Germany does not seek survival

Since the Thirty Years' War, the main battlefields of every major war in Europe, including the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Spanish Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the Napoleonic Wars, were the German states.

Liebknecht believed that the German Revolution would likely face this outcome again, and external forces would inevitably intervene, so the revolutionaries could not hope to solve the problem through parliamentary struggle or a riot.

"We need a calm and composed revolutionary party, a well-trained revolutionary army. We need Cromwell and the Iron Horse more than Robespierre—half a step to the left of Napoleon."

Liebknecht's self-positioning is actually the same as Kautsky's view of him. He is the German "Robespierre" but not the German "Cromwell".

Liebknecht's barrage of criticism had already brought sweat to Kautsky's forehead. Mr. Kautsky was sweating profusely. He was also very insightful and could understand to some extent the key points of Liebknecht's analysis. However, Kautsky's own ideology and the large group of centrist Socialist Party members behind him determined that Kautsky could not implement the strategy proposed by Liebknecht.

Liebknecht saw Kautsky's nervous expression and realized that Kautsky was, after all, only a scholar and a theorist. He could not become the Cromwell of the German Revolution and could not preserve any of the fruits of victory for the German Revolution.

"Mr. Kautsky, what is your impression of Colonel Faust after your contact with him?"

Like Luxemburg, Liebknecht was also interested in Faust. Sorge submitted observation reports on the National Socialist Party to Liebknecht and Luxemburg many times through the Spartacus League. In this regard, Liebknecht actually knew more about Faust than Kautsky.

After a brief hesitation, Kautsky said, "Faust is incredibly ambitious. He possesses extraordinary energy, military talent, youth, and charisma. It's hard not to think of a soldier like him as Napoleon. He's so much like Napoleon. Even if he helps the revolution in the future, it might be for personal gain. I'm genuinely worried because I can't see the full extent of Faust's political ambitions."

Liebknecht pondered: "Did you invite him to the Independent Party as well?"

"Of course," said Kautsky. "You have probably guessed that Faust has refused my invitation."

After thinking for a long time, Liebknecht decided to write a letter, and then to Trotsky, asking Kautsky to give the letter to Faust.

"I still believe that Faust will be our friend."

Liebknecht went on to say: "Among our comrades who tend to be center-left in the Social Democratic Party, there are too few talented military men. If there were more men like Faust, alas... the situation of the German revolution would certainly be very different."

Kautsky raised his head and looked at the ceiling: "You may know Faust from the news and reports... But if you see it with your own eyes, you will understand that there can be no other Faust in the world."

At least in this respect, Kautsky's understanding of Faust is deeper than that of Liebknecht and Luxemburg.

The content of the letter that Liebknecht wanted to pass on to Faust was actually very simple. Based on Sorge's report on the National Socialist Party, he gave Faust some suggestions, mainly hoping that Faust could avoid the mistakes of Blanquism.

Blanqui was a great revolutionary of Marx's era. Blanquism refers to secret societyism, which placed too much emphasis on establishing secret organizations with military armed characteristics, but lost contact with the masses. In the end, it became a rootless duckweed and could only carry out blind military riots again and again.

A typical example is the Tongmenghui before the Xinhai Revolution in China.

After the meeting, when Kautsky left the residence where Liebknecht was under house arrest, Faust also left Ms. Luxemburg's residence. On the way back to the apartment, Kautsky gave Faust the letter from Liebknecht.

Faust opened the letter and read it carefully from beginning to end. The language of Dr. Liebknecht's letter sounded like the earnest teachings of an elder to a younger generation.

Faust could see that Dr. Liebknecht did not hide his expectations of him, and he also hoped that he could avoid some mistakes that young people often make.

"The Doctor kind of treats me like a child."

Faust smiled and said, "It is a blessing to have such a political elder."

When Faust returned to his apartment, in the vast imperial capital of Berlin, amidst the dim lights, he could still see the little maid Lala staring at him.

Lala had prepared dinner for Faust a long time ago. Because Faust returned to the apartment late today, when Faust came back, Lala put on her maid's white lace apron and busied herself with helping Faust heat up the food first, and then brought the food and a bottle of wine to the table.

