I was a relative of His Majesty William II. What can I say? Your Excellency, how will the Romanians celebrate Christmas if we take away their food?"

The early days of Romania's independence coincided with the peak of France's national strength during the reign of Napoleon III. At that time, Romania emphasized its good relations with France and called France its "Latin sister". From top to bottom, Romania learned from France in all aspects, including politics, military, culture, and technology.

It was not until Carol I from Germany came to the throne that he began to change Romania's pro-French policy after the Franco-Prussian War, leading the entire Romanian nation and people to learn from France. For the next forty years, until the death of Carol I in 1914, Romania and Germany were extremely close.

Rundstedt had indeed received an order from his superiors, and he looked somewhat helpless. "Marshal Mackensen has ordered us to immediately requisition Romanian grain. All available wheat and corn must be loaded onto trains and shipped back to Berlin and Vienna. You know, before the war, one-third of Germany and Austria's grain came from Romania. Marshal Mackensen believes this is simply a return to pre-war practice."

This winter is colder than in previous years. After the German army's looting, the Grossdeutschland Camp can indeed have an unprecedentedly comfortable Christmas, but the Romanian people will suffer.

Faust was not only compassionate, he said, "Our treatment of Romania will not only destroy forty years of friendship between our two countries, but will also make all our enemies realize that armistice and peace talks are useless. Germany cannot afford to treat the defeated nations with dignity. All our enemies will therefore fight to the death."

Major Rundstedt spread his hands and sighed, "This is Marshal Mackensen's decision, and it's also Berlin's decision. You and I have no right to comment on it, but I agree with you. The authorities' actions are not conducive to winning the war in the long run."

Faust shook his head. After he walked out of the military control office, all the National Socialists, including Little Mustache, Sorge, Tito, Rommel, Paulus, Scherner, Thomas and Kesselring were waiting outside the church.

Rommel said: "The latest order, Faust, the Eastern Front General Staff has decided to transfer us to the north. The Great German Battalion will be sent to the Russian battlefield in 1917. We will fight in Courland."

Faust clutched his military cap tightly in his hand. "That's next year. The Grossdeutschland Battalion will remain in Romania for Christmas and New Year. Did you see what the Germans are doing here?"

Both Sorge and Tito were more sympathetic than other officers in the Great German Camp: "The German army is loading food onto trains, and fuel, whether it is oil, coal or wood, is being shipped back to the country in carloads."

"If we don't do this," the mustache said slowly, "there will be another famine in Berlin, another turnip winter. We can either let the Romanians starve to death or we can let the Germans starve to death."

Everyone present could see the heavy expression on Faust's face, including the man with the mustache. He still defended himself, saying, "Romania was the first to betray us. They joined the Allied Powers and declared war on our country. It wasn't Germany that declared war on Romania, it was Romania that declared war on Germany! We are the victims of aggression, and we have the right to punish Romania!"

Faust waved his hand. "Punish whom? Adolf, think about it. Who are we punishing? Who in Romania decided to start the war? Who are we punishing? The kings, politicians, nobles, generals, and capitalists who started the war have all fled to Russian-controlled areas. Who are we punishing? Just some workers and peasants, ordinary people who are no more brutal or aggressive than you or me."

Everyone was silent, and Tito finally spoke: "What can we do?"

Faust replied, "We can't do much today. At most, the Great German Battalion will give up its extra food quota. But I want everyone to remember that today, the emperor and the king started the war, but it was the common people who suffered the pain of the war."

Tomorrow is Christmas, and the Grossdeutschland Battalion has received many good news. Colonel Epp did not catch up with the Romanian Campaign, which made him fall out of favor with both the Crown Prince and the General Staff. Rommel was promoted to major and officially served as the commander of the Grossdeutschland Battalion. Faust, with the rank of army captain, acted as the commander of the first company of the Grossdeutschland Battalion vacated by Rommel.

The superiors have decided that the Great German Battalion will first merge with a Württemberg Mountain Jäger Battalion of the 22nd Army. After moving north, it will also receive a Bavarian Guards Jäger Battalion and several regimental support units in Krakow.

According to convention, the German regimental commander had to be at least a colonel or senior lieutenant colonel. Faust understood this: "Everyone, I'm sure there will be other commissions and promotions coming in. After Colonel Epp leaves, I'm sure His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the General Staff won't parachute in a new regimental commander."

Paulus, who was familiar with the rules of the General Staff, analyzed: "Rommel's rank of major may be just excessive. The achievements of the Grossdeutschland Battalion are enough for all of us to be promoted to the next rank."

Faust stroked his chin and thought, "During this period, Adolf, I plan to recommend you to participate in the reserve officer training. Are you interested?"

The German army is an army with strict rules. No matter who they are or how great their achievements are, ordinary soldiers must pass the reserve officer examination before they can be transformed from sergeants to officers.

The mustache man was of course delighted with the suggestion. He was not happy about the opportunity to be promoted to an officer, but he was happy that Faust recognized his achievements.

What Hitler cared about most was gaining Faust's approval.

