Germany does not seek survival

Faust frowned. "Superior, who is your superior? Who gave the order? The police station has no right to search a German colonel."

The police team led by Chief Gannett were all fully armed, and each of them was carrying a gun. They came with bad intentions. Chief Gannett put on a very helpless expression in front of Faust. He showed the search warrant and said:

"Colonel, we have no right to arrest you. Our superiors have ordered us to search this apartment. As far as I know, this apartment is not in your name, so the Berlin Police Department has the right to conduct a search."

As he spoke, Sheriff Gannat waved his hand and said, "Be careful what you do. Don't damage any of the furniture in the room. Look for any prohibited items."

Following the order from Sheriff Gannat, more than ten policemen rushed upstairs. They originally wanted to break down the apartment door directly, but Faust couldn't bear it and took the initiative to open the door himself.

Then Faust stood at the door and watched the policemen walk into the house and search through the drawers and cabinets room by room.

Sorge, standing by, said unkindly, "Sheriff, I really hope you understand what you are doing by offending a military hero like this."

Sheriff Gannett said innocently, "I was just following orders from my superiors. There was nothing I could do."

Faust quickly weighed the severity of the matter in his mind. He certainly knew that there must be a mystery and reason behind it. The Berlin Police Department would not take the risk of searching a colonel's house for no reason, not to mention that this colonel was the most famous war hero in the country.

This is not an accidental incident, nor is it a misunderstanding. The only one who can mobilize the police is the imperial government. That is, someone on the imperial government's side is already very suspicious of himself, and is so suspicious that he is eager to use any means to find out Faust's background.

Fortunately, Faust had prepared for a rainy day. His activities in Berlin were always meticulous and careful. To be on the safe side, he did not bring any documents or letters from the National Socialist Party. Now, there is nothing related to the National Socialist Party in the house.

Although there are several other letters involving politics, they are all letters between Faust and Kautsky, chairman of the Independent Party, and have little impact.

So Faust didn't care. He was calm and composed in his heart, and just watched the police search the room quietly.

But how should he react to appear reasonable and reasonable? How could he make the person investigating him fall into a trap?

Faust narrowed his eyes slightly, pursed his lips, and thought that he had to act as quickly as possible to give the opponent a powerful counterattack, while also being reasonable and preferably being in a good position for himself.

Seeing that the police had almost finished their search, Faust grabbed a horsewhip from his living room table. Playing with it, he walked up to Chief Gannet and said, "The Berlin Police Department is so arrogant! What contraband have you found? How dare you act so recklessly in front of the German army? I haven't seen you in Verdun before."

When Sorge saw Faust's behavior, he felt relieved. He knew that the colonel would definitely not leave any evidence that would affect the overall situation of the revolution.

Sergeant Gannett could only pretend to be businesslike and said, "I'm sorry, Colonel. I'm only following orders from my superiors to search for prohibited items. If you don't find any, then there's something wrong with the instructions from my superiors."

Faust looked at Sheriff Ganat and said, "Whose superiors are ordering you to search the German colonel's room? This is no small matter."

Sergeant Gannet stiffened his neck and said, "This is an internal police matter. Colonel, you have no right to ask about it. I'm sorry, but I have no comment to make."

"Snapped--!"

Before Sheriff Gannat finished speaking, everyone heard a crisp whip sound. Faust swung the whip in his hand and knocked the gun in Sheriff Gannat's hand to the ground.

Before anyone could react, Faust whipped his whip again. With two snaps, Sheriff Gannat fell to his knees, with two holes cut on his trouser knees.

Faust still kept smiling, but his tone was as cold and majestic as if it had been soaked in ice water: "Assholes! The Berlin Police Department dared to run into the Imperial Army and make trouble. What do you mean by this? Are you insulting the army, or what do you want?"

Chapter 125 Left Wing Standard Bearer

Faust turned and looked sternly at Sorge. Sorge immediately understood and pulled out his gun, pointing it at the policemen. Faust then shouted, "Put your guns down! Are the Berlin police planning to engage in a firefight with the German army?"

Sheriff Gannett was frightened by Faust's power. The other police officers sent by the Berlin Police Department looked at each other. So many people were aimed at by Sorge with a gun, but none of them dared to resist.

