Germany does not seek survival

Tito's solution was that each member of the soldiers' club would contribute 2% of their military pay and training allowance as funds for the club's activities.

The main purpose of this money is to support soldiers in the club whose families are in financial difficulties and help them buy food. The extra money is used to buy books, records and musical instruments, so that they can find joy in hardship and maintain a certain entertainment life in the army.

At first, because of the money involved, few people were willing to join the Soldiers Club. But gradually, the club's entertainment life attracted some members. Later, everyone found that the club was indeed helpful to their families. Then word spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred, attracting more people to sign up for the club.

Two percent of the military pay remains in the hands of individual soldiers. In fact, firstly, the amount is too small to play a big role, and secondly, there is no channel or place to spend it even if one wants to.

By concentrating the funds in the hands of the soldiers' club and using them to collect them, they can purchase food on a certain scale, and then through Faust's channels, these scarce foods can be delivered to every soldier's home in the rear.

As for how Faust got his channels, he is now very famous, and the General Staff will provide Faust with a lot of conveniences. The three factions of the Social Democratic Party, the center, the left and the right, also want to win over Faust. For a small matter like this, it is just a piece of cake, and there are many people willing to help.

The activities of the National Socialist Party in the Second and Third Regiments almost became open political actions. The Party Committee of the Second Regiment organized by Hitler began recruiting members in the first month of the training period. Tito's actions were a little slower, but he also began to openly recruit members in the second month after the establishment of the Soldiers' Club.

This approach opened the eyes of Guderian, Model and other junior officers who had just arrived at the Potsdam military camp.

They felt that the atmosphere in Potsdam was fresh and lively. The officers and soldiers ate and lived together. In addition to the rigorous daily hunting training, there were also a lot of cultural and entertainment activities and political discussions during rest time, which was very entertaining.

Especially the discussion of political current affairs. At the bonfire party every night, Hitler would start and lead the discussion, talking about various political topics that Guderian found particularly stimulating, and then the officers and soldiers would be allowed to speak freely.

Everyone can freely evaluate senior officials of the General Staff, Congress, and the State Office. For men, especially for German soldiers who have always been forbidden to talk about political topics, this free and lively political discussion environment is more deadly than fine wine and beautiful women.

Even a reserved and restrained person like Guderian was affected by this atmosphere. Within a few days of arriving in Potsdam, he began to completely lose respect for the emperor. Whenever there was a bonfire party in the evening or a lecture at the soldiers' club, he would boldly open the microphone and curse everyone from the emperor to Ludendorff, and from commanders like Ludendorff to the bankers in Frankfurt. His mouth was never idle.

All kinds of political secrets can be discussed freely, including the emperor's gossip, the princes' family affairs, and political scandals...

Under the guidance of Hitler and Tito, everyone first became keen on these political gossips, and then used these political gossips to open the floodgates for participating in political discussions, and then they were easily influenced by the National Socialist Party's political propaganda.

From the start of training at the Potsdam Barracks to the present, in just three months, the National Socialist Party has developed more than 300 members in the Second and Third Regiments.

This is because Faust adheres to the party membership standards and has stricter scrutiny of party members. Otherwise, the National Socialist Party's development speed in the army would definitely be even faster.

In addition to these formal party members, Tito was also responsible for recording a large number of activists who were close to socialism. The number of these people was several times that of the formal party members, and the scale was quite large.

In the newly established Second and Third Regiments, most of the young people with idealistic ambitions and beliefs were attracted to the National Socialist Party. Faust's star effect played a vital role. Hitler and Tito both had their own strengths and outstanding charm in party affairs, and only when they combined together could they produce such a combined force.

In just a few months, the size of the National Socialist Party doubled.

Faust's regimental headquarters was filled with such young soldiers, as well as many admirers who came here because of his reputation. The most prominent figure was Archduke William, a member of the Habsburg royal family who had previously challenged Faust at a banquet at Charlottenburg Palace but failed and was humiliated instead.

Archduke William wrote a special letter of application from his unit to the German General Staff, requesting that he could join Faust's army as an Austrian volunteer.

Because of Archduke William's special status and being a member of the royal family, the General Staff would certainly satisfy his request.

It's just that Faust disliked Archduke William very much. He didn't want to plant such a bomb in the base of the National Socialist Party, and he looked down on a feudal aristocrat who could keep up with the high-intensity training at the level of the Greater German Regiment.