"Mr. Faust, no problem! Please arrange it immediately. I will definitely not fail this time. I will try my best to pass the exam."

Faust smiled, a rare moment. "We still have some time before we leave for Russia, so everyone can take a good rest. During the New Year holiday, I hope to convene a formal National Socialist Party congress. We should confirm the National Socialist Party's organizational form and leadership, transforming it from a political interest group within the army into a true combat group."

Everyone unanimously agreed with Faust's proposal. The National Socialist Party did need a more complete organizational charter, and the little mustache also hoped to establish Faust's unique leadership position as soon as possible.

The next step was to wait for Christmas and New Year, but in Bucharest, which was under German occupation, there was not much of a cheerful Christmas atmosphere.

Chapter 54: The First Party Congress

Faust decided to use the Christmas celebrations to convene the first National Socialist Party congress, and the venue was chosen to be the Stavropol Church in Bucharest.

This church does not cover a large area. It is a monastery built by Orthodox monks in Romania in the 18th century. The area of ​​the church is just suitable for hosting party congresses. The dome inside the church is covered with Byzantine-style icon paintings, which are finely carved and magnificent.

That kind of golden beauty is also in line with Faust's aesthetic.

Faust changed into casual clothes without any insignia of military rank, while Mustache and Sorge printed slogans in eye-catching red letters inside the church. After nightfall, the officers and soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Battalion first enjoyed a Christmas dinner with their comrades from the 22nd Army, and then walked into the Stavropolskie Church in groups.

The party congress was originally scheduled to start at 9:30 in the evening, but in reality, when Faust walked into the church hall of Stavropolskie Church at 8 o'clock, he found that the hall was packed with more than a thousand people already seated.

Four-fifths of the participants were officers and soldiers of the Great German Battalion, most of whom were impressed by Faust and Moustache's speeches during their high-altitude training in the Alps.

The other fifth of the audience consisted of colleagues from other units of the 22nd Army, some from Württemberg, but mostly from Bavarians.

Most of these new participants were invited by their friends to attend the Party Congress because they had good relationships with some officers and soldiers in the Grossdeutschland Battalion.

When Faust saw so many unfamiliar new faces, he began to sweat and became nervous: everyone agreed to establish a disciplined and combative revolutionary party, but at the first party congress, no one abided by the principle of confidentiality, and even called on their friends and brought in people from other units who didn't know about the National Socialist Party!

Faust scolded the mustache-faced man who was in charge of recruiting people, "What are you doing? Anyone attending the Party Congress should at least be a Party member! You should verify their identities beforehand. The same goes for the church entrance. There's not even a gatekeeper."

The man with the mustache was confused. "Sir, isn't it better to have more people attending the Party Congress? I'm afraid there won't be enough people, so to help you boost your momentum, I'm asking everyone to bring some friends along."

Faust wiped his sweat off his forehead and said, "The National Socialist Party is a revolutionary party. Our party's goal is to purge the corrupt Berlin regime. How can we keep such a thing secret? If you just drag anyone in, be careful that you will lose your head!"

It would be fine if the guy with the mustache didn't understand the principle of confidentiality, but Sorge was different. Sorge was already a member of the Spartacus League. Didn't he know the various confidentiality rules of the Spartacus League's underground activities?

As soon as Faust's eyes fell on Sorge, Sorge shrugged:

"Sir, the National Socialist Party has never maintained strict confidentiality. When we were in the Alps, the officers and soldiers loved to show off the National Socialist Party's program and the content of your speech. I always thought that this was your idea..."

The mustache man even took credit for it: "We also invited some gendarmes, all of whom were sympathizers of the National Socialist Party."

My goodness, when did the little mustache guy extend the influence of the National Socialist Party to the gendarmerie?

Faust looked carefully and saw that quite a few people in the audience were wearing the red badges of the military police. Faust originally thought that this situation was not suitable for holding a party congress, but the man with the mustache said confidently:

"The brothers are all here to see you, Mr. Faust. Even the gendarmes will bow down to you if you just show up and wave your hand."

Seeing that the time for the party congress was up, Faust was being pulled by the mustache man, and it was not convenient for him to announce the temporary cancellation of the event. He could only go to the podium. However, according to Faust's current thoughts, his speech was just to simply criticize the corruption and incompetence of Berlin, and would not go into details about how to organize and launch a revolution.

Faust tried to speak in a gentle tone, not using any words that even sounded radical. But he soon discovered that every time he said something about how bad the Berlin government and the emperor's cabinet were, the audience below would respond with cheers.

Faust's oratory skills are not particularly great. The fact that he could achieve such an effect only shows that the resentment of the German army's grassroots towards the ruling class is very deep.

"Guys, it's Christmas."

Faust began his speech calmly, without emphasizing anything: "I know you have letters from your wives and children hidden in your pockets. I saw a young martyr on the Saint-Quentin front who died clutching a photo of his wife. Over the years, we have gnawed stale bread together in the trenches, gazing at the same sky fragmented by barbed wire. But today, I want to talk to you about something older than war: humanity."