Indeed, the Berlin Police Department could not afford to engage in a firefight with the German army in the imperial capital.

Faust's cold eyes, with the fierce deterrent power of a soldier, seemed to be able to penetrate everything and shoot everything. However, his tone was still nonchalant, even with a hint of ridicule and teasing:

"Sergeant, unload all your guns. Otherwise, as a German officer, I will act in self-defense and kill all enemies who attack the German army on the spot."

Faust was not joking. If he was really angry, although there were many police officers present, there were only about 20 to 30 of them. Faust was very confident that he could kill all of them.

When Sheriff Gannat and his men heard this, they were all helpless. They dared to search the colonel's room as ordered, but they absolutely did not dare to shoot at the German colonel.

"We are only following orders. Please be merciful..."

Faust ignored Captain Gannet and told Sorge in a cold tone, "Call the General Staff immediately and tell them that a suspected Allied fighter has infiltrated Berlin and attacked officers. We have defended ourselves and killed the enemy. Have the General Staff send someone to investigate."

Sheriff Gannett was so frightened that he said, "Please have mercy on us! We have no grudge against you, Colonel."

Faust threw his whip at Sorge and turned around to jokingly say, "We have no grudges against each other, yet you come to provoke me? According to military law, I can shoot you right now and execute you all on the spot, but every wrong has its perpetrator, and as you said, there is no need for this. I just want to ask you, who is your superior, and who sent you here?"

Sheriff Gannett understood Faust's intention at this time. He knew that if he didn't reveal the name of the mastermind today, the matter would definitely not be resolved peacefully. There was no other way, so Sheriff Gannett could only answer honestly:

"It was Mr. Noske, the Berlin police chief. Mr. Noske ordered us to come here to search for prohibited items."

Faust snorted coldly, "Nosk, the Social Democratic Party's razor, Nosk? So that's him. Okay, you can leave now. Those letters between me and Mr. Kautsky, chairman of the Independent Party, are available for you to take. Once the matter is thoroughly investigated, I'll see how your superior, Nosk, will handle the storm of the General Staff."

Faust waved his hand and ordered the police to leave. After they left, without waiting to tidy up the house, Faust immediately told Sorge: "We will go directly to the train station now."

Sorge was a little surprised: "Colonel, don't you need to pack some luggage? And you haven't managed to meet with Luxemburg and others again."

Faust shook his head. "No need. Meeting the Spartacus League now would easily alert outsiders. There's no need. No need to pack. Let's drive directly to the train station and leave Berlin."

The security at Berlin Railway Station was not strict, and Faust had the transfer order issued by the General Staff in his hand. He could have left Berlin openly, but in order to avoid alerting the enemy and to avoid any further trouble, Faust still made his departure from Berlin secretive and quick.

Faust and Sorge both changed into ordinary field uniforms without military ranks. When the car drove to the train station, it stopped some distance away and then walked directly to the waiting hall of the train station.

Few of the patrolling military and police officers noticed Faust. However, when he passed the checkpoint, several soldiers in charge of body searches became very excited when they saw Faust's name on the transfer order, and quickly saluted Faust with admiration.

Faust replied calmly, "The General Staff has assigned me a mission. Please keep quiet and don't cause unnecessary trouble."

Several soldiers at the checkpoint all blushed and nodded excitedly. Another soldier, with a red face, whispered to Faust to sign his clothes.

After Faust signed his signature, he took Sorge to the platform. He finally used his sharp eyes to observe and confirm that there were no other spies before he got on the train with peace of mind.

Meanwhile, after Inspector Gannet's search mission completely failed, when the Inspector led the police team back to the police station to report, their superior, the Social Democratic Party's second-in-command, Noske, was furious. After carefully reading the letters that Inspector Gannet had confiscated, Noske scratched his chin and pondered with some confusion:

"This Faust had some connections with Kautsky, but judging by their correspondence, the connection wasn't deep. We haven't found any connection between Faust and the Spartacus League, have we?"

After listening to Sheriff Gannett's complete report, Noske told Sheriff Gannett, "Send a letter of apology to Faust in my name, saying that our search for contraband was a complete misunderstanding."

Sheriff Gannat nodded silently, but cursed in his heart, what bad luck do I have, to offend a war hero who is highly regarded by the whole empire, misunderstanding, misunderstanding, who can forgive such a thing!

