Germany does not seek survival

The second act is when the war breaks out. Everyone leaves the university classrooms, middle school classrooms and workshop workbenches. Young girls throw flowers to the men who join the army. The atmosphere of roses and blood is intoxicating. Wherever the military train passes, there are laughter and joy. The vibrant and flourishing state is still before our eyes.

History is really ironic.

Corporal Sorge took Faust to inspect the current situation of the 16th Regiment, and then they reported to Rommel together, who personally wrote the specific combat report of this series of battles.

Rommel still had a headache. How to write a combat report?

It is impossible to really write that Faust killed hundreds of French soldiers at will, but the picky Rommel felt that not even the slightest bit of Faust's military achievements should be concealed.

Faust observed this and said, "While the French soldiers are brave and their commander's deployment exploits the weak points of our defenses, the officers and NCOs are utterly incompetent in their tactics. They have no idea how to deploy infantry in echelons or distribute firepower. Their concentrated charge is only slightly better than the British human wall during the Battle of the Somme."

Faust smiled and said to Rommel, "This is the main reason for the failure of the French offensive. The superiors will not believe that anyone can defeat the French alone. If you really write such a fantasy report, it will definitely cause more trouble. It is completely unnecessary."

Rommel understood the hint: "We need to write a detailed and reliable combat report. Everyone should know that our army's combat results have always been strictly reviewed. There can be no dilution or lies, otherwise the consequences will be very serious."

Faust straightened his back and said, "The people of the Seventh Company are always honest and will not do stupid things."

Faust and Rommel reached a tacit understanding. Rommel was responsible for writing a more "reasonable" combat report, distributing part of Faust's credit to the entire army, but Rommel also insisted on leaving Faust with enough prominent "rationalized" credit.

Rommel then asked the mustache man: "Are all the wreckage of the tank still there?"

Hitler said: "After the French retreat, the wreckage has been left in front of our position, and we also sent people to guard the tanks."

Rommel said: "Go take pictures immediately. First take pictures of the wreckage of the tanks, then take pictures of the artillery we have captured and the dead French soldiers. Put them in order and I will report our results to my superiors immediately."

Faust smiled again. "It seems our Seventh Company will become a heroic unit. The company commander should be promoted."

Rommel punched Faust in the chest, and the moment he punched him, he felt a little regretful. He had no idea how strong Faust was, and he suspected that many of the scenes he had seen were hallucinations.

Rommel said solemnly: "Faust, you are the hero. Germany needs a hero like you to boost the morale of the entire army."

Finally, after the 7th Company and the 16th Infantry Regiment exchanged some gifts, Rommel withdrew to his original defense and handed over the newly occupied French positions to the 16th Infantry Regiment.

On the way back to his original defense, Rommel saw the three Saint-Chamond tanks that were "torn apart" by Faust. The black wreckage still shone with metallic luster.

Rommel took a deep breath, took Faust's hand, and said solemnly again: "We must let the General Staff know how powerful you are."

Faust touched his eye patch, feeling a little embarrassed: "We have to convince the General Staff."

Rommel had his own opinion: "As long as the combat report is reasonable enough, the General Staff will definitely believe it."

Faust did not refuse to become a war hero, which could expand his influence in the army and prepare for the post-war revolution. As long as he didn't go too far, he would be fine. If things got out of hand, he didn't want to be captured by the German army for human experiments.

I hope that the development of events will be beneficial to Faust and his goals.

Chapter 9 Nationalism

"Siegfried of Saint-Quentin!"

"A knight bathed in dragon blood!"

"One-eyed Odin on the Somme!"

……

In the past two or three years, the meat-grinding war on the Western Front has dealt a serious blow to the morale of the German army. Now the German General Staff is in urgent need of bringing out a war hero who can boost the morale of the army.

It would be best if this hero came from a poor background and was based at the grassroots level. It would be best if he was just an ordinary trench soldier. His contributions would have to be great enough and appear somewhat exaggerated, so that he could become a phenomenal character.

It seems that at this point in time, there is certainly no one more suitable than Faust to play this war hero.

In the following days, the Allied forces opposite the 7th Guards Company were busy mobilizing, the French became the British, the battle was temporarily put on hold, and the 7th Company had a rare period of peace and relaxation in the cold winter.

It is not known whether the combat report submitted by Rommel, after passing through the levels of regiment, division, army and army group, finally reached the ears of the emperor, but in any case, it seemed that some results were produced.

Rommel handed Faust a newspaper and said, "Look, your name is in the Berlin Daily." 'Siegfried of Saint-Quentin', this nickname, has a romantic temperament.

Faust took the newspaper. He was mentally prepared, but after glancing at it, he couldn't help laughing. "What about 'Siegfried of Saint-Quentin'? These nicknames are quite romantic."