Archduke William was assigned to the Third Regiment of Kesselring and Tito. As a member of the Austro-Hungarian royal family, he was now under the jurisdiction of the Croatian Tito.

However, when Tito was originally in Vienna, his job was to hang out with noble ladies and live off them. He was very good at dealing with wealthy young men in the upper class. Logically speaking, dealing with Archduke William should not be a problem. It should not take much time to scare this royal archduke back.

The result was somewhat unexpected. After Archduke William came to the Third Regiment, he persisted and did not leave despite Tito's many persuasions to withdraw.

Archduke William's stubbornness did change Faust's opinion of him.

Faust simply reminded Archduke William: "If you really want to stay in my army for a long time, you should know that privileges are not allowed here, even for the royal family."

Archduke William patted his chest and saluted his idol: "Lieutenant Colonel, please rest assured. Whether it is training or military law, please hold me to the general standards."

Faust shook his head. "Even if we adopt a unified standard, it will cause unnecessary trouble in the army just because of your last name."

Archduke William pondered for a moment. In order to continue to serve under Faust, he came up with an idea: "I can apply to change my name and use an alias in the army."

"what name?"

"I want to change my name to Vasily Shevchenko."

Archduke William did not intend to continue using the royal surname von Habsburg, which was too eye-catching. He had often used the pseudonym Vasily in the Ukrainian Regiment of the Austrian Army. As for the surname Shevchenko, it was the surname of Archduke William's royal teacher and also the Archbishop of the Uniate Catholic Church of Galicia, Andrei Shevchenko.

Andrei Shevchenko was the religious leader of the Galician Ukrainians within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. One of the secrets of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's rule was to arrange for the cultural leaders of these ethnic minorities to be teachers of members of the Habsburg royal family in order to establish special personal friendships between teachers and students, and use this personal bond to ease divisions.

Chapter 100 Going to Italy

Faust had no way to deal with Archduke William - from now on he would be called Vasily Shevchenko - this Habsburg royal wanted to stay in his army, and even if Faust had a good reason, such as a reasonable excuse like Vasily failed the training requirements, it would be difficult to get rid of him.

What's more, Vasily performed well in training. He temporarily achieved the unity between officers and soldiers required by the National Socialist Party and did not seek special treatment in the army.

Faust temporarily assigned Vasily to the Third Regiment and asked Tito to keep an eye on him. Faust told Tito: "Vassily Shevchenko... is Wilhelm von Habsburg. You must be careful to avoid letting Vasily get involved in too many activities of the National Socialist Party."

Tito was very interested in Vasily, a member of the Austro-Hungarian royal family. He had many dealings with Austrian upper-class people in Vienna, but this was his first time to come into contact with the royal family.

Tito raised his head: "If you ask me, the best way is to arrange Vasily directly to be with you. Doesn't he admire you very much? Let Vasily be your guard."

Faust laughed. "A Grand Duke of the Habsburg family, you want to be my bodyguard? I'm afraid even our Emperor wouldn't receive such treatment."

Tito laughed heartily: "Because you are destined to become an extraordinary figure greater than William II."

The title of the German Emperor, written in Latin, is officially "Caesar". In the tradition of the Roman Empire, Caesar was often a title of co-emperor, or executive vice emperor.

A title greater than Caesar is the supreme first citizen of the Roman Empire - the Principate.

Faust did not directly respond to Tito's question: "Sorge is thriving under Manstein. Through the channels of the Eastern General Planning Group, he has already developed several underground party members in the Reich's intelligence department. This is a particularly important asset and will definitely play a big role in the future, especially after the war."

Tito asked: "Has Sorge obtained any new important intelligence recently?"

"There's intelligence related to the Habsburg Empire," Faust said. "Rumors are circulating that the Austro-Hungarian Emperor, Charles I, has unilaterally contacted the Allies without consulting Germany, attempting to negotiate a unilateral peace with Britain and France."

Since the outbreak of the war, the performance of the Austro-Hungarian army has been poor, and the morale of the people in Vienna is a hundred times worse than that in Berlin. It is not surprising that the Austrians would begin to seek a separate peace.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was now just a shell. In 1917, Vienna conscripted 16 qualified men to join its already tattered army. These recruits were minors born in 1900. After this conscription, the only human resources available to the Habsburg dynasty were wounded veterans and released prisoners of war.

