Germany does not seek survival

Under the Central Revolutionary Committee, a Revolutionary Committee branch of the National Socialist Party should be established in each company. Below the company level, each platoon should establish a soldiers' representative council, and each squad should establish a soldiers' mutual aid group.

At present, the main work of the National Socialist Party branch, the soldiers' representative council, and the soldiers' mutual aid group is to carry out propaganda for the National Socialist Party. Sorge is responsible for drafting an official propaganda publication of the National Socialist Party, and the name was named "People's Observer" by Faust himself.

The People's Observer's battlefield propaganda was to focus on the soldiers' demands, exposing issues such as officer privileges and the profiteering of capitalists in the rear. Secondly, it would publicize the activities of left-wing forces in the rear, such as the latest letters from imprisoned figures like Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, and the latest articles by figures like Kautsky, the centrist leader of the Social Democratic Party...

By the time the Party Congress ended, the church was already filled with thunderous applause and laughter. The man with the mustache proudly said, "Sir, I am now 200 percent certain. We can be sure that if anyone can control the fate of Germany, it is Werther Faust."

For Faust, the victory at the Party Congress was somewhat unexpected.

The confidentiality issue that Faust was most worried about now seemed not to be a problem at all. Not many people in the army cared about the radical rhetoric promoted by the National Socialist Party, even the military police.

Because everyone knew that Faust was a war hero valued by the German Emperor and the General Staff. Even the military police did not think that Faust's goal in organizing the National Socialist Party was to really rebel against the German Emperor. In addition, after several years of war, the emperor's authority on the front line had already disappeared.

If Faust had focused on criticizing the General Staff and the military elites, the military police might have become alert, but there was really no need to make a fuss about just a few curses at the emperor.

Ludendorff, the spiritual leader of the German army, was the person who most frequently criticized His Majesty the Emperor within the army.

After the meeting, the audience slowly filed out of the church, leaving only a few core members of the National Socialist Party.

Hitler put his hands on his hips, his face full of swagger and pride. "Mr. Faust, I think the next thing we need to do is to choose a suitable title for you, the supreme leader of the National Socialist Party. This title should bring enough prestige from the very meaning of the title."

Faust seemed to understand something and looked at the mustache man: "What do you think?"

The man with the mustache said confidently, "Leader, Commander-in-Chief, how about that? If you want to be more authoritative, you can call him the Supreme Leader or the Supreme Commander."

Faust laughed and said, "Choose a name from ancient Roman history, for example, Augustus's title, the Principate."

When the mustache man heard the word "Führer," his eyes lit up instantly. "Führer! Excellent! This title sounds nice and has a classic, historical feel. It's an extraordinary hero, and it really suits you."

Faust almost laughed his head off. "Hahahaha, Führer, my comrade Adolf, I think we can only use the title of Führer when we truly control the whole of Germany."

Sorge mentioned another matter: "Comrades, I think that the next step is to design a distinctive and memorable symbol for the National Socialist Party. This symbol will become the banner for the National Socialist Party to fight for in the future."

The man with the mustache pounded his chest and said, "It must be a bright red flag!"

Rommel advocated: "We can use the colors of the national flag, black, white and red."

The national flag of the German Empire was a black, white and red tricolor flag. This flag was based on the black and white of Prussia, with the addition of red, representing the Hanseatic League.

Schörner, Kesselring, and Thomas, who are from Bavaria, were not so supportive of the black, white, and red color scheme: "At least add the blue that represents Bavaria!"

Faust was shocked, but fortunately, the man with a mustache had not yet proposed the design idea of ​​black, white, and red colors plus a swastika. Our National Socialist Party focuses on society, not on the country.

Sorge suggested: "We can also restore the flag of the German Confederation during the revolution of 1848, the black, red and gold tricolor flag."

The man with the mustache had another idea. He was originally an art student who had failed the entrance exam. He took out the pen and ink he used to write slogans and directly drew a new flag on the back of the promotional poster.

The new flag drawn by the mustache man is still in black, white and red. On the red background of the flag, a circle is outlined in white, and in the center of the circle is a black sickle and hammer pattern.

As he drew, the man with the mustache said, "How about this pattern? If you stretch it into a rectangle, you can make it into the shape of a Roman flag. A red square with a black hammer and sickle in the middle on a white background. We can also combine it with the German eagle to design a badge. For example, the German eagle could have its wings spread, grasping an oak wreath, with a black hammer and sickle in the middle of the wreath."

Faust is implying: "The German eagle, its head, must be turned to the left."