But before the Berlin police could come, Faust and Sorge had already boarded the military train heading south. Amid the sound of the whistle, the imperial capital had become a shadow on the skyline, gradually moving away. When they looked back, the train had returned to Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol.

The main cadres of the National Socialist Party were at the train station to welcome Faust's return. Hitler was the first to step forward and hugged Faust excitedly.

Tito said in a deep voice, "We are really worried that you will be trapped in Berlin and it will be difficult to get out in the future."

Faust only asked, "Has the situation in Austria and Italy changed?"

Rommel, who led the National Socialist Party's military work, answered them one by one: "The General Staff has transferred all the German infantry divisions in Italy to the Western Front. The only German forces left are our three mountain chasseur regiments."

"What about the divisions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire?"

Rommel replied, "Field Marshal Conrad wants to plan a new offensive. He plans to cross the Po River and continue south, hoping to capture Milan. He is a complete fool. Without the support of large German forces, with his limited strength, even if the 11th Army is stronger than last year after the training of the National Socialist Party, it will never be possible to achieve the grand plan that Field Marshal Conrad fantasizes about."

Several other National Socialist generals who were already familiar with the Austrian army's style also echoed this.

Paulus shook his head and said, "For Marshal Conrad's absurd plan, our three Jäger Regiments were also transferred from Venice to the Po River front to participate in the attack. However, we all believed that the Austrian army was insufficiently strong and that any breakthrough was impossible. We strongly opposed it and delayed the matter under the pretext of training for river crossing operations."

Faust nodded. Italy lost one million troops in the Battle of the Po River, but this was a war. The loss of one million troops was not enough to make Italy lose its ability to resist, not to mention that in order to stabilize Italy, Britain and France hurriedly sent more than 100,000 troops to reinforce the Po River front at the end of last year.

Not to mention the Italians, the Austrians would have no chance of defeating the British and French forces of more than 100,000. Even with the German reinforcements, they might not be able to defeat them. What's more, Ludendorff has now transferred most of the German forces to the Western Front.

Faust said, "It seems that if Marshal Conrad persists in his own opinion, then the rare good situation on the Italian front after the Battle of the Po River may take a sharp turn for the worse and go straight to another terrible extreme."

Hitler didn't care about the Italians and Austrians. He just looked at Faust with a smile and said, "With your return, the National Socialist Party has a backbone. With Colonel Faust back, all problems of the National Socialist Party can be solved. How is the situation in Berlin?"

Faust pondered, "The situation in Berlin is difficult to describe. Kautsky's Independent Party offers a basis for cooperation with us, but they don't prioritize developing their armed forces. I'm very pessimistic about their future. Without bayonets, relying solely on a hundred or so parliamentary hats won't be enough in the great times ahead."

"What about the General Staff, the Social Democratic Party, and the Spartacus League?"

"The General Staff has made a desperate move, concentrating all its manpower on the decisive battle on the Western Front. The hope of victory is extremely slim. If we fail, which will only happen within the next month or two, it may directly lead to the destruction of Germany."

Faust was very disdainful of Ludendorff's political ability: "Ludendorff is taking a gamble on his personal fame and fortune by taking the future of tens of millions of Germans on a whim. He won't go far in the future."

Hitler originally admired Ludendorff, the "military genius", but when he heard Faust's low evaluation of Ludendorff, he was speechless for a moment.

Tito said: "The Independent Party is not good enough, and the General Staff is not good enough. It seems that the Social Democratic Party and the Spartacus League will dominate Germany in the future."

Faust agreed. "The SPD has the largest base, and Noske controls a large number of paramilitary organizations in Berlin. If the German army collapses on the front, Noske's union pickets, gang thugs, and Berlin police will become the most powerful force in the imperial capital."

Hitler was not very fond of the Spartacus League: "Liebknecht and Luxemburg are still in prison. What can they achieve?"

Faust said, "Lenin has already achieved success in Russia. Reality has proven that the masses do not accept the centrist and moderate line of Kautsky. They are either right-wing or left-wing. Since the Spartacus League is the standard-bearer of the German left, it is the natural choice."

Tito smiled at this time and said: "Colonel, you forget that our National Socialist Party can also become the standard-bearer of the German left."