Germans love meat, especially sausages, ham, bacon and other meat products. Lala made a dish of smoked bacon with sauerkraut for Faust. Smoked bacon is a kind of meat made by smoking pickled pork, which is salty, fragrant and oily.

Pig head or pork tenderloin is usually the best choice for making smoked meat. However, supplies are tight in Germany now, so Lala only uses inferior pork legs. Sauerkraut is cabbage pickled with salt. After the two ingredients are fully stewed, they will be served with some mashed potatoes.

After the fencing competition at Charlottenburg Palace, Lala admired Faust even more. Whenever she saw Faust, her eyes turned into stars and kept shining.

Lala herself is also full of enthusiasm: "After I finish my work taking care of Lieutenant Colonel Faust, I also want to go to the front line. I want to go to the hospital there. If I can become a battlefield nurse, it will definitely be more meaningful than my current job."

Faust asked Lala to sit at the table and eat with him. He did not ask Lala to give up her ideal of becoming a battlefield nurse:

"If you're going to the front, be careful... A maid's job is different from a nurse's. You have to complete the appropriate training and exams before you're qualified. Otherwise, going to the front would just cause unnecessary trouble, and you wouldn't want to cause trouble for the German army, would you?"

Lala was busy cooking for Faust, and her face was covered with sweat. Faust took out a handkerchief from his chest pocket and handed it to Lala to wipe her face. After wiping, her face was spotless and extraordinarily beautiful. She didn't look glamorous because she didn't wear any makeup, but her skin was smooth and white like a pure gem, so clean that people didn't have any other thoughts.

"Does Lieutenant Colonel agree too?"

Lala was so happy that Faust approved of her idea.

Then, apart from Faust, Lala's favorite person is Princess Victoria Louise, whom she serves at Charlottenburg Palace: "I really hope that one day I can wear a German soldier's uniform like Her Royal Highness Princess Louise..."

Faust knew that Princess Louise's fondness for wearing German Hussar uniforms was merely showmanship, and he was not sure if she would actually be sent to the front. Not to mention the front lines, Princess Louise had never even been to the army, having only served as the honorary commander of the Royal Guards Cavalry Regiment.

Faust laughed in front of Lala: "This day will come. Lala, do you really want to go to the front?"

Lala said very seriously: "Of course, do you think I am suitable to help in the field hospital?"

Chapter 98 Boxing Action

Faust couldn't bear to hurt Lala's patriotic enthusiasm. During this time, he lived in Berlin, and Lala took care of all aspects of his life. The maid washed his clothes and cooked his daily meals. As for daily living and cleaning, that went without saying.

The little maid worked diligently, never complained, and didn't say much. She especially assured Faust that with Lala's personality, if she really went to the front line as a battlefield nurse, her performance would definitely not be bad.

But the fighting on the front line was raging, and even though the German army adopted offensive defense most of the time, the field hospitals on the front line were actually relatively safe, but Faust was still worried.

Faust took a pen from his jacket, then tore off a page from his military notebook, wrote a letter of introduction for Lala, and signed it.

"If you really want to go to the front, no matter which theater of war you end up in, give this letter of mine to your superiors."

Lala took the letter. The content of the letter was that Faust asked Lala's superiors to take better care of her and not to arrange her to a position too close to the front line.

Faust is now a lieutenant colonel in the army and one of the very few holders of the Blue Max Medal in the empire. He is very famous and has the face to write such a letter.

Lala frowned, and with her pair of fair but calloused hands, she handed the letter directly to Faust. When the cold and smooth hand touched her, Lala blushed slightly.

"No, I cannot accept the lieutenant colonel's letter of introduction," Lala said sternly. "Everyone has their own position and responsibilities. If my superiors have any requirements, I should complete them without compromise. If everyone relies on personal connections for favors, what will become of the country?"

Lala's sense of responsibility was so strong that Faust couldn't help but applaud her. "You said it yourself. If you encounter any danger at the front, I can't help you if we're not in the same army group."

Lala was still young, but for a child from a poor family, she matured precociously. She proudly puffed out her considerable chest and said, "Don't worry, Lieutenant Colonel! I will definitely do all the work that is my responsibility and complete it to the best of my ability."