Rommel folded his arms and said, "Even according to the combat report I submitted, I destroyed two tanks and killed dozens of Frenchmen by myself. This is no ordinary combat hero."

"Clad in armor and facing countless enemies, this is Siegfried, the modern dragon-slaying hero who bathed in dragon blood and is invulnerable to swords and spears."

Faust wondered, who said the Germans were dull and foolish? The Kaiserin Army's propaganda department was really good at creating new battlefield myths!

Rommel asked Faust to pack his bags again. "Your superiors have ordered you to go to Spa. It is very likely that you will be awarded a medal or have other special rewards arranged."

The town of Spa is located in eastern Belgium and is an important command node of the German army in Belgium. It is said that when the Emperor William II of the Empire came to inspect the front line, he lived in the town of Spa.

The German army had too few cars. Unless in special circumstances, officers below the company level had few opportunities to ride in cars. Even in the rear, in recent years, only combat staff officers had the privilege of traveling around in cars.

Rommel brought Faust a dark Westphalian horse and said, "Here you are, a first-class horse, with Oldenburg and Anglo-Norman bloodlines."

Rommel himself rode another Hanoverian horse, which was slightly taller at the shoulder than the Westphalian horse.

The Hanoverian horse, which had not been backcrossed to improve its bloodline, was stronger than the Westphalian horse. Rommel said, "Perhaps the Anglo-Norman bloodline is just a burden. It has long been said that the Empire was deceived by the Allies by importing British horses."

"Alas, it's all the Anglo-Saxons' fault."

The fighting on the front line slowed down a bit, and Rommel wanted to personally take Faust to the town of Spa in Belgium. The two of them first went from the position of the 7th Company to the town of Saint-Abert, the rear base of the German army on the Somme battlefield.

There are many hospitals here, so wounded soldiers on crutches can be seen everywhere. The wounded soldiers of the 7th Guards Company and the 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment were also sent to the military hospital in St. Abel for treatment by carriage.

The man with the mustache had been shot in the arm before, so he was also sent to the hospital for treatment.

Faust suggested that he wanted to visit Little Moustache, and Rommel agreed tentatively. There was hot pea porridge in other people's wards, but there was little food in Little Moustache's ward. Adolf exchanged the extra food rations that the wounded soldiers could get for painting supplies and paints.

Faust selected some coffee from his food rations as a gift. When he entered the ward, the man with the mustache was still lying on the bed covered with clean white sheets, painting.

On the drawing board in front of the mustache was a half-finished portrait of a person, depicting a scene on the battlefield: Faust was holding a Luger pistol in one hand and a craftsman's shovel in the other, looking majestic.

Seeing Faust coming, the man with the mustache was a little embarrassed: "This bed is too clean, so white. After I got used to living in the trenches, I didn't dare to lie on it."

There was also a nurse in the ward who was responsible for taking care of Adolf. The nurse had long flaxen hair, delicate features, and a gentle outline. She looked more like a French woman than a German woman.

"The patient is well enough to see visitors," the nurse said, and her German did have a slight French accent.

Faust glanced at the name tag on the nurse's chest. The name tag was hanging on the low-quality blended fabric nurse's uniform. The sunlight from the hospital window shone in, making it slightly transparent, and the outline of the name tag inside could be vaguely seen.

"Nurse Beatrice." Faust called out the nurse's name. "How is my friend Adolf?"

Beatrice looked to be in her early twenties at most, but she had already acquired a wealth of medical experience during the war years. "No problem, don't worry too much. The patient will be back on the front lines in a few days."

Faust placed the coffee on the bedside of the mustache and said with a smile, "Adolf, is it good news or bad news for you to be able to return to the front line earlier?"

Upon hearing this, Adolf's face immediately hardened and he said, "Of course, this is absolutely good news. Don't you believe in my fighting spirit? I'm not Jewish, I'm a pure-blooded German!"

"Jew?"

Faust didn't expect that these words would make the man with the mustache start to criticize the Jews.

Adolf's hands were still wrapped in white bandages. When he mentioned the Jews, he started to blush from face to neck and cursed:

"Jews! Yes, I'm talking about Jews, of course. When I arrived at the rear, I immediately discovered the problem. Every unit in the rear was filled with Jews. Just imagine, there were only a few Jewish soldiers on the front lines, but the jobs in the rear were filled with Jews. These cowards, evading war and military service, all hid in the safety of the rear, leaving the Germans to bleed and die on the front lines. I think anyone who saw this would find it unfair."

"What a great injustice! We shed our blood and sacrificed our lives while the Jews hid behind us and lived in peace."