Chapter 126 Who will inherit Solon's cause?

Hitler only cared about Faust: "There is only one person in the world who can save Germany, and he can only be Mr. Faust."

During this period, when Faust went to Berlin, Tito and Hitler were jointly responsible for handling the party affairs of the National Socialist Party. The two had very different personalities and styles of doing things, but both had strong execution abilities. There were many conflicts in their cooperation, but there were also many areas where they could get along well.

Tito smiled and said, "I'm afraid there's no one in our National Socialist Party who admires the Colonel as much as Adolf does. If the Colonel is really trapped in Berlin, I can guarantee that Adolf will go to see His Majesty with a bayonet in hand."

From Faust back to Innsbruck, Hitler's face was filled with smiles every minute and every second. A man as serious as Hitler now had eyes that turned into two crescents with a smile, which actually made him look a bit cute.

Faust was also touched: "Today, several of us, the earliest comrades of the National Socialist Party, have gathered together again. From now on, all comrades must unite and swear not to separate."

Hitler said with emotion: "I believe that a hundred years from now, when future generations look back, they will feel that this scene today is of no less historical significance than the gathering of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece on Mount Olympus 2,500 years ago."

There were seven people in the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece. The core figures of the National Socialist Party were Faust, Hitler, Sorge, Tito, and Rommel, a total of five people. If we count Paulus, who worked as low-key as an old ox, there were six people in total. It was not possible to gather all seven sages, but only six heroes.

This did not prevent Hitler from praising him again: "Mr. Faust is the Solon among the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece."

Ancient Greece is the source of European civilization, Athens is the source of ancient Greek civilization, and Solon is the great man who created Athenian democracy. In terms of pioneering, he is even more innovative than Pericles. In the end, after Solon's term as archon expired, he gave up power, left Athens, and traveled around the world. He is indeed an ideal sage.

However, after Solon's death, the power of Athens soon fell into the hands of Solon's disciple Peisistratus.

Peisistratus' political style was completely different from that of the modest Solon. He was violent and used an iron fist to implement Solon's ideas of civilian politics, unite the common people, and hope to completely destroy the aristocratic rule of Athens within a generation.

Solon sought to reconcile Athens. Throughout his reforms, he consistently sought to maintain a balanced democracy in Athens, as Solon famously said: "I grant the common people sufficient privileges, so that they neither lose their dignity nor become complacent. As for those in power, I will ensure that they remain unharmed. I will bravely stand between them, shield in hand, to prevent the two sides from inflicting unjust harm on each other."

Solon was Saint Simon of ancient Athens. He wanted to be a class mediator. When people asked Solon, "Have you made the best laws for the Athenians?"

Solon's answer was, "No, the best law they can accept."

Solon's gentlemanly spirit was passed on to his disciple and political successor, Peisistratus. In addition to the fact that Peisistratus's personal character was different from Solon's, more importantly, during Solon's reforms, the aristocratic class, which Solon did not completely destroy, was always thinking of counterattack.

However, the common people who benefited from Solon's reforms saw a new polarization between the rich and the poor decades later, with some people falling into debt slavery. The new struggle intensified and even developed to a more intense level than before Solon's reforms.

Solon's disciple Peisistratus decided to defend the interests of the common people, and as a result he was exiled from Athens many times. Finally, relying on the support of the common people, he became the dictator of Athens by violence, and passed the power to his son as hereditary power, becoming the first tyrant of Athens.

History repeats itself in this cycle. If Faust is Solon, who is Peisistratus?

The Seven Sages of Ancient Greece represent the highest political and ideological pursuits of Europeans since the Age of Enlightenment. They can be compared to the sages of the pre-Qin period in China, as well as to the sage kings of the three ancient dynasties.

When Hitler said this, everyone was excited. Everyone felt that the new era was right before their eyes and within their reach.

Next, everyone reported to Faust on the development of the National Socialist Party during this period. Hitler and Tito reported to Faust in detail on party affairs. The number of National Socialist Party members had grown to more than 4,000 formal members.

"In addition to the formal party members who have passed the review and assessment, we have also developed peripheral organizations such as soldiers' committees, soldiers' clubs, and reading clubs within the three German regiments and several Austrian divisions. The number of members in these peripheral party organizations has reached as many as 7,000 to 8,000."