Faust smiled bitterly and shook his head. This little girl was obviously a Sorb, but she had a stubbornness that was rare among Germans. It was really a headache, but perhaps it was because of this stubbornness that Faust admired her even more.

Faust himself had a lot of things to deal with. After the banquet at Charlottenburg Palace, Faust's behavior of not giving any face to His Majesty the Emperor at the banquet inevitably left some hidden dangers.

Originally, after the Great German Regiment was awarded the honorary title of "Faust-Great German Regiment" of the Guards, everyone thought that Faust should be promoted to the official commander of the Great German Regiment.

But it turned out not to be the case. Rommel, the acting regimental commander, was directly promoted to the regular commander, while Faust was given another task.

Faust will be left in Berlin. His current task is to be responsible for forming the corresponding second and third regiments according to the training and organization methods of the Great German Regiment.

It seems that Faust's scope of authority has greatly increased as he has gone from being in charge of one mountain regiment to being in charge of two mountain regiments.

In fact, the Grossdeutschland Regiment was already the ace unit of the German Army. The newly established Second and Third Regiments were new units. It would take some time for them to be formed. Moreover, after they were formed, the quality and combat effectiveness of the troops in a short period of time would definitely be far from that of the Grossdeutschland Regiment.

This was an arrangement that was a bit of a promotion in name only and a demotion in reality. Faust was a national war hero and a national idol, and William II had no suitable reason to punish Faust. Moreover, most of the military power was still in the hands of the General Staff, so His Majesty the Emperor could only come up with this method.

Faust himself did not think that this arrangement was bad. The Grossdeutschland Regiment had now become the National Socialist Party's forbidden fruit. Not to mention that Rommel was still the regiment commander, even if the German army airdropped other regiment commanders to the Grossdeutschland Regiment, this unit would still be firmly controlled by Faust.

Now that he had a new position to lead the formation of the Second and Third Regiments, he had another opportunity to further increase the influence of the National Socialist Party.

Faust immediately wrote to Ludendorff, the dictator of the General Staff, in which he made only one request, which was to transfer a group of officers from the Greater German Regiment to serve as the backbone of the newly established Second and Third Regiments.

On Ludendorff's side, also because of the Charlottenburg Palace banquet, Ludendorff's view of Faust has changed for the better.

Master Lu agreed to Faust's request without hesitation. He directly approved that, in addition to allowing Faust to fill out the personnel list himself and bring in a group of core officers from the Greater Germany Regiment, weapons and equipment, training funds, and all supplies must be configured according to the highest priority standards.

In the red brick building of the General Staff, Ludendorff was still hunched over his desk. He was extremely energetic. Since he and Marshal Hindenburg replaced Falkenhayn, unless there was a special invitation, he had been eating and sleeping in the General Staff all day long, and only slept for three hours every day in the early morning in a rocking chair in the General Staff.

"That Faust is truly arrogant. He doesn't even have His Majesty in his eyes. The list of personnel he provided this time is also not limited to the Greater German Regiment. It's really random nominations."

The man standing in front of Ludendorff was named Hans von Seeckt. He was the chief of staff of Field Marshal Mackensen, commander of the Danube Army Group. He later had another more well-known nickname - the "Father of the Wehrmacht" who rebuilt the army during the Weimar period.

Chief of Staff Seeckt represented the position of Marshal Mackensen. When Marshal Mackensen was in Romania, he spent a lot of effort to deal with the Romanians, but the credit for conquering Bucharest was easily taken by Faust.

This made Marshal Mackensen's entire army the backdrop for Faust's great achievements. The old cavalry marshal must have been somewhat unhappy with Faust.

This time Chief of Staff Seeckt came to Berlin to report on his work. In fact, it was because William II began to feel that Ludendorff's dictatorial position had endangered the emperor, so he called Chief of Staff Seeckt and planned to use Marshal Mackensen's faction to balance Ludendorff.

Marshal Mackensen lost the military merit of defeating Romania, but he still had two major military achievements: defeating Serbia and stopping the Brusilov Offensive. In the current German army, his prestige should be second only to Marshal Hindenburg. And many people know that Marshal Mackensen disliked Ludendorff very much, and thought that Ludendorff was a shabby and extreme villain.