Putting aside the style of the flag, the artistic image of the "German Revolutionary Eagle" drawn by the mustache still won Faust's approval.

This revolutionary eagle is not the eagle emblem in traditional German heraldry, but an abstract version of the Eagle of the Holy Roman Empire and the Prussian Eagle. It has simple lines, mainly straight lines, and has completely lost its medieval color. It is full of the simple impact of modernism.

Faust said, "We can first order a batch of revolutionary eagle badges in Bucharest and use them as the temporary emblem of the National Socialist Party."

Little Moustache's proposal was adopted by Faust, which made the failed art student overjoyed. The others had no objection to Little Moustache's art concept for the time being. After all, among this group of Nazi soldiers, Little Moustache's artistic appreciation ability was second to none.

Everyone can see that the man with the mustache is the most enthusiastic about the National Socialist Party among all people. His enthusiasm is so overflowing that he may care more about the National Socialist Party than Faust.

Most of the things were given to Little Moustache to do. Regardless of whether he could succeed or not, Little Moustache would work day and night on this matter. This was a real physical meaning of forgetting food and sleep. Faust even forgot how many times he had taken Little Moustache, who had been hungry for several days, to eat.

Speaking of food, after Christmas, the German army's food collection work in Romania became increasingly harsh, and everything that Faust had predicted before actually happened.

Major Rundstedt tried his best to avoid exhausting Romania, but he was only a major, and even though he was the chief operations staff officer of the 22nd Army who held real power in the military control office, he could not disobey the iron order from Berlin.

Marshal Mackensen has ordered that, first of all, all the food reserves in Bucharest, except for the so-called minimum "rations", be loaded onto trucks and shipped to Vienna and Berlin.

This was not enough. The German army also needed to enter all the villages in the Romanian countryside and plunder the farmers' stored food.

Thus, a great famine inevitably descended. Many people ate cats and dogs. After all the cats and dogs were gone, they turned to cannibalism. It was said that some women lured their children home with food, killed them, and then used them to make minced meat and steaks.

Faust did not want the Grossdeutschland Battalion to stay in Romania for long, so on the day before New Year's Day, he led his troops back to the other side of the Skuduk Pass. All he saw along the way were the atrocities of the German army breaking into villages and stealing food from Romanian farmers.

The officers and soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Battalion sat in silence on the truck.

When he arrived at the Carpathian village where the Great German Battalion had set out earlier, Faust met Alexandra, the young woman who was in charge of the village chief.

Alexandra was still plump, but if the German army had any intention, she would soon face the threat of famine.

"Captain, do you remember me?"

Alexandra was a little surprised when she saw Faust's military rank. She was not an ordinary peasant woman and was considered quite knowledgeable in the Romanian countryside, so she realized that the rapid improvement of Faust's military rank meant that Faust must have considerable power.

Faust will not easily forget Alexandra, whose wild beauty makes him miss her all the time: "Yes, of course I remember, Lady Alexandra."

"Call me Madam. My husband died on the battlefield long ago."

"I am sorry for your loss."

Alexandra's husband most likely died at the hands of the German army. She looked a little gloomy:

"Captain, have you heard? The army said they were requisitioning all food except for their rations, but in reality, many people's rations were also requisitioned. After losing their last rations, the most terrible things began to happen. Some people started cannibalism. I heard that someone found a child's ear in the minced meat she bought from the market when she cut it into pieces."

Faust asked, "Have the gendarmes investigated this?"

Alexandra looked helpless. "The military police couldn't find the murderer. Some people said that a woman killed her own baby, cooked the meat, and fed the broth to her other three children. She walked out of the house and hanged herself in an abandoned warehouse."

After New Year's Day, the German army stepped up its efforts to collect food. The children and the elderly in the village were starving to the point of swelling. Many children had limbs as thin as sticks, but their stomachs were swollen. It looked like their stomachs would explode if they were poked lightly, and the water inside would all flow onto the ground.

On this side of the Skudok Pass, the situation was slightly better, because Marshal Mackensen's army was mainly collecting surplus food in the south. Once the army failed to collect enough food in Bucharest, it might endanger the north.

Alexandra practically begged Faust: "Please, I really beg you, no matter what, I hope you can protect this village."

Alexandra grasped the corner of Faust's clothes with both hands. "We have done our utmost to support the German army. Before you crossed the Skudok Pass, we did our best to cooperate with all the German army's requests. This shouldn't have been the result..."

In the eyes of Romanian nationalists, Alexandra's words now are the ugly behavior of a traitor, but what can she do?