The Austrians lacked coal, iron, guns, ammunition, food, and feed. Tens of thousands of horses used to transport cannons died of starvation due to lack of fodder. This further led to a significant weakening of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's transportation capacity and a deteriorating efficiency of the state machinery.

The most fatal problem was that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's military production capacity was also declining sharply. Workers' strikes, raw materials shortages, food shortages... various factors combined together. At the beginning of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire could produce hundreds of thousands of rifles a month. At present, the Austro-Hungarian Empire can only produce a few thousand rifles a month.

How small is this number?

Let’s put it this way, this year the production capacity of Austro-Hungarian military rifles has dropped to the same level as the Beiyang Government of the Republic of China.

Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had close relations. Part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army was still under the direct control of the German army. Germany also had a large number of informants in Vienna. Many pro-German nobles in the Austro-Hungarian Empire sent information to Berlin that Charles I was preparing for a separate peace.

The German army's reaction to this was very strange. When William II and Ludendorff first learned about this, they were of course furious. But after calming down, Ludendorff realized that Germany must not lose its ally, Austria-Hungary, and Germany must not turn Austria-Hungary into its enemy.

For now, Germany must find a way to further tie the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the German chariot. At the very least, it must give the Austrians more benefits, let them see the dawn of victory, and make the Austrians feel that they can still continue to fight.

First of all, in terms of supplies, the food crisis in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also very serious. Germany had already planned to use the General Eastern Plan to obtain large quantities of grain from Ukraine. Originally, only a quarter of this grain was to be sent to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but Ludendorff decided to increase this proportion from 25% to 45%.

The most important thing is still the military aspect. The German army must provide more powerful support to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The intensity of the war on the Eastern Front is sharply decreasing. Now, to help the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is mainly on the Italian front.

Before nightfall, as expected, Faust had received a transfer order from the General Staff, and he also convened a National Socialist Party congress at the training department in the Potsdam barracks.

At the meeting, Faust showed the transfer order to Hitler, Tito, Kesselring, Scherner and others: "The training of the Second and Third Regiments has been preliminarily completed. I believe the General Staff does not want us to waste any more time. Three months of training is already much longer than other units."

Entering the later stages of the war, the German army's new recruits generally received four weeks, at most six weeks of training, before being sent to the front line. The two assault chasseur regiments that Faust was responsible for training were given extra training time because they were new types of troops and would be used as elite breakthrough spearheads in the future. However, three months was obviously still too long.

"The General Staff can no longer wait. The latest transfer order, as expected, is for us to go to the Italian battlefield."

Hitler had no good impression of the Italians: "The Italians! They have never had a reputation for being warlike. Germany's foreign policy has many problems, which has led to its current predicament. But there is one good thing about German diplomacy, and that is that it did not turn Italy into an ally!"

Hitler laughed and said, "Comrades, have you heard this joke? If Italy remains neutral, it can help us tie down five Allied divisions. If Italy becomes our enemy, Germany only needs ten divisions to defeat Italy. But if Italy becomes our ally, Germany will need at least twenty divisions to save Italy!"

Italy's poor military reputation did not worsen during World War II. Before the outbreak of World War I, Italy's military performance was very poor.

During the Italian War of Independence, Italy had a navy that had huge technological advantages over the Austrians in all aspects. Its eleven new ironclads faced seven old ironclads, but it was defeated by the Austrian Navy using the ancient ramming tactics in the Battle of Lissa.

As for the land, Italy and Prussia fought together at that time. Prussia had decisively defeated the main force of the Austrian army in the north, but the Italians were defeated by a small detachment of the Austrian army.

Later, Italy, unable to defeat the European powers, went to Africa to develop, but was defeated by Ethiopia again, setting a precedent for European powers to pay compensation and sign unequal treaties with African countries.

Before the outbreak of World War I, the only war in which Italy performed well was the Italo-Turkish War against Turkey.

However, the Italo-Turkish War was a local war. The two sides only exchanged fire in Libya. Turkey's main forces were in the Balkans, and it only used a small force to fight against the Italian invading forces. Even so, Italy was still in danger. In the Battle of Tobruk, an entire army was annihilated by the fledgling Kemal, the future founding father of Turkey.

No wonder Hitler mocked the Italians. He swore to heaven: "If any German leader chooses to ally with Italy, that person should be stuffed into a cannon and shot into the sun. No excuses are allowed!"

Faust frowned and scolded Hitler for his playful smile: "Austria-Hungary is not much stronger than Italy. It can be regarded as our Italy."