Ludendorff watched Chief of Staff Seeckt attacking Faust and couldn't help but smile. "Give it to him. All approved. Give Faust whatever he wants. He's a hero and even refused the baronship offered by His Majesty. This request is nothing."

Chief of Staff Seeckt picked up the list and frowned. "Walter Model, Heinz Wilhelm Guderian, Gotthard Heinrich... Faust's personnel requirements span the various units on both the eastern and western fronts. Although the men he selected are all junior officers, I've noticed one thing in common among the men Faust selected: none of their names contain the character von. They are all civilian officers."

Ludendorff was of Junker origin, but he was of the lowest status among the Junker aristocracy. He was even regarded as a poor man who was not worthy of using the name Von by many wealthy children like Marshal Mackensen and Chief of Staff Seeckt.

Chief of Staff Seeckt talked about Faust's selection criteria, which made Ludendorff slam the table:

"Personnel selection is the responsibility of the General Staff. Chief of Staff Seckt, don't assume that just because His Majesty the Emperor wants to transfer you to the General Staff, you have the right to interfere with this decision."

Ludendorff smiled again. "After all, it's just a few regimental-level troops. They won't cause any trouble. Let Faust do what he wants. The most important thing for the Empire right now is to make the best use of its talents. Junker or commoner background makes no difference. Winning battles is what matters most."

Chief of Staff Seeckt was also a very smart man. He could more or less guess Ludendorff's inner thoughts, but he could only sigh inwardly that people like Faust who were so unconventional were completely different from the traditional Prussian military style. The group of civilian officer followers behind Faust made Chief of Staff Seeckt feel vaguely uneasy.

Seckt always felt that Faust's actions were not simple and he must have other ambitions.

Witt Faust...If Germany falls into the turmoil of the Great Interregnum again, will Faust be the next founder Rudolf von Habsburg to start a thousand-year dynasty?

The twilight of the old days is coming to an end, and a monstrous flood is brewing.

Less than a month after Princess Louise's birthday party at Charlottenburg Palace, the provisional government that came to power in Russia through the February Revolution officially announced that the new government would abide by all alliances with the Allied Powers, refuse to make a separate peace with Germany, and continue to pursue a war policy.

The brief peace on the Eastern Front lasted only a few dozen days before it was broken again. Ludendorff was furious and began to seriously consider the possibility of launching an offensive in Petrograd. The German-Austrian coalition continued to fight with the Russian army on a front of thousands of kilometers.

But this time, most of the Russian frontline soldiers did not support the provisional government's policy of resuming the war. Their morale was extremely low, and they would be defeated once they encountered a slightly stronger attack from the German army.

Soon after, some soldiers of the Petrograd garrison launched a demonstration against the Provisional Government's war policy. The Provisional Government was thus in serious danger and was forced to make major concessions to the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, allowing the reorganization of the government to include the left-wing Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Bolsheviks.

However, this statement by the Provisional Government soon aroused strong dissatisfaction among the right-wing elements in the Russian army.

The right-wing elements of the Russian army immediately elected the war hero General Kornilov as their representative and asked him to lead the army to advance towards the capital Petrograd, preparing to seize power by force.

In a panic, the Provisional Government had no choice but to ask Lenin for help from trade unions, Soviet representatives and workers' pickets to prevent the army from seizing power in order to fight against the factions in the Russian army who were trying to seize power by force.

Lenin, who had just returned to Russia, seized the opportunity and chose to help the Provisional Government fight against the mutiny launched by right-wing elements of the Russian army. The workers successfully defended the capital, and the military coup launched by Kornilov quickly collapsed due to lack of support from the citizens.

Lenin took this opportunity to give legal status to the workers' armed forces controlled by the Bolsheviks, making them the most powerful military force in the capital, Petrograd.

Now, the conditions for the Bolsheviks to seize power were ripe. However, unlike in the past, the German army had occupied the entire Baltic coastal area long before the February Revolution. During the months when the Russian army was paralyzed after the February Revolution, the German army advanced even more aggressively, heading straight for the Russian capital, Petrograd.