At this point, the man with the mustache lowered his tone and said some obscene words: "All the German men are on the front line. There are only women and no men in the rear. The few men are all Jewish. What if some unruly women can't resist the temptation... I dare not think about it anymore. I will vomit if I think about it again. Germany, our sacred homeland of the Germans..."

Simple nationalism is based on narrow blood ties and an agricultural society with a village as its unit. People develop a sense of local affection for where they live. They speak the same language, have blood ties, and use the same production methods. They regard everyone as their own people and differentiate between them and outsiders. This is simple nationalism.

The Jewish religion is different from that of the Germans. In the Middle Ages, Jews were prohibited from owning land, so they could only engage in industry and commerce. The Jewish production method was also different from that of most Germans. Naturally, there were great differences between the two sides, and the differences gave rise to strangeness and misunderstanding, which then bred hatred in the strangeness.

Faust did not think he could now enlighten the mustache man about his hatred for the Jews, but he said on the question of nationalism:

"Nationalism is a circle. It encompasses 40 million French, 45 million British, and 65 million Germans. It's a huge circle, enough to form an army of millions, but that's the limit."

Faust looked at the mustache and said, "I don't think Germans have any innate industrial or military talent compared to the French, British, and Russians. Our industrial organization is more efficient than that of Britain and France because Prussian education is good at cultivating discipline. Our army is more combat-savvy than other countries because of the military system reforms since General Scharnhorst."

"There are no magical things in the world. Our industry and military are more efficient than France's. We Germans also have 20 million more people than the French, so we will definitely be able to overwhelm France."

Adolf frowned, somewhat puzzled: "What do you mean by that?"

Faust said, "My friend, I am stating a very simple fact. Numbers are strength, and industrial population is fundamental. Sixty million industrial population is certainly stronger than forty million industrial population. This is a simple mathematical problem. Therefore, one hundred million industrial population is certainly stronger than sixty million industrial population. If Russia's 170 million people also industrialize, then no one in Europe can resist Russia."

Chapter 10: National Socialist Party

Faust is the hero in the little mustache's mind and the most ideal self in his imagination, so he can patiently listen to Faust's words. Otherwise, if someone else said this kind of "Jewish materialism" rhetoric, the little mustache would definitely denounce it without hesitation.

The man with the mustache frowned, his face wrinkled. "This is the materialistic philosophy of the Jews. They believe that everything in the world is as simple and dull as lifeless dirt and stone. But the German philosophy believes that the spirit can transcend all things. Don't you believe it? The battlefield has long proven that a hundred Germans are stronger than a hundred British or French. It has nothing to do with numbers."

The vein on the mustachioed forehead spoke loudly: "If the national spirit is awakened, it does not matter how much territory the enemy may occupy. Ten million free Germans, ready to die for their country, are more powerful than fifty million whose willpower is paralyzed and whose racial consciousness has been infected by foreign countries."

Nurse Beatrice immediately reminded him: "Patient, you have to speak softly."

Nurse Beatrice's voice was calm, but there was a hint of anger in it, which made her look even more cold and beautiful. Even the mustache was startled and immediately became well-behaved.

Faust knew that Hitler was influenced by German philosophers such as Schopenhauer and was superstitious about the "power of will."

This is not surprising. Germany was surrounded on all sides and had no vast colonies to provide abundant resources. It could only pin its hopes on the illusory spiritual power.

Faust sat beside the mustache's bed. He opened the bag filled with coffee essence and made coffee for the mustache while saying:

"Adolf, what do you think of socialism?"

The mustache man's eyes were full of suspicion: "Socialism, do you mean the Social Democratic Party's socialism or the German socialism?"

Faust thought that the SPD's influence in Germany was really great. It seemed that Hitler had made the SPD his first target.

"Tell me what you think socialism is."

The man with the mustache said directly, "Socialism is a German invention. I absolutely support it. It's a science about the common good. To understand socialism, you have to understand the history of the ancient Germans. Socialism is an ancient Aryan historical concept. Our German ancestors invented the communal system of shared land, which fostered the concept of public welfare. This concept of public welfare is the spiritual wealth that makes us Germans the world's leader."

What the mustache said was actually a bit beyond Faust's expectations. Hitler did not simply deny socialism. He looked at socialism from a historical perspective, and his explanation was not that crazy. Instead, it sounded reasonable.

"Adolf, you've read a lot of books, haven't you?" Faust handed Hitler his coffee. "You speak like an intellectual."

The man with the mustache took the coffee and said, "Intellectuals? Most of them are weak. I would rather be a warrior like you, Faust, a true hero. Most of my ideas don't come from books, but from musicals, like Lohengrin."

Faust said, "You must like Wagner's operas."