Tito disagreed: "The Austrian army has always performed better than the Italians on the Isonzo River."

Kesselring offered a military analysis: "That's not necessarily true. The terrain along the Isonzo River is complex, as it is along the entire Italian front. The border between Italy and Austria is the rugged Alps, which offers defenders many times more advantages than ordinary trench warfare. The Austrian army has always been on the defensive, while the Italian army has been aggressively offensive. That's why Italy hasn't fought well so far."

Faust nodded. "The General Staff wants to transfer us to Italy. I'm guessing it's not for defense, but to plan a major breakthrough similar to the Gulf of Riga, hoping to defeat Italy in one fell swoop. To do this, we must shift from defense to offense and launch a large-scale offensive in the treacherous Alps."

The Austro-Hungarian defenders were now in dire straits, and Vienna feared they could no longer withstand the Italian advance. If Trieste fell to Italy, Austria-Hungary's fight for control of the Adriatic Sea would be completely lost. If the Allies landed on the Istrian-Dalmatian coast, the coastal areas would be lost, thus opening the way to the heart of the empire to the enemy.

Germany was eager to stabilize the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the intensity of the war on the Eastern Front happened to weaken, so Ludendorff could withdraw a large number of troops from the Russian battlefield.

Everything happened just as Faust had expected. The next day, the Potsdam Barracks received an official mobilization order from the General Staff. The Second and Third Regiments were to follow the newly formed von Bülow's Fourteenth Army to the Italian battlefield.

The Großdeutschland Regiment, the top trump card of the German mountain troops, will also go to Italy to participate in the war. In this way, the three entire regiments controlled by the National Socialist Party will be able to come together.

Chapter 101 Conrad's Fantasy

The General Staff prepared 2,400 trains for this large-scale military mobilization. Even Faust could not have imagined that Germany, at such a desperate point, could still come up with so many resources.

Perhaps the victory on the Eastern Front boosted morale. Two thousand four hundred trains carrying heavy artillery, countless ammunition and seven divisions of German troops, plus a group of aircraft, advanced towards the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from all directions, and finally assembled in Tyrol, Carniola and Carinthia in Austria.

The next month was the rainy season in the Alps, with heavy rains lasting for more than twenty days, making it unsuitable for launching an attack.

The German reinforcements that arrived in Austria by military train underwent highly targeted training in mountain warfare in the northern slopes of the Alps, where there is less rain.

At this time, Faust was already a famous mountain warfare expert in the German army. His latest military position was not the commander of the Grossdeutschland Regiment, or the Second or Third Regiment, but a position called Deputy Director of the Assault Hunter Training Department.

The Assault Hunter Training Department was a newly established department under the General Training Department of the General Staff. The official director was a Junker nobleman whom Faust had never met. He was said to be in Berlin and had never been to Potsdam and Austria.

The Training Department's previous responsibilities were to organize and train new troops such as the Second and Third Regiments. After Faust arrived in Austria, the position of deputy director gave Faust new power, which allowed him to use the German chasseur methods to train Austrian troops.

Due to time constraints, this duty was not clearly defined. As soon as Faust arrived in Austria, he became very powerful and became the highest military supervisor of all mountain troops stationed in Austria by the German General Staff.

The commanders of the Austrian mountain troops, who were the higher-ranking generals of Austria, and many generals, also behaved submissively in front of Faust.

Three German chasseur regiments arrived in Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol, in advance. Innsbruck was once the palace of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. The emperor's marriage to Archduchess Mary of Burgundy brought the Habsburg dynasty the first dowry harvested through the lower body.

From then on, the Habsburg Empire became obsessed with marriage strategies, and strategic marriages brought the Habsburg family territories such as Spain.

However, the enclaves of the Habsburg Empire, which were acquired through marriage, forced the dynasty to be embroiled in the quagmire of wars across Europe, from which it could not extricate itself. This prevented the empire from becoming a purely German empire, and ultimately the opportunity to unify Germany was lost to Prussia.

Good fortune lies within misfortune, and misfortune lies within good fortune.

The vast empire acquired by the Habsburgs through marriages dragged down Austria. After the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia was forced to take the Rhineland, a predominantly Catholic enclave, by Britain, Austria, and Russia. Consequently, to preserve the Rhineland, Prussia was forced to develop the German Customs Union, promote German unification, and transform the Rhineland into Germany's industrial center.