Ludendorff was conceiving a bold military plan - he would use an attack code-named "Operation Fistfist" to capture the Russian capital, Petrograd, and force the Russians, both left and right, to lose their ability to resist and allow him to do whatever he wanted.

Chapter 99: The whole world is united

The train station in front of the Potsdam barracks was crowded with people. Another batch of new soldiers recruited from Württemberg, Baden and Bavaria arrived in Potsdam near Berlin one after another.

Among the crowd, Guderian, Model, Gotthard and others who were specifically requested by Faust also took the return train from different battlefields on the front line to the Potsdam Barracks where new troops were trained.

They all came from different types of units. Guderian was the commander of a cavalry unit, Model was the commander of a machine gun company on the Western Front, and Gotthard had just completed a short General Staff officer training course.

If there is anything in common, it is only their background. They are both of civilian origin, and their fathers are teachers like Rommel. Only Gotthard's mother's family has some military background. He is related by blood to Faust's good friend, Lieutenant Colonel Rundstedt, and is considered Rundstedt's distant cousin.

After the banquet at Charlottenburg Palace, Faust became the most controversial topic in the army because he declined the title of baron granted by the emperor. Whether on the Eastern Front or the Western Front, everyone was keen to discuss Faust.

Even Guderian and others are no exception.

"Lieutenant Colonel Faust actually refused the title of baron, such a great temptation, and transformed from a commoner into a noble, and a baron at that, a title that can be passed down for hundreds of years."

"Gotthard, what do you know? Times have changed. Barons are not that valuable anymore. There are only a few barons among the heroes on the battlefield and the soldiers who have made real contributions to Germany."

"Richthofen is the Baron. Isn't the Red Baron heroic enough?"

"How many Red Barons are there in the world? Most nobles are just good-for-nothings, all show and no substance."

"Captain Model, your views are somewhat extreme. Most of the elites in the General Staff are aristocrats."

"So our country has been at war for three years, and we're still in this mess. We're still under blockade by the Allies, and our people are suffering and our country is poor. We can't hold on any longer!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? The German army is about to defeat Russia, and victory in the war is in sight."

……

Several officers were arguing fiercely, and they had little respect for the Junker aristocracy. They didn't care that they were in the Potsdam military camp at the gate of Berlin, and their words were very inappropriate.

By 1917, the war had begun and internal conflicts in Germany had become extremely serious. The top leadership's control over all aspects of the military had declined significantly. German officers, who had always been required not to participate in politics, now also liked to comment sharply on state affairs.

Even someone like Gotthard, whose mother had a noble background, would mainly criticize the authorities pessimistically when talking about state affairs.

However, even with the radicalism of these people, after entering the Potsdam Barracks, Guderian quickly realized that the atmosphere in Faust's troops was not right.

Faust was responsible for the formation and training of the 2nd and 3rd Assault Jäger Regiments at the Potsdam Barracks. The commanders of the two regiments were transferred from the Greater Germany Regiment. Scherner was the commander of the 2nd Regiment and Kesselring was the commander of the 3rd Regiment. The military work of the regiment was presided over by the two of them, while the daily affairs of the regiment, especially those related to the soldiers' lives and political propaganda, were the responsibility of Hitler and Tito.

Hitler didn't even pretend at the Potsdam barracks. On his first day in Potsdam, he posted the National Socialist Party's "Twenty-Five Point Program" in every barracks.

Then every night during the training period, Hitler would organize a bonfire party. In addition to some cultural performances to liven up the atmosphere, the theme of the bonfire party was to listen to Hitler's political speeches.

First, they publicized how incompetent the Junker-controlled military was, then they attacked the nobles, big and small, from the emperor down, for being so corrupt, and finally they criticized the bourgeoisie for making a fortune during the war, yet not a single one of them went to the front to fight...

Hitler did not like to talk about socialist theories. His speeches almost always focused on specific issues. They all started with incitement and ended with a specific event. The propaganda effect among ordinary soldiers was particularly good.

Tito's propaganda was somewhat different.

Tito's work was not mainly about bonfire parties. He set up a soldiers' club in the Third Regiment. He did not engage in empty talk but only in practical work.