"What about the military aspect?"

Rommel reported: "After this period of training, the three regiments directly under our party have a total of 6,500 officers and soldiers. All key positions above the level of company commander are held by core members of the National Socialist Party."

Paulus also reported: "The Austrian Eleventh Army currently has seven fully staffed divisions. After the Battle of the Po River, due to the large amount of captured spoils, these seven divisions have been particularly well-equipped with weapons and ammunition. Because of its outstanding victory, the Eleventh Army's priority for replenishment in Austria-Hungary has been greatly increased. The influence of the National Socialist Party in the newly recruited officers is relatively weak. Among the old batch of officers, our party members and members of peripheral organizations account for about one-tenth of all officer positions."

It was because of the brilliant victory in the Battle of the Po River that Marshal Conrad's 11th Austrian Army had been reinforced many times, which made him dizzy and he even thought of crossing the Po River without the assistance of large German forces.

Hitler complained, "Sir, this Conrad has a real problem with his brain. The 11th Army has less than 100,000 men at most. On the other side of the Po River, the expeditionary force sent by Britain and France alone has over 100,000 men, plus hundreds of thousands of other Italian troops. What is Marshal Conrad thinking? This old man, he doesn't really think that the victory in the Battle of the Po River was due to him, does he?"

Paulus was considered the most low-key and diligent workhorse in the National Socialist Party. He didn't talk much and just focused on his staff work. His temperament was not like that of an elite combat staff produced by Prussia, but more like the traditional business and auxiliary staff of Britain and the United States.

Even the honest Paulus chuckled. "Marshal Conrad must have done very well on his staff assignment exams back at the academy. I've seen the river crossing plan he came up with, and objectively speaking, it's of very high quality. Even if it were in school, I'd give it full marks. It's an exceptional piece of work. The only thing missing is that Marshal Conrad simply didn't have enough troops to execute it."

The problem with Marshal Conrad is not his military talent, but that he still fails to recognize how weak the Austro-Hungarian Empire is and is still obsessed with the era when the Habsburgs were invincible.

Even after the great victory in the Battle of the Po River, the situation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in all aspects continued to deteriorate. Food was in short supply in Vienna, and famine was frequent in local areas. Most arsenals had stopped operating due to lack of raw materials, and some armies composed mainly of ethnic minorities began to refuse to fight and even refused to go to the front line.

Rommel also analyzed this from a military perspective: "This spring's temperatures are higher than in the past three years. The snowmelt in the Alps is much larger than in previous years, and the water level of the Po River is high. Both spring and summer are unsuitable for river crossing operations."

Paulus nodded. "We should wait until the dry season of autumn and winter to see how low the Po River's water level drops before we can even consider crossing it. But our Marshal Conrad can't wait. If we launch an attack now, I believe we will inevitably fail."

Faust scratched his head. "Marshal Conrad wants our troops to join the attack?"

Rommel and Paulus looked at each other and said in unison: "Colonel, the most ridiculous thing is this: Marshal Conrad wants the Austrians to cross the river alone."

Because of the great victory of the German-Austrian coalition in the last Battle of the Po River, Marshal Conrad was fully confident that he could return to the General Staff with the victory of the Po River. Unexpectedly, the Vienna authorities attributed the victory of the Po River entirely to the German army.

Marshal Conrad was still only an army group commander, and his career was still frustrated. Disappointed, Conrad thought that this time when crossing the Po River, he did not want the cooperation of the German army, but had to launch an attack alone with the Austrian army, so as to prove himself.

Faust couldn't help wiping his sweat. With such a madman, the Italian battlefield was doomed. The Battle of the Po River had saved the situation a little, but it was likely to take a sharp turn for the worse again and be destroyed in Conrad's hands.

Chapter 127 Final Preparations

At the end of the Battle of the Po River, many people believed that Italy was about to collapse, and this was indeed the case. Last autumn, an unprecedented anti-war march broke out in Turin, the Italian vice-capital, with citizens taking to the streets, calling for peace and bread.

This matter is of great importance because Turin is one of the most important industrial centers in Italy, and it is also the birthplace of the Savoy dynasty that unified Italy. It can be said to be the core of Italy's core base.