God's gifts often come with a hidden price tag. This is Faust's first time in Innsbruck. He has a good impression of the Tyrol region. The local wine has always been a best-seller in Munich, and the capital Innsbruck is also a very beautiful city.

Three regiments of mountain hunters entered Innsbruck. Naturally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to send someone to welcome them. The man was named Conrad, Conrad von Hetzendorff, the former Chief of General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Faust felt flattered. He was just a lieutenant colonel in the German Army. Even as a representative of the German General Staff, it seemed that it was not his turn to be personally received by Conrad, the former Chief of the General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Perhaps the answer to the question lies in the word "ex".

Marshal Conrad had gray hair on his temples and looked listless and depressed. He did not seem to regard receiving Faust as a shame, but he showed little interest in anything.

Faust roughly understood that the former Austrian Chief of Staff had completely lost power in Vienna. The Austro-Hungarian government wanted to hold Conrad responsible for a series of past defeats of the Austrian army. After he left office, he was rushed to Tyrol, nominally serving as the commander of an army group. However, this army group was seriously understaffed, with only 5,000 people in each division, making it difficult to defend against the Italian army.

The fact that a Chief of the General Staff was forced into such a position shows Conrad's current political predicament.

There are many famous scenic spots and historical sites left by Emperor Maximilian in the city of Innsbruck. The Tyrolean mountains outside the city have majestic and beautiful scenery, which is a magnificent sight. However, there is a dejected old man Conrad in front of Faust, which makes the National Socialists have no mood to appreciate the mountain scenery.

It was mid-August, and the mountain wind was howling. One could imagine that it would be very cold here in winter. Marshal Conrad said idly:

"If you German troops plan to spend the winter in Innsbruck, you must prepare in advance all the necessary winter supplies, including fuel, blankets, quilts and winter clothes, because we Austrians are so poor that we can't provide anything."

The General Staff had long hated the Austro-Hungarian Empire's logistics system. Many previous battles on the Eastern Front were hampered by Austria's logistical problems, which prevented the German army from achieving its goal of annihilating large Russian forces.

In order to break the deadlock in Italy, Germany has prepared sufficient supplies for all its troops. Except for the last section, which is the baggage from Innsbruck to the Trentino front, which still needs to rely on animal-powered transportation from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, everything else is taken care of by Germany.

Marshal Conrad did not have a good reputation in the German army. Everyone had heard that Marshal Conrad liked to construct some very grand military plans. His plans always aimed to completely annihilate the main force of the enemy. However, the Austrian army had limited strength and could not achieve Marshal Conrad's grand ideas.

The Germans generally believed that the Austro-Hungarian Empire needed a more pragmatic Chief of General Staff, and the resignation of Marshal Conrad was also the result of pressure from the German army.

Faust had read some of the battle plans written by Marshal Conrad, and the contents were indeed too outrageous. Even as a lieutenant colonel, he felt that a plan of this scale was simply beyond the capabilities of the Austrian army.

"Old Marshal, I hope we can live in harmony for some time to come."

Faust still expressed respect to the Austrians: "The German army is stationed on the land of our ally. We are all Germans. We will definitely maintain good discipline and not cause trouble for the Austro-Hungarian Empire."

Marshal Conrad lifted one side of his beard with his index finger, his face full of bitterness: "The Germans can do whatever they want. Do I have the right to restrict you? No! The Austro-Hungarian Empire is dead in name only. You don't need to put on such superficial efforts."

Faust was ashamed: "Old Marshal, you are a marshal, and I am just a lieutenant colonel in the army. How can you say such a thing?"

Marshal Conrad put his hands behind his back again and snorted to himself, "I submitted a battle plan to that little emperor to completely defeat the Italian army, but it was only because of your German opposition that I had to abandon it. Otherwise... according to my plan, I could have defeated the entire country of Italy in one battle."

Faust became interested. "What's the old marshal's plan? With trench warfare, it's very difficult to have a decisive battle. Furthermore, the Italian battlefield is extremely difficult and advantageous to the defenders. I really don't believe that Italy can be defeated in such a short time."

Marshal Conrad's eyes lit up when he saw that Faust was interested in his battle plan. He was like a drowning man desperately grasping at the last straw.

"You're right! The Italian battlefield is full of limestone cliffs and steep ridges, which are not conducive to the movement of large armies. However, on the other hand, because of this inherent mentality, the Italians will definitely make some mistakes. They also don't believe that the Allies are capable of planning a decisive battle."