The mustache said, "If a German says he doesn't like The Ring of the Nibelung, I'll doubt his bloodline."

"anything else?"

"You mean books?"

"Correct."

"What I hate most is idle talk about literature. If you want to care about the fate of mankind, I think you should carefully study Homer's epics and the works of Schopenhauer. I've almost torn through Schopenhauer's selected works these past few days in the hospital. You should also read the Bible. But I think turning the other cheek is not a good solution for the front line."

The image of the young man with a mustache has changed slightly in Faust's mind. The young man with a mustache has more characteristics of a petty intellectual. He says that intellectuals are weak, but he himself finds it difficult to change the habits of a petty literati.

Faust said, "I think the German population is too small. Socialism is a kind of antidote to expand the scope of our alliances. Consider that Russia has a population of 170 million and the United States has a population of 100 million. Their fertility rates are much higher than Germany's. It is conceivable that in the future the populations of these two countries may be five or six times that of Germany."

Faust added, "Besides the United States and Russia, Germany, given its central European location, our historical grievances with France, and Britain's jealousy of Germany, must contend with tens of millions of French and British citizens. Socialism prioritizes class over nationality, and the German masses can unite hundreds of millions of civilians, a far greater number than most other nations on earth."

The mustache-wearing man said, "The German population is only 60 million, but the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also predominantly German, with over 10 million Germans there. There are also another 7 million Germans in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and in the Baltic and Volga regions of Russia."

Faust said, "The Germans are the largest ethnic group on the European continent, second only to the Russians. And the Russians haven't yet achieved full industrialization. So, from an arithmetic point of view, Germany's strength today is not surprising. But even if we include all ethnic Germans outside of Germany, our population is only 80 or 90 million at most, still less than that of the Americans."

The man with the mustache started to calculate again: "What about the Germanic people in a broad sense? That includes the Dutch and the Swedes and Danes in Northern Europe. They are also Germanic people."

Faust laughed. "Even if you add the seven million Flemish people in the Netherlands and Belgium, and the ten million plus Scandinavians, the Germanic population is still smaller than the Americans and Russians. Besides, would you rather believe that the Dutch and Scandinavians will put aside their differences and unite with Germany than believe that all ordinary people can unite?"

Now the man with a mustache was speechless, but Faust also knew that his words did not touch the man's soul, and it was impossible to change the man's inherent worldview with these words.

Faust simply changed the subject: "What are your thoughts on political parties?"

The mustache man sipped his coffee and said, "Political parties, I absolutely support the party plan. It can effectively organize the Germans. Those who oppose political parties are generally aristocrats. To be honest, I hate most aristocrats. They are all parasites in Germany, only slightly better than the Jews. They have no ability, but they rely on the protection of their ancestors to own so much property and so many privileges. It's so unfair. The worst thing about Germany, besides the Jews, is our backward aristocracy."

"But I don't support the Social Democratic Party or the Center Party. These parties are outdated. In my opinion, Germany should have a new political party. The characteristic of this new political party is unity and unity of purpose. It would be best to abolish all political parties and leave only one party, the People's United Front. This party should also unite around a hero like you."

"Our parliamentary system is a major contributor to the low morale of the army," said Moustache. "The majority in parliament fluctuates with the mood of the day and is far too unstable. It makes it almost impossible to achieve a clearly defined policy. Everywhere I look I see a tortuous process of compromise and concession."

"Isn't it ridiculous? Germans are so used to using mathematics that we mistakenly apply arithmetic and the mechanics of the economic world to political life. As a result, constructive forces are constrained by the complex changes in parliamentary seats, and nothing major can be accomplished."

It sounds like Xiao Huzi is not against political parties. It's just that his ideal political party is more centralized than democratic centralism. He only needs centralization, not democracy. He just wants the centralization to be on a strong man who falls from the sky.

Faust smiled and told Nurse Beatrice, "Nurse, I have a bag of apples in the hall. Can you get it for me?"

After Faust sent Nurse Beatrice away, he turned to Hitler and said, "I have a bold idea recently."

"What bold idea?"

Faust smiled mysteriously. "I want to create a militant party within the army. This party doesn't exist to compete for seats in parliament, but to unite soldiers and fight. Its organizational form should be similar to the Italian Carbonari: a secret organization with strict discipline, encompassing a group of people who believe themselves to be special."

The mustache man was very interested and excited. "That's a great idea! We should have this kind of fighting group, Mr. Faust. Have you thought about what to call this party?"

Faust chuckled and said, "I've already decided on this. This party will be called the National Socialist German Workers' Party."

===

According to the notice from the superiors, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, from now on, Xitera in the book needs to be renamed as Little Moustache or Adolf.