The speech was written by Little Moustache and Sorge together. Both of them had great literary talent. Little Moustache was good at inciting emotions, while Sorge was well versed in the philosophy and theories related to socialism.

"I was told that a soldier's duty is to obey. Yes, we obey orders to cross borders, obey orders to pull the trigger, and even obey orders to continue preparing to kill at Christmas... But tell me, when mothers cry over the notice of their sons' deaths, when children in the streets of Berlin fight over half a potato - what are we fighting for?"

Having said this, Faust lowered his voice and approached the crowd. Several gendarmes exchanged glances but did not step forward. Instead, their expressions relaxed a little.

"Look at the people on your left, then look at the people on your right. Lucas, I remember you. You're from Hamburg. The war froze your fingers, right? And you, Schmidt, Schmidt from the Second Company. Everyone knows him, right? He was a top student at the University of Munich. He should have been an engineer or teaching us children in the classroom, but now he has to calculate how many enemies he has to kill to earn enough food to eat."

Faust suddenly raised his voice and punched the Blue Max Medal on his chest with his fist. The sound of metal collision was particularly clear in the cold wind.

"We are not machines, nor are we pawns on the chessboard of emperors and nobles. We are human beings, husbands, sons, living beings who bleed and feel pain. Those bigwigs hiding in the warm headquarters say: 'Victory is in the next charge!'"

"But have they ever eaten lice in the trenches? Have they ever shaken hands festered with trench foot? Brothers, the real enemy is not in the trenches across from us, but behind us—those who gild their medals with our blood!"

When Faust said this, several gendarmes in the audience stood up. One gendarme even put his hand on his rifle holster. But the soldiers around him began to commotion. The man with the mustache took over Faust's words and said to calm the crowd:

"Brothers! We are not asking you to lay down your guns, nor are we asking you to betray Germany. On the contrary, we hope to win, to win a real victory as quickly as possible. We hope that one day our children will no longer have to experience a Christmas like this. When the war machine crushes the last trace of humanity, we must remember: the bayonet can take away our lives, but it cannot take away our right to choose dignity!"

The mustache man took out a wrinkled family photo from the inside pocket of his coat. In fact, the mustache man did not have a good relationship with his family, and he borrowed this photo from Rommel.

"If I die tomorrow on the battlefield, please place three things on my body: this Iron Cross, as proof that I served Germany; this family photo, as proof that I fought for my family; and..."

The man with the mustache held up a blood-stained bandage and said, "Let this blood-stained shroud serve as a reminder to future generations: blind loyalty is more deadly than the enemy's bullets."

Tito, who was sitting in the audience, and several other members of the National Socialist Party stood up and said: "To this damn war, to the fact that we are still alive, to the fact that our conscience has not been extinguished - Prost!"

The soldiers raised their canteens one after another, and the low chorus of responses flooded the church like a tide.

The man with the mustache felt that the time was right. He gave Faust a hard push and whispered, "Sir, let's show everyone our program now, right now, and quickly—"

The man with the mustache had a strong grasp of the crowd's emotions. Under the guidance of his words, even the gendarmes were deeply intoxicated.

Faust then handed the 25 key points of the program to the audience, asking them to make their own judgments on each one.

The National Socialist Party's Twenty-Five Points offered something for almost everyone:

What is given to patriots is that all Germans unite to form a single state, enjoy equal rights among the nations of the world, create a people's army, overthrow the backward and corrupt old empire and aristocracy, wage a ruthless struggle against criminals, and strengthen law and order.

What was given to the workers was the abolition of free money, the public transfer of war profits, the confiscation of land without compensation for social ownership, and profit sharing within large enterprises.

For the middle class, large department stores should be immediately socialized and leased to small traders at low rents, and the health standards of the elderly across the country should be greatly improved.

Every time Faust finished reading a key point, the man with a mustache and the National Socialist Party members would stop and ask the audience whether they understood and agreed.

All the audience shouted in unison, agreeing. In this way, Faust read out all the programs in succession. Everyone agreed with almost every word he said. At the end of the meeting, there was thunderous applause, and all the gendarmes who came to attend the party congress were deeply involved.

Finally, the man with the mustache took the lead in asking everyone to take an oath together, vowing to fight for socialism all their lives and to fight for Mr. Faust to the death.

The crowd responded with a roar, with thousands of people raising their arms high and performing the Roman salute to Faust. The scene was uniform and full of passion.

After everyone took the oath, the man with a mustache called out Sorge and asked him to announce the newly formulated disciplinary regulations of the National Socialist Party.

The main content of the charter is, first, to explain that the basic principle of the National Socialist Party is to establish a people's republic that excludes the rule of the aristocracy and capitalists, and then to explain the basic leadership organs and organizational forms of the National Socialist Party.

Chapter 55: Revolutionary Eagle

The leading body of the National Socialist Party was the Central Revolutionary Executive Committee with Faust as its center. In addition to Faust, the other people elected as members of the Central Executive Committee were Mustache, Sorge and Rommel.