Faust could only reluctantly say, "I will tell the Military Control Office and Major Rundstedt to tell the German army not to enter your village to requisition surplus food."

Chapter 56: Don't Like to Skip*

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Chapter 56: Forgiveness*

Alexandra begged Faust, pressing her whole body against his arm. "Will you come to my house and discuss this? Captain, I will certainly satisfy you."

Alexandra is very beautiful and has a figure that is very attractive to men. She clearly expresses her hint to Faust. In fact, Faust has already agreed to help Alexandra, so there is no need for her to do this.

But for Alexandra, this was the only way for her to feel at ease. For her, this kind of thing must be rewarded, and she had nothing to repay Faust. In the war, Alexandra had nothing, and all she could give was a relatively beautiful and sexy body.

In turbulent times, the flame of survival may be extinguished at any time, and people cling to the joy of the moment as if it were the last straw.

When artillery fire tears the sky and hunger gnaws at dignity, those moral creeds that were once regarded as the norm collapse like sand castles - the shackles of chastity, the dogmas of etiquette, everything is the same, and the embrace of men and women for warmth is the real thing.

Faust originally wanted to reject her. To be honest, Alexandra's beauty was not enough to make Faust have a relationship with her.

But at the moment when Alexandra begged, Faust softened his heart again. He suddenly understood Alexandra's mentality. In her eyes, Faust saw a disillusioned reality. On the ruins of the troubled times, even the moonlight was soaked with the mellow fragrance of doomsday carnival.

Perhaps giving it to Alexandra is not painful, but rejecting her is painful.

After hesitating for a moment, Faust smiled and said, "Okay, let's go to your house. I don't have any wine here, only coffee. Is that okay?"

Alexandra breathed a sigh of relief and took Faust to her boudoir with confidence. What Alexandra feared most was being rejected in this regard, which would make her feel even more ashamed.

And, to be honest, Alexandra liked Faust's appearance from the very beginning, and no matter what happened, she didn't feel that she was at a disadvantage.

After opening the door, Alexandra said directly, "Captain, you have saved many lives. I am willing to satisfy you... This is not for anything, but because you are a respectable person."

Faust laughed: "There are many ways to satisfy me."

Alexandra bit her lip, blushing. "But these are all I have, and... I like you, too."

As she spoke, Alexandra began to take off her winter clothes. Faust was still sitting at the head of the bed, stirring the coffee gently with a spoon. Alexandra's winter dress fell to the ground like a shed cicada shell, and her lace petticoat was slightly shiny in the warm mist.

[The following 2,000 words omitted]

"Just do this. It's better than any comfort to me."

After saying that, Alexandra bit Faust's shoulder hard, but to Faust, it didn't hurt at all. To him, it was nothing more than sacrificing his innocence to save a tragic woman.

But the larger world cannot be saved in this way.

The Großdeutschland Battalion could protect a village, but it was unable to protect the greater population of Romania under the overall policy of the German army.

What's more, after the German army is defeated and the large German troops stationed on Romanian territory withdraw, people like Alexandra who have received preferential treatment from the German army will be hard to avoid retaliation from the Romanians.

Even if Alexandra did not do anything to harm Romania's national interests, once the sentiment of national revenge is formed, there will always be innocent people who suffer from this unprovoked disaster.

Faust wanted to take Alexandra back to Germany, but before he could say anything, he looked at Alexandra's expression and was unable to bring himself to speak.

Alexandra lay on Faust's chest. She seemed to know what Faust wanted to say and placed her finger on his lips. "No need, Captain. Everyone in the village and I will live well. We will use the food we save to help other surrounding villages."

Faust grabbed Alexandra's hand and asked, "Will you hate the Germans?"

Alexandra lowered her eyelids. "What kind of answer do you want to hear? The Germans will reap the rewards they deserve for what they have done on our land."

Faust sighed again: "Yes! Germany will certainly reap the rewards. Germany will not escape punishment."

Faust knew very well that when the wave of defeat swept across Germany, most of the German people would be punished because of the decisions of a small number of militarist dictators.

But when the price of a loaf of bread in a bakery rose to 500,000 marks, didn't the German civilians who happily threw flowers in 1914 have any responsibility?

A short war may be initiated by a small group of militarists, but a full-scale war, a total war, cannot last for several years without the cooperation of the masses.

The horror of war that Germany brought to the world will surely return to Germany one day. Behind collective violence is the banality of evil. Ordinary people find it difficult to break free from the constraints of the state apparatus. Under the shaping of the state apparatus, they will most likely enthusiastically support the war.

In August 1914, hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the gates of the Berlin Palace, singing patriotic songs. Germany's declaration of war made their blood boil. The August fever was not a scene fabricated by the German government to show people enthusiastically welcoming the war, but it actually appeared on the streets of Berlin, Munich and Vienna, as well as on the streets of Paris, London and St. Petersburg.

The German Social Democratic Party participated in the drafting of the "German Manifesto". Germany's left-wing intellectuals, including Germany's most famous humanist and Nobel Prize winner in literature Thomas Mann, also signed the manifesto:

"...Our enemies hypocritically claim that this battle is against our so-called militarism, not our culture, but this is untrue. Without German militarism, German culture would have long since vanished from the face of the earth. This country has been harassed for centuries, and no other country has suffered as much in this regard, so its militarism grew out of its culture and has become the guardian of that culture. The German army and the German people are one, as close as fish and water. This common understanding has allowed 7000 million Germans to put aside differences in educational background, social status, and party affiliation and become as close as brothers..."

A few months ago, this grand and touching patriotic scene also took place on the streets of Bucharest, the capital of Romania - don't forget that it was Romania that first declared war on Germany.

There were no innocent people in the First World War. It was undoubtedly a dog-eat-dog war, and everyone was responsible. The supporters of the war from big countries should be held even more responsible than those from small countries, because big countries truly hold the initiative in the international situation.

Ordinary people are like this, shaped and coerced by the state apparatus. What you think of as free thoughts are often regulated by society.

Do ordinary people have no choice?

No, that's not the case. Ordinary Germans also had another choice, which was revolution and smashing the militarist state machine.

The "people" who cannot do this, or at least do not try to do so, cannot be innocent in the war, and they cannot shift all the sins onto that small group of militarists.

What's more, the Second German Reich was not the Third German Reich, and the state apparatus of the German Empire was far from reaching the level of strictness of Nazi Germany.

Under the Kaiser, even if one could not be a revolutionary, one could at least vote against the war budget like Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg.

The people are not naturally right, and they are not always peace-loving. They may be instigated by imperialist war propaganda and support war. However, the people are by no means mechanical tools of war. The people have thoughts, and when they truly face the cruelty of war, they will reflect on the war.

And all this was not too late in 1917, and there was still time to change.

Chapter 57: Polish Legion

"Uuuuuu——"

A black military train was traveling through the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Shortly after New Year's Day in 1917, all the officers and soldiers of the Großdeutschland Battalion had boarded the train and set foot on the railway to Krakow.

The atrocities committed by the German army in Romania were unbearable. Faust found many people to smooth things over, and he also asked Rundstedt to represent the Military Control Office to restrain the German army. However, under the strict orders of Marshal Mackensen, these efforts were ultimately just a drop in the bucket.

If Germany wanted to obtain enough food in Romania, the result would inevitably be an unprecedented famine for the Romanian people.

Faust could only protect one or two villages. As for the others, they were far beyond his ability. The Great German Battalion left the Romanian battlefield in this depressed and depressing atmosphere where all sense of justice had been lost.

On the train, Faust sat in a dining car specially provided for officers' meals. In addition to the soldiers of the Großdeutschland Battalion, these trains also carried several Austro-Hungarian troops, who were also heading to the front line on military trains. Therefore, from time to time one could hear Hungarian or various difficult-to-understand dialects spoken by Yugoslavs.

On the surface, the military situation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was still very good:

They recaptured Galicia, which had been occupied by the Russian army at the beginning of the war, and defeated Serbia; the situation on the Isonzo River front was originally worrying, but later stabilized; they also occupied Russian Poland, which almost meant that the sphere of influence of the Vienna royal family would be further expanded, but the Austro-Hungarian government had to reach an agreement with the German government on how to deal with this part of the territory.

But Faust knew very well that the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not rely on itself to win any victory on the battlefield. These good situations were almost entirely due to the hard work of the German army.

The main force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was completely destroyed at the beginning of the war. In just three years, the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost three million soldiers and 700,000 officers. Conrad's army had essentially become a militia inferior to Serbia.

Judging from the data reported by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire still had a super army of about two million people. But in fact, the German General Staff conducted its own investigation and found that there were only 900,000 Austrian soldiers who could actually fight on the front line.

The train passed through the entire Hungarian region from Romania, where the situation was slightly better. But when the train entered the Galicia region where Krakow was located, the officers and soldiers of the Großdeutschland Battalion could feel how bad the situation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was just through the windows.